I’m not dieing, but if I were, what would you tell me to see?
Norman McLaren’s Begone Dull Care
Karel Zeman’s Inspiration
The Fleischer Brothers’ Snow White (with Betty Boop)
Jan Svankmajer’s Dimensions of Dialogue
Frederic Back’s The Man who Planted Trees
All Shorts. All Animated. All Brilliant. And cumulatively will take up only 1 hour of your life.
** Local Hero**
** The Right Stuff**
**Soldier of Orange**
Places in the Heart
**Nashville**Judgment at Nuremberg (I Tivo’d it recently and am enamored anew [I hadn’t watched it in many years]- it’s a largely forgotten multiple Oscar winning classic with a script so intelligent it makes you debate whether the Nazi judges on trial should really be sentenced to prison and which is most deserving of contempt (the bigoted opportunist who was true to himself while sentencing “race defilers” to death or the legendary ethical judge played by Burt Lancaster who is tortured by his actions but did the same thing). Oscar winning performance by Maximilian Schell, great performances by Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland [yes, really], Spencer Tracy, Werner Klemperer [yes, Col. Klink, and yes, really], Marlena Dietrich, Richard Widmark, others- even William Shatner’s inclusion doesn’t sink his scenes)
The Lion in Winter- the original Hepburn/O’Toole/Hopkins version- scenery chewing, Christmas hams all around, but still excellent
84 Charing Cross Road- a great “little movie” with Hopkins and Anne Bancroft about two soulmates who never meet and whose letters are only about rare books Hopkins sells and Bancroft buys. More interesting than my description.
The Miracle Worker- forget the Helen Keller jokes or that Patty Duke begat a hobbit, married Gomez and went crazy in some order, it’s a great (very low budget) movie
Reefer Madness: the Musical- poses the ethical question t… okay, no ethical questions or great production values, but you get to see Christian Campbell dancing in nothing but a thong for several minutes (with a satyr clad Alan Cumming gyrating behind him no less- I’m guessing Cumming was never once late to the set on those days and that he demanded many many retakes).
**The Knack (And How To Get It) **(British) Rita Tushingham
Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (British) Vanessa Redgrave, David Warner
Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (British) Anthony Newley, Joan Collins, Milton Berle, George Jessel
Hiyao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. If you’ve only got time for one more movie before you die, see this one.
Finding Nemo
Groundhog Day
Big Trouble in Little China
The complete** Lord of the Rings ** extended edition, back to back in one 12 hour marathon.
Of course, we don’t know what you have already seen, so expect some damned good movies that you probably already know.
Excalibur - A lush and compelling version of Arthurian legend that actually comes across well on screen.
The Third Man - A noir classic, tense as a zither string. (#45 on the IMDB Top 250)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - It’s bitter and heartwrenching, it’s sweet and endearing, it’s quite alternative, and the music kicks ass.
And end it with a Rob Reiner twofer:
The Princess Bride - “Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Revenge. Giants. Monsters. Chases. Escapes. True love. Miracles.” (#130 on the IMDB Top 250)
This Is Spinal Tap - The Mockumentary against which all others are bound to come up short.
And for us straight boys, the “Little Mary Sunshine” number.
Great choice!
Edit: http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=SqEyDMPBrsc
(Link tweaked because somewhat NSFW. Remove the space before “youtube.”)
Trainspotting - hedonism and consequences thereof.
LA Confidential - seedy underbelly.
Aliens - Game over, man.
The Dish - The second most charming film ever made.
Local Hero - The first most charming film ever.
Solaris
E.T - a classic. it really makes you wonder why man is so afraid of the unknown?
A Streectcar named Desire - 'Nuff said
The Station Agent - Jsut made me say “wow”
Howl’s Moving Castle -More of a kid’s movies but the animation is incredible
Phil Collins:The Movie (just kidding!!!)
If you want to die of laughter then watch Airplane
Casablanca
Star Wars
Pulp Fiction
Saving Private Ryan
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
I suppose it depends who you are and if it is 5 films that will somehow change what little time is left to you, or just a sweep across the genres. From the later point of view;
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Just an awesome film, seams to make me blub.
Finding Nemo, if there is one film to sit down with kids of 3-4 yo, then this is a good one, nothing too scary and a great story and characterisation. I’d have put ET in here if the wee sproogos were a bit older.
Apollo 13. Not many films make me wish I was there, part of it, just as a small cog in a big wheel , but that film is one. I guess it owes more to real life events than any great doing on behalf of the crew and actors, but hey hoy it works. Beside any film that makes me want to be in Houston must have something going for it. Aliens was almost there on my action category, I gess I had no wish to be there getting dissolved or suffering serious intestinal upset.
Reservoir Dogs. Excellent dialog just punctuated with some of the most graphic violence that hit mainstream cinema at that time, Tim Roth looked like he was in a bit of pain in the back seat of a white leather upholstered car. Scum is also there for shock and dialog of a very brutal nature, but Reservoir Dogs pips it due to Harvey Kietel talking about chopping some bank dudes finger off, followed by hankering for a taco.
I guess it has to be Spinal Tap, Airplane or one of Billy Connolly live stand up (if that counts) for comedy.
Well either an useful list or a sad indictment of my cultural awareness.
cheers
LOTR trilogy
Apocalypse Now–the original, not the Redux version.
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, Sunset Boulevard, LOTR trilogy, Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan, the Station Agent.
So many more I could name…
Some of you guys are getting kind of esoteric; I mean 84 Charing Cross Road? Soldier of Orange? Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment? Our man is dying here, and he only has twelve hours for a movie marathon. This is no time, as much fun as it can be in its own way, for art house pretension and rare, eclectic movies.
Anyway, here’s my list (pick any five):[ul]
[li]Raiders of the Lost Ark[/li][li]Rear Window[/li][li]Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb[/li][li]Rashomon[/li][li]The Third Man[/ul][/li]Also rans include (in no particular order) Blade Runner, The Empire Strikes Back, The Bicycle Thief, The Apartment, Sunset Blvd., Some Like It Hot, The Godfather 1+2 (which would make the list if it was only one film…the smashed together remix version doesn’t count), Apocalypse Now (theatrical cut), Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ran, Kagemusha, Chinatown, Five Easy Pieces, Vozvrashcheniye, The 400 Blows, To Kill A Mockingbird, Out Of The Past, The Maltese Falcon, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Wild Bunch, 8-1/2, La Dolce Vita, The General, Brazil, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Sweet Smell of Success, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Triplets of Belleville, Roman Holiday, and Atanarjuat.
On second thought, pay your doctors whatever it costs to keep you alive long enough to see all of these films.
I’m surprised (though perhaps I shouldn’t be) to see the Lord of the Rings films recommended with such frequency. I considered them enjoyable popcorn munchers but sort of lacking in thematic depth; not films I’m going to watch over and over again and discuss for detail and interpretation. If I had to pick a single frilm from Peter Jackson’s ouerve, it would be Heavenly Creatures, about the Parker-Hulme murder case.
Stranger
Gattaca
Groundhog Day
Blade Runner
The Iron Giant
Gladiator
(I would add Fifth Element, but I know that’s just me)
Shakespeare In Love
The Ninth Configuration
Bring It On
Amadeus
This Is Spinal Tap
Clooooo-ney!