Your favorite movies

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

There's a worst movie thread, but I couldn't find one to discuss our favorites.

I just watched 500 Days of Summer and it was goooood (you'll get the nod if you've seen it).

Other of my favorite movies would be the Back to the Future trilogy, Children of Men, Pleasantville, King Kong, Sound of Music, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Under the Tuscan Sun, & Inception  to name a few.

What are some of yours?

[Easy Bakes 253]

Mine are Blade Runner and the Original Alien.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Some of us have had the advantage of seeing a lot of pictures in theaters when we were young.  My absolute all-time favorite motion picture is Gone with the Wind starring Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland, Clark Gable and that new ingenue actress Elizabeth Taylor (oops) Vivien Leigh.  They have never made anything to compare with it.

Some of the others I really liked are:

King Kong (the original make)  Fay Wray has the best scream ever

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - spectacular dancing

Sixty Seconds over Tokyo - Van Johnson

The Dam Busters - great propaganda film with a stellar cast

The Battle of Britain - Every actor who ever worked in the U.K. is in it.

Hamlet - Definitive performance by all

Gigi - Maurice Chevalier's swan song with Hermione Gingold.  Louis Jourdan and the others don't matter.

Taming of the Shrew with Burton and Taylor.  A definitive performance; and with it

Kiss Me Kate - Howard Keel, Ann Miller (legs that go on forever), and others just as famous.

Last night I watched Clash of the Titans.  The story of Perseus and Andromeda isn't what I expected from the title.  The kraken was a bust.  My kraken is a giant bathyteuthis, and I like him better than this pseudo Godzilla.  Overall, entertaining, but it was just that, no great epic.  The recent lightning thief movie was just as bad.  However, the Greek gods were a lusty lot.

Science Fiction Films:

When Worlds Collide - hokey, and impossible both cosmically and psychologically.  Good excitement, but that's all

The Day the Earth Stood Still - Michael Rennie - Stilted but better than the recent remake.  Gort forever!

2001 - A Space Odyssey - Spectacular effects grown out of a short story by Arthur C. Clarke. The writers were unfettered.  Kier Dulea lived up to his name.  The premise for HAL's malfunction as given in the sequel was trash.  No computer of that magnitude should ever be made without the Asmovian Laws.  HAL should have died on the pad when given conflicting instructions contrary to the first law.

I Robot - Will Smith.  Men in Black using metal simulacra - Phui!  I Robot is a book of short stories about the successful development of the positronic robot -- much of it about Dr. Susan Calvin, who is anything but a knockout.  This travesty took several names in vain, and produced a vehicle that should make people afraid of anything automated for the next hundred years.  That's not where its at folks.  Shame on you.  I greatly fear that Officer Elijah (Will Smith) Bailey will appear in some other Asimov vehicle like Caves of Steel, when it will become Tunnels of Mush.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Peter Jackson is remaking The Dam Busters.

I thought i had seen this with another title but reading the Wiki on thiss movie,I  Was mistaken

Interesting to note they mentioned  the  scenes from Star Wars:New Hope were they

are attacking the death star down the trench are taken  from this movie.

[Muck308 55]

I love movies. Good topic.

Just to name a few... Empire of the Sun, The Shawshank Redemption, The Goonies, Poolhall Junkies, Goodfellas, Back to the Future I,II, & III, Fear of a Black Hat, The Game, and The Big Lebowski.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Peter Jackson is remaking The Dam Busters.

I thought i had seen this with another title but reading the Wiki on thiss movie,I  Was mistaken

Interesting to note they mentioned  the  scenes from Star Wars:New Hope were they

are attacking the death star down the trench are taken  from this movie.

quote>

"There is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes  (Yes, I can quote it if I have to.)

[fukuda 351]

Hmmm pretty hard to decide... But maybe Young Frankenstein could fill that place in my case

Frau Blücher! 

[x493x 446]

Bourne Trilogy

All 4 Fast and Furiouses

All 4 Die Hards

I robot

Green Mile

Mr. Bean's Holiday

Pirates of the Carribean 1

Quantom of Solace

Casino Royale (new)

All 3 Transporters

That's all I can think of now.

[Larks2242 251]

Definitely the Die Hards

24 (Show)

Under Seige 2

Exit Wounds

All of the Missing in Action Movies

Death Wish

Eraser

True Lies

Air Force One

Indiana Jones

Last Man Standing

The Siege

But my favorite all time is Broken Arrow!

Also my favorite actors are

Bruce Williis

Harrison Ford

Steven Seagal

Surprisingly Frank Sinatra was a good actor even though i hated his singing.

Martin Lawence

Dave Chappelle

Pierce Brosnan

Morgan Freeman

Matt Dillon

Matt Damon

Jason Statham

Thats all i can think of at the top of my head i might add more later.

[Muck308 55]

Originally posted by: Larks2242

Also my favorite actors are...

...Surprisingly Frank Sinatra was a good actor even though i hated his singing.

quote>

Kids these days.

Franky's singing kinda grows on you. I'm a big fan.

Agreed on the Die Hard movies though. I still get a kick out of them. I watched Die Hard II a couple months ago for the first time in years.

[x493x 446]

Die Hard 5 is coming out I heard.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Y'see, chillun', it is all a matter of perspective.  I like the movies that were new when I was young, and you like the ones you are seeing in your youth.  You really don't have time, nor  the referents to watch some of the ones I really like.  How many of your understand the attitude of the southern planters in the Confederacy?  All the action in GWTW is based on the run up to the American Civil War, the atrocities committed by both sides, and the carpet baggers after the victory.  I think if the north had not been so vindictive, things would be better now.  GWTW is just a story, but Sherman's march to the sea is rather a graphic set of scenes.  Oh, yes, NO CGI in those days.  MGM really did burn down their back lot.  Real flames are better.

If you are into strong character studies on leadership, I recommend 12 Angry Men.  Henry Fonda will show you what acting is really all about.  (Not seeming to act.)  Spencer Tracy was good at that, too.  One of his best was San Francisco with Clark Gable.  12 Angry men is a studio system film.  You know many of the actors in it because most of them really made it.

In the days when actors were under contract to the studios, you could be sure of a star-studded cast.  The studios worked a lot of people to death.  I can think of Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe immediately who were essentially killed by the star system.  You had to be tough as nails and in good control of yourself at all times, or the fast living, and heavy work load would lead you down the primrose path of uppers and downers, then worse, and  worse.

Now, what's your favorite spaghetti epic?  I liked Ben Hur with Charleton Heston, and I still do.  I find it hard to watch because I've fallen out with man's inhumanity to man, but I do watch it occasionally.  Most of the biblical stuff done in Hollywood plays the Jesus card too much.  Considering all of the Hollywood moguls at the time were Jews, they played the Christian audience like a harp.

Someone took exception to the singing of Frank Sinatra.  When I was a kid, there were only two real male singers, both tenors.  Frankie, and Der Bingle (Bing Crosby).  Perry Como was a distant third.  The bobby soxers were nuts for Frankie, and swooned all over the place.  Disgusting, but no worse than some of the behavior today.

If you've seen From Here to Eternity, you know Frank can act.  If you've seen High Society, you know he is also good at very sophisticated comedy, and as a good straight man for Bing Crosby.  High Society is a remake of the Philidelphia Story as a musical.  It has Crosby, Sinatra and Satchmo.  As dangerous a bunch of goons as you've ever seen.  This is all set off by Grace Kelly, before she became Princess Grace of Monaco.  She was a fine actor, and I miss her very much.  Celeste Holm plays the comic relief in a sarcastic way that is just precious.  If you haven't seen it, do. 

The Philadelphia Story stars Kathryn Hepburn and some other actor.  When Kate is on screen, nothing else matters.

I think I mentioned the Olivier Hamlet as definitive.  Apparently a lot of it was shot in Elsinore Castle in Denmark, which is Shakespeare's setting.  Very good interpretation, if a little heavy handed in some of the recitativo scenes.  I have never seen a better performance, even at the Stratford Festival.

I guess that's enough film ramblings for tonight.  But do discuss your favorites, this is an elegant thread.

[Mercury96 3]

Anything made by John Hughes. My personal favs are "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", and the National Lamphoons series.

I also love the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Fine bunch of movie buffs, you are.  I goofed on the cast of GWTW, and no one noticed.  I fixed my previous post.

[blade2k5 1,523]

Star Wars

Alien

2001: A Space Odyssey

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Total Recall

Let The Right One In

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Originally posted by: blade2k5

Star Wars

Alien

2001: A Space Odyssey

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Total Recall

Let The Right One In

quote>

Interesting set.  I haven't seen the last two, so I can't say anything about them.

I assume by Star Wars you mean what is now called Episode IV - A New Hope.  When it first came out a colleague and I skipped an afternoon of work to watch it.  At the time we were very impressed.

Alien.  Frightening in places.  As creature features go, I think I prefer Predator.

2001: A Space Odyssey.  I have commented earlier in this thread.

Raiders of the Lost Ark -  A fun romp.  The staid archaeology professor turns into the wild adventurer.  Whee!  The opening titles and tomb scene got my attention fully, and the rest kept it.  I think the NAZI types, especially the Gestapo psychopath were rather sterotyped, but no worse than the WW II propaganda I've seen when I was a kid.  Overall, it was a sight bomb!

[joshriddle 29]

I liked that Avatar movie they made. I'm not into movies but I liked that one.

[blade2k5 1,523]

Originally posted by: A Nonny Moose

Originally posted by: blade2k5

Star Wars

Alien

2001: A Space Odyssey

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Total Recall

Let The Right One In

quote>

Interesting set.  I haven't seen the last two, so I can't say anything about them.

I assume by Star Wars you mean what is now called Episode IV - A New Hope.  When it first came out a colleague and I skipped an afternoon of work to watch it.  At the time we were very impressed.

Alien.  Frightening in places.  As creature features go, I think I prefer Predator.

2001: A Space Odyssey.  I have commented earlier in this thread.

Raiders of the Lost Ark -  A fun romp.  The staid archaeology professor turns into the wild adventurer.  Whee!  The opening titles and tomb scene got my attention fully, and the rest kept it.  I think the NAZI types, especially the Gestapo psychopath were rather sterotyped, but no worse than the WW II propaganda I've seen when I was a kid.  Overall, it was a sight bomb!quote>

To this day E4 is and always will be just Star Wars to me.

Total Recall is the Governators best film in my opinion.  Here's the synapse from the back cover of the Blu-Ray....

Arnold Schwartzenegger is perfectly cast as Quaid, a 2084 construction worker haunted by dreams of Mars in this crowd pleasing science fiction spectacle.  Against the wishes of his sexy blonde wife [sharon Stone], Quaid goes to Rekall, a company that implants artificial memories, so he can remember visiting the red planet that is now being settled by human inhabitants.  However, Quaid is actually an amnesiac secret agent from Mars...or is he?

Here's the synapse for Let The Right One In taken from the back of the Blu-Ray disk I own...

Lonely, 12-year old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates.  A new friendship develops when Eli, a pale, serious young girl who only comes out at night moves in next door.  Coinciding with her arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders.  As Oskar becomes more aware of Eli's tragic plight, he cannot forsake her.  However, Eli knows that to continue living, she must keep relocating.  But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can...

[nathanthemayor 1,263]

• Norbit
• RV
• The Princess Bride
• The Terminal
• Alice In Wonderland(2010)

These are my 5 favorites, i don't favor one over the rest.

[Odainsaker 2,137]

Star Wars Episode V:  The Empire Strikes Back - Still the best of the series, though I don't like the spoiler changes Lucas has made to bring it in line with the newer prequels.  Whose heart fails to swell with pride as Vader's star destroyer fleet parades in formation to John Williams's Imperial March?

Dune - Frank Herbert's byzantine novel is dense almost to impenetrability, and David Lynch's adaptation becomes a hopelessly messy (and expensive) editing nightmare.  However, this remains cult fun, with Freudian sandworms, fishtank Guildsmen, a crazily cackling floating villain, and music by TOTO.  "The Sleeper Has Awakened!"

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen - absurdisms from Terry Gilliam set in the Age of Reason.  I love the Turkish Sultan's loopy comedic opera, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sLNOhA7C2Q," set in "a typical, everyday, torture chamber."  It gets even more ridiculous when the harem joins with the eunich's chorus singing, "Cut Off In My Prime--Mein Herz, Mein Herz."

The Last Emperor - The life of Puyi, from Manchu puppet emperor in the Forbidden City, to Japanese wartime puppet in occupied Manchukou, to puppet gardener amidst New China's Cultural Revolution.  Bernardo Bertolucci may leave out or simplify much of the entangled personal histories of these turbulent years, but this still remains a mesmerizing spectacle set to Sakamoto Ryuichi's nostalgically otherworldly soundtrack.

Amadeus - I suspect Mozart wasn't really as

as depicted here, but still, you can't beat the soundtrack, and the costuming almost makes me wish for a return to the rococo fashions of the powdered wig era.

Alien - by far for me the most haunting of series, with H. R. Giger's erotomechanical alien being the most terrifying onscreen monster and the Space Jockey's bizarre derelect ship the most visually unnerving "alien" scene in cinema.  I watched this on laserdisc as a kid until I was as thoroughly traumatized as Newt, knowing always to hide under the covers when the heartbeating background sounds begin.  The sequel "Aliens" is great too, though it surrenders the spooky atmosphere for adrenaline action.  Sigourney may be the storyline heroine, but I root instead for the cat!  "Game over, man, game over!"  For precursor B-movie variations on a theme, check out the 1960s cult classic and Mystery Science Theater favorite "The Green Slime," which pits Japanese rubber-suited aliens against Italian supermodels with beehive hairdos on rotating space station suspended on a string.  Another childhood favorite, for which I could drive my parents crazy singing the silly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKESo2ofEcw.

Shogun's Samurai ("Yagu Ichizoku no Inbou") - Kurosawa's "Ran" is a greater period masterpiece, but this flick offers far more campy chanbara melodrama with Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Team.  It portrays my favorite screen villains--the Kyoto court nobles, whose personalities alternate between scheming imperial puppetmasters to insane kabuki clowns.  Must be the all the lead in the fushimizu teeth blackening dye.  Less theatrical and more goofily action-packed is "Shogun's Ninja" ("Ninja Bugeicho Momochi Sandayu"), as Sanada Hiroyuki, the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGTYpEnHfPI, struts his machismo martial artistry set to a wacky 1970s porno-jazz soundtrack.  Decades later, Sanada would get to smack around the real Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai."  Pure, runaway samurai camp.

A Night to Remember - Walter Lord's carefully researched book on the Titanic disaster is brought to screen in near-documentary-style drama.  The is the gold standard against which other Titanic movies are measured.  James's Cameron's "Titanic" is good and a favorite as well, despite its Hollywoodisms.  "S.O.S. Titanic" is also a made-for-television favorite, boasting a Wagnerian sea disaster soundtrack along with great ragtime outtakes.  While using the Queen Mary and London hotels as a props, somehow manages to achieve the most authentic feel for the Edwardian period.  Better add "The Hindenburg" too, because, gosh, who doesn't love disaster films set on a giant zeppelin?

The Killing Fields - The classic example of American diplomacy gone horribly wrong, as the U.S.-backed Lon Nol government collapses and the hopelessly surrounded capital of Phnom Penh is finally taken by the Khmer Rouge, ushering in Year Zero for one of the most murderously insane regimes in history.  The helicopter evacuation of the American embassy in Operation Eagle Pull, the panicked fleeing of abandoned refugees into the French compound, and the final depopulation and extermination of Phnom Penh are astounding scenes of chaotic tension and organizational breakdown.  Remember, when the American embassy evacuates, you best be going too, as such a pullout is a definite sign that such a mess has been made and is being left behind that the abyss is inevitable.

Tora! Tora! Tora! - this Pearl Harbor docudrama was a standard weekend mantinée growing up in Hickam on Oahu, but I must admit, along with collecting the models, I sometimes rooted for the cooler-looking carriers and battleships of the Nihon Kaigun.  A similar great bookend is "Hiroshima" (1995), a brilliantly insightful Japanese-Canadian collaboration focusing on the torturously circumspect decision-making among the cabinets of President Harry Truman and Prime Minister Suzuki Kataro that ultimately led to the bombing.  Another great docudrama of decision-making-run-amok and leadership-cabinet-musical-chairs is "Path to War," which features the Johnson Adminstration's

into the quagmire of Vietnam, portrayed at a time and in a way that too easily evokes the haplessness of the Bush Administration.  You know we are in for it when adviser

starts dryly pointing out reality.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - don't be fooled by the goofy shagginess, this a landmark of post-modern cinematic iconography featuring outstanding personages of historical significance dealing with the relativistic anomalies of time travel with the greatest of ease.  This is one of those movies I can quote line-by-line.  "Socrates--'the only true wisdom consists of knowing that you know nothing'...that's us, dude!"  Whoa!

[quicksilver991 37]

Dark Knight for sure. Heath Ledger acted the part incredibly well.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

When it comes to Heath Ledger, I think Brokeback Mountain was a stellar performance.  His early demise was a great loss to the entertainment industry and the public at large.  He was one of those actors who didn't seem to act; in the tradition of Spencer Tracy.

[simfreak90 3]

We own roughly 700 movies on tape and DVD, so here are few of my favorites:

Star Wars IV, V and VI

Jurassic Park and the Lost World (JP3 wasn't that great, but I still watch it a lot)

Independence Day

Men In Black

Eight Legged Freaks- cheesy but lot's of fun to watch at night

Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: First Contact (the best of the Star Treks I have seen)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Wall-e

Up

Over the Hedge

Rocket Man

Some Like it Hot (the best comedy I have ever seen)

Hidalgo

The Mask of Zorro (one of the best action movies I have seen)

Spiderman 1,2 and 3

To Kill a Mockingbird

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (we don't to show you any stinkin' badges!)

North by Northwest

Rear Window

To Catch a Thief (beautiful scenery and leading lady)

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Funny that no one has mentioned Dr. Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb).  This is one of Peter Seller's best multi-part films.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: A Nonny Moose

Funny that no one has mentioned Dr. Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb).  This is one of Peter Seller's best multi-part films.

quote>

Thats up there but not in my top 10.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Funnily enough, I think the best part in that film went to Slim Pickens.

[Empowered One 41]

In no particular order:

Avatar - just plain amazing visuals and decent story to boot. 1 of the few movies I've seen that got away with a brainfart name as 'Unobtainium'. If that doesn't ring a bell....

The Fifth Element - Something entirely different. Especially the opera scene is amazing.

Alice in Wonderland 2010 - I love Tim Burton movies and I love to go down the rabbit hole.

The Sixth Sense - I love how this movie is put together. And a story that's intriguing as well.

The Green Mile - I'm surprised it's not been on anyone's list yet. It's really good.

[Empowered One 41]

In no particular order:

Avatar - just plain amazing visuals and decent story to boot. 1 of the few movies I've seen that got away with a brainfart name as 'Unobtainium'. If that doesn't ring a bell....

The Fifth Element - Something entirely different. Especially the opera scene is amazing.

Alice in Wonderland 2010 - I love Tim Burton movies and I love to go down the rabbit hole.

The Sixth Sense - I love how this movie is put together. And a story that's intriguing as well.

The Green Mile - I'm surprised it's not been on anyone's list yet. It's really good.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa