There can be only *ten*...er, um...*twelve*

With apologies to Highlander...and, because this is my thread, it shall be deemed "special"...in perpetuity...the first sci-fi/fantasy flick I ever saw...

This is a discussion our extended family had over the holiday...you can choose any two movies per genre, no more, no runners-up, no honorable mentions...:

Drama
Comedy
Action
Horror
Dystopian
Sci/Fi

Did I leave anything out? If so...it's open to discussion. Within the T&C of course.

Feel free to explain your picks ...or not.

Mine:

Drama

The Big Kahuna - I dunno, it just shaped so much of my philosophy about authenticity and character and marketing...
Steel Magnolias - Okay, so I'm a Southern chick, so sue me... I know women like these, plus...I subscribe to the philosophy..."Better 30 minutes of something wonderful than a life time of nothing special..."

Comedy:

Raising Arizona - The first of many awesome Coen bothers movies. And, if you have evah had a kid, it's just so easy to quote this movie and mean it. LoL!
Pooty Tang - I have no explanation for this and I'm mildly ashamed.

Action:

Fight Club
Snatch I know, people hated it but I loved it.


Horror:

Jaws - It forever made the deep end of the pool and the GoM muuuucch creepier...

I could only really think of one...so call me a wuss. I make it a point to never watch horror movies...real life is enough, I want to escape or be entertained when I watch a movie...not lose sleep. But I recognize many do enjoy the genre, so...

Dystopian:

Brazil - It all seemed to come to pass 15 to 20 years later...
V For Vendetta

It's so hard not to want to add caveats, etc. I'm looking forward to exploring your picks! Okay, well, not the Horror movies. LOL!

reply to post by kosmicjack


I am only picking one and it is in the action category.

Lords of the Rings, Return of the King

I cry like a baby every time I see it at the end.

It is when the king approaches the hobbits and they bow down to him and he say, "My friends, you bow down to no one....." Then the king bows down to them and everyone follows......

I don't know what it is about that scene that brings on the tears, but it never fails......

reply to post by seeker1963


Well of course I agree with you...sci-fi/fantasy movies such as Lord of the Rings, et al are far and above regular, ho-hum movies.

"So let it be written, so let it be done."

With apologies to Moses.

Originally posted by kosmicjack



Drama: no idea

Comedy: The Hangover (the naked Chinese guy leaping out of the trunk gets me every time)

Action: Kill Bill vol 1

Horror:Signs

Dystopian: V for Vendetta

All Time Best Movie Series: LOTR

I added Sci/Fi by popular demand...as distinguished between Action and/or Dystopian.

reply to post by smyleegrl


LoL! The Hangover was in my hubby's picks.

reply to post by kosmicjack


tippy tie on the nay no. Don't make me take my belt off!

reply to post by ezekielken




Gots to say the nay no my brother...Sine yo pity on the runny kine....

OMG.....how could I have forgotten every single Monty Python movie?

OP...this is harder than I thought...

reply to post by kosmicjack


Oh boy, this is going to be hard to limit it to 2 each, but I'll try....

DRAMA

Apocalypto This movie is about the decline of the Mayan culture but it is all in sub-titles.
The Four Feathers This is the 2002 version with Heath Ledger. It is about a British officer who has lost his honor and tries to redeem himself.

COMEDY

A Knight's Tale Technically, this is not listed as a comedy but to me, it is. Very light hearted, funny and yet has a decent story line. It stars Heath ledger as a peasant squire, who is fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity for himself as a knight.
Bad Teacher Adult comedy with Cameron Diaz.
*NOTE* the new Ted comedy is funny too......

ACTION

Gladiator Actually, this could be put in the DRAMA cat. but I could only choose 2...although this does have plenty of action. Stars Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.
3000 Miles to Graceland Action/comedy starring Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell about a Casino robbery gone wrong.....

HORROR

Jeepers Creepers A brother and sister run into trouble on the way home...[*NOTE* Part 2 is also good]
The Descent A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

DYSTOPIAN

Mad Max This movie has stuck with me throughout the years being as this was the first so-called movie I was allowed to watch that wasn't a "family" type of movie. Still a classic IMO....
Waterworld The critics did not like this movie but I did. It's set way in the future and as you can tell it's all water now, no land. Stars Kevin Costner and Dennis Hopper. Also has some comedy to it also.

SCI/FI

Avatar



There are so many to pick. We watch more drama/horror than comedy so my list for comedy is kinda short. But there are also different levels of horror. I only listed the milder ones.

What.....no Vampire/Werewolf Category???

Hope you enjoy these if you haven't seen them already....

snarky

reply to post by smyleegrl

Originally posted by snarky412
*NOTE* the new Ted comedy is funny too......

See! It's hard! There's this inexplicable need to caveat, explain or amend. I've already changed the title once.

reply to post by smyleegrl

Comedy: The Hangover (the naked Chinese guy leaping out of the trunk gets me every time)

Action: Kill Bill vol 1

Oh man....I forgot about Hangover.
[saw part 2...a little more darker but still has the Chinese dude in it]

And you can't get more action than Kill Bill......

Originally posted by kosmicjack
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

Originally posted by snarky412
*NOTE* the new Ted comedy is funny too......

See! It's hard! There's this inexplicable need to caveat, explain or amend.

I've already changed the title once.

Sorry....that was courtesy of my husband. [we just rented it]
Needless to say, another adult comedy worth watching......

Dystopian is a bizarrely specific choice. You might want to consider categories such as romance, western, foreign, adventure, weird, documentary, war movie, classic, animated.

All the same, nice thread.

Drama

The Fall- Such a beautiful movie. It was independently financed, filmed in over 20 countries and features amazing real-life locations. It's about an early film stunt man who becomes paralyzed from the waist down. To get a young Romanian girl to steal him pills, he tells her an amazing story about a group of men (one of them is Charles Darwin) trying to kill an evil governor. The movie switches back between the story and real-life.

The Prestige- Possibly Christopher Nolan's best. A story about a rivalry between magicians.

Comedy

Repo Man- Probably the best movie ever made. Hilarious, smart, insightful, great soundtrack, great actors. Basically everything you could want.

The Wrong Guy- I'm choosing this partly because it's so obscure. Which is a crime, because it's a hilarious movie. It stars Dave Foley (NewsRadio, Kids in the Hall) as man whose father-in-law is murdered. Dave Foley thinks he'd be a suspect because he was at the scene, accidentally touched the knife and is covered in blood. So, he goes on the run, but the cops know he didn't do it. It's really, funny. You can find the whole thing on YouTube.

Action

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly- My definition of epic. There's hardly a dull moment.

The Raid: Redemption- There is not a more action-packed movie. Incredibly brutal from start to finish.

Horror

The Thing- Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, even the dog is an amazing actor. People say the special effects look dated, but given me old school puppets and latex over CGI any day. Weird, funny and off-the-wall insane. "I'm better now and I'd like to come inside."

Cabin in the Woods- The best deconstruction of horror movies ever made. So unique that some people get turned off because it's not unoriginal enough. A complaint I always hear about it is that it's not scary, but honestly how many "horror" movies actually are. I'd rather have a funny, ambitious, smart movie than a boring, predictable one.

Dystopian

Eraserhead- It certainly seems dystopian. Everything is dark and gloomy and disturbing. Henry X has sex with a woman and gets her pregnant. She has the child very, very early. Henry has to try to deal with the squealing...monster, I guess, as he loses his mind.

Stalker- Very slow, contemplative Soviet movie. Somewhere, there's a place called The Zone. Strange things happen in The Zone. To get through The Zone you need a person called a stalker. This is a movie about a trip into The Zone.

Sci-Fi

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back- Star Wars was one of the first movies that made me love movies. Empire is the best of the series.

Looper- It's kind of a...sci-fi, time travel, action western. Serious time travel movies are hard to do. To make them right, you have to make them nearly incomprehensible like the amazing movie "Primer." Looper kind of spits in the face of that by just having a character say, "I'm not going to explain it because it would confuse you too much." I admire a movie that hangs a lantern in order to allow a more entertaining movie.

Originally posted by SaulGoodman
Dystopian is a bizarrely specific choice. You might want to consider categories such as romance, western, foreign, adventure, weird, documentary, war movie, classic, animated.

Written like a true movie lover.

Drama
[color=F535AA]Oldboy - not certain whether it fits in the drama category, but can't think of where else to place it. Brilliant film. My fave film.
[color=F535AA]Testament - very quiet film, showing the true horror (and lonelyness, I guess) of what would probably happen... a film that didn't make too much of an impression whilst seeing it, but it lingered on my mind for a long time after seeing it.

Comedy
[color=F535AA]Le dîner de Cons - (don't confuse it with the absolute rubbish "Dinner for Schmucks") so funny!
[color=F535AA]50 first dates - not an all and all out hilarious film, but it certainly got it's moments, and it's such a sweet film.

Action
[color=F535AA]Casino Royale - I was never a massive fan of Bond film, but Craig took Bond to a whole new level... more human, more flawed, and excellent action.
[color=F535AA]The Matrix - (this one would fit in a few catagories, but would only reach top two in this category with me) Loved it. Very dissppointed they made two sequels. If it was only the first one it would have been a classic to me. However the second one really ruined it for me.


Horror
[color=F535AA]The Mist - I don't actually see it so much as a horror film, more about how nasty people get when pushed into a corner in a situation they cannot control. Thought this film was excellent, and the ending a massive bonus.
[color=F535AA]Brotherhood of the Wolf - a visual feast

Dystopian
[color=F535AA]Dark City - loved this film so much, and so glad I got to see it at the cinema
[color=F535AA]V for Vendetta - really liked this, and have now seen a handful of times, liking it more each and every time.

Sci/Fi
[color=F535AA]The Timemachine - new or old - take your pick. I liked them both.
[color=F535AA]Serenity - not the best film ever, but this film had charm. Hadn't been this impressed since Star Wars (and no, not the three new ones).

Originally posted by kosmicjack
Raising Arizona - The first of many awesome Coen bothers

I loved this one - saw it years ago, and then last year again, thought it was just as good watching it last year as the first time.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
Fight Club

I was surprised I liked this one, I'd kind of already made up my mind I was gonna hate it. Hahahaha!

Originally posted by snarky412
3000 Miles to Graceland Action/comedy starring Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell about a Casino robbery gone wrong.....

Another film I really enjoyed!

Originally posted by snarky412
Jeepers Creepers A brother and sister run into trouble on the way home...[*NOTE* Part 2 is also good]
The Descent A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

I thought Jeepers Creepers was brilliant - until they showed him... otherwise this film would have been just perfect!!!
The Descent is frantically claustrophobic and creepy. Excellent film.

Originally posted by SaulGoodman
The Prestige- Possibly Christopher Nolan's best. A story about a rivalry between magicians.

Great film! I liked it when I saw it, but this was a "linger film" to me... it stayed on my mind for a long time after seeing it... and the more I tought about it, the better the film became!

Drama

The Shawshank Redemption/Brokeback Mountain (you don't have to be gay and/or in prison to appreciate these)
The Godfather Part 2 - Pacino plays a pot of simmering water unsure cautious of boiling over, Brando's Vito remains cool.

Comedy

Office Space
Rush Hour/Rush Hour 2 - oddball combo of Tucker/Chan really make these films. Chan is our Charlie Chaplin.

Action

Heat (or any Michael Mann film) - Pacino, Deniro, Mann. Nuff said.
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (or any of the Man with No Name Trilogy) - when Ecstasy of Gold plays towards the end, that is movie magic.

Horror

Dawn of the Dead (1978) - the blueprint for all zombie related media
Don't Look Now - past personal horror manifests itself in a shocking resurrection

Dystopian

Threads
Children of Men

BONUS genres:

Romance/Relationships
Chungking Express/Happy Together
In the Mood for Love
*both by Wong Kar-Wai*

Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Blade Runner - possibly the only Sci-Fi I can tolerate, I hate Star Wars/Star Trek/LOTR
Sunshine/Moon

Thriller
Taxi Driver/The Talented Mr. Ripley/Purple Noon/Ripley's Game (can't decide, they're all good)
Le Samourai (the greatest hitman film of all time)

So I've worked in the multi movie theaters for numbers of years...this should be fun, and hard, and I'll probably want to change my answers a thousand times but here we go:

Drama:
Labyrinth - childhood favorite, I'm sure it will fall under the drama/fantasy category...that's my story and i'm sticking to it

Lawless - too good of a movie, starts a little slow, but when it picks up, it picks ups!

Comedy
Grandma's Boy - bought this movie when it came out on DVD because I remember the monkey doing the flying kick down the stairs during the trailer...seen it atleast a 1000 times sense then, still makes me laugh, and I never regret putting it on!

Beerfest - haven't had as much fun in theater sense this movie came out! granted i went to a theater that served alcohol and someone had the great idea to shout out near the beginning of the film that everytime they drank on the screen we drank in the audience...it was ridiculous!

Action
Dark Knight - Heath Ledger killed it as Joker, love the angle the took Harvey Dent also, Chris Nolan really did research before doing his films, in one of the comic books the joker once said that anyone can be made just as psychopathic as he is if they had a bad enough day, and did Chris Nolan presented that when he turned Harvey Dent into two face...it was great!

5th Element - another title that could go in multiple categories...but this is where i'm placing it. great movie, great actors and great lines!

Horror
Dale and Tucker vs Evil - This will probably more fit the comedy section, but I love loopholes, if you haven't seen this film, watch it! it is from the perspective of two "serial killers" which in reality is just a bunch of freak accidents happening which look like they're killing off a group of kids...hilarious and somewhat horrorish

Hellraiser - Clive Barker's a genius, his cenobites gave me nightmares for a long time!

Dystopian
Cloud Atlas - good movie, a little hard to follow, but good movie

A Clockwork Orange - This film was done really well, Stanley Kubrick is a genius!

Sci/Fi
Serenity - can't say a enough good things about this movie, also a huge fan of the tv show firefly, glad they were able to complete the series with the movie

Star Wars - Love em all, favorite is probably Return of the Jedi, but thought even the new trilogy wasn't as bad as the critics made it out to be, did see Lucas's greed get involved though, also was heart broken when the rights were sold to Disney...

that was fun! and hard...good thing you added that caveat of no runner ups, I'd probably will be working on night! Also side note, this is my 20th post!! I can make new threads now!! Wooohooooo!!!

reply to post by kosmicjack


You left out Fantasy, Mystery and Documentary as genres. And it would seem Dystopian tales falls under the aegis of Sci-Fi.

One of my all-time favorites is the original King Kong. The Peter Jackson remake has nothing on it. Great story, awesome monster. I think the animation holds up too. Guess it would fall under fantasy/action -- that or another category: monster movie.

Another favorite is Apocalypsed Now. I like the story, the characters, the scenery/sets and the narrator's voice. Throws the conventional war story on its head, and I think gives a better portrayal of what the Viet Nam war was like than just about any other movie on the subject -- even with its phantasmagoric, over-the-topness.