We all have those few flicks that we can see over and over. Whether it's because we find new things each time or just because we have fun watching them, some movies just stick around.
I've got a few: Blade Runner - I prefer the Director's Cut that removes the voiceover. But I'll watch the voiceover version just for old time's sake, too. 12 Monkeys - Brad Pitt's best role ever! Love this. And Gilliam. And the story. And... everything. Ocean's 11 - (The Pitt and Clooney version) I don't know what it is about this movie... I just think it is perfect. I've done film-school analyses of every shot, every line of dialog, and every error in the film. I probably know this movie better than any other movie. It's inexplicable and weird, but I love it. Waking Ned Devine - Totally enchanting little Irish story, shot on the Isle of Man. And I have an enormous crush on Finnoula Flanagan. Mad Max - In the so-bad-its-good category. I just love that a bunch of weirdo Aussies poured their heart into this complete disaster of a script, and came up with something... iconic. The Road Warrior - Mad Max done right, and with a budget. I expect Fury Road to replace this one in my shortlist soon. Fury Road gets all of The Road Warrior right, and then goes even further. Serenity - Duh. Of course. Galaxy Quest - The finest, most loving, takedown of geek culture there is. Utter perfection, start to finish. That's my shortlist of "Dangerous" movies, by which I mean, movies that, if I turn them on, I know I'm not going to do anything else for the next hour and a half.
12 Monkeys is, I believe, the only Terry Gilliam movie that I genuinely like. I remember liking both Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but it's been forever since I've seen either one. I also haven't seen a bunch of his stuff, of course. But both Brazil and The Zero Theorem kind of annoyed me.
Basically. It felt really ham-fisted as far as satire goes, and didn't really say anything interesting to me.
Robocop. Stop sniggering, I'm not proud. There's no way of knowing how many times I've seen it. Could be 50, could be 100. Maybe more. I used to share a place with a bunch of friends in a slum... project housing left to its own decay. Despite being on the top floor, somehow ours was the communal meeting ground. We subjected visitors, all and sundry to Robocop, often just left it playing in the background while we got on with other tasks. Some sort of mundane ritual for new people who had never been before or a signature dish for repeat offenders who would visit regularly. I can quote more parts of Robocop than I can remember anything I've ever said or written. And so many quotable moments. Something about the original that none of the sequels, shows or reboots even come close to touching. Now I'm going to find a copy and watch it this weekend.
It is Verheuven's best work, bar none. We had halfway built a fully-articulated ED209 before we gave up. One of my first "Hollywood" experiences was seeing Paul McCrane across the parking lot back in the '90s. My buddy - the guy with the ED209 - looked at me and said "We killed you! We killed you!" And then looked at me and asked "What do you think he'd do if we walked up to him and said that?" I told him he'd probably pepperspray us and then call 911, and rightly so.
I actually just re-watched this a couple of days ago, and I continue to love it. As I've gotten older, the satirical aspects have become more and more on point.
For me: Se7en The atmosphere, the story, the performance, and hoo boy, the ending. Apocalypse Now Maybe it's because I don't watch it quite as often as some others, but this one somehow manages to maintain its emotional resonance better than just about any other. You feel the jungle better than in any other Vietnam movie, and damn but Brando can do crazy like no one else. Heat Definitely the best crime/cop movie I've ever seen. The diner scene, where you've got pre-decline DeNIro and Pacino looking across a table at each other. The shootout in the streets. Everything, really. Pi Math + mysticism, with a soundtrack by Clint Mansell. The Crow As a goth in my 30s, this one will always have a special place in my heart. We watch it every October 30. Chronicles of Riddick This is my wife's and my traditional Valentine's Day movie. Oldboy (The original, not the remake). Probably one of if not my favorite movie of all time. The Blues Brothers Used to watch this as a kid, liked it for the car chases. Now, I like it for the music. Definitely my favorite musical!
The Original Star Wars Trilogy or the Back to the Future Trilogy
HOUSE This is just a wonderful, deeply weird, insanely edited Japanese "horror" movie made by an ad-man in 1977. I've seen it 10 times now, and always forget small bits of it on rewatching. It got put out by Criterion a few years ago, and it's well worth the watch. Should be on Hulu (plus).
Mr. Nobody a work of art. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, you just gotta see it! then watch it again. It was on Netflix last time I checked (which was a while back) Monty Python and the Holy Grail This never stops being funny. I'm not sure what it is, but it gets me everytime. Shawshank Redemption/Les Intouchables/Up Beautiful stories of beautiful friendships. I also would like to second and third the Back to the Future movies and Galaxy Quest.
There are probably a few, but the ones that come to mind immediately are the two latest Captain America films. I once wanted to rewatch a moment from Winter Soldier... got lost in the film for two hours. Gotta be careful with that now. What makes those films is the main character. There are only a handful of characters that I enjoy watching on their own. Walter White is a great character, but I wouldn't want to be like him. Harry Potter is cool, but I can't relate to him. Steve Rogers, though? I worship him. He's humble yet strong of spirit and confident. Put him into a god damn kitchen comedy: I'd watch it till the film thins out. The only people like that I've encountered so far in video media are Intelligence's Gabriel Vaughn (played by Josh Holloway) and Deutschland 83's Martin Rauch / Morris Stamm (played by Jonay Nay).
- Less than Zero. It's not a good movie. It's a trainwreck, actually. But between the score and the art direction and the colossally '80s ness of it all it ends up as a personal icon of mine. - Back to the Future 1, 2 and sometimes 3. The original BttF is perhaps one of the most intricately masterful exercises in screenwriting I've ever witnessed. - Kevin Reynolds' The Beast. You've never seen it, and you'll have a hard time changing that. - The African Queen. Bogart. Hepburn. Huston. "Tohr...pee does." - The Naked Prey of, for and by Cornell Wilde. - Head. The Monkees you never knew. Directed by Jack Nicholson. - Gary Cooper in Sergeant York. - Alien. - 2001. - Forbidden Planet. - Bad Influence with Rob Lowe & James Spader. - Nausicaa. - Renaissance. Best noir since Blade Runner. No, not Brick. Fuck Brick. Edited to add tremors which is far and away the best B-movie ever made, possibly the best B-movie that ever can be made.
Interesting list. Not what I expected. But I love that you have the African Queen and Head on the list! I almost put Robin and Marian, just for the best sword-fighting scene in all Christendom, but ... I didn't.
The biggest failing I had as a screenwriter was that I would, per advice, write the stories that interested me. The scripts I ended up optioning were the throwaway bullshit ones I did for other people on ideas I didn't particularly find interesting. I should have put The Lion in Winter, just for the best verbal sword-fighting scenes in all Christendom, but... I forgot.