Gatsby's Top 51 Films

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Master of My Domain
2. Pulp Fiction



This movie changed my life. It made me truly love cinema, step outside the mainstream comfort area and eventually become a member of this awesome community. Therefore, you could say Pulp Fiction influenced the entire list.

I remember first seeing Pulp Fiction at a friend's house. He loves movies just as much as I do that sadly became out of contact after moving far away. When I first saw the film my English wasn't good as it is today, and the subtitles didn't cover all the pop culture references I get now, but not back then. Regardless, I f**king loved it. That experience long ago was the fastest and most exciting 150 minutes of my life. I watched it again a few years later and it became the Number 1 favorite film.

Pulp Fiction didn't just change and influence me, it influenced cinema as a whole. There had never been a story, dialogues, and characters so original, so fun, and so down-to-earth before the film was released. Sure, the whole story is ridiculous and not very realistic at all but the conversations they have surely are. They're actually quite offensive, B-gradeish and sometimes not that intelligent- but so relate-able and quote-able, its exactly like how you talk with close buddies. This makes the characters extremely close to you and easy to get in their wild lives.

Some say Pulp Fiction is overrated and isn't worth the reputation is has, but I totally disagree. The fact that the film is considered to be so overrated just shows how great the film is. In my opinion, because the dialogue and elements of Pulp Fiction have ingrained closely into out lives- it doesn't feel that special. That's why the current generation of newbie movie buffs checking out on of the best films every made- this film of course- are finishing it only to be felt underwhelmed. However the generation before certainly didn't feel that way, and did everything to make the film be part of our daily lives. To truly enjoy Pulp Fiction I think you need to look into the eyes of someone who lived before the whole phenomenon and enjoy the fresh brilliance when it was released back then, without the giant veil of everyday culture all around us.

This film was the revival and introduction to many people. It kicked off the legendary careers of Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, and created a 2nd Golden Age for John Travolta, and most important of all the start of Tarantino- while Reservoir Dogs already made him a minor star Pulp Fiction made him into a superstar director and made a path for great films he went to make on later. So overall this film can be described as a powerful kick. A kick that propelled the audience into new levels of cinema, the actors and producers into a world that can easily accept their views because of a guaranteed success hard to obtain for even slightly arthouse directors and make them into legends. Pulp Fiction is a brilliant combination of mainstream and unique, special, and artistic elements. Probably the best combination of the two to ever be born, Usually the two elements fail miserably when put into the wrong hands, but this film is a incredible exception. Enjoyable as comfort homemade food and as rough as the hard grit of the outside, Pulp Fiction will be a favorite until I die.

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2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
I truly love the passion of the Pulp Fiction fans around here, but I really don't like it. That being said, I haven't seen it in about five years.


Strangelove on the other hand is just plain bad to me. I'm in Miss Vicky and HKs camp.



Master of My Domain
Seds, please lemme at 'em, lemme, at 'em! I need your ban hammer.



A system of cells interlinked
Strangelove is awesome! What's the matter with you people??
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Master of My Domain
Strangelove is awesome! What's the matter with you people??
Nothing worries me now that I have a mod on my side.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Strangelove on the other hand is just plain bad to me. I'm in Miss Vicky and HKs camp.
Sure, if by "awesome" you mean boring and not at all funny.
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are saying.

Amazing list Gatsby! Probably the best I've seen around here!
Are we like movie soul-mates? (****, this sounded gay)



Master of My Domain
And now, Ladies and Gentleman, here comes my favorite film of all-time...



And now, Ladies and Gentleman, here comes my favorite film of all-time...
I'm going to hit you with a hammer if you don't hurry up.
__________________
Letterboxd



Master of My Domain
1. Oldboy


A man named Oh Dae Su (played by Choi Min Sik) is captured in the middle of the night without no reason. He is locked in a small room and is only given a ration of fried dumplings. After a whopping 15 years of forced imprisonment he is set free, and plans to seek his revenge and hopefully regain old life.

Above is the premise for Oldboy. It's as crazy as the rest of the film, and it provides a striking interest. Why would a man imprison someone for 15 years? And how will our main character find revenge and will he be at peace and a happy ending afterwards? These questions we make to ourselves serve as a great hook, and naturally let us fall into the film.

The appearance of Oh Dae Su after 15 years of living without society and the effects it gave are shown greatly. The man he meets on the roof of the apartment and the conversation they have is a good example. Dark and melancholy and very human emotions come out when feeling the man's skin and pleading for some kind of help, but right at the next moment he turns around, ignores the man's story and lets him die, without any remorse. This shows the two sides of our main character- desperately in need of human touch but at the same time lonely, emotionless, and quiet, his only desire being a violent revenge. Trademark Park Chan Wook framing and the bleak but deep colors work really well in such situations and throughout the entire film.

But then he meets Mi-Do (played by Kang Hye Jung) and starts to gain a warmer side. The relationship of the two are strange, unlikely and even a bit awkward- because the start of it is the eating of a live octopus and attempted rape. However they soon realize the similarities between each other, and soon begin to open up. Oh Dae Su gains the strength to search for the reason of his imprisonment, and the story continues.

He finally meets with Lee Woo Jin (played by Yoo Ji Te), who is revealed as the person behind all the madness. Lee is another version of Dae Su- an even more colder and un-humanlike version who will do anything to accomplish goals. Lee's ultimate goal, of course, is to get rid of Oh Dae Su. It actually gets really creepy as tracking devices, stalking, murder, torture and all sorts of atrocity is used. But the way is executed is powerful and make a damn good experience- made up with brilliant music, pacing, and cinematography which can be restricted and free-flowing at the same time, making it very flexible.

Now, I will not reveal much more because of spoilers, but I will say that the end part where all the reasons and secrets are finally shown, is the climax and best part of the movie. The atmosphere is a killer, the gore and actions so brutal and painfully and definitely not stylish is disturbing but genius. The way the characters move in a dreaded state and some others in a victorious but equally doomed state is just genius. In one scene the characters just laugh and cry mercilessly with minimal sound in the background and its just as powerful as any other scene with plenty of music and action scenes happening around. A great aspect of the film is that you can scenes such as the long-take hallway fight scene one and the scene with the ants crawling out of the body of Oh Dae Su.

Some say the film doesn't make sense at all and sometimes is totally bullsh*t, and I do agree, but for different reasons. Many of the scenes are meant to maximize the emotion of the characters. For example, the giant ant in the subway or the live octopus eating scene, and a lot of others. Both took a lot of time, effort, and money but it is totally worth it. If you take the surrealistic scenes out the movie would probably shrink about 15 to 20 minutes maybe at least, but if you did you would end up with the crappy 2013 remake. Out of all the films I've ever seen, the emotions, the feelings, the atmosphere, all that kind of stuff felt the strongest to me in Oldboy, because obviously it does a great job of telling the audience how a certain character feels, and sometimes also let the scene do the work for itself and just let it flow without any explanation at all.

Overall, Oldboy is the most perfect work of cinema I have ever seen. Whenever I see it it shakes every single sense and nerve in my body, and at least 2 scenes always make me cry. What a film, what a masterpiece. Nothing ever comes close to what this film did in making simply a shuddering experience, at least for me.

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Master of My Domain
So I finished my list and... where's all the good stuff? Like 'great list' or 'congrats on finishing' or a rating of each film on the list?



Congrats on finishing Gatsby. Lots of good stuff, you have a nice mix of faves. We share quite a few. Pulp, Fargo, and The Apartment being the highest, all in my top ten. My biggest thrill was seeing Diner on your list. I think that movie is tremendous and it doesn't pop up much. Good job buddy. Now go watch some movies and get this bad boy up to 100.