Favorite Movies

[stromboli]

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's

Shaun of the Dead

Hot Fuzz

At World's End

Paul

Just saw At World"s End. Got to say I'm a fan. Every thing they do is funny, and they put people like Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, both of whom played James Bond, in character roles as villains playing against type. Good stuff.

[trdsf]

Comedy's turn.  Somewhat belatedly.

I love all the Marx Brothers work, but if I had to plump for just one and just beating my head against a wall until it stopped being funny weren't an option, I'd go with Duck Soup.  Groucho and Margaret Dumont are arguably the greatest comic and straight (wo)man act ever, and the sequence at the end when all three brothers are dressed in Groucho's mustache and glasses never stops being funny.

Young Frankenstein - I mean, you'd be entirely within your rights to question my sanity if I didn't include it.

Larry Blamire has made several of my favorite comedies, starting with The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra which lurks somewhere between being a parody of and an homage to the monster movies of the 50s and 60s, the sorts of things turned out in three or four days by Roger Corman or Bert I. Gordon.  He followed that up with what's become my favorite mobster movie, Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits which I can't describe without giving away plot points.  He had a go at bigger-budget sci-fi movies with Trail of the Screaming Forehead, then returned to Cadavra with The Lost Skeleton Returns Again!, and most recently had a whack at haunted house on a hill movies from the 40s with Dark and Stormy Night.

Of course, there's the movie that reinvented Leslie Nielsen's career, Airplane!.  Is it childish and sophomoric?  Sure.  It's also hilarious.

Despite speaking no French beyond oui and merde, Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noir is fantastic even with subtitles, but it relies more on physical comedy than it does wordplay and Pierre Richard is a master of it.  Don't bother with the American remake, "The Man with One Red Shoe".

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is in the same category as Young Frankenstein, of course -- if it weren't here, I might be insane.

Can a movie consisting essentially of one long chase scene work?  Yes, if it's It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.  Can a movie about the end of the world be funny?  Yes, if it's Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Mel Brooks needs more representation here, so I'm going to add The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and what I think is his best film as a film (where Young Frankenstein is his best comedy), High Anxiety.  I'm afraid I only thought Spaceballs was good, but not up there with his earlier work.

Couple Bill Murray (et al.) movies here: Caddyshack and Ghostbusters.

And even though it's not as good as many of their TV episodes, and is actually shorter than any of them, I need to mention Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie just for getting to see Mike and the Bots on the big screen.

Reserving the right for later modifications, as usual...

[Munch]

oh man Ghostbusters, I forgot to add those to the list.

I know the second movie isn't considered as awesome as the first, but honestly that scene with the statue of liberty always gives me the goosebumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjskzUlJOfc

Especially at 4:04

True the ending fight wasn't as awesome as the fight against Gozer, but still love this scene ^^

[trdsf]

This has lain fallow for far too long.  So, my list of Biographical/Historical/Political favorites.



Ed Wood.  More Burton/Depp goodness.  We were publishing our 'zine back then, and "Cut!  Print!  Perfect!" became our code for "I'm fucking finished editing this thing and I don't care anymore how many typos are in it!"

Amadeus succeeds on so many different levels -- as a movie, as a story, as a lush moving painting for the eyes, as a delivery vehicle for sublime music.  I wish I had the time to watch it more often

Since I like to cook, and since I've always been a huge fan of Julia Child, I was pleased that Julie and Julia was as good as it turned out to be -- Meryl Streep is Julia Child, she absolutely inhabits the role.

All the President's Men straddles the line between the political and the historical, and has great performances all around.  Also perched on that line is the musical 1776, which I like to get out every Fourth of July; William Daniels was brilliant as John Adams.

Wandering somewhere in the vicinity of not only the political and historical but the biographical as well is Inherit the Wind, the main characters of which are mostly based on the participants in the Scopes "Monkey Trial".  Spencer Tracy is always brilliant, of course.

And of course there's The Right Stuff, based on Tom Wolfe's book on the Mercury program.

Last of all, there's the original The Manchurian Candidate.  Angela Lansbury was fucking creepy.



Reserving the right, yadda yadda.

[Baruch]

Definitely agree on:

Amadeus ... did you ever see Copying Beethoven?
All The President's Men ... and we still don't know what really happened.
1776 ... my daughter has really enjoyed seeing Hamilton
Inherit The Wind
The Right Stuff - this is how I felt when I was in aerospace work

The Manchurian Candidate - this is so close to Pamela Churchill Harriman ... and Bill Clinton.  I consider Hillary to be Bride Of Manchurian Candidate.  Then both malefactors are British ... Angela and Pamela.  One imaginary and one real.  Cruz being nominated would be Dracula Meets Bride Of Manchurian Candidate.

Did Julie And Julia bring out her role as an intelligence agent in WWII?  Speaking of Meryl Streep, what do you think of Dangerous Liaisons?  I don't know Ed Wood.

But I also really like Seven Days In May ... very prophetic.

[trdsf]

Definitely agree on:

Amadeus ... did you ever see Copying Beethoven?

No, but I did see Gary Oldman's turn as Ludwig in "Immortal Beloved", which was pretty good but not Amadeus caliber.

Did Julie And Julia bring out her role as an intelligence agent in WWII?  Speaking of Meryl Streep, what do you think of Dangerous Liaisons?

Never saw Dangerous Liaisons.  And yes, Julie and Julia did touch on her wartime experience (especially as that's where she met Paul Child), though it didn't go into great detail.

Streep has that rare ability to always surprise me when she takes on a role, and yet I don't generally go seeking out her movies.

I don't know Ed Wood.

But I also really like Seven Days In May ... very prophetic.

Ed Wood is the man responsible (if that's the right word) for Plan Nine from Outer Space, often incorrectly called the worst movie ever made.  Highly, highly recommended -- both Burton's movie about Ed Wood, and Ed Wood's own movies.  Hint: unless you have an abnormally high 'WTF' threshhold, I recommend easing into Wood before tackling Glen or Glenda?  :)

And yes, Seven Days in May was great.  Also from that same time period, I'd recommend 1964's Fail Safe.

[gentle_dissident]

Ed Wood is a brilliant movie. I was just thinking of Ed's veiled dance the other day. I think of that movie a lot.

Some of my faves

All Star Wars: This is the real story of humanity
Shrek: An honest look at relationships while taking cheap shots at Disney
School of Rock: I think some of the kids around here are going to die of an uptight heart
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Might want to rethink that absolute pleasure thing
Shock Treatment: Not a sequel, but an equal. Humanity in a studio
K-PAX: The aftermath of slaughter

[gayle]

I love all series of twilight.

[GSOgymrat]

One of my favorite movies is Best in Show so I am really looking forward to Mascots.

https://youtu.be/FxzLE2XiYKQ

[aitm]

Favorite movies is kinda like favorite music…..maybe you haven't seen enough of either. But for me. LOTR's. No question.

[FaithIsFilth]

The Godfather
Hick
Let Me In
Blair Witch Project

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Favorite movies is kinda like favorite music…..maybe you haven't seen enough of either. But for me. LOTR's. No question.

I watch the LOTR's once a year. Now I'm adding the Hobbits.

For you haters:

[GSOgymrat]

LOTR is also one of my favorites.

The Incredibles is another movie I can watch repeatedly. It is probably my favorite superhero movie.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

LOTR is also one of my favorites.

The Incredibles is another movie I can watch repeatedly. It is probably my favorite superhero movie.

Yeah, it's a good one. How about "Epic"?

[GSOgymrat]

Yeah, it's a good one. How about "Epic"?

I have not seen "Epic" but added it to my movie watch list.