103 Movies You Have To See or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Poll

[Kete]

Raising Arizona

[D.B. Barnes]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

[Tripe]

Three pretty heavy hitters right there, I was going to continue in my role as him what suggests asian films, but the next one in the hopper is likely to need a slightly less dense feild so I'll reserve it for another round.

This time then, I'm going to suggest - Drop Dead Gorgeous, it's a cute film, one that I do think everyone should see (because it's lovely and quite dark and I think everyone can use a laugh now and then) but it's one I don't mind not seeing sail through on the first round it's entered for.

[SJP]

You know, I've always felt the Coen Brothers sort of got the shaft when it came to their big Oscar nod.  Of all their films, Fargo gets the Oscar, but all of their other films are just as twisty, memorable, and in the case of something like Big Lebowski, just eminently more quotable and rewatchable.  Amazingly, though, I've never seen Raising Arizona, except for a couple of scenes.

And it's been awhile since I've seen Drop Dead Gorgeous, I think it's required viewing for anyone who likes Reno 911, since it's written by the same people.  It also showcases Kirsten Dunst and Kirstie Alley before they got doughy, and has one the wackiest talent shows ever captured onscreen.

[LucasM]

Let's go wayyyyy back... and hopefully give the three already nominated for this round a run for their money. 

Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid"

This is possibly one of Chaplin's best films, and may be the first time that a dramedy was filmed (though, thankfully, the word 'dramedy' was coined many years later).  The story of a man's love for his adopted son, and the occasional [] trouble they get into, was Chaplin's first feature length film (68mins), and plunked Jackie Coogan (the 1960's Uncle Fester) into the first 'megastar child' position.

While Chaplin has to have a place somewhere on this list, it took me a bit to decide whether to submit 'The Tramp', 'The Immigrant' or this for voting... I guess it's obvious which I finally decided on.  ['Modern Times' and 'The Great Dictator' were in the running for a bit, as well.]

[Tripe]

There's another Chaplin film that, thanks to people's effort at restoration, I feel happy to nominate in another round.

[Russell]

I nominate Casino.

[ScottotD]

Halloween

Sure 'Black Christmas' might have been first but Halloween broke out and basically created a genre, mixing old fashioned Hitchcockian suspense with modern sensibilities.  Also the highest grossing indie film ever for almost two decades.

[Russell]

Halloween

Sure 'Black Christmas' might have been first but Halloween broke out and basically created a genre, mixing old fashioned Hitchcockian suspense with modern sensibilities.  Also the highest grossing indie film ever for almost two decades.

I respect Halloween for being very minimal with the blood and gore. In fact as I recall there was very little blood or gore in the film at all.  I think if you took out the boobs and the f-words, it could have been rated PG.

[ScottotD]

Halloween

Sure 'Black Christmas' might have been first but Halloween broke out and basically created a genre, mixing old fashioned Hitchcockian suspense with modern sensibilities.  Also the highest grossing indie film ever for almost two decades.

I respect Halloween for being very minimal with the blood and gore. In fact as I recall there was very little blood or gore in the film at all.  I think if you took out the boobs and the f-words, it could have been rated PG.

There's no blood whatsover in Halloween, not sure if that makes it a better movie but it's true.

[LucasM]

...I think if you took out the boobs and the f-words, it could have been rated PG.

Yeah... but where would the fun be in that?



On a different subject: for any who haven't seen Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid' (which I nominated just a few posts above this one), I did my usual somewhere-near-the-beginning-of-the-month(-but-usually-hopefully-before-a-third-of-it-has-already-passed ) look at the Turner Classic Movies website for this month's schedule.  And guess what?  Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid' is airing next Monday, April 16, at 6:30am Eastern.  It appears to be 58 minutes, rather than the 68 Wikipedia said it was, but if you are DVRing it (like I will be, with a DVR that can also burn to DVD), you might want to add an extra 10 minutes or more to the end 'just in case'.  [When recording anything off TV I've always given a minimum of 3 minutes on either side of the scheduled time, with an additional 10-15 on TCM after one time missing the very tail end of something I wanted to keep because they happened to be running a tad late that day.]

At any rate: if you haven't yet seen it, now's as good a time as any. 

[Russell]

...I think if you took out the boobs and the f-words, it could have been rated PG.

Yeah... but where would the fun be in that?

Sometimes less is more. I'll give you an example. Remember that movie Time after time? These cops are trying to
rescue this woman, they break into her apartment and the cops see something that makes one of them instantly
vomit. The camera pans over and we see what appears to be a severed hand on the floor... but no other signs of any
other body parts. It's pretty frickin' eerie, it's really gritty but it's not strictly gory or bloody. I find that horror is much
more effective when you are forced to use your imagination.

[Kete]

Voting has ended.  Three-way tie for second?  I just added all three to the list.  Again, the vote history is here.

We need three more movies to start the next round.

[Relaxing Dragon]

Alright, time to pull one out of my Super-Favorites hat.

Children of Men. There are a metric ton of reasons why I love this movie as much as I do: The gritty, evocative atmosphere of a planet filled with a slowly dying race. The pitch-perfect use of all the players, particularly main man Clive Owen, who's Theo becomes one of the most unlikely heroes of the decade (who never even picks up a gun). The technical marvel is becomes through its long-shots, which aren't the most complex oners ever or even close to the longest, but will still take your breath away. The exiting-the-building climax, which is probably the most life-affirming scene I've ever watched in a movie ever (for real, I tear up just thinking about it).

But really, I think what really gets me about this movie is just how well it represents humanity. This movie, its plot and tone and specifics and themes and all that jazz... it's people. It's how crazy we can get in times of strife, all the terrible, awful, horrible things we can do to each other under stress, in the name of a "good cause", or (on occasion) just because we can. It shows what an abysmal sack of crap we can make this planet and how poorly we can treat everyone who lives on it, ourselves included, and what we do to make things even worse.

And, above all, it shows that in spite of all of the above, hope still prevails. That single glimmer of something better, of something that we can strive for to make this place a nicer, happier, and all around better place to be. Somewhat trite and /or cliche to spell it all out like this? Perhaps, but that doesn't change how freaking good this movie is in those regards. When 2010 rolled around there were all those Pick Your Best Movies of the Decade lists, and this one always topped mine. Still does, come to think of it.

[Kete]

Citizen Kane and Casablanca always go back and forth as the best movie ever, but for my money, I'd have to go with Casablanca.  I can't really watch Citizen Kane repeatedly like I can Casablanca, and I think it's a lot more accessible to most people.