Reccomend me some movies

[Toaster]

Kefka just mentioned The Fountain, and I remember that it's one of those movies I keep telling myself to watch--but always forget about it when I'm in the mood to rent a movie. So I'm gonna compile a list.

Recommend some of your favorites (but avoid the obvious choices) and give a brief, one sentence summary of what makes it worth checking out... please?

[AbstractOrigin]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Rumble in the Bronx:
It's one of Jackie Chan's best movies. Not because of plot.
Because of great action sequences and stunts.

[Leish]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Reds - a true story about John Reed, the only American to be buried in the Kremlin. Nominated for 12 Academy awards in 1981, stars Warren Beatty and has Jack Nicholson in it, if that tells you anything.

Oldboy - A Korean movie about a guy who gets locked up into a room for 15 years, is released, and plots revenge for this/tries to figure out why. I'm not sure if this is an "obvious" choice or not.

Cyrano de Bergerac (with Depardieu) - Poetic swashbuckler guy has a big nose, is madly in love with this one girl, but he helps his friend court said girl by providing him with the correct poetic words.

Tombstone - Story of Wyatt Earp and his family's battle with the gang, the Cowboys. Best Western ever made, and Val Kilmer's best role.

[Perversion]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

My rote 5 (or more):

Heavenly Creatures: Peter Jackson's first step toward "respectability" is a chilling, funny, sad, sweet (and bittersweet), and, in the end, devastating true story that anyone who's ever felt like a misunderstood outsider will glean SOMETHING from. This film rips me to shreds every time.


[Safe]: If you have an (extremely) open mind, and are willing to watch more than once (or three times), this horror/ink-black comedy/melodrama/psychological thriller/"message" film (??) is one of the most multilayered, multifaceted, and completely vague films probably ever made. It's also probably one of the slowest-paced you'll ever see (comparisons to a glacier are not unfounded), and one of the chilliest and bleakest as well. Village Voice at the dawning of the 21st Century proclaimed this as the best film of the 90s. I would concur, going so far as to say that this is the best film I've ever seen.


Before Sunrise: If you are in your early to mid-twenties and are a romantic at heart, you owe it to yourself to see this. Don't wait until your late twenties or early thirties, because the film will lose some of its impact. Instead, see it now, and wait until your early thirties to see its sequel, Before Sunset. If you can appreciate a dialogue film where the dialogue, characters, and situations sound like real people having real conversations, and can get into light "what does it all mean?" discussions, see this film. See it by yourself, then see it with a girlfriend. It WILL deepen your relationship.


Repulsion: One of, if not the creepiest film I've ever seen. Again, this is paced glacially, but if you are patient and are willing to engage in multiple viewings, you will be rewarded. This might seem tame by today's standards (it's from 1965), but it really has not lost its impact in the last 44 years. In terms of the psychosexual subject matter, this forms a holy trinity with its other contemporaries, Hitchcock's Psycho and Powell's Peeping Tom. The last image in the film still chills me to the bone.


Clean, Shaven: Ever want to know what it's like to be schizophrenic, but from the inside looking out instead of the outside looking in? This is to A Beautiful Mind as Requiem for a Dream is to Dazed and Confused. See if you can avoid closing your eyes during the infamous fingernail scene.


Bad Lieutenant: NC-17 for a reason. On second thought, don't watch this. One of the most brutal and disturbing films you'll ever see. A cop releases two convenience store robbery suspects in front of the store owners' young daughter in exchange for their drugs, and that's the least offensive thing in the film. Oh, and Jesus is really a homeless black woman.


In the Company of Men: For a straight-up dialogue film, it doesn't get any more brutal than this. No violence at all, but sometimes words are much, much worse. It's hard to laugh at this jet-black comedy when you are trying to hold down the nauseous bile building in your stomach.

[Byron Pennyworth]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Off the top of my head: "Following" by Chris Nolan

Before he did Memento, this tightly-wound out-of-sequence black-and-white idie noir-thriller was his opus.

Anyway. I enjoy it.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

X-Men 2

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Interstate 60 - A quirky philosophical comedy that may not really tread any deep or thought-provoking water, but is highly amusing and can still make you think. It's got Gary Oldman in it. That sold me on it before anything else.

City of God - If you can watch a subbed movie that isn't anime, this is one of those movies you should definitely check out. A great film filled with soaring and plummeting moments of emotional clarity and confusion.

Ginger Snaps - A great entry in the werewolf genre, just enough wit and spit to make it worth a viewing. Its sequels are not as good, but also worthy werewolf flicks. If you liked the first, you could probably skip the second and go straight to the third because it's a weird prequel rather than another chronological sequel.

Pieces of April - A Thanksgiving movie starring Katie Holmes. She's a family outcast living in a ****ty neighborhood in the big city, and she's throwing the last Thanksgiving Dinner her cancer-ridden mother will ever have. Alternately funny and touching, scathing and whimsical, heady and lighthearted, I went into this movie with low expectations and it melted my heart. One of the most satisfying endings I've ever encountered in a movie of this nature. I can't recommend it enough if you have any interest in non-typical stories.

Loser - Sure it's a teen/college romantic comedy of sorts. It's also one of the best I've ever seen and one I expect you'll have probably seen as well. If not, then get off your butt and check it out.

There's a lot of others I'd highly recommend but I view them as the more typically-lauded films that you either know about or have seen already.

[highwind]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

how many of these movies are you ACTUALLY GOING TO WATCH?

city of lost children

amelie

legend

the machine girl

[Tintenfisch]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

The wrestler: You really feel for what the guy's going through

If you want a good jackie chan movie: Drunken master, Highly reguarded as his best work (and never did the same afterwards)

Scanner Darkly: Because of Keanu reeves

[Perversion]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

A Scanner Darkly: Because of Richard Linklater

Fixed.

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Oh, yeah! Watch Following. That was excellent.

Also, Speed Racer.

[Vanilla Iced Tea]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Kefka just mentioned The Fountain, and I remember that it's one of those movies I keep telling myself to watch--but always forget about it when I'm in the mood to rent a movie.

Speaking of movies that got bad press but I liked, you should see Soderbergh's Solaris. It's really well-done, and surprisingly kind of heart-wrenching.

Actually, if you get the chance, you should see Tarkovsky's version of Solaris too. It's a classic of film.

[Perversion]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

I watched about half of Tarkovsky's Solaris back when it was only on VHS. I fell asleep and never watched the rest. I watched about half of the Soderbergh Solaris as well on DVD. Again, I fell asleep and never watched the rest.


Also, Following is quite good, but fairly confusing the first time you watch it. Because the main character had different hair and clothes and personal grooming aesthetic in back to back scenes, it wasn't until about a half hour in that I realized it was the same character.

[RPGD]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Duck Soup - Best Marx Brothers comedy ever and my favorite movie of all time.

[John Mora]

Re: Reccomend me some movies

Helllllll yeah, Soderbergh's Solaris. Fantastic soundtrack, too.