Jacob's Strive For 100 Favorites

Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and Yukihiro Miyamoto
Released on October 26, 2013
Starring
- Aoi Yūki as Madoka Kaname
- Chiwa Saitō as Homura Akemi
- Kaori Mizuhashi as Mami Tomoe
- Ai Nonaka as Kyoko Sakura
- Eri Kitamura as Sayaka Miki





Here we go. The anime weebness (weeaboo-ness) begins.

I don't have a lot of anime movies that I thoroughly enjoy. TV series, yes, but not that many full-length movies. Of the few I do enjoy, they were spawned from the TV series, rather than being original movies, such as Madoka Magica.

My relationship with Madoka Magica began around the time I took anime seriously, say 2010, maybe? I was seeking a depressing anime title, and Madoka Magica did the job for me - because being a magical girl is suffering.

Also, Sayaka best gurl, no matter what the haters said. She was terrific in Rebellion.

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“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so ****ing what." - Stephen Fry, The Guardian, 5 June 2005

Directed by Shūsuke Kaneko
Released on June 17, 2006
Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara as "Light Yagami" and Kenichi Matsuyama as "L"





As any self-respecting anime fan knows, live action adaptations of anime series suck, much like movie adaptations of video games. That's why when Death Note came around, I was rather satisfied, as I loved it much more than the TV series. Light was more human and more relatable instead of that dull sociopath in the series, and it felt like it probed the social commentary part of the story a little bit deeper than the anime. Just a little bit.

Also, it's always so much fun watching Light playing god.

Directed by Shūsuke Kaneko
Released on October 28, 2006
Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara as "Light Yagami", Kenichi Matsuyama as "L", and Erika Toda as "Misa Amane"





Much like the first movie, it was lots of fun watching the manipulation of human lives portrayed here. Inside, I just wanted Light to win because it was so entertaining watching his scheming. The sequel also deals with the social issues much more than the first one, even though that's not saying much.

Furthermore, that ending resonated with me quite well on an emotional level, mostly thanks to Tatsuya Fujiwara's great performance. This was something that never really occurred to me while watching the anime's ending. Moreover - no Near (a boring character from the TV series)! L gets the whole spotlight, as he should.

Oh, and I almost forgot - that Dani California theme song at the start of the movie! What a great song to get you excited for the rest of the film.

Directed by Martin Campbell
First Released on 14 November 2006 (London)
Starring Daniel Craig as "James Bond", Eva Green as "Vesper Lynd", and Mads Mikkelsen as "Le Chiffre"





In the old days, I've never really enjoyed that many Bond movies. They were often too shallow for me, focusing on plot-centric scripts rather than character-centric ones. I only liked Goldeneye back then, because of its grittier tone and its story focusing on Bond's character development.

But then, 9/11 happened, and the producers of the James Bond movies felt that the "flash and bang" of the old days were a little inappropriate, so they decided to go somewhere grittier. It was the best decision ever made for the Bond franchise, just a shame that it took a terrorist attack and hundreds of lives to make it happen.

There were many great set-pieces in the movie that were just brilliantly made. Each scene of the movie was entertaining on its own. From the very beginning, the black and white homage to the original Casino Royale was already a nice touch. And after that, a series of deconstructions began to take place, knocking and mocking the old cliches of Bondom ("Do I look like I give a damn?"), and actually fleshing out Bond's character nicely as a good movie would.

Because let's face it, before Casino Royale, most Bond movies just weren't very good movies.

Directed by David Slade
First Released on January 21, 2005 (Sundance)
Starring Ellen Page as "Hayley Stark" and Patrick Wilson as "Jeff Kohlver"





My first introduction to Ellen Page was either between this or Juno. Either way, she certainly did impress me as an actress.

And of course, a fun twisted tale like this would naturally end up on my favorites list.

Hard Candy was fun? Maybe it was just me but the subject matter, and the incredibly obvious twist made me want to turn this off and i'd certainly never watch it again. Also what was special about Ellen Page here? I've always thought that Ed Norton in Primal Fear was the most overrated; apparent underground performance but Page in this takes the cake imo.

Can I pick on you for Deathnote?

Excellent choices with PMMM and Hard Candy though!

Each to his own.

Also, please be reminded, everybody, not just Camo, that there is a reason I didn't put any ratings here. This isn't a "Hey, I think these movies are the greatest movies ever made" thread, but rather, a "Hey, these are the movies I personally enjoy - whether or not you like them is irrelevant to me."

I know, I know, the original anime was highly acclaimed and blah blah blah. I still prefer the live action version. Unless of course, you think Death Note is crap altogether, which, eh, I could agree to some extent.

I like every movie that you've listed so far that I've seen to one degree or another (even Aliens, which I find highly overrated). While it's safe to say that your tastes are a lot more mainstream than mine tend to be, we seem to like a considerable many of the same films beyond that.

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Arcanis' 100 Favorite Films: 2015 Edition

Good to know. I could use a friend who shares a similar taste.

Directed by Ben Stiller
Released on August 13, 2008
Starring
- Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman
- Robert Downey, Jr. as Kirk Lazarus
- Jack Black as Jeff Portnoy
- Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino
- Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky
- Tom Cruise as Les Grossman





From the very beginning when the movie played those faux commercials? I knew I was in for a fun ride. And boy, what fun.

Admittedly, the trek through the jungle did get a bit dull, and there weren't enough Les Grossman moments, but aside from its minor flaws, I had plenty of laughs at the film's mockery of celebrities and actors alike. Also, Robert Downey Jr.'s performance was just such a fun to watch as well.

It's a bit of both. I don't like the manga, anime, or live-action, but the live-action is by far the worst. It's like a B movie with no-name actors. They do it a lot with live adaptations of anime.

I could understand if you like it, but quality has got to come into play at some point even for personal favorites. Doesn't it?

Well, for me personally I do try to spend a good deal of time focusing on the quality of what I watch.

Well, quality is subjective, pertaining to personal perspectives IMO. I didn't find the two movies to be B-movies at all, and I could spend all day arguing about it, or just shrug it away and say, "I guess it's just a matter of personal taste."

I understand that these are your personal favourites; it's the main reason i love looking at other peoples lists because i know there will be picks i love and hate, but is my opinion actually irrelevant to you? Would you not be better just posting this on IMDB were you can choose to read the comments or not, since other peoples input isn't valued at all?

Maybe i'm being a bit melodramatic, but first impressions are important to me.

Sigh. Fine. I'll entertain you.

No, Hard Candy didn't want to make me turn off the movie. I found it more exciting, actually, that I knew what was coming, considering it's a child hunting an adult for once. And no, Ellen Page's performance didn't seem unimpressive to me, probably because I've rarely seen child actors who could portray a pedophile-hunting/castrating little devil as well as she did. Maybe because I haven't seen that many pedophile hunters.

See? It's a matter of perspectives. Ignorance is a kind of bliss.

Directed by David Fincher
Written by many, many people
Released in 2003
Starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley and Charles S. Dutton as Dillon





When I watched Alien³ as a kid, I've never really thought of it as more than just an entertaining monster-flick. Then, as I re-explored the Alien franchise over the years, I found out about all the religious undertones put into the script, how much darker the movie drafts were.

Alien³ certainly has its flaws, much like 90% of the favorites on this list, if not all of'em... but there's just something I really like about the concept of this movie. I love seeing characters suffer in stories, having their ideals challenged, having insurmountable conflicts. Conflicts in stories are fun.

Newt might be annoying to some of the more cynical people, but it wasn't the idea of Newt's fate that intrigued me, but the idea of Ripley losing everything she loved, and being sent to this hellhole. It was a bold move few mainstream sequels would dare to pull. And I love my movies with balls.

Actually, quality is by definition objective. The only thing that is subjective is our perception of quality. But to be fair I didn't give the Deathnote movie a chance. I watched like 5 minutes of it and I could tell right away I wouldn't like it so I turned it off. But I would have given it more of a chance if the acting was better.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

WE WANT COMMENTARY!!!
WE WANT COMMENTARY!!!
WE WANT COMMENTARY!!!



I want in on this too. I had fun with Hard Candy, but what was the obvious twist? That he wasn't really castrated? Well, I think it sounds like the same complaint I've heard about The Village. It wasn't even a twist. It was obvious because it was supposed to be obvious. Could that be a possibility? But besides that, the acting was great. I enjoyed seeing two actors play off each other like that. There was a lot of strong emotion, and I never once got the impression that they were obviously just acting. I was totally engrossed in the movie to the extent where I didn't notice the acting because it flowed naturally. Well that and I wasn't honing in on the acting intentionally. Is it possible you were being a bit too critical when you first watched it and you may need to watch it again?

I always thought the obviously obvious twist was that it was Ellen Pages friend killed by the main character her death was mentioned multiple time in the first hour, but whatever flew over your head would work just as well Zotis .

I'm with Camo on Hard Candy. I felt at one point like I was sitting in on an acting class.

I've never heard of Hard Candy lol. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?