i'm kinda looking for more movies to watch, and figured i'd ask your opinions, and would like to know some of the whys. i'd rather people i know and understand to some degree than some critics i know next to nothing about giving me recommendations, so... have at it? also thought it would be interesting to see what everyone personally thinks are some of the must see movies. for me, one of them would have to be philadelphia story, an old movie with cary grant, jimmy stewart and katherine hepburn. easily my favorite movie of all time, i can't even count how many times i've seen it, and i still catch new things sometimes. the dialogue is really interesting and amusing, and the acting is great as well. what about you?
None. There are no movies that must be seen before someone dies. If I was making a bucket list, I can't say watching movies would be on it.
Hmmmm... Well, the easy answer would be to just rattle off my favorites, but I'm not sure that's entirely the same as a "must-see" list. There'd be some overlap, but...hmm. Well, the first film that came to mind was To Kill a Mockingbird, simply because of Gregory Peck's performance. The entire courtroom sequence is probably one of the best things from any movie ever, and Peck does an absolutely amazing job in it (as well as in the film in general). It's one of those performances you just have to see. The same thing goes for the original Godfather, actually, because of Brando. That film is also one of the best films in general, and is one of the best examples of the heights cinema can rise to as an art form, I don't think it matters too much which one you see (barring a few lackluster ones) but at least one classically animated Disney film should also be on the list. My favorites are Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, and The Lion King, so of course I'd point those out first, but really it's hard to go wrong with Disney. Really, I suppose you can't go wrong with the classics. They're "the classics" for a reason, after all. So films like Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia and the like should be up there. At least one of the following Hitchcock films: North by Northwest, Vertigo, Rear Window, Psycho. At least one Kubrick film. Any of them will do. And, personally for me, I'd have to say the LotR trilogy. But I'm biased since that's also one of my favorites and I'm a fan of fantasy in general. Same goes with the original Star Wars. Maybe Goodfellas should be on the list. The original Toy Story (though it's hard to go wrong with Pixar in general, the first feature they did is a must). The Iron Giant. A Charlie Chaplin film. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (even though I like Once Upon a Time in the West better). Blade Runner. The Seven Samurai. Gladiator. Double Indemnity. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That's probably enough. Basically I'd go for the classics, epic films (as in the genre, not just overusing the word epic), and ones that best represent the strengths of their genres. Generally there's a great deal of overlap in these.
think i'll take that one with a bit of a grain of salt... i've actually seen most of these actually. need to fix the kubrick hole, but the majority are movies i've greatly enjoyed. anyone have anything obscure?
Here are 100 that AMC thinks you should watch: http://movies.amctv.com/movie-guide/tim-dirks-top-100.php Here are some old movies that I watched in the past year that I enjoyed: "M" (1931) "It Happened One Night" (1934) "The Thin Man" (1934) "Pride of the Yankees" (1942) "12 Angry Men" (1957)
Grave of the Fireflies Be warned, though, "depressing" doesn't even begin to describe it. And make sure you watch it subbed in the original Japanese. The English dub, while serviceable, isn't nearly as good -- mostly due to the fact that it's blatantly apparent that actual children didn't record the dialogue.
I'd recommend "Casshern", a Japanese movie and largely unknown (at least here). It deals with scientists experimenting with body parts (a bit yucky, IMO) to find a certain type of cell that can form any organ. Due to an accident, the body parts reassemble themselves and form some sort of "super human". The government tries to wipe them out, but some of them escape and later wage war on the government and its people as revenge for the wrongs done to them. The movie can be a bit confusing at times and I know that it polarizes people (some love it, some hate it). I do like the fight scenes and the artistic elements (think of the Chinese movie "Hero" and you get an idea). It looks very nice, even though the CG is (unfortunately) very obvious. It's one of my favorite movies ever. I cry during the ending. It just moves me and stays with me after having watched it. In case you decide to watch it and like it, you might also enjoy another movie by the same director: "The Legend of Goemon". Very enjoyable if you like martial-arts movies.
