Movies and movie recs or "What do you mean you haven't seen that?"

[skieswideopen]

I'm interrupting hometown month to talk movies. And movie recs. With summer blockbuster more or less upon us, it seems like an appropriate time.

1. What do you look for in a movie?/What kinds of movies do you like?
2. Do you have a favourite movie or three? (I'm using random numbers here. Feel free to talk about as many movies as you like. Or as few.)
3. What movies had the biggest impact on you?
4. Do you have any movies that you indiscriminately rec to everyone or think everyone should see at least once? (Could be the same as or different from #1 or #2. Totally up to you. Elaboration is encouraged.)



*Or winter blockbuster season, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

Comments

[lightbird]

1. What do you look for in a movie?/What kinds of movies do you like? I'm a huge movie buff and like almost everything if it's done well. What I look for really runs the gamut but I particularly love quirky, off-beat movies and movies that focus on all the different kinds of relationships between people (although I do enjoy action films, too). I like films that make me think, classic films, indie flicks, foreign films, humor, drama, action, suspense. I love movies with screenplays written by excellent writers and I really appreciate fine performances by the actors and actresses; sometimes even if a movie isn't that great I can love it just because of the performances by the people in it.

2. Do you have a favourite movie or three? It's hard to narrow it down but off the top of my head: Classics Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity and All About Eve. Three of the best screenplays to come out of Hollywood, amazing actors and actresses. I also love Casablanca. More recent but still old (1980's/1990's) movies I love are She's Gotta Have It (love this movie so much), Local Hero, Mystery Train and Stranger Than Paradise (I'm a big Jim Jarmusch fan). For more recent stuff, I adored Moonrise Kingdom, The Intouchables and Waiting for Sugar Man.

3. What movies had the biggest impact on you? The Survivors, with Walter Matthau and Robin Williams. I haven't seen it in a while and it wouldn't surprise me if I hated it upon revisiting it, but there was something about this movie that really impacted me at the time I saw it.

4. Do you have any movies that you indiscriminately rec to everyone or think everyone should see at least once? Without a doubt Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity and All About Eve. These 3 films are brilliant and are not to be missed. All of the ones I named as favorites actually, lol. I would also recommend Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, and of course his Rear Window and Vertigo.

[skieswideopen]

*starts making a list of movies to watch*

[lightbird]

Some of my choices are kind of offbeat, particularly the 1980s/1990s stuff. Just wanted to warn you. :)

[skieswideopen]

I like offbeat sometimes. Though it sometimes depends on what kind of offbeat.

[lightbird]

None of the ones I've named are really violent or anything like that.

[skieswideopen]

I was thinking more 2001-style quirkiness. Slow, sweeping shots and very little happening.

[lightbird]

Ah, I get you. Jarmusch can be a little slower at points - not sweeping shots with nothing happening, but lots of times he has people together not speaking, but there's stuff in the space in between. It's very naturalistic. I like that sort of thing. Stranger Than Paradise might be a good one of his to start with because there is an interesting plot going on in it, too.

She's Gotta Have It is one of Spike Lee's early movies (I forget if it's his first movie - I think it might be). Rough summary: it's about a woman, Nola Darling, who is dating 3 different men (and the men know about each other) and eventually tries to make a choice between the 3. They are very different, and if you took the qualities of each of them and combined them into 1 man that would be the perfect man for her. It's really really good. Some parts are done almost mock-documentary style, where the men or Nola or a friend/someone else who knows her are talking into the camera as if they are being interviewed.

[skieswideopen]

She's Gotta Have It sounds interesting; I will look that up! And I will see if I can find Stranger Than Paradise as well, since I don't think I've ever watched a Jarmusch film.

Thanks!

[colls]

I haven't watched a classic movie in ages.

I have watched a few indie movies and obscure things lately, although I have to admit I'm not all that familiar with some of the movies you've listed. I'll have to check a few out. I did hear good things about the Intouchables - that it's a fun romcom-ish French thing.

[lightbird]

The Intouchables is very good, and very funny though not a romcom. There's a serious aspect to the story too, but it manages to never get too heavy. It's based on a true story.

Moonrise Kingdom played last summer and I highly recommend it. It's about two kids who are in love and run away together. Bill Murray is in it, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand. It's a beautiful film, actually. There's a lot of heart and humor in it, the cinematography is gorgeous and the film's score is great, too.

[colls]

It's even on Netflix! I just added Moonrise Kingdom to my queue. Thanks!

[naushika]

Oh wow, lots of films I've never seen! Definitely adding some of these to my to-watch list.