Ask Lemmy

Contagion.

Baraka

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - The quintessential 80s movie. Everything you need to know about the 80s is contained in this film.

Also Mr. Krabs is in it.

One I've not seen mentioned yet: Wag the Dog (1997)

Idiocracy

• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) <- The best film version of "A Christmas Carol". I will die on this hill.
• Blazing Saddles (1974)
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

I find it inconceivable that no one has mentioned 'The Princess Bride' yet.

These are not feel good movies at all but I think really send important messages. Not for kids, but at 16+ would be good. There's very important takeaway messages in both.

Grave of the Fireflies

Requiem for a Dream

Dredd (2012)

Lucky Number Slevin

Man On Fire

Syriana

Equilibrium

And for some solid Australian cinema: Mystery Road

Spirited Away. In my opinion the most Miyazaki movie. It's also just amazing. I've probably seen it a dozen times now.

Schindlers List: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/

The Shawshank Redemption

I would like to add 2 absolute masterpieces of German cinematic creations.

First: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo(W children from station zoo)

Devinetively not ab easy or joyfully film. So far I only watched the original version which isn't great in terms of story telling but it displays the reality of drug abuse(in this case heroin) in a very good way. This film is devinetively capable of ruining your day.

Werner - Beinhart( Werner and the wizard of booze)

A quite old(1990) animated film. It is funny as hell but you can clearly see, that it was made in a different time/society. However, its still funny as hell(at least in my opinion).

Office Space

• Pride (2014)
• if we're doing TV, which I don't think we are, then The Prisoner

The Fifth Element.

I get that most people are just listing their favourite movies, and that’s fair, but I feel like a lot of them are already well watched.

My suggestion is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Everything about it is a stunning piece of cinema that got massively overlooked at the time, and I don’t really know why. It stars Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, has a score by Nick Cave (who has a cameo) and Warren Ellis, and has cinematography by the mighty Roger Deakins.

On the cinematography; you could pause it at almost any point, take a screengrab, and print it out for display. It’s a stunningly well shot movie.

Nothing about the movie is fast. Everything takes place as it needs to, in its own time, all creeping glacially towards what you know is going to happen.

I adore this movie. I showed it to my kid a couple of years ago, fearful that he would hate it. Turned out he loved it as much as I do. It’s the best western I’ve ever seen, but to call it a western does it a disservice.

I always say everyone should see requiem for a dream, but no one should watch it. That film does more for stopping drug abuse than any government program ever did.

They Live. I stumbled across it on TV while exhausted at 2 am one night and it had me locked in the whole time.

• The Fountain
• Schindler's List
• Idiocracy
• This is SpinalTap
• Saving Private Ryan
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Probably missing some, but these are the ones I can remember right now. I think Schindler's List should be required viewing by everyone before they graduate high school. I remember when they used to air it on regular TV, unedited and uncensored, commercial free. I feel we were nicer and more willing to avoid wars back then.

I ain't ashamed to say it, I cry every damn time I watch it.

"12 Angry Men" (1957) is a personal favorite that I recommend to pretty much everyone. Great messages about questioning assumptions, challenging biases, understanding the limitations of evidence, acknowledging imperfections in the justice system, and the consequences thereof.

The movie is also cinematically interesting to me because it feels "small". The entire movie just about takes place in one room, and the events of the film transpire over the course of one afternoon.

Trying to come up with a few that aren't on the list:

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) - Just a beautifully touching film, with a unique style and a great cameo of Peter Falk as himself. Much better than the English Language remake (City of Angels)

Come and See (Idi i smotri) - Hard to watch, but an incredible portrayal of the horrors of war. Not a feel-good film at all. But an amazing feat of filmmaking.

My Dinner With Andre - It's ironic that the movie that Roger Ebert referred to as "entirely devoid of clichés" has become a cliché. I'm not sure how well it's aged for modern audiences, but I first saw it in the 80's, have seen it at least a dozen times since, and it still really gets to me. I empathize heavily with both characters in the way that they search for meaning in life, and I could listen to Andre Gregory tell stories all day.

Stop Making Sense - A stellar concert documentary. The first time I saw it was a midnight screening where the audience got up and danced through the whole movie. David Byrne is hypnotic.

The Decline of Western Civilization - Amazing look at the Los Angeles punk rock scene of the early 80's

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - A classic stage-to-screen adaptation. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton chew the scenery for a few hours while their guests Sandy Dennis and George Segal try to make sense of it all. Amazing acting, great cinematography that really leverages the closeup. A must-see.

The Lion in Winter - Sort of a medieval version of the above with Peter O' Toole and Katherine Hepburn. Also see a young Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton put on stellar performances. Like Virginia Woolf above, this is acting with a capital A.

The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville) - A unique animation style and a unique story. A really fun watch.

Grave of the Fireflies

My recommendation is either The Grand Budapest Hotel or Moonrise Kingdom. Both by Wes Anderson, and probably his two best films. Excellent director with a very distinct visual style.

Many good ones were already mentioned

But from memory:

• The snatch
• The big Lebowsky
• Clerks
• American Psycho
• 2001 a space odissey
• Blade Runner (possibly the directors cut)
• Apocalypse now (possibly the redux version)
• Full metal jacket
• The godfather (first 2 movies, the rest is not as good)
• Fight club
• Alien
• The Truman show
• In the mouth of madness
• They live
• The terminator (first 2)
• Animal house
• the dollar trilogy from Sergio Leone
• Once upon a time in America
• pulp fiction
• reservoir dogs

Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are dead

Full Metal Jacket.

Top Secret, by the same guys who did Naked Gun. I think it's somehow actually funnier on average than Naked Gun, even though that one's great, too.

Basically, I don't know if a human could watch it and not find it fucking amazingly funny. So dense with jokes, so creative with the execution, so many funny practical effects, you're constantly astounded that they created props and sets for such absurd humor, and it really works.

5th Element.

The Matrix

For the few people who didn't already watch it, and the best movie of all time :

Mad Max: Fury road (2015 ) by Miller .

This is what film story telling is about: having an entire weird universe told through visual medium. The 1st half hour has mad max gagged and incapable of talking, and it is amazing. Preferably on big screen.

A gem from the past:

Taboo(1999), by Nagisa Ôshima,

a samurai movie with hint of homosexuality. and an ending that can only be understood by paying close attention to the sound off screen.

A classic:

Seven samurai(1954), Kurosawa.

Just enjoy the black and white shot , and immerse in old Japanese culture

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Spaceballs, so you will know what the future holds.

The Blues Brothers (1980).

Wall-e

It's our future if we don't fix shit.