I Have Never Seen Any Of These Movies; Please Advise

Ghostbusters by a mile.

theyre all A+ except
life aquatic C
fight club B

im going to vote shining

The Shining ffs. I won't say anything about it, just fucking watch it. Some of the others are great too, for the lols, but problematic tho it is, it is the only "must see" out of these, even if yr not a horror stan (kubrick).

And yeah, Ghostbusters pretty much fucking rules, but you kinda had to be there (I think).

nah shining isn't one of kubrick's best movies, though it's still a fine film. fight club

i voted Shining, but wish i'd voted Top Gun. excellent film-- so homoerotic!

Beetlejuice B+
Crocodile Dundee D
Life Aquatic C
The Shining B
Ghostbusters A
Fight Club B

ghostbusters if you want to have fun, shining if you want to be creeped out

yeah, that pretty much sums it up

top gun it is then!

Weird, I just made a list the other day of '80s movies people think I should have seen. Something like...

Aliens
Better Off Dead
Die Hard
Dirty Dancing
Footloose
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom/Last Crusade
Real Genius
Say Anything
Top Gun
Weird Science

Thank Christ I saw the Star Wars movies and Goonies and the Princess Bride when I was a kid, even though I barely remember them.

(Of that list, the only ones I actually want to see are Say Anything and maybe Aliens -- haven't seen any of that series, actually.)

Don't bother with Crocodile Dundee, and only see Top Gun and Dirty Dancing if you feel the need to get those references, they're pretty damn awful. The others are all worth it.

I just realized I forgot to list Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, and Titanic...hrm.

Aliens is totally great IMO. Really recommend seeing the first one first though, even though they are VERY different movies.

Beetlejuice B
Crocodile Dundee D-
Life Aquatic C
The Shining A+
Ghostbusters A
Fight Club A+
Dirty Dancing C
Top Gun D

ghostbusters ftw

1. Ghostbusters
2. Beetlejuice
3. The Shining

destroy Life Aquatic, Fight Club is OK/pretty entertaining, have not seen the rest

fight club

Life Aquatic is good, a-holes! Fight Club and Shining are better tho.

Glad to see all the Life Aquatic hate! It's the only movie I've rented and turned off halfway through!

Life Aquatic is just fine, leave it be.

The Shining>Life Aquatic>Fight Club>Ghostbusters>Beetlejuice>Top Gun>Dirty Dancing>Crocodile Dundee

Ghostbuster, Beetlejuice, Top Gun, Fight Club, Dirty Dancing in that order.

Haven't see The Life Aquatic. The Shining meh, but then Kubrick does nothing for me. Crocodile Dundee sucks.

Voted Beetlejuice, but probably for nostalgic reasons, which is dumb because someone seeing it for the first time won't have any nostalgia for it, and it'll just seem like a solid B.

Fight Club is one of the great flawed movies.

The Shining is as cold as the sharp edge of an axe, which is appropriate, but does not make it much fun.

whats not funny about nicholsons acting

The Shining fighting it out with Ghostbusters here

dirty dancing is the second best movie there after the shining

The Shininess is also one of the great flawed movies.

LOL I did not mean Shininess. That was an auto spelling correction that I accidentally clicked.

"The Shininess" <--------- sequel or prequel?

The Shining is scarier every time I see it. Now, just the drive to the hotel causes me to lose bowel & bladder control. Gotta put a rubber sheet over the sofa.

It scares me too, but long after watching it, because it makes me feel so dead inside.

Kubrick's good at that

I was surprised by how much I still enjoyed Ghostbusters when I watched it again a few months ago. That shit holds up!

The Shining is good, but it is in no way fun.

Fight Club, OTOH, is fun at ludicrous speed. And sick to its core, as a bonus.

I could honestly have gone without seeing any of the others but all the people torn between Shining vs. Ghostbusters are on the money.

Here's how I would rate them

1) Ghostbusters
2) Beetlejuice
(These two are almost equally great, but I'll give Ghostbusters an extra point for cultural signifigance; if you can watch only one of them, watch Ghostbusters.)
3) The Shining
4) Fight Club
5) Crocodile Dundee
6) Life Aquatic
(Haven't seen the last two.)

All six have enough good stuff in them to make them worth watching, though if you absolutely hate twee indie movies, don't watch Life Aquatic.

I wouldn't miss seeing the first third of Fight Club for the world. There are other threads for this argument, I know, and I'm sure I'm on them already, but I have to say it again.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Well, guess I got no choice now. Thanks everybody!!

I'm surprised anyone still cares about Top Gun. Seems about as crucial as a Spuds MacKenzie commercial or Phil Collins record.

itt: ludicrous rockism

Life Aquatic in some qustionable company right there.

top two movies truly two of the most overrated films (especially on ILX) of all time

if you are american and believe that ghostbusters is an ineffable cultural pillar of yours then you have my deepest sympathy

I'm Finnish and I think Ghostbusters is great fun. No sympathy needed.

it's a decent laugh, it's completely forgettable, it's of no substance whatsoever, and yet it's revered as this pristine encapsulation of 1980's america

hey what do i know

You should all be watching Lars von Trier or Michael Haneke, WAKE UP AMERICA!

i don't stan for either of those two fwiw but lol

it's a decent laugh, it's completely forgettable, it's of no substance whatsoever, and yet it's revered as this pristine encapsulation of 1980's america

i mean, yeah?

oh wait haha

as opposed to Fight Club which is this pristine encapsulation of 1990s america?

Big American films of the 80s that I have never seen:

Top Gun
Beverley Hills Cop
Lethal Weapon
Die Hard
Beetlejuice
Dirty Dancing
Gandhi
Platoon
Scarface
The Terminator
Driving MIss Daisy
Big
Fatal Attraction
Batman
Rambo

Sorry, Gandhi's not an American film.

I'm always so jealous when people haven't yet seen stuff I consider great - oh the joy you have ahead! It also seems astounding that someone might not have seen Ghostbusters, but then, I am getting quite old.

same list for me, basically:

Top Gun
Beverley Hills Cop
Lethal Weapon
Die Hard
Beetlejuice
Dirty Dancing
Gandhi
Platoon
Scarface
The Terminator
Driving MIss Daisy
Big
Fatal Attraction
Batman
Rambo

haha i have seen every movie mentioned in this thread !

if there is any movie that is a pristine encapsulation of 1990s america then that movie is clueless imo

Out of that first list, I've not seen Shining and don't know Life Aq.

I'd say "The rest are ranging from OK to missable, but I'd recommend Fight Club"

I'm always so jealous when people haven't yet seen stuff I consider great - oh the joy you have ahead!

Me too.

There's a lot of big action movies from the 80s and 90s that I've never watched, which always seems surprising to people. But my family just never liked them so we'd end up seeing things like Oliver and Company instead. Or Turner and Hooch. But I don't really feel sad about not seeing movies like Top Gun.

tbf turner and hooch is pretty action packed

But I guess the adorable dog canceled out any anti-action movie feelings my mom had.

Movies, music, books...there's always tons of things to eventually know but since I can't get them all I take a pretty casual approach in the end. There's always something and there's always time!

The Shining is possibly funnier and less scary than Ghostbusters

Well, it's like that "1000 films to see before you die"...

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/original/clipart-deathbed-scene.jpg
"I can't go now! I haven't seen "The Hottie and the Nottie" yet!"

I have never seen Top Gun and have no particular desire to. Is there more to it than two hours of cock waving?

Apparently there's a lot of homoerotic volleyball playing, but that's all I really know.

Oh there's no apparently about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEA-jhwsoGc

2 hrs of actual cock-waving would have vastly improved top gun.

My family ended up seeing Top Gun when it ran because my dad had just come back from a big naval exercise -- probably the somewhat suspiciously titled RIMPAC -- and he'd been a liaison between his sub squadron and the carrier group in question; he later became chief of staff to the admiral running said group and went through training at Top Gun itself. Anyway when we saw the film we just ignored the plot as my dad turned it into a documentary lecture on the carriers, landing procedures, etc., all of which was far more entertaining than the screenplay.

In my old job as a tech writer, our company was smallish and therefore an article of exchange between some of the larger tech companies in the field. Not long after we were bought by a company based in CA, the sales people were sent to LA for a big confab.

As part of the "reward" for being in sales, all the attendees got to go to Universal Studios's theme park thingee. So as not to make us poor peons back home too jealous of this glamorous sales meeting, we all got a VHS tape of Top Gun stuffed in our mailboxes. No doubt some executive at Universal was chortling about finding a way to dump hundreds of these worthless tapes long after the movie had faded to background noise.

When I brought the tape home, my wife made me throw it out. She didn't have to try very hard.

I have never seen Top Gun and have no particular desire to. Is there more to it than two hours of cock waving?

Besides homoerotic volleyball, Top Gun also has a shower scene and planes.

I don't think I've ever watched Top Gun in its entirety. It just never grabbed my attention, and the allure of Kelly McGillis was lost on me. When it came to '80s movies about jets, I much preferred Firefox (which possibly doesn't hold up at all).

if there is any movie that is a pristine encapsulation of 1990s america then that movie is clueless imo

This might depend on how old you were in the 90s.

He's just keepin' it real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyN8VN4BSzM&feature=related

It never fails to bug the shit out of me that he gets the key line wrong. It's not "You can ride my tail," it's "You can be my wing man." Where he got this tail-riding line from, I don't know, but it makes his whole premise seem flawed.

Tarantino's premises are generally flawed.

Yeah, and it's also hardly the world's most shattering insight that Top Gun is a little on the homosexy side. Tarantino is clearly the most boring guy at that party.

not many films are better than ghostbusters. i quite like fight club too. the rest i could take or leave tbh

Beetlejuice woulda been my pick here.

Only funny moment in Dundee is when he thinks the low-voiced woman at the party is a tranny, because there are apparently no low-voiced women in the outback.

flawed premise ^

my wife is SOOOOO into Crocodile Dundee. had to sit through it yet again last night as a matter of fact.

Tranny ballgrabbing joke is used twice

also that low voiced woman at the party IS a tranny

Besides homoerotic volleyball, Top Gun also has a shower scene and planes.

It also has this really great move from Tom Cruise, when he shows up at her door in a rainstorm, soaking wet. Think of what this means. She's gotta let him in, unless she's really mad at him or something. That's only polite. She's gotta give him time and a place to undress, which means that even if she can't see it, there's no way she can avoid thinking about him naked. She's gotta give him a big fluffy towel, and pretty girls always have the very best fluffy towels. Basically, if you show up at a girl's door soaking wet in a rainstorm, you're in. I wish it was raining right now, come to think of it.

also I like the bar he goes to in the movie - frequented by drunken Italian taxi drivers, drag queens, black street toughs, and yuppies. its like the bar's clientele is a gang from an 80s video

the one to see because it's the only movie on the list with a great cast and director (though one of his lesser works/source material selections) - The Shining
the ones to see because they're campy fun - Dirty Dancing (lol 'camp'y) and Top Gun
the ones to see because everyone else did a long time ago - Ghostbusters and Top Gun (in that order)
the one to see because a bunch of people saw it and won't shut up about it - Fight Club (better off watching another Norton or Pitt movie, tho)
the one to see because it made an impression on a bunch of pubescent girls a long time ago and you have a burning need to know what that line about the baby in the corner is all about - Dirty Dancing
the one to see if you're a disaffected, mildly snarky male dork in academia - Ghostbusters
the one to see if you're an angry male dork with an office job - Fight Club
the one to see if you're a totally normal bro down for playing with the boys - Top Gun
the one to see if you're a big girl or just want to dance - Dirty Dancing
the one to see if you're a corny film geek, early '90s edition, or a Michael Keaton freak - Beetlejuice
the one to see if you're a Wes Anderson completist or a Bill Murray freak - Life Aquatic (never seen it, tbh)
the ones with potentially objectionable politics - a bunch of them but especially Crocodile Dundee, probably Top Gun (debatable) and maybe Fight Club
the one never to think about ever again - Crocodile Dundee
the one i would pick if i could OPO - Dirty Dancing, hands down

sorta otm

you can basically substitute Beverly Hills Cop for Top Gun, except it's got more comedy and less cinematography, plus Eddie Murphy's laugh is a little more charming than the Cruiser's wounded ferret shtick

i don't think Alba's missing anything wrt any of the other movies on the list, except Gandhi, which is worthwhile

the ones with potentially objectionable politics - a bunch of them but especially Crocodile Dundee

? This film is pretty apolitical - its standard fish outta water stuff, and tries very hard to be very multiculti, in a goofy 80s way

Gandhi baked is ... wow

rong, xp

informative as ever gabbs

that's not a knife=subtext for that's not a penis

I'm not thinking that Paul Hogan's politics are that much of an outrage. If you're going to pick on stupid movies, start with like Forrest Gump or something really dangerous like that.

no he must be killed

Crocodile Dundee is wall-to-wall conservative disgust (they'll start at gay folks and go from there) and anti-urbanity/intellectualism under a thin gauze of diff'rent strokes 'comedy'

srsly tho, the Cruiser is one of the great thespians of our time and Top Gun is his iconic movie. it is a must-see.

also, you probably want to know where that Jack Nicholson image on the t-shirts comes from

Now you're hating on Diff'rent Strokes? Do you just pick your battles out of a hat or what?

i didn't capitalize those letters

oh no anti-urbanity

how awful for the rubes to come into the city with their knives and hats

he's OTM re: the anti-gay stuff, and also the country sucks

the movie kind of sucks

Honestly all I remember about it is the knife gag and the scene with the lady friend wearing butt floss.

Paul the Cable Guy

(Crocodile, Crocodile!)

Larry the...

oh never mind

the movie kind of sucks

well yeah, thought that went without saying!

I dunno gabbs, having just watched this movie, you're basically totally wrong. All the various minorities represented in the film end up helping out Dundee (his driver, the aborigines, the italian cab driver, the dorky doorman, the black dudes at the bar, the various ethnicities who pass his messages back and forth and then lift him over their heads in the final scene etc.) There's no gaybashing in the movie - neither tranny is made fun of or abused, in fact they are both very friendly with the protagonists and are portrayed as normal NY denizens.

so basically stfu

x-post

I mean I can think of a lot of other 80s movies where the tranny/gay character would be summarily humiliated and/or laughed at, neither of which happens in the movie

why did you rewatch this movie

Basically Crocodile Dundee is a guy with limited exposure to otherness, but highly interested, and a guy who assumes that everyone he meets is a good person, regardless of how unusual he finds them.

a "magic Aussie", if you like

wife has a lingering obsession with Australia held over from the 80s, movie was on TV.

x-posts

Basically Crocodile Dundee is a guy with limited exposure to otherness, but highly interested, and a guy who assumes that everyone he meets is a good person, regardless of how unusual he finds them.

^^^yep

My favorite Aussie movie (not that I've seen a ton of them; probably can count them on one hand) is either "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" or "Dead Calm".

don't tell me to stfu when you ask me to go out of my way to try to help you not be a moron, shakey

Dirty Dancing has the best music of any of these movies btw

I am the biggest soundtrack whore alive and that is still no excuse for watching "Dirty Dancing"

hahaha that's awesome shakey how do the movies of Yahoo Serious hold up?

Basically Crocodile Dundee is a guy with limited exposure to otherness, but highly interested, and a guy who assumes that everyone he meets is a good person, regardless of how unusual he finds them

like i said, "a thin gauze of diff'rent strokes 'comedy'." i guess some people take really seriously the 'plot' of Crocodile Dundee movies, tho.

the only characters who come off badly in CD are: the laughably attired pimps (all of whom are WHITE - but seriously, they wore t-shirts with the sleeves cutoff and ties? wtf), and the James Spader-wannabe editor, who is just yr standard smarmy evil 80s yuppie villain.

x-posts

IIRC, Dundee is essentially the same character as Ernest. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it is a big, goofy, very broad thing.

(lolling at Baby outing herself as a dirty whore and getting Swayze's character fired anyway is almost an excuse, but not quite)

(full disclosure: my wife will ALWAYS watch "Dirty Dancing" if she stumbles across it while channel surfing; it's worse than me with "The Matrix" or Doctor Who)

like i said, "a thin gauze of diff'rent strokes 'comedy'." i guess some people take really seriously the 'plot' of Crocodile Dundee movies, tho.

you know, yr textual analysis leaves a lot to be desired.

hahaha that's awesome shakey how do the movies of Yahoo Serious hold up?

good question! will report back

Dan's wife OTM

But... but... The Matrix is awesome!

I Have Never Seen The Matrix; Please Advise

waht

srsly?

DUDE

The third one is shit but the first two are A+ entertainment

the Matrix is a thin gauze of The Facts of Life 'comedy'

the Matrix is fucking horrible (at least, the 2/3rds of it I managed to sit through on TV one time)

srsly tho, the Cruiser is one of the great thespians of our time and Top Gun is his iconic movie. it is a must-see.

Is this some kind of Patrick Bateman shtick? What do you think of Huey Lewis & the News?

Neo = Jo
Agent Smith = Blair
Morpheus = Mrs. Garrett
Trinity = Tootie
The Oracle = Natalie

^^^well done

xp Hi Dere: are the other people on the ship like Nancy and Molly who get axed after the first season?

Is this some kind of Patrick Bateman shtick? What do you think of Huey Lewis & the News?

I would just like to say how happy I am to be supplanted as ILX's official suspected sex criminal.

lol kenan

are the other people on the ship like Nancy and Molly who get axed after the first season?

haha yes

Mouse = whatever Molly Ringwald's character's name was, obv
The Architect = Geri

My favorite Aussie movie (not that I've seen a ton of them; probably can count them on one hand)

You're missing some true gems! Besides Road Warrior, there's The Cars that Ate Paris, Bad Boy Bubby, Breaker Morant ... Aussie ILXors to thread!

xp Hi Dere: Molly Ringwald's character was Molly.

Big 90s Hollywood films I haven't seen:

Braveheart
Forrest Gump
Ghost
Speed
Jurassic Park
The Silence of the Lambs
The Sixth Sense
Sister Act
Sleepless In Seattle
There's Something About Mary
Good Will Hunting
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List
The English Patient
Dances With Wolves

I own the News' complete works on Laserdisc, sara. Perhaps you would like to come over and listen to them sometime?

Molly Ringwald's character was Molly.

looooooooooool of course it was

Dances With Wolves and Good Will Hunting are aight.

"There's Something About Mary" is definitely worth watching once; repeated viewings kill it.

I loved "Forrest Gump" the first time I saw, then the second time I thought it was one of the most viscerally offensive movies I'd ever seen.

Silence of the Lambs is fun

so is Jurassic Park

I did see 5 minutes or so of TSAM once on TV and it seemed good. And The Heartbreak Kid is one of my favourite films of the last few years, so I'd like to watch it some time.

Silence of the Lambs is a well-shot awful movie with some good actors in it

Braveheart - haven't seen it, but Mel Gibson is involved so it must be near unwatchable
Forrest Gump - makes a good case for the annihilation of humanity
Ghost - ditto
Speed - double ditto
Jurassic Park - triple ditto
The Silence of the Lambs - not bad, but completely silly
The Sixth Sense - I fell asleep
Sister Act - haven't seen it
Sleepless In Seattle - why would anyone watch this
There's Something About Mary - GREAT
Good Will Hunting - didn't finish it
Saving Private Ryan - fuckin Spielbergo
Schindler's List - becomes unbearable about 30 minutes in
The English Patient - didn't see it
Dances With Wolves - really bad, but funny in a campy way

god The Fucking English Fucking Patient

yeah gabbs surely you have some complaints about the questionable politics of SOTL

LOOKOUT murderous homos OH NOES

Braveheart - never saw
Forrest Gump - AVOID
Ghost - AVOID
Speed - never saw
Jurassic Park - "This is a UNIX computer!" lololololol; funny funny movie
The Silence of the Lambs - MUST SEE
The Sixth Sense - worth seeing even if you know the ending
Sister Act - worth seeing if you can deal with extreme sappiness and Kathy Najimy
Sleepless In Seattle - never saw, or at least don't remember if I did see it
There's Something About Mary - see it once
Good Will Hunting - MUST SEE (once)
Saving Private Ryan - haven't seen the whole thing, apparently the best part is the opening sequence, which I have never seen
Schindler's List - will never see
The English Patient - saw half of this, was good but also likely to put you to sleep
Dances With Wolves - MUST SEE (ya I'm surprised I'm saying this, too)

btw "Mystic River" is a big pile of shit, avoid

do you mean Mystic Pizza

I don't really think Forrest Gump is as offensive/dangerous as some people do (I don't think it says what they think it does), but there's really nothing valuable in it except its epic scale which you're not gonna get outside a theater

that guy Gary Sinise is such a great actor. He chopped off his legs for that movie!

it's offensive to people who like movies

SPR has some good cinematography and mise-en-scene, but it's still Spielberg

thats not a box of choclates this is a box of chocolates

I like these assessments, thank you. I might do a 21st century one now. I think it will be a shorter list but maybe not (I am using IMDb's power search on Top Grossing US movies + Oscar winners + IMDb Top 250)

what's that mean 'mise en scene'?
I always mentally sub in 'setting' or 'scenery' for 'mise en scene' but that doesn't sound quite right.

why don't you try the google?

Braveheart - Really quite dumb, but sometimes violent and fun.
Forrest Gump - A terrible movie that I can somehow watch for long stretches enjoyably.
Ghost - Some high camp value, especially the terrible special effects and ghost-pretending. Goldberg at her Goldbergiest.
Speed - Totally fun; some great bad acting from Keanu and Bullock. Hopper is a treat as the villain.
Jurassic Park - Effects hold up surprisingly well, and much better than the other two. Pretty corny tho.
The Silence of the Lambs - Awesome popcorn flick.
The Sixth Sense - Cool twist I didn't see coming, but a completely useless movie on second viewing. Seems like a masterpiece next to The Happening or etc.
Sister Act - Total garbage; Goldberg at her Goldbergiworst.
Sleepless In Seattle - Textbook example of a chick flick, and yet pretty well made, and sometimes funny in the corniest possible way.
There's Something About Mary - Loved it to death at first, but I hate it more and more with each subsequent viewing.
Good Will Hunting - Pretty bad, but has some nice moments (the slo-mo fight, Affleck on the job interview). Good by Hollywood mainstream standards.
Saving Private Ryan - First and last battle scenes are top notch. Everything else is mediocre or horrible. Framing narrative is total shit.
Schindler's List - Haven't seen in ages, but certainly the best Hollywood take on the Holocaust. Lots of good performances.
The English Patient - Schmaltzy, sweeping faux-epic. Terrible ending. Sayid from Lost has amazing hair in it.
Dances With Wolves - Mediocre but very watchable, and all the performances are either good or hilarious.

"Mystic Pizza" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Mystic River"

actually through most of MR I kept wishing it would turn into MP

my $.02

Braveheart - pretty awesome
Forrest Gump - worst movie ever
Ghost - can't remember
Speed - pretty fun
Jurassic Park - dinosaurs
The Silence of the Lambs - amazing
The Sixth Sense - liked it at the time, when i saw it i had no idea the movie had a big twist so it worked for me, if i saw it now i'd probly hate it
Sister Act - didn't see
Sleepless In Seattle - didn't see
There's Something About Mary - hilarious
Good Will Hunting - shit
Saving Private Ryan - some truly amazing stuff but ruined by some really bad stuff
Schindler's List - mostly good
The English Patient - eh
Dances With Wolves - never saw

i like pizza

Braveheart - Mel Gibson as Jesus as a Scottish warrior
Forrest Gump - liberal politics will give you AIDS
Ghost - will not see
Speed - did not see
Jurassic Park - Jeff Goldblum and dinosaurs attack children = entertainment
The Silence of the Lambs - worth seeing
The Sixth Sense - not awful
Sister Act - did not see
Sleepless In Seattle - will not see
There's Something About Mary - will not see
Good Will Hunting - did not see, isn't this like Dead Poet's Society the remake?
Saving Private Ryan - a thin gauze of The Facts of Life 'comedy' set in WWII with Tom Hanks as Mrs. Garrett
Schindler's List - meh
The English Patient - actually pretty good, but overly long
Dances With Wolves - goes downhill after the leg amputation

"Mise-en-scène (French pronunciation: [mizɑ̃sɛn]) is an expression used in theatre and film to describe the design aspects of a production. It has been called film criticism's "grand undefined term," but that is not because of a lack of definitions."

yeah so um... what does it mean? (when you used it, anyway.)

Braveheart - kind of kicks ass.
Forrest Gump - possibly my least favorite movie of all time.
Ghost - Whoopi is pretty hilarious, I have to admit.
Speed - I like the the Grant Morrison theory that it's actually about human evolution, and is intended to send coded messages to the Invisible army.
Jurassic Park - Pretty cool.
The Silence of the Lambs - Can't say many bad things about a movie with a villain this good. Iconic.
The Sixth Sense - Someone told me the ending, so I just never saw it.
Sister Act - lol you have to be joking
Sleepless In Seattle - Not the best Hanks/Ryan movie by a long shot (that's Joe Vs the Volcano, obviously), but it has some laughs. I'll watch it on TV after a heavy meal, I guess.
There's Something About Mary - I work with retards.
Good Will Hunting - *sadly shakes head* They give out Oscars for this? I'd think airsick bags.
Saving Private Ryan - A really weird little artifact. The opening battle scene is so long and so intense that it kind of cancels out the whole rest of the movie.
Schindler's List - Killer good.
The English Patient - Two hankies.
Dances With Wolves - A very bad movie. "Hey let's gather around and watch a heavy-handed lesson about tolerance or some shit!" This is why video games were invented.

Good Will Hunting - did not see, isn't this like Dead Poet's Society the remake?

no?

Braveheart: complete bullshit
Forrest Gump: irritating
Ghost: really shitty movie
Speed: fun, worthwhile
Jurassic Park: essential
The Silence of the Lambs: essential
The Sixth Sense: shyamalan is crap but it worked here
Sister Act: eh
Sleepless In Seattle: can't imagine how bad this is, haven't seen
There's Something About Mary: essential
Good Will Hunting: do you like male weepy stuff? 'sokay
Saving Private Ryan: as above. probably worth seeing since all war movies look like this now.
Schindler's List: good
The English Patient: good
Dances With Wolves: shitty, kind of has every shitty thing about all the other dramas on this list, in one movie

Jeff Goldblum and dinosaurs attack children

wait I think I missed a pivotal scene in "Jurassic Park"

yeah so um... what does it mean? (when you used it, anyway.)

why don't you keep reading beyond the first sentence

Speed - I like the the Grant Morrison theory that it's actually about human evolution, and is intended to send coded messages to the Invisible army.

haha I admit this is totally what I think of whenever I see clips of the film anywhere

Philip it means "masturbate"

it's pretty much the visual style of the film

"SPR has some good cinematography and masturbation, but it's still Spielberg"

ew

I do not think that is what gabbneb meant

I thought the masturbation was decidedly mediocre.

This narrow definition of mise-en-scène is not shared by all critics. For some, it refers to all elements of visual style—that is, both elements on the set and aspects of the camera. For others, such as U.S. film critic Andrew Sarris, it takes on mystical meanings related to the emotional tone of a film.

...

Because of its relationship to shot blocking, mise-en-scène is also a term sometimes used among professional screenwriters to indicate descriptive (action) paragraphs between the dialog.

For others, such as U.S. film critic Andrew Sarris, it takes on mystical meanings related to the emotional tone of a film.

i.e. jackin'

any given two hours of band of brothers is better than SPR, i'd go with that

why is Mr. Que talking about masturbation?

Braveheart: OK, nothing special
Forrest Gump: OK, nothing special
Ghost: OK, nothing special
Speed: OK, nothing special
Jurassic Park: OK, nothing special
The Silence of the Lambs: OK, nothing special
The Sixth Sense: OK, nothing special
Sister Act: OK, nothing special
Sleepless In Seattle: OK, nothing special
There's Something About Mary: OK, nothing special
Good Will Hunting: OK, nothing special
Saving Private Ryan: OK, nothing special
Schindler's List: OK, nothing special
The English Patient: OK, nothing special
Dances With Wolves: OK, nothing special

Silence of the Lambs = Sister Act on the Eric H scale.

Eric H is more otm than polyphonic

Sister Act is OK, nothing special.

What are the Finnish titles of these movies?

Some people don't understand how unattractive it is to be bored with everything.

some people don't understand what a blended haircut is XD care

irl lol

"blended haircut" is the new "resultant paste"

some people troll; others are wonderful, funny, informative posters

between two blended haircuts

the gabbneb story

Harder to do this for 2000s, distance and all that.

Gladiator
Kill Bill
Sin City
Million Dollar Baby
Lord of the Rings (any of them)
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto)
The Fast and the Furious (ditto)
A Beautiful Mind
Pearl Harbor
Erin Brockovich
Traffic
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
National Treasure

Say what you will about my hair, but it's an exciting challenge every day.

Gladiator - didn't see it
Kill Bill - great (I is better than II tho)
Sin City - I wouldn't even call this a movie, its so bad
Million Dollar Baby - don't want to see
Lord of the Rings (any of them) - all great to varying degrees, first one is the best one by far
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto) - first one is good, the others are terrible
The Fast and the Furious (ditto) - come on now
A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard should not make movies unless they involve time-travelling driving instructors and talking pies
Pearl Harbor - no
Erin Brockovich - couldn't make it to the end
Traffic - pretty good, Benicio kinda saves it
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - terrible
National Treasure - Nicolas Cage is in it ergo it is perfect

I forgot Harry Potter (any of them)

Gladiator - worth seeing, I enjoyed it but won't defend it to the death
Kill Bill - MUST SEE
Sin City - still one of the most visually-stunning movies I've seen; worth it if you accept that the stories themselves are garbage
Million Dollar Baby - never saw it
Lord of the Rings (any of them) - MUST SEE
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto) - third one has problems but all are MUST SEE
The Fast and the Furious (ditto) - only saw "Tokyo Drift", which was legions of lol
A Beautiful Mind - MUST SEE
Pearl Harbor - what a pile of shit
Erin Brockovich - surprisingly good
Traffic - I enjoyed this but will never, ever defend anything in it beyond CZJ and Topher Grace
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - charming, sweet, ignorable
National Treasure - stupid fun
Harry Potter - in order of worth: 3, 4, 2, 1, 5

legions of lol!

What were the origins of "resultant paste"?

Gladiator - Kill me.
Kill Bill - MOVIE!
Sin City - Big fat guilty pleasure. Love it.
Million Dollar Baby - Kill me. Or her. Whoever's closer. But one of us has to go.
Lord of the Rings (any of them) - Orlando Bloomps for Giant Elephant Killer
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto) - Depp!
The Fast and the Furious (ditto) - Motion sickness!
A Beautiful Mind - lol serious Ron Howard
Pearl Harbor - Actually worse than the bombing itself.
Erin Brockovich - Boobs!
Traffic - Kill Michael Douglas.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - My big fat cock in your mom. (I don't know what that means at all.)
National Treasure - BEES!

Lord of the Rings - you're not missing anything, but the first one and maybe the second are worth seeing
Erin Brockovich - very slight movie but decent performances from Roberts and especially the charming Finney
Traffic - stylistically worthwhile in the Mexico parts but nothing special and annoying at times; may be worth seeing once
Kill Bill - there's some visually interesting stuff in both of them, especially if you're a cokehead

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL at that last one

Gladiator - shit
Kill Bill - should have been one movie
Sin City - would have been better shorter
Million Dollar Baby - pretty shitty
Lord of the Rings (any of them) - good hangover movies
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto) - first one was good adequate fun, #2 & #3 as incomprehensible as the matrix sequels
The Fast and the Furious (ditto) - not bad for august movie jams
A Beautiful Mind - ridiculous
Pearl Harbor - the worst
Erin Brockovich - pretty great
Traffic - pretty boneheaded
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - cheapy romcom with some charms
National Treasure - might as well just watch an indiana jones

I've just remembered that I haven't seen Home Alone or American Pie.

American Pie isn't bad - its basically an 80s teen sex comedy

(a genre which was oddly absent for most of the 90s)

American Pie is worth seeing for its cultural salience, but you're unlikely to ever want to see it again

People stopped laughing about sex in the 90s.

So, to summarise on Pearl Harbor:

Pearl Harbor - no, what a pile of shit, actually worse than the bombing itself, the worst.

Perhaps a defend the indefensible thread is in order.

Gladiator: truly fascist and bad but has one scene i really like
Kill Bill: enjoyments produced not worth the time to get them really
Sin City: didn't see
Million Dollar Baby: didn't see
Lord of the Rings (any of them): oh these are great
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto): slocki otm
The Fast and the Furious (ditto): didn't see
A Beautiful Mind: saw in bits, was real bad
Pearl Harbor: lolsome
Erin Brockovich: good!
Traffic: i liked it but it has major probs. the UK series is good, right?
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: didn't see
National Treasure: didn't see. latter day nic cage, what could go wrong?

Actually, I don't know why I put Pearl Harbor on the list and left off others I've not seen like Cast Away, Passion of the Christ and Meet the Fockers, all of which did much more box-office business and were probably better-reviewed as well.

Pearl Harbor: "That 'Titanic' movie made a lot of money, right? What can we do that's kind of like that? Get Ben Affleck on the phone, everyone loves that guy."

Cast Away - the bookends are high middlebrow, and the middle is sometimes boring, but sometimes hilarious; worth seeing at least once even if not as good as Contact

Forrest Gump C
Ghost F (this movie is racist and stupid)
Speed A- (shame about the beginning and end)
Jurassic Park B
The Silence of the Lambs B+
The Sixth Sense B
Sister Act D
There's Something About Mary B
Good Will Hunting D
Saving Private Ryan B (2 good scenes and a bunch of filler)
Schindler's List B+
The English Patient C (the "present" sections are excellent but the flashbacks are a chore)

Gladiator C
Kill Bill A/B
Sin City A
Million Dollar Baby A- (can't stand the narration)
Lord of the Rings (any of them) B+/D/D
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto) A-/D/F
A Beautiful Mind B
Erin Brockovich B
Traffic C
Cast Away A (note: i find the Randian nonsense entertaining)
Meet the Fockers F

I'm quite interested how so many people here end up seeing something like Pearl Harbor, actually. I mean, it had a terrible reputation, it didn't even offer the potential of critically sneered-at fun, what was it that drove you into its arms?

Stuck at Mom's house, it was on cable.

But isn't there always something else on cable? I dunno, I find it hard enough to settle down to watch films I'm looking forward to on TV, let alone ones that look like Pearl Harbor. I'd probably give it 5 minutes then switch to Come Dine With Me on another channel.

who will pay me millions to remake Cast Away shot-for-shot with Dave Matthews in the Tom Hanks role?

how about we just pay you a million dollars to strand yourself on a desert island

I don't know why I am finding this thread quite so funny, but I am.

haaaaa

i liked the island stuff in cast away. and the plane crash. the hanging out with helen hunt at the fedex office stuff (i know it didnt go down exactly like that but u know what i mean) at the end was terrible. what's "high middlebrow" about ending a movie with a man literally arriving at a CROSSROADS.

What are the Finnish titles of these movies?

Braveheart:; Hey, We're Scottish!
Forrest Gump - Hey, We're Retarded!
Ghost - Hey, We're Dead!
Speed - Hey, We're Fast!
Jurassic Park - Hey, We're Extinct!
The Silence of the Lambs - Hey, We're Serial Killers!
The Sixth Sense - Hey, We're Dead, Too!
Sister Act - Hey, We're Nuns!
Sleepless In Seattle - Hey, We're Lovers!
There's Something About Mary - Hey, We're The Farrellys!
Good Will Hunting - Hey, We're Geniuses!
Saving Private Ryan - Hey, We're Soldiers!
Schindler's List - Hey, We're Judenfrei!
The English Patient - Hey, We're Boring!
Dances With Wolves - Hey, We're Indians!

*slow clap*

Gladiator: more like glad its over
Kill Bill: kill myself
Sin City: pretty good
Million Dollar Baby: fuck this shit
Lord of the Rings (any of them): bored of this thing
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto): fags
The Fast and the Furious (ditto): b+ gone in 60 seconds already exists
A Beautiful Mind: wtf is this about???
Pearl Harbor: into it
Erin Brockovich: starin atrocketits
Traffic: have never seen this, never will also crapshit
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: lol
National Treasure: best

really do not get what anybody liked about Sin City, and I grew up on Frank Miller

"SPR has some good cinematography and masturbation, but it's still Spielberg"

Saving Private Ryan: some good masturbation, but ultimately kind've a crap film

Braveheart: never saw
Forrest Gump: liked it when i was a kid, can't imagine watching it now
Ghost: never saw
Speed: good fun, knows how to use its gimmick
Jurassic Park: total blast but you maybe had to be there to love it now
The Silence of the Lambs: never saw
The Sixth Sense: never saw
Sister Act: never saw, but saw the sequel about three or four times in school. That one's a pretty good Mighty Ducks type deal where she whips a bunch of ragtag kids into an awesome soul singing team. And Lauryn Hill!
Sleepless In Seattle: never saw
There's Something About Mary: never saw
Good Will Hunting: never saw. Oh, wait, I saw this. I don't think it was very good.
Saving Private Ryan: never saw
Schindler's List: never saw
The English Patient: never saw
Dances With Wolves: never saw

this thread inspired me to rewatch Aliens last night with my girlfriend (who had never seen it before). good call, thread.

Jurassic Park: Entertaining enough, never felt the need to watch it again
The Silence of the Lambs: Pretty excellent, watched it again a year or 2 later, still liked it.
The Sixth Sense: Never saw it
Sister Act: Saw a bit of it, didn't watch any more. ZZZzzzzzz.
Sleepless In Seattle: Didn't watch
There's Something About Mary: Crap
Good Will Hunting: Didn't watch
Saving Private Ryan: Boring.
Schindler's List: Depressing.
The English Patient: ZZzzzzz
Dances With Wolves: Half-decent film in there somewhere? I dunno, cant remember much about it TBH.

Braveheart: total shit. not as bad as "the patriot" I guess. Mel Gibson is a cretin.
Forrest Gump: Sappy, tedious.
Ghost: Entertaining enough. Would have been better if it had featured godzilla
Speed: would have been awesome at 3/4 the length, dragged it out just a bit too long tho.
The Sixth Sense: didn't fancy it at the time, never saw.

Gladiator: epitome of tedious CGI-afflited shit. Wd have been better if they'd made it in 1925, and built all that shit for real.
Kill Bill: cinematic equivalent of record collection rock. Tarantino is a boring wanker who will never be associated another film as entertaining as "dusk to dawn" and is the hollywood equiv of bobby gillespie.
Sin City: didn't like the comic, didn't bother.
Million Dollar Baby: never even heard of this
Lord of the Rings (any of them): OK as these things go? Can't remember much about them TBH.
Pirates of the Caribbean (ditto): Saw the trailer, figured it was pointless to sit thru the entire film after that.
The Fast and the Furious (ditto): looked vaguely entertaining thru the window of the TV shop. Might pick up the dvd if I see it for 2.99
A Beautiful Mind: didn't fancy it.
Pearl Harbor: looked shit, so didn't bother
Erin Brockovich: didn't look very interesting, didn't bother
Traffic: clips i saw looked goddamn awful
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: my wife likes this film, she keeps trying to get me to watch it, i don't fancy it much.
National Treasure: never heard of it

the original poll selection:

Ghostbusters: great
The Shining: great
Beetlejuice: great
Fight Club: boring
Top Gun: shit
Crocodile Dundee: entertaining
Life Aquatic: enjoyed this a lot, for all it was like the ramblings of a maudlin drunk made into a film.
Dirty Dancing: atrocious, one of the worst films ever made. inexcusable.

I am the biggest soundtrack whore alive and that is still no excuse for watching "Dirty Dancing"

― 1899 Horsey Horseless (HI DERE), Friday, June 5, 2009 4:48 PM Bookmark

well yeah, i suppose you can jettison the Ronettes, Otis, the Drifters, the Zodiacs, etc., but come on - Jennifer Warnes? Eric Carmen? Zappacosta?!

this movie is unfuckwithable

ok, i admit it's a little embarrassing when swayze plays air guitar and later how (but not that?) he mouths the lyrics in the magic realist ending. dude is mortal after all.

Ghostbusters: great
The Shining: great
Beetlejuice: great
Fight Club: boring

Pash, that's insane but

Tarantino is a boring wanker...and is the hollywood equiv of bobby gillespie.

APPLAUDING

What were the origins of "resultant paste"?

It morphed from this:

Sucking your fingers after eating crisps C/D

So I still haven't seen any of these. Man I suck. But I did finally watch Shawshank Redemption this week and was satisfied - that one at least lives up to the "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN!?!" pressure. The video library here doesn't have The Shining or Ghostbusters that I've been able to find though....should ask next time to be sure, 'cause a lot of the organization is pretty mysterious.

I saw Beetlejuice! It was pretty good!

So I finally started watching Ghostbusters this morning! It's a VHS with reallllly bad pan-n-scan so that's distracting, but so far I'm basically into the plot and so on. Gonna watch it in chunks for the next couple days I think. Bill Murray's character seems like a real dick - - not sure I'd have introduced him through a scene with him being all sleazy with the co-ed student and so on. But OMG Sigourney Weaver is so fucking hot in this movie. The library ghost was pretty cool too. How'd they do the card catalog stunt do you think? Some kind of card-spitting contraption inside the drawers?

rick moranis iirc

sigourney weaver is all-time

murray is a dick, but v loveable.

ps bad form blatantly ignoring the results of yr own poll til now imo

How'd they do the card catalog stunt do you think?

Aye, I believe it was an air cannon of some sort.

hahahah yeah, I'm sure when I made the poll I intended to follow through on it kind of directly, but I moved overseas basically the same week it finished and that sort of threw things off. And then the library in Bangalore didn't have Ghostbusters!

Oddly enough I was reminded of this whole business by the action movie poll results which I intended to take as a serious remedial crash course syllabus.

I don't think I could even *make* myself watch Ghostbusters in chunks, I lose a whole afternoon if it's on tv, lol.

Bill Murray is the best kind of dick. You'll see. And he's a great foil for Akroyd and Ramis. I mean, the comedy of those 3 personality types together is so fucking great.

you should try to get your hands on the Reitman commentary at some point, it's great and they explain a lot of the effects etc. There's a good summary here too if you're interested: http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/36-things-we-learned-from-the-ghostbusters-commentary-track.php

I'm such a stan for this movie it's embarrassing

Bill Murray's pre-Groundhog Day career is encapsulated in the Twinkie exchange -- specifically his response.

I've never seen Top Gun or Dirty Dancing, and don't have much interest in either (dislike Tom Cruise & dancing movies).

Glad to see all the Life Aquatic hate! It's the only movie I've rented and turned off halfway through!

― Carlos 2, Tuesday, June 2, 2009 7:51 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Life Aquatic is definitely my favourite Wes Anderson film, which probably means I'm not a Wes Anderson fan.

A yuppie friend of a friend was the first I knew to have a bigass home theater system with surround sound, and his favorite thing to show off his equipment (heh) was Top Gun. I hated that movie then, hate it now.

;_;

Another chunk through Ghostbusters, still liking it although it's a little on the sluggish side - the whole thing catching Slimer in the hotel ballroom really seemed to drag out. I always thought this was more of like a comedy movie. But Bill Murray's character is actually growing on me, didn't expect that!

(ITT: Doctor Casino liveblogs movies everybody else on ilx has already seen fifty-five times)

<3

Man, I read the first part of this thread and when I got to the fold I had my fingers crossed for the surely upcoming mile long LJ post ripping apart Ghostbusters (rules btw) I could almost visualize it in my head with the paragraph breaks and everything but it never happened T_T

Wow, it's like this movie keeps alternating between this really annoying movie about Rick Moranis and this really engaging movie about Bill Murray. Obviously they're set up to intersect with this whole Keymaster business but, ugh.

annoying movie about rick moranis? does not compute ;_;

also how long are these chunks that you're watching? spaced out over a period of weeks/months any film becomes pretty intolerable.

Guess you never saw...his entire 1990s career

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Big_Bully.jpg

I meant w/r/t to Ghostbusters, lol!

that movie looks terrible

TOM ARNOLD STOP LOOKING AT ME

lol it is set in Hastings, MN

Done! Man, what an odd little movie. The comedy bits were usually pretty strong but they're so, like, stranded in the midst of the plotty and/or effects scenes. There's certain sequences that just seem to drag out forever (like when they leave the mayor's office and are like rallying the city or whatever), and it's like, man, get back to the part where these dudes play off each other! Basically I would have liked more script, less ghost-busting. Also more Sigourney Weaver. It was totally okay though, I'm glad I finally saw the thing. Couple of really great parts. And I mean, the VHS was like a buck at Goodwill. Thanks for the poll results, everyone! I wonder if I should do this thing again.

Just saw The Shining, closing out the top three. Gorgeous movie, loved looking at every frame, loved OTT Nicholson, love/hated OTT Duvall. Was probably only scared at two or three points, and not intensely, but it was just so visually satisfying that I didn't notice or care. Amazing acting they got out of the kid - he's really crucial to the movie and I can't imagine how you get kids to convey reactions like that, especially since (I imagine) you can't tell them "You're reacting to a bunch of hacked-up bloody pieces of two little girls" or whatever.

Wonder if I'd react differently if I didn't know the basic outline of the plot from a million parodies (lol Simpsons) and references, or know that at some point Jack Nicholson was going to break down a door with an axe and go "Here's Johnny!" etc. Suspect I would much more scared just seeing this cold in the theater in 1980.

Also just read most of the main ILX Shining thread, some awesome posts there especially by difficult listening hour. Wow. The Shining