Ask HN: What are your favourite (exceptional) movies? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What are your favourite (exceptional) movies?

6 pointsnsomaru16 comments

Hi HN,

I find it difficult to watch movies that lack quality. On the same note, I enjoy watching movies and thus end up frequently disappointed.

Please list your top 5 movies of all time. Genres don't really matter, provided you are willing to qualify the movie with 'exceptional'. The order is immaterial.

Granted, quality is a subjective measure, but it is assumed that the intersection of our definitions of the same will provide some sort of list for fellow hackers who are looking to entertain themselves.

Also, please include one movie in the list which you consider to be a proper mind-fK. You can mark it with an (M).

Thanks :-)

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I like that you ask for mindfck movies. They definitely hold a special place in my heart. A lot of the entries here have been very sci-fi. I tend to like more historical or present-day dramas with great acting that expose some sort of undesirable human behavior, but I snuck a sci-fi movie on the list ;). You can't take the nerd out of the cinephile!

There Will Be Blood - No "great movie" list is complete without a movie that stars Daniel Day Lewis. Go watch all his movies if you want to see what it's like to take acting to the extreme.

(M) The Spanish Prisoner - Probably my favorite suspense movie, along with a Hitchcock or two like Vertigo or Rear Window. This is one of David Mamet's best, in my opinion. All these random things happen in the beginning of the movie that make you question why they bothered mentioning them, and then the catalytic action ties it all together expertly.

Pirates of Silicon Valley - This is the lightest contribution on the list, but probably the most relevant to HN. For what it's worth, both Woz and Bill Gates have described their portrayals as fairly accurate.

Alien - Definitely plays out more like a space horror film than an action movie like the sequels, the acting and suspense is fantastic, not to mention the costume work that went into the alien on the part of HR Giger (if you want a true mindfck, skip the movies and go read his website--terrifying).

Grave of the Fireflies - I wanted to include an animated film on my list, but I really had trouble deciding between Interstella 5555 (Daft Punk's Discovery set to an anime with no talking whatsoever. Great concept) and a Pixar movie (personal favorite: Up). I went with this because I figured you've probably seen Pixar movies. Grave of the Fireflies is a super depressing Ghibli film about the aftermath of the Kobe fire bombings in WW2. The way the movie shows the horrible living conditions and bleak outcomes of the two main characters (the boy is in his early teens and his sister must be around 4 or 5--I can't recall). The movie manipulates your emotions more than any other film I've included on this list. I don't think I've ever had as strong an emotional reaction to a movie as when I saw this one.

Well, since the only thing I know about you is that you're on HN, and you haven't told us what you like or don't, or what you've already watched, you're going to get a load of essentially mainstream sci-fi. But that's your own fault.

Cypher - apparently unpopular with everyone except me, but I found it a very stylish, PKD-esque exploration of identity.

The Prestige - this one you'll probably hear elsewhere. It's mostly about the lengths to which someone is willing to go to be the very best at what they do - which obviously has some relevance for the HN crowd.

Watchmen - the only movie I watch again and again. It might be different for those who lived through it, but I love the way it can effortlessly evoke a very different era, cold-war paranoia, vietnam... a real sense of change.

Children of Men - arguably this shouldn't qualify as exceptional, and there's a lot less to say about it. What it is is some very good straight-up action, and then underlying that is a tale of how people respond to the inevitability of death. It's a simple film at heart, but I found it a very moving one.

Princess Mononoke - again, a real sense of the times changing, of conflicts that have to be resolved not by returning to the status quo but by moving forward somehow. Moral complexity everywhere, with no side being outright good or evil. And a beauty to it all even amidst the violence.

Watchmen is a favourite of mine also - it has a very exceptional role cast with very unique personalities. I would give an advice to whom have not seen it yet: watch the directors cut.

Thanks for the reply. I don't mind scifi too much, but let's hope that the movies aren't skewed too far that way.

Besides, a list of 'exceptional' scifi movies won't necessarily be a bad thing I hope :-)

Life Stinks

The Producers (new one, I haven't watched original)

Pan's Labyrinth - talks about serious issues but adds a fairy tale to shield audience

You Don't Mess with the Zohan - Adam Sandler movie, more silly than usual, but also takes on Middle East conflict with a positive (perhaps American) spin.

Fight Club ... deals with boredom of your average no-direction man, and how he finds a way to occupy himself.

(M) The Vanishing - from 80's not the American version (didn't see American version) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096163/combined

Overall I like silly movies, I'd list 5 Adam Sandler movies, and add 'The Animal' to them, and watch them any day of the week.

"Good Will Hunting" - inspiring and heartwarming classic

"Django Unchained" - Quentin Tarantino's latest amazing film

"Indie Game: The Movie" + "Mojang: The Story of Minecraft" - the most amazing documentaries that I have ever seen

Honestly, I cannot think of any other movies that can join these four in my list of favorites. I would LOVE to see a documentary about the lifecycle of a mobile app development team's entire development process.

Primer - Arguably the best time travel movie ever made. I've watched it about four times now and I still can't quite wrap my head around it.

The Shining

Dead Poets Society

It's a Wonderful Life

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard

Memento

(M) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

And what about you? What are you favourite movies?

I am trying to list some little less known movies here: 1) The Skeleton Key (I rate it as the best movie ever) (M) 2) Contact (best alien movie) 3) Flight of the phoenix 4) The Painted Veil 5) ...cant remember

Off the top of my head:

The Shawshank Redemption

Empire of the Sun

(M) Donnie Darko

Artificial Intelligence*

The Godfather (parts I and II only)

*this is my "most people hated it, but I liked it" submission

I've watched Cloud Atlas a couple of times. Enjoyed every second.

I ended up passing on it in the theaters, it didn't get the best of reviews. I have it in my queue though, hoping it will be a solid surprise.

It is controversial because it is complex. You actually need to be able to take in what you see which is in my opinion not true for the majority of movies out there.

Cool Hand Luke Easy Rider Fight Club The Matrix 13 Assassins

Enter the Dragon - Bruce Lee!

Happy Gilmore - Stupid but funny

Million Dollar Baby - Boxing!

Gattaca. Obviously :)

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