Favourie movies

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There a many movies i enjoy.

Lord of the Rings, The original and Peter Jackson's King Kong, Indian Jones series, the original Star Wars series ( the new ones are pretty though), Ace Ventura, a bunch more as well, more than i care to post at this time.

Two 've seen rather recently and really enjoyed were Clerks and The Warriors.

Clerks is the classic tale of a clerk, Dante who has to come in on his day off and work. And basically his entire life falls to shit (girlfriend dumps him, his old ex has sex with a dead body, gets fined $500 for sells cigs to a 4 year old), luckily he has his friend Randal for support. This is the first film to introduce Jay and Silent Bob, which are geniusly written characters. (Don't watch Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, watch this to understand)

The Warriors is basically a behind enemy lines story, a gang must bop their way back home after being falsely accused of murder a major gang leader. The story is set up like a comic book with a very cartoonish plot and costumes. (google Baseball Furies to understand) It's silly but that's what makes this movie so cool. It has a unique gritty style.
 
Valtries said:
There a many movies i enjoy.

Lord of the Rings, The original and Peter Jackson's King Kong, Indian Jones series, the original Star Wars series ( the new ones are pretty though), Ace Ventura, a bunch more as well, more than i care to post at this time.

Two 've seen rather recently and really enjoyed were Clerks and The Warriors.

Clerks is the classic tale of a clerk, Dante who has to come in on his day off and work. And basically his entire life falls to shit (girlfriend dumps him, his old ex has sex with a dead body, gets fined $500 for sells cigs to a 4 year old), luckily he has his friend Randal for support. This is the first film to introduce Jay and Silent Bob, which are geniusly written characters. (Don't watch Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, watch this to understand)

The Warriors is basically a behind enemy lines story, a gang must bop their way back home after being falsely accused of murder a major gang leader. The story is set up like a comic book with a very cartoonish plot and costumes. (google Baseball Furies to understand) It's silly but that's what makes this movie so cool. It has a unique gritty style.

Ill shut up after this comment.

The Warriors is based on Xenophons Anabasis--the true story of the 10,000 Greek Mercenary army (that Xenophon was a general I think of) fighting through Persia to get back to Greece. So, its perhaps a bit more subtle than you think.
 
With Conan the Barbarian you have to remember that the director did not write the story, he stayed fairly true to the original books, written by Robert E Howard. Howard was a big fan of Nietzsche. He died in very spooky circumstances. Howard was said to have read a copy of a rare and dangerous black magic book - anyone else who had read it died (a scary beast - something to do with the curse of Kthulu (Metallica did a song about it). Some guy was found in a locked cupboard, locked from the inside, with his throat ripped out. After allegedly reading this book Howard got the idea for Conan. He wrote to a fellow author about how he seemed to be taken over by some kind of supernatural force which made him write Conan solidly with little break and it just seemed to flow out of him. At the same time Howard went from being a slightly built man into being really strong and muscular. Howard died by shooting himself, without any particular motivation apparant.
 
One of the classical movies I really like is The Silence Of The Lambs.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant.
It is a Brilliant Best Picture of 1991 that never gets old.
Is one of the most intelligent crime stories I've ever seen. And Anthony Hopkins is definitely one of my favourite actors.

The Hannibal movie is also great. Lecter is at once both likable and detestable. In this sequel Anthony Hopkins gave an impeccable performance. However, the material he was given to work with was not as good as Silence of the Lambs. In fairness, perhaps there was no way it could be. In my opinion, it's not quite as good, but still very good.
 
Crimson Velvet said:
What kind of cupboard locks from the inside?

I heard it was like that because the guy feared that something like this was going to happen and thought that he could protect himself by putting a lock on the inside! Actually I could have got the place where he died all wrong as I could have got it mixed up with something else. But if you look up Kthulu you might find out.

Regarding how well the Conan film is based on Howard's books. I just asked someone who is a fan of his books and they said that a few of the ideas are out of the books, and the film is based on concepts which are in the novels, but not following the script of the books. There is also a book of the film available, not written by Howard.
 
The name "Valeria" comes from the heroine of the novella "Red Nails." The theft of the tower in Zamora is from "The Tower of the Elephant." The speech King Osric gives about the throne room becoming a prison echoes a similar passage in "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune," a King Kull story. The scene where Conan is crucified and kills a vulture with his teeth is from "A Witch Shall Be Born." Finally, the scene where Valeria vows to come back from the dead to save Conan and then does so is from "Queen of the Black Coast."

from imdb
 
Crimson Velvet said:
The name "Valeria" comes from the heroine of the novella "Red Nails." The theft of the tower in Zamora is from "The Tower of the Elephant." The speech King Osric gives about the throne room becoming a prison echoes a similar passage in "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune," a King Kull story. The scene where Conan is crucified and kills a vulture with his teeth is from "A Witch Shall Be Born." Finally, the scene where Valeria vows to come back from the dead to save Conan and then does so is from "Queen of the Black Coast."

from imdb

I'm glad someone here knows something about the subject, because I couldn't remember.

I've just been checking on some web sites about that occult book that Howard is rumoured to have read (although if he did, then probably HP Lovecraft must have read it also, as they were sharing ideas on the subject, and he didn't die in a strange way). It was by Friederich von Junzt and called "The Black Book" or the "Nameless Cults" or "Unaussprechen Kulten" and is not supposed to be in existence.

"Von Junzt was working on the manuscript when killed by some nameless entity. The book was found torn to shreds next to the German's body. A close friend pieced together the work, read it, burned it and then committed suicide". http://www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/intro2.htm

It is connected in some way with the Necronimcon and Kthulu (also spelt Ktulu or Cthulu).
 
I've just finished watching Fight Club for the very first time; has anyone on here analysed it extensively? The thing that grabbed me first was that the men were all driven by one man's ideas and attitudes, and yet that man was the only one who could not cope with facing his own reality.
 
Fight club is an awsome movie. I've seen it a couple of times, and it isn't really a movie about dumb guys beating each other up because they're too bored to do anything else. Fight Club is actually about personal and cultural revolution within a corporate consumer society that destroys the human spirit. At least, that's how I saw it...
 
Miss*Lie said:
Fight club is an awsome movie. I've seen it a couple of times, and it isn't really a movie about dumb guys beating each other up because they're too bored to do anything else. Fight Club is actually about personal and cultural revolution within a corporate consumer society that destroys the human spirit. At least, that's how I saw it...

Thats how it was made, I believe.

Something I've had linked for ages: Fight club quotes
 
My favorite movie of all time is Predator. why?... because the Predator is the greatest scifi monster ever. Pure brutality, strength, stealth, and honor. Its been my favorite for years.
 
speed said:
Blade Runner is fantastically good. The story, the cinematography, the art design; and Rutger Hauer is the meanest, most menacing, yet empathetic antagonist in film.

Final Product said:
I watch movies I feel like going to see. I'm a very eclectic movie watcher, I feel no need to seek out and watch movies that are of philosophic value. I can like almost anything.


Did someone mention Blade Runner? (LOL) I first saw that movie on Pay Per View back in 1983. The atmospheric qualities were electric.....which I believe made it the classic that it is.

I agree with Final Product. I am a fan of cinema in general, and find my tastes very broad-based.

However, I would like to state that one Python film that seems to get little or no attention at all is Jabberwocky. I purchased the VHS tapes as a part of a package. And I think because of this, it has grown on me in a much different way.....perhaps much moreson than if I would have purchased it separately. It stands on it's own and.....IMO.....can more than hold it's own alongside the typical Python classics.

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I also wanted to add that I am a big fan of the classic Hammer Studio films.....starring some of giants of stage and screen like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Boris Kharloff, Lon Chaney, and Bela Legosi. Many of the images that I saw back in the 1970's as a youth still resonate with me today. Especially the 1964 film.....The Gorgon. As 'campy' as it was and still is.....the atmosphere of that film left me terrified as a child for many years after that. There's something to be said about 'percieved' horror.....as opposed to 'actual visual' horror. I think it's the psychological perception that dread is near.....and cannot be readily seen.....which gives a film that spooky element. IMO, the Hammer films more than delivered that for me back then. :cry:

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speed said:
Yes, you are totally right. There are only a few really good artistic filmakers: Tarkovsky, Kieslowski, Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa, Godard, Antonini, Buneul, Bresson. Most attempts to make artsy movies, are preachy, or pretentious, and forget the artistic part, and instead worry about proving some political or ideological point. These guys listed are poets and sculptors. And not one of them was or is American; but I do think whatever movie Charlie Kaufman is writing for, will be a piece of art.

But American and English filmakers spin some wonderful tales and epics that turn into perhaps even greater pieces of art: David Lean, Coppola, Scorcese.

Its such a shame Cinema is so crass and possessed with money (A common complaint about everything I know, but in the case of Cinema, I truly think it is the case). There havent been many truly good movies made in some time--and few art films have been any good since most of the masters died.

I must add Werner Herzog to that list. Herzog I believe has perhaps the greatest understanding of humanity, and the abilty to convey it on the screen, of any filmmaker I have ever seen. With seeming ease he portrays tragedy, absurdity, and the occasional scene of absolute triumphant glory that I have literally wept at some scenes while watching his work. If you have not already watch Aguirre: The Wrath of God or Woyzeck.
Some others that certainly belong are Kubrick and Polanski.

Speaking of Bergman, having just seen the Seventh Seal I was filled with even more regret that one of the masters decided to retire. I was almost bemused at the casualness of playing a chess game with Death.
 
Oh and speaking of the John Fante quote in my post I just saw the movie they made of his novel Ask the Dust. An absolute raping of one of the greatest novels ever written. Not even Selma Hayek naked in the surf, or getting pounded by Colin Farrel could make it better. The best part was when my small bottle of Jack Daniels fell to the ground and made a loud noise.
 
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