Favorite Movies

[cricketbug]

IMHO

(Disclaimer: the first 3 are 'cause I'm a farm/country kid...)

8 Seconds
Man from Snowy River
Return to Snowy River
Monsters Inc.
A Goofy Movie
*whispers so my Hubby won't hear me* Star Wars
Urm... there's more but I can't think of 'em right now...

 

[Alas Poor Yorick]

Political Satire films are the perfect antidote to the current times. I watched Bulworth last night, staring Halle Berry and Warren Betty. Great movie! I don't think Betty has ever been as edgy and articulate in this very smart movie about a modern politician finally becoming a real person.

 

[Hello_Kitten]

Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Most definitely. I'd like to add Chasing Amy, Clerks, A Few Good Men, In The Name of The Father. About a Boy has also become a recent favourite.

 

[RomanHans]

Political Satire films are the perfect antidote to the current times. I watched Bulworth last night, staring Halle Berry and Warren Betty. Great movie! I don't think Betty has ever been as edgy and articulate in this very smart movie about a modern politician finally becoming a real person.

I'd add Bob Roberts with Tim Robbins as a good film in that genre!

Roman

 

[RomanHans]

In observance of recent events

A list of must-see war movies:

Apocalypse Now (of course)
A Bridge Too Far
The Longest Day
Bridge over the River Kwai
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Three Kings
Fail-Safe

Roman

 

[Alas Poor Yorick]

Anotehr good war movie, hell, it is almost a satire of the entire genre, is Starship Troopers. It takes the idea of a future society and turns it into a Naziesque world filled with essentially mindless automotons. I don't think many people got the humor of the movie, how it was a social commentary more than anything else.

 

[English Lady]

I think i have a pretty eclectic taste in most things and it goes for movies too..though you cannot beat a good comedy!


Flash Gordon
Never been kissed
Anything with George Formby/NormanWisdom/Jerry Lewis or Danny Kay
Carry on films!
Disney's Aladdin
Disney's Tarzan
Actually anything Disney...but not pocahontas..eeek!
Dark Crystal
Muppets take manhattan

(I'm a kid at heart)

Star Trek first contact
Patch Addams....(the butterfly bit gets me every time *sniff*)
Scream2 (not a horror fan but i loved the first 2 scream movies 3 suucked!)


And i'll pop back with more i am sure*L*

 

[RomanHans]

Anotehr good war movie, hell, it is almost a satire of the entire genre, is Starship Troopers. It takes the idea of a future society and turns it into a Naziesque world filled with essentially mindless automotons. I don't think many people got the humor of the movie, how it was a social commentary more than anything else.

I was actually pissed off by that movie, simply because it took a fairly good sci-fi novel by Robert Heinlein, with a serious (tho' in my view flawed) philosphical argument, and turned into some campy B-movie trash. They also left out the coolest part of the book--the battlesuits that the troopers wore to fight the bugs.

I hate it when films are so completely less worthwhile than the books.

Roman

 

[Alas Poor Yorick]

Have you ever seen Triumph of the Will ? It was a Nazi propaganda film made around 1935 that I watched in a history class. Starship Troopers follows it, at least in the mass-think scenes, exactly. It is pretty wierd in that manner, but I think it takes the book in a whole new direction. Heinlen was a very strange author, though I thought the book of Starship Troopers was fine. I agree that when books and movies don't jive it can be frustrating, but this is one time that I found the movie better than the book.

 

[RomanHans]

A friend recently said something that reminded me...did anyone here ever go to the Spike and Mike's Animation Festival when it toured around the country? I haven't seen a showing here in like five years--but almost all the art cinemas in DC have shut down, so maybe they don't have a venue. That was where I was introduced to among the greatest movies ever made--the Wallace and Grommit films by Nick Park at Aardman Animation...plus some other great shorts by artists like George Plimpton, etc.

Just wondering...

Roman

 

[Ask For More]

Count the languages:

English:
Shawshank Redemption
White Men Can't Jump
The Usual Suspects

Korean:
Chinguu (Friends)

Chinese:
The Killer
Better Tomorrow 2
Fist of Legend
Project A
Once Upon a time in China 2

French:

Cyrano De Bergerac
Jean De Florette
Le Cage Aux Folles

Japanese: (all anime )
Laputa: Castle in the Sky
My Neighbour Totoro
Grave of the Fireflies
Wings of Honeamise

 

[Alas Poor Yorick]

I just saw the Mexican film Y Tu Mama, Tambien. It was FANTASTIC. Rent the DVD that is unrated and watch the version the director really meant for you to see. It is a touching and moving film with an erotic undercurrent that is almost sweet.

 

[RomanHans]

I just saw the Mexican film Y Tu Mama, Tambien. It was FANTASTIC. Rent the DVD that is unrated and watch the version the director really meant for you to see. It is a touching and moving film with an erotic undercurrent that is almost sweet.

And it won an award at the Indie Spirit awards...

Roman

 

[Alas Poor Yorick]

So what did everyone think of the Oscars and who won? I can tell you I was thrilled when Chicago won best picture, any movie that marries theatre and film like that deserved special recognition. I was a little disappointed that Rob Marshall didn't win for best director, but Roman Polanski has had an amazing career and has earned it...even if he couldn't be there to recieve his award. I was thrilled with both the supporting winners, Cathrine Zeta-Jones made Chicago what it was and Chris Copper is one of the finest character actors in the business today. I was glad to see Nicole Kidman earn her first Oscar, I thought she was robbed last year (I liked Halle Berry in Monsters Ball, but I didn't think it was the best performance of last year), but I really did think Diane Lane had a better performance in Unfaithful. So lets hear what you all thought!

 

[melligrl]

My List

Somersby
Sliding Doors
Monster's Inc.
Beauty and the Beast
How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days
Shawshank Redemption
Grease
Momento
Kate and Leopold

I have a wide array of favorites, but I still tend to fall back on good old chick flicks.

 

[SuperShyGuy]

Someone mentioned "Wallace & Grommit" above. Damngood choice. I love claymation. Chicken Run rules! I'd also like to add Fantasia to my list. Remember when Disney actually tried?

 

[RomanHans]

Someone mentioned "Wallace & Grommit" above. Damngood choice. I love claymation. Chicken Run rules! I'd also like to add Fantasia to my list. Remember when Disney actually tried?

On a related note...Daily Variety mentioned how Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away' won best animated feature...the first cel animation movie to do so, as opposed to all of this CGI stuff. Admittedly, the category isn't that old...

Roman

 

[English Lady]

"Eee we forgot the cheese Gromit!"

my sister waves her hands like Wallace when she gets worked up*L* its rather amusing really, I LOVE wallace and grommit, I think "a close shave" is my fave..

 

[VincentFloyd]

Pulp Fiction: BEST. MOVIE. EVER.

Blood In Blood Out

A Few Good Men

Apocalypse Now

Platoon

Godfather Part One and Two

waaaaaay too many to list

 

[cocktail42]

Anotehr good war movie, hell, it is almost a satire of the entire genre, is Starship Troopers. It takes the idea of a future society and turns it into a Naziesque world filled with essentially mindless automotons. I don't think many people got the humor of the movie, how it was a social commentary more than anything else.

You are really giving Verhoeven too much credit - this was a steaming pile of runway models being displayed in snazzy black uniforms with incredibly bad alien monster bugs.
I realize this is the same guy who did "Soldier of Orange" which was a wonderful film about war.
Something happened to Verhoeven after he left Holland - from "Spetters" to "Showgirls", from "Soldier of Orange" to "Starship Troopers" and "Robocop" somewhere in between. Even Jan de Bont, his Dir. of Photography, did better as a Director with "Speed" and "Twister."

 

[cocktail42]

So what did everyone think of the Oscars and who won? I can tell you I was thrilled when Chicago won best picture, any movie that marries theatre and film like that deserved special recognition. I was a little disappointed that Rob Marshall didn't win for best director, but Roman Polanski has had an amazing career and has earned it...even if he couldn't be there to recieve his award. I was thrilled with both the supporting winners, Cathrine Zeta-Jones made Chicago what it was and Chris Copper is one of the finest character actors in the business today. I was glad to see Nicole Kidman earn her first Oscar, I thought she was robbed last year (I liked Halle Berry in Monsters Ball, but I didn't think it was the best performance of last year), but I really did think Diane Lane had a better performance in Unfaithful. So lets hear what you all thought!

It's funny, I used to use the handle of "Yorick" and obviously you love film, but we are almost diametrically opposite in our opinion of films. That of course is not a bad thing, most of my friends run to see films when I announce that I hate them. Might also be a difference in our ages - you are in your 20's and I am 53.
I felt that "Chicago" was a destruction of Bob Fosse's legacy, something that Rob Marshall has been feeding off for years. Zellweger was amazingly miscast and only the supporting cast stands out (Richard Gere is a given although a little forced in this film). I thought "Moulin Rouge" was an abominable grab bag of various movie genre's which didn't even lack the kitchen sink. I think Kidman's performance lurched from moment to moment under the disabling direction of Buz Lurman. If you want to see wonderful musicals look at the original, Fosse and the musicals of Minnelli and Gene Kelly and Jerome Robbins.
I did think that Kidman did a wonderful performance in "The Hours" a pretentious film that would make a Mother Theresa want to committ suicide. I agree with you about Cooper and Polanski. I will say that Polanski's career films were already in place before he left for France. "Tess" being the only one worth noting after that until now - "The Pianist" is an amazingly pure and clear film; I am sure Brody's performance had a great deal to do with that.
I am no fan of Adrian Lyne, I think he is primarily a pervert disguised as a director, in the case of "Unfaithful" he actually did a very good job. However Diane Lane's performance and his direction did nothing to make the character more real - she is an overaged Barbie Doll used to the demands of the script not to any standard a human would act. Richard Gere, always a favorite, did imbue humanity to his character but could do nothing to deal with the illogic of the murder and the attempt to hide it.

 

[cocktail42]

Anotehr good war movie, hell, it is almost a satire of the entire genre, is Starship Troopers. It takes the idea of a future society and turns it into a Naziesque world filled with essentially mindless automotons. I don't think many people got the humor of the movie, how it was a social commentary more than anything else.

Take a look at "Attack" by Robert Aldrich with Jack Palance and Eddie Albert for an interesting war film. I would also suggest "Seven Beauties" by Lina Wertmuller not to mention "Bridge over the River Kwai," "Lawrence of Arabia,"All Quiet on the Western Front" (which has a great deal more to do with "Starship Troopers" than "Triumph of the Will"), "Throne of Blood" by Kurosawa and "Spartacus" by Kubrick. "Alexander Nevsky" by Eisenstein is definitely worth a few looks.
The preamble (snowball fight) of "Napoleon" by Gance is a wonderful parable on war.

 

[naughtygirl]

Additional favorites to add to my list:

Life is Beautiful
Office Space
Scream (first horror flick in a long time that actually scared me, plus IMHO it was funny and smart...)
10 Things I Hate About You (guilty pleasure)
Bring it On (another guilty pleasure)
Happy, Texas
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Momento
American History X
Death to Smoochy

 

[starkpic]

The Wild Bunch @'69
Point Blank @67
On the Waterfront @54
The Grey Fox @82
Night of the Hunter @56
French Connection @71

Nowt in the last 20 years

 

[RomanHans]

It's funny, I used to use the handle of "Yorick" and obviously you love film, but we are almost diametrically opposite in our opinion of films. That of course is not a bad thing, most of my friends run to see films when I announce that I hate them. Might also be a difference in our ages - you are in your 20's and I am 53.

<edit of an extremely well-put and rational diatribe>

Yeesh...so tell us what you REALLY think?

I have to agree that Chicago was not absolutely superb, but definitely give John C. Reilly some credit as well--he is truly excellent. I tried to watch Moulin Rouge on video, and had to give up after 30 minutes 'cuz I kept on trying to change the channel to see what else was on TV I did like Strictly Ballroom though.

Roman