[MTS]

Not sure if this is more appropriate to the Ye Olde Big Movie thread or whatever; if it is could a mod delete/move it?

Anyway, I watched the movie Doubt today, and it was a very powerful movie. I was quite impressed. That got me thinking about great movies that I might have missed that are just as if not more powerful and brilliant in their storytelling. My movie knowledge is middling compared to some of you guys, so I thought I'd ask you what are some brilliant movies. I'm not talking about action movies like Die Hard or blockbusters like Iron Man that are just generally awesome; what I am talking about is movies that have a great story, great acting and are considered the benchmarks of film-making - movies that are a must see to really gain an appreciation of film-making.

So fire away! I'm looking forward to your suggestions.

[Binder of Demons]

It's really tough to think of movies that are considered the benchmark of film making. How far back do you want to go?
Do subtitles put you off.

I re-watched an old swedish movie, "The Seventh Seal" by Ingmar Bergman a while ago, and it is truly an iconic film. It's a slow movie but i really enjoyed it.

[Obdigore]

A Clockwork Orange
Pi (The symbol, which I cannot type)
Memento
American Psycho
Requiem for a Dream

Are the ones I have seen that aren't popcorn flicks but actually well acted/thought out movies.

[Aptorian]

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Brilliant movie. Great script, amazing acting, fantastic special effects, what's not to love...

[Mezla PigDog]

Not a benchmark in the art of film making but Some Like It Hot is the best comedy ever made, imo. Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis in an all girl band. What's not to love?

[Obdigore]

Aptorian, on Jul 7 2009, 10:41 AM, said:

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Brilliant movie. Great script, amazing acting, fantastic special effects, what's not to love...

You made baby jesus eat raptor jesus and then bless goat jesus with this post.

[Zanth13]

Doubt was really really good.

Shawshank Redemption is my favorite all time story movie...

Taking Chance was a great movie i watched recently with Kevin Bacon, no action at all but really really powerful

Reign Over Me Sandler and Cheadle are awesome in this movie (IMO) very powerful.

a few others that come to mind would be Crash and Weatherman

[Aptorian]

Hmm...

Okay, some serious suggestions:

Fight Club: Very surprising and interesting first time you see it, and it can be watched again and again.

Blair With Project: Back when it was released that film really fucked with me. I am still not comfortable in the woods.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: Perhaps one of the best films ever. Certainly the best Western I think I've seen.

John Carpenters "The Thing": One of the best Sci-fi/Monster films I've ever seen. 30 years after it was made and the effects and anamatronics still looks amazing.

Scream: Amazing film back when it came out, it was modern, introspective towards the genre and full of great ideas. Revitalised the slasher genre.

Saw: Like the above, when it came out it was a saltwater injection to the horror industry and showed you could have a great plot in your horror film as well as crazy death scenes.

[Obdigore]

If you want a good western

the Unforgiven is great... I think that was the name of it.

Shawshank is a great movie, but I don't view it as thoughtprovoking which is what I thought the OP was looking for.

If you just want a list of great movies, then every movie in this thread (sans Transformers 2 and, imo, Saw) are great to watch.

[Abyss]

Bladerunner - to this day unmatched in the sci fi genre.

Chuck Norris: The Octagon - because back in the 80s, the only thing cooler than ninja was Chuck and this movie has BOTH.

Dark City - highly underrated sf flic that never got the luv it deserved. Arguably did the Matrix before The Matrix.

Fried Green Tomatoes - just kidding.


- Abyss, part time film nut.

[MTS]

I'm looking for both, essentially. Films that really stand out among their peers, whether it be of an awesome story, a brilliant acting performance a la Heath Ledger as The Joker or a particularly thought-provoking story.

[Coco with marshmallows]

Got to have some Kurosawa in here:

Shichinin no samurai (seven samurai) - the remake (magnificent seven) is good, but the original is excellent.

Yojimbo - Toshiro Mifune at his finest (though Sanjuro's pretty damn good too). Yojimbo has also been remade, this time as A Fistful of Dollars and again as Last Man Standing.

Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (The Hidden Fortress) - see the film that inspired large chunks of Star Wars.


on a US note:

Schindler's List remains very powerful for a good reason,

and American History X is good too.

[stone monkey]

Apart from The Seventh Seal I don't actually agree with any of anyone's suggestions so far. A lot of them are films that are worth seeing, some of them are films I rather like. But those aren't my criteria for films that people should see. Those should really change the way you view film and what can be done with it. So:

Last Year At Marienbad: This is a film about something... what that might be is rather hard to tell. It messes with both time and narrative like nothing on earth. If you're prepared to put in the work it requires, which is quite a bit, it'll reward you in spades. And it looks absolutely ravishing.

Rashomon: The benchmark for unreliable narrative in film.

Citizen Kane: Pretty much invented modern film technique...

2001: A Space Odyssey: Space, time, destiny, humanity... it's all up for grabs here. But what we're really interested in here is how to create a totally believable imaginary world, down to the finest detail. If only 2001 had really been like this...

[blackzoid]

Very much agree with 2001. Possibly the best sci-fi ever created.
Some of my picks

Apocalypse Now an amazing operatic Vietnam film.
Platoon Not sure if its a film that everyone MUST see. Its the best "regular" Vietnam film i think.
Alien The greatest sci-fi horror film.
Casablanca No explanation needed.
Gone with the Wind As above
Once Upon a Time in the West Leone's Western magnum opus
The Hustler Paul Newman, whats not to like?
12 Angry Men A claustrophobic classic.

This post has been edited by blackzoid: 07 July 2009 - 06:03 PM

[D'rek]

Wings

The Broadway Melody

both extremely innovative and did things way before you thought such things were even possible.

[Bent]

Boondock Saints - greatest movie ever

[Aptorian]

Weekend with Bernie

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Mezla PigDog, on Jul 7 2009, 04:44 PM, said:

Not a benchmark in the art of film making but Some Like It Hot is the best comedy ever made, imo. Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis in an all girl band. What's not to love?

It is a good film, but I knew it'd be a woman that suggested it! My gf has made me watch it at least 50 times, but will she watch any film I suggest? Im a bossy sod, but she takes the bloody galetta.


I recommend City of God. Great film, watched it scores of times, amazing script, fantastic acting considering all those kids were just picked up off the street. Fantastic director and whoever the cameramen were, just superb.

[Mezla PigDog]

Of course, if you want a real cinematic education, you might as well start working through Hitchcock's films. Something I keep meaning to do myself.

As for performances, I don't think Ledger as the Joker was anything that amazing. It was good but movies used to rely on performances like that. I think it is subjective but Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke and Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront are pretty special in my book.

[Macros]

Bent wins 1 million interents for beating me to the punch

boondock saints great film
some like it hot still a classic
the 13th warrior my love for this film can not expressed through the medium of the internet
remember the titans/ any given sunday both are great for a long watch, but Titans is just a bit better

ETA: cross post with mezla, for the most part, the current generation of actors are shit compared to the greats.
one film recently that had (imo) a great script and fantastic connection between the actors was in Bruges I'm going to be there in november and eagerly await my first midget actor sighting

This post has been edited by Macros: 07 July 2009 - 07:33 PM