One I’ve not seen mentioned yet: Wag the Dog (1997)
- Pride (2014)
- if we’re doing TV, which I don’t think we are, then The Prisoner
I first saw The Prisoner when I was about 10 years old, and I thought it was great.
I watched it again when I was in my 20s, and was amazed by how well it held up.
If it seems dated now, it’s because people have been ripping it off since it was first made.
BTW, the creator once pointed out that we never hear that No. 6 was a spy. He could have been a scientist or engineer or analyst.
- 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)
My brother-in-law is a Dickens scholar and he agrees with you.
Okay so I didn’t watch it I just read a synopsis, but why is cat on a tin roof on here? Seems like a bit of a curveball to me
“Cat…” is worth watching for the acting alone.
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).
So many great movies listed here, but only one kiwi movie; Once Were Warriors. Unless you count Lord of the Rings, which was indeed made here, but not really exactly a kiwi movie. Here’s a few I reckon are worth checking out, a mix of comedy, fantasy, sci-fi and biopic, with at least one film from each other last 5 decades;
- Goodbye Pork Pie (the 1981 original, I haven’t seen the 2017 remake Pork Pie directed by his son)
- Came A Hot Friday (1985, so underrated compared to the one above)
- The Quiet Earth (1985, based on the 1981 novel of the same name)
- The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988, epically weird, in a Fisher Kind kind of way)
- Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson’s first “serious” film, after his splatter comedies Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles and Braindead. Trivia: I’m in this for about 3 seconds …)
- Whale Rider (2002)
- The World’s Fastest Indian (2005)
- Eagle vs. Shark (2007)
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
- The Dead Lands (2014, notable for being entirely in Te Reo Māori, and featuring some mean Māori martials arts)
- The Dark Horse (2014)
- Muru (2022, loosely based on the events of the 2008 Operation 8 raids)
- Ka Whawhai Tonu (2024, also has a lot of Te Reo spoken)
Gah. Quiet Earth! I still love this movie and it has some unforgettable scenes. Also the most memorable ending shot of a sci-fi movie. It was my background on PC for years.
- 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.
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.
Ivan’s Childhood; although all of Tarkovsky’s oeuvre is worth it.
Dredd (2012)
That movie is damn near perfect.
In a way I’m glad we didn’t get a sequel, because the execs would have diluted it down to a PG rating in order to maximise the merch sales.
Schindlers List: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/
Shit made me cry
As much as I enjoyed Banshees, it didn’t have the snappiness and immediacy of In Bruges.
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
Requiem for A dream is a very good film. Its quite similar to the much older German film “Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo” (We children from the station zoo). The original version has a quite weird style in terms of how it tells the story but its still a very good film. Can only recommend it to everybody. Heroin one hell of A drug that can quite easily ruin everything.
I saw Grave of the Fireflies once.
Once.
Could never bring myself to go through it again, despite how utterly beautiful it is.
But my favourite thing about it is that it was originally a double bill with My Neighbour Totoro. Imagine seeing those two back to back. You’d get some serious emotional whiplash.
Oh please tell me Totoro was second! That it ended on a high note!
The Shawshank Redemption
Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent and the movies talking about Edward Snowden
Lucky Number Slevin
Man On Fire
Syriana
Equilibrium
And for some solid Australian cinema: Mystery Road
solid. add fight club and boondocks saints.
