1. Jaws - great all around. Love the characters, the suspense, the music, the shark dying (I hate sharks and am terrified of the ocean because of them... not just a random phobia, personal story behind this). I once watched this movie 7x in a row.

2. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb! - what can I say? Funny, sarcastic. Love Peter Sellers. If I didnt have Strangelove as #2, it'd probably be The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

3. Life Is Beautiful - wonderful story. Love foreign films.

4. Dances with Wolves - just a great movie but kinda long, used to be my all time favorite, just watched it again last night.

5. Top Gun - I wanted to be a pilot. When I had to get glasses I dropped that idea cause only the cool pilots land on the carriers and if you're not cool then what's the point? .....


honorable mentions:

Unforgiven/The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Ghostbusters
Kill Bill 1&2
Almost Famous
28 Days Later
Evil Dead 2
Indiana Jones Trilogy

Top Gun has revolutionary lighting/cinematography. Tony Scott is a fantastic director of some really entertaining movies.

For more Tony Scott see:

Man on Fire
True Romance
hell even check out Days of Thunder

heh, Foreign films should have their own seperate thread...

I like:

Children of Heaven (Takes place in some impoverished middle-eastern country where a young boy loses his sister's shoes and the whole movie is about them trying to cover it up from their parents (as shoes are a major purchase when you're impoverished) by sharing the same pair of shoes, and ultimately the boy tries to obtain her a new pair. Quite a heartwarming tale.)

Fitzcarroldo (I have no idea if I spelled that right, but basically it's about a man who tries to port a steam boat over a mountain. Very slow paced. There are 1 or 2 scenes where you will want to que the tape (or DVD) ahead... (one scene of the boat moving up the side of the mountain so slowly you only notice it's moving by hitting the fast forward button, and even then it's like a 2 minute long scene). Even so, it's a great movie.)

I'm not knowledgable enough to say what 5 movies are the best, but here are 5 I personally like, which all have their relative extremes.

Dawn of the Dead (original)
Extreme absurdity. One of the funniest movies I've seen. I love the part where the guy has just gotten out of his truck and is really in a hurry (and a dangerous situation), but this zombie comes right up to him and starts gently stroking his face. His reaction isn't one of "omg zombie" so much as "omg pervert." And the sombrero guy.. blood pressure machine.. amazing.

Dawn of the Dead (remake)
Extreme terror. The scariest movie I've seen. I had been looking at Spanish colonial art (many a bleeding christ) briefly before going to the theater and.. it was just the most graphic, violent, disturbing movie I've seen. And here I thought I was desensitized.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Extreme beauty. One of the last films made by Japanese director and oil painter, Akira Kurosawa. Every single moment of this movie is a work of art. I hear he did layouts for scenes with large oil paintings, it's just that focused on visual beauty. Great film, lots of small "stories."

The Last Woman on Earth
Extreme .. nonsensical existentialism? The apocalypse happened. Who cares how? The writers didn't that much. The point is that the Earth's population is now composed of 2 men and 1 woman. It sounds ridiculous, but the relationship dynamics and philosophy it explores is.. surprising.

Ok, I didn't even make it to 5. Leave me alone..

1. Scarface. "Say hello to my little friend!" (you also have gotta love the chainsaw scene)

2. Fight Club

3. ESB

4. Godfather series

5. Office Space

Fight Club - Pure brilliance, from it's entertainingly made psychological theme to the social statements. The humor of the movie is utterly hilarious and the atmosphere it creates is so brilliantly close to what Palahniuk's books manage to conjure.

A Requiem For A Dream - I spent one hour in total silence after watching it with my friend. We just smoked there and sat in this perfect, heavy and yet comfortable silence. An amazingly impressive movie about dreams.

Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino creates an atmosphere of sheer coolness, humor, violence and social distortion with his ultimate masterpiece

Interview With The Vampire - Hey, you know me The tormenting eternity of the undying predator, the decadence it spawns and the hope that dies a little more evey passing decade and century. How will the world end? Hell, you'll be there to see it....

Hero - Epics, undying stories of people and events larger than life and I can't think of anything larger and more beautiful than Hero. No film has ever made me cry like this one and no film has ever filled my head with such gorgeous mindscapes.

Add these in: Lost in Translation, Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo and the 7 Samurai, both Kill Bills, Reservoir Dogs, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine and Brother as well as Zatoichi, Samurai Fiction, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, LoTR (FoTR especially), Blueberry, Once Upon A Time In The West.....just to name but a few.

I'm not an incredibly big movie buff, so I'll just list the ones that come to mind.

1. Donnie Darko - I've seen this movie several times, and it never gets old. Cheesy, yes. Old, never.

2. Sin City - I just plain liked this movie, easy as that. It was fun to watch.

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - One of the few Jim Carey films I don't hate. In fact, I really like the depth to this one. Great movie.

4. Seven Samurai - I think that's the title. Anyway, old Japanese black and white film. I watched it a few years ago, subtitled of course. This was a great piece of filmmaking.

5. Clerks - Incredibly funny movie. Kevin Smith is a genious.

Honorable mentions:

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (my favorite of the trilogy)
LOTR trilogy
The Big Lebowski - A funny and quite quotable movie
Star Wars OT
Blade Runner
Dune Sci-Fi miniseries - Not many people will agree with me, but I love the world of Dune. I think Sci-Fi's rendition of it was pretty decent, at least much better than the 1984 film. In with this goes the Sci-fi miniseries of Children of Dune.
Man on Fire
Hero
2001
Office Space - Because it resembles my future.
Pi - this was an interesting and different film.

Hm, there's always the three ones that always seem to belong to my list (A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner, SW Original Trilogy), but at the moment other best movies are L.A.Confidental and Once Upon A Time in America. Especially the latter, it's a great movie, no matter what people say.

I have no order, as I suck at ordering things.

- The Royal Tenenbaums - I absolutely love this movie. I was expecting a serious (and boring) movie when I started it, but I was pleasantly surprised. The offbeat humour gets you to laugh when you least expect to at things that you don't normally laugh at. The big name cast did an excellent job of playing roles that didn't fit their normal bill.

"I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terrible attractive woman."


- The Bridge on the River Kwai - There was just something masterful about this movie to me. For one, it's the only movie I've ever seen that has you truly confused as to who is the "bad guy". All of the characters were well developed and interacted well. Plus it was fun to see the young Alec Guinness. :p

Saito: "Do you know what will happen to me if the bridge is not built on time?"
Nicholson: "I haven't the foggiest."
"I'll have to kill myself. What would you do if you were me?"
"I suppose if I were you, I'd have to kill myself. Cheers!"


- Kung Pow: Enter the Fist - Okay, technically Kung Pow is the worst movie I've ever seen, but it's also one of the funniest. Most of the scenes got a bit stale my fifth time watching it - though it may have been because my friend was asleep - but there were still scenes that made me laugh out loud. Very loud. You just can't beat Kung Pow's silliness

"Mushufasa: Behold the two symbols: one, over here; the other, over there."


- Finding Neverland - I don't know what it was about this movie. I just found it beautiful, what with switching between the main character's fantasy and reality seamlessly and other subtle things. It could have been that I watched on a plane as I seem react more emotionally to movies on a plane, but it was still really good.

No quote!


- Better Off Dead - This actually may not be one of my favorite movies, but it's what I though of. It's just funny, in a pleasant way. Yup. I guess I can write here about the movie that I had to not put on the list, Sanjuro. 'Sa Kurosawa film that mixes samurai action and humour. Enjoyable.

"This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?"


I guess that's it.

For me, I like a random mix of films.... In no particular order

1. Blade Runner - It's just brilliant.

2. Uncle Buck - Makes me laugh so damn hard.

3. Apollo 13 - Many good reasons to love this film.

4. Shaun of the Dead - Cock it!

5. A Knight's Tale - It's my drunken film I watch with my housemates every few weeks.

Honourable mentions go to...

Ghostbusters
The Star Wars Trilogy
The Terminator Trilogy
True Lies
The Matrix Trilogy
American History X
Green Mile
Shawshank Redemption
Deuce Bigalow (for drunken giggles and fun)
The Incredibles
The Lion King

And so many more I cant think of on the spur of the moment.

The Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Best horror film i've ever seen, its got tension, none of those crappy running zombies, comedy, swish metaphorical representations and its generally a fun film you can watch many many times.

Terminator 2

What can I say? This was one of my favourite childhood movies and I just love the themes and characters, the action is pretty sweet too, one of the best villans ever.

Full Metal Jacket

My favourite war film, I cannot fault it, has everything I want to see in the genre, conflict, desperation, terror, characterisation, realism, acting, cinematography. Stanley Kubrick was a genius.

Terry Gilliam

I know this is cheating but I figure I just had to list the man himself as a director and a writer, simply because I could not choose between Brazil, Twelve Monkeys or Fear & Loathing, the man has quality, I love all his work, especially those three movies, not to forget that comedy stuff he did with some snakes.

The Usual Suspects

No comment, if you haven't seen it, see it. An editorial masterpiece with an awesome story, awesome characters, awesome performances, clever dialogue, some interesting shots and an unforgettable twist.

Films that need a mention, in no particular order:

Tarantinos work, LotR, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Fight Club, Alien, Aliens, Withnail & I, This Is Spinal Tap, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, Cannibal Holocaust, The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Green Mile, Platoon, Godfather Trilogy, Casino, Goodfellas, Fargo, Chopper, Evil Dead Trilogy, X-Men & Spiderman (I <3 comic books, these movies do them justice), Big Lebowski, Other two Terminators, Twelve Angry Men, Back to the Future Trilogy, Shawshank Redemption, City of God, Akira, Trainspotting Hero, Donnie Darko, Blade Runner, Night of the Living & Day of the Dead, Predator & those two guy ritchie movies, Lock Stock & Snatch.

I like way too many movies to pick only 5, it took a lot of thought to remove any of the films from that list from the top 5, and even my top five is technically a top 7, so sue me. :p

In no particular order:

Die hard
The Untouchables
Uncle Buck
Possibly... Groundhog day
Contact?

Unbreakable
Fight Club
Donnie Darko
The Big Lebowski
The Life Aquatic

Blade Runner
The Matrix Trilogy
2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Returner
The Seven Samurai
Akira
My Neighbour Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Princess Mononoke
Quitting
Brother
Dumb and Dumber
Mrs. Doubtfire
Spirited Away
Dune
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Braveheart
Pulp Fiction
A Night at the Roxbury
The Motorcycle Diaries

My friend and I had that movie figured out before we even started it. When you get the DVD, you'll notice that it has the 5 main characters on the cover in a line up. My friend looks at the cover (having never seen the movie, and having just been told to watch it by another friend) and says "It's that guy" (pointing at the guy it ends up being). I looked at it and said, "Yeah, probably." We had no idea what it was that that guy did, or anything.. We just knew it was gonna be that guy. Five minutes into the movie, we were certain. Anyway, I did think it was a great movie... Good captivating story line... But it was rather predictible.

Well, this is actually what I was going to post. Exactly. This guy has some taste, that much I must admit.

And Morphy, have you read Survivor yet?

dammit, I forgot The Life Aquatic. It's in my top 5.

Survivor is my favorite Palahniuk book.

Fight Club - I just love the mood.. and almost everything about it really.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou/Royal Tenenbaums - The humor in Wes Anderson films is so offbeat and delightful.
Garden State - Again, there's some great offbeat humor. Plus characters very easy to relate to.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - I love this movie. Michel Gondry's vision is awesome.
Ocean's 11/12 - Just plain fun.

Thank you.
And yes, I've read Survivor and Choking (or is it Suffocation? dunno, I have it in Finnish) Both were brilliant books, Survivor was just a tad bit better than Choking, but just a teenie bit.

Come on, The Royal Tenenbaums was better than The Life Aquatic (Though it was very good.)

In no particular order:

Indiana Jones Trilogy
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail
Strange Days

(NOTE: The first three movies on the list are "tied" for first place in terms of my favorite.)

Clerks - Having worked in retail at my family's hardware store, I connect so well with this movie. I love the dialog, and I'm looking forward to the sequel to be filmed and released yet this year.

"I'm not even supposed to be here today"

Wonder Boys - Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes, Frances McDormand, Rip Torn, and Robert Downey, Jr. all turn in amzing preformances in this movie. If you haven't seen it I really recomend at least renting it.

"So there it was. Somewhere in the night, a Manhattan book editor was prowling the streets of Pittsburgh; best-selling author at his side, dead dog in his trunk."

Garden State - I connected with this movie more than I have with any other movie I've seen. quite honestly the only time that a movie has "moved" me.

"I know it hurts. But it's life, and it's real. And sometimes it ****ing hurts, but it's life, and it's pretty much all we got."

The Man Who Wasn't There - Plot summary from IMDb: A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.

"The more you look, the less you really know."

Daredevil: Director's Cut - The version of this movie that was released into theaters was just a shame, taking a wonderful script about my favorite comicbook character and his complex life and dumbing it down to a "revenge" flick. But then again, I love the character so maybe I'm viewing it through rose colored glasses.

"When it rains, it's like there's a rooftop on the world. Each raindrop makes a sound the first time it falls on a surface. Just then, it's like... it's like I can see again. And... and I just wanna... I just wanna see you."

Choke. Yes, I love Survivor. Mmm...lobster...

I could post my list, but I'd just be repeating a bunch of movies already stated. But I don't think anyone said Animal House yet. This must be rectified.

1) Star Wars New Trilogy
2) Star Wars Old Trilogy
3) Grind

....What?!?

Any movie about skateboarding = Good.

I'm not really sure these are my top favorites, but this is what I'm thinking at the moment (excluding the classics like Casablanca and Gone With the Wind)...

The Motorcycle Diaries
Seven Samurai
Fight Club
Memento
Leon: The Professional

Snatch gets an honorable mention because it's one of the few movies out there without a romantic plot in it. :p

Pah.. I refuse to narrow my favourite movies down to just five. My head would probably explode.