Your Favourite Movies

[Cheesegear]

So, two threads made me start this. One thread told me that the Playground thought Guardians of the Galaxy was the best movie of 2014, even though Foxcatcher and Nightcrawler (among other things) are on the table. The second thread told me that opinions can't be objective (even though when you apply statistics, they can be). So, I thought I'd do away with all that, and go full subjective, mostly to know what I'm dealing with when talking about movies in the Playground.

What are everyone's favourite movies? Top 5, Top 10? Doesn't matter. Movies you enjoy the most. Movies you've seen the most. You can post justification if you want. But you don't have to. It's your opinion, you can list whatever you like. This isn't even a recommendation thread, you don't need to sell anyone on anything.
Without further ado, here's mine, in no order;

Toy Story 2
Spider-Man 2
Hook
Alien
The Terminator
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Moon
Twelve Monkeys
The Way Way Back

Also, being a formative child of the '90s, I've seen Mean Girls over 20 times, true fact.

[Eldan]

Hmm.

Kill Bill
Spirited Away
Ghost in the Shell 2
Clockwork Orange
Fight club
2001: Space Odyssey
Hot Fuzz
Hero
Pan's Labyrinth
Hellboy 2: The Golden army

That's 10, just what came to mind first. I tried to cover some different genres, too. There could be better when I think on it more.

[Pronounceable]

I don't understand why Maverick hasn't been accepted by international law to be the best American movie ever. It has cowboys, it has poker, it has hustling, what else could anyone want in a movie? I will make it so when I conquer the world.

Liking Police Academy is wrong, I know that's a fact, but dat sound effects dude...

Burton's Batmans were a formative experience for many nerds that left a black leather clad dominatrix shaped soft spot in their minds, despite being pretty bad as Batman movies.

Die Hard is the measure by which every action movie ever should be judged against. Shame about sequels, though that's only to be expected.


I know all those other nice famous stuff like Fight Club, Clockwork Orange, Jurrasic Park, Schindler's List, Alien, etc are all very good movies and whatnot but they're lacking in charm somehow and don't get my seal of approval.


vvv: Right. Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day. I'd forgotten those. Also Blues Brothers and Grease now that I think about it.

[Cheesegear]

Hero

First post and there's already a movie I haven't seen before. How can this be!? :smallconfused:


I don't understand why Maverick hasn't been accepted by international law to be the best American movie ever.

Because it doesn't have Kurt Russell or Bill Murray in it, and it's main character is an Australian. :smalltongue:

[BeerMug Paladin]

In no particular order, here are 10 movies I really like. They might not be my favorites, they just happen to be ones I thought about first.

Up
Die Hard
Terminator 2
Treasure of the Sierra Madrid
District 9
The Dark Knight
Zombieland
Shoot 'Em Up
Wall-E
Quills

[Hiro Protagonest]

Kung Fu Panda
Spirited Away

I don't watch a lot of movies. =/ It seems to be harder to find good movies than good TV shows on legal streaming services. Hero, Terminator franchise, basically anything by Miyazaki, etc...

[Kitten Champion]

Favourite? Hard to say...

Big Trouble in Little China
Kiki's Delivery Service
Pulp Fiction
Alien
Rashomon
Ghostbusters
Dr. Strangelove
Back to the Future
Flash Gordon
The Princess Bride


Something like that.

[Sparx MacGyver]

There's allot of movies I really enjoy, and love.
Escape from NY/LA, Overboard, The Thing
Back to the Future, Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Bill & Ted, Ghostbusters, Princess Bride, Footloose
Blade Runner, Maverick, Mad Max, Die Hard

I could probably go on and on for awhile.

[Dumbledore lives]

Relatively random selection but films that I am always willing to watch, no matter how long it has been.

Ghost World
Pulp Fiction
The Big Lebowski
Blues Brothers
Empire Strikes Back
Die Hard
Toy Story 3
Life of Brian
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Reservoir Dogs

[Kid Jake]

Unforgiven: Hands down my favorite Western if not my favorite movie ever.
The Thing: Been in love with the effects of this movie since I was a kid, the reason I perk up when I hear 'John Carpenter.'
Blues Brothers: Greatest musical ever.
Night of the Living Dead: Still my favorite zombie movie of all time, I rewatch it at least once a year.
Kung Pow! Enter the Fist: A stupid movie admittedly...but it's GLORIOUSLY stupid.
Magnificent Seven: Seven Samurai but with gunslingers? Hell yes.
Almost Heroes: Probably my favorite Farley movie; doesn't get a lot of love but I enjoy it.
Evil Dead: All time favorite horror movie and the only one off the top of my head that's ever actually freaked me out.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Well, here are some movies I enjoy. Not necessarily my top 10 or anything, though.
Amadeus
LotR
Monty Python's Holy Grail
Star Trek II
The Hunt for Red October
The Avengers
Princess Bride
The Incredibles
Shadow of a Doubt
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

[Ebon_Drake]

After employing the completely objective system of randomly flicking through my DVDs, I'll go for:

The Wicker Man (1973)
Let the Right One In
Fargo
The Shining
Amelie
Ran
Leon
Raging Bull
Million Dollar Baby
The Godfather Pts 1 & 2

I'll stop at ten, I'd agree with plenty of others already mentioned too.

[Eldan]

Oh yeah, there's also number 11 that should really be on there, but I couldn't really kick any other of the list: Hot Fuzz. Utterly brilliant.

[JoshL]

Ask me any given day and my list will be completely different. So here's the top 10 as of right this minute:
1) Legend - This is the only one that never changes. I love this movie so much. Got me into electronic music as much as it did film music.
2) The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra - worth watching if you grew up on terrible 50s b-movies
3) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - this could just as easily be Brazil or any other Gilliam
4) LOTR/Hobbit - Lumping them all in here as one
5) Susperia/Inferno - I think I might like Inferno a little more, but Susperia is a classic. And, again, amazing score
6) Night of the Living Dead - I never get sick of Romero's zombie films, but the first will always be my favorite.
7) Wild Strawberries - Bergman's most perfect film, and that's saying something!
8) Kurosawa's Dreams - short stories based on Kurosawa's actual dreams. It's beautiful and surreal; scary and comforting.
9) City of Lost Children - or, really, anything else by Jeunet. I just rewatched this yesterday, so it's on my mind
10) The Dark Crystal - likewise this. Skeksis friend!

Too many more to list. I love movies!

[Feytalist]

My favourite movies, based on some inconsistent personal measure of quality:

Jarhead
Sunshine
Drive
Dark City
The Fountain
The Wicker Man
Fearless
Eastern Promises

And some movies I just really enjoy and would happily rewatch any time:

Black Hawk Down
Centurion
Snatch
Boondock Saints
Equilibrium
Layer Cake
Pitch Black
The Crow
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Enter The Dragon

[DigoDragon]

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Last Starfighter
Terminator 2
The Goonies
Die Hard

[veti]

Interesting, I was expecting to see a bias towards modern movies here, cos that's what usually happens with an open question like that. But from the looks of the lists above-mentioned, the Golden Age must've peaked circa early 80s...

In no reasoned order, I nominate:

Singing in the Rain
Duck Soup
Gone with the Wind
A Man for All Seasons
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Back to the Future (trilogy)
The Ladykillers (original Ealing version, not Tom Hanks remake)
Bride &Prejudice
Life of Pi

[Yora]

Ghost in the Shell
Inception
The Empire Strikes Back
Alien
Blade Runner
Ghost in the Shell 2
The Thing
Conan the Barbarian
The Big Lebowski
Raiders of the Lost Arc

I might well be able to fill up my top 20 with only movies that already have been mentione here.

[MLai]

Some of these are my all-time favs, some get into the list due to specific things they had.

Aliens = One of my all-times.
Dark City = The setting, the first half, and Connolly.
Die Hard = IMO, the pioneer of modern Hollywood hard-action.
Equilibrium = Not in itself, but for perfecting the gun-fu that was started by Hong Kong films.
Ghostbusters = An all-time.
Ip Man = I can't think of another overall-better non-magical kung fu movie.
Legend = The perfect fantasy movie would be Legend's presentation, + Neverending Story's fantasy without the "IRL interruptions" or "Nothing", + Princess Bride's acting without the "IRL interruptions".
The Little Mermaid = An all-time.
The Secret Of NIMH = An all-time.
Terminator 2 = An all-time.
The Two Towers = This one and Fellowship are tied.

[Cheesegear]

Big Trouble in Little China
Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
Ghostbusters
Dr. Strangelove
The Princess Bride

I only listed my top 10, but if I was listing my next ten, those are literally what I had in mind. So, well done, you! :smallsmile:
The other four being The Magnificent Seven, Tombstone, Casablanca and The Court Jester.
Lucky 21/Honourable Mention goes to Caddyshack.


Ip Man = I can't think of another overall-better non-magical kung fu movie.

I know I said you don't have to justify anything, but I'm letting you know that The Raid and The Raid 2 exist.


Given why I started this thread, I'm seeing a surprising lack of super-hero movies (especially Thor). But, I'm seeing more Kurt Russell movies than I am Bill Murray movies, so at least I know which direction this Forum leans.

[MLai]

I know I said you don't have to justify anything, but I'm letting you know that The Raid and The Raid 2 exist..
Not just the kung fu action, but the movie's quality as a movie overall.
You can lift the plots for Raid and Raid 2 out of arcade games.
"Are you a bad enough dude to survive 30 levels! Wise fwom your gwaves!"

[Feytalist]

I'm seeing a surprising lack of super-hero movies

Superhero movies - especially the modern ones - tend to be sound and spectacle; great in the moment, but not something you generally retain much of afterwards.

[Eldan]

Given why I started this thread, I'm seeing a surprising lack of super-hero movies (especially Thor). But, I'm seeing more Kurt Russell movies than I am Bill Murray movies, so at least I know which direction this Forum leans.

Thor or Thor 2 might, perhaps, make my top twenty if I think about it a lot, but probably not. The rest... Guardians was funny, but not that great, in retrospect.

[BeerMug Paladin]

Superhero movies - especially the modern ones - tend to be sound and spectacle; great in the moment, but not something you generally retain much of afterwards.

And different people have differing levels of tolerance for that general approach.

It seems pretty rare to me that people working on such movie projects use the material to its full potential. Which is a shame, because the superhero setting does have some interesting potential for creative stories that can't really work in other genres.

[holygroundj]

My problem with a favorites list is that I've just seen so many enjoyable movies it's hard to pick. I will however, present you a list that does me right:

Movies that I will stop what I'm doing and watch if they are playing on TV, every time:

Shawshank redemption
Braveheart
Back to the future (any)
The Matrix and reloaded
Angus
Big Lebowski
Star Wars
Highlander
Groundhog Day
Big
Beauty and the Beast
Terminator 2
A few good men.
A league of their own.
Avengers
The Karate Kid (Macchio)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Pitch Perfect
Searching for Bobby Fischer
and, of course,
High Fidelity... Although my favorite line about sweaters from that movie isn't appropriate anymore... :(
Of that list, I would pull

Star Wars
Matrix I
A few good men
Pitch Perfect
and Braveheart as my top 5 currently.

For super hero movies, a ton of the ones I current enjoy (I've seen GotG twice, so I can't put it on that list yet) aren't on cable. The Wolverine was for a while, and I really liked that movie, but I'm not sure I'd skip what I was doing for it.

[DigoDragon]

Superhero movies - especially the modern ones - tend to be sound and spectacle; great in the moment, but not something you generally retain much of afterwards.

My list was based on how many times I've seen the movie. So... it would slant toward older movies which have been around often enough for me to have seen about 8-10 times. :smallsmile:

[Feytalist]

And different people have differing levels of tolerance for that general approach.

It seems pretty rare to me that people working on such movie projects use the material to its full potential. Which is a shame, because the superhero setting does have some interesting potential for creative stories that can't really work in other genres.

True.

I personally think that a superhero movie is only as good as its villain. It's true for the ones that I tend to remember, at least. Think The Dark Knight. The Joker made that movie. And Iron Man 2 was an average movie, except Mickey Rourke stole every scene he was in. Even Man of Steel. Michael Shannon's Zod was a believable, even tragic character with a great presence, right up to the end. Plus I just really like Michael Shannon.

Now take Thor and The Avengers: Loki might be a sleek manipulator, but he's not really an entertaining villain to watch. Not in the same way that the Joker is.

It's all personal opinion, of course.


My list was based on how many times I've seen the movie. So... it would slant toward older movies which have been around often enough for me to have seen about 8-10 times. :smallsmile:

Fair enough. My second list is full of those. The ones I can rewatch basically endlessly.

[Moak]

Some titles that jumped to my mind at the question:

The Shawshank Redemption -> This film moved me. So. Much. I can't exactly say WHY, but I love it.
The Princess Bride -> Inigo Montoya. The best sword duel ever. And a music that is so fine tailored on the scenes it elevate all of it. And... Columbo best granpa ever.
They Call Me Trinity -> The best of Terence Hill & Bud Spancer, a... parody?... of spaghetti western that is so good I put it before even The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -> The best film of my favourite Lucas franchise. Sean Connery and Harrison Ford alchemy really gave it a push. I know like... all the dialogue by memory? I've seen it too many times.

There are probably better film there, and if someone asked me the same question tomorrow, it can be different. But it's what come to me now.

[Cheesegear]

Superhero movies - especially the modern ones - tend to be sound and spectacle; great in the moment, but not something you generally retain much of afterwards.

Yes, no. Spider-Man 2 has a message that is yet to be repeated in any other super-hero movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVX-cUJGdxs), and, during the train scene, Spider-Man has been villified by the newspaper for ages, yet when Spidey's mask comes off, and his identity is revealed to literally dozens if not a hundred people, Spidey just saved all those people, and the people give Peter back his mask, and nobody says a word, despite the fact that the Bugle has been calling him a 'menace' since day dot. Spider-Man 2 is in my Top 10 movies for a reason.

Hook is similar. Yes, Hook is a super-hero movie. It has all the tropes. It's a super-hero movie.

I expected Thor to be on someone's list, simply because of how well it's put together. I'd also be willing to believe that Captain America 2 (which somebody did put), and Iron Man 3 are somebody's favourite movies.


They Call Me Trinity -> The best of Terence Hill & Bud Spancer, a... parody?... of spaghetti western that is so good I put it before even The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Two of my favourite movies. Unfortunately I've already got Magnificent Seven and Tombstone in roughly the same genre, and they're just really good movies. Tombstone even has Kurt Russel in it. :smalltongue:

[Peebles]

My rough top-ten:

Inception - Excellent combination of a fun, unique idea, excellent story, acting performances, and ending. Okay, and Di Caprio is in it, and he's excellent in it.
Despicable Me - Had to be near perfect to get me over my dislike of Steve Carrell to enjoy myself. It managed it.
Alien - The scifi film, and the only Alien film. There were no sequels. No. Sequels.
Scott Pilgrim - The most relentlessly entertaining movie I've ever seen bar none. Michael Cera doesn't hurt either. :smalltongue:
Toy Story 2 - Another near perfect family film.
Stardust - I'm allowed one awesome chic-flick, aren't I? It's excellent, girlie movie or not.
Shaun of the Dead - Probably the only good movie I've seen with zombies in it. Hilarious British comedy at it's finest, too.
The Dark Knight - I only felt like I could have one superhero movie on here, so this was it. Mainly for Heath Ledger's Joker. Avengers and the very first Batman came close.
Jurassic Park - Anyone who watched this as a kid and wasn't completely and utterly enchanted and then horrified by all those dinosaurs is a stranger to me!
Blues Brothers - Have to agree with one of the posters above. One of the best musicals ever.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I personally think that a superhero movie is only as good as its villain.

Megamind was pretty good. And that was all about the protagonist.

Anyway, most superhero movies just have their villains do bad things because they're the bad guys. That kind of villain tends to be boring and uninteresting because they have completely undeveloped motivations. And motivation is the thing that makes characters potentially interesting. That's where something like 90% of superhero movies fail.

That's also probably what makes villains generally more compelling to the audience. Why would someone choose to do something that is so clearly wrong?

The funny thing is, The Dark Knight's Joker was exactly that sort of villain, but it worked with that movie because it was part of the plot and main theme of the movie.

[comicshorse]

Usual Suspects
Zulu
Princess Bride
Hard Boiled
The 13th Warrior

Above will always make my list, others may vary week to week but for today :

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Mystery Men
Blade 2
Split Second ( I love B movies )
Henry V ( Kenneth Brannagh's version)

[DigoDragon]

Fair enough. My second list is full of those. The ones I can rewatch basically endlessly.

Oh, I forgot one cause I don't own it on DVD yet-- Apollo 13. Seen that about 5-6 times through streaming or TV broadcasts (plus once in the theater). One of the few movies I've found where Hollywood takes a historical moment, fancy it up into a dramatic movie, and still manage to stay real close to the material. I liked it.

[Cheesegear]

Toy Story 2 - Another near perfect family film.

Colour me interested. I know why I think TS2 is the superior film of the trilogy, why do you?

[Bulldog Psion]

Starting out with a pair of heavy hitters, and then moving on to a chaotic jumble of everything:

Godfather
Godfather II
Guardians of the Galaxy
Blackthorn (nothing like a good bleak western for me :smallwink: )
3:10 to Yuma (new version)
Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda 2
Iron Man 2
Avengers
Rango (one of my top 10, definitely)
Black Hawk Down
We Were Soldiers
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Hellboy
Troy
The Dark Knight (exclusively for Ledger's Joker)
The Adventures of Tintin (2011) (long-time Tintin fan)
Star Trek: Into Darkness (heresy, I know)
Pulp Fiction
The Naked Gun (shameful, I agree)

Honorable mention TV series:
Rome (on a par with the Godfather, as far as I'm concerned)

Odd note:
No, there are no Star Wars movies on my list. I hope that 7 makes it on there.

[McStabbington]

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Seven Samurai
Aliens
The Iron Giant
Unforgiven

[Moak]

Hook is similar. Yes, Hook is a super-hero movie. It has all the tropes. It's a super-hero movie.



I very very like that movie... even if I've seen that it has a sort of... bad reputation?




Two of my favourite movies. Unfortunately I've already got Magnificent Seven and Tombstone in roughly the same genre, and they're just really good movies. Tombstone even has Kurt Russel in it. :smalltongue:

Seems like there a movie for me. Never seen Tombstone. I simply love ironic western movies, that's why I choose Trinity above the rest. Magnificent Seven is a masterpiece, but I'm a sucker for Morricone themes, so it scores lower, to me, than some Leone's works.

[Feytalist]

Megamind was pretty good. And that was all about the protagonist.

The protagonist was also the villain for most of the movie :smalltongue:

I personally did not like Megamind much. Sound and spectacle over substance, again. Also the designated antagonist was utterly bland and boring, which as you mentioned kills a movie.



Seems like there a movie for me. Never seen Tombstone. I simply love ironic western movies, that's why I choose Trinity above the rest. Magnificent Seven is a masterpiece, but I'm a sucker for Morricone themes, so it scores lower, to me, than some Leone's works.

Tombstone is a great, played-straight western. Great acting, and only slightly less iconic than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Probably my favourite, along with Unforgiven.

[Peebles]

Colour me interested. I know why I think TS2 is the superior film of the trilogy, why do you?

Well, it's just my opinion obviously, but I think the expanded cast of toys/characters helped, particularly Jessie. Being a 12-year old girl when that movie came out, having a female character who was more outgoing and fun and confident in herself than her male counterpart was a pretty big thing. All the cartoons and animated movies I'd seen before that had the girl playing the damsel in distress or random sidekick, so it was a nice change of pace. Also, I think the story in 2 is the best, whilst 1 and 3 focused on toys not being taken care of, 2 took a different path.

[Dienekes]

This really depends on my mood, but these are the movies I either have to stop and watch when they're on, or I put on when I'm bored:

Godfather 1 and 2
The Dark Knight trilogy
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Empire Strikes Back
Duck Soup (and most other Marx Bros movies honestly)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Brazil
Fight Club
Psycho
Bringing Up Baby
Les Miserables 10th Anniversary dvd (probably cheating but I don't care)
Young Frankenstein
The Thing
Die Hard
Amadeus
Ran
Airplane!



Also, being a formative child of the '90s, I've seen Mean Girls over 20 times, true fact.

Probably the only kid at the time who only found it funny when people were hit by the school bus. That probably says something about me.

[ChaosPerfected]

I personally did not like Megamind much. Sound and spectacle over substance, again. Also the designated antagonist was utterly bland and boring, which as you mentioned kills a movie.

Aww really? I loved Megamind's journey and his presentation and all that but I also really enjoyed the concept of Titan. I think he worked as a designated antagonist. The idea of an extreme loser, a "nice guy", someone who thinks the world owes him gaining limitless power? It's a good idea. I just didn't like the ending all that much.