Please answer the why part. Why should I watch your favorite movie?
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.
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.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.
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Eternal Sunshine is one of my favorites as well. Jim Carrey does an excellent job in that role, I wish he did more serious ones, he’s not just a one note comedy actor. All the performances are well done, really, and I think the theme of wanting to forget a person entirely after a rough breakup is one a lot of people can relate to, and the movie explores the price of that in only the way sci Fi can, but it’s light, realistic sci Fi, it doesn’t come off as cheesy impossible space stuff.
Didn’t realize til now that the Mad World cover was recorded for Donnie Darko (according to Wikipedia). That’s an all-time great cover.
Now if only we could have a cut of Donnie Darko that has the extra scenes from the Director’s Cut, but leaves Echo & The Bunnymen’s glorious “The Killing Moon” in the opening scene, right the fuck where it belongs. What was Richard Kelly thinking? INXS?? It boggles the mind 😓
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Hope you get through the opening sequence without trauma 😅
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.
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!
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.
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.
The Matrix. It’s pretty cool.
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
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.
