The Kestrel Minority

This may have been asked before on the forum further back than i searched. But might be fun and amusing to find out everyones top 5 films.
But unlike just listing them. Whats your reason for liking them. Heres mine to start us off

Back To the future 1,2,3
So technically its 3 films, but meh. Think this was the first set of films i ever owned when i was little. I still remember the back to the future ride in florida way back in 1995. And strangly i either own, or have own every boxset that was brought out of the films, VHS, dvd and now blueray.

Independence day:
A guilty pleasure. Yes its very much a lot of dumb, yes its cheesy, but damm its still a great film. And the dog fights after they manage to bring down the shield is still up there in my fave film moments. Boomer will live!!!

Star Trek 2009:
How do you reboot a series, with out annoying most fans and yet injecting enough life to give it a fresh new look. Just ask JJ abrams it seems. I am a massive star trek fan, watched pretty much all the episodes of next gen and DS9, and a good bit of the others. The star trek films have been very hit and miss. Hits like Wrath of khan and first contact and then the misses like nemises and the final froniter. But the newest star trek film managed to put some real life back into trek and i am really hopefull that the next one continues this trend. Since star trek online needs to be shot out the nearest air lock.

Laputa, Castle in the sky
Alot of folk may not have heard of this one. Its by ghibi studies, there like the disney of japan i guess you could say. Though that might be a bit of insult. I watch and read and unhealthy amount of anime and manga. And alot of its stems from this film. Back in 1987, a really bad dub of this was shown on british tv. My dad recorded it and every so often i would watch it. Flash forward about 10 years and the film had long be lost and i was in high school. Pokemon reared its ugly head but strangly the show reminded me of some film i seen years before. Then by pure accident, i stumbled apon a website which had the main theme tune of the film playing. And it all came flooding back to me. But it wasnt for another 2 years before i finaly found a copy of it online and was able to see the film again. Very much an important film to me, and still one i can watch again and again and never get bored.

Nightmare before christmas:
If you havent seen it, go watch it. If you have seen it. You know why its on this list. Nuff said.

And thats my list, loads of other films i enjoy, but they are my top 5 that i always have with me no matter where i am. Now tis your turn.

1. Singing in the rain
Love it because of the music , the dance, and the atmosphere. (We even choose the music of it to be the main theme on our wedding, I have nice memories with Pata singing it in the rain, dancing on the street, and getting soaked when we were young and foolish.)

2. Dirty dancing
Yes I love that for the same reasons as 1.

3. Maverick
Makes me laugh a lot, and I like to laugh. And like western.

4. Babylon5
I like the word, and it is one of the series I watched several times. Can't say why, but it was love at first watch.

5. Szaffi: a Hungarian cartoon, the story is at the end of the Turkish occupation and at the beginning of the Austrian, it's sad and funny, and has happy end, and a romantic one. Means a lot to me, was one of my favourite when I was a kid, and we had only black and white TV, and could only see it once in a year if I was lucky.

Dirty dancing eh Lizz? Did you know, in Poland that film was translated as "vibrating sex". : ). They tried to ban it I heard, but it's also one of my girlfriends favourite movies.

NIce choices also Yakus, did studio Gibli do howls moving castle and, spirited away?

These are the films I could watch over and over, gonna restrain myself to a top 5.

1. Blade Runner

nuff said, it's a classic innit.

2. The Thing

Recently watched the prequel, which was ok, but not nearly as a atmospheric or creepy. I also find this movie brilliantly funny because of the constant tension. The scene where they do the blood test and everyone is tied up on the bench just kills me every time.

3. Interview with the Vampire

I used to be a huge Anne Rice fan in my teenage years, and this film is probably on my list because of how intimately I know the books, but it's still a wonderful movie with a great soundtrack.

4. Lord of the Rings trilogy (sorry, can't pick one film..they are utterly interlinked))

5. Dead Man's Shoes

This is a british film you might not have heard of, but it's a savagely dark revenge story with a twist about as "OMG" as one could ever invent.

Yeah, ghibi did those two. Got a few really good films. Never knew that about dirty dancing though. I can see why that could upset folk.

Babylon5 i could just never get into it. Think i was watching ds9 at the time.
And lord of the rings. You know i would be tempted to move star trek out and replace that with LOTR. I still rememeber watching the 3 special addentions back to front. That was a long but enjoyable day.

Yakusoku wrote:Yeah, ghibi did those two. Got a few really good films. Never knew that about dirty dancing though. I can see why that could upset folk.

Babylon5 i could just never get into it. Think i was watching ds9 at the time.
And lord of the rings. You know i would be tempted to move star trek out and replace that with LOTR. I still rememeber watching the 3 special addentions back to front. That was a long but enjoyable day.

I do an impression of Gollum that would freak you out, specifically the song he sings in the pool just before the rangers capture him.

JenDoon wrote:

Yakusoku wrote:Yeah, ghibi did those two. Got a few really good films. Never knew that about dirty dancing though. I can see why that could upset folk.

Babylon5 i could just never get into it. Think i was watching ds9 at the time.
And lord of the rings. You know i would be tempted to move star trek out and replace that with LOTR. I still rememeber watching the 3 special addentions back to front. That was a long but enjoyable day.

I do an impression of Gollum that would freak you out, specifically the song he sings in the pool just before the rangers capture him.

The fish song haha. I can do one, not sure how good it is though. "Stupid fat hobit"
Will have to hear it once i get round to joining the vent/mumble. Waiting for the 2 weeks trial period before jumping on heh.

Wotcha everyone,

Hmm... tough one. Depending on what day it is, and how I'm feeling, the list changes.

So, in no particular order...

Anything by Studio Ghibli. I have yet to watch something they made that hasn't made me realise how wonderful life is. They manage to make wonderful, stirring films that don't rely on mawkish sentimentality (unlike the Disney boys and girls). They're also adult tales told for children, and told superbly; in Japan there's more adults go and see them than children. My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Laputa, Castle of Cagliostro and Pom Poco are all wonderful, but Porco Rosso makes me bawl my eyes out every time I watch it.

Stalingrad. Also made me bawl my eyes out, but for other reasons. It's an amazing war film in so many ways, extremely well made, and quite horrible. Don't watch it on a happy day; it's gruelling. It's what Saving Private Ryan should have been. Das Boot (full series or cut down movie version) is also well worth watching, and just as well made.

Strictly Ballroom. A sports movie masquerading rather successfully as a chick-flick. It's also an extremely good comedy. It's just a shame there had to be some kissing.

Captain America. Unlike all of the other superhero films to come out recently, Captain America was a story about a hero that was a study of what it was to *be* a hero. The plucky wimp becomes godlike story is very, very well told.

Fanboys. If you have not seen this, GO AND WATCH IT NOW. It's not perfect (due to evil movie company machinations, rather than the director) but this road trip movie about a group of Star Wars fans who can't wait to watch The Phantom Menace is packed with geek references, but never talks down to it's audience or is forced to rely on cheap shots (looking at you, Spaceballs). It's wonderful, and has an amazing payoff.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Another wonderful film, with an amazing payoff. The cast are really well done, and the crazy surreality is pitched perfectly throughout.

Returner. It's like some Koreans decided to take the best bits of Terminator, Independence Day, The Matrix, and half a dozen other action films and put them all in the same film. It's worth watching, just for the sheer balls of it all.

Kung Fu Hustle. A Hong Kong movie that's a cartoon pretending to be a live action martial arts film. It's extraordinarily good. Yet also strange.

Brotherhood of the Wolf. One of my all-time favourite films. French film-making is a lot better than evil Hollywood would want us to believe, and this film is one of the highest grossing French films ever. It's based on the real-life tale of the Beast of Gevaudan, it's fictional retelling using multiple genres incensed the French literary scene. Fantastic film-making, awesome coats.

I'm going to stop here. Ask me tomorrow, and I'd probably have a different list. I'm an eclectic fan of films...

Cheers,
Hawley.

This is really, really hard to do. Sort of impossible for me to name my best 5 movies of all time. Like BadJawa, tomorrow, if I was to do it again, I would come up with 5 different ones.

So, here are 5 films I like, from my massive list.


Kelly's Heros.
Love clint and love old war films. There are some great actors in this film, and Donald Sutherland plays a great part.

The Deer Hunter
Just an epic film

Star Wars Ep: 04 (A New Hope)
One of the first films I sort of remember watching as a child with my Dad. I went to the flicks to watch it when it came out. I don't really remember watching it, but more of a feeling I remember.

Goodfellas
I love a good gangster flick and this is one of the best.

Close encounters of the third kind
Just another epic film, and it has Richard Dreyfuss in it, nuff said.

Aliens
It's hard to pick between the first Alien film and the second one. But I think the second is just that little bit better. "Game over man, game over!"

Sorry, that was six. I could go on for ever.