What are your five favorite films of any genre or country?

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**Cinema Paradiso

Das Boot

Diabolique

Pelle the Conqueror

Babette’s Feast**
 
**My next five are 😉

The Bicycle Thief

Life is Beautiful

El Postino

Nobody Knows

La Dolce Vita

I have many more, but will force myself to stop here! :D**
 
Really hard to do.

Doctor Zhivago (Omar Sharif version)
Lawrence of Arabia
The Passion of the Christ
The Enchanted April
The Philadelphia Story
 
BackHand said:
Drive, is as of now , my all time favorite movie. Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, Cross Of Iron, The Thing, Lord Of the Rings, Star Wars (the old ones) and Mulan are some of my favorite movies.
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The Passion of the Christ
Gone With the Wind
Journey for Margaret
The Searchers
Jane Eyre.

I have many more!!
 
Jean de Florette (a French film from the 1980’s)
Manon des Sources (sequel to the above)
Lawrence of Arabia
A Man for All Seasons
Doctor Zhivago
Ghandi

I know that makes six, but couldn’t resist adding ‘Ghandi’.

Many more favourites too.
 
meltzerboy said:
So far, I don’t see any comedies on anyone’s list. My own list contains one comedy, that is, After Hours, but it is really a black comedy.
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What about Monty Python’s Meaning of Life and Life of Brian? Those would get some honorable mentions from me.

Since I already named my top five, can I name some more runners-up? 😃

Il Messia (Roberto Rossellini, 1975): Yeah, another Jesus film. Low-key, like Pasolini’s film is, but I think all the more better because of it.

The Greatest Story Ever Told: (1965) Yet another Jesus film. Sort of bombed in the box office at the time (people were growing tired of epics by the mid-1960s), and suffers from ‘let’s get as many Hollywood stars as possible to star here’-itis (Charlton Heston’s John the Baptist … I won’t even go there) and some degree of overblownness, but this films holds a special place in my heart.

Seeta Kalyanam / Sita Swayamvar (‘The Marriage of Sita’): This is a film directed by Telugu director and artist Bapu in 1976, one of the countless films that were based on the religious epic Ramayana - or to be more accurate, the Rama story of which the Ramayana is one permutation. I think I mentioned in some other places that I like watching religious films (Christian and non-Christian), kind of related to my interest in religions and history in general. A Western viewer might be put off by the film, and I’m not talking about the plot: the film jumps all over the place (in keeping with traditional Indian storytelling) and there’s kitschy costumes and cheap special effects (another Indian ‘mythological’ staple). In other words, it’s a sort of conventional ‘mythological’. But there’s a sort of charm in it: given that the director was also famous as an illustrator, there’s a sort of charm in the film. As one IMDB reviewer noted, it’s pretty much ‘poetry in motion’.

Jesus Christ Superstar: (1973) Yeah, very controversial decision here. :cool: It’s a dated film, and the opera itself has its fair share of corny lyrics and bad theology. But you gotta admit Ted Neeley (Jesus) has the voice.

Dragon Gate Inn: King Hu’s 1967 film. Did I mention I’m also a fan of Hong Kong / Taiwanese movies - wuxia and kung fu films in particular?

Ben-Hur (1925): Not the 1959 version with Charlton Heston. (William Wyler, the director of the 1959 version, was actually one of the assistant directors.)

Manos: The Hands of Fate: The phrase ‘so bad, it’s good’ aptly describes this, erm, film. There, I just named a third comedy film! 😛

Henry V (1989): Kenneth Branagh FTW.

Ivan the Terrible (1944): This is Sergei Eisenstein we’re talking about - in my book, that’s a guarantee for good, or at least entertaining in a way. The coronation scene in the beginning is just…wow. Considering that this was a Soviet propaganda film, it’s really remarkable how these overt depictions of religion ended up in the final film.

La ricotta (Pier Paolo Pasolini): The short film that got Pasolini convicted under the charge of blasphemy. The film is in reality anything but blasphemous: it doesn’t target Jesus Himself, only people making a film about Him. In other words, it’s a social critique in the form of a lampoon of the making of a Jesus film. (You might that it’s even a form of self-lampooning, since Pasolini was at the time planning his Matthew film; the director - played by Orson Welles - even acts like Pasolini.)

Yeah, I cheated, sorry.
 
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Black Stallion
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Rear Window
 
tuscany said:
**Cinema Paradiso

Das Boot

Diabolique

Pelle the Conqueror

Babette’s Feast**
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Sierra foothills, No. California.

Yeah. Kind of look like Tuscany, doesn’t it??

Liked Babette’s Feast, but this is not my genre of thread.

Just here to tell everyone to please watch -

CLOUD ATLAS

Don’t get up to get something to drink or any other reason.

God bless you all
 
Various subject movies: The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2, The Bridge over the River Kwai, The Sound of Music, Elephant Walk, Casablanca. More than 5: ALL of John Wayne’s movies, Barbra Streisand, Gregory Peck, Betty Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Most all movies 1960 and prior.
 
acadiANNA said:
Various subject movies: The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2, The Bridge over the River Kwai, The Sound of Music, Elephant Walk, Casablanca. More than 5: ALL of John Wayne’s movies, Barbra Streisand, Gregory Peck, Betty Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Most all movies 1960 and prior.
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I generally agree with you about the value of the older films.
 
DaddyGirl said:
Some Like it Hot
His Girl Friday
Moonstruck (seems to be a crowd-pleaser!)
It’s a Wonderful Life
Sophie’s Choice

Man, MB. It’s hard to pick only five. You’ve been asking a lot of movie questions lately…are ya writing a book on films???

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No, I’m not writing a book; I just enjoy good films. But you gave me an idea. Thanks! I agree with you about It’s a Wonderful Life, which must be the all-time great “feel good” movie.
 
DaddyGirl said:
GREAT film…and I can’t bear to watch it!
I get too nervous for Griffin Dunne! I worry too much for him!

See my list posted above this…I have two comedies on it.

I want to add a Number Six to my list, as a bonus film!! And it’s a black comedy:

Withnail and I.

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To this day, whenever I hear the jingle of the Mister Softee ice-cream truck in my neighborhood, I immediately associate it with the film After Hours. Have you ever seen House of Games, starring Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse? Another great and disturbing film.
 
Confiteor_Deo said:
Driving Miss Daisy is my favorite comedy. I forgot to add it to my list. :doh2:
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I think Driving Miss Daisy is more of a comedy-drama than a purely comedic film. But it has some great acting whichever genre it is.

Personally, my favorite sheer comedy is The Out-of-Towners (the original 1970 film), starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis.
 
meltzerboy said:
Yes, Beckett: Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole play off each other magnificently.
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The two greatest over-actors who ever lived, IMHO.

Two of my favorites:

Big Deal on Madonna Street

Paradise Lagoon, AKA, The Admirable Crichton
 
meltzerboy said:
I recall you mentioned this before, and I must again respectfully disagree. Or, if these two actors are larger-than-life on screen, then I’m all for overacting!
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I thought we had gone through this subject before.
 
Viki63 said:
A Man for All Seasons.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (a TV miniseries)
Galaxy Quest
Witness
(have to add Serenity)

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Witness, starring Harrison Ford and Lukas Haas, is a great one. It was directed by the very talented Peter Weir, who also directed Dead Poets Society and several other wonderful films.
 
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