ASFN's Top 20 movies to see before YOU die...

[Ryanwb]

I'm curious as to what Westerns you have seen.

Dances With Wolves and Blazing Saddles

 

[Jersey Girl]

ranomly pieced together list of favorites:

7) The Quiet Man: John Wayne flick about the irish boxer who comes home.

 

[Pariah]

There will be a lot of Westerns on my list. Off the top of my head:

1. Outlaw Jose Whales
2. The Unforgiven
3. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
4. Silverado
5. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
6. The Wild Bunch

Ah, Hell, I may as well do the whole list off the top of my head, in no particular order (the numbers are just there to make sure I get to 20)...

7. Rushmore
8. Bottle Rocket
9. Royal Tanenbaums
10. Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
11. Rocky
12. My Life
13. Mac
14. Cinema Paradiso
15. Cosi
16. Life is Beautiful
17. On the Waterfront
18. Raging Bull
19. Taxi Driver
...and (drum roll please)...
20. Three Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (EVERYONE must watch this classic Hulk Hogan/Loni Anderson masterpiece ... because I'm in it).

I tried to stay away from big blockbusters that most people have seen, per Cheesebeef's interpretation of the list (Rocky may violate that rule, but at the time it wasn't a "blockbuster," but then, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was, so who knows what the hell I'm doing). That makes sense to me.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Okay, here's my list. Like Pariah, I tried to stay away from the blockbusters, but some I just couldn't bump off ...

1. It’s A Wonderful Life
2. The Ref
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. The Breakfast Club
5. Cinderella Man
6. Say Anything
7. Swingers
8. Young Guns I and II
9. Boyz in the Hood
10. The Princess Bride
11. Stand By Me
12. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
13. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
14. Forrest Gump
15. Better Off Dead
16. The Full Monty
17. A Christmas Story
18. Star Wars (all of them)
19. Rudy
20. Legends of the Fall

 

[SirStefan32]

i knew what he meant, but i was wondering what about me screamed "chick flick."

 

[NEZCardsfan]

--For a few Dollars More
--Once upon a Time in the West
--Tombstone
--The Jerk
--Ferris Bueller's Day Off
--Adventures in Babysitting
--Raging Bull
--Taxi Driver
--Aliens
--Blade Runner
--Rocky
--Robocop
--Psycho
--Clockwork Orange
--Raiders of the Lost Ark
--Back to the Future
--Die Hard
--Terminator
--On the Waterfront
--Wizard of Oz

 

[NEZCardsfan]

am i the only one who could go without ever seeing another western? i really don't get the hype...

How can you not like Sergio Leonne's(sp) films??

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I filled out 19 of 20 movies that I wanted, and then closed the window on accident?

Doh....

 

[jf-08]

No particular order:

1 - American Psycho
2 - The Pope of Greenwich Village
3 - Miller's Crossing
4 - Monty Python / Holy Grail
5 - So I Married an Axe Murderer
6 - Road Warrior
7 - Passion of Christ
8 - Pretty Woman
9 - Top Gun
10 - Forrest Gump
11 - American Werewolf in London
12 - Office Space
13 - What About Bob
14 - Jaws
15 - The Professional (Leon)
16 - Full Metal Jacket
17 - Waking Ned Devine
18 - Midnight Express
19 - Schindler's List
20 - Stand by Me

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Attempt number 2

1) All About Eve
2) A Philadelphia Story
3) Double Indemnity
4) The Siege
5) The Matrix
6) Rear Window
7) North by Northwest
8 ) Godfather
9) Godfather II
10) Office Space
11) Alladin (Disney)
12) The Seige (favorite Denzel movie)
13) Muholland Dr.
14) Memento
15) Hard Boiled
16) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
17) Enter the Dragon
18 ) Schlinder's List
19) Closer
20) Pulp Fiction

 

[Ollie]

7) Dead Alive -- Not for the faint of heart, this is one of Peter Jackson's first projects. Think Evil Dead, but with A LOT more blood and gore. I mean, A LOT. You'll never forget how to use a lawnmower as a weapon after watching this movie. (Trivia: In Jackson's King Kong, there is a direct reference to this film).

You'll never forget how a priest does kung-fu, too... Bad Taste, his first movie is almost as great as Dead Alive/Braindead (you'll never forget how to use a rocket launcher to do a BBQ...)

19) The Crimson Rivers -- A recent French film starring Jean Reno and Vincent Cassell as detectives investigating some grisly murders at a religious school in the Alps. Very atmospheric and a very "western" style make this one understandable almost without the subtitles.

Did you enjoy the ending ? Spoiler : pretty ridiculous, imo. By the way, the sequel "Angels of the Apocalyspe" is a masterpiece of involuntary humor.

So here's my "20 films to watch before you die" list, in no particular order. I excluded some aforementioned movies... and that's definitively not my 20 all time best movies list (I guess these all would be on my top 100 list, though).

- 21 Grams (Alejandro González Inárritu) How much does soul weigh?

- Lord Of War (Andrew Niccol) Nicolas Cage sells guns... and he's making a killing.

- Irréversible (Gaspard Noé) You'll find it disturbing, not doubt about it.

- The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick) Human beings at war. I could have picked any Malick movie, though.

- Heaven's Gate (Michael Cimino) Vilified for being utterly expensive and long, but it's a masterpiece (or at least a ridiculously underrated movie).

- The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard) French remake of James Toback's "Fingers".

- Underground (Emir Kusturica) The surrealistic implosion of a country.

- Donzoko/The Lower Depths (Akira Kurosawa) The japanese master adaptation of Gorky's play. A violent and pessimistic movie.

- Dead Man (Jim Jarmush) No real plot or story, pure atmosphere.

- Mar Adentro/The Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenabar) Euthanasia ?

- The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles) The "Cidade de Deus" director adapts John Le Carré : very solid.

- Breaking The Waves (Lars von Trier) Not his best movie imo, but the less "arty" and the easiest to watch.

- Breathless (Jean Luc Godard) The french new wave tribute to the film noir.

- The "Dollars" trilogy (Sergio Leone) Clint with his poncho, 'nuf said. Well, any Sergio Leone directed western do the trick anyway.

- Blue Velvet (David Lynch) A human ear and an underworld.

- A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick) Beethoven, ultra violence and mind manipulation.

- Life of Brian (The Monthy Pythons) Official tagline : A motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.

- Hannah and her Sisters (Woody Allen) One of his best movies with a slightly dramatic tone.

- Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum (Volker Schlondorff) During the 30's, a 3- year german kid refuses to grow up, protesting against the passivity of his parents, family and the whole german middle class .

- Happiness (Todd Solondz) : where are you? I've searched so long for you...

- Bonus : Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam a.k.a. Turkish Star Wars : maybe the worst movie ever made (that or Rambo 3). Incredibly funny because of its cheapness and insanity.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I finally got a chance to put my list together.

Rocky – My favorite movie of all-time and the best underdog story ever. I couldn’t make a list without including it.

Airplane – Probably the best silly comedy that I’ve seen.

The Princess Bride – A great story with some very funny characters.

Can’t Buy Me Love – I had to put a silly 80’s movies on my list, and I seem to always watch this when I stumble upon it.

A River Runs Through It – A story about the bond between brothers filmed in very beautiful surroundings.

The Big Lebowski – My favorite comedy of all-time. Half the lines in this movie are quotable for a laugh later.

Without Limits – Based on the true story of the great Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine. The racing scenes are amazing.

Dog Day Afternoon – It was strange how it actually makes you start to root for the criminal, and it was based on a true story.

Seven – I need to put a thriller on here, and this is probably the best one I’ve seen.

Donnie Darko – Definitely needs to be seen at least twice, it really makes you think.

12 Angry Men – It made me want to serve on a jury.

Vacation – We always watch this before we go on a family vacation (the edited version)

The Mexican – One of those movies where everything goes wrong and you never know what’s going to happen next.

Cadence – They did a great job of developing the characters in this one, I’m not sure what it was, but I really liked this movie.

Risky Business – A teenager with the house to himself, something bad always happens. I loved the ending to this one.

First Blood – Stallone had like 6 lines until the last scene, I loved this movie as a kid.

Evolution – This was going to be called Ghostbusters 3, but they changed their minds. It’s absolutely hilarious (and for you X-Files fans it stars David Duchovny).

Diggstown – Some of the best dialogue in a comedy that I’ve ever heard.

Black Hawk Down – I’ve seen a lot of war movies, but this hit me a lot harder for some reason.

Vision Quest – A good movie to watch if you’re getting ready to start a new training regimen.

I left off some of my favorite movies (Gladiator, American Beauty, Office Space & Fight Club) and I'm sure that I'm forgetting some that I would insert into my list.

 

[Jersey Girl]

- A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick) Beethoven, ultra violence and mind manipulation.

I haven't yet been able to bring myself to watch that movie. Just hearing about the plot was disturbing enough. It's on my list of movies to see though.

 

[Assface]

In no particular order.

1 The Explorers
2 History of the World
3 Princess Bride
4 Ice Pirates
5 Blazing Saddles
6 Swingers
7 Anchorman
8 8 Crazy Nights
9 Dumb and Dumber
10 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
11 Regarding Henry
12 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
13 Spinal Tap
14 Grumpy Old men
15 Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
16 Stand and Deliver
17 The Majestic
18 Van Wilder
19 Office Space
20 Clerks

 

[Chaplin]

In no particular order.

1 The Explorers
2 History of the World
3 Princess Bride
4 Ice Pirates
5 Blazing Saddles
6 Swingers
7 Anchorman
8 8 Crazy Nights
9 Dumb and Dumber
10 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
11 Regarding Henry
12 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
13 Spinal Tap
14 Grumpy Old men
15 Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
16 Stand and Deliver
17 The Majestic
18 Van Wilder
19 Office Space
20 Clerks

Great list except for 8 Crazy Nights (not a big Adam Sandler fan), Anchorman (overrated to an alarming degree) and Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (very disappointing). Otherwise, cool to see The Majestic, Explorers and History of the World on a list.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I just thought of a movie that I would insert into my top 20 movies to see.

You must be registered for see images attach

Here is a review, but it just doesn't do it justice.


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The Warriors combines pure pulp storytelling and surprisingly poetic images into a thoroughly enjoyable cult classic. The plot is mythically pure (and inspired by a legendary bit of Greek history): When a charismatic gang leader is shot at a conclave in the Bronx meant to unite all the gangs in New York City, a troupe from Coney Island called the Warriors get blamed and have to fight all the way back to their own turf--which means an escalating series of battles with colorful and improbable gangs like the Baseball Furies, who wear baseball uniforms and KISS-inspired face make-up. Pop existentialism, performances that are somehow both wooden and overwrought, and zesty, kinetic filmmaking from director Walter Hill (Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs.) result in a delicious and unexpectedly resonant operatic cheesiness. The Ultimate Director's Cut doesn't radically alter the movie--some of the editing is tighter, the Greek legend has been added as an introduction--with one exception: in transitions, scenes begin and end as scenes from a comic book. While The Warriors always had a comic book flavor (and Hill, in an interview, says he deliberately pursued that sensibility), this device--similar to The Hulk--seems a bit overkill. But it's a minor problem; the movie holds its own, even 26 years later. The dvd has no audio commentary, but there are four short documentaries (really, one documentary in four parts). These include excellent interviews with Hill, actors Michael Beck, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, and Deborah Van Valkenburgh. The producers, the cinematographer, the costume designer, the stunt coordinator, and many others give lively and in-depth descriptions of how the movie came to be. One of these documentaries includes portions of a deleted scene that was used when The Warriors was screened on television; no other deleted scenes are included. --Bret Fetzer

 

[devilalum]

Is there a difference between 20 movies you must see before you die and a regular top 20 list?

I would like to see some more creative lists.

20 best movies with hot lesbians (not porn)
20 best movies set in winter
20 best war movies
20 best rat pack movies
20 best movies featuring a midget
20 best westerns
20 best movies with NY as a setting
20 best movies that have at least one sports related scene
20 best movies to watch buzzed
20 best movies to watch with a date
20 best movies to watch when you're violently ill ( I always watch movies when I have the stomach flu, it makes the time pass by more quickly)

Some of these have probably been done but don't you think it would be fun to come up with some really off the wall lists? Maybe top 10 would be easier for a more obscure topic.

 

[devilalum]

You'll never forget how a priest does kung-fu, too... Bad Taste, his first movie is almost as great as Dead Alive/Braindead (you'll never forget how to use a rocket launcher to do a BBQ...)

Did you enjoy the ending ? Spoiler : pretty ridiculous, imo. By the way, the sequel "Angels of the Apocalyspe" is a masterpiece of involuntary humor.

So here's my "20 films to watch before you die" list, in no particular order. I excluded some aforementioned movies... and that's definitively not my 20 all time best movies list (I guess these all would be on my top 100 list, though).

- 21 Grams (Alejandro González Inárritu) How much does soul weigh?

- Lord Of War (Andrew Niccol) Nicolas Cage sells guns... and he's making a killing.

- Irréversible (Gaspard Noé) You'll find it disturbing, not doubt about it.

- The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick) Human beings at war. I could have picked any Malick movie, though.

- Heaven's Gate (Michael Cimino) Vilified for being utterly expensive and long, but it's a masterpiece (or at least a ridiculously underrated movie).

- The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard) French remake of James Toback's "Fingers".

- Underground (Emir Kusturica) The surrealistic implosion of a country.

- Donzoko/The Lower Depths (Akira Kurosawa) The japanese master adaptation of Gorky's play. A violent and pessimistic movie.

- Dead Man (Jim Jarmush) No real plot or story, pure atmosphere.

- Mar Adentro/The Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenabar) Euthanasia ?

- The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles) The "Cidade de Deus" director adapts John Le Carré : very solid.

- Breaking The Waves (Lars von Trier) Not his best movie imo, but the less "arty" and the easiest to watch.

- Breathless (Jean Luc Godard) The french new wave tribute to the film noir.

- The "Dollars" trilogy (Sergio Leone) Clint with his poncho, 'nuf said. Well, any Sergio Leone directed western do the trick anyway.

- Blue Velvet (David Lynch) A human ear and an underworld.

- A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick) Beethoven, ultra violence and mind manipulation.

- Life of Brian (The Monthy Pythons) Official tagline : A motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.

- Hannah and her Sisters (Woody Allen) One of his best movies with a slightly dramatic tone.

- Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum (Volker Schlondorff) During the 30's, a 3- year german kid refuses to grow up, protesting against the passivity of his parents, family and the whole german middle class .

- Happiness (Todd Solondz) : where are you? I've searched so long for you...

- Bonus : Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam a.k.a. Turkish Star Wars : maybe the worst movie ever made (that or Rambo 3). Incredibly funny because of its cheapness and insanity.

Wow! There are a lot of downers on that list.

Forgot all about Monty Python, Life of Brian is great, liked Holy Grail and Meaning of Life just as well.

 

[D-Dogg]

Of course I would add Anchorman, but another film I adore that I would add is Gangs of New York. DDL's performance in that is fantastic...I really like that movie a great deal.

 

[Chaplin]

Of course I would add Anchorman, but another film I adore that I would add is Gangs of New York. DDL's performance in that is fantastic...I really like that movie a great deal.

Great performance, not so great film.

 

[D-Dogg]

Great performance, not so great film.

If you pare down the romance aspect of Amsterdam and Cameron Diaz it's a fantastic movie.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

now, if you wanted to say chandler mike wasn't the target audience, i'd agree with you...

Hmmm

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Of course I would add Anchorman, but another film I adore that I would add is Gangs of New York. DDL's performance in that is fantastic...I really like that movie a great deal.

I really don't see how Anchorman has risen to the status it has...I would have to believe that in a Top 20 moves to see before you die, there are far better movies and comedies than this.

Just my two cents.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

My personal Top 20:

1. Swingers - Ultimate guy movie
2. Lord of the Rings - The vast scale of it, the performances, the effects, make it a necessary viewing.
3. Shawshank Redemption - Such a great move filled with a great message about hope.
4. When Harry Met Sally - Best chick-flick ever made
5. Casablanca - An awesome movie, with lines in it still used to this day
6. Mad Mad Mad Mad World - Slapstick comedy with tons of great actors.
7. Godfather - You have to have it on any Top 20 list
8. A Few Good Men - Another great movie
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey - Still an amazing move to this day
10. Elephant - a haunting movie about a Columbine-like situation.
11. Silverado - One of the great westerns
12. Office Space - Love it
13. Primer - One of the best movies about time-travel...mind numbing, hard to figure out, but simply awesome.
14. Forrest Gump - A must-see
15. Snatch - Hilarious
16. Die Hard - one of the best action movies I've seen
17. Usual Suspect - Who is Kieser Soze?
18. Sixth Sense - Just because the end is so mind-blowing
19. Pulp Fiction - It's just good...bring out the gimp
20. E.T. - Made me cry when I was a kid...

So that's my list...did it kind of fast.

 

[D-Dogg]

I really don't see how Anchorman has risen to the status it has...I would have to believe that in a Top 20 moves to see before you die, there are far better movies and comedies than this.

Just my two cents.

For me, I have a bachelors in broadcast journalism, interned at an NBC news station and worked at the NAU Broadcast News department before I wised up and decided to go into marketing instead.

Anchorman, despite being hilarious on face value, also has added value for me of lambasting an industry that I really dislike.