Broaden your cinematic horizons: By force!

[Exhuminator]

I will list 5 films that are my all time favorites. I don't expect anyone to watch them. I expect Ack will have already seen them.

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguirre,_the_Wrath_of_God

My favorite film of all time. It is a perfect metaphor of the human species in general.


Stalker (1979 film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_%281979_film%29

This is the best science fiction film. It's better than Blade Runner, Akira, or Ghost in the Shell. Considering how much I love those movies, that's saying a lot.


High Plains Drifter (1973)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Plains_Drifter

The greatest western. This film is all about showing that sometimes good people are bad, sometimes bad people are good, and there's no such thing as a clear distinction between the two.


Chinatown (1974)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_%281974_film%29

The best directed, best written, best acted film noir detective story.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Be_Blood
There Will Be Blood (2007 )

An astounding drama about why greedy capitalism and zealous religion do not play well together, and why both are merely means to the same grisly end.

Yes most of the movies I mentioned are from the 70s. I did not grow up in the 70s, so it's not nostalgia. But in my opinion, the 70s was the greatest time for films. The cinematic platinum era.

[Ack]

I will list 5 films that are my all time favorites. I don't expect anyone to watch them. I expect Ack will have already seen them.

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguirre,_the_Wrath_of_God

My favorite film of all time. It is a perfect metaphor of the human species in general.


Stalker (1979 film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_%281979_film%29

This is the best science fiction film. It's better than Blade Runner, Akira, or Ghost in the Shell. Considering how much I love those movies, that's saying a lot.


High Plains Drifter (1973)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Plains_Drifter

The greatest western. This film is all about showing that sometimes good people are bad, sometimes bad people are good, and there's no such thing as a clear distinction between the two.


Chinatown (1974)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_%281974_film%29

The best directed, best written, best acted film noir detective story.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Be_Blood
There Will Be Blood (2007 )

An astounding drama about why greedy capitalism and zealous religion do not play well together, and why both are merely means to the same grisly end.

Yes most of the movies I mentioned are from the 70s. I did not grow up in the 70s, so it's not nostalgia. But in my opinion, the 70s was the greatest time for films. The cinematic platinum era.

Haha, I actually haven't seen all of them.

And you're not the only person I know who believes the 1970s was either the best or one of the best decades in cinema. My girlfriend has the same opinion, and TCM has even labeled it one of the greatest decades for film.

[Exhuminator]

Your gf is a smart lady! I'm going to be checking out some of the films on your list btw. The ones I've seen on your list are Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Ichi the Killer. I enjoyed both of those. If you haven't seen this, yet, I think you will love it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprint_% ... _Horror%29
Do not read the synopsis. The less you know about it going in, the better.

[Ack]

Your gf is a smart lady! I'm going to be checking out some of the films on your list btw. The ones I've seen on your list are Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Ichi the Killer. I enjoyed both of those. If you haven't seen this, yet, I think you will love it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprint_% ... _Horror%29
Do not read the synopsis. The less you know about it going in, the better.

I haven't, despite being a big fan of Miike's work.

Also I hope you don't mind that I put a couple of those noir recommendations we talked about on my list. I figure why not spread them around and let others check them out too!

================================================

For you guys on the fence about this...think of it as an opportunity to point folks to movies you liked that you don't think others have watched or that you just want to recommend. Don't worry about whether other folks might have watched stuff. If we pair off to give recommendations to each other, then you can easily modify your list to find something that specific individual has not seen. For example, I wouldn't try to recommend slasher movies to noise, as the likelihood is that he's seen what I come up with. But I might offer him classic horror stuff that he might have missed. Prfsnl and classic Japanese cinema is the same way, but I might instead offer some underground cinema that might interest him.

This is not just to get a baseline of film, it's to find out new subgenres and such that you might not be aware of, might not have explored in depth, or might not even have ever taken interest in. If you are really interested in getting to know film(especially US film), then yeah, the AFI 100 list is a good place to go, and there are several other genre-themed lists that AFI has put out if you really want to go in depth on anything. But if you're curious about what areas of movies your buddies here are into and are curious, this might be a good way to find new stuff, some of which you might find out you really enjoy.

[prfsnl_gmr]

If you are really interested in getting to know film(especially US film), then yeah, the AFI 100 list is a good place to go, and there are several other genre-themed lists that AFI has put out if you really want to go in depth on anything.

I agree completely. I have very slowly been working my way through all of the AFI's lists, and I actually just completed the AFI's first "100 years...100 Movies" list last week. (I wasn't exactly champing at the bit to see The Birth of A Nation, and I put it off for a long time.) At this point, I have seen 95% or more of the movies on each list, and I really feel like I have received quite an education on American film. (After ruminating on each film for a bit, I usually seek out some critical analysis, and if the mood strikes me, watch it again.)

I am also working my way through each of Sight & Sound's Top 10 lists, and again, I am most of the way through each one. (My wife is not a big fan of silent films, and getting her to watch one with me is tough.) These lists are a great inroduction to classics of world cinema, and anyone with an interest in film whould work through them. (Most recently, Sight & Sound released a Top 50 list, and I am working my way through that one too.)

Finally, Entertainment Weekly put out a great list of "cult" films a few years ago, and I have had a great time working through it. It is a great introduction to "alternative" cinema, and I think the members of this site would probably enjoy those movies the most. (Heathers is ranked No. 41. Sorry, jp1!) Accordingly, and using only movies that appears on the "cult" films list, I challenge the members of this site to watch:

1. This Is Spinal Tap
2. Freaks
3. Repo Man
4. The 5 Deadly Venoms
5. The Harder They Come
6. Grey Gardens
7. Withnail and I
8. They Live
9. Barbarella
10. Walking and Talking

[Exhuminator]

7. Withnail and I

This movie is so damn good. More people need to see it.

[Ack]

If you are really interested in getting to know film(especially US film), then yeah, the AFI 100 list is a good place to go, and there are several other genre-themed lists that AFI has put out if you really want to go in depth on anything.

I agree completely. I have very slowly been working my way through all of the AFI's lists, and I actually just completed the AFI's first "100 years...100 Movies" list last week. (I wasn't exactly champing at the bit to see The Birth of A Nation, and I put it off for a long time.) At this point, I have seen 95% or more of the movies on each list, and I really feel like I have received quite an education on American film. (After ruminating on each film for a bit, I usually seek out some critical analysis, and if the mood strikes me, watch it again.)

Have you looked at the AFI's 10 Top 10 lists? I found the nice thing about going into these lists the first time and marking off what I had seen, I could really tell what kinds of movies I watched. For instance, I've seen every Science Fiction and every Animation film, as well as 9/10 in the Mystery, Gangster, and Fantasy categories, but only 3/10 for Sports films and 2/10 for Romantic Comedy. I found it a bit eye opening. There is also an AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list that I am way behind on, at 10/25.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Have you looked at the AFI's 10 Top 10 lists? I found the nice thing about going into these lists the first time and marking off what I had seen, I could really tell what kinds of movies I watched. For instance, I've seen every Science Fiction and every Animation film, as well as 9/10 in the Mystery, Gangster, and Fantasy categories, but only 3/10 for Sports films and 2/10 for Romantic Comedy. I found it a bit eye opening. There is also an AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list that I am way behind on, at 10/25.

I have! Those are great lists, and I have seen every movie on each of the AFI's 10 Top 10 lists except - perhaps shockingly - three of the courtroom dramas (i.e., A Cry in the Dark, In Cold Blood, and Judgment at Nuremberg).

Also, I am only slightly better on the musicals with 15 out of 25. (Although I absolutely love some of those movies - Yankee Doodle Dandy is boss! - "musicals" is not my favorite genre.) I also have made no attempt at the AFI's 100 Cheers list, but a quick review shows that I have seen 67 of the 100 movies on that list. (I knocked out 100 Thrills long ago, and I have seen at least 90% of the movies on the 100 Laughs and 100 Passions lists.)

[jp1]

(Heathers is ranked No. 41. Sorry, jp1!)

I'm happy to be wrong about it. It wasn't terrible really, just not my taste. If it didn't have Slater in it, I probably would have turned it off. I can see the appeal for some though.


I'm glad people are embracing this, and already there seems to be a real range of stuff to look at. I have seen one or two from every list, but there are plenty I have never heard of. I don't really watch a lot of fringe cinema so my stuff would be mostly mainstream, besides maybe some low budget horror.

I will be investigating some of these for sure.

Exhuminator, I have seen three of the five you listed. I liked them, so that definitely entices me to check out the other two.

See, I tried to keep my list somewhat approachable, I think I will have to make another list with some more "off the beaten path" stuff. I could probably make twenty lists of "top ten" and have a hard time choosing myself. For instance, although it isn't at all fringe cinema I can't believe I left "Pulp Fiction" off the list. I just love that movie, I never get tired of watching it.

[Ack]

Well jp1, since this was your idea, how do you want to proceed? Pick a member and have everyone take a film off his list, pick one movie from each member's list to watch, pair us up and have us watch a few of the movies the others suggest, etc.?