Top 5 Personal Favorites

[Thom]

What are your personal favorite films? They don't have to be the best films of all time... Heck, they can be downright silly.

My Favorites:
1. Amelie
2. Good Will Hunting
3. Chasing Amy
4. Fight Club
5. Shawshank Redemption

[Philter]

Hmm.. this gets me thinking pretty hard.

1. X-Men 2
2. Minority Report
3. A Few Good Men
4. Se7en
5. Basic
_________________
Do you bury me when I'm gone?
Do you teach me while I'm here?
Just as soon as I belong,
Then it's time I disappear.

[Iron Paws]

I spend too much time in deep thought at work, I like the
fun stuff.

1) Big Trouble in Little China
2) Starship Troopers (I know, I know)
3) Joe Dirt
4) Ice Pirates
5) Zoolander
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"Keep the skoal baby, that's what I'm talkin about"

[Dante]

..and you like zoolander. Right on!

offhand, my top five go like this.
1. Good Will Hunting
2. Fight Club
3. Donnie Darko
4. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Happy Gilmore/there's something about mary (can't decide)

(subject to change tomorrow)
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so, you're saying we don't review the new Jenna Jameson movie here?

I am so out.

[Thom]

[Tom Mark]

01. Dogma
02. Austin Powers
03. Spider-Man
04. ID4: Independence Day
05. Nightmare Before Christmas
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---Another Tom Mark Post---

Tom Mark:World

[Buttercup]

In no particular order:

American Beauty, Toy Story, Hackers, Romeo Must Die, and Death To Smoochy. ^^;

[BeckerManEX]

01. Fight Club
02. The Matrix
03. Se7en
04. 28 Days Later
05. Army of Darkness

For the record Donnie Darko has to be one of the absolute worst movies ever created a total waste of film stock and my time for watching such a horrible movie. Even having the words "Final Destination" on the back as part of the description should open up a space time rift and suck our universe into a black hole and reduce us to mush for having one of my favorite series of movies even mentioned with that mess. H.O.R.R.I.B.L.E.
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[Dante]

..maybe you just didn't understand donnie darko. Because you really didn't give any valid reason for not liking it. And..let's compare the depth of donnie darko to final destination. Final destination is nothing for thought and it's only point is to startle you. Also, the sequel was terrible, it's just the first movie redone with more disgusting scenes and a continuation of the exact same plot.
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so, you're saying we don't review the new Jenna Jameson movie here?

I am so out.

[BeckerManEX]

Donnie Darko was just a movie that featured nothing that could be considered plot. I'm one for a brain twister (liking Fight Club prepared me for that) but it seems like the movie was just weird for the sake of trying to be hip and rather than succeeding it stood out for the poser that it was.

The countdown till the point when the 'shroom influenced bunny tells him the world will end and then an airplane engine crushing blah blah blah, it seems as though someone set out to make a cult favorite without the cult wanting it. I know some people really love the movie but I think it is overrated when compared to the likes of David Lynch's Mulholland Drive which is also messed up, but where Donnie Darko is a bad film, Mulholland Dr. teases you into liking it.

As for Final Destination I believe it is one of the most clever, well written series of movies in the post-Scream era of teen horror. The creative death scenes, the interesting take on a story, the whole series is a refreshing blast in a very stale genre (much like 28 Days Later is to the horror genre). I could argue all day but no one will ever convince me that FD and FD2 are bad films.
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[Thom]

Hmm...

I found both 'Donnie Darko' and 'Final Destination' to be simply okay. Actually, Darko probably kept my attention better, simply because I wanted to figure out what the hell was going on.

I'm not sure, though, if they should even be compared. Final Dest. was definitely a horror flick, whereas Donnie Darko was, what, a 'psychedelic thriller'? IMDb.com actually lists it as a sci-fi/fantasy drama, and I guess that's as good a description as any.

Now, for a horror film, Final Destination was pretty good. Considering most of the competition consist of masked men with knives or possessed children's toys or something, having "death" itself as the antagonist was a fresh take. But we are talking about the horror genre here. Though I love a lot of horror films, it's not taken very seriously in discussions about film merit. In fact, the plot and character simplicities are taught as some of the defining characteristics in horror... Essentially, if a film surpasses a certain level of quality, it can no longer be considered horror but probably becomes something else (i.e. psychological thriller).

How do you categorize Donnie Darko? As a sci-fi, it's pretty weak. I seem to remember some mumbo-jumbo about time travel and flying in a long, metallic vehicle... But Austin Powers had that much sci-fi. As a drama, it's not great either. Gyllenhaal is a good actor, but even still Donnie didn't create much sympathy as a character. Nor did any of the other Darkos. In fact, the only character I remember provoking some sort of reaction in me was Swayze's sicko kiddie-porn addicted Mr. Cunningham, and he was a secondary character if I've ever seen one. Actually, by the very fact that Donnie seemed to face impending death (via the end of the world), the film could be considered a thriller, and this is where it performs best, with a twist ending that can make you think a bit. But on that note, it's nowhere near as well-crafted as, say, Fight Club, The Game, Usual Suspects, et al.

So yeah, both films are fine, but neither is well worth attacking or defending.

[thrillhouse]

now I know its hard to come up with a top 5 personal favorite list (Im having trouble right now)

but allow me to play stat boy for a minute with the results from the 8 posters and their 41 films (Dante buckled and threw in a 6th and Ill only use the top 5 from macabre stalker's list)

2003- III
2002- III
2001- VI
2000- I
1999- VI
1998- I
1997- V
1996- II
1995- IIII
1994- I
1993- I
1992- I
1986- I
1984 -I
1983 -I
1964 -I
1962 -I
1941 -I

-everybody had 2 films from a same yr except Tom Mark who had 5 films/5 diff yrs

-Fight Club was the most popular pick showing up 3x followed by Good Will Hunting and Se7en at 2x each

-(again) Dante had the most films on his top 5 list (6!)

- The picks from Iron Paws represented 3 different decades (80s 90s & 00s)

-Doorman had 2 Tom Cruise movies and BeckerManEx had 2 Brad Pitts

-Thom & Dante had 2 best film nominees each on their lists

-Macabre Stalker listed the 4 oldest films on the list, 4 best film nominees and represented 4 different decades

-Of the 41, 9 were nominated for best film but only 1 won (American Beauty), listed by Sporky (since I didnt say his name, there it is)

STAT BOY out

[Thom]

Awesome stats! I'm giving you a new title!

[Macabre Stalker]

Ok. I'll let this be my first post.

Favorites are tough for me. The movies I'm about to put up are ONLY including movies I have graded in the past few years. It's also going to be more than 5...cuz frankly the top 5 sounds too cliche to me and I'd like you to get a better idea of what I like. I'm also gonna remove a few movies to prevent repetitiveness (movies in a series).

1. Dr. Strangelove (my all time favorite. That will probably never change.)
2. Return of the Jedi (my personal fave from the series movie despite what any naysayers might say. But I'm not gonna go down that whole Star Wars road)
3. Fellowship of the Ring
4. To Kill a Mockingbird
5. Citizen Kane
6. American Beauty
7. Patton
8. Dumbo
9. Spirited Away
10. The King and I
11. Moulin Rouge
12. Nowhere In Africa
13. Memento
14. Enemy at the Gates
15. Awakenings
16. Jaws
17. Thief of Bagdad
18. 12 Monkeys
19. Dogma
20. The Third Man

Incidentally, I love both Donnie Darko (though it is overrated) AND Final Destination. My opinion on Donnie Darko is already up on the site (though not uploaded by Thom as of this posting), but ironically, my first reviews written FOR Smart-Popcorn were going to be for the 2 Final Destination movies. I consider them guilty pleasures, yes, but I also consider them greater than the sum of their parts.

[Philter]

I dis-like my list of favorites so what i am going to do is give my top THREE for every genre.

Action-
Minority Report
S.W.A.T.
Bad Boys tied with Reign Of Fire

Thriller-
Fight Club
Se7en
Reservoir Dogs

Comedy
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
My Cousin Vinny
Christmas Vacation

Crime-
Pulp Fiction
The Usual Suspects
American History X

Fantasy-
Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
Lord of The Rings: Two Towers
Shrek

Adventure-
X-men 2 : X-men United
X-men
Back to The Future

Animated-
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Monsters Inc.

Drama-
A Few Good Men
L. A. Confidential
American Beauty

Family-
A Christmas Story
The Lion King
Kazzam.... Haha not really, Willy Wonka And the Chocolate Family

Horror-
The Shinning
Halloween
B.S's Dracula

Musical-
That Thing You Do
School Of Rock
From Justin to Kelly..... Ok now you can shoot me, really it is Paint Your Wagon(Eastwood Singing is hilarious)

Mystery-
Requiem For a Dream
Memento
Basic

Romance-
Someone Like You
When Harry Met Sally
One Fine Day

Sci-Fi-
Alien
Terminator 2
Terminator Rise of the Machines

War-
Saving Private Ryan/ Braveheart are tied
We Were Soldiers
The Patriot

Western-
Tombstone
Open Range
American Outlaws

Teen Flicks(any genre)-
10 Things I Hate About You
American Pie
The Breakfast Club

Favorite Director David Fincher

Favorite Actress Julia Stiles

Favorite Actor Hugh Jackman
_________________
Do you bury me when I'm gone?
Do you teach me while I'm here?
Just as soon as I belong,
Then it's time I disappear.

[BrokenMobile]

pinning down top 5 is tough...

in no particular order:

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Kill Bill (Vol 1 & 2 as a single film)
Interview with the Vampire (i dig vampires)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Best in Show
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but thank you for asking

[Notelgnis]

Hmmm, no order past #1:

#1: Shawshank Redemption
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Pulp Fiction
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Fuck dancing. Lets talk about art.

[Larlar]

[Macabre Stalker]

I hate my damn post in this thread. Not because I don't love those movies...but because they are not a good Top X list for me. I've simply seen far too many films and graded/recorded far too few.

Maybe I just post my DVD library....although even THAT fails to give what I consider a fully realized picture of my cinematic loves....

This is all Sarah's fault... Really.

[Notelgnis]

Yeah, To Kill A Mockingbird and Citizin Kane? You definitely need to revise your list now that you've grown up a little.
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Fuck dancing. Lets talk about art.