rachelpopkin's to-see list!

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I have not seen many movies. This is unacceptable.

• add movies you think I need to see
• +1 other people's suggestions
• I will strike movies as I see them

Thank you for participating in my cinematic education!

Comments? twitter.com/arrkay

Some guidance based on past preferences:

Likes:

• sci-fi, action, anything with an OMGSOCOOL factor (eg Sneakers, Batman Begins, Serenity, X-Men)
• suspense/action movies that are smart (Bound, The Departed, Memento, The Talented Mr. Ripley)
• films that have both emotional and intellectual content (eg Angels in America)
• films about screwed up people trying to be less screwed up. bonus points for young people. (eg Donnie Darko, Butterfly Effect, Thirteen, DPS, Good Will Hunting)
• Campy films about queer stuff/coming of age (eg CAMP, Saved!, Mean Girls, X2)

Dislikes:

• Excessively slow-moving dramas. If I'm really interested in the subject matter I can make it through, but otherwise I have too short an attention span.
• Films with unnecessary gore and/or violence, esp sexual violence. I feel strongly about this. I get pissed when a movie makes me sit through a bunch of upsetting crap for no reason. If it says something worthwhile, so be it, I can deal (eg Pan's Labyrinth). But messing with me just for fun is uncool, and will make me turn the movie off (eg Kill Bill, Teeth).

Suggestions!

• the usual suspects
• you should watch pulp fiction-- not at a party

• Pape's Mini Film School:

I suggest these to both you and Diana. They are classics of the medium, and important for all kinds of reasons. However, they are all super-serious for the most part, so leaven with heavy doses of silly comedies and sci-fi. By director, each with my 2-3 favorites:

The Old Masters

- Renoir: The Rules of the Game, The Grand Illusion

- Kurosawa: The Seven Samurai, Ran, Rashomon (+1 to all of these -- Abe)

- Welles: Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil

- Lang: Metropolis , M

- Truffaut: The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim

- Godard: Breathless, Contempt (you may also like Alphaville, it's sci-fi...kind of)

- Bergman: The Seventh Seal, Winter Light

- Fellini: 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita

- Hitchcock: Vertigo (set in SF!), Strangers on a Train

- Also, but haven't seen any by them: Antonioni, Rossellini, Dassin, Powell & Pressburger

Screwball Comedy

- The Philadelphia Story

- It Happened One Night

- His Girl Friday

- Bringing Up Baby

The 60's - 70's Movement

- Kubrick: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove

- Scorsese: Raging Bull, Taxi Driver

- Coppola: Godfathers I and II , Apocalypse Now

- Altman: Nashville, McCabe & Mrs. Miller

- Bunuel: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Phantom of Liberty (and "Un Chien Andalou")

- Maysles brothers: Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens

- Pennebaker: Don't Look Back

- Also, but haven't seen any by them: Cassavetes, Fassbinder, Malle

Modern/Independent Film

- Anderson (PT): Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood

- Coen brothers: This is hard. I'd say The Big Lebowski , Barton Fink, Fargo, Raising Arizona...they don't make too many shitty movies...everything but Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty, really.

- Jarmusch: Down By Law, Dead Man

- Anderson (Wes): Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums

- Miyazaki: Spirited Away , My Neighbor Totoro

- Soderbergh: Traffic, Schizopolis, The Limey

- Kar-Wai: In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express

- Cronenberg: Dead Ringers, Videodrome

- Linklater: Slacker, Dazed and Confused

- Cuaron: Y Tu Mama Tambien , Solo con tu pareja, Children of Men

And my favorite films that aren't listed here:

- Yi Yi

- Mutual Appreciation

- Metropolitan

- Kicking and Screaming (the 90's one, not the Will Ferrell one)

- Tokyo Story (+1 -- Abe. It's slow though.)

- Igby Goes Down

(Can you tell how awesomely I'm doing at my job?)

• Abe's turn:

Some stuff Allie didn't already list, not sorted in any particular order or categories:

- The Deer Hunter (1979): The best Vietnam War movie ever made (yes, better than Apocalypse Now). A little bloody at times (hey, it's Vietnam) but worth it. Very haunting. The last scene alone is priceless. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep.

- Casablanca (1942): An all-time classic. I would hope you've already seen this, actually. You may find yourself laughing at some of the cheesy cliched lines... until you realize this movie coined them all. Bogart, Bergman.

- No Direction Home (2005): Martin Scorsese's excellent documentary on Bob Dylan. Focuses mostly on the 60's. 4 hours long though -- watch it over 2 nights.

- Annie Hall (1977): Woody Allen's masterpiece. Woody Allen, Diane Keaton.

- Singin' in the Rain (1952): Pretty cheesy by today's standards (it's a musical!), but still a classic. Gene Kelly.

- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966): The best Western ever? Clint Eastwood.

- American History X (1998): Definitely in the "emotional and intellectual content" and "screwed up people trying to be less screwed up". Edward Norton, Edward Furlong. [Bonus Star Trek connection: also has Avery Brooks and Jennifer Lien.]

- Mars Attacks! (1996): I really have no excuse for putting this on here, but this movie is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Directed by Tim Burton! Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, et al.

- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet.

- Lost in Translation (2003): Some people love it, some hate it. Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson.

- Shakespeare in Love (1998). Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Judi Dench.

- You have seen -Blade Runner-, right? If not (or even if you have), I strongly recommend checking out the 1992 Director's Cut, or, even better, the final 2007 Director's Cut. Much better than the original.