Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Other discussions not related to the Permanent Portfolio

Moderator: Global Moderator

User avatar
Mountaineer
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4959
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:54 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Mountaineer » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:56 pm

Xan wrote:
Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:47 pm
WiseOne wrote:
Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:49 am
"Favorite" depends on what mood I'm in, but here goes, in no particular order:

The Princess Bride
Star Wars (original)
The first Star Trek reboot
Wrath of Khan
Shawshank Redemption
Seabiscuit
Dead Poet Society
Apollo 13
WiseOne, based on this list I should tell you a story. Years ago shortly before the first Star Trek reboot, there was a 9pm weeknight one-off showing of Wrath of Khan at the Alamo Drafthouse. I went on a lark. Super fun crowd. Even just waiting around to go into the theater was a lot of fun. We sat. The writers of the new Star Trek film (who were there for some reason...) stood up front and told about how Wrath of Khan was their favorite and had inspired them. The movie started, and during the Kobiyashi Maru scenario there started to be some artifacts: a line on the screen, then the top half was on the bottom, and finally the film appeared to just burn up like in the old days.

The owner of the theater got back up front and played like he was stalling for time, and then a guy in a trench coat appeared carrying two big suitcase things. He stepped into the light and... It was Leonard Nimoy. It was film canisters he was carrying. He said "why don't we just see the new film instead, right now?"

The whole thing had been a ruse, and this was the surprise wold premiere of the new film. Leonard Nimoy was RIGHT THERE. It was pretty awesome.
Wow! Major cool. Which one was it that had the "earwig" scene with Chekov? I thought that was right up there on the feeling really nervous and creepy with the dental scene in Marathon Man and the chest scene in Alien.
DNA has its own language (code), and language requires intelligence. There is no known mechanism by which matter can give birth to information, let alone language. It is unreasonable to believe the world could have happened by chance.
WiseOne
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 2692
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:08 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by WiseOne » Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:03 pm

great story Xan!

The Wrath of Khan is just simply a classic. I remember a Top Chef episode where one of the contestants talked about the Kobayashi Maru test. And so many quotable lines, like "Revenge is a dish that is best served cold."

Oh and speaking of classics...Monty Python's Holy Grail and Life of Brian are up there on the list too.
User avatar
vnatale
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 9422
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:56 pm
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by vnatale » Wed Dec 09, 2020 5:01 pm

I just remembered today that for decades I'd told people that the movie - Z - was my favorite movie ever.

It is a political thriller.

I first saw it in 1970 as a 19 year old. It seemed so reflective of the semi-polite state that we then lived under during Nixon's America. It had such an impact on me that I had to see it again the next night with someone else! I saw it a third time in the 80s when PBS played it as part of one of their fund raising campaigns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_(1969_f ... Vassilikos.

Anyone else ever see it? Those times I saw it in 1970 was not in some special theater that only showed foreign or specialty films. It was the same general public theater where I'd seen the movie Woodstock the prior week.

"At the time of release, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, who named Z the best film of 1969..."

"On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 93% "fresh" score based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus states: "Powerfully effective, this anti-fascist political thriller stands out as both high-conscience melodrama and high-tempo action movie."

"The film had a total of 3,952,913 admissions in France and was the 4th highest grossing film of the year.[14] It was also very popular in the United States grossing $17.3 million,[2] being one of the top five highest-grossing non-English language films there."

"Z was the second foreign-language film in Academy history to receive a nomination for Best Picture, after Grand Illusion"


Vinny
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
glennds
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:24 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by glennds » Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:15 pm

SomeDude wrote:
Wed Dec 09, 2020 10:44 am
Amadeus (NOT the director's cut)
Shaka Zulu
Zulu
My Fair Lady
Her

Dis-Honorable Holiday mention - Bad Santa (un-rated version)

Subject to further editing as I ponder this throughout the work day.

I also don't know why the Zulu movies are so dang good.
I think Zulu was Michael Caine's first film. Classic.
You might like Zulu Dawn, which was a very different portrayal of the same events, and not as good as Zulu IMO, but still good.

Speaking of Michael Caine, I loved his performance with a somewhat young Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King. The beautiful woman in that movie later became Michael Caine's wife.
User avatar
Ad Orientem
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3483
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Florida USA
Contact:

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Ad Orientem » Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:46 pm

The Lion in Winter
A Night to Remember
Saving Private Ryan
Casablanca
Schindler's List
User avatar
Mark Leavy
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 1950
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:20 pm
Location: US Citizen, Permanent Traveler

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Mark Leavy » Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:18 am

The Wind and the Lion

Fantastic.
User avatar
l82start
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 1291
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by l82start » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:09 am

Harold and Maud
The outlaw Jose wails
The Seven Samurai
Yojimbo
fight club
the dead poets society
Don Juan DeMarco
-Government 2020+ - a BANANA REPUBLIC - if you can keep it

-Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence
WiseOne
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 2692
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:08 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by WiseOne » Thu Dec 10, 2020 10:05 am

Strong second for Amadeus!

Another to add: Master and Commander. (In general anything from Peter Weir is well worth watching.)

If you like these two movies and Apollo 13, check out "History Buffs" on Youtube, where all three are reviewed for their historical accuracy. These are outstanding commentaries that are TV show quality & length. Highly recommend.

Speaking of Peter Weir....Gallipoli.
User avatar
Smith1776
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3501
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Smith1776 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:32 am

Adding to my previous brief list of Terminator 1 and 2. In no particular order.
  • The Road to Eldorado
  • Forrest Gump
  • The Bourne trilogy
  • Rush Hour 1 and 2
  • The Insidious and Conjuring movies
  • Most old martial arts flicks with Jet Li, Jackie Chan, or Bruce Lee
  • Anything by Christopher Nolan
I still find the James Rickards portfolio fascinating.
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14225
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by dualstow » Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:22 pm

Smith1776 wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:32 am
[*]Most old martial arts flicks with Jet Li, Jackie Chan, or Bruce Lee
As a kid, I used to love the cheesy kung fu films with unknown (to me) stars. Probably mostly by Shaw Brothers.
The Five Deadly Venoms was a classic as was anything with the dubious "Drunken Style" kung fu.
Even as an adult, I have a dvd of dubiquanqwang dapo xuedizi*, aka, Master of the Flying Guillotine. O0 It has a soundtrack ripped from the band Neu without permission, which makes it even better. (The music, not the lack of permission. I don't want to summon that patent attorney idiot back here).

*"One armed boxing king beats blood disk"
five deadly venoms
five deadly venoms
wudu.png (445.13 KiB) Viewed 9633 times
RIP Marcello Gandini
User avatar
jhogue
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 755
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:47 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by jhogue » Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:59 pm

My short list is kind of long. I think each of these has redefined a genre and-when I am in the right mood-worth watching again and again:

Gone With the Wind
Lawrence of Arabia
Doctor Strangelove
Patton
The Godfather
Chinatown
Terms of Endearment
Blade Runner
Last of the Mohicans
Gladiator

Also, Americans should try more foreign language films:
War and Peace (Russian version)
The Battle of Algiers (French and Arabic, directed by Gillo Ponticorvo)
Stalingrad (German and Russian, directed by Josef Vilsmaijer)
Last edited by jhogue on Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“Groucho Marx wrote:
A stock trader asked him, "Groucho, where do you put all your money?" Groucho was said to have replied, "In Treasury bonds", and the trader said, "You can't make much money on those." Groucho said, "You can if you have enough of them!"
User avatar
Smith1776
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3501
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Smith1776 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:01 pm

jhogue wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:59 pm
My short list is kind of long. I think each of these has redefined a genre and-when I am in the right mood-worth watching again and again:

Gone With the Wind
Lawrence of Arabia
Doctor Strangelove
Patton
The Godfather
Chinatown
Terms of Endearment
Blade Runner
Last of the Mohicans
Gladiator

Also, I agree that Americans should try more foreign language films:
War and Peace (Russian)
The Battle of Algiers (French and Arabic)
Stalingrad (German and Russian)
OOOoohhhhhh good call with Gladiator. Why had I not thought of that one?
I still find the James Rickards portfolio fascinating.
User avatar
jhogue
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 755
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:47 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by jhogue » Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:09 pm

I think the critics panned Gladiator when it came out because it exalts masculine (and martial) virtues.
“Groucho Marx wrote:
A stock trader asked him, "Groucho, where do you put all your money?" Groucho was said to have replied, "In Treasury bonds", and the trader said, "You can't make much money on those." Groucho said, "You can if you have enough of them!"
User avatar
Mountaineer
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4959
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:54 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Mountaineer » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:09 pm

Lots of great movies on the list now. I’m watching Independence Day (1996) as I write this. A real good feel good adventure. Always a wonderful day to beat the aliens. Go get ’em Randy Quaid!
DNA has its own language (code), and language requires intelligence. There is no known mechanism by which matter can give birth to information, let alone language. It is unreasonable to believe the world could have happened by chance.
bedraggled
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:20 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by bedraggled » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:44 pm

-Airplane I and II (a rarity when the sequel is better),
-Field of Dreams,
-Mad Mad Mad Mad World (the music was A+, too),
-Father Goose (Cary Grant's penultimate and the character he said is most like himself),
-Cinderella Man,
-Harvey,
-Animal House,
-Caddy Shack,
-You've Got Mail,
-Toy Story,
-Murder by Death,
-A Beautiful Mind,
-Real Genius,
-The Trouble with Angels (Hayley Mills vs. Rosalind Russell),
-Dr. Strangelove,
-Fail Safe,

To Be Continued....
Last edited by bedraggled on Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Smith1776
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3501
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Smith1776 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:51 pm

Mountaineer wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:09 pm
Lots of great movies on the list now. I’m watching Independence Day (1996) as I write this. A real good feel good adventure. Always a wonderful day to beat the aliens. Go get ’em Randy Quaid!
PUNCH

Welcome to Earth.
I still find the James Rickards portfolio fascinating.
bedraggled
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:20 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by bedraggled » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:53 pm

-Home Alone 3,
-To Kill A Mockingbird,
-Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,
-Night of The Living Dead,
-Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Spencer Tracy- and don't watch it alone),
-Father of The Bride, Spencer Tracy),
-The Awful Truth,
-His Girl Friday,
-Mr. Roberts
-Melancholia (K Dunst is known for more than Spider Man. A Wagner soundtrack: Tristan & Isolde).
-Camille (J Franco, if you can find it).
-Arsenic and Old Lace (Brooklyn not the same since they won that pennant thing),
-Scrooged

To be continued...
User avatar
Smith1776
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3501
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Smith1776 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:55 pm

bedraggled wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:53 pm

-Melancholia (K Dunst is known for more than Spider Man. A Wagner soundtrack: Tristan & Isolde).
Spider-man is my second most common association with her. I think I mostly associate her with Marie Antoinette, which was a movie we watched in social studies class in high school. Those were the days.
I still find the James Rickards portfolio fascinating.
bedraggled
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:20 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by bedraggled » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:03 pm

-Trading Places,
-The Mask,
-Liar, Liar,
-Pollack (Ed Harris is the biggest Mickey Mantle fan in Hollywood),
-Roman Holiday,
-"61" (Mickey Mantle, again)
-Inglorious Bastards,
-Major League,
-Support Your Local Sheriff (an unappreciated must),
-Mr. & Mrs. Smith,
-Men in Black,
-Bringing Up Baby.
- Parent Trap (with Lindsey Lohan & Dennis Quaid),
-The Rookie (Dennis Quaid, again, and no need to be a baseball fan. True story).



-
Last edited by bedraggled on Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Kriegsspiel » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:17 pm

Ahh, yea Gladiator is another one. And it reminded me to add 300 as well.

jhogue, on your foreign films list, I've seen Algiers. Just didn't think it was that good.
You there, Ephialtes. May you live forever.
bedraggled
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:20 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by bedraggled » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:22 pm

-Nutty Professor (critics say Jerry Lewis should have received the Oscar for this one),
-Americanization of Emily (before Mary Poppins),
_Good Will Hunting ( a $1.50 in library late fees can supplant a Harvard degree)
-Cool Runnings,
-Evita
=Princess Diaries (really, people),
-Devil Wears Prada (while I'm at this),
-Julie and Julia
-The Great Escape.



Disney:

-Almost Angels,
-The Waltz King,
-Old Yeller (it seems we're gonna shoot everything),
-Mary Poppins,
-20,000 Leagues Under The Sea),
-Polyanna (Hayley Mills, again),
-Love Bug,
-Freaky Friday (Lohan & JL Curtis),
-THe Adventures of Winnie The Pooh (didn't appreciate this one until age 37),
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by Kriegsspiel » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:32 pm

bedraggled wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:22 pm
_Good Will Hunting ( a $1.50 in library late fees can supplant a Harvard degree)
Hah, I actually feel ashamed that I didn't think of Good Will Hunting. I've probably watched it 15+ times. One of my favorites.
You there, Ephialtes. May you live forever.
bedraggled
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:20 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by bedraggled » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:42 pm

Music:
-Stop Making Sense, 1983,
-David Byrne's American Utopia (2019, on Broadway. Best music video since Stop Making Sense; available on Prime Video),
-Let It Be [the roof top concert; could be difficult to find].
-Beyond The Sea (Kevin Spacey may have made an American Classic).

Movies, again:
Doris Day:

-The Thrill of It All,
-That Touch of Mink (D. Day, C. Grant and Mickey Mantle, again).

Classic Movies:

Citizen Kane (repeated watching now puts this in my top 3).

Current movies:

-Knives Out (it all falls together by the 3rd viewing)

To be continued...?
Last edited by bedraggled on Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
bedraggled
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 705
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:20 am

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by bedraggled » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:51 pm

-Halloween (with JL Curtis. The day I met DW, I Asked if she would watch it as Michael came home to wipe out the whole neighborhood).
-The Blues Brothers (Steven Spieilberg played the Cook County Assessor who gave Jake and Elwood the receipt for the $5,000 tax bill on the orphanage way back in 1979).

Will this end?
User avatar
l82start
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 1291
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Favorite Movies - Your Short List

Post by l82start » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:53 pm

tremors.... ???
i don't know why, but i seem to be able to watch the tremors movies over and over, in spite of their being low budget horror comedy.. i don't realty understand it but i discovered this when living in UT, the local station must have bought a unlimited broadcast license for them because they would play over and over a couple times a week for years on end...
-Government 2020+ - a BANANA REPUBLIC - if you can keep it

-Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence
Post Reply