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P fan #1
Joined: Oct '08
Posts: 3,255Posted 16 years ago #Well, to start off, I have to tell you that I look at movies the same way b-boys look at beats. Now, I'm not necessarily saying that I need to find ultra-obscure sh!t, but I look in places that aren't the norm, especially for a college environment. I own 1,100 movies.
Like, I wasn't exactly reeling after Fight Club (still don't own it). I haven't watched most of the Will Farrell movies (not that I don't want to see them, I just have higher priorities). I didn't go nuts on the splatter and disaster genres (being a criminalist who's picked bugs off of dead bodies has made me sort of immune to gore, but I don't like mortal terror and lots of screaming and sh*t).
Let's face it, movies are harder to buzz through than records; you have 8 hours to kill on a Saturday? That's about 120 4-minute songs or 4 movies. So I have to pick and choose. It took me a year and two months to watch 400 movies out of my own collection. I listen to that many songs in about a week if I've got my headphones on at work.
So, that being said, I still own a lot of blockbusters and popular films. I have all the James Bond (except Quantum of Solace), the Die Hards, the Bourne movies, the Lethal Weapons, all the Disney, tons of Spielberg, a lot of Stephen King adaptations, the Planet of the Apes movies, the Alien movies, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, Superman, etc.
And the 1,100 "movies" I've cited count TV series as well: Seinfeld, X-Files, Star Trek, Dick van Dyke, I Love Lucy, A-Team, Simpsons, Twilight Zone, Chappelle's Show, Monty Python, SNL, Benny Hill, and even Friends (thanks to the fiancée)
If we talk directors: All the Hitchcock available in the US, most of the Kurosawa, a lot of Ingmar Bergman, Fritz Lang, all the Kubrick, Jim Jarmusch, Tim Burton, Luis Buñuel, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Masaki Kobayashi, Sergio Leone, Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Nicolas Roeg, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Goddard, Jean Renoir, Terry Gilliam, etc.
Languages: English (no sh*t), Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Serbo-Croatian, French, K'iche', and Portuguese
Comedy: All the Richard Pryor, a lot of Paul Mooney, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Sam Kinison, Rodney Dangerfield, etc.
I also seem to have a lot of African-American cinema too, but I'm still lacking by about 30 or so movies I really want, so...
Anyway, that's just to back up my cred. I don't know how far that goes, but... -
P fan #1
Joined: Apr '09
Posts: 1,137Posted 16 years ago #f*** dude you've been on this next sh!t for ages it seems like, I was always of the "I'm only 16 but my mind is old" mentality when it comes to movies but I have just been shat on once again.
I've taken a break from the hardcore art-housey sh!t and I've been mad into comedy and underground music documentaries.
Right now my favorite comedy is: David Cross (Let America Laugh is a funny ass DVD), Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Zach Galifianakis, Maria Bamford (All of these guys were in Comedians of Comedy), Eugene Mirman, Dana Gould, Russell Peters, Doug Benson, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Mike Birbiglia, Dave Chappelle and more.
On a more serious tip. I love Spanish films because they're so incredible honest about sex, more so than any other country as far as I can tell. Btw the films of Wong Kar-wai are soooo awkward, they're well done but just tense in the wrong ways. -
P fan #1
Joined: Oct '08
Posts: 3,255Posted 16 years ago #Good post, trench. Don't feel shat on, a few of the names you mentioned are alien to me... but that's why we're all here, right? Free exchange of ideas...
Just had a disaster, though.
Spent so long typing a list of some of my "favorite" films for this thread that it logged me out, and I f***ed up logging back in, so I lost my post. It's getting late, so I'll have to type it up again tomorrow (D*MN!)
I hella agree about Spanish films. I hate America's view of sex and the human body. "Oh, sh*t, can't show a nipple on network TV or say the f word. If kids see/hear that, we'll have a sex-crazed nation!" Even though I'm not a parent yet (that should change in the next few years sometime), I still say that exposure AND EXPLANATION is the best way, not shielding. If you hide things from curious-ass kids, they want it more. Show it, and explain it out for them. -
P fan #1
Joined: Apr '09
Posts: 1,137Posted 16 years ago #SactownConnection said: Good post, trench. Don't feel shat on, a few of the names you mentioned are alien to me... but that's why we're all here, right? Free exchange of ideas...
Just had a disaster, though.
Spent so long typing a list of some of my "favorite" films for this thread that it logged me out, and I f***ed up logging back in, so I lost my post. It's getting late, so I'll have to type it up again tomorrow (D*MN!)
I hella agree about Spanish films. I hate America's view of sex and the human body. "Oh, sh*t, can't show a nipple on network TV or say the f word. If kids see/hear that, we'll have a sex-crazed nation!" Even though I'm not a parent yet (that should change in the next few years sometime), I still say that exposure AND EXPLANATION is the best way, not shielding. If you hide things from curious-ass kids, they want it more. Show it, and explain it out for them.
The sad thing is there's a lot of irony in this statement. People don't want to make bold, direct statements about sex, but all the music videos of subjected women with suds on booties and all the subliminal and subtle messages about sex we receive on a daily basis are totally fine. Oh well, that's my lil inner cynic. -
P fan #1
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 537Posted 16 years ago #Damn Sactown, that's some next level sh!t. I'm not too familiar with the whole cinema scene. I just know a decent movie when I see one, lmao. What movies do you suggest as MUST SEE? -
The Architect
Joined: Feb '05
Posts: 3,618Posted 16 years ago #finally watched Ghost Dog the other day haha Forest Wittaker is a big badass samurai. plus RZA. damn cool.
pretty much my favourite film ever is All About Lily Chou Chou - it's a Japanese flick but the way the story is told and the f-kin amazing bespoke soundtrack is what makes it. So deep and tragic yet uplifting.
love those Kurosawa films. of more modern films, I'm feeling basically everything by Michel Gondry, Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson, Edgar Wright, Coen Brothers, Hayao Miyazaki (of course!), Shirow Masamune... mad hyped for Where The Wild Things Are too!!
gotta love those indie films though. Havent seen too much recently but speaking of Spanish (or Spanish language films) Gael Garcia Bernal is always sick. Saw this amazing Argentinian (?) film called Born and Bred.
off the top, films I'd highly recommend -
Days of Glory, The Lives of Others, Brick, Napolean Dynamite, Super Troopers, The Dark Crystal, Spirited Away, Insomnia, Clerks, The Station Agent, Run Lola Run, Kontroll, Nightwatch, Daywatch, Tekkon Kinkreet ... -
The Architect
Joined: Feb '05
Posts: 3,618Posted 16 years ago # -
EP
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 112Posted 16 years ago #A lot of good stuff posted in here already.
Some of my favorite films in no order...
Goodfellas
Friday
Buffalo 66
Mad Max
Caddyshack
Austin Powers
The Life Aquatic
Resevoir Dogs
The Royal Tennenbaums
Billy Madison
Dead Man
Goldfinger
From Russia With Love
Juice
Indiana Jones (The first three)
Baseketball
Training Day
The Godfather
Apocalypse Now
Warriors
Slap Shot
Animal House -
P fan #1
Joined: Oct '08
Posts: 3,255Posted 16 years ago #Good stuff listed here. I own about 50% of the stuff mentioned thus far, and I've seen about 70% of it. BUT I'm craving that other 30%. Just like a crate digger wants to hear every record ever made and have a long enough life to savor it all, I want to see every movie ever made and be able to take my time with each and discern what is good, bad, ugly, and fresh about all of them.
For instance, the symphonic soundtrack of a movie can ruin it sometimes. The new Star Trek film harped on its thematic element more than usual and it was a huge downside for me. Crash had (in my opinion) a ridiculously horrible soundtrack. Even Manhunter seemed to lose a lot from it's soundtrack.
That said, I can tell you about a few movies that are off the beaten path a little bit that I liked:
The Gold Rush (1925) - See the SILENT version of this movie. Chaplin re-edited the footage later and added talking and a bad narration over it (to update it for the sound audience), but I guarantee that, if you watch the silent film all the way through, it's like ten times better. Includes two starving people eating a shoe, a guy thinking Chaplin is a turkey, a love story, and the famous "dinner roll dance" that's been copied hella times since.
Vertigo (1958) - This movie is ridiculously slow for it's first half, but the second half more than makes up for it. If you can really get into the emotions of the people on screen (especially the obsession Jimmy Stewart has for this girl), then it's WAY worth your time. Also, for the music fans that are cool with symphonic soundtracks, listen to the way Bernard Herrmann manipulates the string sections for this movie... so so so so so badass... shivers, every time.
Rope (1948) - Another Hitchcock (his first in color), this one is basically about two gay killers (Hitchcock managed to sneak hints about their homosexuality past the Hayes Office) who murder based on the idea that they are superior to everyone, and then they invite their victim's family over for dinner. Done in 10-minute takes and with a buttload of tension, this is like the play you wish you could take your lady to see (instead of that "Hairspray" sh*t)
Duck, You Sucker! a.k.a. A Fistful of Dynamite (1972) - Sergio Leone made two loose trilogies: The "Man with No Name" Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), and the "Once Upon A Time..." Trilogy (O.U.A.T. in America, Duck You Sucker, O.U.A.T. in America). ALL of these movies are really good, but this one is often overlooked because of the epic proportions of all the others. Some of the scenes in this movie were funny as hell.
The Wages of Fear / Le salaire de la peur (1953) - I didn't think a movie this old could be this tense. Some broke guys are hired to drive nitroglycerin across some really rocky terrain without the aid of stabilizers. There are some tense scenes in this one.
Freaks (1932) - Directed by Tod Browning, who'd done "Dracula" a year before, and staring actual circus "freaks", this is a crazy movie about a "normal" woman who misleads a "circus midget" into falling in love with her, and what eventually becomes of her. Kinda chilling, kinda corny. A guy with no limbs lights a cigarette with only his mouth in one scene, and the Ramones got their "Gabba Gabba Hey" chant idea from another scene around a table.
Also, if you can, check out:
"Shake! Otis At Monterey" (1986) (only 15 minutes, but wow, what a 15)
"M" (1933) (Peter Lorre as a child molester/murderer who's hunted down)
"The Twelve Chairs" (1970) (underrated Mel Brooks film)
"The Richard Pryor Show" (1977) (all 4 episodes) (yeah, there's some stuff that falls flat, but the funny stuff is HILARIOUS... check out the Reverend James L. White... also has a VERY moving Maya Angelou appearance)
(more) -
P fan #1
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 594Posted 16 years ago #word up on the dark crystal, yo! -
P fan #1
Joined: Oct '08
Posts: 3,255Posted 16 years ago #(continued from last post)
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) - This 2001 sequel is often overlooked because it's not as mysterious as the original, but it's actually a pretty cool sci-fi film with a lot of texture and good acting, just watch out for the ridiculously cheesy ending.
Straw Dogs (1971) - You wanna watch some fools get the sh!t tore out of them? Watch what happens when someone messes with Dustin Hoffman's wife. Good god.
The Sting (1973) - This movie got me into playing ragtime on the piano (even though the music actually doesn't match up with the movie's time period, it's off by 30 years, but whatever). Newman and Redford kick Robert Shaw's ass, and Shaw's a bad motherfucker.
Men At Work (1990) - Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez are off the hook in this one... and Keith David is crazy-funny as the deranged Vietnam vet.
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka) (1988) - Animated film about two kids wandering around after the nuclear holocaust in Japan. Depressing, but uplifting somehow.
Lost Highway (1997) - David Lynch is a crazy director, and I love his films, but this one gets TRASHED by critics, and I don't see why. It's all dream logic, and I'll admit it's confusing during the first watch, but the MOOD is intense. To enjoy this movie, just understand that Bill Pullman went crazy because he thought his wife was having an affair, so he killed her, got convicted, and dreamed up another life for himself to escape the reality of the situation. He's crazy from the moment the movie starts, and the videotapes he receives are reality trying to break into his fantasy. And the last shot is his electrocution in the electric chair. Boom, now it's a good movie.
Other REALLY good movies: Cinema Paradiso (the 2002 director's cut), Redbeard (Akahige) (1965) (let's face it... anything by Kurosawa is a classic, but Redbeard is underrated), Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) (1948), Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) (1959), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Hara Kiri (Seppuku) (1962), If... (1969), Peeping Tom (1960), Silver Streak (1976) (watch Gene Wilder pretend to be a black man, HAHAHA), The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973), The Sword of Doom (Dai-bosatsu Toge) (1965), Ugetsu (1953), The Vanishing (Spoorloos) (1988), Walkabout (1971), Beat Street (1984)
And finally, some popular films I really liked: Gattaca, Aliens (the 1991 Director's Cut), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (especially Brad Dourif's performance), Coming To America, Die Hard, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Misery, Platoon, The Dead Zone, Election, Minority Report, Stand By Me -
P fan #1
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,874Posted 16 years ago #Yo, +1 for where the wild things are, i can't wait for that ish... It was a staple of my childhood, along with the other book the dude wrote... Adventures in the night kitchen, or something like that, where the little kid makes a plane out of dough.... am i making this up or did that really exist? Maurice Sendak? is that the authors name?
Also, for you Spike Jonze fans, have you seen his skate videos? Girl:Yeah Right, is awesome, as is the other one whose name I cannot remember... -
The Architect
Joined: Feb '05
Posts: 3,618Posted 16 years ago #SactownConnection said: Straw Dogs (1971) - You wanna watch some fools get the sh!t tore out of them? Watch what happens when someone messes with Dustin Hoffman's wife. Good god.
yo! how could I forget! I went to see Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia (also directed by Sam Peckinpah)... mad mad gruesome/hilarious film. Utterly crazy. Apparently in the scene when Warren Oates wakes up half-buried alive, his madness is legit seeing as he was tripping of shrooms! haha -
P fan #1
Joined: Jun '09
Posts: 1,659Posted 16 years ago #hmn, tricky, im rather mainstream wid my films so im jus gna say it,
anchorman wi will ferrell, im sorry but its just sooooooooo quotable. lol.
sum ovas,
fear n loathing in las vegas, gets better everytime
human traffic, jus captures a gud weekend for me
How high?! love it, jus shmoke a phatty n watch it
Ice age1,2+3, personally the best animated films
ali-g/borat/bruno is this humor or uncomfortable viewing?
and not strictly a fil but anything by david attenborough, life, planet earth etc, ya know wen u bn out all nite, ur minds a bit frazzled n u jus need summat to watch n chill wiv a doob, attenborough is the man. lol.
peace
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