Movies

[TessB]

Tass,
LOL.... Alan Rickman was phenomenal.
YOU!!!! Come to my room at 7! You.... 7:30.... and bring a friend!
And... what if Anime wasn't INVENTED yet when you were a teen?
And.... Seven... WOW.... what a film! It's so disturbing but so VERY VERY clever. It completely blew me away. Kevin Spacey.... wow!


lmnop,
The 5th Element is one of my favorites as well. Chris Tucker ROCKS in it... laugh my ass off every time I see it. In fact, the first three on your list are awesome picks in my book.

Greg,
Charade huh? Good to know. Never heard of that one but I'm a HUGE Cary Grant fan. <<faints slightly>> I'll see if my local video store carries it. Thanks for the tip! <<trying so... hard... to ignore... sexual ... innuendo....reference in.....my last..... sentence...... argh!>>

 

[Kraj]

<<trying so... hard... to ignore... sexual ... innuendo....reference in.....my last..... sentence...... argh!>>

Forget about your last sentence. What about your tagline!?

 

[Tasslehoff]

Expanding the Argument

Hmmm,
Disclaimer:
I think it would be okay to expand the subject a little to include everyone's ideas on what constitutes a good or bad movie. It's not my thread, so please let me know if this isn't a good idea.

Good Horror movies I haven't already mentioned:
67) "The Haunting" 1960's Black and White version, NOT new one
68) "Hell House" old version

BAD horror movies:
The Hills Have Eyes--interesting to note that only the sinner-victims survive in this one, the good-victims all die horribly
The Grudge
Darkness Falls
...basically anything in the genre of trying to scare you with extremely suspenseful music, false surprises, real surprises immediately after false surprises, and blood and gore. I think "Scream" started the proliferation of these movies, but instead of getting better than "Scream" (which was good when it came out) they have only degenerated into cheap thrills.

Some new horror movies that may fall into this genre, but distinguish themselves in some way to make them not completely trash:
The Descent--so incredibly extremely insane that it is worth watching
The Blair Witch Project--may not be to your taste...not really to mine...but the camera-style and the fact that you never see the monster sets it apart
The Ring--makes you fear ideas, not noises

That, I think, is the real difference between good and bad horror: good ones make you fear ideas ("The Shining","The Exorcist"--my Mom couldnt sleep for two days after seeing it) while bad ones scare you with a violin crescendo.

My Take on Horror Films, fini

 

[lmnop7854]

Tasslehoff:

I used to watch horror flicks in my twenties, just for the thrill. Well, the thrill is gone. I read plenty of Stephen King, I have all his books, and his books can give me nightmares. So I have no need for the horror films anymore. A good suspenseful movie can have me on the edge of my seat and covering my eyes, so I don't need the useless gore just for added excitement. And especially the films that make you fear ideas - I got enough scary ideas in my own head, thank you.

Tess:

Galaxy Quest is the one that gets us everytime. My boyfriend is constantly quoting from that movie.
(forgive me if it isn't exact)
"Those must be the miners."
"Of course they're minors - they can't be more than 5 or 6."
"Miners, not minors!!"

Lisa

 

[Mile-O]

road to Guantanamo

Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dotty Lamour?

 

[Bodisathva]

OMG, people! Am I blind or have people been discussing "All time greats" and no one included:

1. JAWS
2. Star Wars (any of them)
3. Star Trek (OK...the even ones)
4. Lord of the Rings
5. SNATCH

 

[KenHigg]

OMG, people! Am I blind or have people been discussing "All time greats" and no one included:

Actually, I was kinda just interested in some of the latest stuff...

But the lists were cool - I saw several I have never heard of and may just have to try now...

 

[Tasslehoff]

[*]SNATCH

Indeed, this is an awesome movie, so is "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels". I tried to list movies that everyone didn't agree on as great or didn't know about...but perhaps you are right and they need to be stated because...

[*]Lord of the Rings

...are not good movies. I was actually typing up a HUGE statement on why these are not good when you posted, but now I will try to be brief.

1) Wrong Medium
2) Wrong Audience
3) Slow Motion used badly
4) Music used cheaply
5) CG
6) Melodramatic acting

Everything about The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was right: excellent story, passionate cast and crew, a good budget…but nevertheless things went wrong. As is so often the case today, everything was done WAY over the top in an effort to manhandle the emotions of the audience. All of these problems stem from Hollywood's greedy nature--they think the point is to make money, not a movie. Hence, today we see a lot of movies that are sequels, or re-makes, or based on already successful stories and ideas...like the Lord of the Rings. Why take a risk trying to make a great movie when you can just use established money-making conventions? ;_;

If you want me to explain these reasons further I will but be prepared for a long answer.

PS-
69) “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” have to have a specific taste in comedy for this one
70) “Romeo and Juliet”—both the old and the new one with Leo
71) “Empire Records”
72) “Julius Caesar” version with Charlton Heston
73) “Soylent Green”
74) “Blade Runner”
75) “Followed”
76) “Sound of Music”
77) “Gia”
78) “Match Point” Scarlett Johannson is awesome, plus a good ending
79) “Catch Me if You Can”
80) “The Godfather”
81) “The Heist”
82) “Mallrats” more of a teen thing
83) “Clerks” in Black and White, kind of a cult-classic
84) “Good Will Hunting”
85) All the Bond films—pure entertainment

Sidenote: who was the best Bond?

 

[Kraj]

Ooh here's a good one:

I'm not sure whether you enjoy foreign films, but if you can handle subtitles at all I highly recommend "Run Lola Run". Really, really cool movie. (And it's only a few years old, in contrast to my other suggestions.)

Tass, I'm sure you're right about Hollywood's money-making machine, but I greatly disagree about the LoTR movies. True, they weren't a spectacular testament to the art of filmmaking, but they told the story very well, and were both fun and visually striking to watch. I enjoyed them very much.

 

[Bodisathva]

...are not good movies.

If you want me to explain these reasons further

uh...no
You are entitled to your opinion of course, but out of deference to Ken, I'll not be doing any hijacking today.

who was the best Bond?

Connery, Sean Connery...of coursh

 

[KenHigg]

... but out of deference to Ken, I'll not be doing any hijacking today.

That would make this the first un-hijacked thread to make it past 30 posts in the 'cooler....

 

[Kraj]

Sidenote: who was the best Bond?

That's a tough one for me. I grew up watching Roger Moore; The Spy Who Loved Me was the first Bond film I saw and is still one of my favorites. I also really liked Pierce Brosnan, and Goldeneye is my favorite Bond flick. Nevertheless, I think Connery stand out as the best Bond.

 

[Bodisathva]

That would make this the first un-hijacked thread to make it past 30 posts in the 'cooler....

I'm on a quest to be a kinder, gentler, misanthrop

 

[KenHigg]

I'm on a quest to be a kinder, gentler, misanthrop

misanthrope

(Confession - Had to dictionary.com that one )

 

[Bodisathva]

misanthrope

...and a better spellchecker.

 

[KenHigg]

...and a better spellchecker.

Have we hi-jacked yet or are we technically still on topic?

 

[Bodisathva]

Have we hi-jacked yet or are we technically still on topic?

It's your thread... I figured as long as I was following you I was safe

 

[KenHigg]

It's your thread... I figured as long as I was following you I was safe

You're brave -

Topic, topic...

Hum... I'm guessing no one else has seen 'Cars'. Great kiddie movie and good 'silly adult' movie... Pixar seems to be good stuff is general.

 

[Kraj]

Pixar seems to be good stuff is general.

Agreed. But no, I haven't seen Cars.

I'm trying to think of other recent stuff...for summer blockbusters it seems to be a lackluster year so far. I did enjoy X-Men 3, though. Superman looks very good. (Why, yes... that was a double entendre...) I can't think of anything that came out recently and made me think, "That looks cool/interesting/worth seeing".

I have a feeling they wouldn't be your cup of tea, but you didn't happen to see Kill Bill, didja Ken?

 

[KenHigg]

Agreed. But no, I haven't seen Cars.

I'm trying to think of other recent stuff...for summer blockbusters it seems to be a lackluster year so far. I did enjoy X-Men 3, though. Superman looks very good. (Why, yes... that was a double entendre...) I can't think of anything that came out recently and made me think, "That looks cool/interesting/worth seeing".

I have a feeling they wouldn't be your cup of tea, but you didn't happen to see Kill Bill, didja Ken?

I saw it advertised but havn't seen it... Is it rated R?