Films

Dec. 19th, 2003 04:46 pm
andrewducker: (Default)
[personal profile] andrewducker
My favourite films in all the world

Aliens (1986) James Cameron's Epic "War in Space" movie. The Wachowski Brothers should have watched this a few more times
Almost Famous (2000) Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical tale of life on the road with a band in the 70s.
Amadeus (1984) Gorgeous shot and acted tale of the life (and death) of Mozart.
American Beauty (1999) What happens when modern urban life gets too much for you? Here's one answer
Boogie Nights (1997) An amazing tale of one man's dream to enter the porn industry.
Brazil (1985) 1984 as Farce. By Terry Gilliam
Chasing Amy (1997) Kevin Smith's most emotionally mature movie
Cypher (2003) One of my top 3 of 2003 - an industrial spy who discovers that everything is not as it seems
Dead Poets Society (1989) A moving meditiation on art, life and growing up
Fantasia/2000 (1999) While some sections don't quite work, the Firebird is worth the price all by itself
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Perfectly capturing the drive to find the single, perfect day off of life
Fight Club (1999) What happens when modern urban life gets too much for you? Here's one answer
Full Metal Jacket (1987) The war scenes are impressive, but the training is mindblowing. Literally.
Go (1999) One weekend. Three interlocking tales. Nothing ever quite goes to plan
Happiness (1998) Somehow this film managed to make even the most horrendous person sympathetic to me
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) One of the few horror films to captivate me. The imagery of hell stayed with me for years
Hellraiser (1987) Clive Barker's meditation on the breakup of the nuclear family. No, really.
Hudsucker Proxy, The My favourite Coen Brother's film. A perfectly recreated 1930's feelgood movie.
Iron Giant, The (1999) An almost perfect children's story, brought to the big screen without schmaltz or saccharine
Jump Tomorrow (2001) A man on the way to his arranged marriage past all the hurdles life can throw at him. Funny and touching
Jurassic Park (1993) Possibly the most perfect action movie of all time.
L.A. Confidential (1997) A twisty, 1930s noir that captures the mood perfectly.
L.A. Story (1991) Steve Martin's paean to Los Angeles. Witty, smart and touching, without any slapstick at all.
Léon (1994) Luc Besson's amazing tale of an assassin and the girl he rescues. Amazing performances and direction.
Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python's only real film. "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy"
Lion King, The (1994) Disney's Hamlet, complete with amazing visuals, fantastic songs and a Nuremberg Rally of Hyenas…
Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) My favourite of the Airplane/Hot Shots style spoofs. Tim Curry, Dennis Leary and William Shatner all ham it up marvellously
Magnolia (1999) Multiple stories interlink and overlap in this stylish look at coincidence and family
Memento (2000) A triumph of scriptwriting, in this backwards look at a vigilante with severe memory problems
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) Sadly unavailable, this look at the life of the incredible Japanese writer, poet, playwright and visionary is a masterpiece
Mister Frost (1990) Jeff Goldblum plays a murderous psychiatric patient who thinks he's the devil. A terrible plot in the hands of Hollywood, an intriguing lo-key drama in the hands of the french.
Monster's Ball (2001) This look at racism and family steadfastly refused to do what I thought it would. Great performances too.
Moulin Rouge! (2001) Baz Luhrmann turns it up to 11 in this tragic love story.
Naked (1993) Mike Leigh's witty/depressing look at a man too clever for his own good. Horribly unsympathetic but masterfully done.
Natural Born Killers (1994) Oliver Stone turns it up to 11 in his meditation on media, violence and society.
Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) Roger Waters has nervous breakdown and turns it into an album. Alan Parker then turns it into a film
Requiem for a Dream (2000) Aaron Daronosfky's traumatic look at obsession and the downward spiral of the lives of drug addicts. Probably my favourite score ever
Reservoir Dogs (1992) Tarantino's first film was a masterpiece, effortlessly mixing multiple levels of flashback to tell a simple story in an incredibly entertaining way
Restoration (1995) Robert Downey Junior plays a doctor elevated to the court of Sam Neill's King Charles the Second. The story of his rise, fall and slow understanding of life is gorgeously told, if a little quick in the second half.
Romeo + Juliet (1996) Shakespeare for the teens, Baz Luhrmann shows that you don't have to change the language to make it appeal, so long as you throw in Clair Danes, Leonardo DiCaprio and the occasional bit of gunplay
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) Tom Stoppard's complex and perplexing look at two characters who just don’t matter to the play they're stuck in.
S.F.W. (1994) Held hostage and turned into media stars, on their release Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon struggle to cope with celebrity.
Schindler's List (1993) Spielberg's incredible adaptation of the book manages to humanise all of the characters while still leaving me aghast at the sheer scale of the horror that occurred.
Se7en (1995) David Fincher's _other_ masterpiece, this story of a search for a serial killer in a city where it never stops raining is a tour-de-force of emotional impact, with no real answers for anyone involved.
Sirens (1994) Light, easy on the eye and full of imagery, this simple tale of the loss of innocence/naivety of a preacher's wife drew me in with it's magical atmosphere
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999) I like South Park. I was expecting the movie to be pretty funny. I wasn't expecting it to be the funniest thing I'd seen in years
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Possibly the most perfect action movie of all time.
The Devil's Backbone (2001) A perfect ghost story set during the Spanish civil war. Gorgeously coloured in shades of desert yellow, this tale of death and revenge in an orphanage is genuinely haunting
Trainspotting (1996) The hip british film of the 1990s. Darkyl humorous, starkly unpleasant, amazing soundtrack. Perfect in every way.
Unforgiven (1992) My favourite western (and I'm not a fan of the genre), this tale of a gunfighter who doesn't want to get back in the saddle and the sad, chaotic consequences is most notable for the humanity of all the people involved.
Warrior, The (2001) An Indian legend, of a warrior who leaves his lord's service when he tires of the endless killing. Very little action, but this simple tale is lent epic scope by the incredible scenery.
When Harry Met Sally... (1989) A fantastic movie about two people who just can't get along, encountering each other every few years and arguing about the differences between men and women
Where the Heart Is (1990) An underlooked John Boorman film, this lyrical tale of a family finding something magical inside themselves gets to me every time.
Yellow Submarine (1968) Blue Meanies, Pepperland, The Beatles. Magical, Hallucinogenic and just plain fun. Soundtrack's not bad either.
Just missing the list
Kill Bill Wait until I've seen both parts…
Lord of the Rings When I've seen all three extended editions, _then_ I'll make my final decision. But yeah, it seems likely.

flame one!

Date: 2003-12-19 09:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] josephgrossberg.livejournal.com
Chasing Amy (1997) Kevin Smith's most emotionally mature movie

Ironic, since the theme is 20-something guys' struggle with their own emotional immaturity.

Re: flame one!

Date: 2003-12-19 09:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] josephgrossberg.livejournal.com
Are you saying that's why Clerks didn't make the list?

Re: flame one!

Date: 2003-12-19 10:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] josephgrossberg.livejournal.com
I grew up in the suburbs of NJ ... so it grabbed me by my soul.

Re: flame one!

Date: 2003-12-19 10:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
Clerks is a collection of boy's wank jokes. Extremely limited in apppeal...

Re: flame one!

Date: 2003-12-19 10:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
And I wrote that (drunkenly) BEFORE I saw you saying exactly the same thing in different words :->

Re: flame one!

Date: 2003-12-19 10:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
I forgot about it. I don't think it would, quite, have made my top 30. But yes it is way the best of KS.

Date: 2003-12-19 11:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
Isn't taht amazing. We've talked so much about films and yet tere are 26 of these I haven't seen. Howeveer quite affew I either don't much want to see on account of genre (the war and horror ones) or fel pretty sure I won't much like becasue I don't go for over the top humour(South Park, Loaded Weapon). Of the remaining , I really wanted to see Almost Famous and Restoration but somehow failed to; and feel i *ought* sometime to see Go, Happiness, Magnolia, Monter's ball, Requiem for a Dream and maybe SFW (of which I have never, ever heard! but I like Reese Withrspoon..)

Date: 2003-12-19 11:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
But come on! Jurassic Park? Dead Poets Society? The Lion King???? Sick sick man..

Date: 2003-12-19 11:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
PPS to be fair, Chasing Amy, Hudsucker Proxy and Romeo + Juliet nearly made my own list..

Date: 2003-12-19 11:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-amber.livejournal.com
Final comment - that's 55 in "canonical" list - why??

Date: 2003-12-19 12:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tisme.livejournal.com
Cool. Three of them are little known films that I took you to see at the EIFF, based on my own judgement. I rock.

Date: 2003-12-19 02:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yonmei.livejournal.com
Interesting. The only ones on your list I agree with are Fantasia/2000 (the Firebird was wonderful), Life of Brian, Romeo + Juliet, and maybe Terminator 2, which I agree was pretty good.

I'd agree with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern except for the cowardly cut that the director made in the play - that kind of ooo-we-won't-get-away-with-this cowardice really puts me right off.

And Yellow Submarine should probably go on the list: I don't believe I've seen it in more than 20 years, but I still remember it quite vividly.

Date: 2003-12-19 11:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yonmei.livejournal.com
I think so. I found the text (http://moshkow.surgut.ru/library/koi/PXESY/STOPPARD/r_g_engl.txt) of the play online here.

Date: 2003-12-19 04:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] allorin.livejournal.com
What films stand out in particular as those you don't agree with?

Date: 2003-12-19 11:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yonmei.livejournal.com
Well, most of them wouldn't be on any favourites list of mine - I should do one, shouldn't I? It would be a lot shorter than Andrew's, probably, and would contain a lot of older films - what struck me reading through it again was that all of them were relatively recent - Yellow Submarine is the oldest.

Dead Poet's Society certainly wouldn't be on my favourites list - it just annoyed me. Rich privileged white boy being driven to suicide by the discovery that his father won't approve and pay for everything he does: it was like Sophie's Choice, I just wanted to kick the hero for being such a prat.

Date: 2003-12-19 06:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kurosau.livejournal.com
Wow! Someone else who saw Cypher! Although I saw the twist coming really, really, really early, it was remarkably refreshing.

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