Daniels pick their favourite arthouse movies of all time
Also known as Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are behind some of the most inventive, profound and downright absurd films of the last decade. Their 2016 picture Swiss Army Man, for example, stars Paul Dano a suicidal castaway who befriends a flatulent corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe). Their Oscar-nominated picture Everything Everywhere All At Once is a celebration of the exuberant and highly stylized films that make up their wildly eclectic tastes. Here, Daniels select some of their favourite art house movies.
First up is Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. “They’re just great,” Daniel Scheinert says of these profoundly moving romance movies, which trace the evolution of one couple’s relationship over 30 years. “I sat down with my partner and watched all three movies with her years ago, and we finished them while on holiday in Central America and had a life-changing discussion about our relationship after watching Before Midnight“. The final film, Scheinert says, helped him and his wife to renegotiate their relationship: “Just sort of seeing this mirror in front of us of where we were headed and what it’s like to domesticate someone you love – blew my mind.”
When Kwan asked him to name his favourite of the three films, Scheinert said: “Honestly? I think [Before] Midnight. But it’s not my favourite movie, it’s just the one that changed my life because it like fucking cold showered me. It’s just so brutal. I also did a film festival of this movie last year where I got up, watched Before Sunrise before the sun rose and then we watched Before Sunset just before dinner and then we stayed up till midnight to watch Before Midnight.“
Kwan’s first selection is Jackie Chan’s Police Story 1 & 2. “This is very formative. My dad, his whole family, they speak in the language of old Hong Kong Kung Foo films. One of my uncles is on the spectrum, and whatever movie you call out, he can tell you what year it came out, who was involved and how it’s connected to whatever universe. And so we watched a lot of Jackie Chan. Police Story 1 & 2 was way too brutal for me as a kid, but I really loved it.”
Kwan also takes a moment to give a shout-out to Juzo Itami’s transcendent 1989 foodie film Tampopo, which we recently included on our list of the greatest celebrations of food in cinema. “This is a movie that is very much a reflection of my soul. I really love food. I love absurdity. I love the way it’s like really sweet and really horrific sometimes. The sexuality in it is just bizarre and beautiful.”
You can check out Daniels’ full selection below.
Daniels’ favourite arthouse:
- The Before Trilogy (Richard Linklater (1995-2013)
- Police Story/ Police Story 2 (Jackie Chan, 1985-1988)
- Godzilla (Ishirô Honda, 1954)
- Tampopo (Juzo Itami, 1989)
- Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992)
- Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)
Scheinert’s final pick is an altogether different film. “have a problem with movies that are based on true stories,” he confesses. “But every once in a while, a movie breaks that for me.” Malcolm X is one such film. “This is just such a riveting crime saga – maybe my favourite crime movie. It just blew my mind when I first saw it like a year ago.” Scheinert concluded that while he’s a “pretty big fan of Spike Lee as a writer and director”, he’s a “very big fan of Spike Lee as an actor. He just comes in so hot in this movie.”
