What Are Some Must-Watch Movies According to Scientists?

[W3pcq]

Thought it would be cool to make a list of good movies to checkout. Any suggestions?

 

[Mk]

I'm going to watch Memento tonight. xkcd said it was good.

 

[wolram]

I can not find a movie i like, i will watch blood and guts ones if they are above inane,
there are no sci fi worth watching, war of the worlds was just watchable.

 

[waht]

"Revolver" with Jason Statham. This movie is extremely psychological. I had to watch it two or three times to actually understand what's it about.

 

[showup199]

alien vs preditor 2 was an alright show but i sort of like the first 1 better mostly because of where it takes place.

 

[Evo]

I'm going to watch Memento tonight. xkcd said it was good.

Memento is very good.

I don't know that I have a favorite movie. I like "The day the Earth stood still", but "The Princess Bride" and "Time Bandits" probably tie for first place. "The Never Ending story" is another favorite. I like the "Secret of Nihm" also.

When I was little the Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty" was my all time favorite, followed by "Cinderella", "101 Dalmations", "Fantasia", "Snow White", "Lady and the Tramp", and "The Aristocats". I also liked "Gay Purr-ee", the story of Mewsette and Meowrice.

My all time favorite horror movie is the original 1963 movie "The Haunting" with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The remake was a piece of crap.

Favorite Christmas movies _ "The Bishop's Wife", "Holiday Inn", "White Christmas", "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a wonderful life".

Best tear jerker - Mrs Miniver.

Favorite comedy ghost movies "Topper", "Blythe Spirit" and "The Ghost and Mrs Muir".

Oh, Oh, and "Death takes a Holiday"!

I also love "Here comes Mr Jordan" and the even better remake "Heaven can wait". Damn, I love that movie, it's hysterical and it makes you cry.

"How to murder your wife" with Jack Lemmon was great.

 

[lisab]

"Citizen Kane," my fave of all time. Take it with a giant grain of salt, though, I don't watch movies very often.

"Momento" is great. It does have some violence, but it's OK in the context of the plot, and I don't think it's gratuitous.

 

[scorpa]

I rarely watch movies (usually can't make myself sit there that long), but when I do I usually go for something stupid and funny ie Will Ferrell movies. For a really old one I like that old bike movie "On Any Sunday". Two movies I can watch again and again are the Blues Brothers and the Blues Brothers 2000 although the first one is hands down the best.

 

[Benzoate]

Definitely all of the Metal Gear solid games of the Metal Gear Solid series are a must see . Its advertised as a video game. But its really a movie. But the cutscenes are more interesting than the gameplay in my opinion. But just a tiny bit more interesting.

 

[Danger]

My absolute favourite is 'Birds of Prey', but a very close second is 'Charly' (the only SF movie in history to win a best actor Oscar).

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Top 10 in no particular order of preference.

1. Blade Runner
2. Fight Club
3. Cassablanca
4. Ice Cold in Alex
5. LoTR: all 3 films
6. Donnie Darko
7. The Life of Brian
8. The Matrix (first one)
9. The 39 Steps (black and white version)
10. Alien/Aliens/Alien III/Alien Resurrection

Top 100 would take forever.

 

[oedipa maas]

Ghostbusters - Scientists leave academia for industry and start a company trapping ghosts in New York.

Back to the Future - Teenager goes back to the fifties in a souped up car.

Edward Scissorhands - The unfinished man with scissors for hands is adopted out by a suburban Californian family.

Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy - a satire on the pharmaceutical industry. Scientists at Roritor invent a drug that makes people happy, only to discover that the pill makes people comatose too.

Les Visiteurs (the original French version) - A French knight and his servant are transported to present day France after drinking the potion of an inept wizard. Hijinks ensue as the pair are confronted by various modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing and electricity.

Election - Tracy Flick is an overachieving student bent on padding her college applications. Her run for student council president becomes less straightfoward when a teacher, Mr McAllister, decides to encourage Paul, a sweet but dim athlete, to give her a little competition for the position. Things get out of hand when Paul's lesbian sister, Tammy, is dumped for Paul and Tammy becomes a candidate as well. And Mr McAllister gives a lesson on what good American democracy is really like!

Donnie Darko - a teenage boy sees a creepy guy dressed in a rabbit costume. After a jet engine crashes into his house Donnie begins following the rabbit's instructions with surprising entropy-reducing results. But why?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey wakes up from a strange dream about being in love with a girl he can't quite remember.

Fargo - A wildly incompetent set of criminals are hired by a man to take his wife hostage. An impertubably competent policewoman follows the clues across particularly frigid parts of Minnesota.

Being John Malkovitch - By sliding down a tube in an office crawlspace people can inhabit John Malkovitch's body. Yes!

New Waterford Girl - a teenage girl in rural Cape Breton in the 1970's comes up with an imaginative way to escape the small town where she lives.

Love Actually - an ensemble of loosely linked individuals find love.

 

[gravenewworld]

Die Hard
French Connection
Alien/Aliens
Rocky
Predator
The Shinning
Ghostbusters I/II

 

[Alienjoey]

Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a great movie. It essentially satirized the Cold War...and it was made in the year 1963. :P

 

[wolram]

Les Visiteurs (the original French version) - A French knight and his servant are transported to present day France after drinking the potion of an inept wizard. Hijinks ensue as the pair are confronted by various modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing and electricity.

This one sounds good, is it out with English sub titles?

 

[turbo]

Princess Bride
Shrek (1st)
Matrix (1st)
Crossroads
Christmas StoryFor movies recently released on DVD, Michael Clayton and I am Legend are both quite good.

 

[pace]

The Talented Mr Ripley, Get Shorty, The Mission, 12 Angry Men, Howard's End.

 

[cepheid]

Jurassic Park is one of my favourites.

One of the few movies that was nearly as good as the novel (despite being quite different from it in many ways). Likewise for LOTR.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Heide.

 

[binzing]

Tears of the Sun-Best war movie I've ever seen, good story behind it.
Napolean Dynamite-Its a classic, and I love it.
The Gods Must be Crazy (1 and 2)-Really funny movies involving Bushmen.
Lots of others...

 

[Darkiekurdo]

12 angry men is my favourite movie.

 

[tribdog]

I just watched Juno last night. Loved it

 

[Gokul43201]

Juno was very good.

Turtles Can Fly is a great flick - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_Can_Fly

 

[Pagey]

Donnie Darko
Crash
Memento
The Shawshank redemption (*best movie)
Fight Club
No country for old men
Little Miss Sunshine (sounds crap, refused to watch it, after watching it... wow!)
The collateral
The departed
Confidence
Into The Wild - horribly boring, but makes you think.

My all time favourite

AMERICAN BEAUTY - about an average guy, hates the 9-5 job career and is bored with his life. He does what he wants with the morals of he has nothing to loose. Best ending and quotes ever. Period.

 

[scorpa]

The Dead Poets Society was good.

 

[Darkiekurdo]

Juno was very good.

Turtles Can Fly is a great flick - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_Can_Fly

I cried during that movie. Probably because I am Kurdish too.

 

[qspeechc]

Love Jim Carrey and Will Ferrel's movies.

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. The Aviator. The Life of David Gale. The Matrix. That movie where Ferrel plays an elf, anyone? And some other ones I can't remember right now.

Edit: I really enjoyed Into the Wild. Thought it was fantastic!

 

[Danger]

That movie where Ferrel plays an elf, anyone?

It was called 'Elf'.

 

[NerfMonkey]

How about the Elegant Universe series on the PBS website? :P

Boondock Saints, my favorite movie of all time hands-down. Gratuitous violence, extreme profanity and sexual content. Plus great music.

 

[Danger]

Boondock Saints, my favorite movie of all time hands-down. Gratuitous violence, extreme profanity and sexual content. Plus great music.

Well, if we're counting that type of movie, then Flesh Gordon and Sex World have to be in the running.

 

[DaveC426913]

Get Shorty

Get Shorty was dreadful! Angry angry story!

 

[NerfMonkey]

I haven't seen either of those but if by "that type of movie" you mean weird semi-porno-type movies that would be awkward to watch with close friends, it isn't that type of film. It's really a pretty good one, but it was produced on a low budget and was given really bad reviews. It's very similar to a Tarantino movie.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The Man From Earth is my newest favorite.

 

[mcknia07]

Transformers was a pretty good movie. Also, Fantastic 4 was good too.

 

[Danger]

I haven't seen either of those but if by "that type of movie" you mean weird semi-porno-type movies that would be awkward to watch with close friends

They were both hard-core porn, but Flesh Gordon was cut to get better theatre distribution. I don't think that any original versions are available anywhere. It's funny as hell, though, with some decent special effects. You can think of it almost like a film of the real Flash Gordon, but with nudity and some off-colour language.
As to the awkwardness, that depends entirely upon the standards of you and your friends. Both were regularly screened at our science fiction conventions with no adverse reactions. The people that I hang out with now wouldn't want to see Sex World, but they might find (the edited) Flesh Gordon amusing.

 

[Alienjoey]

How about the Elegant Universe series on the PBS website? :P

Ah, the movie has nothing on the book. Some of the visuals and explanations were nice, but there was such little detail in the movie. Of course, it's better than lots of documentaries...
(anyone ever see the History Channel one trying to convince people that there was a black hole in the Bermuda Triangle? :P)

 

[Cyrus]

Man, I could make a long list of good movies. American History X, Boys N da Hood, The Matrix, Ali, Batman Begins, The Shawshank Redemption, Outbreak, A few good men, Solaris, Ray, Rain man, US Marshals, The Tuskegee Airmen ...so many more I am not listing.

Im very very picky on movies. I never got into any of the disney movies, as I grew up watching top gun when I was 5-ish. Probably not the best movie for a 5 year old. (I had to fast forward through the sex scene ) But I also watched ghost busters and ninja turtles. Never really saw any disney movies. I just can't sit through them, I don't find that kind of humor funny.

 

[turbo]

Yeah, Cy, Shawshank Redemption and Rain Man both should have been in my list earlier. I have watched them both many times. Ray impressed me, in part because I grew up listening to his music and had a better appreciation of the back-story than younger people could have. Also, having played music professionally, I have an appreciation for the stuff that he must have gone through early in his career, especially when venues were segregated.

 

[Danger]

I never got into any of the disney movies... ...I don't find that kind of humor funny.

I would recommend, however, Fantasia. It's not meant to be funny; but the music and 'choreography' are awsome.

 

[scorpa]

Another movie I like that I just remembered is "A Beautiful Mind". I remember that one being pretty good but it has been a long time since I've seen it.

 

[Cyrus]

Another movie I like that I just remembered is "A Beautiful Mind". I remember that one being pretty good but it has been a long time since I've seen it.

Thats a pretty good movie, but I am not super crazy about the storyline. Even though its true, it comes off as too 'hollywood'.

Last king of scotland is good. So is hotel ruwanda.


Im trying to think of a good spy movie that was true to reality, but I cant. There are some ok movies like bourne identity, but those are just action movies. I like true story movies because they are more interesting. Id like to see a 'real' spy movie, not a karate chop james bond spy movie. One where the spy has to use his brain not to get caught and killed. I.e., real life. Actually, Id like to see the guy get caught in the end and die. Because that's what really happens when spies get caught. They don't john wayne their way out. They just 'dissapear'.


The fastest indian is also a good movie.

 

[Danger]

It seems that people are taking the scenic route around the original question. If this is to be about movies that I really love (or at least like a lot), there are hundreds more that I could mention. 'Inherit the Wind' was brilliant (and philosophically pleasing). I have every Spider-Man, X-Men, and 'Fantastic 4' DVD, and am breathlessly awaiting the theatrical release of 'Iron Man'. I've watched 'Terminator II' probably a dozen times, and never get tired of it. I can't hear 'Bad to the Bone' without seeing Arnie sparking up that hog.

 

[Danger]

Id like to see a 'real' spy movie, not a karate chop james bond spy movie. One where the spy has to use his brain not to get caught and killed. I.e., real life.

Check out 'A Man Called Intrepid'. I believe that it stars David Niven. It's the true story of a Canuk spy in WWII Germany.

 

[Cyrus]

Ghandi is also a good movie. American Psyco is a good movie too. Eat drink man woman (chinese w/subtitles) is good, and so is the inheritance (dutch? with subtitles).

All the President's Men is also good.

 

[turbo]

Fantasia (thanks, Danger!) is a killer. The music is wonderful, and the (cartoon) choreography is wonderful. Hippo ballerinas - yeah, that could happen!

 

[Cyrus]

Fantasia (thanks, Danger!) is a killer. The music is wonderful, and the (cartoon) choreography is wonderful. Hippo ballerinas - yeah, that could happen!

I don't think I'll be watching that guys, sorry.

 

[lisab]

I don't think I'll be watching that guys, sorry.

If you ever become a dad, you will...over and over and over...!

 

[turbo]

If you ever become a dad, you will...over and over and over...!

The music is classic and the juxtapositions of the music with the animation are killer. The movie is old and it is timeless.

 

[Cyrus]

Actually, when I was little my mom said I used to watch follow that bird, over, and over, and over. Starring big bird. I just remember he got kidnapped in the back of a pickup truck and painted blue. I used to love that. Also, I would sing along to wheels of fortune.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RhVxfD1Eph4

Look at count draculas car. FOUR TELEPHONE POLES!

 

[lisab]

For my daughter, it was "Lion King." Not a bad movie, but it does get old after watching it about a million times.