Films that changed your life

[dannebubinga]

GoatLord said:

David Lynch's "Eraserhead" changed my life forever, in terms of how I perceive cinema. The movie is a beautiful marriage of horror, surrealism and a touch of science fiction, and is a brilliant example of the importance of sound design.

Same here. I didn't think a movie could be more accomplished, and then I saw Mulholland Drive.

Bucket said:

They're just movies.
You know, passive entertainment.

Bullshit.

[Fulgrim]

Watched Capitalism: A Love Story with a couple friends. It pissed me the hell off and with good reason. That movie is a eye opener in so many ways. It really makes you question a lot of things.

[Koko Ricky]

dannebubinga, Mullholand Drive was great, but I like Inland Empire even more. It's the closest Lynch has come to recapturing the insanity and dream-like quality of Eraserhead, even though they're two entirely different beasts.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

On the subject of David Lynch; Dune.

[dannebubinga]

Goatlord: I've only seen Inland empire once and couldn't really grasp it. I guess I have to watch again soon, but the fact that it's shot in digital format is bit of a turn-off and a major reason why I havn't watched it more than once :/

I could really recommend "Gozu" by Takashi Miike. Very Lynchian, very smart and very good :)

[spank]

Oh man I forgot about District 9 - one of my favorite movies in recent years. And speaking of CGI, I think D9 did it just right: when it's going to look awkward use rubber models.

[Clonehunter]

To my former list, I'd also like to point out Jurassic Park, RoboCop, Jaws, and Titanic. The latter two responsible for a fear of open seas and large boats. The first two for inspiration and JP for grand nostalgia. Movie I grew up with.

[HumanBones]

American Beauty. I think it's one of the best examples of non-conformity out there, and it's depiction of both life and people is the most true one I've ever seen.

[Koko Ricky]

I'd like to add "Tetsuo: The Iron Man," because it's like Japan's "Eraserhead." Very low-budget cyberpunk/horror/thriller with grisly special effects, a strange and elusive plot, and unforgettable images. Oh yeah, and "The Wall" as well. It's one of the most darkest and most miserable movies I've ever seen, and the 22 minutes or so of animation is fucking sick. It's very mature for a movie based on a rock band. Lastly, I'd like to mention "Heavy Metal," as it was the first R-rated cartoon I ever saw, and I try to watch it once or twice a year at least. Sure, it's pure male juvenile fantasy, but dammit, it has a great soundtrack and the gritty animation is inspiring.

[dannebubinga]

Tetsuo is the fucking bomb. I actually ordered Tetsuo 2: Body Hammer yesterday cause I've been watching some never Tsukamoto films and it struck me that I havn't seen any of the sequels.

I'm pretty sure I would have a hard time standing watching a movie with pink floyd :/

[Vios]

Dunno really, but of a thing I'm sure. The doom movie changed my life. It made worse.

[Koko Ricky]

I'm going to add "The Room" to that list. I've seen it in theaters twice and on video a couple times at least. It goes beyond the whole "so bad it's good" thing. I watched the "behind the scenes" footage on the DVD and it was actually quite depressing to see these professionals, stage lights, bulky camera equipment, etc., all being used for something that seems like it was dreamt up by a 14-year-old who speaks English as a second (or third) language. "The Room" is so inconceivably bad that it's extremely difficult to accept that the director Tommy Wiseau made it with utterly serious intentions. It's such a mess that on the DVD, the interview with Tommy actually features THREE obvious overdubs, meaning that his English and general speaking skills are so poor that he had to overdub a fucking special feature.

[Enjay]

Speaking of Tetsuo reminded me of another film that I found significant.

"Akira" opened my eyes to a whole new genre of animated movies that, up to that point, was unknown to me. OK, OK, everyone and his dog knows anime these days but watching "Akira" for the first time back in, I dunno, 1989?, was quite an experience.

KANEDAAAA!!!
TETSUOOOO!!!

[Maes]

Lamerica (1992) by Gianni Amelio.

Lo Zio Indegno (The Sleazy Uncle).

Barfly.

[Memfis]

"The Great Dictator". It was both hilarious and touching (Hitler's final speech actually made me cry, it was so beautiful) and it made me interested in Chaplin, other comedy classics (Keaton, Lloyd, Linder...) and early cinema in general.

[Sharessa]

ITT: People list their favorite movies instead.

Enjay said:

"Akira" opened my eyes to a whole new genre of animated movies that, up to that point, was unknown to me. OK, OK, everyone and his dog knows anime these days but watching "Akira" for the first time back in, I dunno, 1989?, was quite an experience.

Yeah, I think Akira was the first anime I became aware of. That or Dominion: Tank Police which was shown on (I think) MTV back in the early 90s. The funny thing is that I had been watching anime all my life and I wasn't aware of it. Namely Voltron, and a those Japanese cartoons Nickelodeon used to show before they had their own programming.

[Koko Ricky]

Akira...suddenly I'm reminded of Aeon Flux. I fucking LOVE that show. Okay, so this is about movies, but I'm talking about the cartoon here. It was goddamned amazing and still, in many ways, ahead of its time. Animation is tough to beat for the budget it had.

[Koko Ricky]

SeanWJF said:

On the subject of David Lynch; Dune.

"Dune" was my first exposure to David Lynch. I had been playing the PC game for awhile and was interested in the movie. After having seen all but two Lynch films ("The Elephant Man," which I only saw part of, and his quirky Disney film "The Straight Story"), "Eraserhead," "Inland Empire" and "Lost Highway" are probably my favorite works of his. But "Dune" is still amazing; there are so many individual moments that would make fantastic paintings. The part where the Fremen are running to the sandworm is so epic and beautiful it nearly brings a tear to my eye.

[Sharessa]

Yeah, I grew up on Dune. It's one of my dad's favorite movies and I used to watch it all the time. It really has some amazing scenes in it, though all together it doesn't fit together particularly well. It has amazing set and costume design, an epic soundtrack, and great dialogue from some classic actors, but I can sort of see why Lynch wanted his name off the project when it first got released.

As for Lynch, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Twin Peaks are all fantastic.

Danarchy said:

Yeah, I think Akira was the first anime I became aware of. That or Dominion: Tank Police which was shown on (I think) MTV back in the early 90s.

Correction: it was the Sci-fi channel. I talked to my friend last night who also remembers watching this. It was his first real exposure to anime as well. It must have been in the early 90s when they did this.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

GoatLord said:

"Dune" was my first exposure to David Lynch. I had been playing the PC game for awhile and was interested in the movie.

There's a game of Dune? I have to play this!

[Clonehunter]

SeanWJF said:

There's a game of Dune? I have to play this!

There's a couple actually. Dune II: Battle for Arkanis I think is probably one of the more popular ones. Coined the term RTS I believe.

[Quast]

spank said:

Oh man I forgot about District 9 - one of my favorite movies in recent years. And speaking of CGI, I think D9 did it just right: when it's going to look awkward use rubber models.

I totally dig D9. Fantastic movie. But I can't say it changed my life. Frankly, I'm not certain I can say any movie I've ever watched has done so.

[Sharessa]

Clonehunter said:

There's a couple actually. Dune II: Battle for Arkanis I think is probably one of the more popular ones. Coined the term RTS I believe.

There was the original Dune game which was a strategy/RPG hybrid based closely off the movie, with a lot taken from the book as well.

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty was basically the first RTS. It was basically the prototype for Command & Conquer, which played almost exactly the same with "Tyberium miners" instead of "Spice harvesters" and the like. The storyline is loosely based on the book. Instead of all the political intrigue, it's more of a contest to control Dune set up by the Emperor so he can get the great houses to finish each other off, basically. They added their own made-up house (Ordos) to the mix, though using Richesse would have made more sense.

Dune 2000 was basically a remake of Dune II, but they added some more units and the like and made the missions a bit more interesting. They also added a bunch of features from C&C to make it play more like those games.

Emperor: Battle for Dune is actually a sequel to Dune 2000. I like the territory control/reinforcement features in it, but it gets frustratingly hard later on. Although I suck at RTSs, so YMMV. Also, there's a bunch of non-Dune missions. Stuff that happens in Guild frigates and the homeworlds of the Great Houses.

[deathbringer]

There was a Dune RTS on the Megadrive too, I saw it a few years after C&C came out and was amused to hear that some of the sound effects in both games were exactly the same

[Koko Ricky]

SeanWJF, "Dune" for the PC came out in 1992. I don't know anything about strategy games, but it essentially was one of the earlier examples, though it had a neat first person view through which most of the game was played. You basically take the role of Paul and must rally Fremen troops for spice production, and eventually military training and ecology, even though the ecology bit was tacked on--you can beat the game without ever making use of the feature. The soundtrack to that game is about one of the best I've ever heard in a video game, and if you YouTube "Spice Opera" you can find high quality remixes of the music.

[Nasesrtyhcfhk]

I love how this thread about movies has shifted focus to Video Games.
Probably my fault.

[Koko Ricky]

Harmony Korine's movies have been life-changing for me, especially "Gummo" and "Julien Donkey-Boy."

"Gummo," which Harmony directed at the age of 21, is a descent into the miserable, filthy, violent, amoral world of white trash Ohio, set in a town that never recovered from the destruction of a Tornado. The blend of diverse music choices (death metal, neo-classical, ambient, techno, children singing off-key), unforgettable images (a fish-faced young boy bathing in sludge while his mother simultaneously serves him lunch while shampooing his hair, or Harmony's friend wrestling a chair, much to the delight of drunken rednecks), surreal juxtapositions, and absolutely despicable characters is not for everyone.

"Julien Donkey-Boy" is an entirely different beast, centered around a schizophrenic man named Julien, who seems to be both incredibly innocent and selfless (a rather amusing scene depicts Julien taking handicapped people bowling), yet unaware of his own brutality (completely on accident, he commits a murder as well as a rape). The editing makes his schizophrenia all the more apparent, and German director/narrator Werner Herzog stars as his father, who sits around his bedroom in a gas mask drinking medicine out of a shoe.