Gatsby's Top 51 Films

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Master of My Domain
I'm talking about the original Mad Max. I had to use a pic from the sequel because I couldn't find proper pic. Glad I find someone besides me who prefers the first one. Unexpectedly that was you, I thought you joined MoFo for all the wrong reasons.



Master of My Domain
6. Ran



Unlike the majority, Ran is my favorite Kurosawa. And I rightly believe so because, first of all, hell, Kurosawa himself said he considers Ran to be his best work. Other reasons will be explained below.

Ran is the final, big explosion of Kurosawa's career. All the knowledge, all the experience, all those years are poured into one great epic masterpiece. He lets out everything with the help of color and a bigger budget. His trademark shots of armies beautifully riding down hills from far away in one take, warriors seemingly dancing through the plains on horses are the best in this film, mainly because of above.

I really like the character development. The first 30 minutes are spent letting the characters to talk and slowly let us be captivated into them. The final battle doesn't happen until the last half hour, and during that time Kurosawa cleverly balances human emotions between a crazed lord and his trusty servants, and builds tension with short bursts of violence caused by the greedy, selfish fighting sons.

But the best aspect of them all is definitely the battle scenes. Kurosawa's decision to have the castle raid scene without sound is absolutely genius. The lack of sound and only the bloody and dead souls all around you with dark and ominous shots of armies raiding in make you really sink into the atmosphere and the stuff that's happening. The final battle between the two brothers are in contrast, better with sound. This time Kurosawa is trying to show the realistic part of battles, where it's not just a reckless and heroic charge, but one with countless back and forths, lasing, stabbing from behind, and the dreadful sound of gunfire and men helplessly falling off horses to their death. Both battles are a cinematic masterpiece.

In conclusion, compared to Ran's quality I don't think a lot of people have seen it. If you're already a Kurosawa fan, I really suggest you watch this masterpiece. For those just getting into Kurosawa this isn't much of a first film, but once you understand his brilliance make sure to come back to what I think is the pinnacle of his career- a undoubtful favorite of mine.




Master of My Domain
5. Taxi Driver



Taxi Driver is the kind of movie that comes out once every few decades. It turns the world of cinema upside down with it's brilliance. This film introduced a genius actor Robert DeNiro and legendary crime and thriller director Martin Scorsese. And the film which brought the two to spotlight is the one I consider the best.

I don't have much to add, or anything at all, to add about what's been said about Taxi Driver. First of all, the acting by DeNiro is a damn good masterpiece by itself. Just make DeNiro's character Travis Bickle walk down the streets or driving, wandering around for an hour and a half and it's already a great film. Taxi Driver takes the study of a wandering, misfit and lonely character and takes it to a whole new level.

The way the film creates a new level is the mood and atmosphere of the film. I had never seen anything like it before. The minimalist score is perfectly matched with dreamy shots of taxi cab mirrors and windows that show the dark, dirty, but equally beautiful view of New York City. It sucks you into everything around you in a way that touches your heart and makes it memorable for a lot of time even after you finish watching.

Before I saw Taxi Driver I thought it was DeNiro being a cool gangsta killing a bunch of people. I was wrong, thankfully. I was hit hard on my senses with something totally new and wonderful. It got me into looking at the atmosphere, background, and inner emotion of characters of films instead of the action and words shoved directly at your face to give you fun, but very shallow experience of film-watching. The killing I expected only happens at the very end in not such a cool and stylish way but it was better than all the cool mass shootouts I'd seen, and lasted with me longer.




Master of My Domain
For Taxi Driver. They are very different from each other, but you should see After Hours Gatsby.
Thanks Raul for your suggestion.



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I think you would really dig that one. Scorsese is one of my favorite directors and I think After Hours has become my favorite of his.



Hey alright! Taxi Driver and The Blues Brothers are also in my top 10, the latter being my most sentimental movie.

Network is great too!

I still have to see Ran.



Did Taxi Driver recently enter your top ten? I remember checking your favorites and it not being there, correct me If I'm wrong. Either way, glad you like/love it.



Master of My Domain
Did Taxi Driver recently enter your top ten? I remember checking your favorites and it not being there, correct me If I'm wrong. Either way, glad you like/love it.
No not recently, Taxi Driver has always been a favorite of mine. You probably checked my Top 10 when Shawshank Redemption was in the number 5 spot instead for a while because I wanted a bit of change. Sort of like me currently having Sonatine in the number 6th spot instead of Ran.



Master of My Domain
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail



After films like Ran and Taxi Driver, you might not enjoy this one as humor is very subjective. However because I want to keep my list personal I chose my 4th favorite a film that makes me laugh the biggest and most often.

I consider Monty Python and the Holy Grail to be a comedic masterpiece, no actually; more like a bible. All sorts of jokes, puns, fourth wall breaks, and comedic situations that are still being used today- are found in a short 90 minutes or so and are executed perfectly.

The jokes are the punchline of the film but if you just look at the very basic premise you get the answer of why it helplessly makes you laugh. It's the story of the 'brave' men of Camelot, lead by King Arthur, on the search for the legendary Holy Grail. Now if these men were proper knights you would consider their quest as something serious, but that's not their case. When they walk they prance sort of like hyper little girls and speak in a ridiculous fashion. Just the sight of them make you spit out whatever you're drinking.

Because of this basic ridiculous premise it gives the film an excuse to do anything crazy. Now this is the tricky part about possibility- you can either fail at a restaurant, for example by choosing a bad soup or score with a nice salad. Or choose nothing. Or be wacky and creative and ask something crazy and totally out of mind. In my opinion, Monty Python and the Holy Grail does all four, and all in a totally hilarious way. Some jokes and situations make you want to facepalm- but the execution of them is so great it's funny. The 'so-bad-it's-so-good' I love. The good stuff and creative and crazy stuff is really good. The killer bunny, the cartoon drawer dying, 'only a flesh wound' and many more are pure gold. Lastly, sometimes the film does nothing and lets the film take a run on itself. Strangely, it works, because everything around is backed up by good writing, performances, and the humor.

I want to see all my favorites in a theater one day, but for a reason I want to avoid seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail on a big screen. That's because I'll probably howl and laugh non-stop, shout famous quotes out loud with all the power my lungs possesses. Probably I will either die of a exhausted lung or get kicked out. Shows how much I love it.




Registered User
I'm talking about the original Mad Max. I had to use a pic from the sequel because I couldn't find proper pic. Glad I find someone besides me who prefers the first one. Unexpectedly that was you, I thought you joined MoFo for all the wrong reasons.
Yeah I joined for the beer and pussy. And the cocaine



Master of My Domain
3. Dr.Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb



I don't care what others say. Dr.Strangelove is the best satire and anti-war film ever made. And it is the best thing Kubrick has ever done.

Unlike most comedies which get boring after a re-watches because you already know all the jokes and the punchlines that are going to happen, Dr. Strangelove is a rare masterpiece that keeps getting better and better on each re-watch. It isn't the typical comedy where are the jokes are revealed right in front of the audience, rather it's actually sort of up to the audience to personally interpret what the whole movie means. Not a very friendly comedy for sure, but it's the main reason of the film's brilliance.

The table at the fictitious war room is where the film takes place the most. A short film trivia before I get into this and the next paragraph; Stanley Kubrick had the table look like and colored like a poker table, even though the film is in black and white and there is no reason for a war room to have such a table. So what does this mean?

The satire Dr.Strangelove is trying to execute- is the idiotic inner appearances hidden inside normally but brought to life at the edge of humanity. What Kubrick is implying is that the ones we call leaders are bluffing with our lives, glancing at one another hoping for anyone but themselves to solve the whole thing because simply they don't have the ability their supposed to have. Well, they might have the skills, but under the chance of extinction they become cowards and idiots- which is brilliantly comically shown.

Also even in dangerous situations where the two nations are supposed to work with each other and fix the problem- they're fighting like children, saying the childish classic "He did it, and I didn't!". The two countries trying to foolishly rip each other apart and make sure the other side doesn't get the upper hand are lead to famous and hilarious scenes, best of them all the 'Dmitri phone call' scene. If you can't laugh at that, you have a slight problem to be honest.

This film isn't about the war happening outside- like all great war films, it's about the war happening inside, And the really great part is that the tragedy of the inner war is spelled out in a comical way- which is more effective. Of course, satire doesn't always have to be funny to be effective- but in Dr.Strangelove's case it's pure gold. If you didn't like this film at first, give it another go. You may find something new.




Awesome list Gatsby, I was finally able to watch Dr. Strangelove a couple of weeks ago and it was quite good. I loved George C. Scott in it, he was the biggest reason it was so good imo.

Also cool to see Taxi Driver real high. Along with Scorsese and De Niro, I'd also like to give props to Paul Schrader for the amazing screenplay. I feel that screenwriters never get enough credit when it comes to amazing films.