I was watching "The Dish" the other night. It's a movie made in 2000, starring Sam Neill, about the Austrailian contribution to the moon landing in 1969.
I realized that, even though I had seen this film, oh, probably something like 16 times in the past eight years, it still seemed as fresh as the first time I watched it. I loved the characters, I loved the acting, ditto the plot ... and pretty much everything about it.
If it's not my all time favorite, it would have to be high on my personal list of top ten films of all time. I also have to say, my personal list is quite different from that of say, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science ... for example, while I realize that "The Godfather" is considered to be a "great" film ... I just didn't happen to like it very much. That's probably because I don't generally like movies that have a lot of violence in them ... unless it's fantasy violence ... in which case I usually root for the dragon.
So ... long story short (too late!!), I started wondering what sort of films would be on the top ten list of people here ... and more important ... what appeals to you about them?? Are you an anime fan? Do you just plain love films with a lot of shoot 'em ups?? It's just not that I'd like to have a series of lists ... but I'd love to know what about certain films puts them on your list.
Sort of my way of learning about films I might not have thought about watching before ... that I found when I watched them, absolutely amazed me. (I watched all of the Godfather films ... and I wanted to like them, I really did, but unless the killers are wearing hockey masks and murdering whole fleets of teenagers ... I just can't get into it.) My best example of this would be a film called "Perfume" with Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, and Alan Rickman (who I pretty much worship anyway). I had no expectations when I watched it ... didn't even know what it was about. Watched it and then could NOT go to sleep that night for thinking about it. It had that kind of impact on me. "The Dish" .... puts me in a good mood for several days ... makes me want to grab everybody in Australia and just give them a huge HUG!!
Another one is "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" that stars Audrey Tautou and Dominique Pinon (who is another actor I've had a crush since forever). I don't speak French well enough to even reliably get myself to the bathroom, so I have to watch it on a screen big enough to read subtitles .... but it is simply ever so good. The acting and plot transcend my inability to speak the language (especially now that I've seen it five of six times with the subtitles
).
So .... anyone?? I'll be thinking of my additional seven ... and please don't feel like you can't post an answer just because you can't think of ten ... or you only have one film that just does it for you. I'd be curious to hear about them.
However ... and since I posted the thread ... I get to "makey da rules" ... no bad mouthing any film on any one else's list. You are most welcome to explain why you did or did not like something ... but, please ... none of that "Such and such is just crap." That's not an opinion so much as it really is "just crap."
Thank you ... and I'm looking forward to hearing about some films I might not have seen (I'm sure there are a lot of them).