My All Time Favorite Films..

[Dusty Chalk]

I'm a big fan of Amy Smart, that helped a lot.

Dude, have you seen Crank yet?

Putting Donnie Darko in the queue.

I envy you.

You guys are too sensitive.

(sulks)

[Troy]

Crank in the q too. Thank yoo.

[dean_martin]

favorites? movies I couldn't live without? yep, these are not necessarily the movies I think are "best", but are generally in my favorites list:

1) I have to lead with an Elia Kazan picture, but picking my most favorite fave among East of Eden, Baby Doll and A Streetcar Named Desire was tough until I saw Streetcar on the big screen. Man, I was blown away! Couldn't get enough of Brando as Stanley and Blanche's back story was so intriguing. The dialog is superb. It doesn't get much better than Tennessee Williams. I would have loved to have seen the original Broadway production before the Hollywood censors got a hold of it. (Some may pick On the Waterfront as their fave from Kazan and that's understandable.)

2) Blue Velvet - mind-blowing experience.

3) Donnie Darko - thought about it and discussed for days after watching it which for me is always a good thing.

4) Welcome to the Doll House - quirky, funny independent film about awkward 13 yr old girl.

5) Female Trouble - not as popular as Pink Flamingos and maybe not as popular as Polyester, but this was the first John Waters film I saw and it left lasting impressions - some good and some disturbing.

6) Tie. Jason and the Argonauts/Golden Voyage of Sinbad - I saw these as matinees during the summer between 1st and 2nd grade. I've always had a soft spot for these Harryhausen gems and I still watch them.

7) Tie. Faster, Pussycat! Kill...Kill/Camille 2000 - these are totally different films, but I discovered them at about the same time. I love the glorious black & white Faster Pussycat and the plot is just so cool! Russ Meyer's finest. Camille 2000 is a Radley Metzger film with luscious scenery, cinematography and music. This is the finest European cheese masquerading as class.

8) Tie. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Hitcher, Return of the Living Dead - I may be cheating a little with so many ties, but when I first left home for college in 1986 my new friends and I watched these movies over and over. It was all about having fun back then.

9) A Clockwork Orange - anyone ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence? a double-WOW upon first seeing this.

10) Spider Baby - several years ago I read an article in FilmFax about this little known, almost lost B-grade horror film by Jack Hill who gave us several other B horror movies, blaxsploitation vehicles for Pam Grier, and everybody's favorite women-in-prison flicks. I tracked it down and it doesn't disappoint like so many b horror movies with tantalizing titles. This one's the real-deal, low-budget, comedic-horror film.

Some that could make the list on another day - Once Upon a Time In the West, The Evil Dead and The Evil Dead II, Crumb, Trainspotting, The Seventh Seal, 8 1/2, The Bicycle Thief, The Player (in which The Bicycle Thief plays a prominent role), Suspiria, Dog Soldiers, Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, True Romance, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Vampyros Lesbos. A more recent film that might edge its way in over time is Little Miss Sunshine.

[Troy]

Kazan huh? Real 50s pot-boiler stuff. A lot of his stuff defined the decade.

Anyone that picks Blue Velvet, Crumb, Fast Times and Holy Grail on their list is A-OK with me. (And none of those would make my list, but they're all 5-star great)

I saw Clockwork Orange and Deliverance as a double feature once back in 1976 or so. I was 16, first time for each one. What a mind-blower!

I need to see Donnie Darko again cuz I thought is was just kinda stupid. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood. So many peole love it tho . . .

Recent movie that may creep onto my short list- Children of Men

[dean_martin]

Kazan huh? Real 50s pot-boiler stuff. A lot of his stuff defined the decade.

Anyone that picks Blue Velvet, Crumb, Fast Times and Holy Grail on their list is A-OK with me. (And none of those would make my list, but they're all 5-star great)

I saw Clockwork Orange and Deliverance as a double feature once back in 1976 or so. I was 16, first time for each one. What a mind-blower!

I need to see Donnie Darko again cuz I thought is was just kinda stupid. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood. So many peole love it tho . . .

Recent movie that may creep onto my short list- Children of Men

I read Dickey's Deliverance after seeing the movie. I was thinking that if the movie was that good, then the book must be fantastic. The book is obviously good, but it made me realize the movie is an excellent adaptation. To see it back-to-back with Clockwork at 16 must've been an eye-opening experience. I didn't see Clockwork until the mid-80's when I was 17. It hit me like a ton of lead.

I first saw Donnie Darko while in the right mood. There are certain movies that I'm drawn into when I'm feeling a little flat or depressed and want to be left alone. Darko became one of those for me. Of course it didn't hurt that my most despised actor of all time - Patrick Swayze - played a self-help guru who secretly molested children. I couldn't have scripted a better role for him. I also remember seeing it about the same time I saw Butterfly Effect. Initially they seemed comparable, but Darko is more about alternates crossing dimensions rather than time travel and I quickly picked Darko over Butterfly. Also, I found many pieces of the Darko puzzle on the web AFTER watching the movie - I almost forgot about that. Things fell into place and made more sense. Find out what you can about Sparrow's book. I have the regular dvd version which includes some pages from the book in the special features, but I think the director's edition dvd has more clues. I almost forgot about the leg work I had to do and I still couldn't find all the answers, but I found enough to satisfy my curiousity. I'm not usually one to go out and search for info to fill plot holes or answer the unanaswered in movies. Who needs the extra work? But Darko was unique in that regard.

Children of Men? I'll have to look into that one.

[Troy]

Yeah Dean-o, Children of Men is in theaters now. Destined to be a cultish sci-fi classic, the "Blade Runner" of it's generation, except it's a better movie than Blade Runner. Our tastes are pretty similar, you'll probably love it.

I read A Clockwork Orange in Jr. Hi (I was a weird kid) so I was kinda prepared. Younger guys today have no idea how different the world was back then. Today that movie plays like a documentary of typical societal ills, but back then it was staggering it's offhand brutality and general unpleasantness. Many people were outraged at the use of "Singin' in the Rian" in that movie. Nothing like that had ever been done before. It's view of the degeneration of society ended up being painfully visionary. ACW steamrolled me, but Deliverance was unforgettable. Poor Ned Beatty, forever typecast as "EEEEEEEE-EEEE!" for me. I was totally unprepared for that scene.

I enjoyed Butterfly Effect. Creepy and ugly. I'm a big fan of Amy Smart, that helped a lot.

Putting Donnie Darko in the queue.

[Feanor]

Ok, everyone has movies that they love and movies that they hate. It's hard for me to narrow down my favorite films, so I often have to ask myself which films I could watch anytime no matter what. These are movies that I would not want to live without.

What are 10 movies you can't live without????

My list is the movies that I've most enjoyed or have impressed me at the time I saw them. I don't have fixed set of criteria for these movies, but the paramount, (no pun intended), criterion is entertainment value. A curious thing is that there are some on my list that I wouldn't care if I never saw again, (so "can't live without" doesn't apply), but I was glad to see them when I did.

Movies -- in no particular order ...

• The Godfather, I & II / Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 & 74
• The Deer Hunter / Michael Cimino, 1978
• Wild Strawberries / Igmar Bergman, 1957
• The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly / Sergio Leone, 1966
• Star Wars, Episodes IV, V, VI / George Lucas, 1977 - 83
• A Clockwork Orange / Stanley Kubrick, 1971
• The Graduate / Mike Nichols, 1967
• Alien / Ridley Scott, 1977
• Raiders of the Lost Ark / Steven Spielberg, 1981
• Little Big Man / Arthur Penn, 1970

But how about TV mini-series? I haven't compiled ten of them but a few of mine are:

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / John Irvin, 1979 -- absolutely the greatest
• The Civil War / Ken Burns -- close next greatest
• Shogun / Jerry London, 1980
• The Six Wives of Henry VIII / Niaomi Capon & John Glenister, 1970
• I, Claudius / Herbert Wise, 1976
• The Duchess of Duke Street / John Hawkshawe, 1976
• A History of Britain / Simon Schama, 2000
• Elizabeth R / Roderick Graham & Richard Martin, 1971

[PeruvianSkies]

Feanor,

I am glad to see WILD STRAWBERRIES on your list. Certainly a film of 'aching' and 'expression', which I felt more connection to this film than THE SEVENTH SEAL, which is commonly regarded as Ingmar Bergman's greatest film, which is actually, in my opinion, just a more memorable film for it's striking images that even for those who have not seen the film are typically aware of, especially if you have seen BILL AND TED.