Pan's Labyrinth
The way it's telling this dark fairy tale with the backdrop of fascism in Francoist Spain, combining real world and fantasy, is just so incredibly well done. It also has one of the most memorably evil antagonists of any media I've experienced, and some very creepy and beautiful creature designs done with practical effects. Everything just comes together perfectly in this movie.
this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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AskBeehaw
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My favorite movie is probably Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. It certainly isn't the best movie ever made by any stretch of the imagination, but something about the way the jokes are written land perfectly for me every time.
It's not for everybody, but I definitely quote it more than a reasonable person should.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is my favorite movie. It's got great characters, including three played by the same actor, is well written with some very quotable lines, and the story is both absurd and believable (even now).
I'll be the first to admit that it's not for everybody, but if you're asking for movies to watch it's probably for you. With movies I always recommend going in knowing nothing.
I could quote the whole thing probably, but I'll spare you and just say that the way the Russian ambassador says "fresh fish" is weirdly seared into my brain.
It's incredibly weird that roughly the same story was adapted, the same year, into two movies, one serious and one comedy, and... they're both masterpieces.
It's actually surprisingly common!: Twin Films
Interesting, thank you!
Although that list is about twice as long as it should be. A lot of those aren't much more than two movies of the same genre...
Haha 100% agreed. I was looking through the list myself and definitely got the feeling some contributors were really reaching.
Alien (1979)
like its a scifi horror movie with incredible effects work (i love the xenomorph soso much!), and it just makes really good use of like sexual horror, like the alien itself is designed by H.R. Giger, so there's gonna be some horniness to it, but like its just a really well put together movie ^_^
Clue, from 1985. (An adaptation of the board game, yes.)
It was a total flop when it was released but It has gained a bit of a "cult" status since then. Characters are over the top, it's full of puns and corny jokes but I totally love it. The rhythm at which it delivers jokes is incredible. You'll miss many jokes the first time you see it but it doesn't matter because another one is coming almost immediately.
And it doesn't even feel rushed or fast paced. All of the many characters have a chance to be developed and the fact that the whole thing happens on real time is very interesting. It even has multiple endings which they showed in different theatres when it was first released!
If you like murder mysteries and light comedy this is for you. Go watch if you haven't.
ps- Can I interest you in fruit or dessert?
Those were very entertaining 92 minutes. Thank you for this wonderful suggestion.
No fruit, but I'll help myself to a drink. I know, not the cognac (just in case).
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Brazil (1985) by Terry Gilliam. It is dark, wry, and painfully honest. Make sure you watch the version with the intended ending instead of the version the studio tried to release.
Nacho Libre
lol I know, it’s a silly ridiculous fuckaround, but it’s sweet and stupid and wholesome and sometimes that’s what I need.
I can and do appreciate artistry in cinema, but you didn’t ask about that. Nacho is one film I’ll just always be happy to watch.
It also got me through half of a stay in a hyperbaric chamber when I got the bends, and I’m very claustrophobic, so big credit to it there. Panic attack didn’t start until the speakers malfunctioned five minutes into Amelie, and I was suddenly too hot and 1000% certain the chamber was going to catch on fire and kill me.
Nacho soothes.
Castle in the Sky. I just recently started watching some Studio Ghibli films, with Castle in the Sky blowing me away with a simple, but amazing story, concept and beautiful execution. Hayao Miyazaki is a genius.
Agreed on all points.
Top Gun. It has everything. Super well done, just enough cheesy 80'S. Lots of great one liners, and a really well written story.
Can't find a better movie.
Not much like favourite movie but some interesting ones. I recently listened to podcast about Czech cinematography and there are some worth watching.
"Marečku podejte mi pero" is fun comedy with lots of puns and remembered lines. It stars first Czech professional actor and some that are active to this day.
If you want something from the same guys but more serious "Nejistá sezóna" and "Kolja" (this won Oscar for best foreign film) is also worth watching.
IMDb links:
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0074865/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_3_nm_5_q_mare%25C4%258Dku
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0093607/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_4_nm_4_q_nejist%25C3%25A1
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0116790/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_kolja
The Matrix. It's pretty cool.
The Martian. It's funny and wholesome, and in this class of movies I love because none of the humans are evil. They're all trying their best to do the right thing and they're all competent.
Her by Spike Jonze.
Visually stunning, perfect tone and setting. Awesome people. A heartfelt romantic movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson doing a spectacular job.
Spike Jonze really should be more of a household name. He's done some seriously underrated things.
Arrival. Since I became multi-lingual and many years before I saw the film, I always thought of language as a data transfer that it is becoming more and more compressed to improve speed and accuracy.
Going blind into the film and the story unfolding in front of my eyes, to basically show me my inner thoughts, it was a truly euphoric and exhilarating moment in my life.
On The Silver Globe, because it's the most epically manic film ever made. Sort of a Lords of The Flies revert-to-primitivism story, set on another planet with the descendants of a failed colonization attempt.
For context, previous favorite films: Stalker, Ran, and The Passion of Joan of Arc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFRiSlcBAg
(Who said you should watch my favorite movie?)
Strictly Ballroom, Baz Lehrmam's first film.
Because I lived my life in fear.
Now I need to rewatch this masterpiece of a movie, truly one of the best. Thanks for the reminder :)
the witch is my personal favorite. i’ve heard it’s one of the most period-accurate movies of that era. the ending can be seen as good or bad for the protagonist. it’s slow and atmospheric which is my favorite kind of horror.
runner up: lamb is so bizarre and i went into it knowing absolutely nothing. very rewatchable!
That's a tough question and my answer usually depends on the mood but I think mad max fury road has got to be up there near the top of the list. It's just a perfect movie. Interesting hook and story, amazing action scenes and visuals, chilling music, amazing performances of everyone involved... Every few years I just get the urge to re-watch it and it's always fun.
Into Great Silence (originally: Die große Stille), a nearly wordless 3+ hour documentary about the monks of a Carthusian monastery in France.
You should watch it because it makes one really feel, as much as a movie can, their lives of meditative devotional repetition. I was able to touch for just a moment the peace they strive to immerse themselves in.
(I also felt cold. Those habits cannot possibly be enough in winter.)
I'd have to say Die Hard. It was one of the first rated R movies my parents let me see. I feel like it redefined how action movies were made. It's very rewatchable. And yippee kayay mother fuckers!
Ocean’s Eleven, with an honorable mention for Ocean’s Thirteen (I thought the villain sucked in that one, sorry Al Pacino). Twelve and Eight are okay though I’ve only watched Eight once.
Like everyone elses favorite, I’m obviously biased in favor of mine. Ocean’s Eleven was a movie I watched nearly every day back in summer 2012, I would come home from my tiring bullshit dead end job, shower, and drink a pint of vodka while watching these 11 guys with very specific specialties rob a Las Vegas casino blind. I was fresh off a bad breakup where I got cheated on and dumped, I hated my roommates, I had no friends and was broke all the time. This movie and video games were the only things i looked forward to.
I don’t know the first thing about movies, have no idea wtf “cinematography” means, or what constitutes good editing (or even really exactly what “editing” is). Likewise I’ve thought something had good writing only to be told later that actually it had terrible writing. I’m sure it has plot holes, but I’m able to comfortably ignore those in favor of being entertained, and always have.
I guess I just like it because things go wrong with the heist planning and execution multiple times, but then one or two of the thieves swoop in with a crazy creative solution to the problem. They are almost supernaturally good at what they do while still being believable. They aren’t really friends at the start but they are by the end. I also always liked that they have their own language that you pick up the more times you watch it.
If that sounds like your particular brand of vodka, I’d recommend
Melancholia ! Beautiful film, great cast, but most importantly it does an amazing job at not only representing depression but also getting the viewer to FEEL the depression and sense of doom that the lead feels, while also portraying the helplessness and confusion of their loved ones. Plus it's a great end of the world film (best genre)
it pretty much looks at depression and goes "wait. what if the world WAS actually ending?"
Lesbian Vampire Killers. On the surface it's a cheap horror trash flick (a quiet guy / annoying guy duo fighting lesbian vampires) brimming with penis jokes, but it's a superbly made cheap horror flick. The casting, directing and soundtrack are top-notch, the characters are mostly well-developed and credible, the story is actually quite good and the main source of laughs aren't the slapstick moments but the characters' stoic handling of increasingly absurd situations (though of course there's some slapstick as well). Plus you see boobs.
The movie also gracefully avoids taking itself too seriously, which is an absolute must in that genre.
On a side note, if you've already seen it and liked it, you might want to add Tucker & Dale vs Evil to your list. It's a movie about two creepy hillbillies and teenagers dying gruesome deaths in the woods, but the deaths are all accidental. Tucker and Dale really just want to fix their cabin and drink beer and have no idea what's going on with all those dead teenagers suddenly showing up on their property.
The Downfall
Why?
The first twilight movie. It was so bad it was absolutely hilarious.
More seriously? I’m not sure. I’m not much of a movie guy - more of a book guy. The Harry Potter adaption was okay, I guess. I’ve rewatched them a few times, but not as much as I’ve reread the books. It’s one of my favorite book series of all time