In case you don’t read my comments (and if not, you’re nuts cause that’s where all the good stuff is), Courtney has just declared herself movie illiterate. So, if you had to recommend five essential movies that everyone should see, what would they be? Let me stress: only five. For those of you with break-the-rules tendencies (like--I dunno--just picking a name out of the air... Jorge?), your comment gets chucked out.
Give’r.
Give’r.
Comments
(By the way, I watched Kate Winslet in Holy Smoke this weekend. It was a weird movie. Harvey Keital looks odd in a red dress with matching lipstick. And Kate's boobs are natural, because I don't think they make fake ones lopsided like that.)
It was unintentionally hilarious. I mean, what is it about urinating on yourself while naked that is seductive?
I did this, in Mexico, after 40 (seriously) tequila shots, but it didn't make anyone suddenly want to fuck me.
Although, let's face it, they all wanted to anyway, so maybe I'm not a good example.
;-)
Psycho
Manhattan
Dr. Strangelove
The Triplets of Belleville
The Godfather, Part II
As for Part II: the plot (Michael) is tighter and more involving, and the perspective (Vito) is fuller. The film provides more explicit moral justification: we admire Vito not merely as a an attractive sort of il padrone figure, but as a man doing, on the whole, good things. He provides for people; he avoids hurting people. What's to cavill with? But it is also more explicit about its condemnations than the first movie: Michael is brutal, heartless, terrible. He is burdened. He is so much more interesting than he was in the first film. And there are beautiful scenes, naturally. The best is the explosive, shocking violence of the moment in which he springs across the room to strike his wife, in the 'it wasn't a miscarriage' scene. Also, obviously, the final scene of the film, in which Michael misplaces his loyalties. He's a bit of a fuck-up; he really should have been Senator Corleone. The seamlessness of the casting: how easy it is to believe that we recognize Tessio, Clemenza, Vito. Fredo in the boat; Fredo and Michael in Cuba; the beautiful incongruousness of finding Hyman Roth, eating sandwiches from a tv table in a Florida bungalow, and the perfect venomousness of that character. Connie returning to Michael, in black, like an unholy bride (okay, okay...). It isn't as whole, as round as the first movie, because it ignores all the dramatic unities; but it is breathtaking, like a priceless frame enclosing a priceless portrait. It completes the story, and so long as you never watch more than thirty seconds of Part III, you have the closest thing to Stendhal or Tolstoy Hollywood has ever produced.
How's that?
The 25 essential movies you should see are...
Seriously.
Only 5?
The Sound of Music
Everyone should see a musical. This one has a lot of great numbers in it. Not to mention it has one of the most sinister twists after the halfway point. It's conveniently engineered (I think) to actually go to commercial on a happy moment that seems like the end. But no! This is not the case. A great story with a great cast.
Unbreakable
One of the best superhero movies of all time. Most superhero movies rush through the plot to get to the climactic battle, but they don't deal well with the hero coming to terms with his responsibility. Face it, Spiderman's with great power comes great resopnsibility line is so overused that it loses meaning. You've gotta act on the advice! And Bruce Willis delivers.
Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke)
An excellent way to view animation with meaning. There are quite a number of obscure happenigns in this movie, but the story is so engaging that you'll not be able to stop watching. It will make you forget that it's animated and all you will think of is the story.
The Shining
This is an excellent movie to see to cover your horror/thriller jonesing. Great story with creepy scenes (yes, even today). A classic that can still chill you to the bones.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
A complicated love story, but worth the effort. Stellar acting by everyone. Even though it is a wire stunt flick, it has all the right stuff to move you. This movie will make you angry, and it will make you very sad. There is joy to be found in the ironic ending, though.
C'est tout!
J
PS: I can pee on everything, and the entire world takes notice. This is because I eat a lot of asparagus.
-Fight Club
-Matrix
-Seven
-American Psycho
-Zoolander
P.S. Jorge is going to hate me for saying this, but Unbreakable was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I call it "Unwatchable"
One of the worst movies, ever.
Especially the ending.
JORGE ===> Jerk.
ALL ===> Alright, crap, only five movies?
DAVE ===> Jerk.
ALL ===> Ok... not that I'm saying these are my favourites, or anything, but just five films that really should be seen (beyond those mentioned in the replies to Dave's last entry and already stated here):
Spider-Man
The sequel may be the best superhero movie of all time. Shut up, it does so matter. But you kinda need to see one to lead you to it, and the first one rocks pretty hard, as well.
Finding Nemo
One of my favourite animated films of all time.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The series kicks ass - though the second of the three is the weakest - and again, you need to start somewhere.
Alien
A whole new kind of horror. For what it did to the genre in its day, amazing.
Back To The Future
Very nicely/amusingly handled. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in their prime.
Right - five movies!
Princess Bride - it was required viewing when I joined the varsity fencing team.
Star Wars - the very first one, where we meet Luke et al for the first time. From it comes memorable lines like, "Use the force, Luke!", "These are not the droids you are looking for," and "scruffy looking nerf herder!" (or is that one from the second one?0
Yellow Submarine - scared me to death as a child, but it's trippy and psychadelic.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - best buddy movie of all time.
The Dark Crystal - Jim Henson's muppet creations at their best.
La Jetee by Chris
Marker. this movie is the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's wildly successful
12 Monkeys... but it's way
better. It's made with still black and white photos stitched together in an
amazing montage. Wicked style and distopian horror.
Annie Hall. It's
sad, it's funny, and Marshall McLuhan makes a cameo to bitchslap a pretentious
intellectual.
Drowning by Numbers.
It won't ruin it if I reveal that the husbands get drowned. The best quote from
the film - "A great many things are dying very violently all the time.
The best days for violent deaths are Tuesdays. They are the yellow-paint days."
Secrets and Lies
a fly on the wall story of crazy family shenanigans by Mike
Leigh.
Winged Migration.
Dave and I joke about this movie, saying "It's just birds - flying".
None of the crummy nature documentary stuff, just pure 100% bird action. Don't
underestimate the magic of the camera.
(There are so many more that are my favourites but I'd lose any hope of being
mistaken for a smart person if I went around cheering for Ferris Bueller's Day
Off or Spaceballs...)
If you're chafing at Dave's restrictions, Courtney (and obviously there is
a lot of chafing action here) the Internet
Movie Database has a public list of top rated 250 films, and twofifty.org
has a neato app to keep track of which ones you've seen.
Just because it took you 3 tries to figure it out, doesn't mean everyone else is as dense as you, jerk.
Beth, this list is just our own list of our own top five movies we'd like to watch. Next time, come out and troop it with us for the twenty-four hour movie marathon, so you can tell us all how crappy our choices are. :)
Also, I wonder if the Princess Bride that I have seen is the same one that everyone else has seen (and seem to love)...because I really don't get it.
Gangs of New York
This Is Spinal Tap
Schindler's List
Some Like It Hot
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
My Netflix queue has just lengthened significantly.
You guys rock.
Check it out!
Snatch
Annie Hall (woo hoo Jody!)
Manhattan
Serial Mom (lots of cursing=hilarious)
Royal Tenenbaums
re: "Next time, come out and troop it with us for the twenty-four hour movie marathon, so you can tell us all how crappy our choices are. :)"
Are you going to spring for the plane ticket? ;-)
... wait...
DAVE ===> Can I suggest five movies with each reply? Huh, can I?
I've thought about this on and off over the past two days and I could probably keep at it, but I'm just gonna stop over-thinking and go for it. Will rehash stuff that's already been said, but that just means we're both smart.
Casablanca - classic, b&w, but also really enjoyable.
Royal Tannebaums - indie flavour without the piss-poor shooting conditions. And damn funny.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - covers the love story quotient while remaining totally original.
Pulp Fiction - deserving of all the hype it ever received. Also: action and cursing.
Hard Core Logo - probably not deserving, but I'm having trouble with a fifth choices. It's a mockumentary, it's Canadian, and it involves degenerates.
That'll do, pig. That'll do.
Unfortunately, Chuck Norris punched her in the vagina.
It's over.
Didn't you hear?
Chuck Norris said THE END
*PUNCH*
EWWWWWW.
Thank you to all, except Jorge, who put that AWFUL picture in my mind. (All I can see is his hand disappearing, engulfed into the fat lady's nether parts.)
Good times.
Royal Tenenbaums
The Sound of Music
Unbreakable
Finding Nemo
Gangs of New York
That's it. I have a lot of catching up to do.
Work is kicking my ass, so I am late to the party. Jorge, no need to kick anyone in the privates...
I will stick to old(er) movies:
1) Casablanca -- it's just SO GOOD.
2) To Have and Have Not -- scrumptious chemistry b/t Bogie and Bacall (Steve and Slim).
3) Out of Africa -- I couldn't get over how GREAT Meryl Streep was. And Robert Redford is yummy.
4) The Lion in Winter - Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn kick some serious ass in this one. Look for a young Anthony Hopkins and an INCREDIBLY young Timothy Dalton.
5) Pride and Prejudice (the BBC miniseries with Colin Firth) -- ok, so it's not a movie. It is one of my faves, though. You will LOVE Miss Elizabeth Bennett, though. The characters are wonderful, it is a faithful adaptation of the work...and this is why English-speaking women stood up and took notice of Mr. Firth. YUM!!!
Finding Neverland
Very nicely written and beautifully acted. It's got Johnny Depp doing some of his best acting ever, and young lad Freddie Highmore is excellent. If you don't enjoy this movie, you're dead inside. Like a zombie, but with less brain eating.