Great Movies Thread
 

Shout outs for your favorite movies.

I just saw Witness again for the 3rd time in like a month. It's been on tv and I told a friend about it and he rented it so I watched it again.

This movie, I love it. The acting...the CHEMISTRY...the mood it sets...it's just a gorgeous film.

Never saw Witness. I think I'm the only Pennsylvanian who didn't catch it.

A few movies I love, in random order:
Harold And Maude - I'd never believe it if I hadn't seen it, but old Ruth Gordon was sexy.
Fiddler On The Roof - I love the acting, cinematography, and songs. Plus my ancestors probably lived a less Hollywood version. :cool:
Paper Moon - Tatum & Madeleine are hilarious.
When Harry Met Sally - Love the dialogue.
The Others - Made me a Nicole fan. The kids are amazing. The cinematography is amazing.
Life Of Brian - Love the lines and songs. Plus my ancestors probably lived a less Hollywood version. :cool:
Ruthless People - Hilarious cast.
Crossing Delancey - For once a romantic comedy with a guy who acts like a guy.
The Return Of Martin Guerre - I can forgive the inconsistencies with the real story since the sets & wardrobes were meticulously designed, and the relationships, moral questions, and ending touch me.
The Muppet Movie - A giant Animal. A floating Gonzo.
Willie Wonka - I thought I was Charlie.
Arsenic And Old Lace - Smart & silly.
Anne Of The Thousand Days - I can forgive the many inaccuracies because Bujold kicks butt. I love when she says "I think NOT!" with those wide eyes.
Die Hard - Good villain, good hero. Takes me back to those surreal days when one could stomach Bruce Willis.
The Fugitive - Harrison Ford at his best.
Airplane - "He thinks he's Ethel Merman."
Animal House - "May I have 10,000 marbles, please?"
The Color Purple (minus the suck-O last scene) - Love Whoopi here. And the music.
Born Free - One of the only movies whose endings can still make me almost teary.
The Exorcist - Really it's just another Muppet Movie, but with different music. :)

- Jake

-Gone With The Wind (I always cry when Bonnie falls from the horse)
-Indochine
-Amélie
-Elizabeth (made me a huge Blanchet fan)
-The Last Metro
-The Woman Next Door
-Frantic
-Terms of Endearment
-Ridicule
-Looking For Alibrandi
-Paper Moon
-History Of The World Part I ("It's good to be the king!" :laugh: )
-Shakespeare In Love
-Sabrina
-Steel Magnolias

I'm missing a ton but this is what I could come up with at the moment.

Edit: Links with explainations of the films that I figured people (Jake :wavey: ) wouldn't recognize.

Some of mine:

Notting Hill
Gladiator
Alien/Aliens/Alien Ressurection
Steel Magnolias
Terms of Endearment
Wizard of Oz
A Star is Born
Halloween
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Shawshank Redemption


I know there are more...

This is totally going to show just how young I am but... in no particular order

Gladiator (nope, not apologizing for this one)
Quills
Clay Pigeons (I'm only slightly obsessed with Joaquin Phoenix. :) )
The Cell
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Casualties of War
Bubba Ho-Tep
Far and Away
Fight Club
Being John Malkovich
The Brotherhood of the Wolf
Catch Me if You Can
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Death to Smoochy
In Cold Blood
Charlotte's Web (I know it seems a little out of place, but Templeton the rat is THE BEST ANIMATED CHARACTER EVER.)

Can you tell that I've only become movie obsessed over the past few years?

~Edward Scissorhands
~The Sandlot
~Moulin Rouge
~A League of Their Own
~Outrageous Fortune
~Hello Again
~Grease
~Mrs. Doubtfire
~Beetlejuice
~Forrest Gump
~The Breaskfast Club
~Mermaids
~Sister Act
~The Wizard of Oz

Well, over on the movie newsgroup, we're discussing our favorite movies adapted fairly closely from plays. So here's mine:

Les Parents Terrible
The Italian Straw Hat
The Beggar's Opera
Folly to Be Wise
Pandora's Box
The Entertainer

Which one? the relatively decent Janet Gaynor version, the overwrought but still compelling Judy Garland version, or the stinky, flabby, egomaniacal Barbra Streisand version?

Judy Garland all the way! :nod:

My personal favourite - Contact.

Alan Silvestri directing, Carl Sagan writing, Jodie Foster and other stellar actors - it's one of the great films.

Back to the Future is there as well. It's the irresistable Harry Potter of the silver screen - ingenious plotting based over a repeated formula (ie a school year or a time travel mission), mischievous adventure, and loads of laughs.

Working Girl
Lost In Translation
Almost Famous
Showgirls
Mommie Dearest
Chinatown
Blue Sky
The Firm
The Godfather 1, 2, & 3
JFK
Nixon
All The Presidents Men
Something's Gotta Give
Some Like It Hot
1776
The Last Picture Show
Moonstruck
Casino
Love Actually
Ocean's Eleven
A Beautiful Mind
Adaptation

I'm not a big movie fan at all. Heck, I only own 3 or 4 movies. Here are my favs:

-The Goonies

-Bejeweled

-The Sweetest Thing

How the hell did I manage to forget The Big Lebowski????? :shocked:

Agree, these are both powerful and classic.

Absolutely! That movie is frickin hilarious!!!! Anyone who has not seen it MUST SEE IT!

-La vie et Rien D'autre - A beautiful compelling, striking movie by Tavernier with Philippe Noiret and Sabine Azema
-Umberto D - De Sica's masterpiece for me.
-The Remains OF The Day - My favourite actor and my favourite actress, who make together an amazing movie couple. :D
-Nelly et Mr. Arnaud - Last film by Claude Sautet acted by the incredible Michel Serrault and Emmanuelle Beart.
-Day For Night - I love Truffaut, and especially Truffaut doing Truffaut.
-The Son's Room - By Nanni Moretti, a director who influenced me a lot.
-California Suite - Even if mainly for the episode with Maggie Smith and Michael Caine
-The Elephant Man - Lynch when he's not hallucinating.
-Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie - Funny, violent, dreamy, nostalgic, ironic, portrait of today's society by Bunuel
-The State of Things - by Wim Wenders... What can I say, I love movies about cinema, and this one has a powerful ending.
-The Conversation - I'm intrigued every time i see it.
- In The Mood For Love - A beautiful love story told with a grace and a passion quite rare today.
-The Silence Of The Lambs - Best thriller of the last twenty years for me, and there's Tony. :cool:
-Scenes from a Marriage - Gotta love Marianne, great lady.
-Short Cuts - Altman and a close to perfection cast... beautiful.
-Zéro de conduite/L'atalante - Jean Vigo is more modern every time I watch his movies.
- Citizen Kane - Not a very original choice, but It made me love cinema thoroughly when I watched it the first time.
-Adam's Rib/Pat and Mike - Hepburn-Tracy... need I say more?
-Crouching Tiger Hiden Dragon - A beautiful and elegant martial arts movie, a genre I'm a fan of.
-The Man Who shot Liberty Valance - so poetic and autobiographic.
... and many more....

Romy

Alrighty--

The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Godfather 1 & 2
Casino
The Usual Suspects
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Pulp Fiction
Fight Club
12 Monkeys
Alien/Aliens
Taxi Driver
Psycho
A Clockwork Orange
Requiem for a Dream
The Silence of the Lambs
Remains of the Day
Howard's End
Gone with the Wind
The Breakfast Club
This Is Spinal Tap
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Others
Moulin Rouge
Far From Heaven
Boogie Nights
The Hours

Oh, man. I love that movie. Especially when Jeff Bridges is in the cab and freaks out on the cab driver playing The Eagles. :laugh:

I love it too but the book is so much better. They're going to be blasting his ashes out of a cannon next month in Aspen. That was his request.

Also, Boogie Nights is one of my favs. I don't know how I forgot that one.

Yes, the book is much better. I hesitated listing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for that reason. Same with LOTR.

Love them as well :thumbsup: I'm a big Emma Thompson fan. Wit should also be on my list. Her performance was incredibly moving.

I'm partial to Moretti, but I understand how the movie can bee seen like you said. It's difficult to explain if you haven't watched his other movies, but his pace is always very personal and anticlimatic, and this time for the first time he went with tragedy, telling it by glances, minutes, phrases. His cinema for me is a world that envelops, full of patterns and returning characters. As an example, for his fans it was a great emotion to see him act again with Laura Morante the star of Bianca, considered by many his masterpiece (if you got the chance to watch it, then please let me know what you think). They have an incredible chemistry, and he feels freer to act with her.

Romy

My favourite movies change all the time. Off the top of my head...

It's A Wonderful Life (yeah I know it's a cheese-fest but I don't care. This movie has wonderful memories for me. My dad gave it to me when I was just a kid and it makes me think of him).
Gilda
Waiting For Guffman
Brazil
Rushmore
Being John Malkovich
The Royal Tenenbaums
Bottle Rocket
Heathers
Jaws
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Quiet Man
Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Groundhog Day
High Fidelity
Almost Famous
Harold & Maude
Ring (the Japanese original)
the Indiana Jones films
The original Star Wars trilogy
Halloween
This Is Spinal Tap
Blue Velvet
A Bout De Souffle
King Of Comedy
The Hudsucker Proxy
Nashville
Ed Wood
Withnail & I
Harvey
Chopper
Election
Heavenly Creatures
Night Of The Hunter
Amores Perros
Rebecca
Touch Of Evil
Hana-bi
Kikujiro
Paris, Texas

And many more...

Will no one list All About Eve? Sheesh. :rolleyes:

I love the movie though. Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro are great in it. And they did such a good job capturing the time period with the pink shag carpets and the cars and the cheesiness of it all.

I thought someone had. Maybe not. Great movie as is Sunset Blvd - both about the Hollywood industry.

I recently saw All About Eve on the big screen. It looked great.

I love Fear & Loathing. I'm more of a Gilliam fan than Thompson though, but I thought he definitely captured the spirit of his writing. :nod:

big screen? Oh, man, I would kill. well, no, but the writing alone in that movie is the height of fifties clever. And that's totally excluding the magnificent performances of BD, GS, AB, and CH, Not to mention GM and MM.
I don't like Sunset Boulevard as much, but it's good, too. GS is a little more one note, to me. Still great, though. :woohoo:

Another Kitano fan? He's fantastic, in my opinion, Zatoichi was beautiful too.

Romy

I have been on a big classics kick lately, so excuse me if older movies is the only thing I seem to list:

- All About Eve - There, there Amber. ;)
- Arsenic And Old Lace
- Breakfast At Tiffany’s
- Bringing Up Baby
- Gone With The Wind
- It’s A Wonderful Life
- Oscar and Lucinda
- The Petrified Forest
- The Philadelphia Story
- Psycho
- Rear Window
- Rebecca
- Roman Holiday
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Suspect
- Victor/ Victoria

Absolutely. I went through a phase of watching lots of Japanese movies and Kitano definitely came out tops with me.
I loved Zatoichi too. And have you seen Brother? It's such a superb gangster movie.

I love the fact he'll star in something like Battle Royale then turn around and make something as poignant as Kikujuro.

Faves...
 

Brother is great, he's able to reinvent genres, IMO. Also, his eclectism is really remarkable: he's not gifted only as a director or as an actor but also as a painter, his paintings in Hana-Bi were beautiful.

Romy

Okay, I'll add it to my list.

- Jake

I just saw her in that episode of Cheers where she plays the kiddie entertainer who is obsessed with Frasier. She is great, and can really sing.

I almost listed Pat & Mike, which I have on video. I bought it originally because Alice Marble has a cameo, and I loved her book.

- Jake

Dr. Thompson holds a very special place in my heart.

I forgot about this one. That and The Last Picture Show are Bogdonavich's masterpeices. Plus I love the fact they are shot in black & white.

:nod: I almost listed this one.

BTW, I thought we were supposed to explain our picks? That would be helpful to those of us who don't know/haven't seen all these movies, if folks wouldn't mind the extra work.

- Jake

I'm too lazy to explain so you get links to professionally written plot summary :laugh:

The Story of Us is my favorite movie of all time. Everybody go rent it!