Help me figure out what movie to watch late tonight! Preferably something free on Netflix or Amazon Prime, but I’m willing to pay a small fee for something good.
The mister’s favorite movie ever is “Lawrence of Arabia.” I love it too, but while it’s a contender, I’m not sure it’s my favorite ever.
In no particular order, I love these old (as in not new release) movies: “Giant,” “Moonstruck,” “Miss Firecracker,” the LOTR trilogy, “Key Largo,” all the Harry Potter films, “Kill Bill I and II,” “Enchanted April,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Mississippi Masala” — I could go on all fucking night, but hopefully you get the picture.
We love almost everything from the Coen Bros. The old movie we’ve enjoyed the most that we’ve seen lately was “Road to Perdition,” an underrated film, IMO.
So what old movies do you love, and, more importantly, why? Also, open thread!
jeffreyw
I saw Forbidden Planet in first run. I’ve been a fan of science fiction all my life since. Watch it tonight.
Just One More Canuck
Road to Perdition would be a good choice. I’m thinking either O Brother Where Art Thou or Maltese Falcon. Or maybe it’s time to introduce my 10 year old to Holy Grail
Germy Shoemangler
I like anything that makes me laugh.
Amarcord by Fellini. I saw it on the big screen when it first came out in 1973. I found it magical and hilarious.
An old brick-maker is asked to recite his new poem entitled Bricks:
My grandfather made bricks
My father made bricks
I make bricks, too,
but where’s my house?
Marcelo
Something totally different: Argentine masterpiece con artist movie “Nine Queens.” May no longer be on Netflix but it’s so freaking good.
Also totally different: a Billy Wilder movie like “The Seven Year Itch,” “The Apartment,” or “Double Indemnity.” Those are all boss.
Omnes Omnibus
To Have and Have Not, Casablanca, To Catch A Thief>. The chemistry between the stars is a big factor. Witty dialogue even for the people in bit parts.
The Third Man. Orson Welles, full stop.
kc
“Forbidden Planet” is on TCM at 8:00. It’s a hoot.
My fave old movie is “To Have and Have Not.” Why? Just the look, the feel, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall . . .
Mike J
Just rewatched the 1979 The In-Laws the other night. It will always remind me of stopping for gas during the beltway sniper spree.
The first scene with Peter Falk discussing tse-tse flies is amazing.
kc
@Omnes Omnibus:
Also, the zither.
shell
Love, love,love Enchanted April. Never shown on TV enough. Add to the list ‘Sense and Sensiblity’ and ‘Little Women.’
Ms. Cracker, how’s this for another movie themed thread. I watched ‘Working Girl’ the other night, and I still think it has one of the best opening segments. So, that can be the question for our BJ’er’s. What movies do you think had a great opening scene?
***********
Roger Moore
I’m a big Marx Brothers fan. Duck Soup is one of the all-time classics. Witty, snappy dialog, and a very underrated plot.
wrb
1) You Can’t Take it With You
2) Libeled Lady
3) Anything with Peter Sellers
4) Anything with Myrna Loy & William Powell
Aunt Kathy
Oldies would be To Have & Have Not, and most of the Thin Man movies.
Not quite so old, but comfy-cozy loves are Breaking Away and Local Hero.
And all the Bourne movies.
Roger Moore
@shell:
I’m a huge fan of the opening sequence from The Spy Who Loved Me, which has the greatest stunt in movie history.
Omnes Omnibus
@wrb: @Aunt Kathy: I was just going add The Thin Man. Powell and Loy are great, but I also have a fondness for Asta.
Woodrow/Asim
ROAD is a tough one for me to think of as old — I remember when the graphic novel it’s based on was announced, much less the movie!
Ah, memories.
Infamous Heel-Filcher
You like dark? I believe A Hijacking is still on Netflix, and well worth the watch, as long as you don’t mind subtitles.
shell
Not movie related, but since it’s an open thread, when I clicked on the tee-vee last night, CBS happened to be on and….all I can say is…’Who the hell thought it was in any way shape or form a good idea to remake the ‘Odd Couple.’ ?????? And this had to be the shittiest piece of sitcom writing and acting I’ve seen a long time. Poor Matthew Perry; is this the best you can get?
OzarkHillbilly
I loved “Road to Perdition” and I have not yet seen a Coen Brothers film I did not like, but my favorite of their’s is either “Fargo” or “No Country for Old Men”, depending on my mood. (Ok ok… The Big Lebowski is in there too)
But if I want something for pure entertainment value? The “Fifth Element.”
Bruce Willis
Gary Oldman
Ian Holm
Milla Jovovich
Chris Tucker
What’s not to like? And if you like to laugh, you will.
Laertes
Look out: The version of Amadeus that they’re streaming on Netflix is the flabby, meandering Director’s Cut. The extra scenes have no reason to exist. They don’t advance the story. They don’t present listenable music. They don’t sharpen any characterization.
Here‘s a good side-by-side. The Final Cut is on the left. The “Director’s Cut” is on the right.
Germy Shoemangler
The Girl Can’t Help It by Frank Tashlin, who got his start directing cartoons. It’s a technicolor wide-screen celebration of music and comedy, with some great cameos by Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent.
The opening sequence is excellent, by the way. It starts in standard ratio. The star of the movie walks out and literally pushes each side of the screen, so that it become panavision.
Talk about breaking the fourth wall.
jeffreyw
Needs moar pickles.
MD Rackham
The ones I return to when nothing else sounds good (in no particular order):
The Big Sleep (Bogie version)
Miller’s Crossing
Local Hero
Joe vs the Volcano
Hudsucker Proxy
To Have and Have Not
And when the wife’s not around:
Once Upon a Time in the West
Terminator 2
Honoré De Ballsack
Lesser-known films by Alfred Hitchcock: “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (the 1950s one with James Stewart and Doris Day), “Young And Innocent,” “The Lady Vanishes,” and “The 39 Steps.”
Darkly whimisical movies about alienated young people in a tight spot: “Repo Man,” “Go,” “Henry Fool.”
shell
Ditto on ‘Local Hero.’ And don’t forget ‘My Favorite Year.’
Catherine D.
@Mike J:
Serpentine, serpentine!
mb
Only one movie I’ve ever actually wanted to watch bad enough again to buy on DVD: Sorcerer, 1977 with Roy Scheider. Highly recommend it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076740/
Chet
Hang ‘Em High. Eastwood rolls into town and kicks ass all before speaking a word.
Also, Point Blank (1967) with Lee Marvin.
Omnes Omnibus
Breathless
And from the ’80s, Subway – IMO Besson’s best movie.
impliedobserver
On Netflix there is this fabulous movie called The Scapegoat. Matthew Rhys from the Americans and Death Comes to Pemberley. I love him. And it’s a Daphne DeMaurier novel. But it’s not an old movie. :(
Tenar Darell
It’s not old, but HBO may still have Belle available. It’s about a woman brought up in the home of the Lord Chief Justice of England in the 1760s, she was his great niece, and black. It was good. Beautiful costumes, fantastic lead actress, Tom Wilkerson played the Lord, I think.
ETA bringing up baby and the front page and arsenic and old lace
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Adore all of these and will watch them at any opportunity.
The fact that I share movie tastes with you doesn’t make me little boots, does it?
pacem appellant
Arsenic and Old Lace. I love that movie. They’re doing two stage productions of it this summer, and I’m going to have to catch at least one of them. Anything Carey Grant would do. Or James Stewart. Heck you could do An American Tale, Fivel goes West, just to see (OK hear) the last performance of James Stewart. Worth it just for that. John Cleese isn’t bad as a cat, either.
Germy Shoemangler
Here’s the screen-widening sequence from “The Girl Can’t Help It”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIc9p7qmGHQ
OzarkHillbilly
@Marcelo: Damn… yeah, The Apartment…
LanceThruster
“The Gods Must Be Crazy” and “Eating Raoul” hold up quite well IMHO.
For something musical “Rocky Horror Picture Show” or “Phantom of the Paradise.”
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne:
Certainly not.
gratuitous
@wrb: I’ll second Libeled Lady, as well as either of the first two Thin Man movies. Good old movies with lots of by-play, wisecracks from the men and the women, but you can also just let them wash over you and enjoy them as they unfold.
Aunt Kathy
Oh, and don’t forget the guilty pleasures: Cannonball Run and Under Siege. Under Siege is easy to explain, cuz, Tommy Lee Jones. Cannonball Run, I just can’t help myself and can’t explain it.
SiubhanDuinne
@wrb:
The Party! “Birdie Num-Nums,” anyone?
Neddy Merrill
Lion In Winter – Hepburn
Whose Afraid Of Virginia Woolf – Taylor
Love and Death – Allen
the Conster
Diva is timeless and beautiful in all aspects.
Not sure where to get it because it has been embargoed because reasons, but Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe is fun.
WereBear
@Mike J: The Inlaws (1978) is one of my absolute favorites.
We love the Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy, and they are also marvelous in Love Crazy, which is a madcap comedy which does not deserve the obscurity it apparently suffers under.
Big ole hound
High Noon is a terrific old black and white oater that takes place in real time. Plus Jimmy Stewart. The first movie I ever saw in a theater.
Violet
“A Face in the Crowd.” Directed by Elia Kazan. Stars Andy Griffith in a role very different from the Mayberry version. If you like politics and culture and media, don’t miss it.
Svensker
@Mike J:
The In-Laws is fantastic. Serpentine, Shel, serpentine!
Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.
Some Like It Hot.
The Apartment.
Bowfinger.
Fish Called Wanda.
Soap Dish (one of my favorites)
Nuns on the Run
Persuasion (the 1995 release)
Seducing Doctor Lewis (from Quebec and excellent)
Local Hero
And if you can find it the Canadian TV series, Slings & Arrows, which is absolutely weird and fantastic and funny
There are too many!
Omnes Omnibus
A Hard Day’s Night for its lighthearted silliness.
RSA
I’ll suggest John Woo’s Hard Boiled, if you like Kill Bill, not that I know of any connection, but Chow Yun Fat is just so cool.
It’s completely different from Enchanted April in tone, but has English people in beautiful Mediterranean scenery: Shirley Valentine.
Would Cookie’s Fortune be a good follow-on for Miss Firecracker? I don’t know the latter well enough to say.
Anyway, a few movies I’ve liked.
WereBear
Great opening scene:
The beginning of Joe Vs the Volcano. Just incredible.
MazeDancer
Don Jon is a terrific movie. Pron without pron and a wonderful human message.
Don’t rule out some Miami Vice binge. Retro home turf for you.
Shakespeare in Love and Spinal Tap both fabulous.
Julia. When she throws the typewriter out the window, you’ll identify.
The Apartment – one of the greats of times gone by.
The Candidate – my favorite movie. Nothing has changed. Brilliant then, brilliant now.
SiubhanDuinne
@Germy Shoemangler:
Who wrote one of my very favourite books of all time (which I feel as though I might have mentioned here a few months ago), The Bear That Wasn’t. It is genius from first page to last — great story, great political message, GREAT illustrations — I fell in love with it as a little girl as a nice animal story, and these 70-odd years later I have enormous respect for it as powerful social commentary.
WereBear
@Violet: I LURVE that one.
There are movies I never get tired of. Like Double Indemnity.
Violet
@Marcelo: “Nine Queens” is terrific. So good.
WereBear
@Aunt Kathy: If we’re talking guilty pleasures, Roadhouse has to be on the list.
It’s like Fellini directed a Chuck Norris picture.
Ellen
If you like Laurence of Arabia, you will like the Wind and the Lion. And Local Hero is a great movie.
WereBear
@mb: I thought it was awesome. It’s slowly getting some recognition.
And for that matter the original, is just as gripping, the 1953 film The Wages of Fear. Which I just saw a few months ago.
Violet
@Svensker: I love “Soap Dish.” Such a guilty pleasure.
Germy Shoemangler
@SiubhanDuinne: Chuck Jones did an animated version of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq0a5JTSGvU
Hildebrand
Newer films that are always worth going back to:
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
The World’s End
Food films:
Big Night
Like Water for Chocolate
Babette’s Feast
Good slightly older sci-fi:
2010
Bonnie
In my book, Casablanca is the best movie ever made and always enjoyable. I love North by Northwest and a 90s version of it, Enemy of the State with Will Smith. Charade is one of my favorite mysteries with two great performances by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, not to mention the beautiful scenery of Paris. And for film noir, you can’t beat Laura with the lovely Gene Tierney. Most of the movies you mentioned above, I don’t consider the old; but, then, I am old so I guess I need to rethink that. There is a sports movie that I love because of the lesson it teaches about being nice to people; and, that is Bang the Drum Slowly. It has good performances by a very young Robert DeNiro (great, in fact) and Michael Moriarty. Whatever you choose, enjoy.
Roger Moore
@Aunt Kathy:
Obviously, it must be my namesake.
ms_canadada
@Honoré De Ballsack: ‘The 39 Steps’ is based on a novel written by John Buchan, who was a Scottish historian, first Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield and in 1935, was appointed Governor General of Canada, Commander-in-Chief of the Dominion of Canada.
I am fortunate to have inherited first editions of his books.
On another note, I firmly believe that when in doubt as to what to watch, it must be Harvey.
WaterGirl
I haven’t seen it in decades so I don’t know how well it holds up, but I used to love the old Cary Grant movie Father Goose.
SiubhanDuinne
@Svensker
Second that! It is hilarious and touching, just a wonderful film (if you can’t find it under this name, look for La Grande Séduction and flip on the English subtitles).
gogol's wife
The Awful Truth is the funniest film ever made.
Notorious. I could watch it every day of the week.
Double Indemnity. Anything with Barbara Stanwyck is better than just about anything else.
I could watch Hot Fuzz every day of the week.
I love all Shirley Temple movies (up to 1940), but that’s an acquired taste.
Arclite
Watched Three Days of the Condor on Netflix recently with Redford and Dunaway, Dir: Pollack. It was good, but I’m not sure I can recommend it, as it’s a bit too much a product of its time.
Recently watched and recommend on Netflix:
Blue is the Warmest Color – A long, NC-17 movie about a girl discovering relationships and her sexuality. Great portrayal of a teenager. Feels so real, not like a movie. French with subtitles
The Babadook – Amazing Australaian horror film. Avoids most cliches of the genre while still being scary.
Hot Fuzz – Edgar Wright’s master comedy starring Nick Frost and Simon Pegg.
The Fall – Great police procedural starring Gillian Anderson set in Belfast. She’s amazing as a strong feminist head investigator, and Jamie Dornan is great here as well, much better than in 50 Shades. 2 seasons, 12 eps total.
Broadchurch – Another great British police procedural set in Scotland starring David Tennant (Dr. Who). Great characters & dialog, and everyone’s a suspect until the end. Gorgeously shot on location. 8 eps total.
I also see that Silence of the Lambs is on Netflix streaming. Haven’t watched it in a while, but it’s one of the great thrillers.
Omnes Omnibus
I like Grand Prix. James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, Jessica Walter, Antonio Sabàto, Toshiro Mifune. And the clincher for me, besides the vintage cars, Françoise Hardy.
Violet
If you either speak French or can deal with subtitles “Cyrano de Bergerac” with Gerard Depardieu is fantastic. He absolutely commands the screen. So good.
gogol's wife
@WaterGirl:
I just recently saw it on TCM. It is wonderful. It’s Cary Grant in don’t-give-a-damn mode, unshaven and with his shirttail hanging out. I love it!
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
“I got me ten pink toes to wiggle in the sand.” Loved the song. I think I might appreciate the movie more now than I did then. But speaking of Leslie Caron, I have always had a real soft spot for Daddy Long-Legs.
Germy Shoemangler
An underrated Alfred Hitchcock film is Saboteur from 1942. The last scene, where the characters are climbing over the top of the statue of liberty, made my palms sweat.
Also, Dorothy Parker (who co-wrote the script) makes a hilarious cameo.
WereBear
The Asphalt Jungle
Marathon Man
Get Carter (with Michael Caine)
Fantastic crime films. Always worth another watch.
shell
‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House’ Another life situation that never changes.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bonnie: Charade. How could I have forgotten that? Which reminds me of How to Steal a Million, O’Toole and Hepburn.
Betty Cracker
@SiubhanDuinne: Biiiirdie num-nums! My sister and I saw that movie as a 2nd feature at the drive in on the last night of a run — it must’ve been 1980-ish? We peed ourselves laughing, and no one we told about it had ever heard of it! There was no intertubes back then to prove we weren’t making it up! For years we wondered if it was a stoned hallucination!
shell
“All About Eve” I think I know every line by heart.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
YES! One of my great faves! I fell utterly in love with Brian Bedford (despite the fact that he was swaddled in head-to-toe bandages for much of the film). Imagine my joy, some years later, when I saw him live at Canada’s Stratford Festival playing the Melancholy Jaques in As You Like It (opposite Maggie Smith, not yet a Dame, as Rosalind, thankyewverymuch). It also has one of the best soundtracks in movie musicdom, by Maurice Jarre.
Transientseeker
I’d reccomend something by Wong Kar-Wai if you enjoyed Road to Perdition recently. Try The Grandmaster or Fallen Angels but really anything by him.
He employs music, atmosphere, and plot in a way that is reminiscent of Road to Perdition.
Aunt Kathy
@WereBear: Be nice, until it’s time to not be nice. Always sound advice
ms_canadada
@Just One More Canuck: Hey there compatriot, how about Goin’ Down the Road…so Canadian.
Or the Ivan Reitman classic, Meatballs
My ex was at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, with Ivan, Eugene Levy etc. (they used to rehearse at Dundurn Castle, prior to its restoration). He was an extra in The Columbus of Sex, Ivan’s first movie which was the first Canadian feature to be charged with obscenity. Hee-hee.
gogol's wife
OT, I just turned on the teevee too early to watch Midsomer Murders (love me some John Nettles!) and heard David Brooks say, “Marco Rubio is shooting up.”
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: It also has cameos by real GP drivers playing themselves.
OneMadClown
Not sure if it’s free on Netflix, or if you like Wes Anderson (I know a lot don’t, but I love his films), but The Royal Tenenbaums is my favorite watch-this-and-feel-better movie.
ms_canadada
@Omnes Omnibus: So now I have The Third Man Theme going through my head. Thanks, Obama!
SiubhanDuinne
@Tenar Darell:
Belle was a lovely film.
debbie
@gogol’s wife:
I’m with you on Stanwyck. That last scene in Stella Dallas where she’s looking in the window, or that scene in Titanic when, as she’s being lowered in the lifeboat, her eyes show how she now realizes she’d loved Clifton Webb all along.
There are no faces like that anymore.
RSA
@shell:
I guess I’ll be the first to say, Touch of Evil. Virtuosity.
ms_canadada
@Omnes Omnibus: I adore Audrey Hepburn…Wait Until Dark!!
gogol's wife
@debbie:
She can say so much with her eyes. The other night TCM showed My Reputation. The first scene shows her servants talking about how her husband has recently died and wondering if she’ll eat her breakfast when they bring her the tray. Then you see her darkened bedroom, and she’s lying in bed, and just the look in her eyes made me start crying before she said a word. The final scene of Stella Dallas is another great example. She could convey emotion on the screen like no one else.
Betty Cracker
@OneMadClown: I adore his movies. Tennenbaums, Life Aquatic, Moonrise — pure genius in my book!
ms_canadada
@Marcelo: The Apartment makes me cry.
SiubhanDuinne
@Neddy Merrill:
Hepburn, yes, and she was brilliant, but so was Peter O’Toole. I occasionally watch Becket back to back with Lion in Winter. It’s fascinating to see O’Toole play King Henry II at the two ends of his life. And Burton was a terrific Thomas à Becket.
ms_canadada
@wrb: The Mouse That Roared
Omnes Omnibus
@ms_canadada: From that era, I will watch virtually anything starring Hepburn or Caron. Even Gigi – although that has the added pleasure of Maurice Chevalier.
@SiubhanDuinne: Becket wasn’t a Saxon, damn it! Sorry, pet peeve.
Hungry Joe
Mike Leigh’s “Life is Sweet” (NOT “Life is Beautiful”): funny, heartbreaking, warm, REAL
Like WereBear I saw “Wages of Fear” just a few months ago, and it’s even better than “Sorcerer” (the remake)
“Hombre”: Western with Paul Newman; Richard Boone is a very, very bad badass. One of the best long, tense, well-played-out endings ever. From an Elmore Leonard novel.
“Borsalino”: Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo as rising, good-natured gangsters.
“Ikiru”: Kurosawa. Post-war Japan. A bureaucrat diagnosed with cancer tries to accomplish just one meaningful thing before he dies.
“His Girl Friday”: Cary Grant’s best jaunty dialog ever: “The last man to say that to me was Archie Leach, the day before he cut his throat.”
Tripod
Road to Perdition – Paul Newman gives a powerhouse performance. Heck of a way to go out. Better than whatever he ended up winning Oscar. That asshole Rooney would have sold out both his kids (blood or adopted) for another day in the boss’ chair.
SiubhanDuinne
@Germy Shoemangler:
I know, but for me, nothing will come close to the book.
WaterGirl
@ms_canadada: I can’t hear about either of these movies without also thinking about the other one: Charade and Wait Until Dark.
Betty Cracker, decades ago when I had trouble sleeping for awhile, Murphy’s Romance was my go-to fall asleep movie. I have always loved James Garner’s voice and the movie wasn’t violent so there was no chance of waking up to screams or dramatic music.
daverave
MacKenna’s Gold… caught it on the toob last week and could not believe the cast. Watch it without reading the titles and try to figure out who everyone is.
ETA: including Julie Newmar :-)
ms_canadada
@MD Rackham: I love the first 2 Terminator vids…ok, I’m watching them after I watch Trailer Park Boys (love me some Ricky, “Don’t you go dissin’ jail!”).
rlharrington
Lion in Winter is an excellent watch….
Garbo
More chips down on Local Hero and Miller’s Crossing.
SiubhanDuinne
@Bonnie:
I never, ever, ever tire of watching it. Do you love, as I do, the “Marseillaise” scene? I can’t watch it without bursting into tears.
MazeDancer
@Arclite: Three Days of a Condor is pretty darn good. Though it may have been way more than a decade since I’ve seen it. I may check it out on your rec. See if Redford’s snuggling into the bed still seems “le sigh” or dated sexism.
@MD Rackham: Joe vs. The Volcano is good. Anyone who hasn’t seen it ought to click play.
@Tenar Darell: Liked Belle a lot
Oh, and Good Will Hunting. Robin! And those guys deserved the Oscar for their script.
Spike
Most of mine have been mentioned already, so I’ll add just one: My Favorite Year. Peter O’Toole plays a downtrodden matinee idol appearing as a guest on a 50s variety TV show.
Omnes Omnibus
The Colman/Fairbanks/Niven version of The Prisoner of Zenda is fun.
SiubhanDuinne
@Bonnie:
I never, ever, ever tire of watching it. Do you love, as I do, the “Marseillaise” scene? I can’t watch it without bursting into tears. Happy tears. Proud tears.
Similarly, a made-for-TV movie, Brian’s Song, with James Caan and Billy Dee Williams.
Jay S
Breaking Away is a one of a kind odd ball movie. Bike racing, teen angst, optimism and blue collar blues.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Brian’s Song makes even Packer fans tear up.
Aleta
A bit like Cohen Bros:
Swimming with Sharks, on Netflix (and free on Hulu this weekend) –Kevin Spacey is fantastic; a great movie
and also The Ref on Netflix –also Kevin Spacey w/ Judy Davis;
slightly reminiscent of Raising Arizona or Fargo; very funny dialog and scenes
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker: One of the funniest movies ever made. Yes, it leans heavily on ethnic stereotypes, but I’m perfectly willing to forgo my liberalism in the service of knee-slapping, lung-gasping funny. Sellers is just brilliant.
Aleta
@Hungry Joe: Mike Leigh movies are so good! Life is Sweet, yes !
Kay Eye
The Pope of Greenwich Village. Darkly hilarious, with outstanding work from Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts.
shell
Food movies always good. Add the Japanese ‘Tampopo’ to the list. A noodle-western!
Ruckus
None of mine are all that old.
All three Bourne movies.
Bad Santa
The Unforgiven
Hamburger Hill – but then I knew someone who lived through the real thing
Full Metal Jacket – same as above.
Only the first two make nice nights of movie watching.
shell
Might be heresy, but there is one bad Coen brother’s movie. The remake of ‘The Lady Killers.’
Needless to say, the original is to die for.
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: All of those! And Dial M For Murder, Call Northside 777, DOA….
And the screwball comedies of the age too: Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night, Topper, The Thin Man (series really).
My kids joke I’ve never seen a color movie (I have).
rikyrah
Have you tried Daredevil on Netflix?
How about Half of a Yellow Son?
JD’s Revenge
The Brother from Another Planet
An Affair to Remember
ms_canadada
@Omnes Omnibus: I recently attended the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (in Ontario, Canada) where the orchestra played the sound track to Singing In the Rain, while the movie played on the big screen. Gene Kelly’s widow (who was 26 when she met him back in 1985) was there and she related some of inside scoop about the making of the movie. She was available in the lobby after the show and was gracious and patient, answering questions, etc. Truly a memorable evening. Oh, did I mention I love musicals? (That’s why I love the Marx Brothers so much!)
rikyrah
@Omnes Omnibus:
Always wanted a dog named Asta.
Nick and Nora Charles were just too cool for words
divF
@Roger Moore:
Not quite PC, but in the context of Margaret Dumont’s character, pretty harmless, and really funny.
Ruckus
@MazeDancer:
Knew that I was going to leave one out
Good Will Hunting also gets a big vote.
SiubhanDuinne
@ms_canadada:
My uncle was the first chairman of the Music Department at McMaster, and was also, for a time, master of Whidden Hall, where Reitman was a resident (and a music major, so presumably a student of my uncle’s at some point). According to my cousin, much of Animal House was based on Reitman’s actual experience there, although my relatives disclaim all first-hand knowledge.
catclub
@LanceThruster: I like both those. Any votes for “The Tall Guy”?
satby
@SiubhanDuinne: The story of that scene is incredible, they filmed it almost as improv, or so I read. Best film ever and that scene always moves me too.
catclub
I think Lawrence should only be watched on giant screen.
Best movie for me is Ikiru, but it is very long.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes it does. Why I love Formula One. That opening sequence is still one of my great movie memories.
ms_canadada
Throw Mama from the Train!!!
When Danny DeVito whacks Bill Crystal over the head with the frying pan!!! HIGH-LARIOUS!
And of course, Waiting for Guffman (Bastard people! I’m going to bite my pillow!)
Genius!
(Although Best in Show still stands out for me. It was my mine and my late husband’s fave.)
Ok, I’m going to watch Trailer Park Boys now…Happy movie watching, everyone!
schrodinger's cat
Mississippi Masala, love the Mira Nair movie. Its gets the Patels with the motels, just right, plus a young Denzel Washington, what’s not to like?
BTW, Mohan Agashe, who plays one of the nosy Indian and obnoxious Indian “uncles” is a real treasure. He is a renowned psychologist in IRL and a great theater and film actor, he was one of Satyajit Ray’s favorites too.
scuffletuffle
Streaming on netflix, try “Blow Dry” Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy and Warren Clarke with Hugh Bonneville and hysterical cameos by Game of Thrones bad boys David Bradley and Michael McElhatton. A warm, funny film.
RSA
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think it might just be the dryness in the air, despite, you know, the waters. Yeah, I have the same reaction.
WereBear
@catclub: You got mine. It’s a charmer.
Capt Seaweed
“Gun Crazy”. Noir classic.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Apparently even Anouilh eventually realized Becket was a Norman but didn’t want to do the rewrite that would require, so gave a massive Gallic shrug and let it stand.
divF
@shell:
“A Taxing Woman”.
“Eat Drink Man Woman”. Make sure there is a Chinese restaurant nearby that’s still open after the movie is over.
Here’s another vote for “The Tall Guy”. Great cast.
Wendy Hiller: “Pygmalion”, “Major Barbara”, “I Know Where I’m Going”.
A great double bill at the old UC Theater: “Kiss Me Deadly” and “Johnny Guitar”.
“Repo Man.”
I’ll check back in after I get home from the office.
schrodinger's cat
BTW is anyone watching Wolf Hall? Most of it is sailing right over my head.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus: I believe it.
Hungry Joe
@catclub: Yeah, I have to watch “Ikiru” about every five years or so to remind me how to (try to) live.
SiubhanDuinne
@shell:
Well, and now you’ve made me think of Kind Hearts and Coronets, another fave.
Mike E
Thin Man movies
I’ll 2nd Big Night
Breaking Away with arguably the greatest cinematic sports scene
Royal Tenenbaums–I wish I knew why I have such an inordinate love for this film.
Omnes Omnibus
Song of Freedom.
Svensker
@Bonnie:
Haven’t seen the Will Smith version but maybe I will. NxNW is so good and Charade is excellent — we just watched it a few days ago. Mr. Bartholomew!
Svensker
@WaterGirl:
Yes, lots of fun. Cary Grant is also wonderful as an older gent in Walk Don’t Run.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: And it has Leslie Caron.
WereBear
@efgoldman: I don’t feel guilty about loving any of them :)
Gus
Wait, Road to Perdition is an old movie? How about some Hitchcock? Shadow of a Doubt is one of my favorites. It’s amazing how many of my favorite movies feature Joseph Cotten. He’s also in Third Man, Citizen Kane and Magnificent Ambersons.
@Capt Seaweed: That’s on my DVR right now! It was on TCM a few months back, and I haven’t gotten around to watching it.
Mike E
@schrodinger’s cat: Go read a good online synopsis of the depicted events as a primer, and keep it handy as a guide! But it’s the blocking/directing of the action within the physical spaces of these well preserved landmarks that I am blown away by.
msdc
@gogol’s wife: Netflix just put Hot Fuzz on their streaming.
That sounds a lot dirtier when I type it out like that.
Arclite
@shell:
Stupid moderation.
Goodfellas.
The Matrix.
Star Wars.
Pulp Fiction.
Children of Men (amazing continuous shot).
UP. (Amazing storytelling with no dialog)
Inglorious Basterds.
Vertigo.
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Master and Commander.
Boogie Nights. (another amazing single take)
Watchmen.
Terminator 1 and 2.
Lord of War. (Bullet production sequence)
Casino Royale.
Arclite
@shell:
Stupid moderation.
Goo dfell as.
The Ma trix.
Star Wa rs.
Pu lp F iction.
Chil dren of Men (amaz ing con tinuous shot).
UP. (Amaz ing storytelli ng with no dia log)
Inglo rious Ba sterds.
Ver tigo.
Raid ers of the Lost Ark.
Mas ter and Co mmander.
Boo gie Nights. (another amazing single take)
Watch men.
Term inator 1 and 2.
Lord of War. (Bul let prod uction se quence)
Cas ino Roy ale.
NotMax
@mb
Nothing wrong with Sorcerer as a decent remake, per se but it doesn’t hold a candle to the original, The Wages of Fear.
So many worthwhile recommendations above that shall abstain from providing more.
Just One More Canuck
@ms_canadada: if we’re going with Canadian movies, I would say “Decline of the American Empire”
My inlaws live in Hamilton so we drive by Dundurn a lot – they have some hilarious stuff in their giftshop
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: I am watching it and loving it. OTOH, I have read the books on which it is based and also rather familiar with the history of the period.
SiubhanDuinne
@divF:
I LURVES me some Wendy Hiller!!
Debbie
@Mike E:
Wolf Hall’s even better than I’d expected.
Arclite
@Omnes Omnibus:
Have you seen Rush? Brilliant underrated movie too few people saw.
catclub
@divF: Thanks for the reminder on Repo Man!
Omnes Omnibus
@Arclite: Yes, I did. I really enjoyed it. It even offered a brief appearance by the lovely Natalie Dormer.
Just One More Canuck
@Arclite: Rush was great
divF
Some of the first movies that I saw as art: NxNW (HS film class); Rules of the Game,
Marat / Sade (UCB Wheeler Hall film series, freshman year in college).
Hopscotch (Glenda Jackson, Walter Matthau, Ned Beatty)
Henry V (Branaugh version)
Eating Raoul, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills
Heathers
Starstruck, Strictly Ballroom (both in Sydney, AU)
On a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Sydney (17 hours), it turns out they had only boarded one movie. So I saw Beetlejuice 4 times (and it kept getting funnier every time).
satby
@gogol’s wife: Loved Nettles in that so much I didn’t want to watch the next ones for almost a year (I stream them on Roku). But the new guy is growing on me.
ms_canadada
@SiubhanDuinne: If you’re in the area, we should meet up!
Mike E
@divF:
Great…the Olivier film is a fucking trip tho. Must see.
Rob L
One of my favorite movies: Big Fish is on Netflix. Best film by Tim Burton.
Dan Storms
Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
gogol's wife
@Debbie:
I’m totally hooked. But I think you have to read the books first or you would be completely lost. Even having read them, I can’t keep the young guys straight.
It’s fun to see Dr. Clarkson from Downton and the forensics guy from Sherlock and the boss from Endeavour all in their Tudor outfits. I guess Jimmy the footman at Downton was on this last episode but I didn’t even recognize him.
ThresherK
@shell: “The Player”, by Robert Altman, starring Tim Robbins.
(Has anyone ever starred in two such incredible movies in one year of the post-studio era as “The Player” and “Bob Roberts”?)
Omnes Omnibus
@gogol’s wife:
Thomas More! Holy cow.
ms_canadada
@Just One More Canuck: We should have a meet up. I’m on MacNab North near Hutch’s.
Omnes Omnibus
Watching DCI Banks on PBS right. It’s very good.
ThresherK
@Honoré De Ballsack: “Shadow of A Doubt”. Always my favorite sleeper from Hitch.
“Big name actor” (no spoiler from me!) who played straight men in “Citizen Kane” and “The Magnificent Ambersons” makes for a great bad guy portrayal.
gogol's wife
@Omnes Omnibus:
Look at how young and cute he used to be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTYsiwxmTcA
Somebody on the NYTimes Wolf Hall blog posted this.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: @Mike E: I know the broad outline of the history but not the details. Also, many of the minor characters look the same to me. I also don’t see what is so alluring about Ann Boleyn, she is a real piece of work, what a bitch.
scuffletuffle
@gogol’s wife: I picked out Benjamin Whitrow, but only by his voice.
Omnes Omnibus
@gogol’s wife:
I say that about meself quite often.
Miki
@Hungry Joe: Life is Sweet: Cried my fucking eyes out. Brilliant film.
Woman Under the Influence also broke my heart.
As did The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds.
And Cinema Paridiso.
I don’t only cry. The In-laws is right up there, as is Blues Brothers.
And Fiddler On the Roof. And Funny Girl. West Side Story.
…
Just One More Canuck
@ms_canadada: I’m in the GTA (Markham) but we go to Hamilton a lot – my inlaws are up on the “mountain” (near Garth and the Linc) I’d be up for a meet up sometime though
PurpleGirl
@jeffreyw: I’m watching it right now. One of my favorite movies. Good story, good acting; set designs, etc. are excellent, as are the special effects.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat:
Men have often fallen for such women. Also, she was using the tools available to her at the time. Reputedly, she was stunningly bright, very well educated, and ambitious. How could a woman advance her family’s interests in the 16th century? Look what they did to poor Lucrezia Borgia.
Bonnie
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes, I almost cry, too. I feel sorry for any one who has never seen Casablanca.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
(Deleted, substance repeated below)
schrodinger's cat
@Gus: I too love old Hitchcock movies, they are more fun in the theater though. I like The Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest. I am sure I am forgetting some.
Another suggestion: Wait Until Dark with Audrie Hepburn and Alan Arkin.
Debbie
@schrodinger’s cat:
Anne’s sister is kind of creepy, I think. Very do from Scarlet Johannson’s interpretation.
SiubhanDuinne
@ms_canadada:
@ms_canadada:
@Just One More Canuck:
I hope to head up to Owen Sound in the next few weeks, and could easily plan my return trip through Hamilton. Would love to meet you, and any other Juicers in the general vicinity.
Debbie
@Debbie:
Err, different.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I am sure they do, I am sure the real Ann Boleyn must have been a force of nature, she did change the course of history. However, Claire Foy’s portrayal just emphasizes the bitchiness without any intelligence or charm. She looks pretty insipid too, her sister Mary seems like a better catch in Wolf Hall.
ETA: While Henry just seems like an overgrown petulant man-child.
schrodinger's cat
@Debbie: I actually like her better than Anne.
ThresherK
@Bonnie: As Sam Goldwyn might have said, “Casablanca is made up of nothing except scenes!”
No extra words of dialogue. No waylaid camera placements. No extra notes of music. It’s about as close as a movie can come to being perfect.
Omnes Omnibus
@Debbie: Mary Boleyn got pushed into being Henry’s mistress by her family. She more or less was used and put aside with some advantages to the Boleyns and Howards. Ann chose the “go big or go home” route, and look where it got her. Mary lived longer – with her second husband that she apparently married for love.
Arclite
@Rob L:
Sorry, no. Burton’s best movie would be The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat:
He was. He was his grandfather, Edward IV, without the brilliance as soldier. Or the excuse of a rough and disturbing youth as an excuse for his indulgence.
ETA: He is not one of my favorites among English royalty.
PurpleGirl
@Violet: I like Andy Griffith’s guitar playing and singing. His gospel albums are so good. Very talented man.
Kate
Atlantic City. Louis Truffant director with Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon. The first scene with the lemons is to die for.
Just One More Canuck
@SiubhanDuinne: When your plans firm up, let us know.
catclub
@schrodinger’s cat:
When I was small, the scariest part of Wizard of Oz for me was in the woods before anything happened.
I still would feel that way about Wait until dark. Cape Fear same way. I would rather not watch.
Bonnie
@ThresherK: I won’t argue with you on that. I once had a book that had the entire dialog with still pictures of Casablanca. I left it with my sister–big mistake. Now, gone. Makes me sad whenever I think about that.
Origuy
Little Big Man.
Big Trouble in Little China. I know it’s camp, but I can’t stop watching it if it’s on.
yodecat
Mrs. Cracker,
How long has it been since you all watched Dr. Strangelove?
I’ll bet you never saw The Swimmer, starring Burt Lancaster. Very strange, very good.
Tehanu
It’s probably not available on Netflix, but Turner Classic Movies shows it occasionally and if you ever get the chance, watch Carnival in Flanders (French title: Le Kermesse Heroique). A wonderful movie from the 1930s: when the cowardly burghers of a little town hide from the Spanish army marching through, their wives welcome the troops and throw a big party, and the mayor’s wife manages to help her daughter escape marrying the mayor’s idiot protege.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bonnie: For me, there is always one jarring note. Ilsa refers to Sam as a boy. It takes me out of the movie for a couple of minutes every time.
divF
@catclub:
Grosse Pointe Blank. In which John Cusack gets even with Alan Arkin for Wait Until Dark.
I just watched it last night. Great stuff.
Almost anything with Alec Guinness, M. Emmet Walsh, or Harry Dean Stanton (ok, I lifted the last two from Roger Ebert, but I still agree).
Omnes Omnibus
@divF: One of the best soundtracks ever. Put together by Joe Strummer.
divF
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes !
Omnes Omnibus
@divF: ’86 is the year I graduated from college. It is largely the soundtrack of my college years.
Heliopause
The next song we’re going to do is an oldie. It’s from last year. And it’s called She Loves You.
divF
@Omnes Omnibus: I predate you by about a dozen years. Still appreciate the music from the early 80’s.
Omnes Omnibus
@divF: Thank you for making me feel young. Here, this is for you.
divF
@Omnes Omnibus: *Thanks*.
Chris
@SiubhanDuinne:
I just want to throw in another vote for this. And yes, the Marseillaise scene still gives me goosebumps (helps that I’m half-French); for my money, “Play La Marseillaise! Play it!” should be on the 100 Greatest Film Quotes instead of “play it again, Sam.”
It’s also the greatest act of trolling in cinema history.
“Why?” Well… okay; for me, Casablanca is tied with Gone With The Wind because they’re both classic movies that I saw at around the same time. I saw GWTW first, at home, as one of these movies where my parents were like “oh, but you have to watch it, just for your general culture, it’s a classic.” And, well, it’s Gone With The Wind. Forget the Confederate politics – it’s fucking interminable, the main characters are a bunch of assholes, and I found their soap opera personal problems to be just as boring and impossible to be interested in as I do the Kardashians today. That was my definition of “classic films” at that point. Four fucking hours long and probably a tragic unsatisfying ending. (I know, Americans and their happy endings and short attention spans. What can I say?)
Then I watched Casablanca. And it was just two hours, which went by fairly quickly, and despite a fair amount of drama and deeper themes, was quite a lot of fun. Actually, I remember watching it and thinking “damn, this is almost an Indiana Jones film!” (which it isn’t, but the influence on Indy is obvious). Put simply, as a sixteen-year old whose idea of film entertainment at the time was still Lucas and Spielberg, Casablanca was when I realized that classic movies don’t have to suck.
divF
@Chris: Part of what gave that scene such emotional resonance was that many of the actors and extras were refugees from the Nazis.
ETA: from IMDB:
“In the famous scene where the “Marseillaise” is sung over the German song “Watch on the Rhine”, many of the extras had real tears in their eyes; a large number of them were actual refugees from Nazi persecution in Germany and elsewhere in Europe and were overcome by the emotions the scene brought out.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Chris: Notice how no one mentioned GWTW in this thread. It has some classic move scenes, but every criticism you offered is valid. IMO, it does not hold up well despite how well it was done. The crap below the surface boils up.
Omnes Omnibus
@divF: Interestingly, the refugee actors include Conrad Veidt who played Major Strasser.
jake the antisoshul soshulist
@Roger Moore:
It is hard to beat the opening of Samuel Fuller’s The Naked Kiss.
But Fuller liked to set the tone from the outset.
Detour is a classic Noir well worth watching, as is Gun Crazy. Bell, Book, and Candle is one of the few Romantic Comedies that I enjoy.
Omnes Omnibus
@jake the antisoshul soshulist: Kim Novak lost 73% of her sex appeal after she opened the seashell store.
jake the antisoshul soshulist
@mb:
Try the original French version Wages of Fear. Even better than Sorcerer.
J R in WV
Lots of my favorites are already listed, along with many great stars. Edward G Robinson, Mr. Bogart, Hepburn, so many.
I don’t think anyone mentioned Little Cesar, which was a great 1931 film with Edward G Robinson. In the climax he is trapped on a tank farm, shouts his resistance to the sky, and shoots straight down into the tank he’s standing on, resulting in a tremendous explosion. And his last movie was Soylent Green, which still is lodged in my brain, forever.
African Queen. The Hitchcock film with Jimmy Stewart, he’s injured and trapped in his city apartment, and sees a crime, a murder, out his back window… the name won’t come.
There are others, but I’m not good at remembering names of movies, or books, or people…
mainmata
Run Silent, Run Deep. WWII sub thriller starring Clark Gable And Burt Lancaster. Both actors do a great job.
Omnes Omnibus
@J R in WV:
Rear Window
jake the antisoshul soshulist
@Kate:
Actually that was Louis Malle.
Chris
@divF:
Yeah, that’s true too. I remember that IMDb quote. To some extent at least for the extras, Casablanca was sort of casting people as themselves.
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well, remember this is the kid version of me talking. The same person who, when it comes to classic movies, had also watched Lawrence of Arabia, but similarly thought there were too many lulls between battle scenes where I’d threaten to nod off, and found it depressing that it started with the guy’s death.
At least some of what I’m saying about GWTW is simply that, not being at an age when I appreciated those things. But even if I watched it today, I think the soap opera nature of Gone With The Wind would kill me. It’s one thing to watch soap opera when the characters are at least likable or fun (e.g. Downton Abbey, which I’m not really into but also don’t hate), but that’s not the case in GWTW, and when you drag that out over four hours, I think it would leave me as drained and “ugh, why did I watch this?” now as when I was sixteen. (Not even talking about the politics, that’s best left for other threads).
Clark Gable definitely had his moments (loved his “phew! Has the war started?” introduction with Scarlett, loved his “I’m afraid it’s going to make a great deal of difference to quite a few gentlemen!” moment trolling the warmongers), but not enough to save the film for me.
Susan
“Heart and Souls” is a perfect movie with Robert Downey, Jr., Charles Grodin, Alfre Woodard, Elizabeth Shue, Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Sizemore, David Paymer. It is funny, nostalgic, sad and wonderful.
Also, “King of Hearts” with Alan Bates and a very young Geneviève Bujold.
Chris
@Omnes Omnibus:
My favorite instance is refugees-playing-Nazis: Hogan’s Heroes. Where quite a few of the actors were people who’d survived or escaped from the Nazi era, and jumped at the chance to play their former oppressors as complete buffoons who couldn’t walk three feet without tripping over themselves.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chris: I had no intention of criticizing your view of the movie.
divF
@Chris: Not just the extras. One of the most memorable shots in that sequence was the one of Yvonne (Madeleine Lebeau) with tears streaming down her face. Lebeau, along with her husband (who played the croupier Emil) had just fled from the Nazi invasion of France.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chris: Werner Klemperer?
Chris
@Omnes Omnibus:
Oh, I know. I didn’t think you were. I was just qualifying what I’d said before.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chris: Cool.
Bonnie
@J R in WV: The Jimmy Stewart film is Rear Window, which I am very fond of. I love movies and have been watching them for a very long time. In the early days of TV in our area, local stations could not compete with the networks during certain time slots so they would run old movies. One local station had an employee who owned quite a film collection for that time period (1950s) and would run them late at night, Saturdays, and Sundays. My dad had seen a lot of movies when he was a kid because he had an uncle who was an usher at the local theater and the uncle would let them in. When those movies started showing up on TV and he always read the TV guide in advance, he would tell us to watch movies he had liked. Most of those movies are all classics now; but, who would have guessed that then. Thus, I had seen all the classics before they were classics even. While I still have issues regarding my dad, his love for movies is the thing I thank him most for giving me.
Chris
@Omnes Omnibus:
Klemper and Banner (Klink and Schultz), I believe.
tomtofa
Playtime
African Queen
Blue Country (Le Pays Bleu)
All slow by current standards, but curiously engaging.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chris: FWIW, I know “Klink” was. His brother’s autobiography is worth reading.
Felixmoronia
Now that everyone has gone to bed: Anne Boleyn gets her head lopped off in the last episode of “Wolf Hall.”
ETA: as if youse didn’t know.
trollhattan
@Kate:
Oh dear lord, such a scene. I need to go be by myself now.
Lemons.
Was too much of a movie student/nerd to pick “best-ofs” now (people slug you when you yell, “8 1/2!”) but there are many that I’ll stop and watch no matter how many times I’ve seen them. Guess that’s the dividing line between what I revere and what I love.
LanceThruster
@catclub:
Had to look it up. Unfamiliar with it but like Goldblum.
NotMax
@Chris
Robert Clary (LeBeau) was imprisoned in a concentration camp during WW2. Most of large immediate family did not survive.
NotMax
@NotMax
Edit for omission: Most of his large immediate family did not survive.
Mohagan
Lots of great movies already mentioned that I won’t repeat, but I do have to re-mention Some Like It Hot because it is one of my very favorite movies. Everything Billy Wilder made is great, but this is the best: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joe E. Brown. My favorite western: Red River, with (very early) Montgomery Clift (yum), John Wayne, Noah Beery Junior, John Ireland. Best musical: Singing in the Rain. I saw all of these for the first time at a film series when I was a freshman in college (1969) and almost didn’t go to Singing in the Rain because Donald O’Connor meant Francis the Talking Mule to me, and I would have missed his “Make ’em Laugh”. Best guilty pleasure: Ladyhawke.
piratedan
2nd the nominations of Three days of the Condor and Big Trouble in Little China
Other classics not yet mentioned
Dr. Strangelove
12 Angry Men
Guilty pleasures
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
User Cars
PurpleGirl
Audrey Hepburn was a child in the Netherlands during WWII. One of the reasons she was so thin was the starvation she experienced as a child — she could never really gain weight. Also that’s why later in her life was an ‘ambassador’ for UNICEF and was interested in child refuge issues. She related them to her own life.
Radio One
I like the big Robert Altman movies from the 70’s, MASH and Nashville.
Ken T
“Waking Ned Devine”. Screwball Irish comedy with a huge heart.
AdrianLesher
Sullivan’s Travels is a great introduction to the hilarious, satirical work of Preston Sturges, and it is also a major influence on the Coen Brothers’ “Oh Brother Where Art Though.”
The early movies of Pedro Amodovar (e.g. “Matador” are great, and the Japanese comedy Tampopo is a classic.
Ruckus
@Bonnie:
Similar story.
Would go to bed when mom told me. But she never told me not to get back up at 11 or 12 and watch old movies on TV. Granddad had given me a big old B&W when he got color. A couple of L A stations would show movies after most everything else had signed off. Watched a lot of old movies in the late 50s early 60s that way.
Germy Shoemangler
I haven’t seen “The Girl Can’t Help It” in a few years, so I went looking on youtube, and found John Waters doing a scene-by-scene breakdown, quite hilariously. He admits his mustache was inspired by Little Richard’s appearance in the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3vyvEPgOw
Germy Shoemangler
@AdrianLesher: Recently saw “Unfaithfully Yours” the original Preston Sturges version. Rex Harrison plays against type, which is fun to watch.
Deb
Sorry I missed this last night, and thanks for some great suggestions!
Another vote for that one from me. But for my money, Colman did his best acting ever in A Tale Of Two Cities.
Anyone who loves Casablanca *must* see it with the commentary by Roger Ebert. His adoration of the movie makes it all the more enjoyable.
Now my votes for some older movies brought to mind by this list, with my reasons for them.
The Big Sleep: Bogart and Bacall’s best movie, IMO. Great script.
Notorious: the chemistry between Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, tied in my book with Vertigo as Hitchcock’s best.
All Quiet on the Western Front: The best anti-war movie ever made.
Top Hat: That score! Those dances! Astaire and Rogers!
Edge of Darkness: from 1943, an unusual Errol Flynn movie co-starring Ann Sheridan, with a terrific script. WW II occupied Norway, the two stars are the heads of the local resistance group in a small coastal town. Surprisingly egalitarian/feminist for its day.
Doug Wieboldt
My all time favorite is “The Ninth Gate” with Johnny Depp!