1. CurtisDawson

    CurtisDawson New Member

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    Let's talk about movies

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by CurtisDawson, Oct 4, 2015.

    I assume that people here like movies. Movies have a lot in common with books. Plot, setting, characterization. Anyway, five of my favorite movies are:

    A Clockwork Orange
    Once Upon a Time in the West
    Reservoir Dogs
    Very Bad Things
    Apocalypse Now

    There you have it. Share your favorites. Share five movies or ten. Share how many you like. If you want, tell us why they made your list. I like Reservoir Dogs because of the plot. The revelation of betrayal at the end of movie is excellent.
     
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  2. Imagine That

    Imagine That New Member

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    Jaws
    The Shining
    Halloween
    Gladiator
    Napoleon Dynamite

    ...and so many more.

    Good movies to me are ones you never tire of, even after knowing the outcome. :)
     
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  3. aguywhotypes

    aguywhotypes Active Member

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    Pieces of April - slice of life, I loved the mother.
    Avalon - slice of life
    Crooklyn - slice of life
    On Golden Pond

    way to many to mention.
     
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  4. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    I'm fascinated by and enjoy American films from the 70s that feature black 'Shaft' type characters - the women in these films are especially great to watch - feisty, muthafucka sweary, and cool beyond words.
     
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  5. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Fargo. The Coen Brothers do fantastic character work, and this film exemplifies this. It's violent, harrowing, funny as hell, and a great, great movie.

    The Flight of the Phoenix (original version). You can't beat this cast: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Hardy Kruger, George Kennedy, Ernest Borgnine, Peter Finch, and so on. A desert survival movie. A classic. How many Oscars in that cast? Jeez! Stay away from the Dennis Quaid remake. Stick with the original.

    The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Sure it's long, but it builds. The last act is unsurpassed. That graveyard scene at the end is one of the most magnificent pieces of cinema I've ever seen. Eli Wallach's portrayal of the bandit Tuco is one of the greatest supporting roles in movie history.

    The Shawshank Redemption. Another slow-paced film that builds. The last act is one of the greatest and most powerful I've ever seen. Morgan Freeman is magnificent in his role, in an understated way.

    The Silence of the Lambs. Cruel, horrifying, disgusting in parts, but the characters are fantastic. Clarice Starling is a wonderful creation by Jodie Foster. Obviously, Hannibal Lecter as embodied by Anthony Hopkins is amazing. But the true freaky weirdo here is Buffalo Bill, the serial killer played by Ted Levine. Levine must have channeled his own inner psycho to play this monster. Wow!

    Lawrence of Arabia. There's a ton to talk about with this epic masterpiece, but I want to single out Anthony Quinn's performance as one of the Arab leaders, Auda Abu Tayi. He's a coiled snake, a hugely powerful presence in this film. A great character played by a great actor.
     
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  6. Chinspinner

    Chinspinner Contributor Contributor

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    Listing your top 5 movies is dam difficult. It really depends what mood I am in, but I'll give it a go.

    The Shawshank Redemption. I agree with Minstrel here, it is a superb film. Released in the same year as Pulp Fiction (another slice of cinematic history), and what won the Oscar that year? Forrest Fucking Gump- ugh.

    The Hill. Set in a detention camp and starring Sean Connery; it is a gritty, brilliant film with an ending that is well worth the wait... I can't say more about it though, but that ending...

    Diehard. A master-class in action movies. I would put it above any of the Terminators or Aliens.

    Pan's Labyrinth. Deeply dark and depressing, but beautiful.

    Evil Dead 2. I just can't get enough of Ash kicking the crap out of himself.
     
  7. Iain Wood

    Iain Wood Member

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    Without a doubt... Apocalypse Now ! And The Battle of Waterloo plus Deep Blue.
     
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  8. Annihilation

    Annihilation Active Member

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    My favorites are the saw franchise. You can never just say one of the movies because it's like a tv series almost. You have to wait for the next one to know what happens.

    Very thrilling and outstanding character development. The character who only shows up once in part 3 turns out to be the main character of part 5,6 and 7.

    Watch them! You won't regret it!!!!
     
  9. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Far out, this is incredibly hard, especially for a cinephile like myself. But here are some films that I have seen for the first time or re-watched recently that are magnificent but generally forgotten (Yes, two Tom Hardy films, even though I'm not really a fan):

    Black Snake Moan - Debate-ably Christina Ricci's best performance.


    The Drop - MUCH better than the trailer. The second flawless film I've seen in the last ten years.


    Winter's Bone - The other flawless film in the last ten years. A critical masterpiece. Flawless directing. I'm so glad I saw this before J Law became a famous face.


    Frances Ha - Surprising fantastic. Love the ending. Brilliantly played character. Fun and uplifting. Makes you feel good about life.


    Mad Max: Fury Road - C'mon, who can't like this epic action fest? It's so fucking shiny! (I love this teaser btw)
     
  10. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    I would. Films like this make me despair for humanity.
     
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  11. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    My Top Eight (in no particular order):
    Citizen Kane
    Airplane
    Ocean's Eleven
    The Bourne Identity
    Twelve Angry Men
    Moneyball
    Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
    Bridge on the River Kwai
     
  12. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    I find this comment.... disturbing.
     
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  13. Chinspinner

    Chinspinner Contributor Contributor

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    Hmm, the first one was intriguing if only for the clever use of a limited budget, which is why it has so few locations and the plot necessarily revolves around one room. There is little else I care for in the first film, and its reliance on a masochistic torture/gore experience rather than building tension and an impending sense of horror is its biggest downfall.

    The sequels are some of the unintentionally funniest films I have ever seen.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2015
  14. Annihilation

    Annihilation Active Member

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    You don't think so?

    Watch all movies and look at characters like mark hoffman or Amanda young. Brilliant acting as well as a character arc. Just look where they go from beginning films to the end films..
     
  15. Daemon Wolf

    Daemon Wolf Senior Member

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    Overall that was a good movie but it just had a terrible writing mistake that I couldn't overlook. It pretty much wrapped everything up during the middle of the film and everything after feels like a "Oh no we need more film" of tacked on story. Yeah the tacked on story was good but don't wrap something up until the end, like seriously.

    As for my favorite movies:

    - Starship Troopers
    - Commando
    - Predator
    - Predator 2
    - Aliens
    - Alien Resurrection
    - Star Wars II Attack of the Clones
    - Soldier
    - John Carpenter's The Thing
    - All the Riddick films
    - Lost In Space
    - Judge Dredd
     
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  16. Annihilation

    Annihilation Active Member

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    SAW is the most successful horror franchise in history. That's a fact. That's why it has it's own iconic villain, theme song, video games and even a roller coaster!
     
  17. Chinspinner

    Chinspinner Contributor Contributor

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    Opinions are like arseholes and all that- we all have one ;)
     
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  18. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    It does make me laugh when people quote some statistic as though this somehow wins their argument.
     
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  19. Chinspinner

    Chinspinner Contributor Contributor

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    The Transformers equivalence did occur, but I bit my tongue.
     
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  20. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    The Martian was fun. One totally boneheaded change from the book that would have killed Watney, and too much left out, but fun.
     
  21. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Saw (the first one) was admittedly pretty awesome. I think it's safe to say no one expected to walk out of the theater having seen THAT.
     
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  22. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    We don't have to agree with each other re whether a film is good, guys ;)

    Anyway, for myself...

    Lord of the Rings trilogy. The first one in the cinema had me on the edge of my seat for the entire film. Even rewatching any of the 3 now moves me - incredible music, dialogue, themes. You can still see so much LOTR influence in fantasy movies today.

    Phone Booth. Seriously, if I could write dialogue like in that film, I shall be one happy writer indeed. Watched it many times and it still has me on edge. Flawless transition and build-up and all relying solely on pure good acting and an excellent screenplay.

    The Dark Knight. Watched it so many times - again some of the dialogue is so good.

    Laputa. Grew up with this one and still so good now watching it as an adult. Beautiful art and music and the MC Pazu still impacts the sort of MC I write today. (believe it or now, Disney's Aladdin would be the other MC that has impacted on the kind of MC I write today lol)

    Lion King. Because it's the Lion King and one of those Disney films that actually takes on more meaning and moves you more when you watch it as an adult. That's pretty rare, esp for Disney.

    Mulan. Because for once it's about a strong woman whose value isn't defined by her boyfriend and her goal in life and in her story has nothing to do with romance. Now I love romance, but this is a pretty rare female model to see in film these days. Something about the drama of the film and Mulan's sincerity still moves me now. (yep I'm talking about Disney's lol) And the music!!

    Other films I remember very fondly of but have seen only once or maybe twice: Shawshank Redemption, Reservoir Dogs, In Bruges, The Lives of Others, Juno, Inception, Departure.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2015
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  23. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Unless it's this, in which case everyone has to agree it's brilliant or I'll hunt them down and slaughter them. (Dreadful trailer, but it's the only one out there)



    This clip gives a better feel for the film's vibe.

     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2015
  24. Helen123

    Helen123 New Member

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    My favourite directors are Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Frank Capra, David Lynch, Federico Fellini, David Fincher, Robert Zemeckis and etc.
     
  25. james82

    james82 Active Member

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    Some of my all time favs are...

    The Shawshank Redemption
    Stand By Me
    Point Break
    Vanilla Sky (one of Tom Cruise's best performances)
    White Squall (one of Ridley Scott's most underrated works)
    The Lost Boys
    The Crow
    The Terminator & T2: Judgement Day
    Titanic
    Primal Fear (Edward Norton's best performance to date)
    American Beauty (one of Kevin Spacy's best performances)
    Backdraft
    Braveheart
    Judgement Night ( Dennis Leary kicks ass in this)
    A Simple Plan (one of Billy Bob Thornton's best performances)
    The Blair Witch Project
    Bloodsport
    Misery (Kathy Bates best performance to date)
    Legends of the Fall (one of Brad Pitts & Anthony Hopkin's best performances)
    Good Will Hunting
    Turner & Hooch
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2015

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