Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali Reveal Their Favourite Films

In an interview with Letterboxd, Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali discussed their four favourite films.

The actors are promoting their film Leave the World Behind, which was released on Netflix on December 8th.

Mahershala Ali chose Nanook of the North as his first pick, a 1922 silent film that follows an Inuk family in the Canadian Arctic as they try to survive amongst their harsh surroundings. Although its often eferred to as a documentary, it has been alleged that the films director, Robert J. Flaherty, staged several of its scenes.

It was the first feature-length documentary / docudrama to be commercially successful, paving the way for the genre to flourish in later decades.

Roberts’ first choice was The Triplets of Belleville, a 2003 animated film directed by Sylvain Chomet. The movie received critical acclaim and was nominated for two Oscars - Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. It lost the feature category to Finding Nemo, while The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King picked up the Oscar that year for its end-credit song Into the West.

Owing to being such a fan of Robert De Niro’s work, Ali chose Raging Bull as another one of his favourites. Though the film wasn’t financially successful at the time, director Martin Scorsese was extremely precise about making sure every detail of the movie was as perfect as he could make it.

At the time, he believed that he wouldn’t get the chance to make another film after this one, so he wanted to go out with a bang. Despite how acclaimed it is today, Raging Bull received mixed reviews upon its release, though critics did note De Niro’s portrayal of Jake LaMotta as one of the movie’s high points.

Roberts’ next two picks are rarely heard amongst lists of the best films of all time: Now, Voyager and The Adventures of Milo and Otis.

Now, Voyager, starring Bette Davis and directed by Irving Rapper, received mixed reviews from critics and was nominated for three Oscars, winning one for Best Original Score.

The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a 1986 live-action Japanese film directed by Masanori Hata and Kon Ichikawa. The film’s two protagonists, Milo and Otis, are an orange tabby cat and a pug. The movie was edited from over 74 hours of footage, amounting to 400,000 feet of film.

Ali’s final two choices were Do the Right Thing, one of the most memorable and acclaimed films in cinema history about racial tensions and police brutality, as well as A Prophet, the 2009 crime drama and social realist movie by Jacques Audiard.

Fans of Giancarlo Esposito’s recent work in projects like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Boys and Far Cry 6 might be surprised to know that he plays one of the main characters in Do the Right Thing. He portrays Buggin’ Out, a friend of protagonist Mookie who frequently complains about the neighbourhood’s pizzeria not having any pictures of black icons in its ‘Wall of Fame’.

Speaking of Sal and his pizzeria, Robert De Niro was originally set to play the role, but had to decline due to other commitments at the time. He was then replaced by Danny Aiello, whose son Rick played Gary Long, the police officer involved in a very pivotal scene in the film which I won’t spoil, except to say that is the inciting incident in Do the Right Thing.

A Prophet is another highly acclaimed film, charting a petty criminal’s time in prison as he struggles to survive in a brutal environment while trying not to corrupt his soul. Starring Tahar Rahim in a breakout role, the film was critically acclaimed and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Leave the World Behind, written and directed by Sam Esmail and starring Mahershala Ali and Julia Roberts, premiered on Netflix yesterday. It depicts a world where a gradual breakdown in technology that seems to point to disaster for humanity.

What do you think of Roberts’ and Ali’s picks? And what are your favourite films of all time? Give your opinion in the comments.