Before we (at long last) reach the conclusion in this wonderful roundtable experiment, just want to point out a couple changes I made yesterday, just in case you missed them. I now have a "recent comments" list which seems to work, but with a delay. Unlikely my minimal coding skills will be able to approve its functionality much, but it should serve the purpose of at least allowing people to see comments that may have been made to the not-most-recent topic (so Weir and Mike, feel free to continue to argue about FISA). Also, below that I've added some lists of the last 5 movies and the last 5 books I've read, along with a star rating for each of them. I plan to keep this updated, but no promises. Unfortunately, the main content of the blog (i.e. my long-winded ramblings) remains unchanged.
OK, onward to question 5, which is a fun one that I think pretty much everyone can contribute to:
What is your favorite movie of all time? Why? Note that this isn’t necessarily the movie you consider to be the “best”, just your personal favorite. Feel free to go ahead and list some of your other favorites, but keep the discussion centered on just the one.
John
Brazil. This is a film that changes dramatically depending on how you view it. If you view it as a quirky sci-fi story with a confusing plot it is an average movie. However, when you realize that it was intended to be a modern-day satire and commentary on how bureaucracy has infiltrated every facet of our lives it becomes brilliant. Apart from the dream sequences, no more than 2 minutes ever goes by without a joke, but they are almost always subtle and are very easy to miss. Truly a film that gets better with each viewing. Honorable mentions to Trainspotting, The Shining, Mulholland Drive, Hoosiers, Diggstown, and pretty much the entire Kurosawa library (Ikiru, Seven Samurai, and Ran in particular).
Mike
My favorite movie, the one that I can watch just about any time, and I always love like the first time I watched it, is Ferris Bueller’s Day off. I love the entire concept of the film and the fact that, for the most part, anyone can watch it. Its humor is both smart and sophomoric, and the comedic timing of the actors is absolutely perfect. The casting was perfection, with even small parts like the parking garage attendant seeming to get the full attention of the producers and director. And the best part… this movie reminds me to take a day off once in awhile.
Eric
My favorite movie of all time is Casablanca. I can watch this movie over and over without getting bored. I remember seeing it for the first time and saying to myself “Oh, that is where the line comes from” over and over again. It has elements from a variety of different genres including mystery, intrigue, politics, and romance. Naturally at its core it is a love story, but more than that it is about a man struggling to justify his activist past with his non-interference present. It is about a man who must sacrifice for others at the expense of himself. And it is about a man who must voluntarily give up the woman he loves because he knows she will be better off without him. And cmon, its freaking Bogart.
Becky
My favorite movie these days is Life as a House. It takes energy to watch it, but if you’re in the right mood, it’s just the thing. It’s about this guy who finds out he’s dying and so decides to finally tear down the shack he lives in and the build the house he’s been planning in his head his whole adult life. During the course of it, as the blurb says, “he ends up rebuilding the life around him.” He reconnects to his (totally f-ed up, BTW) teenaged son, his ex-wife, even his uppity neighbors. This cinematography is beautiful, the characters interesting, the relationships real, and the plot enjoyable. More importantly, though, is that it manages to ask questions about the nature of human life and love without ever becoming preachy. It feels like more of a meditation on those ideas instead of a definitive thesis. Which I like. And despite the sad subject matter, it’s undeniably, and (this is key) non-cheesily, optimistic.
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12 comments:
I am jumping in on this one!
Mine would have to be E.T. I have always loved this movie, ever since before I can remember. I used to have pajamas, sleeping bags, even the same doll Christy has! The storyline is wonderful. It contains humor, suspense, sadness, and joy, all intermingled in a brilliant story. Considering the main characters were children, the acting was great as well. I also feel that it's one movie that can span generations and perhaps has something for everyone. Although I will say I disliked that they censored a bit when they remastered it (removing the guns from the government agents...it was unnecessary). But it remains a movie I can watch at any time!
Props to Trainspotting (I love Irvine Welsh), Almost Famous, Star Wars original trilogy, Forrest Gump, and Poltergeist.
I still haven't seen Life as a House; I will have to add that to my Netflix queue.
I got Casablance free on HD-DVD when I bought my player last year, but I haven't checked it out yet (though, of course, I have seen the movie before multiple times). That might be something for this weekend.
Speaking of HD movies, I just got the original Batman movie (from the 60s) on Blu-Ray from Netflix yesterday. I've only watched about a half hour of it so far, but wow! You'd think it would be too old to really benefit from the HD makeover but I swear that there are certain shots that look like they could have been filmed in the last 3-4 years. Of course, the unbelievably cheesy dialogue and colossal overacting remain, but that's part of the fun. Fact: any movie with Shark Repellant Bat-spray is automatically awesome.
Can't disagree with any of your choices too much. I like all though movies. The only things I didn't like about Life as a House was Hayden Christianson(sp?) and his bad acting, and the way they TRIED to get you to cry at every turn. It is a sad (albeit hopeful) movie, you don't have to shove it in my face every 10 minutes (similar to The Notebook.)
Actually, I take back my original statement. I can't get behind Brazil. I've tried to watch it 4 or 5 times, but never get past the first ~45 minutes. Also, you never specified WHICH version is your favorite. Something that is extremely important with this film (and Blade Runner.)
When I first rented this flick it was what I thought was a 5 disk set, but was probably this one. I think at one point there were 4 or 5 different versions of this film floating around: original cut, studio TV cut, directors cut, directors cut extended edition. Course for some reason I haven't been able to get through it.
Since I brought it up, Blade Runner deserves some mention in this space. Actually both mainstream versions of Blade Runner are excellent, although they are two INCREDIBLY different movies even though there is only a couple extra minutes.
Maybe I was thinking of Blade Runner the whole time. That bluray version has FIVE versions of the film.
Funny you mention that. I just got the 5-disc Blu-Ray Blade Runner earlier this week (haven't watched it yet). To date I have only seen the original theatrical one, and that was a long long time ago.
For Brazil, the link you provided is the version I have, which is basically a reprint of the original Criterion 8-disc laserdisc (which I also have). It really doesn't matter which version you watch, as long as it's not the horrendous 90-minute studio cut (dubbed the "Love Conquers All" version). But that one was never officially released (except as an extra on the Criterion sets) so unless you go specifically go looking for it you won't find it. The difference between the officially released US cut and the director cut (also called the European version) is about 10 minutes. The extra 10 minutes is nice to have, but it is by no means going to change the way you feel about the film. Nothing crucial was cut out of the US version.
I know the movie is not everybody's cup of tea. I found it pretty boring myself the first time I watched it. Honestly, I'm not sure what possessed me to watch it again, but I did and I loved it. As I tried to allude to in my post, most people don't watch it the right way. If you are just looking at it from a plot-centric standpoint, it is incredibly slow. You almost have to watch it like every scene is a 3 minute short film, and all of them are just brilliant. If you ever want to give it another chance, I'd almost recommend listening to the Gilliam commentary as you watch it. You'll realize that there is a ton more humor in it than you thought. Or you won't, and then we can argue some more. . .
Since we're just listing movies now, I'd like to take the chance to add to my list also (I thought we were limited to just one). This way I can appear a little bit more cultured, since FBDO is so incredibly mainstream.
First, here's the rest of my top five:
2) The Tao of Steve - Great movie for a single guy with low self esteem. Taught me how to date (yes, it works)
3) Clerks - C'mon, Yeah, the acting is sketchy, the writing is a little wordy, and it's in black and white, but $27,575 for a movie?
4) The Matrix - Groundbreaking on so many levels.
5) Swingers - Another great movie about recovering from heartbreak, and getting on with life. Vince Vaughn really develops his style in this one.
Then there's Blade Runner, Less than Zero, The Mosquito Coast, The Endless Summer, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, The Shining. Geez, I could go on and on.
And I can't believe that I forgot about Let It Ride. That actually could compete for the top spot for me. Call me weird (and who hasn't?) but I actually get goosebumps and choked up every time I watch the ending of that movie.
John:
In the scene with the shark repellent, you'll notice there are a number of other "oceanic repellent bat sprays" Batman keeps on his helicopter, one of them being whale repellent. That always made me laugh.
Holy crap, you haven't seen the directors cut of Blade Runner? Damn, it changes the entire meaning of the movie.
Wow, Mike you should have stopped with Ferris. The Matrix was crappy. While it may have been ground breaking, it was simply a sci-fi version of the the New Testament. The Tao of Steve was funny for about 10 minutes total (all the dating stuff) but aside from that it was so cookie cutter romantic comedy that the last 30 minutes could have been Gere/Roberts. Swingers was great, but Vince Vaughn doesn't have a 'style,' he just plays Trent over and over. I loved your 'quickie' list though.
I came close to a spit take when I read 'whale repellent."
Mikey- I was trying to guess what you would pick prior to reading your post and came up with Clerks or Resevoir Dogs. Duh? How could I miss Ferris Bueller's Day Off??? (Ah-Chicka, Chicka...Bow, Bow)
Toa of Steve is great. I totally should have known that one too.
Becky I would've pegged you for The Princess Bride?? What happened there, did you forget your roots?
Gotta mention When Harry Met Sally, my all time fav. I also love, Big, The Notebook, Chasing Amy, You've Got Mail. I'm a romance kinda girl.
I actually HATED resevoir dogs the first time I watched it. It wasn't until the second or third time seeing it that I really gained an appreciation for it. A lot of Quentin Tarantino's work is like that for me. I hated pulp fiction the first time, and then I got it after another viewing. I'm usually pretty hard on a movie if I don't like it the first time around. I sort of feel like, if I didn't like it that time, why would I want to see it again. But for some reason, and it's probably because of the ubiquity of QT's films, I end up seeing them because I can't avoid them, and liking them after subsequent viewings.
Conversely, Each time I watch a Robert Rodriguez movie I like it less and less... Hmmmm, wonder why that is.
Yes, the other bat-spray repellants are "Barracuda" and "Manta-Ray".
Mike, I think your differing reactions to Rodriguez vs. Tarantino films makes perfect sense. Rodriguez movies are good, but for the most part they are just fun little "popcorn" flicks. There's not a lot going on beneath the surface, so generally speaking when you've seen it once you've "gotten it" and repeat viewings just feel like what they are: the same thing over again. Tarantino movies, on the other hand, usually have a lot more complexity to them and so you can watch them multiple times and have very different experiences. The first time you see Pulp Fiction, most people are just trying to make sure they understand the plot, the timeline, and keeping all the characters straight. But when you see it again and you don't have to worry about that you start looking at who these characters really are, what they represent, why the ones that live live and why the ones that die die. Then you can watch it again and try to figure out what the hell is in the briefcase (which is pointless but fun). Or you can just watch it and appreciate individual scenes for their dialogue, or the music, or the way something was shot.
All that being said, I love Desperado and could watch that just about anytime.
I watched Blade Runner for the first time not too long ago. I am not sure which one I watched so I may just have to check and make sure I see the director's cut.
I watched part of Brazil in college, but never the whole thing. I think I'll have to put in in my queue as well...
And I totally forgot about Full Metal Jacket! Great flick. I really like Vincent Di'Nofrio (sp?). Mickey Mouse Club, Mickey Mouse club...
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