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General => Movies and TV => Topic started by: Phoenix87x on August 12, 2022, 04:27:46 PM
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For me, in no particular order:
1. The Godfather
2. Terminator 2
3. The silence of the lambs
4. The Crow
5. The Matrix
How about you guys?
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Off the top of my head...
1- Shawshank Redemption
2- LOTR Trilogy (no, I'm not separating them)
3- Star Wars
4- The Green Mile
5- Good Will Hunting (probably could be switched out with Dead Poet's Society at will, seriously...I can watch the Oh Captain scene and it's Dead Poets, watch the Your Move Chief scene and it's Good Will...both outstanding flicks with two of Robin's best performances)
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1. LA Confidential
2. In Bruges
3. Dead Poets Society
4. The Usual Suspects
5. The Nice Guys
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5 is very tough but something like this:
1. The Godfather Part 2 (Coppola)
2. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
4. Ed Wood (Tim Burton)
5. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Forman)
Continuing...
6. The Exorcist (Friedkin)
7. North by North West (Hitchcock)
8. JFK (Oliver Stone - factually this film is deranged lunacy but it's exhilirating film-making and entertainment)
9. Suspiria (Dario Argento)
10. Dial M For Murder (Hitchcock)
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The first 2 posts mentioned three of my favourites - Terminator 2, The Matrix and LOTR. I've never been able to pick an absolute favourite, but those are the three that always come to mind when I think about it.
I'll have to think a bit more about another couple for a top 5 and maybe take some inspiration from other posts in this thread ;D
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1- Blade Runner
2- Star Wars (A new hope)
3- Angel Heart
4- The Shawshank Redemption
5- The Player
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1- Blade Runner
2- Star Wars (A new hope)
3- Angel Heart
4- The Shawshank Redemption
5- The Player
Awesome movie, it's been a while since I saw it, has similar vibes to Jacob's Ladder.
I don't think I can even begin to have a top 5 movie list. There would be soo many top tier movies that I enjoy for a plethora of reasons.
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1) Avatar
2) Back to the Future
3) Titanic
4) Gladiator
5) The Patriot
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I don't think I can even begin to have a top 5 movie list. There would be soo many top tier movies that I enjoy for a plethora of reasons.
I hear ya...Shawshank and LOTR are a firm 1-2 for me, but if I gave thought to it, I'd scramble on the rest for weeks on end.
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1. Ghost World
2. The Wizard of Oz
3. Caddyshack
4. Trading Places
5. Synecdoche, NY
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In no particular order - though the Top 3 would be the constants. After that, it gets murky.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Godfather (I favor this one over II, and by more than a slim margin).
The Usual Suspects
The Shawshank Redemption
I feel like Star Wars should be represented somehow - it was the defining franchise of my youth - but I just don't rank any of the films this high.
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
I'll never forget seeing Big Fish in the theater, when the movie ended and the lights came up, I turned around and looked at fellow patrons, and I swear half the men were in buckets of tears being consoled by their SO's. Probably the only time I've seen that.
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
Not my top 5 but I’ve never wanted to hug you more.
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
I'll never forget seeing Big Fish in the theater, when the movie ended and the lights came up, I turned around and looked at fellow patrons, and I swear half the men were in buckets of tears being consoled by their SO's. Probably the only time I've seen that.
I had taken my (then) 11 year old son because I *thought* it was going to be a light hearted fantasy.
So there I am…at Big Fish…at the end….with MY SON! And on top of that, my father is 14 years into his Parkinson’s Disease (he would pass 4 years later)
The ending scene is happening and I am INCONSOLABLE. My 11 year son puts his arm around me and whispers, “are you ok dad?”
All I could get out was, “you’ll understand someday, son.”
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
Not my top 5 but I’ve never wanted to hug you more.
Was there something in particular? Or just all of it?
Consider yourself hugged. :hat
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
Not my top 5 but I’ve never wanted to hug you more.
Was there something in particular? Or just all of it?
Consider yourself hugged. :hat
All of them. Just great picks. I showed my fiancée Magnolia a few weeks ago. She didn’t quite appreciate it.
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The only time I ever came remotely close to walking out of a movie was Magnolia.
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The only time I ever came remotely close to walking out of a movie was Magnolia.
No hugs for you!
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
Not my top 5 but I’ve never wanted to hug you more.
Was there something in particular? Or just all of it?
Consider yourself hugged. :hat
All of them. Just great picks. I showed my fiancée Magnolia a few weeks ago. She didn’t quite appreciate it.
Magnolia was one of those movies where:
Act 1/Hour 1: “OMG…WHY am I watching this …this is the worst movie ever! I hate every one of these characters! I feel like I’m a lesser person for subjecting myself to this level of awful!”
Act 2/Hour 2: Um…ok. I guess things are at least getting interesting. I guess I may as well finish since I’m this far in already.
Act 3/Hour 3: :jawdrop: [uncontrollable crying] This is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen!!
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1. Big Fish
2. High Fidelity
3. Magnolia
4. Dead Poets Society
5. The Breakfast Club
I'll never forget seeing Big Fish in the theater, when the movie ended and the lights came up, I turned around and looked at fellow patrons, and I swear half the men were in buckets of tears being consoled by their SO's. Probably the only time I've seen that.
I had taken my (then) 11 year old son because I *thought* it was going to be a light hearted fantasy.
So there I am…at Big Fish…at the end….with MY SON! And on top of that, my father is 14 years into his Parkinson’s Disease (he would pass 4 years later)
The ending scene is happening and I am INCONSOLABLE. My 11 year son puts his arm around me and whispers, “are you ok dad?”
All I could get out was, “you’ll understand someday, son.”
Yeah...you get it. I was definitely choked up, though I did hold my shit together somehow. Such a great flick, and like Adami said, great pics. Breakfast Club could've easily made my list, I always felt it was one of the defining movies of our generation. And Dead Poets Society will always be in the discussion for me, great film.
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I'm going to leave Star Wars and Lord of the Rings out of my list, because they're entire universes/cultures. So with that...
1. Ghostbusters
2. Tombstone
3. Hook
4. Shawshank Redemption
5. Goodfellas
Numbers 2 through 5 change constantly, but those are the most consistent ones I can think of.
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Off the top of my head...
5- Good Will Hunting (probably could be switched out with Dead Poet's Society at will, seriously...I can watch the Oh Captain scene and it's Dead Poets, watch the Your Move Chief scene and it's Good Will...both outstanding flicks with two of Robin's best performances)
I did the "Why should I work for the NSA?" monologue in my high school theater class. It was a great moment for me.
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Uh, this is difficult, especially since I tend to not watch films more than once. Here's some that made a lasting impression in some way:
1. Apocalypse Now
2. Alien
3. The Deer Hunter
4. Once Upon a Time in the West
5. The Usual Suspects
and there's a lot I left off..
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Update:
1- Blade Runner
2- Star Wars (A new hope)
3- Angel Heart
4- Forbidden Planet
5- The Shawshank Redemption
Honorable mention:
6- The Terminator
7- The Player
8- Mistress
9- Buffalo '66
10- The Cement Garden
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I don't want to attempt to rank these in order but these would probably make the 5:
The Matrix
Mulholland Drive
Spider-Man 2
Terminator 2
Memento
(I would have put the LOTR trilogy in there but it might be cheating to count them as 1, if not then totally put that in there)
A few very close honorable mentions like Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Heat, The Thing.
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Oh boy this is tough.
1. Any Avengers movie
2. Jurassic Park
3. Groundhog Day
4. Aliens
5. Terminator 2
After number one, really any of at least 15 movies could be in the top 5. More Marvel stuff, Predator, 12 Angry Men, some Audrey Hepburn flicks, Casablanca, Return of the Jedi, Naked Gun . . .
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The only time I ever came remotely close to walking out of a movie was Magnolia.
No hugs for you!
I loved Magnolia. Brilliant and hard to classify like
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
Adaptation
Pi
Donnie Darko
Enemy
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Update:
9- Buffalo '66
not in my top 5-10, but I have always loved this movie. As much of a douche as Vincent Gallo is, this along with Palookaville I have always loved.
Also it doesn't hurt that the soundtrack includes Yes and King Crimson, lol.
"We're SPANNING Time" lol.
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"We're SPANNING Time" lol.
:rollin
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Well, thanks to this thread I'm diving into Dead Poet's Society for the first time since the day after Robin passed.
Ugly cry face in a bit less than 2 hours in the lonestar household.
On a side note, while not a top 5 for me, Fish Called Wanda should definitely get a mention for being one of the greatest comedies ever.
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Well, thanks to this thread I'm diving into Dead Poet's Society for the first time since the day after Robin passed.
Ugly cry face in a bit less than 2 hours in the lonestar household.
A memory came up on Facebook the other day. Day before yesterday was eight years since Robin passed.
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Dead Poets Society fell a bit flat for me, but that My Captain scene at the end is aces.
I am by no means the film aficionado I wish I was, but I am a little shocked there are films on these lists I have never even heard of.
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Dead Poets Society fell a bit flat for me, but that My Captain scene at the end is aces.
I am by no means the film aficionado I wish I was, but I am a little shocked there are films on these lists I have never even heard of.
When I was 16, it was my favorite film. But my adult self…while still being sympathetic to the hopelessness that one can feel…just thinks Neil’s suicide is just sheer stupidity.
I’m reminded of that line from The Pass by Rush, “someone set a bad example. Made surrender seem alright. The act of a noble warrior who lost the will to fight.”
When I was a kid, I bought into that “bad example” and thought of Neil as a “noble warrior who lost the will to fight.” In my mind he became this amazing martyr. But now his act seems so selfish and childish and shortsighted and stupid that it takes me out of the whole film.
But Robin Williams performance as Keating will always be one of my favorite movie characters of all time.
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Dead Poets Society fell a bit flat for me, but that My Captain scene at the end is aces.
I am by no means the film aficionado I wish I was, but I am a little shocked there are films on these lists I have never even heard of.
When I was 16, it was my favorite film. But my adult self…while still being sympathetic to the hopelessness that one can feel…just thinks Neil’s suicide is just sheer stupidity.
I’m reminded of that line from The Pass by Rush, “someone set a bad example. Made surrender seem alright. The act of a noble warrior who lost the will to fight.”
When I was a kid, I bought into that “bad example” and thought of Neil as a “noble warrior who lost the will to fight.” In my mind he became this amazing martyr. But now his act seems so selfish and childish and shortsighted and stupid that it takes me out of the whole film.
But Robin Williams performance as Keating will always be one of my favorite movie characters of all time.
Definitely a valid criticism, almost to the point of romanticizing the act.
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These aren't the greatest movies ever, but they are a few movies that I can watch time and time again and they will make me happy. Duvet days films.
Stand By Me.
A Knights Tale.
Hot Fuzz.
Infinity War/Endgame.
Scream.
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Dead Poets Society fell a bit flat for me, but that My Captain scene at the end is aces.
I am by no means the film aficionado I wish I was, but I am a little shocked there are films on these lists I have never even heard of.
When I was 16, it was my favorite film. But my adult self…while still being sympathetic to the hopelessness that one can feel…just thinks Neil’s suicide is just sheer stupidity.
I’m reminded of that line from The Pass by Rush, “someone set a bad example. Made surrender seem alright. The act of a noble warrior who lost the will to fight.”
When I was a kid, I bought into that “bad example” and thought of Neil as a “noble warrior who lost the will to fight.” In my mind he became this amazing martyr. But now his act seems so selfish and childish and shortsighted and stupid that it takes me out of the whole film.
But Robin Williams performance as Keating will always be one of my favorite movie characters of all time.
Definitely a valid criticism, almost to the point of romanticizing the act.
So, fresh upon watching it again, it does stand out as an extreme reaction to the situation, probably one that wouldn't have been taken in real life from someone who up till that moment other than having a dick for a dad really didn't show any signs of suicidal thinking. On the other hand, I really don't see how they could've transferred the story to where it needed to be without Neil's death. Some other scenes stand out as a bit teen angst cringy, especially the romance bit between Charlie and the girl, but it still holds its emotional pull, especially the scenes with Robin and Todd. I totally forgot about the scene where Robin had him create a poem on the spot, loved that one. Still deserves to be in my personal top 5 conversation, solely on how much that aspect of the film guts me to the core.
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So...I blame this thread...
I'm on day one of a 5 day mini-vacation, and have basically been at home doing re-hab for a knee injury from a few weeks ago that I just haven't had time to rest, and am going on movie 3 of my list.
Started with Dead Poets, just watched Return of the King, and now on to Shawshank. If I'm not too tired, maybe I'll do Green Mile after, though that's a tall order at 3 hours. So many perfect scenes in RotK though, but for me "I am no man" and "You bow to no one" stand out. I was going to mention Eowyn's cage scene as well, but that's Two Towers. Now I want to do a top 5 scenes list. :lol
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Dead Poets Society fell a bit flat for me, but that My Captain scene at the end is aces.
I am by no means the film aficionado I wish I was, but I am a little shocked there are films on these lists I have never even heard of.
When I was 16, it was my favorite film. But my adult self…while still being sympathetic to the hopelessness that one can feel…just thinks Neil’s suicide is just sheer stupidity.
I’m reminded of that line from The Pass by Rush, “someone set a bad example. Made surrender seem alright. The act of a noble warrior who lost the will to fight.”
When I was a kid, I bought into that “bad example” and thought of Neil as a “noble warrior who lost the will to fight.” In my mind he became this amazing martyr. But now his act seems so selfish and childish and shortsighted and stupid that it takes me out of the whole film.
But Robin Williams performance as Keating will always be one of my favorite movie characters of all time.
Definitely a valid criticism, almost to the point of romanticizing the act.
So, fresh upon watching it again, it does stand out as an extreme reaction to the situation, probably one that wouldn't have been taken in real life from someone who up till that moment other than having a dick for a dad really didn't show any signs of suicidal thinking. On the other hand, I really don't see how they could've transferred the story to where it needed to be without Neil's death. Some other scenes stand out as a bit teen angst cringy, especially the romance bit between Charlie and the girl, but it still holds its emotional pull, especially the scenes with Robin and Todd. I totally forgot about the scene where Robin had him create a poem on the spot, loved that one. Still deserves to be in my personal top 5 conversation, solely on how much that aspect of the film guts me to the core.
Interesting because I never thought Mr Keating had him “make up a poem on the spot”
My interpretation of the scene was that Todd had completed the assignment as he was asked to do. He had, in fact, written a poem. (Maybe not on paper…but the idea had been in his head ever since it had been assigned) But he thought it was so stupid and embarrassing that he would have rather lied and say he never wrote one and take the F than suffer the embarrassment of reciting such a “dumb” poem in front of the class.
Only Mr. Keating knew that he had done it, believed it was going to be amazing, and wasn’t going to let him get away with lying about not doing it.
I think the “sweaty toothed madman” had been in his head for a long time, the entire poem had been percolating…but he needed a push to get it out in public form.
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I always took it as a spontaneous stream of consciousness thing... With the prompt being the picture of Whitman... Everything that came out was stuff he lived with on a minute to minute basis.
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The Godfather
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Citizen Kane
Ghostbusters
Unforgiven
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Not giving this a ton of thought...
The Empire Strikes Back
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (although it could just as easil be Raiders)
Field of Dreams
A Few Good Men
Silence of the Lambs
Honorable mention to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, This is Spinal Tap, Mr. Holland's Opus, and the original Star Wars.
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The Godfather
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Citizen Kane
Ghostbusters
Unforgiven
Raiders and Unforgiven probably make my Top 20.
I rarely see anyone list Citizen Kane as one of their favorite movies - despite it appearing on many "Greatest Movies of all time" lists.
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The Godfather
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Citizen Kane
Ghostbusters
Unforgiven
Raiders and Unforgiven probably make my Top 20.
I rarely see anyone list Citizen Kane as one of their favorite movies - despite it appearing on many "Greatest Movies of all time" lists.
What’s funny about that is that I finally broke down and watched it to see if it was worth the hype.
I concluded that, while not one of my favorite films of all time, I actually get it. I immediately recognized it as being totally groundbreaking for its time, and therefore it was likely worthy of being recognized as one of the most important films ever made.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
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Couldn’t rank them if I tried, but they are:
The Master
12 Angry Men
Apocalypse Now
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Inglourious Basterds
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1: Alien (probably not surprising)
2: The Matrix
3: Predator
4: Return of the Jedi
5: The Terminator
I feel kind of shallow, preferring spectacle and visuals over most everything else (and also nostalgia), but hey, that's what the escape of the medium is primarily for me.
Honorable mentions: Back To the Future, Blade Runner, Castaway, Cube, The Dark City, Gremlins, Groundhog Day, Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Karate Kid, Lord of the Rings, Memento, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Starship Troopers. I could see Infinity War/Endgame going up here at some point, I just don't have the same history with it that some did.
Favorites of past decade: Alita: Battle Angel, Annihilation, Enemy, Ex Machina, Interstellar, It Follows, John Wick 3, The Edge of Tomorrow
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These types of lists are impossible for me, but I’ll throw five out there…
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Jaws
3. Inception
4. Usual Suspects
5. Halloween
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1. Godfather
2. Star Wars
3. Grease
4. Bladerunner
5. No Way Out (Kevin Costner)
This Is Spinal Tap should be in there somewhere too.
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind
American Beauty
Natural Born Killers
Young Frankenstein
Goodfellas
Movies than on a different day might supplant any of the above (I'm bad at ranking things) :
The Big Country
Apocalypse Now
Animal House
The Guns of Navarone
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Cool to see The Usual Suspects make so many lists. I have not seen it in years but last time I did I thought it aged well, but didn't know if others would feel the same.
Animal House
The Guns of Navarone
Not too many lists of any kind where you see both of these movies together!
I know we've discussed this in general, but if you are including Apocalypse Now, are you going with a specific version?
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The Guns of Navarone gives me fond memories of watching movies with my dad.
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The Shining
Rocky IV
Signs
The Fugitive
Fletch
That's leaving out Star Wars since various SW movies would dominate most of my top 5 list and make it very uninteresting.
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I own well over 500 movies on DVD/Blu Ray and under no circumstance could I rank much at all. I'm just awful at rankings. The best I can do is a top 3, which might change tomorrow.
Dogville
That Thing You Do!
Casino
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The Shining
Rocky IV
Signs
The Fugitive
Fletch
That strikes me as the most eclectic list so far.
"What's your name?"
"Fletch."
"Full name?"
"Fletch F. Fletch."
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The Shining
Rocky IV
Signs
The Fugitive
Fletch
That strikes me as the most eclectic list so far.
"What's your name?"
"Fletch."
"Full name?"
"Fletch F. Fletch."
“Can I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo.”
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I know we've discussed this in general, but if you are including Apocalypse Now, are you going with a specific version?
In for a dime, in for a dollar. Redux. Some of the scenes ran on too long, but I think they really showed a different side of Willard. Made him much more human. When he's with the crew he's always wound up pretty tight. Redux has him stealing the surfboard. Smoking opium with the cute French girl. Bargaining for time with the bunnies for the rest of the crew. Really develops him. And as off-putting as it is, the scene with the bunnies also shows a different side of the rest of the crew. Those guys were really screwed up.
And though you didn't ask, there are countless versions of CEotTK, too. Director's Cut is the only way to go. The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long. The director's cut was exactly as Spielberg wanted it to be, and he knew what he was doing.
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The Shining
Rocky IV
Signs
The Fugitive
Fletch
That strikes me as the most eclectic list so far.
"What's your name?"
"Fletch."
"Full name?"
"Fletch F. Fletch."
Haha nice. Wasn't even going for eclectic. Hard to narrow down to just five movies.
Honorable mentions since I'm typing anyway: First Blood, Grumpy Old Men, Silence of the Lambs, Total Recall.
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Very difficult.
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
Godfather I & II
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
The Graduate
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I own well over 500 movies on DVD/Blu Ray and under no circumstance could I rank much at all. I'm just awful at rankings. The best I can do is a top 3, which might change tomorrow.
Dogville
That Thing You Do!
Casino
Interesting choice (and a very good movie). Have you seen The Commitments and, if so, what do you think of it?
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I own well over 500 movies on DVD/Blu Ray and under no circumstance could I rank much at all. I'm just awful at rankings. The best I can do is a top 3, which might change tomorrow.
Dogville
That Thing You Do!
Casino
Interesting choice (and a very good movie). Have you seen The Commitments and, if so, what do you think of it?
Absolutely loved The Commitments
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I own well over 500 movies on DVD/Blu Ray and under no circumstance could I rank much at all. I'm just awful at rankings. The best I can do is a top 3, which might change tomorrow.
Dogville
That Thing You Do!
Casino
Interesting choice (and a very good movie). Have you seen The Commitments and, if so, what do you think of it?
Absolutely loved The Commitments
A friend/co-worker turned me onto it sometime after its run in the theater (which I don't think was very long). I really loved it, but I don't think I've watched it in 20 years or more. Need to revisit (and maybe replace my VHS with a DVD or Blue Ray).
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5. No Way Out (Kevin Costner)
Good movie. Alas, I haven't seen it in years.
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In no particular order:
Tombstone
L.A. Story
Highlander
Princess Bride
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Honorable mentions:
Angel Heart
Bladerunner
Groundhog Day
Avengers
Cast a Deadly Spell
Heathers
Young Frankenstein
The Sixth Sense
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I own well over 500 movies on DVD/Blu Ray and under no circumstance could I rank much at all. I'm just awful at rankings. The best I can do is a top 3, which might change tomorrow.
Dogville
That Thing You Do!
Casino
Interesting choice (and a very good movie). Have you seen The Commitments and, if so, what do you think of it?
I have not! Never even heard of it. Will check it out though.
Also, my preferred version of TTYT is the extended cut. Just so great. In fact, my fiancée and I are using a song from the soundtrack as our first dance.
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I own well over 500 movies on DVD/Blu Ray and under no circumstance could I rank much at all. I'm just awful at rankings. The best I can do is a top 3, which might change tomorrow.
Dogville
That Thing You Do!
Casino
Interesting choice (and a very good movie). Have you seen The Commitments and, if so, what do you think of it?
I have not! Never even heard of it. Will check it out though.
I watched That Thing You Do sometime in the last six months. Probably the first time since it came out, and I was pleased that I still liked it as much as I remembered. The Commitments is thematically similar, although VERY different circumstances. And, I just learned today that the members of the Corrs had minor roles (yet another reason for me to re-watch).
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In no particular order:
Tombstone
L.A. Story
Highlander
Princess Bride
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Good to see this make an appearance, it's my kid's favorite for sure, along with Star Wars and The Mummy. Even scored an original poster and got it personally signed by Cary Elwes for her.
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And though you didn't ask, there are countless versions of CEotTK, too. Director's Cut is the only way to go. The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long. The director's cut was exactly as Spielberg wanted it to be, and he knew what he was doing.
I generally won't cite Wikipedia as a source, but I found this. I have only seen this once, and am sure it was the theatrical cut.
Running time
135 minutes (Theatrical Version)
132 minutes (Special Edition)
137 minutes (Director's Cut)
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And though you didn't ask, there are countless versions of CEotTK, too. Director's Cut is the only way to go. The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long. The director's cut was exactly as Spielberg wanted it to be, and he knew what he was doing.
I generally won't cite Wikipedia as a source, but I found this. I have only seen this once, and am sure it was the theatrical cut.
Running time
135 minutes (Theatrical Version)
132 minutes (Special Edition)
137 minutes (Director's Cut)
That doesn't seem right to me; I went down that rabbit hole when my wife, daughter and I watched it (we had a poster with 100 great movies and during COVID set out to watch them all). We ended up watching the theatrical version, to see what the people saw back in '77 or whenever, and then went back and watched the Director's Cut. I too liked the Director's Cut but I would bet a six pack it wasn't two minutes difference.
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Top 5 IMO best made movies? Best acted movies? Best directed movies? Best story? Best cinematography?
Top 5 movies I've watched over and over?
Lots of ways to categorize "favorite." So hard to make choices here.
Some Like it Hot *TIE* Young Frankenstein
The World According to Garp
Apollo 13
The Last Temptation of Christ
Out of Africa
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Off the top of my head...
1. River's Edge
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. This Is Spinal Tap
4. Gettysburg
5. White Chicks
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L.A. Story
I saw that movie in the theater, and the ONLY thing I remember is "big S, little a, little n, big D, little E, big E." :lol
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L.A. Story
I saw that movie in the theater, and the ONLY thing I remember is "big S, little a, little n, big D, little E, big E." :lol
I'm not sure I liked the movie, because of the subject matter, but it's chock full of great quotes (like most of Steve Martin's funny movies).
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And though you didn't ask, there are countless versions of CEotTK, too. Director's Cut is the only way to go. The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long. The director's cut was exactly as Spielberg wanted it to be, and he knew what he was doing.
I generally won't cite Wikipedia as a source, but I found this. I have only seen this once, and am sure it was the theatrical cut.
Running time
135 minutes (Theatrical Version)
132 minutes (Special Edition)
137 minutes (Director's Cut)
That doesn't seem right to me; I went down that rabbit hole when my wife, daughter and I watched it (we had a poster with 100 great movies and during COVID set out to watch them all). We ended up watching the theatrical version, to see what the people saw back in '77 or whenever, and then went back and watched the Director's Cut. I too liked the Director's Cut but I would bet a six pack it wasn't two minutes difference.
As I recall, the studio insisted on having it edited in a certain way that Spielberg didn't really like. This was before he had the clout he does today, obviously. He wanted to reedit it, and the studio only agreed if he tacked on the ending where they show inside the space ship. He hated it, but agreed. That's the special edition. His version whacks that ending, but edits all of the pieces, including a couple of minutes of extra footage back into the original. It also removes a couple of scenes from the original. The difference between the theatrical and director's cut is that the latter is a bit darker, while the former has a more lighthearted feel. If you saw them both recently, the scene of Roy falling apart in the bathtub perfectly highlights the difference between the two. I don't now as I've seen the original since it was, well, original, but I don't recall Roy being completely unhinged like that. Anyhoo, I suppose it doesn't surprise me if they're all within 5 minutes of each other. It does surprise me that the SE is the shortest of the three, though, considering that the whole point was an extra 5 minute scene.
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Top 5 IMO best made movies? Best acted movies? Best directed movies? Best story? Best cinematography?
Top 5 movies I've watched over and over?
Lots of ways to categorize "favorite." So hard to make choices here.
Some Like it Hot *TIE* Young Frankenstein
The World According to Garp
Apollo 13
The Last Temptation of Christ
Out of Africa
Good call on Garp, wouldn't make my list, but I love the story. Irving is definitely one of my favorite authors, and Prayer for Owen Meany is an easy top 5 book for me.
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Some Like it Hot
Good pick, haven't seen this in a long time.
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Off the top of my head...
1. River's Edge
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. This Is Spinal Tap
4. Gettysburg
5. White Chicks
White Chicks?
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Top 5 IMO best made movies? Best acted movies? Best directed movies? Best story? Best cinematography?
Top 5 movies I've watched over and over?
Lots of ways to categorize "favorite." So hard to make choices here.
Some Like it Hot *TIE* Young Frankenstein
The World According to Garp
Apollo 13
The Last Temptation of Christ
Out of Africa
Good call on Garp, wouldn't make my list, but I love the story. Irving is definitely one of my favorite authors, and Prayer for Owen Meany is an easy top 5 book for me.
Irving is brilliant - PfOM has been on my to-read list for a long time. Might just have to tackle it on vacation in a couple of weeks.
TWAtG (book and movie) really were ahead of their time. Thinking back on when I first discovered that story it must have been the first time I realized the arc of sexuality and the limitations of sexual social norms. No doubt Roberta (the brilliant John Lithgow) was the first trans character I'd ever seen on screen who wasn't a flamboyant caricature ala Rocky Horror. His relationship with Garp formed my idea of what true acceptance between 2 men (trans and cis) looked like. It may have even been my first real understanding of feminism as a movement and not merely something my mom talked about. Good stuff.
I also really enjoyed The Cider House Rules. I definitely need to read more of Irving's works.
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L.A. Story
I saw that movie in the theater, and the ONLY thing I remember is "big S, little a, little n, big D, little E, big E." :lol
:lol
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Off the top of my head...
1. River's Edge
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. This Is Spinal Tap
4. Gettysburg
5. White Chicks
White Chicks?
The funniest movie I've ever seen.
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And though you didn't ask, there are countless versions of CEotTK, too. Director's Cut is the only way to go. The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long. The director's cut was exactly as Spielberg wanted it to be, and he knew what he was doing.
I generally won't cite Wikipedia as a source, but I found this. I have only seen this once, and am sure it was the theatrical cut.
Running time
135 minutes (Theatrical Version)
132 minutes (Special Edition)
137 minutes (Director's Cut)
That doesn't seem right to me; I went down that rabbit hole when my wife, daughter and I watched it (we had a poster with 100 great movies and during COVID set out to watch them all). We ended up watching the theatrical version, to see what the people saw back in '77 or whenever, and then went back and watched the Director's Cut. I too liked the Director's Cut but I would bet a six pack it wasn't two minutes difference.
As I recall, the studio insisted on having it edited in a certain way that Spielberg didn't really like. This was before he had the clout he does today, obviously. He wanted to reedit it, and the studio only agreed if he tacked on the ending where they show inside the space ship. He hated it, but agreed. That's the special edition. His version whacks that ending, but edits all of the pieces, including a couple of minutes of extra footage back into the original. It also removes a couple of scenes from the original. The difference between the theatrical and director's cut is that the latter is a bit darker, while the former has a more lighthearted feel. If you saw them both recently, the scene of Roy falling apart in the bathtub perfectly highlights the difference between the two. I don't now as I've seen the original since it was, well, original, but I don't recall Roy being completely unhinged like that. Anyhoo, I suppose it doesn't surprise me if they're all within 5 minutes of each other. It does surprise me that the SE is the shortest of the three, though, considering that the whole point was an extra 5 minute scene.
Just thought it was interesting that you said "The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long" when the running time of the studio version is longer.
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And though you didn't ask, there are countless versions of CEotTK, too. Director's Cut is the only way to go. The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long. The director's cut was exactly as Spielberg wanted it to be, and he knew what he was doing.
I generally won't cite Wikipedia as a source, but I found this. I have only seen this once, and am sure it was the theatrical cut.
Running time
135 minutes (Theatrical Version)
132 minutes (Special Edition)
137 minutes (Director's Cut)
That doesn't seem right to me; I went down that rabbit hole when my wife, daughter and I watched it (we had a poster with 100 great movies and during COVID set out to watch them all). We ended up watching the theatrical version, to see what the people saw back in '77 or whenever, and then went back and watched the Director's Cut. I too liked the Director's Cut but I would bet a six pack it wasn't two minutes difference.
As I recall, the studio insisted on having it edited in a certain way that Spielberg didn't really like. This was before he had the clout he does today, obviously. He wanted to reedit it, and the studio only agreed if he tacked on the ending where they show inside the space ship. He hated it, but agreed. That's the special edition. His version whacks that ending, but edits all of the pieces, including a couple of minutes of extra footage back into the original. It also removes a couple of scenes from the original. The difference between the theatrical and director's cut is that the latter is a bit darker, while the former has a more lighthearted feel. If you saw them both recently, the scene of Roy falling apart in the bathtub perfectly highlights the difference between the two. I don't now as I've seen the original since it was, well, original, but I don't recall Roy being completely unhinged like that. Anyhoo, I suppose it doesn't surprise me if they're all within 5 minutes of each other. It does surprise me that the SE is the shortest of the three, though, considering that the whole point was an extra 5 minute scene.
Just thought it was interesting that you said "The studio version was too short. The Special Edition was too long" when the running time of the studio version is longer.
Yeah, just working from memory. The whole point of the SE was to add five minutes (too many). Didn't know they'd cut so much of the rest out of it.
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Whatever they did, it obviously messed with the pacing if you felt it was too long.
Crazy that even that early in his career Spielberg knew what he was doing. If you wanted to argue that Jaws was his best film, I don't think I'd have a big problem with that, and he made that before he turned 30 (if I recall correctly).
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Off the top of my head...
1. River's Edge
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. This Is Spinal Tap
4. Gettysburg
5. White Chicks
White Chicks?
The funniest movie I've ever seen.
That explains a lot.
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Update:
1- Blade Runner
2- Star Wars (A new hope)
3- Angel Heart
4- Forbidden Planet
5- Twelve Monkeys
Honorable mention:
06- The Terminator
07- The Shawshank Redemption
08- The Player
09- Mistress
10- Buffalo '66
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Top 5 IMO best made movies? Best acted movies? Best directed movies? Best story? Best cinematography?
Top 5 movies I've watched over and over?
Lots of ways to categorize "favorite." So hard to make choices here.
Some Like it Hot *TIE* Young Frankenstein
The World According to Garp
Apollo 13
The Last Temptation of Christ
Out of Africa
Good call on Garp, wouldn't make my list, but I love the story. Irving is definitely one of my favorite authors, and Prayer for Owen Meany is an easy top 5 book for me.
Irving is brilliant - PfOM has been on my to-read list for a long time. Might just have to tackle it on vacation in a couple of weeks.
TWAtG (book and movie) really were ahead of their time. Thinking back on when I first discovered that story it must have been the first time I realized the arc of sexuality and the limitations of sexual social norms. No doubt Roberta (the brilliant John Lithgow) was the first trans character I'd ever seen on screen who wasn't a flamboyant caricature ala Rocky Horror. His relationship with Garp formed my idea of what true acceptance between 2 men (trans and cis) looked like. It may have even been my first real understanding of feminism as a movement and not merely something my mom talked about. Good stuff.
I also really enjoyed The Cider House Rules. I definitely need to read more of Irving's works.
Totally agree on all points, especially about Roberta. I saw the movie before the book, and at a young age it really created a whole new path of thinking about the whole trans aspect of life, in a time when the massive majority wavered between ridicule and outright hate. And yes, Lithgow was brilliant in it.
I've also read Hotel New Hampshire, Widow for a Year, and Setting Free the Bears, but Prayer for Owen Meany is light years ahead of them all in my book. It's just such a unique, beautiful, and painful take on what true faith is. And the title character is one of the best ever created in my eyes.
Just don't ever watch the movie based on it, Simon Birch, they really did it a tremendous disservice.
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This is literally impossible...so like others I did 10 (even that was impossible), but....in no order....
- Silence of the Lambs (incredible acting by Hopkins and Foster)
- The Fugitive (Ford's perfect role, and Tommy Lee Jones outstanding)
- Alien (so far ahead of its time)
- LOTR (if I can do the trilogy, great...if not, then Two Towers)
- The Dark Knight (Ledger spellbinding)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Newman/Redford chemistry on another level)
- Saving Private Ryan (entire movie great, but the opening scene shakes you to the core)
- American History X (Edward Norton powerful performance)
And my last two....I am really surprised not to see one or both of these on a list. I didn't scan painstakingly, but didn't notice from a quick peruse.....
- Memento (Nolan brilliance)
- No Country for Old Men (Javier Bardem is absolutely incredible)
Wild Card...since I didn't list a comedy....Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Broderick's narration/irrepressible expressions into the camera and overall fast paced fun). I remember someone making fun of me for saying it was one of my favorite movies....then he watched it.
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The Fugitive is a great movie. It looks a bit 90s-ish now, but still solid based on the story and performances. In his interview with James Lipton, he commented on how terrified Ford looks in the scene at the dam. Ford jokingly says "I was terrified I was doing a scene with Tommy Lee Jones."
I'd swear at least one person put Memento on either their Top 5 or their 'just missed the cut" list. I can't put it that high, but maybe Top 25. Nolan brilliance, but doesn't hold together if Guy Pearce doesn't deliver to the level he did.
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Zantera had Memento on his list and LithoJazzoSphere had it on his honourable mentions.
I was having a look at the IMDB 250 top rated English movies and the only ones I'd previously ranked as 10/10 were the ones I mentioned earlier in the thread (LOTR, The Matrix, Terminator 2), plus The Bourne Ultimatum.
Ones that I'd given 9/10: The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight, Goodfellas, Saving Private Ryan, Interstellar, The Green Mile, Gladiator, American History X, The Usual Suspects, The Departed, The Prestige, Whiplash, Memento, WALL-E, Joker, Toy Story 3, Up, Snatch, Batman Begins, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Truman Show, Kill Bill vol.1, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Hacksaw Ridge, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Stand By Me, Into the Wild, The Imitation Game, Sin City, Casino Royale.
So I guess those are my honourable mentions :biggrin: But of course that's only those on the IMDB list, there will be others that I can't think of right now.
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- American History X (Edward Norton powerful performance)
That nearly made my list too. I have seen it many times and it is one of those movies I still think about a lot. Norton is an under-rated actor. Did you see his Motherless Brooklyn?
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This is literally impossible...so like others I did 10 (even that was impossible), but....in no order....
- Silence of the Lambs (incredible acting by Hopkins and Foster)
- The Fugitive (Ford's perfect role, and Tommy Lee Jones outstanding)
- Alien (so far ahead of its time)
- LOTR (if I can do the trilogy, great...if not, then Two Towers)
- The Dark Knight (Ledger spellbinding)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Newman/Redford chemistry on another level)
- Saving Private Ryan (entire movie great, but the opening scene shakes you to the core)
- American History X (Edward Norton powerful performance)
And my last two....I am really surprised not to see one or both of these on a list. I didn't scan painstakingly, but didn't notice from a quick peruse.....
- Memento (Nolan brilliance)
- No Country for Old Men (Javier Bardem is absolutely incredible)
Wild Card...since I didn't list a comedy....Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Broderick's narration/irrepressible expressions into the camera and overall fast paced fun). I remember someone making fun of me for saying it was one of my favorite movies....then he watched it.
I've only watched the first 45 minutes once - in the theater - and won't probably ever watch it again. Not that it was bad, or even that gory, but it was so intense that I was actually sweating. I rarely, if ever, sweat through the armpits of my shirts, but I did that day.
I consider D-Day to be one of the two or three epitomes of human endurance and courage, and that 45 minutes captured all of that for me. I imagine that a "visceral" response is the highest compliment you can pay an artist, and that may be the most visceral response I've ever had to a movie.
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I did as well, especially considering that my grandfather was part of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, as part of the Army Corps of Engineers. He never really talked about it much. I see why.
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Anytime someone mentions American History X my teeth hurt.
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Regarding D-Day, Charles Durning said everything on the subject I think I'll ever need to hear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGBJquOvfUU