Top Favorite Films!

[slayers_creek_oth]

I know we've done this before on the old board(s) but they were eatin by the trolls.....so if you don't mind posting your top 5 or 10 favorite movies..... ......

1.  Shawshank Redemption
2.  Brokeback Mountain
3.  Million Dollar Baby
4.  Pretty Woman
5.  The Silence of the Lambs
6.  Jarhead
7.  Forrest Gump
8.  Saving Private Ryan
9.  Schindler's List
10.Jerry MaGuire
11.Titanic
12.E.T.
13.Star Wars (original 1977)
14.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
15.Varsity Blues
16.The Day After Tomorrow
17.Jurassic park
18.Notting Hill
19.American Beauty
20.Top Gun

[DeeDee]

Without Brokeback...it's in a class by itself.


1.  Goodfellas
2.  Rear Window
3.  Philadelphia
4.  Ghost
5.  The Sixth Sense

[slayers_creek_oth]

Without Brokeback...it's in a class by itself.


1.  Goodfellas
2.  Rear Window
3.  Philadelphia
4.  Ghost
5.  The Sixth Sense

I've only seen 2 of those films.......and I'll give you one guess as to the 2 that I have seen....LOL

[moremojo]

There's a fellow user on IMDb who's been waiting two weeks for list of my 100 favorite films...sheesh, ole Brokeback just takes up all my time!

But I think I could muster up a ten-best list. Here goes (submitted in no particular order):

Brokeback Mountain
Meet Me in St. Louis
I Was Born, But...
Au hasard Balthazar
The Death of Maria Malibran
Pather Panchali
The Eclipse
Andrei Rublev
Nights of Cabiria
Les Vampires

Cheers,
Scott

[slayers_creek_oth]

There's a fellow user on IMDb who's been waiting two weeks for list of my 100 favorite films...sheesh, ole Brokeback just takes up all my time!

But I think I could muster up a ten-best list. Here goes (submitted in no particular order):

Brokeback Mountain
Meet Me in St. Louis
I Was Born, But...
Au hasard Balthazar
The Death of Maria Malibran
Pather Panchali
The Eclipse
Andrei Rublev
Nights of Cabiria
Les Vampires

Cheers,
Scott M. in Texas

LOL......now I've only seen 1 of those films....

[DeeDee]

Without Brokeback...it's in a class by itself.


1.  Goodfellas
2.  Rear Window
3.  Philadelphia
4.  Ghost
5.  The Sixth Sense

I've only seen 2 of those films.......and I'll give you one guess as to the 2 that I have seen....LOL

Ok, I'll bite.

Philadelphia and Ghost?

[henrypie]

His Girl Friday
Babe
The Trip to Bountiful
The Sound of Music

I omitted the sacred name of number one.

(Brkbck Mntn)

But you know, my list could be different tomorrow.
And here are five more:

City Lights
La Grande Illusion
Babette's Feast
Roman Holiday
Midnight Cowboy

[JennyC]

LOL......now I've only seen 1 of those films....

Chris,

You are not the only one here. 

I agree with 3 of your picks Brokeback Mountain, Shawshank Redemption, and Pretty Woman, but it's always hard for me to pick my top 5 or top 10.  I have to think about it more.

[chefjudy]

  ok, here's my list in no particular order(except for BBM which is number one):

Brokeback Mountain
The Godfather
Shawshank Redemption
Sense and Sensibility
Phantom of the Opera
Casablanca
To Kill a Mockingbird
E. T.
The Color Purple
Schindler's List
Close Encounters
Rainman

As you can tell I am a big fan of Spielberg, but now that I have seen several of Ang's films, I will be a devotee of his also.....................

[Front-Ranger]

Brokeback Mountain (natch)
Hero
The Conformiste (Bertolucci)
Orlando
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

[slayers_creek_oth]

Without Brokeback...it's in a class by itself.


1.  Goodfellas
2.  Rear Window
3.  Philadelphia
4.  Ghost
5.  The Sixth Sense

I've only seen 2 of those films.......and I'll give you one guess as to the 2 that I have seen....LOL

Ok, I'll bite.

Philadelphia and Ghost?

Close......Ghost and The Sixth Sense (who hasn't seen that) LOL

[ednbarby]

I'm gonna cheat a tad like Deedee did, because Brokeback is in a class by itself for me, too.

After that, my next top five, in no particular order:

The Shawshank Redemption
Casablanca
The Wedding Banquet
Fargo
High Noon

[Ellemeno]

BBM of course.

Lone Star (favorite, perfect movie ever til BBM, and not dissimilar, would make a heck of a double feature)

Well, I just went and had a nice meander through various IMDb movie lists, and came up with these.  Too hard to narrow it to five.  Wouldn't be fair to the other movies.

The Player
Parenthood
Grand Canyon
Pane e tulipani (Bread and Tulips)
The Anniversary Party
Desk Set
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
The Jungle Book
American Beauty
Monsoon Wedding
Get Shorty
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Groundhog Day
The Straight Story
Lost in Translation

[sparkle_motion]

Sixteen Candles
Donnie Darko
Serendipity
Help!
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Welcome to the Dollhouse

[scottf.]

BBM
Chinatown
The Godfather
Persona
Humoresque (guilty pleasure)

Scott F.

[DeeDee]

I'm gonna cheat a tad like Deedee did, because Brokeback is in a class by itself for me, too.

After that, my next top five, in no particular order:

The Shawshank Redemption
Casablanca
The Wedding Banquet
Fargo
High Noon

Oh crap, how could I forget Fargo?
Love that movie..make mine top 6

[Meryl]

Brokeback Mountain
The Fellowship of the Ring
Tom Jones
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
To Kill a Mockingbird
Barry Lyndon
Sense and Sensibility
A Hard Day's Night
Midnight Cowboy
Master and Commander

[moremojo]

Barry Lyndon

Glad to see Barry Lyndon here; a full top-100 from me would definitely include it. It's my favorite Stanley Kubrick movie, and may well be the single most beautiful period film ever made.

Cheers,
Scott

[David]

Hmmm,   5 eh?

Brokeback Mountain  (Duh!)

Titanic 1997 or 1958

Maurice (another gay love story)

North by Northwest   (the Best Hitchcock)

Blues Brothers   


also

James Bond :  Goldfinger   (the Best Bond!)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World  (a classic!)

Heaven Can wait.  (Warren Beaty)

Dave  (Kevin Kline)

Oceans 11 (remake)

[Ellemeno]

Oh yeah, David, Heaven Can Wait (1970-something) and Ocean's Eleven (2001) would be on my top-whatever list too.

[montferrat]

hmm Chris...let's see...in no particular order,

BBM
Schindler's List
The Sixth Sense
Sound of Music
The Excorcist
Shrek
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
To Catch a Thief
Come Undone (Presque rien)
The Fifth Element

eclectic hunh?!

[slayers_creek_oth]

hmm Chris...let's see...in no particular order,

BBM
Schindler's List
The Sixth Sense
Sound of Music
The Excorcist
Shrek
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
To Catch a Thief
Come Undone (Presque rien)
The Fifth Element

eclectic hunh?!

I got into a heated debate today about the worst Best Picture winner ever......and to my surprise someone actually said Schindler's List as the worst!  WTF? 

I worry that I have people with that mentality workin for me!  LOL

[slayers_creek_oth]

Hmmm,   5 eh?

Brokeback Mountain  (Duh!)

Titanic 1997 or 1958

Maurice (another gay love story)

North by Northwest   (the Best Hitchcock)

Blues Brothers   


also

James Bond :  Goldfinger   (the Best Bond!)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World  (a classic!)

Heaven Can wait.  (Warren Beaty)

Dave  (Kevin Kline)

Oceans 11 (remake)

Yo David you like Titanic (1997) too? 

[SFEnnisSF]

Brokeback Mountain

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Moulin Rouge!

eXistenZ

The Fifth Element

Contact

[EnnisDelMar]

I'll also exclude Brokeback cause it's in another catagory to me as well..

Not necessarily in order...

Saving Private Ryan
The Village (Extremely underrated IMO, beautiful score, cinematography, acting, and script)
Schindler's List
Donnie Darko
Joy Ride
The Good Girl
The Deer Hunter (just recently saw it and really loved it)
Signs
King Kong (2005)
The Patriot
October Sky
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
21 Grams


Hmmm I'll have to think some more, I know I'm forgetting at least a few.

[David]

Yo David you like Titanic (1997) too? 

Hey Chris!

    Yeah.   I saw that in the theaters like 7 or 8 times.  LOL.

I was a Titanic story fan long before the movie.    It is has similarities to BBM.  It is visually spectacular and leaves you crying at several points near the end.     The 1958 version is great too.

[slayers_creek_oth]

Yo David you like Titanic (1997) too? 

Hey Chris!

    Yeah.   I saw that in the theaters like 7 or 8 times.  LOL.

I was a Titanic story fan long before the movie.    It is has similarities to BBM.  It is visually spectacular and leaves you crying at several points near the end.     The 1958 version is great too.

Yeah I saw it 9 times in the theater.....it would probably be in my top 15 favorite movies!  I get made fun of it all the time (BRANDON).......but its a classic!  LOL

[slayers_creek_oth]

I'll also exclude Brokeback cause it's in another catagory to me as well..

Not necessarily in order...

Saving Private Ryan
The Village (Extremely underrated IMO, beautiful score, cinematography, acting, and script)
Schindler's List
Donnie Darko
The Good Girl
The Deer Hunter (just recently saw it and really loved it)
Signs
The Patriot
October Sky
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Hmmm I'll have to think some more, I know I'm forgetting at least a few.

Someone is a Jake fan!  LOL

[David]

Well, if we're going to talk about movies we've seen that Jake and Heath are in, that's different!   LOL

I liked "The Order" with Heath, but it isn't in my top ten list. 

I can't watch "The Patriot".  I don't want to see the ending again. 

I liked Bubble boy.  It was a light and funny romp. 

I liked "October Sky".  Jakey was cute as ever.   

I liked "10 things I hate about you"   Heath can sing!   

and BBM?   well, both these boys proved that they can ACT the pants right off of us! 

[littledarlin]

Brokeback Mountain
Dancer in the Dark
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Hedwig & The Angry Inch
The Wedding Banquet
The Joy Luck Club
But I'm A Cheerleader
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Thelma & Louise
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Bound
Crooklyn
Saving Face
Dawn of the Dead
Jesus Christ Superstar

I'll stop there

[EnnisDelMar]

Yeah I saw it 9 times in the theater.....it would probably be in my top 15 favorite movies!  I get made fun of it all the time (BRANDON).......but its a classic!  LOL

You unimaginable bastard!

[slayers_creek_oth]

ROFLMFAO!

[vkm91941]

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. Billy Elliott
4. Dead Poet's Society
5. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the orginal w/Gene Wilder)
6. Silence of the Lambs
7. Road to Perdition
8. Strictly Ballroom
9. Shawshank Redemption
10. The Birds
11. Rebecca
12. Truly, Madly, Deeply
13. The Original Star Wars Trilogy
14. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
15. A Home at the Top of the World

[littledarlin]

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. Billy Elliott
4. Dead Poet's Society
5. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the orginal w/Gene Wilder)
6. Silence of the Lambs
7. Road to Perdition
8. Strictly Ballroom
9. Shawshank Redemption
10. The Birds
11. Rebecca
12. Truly, Madly, Deeply
13. The Original Star Wars Trilogy
14. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
15. A Home at the Top of the World

next to ang lee, alfred hitchcock is my favorite director, but none of his movies are in my top 10.  it's kind of odd. 

and i love to kill a mockingbird, and it's probably the best adapted film ever next to brokeback, but the book is just, beyond classic and flawless, whereas the film (imho) has its flaws.

joy luck club is another brilliant adaptation that i think is on the level of the book. 

[vkm91941]

Well Chris (slayers) knows me too well I really need 100 options to list my all time favorites there are just too many!

[littleguitar]

I'm with you there Vic... I have way too many to list, and I would inevitably forget a ton of them then be on here every time someone else posted their list going "ooh ooh me too! I love that one too!" LOL I'm a wreck when it comes to movies...

[nakymaton]

Hmmmm..

Brokeback Mountain
Lord of the Rings trilogy (RotK, then FotR, then TTT)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Wizard of Oz

Then some odd combination of things that might change depending on my mood. (Maybe Being John Malkovich, or maybe Spinal Tap, or maybe Thelma and Louise, or maybe something else I'm not thinking of at the moment.) The first four, though, I've bought on DVD, which says something.

I don't put any "classic movies" that I saw as an adult on my list, not because I don't like them, but because I've never seen them on a big screen, and my impressions of them are so completely influenced by knowing that they are "Great Movies" that I don't know if I can judge them fairly. (I saw The Wizard of Oz on a big screen when I was a small child, though, and loved it. And my Inner Five-Year-Old refuses to let anything else take its place on my top 5 list, although she grudgingly accepts that I prefer some other movies now.)

[Ellemeno]

joy luck club is another brilliant adaptation that i think is on the level of the book. 

I agree, the only other movie as good as the original book.  (Though of course they had to leave out a lot.)

And what is it going to take to get me to read "To Kill a Mockingbird?"

[FuzzyChanny]

Ok, mine are:

1) Brokeback Mountain
2) Jarhead
3) Love Actually
4) Ocean's Eleven (2001)
5) Batman Begins
6) Lord of the Rings Trilogy
7) Little Women (1994)
Pretty Woman
9) The Princess Diaries
10) Highway
11...) Anything Classic Disney

[ednbarby]

Clarissa, I *love* these, too:

Lone Star
The Player
Parenthood
Grand Canyon
Desk Set
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The Straight Story
Lost in Translation

It was hard for me not to include Crimes and Misdemeanors (what I consider Woody Allen's best film by far and a *great* movie that very few people have seen) or Manhattan (my second favorite Woody Allen movie) and Lost in Translation.  But trying to keep it down to five (well, six, really), I just went with what movies I've found to be absolutely flawless masterpieces and thought that if I could only watch six movies for the rest of my life, what would I choose?

[Sheyne]

Okay, current order: (it does vary)

1. Casablanca
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. Godfather Part 1
4. Donnie Darko
5. To Kill A Mockingbird
6. Touch of Evil
7. Shawshank Redemption
8. King Arthur (Clive Owen *sigh* version)
9. Star Wars eps 1 - 6 (sorry claiming 6 films as 1, yes, I am so devoted I even love Eps I & II)
10. Lord of the Rings trilogy

But I have a thing for Soderbergh too, so Oceans 11 (remake), Traffic and Out of Sight hover just out of the top 10, as does Strictly Ballroom, Lost In Translation, 21 Grams, Best In Show, 10 Things I Hate About You, Ladyhawke, The Princess Bride, Secretary, School Ties, Much Ado About Nothing, Prelude To A Kiss, Legally Blonde, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Hunt For Red October, Raging Bull, The Good Girl, Silence of the Lambs and shut up Sheyne.. 

[ednbarby]

But I have a thing for Soderbergh too, so Oceans 11 (remake), Traffic and Out of Sight hover just out of the top 10, as does Strictly Ballroom, Lost In Translation, 21 Grams, Best In Show, 10 Things I Hate About You, Ladyhawke, The Princess Bride, Secretary, School Ties, Much Ado About Nothing, Prelude To A Kiss, Legally Blonde, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Hunt For Red October, Raging Bull, The Good Girl, Silence of the Lambs and shut up Sheyne.. 

If you have a thing for Soderbergh (as do I), you *must* see The Limey with Terrence Stamp.  Brilliant.  Absolutely his best.  I love The Princess Bride (and most other Rob Reiner movies, especially his earlier ones like This is Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally), too.  I've probably seen The Princess Bride more often than any other movie.  It's just the perfect movie to watch with any and all members of your family.  It's funny and sweet as hell, yet there isn't a single swear word or boob shot in it.  And I never get tired of looking at Cary Elwes in all his 20-something glory.  But actually Mandy Patinkin was my favorite in it.  Just love his smiling eyes.

[JCinNYC2006]

Aaaah, Maurice, love that one!  That goes near the top of my list too:

• Brokeback Mountain
• Maurice
• Next Stop, Wonderland
• Rushmore
• A Place In The Sun
• Diva
• Rebel Without A Cause
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
• Elizabeth
• Monsoon Wedding

I could probably add tons more, but I'll stop there....

Juan

[Sheyne]

If you have a thing for Soderbergh (as do I), you *must* see The Limey with Terrence Stamp.  Brilliant.  Absolutely his best.  I love The Princess Bride (and most other Rob Reiner movies, especially his earlier ones like This is Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally), too.  I've probably seen The Princess Bride more often than any other movie.  It's just the perfect movie to watch with any and all members of your family.  It's funny and sweet as hell, yet there isn't a single swear word or boob shot in it.  And I never get tired of looking at Cary Elwes in all his 20-something glory.  But actually Mandy Patinkin was my favorite in it.  Just love his smiling eyes.

Thanks for the tip, Barb, I'll be sure to check it out. I love Terrence Stamp, he's one of the most solid actors of his generation - always good.  Victoria put me onto Truly Madly Deeply, its been mailed to me as we speak (type?), so I can't wait to watch it.

And its so weird you say you love Mandy Patinkin in Princess Bride - he was the only character in the film I liked when I first saw it. The others have grown on me since, but I couldn't take my eyes off the guy!!!  Are you a fan of his music?

[ednbarby]

And its so weird you say you love Mandy Patinkin in Princess Bride - he was the only character in the film I liked when I first saw it. The others have grown on me since, but I couldn't take my eyes off the guy!!!  Are you a fan of his music?

I know he sings, and I remember being floored by his singing in an episode of Dead Like Me, I think it was, once.  But I haven't picked up any of his CDs yet.  Any recommendations?

And I know just what you mean.  The first time I saw The Princess Bride, everyone was going on about Cary Elwes and I kept saying, "But you know who I really liked in it was that Mandy Patinkin."  They'd go "Who?"  I'd go, "You know - Inigo Montoya - 'you killed my father - prepare to die.'"  That fire in his eyes just draws me right in, no matter what he's saying or doing.  I just love him.  I loved him on Chicago Hope and on Dead Like Me.  Even when he plays a very flawed or almost unlikable character, I can't help but like him and relate to him.

[Front-Ranger]

Has anyone seen the Pasolini movie with the young Terrence Stamp where he visited a family and seduced each member? It was a great Italian movie. I forget the name of it.

[JennyC]

My favorite movies choice is largely influenced by the characters in the movie as I tend to appreciate the characters more than other aspects of a movie.

Brokeback Mountain is in it’s own league

1.   The Shawshank Redemption
2.   Schindler’s List
3.   Gone with the Wind
4.   Casablanca
5.   The God Father Trilogy
6.   Gandhi
7.   Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995 Production.  This one hardly qualifies as a movie, but I love Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy and Lizzy)
8.   The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
9.   Forrest Gump
10.   Pretty Woman
11.   Star War Trilogy
12.   L.A. Confidential

[moremojo]

Has anyone seen the Pasolini movie with the young Terrence Stamp where he visited a family and seduced each member? It was a great Italian movie. I forget the name of it.

Oh yes...this film is called Teorema, and it was made in 1968. I was lucky enough to see this one on the big screen, at a repertory screening to which my parents accompanied me. The subject would seem pretty transgressive even by today's standards, and I wonder how it was received in 1968. The young Mr. Stamp was quite the looker, wasn't he? And Anne Wiazemsky, who played the daughter and would become the second Mrs. Jean-Luc Godard, was very pretty in her own right.

My favorite Pasolini film, by the way, is the 1962 feature Mamma Roma, which enshrines a superb star performance by Anna Magnani.

Cheers,
Scott

[amh]

BBM is No. 1, the rest are in no particular order.  And by favorite, I mostly mean those I'll watch over and over again no matter how many times I've seen it.

1.  Brokeback Mountain

• This is Spinal Tap
• The Graduate
• Saturday Night Fever
• Animal House
• Godfather 1 & 2
• Pulp Fiction
• Major League
• The Wall (Pink Floyd)
• The Blues Brothers
• Trading Places

[Ellemeno]

Oh yeah, was reminded of my love for these too:


Best in Show
When Harry Met Sally
Traffic
The Princess Bride

[starboardlight]

I've never had one favorite movie, much less have been able rank movies into top 5 or top 10. That is until Brokeback came along. This is by far the best cinematic experience I've ever had, so it's my #1 film.

The rest of just lists of movies that I like enough to watch over and over again.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Vertigo
Spirited Away
Lost in Translation
The Color Purple
Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2
Ghost in the Shell
Citizen Kane
Doctor Strangelove

[j.U.d.E.]

I can never really decide.. so here are 20 of some of my favourite films.. (in alphabetical order):

*A Fiddler on the Roof
*A Home at the End of the World
*American Beauty
*Brokeback Mountain
*Cry Freedom
*Dog Day Afternoon
*Four Feathers, the
*Gandhi
*Godfather 1
*Godfather 2
*Hedwig & The Angry Inch
*Hotel Rwanda
*Insider, the
*Jarhead
*Killing Fields, the
*Les Infidèles
*Making Love
*Maurice
*Rebel Without A Cause
*Running on Empty
*Schindler's List
*Shawshank Redemption
*Sound of Music
*Station Agent, the
*Wedding Banquet, the
*Yossi & Jagger

~ j U d E

[slayers_creek_oth]

I can never really decide.. so here are 20 of some of my favourite films.. (in alphabetical order):

*A Fiddler on the Roof
*A Home at the End of the World
*American Beauty
*Brokeback Mountain
*Cry Freedom
*Dog Day Afternoon
*Four Feathers, the
*Gandhi
*Godfather 1
*Godfather 2
*Hedwig & The Angry Inch
*Hotel Rwanda
*Insider, the
*Jarhead
*Killing Fields, the
*Les Infidèles
*Making Love
*Maurice
*Rebel Without A Cause
*Running on Empty
*Schindler's List
*Shawshank Redemption
*Sound of Music
*Station Agent, the
*Wedding Banquet, the
*Yossi & Jagger

~ j U d E

Is Gandhi good? 

[j.U.d.E.]

Is Gandhi good?

The film or the person, Chris? 

I am a sucker for biographies or real stories. So yes, Gandhi-the-film is good. Haven't seen it for a while though.

~ j U d E

[vkm91941]

7.   Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995 Product.  This one hardly qualifies as a movie, but I love Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy and Lizzy)

Well there  you go JennyC!  If you hadn't convinced me  you weren't a troll before you just did it with that choice...ANYONE who loves Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is a person of impeccable taste as far as I'm concerned! LOL 

[opinionista]

Well, I don't have a favorite movie because they're so different from one another that is like having a favorite person, which I don't think is right.  But these are some of the best I have seen so far:

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Do the Right Thing
4. Casablanca
5. The Wedding Banquet
6. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Almodovar)
7. Tesis (Amenabar)
8. Fresa y Chocolate (Cuba, gay theme)
9. El hijo de la novia (Son of the Bride - Argentina)
10. La Historia Oficial (The Official Story - Argentina)
11. Like water for Chocolate (Mexico)
12. Delicatessen (France)
13. Four Weddings and a Funeral (UK)
14. Goodbye Lennin (Germany)
15. No man's Land (former Yugoslavia)
16. Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside- Amenabar)
17. Los Lunes al Sol (Mondays in the Sun - Spain)
18. Transamerica
19. The Usual Suspects
20. Traffic
21. Pulp Fiction
22. Reservoir Dogs
23. Summersturm (Germany)
24. The Color Purple
25. Lost in Translation

Wow, I've made a long list. Sorry guys. I could add more movies but don't want to bore you!

[henrypie]

I forgot It's a Wonderful Life.

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks, Scott, for the info on the Pasolini film Teorama. I wish u hadn't mentioned the date. It seems like I saw that film only a few years ago. Terrance is still the looker in my book. He also made a great outlaw from Krypton. I studied Pasolini, Antonioni, and Bertolucci in college. We thought we'd have the same caliber of movies to watch our whole lives--what happened??!!

[slayers_creek_oth]

Is Gandhi good?

The film or the person, Chris? 

I am a sucker for biographies or real stories. So yes, Gandhi-the-film is good. Haven't seen it for a while though.

~ j U d E

LOL....sorry!  The film.....better then ET?  More deserving of the Oscar I mean?

[JennyC]

ANYONE who loves Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is a person of impeccable taste as far as I'm concerned! LOL 

Vicky, same here 

I became a Colin fan after Pride and Prejudice.  I used to lurk the P&P board a lot before IMDb started to request log in.  Anyway still love Colin Firth, but none of his later roles quite live up to Mr. Darcy's standard.

[Lumière]

Some films that I have seen more times than I can count:

Brokeback mountain
Maurice
Priest
If these walls could talk 1/2
The Good the bad and the Ugly (hence the avatar  )

[hermitdave]

 1. Brokeback Mountain   2. The trip to Bountiful  3.My Life as a Dog  4.My Beautiful Laundrette  5. Somewhere in Time 6. Snow Falling on Cedars 7. Manhattan  8. Pink Flamingos  9. Rimbaud  10. Barfly

[moremojo]

I studied Pasolini, Antonioni, and Bertolucci in college. We thought we'd have the same caliber of movies to watch our whole lives--what happened??!!

Antonioni and Bertolucci are still among the living, though their output has been apparently sporadic, in both quantity and quality (Antonioni, of course, suffered a major stroke some two decades ago). I personally liked Bertolucci's Besieged, which starred Thandie Newton and David Thewlis, and found it interesting that both Newton and Thewlis are equally treated as erotic objects of attraction for the viewer.

Antonioni's 1962 masterpiece The Eclipse is one of my favorite films--it made my ten-best list on this thread.

Have you seen anything by Nanni Moretti? I caught his Caro diario on cable television, and found it delightfully droll and memorable. Moretti might be described as something like an Italian Woody Allen, and he seems to be considered one of the more estimable Italian filmmakers working today.

Cheers,
Scott

[Sheyne]

And its so weird you say you love Mandy Patinkin in Princess Bride - he was the only character in the film I liked when I first saw it. The others have grown on me since, but I couldn't take my eyes off the guy!!!  Are you a fan of his music?

I know he sings, and I remember being floored by his singing in an episode of Dead Like Me, I think it was, once.  But I haven't picked up any of his CDs yet.  Any recommendations?

And I know just what you mean.  The first time I saw The Princess Bride, everyone was going on about Cary Elwes and I kept saying, "But you know who I really liked in it was that Mandy Patinkin."  They'd go "Who?"  I'd go, "You know - Inigo Montoya - 'you killed my father - prepare to die.'"  That fire in his eyes just draws me right in, no matter what he's saying or doing.  I just love him.  I loved him on Chicago Hope and on Dead Like Me.  Even when he plays a very flawed or almost unlikable character, I can't help but like him and relate to him.

Chicago Hope was the one I was thinking about, re singing.  I was in Sydney over 10 years ago and I was watching an episode of it in one of my mates' rooms (we were all put up in a hotel down there for a year - shenanigans!!!!) and we were mucking about something fierce, throwing food etc and this one episode, Mandy's character sings to his wife, who I believe was mentally ill??? You might remember more than me, but I was dumbfounded.  Me and this guy just stopped dead in our shenaniganny tracks as we listened to the song he sand to the wife and I got misty in the eyes, so did Darren.  He's got the most unusual voice I've ever heard but SO moving!  I can't pick up ANY of his albums over here but that one song is in my memory - I can't even remember what it was called now, but it was so beautiful. Sorry for vagueness, its about 6:30am here... *yawns*

[cmr107]

OK, not saying these are the best quality movies, but some that I've seen MANY times (excluding the obvious) are:

Shawshank Redemption
The Princess Bride
My Cousin Vinny
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Best in Show
A Mighty Wind
10 Things I Hate About You
Pretty Woman

That's all I can think of at the moment. Might add more later.

[montferrat]

Hey Victoria....I was looking at your list...you didn't by any chance mean:
A Home at the End of the World , did you? You typed  A Home at the Top of the World.

If you meant "End", then yeah,  I loved that movie too!

 

[vkm91941]

Hey Victoria....I was looking at your list...you didn't by any chance mean:
A Home at the End of the World , did you? You typed  A Home at the Top of the World.

If you meant "End", then yeah,  I loved that movie too!

 

You're right END of the world..excuse the senior moment! LOL 

[Shuggy]

7) Little Women
Pretty Woman
9)...

That's the trouble with automatic smileys, eh? They come on whether you want them or not. On the preview screen that's
8 + ) =

Anyway, I've got some favourites not yet mentioned:

• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• The Wizard of Oz
• Dark Star
• Forbidden Planet
• Proteus
• if...

Silly to try to rank them...

[kirkmusic]

The top 3:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Dr. Strangelove
Moonstruck

favorite English speaking movies of the past decade:
Brokeback Mountain
The Incredibles
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Gangs of New York (no, really)
Ghost World
Wonder Boys
Toy Story 2
Gods and Monsters (would be Saving Private Ryan if I didn'thave such a hard time watching it)
The Sweet Hereafter
Fargo
and one more year so I can include Dead Man Walking

Foreign Language favorites of the last decade:
Sophie Scholl
Bad Education
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
Together
Central Station
Prisoner of the Mountains

Documentary favorites of the past decade
Street Fight
Murderball
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
Fahrenheit 9/11
My Architect
Bowling for Columbine
Startup.com
Anne Frank Remembered


and some classics:

Sunset Boulevard
Casablanca
Jaws
Howard's End
The Little Foxes
On the Waterfront
When Harry Met Sally
The Color Purple
The Breakfast Club
Citizen Kane
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
A Night at the Opera
Silence of the Lambs
the collected works of Stanley Kubrick, William Wyler, and a lot of post-Schindler Spielberg
etc,etc,etc...

[j.U.d.E.]

Is Gandhi good?

The film or the person, Chris? 

I am a sucker for biographies or real stories. So yes, Gandhi-the-film is good. Haven't seen it for a while though.

~ j U d E

LOL....sorry!  The film.....better then ET?  More deserving of the Oscar I mean?

Chris, YES! If you as like that YES! ET is wonderful too, but out of the two it's Gandhi for me, hands down!! But I don't care about the Oscar, really..

~ j U d E

[Front-Ranger]

Which cable channel was it, Scott? I need to find a way to access some of these great films. Is there a rental source or do I need to buy them on Amazon or Ebay? Thanks!

[moremojo]

Which cable channel was it, Scott? I need to find a way to access some of these great films. Is there a rental source or do I need to buy them on Amazon or Ebay? Thanks!

Oh gosh, it's been some years ago, but it must have been either HBO or Cinemax on which I saw Caro diario--I know it couldn't have been Showtime. I suppose it might have been IFC. Don't know about the rental/purchase data regarding this movie, but I'll look it up on the IMDb, and see what I can find.

Scott

[Kd5000]

I tend towards the philisophical or  tragic love story epic mode.

1. Brokeback Mountain

2. Doctor Zhivago, is that is that not Lara he seems on the trolley? Great cinematography.

3. SOLARIS (1972) art house film, good philisophical film, how real is she?

4. Howard's End. Alot of symbolism, impeccable acting, great storyline.

5. The Last Emperor.  I just threw that one out there. He's an anti-hero. Ennis has been called that as well.

6. Donnie Darko. Makes you think, very philisophical as well. 

7. Manchurian Candidate. Excellant political and pyschological thriller. Not to be a plot spoiler, NEVER would have imagined who the villian would have been.

8. GATTACA.  A movie with a msg. All the guys are pumped up and good looking dressed in their versace suits. I could work at a  place like that

Others; MAGNOLIA, ORDINARY PPL, ICE STORM...

I wish they'd make a great version of 1984. When he betrays Julia, "do it to Julia, do it to Julia" it's just so heart-wrenching. I was not happy with the version done in 1984, though maybe it's just so grim of a book, it makes for a very grim film.   
 

[FuzzyChanny]

7) Little Women
Pretty Woman
9)...

That's the trouble with automatic smileys, eh? They come on whether you want them or not. On the preview screen that's
8 + ) =

Yeah sorry, I only noticed that now.

I forgot to add Cruel Intentions (which kind of brings it up to 12 but anyway!)

[slayers_creek_oth]

7) Little Women
Pretty Woman
9)...

That's the trouble with automatic smileys, eh? They come on whether you want them or not. On the preview screen that's
8 + ) =

Yeah sorry, I only noticed that now.

I forgot to add Cruel Intentions (which kind of brings it up to 12 but anyway!)

Cruel Intentions would probably be in my top 20......I love that movie.....and Reese Witherspoon!   

[ednbarby]

My dearest Sheyne, in answer to your Mandy Patinkin/Chicago Hope question, wasn't the song he sang to his wife "My Funny Valentine"?

And since you can't get his records there, here's a hopefully reasonable facsimile thereof:

http://www.mandypatinkin.net/

Enjoy.   

[silkncense]

Brokeback Mountain - Far & Away # 1. 

Then in no certain order:

Pulp Fiction
Fargo
The Shawshank Redemption
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The English Patient
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

Also love & that I saw on other posts,

Princess Bride
The Full Monty
Strickly Ballroom
Wizard of Oz
Bound

[gattaca]

Okie dokey -

In no particular order:

Brokeback Mountain
The Ten Commandments
Casablanca
Naked Lunch
2001 A Space Odyssey
Gangs of New York
A Clockwork Orange
Excalibur
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Lord of the Rings
Trainspotting
The Shawshank Redemption

[ednbarby]

Here's a list of the movies I actually own.  I reckon many of you can't do that easily since you own hundreds.  I only own about 30 because I only buy ones I know I'll watch again and again.

Brokeback Mountain
The Good Girl
2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Strangelove
Fargo
Raising Arizona
Miller's Crossing
Quiz Show
The English Patient
The Princess Bride
This Is Spinal Tap
L.A. Confidential
The Usual Suspects
Grosse Pointe Blank
Say Anything
Casablanca
Strictly Ballroom
Clueless
Clerks
Amelie
Holiday
Harvey
The Matrix
Blade Runner
Hoop Dreams
Sense and Sensibility
Shakespeare in Love
The Natural
Avalon
Terms of Endearment
Finding Nemo
Beauty and the Beast (actually bought that before I had my son)
Shrek (same with this one)

[dly64]

I'm going to cheat because I have too many ... so I am going by the decades:

1920's

Louise Brooks films ..... Pandora's Box, Diary of a Lost Girl, Prix de Beaute
Carl Th. Dreyer films .... Passion of Joan of Arc. Vampyr
F.W. Murnau films ... Nosferatu, Sunrise, Faust
Fritz Lang films ... Metropolis
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Charlie Chaplin films ... City Lights, The Circus, The Kid
Harold Lloyd films .... Safety Last, The Freshman
Buster Keaton Films .... The General, The Cameraman

1930's
Thin Man Series (30's - 40's)
Jean Harlow films ... Red Dust, Libeled Lady, Hold Your Man, Dinner at Eight
Adventures of Robin Hood
Busby Berkley Films ... 42nd Street, Golddiggers of 1933, Footlight Parade
Universal Monsters .... Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Dracula
It Happened One Night
Gone With the Wind
Wizard of Oz
M



1940's
Preston Sturgess films ... Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Palm Beach Story, Unfaithfully Yours, Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve
Val Lewton films .... I Walked With a Zombie, Body Snatcher, Cat People
Meet Me in St. Louis
Laura
Charles Boyer films ... Hold Back the dawn, Cluny Brown, Gaslight, Constant Nymph
Notorious
Humphry Bogart Films .... Big Sleep, Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, Casablanca
All About Eve
A Letter to Three Wives
Best Years of Our Lives
Leave Her to Heaven
Miracle on 34th Street
It's a Wonderful Life
You Can't Take it With You

1950's
Marlon Brando films .... On the Waterfront, Street Car Named Desire
James Dean films ... East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, Giant
Alfred Hitchcock films (all time periods) .... Rear Window, North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, Psycho
Seventh Seal
Paul Newman films .... Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Long Hot Summer
Marilyn Monroe films .... Bus Stop, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Some Like it Hot

1960's
Charade
Easy Rider
Midnight Cowboy
Beatles films ... Hard Days Night, Help!, Yellow Submarine
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

1970's
Annie Hall
Manhattan
Coming Home
The Conversation
Frenzy
Kramer vs. Kramer
The Sting
The Way We Were

1980's
Moonstruck
Unbearable Lightness of Being
Jean de Florette
Manon of the Spring
Au Revoir, Les Enfants
Hannah and Her Sisters
Sixteen Candles
Breakfast Club
The Empire Strikes Back
Witness

1990's
Kevin Spacey films .... L.A. Confidential, Glengarry Glen Ross, American Beauty, Negotiater, Time to Kill, Usual Suspects
Johnny Depp films .... What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Donnie Brasco, Benny & Joon, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow
Hilary and Jackie
Shakespeare in Love
Elizabeth
Life is Beautiful
Titanic
Fugitive
Fargo

200's
BBM (of course!!!)
Jake Gyllenhaal films ... (in addition to BBM) .... Jarhead, Donnie Darko, October Sky, Moonlight Mile, Proof
George Clooney films ... Confessions of a Dengerous Mind, Perfect Storm, Three Kings, Syriana, Goodnight and Good Luck
Matchstick Men
Cillian Murphy films ... 28 Days Later, Red Eye, Breakfast on Pluto, Girl With a Pearl Earring
Closer
Finding Neverland
Pirates of the Caribean

Sorry! Can you tell I am a film enthusiast! I could probably give you another full list with different movies. Can't help it. It's an Obsession! 

[ednbarby]

Ooh, I forgot - we own "Elizabeth," too.  GREAT movie.  Ed (my husband) likes it much better than "Shakespeare in Love," released that same year.

And it's interesting that you listed only "The Empire Strikes Back" from the Star Wars - er, double trilogy?  That's the only one I can tolerate, and I actually quite like it.  I love "It Happened One Night" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" too.

(edited to correct intolerable typo)

[dly64]

Ooh, I forgot - we own "Elizabeth," too.  GREAT movie.  Ed (my husband) likes it much better than "Shakespeare in Love," released that same year.

And it's interesting that you listed only "The Empire Strikes Back" from the Star Wars - er, double trilogy?  That's the only one I can tolerate, and I actually quite like it.  I love "It Happened One Night" and "The Best of Our Lives" too.

I do like the whole Star Wars trilogy (the original three), but my favorite is definitely Empire.

I am glad that someone can understand the love of older films. Before BBM, I always said the best films were from the 20's, 30's and 40's. Can't say that now. BBM has really thrown me a curve ball. I didn't expect to love it so much!

[Ellemeno]

High Fidelity.

[serious crayons]

Many, many of those that have already been mentioned, especially the one that tops most people's lists. PLUS:

Memento
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Back to the Future
Big
Supersize Me
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
The Royal Tenenbaums
Talk to Her
Matchstick Men (which actually already has been mentioned, but I liked it so much I wanted to throw it back in)

and probably a bunch of others I can't think of offhand. My top five list probably has about 50 movies on it (allowing for ties).

But if you asked about my top one, there would only be one.



 

[Front-Ranger]

Antonioni and Bertolucci are still among the living, though their output has been apparently sporadic, in both quantity and quality (Antonioni, of course, suffered a major stroke some two decades ago). I personally liked Bertolucci's Besieged, which starred Thandie Newton and David Thewlis, and found it interesting that both Newton and Thewlis are equally treated as erotic objects of attraction for the viewer.
Cheers,
Scott M.

Okay, I'm watching Besieged now! It is a great movie, don't know how I missed it before! It is a strange title though.

[Front-Ranger]

Funny that more of us don't have recent favorite films that we've seen. Are our standards impossibly high now? That is the case with me, and I say, so be it.

[Kerry]

My very most favourite movies of all time:

* Brokeback Mountain

* Beautiful Thing

* Maurice

* Romeo & Juliet (Zeferelli 1968)

* Cabaret

* Death in Venice

* Now, Voyager

* Dark Victory

* The Ghost & Mrs Muir (Gene Tierney 1947)

* My Fair Lady

* Priest

* The Sum of Us

* Moonstruck

* Alexander

[ednbarby]

Kerry, I *love* the Zeferelli version of Romeo & Juliet!  My English teacher showed that to our class in the 8th grade, and it is what started my life-long obsession with Shakespeare.

Nobody's ever done R&J (or any other Shakespeare play) better in movie form, IMHO, and I've pretty much seen them all, including all of Branaugh's stuff which is very good yet leaves me cold.

[Kd5000]

Oh your lucky! My uptight school made us watch some low budget PBS production in 9th grade. Boy, was it dull. But there was no nudity.   Maybe the film hadn't come out on video.  Probably the school would have had to get approval from the parents.  Like young ppl committing suicide they could handle, a few scenes of nudity would have been too much.

I think this generation is watching the one with Leo D set in modern times.  Is that bad or what?? The Zeferrilli version is by far the best. Score, performances and scenery are great.

I like DR ZHIVAGO and used to have it ranked #1 on my IMDB.com profile.  Now it's just jumbled up with the rest of them.

[moremojo]

Nobody's ever done R&J (or any other Shakespeare play) better in movie form, IMHO, and I've pretty much seen them all, including all of Branaugh's stuff which is very good yet leaves me cold.

Barb, have you seen the Orson Welles version of Othello? That is an outstanding film, fully worthy, in my opinion, of being placed alongside the Zefferelli Romeo and Juliet. I haven't seen Welles' Macbeth or his Chimes at Midnight (adapted from the Henry V plays), but critic Jonathan Rosenbaum argues that Othello and Chimes at Midnight remain the two greatest movie adaptations of Shakespeare.

[ednbarby]

I have seen his Othello but not the other two.  I like Zeferelli's R&J a bit better than his Othello, but I agree with you that it's definitely on the same par.

[saucycobblers]

They're not necessarily the best films of all time, but if I had to choose 5 desert island DVDs - those that I could watch endlessly and never-ever tire of, that would get me through whether I was happy or sad, they would be (in no particular order...

...Brokeback Mountain

...Saturday Night Fever

...Monty Python's The Life of Brian (or The Holy Grail, I'm not fussy - after all, HG does contain the best insult of all time: spoken in a comedy French accent "You're mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries!"  OMG, LMFAO every time. Heehee...)

...The Bridges of Madison County

...The Shawshank Redemption

[ednbarby]

Saucy, I fart in your general direction.  Now go away before I taunt you a second time. 

My five desert island DVDs would be

Brokeback Mountain
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Princess Bride
Harvey
Quiz Show (gotta get my Rafey-kins in there somewhere)

[saucycobblers]

Saucy, I fart in your general direction.  Now go away before I taunt you a second time. 

 

OMG, it's such an endlessly funny film - even if you know all the gags. I love the Camelot song too...

I love your choice of 'Harvey' also 

[Meryl]

On my desert island wish list:
“Arsenic and Old Lace”
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”
“The Court Jester”
“Airplane!”
“Finding Nemo”
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”

Barbara, something tells me you enjoy a good laugh and are not averse to sentiment.  Great list. 

[moremojo]

Oh gosh...five desert island films (as opposed to five favorite)? Off the top of my head, these are what I'd go for (but would forever pine for the many other worthy contenders I'd be forced to leave behind):

Brokeback Mountain
Gertrud
Au hasard Balthazar
Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo
Solyaris

[mvansand76]

Brokeback Mountain
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind
Brief Encounter
Cinema Paradiso
Una Giornata Particulare

[oilgun]

Movies i can watch over and over again:

Borkeback Mountain
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Gilda
Gattaca
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Vive l'amour
Son frère
Rebel Without a Cause
Happy Together
Gerry

Distant Voices, Still Lives  should be on the list as well but I haven't seen it in years.

[saucycobblers]

Gerry

Distant Voices, Still Lives  should be on the list as well but I haven't seen it in years.

OH MY EFFEN GAWD!!! A fellow DVSL fan!!! Oilgun, I also adore this film, but like you I haven't seen it in a while. Have you seen Terence Davies's other stuff? I'm still waiting for news of his latest project 'Sunset Song', but the trail went cold some time ago and it's 7 years (!!) since his last release. I wrote lots about him, and especially DVSL, when I did my film BA & MA, and the film affected me very deeply. I think Davies is a phenomenal talent and a true original. I met him about 5 years ago at the Edinburgh Film Festival where he was giving a talk, and he is just the sweetest guy.

I've been meaning to get hold of 'Gerry' for ages and watch it as I love Gus Van Sant also. My favourite of those I've seen is 'Elephant' - a brilliant, brilliant film which only just missed out on being on my Desert Island DVD list.

[insane-romantic]

I might have already posted this, but my fav films have probably changed anyway so here goes....

1.  Brokeback Mountain (well, theres a surprise)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (love it:))
3. The Notebook
4. Moulin Rouge
5. Donnie Darko
6. The Day After Tomorrow
7. Bridget Jones' Diary
8. Edward Scissorhands
9. Titanic
10. Sleepy Hollow

[oilgun]

OH MY EFFEN GAWD!!! A fellow DVSL fan!!! Oilgun, I also adore this film, but like you I haven't seen it in a while. Have you seen Terence Davies's other stuff?

OH MY EFFEN GAWD right back at you!!!  We don't run into many Terence Davies fans for some reason.  I love his work and I too wish he was a bit more prolific.  I think I've seen all his films, the Trilogy, DVSL, The Long Day Closes, The Neon Bible and The House of Mirth   I didn't think much of TNB but I loved THOM -Gillian Anderson should have been nominated for that.  The Trilogy was my introduction to Terence and its honesty blew me away.  I saw Terence at a Q&A after one of his screenings and he seemed like the nicest &  sweetest man.

Glad to know you!

[saucycobblers]

Glad to know you!

You too buddy! 

There aren't many of us on these here boards! But those who love his work really love it. When I chatted to him at Edinburgh (after almost chickening out and then managing to sound like the completely incoherent, dribbling girl-fan I am  ) I saw at least two people start crying when they talked to him. Incredible. His films have such an effect on people.

I agree with you about Gillian Anderson in THOM - great performance - and she's become a really interesting actress. Seems to be carving out very nice indie career for herself.

I could ramble on ad nauseum about his films, but just for starters some of my favourite clips are the beginning of Long Day Closes and the end of DVSL with that gorgeous Benjamin Britten hymn playing over it - both move me to tears every time, and it's hard to know why. And I also adore that shot of Tony and Maisie's husband falling through the glass roof in DVSL - just stunning. And he made his films on such tiny budgets! Oh, I could go on and on...

[Amber]

Top ten favorite films  ... not really in any order

Schindler's List
Brokeback Mountain
The Libertine
Apollo 13
Lost in Translation
Walk the Line
Titanic
Forrest Gump
A Beautiful Mind
Shawshank Redemption

Five desert island movies would be very different.  I love my favorite movies and because of that I like to watch them periodically (minus the BBM obession phase) to preserve my emotional ties to them.

Five desert island movies are

The American President
50 First Dates
Pretty Woman
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Notting Hill

Totally different category of movie *lol*

[shortfiction]

These are in no particular order:

1.  Brokeback Mountain   (well, duh)

2.  Master and Commander--the far side of the world
3.   The Bounty
(Yes, I love tall ships---why do you ask?)

4.   Ladyhawke   (Rutger Hauer in his younger days...Yummy)
5.  Donnie Darko   (duh again)
6.  The door in the floor  (can't explain why. So raw.)
7.  Blade Runner   (RH again)
8.  Ed Wood   (the source of my sig)
9.  What's Eating Gilbert Grape   (Love Johnny Depp too)
10.  Sideways   (not sure why)
11.  The Station Agent  (quirky little film, and Michelle Williams is in it too)
12.  Shattered Glass (a little gem that more people should see)
13.  Animal House  (so funny--they'd never be able to do it now)
14.  Gladiator
15.  American Beauty
16.  Apollo 13
17.  Cast Away
18.  Quiz Show
19.  The silence of the lambs
20.  The producers

[Shasta542]

Hi Shortfic! Nice thread.

But may I say "AHHHHHHHH!!" --my mind is hurting--I like too many movies. LOL  Plus--some people have such refined and cultured taste in movies--they are gonna think I'm such a dope. ANYWAY. They'll agree wtih the first one.

Here are the ones that are my favorites today--they change and change places from time to time.

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. The Untouchables
3. Benny and Joon
4. The Shawshank Redemption*
5. A Knight's Tale
6. Saving Private Ryan
7. It's a Wonderful Life
8. Jaws
9. Platoon
10. October Sky
11. Silence of the Lambs
12. Goonies

[ifyoucantfixit]

         No  shout out to Casablanca.  a movie that spawned a genre?
        1.  Brokeback Mountain
        2.  Casablanca
        3.  Titanic
        4.  The Unforgiven
        5.  The Shawshank Redemption
        6.  The Last Pictureshow
        7.  Schindlers List
        8.  Stalag 17
        9.  Out of Africa
       10. Moulin Rouge

             Honerable mention to ....."O Brother Where art Thou"

[Shasta542]

I hate to say it, but I have never seen "Casablanca". I really want to some time, tho.

[ifyoucantfixit]

          Try it i think you will like it..its awsome

[mvansand76]

2. The Untouchables

Oh God, I love that movie too! It's in my top-5 too!

[Cameron]

Okay, I have come up with my top 12 15.


1.   Brokeback Mountain
2.   The Accidental Tourist
3.   Lost in Translation
4.   Exotica
5.   The Sweet Hereafter
6.   Saturday Night Fever
7.   Men Don't Leave
8.   Y Tu Mama Tambien
9.   Dominick and Eugene
10.   Since You Went Away
11.   Mrs. Miniver
12.   Fiddler on the Roof

and Honorable Mentions (or should be up there too):  Desperately Seeking Susan, Fame and The Sound of Music.

[Shasta542]

Oh God, I love that movie too! It's in my top-5 too!

Really!? Cool. That's a great movie---I have seen it sooooo many times and I always don't want the little happy guy to get in the elevator or Malone to go on the porch!!!!! It's so sad. Plus Andy Garcia---yummy. All of the actors are great, aren't they? I also like the clothes and sets for that time period.

[mvansand76]

Really!? Cool. That's a great movie---I have seen it sooooo many times and I always don't want the little happy guy to get in the elevator or Malone to go on the porch!!!!! It's so sad. Plus Andy Garcia---yummy. All of the actors are great, aren't they? I also like the clothes and sets for that time period.

Oh God, yes, it's got so many tragic moments... just a few weeks ago I downloaded the Ennio Morricone soundtrack and the music of the Malone death scene just kills me every time. I think the scene on the stairs is one of the best scenes in film history, it's breathtaking!!! And yes, it's one of the best casts ever, Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia... God! The only other cast that blew me away (well apart from that of one little movie called Brokeback Mountain) was of Mystic River, the guys in that movie created fireworks together!

[Kd5000]

I got ten that I've watched to death.

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. Dr. Zhivago
3. Chinatown
4. Annie Hall
5. Sunset Boulevard
6. Fargo
7. Vertigo
8. Roman Holiday
9. Rosemary's Baby
10. 2001, A Space Odyssey/ Solyaris (1972)

Yep, I like alot of different genres.  Dr Zhivago has an equally tragic ending as BBM.  Julie Christie was just so lovely.
Somebody lent me the dvd for CASABLANCA.  It's not Dr. Zhivago by a longshot.   

[ifyoucantfixit]

           Well I will agree that Chinatown is a super movie as well.  But Dr Zhivago would not get on my
list.  It was highly romantic, and I thought it drug out in places.  I did think it was a beautiful movie visually however.  All the period costumes, and the different locales.  From the old Russian architecture
to the snow, and wooded scenes.  It was beautiful.   For a very long time 2001 was one of my
top favorites as well.

[Meryl]

2.  Master and Commander--the far side of the world
3.   The Bounty
(Yes, I love tall ships---why do you ask?)

Yay, another tall ship fan!   

Shakestheground started a thread awhile ago for Master and Commander.  Want to add your 2 cents?  Go here: http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,8817.msg171952.html#msg171952.

[Luvlylittlewing]

1.  Brokeback Mountain

2.  Ed Wood

3.  Black Orpheus

4.  Nights of Cabiria

5.  House on Haunted Hill

6.  Star Wars

7.  Alien

8.  Bye Bye Brazil

9.  From Hell

10. A Christmas Carol (Alistair Sim)

[min]

These are movies I 've watched many times, in no particular order except BBM-

Brokeback Mountain

Groundhog Day

Back to the Future

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Holiday Inn (Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire)

A Christmas Carol (Alistair Sims)

Killing Fields

The Green Mile

Pay it Forward

[southendmd]

Time to bump this thread.  My,  such an interesting lot of favorites!

Here are mine:

BBM

Casablanca--always stirring
Diva--my obsession about obsession
Some Like it Hot--'nobody's perfect'
North by Northwest--chilling Hitchcock, with an older and gorgeous Cary Grant
Undertow aka Contracorriente--the Peruvian BBM, no kidding
Latter Days--always touching
Shelter--a sentimental favorite
Billy Elliot--surprise ending gets me
Somewhere in Time--impossible love
A Single Man--Tom Ford's and Colin Firth's masterpiece
The Hours--Stephen Daldry's sumptuous adaptation of Michael Cunningham's extraordinary homage to Virginia Woolf
A Home at the End of the World--moving adaption of Michael Cunningham's first novel
Mon oncle d'amerique--a bizarre and very French film about angst and psychosomatics
Groundhog Day--just repeats and repeats
My Beautiful Laundrette--a very young Daniel Day Lewis
Summertime--Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi   in Venice
The Times of Harvey Milk--the best documentary, ever

Guilty pleasure:  Buckaroo Banzai


Please add yours!

[ifyoucantfixit]

   I am glad that Paul, listed more than the compensatory 10 titles.  I had a hard time going to that figure.


   Brokeback Mountain.  still my favorite, after 6 years.

   Casablanca....             Ingrid Bergman,  Humphrey Bogart

  The Shawshanke Redemption... Too much to even try to tell..

   Lord of the Rings, trilogy  My favoite sequal type, can't wait for The Hobbit..

   Picnic...........             Very beautiful Paul Newman

   My fair Lady....            My favorite all time musical.

   Gone with the wind.   Even though it is from way back in my birth year.  It still holds up.  For those who love it, and those                   
                                   who haven't seen it before.

   Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,,,,,and The Sting.   I consider them one movie, even though they were not considered to be
                                  sequeled.   It was made to appease after the horrid end to BCASK.

   East of Eden.......       James Dean, at his most vulnerable portrayal of a young man, under very difficult circumstance.

   Madam X............        Lana Turner's probably best role.  As an unwed mother, and the resultant difficulties.  I was not her most ardent
                                   fan but she was very good in this one.

   The Unforgiven....       I think it is Clint Eastwoods finest work still.  A western in the best sense of the term.

    High Noon.........        It was the film with a still beautiful Gary Cooper, and it was the birth of the genre...simply perfection

    The Joker.........         Heath's absolutely perfect portrayal of a crazed, maniac on the loose.   

    Iron Man 1. ......         I found this movie to contain everything possible for its genre.  As well as great portrayals by Ribert Downey Jr.                                                                  Gweneth Paltrow,  and Jeff Bridges. 
 
    Some like it hot....       It was just a wonderful romp, with an excellent cast.  Still holds up wonderfully well.  Loved it.

    The Apartment....       Jack Lemmon, and Shirley MacClaine at their very beautiful best....

    Man With the Golden Arm  Frank Sinatra's best job.

    From here to Eternity...Very interesting portrayal of a misfit.

    Pride and Prejudice.    The one with Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFadyen.  What a cast, and such a lovely portrayal of the
                                    Bennet family, and friends. 

    Latter Days.........,.     Great, movie, even if it is kind of Brokeback Mountain light.
 
   The Oxbow Incident....Henry Fonda, and a cast of character actors.  Highly recommended.  For many years, my absolute favorite.

    River Runs through it..Beautiful movie directed by Robert Redford, and Starring Brad Pitt...stunning to look at, and wonderful cast.

    Wizard of Oz..........     I have to admit, after watching the new reconditioned and extended to all of its parts version.  I like this movie
                                     much more than I did before.  It is more cohesive, and more informational.  I liked it a lot more...Glad they put
                                     it back to the way it was.  Before the truncated version was edited down for television, (allowing for     
                                     commercials.)  That was the only way I ever saw it before.  It was charming, but not over the top for me.  This
                                     version is well worth watching.

    Rosemary's Baby.....     i am not a real fan of scary movies.  This was a very remarkable one though.  I really enjoyed being scared silly.
                                    Mia Farrow was mesmerizing in this movie.



  You probably can tell I am very diverse in my tastes...  They don't all have to be Shakespeare  These are not in any particular order.  Except   
  for the first three.  Ii can't do that kind of a list.  I highly recommend them all, if you have not seen them.

[serious crayons]

For some reason, at the moment, the only one that stands out besides BBM is Memento.

[Ellemeno]

I think I'll stand by the list I made earlier in this thread, almost six years ago!  (Though I have now removed four of them.)


Brokeback Mountain
Lone Star
The Player
Parenthood
Grand Canyon
Pane e tulipani (Bread and Tulips)
The Anniversary Party
Desk Set
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
The Jungle Book
Get Shorty
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Groundhog Day

[Penthesilea]

I guess I'll forget some.
BBM first and by far, of course. The others in no particular order.

Memento (Hey Katherine, still up there for me, too )
Stand By Me
Good Will Hunting
Fried Green Tomatoes
Groundhog Day (I can watch this one again and again and again, and...)
Lethal Weapon 1-4 (Can't help it, even when Mel Gibson is an idiot, lol)
Die Hard 1-4 (Yup, action with humor does it for me)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Leslie's and my "other boys")
Four Weddings And A Funeral
Antonia's Line
My Own Private Idaho

Honorable mentions to:

East Of Eden
Rebel Without A Cause
The Dark Knight
Still Crazy
Fight Club
The Crying Game
The Sixth Sense
Solino (German Movie)
The Big Chill
Thelma and Louise

[Penthesilea]

Some Like it Hot--'nobody's perfect'

Loved that line.

North by Northwest--chilling Hitchcock, with an older and gorgeous Cary Grant

Thanks for mentioning this one. Time to watch it again because I barely can remember it. (Shame, I know)

My Beautiful Laundrette--a very young Daniel Day Lewis

I liked this one very much, too. Young DDL, oh yeah.

I LOVE Brit movies. Some I haven't mentioned so far
Beautiful Thing
Death At A Funeral
Saving Grace
The Full Monty

[Katie77]

Here are some of my favourites....

Brokeback Mountain....will always be my fave

Marley and Me.....cause I love dogs
An Officer and a Gentleman...cause I love the way Richard Gere kisses
Carousel ( my favourite Rogers and Hammerstein)
Grease....for the great songs
The Help....saw it the other day and thought it was great
Bridges of Madison County...another forbiden love story
Rocky....triumph
Snow falling on Cedars....a great story
Pulp Fiction
Brothers
Serpico
Rabbit Hole

[Luvlylittlewing]

BBM

Butterfield 8
Sunset Blvd.
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Ed Wood
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Star Wars (all of them!)
Nights of Caberia
Black Orpheus
Bye Bye Brazil
Kingdom of Heaven
300
Minnie and Moscowitz
Anne of a Thousand Days
The Birds
A Man and A Woman (my dad's favorite, as well)

Guilty pleasures:

Cleopatra
Good Burger
The 10 Commandments
Beauty Shop
BAPs
Dragnet (The 50s version)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte
The Bad Seed
The Omen (both versions)
House on Haunted Hill (both versions)
Tales from the Crypt
The Vault of Horror
Asylum (God I love Hammer films!)
Tron
Clash of The Titans (both versions)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (love my stop action animation)
Drag Me to Hell



I'll add more when I think of them.  There are so many favorites!

[Front-Ranger]

I confess, I've seen "The Book Club" twice. In some ways, it's kind of awful. Although Candice Bergen is great in the role, she's given a horrible script. Jane Fonda's and Mary Steenbergen's are not much better, but Diane Keaton's character really stands out, and is much better. Maybe that's why she gets top billing. It's funny that the casting says "with" Andy Garcia and Don Johnson. I wonder, why is that?

[serious crayons]

Ask Prof. Google! I typed in "why do some movie" and Google autofilled "credits say with." Short answer: It's typically used when a bigger name actor plays a smaller role, so their name stands out more.

From Withipedia:

An actor may receive "last billing", which usually designates a smaller role played by a famous name. They are usually credited after the rest of the lead cast, prefixed with "and" (or also "with" if there is more than one, as Samuel L. Jackson was in the latter two Star Wars prequels). In some cases, the name is followed by "as" and then the name of the character (sometimes called an "and-as" credit). This is not the case if that character is unseen for most of the movie (see Ernst Stavro Blofeld).
 

[CellarDweller]

I confess, I've seen "The Book Club" twice. In some ways, it's kind of awful. Although Candice Bergen is great in the role, she's given a horrible script.

I remember first seeing the trailer, and thinking it was funny that after a series of movies on 50 SoG, a movie was made about people reading 50 SoG.

[serious crayons]

I remember first seeing the trailer, and thinking it was funny that after a series of movies on 50 SoG, a movie was made about people reading 50 SoG.

The trope of a book club reading 50 SoG -- often without knowing beforehand what it's about -- is kind of a cliche by now. I even have a real-life friend whose book club did that!

Too bad. I think all four of those women are excellent actresses. But nobody writes good roles for older women. When there do, they're silly fantasy-fulfilling romances. In "Grace and Frankie," 80-year-old Jane Fonda dates 62-year-old Peter Gallagher. Who is not only handsome, he's also incredibly rich.

Of course, she's also beautiful. So not that it could NEVER happen, but ... 

[CellarDweller]

Too bad. I think all four of those women are excellent actresses. But nobody writes good roles for older women. When there do, they're silly fantasy-fulfilling romances. In "Grace and Frankie," 80-year-old Jane Fonda dates 62-year-old Peter Gallagher. Who is not only handsome, he's also incredibly rich.

Of course, she's also beautiful. So not that it could NEVER happen, but ... 

true......You could probably list recent  movies that starred only women, in decent roles, on one hand.

[Front-Ranger]

Chuck, I went online to research current movies starring women, and guess what I found out: a new version of Little Women will be filming in Boston this October and guess who is cast in the role of Laurie? Our own Timothée Chalamet!!

More details here, as well as a hilarious clip of William Shatner attempting a German accent as Professor Baer!

[SaraB]

He’s exactly right for Laurie! But sadly it’ll still be Amy who gets him rather than Jo.

[Front-Ranger]

...In "Grace and Frankie," 80-year-old Jane Fonda dates 62-year-old Peter Gallagher. Who is not only handsome, he's also incredibly rich.

Of course, she's also beautiful. So not that it could NEVER happen, but ... 

Just to set the record straight, Grace, played by Jane Fonda, is supposed to be 72 and is also rich, not to mention beautiful and whip smart. Whereas Nick, played by Gallagher, is something of a ditz and is in his mid-60s. I don't think it's that much of a stretch. I have dated a man 11 years older than me in my mid-60s, a man my same age, and was married to a man 3 years younger than me for 30 years. And I hang around with a man 22 years younger than myself. I've discovered that age is arbitrary.

But, back to The Book Club. There is one particular segment that spoke to me so clearly that I had to see the movie again. I would go into more detail but that would involve spoilers.

[serious crayons]

I just happened to be discussing the Laurie-Jo-Amy situation with a friend the other day. Her name is Laurie Jo [last name]. She said her mother named her that because she thought Laurie and Jo should have wound up together. I've known this friend for 35 years and never knew that was the story behind her name!

I toured Louisa May Alcott's childhood home a few years ago. Very interesting! Apparently she was instructed to write a book for girls by her publisher, so she banged it out in about three weeks on a tiny desk that flipped down from the wall. There were drawings all over the walls of the bedroom belonging to the real-life "Amy."

It seemed pretty clear LMA was a lesbian, which might explain why the relationship with Laurie went awry.

[serious crayons]

Just to set the record straight, Grace, played by Jane Fonda, is supposed to be 72 and is also rich, not to mention beautiful and whip smart. Whereas Nick, played by Gallagher, is something of a ditz and is in his mid-60s.

I didn't remember what their ages were supposed to be on the show; 80 and 62 are the ages of the respective actors. (Nick doesn't come across to me as especially ditzy, though.) But of course Jane Fonda is beautiful and smart. She looks better than most 40-year-olds.

I don't think it's that much of a stretch. I have dated a man 11 years older than me in my mid-60s, a man my same age, and was married to a man 3 years younger than me for 30 years. And I hang around with a man 22 years younger than myself. I've discovered that age is arbitrary.

I think it's a huge stretch, not because relationships between people of different ages are impossible or doomed, but because it's just not how things generally go in TV shows or movies (except in movies targeting women, especially targeting older women, in a wish-fulfillment kind of way). Real life is slightly less imbalanced, but not much. In most straight couples -- certainly not all; I've known plenty of exceptions, including my own -- the man is older.

Your stories all make sense. My husband was five years younger than me. And it's not at all unusual for a woman to date or marry a man 11 years older or more. And I hang around with 20-somethings sometimes, too (although friends and romantic partners are two different things and I most likely wouldn't date them).

But let's take movies. I can think of maybe three or four movies in all of film history involving romantic couples in which the woman was substantially older than the man. And in those cases, the fact that the woman was older is a major issue in the relationship (as it is in Grace's and Nick's). (Compare theirs to Frankie's relationship with an African-American man, where race, AFAIK, is never mentioned.)

The most prominent example is probably The Graduate. The fact that Mrs. Robinson was much older than Benjamin was the whole point -- along with the adultery, of course -- and the reason their relationship seemed doomed and shallow and icky. (Also because the woman came on to the man, in a very bold way, which tends to be a taboo as well, and even more so back then.) It was clear Ben only got involved with her because he was feeling cynical and aimless following college. Elaine, on the other hand, was age-appropriate and sufficiently docile. So Ben's relationship with her seemed "nice" and "natural," though threatened by her evil old mother.

As I'm sure you know, the ages of all three actors were pretty close. Ann Bancroft was 35. Dustin Hoffman was 29. Katharine Ross was 27. So the age difference between Bancroft and Hoffman -- the depraved mismatched lovers -- was only one year more than me and my ex-husband. And Ann would have been eight when her daughter was born.

Sally Field, also famously, has played both the peer and mother of Tom Hanks. Most recently in a movie called Hello, My Name is Doris she plays an older woman with a crush on a younger colleague. It sounded terrible and I haven't seen it -- I first heard of it in an AARP article warning people not to see it. But I just watched the trailer and it's full of cringe-worthy ageism. Is Doris delightfully quirky, or a clueless joke? Though looks like it has an "empowering" upbeat ending. So I suppose it's a matter of taste and you'd probably have to see the whole movie to decide how you felt. But I didn't get a great feeling from the trailer.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3766394/

Harrison Ford, Al Pacino and Martin Sheen are all several years older than Sally Field. Never say never, but I can't imagine any of them starring in a movie in which they're made into a joke for lusting after a much younger coworker. It would just be a normal movie romance! Harrison Ford was paired with Anne Heche, 26 years his junior, and the age gap wasn't supposed to be a big deal. The closest to Doris I can think of is when Robert De Niro played the intern in Anne Hathaway's company. And his character was much more dignified -- kind of old-school, but in a good way, teaching those whippersnapper millennials a thing or two, not seeming clumsy and insecure and clueless.

Then there's Maggie Gyllenhaal, at 37, getting turned down as "too old" for a role opposite a 55-year-old man. A few years before that, it was portrayed as pretty normal in Crazy Heart when she got involved with Jeff Bridges, 28 years her senior.

Here's a great illustration of how it works. In "Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don’t," Vulture graphed the ages of a bunch of actors and actresses cast as romantic pairs over the years. All of them show some age gap, often substantial, and only occasionally is the woman older than the man.

More tellingly, the gap between ages grows as the actors get get older. The actor whose romantic partners' ages are closest to his is Tom Hanks. But even in his there's a gap, and Vulture congratulates it for being within a mere 10 years!

If I were John, I would carefully copy all the words and images, highlighting some in larger fonts and colors, for a beautiful presentation. But I'm lazy and it's easier for anyone interested to just click on the link.

http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/leading-men-age-but-their-love-interests-dont.html



I could talk about age differences in real life, but I've typed enough for now!  

[Jeff Wrangler]

Just to set the record straight, Grace, played by Jane Fonda, is supposed to be 72 and is also rich, not to mention beautiful and whip smart. Whereas Nick, played by Gallagher, is something of a ditz and is in his mid-60s. I don't think it's that much of a stretch. I have dated a man 11 years older than me in my mid-60s, a man my same age, and was married to a man 3 years younger than me for 30 years. And I hang around with a man 22 years younger than myself. I've discovered that age is arbitrary.

I'm not sure I agree with the "age is arbitrary" part, but beyond that, the same thing can apply to gay men. Whenever our paths cross (usually accidentally and only occasionally), I hang out some with a young man who is literally young enough to be my son (the "son" part strikes  me as kinda neat). But he's an "old soul," so we seem more like contemporaries than otherwise.  (He's also one of those amazing persons who seem to know everybody, so even when our paths do cross, usually at the Usual Watering Hole, invariably he sees someone else he needs to greet, and then someone else, and then someone else. ...  )

[SaraB]

I just happened to be discussing the Laurie-Jo-Amy situation with a friend the other day. Her name is Laurie Jo [last name]. She said her mother named her that because she thought Laurie and Jo should have wound up together. I've known this friend for 35 years and never knew that was the story behind her name!

I toured Louisa May Alcott's childhood home a few years ago. Very interesting! Apparently she was instructed to write a book for girls by her publisher, so she banged it out in about three weeks on a tiny desk that flipped down from the wall. There were drawings all over the walls of the bedroom belonging to the real-life "Amy."

It seemed pretty clear LMA was a lesbian, which might explain why the relationship with Laurie went awry.

Love that about your friend’s name!

[Front-Ranger]

I didn't remember what their ages were supposed to be on the show; 80 and 62 are the ages of the respective actors. (Nick doesn't come across to me as especially ditzy, though.) But of course Jane Fonda is beautiful and smart. She looks better than most 40-year-olds.

I was just watching the program where Nick sees Grace's healing scar from the knee surgery and falls down in a dead faint! He also botches making scrambled eggs. . .how ditzy is that?

I can think of maybe three or four movies in all of film history involving romantic couples in which the woman was substantially older than the man. And in those cases, the fact that the woman was older is a major issue in the relationship (as it is in Grace's and Nick's).

I didn't notice the age difference, which is only 7 years at best, being a major issue. The most important thing about Nick, IMHO, is that he is a rich and successful entrepreneur who is learning that his business acumen doesn't necessarily translate into success with women, especially Grace.

As for movies where the woman was older, Harold and Maude leaps to mind, but there is also Cheri, The Beach, The Good Girl, Unfaithful, Anna Karenina, and about 65 others on this list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls066983450/

The most prominent example is probably The Graduate. The fact that Mrs. Robinson was much older than Benjamin was the whole point -- along with the adultery, of course -- and the reason their relationship seemed doomed and shallow and icky. (Also because the woman came on to the man, in a very bold way, which tends to be a taboo as well, and even more so back then.) It was clear Ben only got involved with her because he was feeling cynical and aimless following college. Elaine, on the other hand, was age-appropriate and sufficiently docile. So Ben's relationship with her seemed "nice" and "natural," though threatened by her evil old mother.

I wouldn't think of The Graduate as the most important example of a December/May romance. I would think of Harold and Maude as that. Also, their relationship was not a romance; it was just lust. You listed 3 reasons why their relationship was icky, and I would argue that the age difference was the least icky reason. More icky to me was that Mrs. Robinson was bored and a cougar; also that she knew Benjamin loved Elaine, her daughter. She was a predator, but learned it because she had been preyed on (remember the part about why she and Mr. Robinson had to get married in the first place?) I think of Mrs. Robinson more like Sleeping Beauty's stepmom, in fear of being supplanted as the "fairest of them all" and ready to use diabolical means to feed her bruised ego.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Sleeping Beauty's stepmom, in fear of being supplanted as the "fairest of them all" and ready to use diabolical means to feed her bruised ego.

That was Snow White's stepmom.

[CellarDweller]

Did someone say "Snow White?"

[Front-Ranger]

 
Can you blame me for getting Sleeping Beauty and Snow White mixed up? The stories are so similar!!

[Jeff Wrangler]

Can you blame me for getting Sleeping Beauty and Snow White mixed up? The stories are so similar!!

Why is it fairy tale heroines are always falling asleep and need to be kissed to wake up? 

[serious crayons]

I was just watching the program where Nick sees Grace's healing scar from the knee surgery and falls down in a dead faint! He also botches making scrambled eggs. . .how ditzy is that?

Well, it's ditzy from our perspective as people who know basic culinary skills, but I took that to mean he was so rich he'd never had to scramble eggs before.

I didn't notice the age difference, which is only 7 years at best, being a major issue. The most important thing about Nick, IMHO, is that he is a rich and successful entrepreneur who is learning that his business acumen doesn't necessarily translate into success with women, especially Grace.

It's not me who's making a big deal of it, it's Grace. Have you seen the one where she confronts him and whips off her hairpiece, false eyelashes, etc.? She wants him to recognize the age difference and make sure it doesn't matter to him. She hasn't taken him that seriously so far because she assumes their age difference will be a problem.

As for movies where the woman was older, Harold and Maude leaps to mind, but there is also Cheri, The Beach, The Good Girl, Unfaithful, Anna Karenina, and about 65 others on this list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls066983450/

That's what I'm saying, though -- in many of those movies the age difference is a plot point.

I wouldn't think of The Graduate as the most important example of a December/May romance. I would think of Harold and Maude as that. Also, their relationship was not a romance; it was just lust. You listed 3 reasons why their relationship was icky, and I would argue that the age difference was the least icky reason. More icky to me was that Mrs. Robinson was bored and a cougar; also that she knew Benjamin loved Elaine, her daughter. She was a predator, but learned it because she had been preyed on (remember the part about why she and Mr. Robinson had to get married in the first place?) I think of Mrs. Robinson more like Sleeping Beauty's stepmom, in fear of being supplanted as the "fairest of them all" and ready to use diabolical means to feed her bruised ego.

First of all -- and this is really important -- I want to clarify that I'm not saying that I, serious crayons, think it's icky. I'm saying that movie executives and casting directors think it's icky. And IMO it's their attitude that's icky, not the concept of an older woman/younger man romance. And is it surprising that people like Harvey Weinstein and his ilk would have a preference for casting younger women?

So yeah, in The Graduate there were all kinds of problems with their relationship and her behavior. But you say you think it's icky that she was a cougar. According to Wikipedia, "Cougar is slang for a woman who seeks sexual activity with significantly younger men." That's the whole meaning of the word. What's the equivalent male slur? That's right, there's not one.

I had to skim the list you linked but can look more closely later. Of the ones I noticed, the age difference is often a plot point, as opposed to the age difference when the genders are reversed.

Would we even have heard of Harold and Maude if Maude were played by a woman the same age as Harold? The fact that she was (much) older was what made the movie stand out.

I'm sure there's a list out there of young women who starred in movies and then were never heard from again once they got a little older. I could name a bunch off the top of my head. It's why you see movie trailers and when they list the stars, the actor is a familiar A-list celebrity and the actress is someone you've never heard of. I think it was Rosanna Arquette (who disappeared herself) who made a whole movie about this phenomenon called Searching for Debra Winger. Its partly about why Debra Winger, a huge star, sort of disappeared from movies (though I've seen her a few times lately). And they interview a lot of older actresses who talk about how women suffer the sexist ageist problem in Hollywood.

To take another example, when was the last time you saw the actress who played Ferris Bueller's girlfriend? Now when was the last time you saw Matthew Broderick? I can tell you when the last time I saw his friend who was driving his dad's fancy car. It was a few nights ago, watching this new drama called Succession.

Whenever I think of this phenomenon I think of "As Good as it Gets," in which Helen Hunt (now 55) is romantically paired with Jack Nicholson (now 81). When was the last time you saw Helen Hunt? For me, it's been a few years. How about her TV husband Paul Reiser? For me it was last summer in the hit series Stranger Things (also starring Randall, BTW). And I'm pretty sure Jack could get a role if he wanted one.

But it's not just movie executives. It's people as a whole. I could go into much more detail about this, but again, couples where the man is older far exceed couples that are the other way around (as in my own marriage). I don't think this is fair or good, but it's part of human nature and I believe it has to do with evolution and fertility.

[serious crayons]

Why is it fairy tale heroines are always falling asleep and need to be kissed to wake up? 

Ask Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist and author of The Uses of Enchantment, an analysis of the deeper (Freudian) meanings in fairy tales.

Well, you can't actually ask him because he's dead, so I'll just tell you. I'm pretty sure it symbolizes their losing virginity. A lot of things in fairy tales are about sex, apparently.

[Front-Ranger]

I will need to study your excellent reply more before replying to it, but before I forget, I wanted to answer your question:

What's the equivalent male slur? That's right, there's not one.

It's called "robbing the cradle" or "jailbait".

[CellarDweller]

Katherine's post reminds me of the TV theme of heavy husbands with much thinner wives, which I never understood.

We had Ralph and Alice (Honeymooners)






Doug and Carrie (King of Queens)








Philip and Vivian (Fresh Prince of Bel Air)








Jay and Gloria (Modern Family)







Jim and Cheryl (According to Jim)









It's even evident in animation.



Fred and Wilma,  Barney and Betty (The Flintstones)









Homer and Marge (The Simpsons)








Peter and Lois (Family Guy)









Bob and Linda (Bob's Burgers)

[Jeff Wrangler]

You know, of course, that Fred and Wilma Flintstone were built that way because Ralph and Alice Kramden were built that way.

But that doesn't explain Ralph and Alice.

[serious crayons]

I will need to study your excellent reply more before replying to it, but before I forget, I wanted to answer your question:

It's called "robbing the cradle" or "jailbait".

Though note that neither is quite the equivalent of "cougar."

Jailbait refers to the younger woman, not the older man. It's implicitly unflattering to both, I guess, but it focuses more on the woman in a scornful dismissive way. Same with robbing the cradle. It's the woman who's in the "cradle." And it's not even a name, it's a verb. Again, implicitly unflattering to both but not a slur per se.

Also, either of these terms could apply to either gender. A woman dating a younger man can be "robbing the cradle." It's not a gender-specific insult, unlike cougar.

I have a book called He's a Stud, She's a Slut about the double standards and misogyny built into language. Each of the 50 chapters is one of those comparisons, along with a brief analysis of the reasons for them.

I just skimmed through the titles, and there are several that apply to this conversation. One is "He's dating a younger woman, she's a cougar."  The author, Jessica Valenti, theorizes that older women-younger men pairings make people uncomfortable because it upsets the expected power dynamic. That makes sense, although I think it's more than that -- I think it also has to do with biology and evolution. (Valenti doesn't agree because sperm declines with age, too. But aging sperm is not the same as menopause.)

(I don't really mind cougar, myself. A friend and I were talking on Facebook and realized we had really different taste in hot men, and she said that's good because when we go out cougaring we won't have to fight each other.  )

Another chapter, relevant to Chuck's comment, is "He can be a beast, she must be a beauty."

[serious crayons]

Katherine's post reminds me of the TV theme of heavy husbands with much thinner wives, which I never understood.

Wow, I've always wondered about this but you came up with many more examples than I'd even considered. But here's one more: Tony and Carmella Soprano.

Do you ever go to TV Tropes? It's a gigantic database of things like this. Each entry describes the trope, then readers contribute examples of it in all kinds of media (movies and TV, animated and non, but also comic books etc.).

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UglyGuyHotWife

Beware, though, it's a total rabbit hole! Each trope has a bunch of links to other tropes that also sound interesting.

The site says the phenomenon exists (they say ugly/hot as opposed to fat/thin) because actresses generally have to be attractive to get a role, whereas male actors do not. Of course there are exceptions (Roseanne), but that makes sense. And it also fits my point about age differences.

 

[CellarDweller]

The site says the phenomenon exists (they say ugly/hot as opposed to fat/thin) because actresses generally have to be attractive to get a role, whereas male actors do not. Of course there are exceptions (Roseanne), but that makes sense. And it also fits my point about age differences.

Very true!   I seem to remember there was a bit of an uproar when Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond worked together in Sabrina,and everyone was talking about how much older he was.

[CellarDweller]

Can you blame me for getting Sleeping Beauty and Snow White mixed up? The stories are so similar!!

[serious crayons]

The Hollywood practice of ignoring a vast gap in a straight couple's ages when the older person is a man all but ruined a movie I would otherwise have liked.

That was Crazy Heart, in which Jeff Bridges, now 68, gets romantically involved with Maggie Gyllenhaal, now 40. Subtract 9 years to see what their ages were at the time.

Their age difference -- which nobody in the film so much as comments on, as I recall -- is bad enough. But what made it worse was that before he meets her he is shown hanging around with -- gasp! -- women his own age. His main problem -- and the main problem in his relationship with Maggie -- is that he's an alcoholic. But to show how low this washed-up has-been has fallen, he sleeps with a woman played by Beth Grant, an actress born the same year Jeff Bridges was. (YMMV, but I felt it was a pretty strong subtext.)

Maggie comes along -- the most timid and naive 30-something "journalist" ever; she wanted to write about him but had to have her uncle or somebody ask if he'd see her. And she's a huge fan and acts worshipful around him. So even though technically she should have been fairly mature, the script made her seem even younger than she actually was.

I'm not saying this could never happen in real life. It's just that movies frequently follow this pattern, whereas it's hard to imagine them making the same exact movie except that the woman musician is about 60 and the adoring man is about 30 and then act like age isn't even an issue. Though if they did, I would watch it! Again, I'm not saying age would necessarily have to be a big deal, I'm just saying that's not how movies work.

Other than that, I liked the movie. I like both Jeff and Maggie! The music was excellent! Colin Farrell played a country singer! The actual country singer who wrote the theme song has the same name as George Clooney's character in Up in the Air, which came out the same year.

But it also felt misogynistic or at least sexist/ageist, and that kind of wrecked it.

[southendmd]

I totally agree with you, Katherine, about Crazy Heart. They ridiculed Beth Grant essentially for being her age.

[serious crayons]

Thanks, Paul.

Woman is a) 50ish and b) not especially hot (at least in the movie) = man is a loser.

It's a message I'm sure our president would approve.

[serious crayons]

The one hypothetical movie pairing I would find a bit icky is one Dellaluvia mentioned years ago (meaning, I'm sure I've already told this story 14 times now).

She thought it would be a good idea to cast Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal as lovers. With yeah, scenes of actual sexual activity.

I contended that no director would do that. She insisted they would because it would go over big in the consensual incestuous sibling community. Which, she feels, is pretty big.

[CellarDweller]

ewwwwwwwwwwwwh, that sounds gross!

I can't imagine anyone going to see that.

[serious crayons]

ewwwwwwwwwwwwh, that sounds gross!

I can't imagine anyone going to see that.

That's what I told Dellaluvia! 

I said nobody would make that movie. Not Jake and Maggie, not the director, not the producers. Nobody would finance it. It's not just something people aren't interested in, it's something that actively grosses them out.

But Dellaluvia isn't one to back down from a disagreement! She insisted there's a big thriving community of consensual incestuous siblings who would flock to it.

I've never heard of such a thing. Although I'll admit, in recent years I've come to recognize there are all kinds of people out there I normally don't hear about, so ...

I would google sibling porn or something to see if there's any out there but I don't want to besmirch my computer. Of course, if there are people out there doing that, I don't care. It's none of my business. They're 19, they can do what they want. Except make a movie with A-list siblings playing lovers.

[CellarDweller]

I can remember seeing one of the Brady Bunch movies, and they did a thing where Greg and Marcia were suddenly becoming attracted to each other.

There were certain scenes that they did, and I remember the audience going "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww", and they weren't really brother and sister.


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEHpRuG-P94[/youtube]


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBwa0z0kCrg[/youtube]

[serious crayons]

That does strike me a gross! I think there's a visceral reaction against incestuous relationships between step-siblings if you've seen them grow up together as essentially siblings.

I do know someone IRL who married her step-brother. But their parents married each other when they were in their 50s or 60s and the kids were adults by then. So that didn't seem gross.

And when step-siblings Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson get together on The Royal Tenenbaums, it's not particularly gross, mainly because again we didn't see them growing up together. Plus everybody in the family is weird and quirky.

Also, it led to one of my favorite lines of all time. Luke Wilson confesses the relationship to his dad, Gene Hackman, and asks if he thinks it's wrong.

Gene Hackman thinks for a bit. "Well, it is frowned upon ..." Pause. "But what isn't these days?" he says merrily.

[serious crayons]

Speaking of the Brady Bunch, not long ago I read a piece on Slate arguing that Carol and Mike Brady, who as you recall were both widowed, murdered their former spouses.

The writer presented "evidence" from the show. The piece was tongue in cheek, but one piece of evidence was pretty compelling: Nobody in the show ever mentions the dead spouses. Not the parents, and weirder still, not the kids.

Some if not all, of the kids are easily old enough to remember their late father or mother, so inevitably IRL they would refer to them now and then.

I guess that's not really evidence of murder, unless the kids were all in on the crime, but still, it's weird.

[CellarDweller]

Speaking of the Brady Bunch, not long ago I read a piece on Slate arguing that Carol and Mike Brady, who as you recall were both widowed, murdered their former spouses.

The writer presented "evidence" from the show. The piece was tongue in cheek, but one piece of evidence was pretty compelling: Nobody in the show ever mentions the dead spouses. Not the parents, and weirder still, not the kids.

Some if not all, of the kids are easily old enough to remember their late father or mother, so inevitably IRL they would refer to them now and then.

I guess that's not really evidence of murder, unless the kids were all in on the crime, but still, it's weird.

 


Actually, the whereabouts of Carol Brady's first husband are a mystery.

When filming started for the show, it was originally thought that one of the parents would be divorced.   They didn't want audiences to think badly of Mike Brady, so they made him a widower.  This was addressed in the first episode.  Carol Brady was to be divorced, as per the show's creator, Sherwood Schwartz, but the network felt that may be too risqué, so her first husband was never even mentioned.

[serious crayons]

Actually, the whereabouts of Carol Brady's first husband are a mystery.

When filming started for the show, it was originally thought that one of the parents would be divorced.   They didn't want audiences to think badly of Mike Brady, so they made him a widower.  This was addressed in the first episode.  Carol Brady was to be divorced, as per the show's creator, Sherwood Schwartz, but the network felt that may be too risqué, so her first husband was never even mentioned.

That makes it even more scandalous, though! Maybe she had her kids out of wedlock. Maybe they had three different dads! That Carol Brady gets around.

[CellarDweller]

Maybe they had three different dads! That Carol Brady gets around.

The Brady's are just shocked by your accusation!

[Jeff Wrangler]

I heard yesterday that the Brady's house has just been sold, but I forget who bought it. 

[BradInBlue]

Speaking of the Brady Bunch, not long ago I read a piece on Slate arguing that Carol and Mike Brady, who as you recall were both widowed, murdered their former spouses.

Slate, according to the 'MediaBiasFactCheck' site is:  "These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation.  They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy."

Quoted the above to defend my position that a Liberal source is trying to tear down a 1970's idea of an intact Male/Female/Bunch of Kids family that is thriving, happy, and despite dealing with all the things I/we grew up with, was a success. Slate is all about 'Identity Politics' so the fact that this intact, all white family unit, through the thick and thin of divorce, death of spouse, etc. couldn't be legit so they had to murder their spouse(s)……. I bet whoever wrote that piece (of S) for Slate has never seen an episode of Brady Bunch, can't relate to the '70's, and is doing everything in his/her power to tear down our/my history. Kinda like what is going on in the South.

[serious crayons]

Slate, according to the 'MediaBiasFactCheck' site is:  "These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation.  They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy."

No need to look it up in MediaBiasFactCheck, Brad! I could have told you that. I read Slate all the time, and it's very well written, smart, insightful and often humorous. (Writers who have contributed to the site include Dave Cullen, BTW.) But yes, it is most definitely left-leaning. So is the New Yorker, considered perhaps the country's most excellent magazine (as I'm sure you know, it first published "Brokeback Mountain"). A publication can have a political slant and still be perfectly good.

The piece I referred to was very obviously tongue in cheek, as I said in my earlier post. It's not overtly political in any way. https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/the-brady-bunch-theory-mike-and-carol-brady-murdered-each-others-spouses.html

Quoted the above to defend my position that a Liberal source is trying to tear down a 1970's idea of an intact Male/Female/Bunch of Kids family that is thriving, happy, and despite dealing with all the things I/we grew up with, was a success. Slate is all about 'Identity Politics' so the fact that this intact, all white family unit, through the thick and thin of divorce, death of spouse, etc. couldn't be legit so they had to murder their spouse(s)……. I bet whoever wrote that piece (of S) for Slate has never seen an episode of Brady Bunch, can't relate to the '70's, and is doing everything in his/her power to tear down our/my history. Kinda like what is going on in the South.

Oh my god, Brad, you've got to be kidding. That idea is so ludicrous I don't know where to start.

I'll just throw a few things out there. 1) The Brady Bunch is a FICTIONAL show 2) People write various theories and analyses of fiction ALL THE TIME, both seriously and not-seriously. 3) He's not really trying to convince you of any kind of so-called reality of a fictional family. 4) If he wanted to trash a classic TV family that wasn't white, he'd have a hard time, since almost all family shows in those days were about "intact, all white family units." 5) The writer of the piece obviously HAS watched the show because no writer in the world would write a piece about a show without having seen it. Well, I take that back. No writer at a responsible media outlet that holds basic journalistic standards, which Slate most certainly is and does, would do that. 5) If you think Slate is "all about 'Identity Politics'" then clearly you are not familiar with Slate. But how can that be? I assume you've actually read quite a bit of Slate, including the article in question, because your post suggests you think people shouldn't criticize things they haven't actually seen.

Here's a quote from the piece:
 

Every day after school I’d step off the school bus and let myself into our empty house. I’d smear peanut butter on some crackers and glance at the conspiracy-filled stories in the afternoon paper—Watergate, the Mafia working with the CIA against Castro, new evidence about who shot JFK.

Mom’s rule was clear: No TV until my homework was all done. Of course, I broke that rule every day. The TV’s blare filled up that quiet house, making me feel less alone. I’d race through my assignments during the commercials. One of the shows I often watched, broadcast in syndication, was the blandest sitcom ever conceived, The Brady Bunch.  I came to know that earworm theme song by heart.

6-100) "To tear down our/my history" Seriously?? White Southerners defending statues of Confederate generals make a far, far better case than that. I lived through "The Brady Bunch" years -- in a white family, with divorce -- and in no way would I ever, ever identify The Brady Bunch as "my history." Wow. It's a stupid TV show. I was somewhere around Marcia or Jan's age when it ran, and I probably watched, oh, maybe four or five episodes. Because even by the standards of the early '70s, and even by the standards of a 13-year-old, it was not a good show.

But also, do you really think that's how the left operate? Like the most devious plot they can concoct to destroy white America is to write a funny piece about an almost 50-year-old TV series?

To suggest that a silly piece about a stupid show is making some kind of statement about all of white America is so ridiculous I'm still slackjawed that anyone would say it.

Plus then there's the perfectly valid point that a show featuring six kids and two adults WHO NEVER MENTION THE MISSING PARENTS is weird. Obviously that doesn't "mean they murdered them" because, again, it's a fictional TV show, the people who made it can say whatever they want to say about it (as Chuck pointed out).

Or wait ... was your post an attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor too? If it was supposed to be a joke, my apologies, ignore all the above.

That said, Brad, welcome back to BetterMost.

[serious crayons]

So was this where we were discussing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society before we detoured into Brady territory? I watched it over the past two nights. It was good, very worth seeing if a bit over-the-top romanticized. It makes Titanic look like, I don't know, Reservoir Dogs or something. That GQ-level handsome, perfectly groomed, flawlessly moral and kind, orphan-adopting, Charles Lamb-reading pig farmer would never be so boastful as to call himself King of the World.

[CellarDweller]

My boss keeps bugging me, saying I need to see The Big Lebowski.

Has anyone here seen it?

[Front-Ranger]

Yes, and I would advise you to pass. It's all about Jeff Bridges in a bathrobe dispensing platitudes, the inane plot merely an excuse.

How it can be in the National Film Registry and not Brokeback is a crying shame. 

[Front-Ranger]

I think earlier on this thread we were talking about how older men could be paired with younger women on the screen, but not vice versa.

A prime example of the obverse is Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Trogneaux, his wife. Emmanuel was a 15-year-old when he met his future wife, who was his drama teacher in high school . She is 24 years his senior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Macron#Personal_life

[Jeff Wrangler]

Actually, the whereabouts of Carol Brady's first husband are a mystery.

When filming started for the show, it was originally thought that one of the parents would be divorced.   They didn't want audiences to think badly of Mike Brady, so they made him a widower.  This was addressed in the first episode.  Carol Brady was to be divorced, as per the show's creator, Sherwood Schwartz, but the network felt that may be too risqué, so her first husband was never even mentioned.

Maybe it also might have created a practical issue in writing. If Carol was divorced, how come the girls never saw their father?

I suppose Carol could have been divorced, and then her first husband/father of Marcia, Jan, and Cindy, was killed in a car accident, or something.

[serious crayons]

My boss keeps bugging me, saying I need to see The Big Lebowski.

Has anyone here seen it?

  More like, has anyone here NOT seen it?

A lot of people really like it and it's a huge cult favorite. Me, I was pretty meh about it. If you're going to devote time to watching Coen brothers' movies, there are probably at least 10 that are better, IMO.

[serious crayons]

I think earlier on this thread we were talking about how older men could be paired with younger women on the screen, but not vice versa.

A prime example of the obverse is Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Trogneaux, his wife. Emmanuel was a 15-year-old when he met his future wife, who was his drama teacher in high school . She is 24 years his senior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Macron#Personal_life

Yes, that's my favorite thing about Macron! (Mainly because I'm the usual ignorant American and know hardly anything BUT that about Macron.)

I was just complaining the other night (to a Canadian) that Canada, Mexico and France all have handsome leaders, whereas we have ... you know.

[CellarDweller]

Yes, and I would advise you to pass. It's all about Jeff Bridges in a bathrobe dispensing platitudes, the inane plot merely an excuse.

How it can be in the National Film Registry and not Brokeback is a crying shame. 

More like, has anyone here NOT seen it?

A lot of people really like it and it's a huge cult favorite. Me, I was pretty meh about it. If you're going to devote time to watching Coen brothers' movies, there are probably at least 10 that are better, IMO.

I shall refrain from telling my boss your opinions.  LOL

[serious crayons]

I shall refrain from telling my boss your opinions.  LOL

True, if you want to get that raise or promotion someday, you'd better get busy watching it. It's not great, IMO, but it's not torture. And a lot of people really do like it.

You could go the boss one better and watch all the Coen brothers' movies and say, "Yeah, TBL was OK but I much preferred 'No Country for Old Men' or 'A Serious Man' or 'Raising Arizona' or 'Brother Where Art Thou' or ..." etc. But that probably won't get you the promotion, either.

I think TBL is kind of a bro movie. Like "Caddyshack" or Adam Sandler movies, except for more highbrow bros. Highbros! And probably also a good amount of high bros! 

My son, the one who majored in Media Arts and Culture, wrote his senior thesis about the nuanced subtextual philosophies in "No Country for Old Men" and "A Serious Man." The paper was really good -- kind of like those old posts deeply analyzing BBM -- and made me appreciate both movies even more. But from my recollection of "The Big Lebowski," it would not have been a great addition to the discussion.

[CellarDweller]

I think TBL is kind of a bro movie. Like "Caddyshack" or Adam Sandler movies, except for more highbrow bros. Highbros! And probably also a good amount of high bros! 

That's enough to make me not want to watch it.

[serious crayons]

That's enough to make me not want to watch it.

I know. I don't like that kind of movie either, and to be fair The Big Lebowski is better than those. It's perfectly tolerable. If your job is on the line  you might as well go ahead and watch it.

[CellarDweller]

I know. I don't like that kind of movie either, and to be fair The Big Lebowski is better than those. It's perfectly tolerable. If your job is on the line  you might as well go ahead and watch it.

My job's not on the line, but I have little to no desire for "bro movies".