GUS.

a pick six

by Hunter Jon

When I first saw it, I’d never seen anything like “Good Will Hunting”. Same goes for “Elephant”. The former taught me, among so many other valuable things, that you can tell a mature story about immature people. The latter taught me that anything can be captivating given the right context and cinematic touch, no matter how mundane on the surface. His ‘death’ trilogy challenged me as a viewer. His frank and intimate depiction of homosexuality opened my eyes. He taught me that there are no rules. His cameo in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is my favourite joke in the movie. And he made me feel like I could make movies; like my stories are worth telling and that I’m allowed to tell them the way I want to. His signature style is, truly, that he has no signature style. This seems to work as often as it doesn’t. But when he gets it right, and I mean really right, I believe he’s able to change, or better yet expand, hearts and minds. He certainly has mine.

Here are my six favourite movies directed by Gus Van Sant, each rated out of four stars.

(I’ve included the appropriate amount of honourable mentions)

PARANOID PARK (2007) ***

MALA NOCHE (1986) ***

MILK (2008) ***

GERRY (2002) ***

DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989) ***

LAST DAYS (2005) ***

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1991) ***

ELEPHANT (2003) ***1/2

GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997) ****