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5 movies you would force someone to watch


AI

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This is kind of a spin off pi's (pretty cool) thread.

Lets say you knew someone who had never seen a film. You can pick 5 films for them to see. This person is totally willing, and can watch them on there own time, over, let's say a weekend.

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Star Wars, Lawrence of Arabia, Forrest Gump, Dr. Strangelove, and The Maltese Falcon.

If I were given another five spots, I'd include The Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Casablanca, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Chosen to create a good cross-section of the higher end of Hollywood's output, not for sheer quality.

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Trying to avoid personal faves, but inevitably including some of them, I'd choose masterpieces of their respected genres.

Jaws

Twelve Angry Men

Raiders

LOTR:FOTR

Whistle Down The Wind

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This is really difficult. Because if a person has never seen a film, they may not be aware of the structures and frameworks that make it up. Appreciation of cinema requires time and effort. Sidestepping the many potential issues this introduces, if I were to choose five films that can summarize the beauty and possibility that cinema can offer, here's what I would pick (in no particular order):

The General

Rear Window

Casablanca

King Kong

The Third Man

Ted

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Really? If people want to learn something about science or the Earth's ecosystem, they should read books and conduct research. The cinema has the capability of a different kind of enlightenment.

Ted

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Really? If people want to learn something about science or the Earth's ecosystem, they should read books and conduct research. The cinema has the capability of a different kind of enlightenment.

Ted

If people (especially in my USA) were smart enough to read books and conduct research, then we wouldn't need movies like Truth. Instead, we need to be force-fed any vital information.

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Police Academy 7

Batman and Robin

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4: The Next Generation

Meteor Man

Sound Of Thunder

I'm sick. I know.

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Heat

Brazil

The Singing Detective (6-part miniseries)

City Lights

Dark City

I've forced people to watch all of these before! :)

I like those selections very much.

Ted

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Once Upon A Time in the West

Star Wars

Gettysburg

LOTR: FOTR

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Chosen for a variety of Genres, good music, and good screenwriting.

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Heat

Brazil

The Singing Detective (6-part miniseries)

City Lights

Dark City

I've forced people to watch all of these before! :)

I like those selections very much.

Ted

I'm another silent comedy buff! I notice you had The General on your list. I only got into Keaton a couple of years ago, and I'm very impressed! I bought the Kino DVD set. Apart from The General, I love Our Hospitality, Steamboat Bill Jr, The Cameraman, The Boat. The final line of "dialogue" from The Boat is hilarious! I still think Chaplin has the slight edge though. I've loved his movies since I was a nipper!

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There are too many variables here. This person has never seen a film before...ever? How old are they? Why haven't they seen a film? Are they a competent human being? And provided I show them 5 films, will they ever see more?

I know, I'm thinking too hard. :)

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Since I would want to put the person who I am forcing to watch the movies into a certain frame of mind, I would choose the following films:

Requiem for a Dream

The Elephant Man

Gattaca

The Ice Storm

Eraserhead

Presuming that they hadn't seen these movies, I would hope seeing them would force said person to look at the world a bit differently.

Also, hopefully they wouldn't kill themselves.

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Heat

Brazil

The Singing Detective (6-part miniseries)

City Lights

Dark City

I've forced people to watch all of these before! :)

I like those selections very much.

Ted

I'm another silent comedy buff! I notice you had The General on your list. I only got into Keaton a couple of years ago, and I'm very impressed! I bought the Kino DVD set. Apart from The General, I love Our Hospitality, Steamboat Bill Jr, The Cameraman, The Boat. The final line of "dialogue" from The Boat is hilarious! I still think Chaplin has the slight edge though. I've loved his movies since I was a nipper!

I haven't seen The Cameraman or the Boat, but it sounds like I'm going to have to soon. I absolutely love Steamboat Bill, Jr, Our Hospitality, Sherlock, Jr., and one of his more underrated films, Seven Chances. But I think The General is my favorite. Something about that movie absolutely hooks me and gives me great joy.

Ted

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I think Beowulf has the best list, because they are tough movies to watch yet are very powerful.

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I'd also say it would be proper to include films from all decades not just 1980/1990 to present.

Yes, although it depends on the person. Ideally, I'd certainly pick Scaramouche, Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, North by Northwest, perhaps 2001: A Space Odyssey... but I know plenty of people who probably wouldn't like them, so I'd rather win their trust with five different movies first. :)

:P Powder (Jerry Goldsmith)

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Gunga Din

The Bride of Frankenstein

Randon Harvest

The Grapes of Wrath

Strangers on a Train

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Unless you want the person to fall asleep I'd skip 2001.

I fell asleep with V For Vendetta. Being unoriginal can do that to a person.

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Alex, are there any films you like - other than pre-determined great films as labelled by high-brow film theorists? To which school of thought in cinema studies do you subscribe? I'm curious. You seem overwhelmingly negative in your approach to many films.

Ted

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Under what ideological framework? I'm curious how people come to think that way. What expectations does one place on a given film or the cinema in general? If most films suck, then what is on the great end of the spectrum that throws the whole curve off and makes everything else suck?

Ted

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Alex, are there any films you like - other than pre-determined great films as labelled by high-brow film theorists? To which school of thought in cinema studies do you subscribe? I'm curious. You seem overwhelmingly negative in your approach to many films.

Well, I guess I am. However, here's a list of recent films that I like. You tell me what kind of school I subscribe to.

The Winslow Boy (1999)

Hellboy (2004)

The Bourne series (2002-2004)

X-Men 1 & 2 (2000-2003)

The Cooler (2003)

28 Days Later (2002)

Shattered Glass (2003)

The Edge (1997)

Titus (1999)

Off Screen (2005)

Dogville (2003)

Adaptation (2002)

Frida (2002)

Mystic River (2003)

Sideways (2004)

About Schmidt (2002)

Munich (2005)

Irreversible (2002)

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I have more than 5 movies, which are my favourite and which my friends should see!!!

Here are some:

V for Vendett

Life Is Beautiful

The Passion Of The Christ

Munich

Good Will Hunting

The Sixth Sense

The Piano

Amelie

The Lord Of The Rings

Amistad

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

and many many more!!!

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