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Favorite Movie?

Re: Re: Favorite Movie?

Beaner said:


Not to be overly contentious here, but I have a lesbian friend who says the plot of Chasing Amy (straight guy falls in love with a lesbian and converts her to the team of heteros) is bogus. Certainly she isn't speaking for all lesbians, but she dislikes the movie because it minimizes and almost illegitimizes lesbianism as our female protagonist (antagonist?) navigates through a hetero world that apparently admonishes, yet lavisciously drools at alternative female sexual orientations.

Emotionally honest? I don't know. Though I can probably think of a couple of recent movies that are pretty damn good and a whole lot more serious, emotionally speaking... English Patient, Monster's Ball, In the Bedroom, and Iris. Certainly not funny movies by any means, but if you are looking for emotional satisfaction, then go see those. In my opinion, Iris is the most gut-wrenching, especially if you ever seen a parent or older loved-one go through the degeneration that the Judi Dench lead character went through.

Chasing Amy as a great frat boy movie? Sure - young hottie talks trash and gets it on with both girls and boys! WOW! Hand me another brewskie!
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Oh good I thought someone might bring this up....

Alyssa wasn't a lesbian. Never was. Check out the scene in the middle of the film when she answers Holden's question "Why me?":
"Until I remembered why I opened the door to women in the first place: to not limit the likelihood of finding that one person who'd complement me so completely. So here we are. I was thorough when I looked for you. And I feel justified lying in your arms, 'cause I got here on my own terms, and I have no question there was some place I didn't look. And for me that makes all the difference. "

I found it emotional honest because it was real. It was actually the story of Kevin and Joey Lauren Adams relationship, slightly skewed. It was a painful movie for them to make together. I felt it really came from Kevin's gut, it was something very personal he had to say and he used his art to say it. No, it not the deepest movie ever made, but scratch the surface and you'll find there is quite a bit more than you would expect.
 
Sure, in the annals of frat boy movies, Chasing Amy is a damn good and meaningful flick. But in terms of the many "emotionally honest" films out there, Chasing Amy is just a blip on the screen. A fun film, yes, but as you say, not the deepest movie ever.
 
Re: Re: Favorite Movie?

Beaner said:

Chasing Amy as a great frat boy movie? Sure - young hottie talks trash and gets it on with both girls and boys! WOW! Hand me another brewskie!
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And a handi-wipe!
 
donk said:
Repo Man - "You find one in every car" Tins of food labelled food, drink etc. And the sound track, Circle Jerks and others.
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You mean one of these?
 

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Ok, not to turn this into a Chasing Amy thread but there are just a few more things I want to add.

Kevin Smith (from what I can tell) had three main goals in this film.
1. To apologize to Joey Lauren Adams - This was the main point of the film. He just wanted to make it clear to her that He F*cked Up. And he's sorry. I'm not sure if anyone else caught this but it didn't seem to subtle to me: Holden is Kevin. Making comics was an analolgy to making films. Chasing Amy the comic book (his book where he 'had something personal to say') was Chasing Amy the movie. Bluntman & Chronic was his earlier films, etc... This is what I meant by emotionally honest. Not my emotions but the filmmakers. Kids effected much more emotionally than C.A. did. But I'd be willing to say that Kevin put a hell of a lot more raw emotion into making C.A. than Larry Clark and Harmony Korine put into Kids. They are both great movies but latter is technically a better film, while the former is a more honest film, and that honesty just impresses me so much more.

2. To explore sexual politics Ok this get a little tricky. From interviews I've read with Kevin, the whole point of making Alyssa 'gay' was so that he could explore some issues that were going on in his head about sexually. (He did the same thing with religion in Dogma) What he came up with is this, (I think):
Sexuality is an outdated notion. As humans evolve we have learned (or are learning) to look past things like skin color and nationality when choosing a mate. Why not look past the sex? Just look at the person. Judge them for who the are inside. Watch the movie again and pay close attention to the speech I referenced above. It's all in there.

3. Try not to alienate his core audience Hence all the d*ck and fart jokes. In fact, if you take my Kevin = Holden theory from above. A good portion of movie is Kevin whining about how he has to keep doing those jokes in order to keep his fans happy, and how he wants to be taken as a 'serious' artist.

Christ, I think about this sh*t way too much.
Sorry I'll get off my soapbox now. I hope some of this makes sense. Try watching the movie again with that point of view. Maybe you'll see it in a different light.
 
Hey Statler, If you ever lose your job as a planner, you could jump right in an be a college professor in the film department. :)

I think the reason that Chasing Amy did not appeal to the gay or lesbian population is because the move made homosexuality seem like it is a choice and/or a "phase" that someone goes through. In discussion with a friend that came out during college, he said he has known he was gay since he was in high school and that it is not a choice, that he was born gay. I make the assumption, knowing only a few gay people, that this is the case for most of the gay population. Then to have a mainstream movie come out and make it seem like all a lesbian needs is "a good deep d*&$*ng" (to quote the movie) to turn her straight, probably angered a lot of people.
 
Not to ruin this exceptional analysis of an ok movie, but Joey Lauren Adams was much better in Big Daddy.
 
As I said before she wasn't "turned straight" she was never gay. She was also never straight. She was simply open minded. From what I've read from Kevin he would agree with the statement that most people are born gay or straight. Look at Hooper, very, very gay. Some people, however, are given a wider berth. They have the freedom to be with whoever makes them feel the most comforable at that time. I think that's what made people uncomfortable about this movie. Alyssa didn't fit into a nice little box. That freaks people out (both gays and straights. I don't normally get this worked up about movies I just feel this movie is too often misunderstood.

Oh, and the 'deep d*cking' line was a joke. :)
 
Not a big movie watcher, but here are my tops:

1. Once Upon a Time in the West (The Harmonica Man song still makes me shiver.)

2. High Plains Drifter

3. Dr. Zhivago

4. Dark City (I love Art Deco-and the while the plot is silly, I just found the aliens so cool and creepy).

5. Mad Max

6. Hellraiser I and II (Ugly, but cool)
 
1. Dadetown

Director Russ Hexter's only feature--a documentary about a small town in upstate New York with a dying metal fabricating company and a brand new document imaging company, and how the new people interact with the old residents.

2. Airplane!

Ted Striker: "Surely you can't be serious. "
Dr. Rumack: "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."

3. The Simpsons--monorail episode, with consultant Lyle Langley and his recycled, dangerous public transportation idea.

Langley: "Oh, but it's more of a Shelbyville idea." (starts to leave the public hearing)
Mayor Quimby: "Just tell us your idea, and we'll vote for it."

4. Clerks

Olaf Oleeson: [singing] "Do you want to be making f&*(, BERZERKER!"
Jay's Lady Friend: "Did he just say "making f^&*"?"

5. Life is Sweet

director--Mike Leigh
best use of chocolate syrup award--Jane Horrocks
best tomboy plumber ever--Claire Skinner

Lover: "You writing a novel? What's it about?"
Nicola: "Dunno. 'Aven't started it yet. "
 
The Matrix
Run Lola Run
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Princess Bride
Flying High
All the Wallace and Gromit episodes
Demolition Man (cheesy I know but I like it for some reason)
The Gods Must Be Crazy
 
Some (older) British Movies

Having mentioned Albert Finney's turn as Scrooge, I realised I forgot to mention the Tom Jones movie he did.

I suppose the Taming of the Shrew as done by Liz Taylor and Richard Burton counts as an American film...

The Carry On movies (not including Carry on Columbus) and Up Pompei

And another good movie is the Jamaican 'The Harder They Come' with Jimmy Cliff
 
Dogma

Finally saw it this weekend, albeit the cable version with "A**hole" dubbed to "jerk" etc. But I still thought it was hysterical!
 
Speaking of Comedy Central...

I don't know if it qualifies as a movie... but Comedy Central used to have a show called Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K)... and then I think it moved to Sci Fi or something. But anyway, this weekend I was watching a few episodes (we don't get it up here in Canada, so I had to rent some videos), and I was thinking that I wanted to add this to my favorite movies list.

Come to think of it... I think there was a MST3K movie... so at least I wasn't hijacking this thread.
 
I used to love MST3K - the older "original cast" and before they ran out of japanese monster movies.
 
My ultimate favorite movie is:

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A few of my other favorite movies include:

- Animal House
- Godfather (I & 2)
- Menace II Society
- Exorcist
- Halloween (1 & 2)
- Goodfellas
- A Soldier's Story
- Jaws (1 & 2)
 
Big Easy King said:
My ultimate favorite movie is:

186105.jpg


Click to expand...

LOL... I tried to find a picture of Biggie Shorty this morning (Wanda Sykes) to use as my avatar. Couldn't find a good one though. That movie cracks me up.

Big Easy King, you're a baddy daddy lamatai tebby chai!
 
Some that come to mind are (not in any order):

1. Saving Private Ryan
2. Undercover Borther - "Black Man's Kryptonite"
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. Better off Dead
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
6. The Great Escape
7. Force 10 From Navarone
8. American Graffiti
9. Tombstone
10. Star Wars Episodes IV, V, VI
 
Top 10 ?

Off the top of my head in no particular order.

Good, Bad and the Ugly
Clockwork Orange
Conan the Barbarian
Rocky I
Pulp Fiction
The Great Escape
Flash Gordon (what a gem!!)
Outlaw Josie Wales
Jaws
The Thing
 
Hm. This is always a hard one. Can't narrow it down to just one.
Sid and Nancy
Bleu, Rouge, and Blanc
Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
The Exorcist
The Shining
anything Monty Python has done
anything Simpsons
Taxi Driver
 
Honorable mention

The Unforgiven
Escape from Alcatraz
History of the World
Victory
Carrie
The Changling
Field of Dreams
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Excalibur
Dirty Harry
 
1) Friendly Persuasion
2) The Searchers
3) Raiders of the Lost Ark
4)Destry Rides Again
5) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
6) The Outlaw Josey Wales
7) Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade
8) Altered States
9) High Noon
10) Austin Powers -The Spy Who Shagged Me (Yeah, baby)

Basically anything with Harrison Ford, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Coop, Clint Eastwood, Jodie Foster or Sean Connery will be a favorite of mine.
 
hmmm...

in no order;;;;;

1. Mystery Science Theater 3000
2. Holiday Inn (Bing Crosby)
3. Kissing Jessica Stein
4. Sound of Music
5. Wizard of Oz
6. Dr Zivago
7. Continental Divide
8. Halloween
9. Thank-You Julie Newmar
10. Dolores Claiborne


oh.. forgot about Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands....
 
1. Saving Ryan's Privates
2. Backdoor Girls IV
3. Come Again? 9
4. Anything from the "Leather Masters" series
 
In no order

1. The Usual Suspects
2. Lonesome Dove (I know it was a TV mini series but it was great)
3. American Pie
4. Das Boot
5. Dolemite: The Human Tornado
6. The Princess Bride
7. Any Indiana Jones Movie
8. Dogma
9. Raising Arizona
10. Even though they are considered dumb films, I can watch movies like Road Trip, Old School and Billy Madison over and over again. I love stupid movies such as those. That probably explains a lot...
 
This thread hasn't been needled in about a year. Rather than start a new thread, here's this Bear's list of favorite movies of all time. Call them, if you will, the "desert island movies".....

In no particular order:

Doctor Zhivago
Animal House
All Three (3) Lord Of The Rings
Woodstock
American Grafiti
American Beauty
The Godfather
Godfather II
White Heat
Doctor Strangelove
Spartacus
Once Upon A Time In America
The Deer Hunter
Carrie
All Quiet On The Western Front
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World
Boy's Town
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Run Silent, Run Deep
It's A Wonderful Life
Irma La Douce
Roaring Twenties
Operation Petticoat
Sabatour
The Birds
North By Northwest
Quiet, He Can Hear You
The Best Years Of Our Lives

Ebert & Bear
 
Rushmore
The Royal Tennenbaums
Almost Famous
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Groundhog Day
What About Bob?
Field Of Dreams
Life As A House
Garden State
The Secret of NIMH
The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Goonies
High Fidelity
An Affair to Remember
Love Actually
Best In Show
Disney's Robin Hood
Godfather I&II
 
OK, after some careful thinking I present my list:

In no particular order except for #1:

1. The Empire Strikes Back - Darth Vader at his absolute best!! :-D
2. Star Wars - A childhood shaping movie.
3. Coming to America "Ahhh, you want to soy your royal oats..."
4. Trading Places "When you think of love, your heart beats round and round....heeeehhhheee"
5. Cooley High "Here I am, worrying about getting kicked out of school, and you busy signifyin'...Besides your mama likes it!"
6. Blade Runner - When I was 8, I thought we were supposed to have flying cars in 2000.
7. The Transformers movie
8. The Color Purple "Until you do right by me, everything you do is going to be f***ed up..."
9. Forrest Gump
10. Friday "Do I still look high?..."

Honorable Mention:
Return of the Jedi - The scenes towards the end of the movie with Skywalker, Vader and the Emperor saves this movie.
The Jerk
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
Juice
Enemy of the State
Patriot Games
 
Okay, I think I'll have to change my list. I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night, and I think that's now in my top 5. I've been thinking about it all day.
 
What, bump a 24 year old thread... sure, why not.


A while ago we (My boys and I) went and saw the new Avatar movie at the theaters and they all said that it was the best move they have ever watched. It was good, but I am not sure I would call it best.

Same goes for F1 with Brad Pitt, good, but maybe not best.

What about you. Have you seen any movies over the past several months that you would say is your new favorite movie?
 
You know, I'm looking, and I don't see nearly enough flair. I thought we had agreed that you would want to express yourself.
 
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