ahwell's Top 100 Movies - 2020

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Good to see you followed up that mainstream melodramatic crap with some REAL CINEMA.

Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece indeed. That Kubrick binge I was on during the director dissection with Sean and Raul really massacred my senses. Complete overstimulation, really... But I still loved the experience though it was a lot of extremely demanding cinema all at once.



12 years a slave should be part of that list



12 years a slave should be part of that list
I haven't seen it yet!! But will definitely try to watch soon.
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45. Alien (1979)

As someone who saw - and loved - Aliens before this, I was wary about the slow pace Alien might have, the more horror as opposed to thriller feel.

And I was right about those things, but I ended up enjoying Alien even more than Aliens. It's a downright masterpiece. The idea of being cooped up in a spaceship in the middle of nowhere with a killer alien lurking somewhere is just terrifying enough already. And then Ridley Scott brings it to a new level, with his amazing cinematography, lighting, and use of the actors.

Sigourney Weaver, what a queeeeen! She's such a badass bitch in this movie, yet she's also completely relatable. In many ways this is just a slasher movie along the veins of Halloween and Friday the 13th. Except those movies A) didn't have the amazing setting and sci-fi theme as this B) didn't have strong enough characters to make you want to care.

The score is fantastic, creepy and not too intrusive, it comes and goes just at the right times. And just the slow build up to the climax is incredibly well done.

Screw it, everything about Alien is so incredibly well done. It's somehow better than Aliens.



In many ways this is just a slasher movie along the veins of Halloween and Friday the 13th. Except those movies A) didn't need to have the amazing setting and sci-fi theme as this B) are much, much better


Also, "just" a slasher movie? How very dare you!
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You mean me? Kei's cousin?
I actually remember seeing Alien for the first time at age five. It was the first R-rated film I saw alone. Yeah, Aliens is my favorite, but Alien deserves its reputation also and I'm definitely a fan. It's too bad the franchise took a nosedive into crap with Alien 3.
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44. Whiplash (2014)

I loved this. Seriously, what a gem. Damien Chazelle, in only two films, has become one of my favorite living directors. I need to see First Man, this makes me so excited for it. I don't know what else to say, but this is going on my top 10 of the decade.

(Edit: I have now seen First Man and it was pretty good!)



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.


44. Whiplash (2014)

I loved this. Seriously, what a gem. Damien Chazelle, in only two films, has become one of my favorite living directors. I need to see First Man, this makes me so excited for it. I don't know what else to say, but this is going on my top 10 of the decade.

(Edit: I have now seen First Man and it was pretty good!)

I loved Whiplash. It was one of my favorite movies of the year.
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for Alien. Whiplash, I shut it off after 10 minutes, I couldn't buy into what I was seeing.
Wasn’t he just drumming in the first ten minutes?

I don’t remember anything so insanely wrong happening in only those first ten minutes that one would shut it off for it. But you are welcome to elaborate if I’m missing something. It has been a while since I watched it last.


Anyways, for me, Whiplash is amazing. My first experience with the film was unmatched though. During the climax I was sweating and almost shaking. I thought it was so exceptionally done. The 4K is out soon and it’s a must buy for me.



Wasn’t he just drumming in the first ten minutes?

I don’t remember anything so insanely wrong happening in only those first ten minutes that one would shut it off for it. But you are welcome to elaborate if I’m missing something. It has been a while since I watched it last.


Anyways, for me, Whiplash is amazing. My first experience with the film was unmatched though. During the climax I was sweating and almost shaking. I thought it was so exceptionally done. The 4K is out soon and it’s a must buy for me.
I don't doubt that Whiplash is amazing as the film goes on, as so many people really love it. But for me when the teacher went ballistic and threw something at the student, it just seemed over done.



I don't doubt that Whiplash is amazing as the film goes on, as so many people really love it. But for me when the teacher went ballistic and threw something at the student, it just seemed over done.
But that's like way more than 10 minutes before that scene comes on... looks like you had so much fun you forgot the time.

Sure, the film sometimes pushes into the extreme, but the theme about wanting to accomplish success even against all odds weights heavily and is so powerful imo. As the film goes on it's clear that this is the feeling it want to evoke in us. How we can relate to this young man and his ultimate dream.

And I'm sure there are music teachers out there like the one J.K. Simmons plays, even if it seems insane. Even in my own country there's a production company called Zentropa - who's behind Trier's movies for example. And that place is notorious for absolutely insane stuff - even stuff that's way beyond hurling a chair at someone. To me it seems completely plausible, especially in the art business, that stuff like that exists.



You mean me? Kei's cousin?
I must have made it to the 30 minute mark If an American teacher did anything like the teacher in Whiplash did, it be: dismissal followed by a huge law suit.
Nowadays, yeah. Back when Mom was growing up, she had a teacher worse than that named Ms. Cross who spanked her every day over a feud Ms. Cross had with my grandmother about some man. Literally all they did was fire Ms. Cross from the school and she went to teach eighth grade at another school where Mom basically had to put up with her crap again.



Nowadays, yeah. Back when Mom was growing up, she had a teacher worse than that named Ms. Cross who spanked her every day over a feud Ms. Cross had with my grandmother about some man. Literally all they did was fire Ms. Cross from the school and she went to teach eighth grade at another school where Mom basically had to put up with her crap again.
Ugh, that sucks for your mom.



You mean me? Kei's cousin?
Ugh, that sucks for your mom.
It did. She was only in second grade when that happened, at that. Thankfully, in eighth grade, that was back in '69 or '70, laws and regulations, in the state of Georgia at least, had changed regarding such behavior, so when she thought she was gonna do that same old crap to Mom all over again, the principal of that school fired her and she lost her teaching license permanently.