What is your OTHER favourite film of all time?

Cafe Society
1

Inspired by the “one favourite film of all time” thread, I need to explore my other favourite film. “The Matrix” - my other favourite film. It’s got action, adventure, romance, suspense, unbelievable special effects, and Keanu Reeves to look at - what’s not to love. Whew, that feels better. :slight_smile:

And on some days, “Forrest Gump” is my favourite film - it fits the criteria of “watch it and enjoy it every time it comes on tv.” I just find it so damned entertaining. I think I’m also trying to figure out if it’s better or worse to live like Forrest - he’s not smart, but he’s got so many qualities to make up for it, I’m not sure if he’s got a better deal than the smart people.

And then there’s “Bull Durham,” my favourite sports film of all time.

So have it, all you people who were forced (forced, I say!) to pick only one film! My request to you is that you don’t just post a list of 20 films - give a reason for why each one is your favourite.

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Other? Why not just a Top 10?

  1. Casablanca
  2. Citizen Kane
  3. M
  4. The Third Man
  5. D.O.A. (the original, with Edmond O’Brien)
  6. The Seventh Seal
  7. Blade Runner
  8. Battleship Potemkin
  9. The Longest Day
  10. Dead of Night
3

Groundhog Day. It was so cute.

4

Grease. Always the guiltiest of pleasures of mine. I love the dancing, singing, cast (especially Stockard Channing) and fashions. What’s not to like? :stuck_out_tongue:

5

I must have watched The Matrix about a dozen times before it became almost my favorite movie!

Everytime ‘name your favorite movie’ comes up, I think back over the usual suspects, its so hard to pick one, but I went way back and thought of something I absolutely adored but haven’t seen in years and years, and its never mentioned: Cabaret. Liza Minelli, Michael York, Joel Grey. Gadzooks, what a great musical.

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And the reasons for each one? :slight_smile:

7

My other favorite film is Raiders of the Lost Ark. I agree with whomever in the other thread said that it was the most entertaining movie ever. It really is. Whenever I watch it, I just sit there with a big grin on my face the whole time.

8

I really love Fried Green Tomatoes.
From IMDB: A housewife who is unhappy with her life befriends an old lady in a nursing home and is enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know.
Superb ensemble cast, and a wonderfully structured bittersweet story that easily flashes back and forth between past and present. This movie is one that I turn to again and again.
To dismiss it as a chick flick is to miss out; I know guys who like it. FGT is about friendship.

9

Night of the Living Dead - the perfect depiction of small group politics and the perfect skewering of the traditional tragic hero formula. I can just think about the ending for hours - about how the sheriff and his posse must be aware on some level what they’ve done, but how none of them speak about it.

10

Not a great movie by any stretch, but if I come across it, I watch it all the way through - Mr.Mom.

11

In the other thread I said my favorite movie ever was Serenity. That one is very easy. My other favorite is The Dark Knight. Those two are the automatic choices if I were to start a top 10 list. Outside of those two, I’d have some trouble. That’s why I chose them.

12

I love that movie, too. I sort of forget I love it, then I see a bit of it again, and am instantly hooked once more.

13

I could name a favorite: Singin’ in the Rain, but naming a second is hard. Candidates include Duck Soup, City Lights, The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Love and Death, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Chicago, 12 Monkeys, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Three Kings, Hot Fuzz, Fargo, and Pulp Fiction

14

It’s either Fight Club or Pulp Fiction. Those two rotate #1 and #2 for me.

15

I had picked Serenity as having the most qualities that I’d like for favorite movies. I keep a list of all my favorites but it would be too long to post here. Looking over it, I notice a lot of movies that I feel the urge to say here, because there is something really special about them, like Memento with it’s backwards narrative or Being John Malcovich with it’s absurd premise. But that’s kind of cheating. I’d like to own them, put them in a trophy case, and break them out on special occasions, but they aren’t really the kind of films I want to snuggle up with on a frequent basis. So I’m only going to mention films that I actually adore, and not ones that I just think are really special.

For doing young gay love justice: Beautiful Thing, and Get Real. Get Real especially because the main character really resonates with who I was at that age and some of my experiences. Plus the quote that sums it up: “It’s just love, what is everyone so afraid of?”

For geek love, and Virginia Madsen: Creator, and Electric Dreams. The former especially for the big ideas, and the latter especially for the music.

The Color Purple: The ultimate underdog movie.

Contact: Best movie about the meaning of loneliness, and a rare great adaption from another medium.

Best films from my youth: Dark Crystal, Princess Bride, Young Einstein, Neverending Story

Best best friends story: Fried Green Tomatoes

Home at the end of the world: So deep, such rich characters, and much resonance with my own life

Best shock and awe you out of a rut: Se7en, Fight Club

Joe vs Volcano: Also another getting out of your rut movie, but with adventure and magic instead of violence - Nim’s Island might qualify here too but Joe is my fav

Love Actually: Best ensemble/anthology with so many great little moments of trivial triumph

Made in Heaven: magical story about love and reincarnation

Best musicals: Moulin Rouge, Across the Universe, Rent

My Own Private Idaho: great mood piece about being alone, finding a place in the world, and looking for that ineffable something

Pleasantville: Definitely a special film, but also one that I really adore

Shortbus: Also special, but also touching

Slumdog Millionaire: Almost cliché, but another ultimate underdog story

The Big Blue: Best romance of a mysterious man who swims with the dolphins

Star Trek First Contact: Best Trek film

16

In the other thread, I chose Kill Bill. I love the music, the mood, the monologues the dialogues the blood, the gore, Gogo, Vanita, El Driver, the whistling, the barefoot sprint across the board room table, the 5.6.7.8s and again, the score.

My OTHER favorite film is Glengarry Glen Ross. I love the profanity, the profanity and the profanity. Also, love the performances from every single actor, especially Lemon and Ed Harris.

And my other OTHER favorite is Jesus Christ Superstar. Because Judas is awesome.

17

I Heart Huckabees, a bizarre hilarious comedy about existentialism with a fantastic cast. It pretty much defines my life perspective.

18

You guys are giving me some great recommendations here. :slight_smile:

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Didn’t participate in the other thread, but if I did, I’d have written Rashomon. It profoundly changed the way I view the world and the way I think about how other people interpret events. I cannot recommend it more highly.

Another movie not mentioned, that I also think is worth your time, is Burnt By The Sun. It’s one of the most depressing movies I’ve ever seen. The movie covers one day in the life of a Soviet colonel and his family at their dacha circa 1936. (I think it was only one day; it may have been a few). I don’t want to give away any of the plot but the fact that the colonel realizes why Mitya is there from the outset, yet 1: doesn’t believe that anything bad will happen to him (he’s not a wrecker; he’s loyal to Comrade Stalin, after all) and 2: doesn’t allow the visit to ruin his last day with his family, is one of the best metaphors for the Soviet mindset during the Purges that I’ve ever seen.

While the director, Mikhalkov, was a Communist suck-up and is probably fully deserving of the Elia Kazan treatment, don’t let that get in the way of enjoying the film.

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And, by far, the best ever use of “Hava Nagila” in a film