Give me your top five
- Thread starter Frisbinator
- Start date
In retrospect, I think I would have to correct myself - no, those movies would not have the same effect on me. The holocaust happened in rather recent history and, perhaps more importantly, it was practiced by people who I can practically call my neighbours. I suppose that does make me biased towards it, however historically naive that may be.
Well then, here's your chance to watch The Killing Fields!
ttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6300270548/qid%3D997192369/sr%3D2-2/104-0899791-2633547
As for the plight of homosexuals in Nazi Germany:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/press/kits/hsx/bground.htm
I'm not sure that topic has been addressed in a feature-length film. Ditto gypsies and non-whites...
EDIT - so much for inline URLs.
OTHER EDIT - the Cambodian Genocide happened 1975-1979, which is also fairly recent history.
ttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6300270548/qid%3D997192369/sr%3D2-2/104-0899791-2633547
As for the plight of homosexuals in Nazi Germany:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/press/kits/hsx/bground.htm
I'm not sure that topic has been addressed in a feature-length film. Ditto gypsies and non-whites...
EDIT - so much for inline URLs.
OTHER EDIT - the Cambodian Genocide happened 1975-1979, which is also fairly recent history.
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
Excuse me, but I think you just violated your own rule. I know that you have too much integrity to do that, so I'll ignore #9. Besides, it makes no sense to accept Fellini, Almodovar, and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," but exclude all the fabulous movies from England, starting with the early Hitchcocks and Agatha Christie adaptations. Oops I guess I violated the rule too. I'll stop if you will. ^_^Frisbinator said:
You people are way too serious. Hardly any comedies and I didn't see a single musical on anybody's list. Lighten up!
My list:
Bedazzled (The original 1960's British masterpiece, better dialog and better humor than the remake)
Being There (It's a crime that Peter Sellers never won an Oscar)
The Dark Crystal (Lots of good sci-fi and fantasy listed here, this one has a good story, universal truths, and the best alien milieu ever filmed)
Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" ("Every Sperm is Sacred" is one of the best production numbers ever staged)
Yellow Submarine (a tough choice between this one and "The Wizard of Oz")
<<Give me your top five movies of all time.... ABSOLUTELY POSITVELY NO CLAIMING THESE FILMS IN YOUR TOP FIVE:
1. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
2. THE THIN RED LINE
3. CLOCKWORK ORANGE
4. BOONDOCK SAINTS
5. CITIZEN KANE
6. SCHINDLER'S LIST
7. 2001: A SPACE ODDESSY
8. ANY OF THOSE GOD-AWFUL AND OVERESTIMATED GODFATHERS, OR ANY MAFIA MOVIES FOR THAT MATTER, INCLUDING GOODFELLAS, CASINO, YOU GET THE PICTURE.
9. NO MOVIES FROM GREAT BRITAIN, EXCEPT FOR TRAINSPOTTING >>
Oh, so it's the "top five movies of all time, so long as you don't mention at least 5 to 9 of the top movies of all time." I got it.
Since I can't mention "Shawshank Redemption," "Clockwork Orange," "Citizen Kane," "Shindler's List," any of the "Godfather" films (I wouldn't have mentioned "Godfather III"), "Scarface," "Henry V," or any of the Monty Python movies, I'll just go with my list of "The Other Top 5 Movies As Far As Bitterchick Is Concerned:"
In no particular order...
1. Hudson Hawk (freaking brilliant, and hysterical)
2. Princess Bride (ditto)
3. Casablanca
4. Office Space
5. Singing in the Rain
I just picked some off my DVD shelf.
I'd also add "Star Trek II" (the only one worth watching), the original unadulterated "Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Real Genius," "Weird Science," the original "Night of the Living Dead," "PCU," "Young Frankenstein," and "Blazing Saddles." Oh, and the 1977 tv movie miniseries "Salem's Lot." It was so bad, it was good.
<<I got rules for this thread too. No insulting other people's choices! They are strictly opinions and therefore are totally acceptable here, even if I don't agree. >>
I'd love to abide, but I feel an intervention is in order. Dude, "Jedi" sucked. The Ewoks were a marketing ploy. The whole "The other Yoda spoke of was your twin sister" (when Luke didn't actually *hear* Yoda say that anyway since he was already in the X-Wing and flying to Bespin) bit was appalling. The whole "You were right...you were right about me...tell you sister...you were right...aaaaaaaaggghhhh" part just made me feel so gross inside. And I AM PROBABLY THE BIGGEST STAR WARS GEEK AND JEDI APOLOGIST EVER. I just can't go there with you. Wish I could.
Don't mean to be insulting, but man, this is for your own good.
Chunky, I figured out 50% of you Emmy question: Denzel must have won for his stint on "St. Elsewhere." I'm guessing Hackman won for some TV movie.
1. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
2. THE THIN RED LINE
3. CLOCKWORK ORANGE
4. BOONDOCK SAINTS
5. CITIZEN KANE
6. SCHINDLER'S LIST
7. 2001: A SPACE ODDESSY
8. ANY OF THOSE GOD-AWFUL AND OVERESTIMATED GODFATHERS, OR ANY MAFIA MOVIES FOR THAT MATTER, INCLUDING GOODFELLAS, CASINO, YOU GET THE PICTURE.
9. NO MOVIES FROM GREAT BRITAIN, EXCEPT FOR TRAINSPOTTING >>
Oh, so it's the "top five movies of all time, so long as you don't mention at least 5 to 9 of the top movies of all time." I got it.
Since I can't mention "Shawshank Redemption," "Clockwork Orange," "Citizen Kane," "Shindler's List," any of the "Godfather" films (I wouldn't have mentioned "Godfather III"), "Scarface," "Henry V," or any of the Monty Python movies, I'll just go with my list of "The Other Top 5 Movies As Far As Bitterchick Is Concerned:"
In no particular order...
1. Hudson Hawk (freaking brilliant, and hysterical)
2. Princess Bride (ditto)
3. Casablanca
4. Office Space
5. Singing in the Rain
I just picked some off my DVD shelf.
I'd also add "Star Trek II" (the only one worth watching), the original unadulterated "Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Real Genius," "Weird Science," the original "Night of the Living Dead," "PCU," "Young Frankenstein," and "Blazing Saddles." Oh, and the 1977 tv movie miniseries "Salem's Lot." It was so bad, it was good.
<<I got rules for this thread too. No insulting other people's choices! They are strictly opinions and therefore are totally acceptable here, even if I don't agree. >>
I'd love to abide, but I feel an intervention is in order. Dude, "Jedi" sucked. The Ewoks were a marketing ploy. The whole "The other Yoda spoke of was your twin sister" (when Luke didn't actually *hear* Yoda say that anyway since he was already in the X-Wing and flying to Bespin) bit was appalling. The whole "You were right...you were right about me...tell you sister...you were right...aaaaaaaaggghhhh" part just made me feel so gross inside. And I AM PROBABLY THE BIGGEST STAR WARS GEEK AND JEDI APOLOGIST EVER. I just can't go there with you. Wish I could.
Don't mean to be insulting, but man, this is for your own good.
Chunky, I figured out 50% of you Emmy question: Denzel must have won for his stint on "St. Elsewhere." I'm guessing Hackman won for some TV movie.
not in this order my top 5 are;
1. conan the barbarian
2. the andromeda strain
3. terminator 1 & 2
4. enter the dragon
5. night of the living dead (original '68 film)
I would have included clockwork orange and 2001 if it weren't for the rules. pulp fiction has really worn thin on me because of the endless praise for the movie itself and its director quentin tarantino
1. conan the barbarian
2. the andromeda strain
3. terminator 1 & 2
4. enter the dragon
5. night of the living dead (original '68 film)
I would have included clockwork orange and 2001 if it weren't for the rules. pulp fiction has really worn thin on me because of the endless praise for the movie itself and its director quentin tarantino
Taxi Driver - 'cause Scorcese owns your soul, Bickle is DeNiro's most chilling creation, Keitel makes the most of what's basically a cameo, and Jodie Foster was so good she inspired an near-assassination. Well, that and
Hinckley bein' a lunatic, but whatevs.
Big Lebowski - "Nobody fucks with the Jesus." Also, "say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it's an ethos." And of course, "I don't need sympathy. I need my fucking johnson."
Dr. Strangelove - Kubrick's best. The fact that Julia Roberts has an Oscar and he doesn't is one more reason the Academy should be summarily executed.
Clerks - 'cause it was made for $23,000, completely owns Resevoir Dogs, and is proof that, had he ditched the Jay & Silent Bob bullshit, Kevin Smight might have been a great director, as well as being an entertaining one.
Super Troopers - the opening scene is comedic genius, the plot walks the fine line between stupid and sublime, and "Shennigans."
Hinckley bein' a lunatic, but whatevs.
Big Lebowski - "Nobody fucks with the Jesus." Also, "say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it's an ethos." And of course, "I don't need sympathy. I need my fucking johnson."
Dr. Strangelove - Kubrick's best. The fact that Julia Roberts has an Oscar and he doesn't is one more reason the Academy should be summarily executed.
Clerks - 'cause it was made for $23,000, completely owns Resevoir Dogs, and is proof that, had he ditched the Jay & Silent Bob bullshit, Kevin Smight might have been a great director, as well as being an entertaining one.
Super Troopers - the opening scene is comedic genius, the plot walks the fine line between stupid and sublime, and "Shennigans."
1--Police Academy.
2--Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.
3--Police Academy 3: Back In Training.
4--Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol. (Actually, I'm undecided about this one. Perhaps Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach was better...?)
5--Put It Where It Doesn't Belong 2: Farmyard Lust. (I think Angus the pig from this film was raised in Scotland, so can I still have it in my list? It DOES have excellent cinematography...)
The Flemster.
p.s: Jackass is a work of genius. And it's American, so what's your problem? Are you only going to allow films you agree with in here, pal?
2--Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.
3--Police Academy 3: Back In Training.
4--Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol. (Actually, I'm undecided about this one. Perhaps Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach was better...?)
5--Put It Where It Doesn't Belong 2: Farmyard Lust. (I think Angus the pig from this film was raised in Scotland, so can I still have it in my list? It DOES have excellent cinematography...)
The Flemster.
p.s: Jackass is a work of genius. And it's American, so what's your problem? Are you only going to allow films you agree with in here, pal?
Avatar said:
*sighs, takes a deep breath* ... Years of councelling and therapy... all up in smoke after one innocent question...
Yes. I do remember those films.
One was called 'Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage' and the other was 'Ewoks: Pile of Cash-in Shite'.
Oh you bastard... memories flooding back... annoying space muppets... must... hurt... small... animals...
The Flemster (Hooo--teeeny!!!)
Before 8 year-old Frisbee throws his toys out of the pram, here's a few of my real favourite films. (I don't trust anyone who can narrow down their fav films to just 5...!)
1-- Dawn Of The Dead (2004).
2-- Mallrats. (I like it, okay?)
3-- Snatch. (I couldn't give a fuck that it's ENGLISH, alright?)
4-- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barells. (Again, you have a problem with us Brits, do ya, boy?)
5-- Into The Night. (You wanna see sublime comedy? Or Michelle Pfeiffer's tits and fur? Watch this.)
The (English) Flemster.
1-- Dawn Of The Dead (2004).
2-- Mallrats. (I like it, okay?)
3-- Snatch. (I couldn't give a fuck that it's ENGLISH, alright?)
4-- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barells. (Again, you have a problem with us Brits, do ya, boy?)
5-- Into The Night. (You wanna see sublime comedy? Or Michelle Pfeiffer's tits and fur? Watch this.)
The (English) Flemster.
1 - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the Eighth Dimension
2 - Terminator 2
3 - The Old Star Warses
4 - The Time Machine
5 - Conan (although Conan the Destroyer was not so good)
Honourable mention for David Lynch's Dune (not Brian Herbert's Big Gay Dune)
2 - Terminator 2
3 - The Old Star Warses
4 - The Time Machine
5 - Conan (although Conan the Destroyer was not so good)
Honourable mention for David Lynch's Dune (not Brian Herbert's Big Gay Dune)
more...
Brazil
Three Days Of The Condor
Appocolipse Now
The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean
Videodrome
Brazil
Three Days Of The Condor
Appocolipse Now
The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean
Videodrome
Video... drome?
Videodrome A+
Universal Pictures
Year Released: 1983
MPAA Rating: R
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Cast: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Jack Creley.
Review by Jeremiah Kipp
Most viewers have one specific movie which terrifies them so much they can hardly watch it, one which cuts bone deep to their deepest unspoken fears. For me, that movie has always been Canadian horror auteur David Cronenberg's 1983 classic, Videodrome.
Highly regarded for his use of visual metaphors to represent visceral conflict between sense and sensation, mind and body, the images depicted in Videodrome are especially clear. When James Woods experiences his fever dream during the film's mid-point, a slippery womb-wound opening up his stomach while Debbie Harry's lips emerge as a pulsating bubble from his television set, it's undeniably provocative. The sexual fetish is made hybrid with visual stimulation. Television alters the perception of the viewer, acting as a drug to fuel their fantasies. Nearly twenty years after Videodrome was shot, it still feels contemporary.
"I am the video word made flesh," is one of the mantras which ripples through the story of sneaky cable television programmer Max Renn (very well played by Woods, who bears a passing resemblance to Cronenberg when trying on pair of glasses). He's looking for material which is new, innovative. Something tough.
Max stumbles across pirate tapes of a raw, seedy snuff program called Videodrome -- no plot, no characters, just pure sexual violence, torture, murder. Very little production cost -- just a room, hooded figures and a screaming female victim who gets beaten to death with chains and whips. The acting, the violence -- it's all so real.
Hey, some people get off on this stuff. Max knows his audience. I mean, he's part of it. So is the chick he's shagging, a radio self-help guru named Nicki Brand (Harry, quite good). She's the perfect match for Max -- a compassion junkie who has to burn herself with cigarettes or be pierced with pins during kinky sex just to feel something. She's really into the perversions of Videodrome, even curious to become a contestant.
What Max and Nicki come to learn is that the Videodrome program is a transmission that stimulates a tumor in the brain, causing bizarre hallucinations. Perhaps created by some underground government branch or radical political movement, Videodrome immerses the viewer into a world without boundaries.
It isn't long before Max finds his personality slowly being stripped away, his mind and body being recreated into an agent for powers greater than himself. Whether or not he is hallucinating this strange new world of flesh as a bio-technical weapon is immaterial.
The Max Renn we knew at the beginning of the film is ultimately destroyed, replaced by something Other. Long Live the New Flesh.
* * *
Too much television will rot your brain, but has anyone stopped to think about it's affect on global culture? The Internet and global communication has changed the way we think, the way we operate in our daily lives. Is it that much of a projection to imagine the effects these new sensory experiences are having on the human body?
With revolting precision, David Cronenberg charts the painful birth of that "new flesh." It's appropriately horrific. Max Renn, in his reincarnated state as assassin, is a product of some strange corporate dealings between television companies -- it's never entirely clear who he's working for. In our climate of mergers and foreclosures, it's difficult to know who we're working for, either. Being a part of the machine, a singular fact of life in the 21st Century, is shown for the horror it is within Videodrome.
There's also hysteria when it comes to our bodies, ourselves. It's not just about gore (courtesy of master craftsman Rick Baker). It's certainly grotesque when that vagina rips its way through Max's stomach or his human hand morphs into a gnarled flesh-pistol, but that's not what makes it scary. The flesh is fragile, malleable. Transformations become sacrilegious -- the body is just not supposed to bend that way. It's unnatural. But what about those videotapes which shiver and sigh when Max touches them? If man is turning into machine, why not vice versa?
Slipped in under the surface is a harsh critique of puritanism in video culture. It's disturbing to consider someone determining what an audience should or should not see, as well as punishment of that audience who enjoys watching what the moral right determines to be obscene. Cronenberg subtly makes his stand, pointing a finger back at the V-chip (as it were) wondering exactly who the hard liners want to protect by eliminating pornography?
* * *
Universal Pictures
Year Released: 1983
MPAA Rating: R
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Cast: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Jack Creley.
Review by Jeremiah Kipp
Most viewers have one specific movie which terrifies them so much they can hardly watch it, one which cuts bone deep to their deepest unspoken fears. For me, that movie has always been Canadian horror auteur David Cronenberg's 1983 classic, Videodrome.
Highly regarded for his use of visual metaphors to represent visceral conflict between sense and sensation, mind and body, the images depicted in Videodrome are especially clear. When James Woods experiences his fever dream during the film's mid-point, a slippery womb-wound opening up his stomach while Debbie Harry's lips emerge as a pulsating bubble from his television set, it's undeniably provocative. The sexual fetish is made hybrid with visual stimulation. Television alters the perception of the viewer, acting as a drug to fuel their fantasies. Nearly twenty years after Videodrome was shot, it still feels contemporary.
"I am the video word made flesh," is one of the mantras which ripples through the story of sneaky cable television programmer Max Renn (very well played by Woods, who bears a passing resemblance to Cronenberg when trying on pair of glasses). He's looking for material which is new, innovative. Something tough.
Max stumbles across pirate tapes of a raw, seedy snuff program called Videodrome -- no plot, no characters, just pure sexual violence, torture, murder. Very little production cost -- just a room, hooded figures and a screaming female victim who gets beaten to death with chains and whips. The acting, the violence -- it's all so real.
Hey, some people get off on this stuff. Max knows his audience. I mean, he's part of it. So is the chick he's shagging, a radio self-help guru named Nicki Brand (Harry, quite good). She's the perfect match for Max -- a compassion junkie who has to burn herself with cigarettes or be pierced with pins during kinky sex just to feel something. She's really into the perversions of Videodrome, even curious to become a contestant.
What Max and Nicki come to learn is that the Videodrome program is a transmission that stimulates a tumor in the brain, causing bizarre hallucinations. Perhaps created by some underground government branch or radical political movement, Videodrome immerses the viewer into a world without boundaries.
It isn't long before Max finds his personality slowly being stripped away, his mind and body being recreated into an agent for powers greater than himself. Whether or not he is hallucinating this strange new world of flesh as a bio-technical weapon is immaterial.
The Max Renn we knew at the beginning of the film is ultimately destroyed, replaced by something Other. Long Live the New Flesh.
* * *
Too much television will rot your brain, but has anyone stopped to think about it's affect on global culture? The Internet and global communication has changed the way we think, the way we operate in our daily lives. Is it that much of a projection to imagine the effects these new sensory experiences are having on the human body?
With revolting precision, David Cronenberg charts the painful birth of that "new flesh." It's appropriately horrific. Max Renn, in his reincarnated state as assassin, is a product of some strange corporate dealings between television companies -- it's never entirely clear who he's working for. In our climate of mergers and foreclosures, it's difficult to know who we're working for, either. Being a part of the machine, a singular fact of life in the 21st Century, is shown for the horror it is within Videodrome.
There's also hysteria when it comes to our bodies, ourselves. It's not just about gore (courtesy of master craftsman Rick Baker). It's certainly grotesque when that vagina rips its way through Max's stomach or his human hand morphs into a gnarled flesh-pistol, but that's not what makes it scary. The flesh is fragile, malleable. Transformations become sacrilegious -- the body is just not supposed to bend that way. It's unnatural. But what about those videotapes which shiver and sigh when Max touches them? If man is turning into machine, why not vice versa?
Slipped in under the surface is a harsh critique of puritanism in video culture. It's disturbing to consider someone determining what an audience should or should not see, as well as punishment of that audience who enjoys watching what the moral right determines to be obscene. Cronenberg subtly makes his stand, pointing a finger back at the V-chip (as it were) wondering exactly who the hard liners want to protect by eliminating pornography?
* * *
1. random hearts
Won an emmy for best script. A story with no point.
2. the phantom menace
Never before was the experience of experiencing a movie so menacing!
3. batman
The perfect sleeping pill
4. A.I.
If only the last half hour of footage had gone missing
5. Barb Wire
Silicon tits and barb wire...an explosive combination!
Won an emmy for best script. A story with no point.
2. the phantom menace
Never before was the experience of experiencing a movie so menacing!
3. batman
The perfect sleeping pill
4. A.I.
If only the last half hour of footage had gone missing
5. Barb Wire
Silicon tits and barb wire...an explosive combination!
spuriousmonkey said:
ahhhh! I could have wept! he's at the sea floor, in front of the blue fairey. Fade to black...
I thought GREAT ENDING! emional, dark, moving...
then blam! it's not over, we go into the future and the boy/robot gets his greatest desire? wtf? I WAS SO PISSED OFF! since when does speilberg take the pussy way out? Every ounce of emotion and meaning in the entire story was wiped out in that last half hour, normally I'd expect that from michael bay or maybe a disney cartoon but speilberg? I could have strangled him.
Buffys: you're a boob. 
Didn't you like the aliens? I mean, they couldn't do math. No math at all - what a concept! I bet they didn't even know how their cube ships worked. They were just all like, "yeah, they just do that. And then I like, point somewhere, and away it goes!"
I liked the part of the movie where he killed the other copy of himself and no-one even noticed. Aren't people worried when robots go crazy and smash things?
Didn't you like the aliens? I mean, they couldn't do math. No math at all - what a concept! I bet they didn't even know how their cube ships worked. They were just all like, "yeah, they just do that. And then I like, point somewhere, and away it goes!"
I liked the part of the movie where he killed the other copy of himself and no-one even noticed. Aren't people worried when robots go crazy and smash things?
Exactly Buffy!...when the DVD came out I at least expected an 'audience' cut version instead of the popular 'directors' cut version with the last half hour missing.