What's Your all-time number one super duper favorite movie?


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~ Nowadays, the idea of 'favorite movie' is a bit de-limiting to consider. Concept-wise, the idea has acquired a...lacking...of the full meaning it once had had.

~ "Once Upon A Time, in an Era far, far away..." a movie was only a single story. No longer. George Lucas showed up and took a chance. Boy, did he start a McDonald's that everyone wishes they got in on the stock-market ground floor for. He started the popularization of movie/theatre/cinema 'sagas': multi-movie 'stories.' Yes, they'd been done before...very rarely, and obviously, unsuccessfully.

~ After Lucas' The Empire Strikes Back, the style of episodic-tv-stories mutated an evolution of acceptance-of-same by the populace in cinema-stories. Yes, there were the James Bond 'sequels' (as others) which had one story occasionally referring back to an earlier one, but none were 'story-wise' actually dependent upon the earlier ones; they did 'stand alone' on their own story-merits (or lack thereof...such as JAWS-3D) (and, contrary to many, I really LIKE '3-D' movies!)

~ Given this new development in cinema, asking "What's your favorite 'movie?'" is nowadays almost like asking "What's your favorite chapter in the book 'X'?" I stress 'almost'. There are movies that stand alone, as I've said; no argument.

~ Ntl, if I answered L-O-T-R, Part III, what meaning would that have to anyone (other than inherent fans)? Or SW, Part V? Or 2001: A Space Odyssey, Part II (aka 2010, a bona-fide 'sequel')? Kill Bill Part III, anyone?

~ In these new cinematic story-styles evolving nowadays, some 'movies' properly should not be evaluated as having any worth ONLY on their own, but have to be seen in terms of being ONLY a 'part' of what they are...a chapter of some 'movie-story'. Ergo, sometimes, one's 'favorite movie'...is really a multi-'movie' (or, as a single 'movie', is only a section of a 'story')!

~ I've listed (probably too many...elsewhere, as here) a few 'favorites'. But, if we define 'favorite' as one/those I (or, 'you'?) *personally* would want, more than any others, to just be able to watch again, knowing that all others were to be destroyed (for whatever reasons), a-n-d, only 2 'movies' could be saved, and I (or *you*) got to choose those 2 of them, I'd have to say:

1) That's Entertainment...and it's 3 additional 'sequels'

2) The Matrix...Trilogy

...and, multi-movie stories nwst, I'd put up a hell of a fight for adding Batman Begins, Singing in the Rain, Disney's 2 'Fantasia's, V for Vendetta, An American in Paris...(someone stop me!)

LLAP

J:D

Edited by John Dailey
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Here are my 10 favorites in order:

1. HEAT

2. LEON: The Professional

3. Sin City [Frank Miller]

4. Beauty and the Beast [Disney animation]

5. Cube

6. The Matrix

7. The Wizard of Oz

8. Star Trek: Generations

9. Star Trek: Nemesis

10. Atlantis [Disney animation]

HEAT is my all-time number one super duper favorite movie. I don't know how many times I've watched it, and it is a loooooonnnnnnng movie. LEON is a close second, and I've watched that one many times too. Understand these are both very violent movies, and not exactly promoting ideals. Still, the stories are told very well, and in the end, well, without spoiling things, I'll simply say my choices stand.

Sin City is an even more violent movie, but it's a very good story and well told. It's a movie of a graphic novel [thick comic book], and has some memorable characters.

Beauty and the Beast. I could be Belle. She's a great character. Beauty and the Beast is a great story.

Cube is violent, graphic, and compelling. Think of it as a game of life and death with characters scattered about the philosophical and political spectrum.

The Matrix was brilliant. The 2nd and 3rd parts, as well as The Animatrix, were all fine too, but the first movie was the best.

The Wizard of Oz is where I wrap myself in fantasy. I've also enjoyed many of L. Frank Baum's books on Oz.

From Star Trek, my two favorite movies were Generations and Nemesis. Generations is simply good storytelling. While some of the latest Star Trek movies were awful, the last one Nemesis was brilliant.

While Atlantis has a slow period in it (and therefore could have benefitted from a stronger editor/director relationship), I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Edited by Graham Glover
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Graham:

~ The *1st* in any series/saga movie is almost ALWAYS 'the best,' re Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Alien, (nm The Matrix); they show something (when well done) 'new' that a cinematic visionary risked going over the horizon for. An 'intro' movie has to have greater visceral 'impact' than it's sequels. --- However, I'd have to put Kill Bill II and, maybe, Terminator II on the same, rare, par as their own prequel.

D. McK:

~ Re Fritz Lang's Metropolis: not familiar with his other works, but, you might be interested (if you can find it) in Georgio Moroder's (sp?) 're-imagining' of it with color filters and personally composed music. He searched for 'lost' scenes and added them in. A 'classic' on its own.

LLAP

J:D

P.S: Yeah, I should have added Sin City to my list...somewhere. Fascinating movie in several original ways.

Edited by John Dailey
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Sujane:

~ Good 'summary-description' of V ! "Anti-totalitarian" really clearly sums up his character, and, the whole story, whether the movie, the PB (based on the movie) or the original 'graphic-novel'!

~ Can't believe that in all my praising of it elsewhere (attempting to specify it's worth, contrarizing those who were 'con' because of his 'anarchy'-oriented personal-and-public mission [regardless that he was operating in a Dystopia, akin to Hitler's Germany]), that I missed that simple way of pointing out the story's/movie's worthwhileness. He was 'pro'-Freedom...from...totalitarianism/Dictatorialism. --- V, the character, was 'anti-Totalitarianist'. Simple as that.

~ That he had a 'revenge-trip' that coincided, I find beside the point re any 'cons.' I'd say he had 'good reason', and, found an intelligent way to use it to wake others up. Iran's/N.Korea's/China's discombobulated peoples could use someone like him.

~ Anyways, very well put.

LLAP

J:D

Edited by John Dailey
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I was just going over/catching up on this fun thread, and noticed Victor's mention of "City Lights."

Yes indeedy! Chaplin's autobiography is fantastic.

I'm a huge Chaplin fan. I thought Robert Downey Jr. did a marvelous job in the film "Chaplin." That film is up on my top 3 list, I think. Just adore that...

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~ His personal life aside, Downey Jr IS an 'actor's A-C-T-O-R; right up there with the best of such.

~ He was great as Chaplin IN Chaplin; but, 1/2 of that movie has to also go to Moira Kelley who played Chaplin's love-of-his-life...a-n-d, as a later 'significant other.'

~ Can one picture Downey Jr as Tony Stark? That's what he's supposedly now working on.

LLAP

J:D

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Movie I'm embarassed to admit I like (but still do) - The Omega Man

Another vote for that work with Heston. While the premise of the movie dealt with an uncomfortable and likely impossible reality, (unlikely that we will be wiped out by a virus, but perhaps wiped out by a mindset and if you look at it this way, perhaps Omega Man was prescient), I found the plot, situation and the ingenuity of one man of modern science against a world of primatives to be fascinating.

I remembered seeing that at a drive-in movie theater in 1971. Those were fun days.

Another film I highly recommend is The Right Stuff, a film about our quest for flight, and eventually, outer space. It's almost a docudrama, because it contains a factual history of the American space program's early beginnings, and the hotshot pilots who's spirit of adventure got us to where we are. Those men were true heros, and this film made you feel as if you knew them all.

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Mark; The Right Stuff is great. I also think Apollo 13 is great. Some episods of From the Earth to the Moon,an HBO series, about the Apollo program are very well done. Is The Right Stuff on dvd?

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Yes, *The Right Stuff* is on DVD. It is one of the small handful of movies I brought with me when I moved out of the States. Sam Shepard’s portrayal of Chuck Yeager is fantastic. Those guys were true American heroes.

I agree with recent raves on this thread for *Apollo 13* and *The Omega Man*.

-Ross Barlow.

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