Your favorite movies

[Guest]

I also enjoyed Ang Lee's "The Hulk."

[Anca]

I can't very well answer these things. I put down a few movies, then go "oh yeah! That one, too!" and see others' lists and think "how could I forget that one?" until I have a list of 500 movies.

So, to start off my torture...

WALL*E
Star Trek II
Hellboy
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
The Usual Suspects
Fight Club
Last Action Hero
The Fifth Element
Donnie Darko
Wayne's World
The Lord of the Rings
Unforgiven
Ghostbusters
Leon
Blade Runner
Labyrinth
Young Frankenstein
What About Bob?
Dogma
Blazing Saddles
Reservoir Dogs
Kill Bill
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Princess Bride
Batman Returns and The Dark Knight
Se7en
Pan's Labyrinth
Groundhog Day
Shaun of the Dead
Animalympics
Tropic Thunder

Make me stop, now.

[Guest]

May just be the whole subtitles thing in many cases, but I really enjoy foreign films

Amelie
Mon Oncle
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Seventh Seal
Kwaidan
Grave of the Fireflies
All About Lily Chou-Chou
Man Bites Dog


I also really enjoyed Doubt for some reason

[Noodlemortis]

Shaun of the Dead

ooo and Hot Fuzz

[Melikar]

Wayne's WorldThe Lord of the Rings

Wayne's World made a Lord of the Rings trilogy!? How awesome!

"Throw the ring into the fire, Garth!"

/sacrasm

[Krell]

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

[Zlinka]

Oooh, I love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (the original trilogy), and Princess Bride as well.

Here are a couple of additional ones that I really enjoy:

Amelie -- The story of a very shy young woman in Paris. She discovers a cache of toys in her old apartment and decides to track down their old owner to return them. This is so gratifying that that she tries to make the dreams of those around her come true, too, and eventually, perhaps, her own. An absolutely charming, quirky movie that focuses on the small joys of life. The movie looks beautiful, too, with saturated greens and reds, and some amazing, sweeping crane shots.

A Fish Called Wanda -- I have loved this movie since it came out twenty years ago. I got the videotape and watched it so many times that the tape wore out, then replaced it with the DvD. It's a tightly plotted comedy about a heist gone wrong, with crosses and double crosses and superb comedic performances by John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. I know this movie by heart, about as well as I know Princess Bride.

Groundhog Day -- This is the story of a self-centered weatherman (Bill Murray) trapped in a small town who relives the same day over and over again. Not only does it bear repetition well (ha ha), but I keep discovering new things about it every time I watch. This movie has only gotten deeper and more meaningful over the years.

L.A. Story -- This is a romantic comedy about a weatherman (Steve Martin) who receives a message from a freeway traffic sign as he drives by. It's a whimsical movie about his quest for love and meaning in his life, with echoes of Shakespeare. This movie is a love letter by Steve Martin to Los Angeles. Another movie I know almost by heart.

Other Steve Martin movies I enjoy: Housesitter (quirky romantic comedy between Steve Martin and a pathological liar played by Goldie Hawn, who moves into his house and pretends to be his wife to his small town community) and All of Me (for some fantastic physical comedy by Steve Martin, the left side of whose body becomes possessed by a 60 year old woman).

Shakespeare in Love -- A marvelous romantic comedy between Shakespeare as a young man (Joseph Fiennes) and a young upper class woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) who is enamored with his work and auditions for one of his plays (as a boy). They fall in love, and their relationship provides ongoing material for the play he is currently writing. I really enjoy how his real life and his writing become woven more and more tightly together until they reach an inevitable conclusion.

Contact -- The story of Ellie Arroway, an astronomer (Jodie Foster) who detects an intelligent signal from outer space. The story follows how the signal is received on earth, and the messy divide between science and faith. This is one of the few movies I've ever seen that accurately depicts what it's like to work in scientific research (dirty coffee mugs, bulletin boards, equipment balanced on stacks of old journals, constant funding issues). But more than that, it portrays Ellie's uncompromising scientific mind and its quest for truth, and how that quest is thwarted and mirrored by people of faith. An amazing movie that tackles some poignant questions about meaning and truth.

Lars and the Real Girl -- This is the story of a deeply introverted man who buys a life-size sex doll over the internet and introduces her to the people of his town as his girlfriend. I expected it to be a funny slapstick movie (I mean, come on!), but it turned out to be a poignant, moving story about shyness, introversion, and the kinds of people who live at the very fringe of a human community. This is the story of a man teetering between unacceptable dysfunction and harmless off-beat quirkiness, and how he, and his family and community, try to reach each other. I've only watched this movie once, but it made an impression on me and I keep returning to the ideas it raised. This is also one of the few movies that portrays the starkness of the Midwest in winter.

Rear Window -- I'm a fan of Alfred Hitchcock, and this one is one of my favorites. It's the story of a travel photographer (Jimmy Stewart) who is trapped in his sweltering apartment for eight weeks with his leg in a cast. He's bored to death and spends his time watching his neighbors with a pair of binoculars... until he believes he has witnessed a murder taking place in the apartment across the way. Suspenseful, edge-of-your seat ride. Another favorite Hitchcock of mine is Dial M for Murder, in which a wealthy tennis star hires a man to murder his unfaithful wife.

The Truman Show -- This is the story of Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) who was born and raised inside an enormous 24-hour a day television show (complete with a fake city, environmental dome, contrived marriage etc.) that broadcasts every aspect of his life to millions of people, unbeknownst to himself. He discovers, by accident, that his life is a fake... and he begins trying to discover the truth about his world, and eventually, to escape. I love the commentary on media here, with issues of privacy, celebrity, and free will.

The Odd Couple (1968) -- Kicked out by his wife, finnicky neatnick Felix (Jack Lemmon) moves in with his slovenly best friend Oscar (Walter Matthau). They drive each other nuts within a few days. A hilarious character study that has aged really well. I hated the sequel, though -- don't bother with it.

My Fair Lady -- Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl played by Audrey Hepburn, is transformed into an upper class socialite by Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) through the power of elocution. Wonderful story based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with excellent music! Now if only I could delete the last ten seconds of the movie, it would be absolutely perfect!

Into the Woods (Stephen Sondheim) -- This musical weaves together lots of fairy tales: Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel etc. The main characters pursue their dreams and desires, influencing each other, walking in and out of each others' stories, until a satisfying fairy tale conclusion... but that's just Act I. Act II examines what happens "happily ever after" when things start to go existentially wrong for the characters. When I first saw this years ago I was totally confused by Act II and thought it should have ended with Act I. But I watched it again recently, and Act II suddenly made sense, as a mature portrayal of the messiness, unfairness, moral ambiguity, and uncertainty of real life.

Okay, that's enough for now!

[Guest]

I love L.A. Story; it's essentially a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Also very much love A Fish Called Wanda.

[Krell]

"Oh Look! It's K-k-k-ken c-c-c-coming to k-k-k-kill me."

[rincewindy]

All time favorite classics:
Goonies
Princess Bride
Star Wars trilogy (Ep. 4,5,6)

Newer favorites:
Iron Man
Spider-Man
District 9

Favorite Bollywood films (Yes, I <3 Indian Cinema):
Lagaan
Om Shanti Om
Kal Ho Naa Ho (trans.: There May be a Tomorrow or not)

Favorite Johnny Depp movies:
Benny and Joon
Pirates of the Carribean (all of them
Edward Scissorhands
Donnie Brasco