Author Topic: Movie Recommendations/Want To See List (2007-2011) (Read 114725 times)

saltydad · « **Reply #175:** February 23, 2008, 05:17:41 PM »

Thanks 1a; will have to wait until my DSL is fixed to watch the video.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #176:** February 23, 2008, 05:29:23 PM »

Oops, I forgot about that.

ronnynat · « **Reply #177:** February 25, 2008, 06:58:46 PM »

After yesterday's Academy Awards, I was thinking of all of the Best Picture winners that have and haven't seen. I haven't see A LOT of the older ones. I marked them with a "y" if I've seen it, or an "n" if I haven't. I started with 1938. Which ones do you guys recommend?

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natsfan1a · « **Reply #178:** February 25, 2008, 07:31:26 PM »

I've seen most of those (well, not some of the most recent ones). I don't think that you can really go wrong with many of them, although I don't think that the best film always wins ("Going My Way," for example, is a nice film, but "Double Indemnity," which was also up in 1944, was more deserving of the Oscar, IMO). I like different movies for different reasons. Maybe just pick one from the genre that you find most appealing to start with?

NatsAddict · « **Reply #179:** February 25, 2008, 08:50:04 PM »

The most recent "best picture" I have seen is Million Dollar Baby

saltydad · « **Reply #180:** February 25, 2008, 09:50:46 PM »

I went through the list one by one (of those you haven't seen yet). I have 2 categories...great films, .....and films that you must see before you die. In reverse order, here are the one's to have on DVD even in the hospital:

On The Waterfront
Marty
In The Heat Of The Night
Midnight Cowboy
French Connection
The Deer Hunter

These are the "merely great":

Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
How Green Was My Valley
Mrs. Miniver
The Lost Weekend
Best Years of Our Lives
Gentlemen's Agreement
All the King's Men
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Ben Hur
The Apartment
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
Tom Jones
A Man for all Seasons
Patton
Chariots of Fire
Terms of Endearment
Amadeus
Out of Africa

The others are good films; as 1a said you can't go wrong with 'em. But if I was making up my Netflix queue, I'd start with the first group. I think they transcend the passage of time since they were made. And while this is obviously an intensely personal selection, I think you'll find broad agreement (I hope

).Happy viewing.

ronnynat · « **Reply #181:** February 25, 2008, 09:54:45 PM »

^ Thanks a lot for that.

I've been wanting to see The Deer Hunter for some time now. I haven't had the time yet. It's a REALLY long movie. I do have it here, though.

In the Heat of the Night is another I've heard a lot of good things about.

saltydad · « **Reply #182:** February 25, 2008, 10:06:51 PM »

French Connection has the best chase scene (maybe tied with Bullitt). Deer Hunter is well worth the time investment. It'll blow you away. With that cast how could it not? Waterfront is a great gritty, realistic film with unbelievable performances from Rod Steiger, Brando, & Lee J. Cobb. After you see Marty you will never see Ernest Borgnine the same again. Ben Hur I find great but too long. Lawrence of Arabia is great and long. Amadeus I almost put in my must see list. Tom Hulce was fantastic. Rebecca is an old time mystery period piece; I loved Olivier here. Gregory Peck is one of my favorite actors, and Gentleman's Agreement, a story of anti-semitism, is superb. Terms of Endearment is a movie that, the macho man in me hesitates to admit, is a real tear jerker. Watch it for Shirley Maclaine and Jack Nicholson.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #183:** February 26, 2008, 01:10:41 PM »

I just finished reading The Night of the Hunter (found at a library book sale), and it reminded me how much I liked the original film version. It came out the same year as Marty, which I also liked, but Hunter did not receive any Oscars. I didn't care for the 1991 (made for TV) version with Richard Chamberlain.

arkymark · « **Reply #184:** February 26, 2008, 03:57:58 PM »

Oh, man, Lillian Gish as the grandmother with a shotgun; Shelley Winters at her desperate trampiest, and Robert Mitchum at his very creepiest, creepier than Cape Fear, even; screenplay by James Agee and directed by Charles Laughton, to such widespread negative reaction that he never directed again. What a scary, very weird movie. I thought there were references to it in the excellent Coen Brothers movie The Man Who Wasn't There. Oy.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #185:** February 26, 2008, 04:54:21 PM »

Yes, and I think that was probably the case for other films as well (the references). I read somewhere that it was Mitchum's favorite role.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #186:** February 26, 2008, 06:26:50 PM »

Another site that you might check out for possible films (in case you're not familiar with it) is filmsite.org

It's a particularly good resource for info on classic films. I like to look at other resources in addition to the Academy Awards because IMO the best film or performance is not always the one that wins the Oscar in any given year.

But, as salty says, it's subjective anyway (and I like your picks, salty).

ronnynat · « **Reply #187:** February 26, 2008, 06:29:35 PM »

Quote from: natsfan1a on February 26, 2008, 06:26:50 PM

I like to look at other resources in addition to the Academy Awards because IMO the best film or performance is not always the one that wins the Oscar in any given year.

That's very true. The Best Supporting Actress nominees this year weren't very good at all. I agreed with almost all of the others, though.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #188:** February 26, 2008, 06:34:05 PM »

I didn't see all of the Best Song performances but given the ones that I heard from Enchanted (particularly the toilet-scrubbing one), I wonder whether they might be better off retiring that category?

arkymark · « **Reply #189:** February 26, 2008, 07:56:47 PM »

Did you see "Once," the movie the best song came from? Absolutely charming. And the stars are now an item. I mean, how much romance can you stand. So I'm glad they kept it this year because I liked that movie so much.

2k6nats · « **Reply #190:** February 26, 2008, 08:40:21 PM »

Vantage Point is astounding; very dramatic, smart movie. Perfect movie to see in theaters.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #191:** February 28, 2008, 05:28:41 PM »

A posting inspired by a film in the Movie Quote thread: I recently picked up Black Hawk Down at a library book sale. My husband got engrossed in it and read through it in a week or so. It's very well written and the narrative draws you in. Not long after he finished the book, the film was on network television, and we watched it. The film was very good, except I kept asking "did that guy make it?" and my husband wouldn't tell me. Also, it had been edited for television and some of the dubbing for expletives was very lame. For example, I'm pretty sure that special forces types don't commonly sling around the term "pooh" while talking amongst themselves.

I haven't read the entire book, just skipped around a bit.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #192:** February 28, 2008, 05:29:40 PM »

No, I haven't, and I suspect the song may have been performed after I gave up watching and turned in. Will have to check it out.

Quote from: arkymark on February 26, 2008, 07:56:47 PM

Did you see "Once," the movie the best song came from? Absolutely charming. And the stars are now an item. I mean, how much romance can you stand. So I'm glad they kept it this year because I liked that movie so much.

2IPAs · « **Reply #193:** March 03, 2008, 03:01:44 PM »

I went to see "There Will Be Blood" last weekend and it was a memorably bad movie experience--loooong with only sporadic bursts of actual activity. Granted, Daniel Day-Lewis did make you believe Daniel Plainview was clinically insane, which is probably why he won the Oscar.

blue911 · « **Reply #194:** March 03, 2008, 03:05:57 PM »

Quote from: 2IPAs on March 03, 2008, 03:01:44 PM

I went to see "There Will Be Blood" last weekend and it was a memorably bad movie experience--loooong with only sporadic bursts of actual activity. Granted, Daniel Day-Lewis did make you believe Daniel Plainview was clinically insane, which is probably why he won the Oscar.

Sounds like a Britney Spears home movie. :stupid:

ronnynat · « **Reply #195:** March 23, 2008, 09:46:38 PM »

I saw The Darjeeling Limited yesterday. Amazing movie. If you like any of Wes Anderson's movies, you'll definitely want to see this one. This is his best yet, IMO.

I gave this an 8/10.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #196:** March 24, 2008, 04:55:12 PM »

I don't know if August Rush has been brought up, but I watched it the other day and was kinda enjoying it until the end. I thought the end was awful, flat awful. I wish I knew it was a fairy tale going in, that might have changed things, but I can't recommend this movie to anyone.

saltydad · « **Reply #197:** March 24, 2008, 05:24:31 PM »

No Country for Old Men was very good, a spare, sharp morality tale. Recommended.

Edit- In a previous posting I did of recommended films, I realize I left off To Kill A Mockingbird and The Pawnbroker, 2 films I highly recommend also.

arkymark · « **Reply #198:** March 25, 2008, 01:54:04 PM »

Just saw a great Japanese movie for those who like slow moving, very quiet movies about aging families, which may not be a lot of people. Anyway, Ozu's Tokyo Story.

natsfan1a · « **Reply #199:** March 28, 2008, 03:12:05 PM »

Don't remember whether these have been mentioned before, but on recent flights we saw Enchanted and Becoming Jane Austen.

I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the first one. Amy Adams is a gifted comedienne and pulled off the role of the fish/princess out of water very well. I could have done without the drawn out special effects at the end but overall it was a fun movie to watch. I'd give it perhaps 3 of 4 stars.

I didn't enjoy the latter film as much. IMO, it might have been better with a more talented actress in the lead role, and the ending struck me as rather contrived. There were some good turns by the character actors. I'd give it 2 1/2 to 3 of four stars (1c gives each of them 2 1/2 to 3 of 4 stars).