Some of my favorite movies

Great list of movies....

one that I especially liked was - 12'oclock high.


Excellent story line and acting by Gregory Peck

As a libertarian kinda guy, I thought you might have the Russian movie, Vokzal Dlya Dvoikh, on your list. It's an 1982 movie in which the character played by the great actress, Nonna Mordukova (may she rest in peace) gave a great little Adam Smith speech like I haven't heard in any American movie. She didn't go so far as to favor corporate capitalism, but she explained the benefits of private property and free markets. This was while trying to convince one of the characters to get over his distaste for selling at the marketplace. Keep in mind that this was in 1982 -- in pre-Gorbachev Russia.

You can get the film from Netflix, under the name Railway Station for Two. It also features a friendly Siberian gulag, and gives many tips on how to live under the type of corrupt re-regulation that's being advocated by our news media.

The Netflix version is missing part of the Nonna Mordukova segment, though. Mordukova's character plays the black market, and has come into possession of a fascinating new device, an American VCR, which she demonstrates to her friends. I've seen this part on YouTube videos, but without subtitles. My Russian is not good enough for me to follow the conversation very well without their help, but you can get the idea from watching.

The director was Eldar Ryazanov. You might say Vokzal is just another of his sappy love stories, but he usually managed to work some social commentary into his movies. I presume the latter was a factor in making them wildly popular.

Ever seen Big Fish, Russ?

The best pro-socialist movie, The Grapes of Wrath; the best pro-capitalist and pro-American, Dodsworth, in spite of the fact that the author of the novel on which it was based was a socialist.

2001: A Space Odyssey

City Lights


The General


The Thin Red Line


8 1/2


Stalker


Lawrence of Arabia


Psycho


The Searchers


Citizen Kane


The Third Man


Sunset Boulevard


The Crowd


Life is Beautiful


The Bicycle Thieves


Belle et la Bete


The Thing


The Year of Living Dangerously (if you like Truman Show you'll love Weir's earlier Australian works)


Brazil


The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

I better stop now.

Miller's Crossing

Ferris Buehler's Day Off


Cross Roads


Shawshank Redemption

And I've picked up plenty of movies when I was in an escapist mood, and they were great, and totally fulfilled what I needed, and then I forget about them.

To make a really good, accurate list, I'd have to walk through Blockbuster or some place.

My ex-wife and I essentially got diverced over the Mel Gibson movie "Ransom". It was amicable, and coming anyway, but this film was a philosophical cleaver.

It is much more than a action thriller. I successfully lobbied my philosophy professor to add it to her movie essay list, along with "Brokedown Palace"

Burnt by the Sun (Utomlyonnye solntsem, 1994) was a beautiful and powerful film of Stalin's time as well.

And for the adventurous, Calmos, 1976, by director Bertrand Blier, is the most hilarious take on the eternal war between men and women I've ever seen.

Thanks, Russ! I'm going to rent a few of these now.

I second Whit Stillman's "Barcelona."

And, I'll raise you with "Metropolitan" and "The Last Days of Disco".

"The Lives of Others" is great, and so was, "The Inner Circle" (about Stalin's film projectionist) which included this exchange between a newly married couple:

'Who do you love more, me or Comrade Stalin?'

'Comrade Stalin, of course.'

And another film with great insight into the dynamics of the Soviet Union, "White Nights". In which the KGB agent sums up the power relationship he has over the dancer played by Gregory Hines:

"Modern man is so confused, Raymond. Finally, it's better to work in a theatre than in a mine."

All very nice movies, although I haven't watched the much-commented "Love, Actually". I agree with other posters: "The life of others" is a great movie. I recommend it to everyone I know.

Red River is a fantastic moral drama in that Clift and Wayne both have "right" on their side. Man, I laughed out loud at McLintock! McLintock! was a massive box office hit, and I think that character became the working model for every 35-45 year old Dad in the country that year. But what a bore that guy was!

Getting back to Love Actually, I disagree with Flash Gordon, that you merely have to look past the anti-Washington elements of the film. The subplot of the love struck porn stars, for example, may have come across as cute and quaint--thus delivering the all-necessary ingredient for left-wing political comedy: irony--but the movie wants us to swallow the whole porn thing and say 'oh look, why these Brits are so free and loving...even with porn! We should all be like that!'

And then there's the scene where the father wonders what's troubling is 11 yr old son (I think he was 11) and politely asks him if perhaps he's gay. And by politely, I mean the father asks the question with the same indifference to the answer as he might if he were asking about his preference for vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Har-de-har-har. 11. Gay. Man these folks are sophisticated.

And then there's the whole Christmas lobster business and the cutesy jokes that the birth of Christ, is, after all one big joke. Christianity Actually, wouldn't even garner a laugh in the UK anymore as no one really seems to even know what the hell it is, except that it was something intolerant people were before the Brits learned how to love and introduced Sharia law and big brother surveillance.

Actually, Love Actually provides a decent synopsis for the state of England today: anti-American, morally relativistic, and anti-Christian. Truth be told my distaste for the film has entertained me for years.

Also in 2006 (I think) a great Turkish-German film called Head-On, which falls into the category of "hard to watch," but is worth every cringe.

Borat is conspicuous by its absence. ;-)

The Lives of Others was quite incredible, and probably the best film of 2006.

Incidentally, my favorite film of 2007, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, was set in Communist Romania. European cinema is going through a bit of Renaissance as of late.

My bad,

McLintock!

[Filming Locations:

Nogales, Arizona, USA]

Nogales is far from 6000 ft. in the film. Saguaros cannot survive above 4500 ft.

Sorry, should read Montgomery Clift honey!!!!

Red River...John Wayne and It's Montgomery Cliff Baby!!!!!!!

McClintock!

I second Whit Stillman's "Barcelona." One of my favorites.

Night at the Opera: the first VHS tape I went out and actually bought (vs. rented) so I could watch it over and over. Great comic writing and silliness, perfect escapism for the times of the Depression, but still wonderful today.

It's a tragedy more people haven't seen Twelve Chairs. Very entertaining, and it's mel brooks :)

Front Page with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon is pretty good (I just saw it again recently).

Hey, LOVE ACTUALLY is a beautiful story if taken at face value. I agree that I could live without the Prime Minister (played adequately by Hugh Grant) taking offence at the too slick US president (played by Billy Bob Thornton???). Other than that particular story-line, the movie is sweet and endearing and has become a holiday tradition in our house.

The Lives of Others is profound. I wish a lot of people would see it. The advantage of buying the DVD is to have the interview with the director.

Second what Michael said. What can you have been thinking? That movie was a bunch of worhtless Euro-schlock. Talk about taking artistic liberties to make a cheap political point you can't be bothered to argue.

However - one good thing that came out of this post is that I am reminded I need to see "High Noon" at some point.

Second what Michael said. What can you have been thinking? That movie was a bunch of worhtless Euro-schlock. Talk about taking artistic liberties to make a cheap political point you can't be bothered to argue.

However - one good thing that came out of this post is that I am reminded I need to see "High Noon" at some point.

Sleeper by Woody Allen (when he made funny movies). When Miles is reawakened in the future after being unfrozen he says: YOU KNOW, I BOUGHT POLAROID AT SEVEN. IT'S PROBABLY UP MILLIONS BY NOW.

Love Actually?! Goodness gracious, the movie made me feel proud not to be English. Too much of a socialistic love-in for you, Mr. Roberts. Might I recommend a proper Euro romantic comedy by the great Whit Stillman: Barcelona.