your favorite movies

[thalbergmad]

and 12 months later:

I can see that your taste in movies has improved drastically in a very short time! Self-education, extra practice or a mentor?

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

Nah, Pillow Talk opened up a shop in Town.

Completely changed my outlook on life.

Thal

[anekdote]

1. Orson Welles - Le Procès (1962)

2. Werner Herzog - Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)

3. Wolfgang Peterson - Das Boot (1981)

4. Billy Wilder - Stalag 17 (1953)

5. Akira Kurosawa - Shichinin no samurai (1954)

6. Oliver Hirschbiegel - Der Untergang (2004)

7. Milos Forman - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)


I like a lot of other movies too, but these are some of my favorites.

[prometheus]

Anekdote, did you see Ran, the movie based on King Lear? I recommend it.

I guess my favorite movies are Ran, Shinchinin no Samurai, yīng xióng(Hero), New Dragon Gate Inn(bit over the top, haven't seen the original), qiànnǚ yōuhún(A Chinese Ghost Story).

Ooh, I also liked Falling Down with Michael Douglas (and the D-Fens licence plate).


I love well done bad endings.


Now I am going to explore Indian chinematic. They have some good mythology based stuff. But they are lenghty bollywood series lasting 90-something episodes. Like Ramayan and the very famous Mahabharat.

[prometheus]

I guess I have to go see Unleashed.

I watched Kagemusha but I didn't like it that much. It didn't caught on very well, I mean not as much as one may have wished for.

The last samurai. It tried to invoke the right spirit. But 'what-is-his-name' just ruined it for me. I couldn't stop thinking of Xenu and the devowering of placentas.


There are two great movies about the atomic bomb and disaster. Of course Dr. Strangelove. But there is also another one. I think that one was better, but I am sure I have the memories of both of them confused terribly.

There is also this movie about a mad mathematician. He plays chess with his teacher. And he has this idea to do something. I don't remember what. Writing code to predict the stock market or something? Does anyone know this movie? It is completely in black and white.

What, google says it might be "A Beautiful Mind", which some people already mentioned. This is right, isn't it? If so, haven't read the book.

[edit]
No wait, that movie was Pi, seems they are rather similar. Is there anyone that has seen both?
They also played, go, not chess. I remember now. I stole the idea of a student-teacher relationship and put it into my totally unwritten SF-plot. In my case I used chess. I created an actual game with a Sveshnikov opening.

I also enjoyed the Dune miniserie and the recent Rome HBO miniserie.


Ooh, and of course All Star Trek

[anekdote]

Anekdote, did you see Ran, the movie based on King Lear? I recommend it.
...
I watched Kagemusha but I didn't like it that much. It didn't caught on very well, I mean not as much as one may have wished for.

I have not yet seen Ran, but I have heard great things about it. It is on my list! I'm ashamed that I haven't seen it yet. Of Kurosawa, I've already seen: Shichinin no samurai, Kagemusha, Rashomon, Kakushi-toride no san-akunin, and Ikiru.

Kagemusha was not Kurosawa at his best, but I liked it a lot and consider it underrated.

Welles and Kurosawa practically invented cinema...

[psaiko]

Here are some movies which has made a great impact on me



Hotaru no haka (grave of the fireflies)
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (spirited away)
2001: a space odyssey
Once upon a time in the west
Tonari no Totoro (my neighbor totoro)
Cinema paradiso
A clockwork orange
Festen
Riget I/II
Shichinin no samurai (seven samurai)

[ada]

psaiko, we obviously share the same great taste in movies. I'm with you on

2001 A space odyssey
Clockwork orange
Spirited away

With stevie and others on Pulp Fiction

With Prometheus on Ran

With anekdote on Cuckoo's nest

some others off the top of my head:

Betty Blue
Jean de Florette & Manon des Sources
Texas Chainsaw Massacres (original)
Psycho (original)
Paris Texas
Last Tango in Paris
Montenegro
Fahrenheit 9/11
Catch 22
Of course, The Piano


Aussie favs:
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Walkabout
Wake in Fright
Praise
The Castle
Bad Boy Bubby
Romper Stomper

[burstroman]

Mine (right now) are:
     "Brazil"
     "Clockwork Orange"
     "La Dolce Vita"
     "The Wall"
     "Laura, An Unforgettable Woman"
     "Miss Mary"
     "The Secret Garden" (original version)
     "Koyanisqaatsi"
     "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"
     "The Kiss of the Spider Woman"

                 please forgive spelling errors

[johnny-boy]

I love movies!
Here are just a few:

1. Scent of a Woman

2. Powder

3. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and "Uncle Buck")

4. Dead Poets Society

5. Good Will Hunting

A lot of old time movies!

[sharon_f]

Some of my favorites:

African Queen
The Bicycle Thief
La Strada
All About Eve
North By Northwest
The Go-Between
Death in Venice
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Tin Drum
Badlands
Days of Heaven
2001
Fanny & Alexander
Ran
The Lacemaker
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Vagabond
Hour of the Star
Paris Texas
Empire of the Sun
E.T.
Close Encounters
Dragonheart
Julia
The Sixth Sense
Pixote
City of God
Junebug
The Sweet Hereafter
Boys Don't Cry
Sophie's Choice
Millon Dollar Baby
Field of Dreams
Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Song of Bernadette
Lion in Winter
The Damned
Au Revoir, les enfants
Day for Night
Five Easy Pieces
Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Last Wave
The Last Metro
Basileus Quartet
Breaking the Waves
Amacord
Jackie and Hilary
Garden of the Finzi-Continis
The Trip to Bountiful
Places in the Heart....

God, about a million more. But I am tired and need to go to sleep.

[johnny-boy]

Yes, African Queen !!! Love it! It's on the top of my list also.

Best, John

[klicker]

wow.  After reading through some of these lists, I realized that I watch movies purely for entertainment.  Mindless fun.   

Chick-flick-wise, I really enjoyed 13 going on 30

For horror I'd have to go with The Ring 1 & 2

An action film I recently watched (and loved) was Equilibrium

I'm not sure what category (drama, or back with action) it would be in, but Face Off is a movie that I could watch over and over. 

Happy Gilmore is an all-time favorite for laughs.  And of course, Napoleon Dynamite, and Nacho Libre have recently been added to my favorites list. 

For suspense, I was pretty intrigued byThe Machinist.  Along the same lines, would be Secret Window.

And lastly, my favorite old black & white is My Friend Irma, which is when Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis first teamed up together.  Loves it ~*

joy

[musik_man]

Lord of The Rings- No true nerd should leave this off their list.  I just hope that they make The Hobbit into a movie.

Star Wars- thin characters and bad acting can't detract from these like they do from the prequels.  The Battle of Endor still amazes me.

Citizen Kane- Not much to say about this, but it is a great movie.

Robin Hood Men in Tights- Mel Brooks best film(although Blazing Saddles gives it a run for its money.)  "I am Asneeze father of Achoo"

Airplane- The best stupid humour movie ever.

Zoolander- Second best stupid humour movie ever.

Life of Brian- Semi-blasphmeous, but funny enough to make up for it.  "*** off, we're the People's Front of Judea, not the Judean People's Front"

Leon the Professional- Natalie Portman is amazing in this somewhat disturbing movie.

Drop Dead Gorgeous- funny fake documentary about a beauty pagent.

Dr. Strangelove- "Gentlemen, no fighting in the war room."

Demolition Man- Sylvester Stallone is cryogenically frozen and awakes in the future to fight Wesley Snipes his old arch-nemesis.  Funniest action movie ever made.

Commando- Mindless entertainment.  The entire movie is Arnold killing people then uttering snappy one liners.

Almost every Jackie Chan Movie- Watching Jackie Chan beat people up with household objects will never get old.  The best fight scenes are 1) Chan fighting in a mall while wearing 10ft stilts  2) Chan fighting scuba divers in a shark tank without any scuba equipment of his own  3) Chan running through the streets of Turkey naked, and fighting a gang, while trying to clothe himself.

I definitely lean towards mindless in my movies.

[donjuan]

Once upon a time in the west

just recently this has become one of my all time favorites.

[little_pianist]

The Incredibles
The Pirates of Carribean
E.T.
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
The Pianist
Forrest Gump
The Truman Show
Run with Dick and Jane (Is it "run" or "fun", i can't remember)
The Terminal
Ever After
80 days around the world

I think these are all old moviez...

[sharon_f]

The Incredibles
The Pirates of Carribean
E.T.
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
The Pianist
Forrest Gump
The Truman Show
Run with Dick and Jane (Is it "run" or "fun", i can't remember)
The Terminal
Ever After
80 days around the world

I think these are all old moviez...

God, I feel old. 

[lau]

Meet the Parents good, but the 2nd one is dumb.

[elspeth]

'Dead of Night' - I bought this as soon as I could get it on DVD, it's rather hard to get hold of - it's a series of four short but connected horror films made by four different directors from the Ealing studios. The one it's famous for, which I remember vividly from the first time I saw it aged about 12, was about a ventriloquist whose dummy comes to life and starts to drive him mad, until eventually it frames him for a murder it comitted, and when he is put in jail for the crime the dummy is locked up with him so he can't escape from it... it's a superb piece of psychological horror and probably Michael Redgrave's finest hour.

'Strangers on a Train' - the original Hitchcock, not the remake. The scene with the carousel at the end has a justified reputation.

'Rear Window' - again, the original Hitchcock, not the remake. Another psychological one, with the ever-wonderful James Stewart.

In fact, I love most of Hitchcock's output... 'Vertigo' and 'Spellbound' are also high on the list.

'Clue' - utterly silly film version of the board game Cluedo, it still amuses me! Tim Curry being camp as only he can...

Any of Ray Harryhausen's films - the godfather of special effects. They may look dated now, but there are plenty worse new computer generated films to watch on a wet Sunday afternoon.

'Pirates of the Carribean' - very silly but very amusing.

'The Ladykillers' - the original Ealing version, not the remake (have you noticed I don't like remakes?). Classic comedy, so beautifully done it doesn't date.

'Paleface', 'Son of Paleface', 'Road to Rio' and 'The Ghostbreakers' - you couldn't beat Bob Hope on a good day. A bit dated but still wittier than most modern American comedy films.

[pianistimo]

well, my kids went to see 'snakes in an airplane' (hope that's the correct title).  so, my imagination starts going wild and i'm imagining if even one snake was found on an airplane.  say a viper of some kind.  now, why do they give terrorists any ideas.  isn't that just plain stupid.  everyone would immediately be using up the oxygen and then everyone would pass out and the snake would eat all the food trays.

[nanabush]

so close! "snakes on a plane"

haha, that was actually a good movie, i'd recommend it! 

[burstroman]

I replied earlier, but just remembered one that I had missed.  That is "The Manchurian Candidate", original version, of course.

[trunks]

Ben (1972)
Titanic (1997)
Brokeback Mountain (2006)
8 Below (2006)
Quill (2005?)

[clhiospzitn]

My favorite movies include:

"Pulp Fiction" - brilliant dialogue and performances, as well as an amazing story structure
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" - hysterical, intelligent comedy that never gets old
The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy - nothing more needs to be said
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" - one of the most beautiful and fantastical films ever made
"Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2" - wildly inventive direction and fight scenes
"Psycho" - the 1960 Hitchcock original, of course, not the remake
"Forrest Gump" - always loved this movie
"E.T." - also always loved this movie, even though parts of it still freak me out - I also really love the musical score
"The Truman Show" - great premise
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - so much funnier/better than I thought it would be
"The Emperor's New Groove" - remarkably funny and clever for a children's animated film
"The Shining" - the 1980 Kubrick original, of course, not the remake; one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen
"The Ring" - a modern horror film that's actually scary and stylish - but be sure to avoid the sequel
"The Pianist" - obviously because of the piano playing, but it also has a great story with many powerful scenes

[soliloquy]

8 1/2

Lost in Translation

Rushmore

The Royal Tenenbaums

Perfect Blue

Blow Up

Mishima: In 4 Chapters

Umberto D.

Mag-no'l-ia

Little Miss Sunshine

The Weatherman

Brazil



And just since it's around Halloween: The Omen, Audition and Jacob's Ladder.

[lisztisforkids]

The life aquatic with Steve Zissou

Jacobs ladder

All quite on western front (1932)

Solaris (Tarkovsky)

War of the worlds (orginal version)