There are plenty (nearing my 60s, I’ve had plenty time to watch movies ;). So allow me to name just a few I always enjoy watching. They are in no order save the two first ones:
‘2001 A Space Odyssey’. There are movies, many are not that great, some are excellent and of those a few are true work of art, and then there is ‘2001’. I’m an admirer of most of Kubrick’s work but this one is in a category of its own. I hated the first time I watched it, then I watched it again and was blown away, sequence after sequence. And I’m blown away every single time I re-watch it. It’s one of the two movies I consider on par with the greatest books I’ve ever read.
‘Les enfants du paradis’ (Children of Paradise). Marcel Carné, 1945. A french movie and the second of the two movies I consider as good as the best books I’ve ever read. Maybe even more than 2001…
‘12 Angry Men’. Or what it means/should mean to live and to be a citizen in a democracy.
Gone With the Wind.
Ghost in the Shell (the original anime)
The Dictator (Chaplin)
‘The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean’. I love this movie despite all its flaws. I love every bits of it, even its flaws. And I love its ending even more.
‘Dances with Wolves’. I’m a sucker for Westerns and this one, right with ‘Open Range’ and maybe ‘True Grit’ (the Cohen version), which is also a great novel, is my all time most… loved Western. Not my favorite, but the one I love the most. Every time I watch it makes me wonder what the USA (and the rest of the world) could have been if they had managed to get rid of their hate (of the natives, and of nature). I should also list the Newman/Redford ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’. But I feel bad for only listing so few as there are many more great Westerns and even a few truly amazing ones (there is also a lot of turds, I will admit it). This genre deserves a thread on its own as it so often overlooked or ignored because of its label. It’s sad.
‘Somewhere in Time’. next to Westerns, I’m a sucker for love stories. This one makes me cry every single time. I also like ‘When Harry Met Sally’, a lot.
A History of Violence. I expected not much of it but it happened to be a great movie. With an amazing casting.
The Birds (my favorite Hitchcock, so different from du Maurier’s original short story which is also excellent, btw)
North by Northwest (another Hitchcock, another of my favorites)
Toy Story (the first 1, maybe the 2nd too), Ice Age (the 2 first ones)
‘Singing in the Rain’. The movie I’ve watched the most, bar none?
‘West Side Story’
‘Scarface’ (the one with Al Pacino).
Kick Ass (the first one) made a huge impression on me. And gave me hope that all was not lost with contemporary US cinema that has grown afraid even of its own shadow and has started self-censoring, hard.
A clockwork Orange.
Full Metal Jacket (there is a lot I like less in it but it still is a great film)
Barry Lyndon. God may have created light but Kubrick mastered it, in that movie.
There are so, so many more! Ozu is one of the directors I can endlessly watch and have a blast, I’m also a fan of Kurosawa. I have not even considered Italian (like, they were among the best) or the Russian cinema! Or even my own French movies: back in the days, French used to make a lot of great movies but that was before we too, like Hollywood, became so afraid of our own shadow that we started self-censoring… Sad times we’re living in, bu that will pass.
A History of Violence was pretty underrated. Barry Lyndon bored the hell out of me, but the lighting was very impressive from a technical perspective (they actually used candles and a super low aperture lens for some scenes).
Not the most fast paced movie that ever was, I will agree on that. Still, I first watched it as a teen (already into history) and was in awe. This was first time I could walk into painting of those long gone times ;)
In a similar way, Peter Greenaway, the English director did a few great movies too: The Draughtsman’s Contract, ‘The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover’, Prospero’s Books,…
There are plenty (nearing my 60s, I’ve had plenty time to watch movies ;). So allow me to name just a few I always enjoy watching. They are in no order save the two first ones:
There are so, so many more! Ozu is one of the directors I can endlessly watch and have a blast, I’m also a fan of Kurosawa. I have not even considered Italian (like, they were among the best) or the Russian cinema! Or even my own French movies: back in the days, French used to make a lot of great movies but that was before we too, like Hollywood, became so afraid of our own shadow that we started self-censoring… Sad times we’re living in, bu that will pass.
‘Judge Roy Bean’
First time I’ve heard it mentioned in a long, long time.
Wonderful choice.
:)
A History of Violence was pretty underrated. Barry Lyndon bored the hell out of me, but the lighting was very impressive from a technical perspective (they actually used candles and a super low aperture lens for some scenes).
Quite so.
Not the most fast paced movie that ever was, I will agree on that. Still, I first watched it as a teen (already into history) and was in awe. This was first time I could walk into painting of those long gone times ;)
In a similar way, Peter Greenaway, the English director did a few great movies too: The Draughtsman’s Contract, ‘The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover’, Prospero’s Books,…
Watch ‘The 3 Musketeers’ with Oliver Reed.
Fun movie, and it looks like a painting.