What Are Some Must-Watch Movies According to Scientists?

[Mépris]

Donnie Darko? Good call fellas.

Garden State anyone? Requiem for a Dream, Pi and American Psycho are other favourites of mine. (:

And of course, (500) Days of Summer. (there goes my contribution, as far as good rom-coms go!)

 

[ThomasT]

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

The following chronologically ordered list is what immediately comes to my mind wrt movies that I've seen that I especially like for some reason. There are, of course, hundreds, thousands even, movies worth viewing for one reason or another. This is just a short preliminary list. Netflix or Blockbuster should have all these for rental, or you can download most of them illegally if you're so inclined.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Rear Window (1954)
The Apartment (1960)
The Night of the Iguana (1964)
The Party (1968)
The Producers (1968)
The Odd Couple (1968)
MASH (1970)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Mean Streets (1973)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975)
Nashville (1975)
Marathon Man (1976)
The Duelists (1977)
Alien (1979)
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
The Long Good Friday (1980)
Blade Runner (1982)
To Live and Die in LA (1985)
Three Amigos (1986)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
True Romance (1993)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Ed Wood (1994)
Restoration (1995)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Celebrity (1998)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Matrix (1999)
Bowfinger (1999)
Mystery Men (1999)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Small Time Crooks (2000)
Snatch (2000)
Best In Show (2000)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Underworld (2003)
Dodgeball (2004)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Serenity (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
King Kong (2005)
Nacho Libre (2006)
Blades of Glory (2007)
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Burn After Reading (2008)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
State of Play (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Star Trek (2009)
True Grit (2010)
Iron Man 2 (2010)

 

[Lacy33]

The following chronologically ordered list is what immediately comes to my mind wrt movies that I've seen that I especially like for some reason. There are, of course, hundreds, thousands even, movies worth viewing for one reason or another. This is just a short preliminary list. Netflix or Blockbuster should have all these for rental, or you can download most of them illegally if you're so inclined.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Rear Window (1954)
The Apartment (1960)
The Night of the Iguana (1964)
The Party (1968)
The Producers (1968)
The Odd Couple (1968)
MASH (1970)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Mean Streets (1973)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975)
Nashville (1975)
Marathon Man (1976)
The Duelists (1977)
Alien (1979)
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
The Long Good Friday (1980)
Blade Runner (1982)
To Live and Die in LA (1985)
Three Amigos (1986)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
True Romance (1993)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Ed Wood (1994)
Restoration (1995)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Celebrity (1998)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Matrix (1999)
Bowfinger (1999)
Mystery Men (1999)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Small Time Crooks (2000)
Snatch (2000)
Best In Show (2000)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Underworld (2003)
Dodgeball (2004)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Serenity (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
King Kong (2005)
Nacho Libre (2006)
Blades of Glory (2007)
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Burn After Reading (2008)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
State of Play (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Star Trek (2009)
True Grit (2010)
Iron Man 2 (2010)

And which one is your favorite?

 

[ThomasT]

And which one is your favorite?

That's a really hard question to answer. And it's possible that my favorite movie isn't even on that list. But why, you might wonder, wouldn't it be on that list?

Anyway, I do genuinely like, very much, for various reasons, all of the films I listed there. As well as, probably, hundreds of others.

 

[mugaliens]

OK, Dude, you're just going to have to decide. If you can't, I'll throw my own two cents in here. :)

...you can download most of them illegally if you're so inclined.

No thanks. I'm not so inclined.

However, as to your titles:

The Odd Couple (1968)

Love it!

MASH (1970)

Same!

The Three Musketeers (1973)

Outstanding!

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Wild!

Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975)

Cool!

Alien (1979)

Wicked!

Blade Runner (1982)

Ridley Rocks!

Three Amigos (1986)

Steve's the heat!

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Emery's the heat!

The Matrix (1999)

Unbelievable!

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Way cool!

Dodgeball (2004)

Way funny!

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Can that guy fight, or what?

Star Trek (2009)

I am SO appreciative of an outstanding comeback!

Iron Man 2 (2010)

As with IM1. Pepper reminds me of my first love.

 

[DaveC426913]

Powder

Wasn't that the film directed by a convicted pedophile?

 

[Lacy33]

Wasn't that the film directed by a convicted pedophile?

I think I did hear that actually. Now what do I do. Do I appreciate the work of a sicko or do i not? Given the talent and resources i may have made the movie myself. I am not a pedophile, but I have anxiety d/o and PTSD. Would people watch it or not. I'm a sicko!
I use to go through this with my teachers when learning a subject other than nursing.
Can I learn from someone who is damaged? I couldn't study Wagner, could not study under Bernstein. They tried taking my Beethoven away from me. NOT!
I learned though. The passion that Beethoven stirs is NOT safe I repeat...NOT safe. I should have listened to the teachers?
You tell me?

 

[cobalt124]

Not with the times (by at least ten years), anyway. Having watched Channel 4 (U.K.) from the start I got into watching loads of foreign films so that by 2000 when Time Out were polling for the top 100 films this is what I came up with (from memory in rough order and I can't remember one of them):

01) The Seventh Seal
02) 2001: A Space Odyssey
03) Jules et Jim
04) Sebastiane
05) The Deer Hunter
06) Eraserhead
07) High Noon
08)
09) The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
10) Once Upon a Time in the West

Looking at them now 3,5 and 6 would be out and the order would be different

Others would include: The Gospel According to St. Matthew and The Flowers of St. Francis

The first CGI films to hit it big: Jurassic Park and Terminator 2

Times are different now:

Favourite Disney/Pixar film: Monsters Inc.
Favourite Land Before Time animation: The Secret of Saurus Rock

Other favourites: La Cage Au Folles, Total Recall, there's loads of others, can't think of them

Worst Films
Any film that effectively lifts a screenplay from a non-English language film and rips the heart out of it and makes a pale imitation e.g. Somersby, The Bird Cage and so on.

 

[Adyssa]

Thread revival? I was so happy to see a few mentions for "The Princess Bride"! One of my favourites when I was younger, and it's still great now that I'm not. <3

I have a few I would like to mention:

Dr Strangelove; Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

So damn good. Hilarious and disturbing. Peter Sellers is brilliant and George C. Scott is completely ridiculous, I lose the plot whenever he's on the screen.

A Very Long Engagement

This is why I love Audrey Tauttou, and it's such a beautiful film, by my favourite director (Jeunet, who also did Amelie, Delicatessen, etc) Girl meets Boy, Boy goes to war (WWI), Girl refuses to believe telegram, an age old story. :)

Good Night, And Good Luck

Clooney directed (and stars) along with David Stratham (amazing), Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Daniels, and a few others I can't remember. Story of Edward R. Murrow (CBS) vs McCarthy set to a sultry jazz soundtrack and shot in black and white. I can't put my finger on why I like this film so much, but I watch it all the time, it's just perfect.

Life Is Beautiful

Italian film, pretty sure it won Best Film at the oscars when it came out (ie. not Best Foreign Film!), I put of seeing it for years, but when I did it was immediately in my top 5, and a film I'll treasure for a long time to come. Amazing story. Heartbreaking.

 

[DaveC426913]

Thread revival? I was so happy to see a few mentions for "The Princess Bride"! One of my favourites when I was younger, and it's still great now that I'm not. <3

It is on my Top 25 Classics - defined as movies that:
1] if I stumble upon, I am unable to turn away from without watching 'just this next great scene' - up until until the credits roll
2] get more enjoyable each time I watch them.

(And I wasn't young then.)

Life Is Beautiful

Italian film, pretty sure it won Best Film at the oscars when it came out (ie. not Best Foreign Film!), I put of seeing it for years, but when I did it was immediately in my top 5, and a film I'll treasure for a long time to come. Amazing story. Heartbreaking.

And it will bring to tears man and woman alike.

 

[klimatos]

Since I predate Neanderthal Man, my choices are all quite old.

Drama: Casablanca, Paths of Glory

Comedy: Some Like It Hot, Arsenic and Old Lace

Musical: Singing in the Rain, Gigi

 

[phoenix:\\]

Pan's Labyrinth

 

[SW VandeCarr]

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

I know lisab's post is a few years old, but this thread has been active recently, so I think its OK to quote it. "Citizen Kane" is widely considered to be the greatest movie of all time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane

Strange that while it did receive an award, it was not given the Academy Award for the best movie of 1941, the year it was released.

My personal favorite is "Dr.Zhivago".

 

[donaldbracy]

Brokeback Mountain...best acting i have ever scene. good job directing by Ang Lee. Great score by Gustavo Santaolalla. i cried my eyes out. Beautiful film.

Amadeus...A pretty much amazing movie, good acting, good soundtrack, wonderful costuming and set design, good directing.

Candy...most realistic Junkie movie i have ever seen in my life. The acting is phenomenal. Some great camera shots(especially the opening and ending scenes) by Neil Armfield. They had a very talented cast and crew. Again i cried my eyes out.

 

[DoggerDan]

How the West was Won. I own only two Blu-rays, and that's one of them. The other is 2001, and while visually interesting, it's just not the same!

 

[Charmar]

I remembered reading this thread back in my lurking days here, and now I'm going to awaken it from its slumber. I'll try to make it worth someone’s time, and try to hit multiple niches.

High Fidelity (John Cusack and it's about music)
Dawn Of The Dead 2004 remake. (Zombies)
Little Miss Sunshine (Adorable)
The Fifth Element (Fun)
Soylent Green (I just love the smell of dystopia in the morning)
Moon (I just love the smell of O3 in the morning)
Leaves Of Grass (2x Edward Norton, More Ed for your buck)
The Boondock Saints (Don't watch this if you like cats)
Return To OZ (Childhood staple)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (Seasonally appropriate 50% of the time.)

Enjoy!

 

[Curious3141]

Life Is Beautiful

Italian film, pretty sure it won Best Film at the oscars when it came out (ie. not Best Foreign Film!), I put of seeing it for years, but when I did it was immediately in my top 5, and a film I'll treasure for a long time to come. Amazing story. Heartbreaking.

Actually, no. It won Best Foreign Film. It was nominated for Best Film but didn't win. However, it also won Roberto Benigni Best Actor. It was also nominated (and won) a few other Academy Awards.

I remember this very clearly - that was one of the last few Awards ceremonies I actually watched live on TV. Benigni's speech was childlike but charming.

 

[Curious3141]

A list of my favourites:

Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Ghostbusters
Pulp Fiction
Schindler's List
The Omen (the original, of course)
The Exorcist
The Lives of Others (German film)
The Abyss (extended cut)
Ben Hur
Superman

I'm sure others will come to mind.

 

[Yayfordoritos]

I got sent here cause I put this in the wrong thread...Dark Knight Rises, absolutely awesome.