Ask Lemmy

Threads. Especially should be mandatory for politicians. To date one of the most accurate portrayals of nuclear war. It is not an uplifting movie.

Eraserhead

I would like to add 2 absolute masterpieces of German cinematic creations.

First: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo(W children from station zoo)

Devinetively not ab easy or joyfully film. So far I only watched the original version which isn't great in terms of story telling but it displays the reality of drug abuse(in this case heroin) in a very good way. This film is devinetively capable of ruining your day.

Werner - Beinhart( Werner and the wizard of booze)

A quite old(1990) animated film. It is funny as hell but you can clearly see, that it was made in a different time/society. However, its still funny as hell(at least in my opinion).

Children of Men (2006)

The Great Beauty (2013)

Amelie (2001)

Oldboy (2003)

My recommendation is either The Grand Budapest Hotel or Moonrise Kingdom. Both by Wes Anderson, and probably his two best films. Excellent director with a very distinct visual style.

• The Fountain
• Schindler's List
• Idiocracy
• This is SpinalTap
• Saving Private Ryan
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Probably missing some, but these are the ones I can remember right now. I think Schindler's List should be required viewing by everyone before they graduate high school. I remember when they used to air it on regular TV, unedited and uncensored, commercial free. I feel we were nicer and more willing to avoid wars back then.

I ain't ashamed to say it, I cry every damn time I watch it.

• Pride (2014)
• if we're doing TV, which I don't think we are, then The Prisoner

Ben Hur

Flight of the Phoenix, the original B&W one from the 50s

Fantastically atmospheric, you can feel the tension all the way through the film

The Banshees of Inisherin

Natural Born Killers

Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent and the movies talking about Edward Snowden

Pincess Mononoke and/or Metropolis 2001

Get Crazy (1983). Just a fun piece of silliness with a cameo from Lou Reed.

And Electric Larry

Forrest Gump

1917. Not just a great war movie, but also a cinematic masterpiece.

Trying to come up with a few that aren't on the list:

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) - Just a beautifully touching film, with a unique style and a great cameo of Peter Falk as himself. Much better than the English Language remake (City of Angels)

Come and See (Idi i smotri) - Hard to watch, but an incredible portrayal of the horrors of war. Not a feel-good film at all. But an amazing feat of filmmaking.

My Dinner With Andre - It's ironic that the movie that Roger Ebert referred to as "entirely devoid of clichés" has become a cliché. I'm not sure how well it's aged for modern audiences, but I first saw it in the 80's, have seen it at least a dozen times since, and it still really gets to me. I empathize heavily with both characters in the way that they search for meaning in life, and I could listen to Andre Gregory tell stories all day.

Stop Making Sense - A stellar concert documentary. The first time I saw it was a midnight screening where the audience got up and danced through the whole movie. David Byrne is hypnotic.

The Decline of Western Civilization - Amazing look at the Los Angeles punk rock scene of the early 80's

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - A classic stage-to-screen adaptation. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton chew the scenery for a few hours while their guests Sandy Dennis and George Segal try to make sense of it all. Amazing acting, great cinematography that really leverages the closeup. A must-see.

The Lion in Winter - Sort of a medieval version of the above with Peter O' Toole and Katherine Hepburn. Also see a young Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton put on stellar performances. Like Virginia Woolf above, this is acting with a capital A.

The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville) - A unique animation style and a unique story. A really fun watch.