Recommendations on Movies
I would love to hear what the Gulch recommends as far as classic movies that have to be watched. I had a pretty frugal upbringing and my family didn't watch movies. As an adult, I know there's a lot of movies I know I should have watched that I haven't.
For example, I've never seen any of the Godfather movies. Any recommendations?
For example, I've never seen any of the Godfather movies. Any recommendations?
Gone With The Wind, especially the parts after the war, to see what happens to America if Biden/Ho are elected.
The Wizard of Oz, especially for the allegory on corrupt politics and music
Bogart at his best:
Casablanca
The African Queen
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Caine Mutiny
The Maltese Falcon
Key Largo
The Big Sleep
and others worth seeing
The Manchurian Candidate - the original with Frank Sinatra, which was kept out of circulation for years so as not to insult China
Lost Horizon
Wait Until Dark
Sabrina (both versions)
Best of James Stewart
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - a political fable
It's a Wonderful Life
Harvey
No Highway In The Sky
Rear Window
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Spirit of St. Louis
Vertigo
Anatomy Of A Murder
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
How the West Was Won
and others
Best of Alfred Hitchcock
The Lady Vanishes
Spellbound
Notorious
Strangers On A Train
Dial M For Murder
Rear Window (also James Stewart)
To Catch A Thief (also Cary Grant)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (also James Stewart)
Vertigo (also James Stewart)
North by Northwest (also Cary Grant)
Psycho
The Birds
Marnie (also Sean Connery)
Torn Curtain (as in the iron curtain)
Best of Sean Connery
All his James Bond 007 films
The Man Who Would Be King
Time Bandits
The Name of the Rose
The Untouchables
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Hunt For Red October
Best of Cary Grant
Topper
Arsenic and Old Lace
To Catch A Thief
An Affair To Remember
North by Northwest
Charade
Musicals
Guys and Dolls
My Fair Lady
The Sound Of Music
South Pacific
Oklahoma
The Music Man (1962)
Oliver
Call Me Madam
Wizard of Oz
Singin' In The Rain
The King and I
Peter Pan (1950 tv movie)
"1776"
Carousel
Neptune's Daughter (just for the hilarious Baby It's Cold Outside sequences)
Great Science Fiction
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and lesser remake (1978)
Superman and Superman 2 Directed by Richard Donner
Serenity (but recommend you watch the tv series Firefly first)
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Star Wars Episodes 4,5,6 only
Logan's Run (1976)
Soylent Green (1973)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
The Time Machine (1960)
Galaxy Quest
Total Recall
Terminator
Star Trek Movies 2,4,6
Blade Runner (1982)
The Sting
It Happens Every Spring
From Here to Eternity
Elmer Gantry
Birdman of Alcatraz
Seven Days in May
Field of Dreams
Stalag 17
Executive Suite (1954)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Hustler
Giant
Cool Hand Luke
The Verdict
American Graffiti
Trading Places
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Working Girl
The Fugitive
Clear and Present Danger
Sabrina (1995)
Air Force One
Clint Eastwood
"Dirty Harry" series
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
In the Line of Fire (1993)
Hang 'Em High (1968)
Blood Work (2002)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Absolute Power (1997)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Space Cowboys (2000)
Trouble with the Curve (2012)
The Eiger Sanction (1975)
Westerns
Silverado
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
High Noon (1952)
Stagecoach (1939)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Rio Bravo (1959)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Open Range (2003)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Tombstone* (1993)
There are hundreds more.
Ben Hur
The Omega Man
Planet of the Apes
Musicals
Man of La Mancha
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Brigadoon
Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People, which was Sean Connery's first big role.
Anytime Heartbreak Ridge comes on tv I sit down and watch it...
Anti-fa meet combustion. You have to scroll down 1 tweet
https://mobile.twitter.com/HostoHarke...
My two favorite samurai flicks are famous Japanese Director Kurosawa's two movie classics: "Yojimbo" (famous Italian Sergio Leone was successfully sued for "A Fistful Of Dollars" following the plot way too closely) and Seven Samurai (The Magnificent Seven got permission for the similar plot, though the very recent remake really stinks).
The best remake me dino thinks me ever saw was made in 1990 of George Romero's iconic Night Of The Living Dead made during 1968.
Frank, if I were you, I'd watch Godfather 1 and Godfather 2 (both are great) but do not even touch the Godfather 3 DVD. Please, don't even THINK about watching that. It hurts!
I saw The Magnificent Seven with Yul Brunner before the Seven Samurai, both are excellent. The tension is high and continuous. This is what movie making should be about. The word in Japanese is The Code, something like Galt's values.
I am also a fan of Fellini especially La dolce vita. A journalist is looking for something, he does not know what, he explores a range of Rome's cultures, the intellectuals, business class, aristocracy, the vulgar rich, he does not find anything of value, or with values, he sees a young girl on the beach and sees there is still hope.
If you like a good laugh then see Doctor in the House, only the Brits do comedy in that class.
Night Of The Living Dead, yes, great scary scifi genre. Good for a laugh as well, but only hours after to break the chills.
Victory at Sea, music by Richard Rogers, the commentary is fine by me but a bit too formal and patriotic by today's standards, great drama. I understand that it gives accurate accounts of the great WW2 sea battles. There is a UK parallel, Victory in the Air, music by Benjamin Britain, very good but not in the all time great class like Victory at Sea.
Dr Zhivago. Life under the Tsars was horrid. Life under the Bolsheviks was worse. Maybe, the cruel revolution was essential to make the breakout, is the theme. Life improved, slowly, got a bit better, there is hope, there is a long way to go. A classic love story set against the vast country and and epic history.
Battleship Potemkin, earlier but a similar theme. A classic movie of the time.
More modern, Lion. The true story of a 4 or 5-yo boy in India, who got lost, sent to an orphanage, adopted by an Australian couple, challenges and struggles, memories of the family and home now lost. Then as an adult, with vague memories he uses the internet and google maps, searches for years, finds what must be his town, the clue is the rail station and water tank. At 25, goes back to India, a beautiful portrayal of a western tourist who is Indian sort of but nothing like the people around even in body shape. He finds the house, then his mother, and bro and sis. His mother on seeing him after 20 years says 'my happiness is as deep as the ocean'. Yes, see this one.
I was immersed in Seven Samurai well before seeing Mag 7.
That's the first I've heard of Kurosawa, who did not have to worry about being sued by Shakespeare when he made Throne Of Blood based on Macbeth. I liked watching both.
Sanjuro is a sequel of Yojimbo. Sanjuro is nothing like the sequel, For A Few Dollars More, which I consider the best of "The Man With No Name" trilogy.
Man with no name? Bah. He's called Joe in the first, Manco (Manko?) in the second and a brown-haired Blondie in the third.
Adventure...Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Drama.... Grand Canyon
War movie..Bridge over the River Kwai
Submarine...Run silent run deep
Series... the Thin man
I'll approach this with question. Genre is important. Do you look for entertainment, philosophical, life metaphor?........
I'm guessing that you could get over 100 unique recommendations from each of the highly active members here....good luck sorting.
I'm finally at a point where I can enjoy some 'me' time.
For fun...the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and any of Bing Crosby/Bob Hope "Road Shows"... Americana
For introspection: Lions for Lambs, Robert Redford; The Day The Earth Stood Still, Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal; Jean de Floretta and Magnon de Sources, Girard Depardeau in the first and the second is sequel without him.
Best remake ever ever ever...was Mel Gibson in Hamlet....it came alive and personal....I went down the rabbit hole with him.
In general, I like history dramas and there are a lot of them. Cromwell. El Cid. I never tire of the Shootist. I know right where John Wayne and Lauren Bacall pull their buggy beside Washoe Lake. You can see Slide Mt in the background.
One of the difficulties is overlooking when a Hollywood primadonna gets a starring role as a famous figure. The Aviator is a great topic and I have to bypass my opinion of public idiot #2 Reotardo as Howard Hughes. But he is a good actor, can't knock him on that. And in the latest Midway movie - one of my favorite topics - I am still swallowing Woody Harrelson as Admiral Nimitz. And then remember Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Doolittle? Agh.
Someone mentioned Dr. Zhivago. That is tops. As is Lawrence of Arabia.
This can be a huge topic and could go on all day! Thanks for posting.
This list is not meant to diminish the greatness of movies generally mentioned as being “great” – Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Godfather Parts 1 and 2, etc. These are certainly among the best movies ever made, particularly the last 5. However, the movies in the list below are great in all respects and equal or superior to these and others that usually are included in great lists. In chronological order:
• King Kong (1933) – The greatest monster movie.
• It’s a Gift (1934) – W. C. Fields – the best of the Fields movies, but another great one is The Bank Dick.
• A Plumbing We Will Go, Disorder in the Court, Violent is the Word for Curly, Three Little Curs, Three Little Beers, et. al. (1935-40) – These are among the best Three Stooges shorts and there are many others worthy of seeing. The Stooges were among the most popular film acts in their day and the satire in their best work is still current.
• A Night at the Opera (1935) – The best of the Marx Brothers movies, but several others come very close – A Day at the Races, Duck Soup, etc.
• Lost Horizons (1937) – A wonderful and meaningful fantasy staring Ronald Coleman and directed by Frank Capra. The movie realization of a story by James Hilton.
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) – Errol Flynn, Olivia De Haviland, Basil Rathbone, et. al.
• Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939) – Another James Hilton story brought to film.
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) – Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, et. al. and directed by John Huston. The greatest among many Bogart movie. Others include The Petrified Forrest, Casablanca, High Sierra, Key Largo and The Maltese Falcon.
• The Quiet Man (1952) – John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, directed by John Ford and with the rest of the usual players in many John Ford movies (Victor McLaughlin, Ward Bond, etc.) Other great John Wayne movies are Sands of Iwo Jima and True Grit. McLintock! is very entertaining and, in some respects, a western representation of the key theme and the main characters in the Quiet Man.
• Shane (1953) – The prototype of the mysterious avenger theme starring Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur and Jack Palance. Clint Eastwood starred in a later movie with the same themes, Pale Rider, which is also worthy of mention.
• Mon Oncle (1958) – A wonderful and endearing movie by the great French pantomimist, Jacque Tati, playing Mr. Hulot. Other Mr. Hulot movies worth seeing are Playtime, Traffic and Mr. Hulot’s Holiday.
• Laurence of Arabia (1962) – One of a trilogy of great and spectacular movies directed by David Lean and all featuring Alec Guinness in a major role. The others are Bridge Over the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago.
• American Graffiti (1973) – An ensemble cast capturing perfectly the ‘60s rock and roll cruising culture.
• Lonestar (1996) – A John Sayles movie with an ensemble cast and script touching on major current issues. Watch carefully; many flashbacks.
Das Boot
Dr. Strangelove.
“We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when...”
13th Warrior
Gladiator
Master & Commander (I like some seafaring movies)
Chinese Martial Art Historical Fiction Movies:
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
The Hero
House of Flying Daggers
Polish Historical Films-English sub-titles: (my heritage)
The Deluge
An Ancient Tale-When the Sun was God
I have a bunch that I'll need to add once I have time :rolls eyes: to dig through the cobwebby recesses of the Memory Room in my brain, but one that always sticks out in my mind despite its deterministic theme, is one if the best time-travel flicks I've ever seen: "Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." It used to be on the Anime-heavy streaming service Crunchyroll before they axed most of their live-action drama, but it can be had on Amazon Prime for roughly the price of a latte, included if you already have Amazon Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Traveller...
If you love the time travel concept; if you love the '70s; if you love old, cheesy science fiction movies; if you've ever made your own Super 8 home movies; and if you love a buoyant sense-of-life, this is a must-see. The opening seconds of this movie alone are an homage to science that's positively electrifying and a simple indicator of contemporary Japan's shockingly O-friendly cultural attitudes.
Something else I should mention is that this movie is maybe The Mother Of All Tear-Jerkers. I've posted this description so many times on Facebrag and elsewhere that it's getting old even for me, but... I don't care if you're the biggest, baddest, WBO / PKKA / MMA dude on the planet, if you're not a sniffling, sobbing sap by the end of this thing you should just start checking for a pulse. It's not a "three-hanky" movie, it's a "Go straight to Costco and buy an industrial-mega-pack of toilet paper and stack the whole thing on your coffee table, because you are going to be blowing snot and tears by the gallon" type of thing.
And that's in a good way. Just unforgettable, and even after watching it better than a dozen times from start to finish I still get choked up just watching the trailer. Now please nobody tell my H.S. heavy metal buddies I said that, 'cause they'll disown me fer sure.
More suggestions to come, but as I said... gotta remember them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjawg...
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My other favorite is Bladerunner, arguably the best sci-fi movie ever made.
Gone with the Wind
1984, Richard Burton
Any Jimmie Stewart, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, gotta love them .
Thin Man movies, Wm. Powell, Myrna Loy
Rope, Hitchock with James Stewart
If you like music, Fred Astaire. class act, movies
Helt and Hard Days Night, Beatles
Early Bond movies, Connery or Moore
In TV DVDs:
Avengers, 1965, Diana Rigg, Patrick McNee, so good and civilized
Honeymooners, Jackie Gleason, comedy
The Manchurian Candidate, Sinatra
Our daughter and I used to stya up late, watching all the above, which she revisits to this day and can quote dialogue from Rocky, Manchurian Candidate, and Godfather!
Bullitt, Steve McQueen
Godfather trilogy, and Rocky movies
Benny Goodman Story
Glenn Miller Story
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf
The Mule
Hitchcock: To Catch A Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rope, The Trouble With Harry, NORTH BY NORTHWEST.
Musicals: The Band Wagon, Silk Stockings, My Fair Lady, Royal Wedding, Daddy Longlegs.
John Wayne: Angel and The Badman, Stagecoach, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Rio Bravo, The Hellfighters, In Harm's Way, The Quiet Man, Big Jim McClain
War Movies: Battleground, The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, Twelve O'clock High, U-571, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Midway, The First of the Few, The Best Years of Our Lives
Comedies: It Happened One Night, A Shot In The Dark, Return of The Pink Panther, The More The Merrier
1980s action movies! Rambo, Die Hard, Rocky.
Notice something: Movies that become popular reflect the times. If you want to FEEL like we did in the 1980s, watch those movies. Notice a few years ago, they were all Dystopian Future movies? Yeah, you will feel like you feel today... Not much of an escape!
I have never totally watched Good, Bad...I fall asleep...tried at least 5 times.
My Myself and Irene is good if you're twisted like me. Over many people's heads, I think. (maybe just way below...)
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