All-Time Favorite Films

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

I loved The Buddy Holly Story, I haven't seen that in years!

LOL -- somehow I missed it when it first came out -- then about ten years later I saw it on tape (1990 or so) and I went through a whole Buddy Holly obsession with only my daughter to support me!

like, I missed the first cultural experience in 1958 because I was only two years old when he died --

then I missed the second one because I was too busy with my new baby--

then me and the baby (at that time ten or eleven) went into full-on Buddy Holly obsession, listening to records, etc. 


I just found out my husband (who was a teenager when Buddy Holly died) missed seeing the movie, and my second child is now old enough.  So it's time to re-visit BH this summer. 

[Lola]

LOL I must be the same!   I didn't go through the Buddy Holly experience until much later, long after the movie was released in theatres.  I can't believe it came out in 78!!


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077280/

  And then I cried thinking of the waste of that life.  My son also went through a Buddy Holly stage (thanks in large part to that movie)   I think he is one of those artists who's music is timeless.   And Gary Busey just captured his essence perfectly.

He was nominated for an Oscar!

I am actually just reading about Buddy now (thanks ALOT  LOL) he was born in 36, died in 59!    


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Holly

Okay I need to go buy or rent that movie, preferably BUY!!

[AHappyMan]

and The Buddy Holly Story?

Buddy Holly Story is great. Gary Busey is great. Love the music, love the story.
"I think I'll 'what'. Would you like to 'what' with me?"

um, but no really -- ALICE with Mia Farrow (yes, a Woody Allen movie) I own it, finally.

ALICE is terrific! That scene where Mia has to "come on" to Joe Mantegna is priceless....

[sinne]

and The Buddy Holly Story?

Buddy Holly Story is great. Gary Busey is great. Love the music, love the story.
"I think I'll 'what'. Would you like to 'what' with me?"

um, but no really -- ALICE with Mia Farrow (yes, a Woody Allen movie) I own it, finally.

ALICE is terrific! That scene where Mia has to "come on" to Joe Mantegna is priceless....

I LOVE "Alice" - and that scene is a hoot!  So is the one where she's high on opium.  I have lent that movie to so many people who never heard of it and now love it too.

[Katiebre]

Katie and Lola, "Diva" is a must-see, really - I'm sure both of you'd be mesmerized by it !!

So, we watched Diva this weekend - very good!

The music it is about is simply divine, and the film is also a visual delight.
The story was interesting, too, and I think I'll want to watch it again in order to take a better note of this and that.

This one gangster, the one with the sunglasses and that unique squeezed face, is that the same actor who also was in Delicatessen?

Edit: It is, it's Dominique Pinon.

[paintedshoes]

I was reminded tonight of a film that I adore, one I have not seen in ages.  I have it on tape, must get it out.

Brief Encounter with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.  *sigh*

http://imdb.com/name/nm0002145/

I was reminded by this incredibly atmosheric picture of an English night posted in the Photo thread by Trigger Hippie.  I don't think he'll mind if I borrow it for here.

[BRAD1963]

1.    Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir: Ang Lee
2.    Norma Rae (1979) dir: Martin Ritt
3.    Network (1976) dir: Sidney Lumet
4.    Amelie (Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le) (2001) dir:Jean-Pierre Jeunet
5.    2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) dir: Stanley Kubrick
6.    Sullivan's Travels (1941) dir: Preston Sturges
7.    Hud (1963) dir: Martin Ritt
8.    Cinema Paradiso (1989) dir:Giuseppe Tornatore   
9.    The Bourne Films (2002, 2004, 2007) dir: Doug Liman, Paul Greengrass
10.  The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) dir: Preston Sturges
11.  Nashville (1975) dir: Robert Altman
12.  Parting Glances (1986) dir: Bill Sheerwood
13.  I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) dir: Mervyn Leroy
14.  City Lights (1931) dir: Charlie Chaplin
15.  Touch of Evil (1958) dir: Orson Welles
16.  Rear Window (1954) dir: Alfred Hitchcock
17.  Pride & Prejudice (2005) dir: Joe Wright
18.  The Birds (1963) dir: Alfred Hitchcock
19.  East of Eden (1955) dir: Elia Kazan
20.  GoodFellas (1990) dir: Martin Scorsese
21.  Le Samouraď (1967) dir: Jean-Pierre Melville
22.  Out of Sight (1998) dir: Steven Soderberg
23.  The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) dir: Vincent Minnelli
24.  The Way We Were (1973) dir: Sydney Pollack
25   Bad Education Mala educación, La (2004) dir: Pedro Almodóvar

[Rosewood]

I mentioned ANGELS AND INSECTS a while back and FINALLY, someone else on here has heard
of it or seen it or means to see it....My work is done. 

This is one of the most beautiful and yet, paradoxically, one of the ugliest films of all time.
The emotional wallop is pitiless.
And yet you are dazzled by the richness of the entire enterprise.
If ever a film could be said to appear to 'ripen' before your eyes, this would be it.
The eroticism on display both intrigues and repulses.

But there is no one character to fall in love with.
Even the children have a sinister aura.
This film glorifies basic human weakness and defies you
to think otherwise.

It is a true work of art, though it fails to delight.
(Except for the GORGEOUS costumes which are mind-bogglingly
beautiful beyond belief.)

See this film!

[Nikki]

I was reminded tonight of a film that I adore, one I have not seen in ages.  I have it on tape, must get it out.

Brief Encounter with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.  *sigh*

http://imdb.com/name/nm0002145/

I was reminded by this incredibly atmosheric picture of an English night posted in the Photo thread by Trigger Hippie.  I don't think he'll mind if I borrow it for here.

Jackie, I had to comment on your post, even though I hadn't planned to list my all-time favs --  too many!!!  Getting back to 'Brief Encounter.'  Not too many people have seen/know about it.  I saw it on TV -- think it was BBC on local TV.  The perfect romantic tale IMO -- the black and white cinematography makes it start and melancholy.  I think that's when I fell in love with Noel Coward.  Trevor and Celia were perfect -- I haven't read the link you posted yet -- I was too anxious to comment and tell you how much I agree with you.

[paintedshoes]

Thanks, Nikki.  I watched it again after making that post...it is as lovely and poignant as I had remembered.  *sigh*

[oilgun]

I mentioned ANGELS AND INSECTS a while back and FINALLY, someone else on here has heard
of it or seen it or means to see it....My work is done. 

This is one of the most beautiful and yet, paradoxically, one of the ugliest films of all time.
The emotional wallop is pitiless.
And yet you are dazzled by the richness of the entire enterprise.
If ever a film could be said to appear to 'ripen' before your eyes, this would be it.
The eroticism on display both intrigues and repulses.

Wow, great description!  I also have seen and loved Angels and Insects when it first came out.  I have a copy on VHS but should really get the DVD, it's so good.  What a twisted story and I loved the costumes.  Now you've made me want to watch it again! 

[Rosewood]

Katie and Lola, "Diva" is a must-see, really - I'm sure both of you'd be mesmerized by it !!

So, we watched Diva this weekend - very good!

The music it is about is simply divine, and the film is also a visual delight.
The story was interesting, too, and I think I'll want to watch it again in order to take a better note of this and that.

This one gangster, the one with the sunglasses and that unique squeezed face, is that the same actor who also was in Delicatessen?

Edit: It is, it's Dominique Pinon.

Pinon is also in AMELIE and one of the ALIEN films as well.

Guys, DIVA is one of my all time favorite movies! So happy someone else on here as seen
it as well. I've lost track of how many times I've actually seen this. It never grows old for me.

There are actually three stories in one in this film, so sometimes it is hard to keep track.
But I look at it basically as a love story with crime underpinnings. Didn't you love love love
the 'unique' apartment the hero lives in?? The splashy murals and the auto detritus?
As well as the loft that that other guy lives in - the enigmatic Zen guy. LOVE the scene in
the kitchen with him wearing the snorkle headgear. I mean, talk about eccentric!!
AND the scene with the two Citroens!!!

And above it all, the music! That sublime aria, La Walley, sung so beautifully by, geez, I always forget
her name...Kathleen Wiggins-Fernandez? Something like that. SO gorgeous.

As you can tell, though my memory is faulty, I LOVE this film!!!

[Rosewood]

I mentioned ANGELS AND INSECTS a while back and FINALLY, someone else on here has heard
of it or seen it or means to see it....My work is done. 

This is one of the most beautiful and yet, paradoxically, one of the ugliest films of all time.
The emotional wallop is pitiless.
And yet you are dazzled by the richness of the entire enterprise.
If ever a film could be said to appear to 'ripen' before your eyes, this would be it.
The eroticism on display both intrigues and repulses.

Wow, great description!  I also have seen and loved Angels and Insects when it first came out.  I have a copy on VHS but should really get the DVD, it's so good.  What a twisted story and I loved the costumes.  Now you've made me want to watch it again! 

Thanks, OG. My copy too is VHS, though it's worn well. One of these days I have to get the DVD.
My player plays both so I can watch either/or.
This isn't the sort of film you want to see over and over, but it is the kind of film you'd like to see once
in awhile to refresh your memory. Yes, it is twisted, but in such an over the top way that you kind of view
it as an opera without the music.

And by the way, wouldn't THIS make a terrific opera??
Surprised no one's done it.

Remember the scene at the picnic with all the kids and nannnies and the hero sitting around
drawing ants? What is it about this scene that is so vaguely unsettling?

Remember the mother as human Queen Bee, I mean she just about ferments before our eyes.
What a film.

[Dave Cullen]

I saw Half Nelson a few weeks back, and it was my favorite from last year. It has stuck with me, and deserves to be added to my list, I think.

So here's my current list--not in order, except the first two, which are tied (and i'm sure i forgot some):

Moulin Rouge, Wild at Heart, Hope & Glory, Trust, Harold & Maude, Eternal Sunshine, 42 Up, A Streetcar Named Desire, Billy Elliot, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, My Own Private Idaho, Brokeback Mountain, The Grifters, Before Sunset, Living Out Loud (mostly for Holly Hunter's moment of ecstasy on the dancefloor), Manny & Lo, Life of Brian, Sammy & Rosie Get Laid, The Big Sleep, Manhattan, Half Nelson.

i used to have Heathers on that list. not sure if it belongs there. i look back on all these so fondly. Three Kings is kinda close. and The Unbelievable Truth should maybe go, but i think of it so closely to Trust, which obscures it. i wonder if i should add Raiders of the Lost Ark. it thrilled me when i was a young lad--now, i wonder if it would hold up. Arizona Dream almost makes it.

[CANSTANDIT]

I'm not sure I listed mine, but here goes a revised list, but the order changes depending on mood:
Top 30, for no good reason:
1)Brokeback Mountain
2)Out of Africa
3)America Graffitti
4)Raiders of the Lost Ark
5)Star Wars
6) The Trip To Bountiful
7)Sweet Sixteen
8)Wizard of OZ
9)Angels With Dirty Faces
10)Sand Pebbles
11)Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn
12) Close Encounters of the Third Kind
13)StakeOut
14)Jaws
(you can tell I love Richard Dreyfuss movies..)
15)All The President's Men
16)The Godfather
17)Love Me or Leave Me
18)The Magnificent Seven
19)The Conversation
20)Bonnie and Clyde
(I'm a Gene Hackman fan, too)
21)Die Hard
22) Aliens 2
23)My Life As A Dog
24)La Cage Aux Folles
25)National Lampoon's Vacation
26)Fast Times At Ridgemont High
27)Papillon
28)The Graduate
29)Silence of the Lambs
30)The Shining