Movies you love 🎬

[Guybrush]

Hey gang!

This is like the thread Songs You Love, only for movies (obviously).

Tell us about a movie you love and preferably a little about what makes it great and perhaps explain a little about how it resonates with you or why it's special to you.

I suggest Guest goes first.

[Guybrush]

I'll start by mentioning:

Birdman (2014)



In this movie, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez, we see Michael Keaton playing the role of washed up former action hero actor Riggan Thomson. Riggan is seeking artistic redemption and wants to set up a play on Broadway, but has to contend with impossible actors, the chaos of theatre, his own identity crisis and the devil on his back telling him he could always just go back and do Birdman 4.

The movie appears to be shot in one take. Coupled with a soundtrack that features a lot of free jazz drumming, it creates an intensity that perfectly matches and helps convey the chaotic nature of theatre productions as well as Riggan's inner life.

The acting is superb, especially by Michael Keaton and.. who doesn't love him?

Everything just came together so beautifully in this one. It's funny, moving, very entertaining. I love it.

If I remember correctly, it won the 2014 Oscar for best movie. Well deserved!

[Lexi Darling]

Rear Window (1954)

My fiance and I have some overlap with our tastes in film, mostly with regards to nostalgic 90s stuff and the customary bad movies we use as roast material, but a lot of our individual film preferences are very different and even opposite. One thing we don't really see eye to eye on is really old movies. The mister is very much a high-tech 21st century man, if he enjoys an older movie it's usually just out of amusement rather than any genuine love for classic cinema. By "old" I generally mean anything made before 1970 or so.

I've spoken briefly on this occasionally, but not at length: I'm a huge fan of a lot of the aesthetics and media and typical conventions of the mid-century era of entertainment. I love the fashion, the slang and mannerisms, the interior design, I have so much love for the vintage styles of that era (roughly 1945 to 1965). It's more than retro kitsch to me, it's a big influence on a lot of my aesthetic presentations in various areas of my life. Rear Window, on the other hand, is something that, while certainly an obvious product of the 1950s, in a lot of ways it also kind of transcends the era, even moreso than some other Hitchcock films. I took a film class in college around 2008-2009 where we watched most of his notable films, and this one was and still remains my favorite.

I think one thing that has given me a perennial appreciation for it is my own sense of place, for lack of a better description. Between living alone after moving out of my mom's house in 2013, being stuck in the 2020 Covid lockdown, and my current situation in which restrictions are imposed on me leaving the house, I've spent a lot of time at home over the past decade. Having been inside for so long on a regular basis, I tend to start to notice the finer details of my surroundings, both in terms of subconscious perception and conscious observation. I play little games in my head to keep me mentally stimulated. I daydream a lot. I notice patterns. And while I don't actively observe my neighbors or anything, my wandering mind will sometimes take note of what they're doing.

And so because of all that, I feel like I can really get into the headspace of Jimmy Stewart's character in this film. I relate to him giving his neighbors across the street silly nicknames, and I relate to his curiosity that leads him to pursue investigation. So on that psychological level there is a lot about the experience of being stuck at home with nothing to do but hyperfocus on your surroundings that I think Hitchcock captures perfectly.

The film is also helped by my extreme admiration and envy of Grace Kelly's beauty. Vintage glamour is a passion of mine and she absolutely slays that look.

[robhr]

Well if you're going to call me out I guess I have no choice. Unless you did that thing again where it looks like you're talking to me but it just inserts whoever's username.

Badlands (1973)

I love it for it's atmosphere. The characters retain a certain childlike innocence despite being serial killers on the run. Well the leading lady and narrator does anyway. It's unsettling. Terrence Malick's debut I believe. And I always love Martin Sheen.

I think it was the inspiration for Natural Born Killers or something. I remember my uncle saying it was basically Natural Born Killers. I think it was Natural Born Killers. It was something.

[Mindy]

[Mindy]

[ribbons]

I'll start by mentioning:

Birdman (2014)



In this movie, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez, we see Michael Keaton playing the role of washed up former action hero actor Riggan Thomson. Riggan is seeking artistic redemption and wants to set up a play on Broadway, but has to contend with impossible actors, the chaos of theatre, his own identity crisis and the devil on his back telling him he could always just go back and do Birdman 4.

The movie appears to be shot in one take. Coupled with a soundtrack that features a lot of free jazz drumming, it creates an intensity that perfectly matches and helps convey the chaotic nature of theatre productions as well as Riggan's inner life.

The acting is superb, especially by Michael Keaton and.. who doesn't love him?

Everything just came together so beautifully in this one. It's funny, moving, very entertaining. I love it.

If I remember correctly, it won the 2014 Oscar for best movie. Well deserved!

Tore, I watched Birdman recently and was pretty much blown away.  Couldn't agree more with your estimation of this film - the acting by everyone in the cast, particularly Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton, was superb.  I need to watch it again as a whole, since my viewings were interrupted a few times.  It's just one of those films that I know I'll be watching over and over.  Thanks for the recommendation!

[ribbons]

Sometimes there just aren't enough rocks. 

[Guybrush]

Tore, I watched Birdman recently and was pretty much blown away.  Couldn't agree more with your estimation of this film - the acting by everyone in the cast, particularly Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton, was superb.  I need to watch it again as a whole, since my viewings were interrupted a few times.  It's just one of those films that I know I'll be watching over and over.  Thanks for the recommendation!

Thank you, @ribbons ! 😊

I've seen it a few times now and it always blew me away.

@Mrs. Waffles I also love Rear Window and it's also my Hitchcock favorite. There's some cozy magic to him watching his neighbors go on about their lives. The dialogue is great, Grace Kelly so beautiful as you mention. It's a wonderful movie.

@robhr I've never seen Badlands, but might just check it out 🙂

[Hope]

I'm a big fan of stop motion and this is my favorite I think. It's just stunning to look at. I watch it quite often when I have an hour and a half to waste or need a bit of comfort in the familiar.

[Guybrush]

I'm a big fan of stop motion and this is my favorite I think. It's just stunning to look at. I watch it quite often when I have an hour and a half to waste or need a bit of comfort in the familiar.

We're a bit like that with Nightmare Before Christmas and are also very fond of Coraline 🙂

[Lexi Darling]

I was a big Tim Burton fan when Corpse Bride came out. I liked it at the time, but I have not seen it since I was in high school.

I love Nightmare, I was absolutely that kid who rocked the Jack Skellington merch from Hot Topic as a teenager. I had a fierce debate with a coworker a few months ago on whether it was more of a Halloween movie or more of a Christmas movie. I was arguing on the side of Halloween, for the record.

And while we're on the subject, Die Hard is not a Christmas movie and I will die on this hill. Anyone who seriously thinks it is one is taking a meme too far.

[Hope]

I love Nightmare, I was absolutely that kid who rocked the Jack Skellington merch from Hot Topic as a teenager. I had a fierce debate with a coworker a few months ago on whether it was more of a Halloween movie or more of a Christmas movie. I was arguing on the side of Halloween, for the record.

Definitely a Halloween movie.

[Guybrush]

^I think the movie builds up towards a climax about what's gonna happen at Christmas with Santa being kidnapped and Jack taking over. As such, it's more christmas movie. But then in style, it leans much more heavily into Halloween.

The boring answer (imo) is it manages to cater to both holidays and it's really quite clever.

I LOVE this one:


The Fisher King (1991)



Slight spoiler here, but Jeff Bridges plays Jack who is a successful radio DJ of the cynical narcissistic variety at the start of the film. One of his regular callers is a deranged guy who Jack, on air, unknowingly eggs on to kill a bunch of people at a restaurant with a shotgun. The shooting and Jack's attachment to it gets a bunch of media attention and Jack's life and career falls apart.

We then meet him again 5 years later, wracked with regret, guilt and self-pity and hiding out in the back-office of his girlfriend's video rental.

When he goes on a depressed, drunken binge and eventually decides to take his own life, he is unexpectedly helped by the homeless, deranged Paddy played by Robin Williams.

Jack later learns that him and Paddy's fates are intertwined and decides that if he can help Paddy, maybe things would get better for himself.

It's basically a redemption story with a lot of heart and being directed by Terry Gilliam, it also typically centers around outsiders of society and throws in a bit of the fantastic. Its biggest strength is the portrayal of humanity through its central four characters, Jack and Paddy as well as Jack's girlfriend Anne played by Mercedes Reuhl and the target of Paddy's affections, the awkward Lydia, played by Amanda Plummer.

It's funny, romantic, tragic, hopeful - just through and through great, though I do think it's the sort of movie that may hit hardest on the second viewing. Some of the acting is also amazing and I believe Mercedes Reuhl snatched an Oscar for her human portrayal as Anne.

This movie instilled in me a love for
Gilliam, its cast as well as the songs How About You (our dance song at our wedding) and Lydia the Tattooed Lady.

When living in Oslo, we visited a friend who just so happened to have her parents visiting. For some reason, we decided to watch a movie and I recommended this and so we watched it. Since then, her mother has loved this movie and watch it like once a year 😄 so I'm happy to have successfully shared my love for it and it really has the ability to connect with certain people.

I think veryone ought to see it - twice!

[Meatwad]

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