Movies you MUST see

[quote1207307350=Bub]
I am Legend and Saving Private Ryan anyone?
[/quote1207307350]
Saving Private Ryan is very good, but there a lot of other war movies that are about the same level, at least according to me. I really enjoyed We Were Soldiers, Tae Guk Gi (The Brotherhood of War) and Black Hawk Down. Each of those movies brought a tear to my eye at some point, usually the finale
As for I am Legend, I kinda have mixed feelings, and I know there are a lot of people that didnt like it. (but their reason is usually the artificial look that the monsters have) The movie is AWESOME up to the point where the woman comes in. Everything till then makes sense, and then she shows up and ruins everything. It's not that much the introduction of another character, as it's the whole religious direction that the movies takes from there. Will Smith probably deserves an Oscar for his acting in I Am Legend, but the movies itself needs an alternative ending, or at least some changes. When a sci-fi movie gets involved with God, it usually gets spoiled.

[quote1207307346=Toasteddude]
Princess Mononoke is my favorite movie and I think that everyone should see it. It leaves you with a great fuzzy feeling at the end.
[/quote1207307346]

It's one of the few globally popular anime movies, but you should really see the Ghost In The Shell Movies, everything created by Satoshi Kon and Makoto Shinkai. The list really goes on...
 
[quote1207314968=Toasteddude]
Princess Mononoke is my favorite movie and I think that everyone should see it. It leaves you with a great fuzzy feeling at the end.
[/quote1207314968]

Maybe this is a little too "John Lassiter" of me, but I really liked some of Hayao Miyazaki's other films a bit more. I thought "Howl's Moving Castle" was brilliant, as were "Castle in the Sky" and "Kiki's Delivery Service." However, his greatest achievement, without a doubt, was "Spirited Away." That film was positively breathtakingly brilliant.

[quote1207314997=Jehuty]
Try watching the Shawshank Redemption.
[/quote1207314997]

There are few films that leave me with a big silly grin on my face at the end, and this was certainly one of them. I think it may be Tim Robbin's finest performance, although you'd have to weigh that against "The Hudsucker Proxy," which was amazing.

Trailers, where possible:
Miyazaki Films
Spirited Away: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6az9wGfeSgM[/ame]
Howl's Moving Castle: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hbntEofuT0[/ame]
Castle in the Sky: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyrx3iI2uRc[/ame]
Kiki's Delivery Service: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dkLobz4bpw[/ame]
Princess Mononoke: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkWWWKKA8jY[/ame]

Shawshank Redemption: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbeOTivzvrA[/ame]
The Hudsucker Proxy: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WSCfWIyF0[/ame]
 
Miyazaki's son did a movie a few years ago: Legend of Earthsea. Well, I guess it was more of a series...

Another outstanding anime series is Mushishi aka 'Mushi Master'. It's hard to explain what it's about, but the visuals are breathtaking and the dialog/story is incredibly well written.

And. THE HUDSUCKER PROXY!!!... I spent an hour crawling around imdb trying to find the name of that movie for my last post, hehe. Greatly filmed and directed. Another good movie from around that time: The Usual Suspects
 
Oh, and don't forget another great Cohen brothers flick, [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GCRFRcWxA]The Big Lebowski[/ame]!

That reminded me, in a tangential kind of way (Jeff Bridges), of a great film that Terry Gilliam directed in the middle of making The Brothers Grimm, called [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pySXc-6GoU]Tideland[/ame]. I made a point of reading the (absolutely haunting) Mitch Cullen novel beforehand, and the movie is a faithful representation of this amazing work. It's a must-see, but it's a hard movie to watch because of what little Jelizia-Rose goes through.

UPDATE: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRcvDaw0WB4]Here is Terry Gilliam's intro to the film[/ame], in which is explains how very different Tideland truly is.
 
Wow, Tideland looks great... completely slipped under my radar. Thanks Flippy!

I'm watching [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml2Ae2SIXac]There Will Be Blood[/ame] right now, about the oil prospecting business in the late 19th century. Good so far, but it has a real penchant for the dramatic...
 
[quote1207321326=Skaarj]
I think the preferences here might be different for the different generations, and even countries. LIke westerns, there are some pretty cool ones I suppose, but I dont think that genre is even remotely popular in my country.
[/quote1207321326]

Actually, I had an old girlfriend from Bulgaria and her brother was surprisingly into Westerns. Certainly more so than I was. She, on the other hand, tended to like comedies. And old sitcoms that I can't stand. And, inexplicably, Fast and the Furious. But at least we had the same tastes in music.

[quote1207321624=Flippy Squirrel]
I love Darren Aronofsky's work, but haven't seen Requiem for a Dream yet. I'm hoping to have the chance soon. (Need to make sure it's in my queue ... time passses... yes. it is) His work on [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQYYGwYTPuY]PI[/ame] and [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IP_Rjx4wVY]The Fountain[/ame] were simply stellar. (My wife and close friend didn't like The Fountain, but I still think it's a visionary piece of film making.)
[/quote1207321624]

I love Aronofsky's work, although I have yet to see The Fountain myself. However, I would highly recommend Requiem for a Dream. That almost makes my list of must see movies, but the theme material is somewhat objectionable which makes it hard to recommend to everybody.

While I'm at it, how about three of my all time favorites, [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0112740/trailers-screenplay-E10487-310]Crimson Tide[/link], [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0092099/trailers-screenplay-E10563-310]Top Gun[/link], and [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0265086/trailers-screenplay-E15409-310]Black Hawk Down[/link]. Again, none of these are necessarily must sees in my book, but they are great war/action films.

To change gears, if you're an action fan, you can't go wrong with some of John Woo's "blood opera" classics, [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0104684/trailers-screenplay-E12932-310]Hard Boiled[/link] and [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/trailers-screenplay-E14420-310]The Killer[/link]. Those are definite must sees for any action/gunplay movie fan.

I could keep going on, but that's enough for now. (How about somebody else recommend some martial arts films, though?)
 
[quote1207323838=RESPAWN]
To change gears, if you're an action fan, you can't go wrong with some of John Woo's "blood opera" classics, [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0104684/trailers-screenplay-E12932-310]Hard Boiled[/link] and [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/trailers-screenplay-E14420-310]The Killer[/link]. Those are definite must sees for any action/gunplay movie fan.
[/quote1207323838]
It is sheer folly to judge John Woo by the dreck he has produced since moving to the United States. His Hong Kong cinema, mostly starring (and making successful the career of) Chow Yun-Fat. I recall a film class that I sat in on for a couple of semesters at UNM (a friend was taking the classes for credit), and the film professor was all atwitter about John Woo.

Then came Hard Target, which was utter crap. I laughed through the entire movie, and thought Wilford Brimley was hilarious.

As for action/martial arts movies, I can't suggest many that you probably haven't already seen, but I'll try.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqGM-YxNajA[/ame]
If you've not seen this film, watch it now. It is stunning in its beauty.

Hero: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afCgVKLB-28[/ame]
Another amazing epic, this one starring the incomparable Jet Li

Unleashed/Danny the Dog: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF0ShH6XtN8[/ame]
This film is remarkable in its appeal to both martial arts fans and those who don't like action films so much. My wife will still watch this film with me when it's on, as opposed to suddenly finding something else to do. (Oh, and the soundtrack by Massive Attack is simply stellar.)

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them now.
 
For the record, [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0108148/]Iron Monkey[/link] is the movie that really got me into modern martial arts films. It was directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, the guy who did the martial arts choreography for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and The Matrix. Very worth seeing for a good example of wire work martial arts films.

Also, no martial arts film discussion would be complete with out mentioning [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0070034/trailers-screenplay-E21111-310]Enter the Dragon[/link]. Bruce Lee's most successful film is definitely a must for any martial arts film fans.
 
[quote1207330778=RESPAWN]
Second on my list? [link=http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/trailers-screenplay-E13525-310]Seven Samurai[/link] has got to be one of the best epics I've ever watched. Yeah, it's 3.5 hours long, but you barely even notice the time until the intermission halfway through the movie. And make sure you watch the 200+ minute version and not one of the chopped versions for international release. (Funny, actually since US is technically "international" in this instance as well.)
[/quote1207330778]

I'm glad somebody posted this... Be sure to also watch some of Akira Kurosawa's other classics including Ran, Kagemusha, and one of my favorites, Rashomon. He also did a 'series' of short films entitled Dreams that is an incredible watch, particularly the piece titled 'Village of the Watermills'.

Be sure to check out other films featuring Kurosawa's favorite actor, Toshiro Mifune, particularly those by director Hiroshi Inagaki. The best of those, which no avid cinemaphile can last without, are The Rickshaw Man and Chushingura.

While on the subject of japanese classics, though, I can't help but also mention Suna No Onna, aka. The Woman In The Dunes.
 
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