Looking for some ideas of things to watch I like: animated, SF and comedy movies :)
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Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a hilarious comedy horror movie. Such a fun take on the genre and so stupidly funny all the way through.
In the same vein, The Cabin in the Woods is one you should go in blind for as well.
This movie was my first introduction to Alan Tudyk. He’s great in pretty much everything he is in.
Especially Firefly.
How do reavers clean their spears?
They run them through the Wash!
Let’s not overlook Death at a Funeral. Fucking incredible.
But definitely Firefly too.
“You guys… eh… you guys going camping? HEHEHEEHEEHEHE”.
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Dark City
Keifer Sutherland before he became nothing but Jack Bauer. A great performance imo.
Dark City is intense, but my favorite movie by Alexander Proyas is his first feature film: Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds. The genre of artsy post-apoc is small, and that’s one of the best.
With a few shots where you go “oh, the Wachowskis saw this.”
100% gave me some matrix vibes
For SF, I recommend Primer. Its definitely a challenging movie as there’s no clear exposition, but I found myself wanting to watch it several times to piece it altogether.
One of my favorite movies, it’s a trip. Anyone curious curious to watch it, don’t concern yourself with understanding every little thing. It’s a lot of implied ideas /throw away lines to give the scenes more natural qualities, allusions to stuff you’ll never hear about again that aren’t plot-relevant. Just soak it all in and then watch it again :)
The only sad thing in hindsight is it has a pretty unnecessary slur (f—) in one part but it’s quick and, again unfortunately, pretty typical for the time it came out. Also kind of a tasteless joke about making their kid “wind up in the closet.”
Still, well worth the watch. Short too! Like 80min.
“They took what was needed from their surroundings and made from it something more.” (I think that’s the line lol)
Y’know that infamous quote about Rick & Morty that doesn’t understand how enjoying things made by smart people is different from being smart yourself?
You have to be smart to appreciate this movie.
For better and for worse.
You can definitely enjoy it, taking it at its word that everything makes sense. It has some fantastic ideas casually sprinkled in, to make you worry and wonder, but not as part of any larger puzzle. The major thread of the film, and its conclusion, still work if you’re only kinda following it.
But when you trace what’s going on, you will find that the filmmakers did all their homework, and everything does make sense, even if it takes you ages to work out how.
It’s almost the inverse of these visual novel games. A movie that’s really a puzzle, a game.
Got two sci fis to recommend:
Coherence dinner party among friends gets stuck between alternate realities. One of those really good scripts that was shot on a microbudget. Weird movie, lots of fun to think about
Prospect a western film about a prospector going after a big score which also happens to be a sci fi movie set on an alien planet. Great film, very cool style and very underrated.
Coherence is fantastic!
Prospect a western film about a prospector going after a big score which also happens to be a sci fi movie set on an alien planet. Great film, very cool style and very underrated.
And Pedro Pascal!
Coherence is a good call.too.
Enter the Void is the most breathless barrage on the senses I have ever wittnessed. The intro could give you epilepsy. The whole film is shot from the ego perspective of the protagonist that gets shot dead 15 minutes into the film. I have never seen anything remotely similar.
That movie is such a fucking trip. I love it.
Sounds like The Holy Mountain type vibes.
Gaspar Noe is my fave. Climax is incredible as well.
Oh, I got a few:
Wings of Honneamise is an anime from the 80s that I rarely see mentioned that has a special place in my heart. It’s about the first space program in some foreign world, with conflict and war that captures the frontier spirit.
Black Rain, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia, is not exactly some small indie movie but I never see it mentioned anywhere. I would describe it as a fish out of water story with two American cops going to Osaka. I love the movie and the soundtrack.
Colossus: The Forbin Project from 1970 is a sci-fi classic that I think really holds up.
A Taxing Woman from 1987, co-incidentally the same year as Wings of Honneamise, is a Japanese movie about a tax collector going after a criminal who is hiding his income really well. I caught this late at night on TV 30 years or so ago and just enjoyed it a lot.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is a French movie, bringing a comic of the same name to the screen. I really liked the comics already and the movie was fun as well. Early 20th century Paris, some fantasy elements.
Forbidden Planet, 1956, is also a sci-fi classic, starring a young Leslie Nielsen in a serious role.
The 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is my favorite version of the story. It stars Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum. You might have seen Sutherland from this movie as a meme.
La Haine is another French movie, starring Vincent Cassel, Very intense, very good.
Ladyhawke is a fantasy movie starring Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick. I wish there were more movies like this. Just telling a nice story. A cursed couple, a thief and a lot of adventure.
The Name of the Rose, with Sean Connery, Christian Slater and Ron Perlman, is a lovely version of Umberto Eco’s book of the same name, that tells the story in an actually entertaining way.
The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp is another book adaptation that I think is better than the book. Fantasy and mystery and suspense.
Oxygen is a French sci-fi movie with a really minimalistic set and cast that I was pleasantly surprised by.
The Patlabor movies are among my favorite anime movies. Mostly calm and mature characters and nice stories.
The Prophecy with Christopher Walken and Elias Koteas was an indie success in the 90s. Angels, the Devil and mortals caught in between.
Shin Godzilla (2016) is my favorite Godzilla movie of all time. I can see why people might not like it, but it just tickled me in all the right places.
Strange Days is one of the best cyberpunk movies out there.
Top Secret! is brought to you by Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker, who brought us, amongst other movies, The Naked Gun trilogy and Hot Shots. It’s equally silly and funny.
Weird 70s animated sci fi: Fantastic Planet. The original is in French (which I prefer) but it also has an English dub. It’s French sci fi from the 70s so this probably goes without saying, but in case anyone was considering a first watch with their parents or small children: there’s a fair amount of nudity and sex.
If you haven’t seen Wolfwalkers it’s also worth a watch. It’s by the same studio that made Secret of Kells, and takes place during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. This one is kid friendly, but I’ve watched it with a group of adults and we all enjoyed it.
Failure named their best album after this movie.
Fantastic Planet’s score was also sampled heavily on Quasimoto’s “The Unseen”.
I’ve been reading a lot of Stefan Wul lately. Fantastic Planet was an adaption of one of his books. Great stuff. So weird.
(You know the scene where the Oms in the park take down two Draags? In the book, they don’t have weapons (and they’re not as tiny). It’s more like an attack by a pack of dogs. They bite the Draags to death.)
I’ll have to see if my library has a copy of it, I’ve never read the book!
I feel like Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen, Susan Sarandon, Alan Rickman, Rainn Wilson and Tony Shalhoub is a criminally underrated movie.
NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER!
Have you not been in the internet long? Anytime Galaxy Quest is mentioned it gets universal praise. It’s known as the “best Star Trek movie” despite not being Star Trek.
Rainn Wilson is in that? The hell you say!!
The best non-Star Trek movie. Brilliant.
In my opinion not enough people know Hard Candy from 2005
This and “Funny Games” are my most underrated favorites
Forgot about this one. Really great!!!
Man, that kind of suspense film just isn’t up my alley personally, but the description of the film sounds awesome as hell. It would probably make me too uncomfortable to watch, but hot damn it sounds good.
It’s always a blast to show it to people who have no idea what it’s about. All of my friends loved it lol
Tampopo - it’s not really a comedy but has comedic elements. It’s a overview of Japanese food and food culture and is one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen.
I’ve been telling people for years what a wonderful film Tampopo is. But when I explain the plot I just get shrugs and whatevers.
They’re missing a poetic masterpiece.
I never thought about Japanese truckers being all cowboy’d up until Tampopo.
That trucker brawl is epic.
Definitely watch that one if you are into food or cooking, it’s a classic!
Love that flick
Kicking and screaming (noah baumbach) not the will ferrel one. Great comedy.
Paprika is an animated scifi.
Arrival and children of men are my 2 favorite movies, bkth scifi, not unknown tho.
The lobster/ anything by yorgos lanthimos.
Children of Men is so fucking good except for the creepy CGI baby.
EDIT: Slavoj Zizek talks about one of his favorite films, Children of Men. Great breakdown of what makes it so good.
I swear I’ve never seen a movie like that before or since. I love Alfonso Cuarons style but even he can’t recreate smth this revolutionarily good.
Ayyy Ive seen the zizek video too! He isnt the best analyst of movies, case in point v for vendetta but this was good.
Yeah, his movie analyses are usually done through the lens of psychoanalysis akin to Freud/Jung. Which is great if that’s your thing, but isn’t great if it’s not haha.
I actually just read how to read lacan a few weeks ago who’s a major influence in his work. Infact I’d go so far as to say zizek gave lacan the relevance he never had by reworking many of his ideas.
Yesss! Didn’t know there was a “Paprika” movie! I loved the book.
Jizzmaster you have to watch that movie, it’s one of the trippiest movie i’ve ever seen. And it’s particularly charming with subs instead of the dubbed version.
I’m all in
Check out perfect blue by the same guy. Very different (psychological horror/thriller) but also trippy and amazing.
The Lobster was, and still is, my benchmark for whether or not I can stand to watch a movie.
Nothing has been as awful as that movie.
And let’s do the combination: comedy sci-fi:
- Big Man Japan
- A Boy and his Dog
- Dead Leaves - animated too for the trifecta
- Fido
- Fish Story
- Frankenhooker
- Grabbers
- Killer Tongue
- Meatball Machine Kodoku (probably want to watch Meatball Machine first)
- Save the Green Planet
- Special (2006)
- The Story of Ricky
- Tokyo Gore Police
- Wild Zero
This list absolutely slaps you’ve got some top tier weird going on
That’s how I roll.
Wild zero, holy heck. Bizarre, surreal movie
A Boy and His Dog is top tier weird 70’s sci-fi.
Frankenhooker is just hilarious.
For sci fi, Run Lola Run is a fun 90s era take on how small changes in starting conditions results in big changes for different timelines.
For comedy, I’ll always recommend Grandma’s Boy. It’s a stoner comedy that focuses on a game developer and has a strong cast. It’s from Adam Sandler’s studio so you’ll see a lot of familiar faces, but not Sandler.
For animated, try The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Great cast, Wes Anderson asthetic without being too twee, and a great script.
These are all well known, are they not?
Not a huge movie guy but didn’t know the two besides run lola run.
All extremely well-known.
Your mother’s well known, Trebek.
Huge in China but not much in “the west”: Wandering Earth big budget, wild plot. A bit ridiculous but in an Armageddon or Pacific Rim kind of way. Good popcorn/summer movie.
I was really impressed by Journey to the West (2023, directed by Dashon Kong) and the (not film) television series Three Body Problem when it comes to Chinese film/television.
Dead Man
One of my favorite movies of all time.
That was one of the first Netflix films I got in the mail. Ghost Dog made me want to watch Jarmusch’s other stuff.
Down By Law is also a great one by Jarmusch, starring John Lurie (Fishing with John/Painting with John), Roberto Beningi (Life is Beautiful/The Tiger and the Snow) and Tom Waits (Tom Waits).
It was Beningi’s first English film and he barely spoke english. His mistakes lead to some beautiful poetry from his character.
It is a sad and beautiful world.
His later work hasn’t been as great as his early work, imo, but The Dead Don’t Die was pretty funny.
