Movie thread (little change of pace)

[GRLMGC]

:) Since it is my area of expertise ;)
What are some of your favorite movies?

My favorite director is Pedro Almodovar:
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
All About My Mother
What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Right now, I'm recommending The Motorcycle Diaries, Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien. Basically anything w/ Gael Garcia Bernal is more likely than not good

Classics: The Heiress, The Way We Were :), Duel in the Sun (So big, it's great)

Peter Jackson, my second favorite:
Lord of the Rings
Heavenly Creatures
Dead/Alive
Meet the Feebles (very sick)

My taste may not appeal to many because it's kinda sick. These are some of my favorites though :)

[TayTay]

1. My daugher told me I have no taste

I seem to like blockbusters.

I love the LOTR films that Peter Jackson did. (Sigh, it appeals to my Romantic side, even though I am usually an Enlightenment gal.)

I have a fondness for horror films (All the old Universal horror flicks from the 30's, the Hammer films from the 50's, anything by Sam Raimi with Bruce Campbell in it, the original Dawn of the Dead films, and stuff like that.)

I loved 'The Princess Bride,' and anything funny and warm and well-written that is like that.

I go weak at the knees for musicals. Anything from the amazing Gene Kelly flicks right on up to the recent "Chicago."

And I have guilty pleasures that include anything silly and that features odd romantic pairings. (Oh, and in what will surely come as a huge shock to my LLL friends (sarcasm alert) I dearly love the film "An Officer and a Gentleman." Damn. An oldie but a goodie. And I usually can't stand Richard Gere. Sometimes I mentally recast that one, but I digress.)

Oh lord, this thread could go on forever. I probably will nod my head at every entry that people make and write down some of the recommendations so I can look them up at the video store.

Fun topic!

[GRLMGC]

2. I'm a crazy movie snob

None of your picks have hit a nerve ;) I don't really like chick flicks but one of my favorite movies is The Way We Were, go figure. I'm not that into musicals but I looooooove the King and I

[TayTay]

3. Musicals are my weakness

Since I am old, I remmeber the days before video cassettes (and way before DVDs.) My dad loved musicals and had appeared in some college productions at UMass. He passed this love on to me. He used to let me stay up late into the night to watch an old musical on TV. (As long as I took a nap after school and had my homework done.) It was heaven.

'The King and I' was one of the great filmed musicals. You have good taste!

Edit: I will attempt to de-grump now. My mood has been a bit dark tonight. Thanks for the lighten up thread. I appreciate it.

[GRLMGC]

6. You're welcome

I just decided I wanted to talk about one of my favorite subjects which may or may not be controversial :)

[whometense]

4. I agree, fun topic.

I love girly movies. I'll watch anything based on a Jane Austen novel, as well as their modern offshoots, such as Clueless and the first Bridget Jones.

I'm a big Fred Astaire fan.

I'll watch anything that stars Alan Bates, Colin Firth or John Cusack.

And here are some other fairly recent favorites:
Almost Famous
Love Actually
About a Boy
Far from Heaven

and old favorites
Far From the Madding Crowd
An Unmarried Woman
Diary of a Mad Housewife

and only about a million more. I could go on all night. Just saw In Good Company and Girl With a Pearl Earring, and loved them both.

[GRLMGC]

5. I love Clueless nt

[ginnyinWI]

11. I like, lately

Moonstruck (Nicholas Cage, Cher)
Dr. Strangelove
Lord of the Rings Trilogy--excellent, excellent, excellent
Key Largo(Bogart, Bacall, Barrymore, E.G. Robinson)
Rear Window (James Stewart, Grace Kelly)
North by Northwest (Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint)
Ghost
Shakespeare in Love

actually just about anything with Nick Cage or Jack Nicholson

[GRLMGC]

12. I like Hitchcock

My favorite is Vertigo. Dr Strangelove is disturbingly as relevant today as it was when it was made.

[whometense]

14. I tried to watch it recently

and found it too disturbing. I kept thinking of Rumsfeld and it seemed just too real.

[GRLMGC]

16. Yeah

They're crazy bastards

[whometense]

13. Were you watching

Shakespeare in Love tonight? They were showing it on Bravo. I watched most of it.

And Moonstruck is one of my very favorites. I can't believe I left it off my list! That and the Philadelphia Story are both perfect movies.

[ginnyinWI]

31. It was also on a week or so ago

Shakespeare in Love, that is--I had recorded it on our DVR, and just watched it the other day. We also saw it at the theater on New Year's Eve. It was great.

Katherine Hepburn movies--she made so many good ones.

Last night I recorded Easy Rider for a trip back to the past--Jack Nicholson as a young man, as well as Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. Should be fun.

Have you ever seen an early Jack Nicholson movie called "The Last Detail"? He plays one of two sailors who is assigned to delivering a fellow sailor to detention after the guy commits some kind of minor crime. I liked it because it was such an interesting character study, and because I like Jack.

[TayTay]

33. I adored Shakespeare in Love

That was a gorgeous movie, very beautiful to look at, very well acted and very sexy. (I loved the whole conceit the whole gender-confusion of roles in that. Stoppard is a Master of dialogue and mood.)

I adore all the old movies with strong heroines like Hepburn and Betty Davis and so forth. (Casablanca is still one of the best pics ever made. And the DVD with all the extras is well worth the money.)

I loved Moonstruck as well. Great oddball romance.

[Firespirit]

30. Now that I know I'm not the only one

with this guilty pleasure, I'll own up to being a Bridget fan myself. The first one, that is. (I like both books, but that's off topic.)

Speaking of guilty pleasures, I also indulge in Pixar and Dreamworks and happen to think that "The Incredibles" may have been the best yet of the CGI-animated flicks. Such excellent parody that makes you laugh when you recognize the references, but doesn't mock or ridicule them. Can't wait for the DVD.

Of course, I simply adore Lord of the Rings. Oh man. Fantastic. I think my fave of Peter Jackson's is Fellowship of the Ring. I love all of them but think that the battle scenes sometimes get too generic in the latter two and I almost forget that I'm watching Lord of the Rings.

Surprisingly I'm not a big fan of hacker/geek movies, primarily because I guess I know too much and I can't help but pull the plots apart. :(

[elshiva]

7. "Dead/Alive" rules!

Everything by Michael Moore nuff said. Titles...
Farenheit 9/11
Roger & Me
The Big One
Bowling for Columbine
Also all his tv shows are on video and DVD, now!

"Feed," a documentary on the 1992 campaign with the great Paul Tsongas and a Paul Wellstone. (In this documentary Paul Wellstone revealed that his favorite movie is "Rocky" and then starts shadowboxing. I love that man!)

Favorite film of all time is "The Knack And How To Get It," by Richard Lester.

[GRLMGC]

8. Someone outside of my social circle who likes Dead/Alive!

I showed it to my roommate my freshman year in college and she said it was the worst movie she had ever seen. I was all like "you're stupid", haha

[elshiva]

15. Dead/Alive is awesome!

Sick out movie extraordinaire. Sumatran Rat Monkey = Dubya?

[GRLMGC]

19. Could be

:)

[elshiva]

25. Bites people and makes neocon zombies!

[GRLMGC]

26. With flesh that falls off

and monstrous sexual problems

[whometense]

9. I like the Knack too.

And Georgy Girl - same style, same era.

So, are people planning to watch the Oscars? I'm not a big awards show fan but like Chris Rock. The Independent Spirit Awards are on IFC tomorrow, and they are really fun if you get that channel. People wear real clothes and say what they really think. MUCH more amusing than the Oscars.

[GRLMGC]

10. I'd watch the Oscars but I've got two research papers to write

plus, I'm not rooting for any of the films nominated so I don't feel obligated to watch.

[whometense]

17. It's not that much fun if you don't

really care about the movies that are nominated. I'll probably just watch Chris Rock's opening monologue and then quit.

[TayTay]

18. I like the IFC Awards.

I think Carson from 'Queer Eye' did the runway show for that last year. (What a hoot. He is so funny.)

I will watch the Oscars, but just to see Chris Rock. I haven't seen any of the films. (I guess I need to get out more.) The Oscars are fun to watch, a great guilty pleasure. I tend to remember them for about a day after the event. (Sort of like eating cotton candy, tastes good at the mmoment I'm doing it, but is soon forgotten.)

[whometense]

21. Did you see the

IFC awards the year John Waters was hosting? It was a couple of years ago, and he was a riot!!!

Cotton candy is about right. If my daughter watches too I'll go along. It used to be more fun before Joan Rivers shamed everyone into dressing in good taste. ;-)

[TayTay]

23. The Cher years!

and the weird opening musical numbers like the time they had Rob Lowe and something to do with Sleeping Beauty. (I couldn't figure it out.) It was glorious American excessiveness for the sake of excessiveness!

Now they are very classy and serious and a lot less fun.

[whometense]

28. Oh yeah.

She wore some truly classic outfits (don't think you could even call them dresses). That black mesh spidery thing with her ass barely covered and her hair in fooot-long spikes?

[elshiva]

20. Georgy Girl is great.

Hey there Georgy Girl! I am an Anglo-phile, I go crazy because sometimes JK sounds English. (But not French, for God's sakes!)

I love Monty Python. The original TV shows are the best, but "Life of Brian" and "Holy Grail" are great.

[whometense]

22. I LOVE Monty Python,

esp. those two movies. Don't like the Meaning of Life that much.

The Black Knight scene cracks me up every time. Bring out your dead! Fetchez la vache!

[elshiva]

24. Don't like Meaning of Life except

for the "Where is the Fish?" scene. In this scene, Terry Jones has extra long arms and does a hand jive while he chants "Where is the fish? That fishy fish. Is it on the floor or is it in the drawer? Oh that fish. That fishy fish?" While Graham Chapman is in drag and this unidentified waiter in an elephant suit. Remember that? Classic.

Black Knight: "I'll bite you to death!"

[whometense]

27. Your mother was a hamster

and your father smelt of elderberries.

[elshiva]

29. LOL, it's been awhile!

[TheDonkey]

32. It has a stigma but I reccomend Star Wars the Original Trilogy

It's a classic that all Americans should take a peek at! :) My favorite.

I also recommend some of these you might not have seen:
Suicide Kings
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)
Ocean's 11

[TayTay]

34. I haven't seen his latest yet

but I generally like anything by Spike Lee. He always comes up with great characters and intriguing situations. (And he is a really great director. I hope he works with Samuel L. Jackson again, I think those two have great synergy. Jackson can be an imposing guy and Lee gives him facets and hues to his personality.)

Has anyone seen 'Hotel Rwanda' yet? (Good Lord, I'm like a shut-in over here.) I haven't seen 'Ray' yet and I really want to. Gotta get myself to the DVD store. I want to see 'Hotel Rwanda' partly because of Don Cheadle, an actor that I have always had a major crush on. (He is one of those actors who can convey sensuality and intelligence on screen. A real thinking woman's sex symbol. I have loved him ever since he played the DA on 'Picket Fences' on TV. (And playing Mouse in 'Devil in Blue Dress' oh lord, he was brilliant.)

[sandnsea]

35. Hitchcock

Give me an old murder movie any day of the week. Rear Window, Dial M, Vertigo, Pscyho, love them all. As a kid I loved Nancy Drew, then Agatha Christie. I used to read alot of Stephen King, but it got too bizarre somewhere along the way.

But my two favorite movies will probably always be To Kill A Mockingbird and, okay it's sappy, A Wonderful Life.

The last really good movie I saw was Cold Mountain. I feel like we're in a movie drought lately.

[GRLMGC]

36. Vertigo is beautiful (at least I think so)

Yeah, Hollywood is horrible right now.