So, let’s hear it from you! What are your five favorites?
Me? Sigh. As he says, for anybody who loves movies, it’s hard, but here goes:
1. The Philadelphia Story–good God I love this movie. Nobody puts a foot wrong. By turns hilarious and very touching and everybody is great.
2. Mary Poppins–Yes, I said it. I’d say it again if I had to. The recent Saving Mr. Banks did a lot to justify it. Put aside your preconceptions and just let the artistry–and, yes, the whimsy–flow over you.
3. The Maltese Falcon–You’ve got to have one post-WWII hardboiled California gumshoe on any movie list and Samuel Spade is mine. Featuring the holy trinity–Bogart, Greenstreet and Lorre, each doing just what you want them to do.
4. Singin’ in the Rain–See it on the big screen and tell me you don’t love it. Hopelessly meta before anybody thought of such a thing, and the apex of what a studio can do. Gorgeous.
5. A Night at the Opera–Filmed just months before the untimely death of the great Irving Thalberg, everything that the Marx Brothers were was poured into this movie. Slightly sad, because they would never be this good again.
Your turn!
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(in no order)
The Empire Strikes Back – Far and away the best Star Wars movie. Equal parts dark, funny and thrilling. Ford’s best Han Solo performance by a mile, the amazing Luke/Vader revelation, Yoda….it doesn’t get any better than this.
Goodfellas – The Godfather 1 and 2 are probably better and I adore them, but, if given the choice of which film to watch: Goodfellas wins on pure entertainment. Every scene is fantastic and nearly impossible to turn off.
The Muppet Movie – I feel like the Muppets were the closest thing to MST3K before MST3K. And this film had it all: great musical numbers (Rainbow Connection, Movin’ Right Along are my favorites), Kermit at his sweetest, Fozzie with his biggest role and fantastic cameos from Steve Martin to Mel Brooks to Orson Welles. I always tear up at the end: “keep believing, keep pretending, life’s a movie, write your own ending, we did just what we set out to do….thanks to the lovers, the dreamers and you!”
The Princess Bride – Possibly the most quotable film ever. “Anybody want a peanut?” “Inconceivable!” “Mah-waige…” “He’s only mostly dead!” “Have fun stormin’ the castle!” “As you wish…” The list goes on.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – I know what you’re thinking. Crusade better than Raiders? Slap! “That’sch for blasphemy.” Sorry, folks….swap out Karen Allen as a sidekick for Sean Connery (!), the only man cool enough to be Indiana Jones’ Dad, and you’ve got the perfect action film.
Honorable mention: The Godfather 1 and 2, Glengarry Glen Ross, Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Waiting For Guffman
1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (NOT Disney, 1972 British musical with the talented Fiona Fullerton my definitive “Alice”)-I’m 50 but still remember seeing parts of this on the family’s black & white TV back in the early 70s. It tears away the stress and depression that adult life often provides. I’ve bought 5 different DVDs trying to get a good one. I recommend the recent DigiComTV version. It’s on the good side of “just acceptable” whereas most of the releases are an embarrassment to the Bafta winning classic.
2. Lord of the Rings (grouping the trilogy as one)-this just threw me to the floor of the theater with all the sticky stuff down there. Peter Jackson proved people wrong by making this thrilling epic fantasy an on screen reality. As a side note, I actually wanted someone else to do The Hobbit to provide a different take on the material but after seeing what PJ did I did a 180 on that. The material could not have been done better in current times. Perhaps in the future we will have holographic films 360 degrees all around us in VR rooms or something and someone else will nail this too.
3. Wizard of Oz-a film that almost means too much to me. It can be hard to watch for many reasons… remembering when I was a child and mother would remind me and sis all week it was going to be on… or that it’s just so calming and sweet I nod off like a little baby while watching.
4. Paper Moon-I first watched this while laying in my father’s lap, it was the 70s and it was on my grandmothers TV set. :*)
5. E.T.-this film changed my life and made me appreciate childhood for a just a little bit longer. It was at a time when things start to get a bit rocky growing up. But this gave me an elation I’ll never feel again I don’t think.
1. Star Wars IV
2. Star Wars V
3. Blade Runner
4. It’s a Wonderful Life. This would be number one if I wasn’t such a nerd.
5. Jaws
Honorable mention. African Queen, North by Northwest, Tron, Key Largo, Escape From New York, The Thing (Carpenter) and Highlander.
I read through everybody’s list. This forum needs a group thumbs up function. My mouse button finger is sore. Wonderful way to find some gems I forgot about or didn’t know about.
It would be fun to also do a guilty pleasure thread. I’ll bet that’s been done but would be fun all over again.
Thomas:
I have tried to watch a Marx Bros film or two and I just can’t get into it. I will have to try again.
Some have been picking Duck Soup or Horsefeathers as their favorite Marx, some have been picking Night at the Opera–
I’d gotten into a discussion with some parents who found their kids just couldn’t get behind the Marx Brothers, and it’s possible that kids and first-timers just don’t understand WHY the Bros are so anarchic and crazy in their own movies.
Duck Soup had done badly in theaters (since nobody in ’36 wanted to hear “Fredonia’s going to war”), so like Sampo points out, Irving Thalberg was smart enough to know that MGM did classy musical-variety, put two good sweet musical stars in front of Night at the Opera, and created a story where the Marxes sympathetically help them out by acting chaotic, while delivering Bugs Bunny this-means-war revenge at the same time. (Guess which movie that comes from, btw.) That turned out to be more popular, and easier to understand, and may actually be better for kids and first-timers.
Like, kids in college who’ve literally never heard of the Marxes in their lives, because TV won’t show them anymore. :-X
I didn’t think anyone else had seen that 99% text-faithful version that we used to rub in Disney’s face to shame them for the Tim Burton movies. (I wouldn’t call it a favorite-favorite since the songs don’t make much sense, but it’ll wash away the taste of that Looking Glass movie.)
I’d seen there is a perfect, color-restored widescreen version playing on British TV, but since it’s public domain, all we’ll get are gray 4:3 third-generation PD-Walmart disks over here. Abandon all hope, but if you know of a relatively acceptable version, please tell me too.
Night at the Opera was a great film, second in my book only to Monkey Business. Yes, I know that Duck Soup is the one that gets all the praise, but to me it was middle of the pack…which still makes it gut bustingly funny.
Top five in no particular order:
5. The Princess Bride – I remember almost having an argument with my mom about going to this movie. She knew, just knew, it was not the adventure film that I knew it was going to be. She finally relented, although I think it was more to prove me wrong than anything. She was wrong.
4. Aliens – One of the perfect blends of horror and action. I don’t like most pure horror films, I like to see our protagonists at least attempt to fight back, even in a no-win situation. Ellen Ripley became the “female action lead” that I base all others on, and very few hold up.
3. Brain Donors – Speaking of Night at the Opera, did you know there was an adaptation made in the early 90’s called Brain Donors? It was a victim of studio unrest, and never got the push it deserved. It is an intensely funny film, with a ballet taking the place of the opera in the plot, with John Turturro, Mel Smith, and Bob Nelson in the Groucho, Chico, and Harpo roles respectively. Track down a copy.
2. Army of Darkness – Nothing else needs to be said, except “groovy”.
1. For A Few Dollars More – Okay, I lied. 2-5 are in no particular order, but this is number 1. Better than the more famous films that book-end it in the “Man With No Name” trilogy, this was the first time Lee Van Cleef had a leading role, and the first time he was cast as a hero. Colonel Mortimer and The Man With No Name (although the do call him “Manco” once in this film) form an alliance to take down Indio and his gang of miscreants. MWNN is just a bounty hunter, but clearly there is something personal for Mortimer, as both he an Indio are shown to have identical musical pocket watches. The final, final gunfight at the end only has one gunshot, but the build up to it is a thing of beauty. Great cinematography, great use of liet-motief to help tell the story, it’s a “film buff” film as much as it is an action film.
1. Any Monty Python film
Since I’m a womany lady, the rest are musicals or chick flicks:
2. West Side Story
3. Half A Sixpence (Tommy Steele musical)
4. Under the Tuscan Sun
5. Chocolat
Honorable mentions: The Matchmaker (Janeane Garofalo), Heart and Souls (Robert Downey Jr.)
This is incredibly tough for any movie fan, so here goes:
Jaws
Midnight Cowboy
Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Long Goodbye
Gremlins
with Brazil, The Thing, Return to Oz, The Muppet Movie and Badlands getting honorable mentions.
(contents to change at a moments notice)
Yellow Submarine: Before I was old enough to try cannabis or LSD, there was this.
2001: A Space Odyssey: Saw this when it came out, when I was about 12. After years of stupid, idiotic space movies, a space movie that really “worked”.
A Night At The Opera: The Marxes reached critical mass here; their Dark Side Of The Moon.
Casablanca: Never saw a Bogart picture I didn’t like, but this one crushed it out of the park.
Plan 9 From Outer Space: …and I say this entirely without irony.
Ooops, damn… because I couldn’t hit the “edit” button in time on my first post, here’s my Honorable Mentions:
– The Maltese Falcon
– Monty Python And The Holy Grail
– Monterey Pop
– The Truth About Cats And Dogs
– A Hard Day’s Night
I get it. I feel the same way about Manos. No…really!
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Goonies
Dazed and Confused
Phantasm II
Tombstone
….Had Lebowski and Empire in there, but guess I had to be different.
1.Dr. Strangelove.
2. The Stuntman.
3. The Last Waltz.
4. La Dolce Vita.
5. Love and Death.
KING KONG 33
CASABLANCA
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
WHERE EAGLES DARE
My kids love the Marx Brothers. I find it hard to believe there is anyone who doesn’t if they’ve seen them. Ditto for the Pink Panther movies.
Empire Strikes Back – Best of the Star Wars franchise. Such an important film in my life.
Mad Max Fury Road – Maybe the best movie ever made. Watching it on the big screen is amazing!
Return of the Living Dead – Fun, gory, tongue-in-cheek nihilism. Tar Man is maybe the creepiest character ever on screen.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – This is the first movie I watched on loop. Essential 80’s comedy.
Rear Window – My favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie (I haven’t seen them all.) Grace Kelly … ’Nuff said!
Honorable mentions:
2001 : A Space Odyssey – A masterwork of cinematography and special effects.
The Matrix (If the the sequels never happened, this would be in my top five.)
Highlander (See The Matrix.)
Toy Story – They are all great. The first was an important milestone in filmmaking.
True Romance – More violent than I like my movies these days but the Dennis Hopper/Christopher Walken scene is AMAZING!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 : The Movie – Have I done it … Have I blown your mind?!?
I’m with you Pulatso, Monkey Business is my favorite Marx Brothers movie.
“…your overhead is too high and your brow is too low.”
Wow, what a topic. So much that could be said. How to narrow it down. Like others here I have seen and liked so many movies I really can’t say I have a single favorite when I get asked, “What’s your favorite movie?” Thankfully that’s not the question here. Even so the list will be subjective and I’ll likely be cheating with honorable mentions. I will also be excluding movies that have already been discussed in this thread.
1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original version of course). Aside from being the classic archetype of a group of young kids who make a series of unfortunate decisions (that you can mentally graph) which result in horror, the movie creates an atmosphere of exquisite nightmarish absurdity.Many would wonder why that would be a good thing, and to many it isn’t. But like Elton John sang, “When all hope is gone, sad songs say so much”.
I don’t bring this up unless it’s relevant to a topic or episode (like The Incredible Melting Man), but I am a lifelong severe clinical depressive. I’m in a good place now and I take my medication seriously, but for the first 18 years of my conscious life my neurotransmitters were all messed up inside. My symptoms impressed everyone at the support group I went to for a year, including some psychotics and a concentration camp survivor. My most tolerable symptom was a sense of an energy flowing through me that could have erased all of existence in an instant if it were let loose on the world, and it took a constant effort to refrain from committing suicide. This is why I find solace and comfort in films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hellraiser, Pink Floyd: The Wall, The Trial, and that Twilight Zone where three astronauts get erased from reality. The final scene in Chainsaw Massacre where the last survivor is trying to reason with the cannibals while they have a family squabble about one of them being, “Just a cook”, is morbid absurdist humor that reminds me of my own childhood in a funny way, and makes it my favorite family comedy. And yes, Lord of the Flies is my favorite children’s film.
Like I said, I’m in a good place now. After discovering antidepressants in my early twenties, feeling happiness for the first time was a religious experience(as an atheist I don’t use the term lightly). Which brings me to #2 on my list: Man facing Southeast. An Argentinian film that was ripped off poorly by Hollywood with K-Pax. Man facing Southeast is about a man who shows up at a mental hospital claiming to be from another planet. “Why come here”, he is asked. He answers that, “if I went anywhere else and told the truth, they would bring me here. And we would be having the same conversation.”
As the movie progresses the “alien” is revealed to be very Christ like figure. And at the end the question of the movie shifts from, “Is he an alien, or is he Jesus, or is he crazy?”, to “Does it matter in light of his character?”. Along with Kurosawa’s Ikiru, Man Facing Southeast are what I consider to be the best “meaning of life” movies besides the obvious.
3. Silent Running, the best of the Eco-awareness film’s of the 70’s, almost always makes me cry. It’s a movie about an astronaut and his robot assistants trying to safeguard the last non-human life in the universe. This film is part of the inspiration for MST as well.
4. Mr. Frost: Jeff Goldbloom portrays a serial killer in a mental hospital who claims to be The Devil and wants his therapist to kill him. Great stuff.
5. Solaris (Russian version) does not offer anything near the visual and cinematic spectacle of 2001. But features a fantastic if plodding philosophical contemplation of humanity, consciousness, and things I really can’t summarize well. This stands in contrast to the awesome but philosophically incoherent “Monolith” storyline in 2001 which strikes me as being an exercise in throwing a handful of archetypal symbols against a wall and seeing what sticks. The “Hal” storyline is sound in my opinion and my favorite part of the movie, and the cinematography so incredible that it doesn’t matter much if the philosophy is confused.
@118 Man Facing Southeast is a gem of a movie and I agree that KPAX pales in comparison. Though sub-titled folks that enjoy SF should check this out. In closing, Cornjob remember you are not alone.
North By Northwest
Duck Soup
American Graffiti
A Hard Day’s Night
Young Frankenstein
Cornjob #118 –
For several years the creator of Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a modest office in Austin on west 6th street. Right in the middle of the room sat a wooden rocking chair with none other that Grandma Sawyer sitting in it. Very few visitors could resist giving her chair a little push to get her rocking. Against the wall was a custom built and officially rejected by Hugh Hefner Playboy pinball machine with artwork featuring some now forgotten playmate. The highest scoring level was labeled “Simultaneous Orgasm” and, no, I never achieved that. Maybe that’s why Hugh rejected it.
I’d like to see everyone’s favorite MST movies. Not favorite eps, but the movies they’d actually watch without the ‘bots. None of them are good, per se, but there are a few diamonds in the rough out there…
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Field of Dreams
3. The French Connection
4. Casablanca
5. Dr. Strangelove
Off the top of my head, no peeking, and based on number of times rewatched:
A New Hope (corny, and Empire is objectively better, but this was the first movie I ever saw, and it’s stuck with me).
The Princess Bride (dated a girl who hated it. We didn’t last long.)
Groundhog Day (every February 2, without fail)
Mr. Vampire (for maximum effect, watch it with the subtitles AND the English dubbing–makes it seem like you’re watching 3 different movies at the same time).
Phantom of the Paradise (the perfect cult film)
Good call, interesting movie :yes: …and a cake baking serial killer who claims to be the dark one, at that! ha
This used to receive somewhat regular rotation among the premium cable movie channels many yrs ago (I still have an old vhs rip) but so far as I know has yet to see a region 1/free dvd or blu-ray release. While it’s (thankfully) not big on the (stereo)typical ‘action’ one might expect from a horror movie about a demonic serial killer, the dialogue and exchanges between Frost and his criminal therapist creates the dark heart of the tale.
Being a longtime movie it’s difficult to narrow it down to a Top 5.
However, in no particular order…
1. Phantasm
2. The Ninth Configuration
3. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
4. What Happened Was…
5. Evil Dead (1981)
______________
Honorable mentions…
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
The Fog (1980)
Trust
Kingpin
I Heart Huckabees
Cemetery Man
Ooh, I missed this one this past weekend? Shame. I’ll try to put some favorites in anyway.
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
I know, it’s recent. Still, this movie blew me away. Sure, it’s incredibly stylized, but to me that’s what an action movie should be. Before this I would’ve said my favorite action movie was either First Blood or Die Hard depending on my mood, but now it’s this one.
2. WarGames
The moment when Lightman hacks into NORAD and you rea;ize what kind of movie this is going to be is pure joy. I love this movie and for the longest time it was #1.
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The last 20 minutes or so when they’re speaking with the aliens for the first time is just incredibly charming. This is one of those movies where if it comes on the TV I have to watch it.
4. Life of Pi
Very deep, very philosophical, very beautiful. The book was influential to me in my early 20s and the movie is a perfect adaptation.
5. Jurassic Park
As fun as it is, probably the best thing is John William’s soundtrack, which I think is probably the best he ever did. I know people like the music from Indiana Jones and Star Wars, but I prefer this one. Leave me alone, okay??!
Anyway, fun topic. I recommend doing favorite shows besides MST3K at some point in the near future as well. I can probably get a lot more personal when talking about favorite shows.
Ahhh, yes… I could have put the original “Mad Max” on my list. Then I thought, no! I’ll put “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”!
What do you guys think? ;-)
Koyaanisqatsi–the word means “life out of balance”, and this one nails you in your seat. No narration, just incredible cinematography and a Philip Glass soundtrack.
Picnic at Hanging Rock–quite simply the most unnerving film I’ve ever seen. Even thinking about it causes a chill.
Little Shop of Horrors (the musical)–pure early 60s, wink-wink-nudge-nudge humor, with a great cast and memorable songs.
Open Range–in my opinion, the best western ever.
The Illusionist–I love films that keep me guessing; this one does it phenomenally well, with a crackerjack conclusion.
I recall that upon seeing The Virgin Suicides many yrs after seeing Picnic, it, for whatever reason, made me think of Picnic …not that there is any discernible thematic overlap aside from both involving a group of doomed teenage girls. Both certainly are eerie, and leave much to the viewer’s interpretation.
Re honorable mentions (since I’m terrible at trying to narrow things down to a mere 5!) I’d also cite Dan O’Bannon’s Return of The Living Dead, and Donnie Darko.
My movies(as you read this list keep in mind that I am extremely weird, even for this site) :-D
5.) Zootopia: I love this movie, it is probably my favorite animated film, IMHO the characters and design are superb and the story is excellent.
4.) Gettysburg: I am very interested in the U.S. Civil War and in my opinion this is the best movie about that conflict.
3.) Crossfire: Excellent film about antisemitism and soldiers returning home after World War 2.
2.) Star Trek V: I find this movie fascinating and it is my favorite film from the Star Trek series.
1.) Key Largo: Excellent Bogart film and great all-around movie.
1) Star Wars
2) Reservoir Dogs
3) Raiders of the Lost Ark
4) Empire Strikes Back
5) Good fellas
Top 5 (at this moment – subject to change) –
The Godfather Saga (I & II edited together)
The Maltese Falcon
North By Northwest
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
:-)
In no real order–
Angel Heart
Reservoir Dogs
Fight Club
Monty Python & the Holy grail
Wild at Heart
Also– Godfather movies and Anything by William Castle
I’ve sat out most WD threads for a while due to working all day every Saturday, but as long as everyone else has too much to say as well…
1. Transformers: The Movie (1986) – Even at age 7, I was getting cynical about movies not quite living up to their trailers, so my #1 will always be the only film that ever shocked me by being so much better than I thought it would. The risks it took and cult status it’s achieved are testament to how much creative freedom American action cartoons suddenly gained with toy-franchise money enabling syndication, while other ’80s cartoons had to kowtow to network standards so ludicrous they wouldn’t even allow punching. At the risk of touching on politics, no matter what your opinion of the Reagan administration, they made the right call that time.
2. City of the Living Dead (1980) – Watched it every Halloween since college; never gets old cuz’ it never makes perfect sense. It’s paradoxically Lucio Fulci’s most accessible film (big-city and small-town American settings, and EVERY video store used to have it under the title “The Gates of Hell”), and his most baffling. Zombie fans often dislike it because the zombies act too much like ghosts (as if anyone knows what rules the undead would play by if they actually started rising) An H.P. Lovecraft movie guide dismissed it as a zombie flick that name-drops Dunwich, yet it has a more Lovecraftian feel than any actual adaptation of H.P.’s work I’ve ever seen. The horror that befalls this Dunwich is an incomprehensible violation of laws of nature, with the teleporting-but-corporeal dead being the most tangible tip of the iceberg. No other movie I’ve seen has gotten that atmosphere just right, and it actually gets scarier with repeat viewings.
3. Inferno (1980) – Yes, it’s a sequel to a better movie; heck Suspiria’s a contender for best horror film of all time. Yet despite seeming to suffer from production problems and studio-meddling, this one has affected my dreams and my views on religion more than any other movie. Most horror that touches on religion has some prophecy/demon/fallen-deity that enlightened science dismissed as hooey turn out to be true, endangering the non-believers who scoffed at old-fashioned wisdom etc., but Inferno’s message seems to be that if you dig back beneath all the patriarchal monotheism, then through the matriarchal triads buried beneath it, the only real truth is that we don’t know what happens to our consciousness after death, and we’ve spent all of civilization erecting bulwark after bulwark of B.S. to shield ourselves from that unpleasant reality. Maybe Dario and I just both like Robert Graves’ interpretation of Greek mythology, but that movie really spoke to me. Someone around here once mentioned the ’70s as giving horror films their greatest ever creative freedom in the wake of Rosemary’s Baby and Night of the Living Dead, and if anyone’s seen another horror movie with Inferno’s underlying theme, I’d be very interested to check it out. For all its flaws, you just plain could not remake that one properly today.
And since it’s the Weekend Discussion Thread:
4. Weekend (1967) – The gold standard for fun end-of-the-world road-movies. Might actually be the model for a lot of zombie movies, but here the culprit of societal collapse is just, well, the ’60s. Godard also seems to have foreseen internet culture, what with everyone acting all pretentious and cosplaying off in their own little worlds. The scene where our happy couple are hitchhiking but no one will pick them up unless they give the “correct” answer especially sums up how isolated different factions are becoming in today’s political climate, so this one just keeps getting better with age. But don’t let the shadow of politics stop you from enjoying the plain ol’ nuttiness of the infamous traffic jam, the cannibalism, the actual animal butchery, and the rape scene involving a live fish; there’s something for everyone!
And since so many others included a musical:
5. Big Meat Eater (1982) – Yes, it endeavors to parody conventional musicals by having then-unorthodox subject matter (much the same as Little Shop of Horrors, come to think of it), but also takes skewering musical conventions to an extreme I’ve never seen elsewhere, with song cues having inappropriate contexts and timing, the character with the greatest singing ability becoming almost monosyllabic whenever the music stops, aliens played by wind-up-toys, and so many other elements that never make sense. Also a good “the right people will get it” acid test: everyone I’ve shown it to declares it either the weirdest movie they’ve ever seen or the worst movie ever made, right when Big Miller starts belting out the title song.
Honorable mention goes to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation for being the only other movie I’ve seen as many times as my top two, starting in theater on Christmas Eve 1989, and every 12/24 since.
And my list changes under one specific circumstance: When I’ve been having such a bad day/week/month/etc. that I want to secede from my species, Lucio Fulci’s master-thesis on human nature, New York Ripper, becomes the greatest movie ever conceived. The perfect follow up to his zombie films, as it teaches us all that plain ol’ living, breathing people are the most horrifying monsters to ever blight the Earth.
In no particular order…
Napoleon Dynamite – A movie about nothing that’s as charming and funny as hell.
Shawshank Redemption – Stephen King is one of my fave authors and this movie is just amazing.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy – Oh, come on. It is TOO one giant movie broken into three pieces for more ticket sales and so people can pee!
Blazing Saddles – Sure, it’s cult, but it actually has an amazing message about tolerance and unity and Hollywood being “a bunch of false fronts”. Also, it’s really weird, but every time I see this movie, something random of the REALLY-good variety always happens to me shortly after viewing. Go figure.
Metropolis – Not a word spoken but this movie breaks my heart every time.
Sampo, did you mean A Day At The Races? That was Irving Thalberg’s last with the Marx Bros. Either way, you can’t beat the first 7 Marx Bros. movies. I love all 12, even Room Service!
Favorite movies, okay here goes:
1. Ghost World
2. Zapped!
3. The Party Animal
4. Lawrence Of Arabia
Honorable mentions: Knightriders, Texas Chainsaw 2, Friday The 13th 3, Re-Animator, American Beauty, Entourage: The Movie
and too many other to list!
Let’s throw Scarface and Stripes in there, too.
Oh, what the heck. A few more, mainly ones I haven’t seen listed.
Up (2009): Tied with The Incredibles as Pixar’s best, IMHO
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010): Man oh man did my friends and I have fun the night we saw this. Deep? Naw. But as I said, fun fun fun!
The Specials (2000): Probably the most obscure movie on this list. Best described as a dysfunctional super-hero team comedy.
Ex Machina (2015): Probably the “best” movie on this list, if such a thing can be objectively measured. Amazing special effects, acting and writing. Basically a really good episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits extended to feature length.
Honorable mentions:
The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2) is in my opinion the best action movie ever, with the most baddass villains ever, and by far the best car chase ever. It’s all been done bigger, faster, and louder since, but never better. Are you listening Michael Bay? No, you’re not. And BTW, Lord Humongous put on a hockey mask for a murder spree a year before Jason Voorhees did.
To Live and Die in L.A. has the 2nd best car chase on film. I remember watching this for the first time as a teenager when it hit me that the good guy of the movie was really a bad guy.
The Blues Brothers is funny as heck, has a lot of great music, and the 3rd best cinematic car chase. The sheer number of police cars becomes surreal, and the police dispatcher says flatly, “The use of unnecessary violence has been authorized in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers”.
Blazing Saddles is actually better than it’s reputation. When the movie breaks loose of the studio and starts to overrun Hollywood is brilliant.
Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail is my favorite historical drama.
The Wild Bunch is my favorite Sam Peckinpah film. The gun battle at the end where dozens die in slow motion is better than the lobby scene in The Matrix.
Enter the Dragon is my nominee for best Martial Arts movie. The camera man had to ask Bruce to move a little slower because the camera was having trouble picking his movements up. Ninja III: The Domination with our friend Sho Kosugi gets best Ninja movie nomination.
The Prophesy is my favorite movie about angels and my favorite Christoper Walken film. “I am an Angel. I turn cities in to salt. I kill first born children while their mama’s watch. And sometimes, when I’m in the mood, I rip the souls out of little girls. And the only thing you can count on from now until Kingdom Come is never understanding why.”
Re-Animator is worth watching for Jeffry Coombs performance as Herbert West and the guilty way he says, “Not anymore” when asked, “Dr. Hill is dead?”. MST fans should note the presence of a living severed head in a pan.
#128
That’s a terrible choice. Can’t we get beyond Thunderdome?
CK … ha, yeah, caught that yesterday and was going to give a similar reply re “slamming!” a thunderdome, but got busy here and forgot about it.
Cornjob … speaking of Jeff Combs, I’m sure you’ve seen his bizarre-o character in The Frighteners?! (Dammers)
Hands down my top pick weirdo extraordinaire Combs role! ha
Thanks for validating me, ck. ;-)
I don’t think I’ve ever actually put together a numerical list, so I’ll just note five that I really, particularly like.
-“Cold Turkey”: A sharp, cynical satire that’s really funny. Has a great cast (led by Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart) and Randy Newman’s first theatrical score. Directed, co-produced and co-written by Norman Lear, pre-“All in the Family”.
– “1776”: Like a great many others, I watch this every Independence Day. A fine musical which presents the Founding Fathers as all-too-human. A few years ago, I switched to the DVD with the longer, restored version.
-“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”: One of the most underrated movies ever made. Finally regarded as one of the best Bond movies, featuring lots of action, a great villain, the best Bond heroine ever, and a more vulnerable and human Bond.
– “Support Your Local Sheriff!” A hilarious comedy that spoofs nearly every Western cliché. James Garner leads a great cast of familiar faces, especially for Western fans.
– “Star Wars”: Personally, I look at it as one big movie in seven parts (or eight, if you count the “Clone wars” theatrical movie). But, if I’m pushed, I’ll go with the one that started it all. It’s still a fun movie, even for those who don’t debate Sith rules and Jedi prophecies.
Can I add in three TV movies I really enjoy?
-“The Missiles of October”: A powerful drama based on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Features a fine cast and script, and a great presentation in the style of a stage play. Much closer to the real story than Costner’s version.
– “The Rutles: All You Need is Cash”: A sidesplitting mockumentary spoofing Beatlemania. Has a great comic cast, Beatles parody songs by Neil Innes that are good on their own, plus cameos by Paul Simon, Mick Jagger and even George Harrison. Even funnier if you’re familiar with Beatles history.
– “Doctor Who”: The McGann movie, and the moment the show finally got the production values it deserved. A fun movie that’s surprisingly faithful to the original series. A great bridge between the Classic series and NuWho. And the BBC had better be arranging for Paul McGann to appear alongside Peter Capaldi in the show’s next season.
Well, that’s all I can think of right now.
(And sorry about being late. I tried posting before, but the link kept getting broken.)
*No Country For Old Men
*The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
*Star Wars (all of them are one)
*Raiders of the Lost Ark
*Rear Window
Absolutely great WDT!
I don’t know if these are my favorite five (or even if I have just five), these are just favorites no one else has mentioned so far.
In no particular order.
The Terminator – I like all the Terminator movies (OK, not the one with Christian Bale), and this is the best. Arnold’s killer robot is the stuff of nightmares.
John Wick – If you like action movies with real people doing actual stunts, and not CGI cartoons, you must see this movie.
Snatch – Outrageous gangster movie with a terrific cast, loaded with quotable dialogue.
Slap Shop – Hilarious and hilariously raunchy sports film, anchored by a terrific Paul Newman performance. Lots of good quotes, so long as you don’t quote it in public.
Kick Ass/Cabin in the Woods – Tie between two meta movies that poke fun at and embrace the tropes of their genres.
I’m being rough on it. Definitely give the Digicom disc a try. It’s widescreen enhanced, all region. The day it came in the mail I watched it twice in a row. Once to grade it’s appearance and once just for enjoyment. Now, that’s being crazy about a movie when you’re 50 years old and watching that sucker twice in a row ! lol The one scene that is best to grade against the others is when Alice goes into the rabbits house. The edging/molding along the ceilings has a lot of unnatural movement in every other version I’ve seen, but in this one it’s just noticeable, but not really all that bad. A relief really. It’s the one on amazon labeled as “Moving Picture Archive” on the front. There are screen shots on the cover too and those definitely represent how it looks. I’m still hoping for a blu ray restored with extras (and WASHING!! lol) there are outtake scenes that I would hope are still stored somewhere.
1. Maltese Falcon
2. They Might Be Giants
3. Casablanca
4. Arsenic and Old Lace
5. Charade
Doretos:
5. Charade. Just so it’s not the 2002 remake The Trouble With Charlie.
Hollywood tends to be really creatively bankrupt, the way they keep
churning out blah remakes. Occasionally one works, like Against All Odds a
remake of Out of the Past, but about 95% are useless.
at everyone who put Maltese Falcon:
which one are we talking about:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(1931_film)
or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(1941_film)