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Movies!

In these stressful times, blow off some steam and watch some great movies!

I was chatting with my family, and the topic of great movies came up. Turns out they have missed a bunch of great films, so I took a few minutes to make a list. Hope you enjoy!

Rules: All are one-offs, no other films required. All are (in my opinion!) Good Films. They have good pacing, good acting, good effects - the whole plate.

I avoided Pixar, Marvel, and Disney films - not because I don’t like them (many of them are fantastic), but because they really don’t need any additional exposure.

Top Ten Must Watch

Cultural touchstones, great films all around. Bending the rules a bit with Blade Runner 2049, but hey. ::shrug::

  • Children of Men
  • Her
  • Gravity
  • Ex Machina
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • Tropic Thunder
  • District 9
  • Blade Runner 2049 (maybe watch Blade Runner first, or don’t…)
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • Idiocracy

Comedies

Don’t @ me, dude.

  • Idiocracy
  • Tropic Thunder
  • Zoolander
  • Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
  • The Hangover
  • Best in Show
  • Shaun of the Dead

Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi

Great films. Recommend one a week until you are sure you are responding as a human and not an android.

  • District 9
  • Children of Men
  • V for Vendetta
  • Blade Runner 2049 (maybe watch Blade Runner first, or don’t…)
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • Arrival
  • Oblivion
  • Ad Astra
  • Annihilation
  • Her
  • Edge of Tomorrow
  • Children of Men
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • Ex Machina

Interesting Animated Films

Bending the rules a bit with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse… oh well.

  • Coraline
  • Persepolis
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Zootopia
  • Trolls

Traditionally Awesome

By “traditionally awesome” what I mean is that these films are the kind of flims I would show someone who says stuff like “I don’t like superheroes or sci-fi… or fantasy for that matter.” Again, technically bending the rules a bit with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I guess I just can’t help myself.

  • Collateral
  • Little Miss Sunshine
  • Slumdog Millionaire
  • Sideways
  • Knives Out
  • Argo
  • The Social Network
  • The Imitation Game
  • American Hustle
  • Lost in Translation
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Bonkers (In A Good Way)

These are insane, “I can’t believe they green-lit these” movies. Well, except for the Wes Anderson films. Those make a lot of sense.

  • Amelie
  • Moulin Rogue!
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Memento
  • Borat
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • Sin City
  • Battle Royale
  • Life Aquatic

Rough To Watch… But Worth It

These are a list of films that I personally really, really love but are a bit intense. Beautifully shot, fantastic scripts, and long stares into the unfocused mid-distance afterwards.

  • Dunkirk (death & war!)
  • The Revenant (death & cold!)
  • Gravity (death & space!)
  • Pan’s Labyrinth (death & insanity!)
  • The Ring (death & ghosts!)
  • Black Hawk Down (more death & war!)
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