19 Feb 2008
0 CommentsMovies That Deserve To Be Seen
Note: This is an unfinished list of movies I think should be seen, at least once. It’s from 2008 and I’ll probably never finish it. There are just too many to list, and I’m much, much too lazy. But, I leave it here for completeness sake. Enjoy
You need to see these movies! If you haven’t seen at least 50% of the movies on this list then you are an uncultured savage!
Some of these movies are just guilty pleasures of mine (e.g., Bill and Ted), and some are movies that move my mind in ways I can’t quite describe (e.g., Children of Men).
All these movies deserve to be seen at least once…just because. I mean, there are so many movies now that one person cannot see them all in a lifetime. So, here is a list you can use to find something entertaining on a whim.
Here is the list in no particular order:
Movies You Need to See At Least Once
I started, but didn’t finish, putting these into categories. The rest of the list will start after the categories
Fantasy Movies
- Mirrormask – A pure piece of fantasy – Neil Gaiman
- Pan’s Labyrinth – Dark fantasy – Alice in a not so wonderful land
- The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring – If you read it you should see it!
- The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers – If you read it you should see it!
- The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King – If you read it you should see it!
Anime and Animation Movies | Computer Animation
- Beauty and the Beast – Truly a Broadway musical, yet animated
- Ninja Scroll – Some classic anime – very, very good stuff
- The Incredibles – Pixar doing what it does! And yes, this is a movie for the WHOLE family to enjoy.
- Blood – The Last Vampire
- Ghost in the Shell
- Mezzo Forte
- Kite
- Princess Mononoke
- South Park – Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Science Fiction Movies | Science Fantasy Movies | Science Fiction Comedy
- The Fifth Element – Watch for the Diva
- Gattaca – Very good science fiction – Near future
- Children of Men – Probably an accurate assessment of how we’d behave in such a situation – Near future
- Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
- Serenity
Horror | Horror Comedy
- Jeepers Creepers – Unorthodox horror
- Jeepers Creepers 2 – More from the Creeper
- Shaun of the Dead – A must see for all fans of zombie movies
- 28 Days Later – The zombie movie redefined
- The Evil Dead
- Evil Dead II
Comedy | Stand Up Comedy
- Eddie Murphy Raw – A little dated but still hilarious
- Eddie Murphy – Delirious – Even more dated – Watch before watching Raw
- Chris Rock – Bigger and Blacker
- Chris Rock – Never Scared
- Half Baked
Unsorted List
- The Man in the Iron Mask – The later tale of the Three Musketeers
- Blown Away – A guilty pleasure of my youth – The Two Coreys
- Pulp Fiction – More quotable lines than a bible with the words of Jesus in red
- Memento – Short term memory and reverse ordered scenes…but in a good way
- The Prestige – Magic!
- Street Thief – It almost seems like a real, live documentary of a thief
- Faster Pussycat Kill!..kill! – If you want to see where Tarantino gets it from
- Batman Begins – The guy that gave us Memento gave us this. Nolan
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? – A retelling of the Odyssey – Man of Constant Sorrows
- Little Shop of Horrors – Music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman before Disney
- Malcolm X – Based on Alex Haley’s novel (as told by Malcolm) – Denzel at 100%
- American History X – All things being equal in American race relations
- Clerks – Dante: My girlfriend’s sucked 37 dicks! Customer: In a row?
- Clerks II – More pop culture from Kevin Smith
- Mallrats – Yup more Kevin Smith goodness…the guy just does good work *shrugs*
- Kill Bill, Volume 1 – Tarantino doing what he does best, entertaining us! A mashup of over the top action and kung fu tropes.
- Kill Bill, Volume 2 – Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey. A continuation to Volume 1 – both should be taken as one long movie.
- Hustle & Flow – It’s hard out here for a pimp!!! Three 6 Mafia got an Oscar for Christ’s sake!!!!! …Three 6 Mafia…An Oscar…
- Wild Things – Neve Campbell and Denise Richards…kissing…also, a very good mystery movie too.
- Unbreakable
- Mystic River
- Reservoir Dogs
- The Matrix
- El Mariachi
- Desperado
- From Dusk Till Dawn
- Swordfish
- Thirteen
- King of the Ants
- Coming to America
- Casino
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Kids
- American Beauty
- 12 Monkeys
- Knocked Up
- Superbad
- The Godfather
- The Godfather, Part II
- 7 Grand Masters
- Chasing Amy
- Big Fish
- The Butterfly Effect
- Final Destination
- Man on Fire
- Ong-Bak – The Thai Warrior
- Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
- Saw
- Saw II
- King of New York
- Chicago
- The Transporter
- The Blues Brothers
- Crash
Some Obvious Things Are Missing
This list is incredibly subjective and tuned to my personal tastes. Some things the majority considers as classic or must-see, I might not care for or think you should check out. For example, some people may have noticed I didn’t include Scarface or any of the Star Wars.
Remember, this list isn’t done yet. And probably never will be. If you have some suggestions, let me know!
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18 Apr 2010
3 CommentsJames Cameron and Avatar
Now that all the hype has died down…relatively speaking, I guess it would be okay for me to say a few words about Avatar (no, not the Last Airbender:)).
James Cameron proved, once again, that he could make and hype a movie towards box office gold. If for some reason you do not know who James Cameron is, well, then you’ve been living in a hole for the last two decades. Alternatively, if you have been watching any movies at all over the last two decades, then you have probably seen a James Cameron film. The man has written and directed a plethora of hits. Some of them are favorites of mines. Some of them are favorites of yours as well. Terminator 1 and 2, True Lies, Aliens and of course, Titanic, just to name a few. Not bad for a foul tempered Canadian eh?
I found Avatar to be lite fare. Other than the technology used to create it, it didn’t break any new ground as far as storytelling is concerned. You have heard this tale before, maybe you read the book or seen the movie (dances with wolves?), but it’s an old story. That’s not to say that it isn’t told well. Most stories are rehashes of old ones…well, technically, ALL stories are rehashes of old ones.
This is the story of what happens when Corporate Greed and Manifest Destiny arrive on the shores of a foreign land. They find the natives are sitting on top of the mother load of something that they want. We have plenty of real world examples of what that means. This is also the story of a crippled white soldier “going native”…yea, you’ve seen the “going native” story before as well.
Other than that, I don’t need to get into too many story details. Either you’ve seen it already or plan to get the DVD/Blu-ray. One of the points I am making here is, if you never see it, rest assured that you are not missing anything as far as stories go. You already know this one.
However, outside of the story, Avatar shines as imaginative eye candy. Cameron waited until the technology was just right to create the CG characters and gorgeous, gorgeous backdrops. The world of the Na’vi is rich, verdant, and beautiful. I’m not sure how all this will translate to the small screen, but on the big screen it’s awe inspiring.
Now when the visuals and story are put together, ahhhhh, now you got something. I know I may have sounded a bit disparaging about the plots lack of originality, but despite this, the visuals are what bring it to life. The visuals are what make you want to sit through that story. To see it acted out in meticulously crafted detail.
Of course, true to form, Cameron managed to fit a love story into Avatar as well. It serves to move the plot forward despite it being between a disabled former marine and a nine-foot tall blue alien. All in all, I think of Avatar like a fine Disney cartoon movie (with swearing and no one breaking out into song), and that’s not a negative remark in any sense of the word. It operates on the same level as some of Disney’s finest animated films. Action, adventure, humor, a love story, a moral lesson or two and maybe even something to think about.
You can probably even still find it in theaters…they are certainly milking it for all it’s worth. And I think, it’s worth quite a bit. See it, if you haven’t already.
Read the Avatar Screenplay / Script
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Avatar.html
https://silenciobarnes.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/JamesCameronAVATAR-1.pdf
https://silenciobarnes.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/JamesCameronAVATAR.pdf
The subject of this post was suggested to me. See this post for more details.
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