The 100 favorite movies of Lines Palsy

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68. Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
He makes films that don't really express any philosophy, lack much dramatic arc and invests nothing in motivation,
This is pretty much what I thought of this film...if it wasn't for the OCEAN of sadness and nostalgia a lonely Hungarian immigrant grandma, stuck in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles away from home, in mid winter, managed to invoke, it would have been a complete waste of time...



The People's Republic of Clogher
A 100 with added Greenaway? Tip top taste so far, my friend.
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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan



I wondered what Cronenberg They Came From Within was and how i'd missed till i realised it's called Shivers over here. Odd.

Anyway, love the list some great films i've seen and want to rewatch and also some films i own but have yet to watch.
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60. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Cute as a button, almost cute enough to make a grown man puke. I guess everyone has a personal line that stories can't cross without becoming too cloying and manipulative, and this might cross some peoples'. For me, these Pixar projects seem to step right up to that line and then just stick their foot across it as a little nudge. There are a few that are up there for me but this one is the best.



59. Taxi Driver (1976)
I've seen most of Scorsese's movies, but this is the one I periodically go back to.



58. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Great suspense movie. I like how the macabre imagery slowly builds from sudden, almost-off-screen violence to that truly creepy old man and the furniture.



57. My Dinner With Andre (1981)
Such a direct, engaging piece of filmed theater. Wallace Shawn is amazing.




56. Floating Weeds (1959)
Love the color scheme and static compositions in this film. Proves Ozu to be a master.



55. The Ninth Gate (1999)
The tone of the film is somewhere between classic detective films of the 40s and 50s and fantasy/adventure. There's a bit where some devilish magic is suddenly revealed in a way that it seems to have been in plain view the whole time. I just get Polanski's sardonic humor.



54. Heaven (2002)
Beautiful, sensual and romantic without being gratuitous or cloying. Played against any expectations I would have had from the very start. Best performance I've seen from Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi holds his own as well.



This is pretty much what I thought of this film...if it wasn't for the OCEAN of sadness and nostalgia a lonely Hungarian immigrant grandma, stuck in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles away from home, in mid winter, managed to invoke, it would have been a complete waste of time...
I hadn't thought much about the old woman before but, she (and the whole mid-west leg of the story) does add some melancholy that I like, though I also like that it's not something that you're attention is deliberately drawn to, just like most everything else in that movie. Richard Edson's ineptly polite character is pretty funny, in that scene.

A 100 with added Greenaway? Tip top taste so far, my friend.
Still two more Greenaway films to come, but if anything I think he's a little underrepresented here. I really need to see The Pillow Book, The Draughtsman's Contract, and Cook,Thief, Wife, Lover again. And I still haven't gotten to 8 1/2 Women or The Baby of Macon (I'm probably dragging my feet a little because I know they don't have Michael Nyman soundtracks).

I wondered what Cronenberg They Came From Within was and how i'd missed till i realised it's called Shivers over here. Odd.
I'm actually not sure which title the video I've watched had, I've heard both but They Came From Within is a little more memorable, I think. Since I know you're a Cronenberg fan, it might interest you to know I dropped Videodrome from the list just because it's been too long since I've seen it, but I recently re-watched Dead Ringers and liked it even more than I remembered.



if it wasn't for the OCEAN of sadness and nostalgia a lonely Hungarian immigrant grandma, stuck in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles away from home, in mid winter, managed to invoke, it would have been a complete waste of time...

ummmmmmmmmm yeah you can relate to that I am sure????? wth dude
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When are you gonna realize that drinking and posting is a bad idea...(in your case at least)? :\
But if I may try to answer that nonsense, yes, I'm perfectly able to understand the sadness of that situation, even if I've not gone through it myself...





60. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Cute as a button, almost cute enough to make a grown man puke. I guess everyone has a personal line that stories can't cross without becoming too cloying and manipulative, and this might cross some peoples'. For me, these Pixar projects seem to step right up to that line and then just stick their foot across it as a little nudge. There are a few that are up there for me but this one is the best.
This is such a perfect example of why I love these lists so much, I've been reading and enjoying your list a lot. I've been adding movies to my to-see list left and right. You are a very eloquent in the way you describe all these films and I can tell you're very passionate about them and then, BLAM! Monster's INC! I love it, you big softy. I'd give you double rep points if I could.
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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...



When are you gonna realize that drinking and posting is a bad idea...(in your case at least)? :\
But if I may try to answer that nonsense, yes, I'm perfectly able to understand the sadness of that situation, even if I've not gone through it myself...
Well my response was due to this and many other witty assumptions you seem to like to make, and I was not drinking. Not saying I do not drink and not saying that maybe I should not post when I do. I will just move on now. Sorry Lines.

Nice films thus far.



I don't know what personal beef you two guys might have but to be fair your initial post did seem pretty antagonistic to me 7thson (calling someone out for saying they sympathize with a movie character), whether or not you were intoxicated (and not that "you started it" is a justification for insults, just pointing out that people tend to respond in kind). I couldn't tell if you were being passive-aggressive or if it was just another in a long line of friendly jabs between you two so I kept my mouth shut, but it might interest you to hear what a disinterested third party makes of your off the cuff remarks. We now return to your regularly-scheduled program.



This is such a perfect example of why I love these lists so much, I've been reading and enjoying your list a lot. I've been adding movies to my to-see list left and right. You are a very eloquent in the way you describe all these films and I can tell you're very passionate about them and then, BLAM! Monster's INC! I love it, you big softy. I'd give you double rep points if I could.
I worry a little that I may come off as apologetic in some of these posts. It's just hard trying to justify in words what is largely an emotional experience, but it's worth the effort if some people check out some of these movies. Thanks.



The People's Republic of Clogher
Still two more Greenaway films to come, but if anything I think he's a little underrepresented here. I really need to see The Pillow Book, The Draughtsman's Contract, and Cook,Thief, Wife, Lover again. And I still haven't gotten to 8 1/2 Women or The Baby of Macon (I'm probably dragging my feet a little because I know they don't have Michael Nyman soundtracks).
If you can get through The Baby of Macon in one sitting then you're a better man than I.

Greenaway is a great director, though.

"Many quite popular films are filled with violence. I think the difference between those and my films is that I show the cause and effect of violent activity. It's not a Donald Duck situation where he get a brick in the back of the head and gets up and walks away in the next frame. Mine have violence which keeps Donald Duck in the hospital for six months and creates a trauma which he will remember for the rest of his life." Peter Greenaway





53. Skeleton Dance (1929)
Instantly recognizable short by animation/special effects prodigy Ub Iwerks (for Disney). These performing skeletons are basically just a giddy virtuoso showcase for his imagination and talent.



52. Peking Opera Blues (1986)
Theater, politics and personal relationships are all conflated in this early Tsui Hark film, an instant favorite from the first time I saw it.



51. Naked (1993)
"Thanks for the mamaries."



50. Stormy Weather (1943)
This certainly belongs on any list of great musicals. It's got an immensely talented all-african-american cast as well as a dream-within-a-film musical number that is just as good as the one in Singin in the Rain, and predates it by a decade.



Put me in your pocket...


53. Skeleton Dance (1929)
While I like Fantasia on the whole, parts of it get a little tiresome. I much prefer these Silly Symphony shorts by Ub Iwerks. They were a huge advance in animation and still pretty darned entertaining today.


50. Stormy Weather (1943)
We now move into the bottom, or rather top half of my list, starting with this musical. Most musicals combine two sorts of worlds: a romantically simplified "normal" world in which the characters go about their lives, and some magical world of song where they say and do things that they can't (and don't) in the normal one. Think "Oklahoma" or "My Fair Lady". A few, like Singin' in the Rain or the ending sequence of this all-black musical offer all sorts of layered worlds, with performances, objective and subjective visions and narrations and strange abstract fantasies. This certainly belongs on any list of great musicals or great films.

I love reading your list Lines....these two in particular. Great choices. It's very cool to see those animated shorts getting recognition among all of the movies. And of course, Stormy Weather has some of the best song and dance routines ever shot. That end Jumpin' Jive number...geeezz...I have watched that over and over again. Cab Calloway and The Nicholas Brothers are just too cool.

I haven't seen Peking Opera Blues yet, but I'll be sure to look out for it.





97. Million Dollar Legs (1932)
This is a movie that has made a lasting impression on me both because it was a childhood favorite and because it's incredibly weird. Released in early July, 1932, just before the Summer Olympics in L.A. it comes across as a fluff promotional comedy gone very wrong. Set in Klopstokia, "The land time forgot", a country where all the girls are named Angela and all the civil servants seem to be unfairly endowed with niche athletic skills. Oh yeah, and where W.C. Fields is the president. Anyway, it's the bizarre story (written by Herman Mankiewicz' little brother) that I find most memorable about this pre-Hays Code comedy, and explaining too much of it might detract from your enjoyment, so just go check it out for yourself.
You are the first person I have met who has actually seen this movie it is one of my favourites
Great list, I have added quite a few to my must see list, Thanks
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Okay, in case any one was wondering, I got really sick of trying to string adjectives into meaningful statements, hence the delay. I'll make no promises about when I'll finish this, but rest assured I'm determined to get the whole 100 done.




49. Duck Soup (1933)
Has nothing to do with duck soup, just the Marx Brothers embarrassing and tormenting everyone. The three-Grouchos routine is something everyone needs to see.



48. Amateur (1994)
This movie has plenty of odd but witty talk about talk, writing about writing, and action that's conveyed so cleanly and instantaneously that you hardly notice the level of craft while you're watching it (the drill-assault scene is cinematic perfection, as far as I'm concerned).



47. Vengeance is Mine (1979)
One of the things I like about this is the women. Shohei Imamura is famous for creating stubborn, self-interested females, and this one has two of my favorites in Iwao Enokizu's wife and mistress (plus the many brief encounters in between). Fair warning that everyone in this movie is about as pathetic as can be, though.



Okay, in case any one was wondering, I got really sick of trying to string adjectives into meaningful statements, hence the delay. I'll make no promises about when I'll finish this, but rest assured I'm determined to get the whole 100 done.
Take your time, I don't think the Internet is going anywhere. I had a lot of trouble at times trying to come up with something interesting to say for every film on my list as well. I'm not a literary man, nor am I particularly quick witted, I am able to hide behind the Internet and appear smart at times, but that doesn't mean I'm able to write a small novel on every film I love... More's the pity, because I do so love them so very much. And wish at times I was able to more completely describe some of my feelings towards them, without constantly dropping down into, "Dude, I think that movie's really cool... And I've like; seen it 20 times!" Sorry, I'll shut up now...



This is a great list ! I'm loving the total variety of films - thanks for posting it, I know how hard it is cos I'm still working on mine





46. Repo Man (1984)
This has my sense of humor, full of dumb smart-ass observations. I also like that the hero is basically a loser, half the time acting out of inept or even contradictory self-interest and the other half not giving a crap, sometimes both at once. Harry Dean Stanton's most fun-to-watch performance. And this world is genuinely magical. Even if it is stupid. I like that the characters are sympathetic and real because they ultimately don't really matter.



45. La Jetée (1962)
Still photographs and narration used to tell the best story about memories and time travel ever made.



44. Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Teshigahara's radical restructuring of Japanese aesthetics together with Abe's most accessible story about the contradictions of a man's identity and self-awareness.



43. The Fly (1986)
The museum of dropped body parts in Brundle-fly's bathroom. Geena Davis's nightmare. As romantic as it is horrific.