Francesca Gavin is one of those people that makes me think that the day secretly consists of more than twenty four hours. She juggles writing for numerous publications, curating art, authoring books, and globe trotting with an air of ease, superior humbleness, and this huge infectious smile. She’s always got an interesting movie for me to check out, and assures me that Will Smith plays a mean crippled heroin addict and that rom-coms aren’t all bad. The girl also has an amazing set of pipes and could probably kill you in a karaoke battle. You’ve been warned. Here is no particular order is Francesca’s The Perfect Ten.
Don’t Look Now (1973)
This weird vein of British supernatural horror makes me so excited. Without a doubt the best edited film in history. This film has everything. Blind old ladies, psycho dwarves, real sex and Venice in winter.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Everything Kubrick touched was genius. Although slated when it came out, I find this strange movie so watchable. I don’t even mind Tom Cruise in it. Part of the draw is the music where everything slows down and time seems to stop.
Annie Hall (1977)
Ah the bittersweetness of 70s intellectual New York. I don’t know if Woody Allen’s world really ever existed but I could live in it for a while. I like romantic comedies a little too much but this is the archetype.
Blow Up (1966)
I was a mod when I was around 17 and I watched this Antonioni film about 300 times to encourage my 60s fantasies. Under the David Bailey style and surface is a genius exploration of the meaning and process of photography.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Russ Meyer is God. My name is the combination of two of his wacked out stars – Erica Gavin and Francesca ‘Kitten’ Natividad. This stuff is so weird and trippy and pointlessly voyeuristic that you can’t help but smile. *Editors Note: The screenplay was written by Roger Ebert!
The Conformist (1970)
The best film about Italian fascism and the 1930s. Stars Jean Louis Trintigant (hubba hubba). Even the architecture in every scene has a narrative element to it. Amazing twist at the end.
The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
Although Bunuel ‘s Belle du Jour is more coherent (and incredibly gorgeous), this is a dream case of surrealism at its most far out. A montage of strange scenes including spider pornography and toilet dining.
North by Northwest (1959)
Hitchock always delivers. Bernard Hermann score? Check. Saul Bass title sequence? Check. Ice cold blonde? Check. Cary Grant (as an alternative for James Stewart) as the man accidentally throw into a web of fear? Check.
Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)
The two pre-teen boys in this film about collaborators in occupied-France are so beautiful. Their relationship is so touching, everything feels really natural and its definitely Louis Malle’s best movie (and most personal).
Pretty in Pink (1986)
A film dripping in perfect moments. Jon Cryer lip syncing to Otis Redding. James Spader’s Duran Duran style arrogance. This is the class warfare of 80s America in trash pink perfection. *Editors Note: Two words: Andrew. McCarthy. And a killer eighties pop soundtrack too!
Francesca Gavin is a writer and curator based in London. She does the art content for Dazed & Confused, AnOther and Twin among others, curators exhibitions and Soho House’s art collection, and her fourth book ‘100 New Artists’ was recently published by Laurence King.
Check out her blog: roughversion.blogspot.com.
The Perfect Ten is a weekly series of top ten lists by friends of I Love Hot Dogs.
