Citizen Kane is the best movie of all time; Army of Darkness is the most awesome movie of all time.
Whoops. That's the whole post condensed into one sentence, isn't it, but stay with me - I called you here for a reason.
You see, I'm a big fan of horror, adventure, science fiction and fantasy films, especially ones that expertly blend one or more of these genres to create the definitive experience. To me, some of the most enjoyable works of cinema are the wild rides like Mad Max, the inspired science fiction stories like The Terminator, and spirited adventure films like Highlander and Indiana Jones. From the peak of post-apocalyptic masterpieces to the lamest of sci-fi, from the most spirited adventure films to the most sublime of Japanese horror, the really fun rides are the keepers, and the rare films that genuinely manage to creep me out are worth savouring.
I was savouring this film from inside the fucking closet
True to the Christmas spirit, I decided to bolster my collection of films involving horrible mind rape and explosions. To that end I spent a few days scanning IMDb and various on-line stores looking for films I've always wanted, or always wanted to check out. The result was a 44-item shopping cart worth $850 and an almost irresistible urge to press the "order" button.
...Oh, and I'm not done.
Current list of items in the shopping cart
JCVD
In The Mouth Of Madness
Nosferatu
Army of Darkness
Zombieland
The Call of Cthulhu
Re-Animator - Special Edition
Tremors 1-4
Highlander - Special Edition
Blade
1408 - Special Edition
Dog Soldiers
Daybreakers
Dead Snow
Heavy Metal
Underworld - Rise of the Lycans
Ghostbusters 1 & 2 - Delxue Edition
Robin Hood - Men in Tights
Airplane Collection
The Complete Naked Gun Collection
Starship Troopers - Special Edition
Memento
Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Complete Series
Monty Python - The Movies
Låt Den Rätte Komma In
Brazil
Kick-Ass
Outpost
Punisher - War Zone
Sherlock Holmes
Prince of Egypt
The Fifth Element
The Neverending Story
Dune
Mad Max Trilogy
Das Boot
Wolfhound
Oldboy - Special Edition
Universal Soldier - Special Edition
Escape from New York - Special Edition
Dark Water
Versus - Ultimate Edition
The Wicker Man - Special Edition
The City of Lost Children
When you read that list, you probably said to yourself, "why isn't this movie on there?"
Indeed, why isn't it? And what is this movie and why should it be on there? See, there's a lot of awesome stuff I haven't seen that would be right up my alley. The Wicker Man with Christopher Lee? Supposedly the best non-horror horror film of all time? I haven't seen it. But knowing it exists, I really want to.
So, fellow fans of the extraordinary, what are your favourite films? Which ones should I add to the list, and - if you have the time - why? Of the ones already there, which should I prioritize, and which should I skip entirely?
Recommend whatever films you want, and I'll gratefully look them up. If you want to know more about my taste in films first, I'm happy to oblige. Besides, it's my blog. Talking about myself is mandatory.
Since writing intelligently about my tastes and ideologies would require actual effort, however, I've slapped together this bullet list instead.
Highlander is glorious. The premise of this modern day fantasy movie set to the rocking music of Queen is absurd beyond words, but it takes itself so seriously that it simply works and in the process becomes something completely awesome. In the end, there can be only one.
Evil Dead is a great movie. Army of Darkness is fucking awesome.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is the second best sequel ever made. The first one is Aliens.
Pitch Black spoiled me on good, fun sci-fi horror flicks. Too bad we never saw the Riddick character in anything else ever again.
Sleepers is a great movie. Rain Man is a great movie. Forrest Gump is a great movie. I don't want them in my collection.
28 Days Later is excellent. 28 Weeks Later is atrocious.
I didn't like Unbreakable. I'm not sure why.
The Thing, Evil Dead, The Sixth Sense, Alien, Drag Me To Hell, The Ring, In the Mouth of Madness, and Event Horizon are among my favourite horror movies.
If you recommend any PG-13 horror movies I will stab you in the testicles with an ice pick. If you don't have testicles, call me -- I'm a nice and nonviolent person!
I'm a huge H.P. Lovecraft fan, which is why it's so disappointing that Lovecraftian films are almost universally bad. Of course, I'll still pick them up anyway. Except for Cthulhu. I heard it uses gay people and social rejection as a metaphor to tell the story of The Shadow over Innsmouth? I mean what the fu
Guilty pleasures include Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme, and Van Helsing, Titan A.E., and the Resident Evil movies.
Inception is not an intelligent film.
Doctor Who, third series, episode 10. Have fun.
During the Star Trek vs. Star Wars feud, I was firmly on the side of Babylon 5.
I like martial arts movies. I thought Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a pretentious let-down.
I thought Batman was better than The Dark Knight. I thought The Dark Knight was superb.
I'm often drawn to great soundtracks. Think ending theme to Gladiator. 1492 Conquest of Paradise. Blade Runner.
Avatar barely qualified as mediocre.
I like Constantine. I bought it twice. Both DVDs, for unrelated reasons, are unplayable. I'm not buying it a third time.
I like Identity. I'd watch it again if I could erase any memory of it beforehand.
Day Watch was the At World's End to Night Watch's Curse of the Black Pearl. I MEAN SERIOUSLY IT WAS ALL A FUCKING DREAM ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME SPOILER WARNING
I don't like most Stephen King movies. Same location, same protagonists, same horrible supporting cast. Huge buildup, no payoff. The Langoliers was kinda fun, though.
So please, fellow fans of the extraordinary, recommend your favourite films. If I've not seen them I may do so, and if I do, I may talk about them here from the viewpoint of a fan of the style and the genre. With me, you'd know where I'm coming from.
While Memento is probably one of my favourite movie of all times and my favourite out of your list, I wouldn't say it fits with your style. It's not sci-fi, not horror, not adventure and certainly not fantasy.
Pitch Black spoiled me on good, fun sci-fi horror flicks. Too bad we never saw the Riddick character in anything else ever again.
Um The Chronicles of Riddick Also I do not agree with your inaccurate biased views on some of these films. I can't really give you suggestions on films to watch because I'm sure my taste and point of view on films is different.
ChaseR i think he knew about Chronicles of riddick, it was just so bad that one could say you never saw him again Pitch Black was my favorite movie for a long time though.
OP what did you think of The Road? (Viggo mortensen, post-apocalyptic). Thought it was a really great movie for some reason O_O
I can post so many, here are some of my highest recommendations for what seems like your style though, you've probably seen some or many of them.
Apocalypse Now (the greatest movie I've ever seen, mind-warping journey) Children of Men (SF, near future, brilliant one of the best movies of the last decade) Pan's Labyrinth (fantasy/realism blend, ditto) Hero (chinese wuxia, like watching a painting, visually stunning, maybe the most stunning of anything I've ever seen, similar to Avatar though in that the visuals rather than the story is the focus) The Orphanage (horror, scariest movie I've ever seen) La Jetée (SF classic, unique) 12 Monkeys (SF, full length based on La Jetée, awesome time travel movie) Spirited Away (anime fantasy) Princess Mononoke (anime fantasy) Minority Report (SF) The Usual Suspects (mind-bending crime, brilliant) Gattaca (SF, drama) Dark City (SF with some dark-ish horror-ish touches, I think up your alley although I hated Rufus Sewell in the lead role) Moon (SF, cerebral) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (one of the origins of horror and extremely brilliant, I liked it a lot more than Nosferatu actually) The Fall of the House of Usher (another silent-era horror that's amazing, visually driven, not so story driven) The Descent (horror) Maniac (truly creepy slasher film from the genre's golden age) Near Dark (Twilight if it were actually sort of awesome and not Twilight)
My notes on your list: Nosferatu - interesting if you like to see origins of stuff Zombieland - fun Ghostbusters 1 - greatest comedy ever? possibly, also maybe the funniest Starship Troopers - sucked but could be cheesy fun (I hate Heinlein though in general) Brazil - awesome, really interesting, also a bit depressing Fifth Element - fun Neverending Story - if you never saw it as a kid, I thought it's sort of hard to appreciate (I hadn't) Escape from New York - great atmosphere, creating its world was the best part, the actual action and such was secondary to that and got tiresome Wicker Man - pretty cool (unfortunately a lot of the viewer's possible dread is dispelled by familiarity with the horrible Nicolas Cage one) City of Lost Children - great, great movie, must see if you liked Bioshock especially,
you mentioned resident evil movies, please also include re degeneration if you haven't watched it yet. i really love it since i'm a leon kennedy and claire redfield fan. that movie is really cool.
i also like saw movies, although i find the latter parts quite predictible and boring. the first and second saw is the best i think.
the orphan and the others are also good horror films for me.
i also like hostel 1 and 2.
and i also enjoy friday the 13th and nightmare on elm street movies.
On December 23 2010 10:26 Thratur wrote: While Memento is probably one of my favourite movie of all times and my favourite out of your list, I wouldn't say it fits with your style. It's not sci-fi, not horror, not adventure and certainly not fantasy.
But I like your blog, it was very entertaining
Thanks, man! Regarding Memento being on the list, there's quite a few non-horror/scifi/etc movies that made it onto the list (JCVD, Airplane, Prince of Egypt and so forth, not to mention the Monty Python stuff) by virtue of being cheap, me wanting them, and coming across them while browsing the online catalogue. I just didn't omit them for the sake of this blog.
On December 23 2010 10:39 Lemonwalrus wrote: Cube: Classic.
Hell yeah it is, aaaand... I honestly don't have it on DVD. Problem: Neither did the store, or it would have been on the list. Consider it there for recommendation purposes.
Pandorum: I'm surprised more people don't talk about this movie, I thought it was amazing.
I've heard it's pretty good, and I've heard it's cliché tripe unworthy of the box it's shipped in. I've skipped it thus far for this reason, but I'll probably end up seeing it at one point.
Will add more later I hope.
Appreciate it, thanks!
On December 23 2010 11:01 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: ChaseR i think he knew about Chronicles of riddick, it was just so bad that one could say you never saw him again Pitch Black was my favorite movie for a long time though.
OP what did you think of The Road? (Viggo mortensen, post-apocalyptic). Thought it was a really great movie for some reason O_O
Woah. I just looked it up and it seems pretty cool. Added to the list, and currently torrenting looking to borrow it from a friend.
Thanks, I'll let you know what I think.
On December 23 2010 11:05 ZapRoffo wrote: I can post so many, here are some of my highest recommendations for what seems like your style though, you've probably seen some or many of them.
Apocalypse Now (the greatest movie I've ever seen, mind-warping journey) Children of Men (SF, near future, brilliant one of the best movies of the last decade) Pan's Labyrinth (fantasy/realism blend, ditto) Hero (chinese wuxia, like watching a painting, visually stunning, maybe the most stunning of anything I've ever seen, similar to Avatar though in that the visuals rather than the story is the focus) The Orphanage (horror, scariest movie I've ever seen) La Jetée (SF classic, unique) 12 Monkeys (SF, full length based on La Jetée, awesome time travel movie) Spirited Away (anime fantasy) Princess Mononoke (anime fantasy) Minority Report (SF) The Usual Suspects (mind-bending crime, brilliant) Gattaca (SF, drama) Dark City (SF with some dark-ish horror-ish touches, I think up your alley although I hated Rufus Sewell in the lead role) Moon (SF, cerebral) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (one of the origins of horror and extremely brilliant, I liked it a lot more than Nosferatu actually) The Fall of the House of Usher (another silent-era horror that's amazing, visually driven, not so story driven) The Descent (horror) Maniac (truly creepy slasher film from the genre's golden age) Near Dark (Twilight if it were actually sort of awesome and not Twilight)
My notes on your list: Nosferatu - interesting if you like to see origins of stuff Zombieland - fun Ghostbusters 1 - greatest comedy ever? possibly, also maybe the funniest Starship Troopers - sucked but could be cheesy fun (I hate Heinlein though in general) Brazil - awesome, really interesting, also a bit depressing Fifth Element - fun Neverending Story - if you never saw it as a kid, I thought it's sort of hard to appreciate (I hadn't) Escape from New York - great atmosphere, creating its world was the best part, the actual action and such was secondary to that and got tiresome Wicker Man - pretty cool (unfortunately a lot of the viewer's possible dread is dispelled by familiarity with the horrible Nicolas Cage one) City of Lost Children - great, great movie, must see if you liked Bioshock especially,
Holy crap!
I'll respond to a select few of your comments tonight, but I appreciate all of them.
Movies on that list I have include Apocalypse Now, Pan's Labyrinth, Gattaca, and Moon, and you recommending them means I can probably trust your taste in movies to be at least decent. Most of the other films I've heard of, but forgotten exist, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I really should add that to the list, if I can find it. In fact, one moment!
Bingo-bango. Added.
Speaking of, I've heard of The Fall of the House of Usher, but it's so far escaped my grasp.
The Descent is supposed to be good, though a friend whose judgement I usually trust says it's merely okay.
But come on! Starship Troopers is awesome. Who else but Michael Ironside can utter the line "They sucked his brains out" with such genuine gravity and sincerity? Sam Fisher battling the Zerg in the desert. That's all you freaking need.
I agree with most of your notes. Again responding to a select few:
Ghostbusters 1 is in the running for favourite movie of all time. Action, horror, comedy, drama, romance, impeccably written and acted and with awesome visuals. I have it on VHS. Long overdue for a goddamn upgrade.
As for The Wicker Man, I've never seen the Nic Cage version, and I'm giving that particular cinematic abomination a wide berth. I was always planning to see the original, anyway.
Oh baller, DoctorHelvetica replied to my blog. I love your horror thread (you got me hooked on a lot of stuff in there), and I've read your blog vigorously, so I've seen those posts you linked to already. You're right -- Noroi is a bitch to find. It's gaining popularity regardless, though, which is pretty awesome.
I also gave [REC] to a friend last Christmas (whose taste in movies mirrors mine) who was planning to see Quarantine. I think he owes me for fucking life.
The store did have Onibaba, but for a ridiculous price. Is it worth it regardless?
Finally, there's The Shining... well, I wouldn't call myself a horror fan if I didn't already have it.
On December 23 2010 11:37 mucker wrote: Jacob's Ladder.
And do you really want to own Tremors 2-4?
Ha! No, not really, but paradoxically the compilation was cheaper than just getting Tremors.
On December 23 2010 11:49 meegrean wrote: Where's the Exorcist?
Already own the trilogy.
Lastly, to the person who 1-starred my blog like 30 seconds after I posted: Are you really that immature? Are you that self-centered? Does being an asshole give you some kind of rush? The fuck are you doing on TL and why can't I see who you are so I can ban you from my blog?
Edit: Yup. You're that immature and self-centered.
If you like sci-fi, horror or just mind-blowingly good film making, and haven't seen The Mysterious Geographic Adventures of Jasper Morello, you should click on the link below right now.
HOLY SHIT our tastes are almost indentical and your movie reactions seemed like phrases came out directly from my mind, WHO ARE YOU!?!
Btw watch Pandorum its FUCKING EPIC
edit: on a sidenote, Pandorum is way better if you are able to suspend disbelief for the main plot and focus on the characters reaction to the enviroment
Abyss: Fucking epic movie about underwater aliens..on earth?? O_o?
+1 for Cube.
The Sword and The Sorcerer for sheer "lolwut". It's old, it's cheesy, and...god, I just don't know what else to say about it. Imagine the Conan movie but hilariously bad...oh...wait a sec....
Dead Snow: Nazi Zombie's killing Nords. Honestly, it's pretty standard until the end where the final 20 minutes are just the greatest and most gratuitously horrifically hilarious 20 minutes to end any zombie movie EVER.
Van Hellsing was good. At least I thought it was...
And last, but most certainly not least... HEAVY METAL
I realize it's a cartoon, but omg, it's just too good, and the soundtrack is to die for.
•Pitch Black spoiled me on good, fun sci-fi horror flicks. Too bad we never saw the Riddick character in anything else ever again.
And its a crying shame, too.
•I'm a huge H.P. Lovecraft fan, which is why it's so disappointing that Lovecraftian films are almost universally bad. Of course, I'll still pick them up anyway. Except for Cthulhu. I heard it uses gay people and social rejection as a metaphor to tell the story of The Shadow over Innsmouth? I mean what the fu
This actually piques my interest. I wonder if it has tense rooftop chase scenes and roaming bands of raging homosexuals. It's probably the other way around, though, which won't be as hillarious.
Unfortunately, I can't really think of anything appropriate to recommend, but I'll add my vote for The Cube and compliment your tastes. Babylon 5 was the shitz!
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY An obvious classic. I'm like 100% sure you own it or have seen the edited for tv version at some point. I'm pretty sure everyone has. So many awesome, memorable, and unique action sequences. Pretty sure it won an oscar too, lol. If you haven't seen it and you're a man, please dear god go buy it right now.
THE INVINCIBLE ARMOUR The best kung fu movie ever. It drags in places like most kung fu movies do, but the action is spectacular and unique. The cheesy western soundtrack makes me want to rip bamboo poles apart with my bare hands and do pushups on my fingers. No one I've shown this movie to has disliked it. Plus the ending is absolutely fucking amazing. If you like kung fu movies, this is one you need to have in your collection or you're a noob.
Session 9 - it has david caruso and its still good. Yeah, it's that good. (it's on netflix if you have it, and seeing the amount you like movies, you should have it)
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Pitch Black was my favorite movie for a long time though.
Most of the other films I've heard of, but forgotten exist, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I really should add that to the list, if I can find it. In fact, one moment!
