What are your top 10 films?

[thehellgate911]

I searched extensively for a thread like this, and couldn't find one. So here goes. My top 10 films, and a mini-review for each one.

My top 10 films:

#1. Amadeus.

I doubt that this masterwork will be topped in my lifetime. An extraordinary play turned into an extraordinary film by one of the greatest living film makers. In this film, very much like in Mozart's music, nothing feels out of place or wrong. Sequences driven by godly music and academy award winning acting drive the compelling story forward with incredible power and perfection. Amadeus rightfully swept the 1985 Academy Awards.

#2. Downfall.

Showing in uncompromising realism and detail the last few days of Hitler's life, Downfall is an exceptional masterpiece. The film draws the viewer in through it's somber desolation. Silent moments and almost overbearingly realistic scenes make the viewer feel as if they are in Hitler's bunker in the last days of the war. I am left feeling like the world came to an end when the masterful coda of this elegy finally draws to a close.

#3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

This film is hard to review. It's absolutely brilliant in the way it achieves epic levels without any battle scenes, special effects, or anything technically extravagant. It's funny in places, heart breaking in others, and overall is a multi-layered masterwork completely on par with Forman's later masterpiece "Amadeus." The way it ensnares and entrances the viewer is almost unexplainable. A true masterpiece.

#4. Schindler's List.

In my opinion, Schindler's List and Downfall are the two greatest World War II films ever made. Watching one after the other, they don't seem to match as a series of any sort, but that's exactly the point. One side of the situation (the jews, the concentration camps, the ghettos) was entirely different than the other side (Hitler's private life, the lives of all his close friends). That's what's so great about putting those two films together. And of course, Schindler's List is a brilliant piece of film making. I've counted at least seven "cinematic sequences" in the film, on par with the most gripping musically driven sequences from Amadeus.

#5. The Fellowship of the Ring.

No other team could have brought The Lord of the Rings to the screen the way Peter Jackson and his team did. Absolute perfection in all areas of film making for this one. The music and the cinematography in particular are what make this film so spectacular. A true masterpiece. Almost a modern Amadeus in the fantasy genre.

#6. Babel.

Babel cuts abruptly between Japan, Morocco, and Mexico, covering four different stories, and succeeding on every level in spite of the fact that the four stories aren't even happening at the same time. In Iñárritu's previous films, his technique of jumping around between stories was a little disorienting, and sometimes distractingly abrupt, but in Babel it's as smooth as a river, and even when he cuts abruptly from a japanese club to a moroccan desert, the viewer doesn't feel confused. He melds these four tragic stories together seamlessly, and the result is a brilliant kaleidoscopic film that grips the viewer merely by the brilliance in which it moves.

#7. Life is Beautiful.

I'd call Roberto Benigni the "modern day Chaplin" if he had made more than one masterpiece. The Tiger and the Snow was good, but nothing in comparison to his eternal gem "Life is Beautiful." He did something that nobody else succeeded to do. He brought to the screen a completely fictional fairy tale, full of ridiculously unrealistic events and impossible scenarios, that still operates on a brilliant level. The messages of love, connection, and the pure genius in which Benigni plays out the film, transcend the need for a realistic story. And the music is absolutely beautiful.

#8. City Lights.

Charlie Chaplin has the ability to walk on the very thin line between comedy and tragedy without falling off. City Lights is hilarious and tragic at the same time. The physical comedy is masterfully executed, and the result of Chaplin's ability to meld that with a deep storyline, creates one of the greatest films ever made. Pure genius.

#9. Modern Times.

Another Chaplin masterwork. Basically the same things I said about City Lights apply here. It's an absolutely whole and perfected masterpiece that incorporates almost every human emotion in it's delicate folds. How Chaplin achieved that balance between comedy and tragedy is beyond me. It's absolutely amazing.

#10. The Circus.

Yet another Chaplin film. The Circus, while it does have deep moments, and overall a very serious storyline, presents itself primarily as a comedy. And it's one of the best comedies i've ever seen. The stunts and the physical comedy in this film are brilliant. Just brilliant.

[KingOfSomewhereHot]

Wow, your tastes are a bit different from mine. I won't argue your list, because any list like this boils down to a personal taste.

The only one from your list I'd include in mine would be Cukoo's Nest.

I'd definitely include "Airplane" and "The Blues Brother's"

More recently, I really liked "Master and Commander" (based on Patrick O'Briens books... definitely read them if you liked that movie!) and "The Last Samurai".

Going back to an old TV mini-series... "Shogun" was very good... does that count as a "film"?

hmm.... 4 more....

"Star Wars" (episode 4, the original)
"Top Gun"
"Riding Giants" (Surf documentary)
"Tora!, Tora!, Tora!"

OK, so there's 10 ... further thought might bump a couple off my top-10 list, but they'd at least be very close behind ;)

[NOFEER]

wizard of oz

ben hur

godfather


2001 space odyssey

[SpamSandwich]

I don't think it's fair to put films in a top 10 list because our tastes change over time as we age, acquire more life experiences, gain new points of view...

Here are a few all-time favorites, in no particular order (and this is by no means a complete list):

-Blade Runner
-Star Wars (don't give me any of that "Episode __" nonsense)
-Lust, Caution
-Contact
-Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles
-Oldboy
-Beetlejuice
-The French Connection
-The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
-The Big Lebowski
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
-Dumb & Dumber
-Kingpin
-The Hidden Fortress
-All James Bond movies with Sean Connery
-It's a Wonderful Life
-Shaun of the Dead
-All Pixar movies (but not "Cars")
-Aliens
-High and Low

[thehellgate911]

I don't think it's fair to put films in a top 10 list because our tastes change over time as we age, acquire more life experiences, gain new points of view...

Here are a few all-time favorites, in no particular order (and this is by no means a complete list):

-Blade Runner
-Star Wars (don't give me any of that "Episode __" nonsense)
-Lust, Caution
-Contact
-Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles
-Oldboy
-Beetlejuice
-The French Connection
-The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
-The Big Lebowski
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
-Dumb & Dumber
-Kingpin
-The Hidden Fortress
-All James Bond movies with Sean Connery
-It's a Wonderful Life
-Shaun of the Dead
-All Pixar movies (but not "Cars")
-Aliens
-High and Low

Was Lust, Caution really good? I've been wanting to see it, but something about it just gave me the impression that it might be mediocre.

[SpamSandwich]

Was Lust, Caution really good? I've been wanting to see it, but something about it just gave me the impression that it might be mediocre.

It hit a very delicate balance, and I never felt anything was unrealistic in its presentation. It was actually very sad.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I don't think it's fair to put films in a top 10 list because our tastes change over time as we age, acquire more life experiences, gain new points of view...

Here are a few all-time favorites, in no particular order (and this is by no means a complete list):

-Blade Runner
-Star Wars (don't give me any of that "Episode __" nonsense)
-Lust, Caution
-Contact
-Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles
-Oldboy
-Beetlejuice
-The French Connection
-The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
-The Big Lebowski
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
-Dumb & Dumber
-Kingpin
-The Hidden Fortress
-All James Bond movies with Sean Connery
-It's a Wonderful Life
-Shaun of the Dead
-All Pixar movies (but not "Cars")
-Aliens
-High and Low

Come one Spammie...

Contact???

[SpamSandwich]

Come one Spammie...

Contact???

Yeah, why? Doesn't have to be everyone's favorite, and it has some spots that drag and don't make a lot of sense... but it's still one of my 'guilty pleasures'. :p ...and I thought I'd get criticized for Dumb & Dumber... :D

[hmurchison]

In no particular order.


1. Lord of the Rings
2. Aliens- Yes..I consider this the quintessential alien/action flick
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. The Matrix
5. North by Northwest
6. Schindlers List
7. Life is Beautiful
8. City of God
9. Gladiator/Braveheart- toss up
10 Empire Strikes Back- Darth pwns beotches.

[zinfella]

Fuji Velvia 50
Fuji NPH
Fuji NPS
Fuji NPZ
Repeat the above 2.5 more times.

[SpamSandwich]

Fuji Velvia 50
Fuji NPH
Fuji NPS
Fuji NPZ
Repeat the above 2.5 more times.

Heheh... "movies", not "film"... :lol:

[SpamSandwich]

In no particular order.


1. Lord of the Rings
2. Aliens- Yes..I consider this the quintessential alien/action flick
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. The Matrix
5. North by Northwest
6. Schindlers List
7. Life is Beautiful
8. City of God
9. Gladiator/Braveheart- toss up
10 Empire Strikes Back- Darth pwns beotches.

Another good list. Hitchcock was a genius...

[hardeeharhar]

-Timerider -- The Adventure of Lyle Swann <- most underrated film ever, transcends bad
-Big Trouble in Little China
-The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
-The gods must be crazy
-The gods must be crazy ii
-Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
-I'm gonna get you sucka
-StarTrek IV
-Spiderman II
-The Grudge

Fascinating comedies, all.

[sammi jo]

Some that immediately come to mind... in no specific order


Brazil (seen this one so many times, way ahead of its time.. Terry Gilliam rocks!)
Contact (my favorite sci-fi movie... RIP Carl Sagan)
Mon Oncle (anything by Tati is a must see)
Titanic (I'm sure most of have us have seen it, love it or hate it.. i loved it)
The Life of Brian (for me, the best Monty Python movie)
A Night on Earth (contains one of the most hilarious scenes *ever*! :lol: )
The Party (Peter Sellers... total genius)
2001 A Space odyssey (wonderful, my other favorite sci fi movie)
Shawshank Redemption (super plot twist!)
V for Vendetta (Where are you, "V"..??????) :\
Room with a View (something about this movie gets me every time)
Milagro Beanfield War (there's hope after all)
Schindler's List ('nuff said)
Hulot's Holiday (more Tati)

and so many more worthy of mention I could type all night; I'm sure I've omitted many of my favorites.

[SpamSandwich]

Fascinating picks... I'd like to see some "favorite" bad movies lists also. Nothing but the best of the worst!

I'd have to start off the "So Bad They're Good" list with:

-Battle Royale
-For Your Height Only
-Freaked
-Grindhouse: Death Proof
-The City of Violence
-Norbit
-Quest For Fire
-Underworld Evolution
-Girl Boss Guerilla
-Hanzo the Razor series
-Prime Cut
-Uzumaki
-Top Secret
-The entire Planet of the Apes movie series

[tonton]

No particular order:

Shawshank Redemption
The 5th Element
Alfie (Remake)
The Beach
Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
2001: A Space Odyssey
Mad Max
Augustin, King of Kung Fu
Closer
An Affair to Remember
Star Wars
The Fellowship of the Ring
Saved!
The Breakfast Club
Spartacus
The Wizard of Oz
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Wedding Banquet
My Girl
Fight Club
Trainspotting
The Graduate
Good Will Hunting
Time Bandits
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
The Sixth Sense
Parenthood
White (Trois Couleurs Series)
Moulin Rouge
The Pink Panther
Breakfast at Tiffany's

[SpamSandwich]

No particular order:

Shawshank Redemption
The 5th Element
Alfie (Remake)
The Beach
Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
2001: A Space Odyssey
Mad Max
Augustin, King of Kung Fu
Closer
An Affair to Remember
Star Wars
The Fellowship of the Ring
Saved!
The Breakfast Club
Spartacus
The Wizard of Oz
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Wedding Banquet
My Girl
Fight Club
Trainspotting
The Graduate
Good Will Hunting
Time Bandits
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
The Sixth Sense
Parenthood
White (Trois Couleurs Series)
Moulin Rouge
The Pink Panther
Breakfast at Tiffany's

Got some good ones in there... a few I forgot about too. :)

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Top 8 in particular order:

Beaches
Brian's Song
Steel Magnolias
Old Yeller
My Girl
Philadelphia
Terms of Endearment
Ghost

[Marvin]

House of Flying Daggers
The Green Mile
The Matrix
King Kong Peter Jackson remake minus Jack Black
Toy Story
American Beauty
Batman Begins
Requiem for a Dream
Forest Gump
American Gangster
Saving Private Ryan
Psycho (the original one)

Not necessarily all my favorite and tastes do change. I would have probably put movies like Short Circuit, the original Superman, Smokey and the Bandit etc in there years ago.

[Hassan i Sabbah]

This is my favourite film right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7uGwb7iBs&feature=user

So... touching.

[iPoster]

Come one Spammie...

Contact???

Not one of my personal all time favorites, but it's not terrible, at least they attempted to follow the book. Everyone's opinions differ, they gave a Best Picture Oscar to the (IMHO) boring train wreck called The English Patient after all! :rolleyes:

IRT Topic:

Wow, 10 best movie lists are tough to make, for all the reasons mentioned above.
Some just off the top of my head here, more than 10 and no particular order or genre:

Alien/Aliens (back in the VHS days, I recopied them into one long movie :D)
2001
Life is Beautiful
Grave of the Fireflies (yes it's anime, but right up there with Life is Beautiful or Schindler's List in my book! Saddest movie We've ever seen.)
Saving Private Ryan
Forest Gump
LOTR series
E.T.
Jaws
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles
Dr. Strangelove
The African Queen
Bringing up Baby (the original madcap comedy)
Tremors (best of the B monster movies!)
Anything by Pixar
Spirited Away
Princess Monoke
The Matrix

[@_@ Artman]

Out of my collection of over 100?

No. How about ten best directors?

1. Orson Wells (Ok, toss-up with Hitchcock)
2. Akira Kurosawa
3. Stanley Kubrick
4. Martin Scorsese
5. Ridley Scott
6. Sidney Lumet
7. Terry Gilliam
8. David Lynch
9. The Coen Brothers
10. Quentin Tarantino

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading out to see the Wachowski brother's Speed Racer. :D

[zinfella]

Heheh... "movies", not "film"... :lol:

Burnt Offerings
and 9 more

[tonton]

Top 8 in particular order:

Beaches
Brian's Song
Steel Magnolias
Old Yeller
My Girl
Philadelphia
Terms of Endearment
Ghost

Is that your list, or your mom's?

[tonton]

Is that your list, or your mom's?

Just kidding, dude.

Anyway, when I put "My Girl" on my list, I didn't dream there would be anyone else who agreed with that choice...

[e1618978]

top 100 or so, in alphabetical order:

2001, a space odyssey
48 Hours
5th Element, the
9th Gate, the
Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The
After Hours
AI
Akira
Alien
American Beauty
An Evening at Home with Claude
Angel Heart
Beetlejuice
Being Human
Being John Malcovitch
Bend it like Beckham
Bill and Ted, 1 and 2
Blade Runner, directors cut
Blue Velvet
Brazil
Caberet
Cabin Boy
Clerks
Clue
Coca-Cola Kid, the
Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her lover, the
Crash
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Delicatessen
Diva
Dogma
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Eating Roul
Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas
Fight Club
Fiona
Four rooms (first three rooms only)
Galexina
Get Shorty
Ghost in the Shell, the 1 and 2
Grose Point Blank
Hair
Harold and Maude
Heathers
Henry and June
High Fidelity
Highway 61
Hunger, the
Incredibles, The
Interview with a Vampire
James and the giant peach
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus of Montreal
Johnny Mnemonic
Kill Bil, vol 1 and 2
La Femme Nikita
Lawrence of Arabia
Liquid Sky
Lone Star
Lord of the rings 1,2,3
Mallrats
Matrix 1-3 and Anamatrix
Midnight in the Garden of good and evil
Mission Impossible
Natural Born Killers
Nightmare before Christmas, the
Party, the
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pistol Opera
President's Analyst, the
Princess Bride, the
Pulp Fiction
Queen of the Damned
Repo Man
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead
Scenes from the class struggle in Beverly Hills
She's gotta have it
Sid and Nancy
Six degrees of separation
Snatch
Spun
Star Wars 4,5,6
Super Mario Brothers
Tank Girl
Taxi Driver
Time Bandits
Tomb Raider 1 and 2
Trainspotting
Usual suspects, the
Videodrome
Wild Things
Office Space
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

[zinfella]

Bullitt

[iPoster]

Bullitt

I see your Bullitt, and raise you a Ronin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUhjHtdoY4). 8-)

(not in English, Hollywood does love their copyrights)

[zinfella]

I see your Bullitt, and raise you a Ronin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUhjHtdoY4). 8-)

(not in English, Hollywood does love their copyrights)

Bump you back with The Unforgiven

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Is that your list, or your mom's?

Leave my mother out of this... :mad:

And keep dreaming. You might be the only one who has My Girl on their actual list. ;)

[@_@ Artman]

I see your Bullitt, and raise you a Ronin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUhjHtdoY4). 8-)

(not in English, Hollywood does love their copyrights)

Then be dealt with a true ronin, Yojimbo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t31HJGEbw2Q). :smokey:

[iPoster]

Then be dealt with a true ronin, Yojimbo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t31HJGEbw2Q). :smokey:

Ah yes, Yojimbo. Kurosawa set the path for so many modern directors.

Zatoichi - The Blind Swordsman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiw9XAipq0) is a good samurai series too, not quite as good as Kurosawa's though.

[SpamSandwich]

Ah yes, Yojimbo. Kurosawa set the path for so many modern directors.

Zatoichi - The Blind Swordsman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiw9XAipq0) is a good samurai series too, not quite as good as Kurosawa's though.

I did like the modern (2003) version of Zatoichi from Beat Takeshi (a real nut, by the way). And his song and dance number at the end killed!

[tonton]

Leave my mother out of this... :mad:

And keep dreaming. You might be the only one who has My Girl on their actual list. ;)

Touché LOL

[SDW2001]

Top movies (I won't say "films" because I wouldn't call many of these "films.")

1. Star Trek II
2. Office Space
3. Star Wars
4. The Matrix
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Top Gun
7. Superman II
8. The Hunt for Red October
9. Pulp Fiction
10. Star Trek: First Contact


Not saying they are the best from a critical standpoint, of course.

[Silviar]

A toughie for me, I enjoy many movies and films. Here's my top ten list, although not in a particular order (depends on my mood):

1. Two for the Road
2. Star Wars: Original Trilogy (new trilogy is.... ok, I guess, but it doesn't give me the same feel)
3. Matrix Trilogy
4. Saved!
5. Lord of the Rings trilogy
6. Kill Bill
7. Batman Beyond
8. X-Men 1 & 2 (3 is where it went to hell in a handbasket. Sigh)
9. V for Vendetta
10. Schindler's List

And I agree that One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a good movie, but I really like the book more.

[@_@ Artman]

Ah yes, Yojimbo. Kurosawa set the path for so many modern directors.

Zatoichi - The Blind Swordsman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiw9XAipq0) is a good samurai series too, not quite as good as Kurosawa's though.

I got that in a budget bin for ten bucks. Heard of Beat Takeshi before (Brother (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_%282000_film%29) and Battle Royale) but never seen his take on the Blind Swordsman, incredible. The DVD has another disc of his film Sonatine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatine), a film I have no clue what is going on (gangsters chilling on the beach?), but the sumo wrestling scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2SI1q0wV50) was great.

[thehellgate911]

Best Netflix Watch Instantly Films (I've seen this year; No order)

La Vie en Rose,
A Perfect World,
Five Easy Pieces,
A Very Long Engagement,
Casablanca,
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,
Les Choses Secrets,
Tonton's Sex Tape,
Sherrybaby

La Vie en Rose was outstandingly superb. I was left in awe at the end. :wow:

[addabox]

La Vie en Rose was outstandingly superb. I was left in awe at the end. :wow:

Certainly could say the same of Tonton's Sex Tape.

[tonton]

:lol:

Those asian chicks will do anything!

I notice you didn't mention the outstanding performance by Guybrush Threepwood's mom.

[SpamSandwich]

Top movies (I won't say "films" because I wouldn't call many of these "films.")

1. Star Trek II
2. Office Space
3. Star Wars
4. The Matrix
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Top Gun
7. Superman II
8. The Hunt for Red October
9. Pulp Fiction
10. Star Trek: First Contact


Not saying they are the best from a critical standpoint, of course.

Forget about critics... If you liked 'em, you liked 'em.

[catherine sea]

I love your list! And Amadeus? Wow, it simply blows my mind with the way it depicts Mozart, an spoiled child in a grown man's body instead of a larger-than-life genius. And thank god, Amadeus was not a traditional villain which would be horrible. As I see it, Amadeus deserves every one of it eight Oscars. Yeah, it's definitely on the top of my list.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Fucking macgeek200x.

You actually started a normal thread and got genuine responses that weren't negatively directed at you.

But obviously that wasn't good enough.

You just HAD to go and pat yourself on the back once more... :no:

[thehellgate911]

Fucking macgeek200x.

You actually started a normal thread and got genuine responses that weren't negatively directed at you.

But obviously that wasn't good enough.

You just HAD to go and pat yourself on the back once more... :no:

I'm not catherine sea. IP check please?

[SpamSandwich]

Fucking macgeek200x.

You actually started a normal thread and got genuine responses that weren't negatively directed at you.

But obviously that wasn't good enough.

You just HAD to go and pat yourself on the back once more... :no:

WTF? :???:

[thehellgate911]

WTF? :???:

That guy thought that I had registered another user just to congratulate myself on the successful thread. He'll either be deleting or editing his post soon. And in case he doesn't do this himself, i'll do it for him:

:embarrass:embarrass

[@_@ Artman]

I'd have to be an idiot if this movie wasn't on my list. I have a copy and usually watch it 4-5 times a year. Especially at parties, just because there are so many memorable scenes.

http://3dcreations.ca/images/True%20Romance_html_36777484.jpg

True Romance: 15 Years Later (http://www.maxim.com/Trueromance15yearslater/articles/24494.aspx?src=sharebar-reddit)

[SpamSandwich]

I'd have to be an idiot if this movie wasn't on my list. I have a copy and usually watch it 4-5 times a year. Especially at parties, just because there are so many memorable scenes.

http://3dcreations.ca/images/True%20Romance_html_36777484.jpg

True Romance: 15 Years Later (http://www.maxim.com/Trueromance15yearslater/articles/24494.aspx?src=sharebar-reddit)

Y'know, this movie on second viewing (recently) was so jarringly violent I couldn't stand it.

[@_@ Artman]

Y'know, this movie on second viewing (recently) was so jarringly violent I couldn't stand it.

I saw it in the theater when it came out. The scene with Gandolfini and Arquette was cut down because it would have gotten an NC-17 rating. I recall when the director's cut came out that they put it back in. I didn't expect the realism Scott got on screen and it was (is) upsetting. There are a lot of humorous elements that balance out the chaos though. But this is a love story above all else. One that has been told through the ages. It's just a coked-up '90's version of it. In film it has been also a repeated premise...

Rebel Without a Cause - James Dean, Natalie Wood
Bonnie and Clyde - Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway
Badlands - Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry - Peter Fonda, Susan George
Wild at Heart - Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern
True Romance - Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette
Natural Born Killers - Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis

Another thing, I always wondered where Hans Zimmer came up with that one composition ("You're So Cool (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ab1l2TwFp8)") used in the movie, there was also a similar song in the 1973 film Badlands (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EkLW8eNhDI). Almost the same story (based on a true one no less) and it seems that Tarantino swiped a lot of the ideas for True Romance from the movie Badlands.

[SpamSandwich]

Another thing, I always wondered where Hans Zimmer came up with that one composition ("You're So Cool (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ab1l2TwFp8)") used in the movie, there was also a similar song in the 1973 film Badlands (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EkLW8eNhDI). Almost the same story (based on a true one no less) and it seems that Tarantino swiped a lot of the ideas for True Romance from the movie Badlands.

Quentin is a shameless 'swiper'. I think the Avary/Tarantino scriptwriting genius was a one shot that resulted in "Pulp Fiction" and we'll likely never see that depth of script from him again. He'd take all the credit anyway.

[Hassan i Sabbah]

I love your list! And Amadeus? Wow, it simply blows my mind with the way it depicts Mozart, an spoiled child in a grown man's body instead of a larger-than-life genius. And thank god, Amadeus was not a traditional villain which would be horrible. As I see it, Amadeus deserves every one of it eight Oscars. Yeah, it's definitely on the top of my list.

This was definitely written by macgeek/ hellgate. :) What fun.

[hardeeharhar]

That guy thought that I had registered another user just to congratulate myself on the successful thread. He'll either be deleting or editing his post soon. And in case he doesn't do this himself, i'll do it for him:

:embarrass:embarrass
um, no... read the comments *you* posted as catherine sea again... they don't claim this thread is successful, they claim to like amadeus (enough to jerk off any other fellow liker of that bore fest)...

[Guybrush Threepwood]

What's even more ridiculous is that he's genuinely surprised when he's figured out every time. The pattern isn't that hard to follow.

First he emerges.
Then he denies.
Then he confesses.
Then he apologizes.
Then he's "enlightened."
Finally, he leaves.

Rinse and repeat.

[tonton]

What's even more ridiculous is that he's genuinely surprised when he's figured out every time. The pattern isn't that hard to follow.

First he emerges.
Then he denies.
Then he confesses.
Then he apologizes.
Then he's "enlightened."
Finally, he leaves.

Rinse and repeat.

Whadd'ya bet the recorded IP address for catherine sea is a proxy server?

[Guybrush Threepwood]

He's not that fuckin' sly. He's probably just on vacation at a relative's or something...

[giant]

catherine sea (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=%22catherine+sea%22&start=10&sa=N) is one name used by someone spamming through forum drivebys to increase the pagerank of the site in the sig. As surprising as it is considering macgeek is notorious for silly posts and using countless aliases, this time it's almost certainly not macgeek.

Also, catherine sea/dynamsoft/loser SEO consultant dynamsoft paid to increase their page rank: SEO is already a trashy field, but congrats on making it just that much trashier.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

And sometimes I wonder why I always get dismissed from jury duty...

[Hassan i Sabbah]

PUBLIC APOLOGY TO HELLGATE

Sorry. Sorry sorry sorry. Mea culpa.

Amadeus is a good film, but have you seen it in the theatre ever? The original is really good.

[thehellgate911]

Apology accepted.

I've never seen Amadeus in the theater, but I am familiar with both versions. I like the director's cut better. A lot of times a director's cut will include a bunch of pointless scenes that just waste time and clog up the flim (hence why they were cut out), but in the case of Amadeus, every re-inserted scene adds depth and dimension to the film. They were only cut out in the first place because the producer/s was concerned that three hours was too long. There are almost no unnecessary scenes in the director's cut, not to mention that that version has restored picture and sound, and is on a dual-layer disc so that you don't have to flip it over half way through the film, and at a very crucial/masterful cut too. :\

Whadd'ya bet the recorded IP address for catherine sea is a proxy server?

Proxy servers don't let you log into an appleinsider account. They don't accept cookies.

I love your list! And Amadeus? Wow, it simply blows my mind with the way it depicts Mozart, an spoiled child in a grown man's body instead of a larger-than-life genius. And thank god, Amadeus was not a traditional villain which would be horrible. As I see it, Amadeus deserves every one of it eight Oscars. Yeah, it's definitely on the top of my list.

I'd also like to point out that you all could've figured out that this isn't me, by the fact that she said "an spoiled child." I know how to write.

[giant]

Proxy servers don't let you log into an appleinsider account. They don't accept cookies.
Not true.
I'd also like to point out that you all could've figured out that this isn't me, by the fact that she said "an spoiled child." I know how to write.
That post was exactly your style in every way, which is why people reacted the way they did.

[thehellgate911]

Not true.

That post was exactly your style in every way, which is why people reacted the way they did.

Fair enough.

[Relic]

Blade Runner
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Southland Tales (Yes I love this movie)
True Romance
GoodFellas
The Professional
5th Element

[Relic]

Quentin is a shameless 'swiper'. I think the Avary/Tarantino scriptwriting genius was a one shot that resulted in "Pulp Fiction" and we'll likely never see that depth of script from him again. He'd take all the credit anyway.

Good point, but you have to remember Quentin used to work at a video store before coming a writer and has repeatedly said that all his ideas come from a mixture of the films he loved. I think Quentin is a very talented writer and director, Just watch True Romance, the scene between Walken and Hopper is fantastic.

.................................................. .................................................. ........................................

Cliff: Now, wait a minute and listen. I haven't seen Clarence in three years. Yesterday he shows up here with a girl, sayin' he got married. He told me he needed some quick cash for a honeymoon, so he asked if he could borrow five hundred dollars. I wanted to help him out so I wrote out a check. We went to breakfast and that's the last I saw of him. So help me God. They never thought to tell me where they were goin'. And I never thought to ask.
Coccotti: Sicilians are great liars. The best in the world. I'm a Sicilian. And my old man was the world heavyweight champion of Sicilian liars. And from growin' up with him I learned the pantomime. Now there are seventeen different things a guy can do when he lies to give him away. A guy has seventeen pantomimes. A woman's got twenty, but a guy's got seventeen. And if you know 'em like ya know your own face, they beat lie detectors to hell. What we got here is a little game of show and tell. You don't wanna show me nothin'. But you're tellin' me everything. Now I know you know where they are. So tell me, before I do some damage you won't walk away from.
Cliff: Could I have one of those Chesterfields now?
Coccotti: Sure.
Cliff: Got a match? Oh, don't bother. I got one. So you're a Sicilian, huh?
Coccotti: Uh-huh.
Cliff: You know I read a lot. Especially things that have to do with history. I find that shit fascinating. In fact, I don't know if you know this or not, Sicilians were spawned by niggers.
Coccotti: Come again?
Cliff: It's a fact. Sicilians have nig... blood pumpin' through their hearts. If you don't believe me, look it up. You see, hundreds and hundreds of years ago the Moors conquered Sicily. And Moors are nig...s. Way back then, Sicilians were like the wops in northern Italy. Blond hair, blue eyes. But, once the Moors moved in there, they changed the whole country. They did so much fuckin' with the Sicilian women, they changed the blood-line for ever, from blond hair and blue eyes to black hair and dark skin. I find it absolutely amazing to think that to this day, hundreds of years later, Sicilians still carry that nig... gene. I'm just quotin' history. It's a fact. It's written. Your ancestors were nig...s. Your great, great, great, great, great-grandmother was fucked by a nig..., and had a half-nig... kid. That is a fact. Now tell me, am I lyin'?

[Relic]

I forgot Donnie Darko

Donnie: First of all, Papa Smurf didn't create Smurfette. Gargamel did. She was sent in as Gargamel's evil spy with the intention of destroying the Smurf village, but the overwhelming goodness of the Smurf way of life transformed her. And as for the whole gang-bang scenario, it just couldn't happen. Smurfs are asexual. They don't even have reproductive organs under those little white pants. That's what's so illogical, you know, about being a Smurf. What's the point of living if you don't have a dick?

[catherine sea]

Blade Runner
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Southland Tales (Yes I love this movie)
True Romance
GoodFellas
The Professional
5th Element

The soprano in 5th Element certainly makes an impression on me.

[catherine sea]

That guy thought that I had registered another user just to congratulate myself on the successful thread. He'll either be deleting or editing his post soon. And in case he doesn't do this himself, i'll do it for him:

:embarrass:embarrass

Apparently I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it never occurred to me it would cause such an uproar and inconvenience for thehellgate911. Sorry.

[thehellgate911]

Apparently I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it never occurred to me it would cause such an uproar and inconvenience for thehellgate911. Sorry.

No need to apologize. You wrote something in this thread, and a few other people started an uproar. Hassan i Sabbah has apologized on their behalf. We're good. :)

[Relic]

No need to apologize. You wrote something in this thread, and a few other people started an uproar. Hassan i Sabbah has apologized on their behalf. We're good. :)

Sorry but I've been gone for a while. Is Hassan i Sabbah still around? I thought he would be driven out by now.

[addabox]

Sorry but I've been gone for a while. Is Hassan i Sabbah still around? I thought he would be driven out by now.

Hi Relic.

How are you doing? Glad to see you posting.

[midwinter]

So bad they're good:

1) The Core
2) Deep Blue Sea
3) Reign of Fire
4) The Chronicles of Riddick
5) Mindhunters
6) National Teasures
7) Sahara
8) Virus
9) Timesline
10) Day After Tomorrow

Movies I Dig A Lot:

1) Stranger than Fiction
2) A Very Long Engagement
3) Searching for Bobby Fischer
4) The Constant Gardener
5) Syriana
6) Fargo
7)Elizabethtown
8) Hero
9) The Paper Chase
9) The Untouchables
10) State and Main
11) The Usual Suspects
12) Starship Troopers

I won't bother with a pretentious list of clasics. Just imagine that I've listed off Citizen Kane, 12 Angry Men, Casablanca, African Queen, Gone with the Wind, Now, Voyager, Adam's Rib, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, To Sir with Love, Lawrence of Arabia, and Gandhi.

[remarkable12]

don't forget snakes on planes...what an all time classic

[midwinter]

don't forget snakes on planes...what an all time classic

I actually think that it was a failure on a lot of levels, primarily that there was no anaconda on that plane. But I wanted to see a LOT more references to other snake movies, and it just didn't do it.

[SpamSandwich]

So bad they're good:

1) The Core
2) Deep Blue Sea
3) Reign of Fire
4) The Chronicles of Riddick
5) Mindhunters
6) National Teasures
7) Sahara
8) Virus
9) Timesline
10) Day After Tomorrow

Movies I Dig A Lot:

1) Stranger than Fiction
2) A Very Long Engagement
3) Searching for Bobby Fischer
4) The Constant Gardener
5) Syriana
6) Fargo
7)Elizabethtown
8) Hero
9) The Paper Chase
9) The Untouchables
10) State and Main
11) The Usual Suspects
12) Starship Troopers

I won't bother with a pretentious list of clasics. Just imagine that I've listed off Citizen Kane, 12 Angry Men, Casablanca, African Queen, Gone with the Wind, Now, Voyager, Adam's Rib, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, To Sir with Love, Lawrence of Arabia, and Gandhi.

Frankly, a lot of the 'classics' leave me cold. I like that you have "Riddick" on the so-bad-they're-good list and "Starship Troopers" on the "good" list. ;) I like them both as good "bad" movies.

[SpamSandwich]

don't forget snakes on planes...what an all time classic

I'll assume you were being sarcastic. :D I think they really dropped the ball on this movie. It could have been a hundred times more extreme and ended up a modern cult classic.

[midwinter]

Frankly, a lot of the 'classics' leave me cold. I like that you have "Riddick" on the so-bad-they're-good list and "Starship Troopers" on the "good" list. ;) I like them both as good "bad" movies.

I'm actually fairly convinced that ver hooven tricked his actors in Troopers into thinking that they were making an action flick and not a critique of propaganda.

[SpamSandwich]

I'm actually fairly convinced that ver hooven tricked his actors in Troopers into thinking that they were making an action flick and not a critique of propaganda.

The book was nothing like the movie... I was hoping for the jump suits, but got Beverly Hills, 90210 in Space, instead. Because it was so different, I ended up liking it a lot. One of my all-time favorites. I always remember the immortal line, "We're in this for the species, boys and girls."... delivered by Doogie Howser! :smokey:

[midwinter]

The book was nothing like the movie... I was hoping for the jump suits, but got Beverly Hills, 90210 in Space, instead. Because it was so different, I ended up liking it a lot. One of my all-time favorites. I always remember the immortal line, "We're in this for the species, boys and girls."... delivered by Doogie Howser! :smokey:

I'd argue that what you got was a devatsating critique of jingoism hiding behind 90210 in space. Remember the last scene with Doogie raping the brain bug?

My favorite bit is the shower scene, where they have that fairly detailed discussion of their world's political structure.

[dmz]

Huh... I haven't seen ST.


rough list -- in no particular order -- except for Burnt by the Sun, which makes for it's own top ten.

Burnt by the Sun
Blade Runner
Solaris (no, not the American soul-wrecking, cheap knock-off)
Notorious
Andrei Rublev
Cries and Whispers
Aliens
Nanook of the North
Gladiator
Black Hawk Down

runners up:
Casablanca
Citzen Kane
From Russia with Love

[iPoster]

The book was nothing like the movie... I was hoping for the jump suits, but got Beverly Hills, 90210 in Space, instead. Because it was so different, I ended up liking it a lot. One of my all-time favorites. I always remember the immortal line, "We're in this for the species, boys and girls."... delivered by Doogie Howser! :smokey:

I'd argue that what you got was a devatsating critique of jingoism hiding behind 90210 in space. Remember the last scene with Doogie raping the brain bug?

My favorite bit is the shower scene, where they have that fairly detailed discussion of their world's political structure.

I was disappointed too that they threw out the mobile suits and most of the rest of the book as well. What irked me most was them keeping the RPG nukes while the soldiers ran around without any protective gear. :/

I'd still rate it OK as a 'popcorn' flick, it also has some great lines in it .

Since they left out the armor suits maybe they'll come out with a movie of John Steakley's Armor some day. Similar to ST, humans fighting giant insect aliens with power armor, but without so much political commentary.

[hardeeharhar]

I'd argue that what you got was a devatsating critique of jingoism hiding behind 90210 in space. Remember the last scene with Doogie raping the brain bug?

My favorite bit is the shower scene, where they have that fairly detailed discussion of their world's political structure.
i just saw it... and while i agree that that subtext was there... it was either all or none -- there were vast tracks of the movie that were simply standard fare action films -- the only real critique was the intermittent news reals and the fact that the script called for everyone being a little brain dead. it was cliched but wasn't willing to accept it was cliched...

[midwinter]

i just saw it... and while i agree that that subtext was there... it was either all or none -- there were vast tracks of the movie that were simply standard fare action films -- the only real critique was the intermittent news reals and the fact that the script called for everyone being a little brain dead. it was cliched but wasn't willing to accept it was cliched...

See, I think it's pretty clearly deploying those cliches as part of its critique.

[dmz]

Yep, I think Verhoven did that in spades in Robocop.

[hardeeharhar]

See, I think it's pretty clearly deploying those cliches as part of its critique.
i have decided that i am only really liking films that don't care how bad they are... this is the army of darkness style films that become so terrible, they twist back around to great.

starship troopers just takes itself too seriously -- one can almost hear the director telling everyone to try to deliver their lines with no irony, as they are making art... i am sorry, but if you want to mock something, you have to be able to mock yourself... there is no irony in that movie other than the clearly intentional overbearing dripping sort...

it is too light headed to be asking the audience to think... the movie wasn't subtle -- it actually presented no counter point to its core argument, which is ultimately disappointing.

[midwinter]

From a pretty astute review (http://www.citypaper.net/articles/110697/CRTMSLD.TROOPERS.shtml) of it:


Starship Troopers is something of a paradox, an exercise in and examination of mindlessness. I mean, it's not rocket science, but its cynicism is simultaneously smarmy and smart, exacting a cost for any pleasure you may take in its nasty-ass violence. In this respect it's not unlike Verhoeven's remarkable Robocop (1987), which was good gory fun as well as an astute look at Reaganomics, '80s corporate politics, privatization and the uncomfortable legacy of the Hollywood Western. The new film is less weighed down by major iconography (the robosuited Peter Weller seeking his identity had its heavy-handed moments), more relaxed and self-reflexive. For example, it lifts those "commercial spots" directly from Robocop: here these comedic insertions—appearing as if on television, commenting ironically on the progressively brutal action—make the point that the military's recruitment campaign is perpetual, that war is business, that bugs and recruits are similarly expendable.

It's not a little funny that Verhoeven calls it his most "romantic" film, noting that a character says "I love you" and means it, but the fact that the cast is (relatively) fresh meat lifted quite literally from Aaron Spelling's TV-soap-land, suggests that the director is either messing with his interviewer or seeing romance as one big cliché. Either way or both ways, the film does do a number on those romantic clichés that constitute traditional war imagery.

...

I raise this question because it applies to the film's generally ambiguous tone. Starship Troopers may be less overt about its politics than Robocop, but any movie that turns Doogie Howser into a fascist has some serious cultural analysis going on. Its glib depictions of dismemberment, decapitation and horrendous evisceration can be alarming, but they can also be understood as the film's (rather visceral) assessment of—for instance—the current U.S. drive toward escalating militarization, incorporation and globalization. This picture is not pretty.

[hardeeharhar]

i do understand where you are coming from -- i just don't agree that it was done well or with the right pitch. my point is that the book that was being mocked was as mindless as the movie -- there was no higher intellectual ground achieved, if anything the movie justified the pithy and knee-jerk assessments of complex sociological phenomena that it was attempting to criticize... i'd rather not be spoon fed a political ideology, even if i agree with it...

[SpamSandwich]

i do understand where you are coming from -- i just don't agree that it was done well or with the right pitch. my point is that the book that was being mocked was as mindless as the movie -- there was no higher intellectual ground achieved, if anything the movie justified the pithy and knee-jerk assessments of complex sociological phenomena that it was attempting to criticize... i'd rather not be spoon fed a political ideology, even if i agree with it...

I'm pretty sure Robert Heinlein would've hated the movie, since he wrote it for young boys. Veerhoven gave the film his trademark savagery but kept the amusing teenager naivete intact. A disturbing combination, leading some to call the film propaganda (interestingly, also a criticism of the book).

[gas_pig70]

Well, I'm not sure sure I keep track of a top ten list but here's my top 6...

Easy Rider
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clockwork Orange
Being There
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Star Wars



p.s. This is my first post :D.

[SpamSandwich]

Well, I'm not sure sure I keep track of a top ten list but here's my top 6...

Easy Rider
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clockwork Orange
Being There
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Star Wars



p.s. This is my first post :D.

Welcome, noob. :D

[thehellgate911]

Just saw Pan's Labyrinth.

OMG.

GO SEE THAT.

I own it. After the first time I saw it, I said out loud "THAT was a movie!"

[@_@ Artman]

I own it. After the first time I saw it, I said out loud "THAT was a movie!"

Gripping film. Would never own it though. It's way too depressing. :(

[iPoster]

Just saw Pan's Labyrinth.

OMG.

GO SEE THAT.

Gripping film. Would never own it though. It's way too depressing. :(

Seconded, great film but not the type I'd watch over and over again. Similar to Schindler's List or Grave of the Fireflies in that respect.


We just watched Clerks for the first time, hilarious stuff!! :lol:

[SpamSandwich]

Next in my queue is The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ripley's Game.

Don't forget Ripley's Believe It Or Not! :D

[SpamSandwich]

Might as well add Alien, Aliens, Alien Tres, and Alien "why-is-Wynona-Rider-in-this-movie" Resurrection.

It's actually Winona Ryder... you had the "y" and the "i", but reversed. :)

[thehellgate911]

I just watched the Holocaust Mini-Series (1978). I don't know if that qualifies as a movie, but it was pretty damn good. 9/10.

[iPoster]

Oh man I was stupid and *again* forgot to put my netflix dvds in the mail.

I hate it when I do that! :\

I think at this point you are "fourthing" the greatness that is Pan's Labyrinth.

Hmm, not sure what you mean by "fourthing", looked it up at UrbanDictionary.com as well as in the regular one.

[thehellgate911]

I just saw The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004). I expected it to be horrible based on the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. The script was confused and muddled, but every other aspect was superb, so I was never bored. I gave it a 7/10.

[thehellgate911]

I just watched It's a Wonderful Life, in color. I hadn't seen it in several years. What a great film! They don't make them like that anymore.

[SpamSandwich]

I just watched It's a Wonderful Life, in color. I hadn't seen it in several years. What a great film! They don't make them like that anymore.

Echhh! The colorized version! The horror! The horror!

Nothing less than the original black and white original for me. Adding color to a black and white movie is an abomination.

[thehellgate911]

Echhh! The colorized version! The horror! The horror!

Nothing less than the original black and white original for me. Adding color to a black and white movie is an abomination.

I thought i'd feel the same, but it looks like 1970 color, not like 2008 color. It still has an old film look to it.

However, i'll be watching the original version next time. :)

[deftones007]

Scarface
Pan's Labrynth
Y tu mama, tambien?
Unfaithful (Diane Lane is a fox :D)
A Life Aquatic
300
Hard Candy (Please, do yourself a favor and watch one of the most brilliantly written movies. If you like a psychological movie then this is it!!!)
Any movie with Chris Farley in it (i.e. - Black Sheep, Tommy Boy, Almost Heros, Beverly Hills Ninja, ect...)
No Country For Old Men - must see
There Will Be Blood
Taxi Driver

There are too many to list but go watch Hard Candy and tell me what you think.....def

[midwinter]

Scarface
Pan's Labrynth
Y tu mama, tambien?
Unfaithful (Diane Lane is a fox :D)
A Life Aquatic
300
Hard Candy (Please, do yourself a favor and watch one of the most brilliantly written movies. If you like a psychological movie then this is it!!!)
Any movie with Chris Farley in it (i.e. - Black Sheep, Tommy Boy, Almost Heros, Beverly Hills Ninja, ect...)
No Country For Old Men - must see
There Will Be Blood
Taxi Driver

There are too many to list but go watch Hard Candy and tell me what you think.....def

oooh Hard Candy is sooo good.

[dmz]

I forgot one: Dark City

[midwinter]

I forgot one: Dark City

You know, I don't get what people see in that flick.

[dmz]

You know, I don't get what people see in that flick.

Fighting God/Fate -- one of the most self-consciously godless popular films I've seen. A man is "born" in water at the beginning, and proceeds to transcend, and then kill, his god-captors. The Scientist is his salvific figure/conduit to self-realization.

Now, the whole space-vampire thing was weak, but otherwise it's pretty tight. The imagery of being manipulated for sport is very strong.


What did you think about No Country for Old Men?

[mydo]

I like Dark City.


Here's my list I think. In some kind of order I think.

Citizen Kane
Taxi Driver
God Father
Blade Runner
2001 Space Odyssey
The Graduate
Groundhog's Day
Shawshank Redemption
The Color Purple
Cinema Paradiso (not the directors cut, the first cut was better)

[dmz]

I forgot about 2001.

I'm sitting here trying to ignore Tristan and Isolde -- but it's pretty damn good. Harry from Spiderman and Rufus from Dark City.

[midwinter]

Fighting God/Fate -- one of the most self-consciously godless popular films I've seen. A man is "born" in water at the beginning, and proceeds to transcend, and then kill, his god-captors. The Scientist is his salvific figure/conduit to self-realization.

Hrm. Never thought about it as a kind of Frankenstein. I'll have to watch it again.

Now, the whole space-vampire thing was weak, but otherwise it's pretty tight. The imagery of being manipulated for sport is very strong.

Agreed.

What did you think about No Country for Old Men?

I thought it was a work of sheer genius.

[midwinter]

I forgot about 2001.

I'm sitting here trying to ignore Tristan and Isolde -- but it's pretty damn good. Harry from Spiderman and Rufus from Dark City.

Hahahaha! I had the same reaction to it (sort of like King Arthur). I wanted it to be bad, and it just...wasn't.

[dmz]

I thought it was a work of sheer genius.
Yep.

Going out on a limb here: Cautionary tale of human frailty -- with social criticism -- on a metaphysically epic scale.

[dmz]

Hahahaha! I had the same reaction to it (sort of like King Arthur). I wanted it to be bad, and it just...wasn't.

Jeez -- and what a setup. 'Makes Romeo and Juliet look like When Harry Met Sally.

[midwinter]

Yep.

Going out on a limb here: Cautionary tale of human frailty -- with social criticism -- on a metaphysically epic scale.

I'm not really sure what that means. I thought it was mostly that capitalism is competition is struggle and replaces and destroys familial and social relations; in the end stasis can only be reached if the competitor is destroyed.

[giant]

Sorry, I don't have 10. Grouped by director.

Once
2046, Chungking Express, Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love
Rope, Rear Window
Blade Runner
The Double Life of Veronique, Trois Couleurs
Brother
The Apartment
Cold Fever
Blue Velvet
Brazil, Holy Grail
Contempt, Breathless, Bande a part
Hiroshima mon amour
Star Wars 4, 5 & 6
Delicatessen
The Princess Bride
Bagdad Cafe
La Haine
Beat Street
Wild Style
Stand by Me
Vengeance Is Mine
Last Tango in Paris
Talladega Nights
Batman, Beetlejuice
Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Hudsucker Proxy, Lebowski, O Brother, No Country For Old Men
Repulsion, The Tenant, The Pianist, Rosemary's Baby
Coffee and Cigarettes, Mystery Train
Shop Girl
Mad Max
Friday
City of Lost Children
Oldboy
Paris, je t'aime
Hardware
Communion
City of God
Alien(s)
All Miyazaki films
All Wes Anderson films
Pixar FTW
2001
Heavy Traffic, Fritz and Wizards
Wait Until Dark

Damn, that's too long. Anyway, does HBO count? I say yes, so Deadwood and Carnivale

[dmz]

I'm not really sure what that means. I thought it was mostly that capitalism is competition is struggle and replaces and destroys familial and social relations; in the end stasis can only be reached if the competitor is destroyed.
I think my saracasm detector went off -- false alarm? :p

They present this picture of purified Evil -- evil come into it's own, brooking no rival. This Evil crossed Brolin's character's path -- by being seemingly ubiquitous -- and he was led into temptation by the money. He makes a mistake by trying to mitigate, or bargain with that evil (in going back with the water.) I think that is the point of the movie. The rest is his attempting to placate that evil his is contending with, but in the end, obviously loses that struggle -- the Evil is completely consistent, it has to rule, or a least rule those who dabble with it.

Jones' character seems capable enough in solving each individual crime, but Cattle gun guy and the entity/struggle he represents are in a much wider far-flung conflict -- so he his helpless to intervene, and in the end he loses his nerve. Maybe I need to watch that conversation between Jones and Corbin again. The conversation in the diner seemed to tie in with what Brolin was doing -- no matter what, he just couldn't let that money go, his greed and hubris not allowing him to understand what he was dealing with.

Hats off to the Cohen brothers, I thought they were going to Hollywood their way out in the end -- have the villain monologue for five minutes -- Jones would dole out some pithy wisdom, and then blow him through a plate-glass window, out a 150 story building, only to be impaled on a water wheel covered in rusty spikes, spilling flesh-eating eating beetles instead of water.

Have you seen Lives of Others?

[SpamSandwich]

You know, I don't get what people see in that flick.

It's a bewildering film at first, and the end turns into some bizarre action pieces, but stylistically it borrowed heavily from Metropolis and Nosferatu (heavy German Expressionism and Gothic elements) and had a huge influence on a whole crop of science-fiction films that followed... notably, The Matrix (Blade and Alien also had big chunks of influence on The Matrix).

[SpamSandwich]

Sorry, I don't have 10. Grouped by director.

.........

Damn, that's too long. Anyway, does HBO count? I say yes, so Deadwood and Carnivale

Good list. I tend to pick movies by director also, then by certain stars.

[giant]

It's a bewildering film at first, and the end turns into some bizarre action pieces, but stylistically it borrowed heavily from Metropolis and Nosferatu (heavy German Expressionism and Gothic elements) and had a huge influence on a whole crop of science-fiction films that followed... notably, The Matrix (Blade and Alien also had big chunks of influence on The Matrix).
Dark City definitely hits that sci-fi/noir/puzzle sweet spot. Video games like Max Payne and Bioshock are also in the same vein, stylistically.

[giant]

Good list. I tend to pick movies by director also, then by certain stars.
Yeah, I usually go through directors and, secondarily, sountrack/composer. I'm a big fan of Angelo Badalamenti, who has scored chunks of most of David Lynch's films (sometimes together with Lynch), and Zbigniew Preisner, who did most of the music for Kieslowski. Wong Kar-wai and Wes Anderson are two others who are really notable for having consistently awesome music in their films.

Actually, as much as I like the other two, most films by Wong Kar-wai and any films scored by Preisner are really in a league of their own when it comes to the music.

[midwinter]

I think my saracasm detector went off -- false alarm? :p

Sorry! I mixed up No Country and There Will Be Blood. They're so similar, you know!

They present this picture of purified Evil -- evil come into it's own, brooking no rival. This Evil crossed Brolin's character's path -- by being seemingly ubiquitous -- and he was led into temptation by the money. He makes a mistake by trying to mitigate, or bargain with that evil (in going back with the water.) I think that is the point of the movie. The rest is his attempting to placate that evil his is contending with, but in the end, obviously loses that struggle -- the Evil is completely consistent, it has to rule, or a least rule those who dabble with it.

See, I read him as Fate, not evil. Hence, all the coin flipping and the unstoppableness and all that. The title is what's important. The first line of the Yeats poem is "THAT is no country for old men," suggesting that the speaker is already on his way, looking back in disgust as what his country has become. It's about the "surface" of the world changing—always already changing—even though the world is inhabited by the same forces and just plain opting out. Indeed, the speaker in the poem, like TLJ, desires complete self-abnegation—he wants to become the aeolian harp or windchime on which the songs about the past, present, and future are played. Hence, the voiceover is TLJ's voice

set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

My point is that I don't think this is Brolin's character's story. It's TLJ's character's story.

Have you seen Lives of Others?

Half of it, and I thought what I saw was brilliant. I haven't been in a position to watch a subtitled flick in months, so I haven't gotten back to it. Have YOU seen King of Kong?

[SpamSandwich]

"There Will Be No Blood In My Country, Old Man"

[dmz]

Sorry! I mixed up No Country and There Will Be Blood. They're so similar, you know!



See, I read him as Fate, not evil. Hence, all the coin flipping and the unstoppableness and all that. The title is what's important. The first line of the Yeats poem is "THAT is no country for old men," suggesting that the speaker is already on his way, looking back in disgust as what his country has become. It's about the "surface" of the world changing—always already changing—even though the world is inhabited by the same forces and just plain opting out. Indeed, the speaker in the poem, like TLJ, desires complete self-abnegation—he wants to become the aeolian harp or windchime on which the songs about the past, present, and future are played. Hence, the voiceover is TLJ's voice

set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

My point is that I don't think this is Brolin's character's story. It's TLJ's character's story.



Half of it, and I thought what I saw was brilliant. I haven't been in a position to watch a subtitled flick in months, so I haven't gotten back to it. Have YOU seen King of Kong?

Haven't seen that -- I may make an attempt wrestle my wife for a spot in her Netflix queue.

Back on NCFOM, near the beginning, there's a weird passive-aggressive thing that went on in the store, that seemed to really pull into focus a go-along, get-along/make nice mentality. The shopkeeper was clearly creeped out with cattle gun guy, but couldn't confront him honestly/forthrightly -- a combination of cowardice and social conditioning; but then he didn't/couldn't apprehend what he was dealing with. That seemed like a dig on the South. Maybe it's just another take on TLJ's route.

Any idea if the book goes there?

[midwinter]

Haven't seen that -- I may make an attempt wrestle my wife for a spot in her Netflix queue.

You can watch it online on Netfrix.

Back on NCFOM, near the beginning, there's a weird passive-aggressive thing that went on in the store, that seemed to really pull into focus a go-along, get-along/make nice mentality. The shopkeeper was clearly creeped out with cattle gun guy, but couldn't confront him honestly/forthrightly -- a combination of cowardice and social conditioning; but then he didn't/couldn't apprehend what he was dealing with. That seemed like a dig on the South. Maybe it's just another take on TLJ's route.

Any idea if the book goes there?

No idea. I have never read it.

[deftones007]

sin city is a very good stan lee graphic novel adaptation. that is one of my favorite movies as well.

[mydo]

I'm trying to list some I haven't seen here yet.

Giant
Dr Zhivago
Lawrence of Arabia
Ghandi
On the Waterfont
Raging Bull
Gone with the Wind
A Streetcar Named Desire
In the Heat of the Night
The Killing Fields
The Seventh Seal


No Woody Allen movies? No Spike Lee?

[@_@ Artman]

sin city is a very good stan lee graphic novel adaptation. that is one of my favorite movies as well.

In my opinion, Sin City is the only successful comic book put to film so far.

My reasons are complicated. In the early period of comic books, the layout and style of sequential art was stiff and the storytelling was bland. Two of the early pioneers, Jack Kirby and Will Eisner were big movie fans and just like their medium, American film was stiff and bland. Then Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" came out. When they saw this film and saw the leaps and bounds Welles had made with the medium, they both decided to strive and create comics that leapt from the page and expanded the viewer's horizon with light, perspective, angles and storytelling just as Welles did.

Come to today and here a comic book creator and a filmmaker set out to do the same, but from the opposite direction and with new technology. I think they pulled it off grandly.

I saw Iron Man yesterday. Though the critics were gushing and praising this movie, I thought it was mediocre as far as a comic book film. It reminded me of Robo-Cop. Though Robert Downey Jr. redeemed it.

Now Speed Racer, that was an amazing, faithful and revolutionary piece of film making. One that overstepped the boundaries again. But the critics and the general public snubbed it. Most kid's cartoon remakes to film are disasters (Scooby Doo, Garfield, Underdog...), but In my opinion the Wachowski brothers did a stellar job with Speed Racer.

Go figger...:\

[@_@ Artman]

I'm trying to list some I haven't seen here yet.

Giant
Dr Zhivago
Lawrence of Arabia
Ghandi
On the Waterfont
Raging Bull
Gone with the Wind
A Streetcar Named Desire
In the Heat of the Night
The Killing Fields
The Seventh Seal

Damn good list mydo.

No Woody Allen movies? No Spike Lee?

Both great directors in their own right. Both in serious trouble right now creatively (Allen) and in keeping their damn mouth shut (Lee).

I don't believe you heard the latest on Spike Lee's racist bullshit rant on Clint Eastwood and Eastwood's reply...

Spike Lee gets in Clint Eastwood's line of fire (http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2284235,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront)

Clint Eastwood has advised rival film director Spike Lee to "shut his face" after the African-American complained about the racial make-up of Eastwood's films.

In an interview with the Guardian published today, Eastwood rejected Lee's complaint that he had failed to include a single African-American soldier in his films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, both about the 1945 battle for the Japanese island.

In typically outspoken language, Eastwood justified his choice of actors, saying that those black troops who did take part in the battle as part of a munitions company didn't raise the flag. The battle is known by the image of US marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi.

"The story is Flags of Our Fathers, the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn't do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people'd go: 'This guy's lost his mind.' I mean, it's not accurate." Referring to Lee, he added: "A guy like him should shut his face."

[mydo]

I heard a little bit about Lee but not the Eastwood stuff. Despite what he's up to now, Do the Right Thing was a good movie that I would hope would stand the test of time. Malcolm X seems to be forgotten.

[mydo]

Eastwood's next project, The Human Factor, will be about Nelson Mandela's attempts to foster national unity in post-apartheid South Africa. Asked if he would remain historically accurate with depictions of the former president, he said: "I'm not going to make Nelson Mandela a white guy."


:lol:

That should be an interesting film, I hope.

[SpamSandwich]

No Woody Allen movies? No Spike Lee?

One of my all-time favorites: What's Up, Tiger Lily?

[SpamSandwich]

I don't believe you heard the latest on Spike Lee's racist bullshit rant on Clint Eastwood and Eastwood's reply...

IMO, Spike Lee has personal issues. He's carelessly used charges of 'racism' his whole career. I used to think he was a social critic with merit, now I know he's just a jerk with a grudge.

[Denton]

I'd definitely include "Airplane" and "The Blues Brothers"

The Blues Brothers was great fun: rawhide!

-The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

Classic! Haven't thought of that one in years!

In my opinion, Sin City is the only successful comic book put to film so far.

How about 300 -- I preferred that one to Sin City (though Sin City was good).

Hard Candy (Please, do yourself a favor and watch one of the most brilliantly written movies. If you like a psychological movie then this is it!!!)

Quite good. Disturbing, but Ellen Page was amazing.

----------

My list:

1. Kill Bill (it's the soundtrack as much as anything else)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (was a well-timed movie -- I saw it not long after the end of my first serious relationship)
3. It's a Wonderful Life (saw this for the first time just five years ago -- simply excellent)
4. American Beauty (the first movie that I really loved -- I've seen it more than any other, though Kill Bill is catching up quickly)
5. 2001: a Space Odyssey (best science fiction film ever)
6. The Matrix (what can I say?)
7. Fight Club ("Now, a question of etiquette - as I pass, do I give you the ass or the crotch?")
8. 300 (I can almost smell the ink rising off the page as I watch this one)
9. The Usual Suspects (so much fun -- If KS could have actually shed a tear in his mock-sob, I might move this up a couple spots)
10. Moulin Rouge (while I like The Sound of Music and White Christmas, this is the best film where people break out in song)

[@_@ Artman]

How about 300 -- I preferred that one to Sin City (though Sin City was good).

Well, the director of 300 was in constant contact with Frank Miller during the shoot. Also, this was color and color that successfully matched colorist Lin Varley's palette from the graphic novel. I liked it too.

It all depends on the director's intentions. I understand most super-hero movies can be sequalized, but 300 is a stand alone story.

Also Frank Miller can be an egotistical ass. He and Rodriguez had a falling out on the Sin City sequel and now Miller is currently at work raping Will Eisner's The Spirit as we speak. It's sad that some geniuses have these lapses of stupidity (see Robo Cop II and The Dark Knight Returns)...but when they succeed (Sin City), it's brilliant.

Frank Miller's The Spirit trailer (http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/04/19/first-trailer-for-frank-millers-the-spirit/)...:wow::no:

[SpamSandwich]

Well, the director of 300 was in constant contact with Frank Miller during the shoot. Also, this was color and color that successfully matched colorist Lin Varley's palette from the graphic novel. I liked it too.

It all depends on the director's intentions. I understand most super-hero movies can be sequalized, but 300 is a stand alone story.

Also Frank Miller can be an egotistical ass. He and Rodriguez had a falling out on the Sin City sequel and now Miller is currently at work raping Will Eisner's The Spirit as we speak. It's sad that some geniuses have these lapses of stupidity (see Robo Cop II and The Dark Knight Returns)...but when they succeed (Sin City), it's brilliant.

Frank Miller's The Spirit trailer (http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/04/19/first-trailer-for-frank-millers-the-spirit/)...:wow::no:

Oh, really. Wow. I hadn't heard of the falling out between him and Rodriguez. Doesn't completely surprise me. Miller is quite an alcoholic. I met him at a comic book signing once (him and Geoff Darrow) and he reeked of alcohol.

[@_@ Artman]

Oh, really. Wow. I hadn't heard of the falling out between him and Rodriguez. Doesn't completely surprise me. Miller is quite an alcoholic. I met him at a comic book signing once (him and Geoff Darrow) and he reeked of alcohol.

I may be wrong (I was told by a friend of mine) here's what Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_City_(film)#Sequels) about the delays on Sin City 2...

Sin City 2 is the currently unproduced sequel to Sin City. Although specific plot details remain unknown, it is generally believed the film will be based on Miller's A Dame to Kill For, certain stories from "Booze, Broads and Bullets" and an original story involving Nancy Callahan.[13]

Production on the film has been delayed, most notably due to Robert Rodriguez's involvement with a scheduled remake of Barbarella.[14] There is also speculation that the box office failure of Grindhouse has caused the film to be delayed.

Funny, I thought Rodriguez's movie from the Grindhouse was very good in it's own demented way.

Also, he's remaking Barbarella (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(film)#Remake)...:wow:...I just watched the original last night. :smokey:

[iPoster]

A Barbarella remake?

Sigh, Hollywood really is out of original ideas. :\

[@_@ Artman]

A Barbarella remake?

Sigh, Hollywood really is out of original ideas. :\

If you can find it, rent CQ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0254199/) about a young filmmaker who goes to Paris in the sixties to shoot a science fiction film.

Roman Coppola directed it. I like it when someone pays homage to something by creating something new and unique to frame it with. That's originality.


CQ trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2QSuxXrKzU)

[iPoster]

I like it when someone pays homage to something by creating something new and unique to frame it with. That's originality.[/URL]

IF the remake/repackaging/tribute is as good or better, yes.

Too often, particularly with Hollywood, the remake is much worse than the original.

Off the top of my head, I give you:

King Kong
Planet of the Apes
The Poseidon Adventure
Bad News Bears
The Ring
Amityville Horror
Herbie
War of the Worlds (OK, this one isn't terrible, but IMHO it's one of Spielberg's weakest films)
The Rear Window remake (can't recall the name right now)

Although, there are only 7 original plots after all, so I guess we can't complain too much! :\

[mydo]

On a side note I'm taking a break from movies about Africa. Hotel Rwanda, Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamonds, The Constant Gardner. Does anything good happen there?

[@_@ Artman]

IF the remake/repackaging/tribute is as good or better, yes.

Too often, particularly with Hollywood, the remake is much worse than the original.

Off the top of my head, I give you:

King Kong (Though toooooo long, I like it. Can't beat the original uncut version though)
Planet of the Apes (I see this DVD in the budget bins and want to get it. I liked the visuals)
The Poseidon Adventure (Well, I didn't like the first one either, hate Irwin Allen)
Bad News Bears (Never saw the remake, it doesn't deserve it)
The Ring (I could on in length with the utter stupidity of remaking Asian films, the pros and cons...but we will have to see how Steven Spielberg does with Ghost in the Shell...)
Amityville Horror (Again...why?)
Herbie (ditto)
War of the Worlds (OK, this one isn't terrible, but IMHO it's one of Spielberg's weakest films) (Spielberg is a great director...also an idiot sometimes...see above on Asian remakes)
The Rear Window remake (can't recall the name right now) (Someone did a remake of that? Didn't they learn their lesson with Psycho? I guess not... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884788/))

Although, there are only 7 original plots after all, so I guess we can't complain too much! :\

The writer's strike hasn't helped. This will be a running thing until the writers get back in synch...but will they (http://bumpshack.com/2008/06/22/mike-myers-love-guru-bombs-at-box-office/)?

[midwinter]

On a side note I'm taking a break from movies about Africa. Hotel Rwanda, Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamonds, The Constant Gardner. Does anything good happen there?

No. Not since the end of the cold war.

[iPoster]

No. Not since the end of the cold war.

I think you mean since the end of European colonization? They did draw up the present borders with no regard to previous tribal/national boundaries.

[midwinter]

I think you mean since the end of European colonization? They did draw up the present borders with no regard to previous tribal/national boundaries.

Yes, but that meant that Europe was paying attention to Africa. During the Cold War, the world paid lots of attention to Africa. Now, no one pays attention to Africa, which is the heart of the tragedy of big chunks of the continent. Somalia doesn't have a functioning government? No one cares. Nearly a million Rwandans hacked to death wit machetes? No one cares. Darfur? AIDS in Kenya? Roving gangs in South Africa? Mugabe forcing his challenger to withdraw from the election?

Europe royally screwed up Africa, yes. But the indifference is worse.

[iPoster]

Europe royally screwed up Africa, yes. But the indifference is worse.

Can't argue with that.

[MaverickSVT]

The Time Machine
The Aviator
Tombstone
The Blues Brothers
Blues Brothers 2000
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Contact
It's a Wonderful Life

[tjosal]

Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World
.
Cuckoo's Nest
Godfather
Matrix
Die Hard (1)
Terminator 2
Titanic
Shawshank Redemption
Saving Private Ryan
Jaws
Heat.

yeah, kinda weighted to recent flicks...