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Old 01-31-2013, 03:28 PM   #1 (permalink)
Exo
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Default Thursday Top Five

This is going to be a lot like the "saturday six pack" thread in the lounge except instead of six different questions I'm going to pose a topic for you to name your top five of whatever that topic might be (for example...top five films/actors) but I'll have more fun categories. I have a horrible problem with finishing things. Remember my year in film thread? Yeah me neither. I want to do a new topic every week so please remind me on thursday if I haven't put one up yet. Just fill my ****ing inbox with threats.

Anyway...here's our first topic. We'll make this an easy one.

Top Five Films - Any Order



Jaws

Easily my favorite film of all time. Is it the best film? I'd say it's up there but my fascination with it is more than that. Scheider and Shaw both give one of a kind lasting performances and Dreyfuss succeeded in bringing the comic relief. Spielberg directed it perfectly by not showing the shark until well into the film and it worked perfectly. The making of the film is just as fun as the final product. It's just one of those films that I can watch from any point over and over and over again.



Magnolia

This is one of two films by PTA that will be featured on this list. This one is just balls to the wall perfect screenwriting. For a three hour movie there isn't one single dull moment in the entire thing. Magnolia also boasts my favorite cast from any movie. Every single character is tragic and is acted out perfectly. Cruise, Baker Hall, William H. Macy, and Jason Robards were only the few in this film that gave career defining performances. It's also a cinematography nerds dream. The long takes and brilliant tracking shots in the tv studio and bar are some of the greatest shots ever filmed and of course the movie just hits me on an emotional level that no other film has. Then there's the bizarre frogs. I love every second of it.



There Will Be Blood

It's the greatest acting performance ever. You could pick any singular second of DDL on the screen and call it a masterpiece of acting. The story while being more of a slow burn was still invigorating and intense as any action movie hollywood churns out and the direction of PTA is of course genius. The dark scenes of Daniel staring at the oil fire and talking to his brother by the fire are just brooding and dark as anything I've seen. It's just a tour de force of an epic.



Blue Velvet

I could have picked a lot of things Lynch. Mulholland Drive and Eraserhead could have taken this spot but I went with Blue Velvet for two reasons. The first one is Dennis Hopper. Enough said. The second one is the fact that I feel this is his best movie from a directing geeks perspective. The story of MD and the bizarreness of Eraserhead are both huge in my eyes but I feel that Lynch crafted a masterpiece with Blue Velvet. Each shot is like a painting of dark coolness and is just candy to the eyes to watch.



Lost in Translation

I love Bill Murray. He's one of my favorite people. I know it's the cool thing to say nowadays but that doesn't make it any less true. The man is awesome. However, I'd love this movie even if Bill Murray wasn't in it. Sofia Coppola crafted a film that hit every single one of my emotional strings. The film has a great soundtrack couple with amazing shots of Tokyo and other parts of Japan. I see a lot of myself in Scarlett Johanson's character as I felt very lost in high school and some of those feelings stayed with me. I'm also a secret sucker for romance movies...only the good ones though. I get choked up every time at the end. Perfect film.

Others that I could argue top five for...
The Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
Children of Men
Road to Perdition
The Shining
Old Boy
Drive
Rear Window
Mulholland Drive

And yes I know there's a thread with this exact topic but I just wanted to start out simple. This could give people who haven't posted in that thread for a while to re-do their list or talk about each film more. I'm going to start the topics out broad and get more specific each week so just deal with it for now.
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Old 01-31-2013, 03:43 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Very nice picks with Blue Velvet and Lost in Translation. Being a former expatriot, I connected with Lost in Translation on a very personal level. There are few movies that can bring me to tears, but that's one of them. In fact, I would have to say those would make my top 5 as well. But, to be different I'll pick another 5 movies I love.

This is in no particular order...I have a very hard time deciding on definitive top 5 anything...so these are just 5 movies I really like.

The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson's masterpiece, in my opinion. You get attached to the characters more than any other of his films - even the minor ones. I could watch this over and over.

Escape From New York
An undisputed B-movie classic that produced one of the most badass characters of all time. When I first saw this, I wanted to BE Snake Plissken. This is one of those rare instances where its corniness actually enhanced it...because most of us know what happened once Escape from LA was made. This was a tossup between this and The Thing...aw hell, and Halloween. I'm a Carptenter fan.

Wayne's World
I don't care what anyone says, this could quite possibly be the funniest movie of all time. I could watch this over and over. Every time it's on TV, I must watch it. It probably also kick started my yellow fever...Tia Carrere is freaking hot in this.

Ghostbusters
Another one I could watch over and over again. I'm also in agreement that Bill Murray is one of the funniest people on the planet. I'm also a huge SNL fan, if you couldn't tell by this and the Wayne's World entry. I know this wasn't an SNL skit, but obviously it's got some SNL regulars and pretty much summed up exactly why the 70's era SNL was the undisputed classic era.

Lost Highway
Yes, I am also a huge Lynch fan. I would actually rate Blue Velvet higher, but this one is so underrated it's insane. With Lynch movies, you don't watch them to just enjoy a movie. You watch them to understand whatever the hell it is he is trying to do, give up halfway, and then try to come up with your own damn explanation. It's very involved and I love that.
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Old 02-02-2013, 09:14 AM   #3 (permalink)
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unlike duga, i don`t often turn to the movies in search of comedy; i get much more pleasure out of a half-hour sitcom on tv than i do out of most comedy movies, tbh.

but i can agree with him and exo about blue velvet, the first post-modern movie i saw. you two guys must be real movie buffs - so fascinated by lynch and hopper that you don`t have time to mention isabella rossellini. still, if i only have five choices, blue velvet has to be squeezed out in favour of the following:-

my taste in movies is pretty conventional, which is why ivory-merchant comes immediately to mind. perhaps passage to india was their best; a long movie with lots of local colour so that you can lose yourself in some lush, picturesque past.

copying exo again, 12 angry men is an exemplary movie, with a lot of lessons that hollywood has yet to learn. the movie is rivetting because of the strength of the ideas, the dialogue and the acting, without a special effect in sight. at the other extreme, hollywood blockbusters, to my mind, are frequently made by throwing thousands of dollars at various lame and childish storylines, creating something that used to be known as a "snow job" - superficially dazzling, but lacking in substance.

i think spielberg is an over-rated director, so i almost resent having to choose a movie by him, but schindler`s list is a beautifully-crafted telling of an extraordinary story. perhaps it`s so good because it`s so unlike any of his other efforts ...

the coen brothers deserve a mention, and by a narrow margin, i think i`d go for fargo over barton fink. although oh brother where art thou had this big americana music element, i didn`t enjoy it much as a movie. i wonder what you guys think of their movies ?

can`t get much more conventional than choosing the movie that is often awarded the all-but-meaningless title of " the best movie of all time", i.e. casablanca, but there are plenty of reasons why it`s always in the "best" lists. the chemistry between the romantic leads, the film noir effects balanced with the light relief of the subplots, the wonderful cast of character actors and the way the movie throws you uncompromisingly into a complex political situation means you can enjoy this movie again and again.
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Old 02-04-2013, 01:26 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Hard to pick just five, but in no order:

The Odd Couple: You only need two words to explain how incredible this movie is. Lemmon and Matthau. No more to say.

Silent Running: a relatively low-budget movie that was talking eco-conservation before Hollywood latched onto it as the next big thing. Dern is both terrfying and sympathetic in his character as a man who has nothing left to lose, and intends to defend the last of Earth's forests against the uncaring mass of politicians and accountants. The really clever thing about this movie is that though he kills all his shipmates, you don't FEEL like he's a murderer. It's like, he's driven to it by being pushed to the limit; his back is to the wall and he either accepts the situation or he does something about it. The robots of course steal the show, and "Silent running" has one of the most touching and emotional endings you'll ever see. Just an amazing film which, as Lisnaholic pointed out about another great movie, has barely a special effect to its name.

Downfall: Just the most realistic and harrowing portrayal of Hitler ever to hit the sceen, and I include Robert Carlyle's interpretation, great as it was, in this. The real strength of the movie comes from the fact that it's totally in monochrome and though it runs for over three hours and is subtitled you never once lose interest and it never flags at all. Superb.

Memento: One of the cleverest (and at times most confusing) movies I've seen in a long time. Great direction from Christopher "Dark Knight" Nolan, before he got famous, and a stellar performance from Guy Pearce in the main role. A movie you definitely have to keep your attention rivetted to.

Excalibur: John Boorman's faithful retelling of the Arthurian legend. Drop-dead gorgeous scenery, powerful music, excellent leads and just the right amount of humour to raise it above such "epics" as "King Arthur" and others of its ilk. A true masterpiece of storytelling, from the master storyteller.
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Old 02-04-2013, 07:14 PM   #5 (permalink)
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5. Gattica: I could watch this sci fi thriller over and over, it's concept is really facinating with a distopian society forcing the people with bad genes out of decent jobs. The hero hides his flaws to become an astronaut by using blood, skin cells and urine from a genetically perfect man helping him out. Well worth checking out if you haven't yet seen it.

4. Clueless: This is the one movie that ALWAYS cheers me up when I'm down. Preppy blonde Cher finds out what matters most in life, and does her best to make it a better place. Plus, the gorgeous Paul Rudd is in it!

3. Titanic: This is probably cliched but this blockbuster has everything you could possiblely need in a film - action, romance, comedy and a passionate love affair. Absolutely incredible special effects and a gripping storyline.

2. How to Marry a Millionare: Marilyn Monroe stars in this funny and romantic comedy. With great dance numbers and beautiful costumes, she really hooks you in!

1. Gone with the Wind: an epic, sweeping tale of the old South. Scarlet O'Hara is a beautiful and tough woman who battles her way through the civil war and is deeply in love with Ashley.
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Old 02-07-2013, 05:46 PM   #6 (permalink)
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I know that the first category was pretty boring. Hopefully this one will be better responses. I expect Jack and Pete to participate in this one. You mofos better contribute.

Favorite Performances

Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview
There Will Be Blood




This is without a doubt my favorite performance ever. It's mesmerizing. DDL completely transformed his entire being to play Plainview (like he usually does). I love the accent. I love the moustache. I love the greed and hatred beaming from his eyes. He gives some of the best line delivery I've ever see and it also helps that he's a complete badass. There has just ever been anything like it before.




Robert Shaw as Quint
Jaws




Ahhh my favorite character from my favorite movie. I've always been a fan of salty rugged characters but nobody does salty rugged like Robert Shaw. There is nobody on this planet that could have played Quint like Shaw did. I love how you could barely understand some of the words he was saying giving away a small notion that Quint is certifiably insane which Chief Brody claims he is later in the movie. The best monologue in film history is given by Quint and still gives me chills even though I've seen this movie over 100 times. Just completely classic and will go down and be talked about forever.



Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth
Blue Velvet




The most terrifying person ever put on screen. That's Frank Booth. There's no reasoning with Frank. Frank doesn't go by logic. If you piss him off he'll ****ing kill you. Hopper played it perfectly. God what a terror. I actually can't describe him more than this video does...



Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa
Inglorious Basterds




Hilarious and frightening. This is a great combination and I feel Waltz's performance as Hans Landa perfect the mix of the two. He stole every single scene of that movie and is the reason I consider it Tarantino's masterpiece. The first scene at the French farmhouse is one of the most intense yet hilariously horrific scenes I've ever seen and it is driven by Waltz. I almost considered his role as Dr. Shultz in Django but Landa was just too evil to pass over.



Michael Shannon as Curtis
Take Shelter

[IMG]http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/0930-movie-review-take-shelter/10779309-1-eng-US/0930-movie-Review-Take-Shelter_full_600.jpg[/IMG


I almost didn't put this in the list but I wanted to have one dark horse make the list instead of the usual bunch. I loved this movie and I love Michael Shannon. Usually the darker the character the more I get into the mind of the character and this was no exception. Curtis was quiet and tense and you knew there was just a storm full of things going on in his head and it was shown with such subtlety from Shannon. He can also be explosive. It was a terrifying wonder to watch.



Honorable mentions

Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight
Robert Mitchum as Preacher Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter
Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Bell in No Country for Old Men
Jeong-hie Yun as Mija in Poetry
Min-sik Choi as Dae-su Oh in Oldboy
Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho
Bill Murray as Bob Harris in Lost in Translation
Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Qwell in The Master
Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in American Beauty
Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in The Shining
Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman inAmerican Psycho
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Old 02-09-2013, 03:39 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Exo, do these have to be movie performances only or is TV allowed too?
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Old 02-09-2013, 05:28 PM   #8 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trollheart View Post
Exo, do these have to be movie performances only or is TV allowed too?
You can do tv. Right now I just want people to post in this thread cause I was excited about the idea haha.
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