Best MOVIE you've ever seen

[goku]

My all time Number 1:

The Boondock Saints

An incredible film combined with action, comedy and drama. Few have seen this film, however, because it was blacklisted off U.S. Movie Screens.. (It's about killing evil and sinister people, and it was released right after the Columbine incident).

2nd Favorite:

Die Hard
A classic.. Need I say more?

3rd Favorite:
SNATCH
One of the funniest and coolest films of all time..

4th Favorite:
Silence of the Lambs
The best psychological thriller out there..

The list goes on...

[Uhaku]

All favorites. no order.

The Godfather I
Casablanca
The English Patient
Terminator 2
Moulin Rouge!

and many more...couldn't think right now...

[EeZeReal]

SNATCH
One of the funniest and coolest films of all time..

OH GOD!!..How could I forget that..

Definitely the best British film ive ever seen...If not the best international film..

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Alright two more that I think deserves some mentioning.

-The Sweet Hereafter; most probably the best Canadian film ever.
-Blade Runner

[luxxi]

To add...

Usual Suspects
Reservoir Dogs
4 Rooms
True Romance
Something About Mary
Kingpin
Matrix

[oasischuan]

Originally posted by PowerPuff Grrl
[b]oasischuan, it is funny you say this because the movie won Best Foriegn Film at the Oscars a while back. But I wouldn't count on the Oscars on anything, they tend to overlook the deserving and reward the marketable.

Anyhoo, I liked it. Or at least I remember liking it, it has been quite a while since I've seen this. If it sucks, well then I hope you don't have a tainted impression of my tastes in movies... because I swear I have good taste, I swear damnit!!!

Lol! It's just soooo funny you say that because the winner of Best Foreign Language Film that year was an Italian film called Mediterraneo (1991)! (1990's winner was Journey of Hope from Switzerland, 1992's winner was French film Indochina, 1993's winner was Spainish film Belle Epoque)

Also, if you don't really care about the Oscar, you wouldn't be even mentioning it.

Zhang Yimou's Da hong deng long gao gao gua (the official name of Raise the red lattern and the name appears on imdb.com) might be marketable in the way to prove westerners' usual perceptions of Chinese people's lives. But trust me-- a Chinese who has a British deree in film & media studies-- his other films are much more better! It's sad that you only know this one! No need to swear on your taste though, I'm aware that not many people know about Chinese cinema anyway.

[PowerPuff Grrl]

OT

oasischan, I am very well aware that China has lots of
excellent films to offer the world, but unfortunately they (as well every other country excluding the US, and maybe even the UK) don't get enough distribution to present their films.

But mind you, I don't get my impressions of Chinese culture from the movies. In fact, I don't get any impression of any culture from any movie.

I just mentioned the movie Raise the Red Lattern because I liked the movie as it was; a movie. It didn't make me open my eyes to anything.
No wait, that's a lie, it did make me open my eyes to Li Gong. Yeah, she's hot.

And sorry to have made you waste your time looking up Raise the Red Lattern's accolades. But you are right it didn't win Best Foriegn Picture, I think it was nominated, my mistake. Nonetheless, nominations are recognized as an achievement which is why I thought it was funny that despite the fact it was recognized by the Oscars, it is considered one of the worst films made by Yimou Zhang.

And it's not that I don't care about the Oscars (I do, I freaking love the Oscars), it is just I don't believe it should be the leading authority when it comes to awarding deserving movies. However people still regard it as such.

/OT

PS: Is this why you don't like the movie, or why it isn't held up in such high regard in China... because it distorts the Chinese culture?
If it does, I must say that the Chinese are not the only people who have fallen victim of this. Believe it or not, even Americans don't know how to convey their own cultures.
Dude, join the club!!!

[oasischuan]

What club? I'm not taking it seriously as you can tell from the usual funny face.

I don't intend to comment on other people's choices here cos this is not a cinema academicians' forum. Every fan has his/her own favourites. But if it comes to the case of Chinese cinema, I'm just kinda curious about why you love this film. Is it because of the impressive story? The deep concept behind it? The beautiful mise en scene? The fresh way of presenting a different culture? The fantastic cinematography? The music? A particular character or actor (because of Gong Li?)? So far I still got no answer.

I don't know how many Chinese films you have seen and how much you know about the history and current scene of the Chinese film industry. But I don't believe you don't get any impression of the Chinese culture from Chinese films. Maybe you feel this way but no argument, it's just impossible to me.

Zhang Yimou is a talented and respectable Chinese director. He does receives lots of critisms by only showing the dark side of China (in his early films) to the West. But it's not my case. I'm an open-minded intellectual who doesn't take political factor into account. I dislike Da hong deng long gao gao gua because:

1 I've seen all of his films. If you've seen The Red Sorghum or The Story of Qiuju, you'd know this one ain't one of the better ones. The Story of Qiuju shows the backwater and underdeveloped parts of Chinese society as well. (and it's more contemporary!) But it's a masterpiece. I always suggest others to see it.

2 I've read novels by Su Tong, the author of the original book of the film. I have to say that the screen version is a clumsy adaptation. Also, the way it depicts the Chen's family is too extreme, not even natural to Chinese people.

3 The mise en scene doesn't look authentic. No need to go to details if you don't know too much about Chinese culture.

4 The music is just ridiculous. Same above.

5 The acting of Gong Li is average here. Actually I don't think she's the best choice for Song Lian. But as Gong Li was Zhang Yimou's girlfriend at the time, there's no way that we can see another leading actree in his films.

About the Oscars, you need to be clear about the fact that the Academy Award is only a national film award, not even an international award like the Cannes. If any film won the Best foreign language film award, it can only prove it had been accepted by the American mainstream film industry. Nothing else.

btw, Zhang Yimou's latest film Hero was nominated in the Best foreign language film category at this year's Oscar. It's his first martial arts film and the biggest selling Chinese of all times. It lost to Nowhere in Africa. Generally speaking, Hero is considered as a pure commercial blockbuster, very different from his early art house ones and recent more realistic city-life dramas or comedies. Although I don't like Hero that much, it's worthy seeing for its mise en scene and beautifully designed martial arts.

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Again OT:

I don't intend to comment on other people's choices here cos this is not a cinema academicians' forum.

But that is exactly what you are doing here.

But if it comes to the case of Chinese cinema, I'm just kinda curious about why you love this film.

Hey, that's alright! There's no harm in asking.
But next time you try to ask, try not to present your question this way:

What make you like this one? (I understand you might have a different view if you live in the West) It's one of the worst Zhang Yimou films (third worst I would say) and it's 200% worse than the original novel.

... because hoenstly, I kinda took as an insult.
Just kinda.
Again if you give me possible answers then later refute them with reasons as to why the movie is crap, it doesn't really set me up nicely now does it?

But you really must know why I like this film then I'll give you your long awaited answer (you may not be satisfied with this one though).
I watched Raise the Red Lattern when I was eleven years old... I think. My sister rented the video along with Wings of Desire being that both of them were foriegn art house flicks, it really wasn't so appealing to my eyes. Anyhoo, I decided to watch both movies because there was nothing better to do. I actually ended up watching both entirely... with interest! This surprised the hell out of sister, she was really impressed. Those two movies really made me take an interest in films outside North America.
With repeated viewing, I learned to appreciate Wings of Desire as more than just a different kind of movie. Unfortunately for Raise the Red Lattern I didn't get to watch it again, all I rember is just really liking the film.

Thank you for mentioning other Zhang Yimou movies. I try to check them out next time I rent some vids.


One last thing:

About the Oscars, you need to be clear about the fact that the Academy Award is only a national film award, not even an international award like the Cannes. If any film won the Best foreign language film award, it can only prove it had been accepted by the American mainstream film industry. Nothing else.

Oh, but you're missing one very important factor. You see, the country must submit a movie as an official selection in order for the movie to become a nominee. So China submitted Hero as it's official selection and Germany submitted Nowhere in Africa as their official selection. And as you know the latter movie won, I can tell you that Nowhere in Africa was not a commercial success in the States.
You know what was though, The Monsoon Wedding. Since it wasn't submitted to the Oscars by India, it wasn't even nominated despite it being a very good movie and a commercial success.
Same thing last year, Amelie was a commercial success and widely accepted by the idustry and yet it didn't win for Best Foriegn Picture.
So no oasischuan, having a film win Best Foriegn Movie at the Oscars does not mean it has been approved by the American Film industry.

The fact that it is a national award ceremony doesn't change what I meant. I'm sorry, but awarding Julia Roberts, Cuba Gooding Jr., Gladiator, and many, many more undeserving people and films just strips the Oscars of its relevancy. And that is just one reason.
But that is just my humble opinion.

The Cannes Film Festival is turning into the Oscars; more style than substance. If you really want a festival that features films from around the world, I suggest you check out the Toronto Film Festival.

/OT

Just remembered! I want to add The Monsoon Wedding to my favourites.

[Ghalib]

Monsoon Wedding ... excellent..

But favourite ...

Citizen Kane .. what a film for its time !!!!

[oasischuan]

Let's stop it here. There's no point of this argument, everbody has his/her own opinion (thanx Lena!). If I made you feel being insulted in the past, I apologise. Please don't take it personally & seriously. At the end of the day, we come to this discussion board for fun.

Have a nice day!

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Never mind all that. It's all good now.
But you haven't mentioned any of your favourite movies.
Knowing that you have a British degree in Film and Media Studies, I'd really like to know.

An addition:
-Do the Right Thing

[lolitagirl]

fucking amal, lolita,girl,romeo and juliet (1965 version) signs, the 6th sense, y tu mama tambien

[luxxi]

Originally posted by PowerPuff Grrl
An addition:
-Do the Right Thing

Do you mean that Spike Lee movie about that pizza place? With Danny Aiello?

[lady_she]

...the best film is G.I.A with angelina jolie....
i've seen it more than 10 times but can't live without it....

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Originally posted by luxxi
Do you mean that Spike Lee movie about that pizza place? With Danny Aiello?

Yeah.

[karxwp]

mmm I have to think...

Afterlife of Hirukazu Kore-eda, it's a great movie about what memory will you chose for the eternity after you die...it's a 3 cent movie but the meaning is very deep...

Gladiator I love ancient civilizations, I love Greek and Roman culture...so I love this movie! (and I like Rosell Crowe a lot)

I have tons of favorite movies, but those are my top of the top

[deathrider]

BRAVE HEART

[vic3k]

all i was looking in the replies is how many ppl would mention Fucking Amal (show me love). i guess you get the point

no there are more (not alot) favorites of the past but the current one that moved me is FUCKING AMAL.

moves to me are a periodic time. ofcourse i would never mind watching again the past favorites but they are past and for that i dont consider them favorites but only the ricent one.
most of the movies i like are emotions, movies about ppl and for ppl, rights and wrongs, issues...
being a 3D aritst (graphics stuff), its ironic that movies like starwars and matrix and alike have shifted for me to the recycling bin.

well some past favorites include:
american beauty
vanila sky
girl interrrupted
and many more of the like that i can't think of right now coz i'm sleepy

[oasischuan]

I prefer:

Броненосец Потёмкин or Bronenosets Potyomkin aka The Battleship Potemkin, Grigori Aleksandrov & Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925

All Bout De Souffle aka Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard, 1960

L' Annee Derniere A Marienbad aka Last year at Marienbad, Alain Resnais, 1961

Blow Up Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966

Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie aka The discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Luis Buсuel, 1972

After Hours Martin Scorsese, 1985

Ba Wang Bie Ji aka Farewell My Concubine, Kaige Chen, 1993

Trainspotting, Danny Boyle, 1996

Being John Malkovich, Spike Jonze, 1999

Hua Yan aka Dazzling, Xin Li, 2001