, back in 1995. The Lupe had never heard of it, but a friend wanted to drive to an art theater to watch it, so he went along. They followed that up with Trainspotting
and the director's cut of Das Boot
. By 1997, they were watching art house movies at least once a month. The Lupe saw so many good ones in 1998, he decided to make a list of the best ones. Then came 1999, probably the best year for movies since the seventies, which gave the Lupe not only a great list, but a reason to keep doing them in the years that followed.But who is the Lupe? No one, really. Unlike his coauthor, Strat, the Lupe doesn't work in the film industry. He's written a couple of reviews for ComingSoon.net (notably the Catwoman review), and met Charlize Theron once (she touched his shoulder). Ultimately, the Lupe's opinion doesn't matter. It carries no weight. The only reason to pay attention to him is because he's the everyman; he thinks what everyone else is thinking. Except when everyone else is wrong.
With that in mind, the Lupe offers his opinion on more than a decade of movies, in a handy list format.
Strat came into the game late. The Lupe was already making lists when he met him and 1999 was so compelling that he had to add his own. Strat is a working media maker in LA and has worked in music videos, commercials, B-movie features and international reality TV. His opinion might matter when he's out with his friends, but probably not. At least he can argue the merits of certain movies with the Lupe.
Besides the lists which might be useful for anyone wanting to check out some movies via Netflix, Blockbuster or an actual open and operating video store, the Lupe and Strat will be preparing ongoing lists via this blog for the inevitable top 20 lists for the current year.
