Desert Island Draft: Movie Edition

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

My favorite one is USC 55, maybe. I've seen all movies on his list and my lowest opinion of any of them is "ok" or "indifferent." godthedog is right there with the good, but he has more I haven't seen. Duck Amuck is a moral victory, though.

 

Worst is easily Mole again. He has one movie I like but wouldn't pick in 50 rounds, although Darthtiki's list is pretty crappy, too.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Agreed. Mole wins "worst list" hands down.

[godthedog 0]

My final three picks:

 

1. The Decalogue (1989)

 

weren't these originally made for polish television? seems like that would fall under "mini-series" more than movie.

 

not that i really care about the technicalities. i came really close to picking 'when the levees broke' toward the end.

 

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

If I can't have The Decalogue, I'd take The Searchers (1956) instead.

[Nighthawk 0]

You know, there's quite honestly no list on here that I wouldn't be satisfied with. I mean, were I to literally wash up on a desert island and find any one of these collections, none would make me say "Shit!" I like a lot of stuff.

 

And actually, if you swap in The Searchers, then USC 55 places even higher for me too.

Also of note, bps, that's a damn strong list for me.

 

Think I'll give this one to CM Funk though.

[The Mandarin 0]

1) P.G.O.A.T has Pierrot le fou and top films from Kubrick, Altman, Allen, Scorsese, Leone and Fellini. La jetee and A.I. are definite cures for boredom-- science fiction is great for stirring the ol' noddle. The PT Anderson films are excellent choices as well-- brilliant ensemble casts, great cinematography.

 

2) Big fan of godthedog's choices. Obviously The Godfather and Breathless are essential films. I'd watch and re-watch Ran, Rear Window, Aguirre, Touch of Evil, Lost Highway, even Ghost World. Duck Amuck is outstanding. I firmly believe that the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs should be in space for extraterrestrials to find.

 

3) treble has a very strong list. Vertigo, Citizen Kane, The Godfather Pt. II, Fargo. Joseph Cotten is fantastic in Shadow of a Doubt. Zodiac and Frailty are both underrated. Zodiac's probably the most mature and well-structured David Fincher film while Frailty is legitimately spooky. Heat is by far my favourite Michael Mann film. Even though the film is weak in some areas (Natalie Portman's scenes, particularly her dialogue) there's some outstanding stuff-- like the mother of all firefights.

 

4) Next USC #55 has a generally solid list topped by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and 12 Angry Men. I didn't enjoy Akira or Forrest Gump. Rashomon, The Third Man, Magnificent Seven-- all essential films.

 

5) Jingus-- Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now are both Top 10 films for me. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Children of Men are two of my more recent favourites. Living in Oblivion is a good pick that I never would have thought of. I like Catherine Keener a lot. Not a fan of Kevin Smith or Simon Pegg however.

 

Honorable mention to goes to Jorge Gorgeous' list, even with only fifteen films. Goodfellas and On the Waterfront would have been on my list. The Graduate and Dog Day Afternoon are superb, also top 20 material. I can't praise Dustin Hoffman enough-- I kind of wanted to pick Volker Schlondorff's Death of a Salesman even though it was made-for-TV. Manhattan and Schindler's List, once again very good choices. The Star Wars films, Saving Private Ryan and True Romance don't really excite me but I wouldn't refrain from watching them again. Jorge Gorgeous's Keys to Victory:

Elephant Man, Network, Traffic, Rules of the Game, Persona

.

 

Excuse all the superlatives.

[Nighthawk 0]

I didn't enjoy Akira or Forrest Gump when I watched them.

 

Always a good time not to enjoy movies.

[The Mandarin 0]

I didn't enjoy Akira or Forrest Gump when I watched them.

 

Always a good time not to enjoy movies.

 

That was poorly phrased, yeah. I didn't dislike Akira but I just can't get into anime (even though I know Grave of the Fireflies and Akira are probably really strong films) while I found Forrest Gump overly sentimental and contrived. FWIW I don't like Tom Hanks, I find he really hams it up as if he were still doing comedic roles.

 

However if Mole were to draft these movies his list would improve. One man's opinion.

Edited August 17, 2008 by CM Funk

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Can't we just rip on Mole some more?

[Nighthawk 0]

What I think of Mole's list...

 

1. American Beauty -

2. Catch Me If You Can -

3. Seabiscuit -

4. The 40-Year-Old Virgin -

5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -

6. Friday Night Lights -

7. Hoop Dreams -

8. Bully -

9. Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows -

10. Mystic River -

11. Finding Nemo -

12. Bad News Bears -

13. Revenge of the Nerds -

14. Serenity -

15. Grandma's Boy -

16. Thirteen -

17. Wristcutters: A Love Story -

18. The Lookout -

19. Pineapple Express - for the pick, for the timing.

20. The Core -

[Jingus 0]

bump

 

What with all the drafts being consolidated into their own threads, I thought this one should go too. Weird how close to the end we got before quitting.

[Jingus 0]

Aw what the hell, it's been way past everybody's 12 hours. My last pick:

 

 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I still think the most powerful horror movies are the grungy 70s flicks which simply do not feel safe. Watching one of these movies, you really have no idea if the "heroes" are gonna live or die. You don't know what depths the villains are willing to stoop to. It's that unsafe feeling, a world where any number of truly horrific things are waiting just around the corner for the unlucky, which really frightens me in a way that no Jason or Michael ever could. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was probably not the dirtiest or most shocking of these films; that would probably go to Last House on the Left or I Spit On Your Grave or other, more obscure but equally appalling works of art. However, Texas Chainsaw seemed to perfectly capture that 70s zeitgeist of paranoia and despair even better than movies like All The President's Men which were specifically about the causes of that atmosphere. It's also a Vietnam parable, and a shot at the hippie movement's failures, and a pessimistic indictment of America in general. It's also a movie in which a guy in a skin mask butchers people with a sledgehammer and chainsaw, seemingly onscreen, though the film actually uses almost zero visible blood or gore in order to make its penetrating impact. One hell of a horror flick.

[Jebus 0]

bump

 

What with all the drafts being consolidated into their own threads, I thought this one should go too. Weird how close to the end we got before quitting.

 

As the guy running it, I blame myself.

Near the end of the draft, I moved from one coast to the other.

I had to cut off my internet in mid-July and, as much as I tried, couldn't really keep up with this draft.