There can be only one...
Actually, I didn't like Highlander (and 2 was MEGA SHIT), and I can't choose one film, so I'll give you a rundown of some of my faves.


A Bittersweet Life - I know the title sounds like some schmaltzy bollocks, but it's an affecting, stylish, action-gangster Korean flick that will make any man shed a tear at the shadow-boxing scene right before the credits. You can get this for between £5-£10, so buy it!

Once upon a Time in the West - Everyone loves The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. I love it too, but many seem to ignore its essentially-sister-movie. Charles Bronson cutting a mean yet scarce figure as Harmonica, mixed with a peculiar, almost blackly comic story, and Henry Fonda's evil bastard routine all lead up to a fantastic crescendo that hits like a hammer to the face once you find out the secret behind Harmonica's name and attitude.
Like TGTBATU, this film rewards the *patient* viewer with exquisite direction and set pieces that can astound.

Sympathy for Mr Vengeance - I think a lot of people have seen Oldboy, but I assume many might not have seen the emotional inception of Park Chan Wook's vengeance films; grim and comic. For example, the gruesome accidental death of a misfortunate kidnap victim at the hands of a deaf, down-on-his-luck, unwilling kidney donor and his ill-fated girlfriend is juxtaposed by the (absurdly humorous) image of a man with severe spasticity throwing rocks at their futile life-saving efforts. I've described but 5 minutes of film here, and you can see the depth of peculiarity and morbidity that flows from the entire story. Fantastic film, but almost soul crushingly depressing/uplifting at the end.

The Shawshank Redemption - Watch it. Or I will Chop off your balls/Gouge mimsy. (apologies for gruesomeness - Watch. It. Now). I don't think I've met a single person who has thought this film short of brilliant.

North by Northwest - I know a lot of people love Rear Window and Psycho to bits, but NbNW is my favourite Hitchcock movie, the mix of drama, intrigue, conspiracy and love all brought together in thrilling torrents of entertainment. *Bonus Hitchcock Film* - Watch Rope, which features some of the best direction I have seen in a film - a play-like presentation with the aim of no cuts, but due to the limitations of length of film at the time (1948, 10 mins) minor cuts had to be made (zooming in on a dark object, zooming out again at the start of the next reel for continuity), but still feels like one take - enhancing the immersion as the view is never shifted. An awesome, grim, film about two (subtly homosexual) men who kill their best friend for kicks.

I've tried to go for films which haven't been seen by many (excluding Shawshank), but now I'll add a list of some fantastic films which most people have probably seen.

Memento - Film-in-reverse about a man who has lost his short-term memory due to an attacker that killed his wife. Rewardingly horrible yet fantastic.

Se7en - You Must Watch. You will get chills at the line
"oh.. he didn't know.. *evil grin*"
(those who have seen it will know what I mean)

Leon - Jean Reno plays Jean Reno (as usual), but he is lovable in this film. And dangerous.

Barry Lyndon - Irish blagger bluffs his way into British Aristocracy, via lots of death and military servitude *Bonus* - watch 'The Aristocrats' a film about a joke, retold by numerous comedians but completely ad lib. Not for the easily offended.

Honorable Mentions:

Dirty Harry,
The Terminator / 2,
Blade Runner,
The Outlaw Josey Wales,
The English Patient,
The Deer Hunter,
Howl's Moving Castle (watch in Japanese, the English dub is terrible)
The Green Mile,
Robocop (ignore robo 2 and 3)
The Godfather
Glengarry Glen Ross (Masterful performances from Lemmon, Pacino, Baldwin, Harris, Price and Spacey)

Finally, embarrassingly, I went to see Big Fish with my girlfriend. We didn't leave the cinema for 15 mins at the end of the film because we were blubbing like babies. Eddie Vedder singing 'Man of the Hour' over the credits didn't help. Mournful bastard. *blubs*

I'm sure there's many others that I would recommend, but this is all I can think of at the moment. Maybe I'll post more later.

Ta if you've read this far, and I hope I've given people some good films to watch!

Apologies for 196min, 18 cert, R.
(Lythium deals in lead, my friend., Thu 17 Jul 2008, 17:42, 2 replies)

I agree wtih all but one:
I did not like "Howl's Moving Castle" that much. Compared to earlier films such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Totoro, the animation and characterisation just feels lazy and uninspired. Not one of the best Studio Ghibli films, by a long way...
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Fri 18 Jul 2008, 13:50, closed)

I can see what you mean,
but I found Howl's a much more emotionally affecting story than some of the other ghibli films I have experienced (even Spirited Away, for some reason).

Then again, I would gladly replace either of those for Grave of the Fireflies

Sadly, I have still not got around to watching Princess Mononoke yet, but I've heard great things.
(Lythium deals in lead, my friend., Fri 18 Jul 2008, 15:09, closed)