By Kyle Arensdorf

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The Pianist

Roman Polanski won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for his film, “The Pianist,” which one could infer is a representation of his own escape from Nazi tyranny. Adrien Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman in this autobiography about the Polish classical pianist. Instead of being presented as a hero or a martyr, Szpilman is presented as a broken man who only survived by some well-timed help and dumb luck. He constantly feels the sorrow of losing his loved ones, no matter his fortunes. In Polanski’s confessions in the past, he’s said that the death of his mother in the gas chambers remains so hurtful that only his own death will bring closure.

There Will Be Blood

“There Will Be Blood” is the great Paul Thomas Anderson’s best film. The film depicts the life of an oil tycoon named Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), and how he became the blood-thirsty kingpin of the early-20th century. Day-Lewis won his second Best Actor Oscar for the role that may have been his best. What makes this film successful, aside from the acting, is the score and the cinematography that gives it the eeriness it needs to paint such a brooding portrait.

Lost in Translation

This much-misunderstood Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay in 2003 is a hazy odyssey through the streets of Tokyo, told through the eyes of two fish out of water (Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson). Murray’s understated but still heavily calculated performance turns this film with a meandering screenplay into an in-depth character study about love versus needs.

Man on Wire

The winner of the Best Documentary Oscar in 2009 tells the story of Philippe Petit’s law-breaking stunt in 1974. Petit lugged two tons of equipment to the top of the towers of the World Trade Center, strung a wire between them, and walked back and forth eight times. We know he survived, so why is it so unnerving?

The Station Agent

This 2003 Sundance hit was the directorial debut of Thomas McCarthy. It also marked the launch of star Peter Dinklage’s career. He plays a lonely, shut-in man suffering from dwarfism. When his only friend dies, he inherits an abandoned train station in New Jersey and decides to leave his old life behind and live a life of seclusion in the raggedy shack. Bobby Cannavale and Patricia Clarkson offer candid supporting performances that make the film a great feel-good independent film.