List of Top 5 Movies Please?

Started by Quo Vadis, February 03, 2013, 10:57:05 PM

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Quo Vadis

Don't want to detract from the other movie threads, but I thought it might be helpful if you all listed your top 3 or 5 or whatever movies.  Then perhaps a large list of top selections could be derived.  I personally need something like this.  I find trying to pick out movies to rent too stressful, as I bowed out of pop culture many many moons ago.  I'm almost like (I assume) those plain Catholics must be.  So for entertainment in the last 10 or 15 years, I've pretty much relegated myself to just old Black & White (mostly) stuff from the classics section.  Oh, and kids movies for my kids.  I still try to watch movies with my son (he's 17 now), and I'd like to be able to select more quality stuff.  I don't care about genres (my usual genre is "plain and simple"), but you can mention that if you think it helps.

I don't want to distract from the other movie threads - they are great!  I thought this might be easy to do for some of you, and you could just whip out a list without spending much time on it.  Thanks!
Since Christ Himself has said, "This is My Body" who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?
-- St Cyril of Jerusalem

Mithrandylan

So top 5 movies that would also be appropriate for a 17 year old?

It's really hard to pick a top five, but I think it'd look like this (in no particular order)

Henry V (Brannagh version)
The Thin Red Line
Godfather 1&2 (and 3, if you so choose)
Dr Strangelove
LOTR trilogy

I realize I have two trilogies on there, but you'll just have to deal with it   ;D

I've got a few others that would be close to making the cut.  But here are five that I don't think you'd have to think twice about watching with an older child (though there's two brief sex scenes in the Godfather trilogy, easily fastforwarded if you know when they are.
Ps 135

Quia in humilitáte nostra memor fuit nostri: * quóniam in ætérnum misericórdia eius.
Et redémit nos ab inimícis nostris: * quóniam in ætérnum misericórdia eius.
Qui dat escam omni carni: * quóniam in ætérnum misericórdia eius.
Confitémini Deo cæli: * quóniam in ætérnum misericórdia eius.
Confitémini Dómino dominórum: * quóniam in ætérnum misericórdia eius.

For he was mindful of us in our affliction: * for his mercy endureth for ever.
And he redeemed us from our enemies: * for his mercy endureth for ever.
Who giveth food to all flesh: * for his mercy endureth for ever.
Give glory to the God of heaven: * for his mercy endureth for ever.
Give glory to the Lord of lords: * for his mercy endureth for ever.

-I retract any and all statements I have made that are incongruent with the True Faith, and apologize for ever having made them-

totiusque

So tough to come up with a list that is not more specific (Catholic movies, family movies, Oscar-type movies?).  But, that being said, here we go.  Apologies in advance for not keeping it from 3-5.

Favorite Catholic/Religious movies:  Song of Bernadette, Passion of the Christ, Man For All Seasons

Favorite Kids/Family movies:  Up!, How to Train Your Dragon, Ratatouille (most any Pixar movie)

Favorite Comedies:  Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Back to the Future

Favorite Adventure/Dramas:  Braveheart, Gladiator (esp. with the deleted Christian martyr scenes), LOTR trilogy

Favorite Mystery/Thrillers:  Memento, Usual Suspects, L.A. Confidential (minus a few scenes)
"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent."
—St John of the Cross

LouisIX

2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Strangelove
There Will Be Blood
LOTR Triogy
The Seventh Seal

Incredibly hard to limit this to 5.  There are at least a few others that would be in my top 5 on a different day.
IF I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

tmw89

My top two remain constant, while the rest is prone to change.  Here's how I feel about it right now:

A Brighter Summer Day by Edward Yang
Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock
23rd Psalm Branch by Sam Brakhage
Touch of Evil by Orson Welles
(nostalgia) by Hollis Frampton
Quote from: Bishop WilliamsonThe "promise to respect" as Church law the New Code of Canon Law is to respect a number of supposed laws directly contrary to Church doctrine.

---

http://tradblogs.blogspot.com

NOW OPEN:  A new Trad forum featuring Catholic books, information, and discussion!

Bonaventure

Godfather Pt. II
Return of the Dragon
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Terminator II
Dark Knight Rises
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Ben

Quote from: tmw89 on February 04, 2013, 10:45:46 AM
My top two remain constant, while the rest is prone to change.  Here's how I feel about it right now:

A Brighter Summer Day by Edward Yang

Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock
23rd Psalm Branch by Sam Brakhage
Touch of Evil by Orson Welles
(nostalgia) by Hollis Frampton

I'll have to see those. You reference lots of obscure stuff.

tmw89

Quote from: Ben on February 04, 2013, 07:13:26 PM
Quote from: tmw89 on February 04, 2013, 10:45:46 AM
My top two remain constant, while the rest is prone to change.  Here's how I feel about it right now:

A Brighter Summer Day by Edward Yang

Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock
23rd Psalm Branch by Sam Brakhage
Touch of Evil by Orson Welles
(nostalgia) by Hollis Frampton

I'll have to see those. You reference lots of obscure stuff.

Sorry about that.  Even before finding Tradition in the mid-2000s, I read a lot about movies; after becoming acquainted with various "theories" of film, I tended to think of movies more as visual essays, and sought out more structuralist-minded fare (a kind of quest for what some of the critics called "pure cinema," primarily noted for non-linearity and the communication of ideas via visual themes as opposed to a plot).

A Brighter Summer Day is not available on home video in the US, although I think you can still find a pre-restoration VCD-rip floating around on the Internet.  Be advised, the A/V quality of the rip is terrible and the subtitles leave a lot to be desired.  I was very lucky to see a restoration screened in NYC in November of 2010; since then, the restored print has toured a few film festivals, like the Yang retrospect at Harvard last year.  There's supposed to be a Blu-ray on the way soon, but that's been the buzz for the past several years.  Of the three movies, it's the most conventional.

23rd Psalm Branch is only available as part of a Blu-ray or DVD set of movies by Sam Brakhage (some of his films are good, some are not, but none of them are "ordinary" and I can't recommend a buy sight unseen.)  This is the most difficult of the three.  It dates from the late '60s, and Brakhage billed it as his own meditation on the Vietnam War.  I suspect Brakhage was something of a pacifist, but it isn't his message which appeals to me - it is the editing he employs to communicate the message.  I don't think it accurate to say the film is an anti-Triumph des Willens, but that is the only thing I can think to compare it to in terms of ambitious scope.

(nostalgia) is also available on Blu-ray and DVD, but somebody has uploaded it to YouTube.  This is yet another movie I admire more for how it works than the content, per se.  It's the middle-ground of the three (at least it has sound, unlike 23rd Psalm Branch.)

Looking at what I've written above, it occurs to me that it might seem odd for someone who self-identifies as a "Traditional" Roman Catholic to revel in cinema which is at the least unconventional and at the most radically experimental.  If we are to reject modernism in the Faith, shouldn't we purge it from our films?  The thought has crossed my mind before.  But the best defense I can muster is simply that the movies aren't sacred!  God didn't hand down to us Rules For Making Movies.  Of course blasphemy and vulgarity are to be avoided.  However, I really cannot think of anything inherently wrong in "re-inventing" movies; after all, where would it end?  Films without linear narratives are to be blacklisted because they are too "modern," then films in color are to be blacklisted because they are too modern, then movies in widescreen... you see where it is going.

Do you think that line of thought holds up to scrutiny?  Maybe this is better suited as a new thread... if something develops, I'll just split the posts from here into a new thread.
Quote from: Bishop WilliamsonThe "promise to respect" as Church law the New Code of Canon Law is to respect a number of supposed laws directly contrary to Church doctrine.

---

http://tradblogs.blogspot.com

NOW OPEN:  A new Trad forum featuring Catholic books, information, and discussion!

Ben

Thanks for the info!

I don't see how the Church could have any problem with the form of a film, only the content.

Gottmitunsalex

What's happening to everybody?!?! Amnesia? Alzheimer's?

Have you forgotten about:


I am disappointed!
"Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. Now that the Law has ceased to bind, they obstinately strive to observe it. What could be more pitiable that those who provoke God not only by transgressing the Law but also by keeping it? But at any rate the Jews say that they, too, adore God. God forbid that I say that. No Jew adores God! Who say so? The Son of God say so. For he said: "If you were to know my Father, you would also know me. But you neither know me nor do you know my Father". Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God?"  St. John Chrysostom  Sunday Homily

"The two goals of the Jews: The universal domination of the world and the destruction of Catholicism, out of hatred for Christ" --Mgr. Jouin

Quo Vadis

Thank you very much.  I will simply watch all of these (except the minority that we've seen).  I'll pick one from each list at a time.  I purposely did not want to narrow the genres.  I came up with this idea a couple years ago, and never found a suitable forum until now, so I'm very excited.  And to think that I don't have to stress out anymore trying to find good stuff - I'll just trust your guidance.
Since Christ Himself has said, "This is My Body" who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?
-- St Cyril of Jerusalem

OCLittleFlower

I don't think I can help much when it comes to movies for the menfolk.

I've always loved The Princess Bride -- it has good appeal to guys, I think.  At least, my hubby and my dad both love it.

For Greater Glory was great.  It has major tie ins to what's going on now with the HHS bill.

Casablanca is a great older film. 

The other films I love -- the older Disney princess ones, Gone with the Wind, etc -- might not appeal to your son.
-- currently writing a Trad romance entitled Flirting with Sedevacantism --

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Kaesekopf

A Man for All Seasons and Becket are good Catholic viewing, I think.

And since your son is older, he will probably "gain more" from them.
Wie dein Sonntag, so dein Sterbetag.

I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side.  ~Treebeard, LOTR

Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.

Ben

A good way to figure out what your favorites are is to come up with a list comprised of those you've seen the most. Two separate lists for childhood and adulthood.

Gottmitunsalex

What I am understanding from this is that "Top" movies are not necessarily "favorite" movies...?
  :-\
"Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. Now that the Law has ceased to bind, they obstinately strive to observe it. What could be more pitiable that those who provoke God not only by transgressing the Law but also by keeping it? But at any rate the Jews say that they, too, adore God. God forbid that I say that. No Jew adores God! Who say so? The Son of God say so. For he said: "If you were to know my Father, you would also know me. But you neither know me nor do you know my Father". Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God?"  St. John Chrysostom  Sunday Homily

"The two goals of the Jews: The universal domination of the world and the destruction of Catholicism, out of hatred for Christ" --Mgr. Jouin