C.J. "Fiery" Obasi

Comments

GoodFellas

For me it's just a perfect film - pure art, yet very accessible, with unforgettable scenes and dialogue, and what cinematography!

The Seventh Seal

I saw an English-dubbed version as a kid, so for the longest time I didn't know it was a Swedish film. But the images still haunted me.

Taxi Driver

Scorsese couldn't be touched at this point, and Taxi Driver is a pure example of that.

Night of the Living Dead

Watching the movie now, you may not agree with my selection, but once you remember that Romero did what he did in 1968, then it hits you just how crazy and groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead is.

Raging Bull

Again, Martin Scorsese.

I remember reading a quote by Brian De Palma, where he mentioned finishing post on Scarface and feeling really good about it. Then he decides to go watch Raging Bull in the theatre. When the movie starts and he sees the opening scene, with De Niro bouncing in the foggy ring in slow motion, he immediately feels deflated and shitty about his movie. He concluded: “No matter how good you are, there's always Scorsese.”

Seven Samurai

Because it is a masterclass in filmmaking. Period.

Touki Bouki

Bold, visionary filmmaking. It takes your expectations of African cinema and throws them out the window.

The City of God

People still don't appreciate what Lund and Meirelles did in City of God. I mean, they do. But not really.

The Exorcist

Still nothing like it.

YEELEN

My favorite movie of ALL TIME. The fact that it never makes the top ten movies list of all time is heartbreaking to me. It's not one of the best African films of all time, it is one of the best films of all time, period!

Further remarks

This list is in no particular order, but if I had to pick a number one, it would be Yeelen for sure.