Films! Films! Films!

[eye_of_a_cat]

I am madly in love with Lovefilm, and all DVD-by-post services like it. As would you be if you'd seen the paltry selection in my local Blockbuster, too. People don't just want to rent new releases! They don't! Really they don't! It's not just me!

Anyway, so. I've stacked up quite a few films now, and added a few more from Fred's recommendations thread at Slacktivist, and I was wondering if you fine people had any recommendations for films I might like.

Here's what I've got already:

All About Eve
Batman Begins
Breakfast At Tiffany's
Chinatown
Clueless
Dirty Harry
Double Indemnity
East Is East
Erin Brokovich
Galaxy Quest
Gilda
Hard Candy
Heat
Heathers
His Girl Friday
Key Largo
Little Miss Sunshine
Mean Girls [oh, hush]
Mr and Mrs Smith [the 1941 Hitchcock film, not the recent one!]
North By Northwest
Office Space
Once Upon A Time In America
Out of the Past
Rabbit Proof Fence
Rear Window
Rebel Without A Cause
Repulsion
Roger and Me
Scarlet Street
The Beckoning Silence
The Big Sleep
The Elephant Man
The Firm
The Lady Eve
The Lady From Shanghai
The Maltese Falcon
The Opposite of Sex
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Village
Touching the Void
Trainspotting
Unbreakable
Unforgiven
V for Vendetta.

Heavy on film noir and 40s/50s/early-60s anything; light on modern comedy and everything that could be described as 'heartwarming'. Any ideas, based on that kind of selection? (Except for Amelie, which I haven't seen and already know I wouldn't like, and am baffled as to why all my friends keep demanding I watch.) I'm on the lookout for good documentaries as well, if anyone's seen anything interesting in that vein.

Comments

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

The Third Man
Double Indemnity ('44 with MacMurray) you've seen it


perhaps
A Coffin for Dimitrios
Journey into Fear
le Carré? The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
and TV series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People
and the Constant Gardener
and the Tailor of Panama, which is not as noir as the book
and the Greene novel that inspired it, Our Man in Havana
and if you wind up liking le Carré, look for the Little Drummer Girl

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

Arsenic and Old Lace is brilliant. I'd also recommend Hot Fuzz, but it may not be your genre style. I love it so much I can watch it over and over.

Bowling for Columbine and Supersize Me on the docco front.

For total goofy 1960s fun--It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

I'll add more if I think of them.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

Hot Fuzz doesn't sound much like my sort of thing from what I know, but I do adore Simon Pegg, so on the list it goes. (Are you a fan of Spaced too?) And thank you for the other suggestions as well!

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

I expected it to be crude and dire, but it wasn't and I loved it. It's one of those ones which manages to parody several genres at once very neatly, without losing its lightness of touch. Erm, as far as you can say that about a film which has ridiculously overdone action scenes for comic effect.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Agreed entirely, although I think it ended up being patchier (possibly because of the multiple parodies) than Shaun of the Dead.

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

Hot Fuzz is a brilliant film. Yeah, yeah, I sound like a fangirl, who cares. Aside from the fact that I'll watch anything that trio (I'm including Edgar Wright, the director) puts together, the movie itself is very tightly constructed, has some seriously impeccable comic timing, and has characters that, while funny, are endearingly real. The script is very strong, too. And I should know, I got myself an advanced degree in that thespian authoring thing. (Hence why I sympathize with your academic travails.)

Also: Yay Spaced!

(And--if you find that you enjoyed Hot Fuzz, try Shaun of the Dead. I Two-Minutes-Hate zombie movies, but SotD is brilliant in the same ways Hot Fuzz is. Very much worth it.)

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

and The Lion in Winter is about as noir as one can get, although it is a version of a play. The O'Toole, Hepburn version is better, but the other is good, too. A comment I made elsewhere - I don't like the people; I don't like what they do; I don't like how they treat each other; I don't like what happens; I've seen the thing several times; I will see it again (I've actually purchased it since I first said this.) Also has Hopkins. Magnificent performances.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

I don't like the people; I don't like what they do; I don't like how they treat each other; I don't like what happens; I've seen the thing several times; I will see it again

That describes a few of my favourite films fairly well, I think. Weird how appealing a film about unappealing people can be. Although maybe 'unappealing' isn't the right word, because there's something very watchable about that kind of dynamic - 'unlikeable', maybe? Anyway! Thanks for the suggestion - added it is.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

If you're interested in old comedies, I absolutely adore Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Ladykillers, and Arsenic and Old Lace is pretty fab too.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I've never seen them, so added all three.

[angry-geologist.livejournal.com]

An American in Paris- it's the current month on my old movie poster calendar.

If you'd like something animated and hilarious, watch Surf's Up- the CGI with the surfing penguins. You will be surprised at how well-done it is.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! Surfing penguins, eh? I'll take a look...

[deadmonywalking.livejournal.com]

I liked "Bringing up Baby" I think, with Cary Grant, Hepburn, and a tiger.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

omg, yes! How did I forget about that? Most definitely added.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I'm not demanding you watch Amelie, but the reason people keep recommending it might be that it's actually weirder and less 'heartwarming' than the publicity would have you believe.

Additions to your list: Delicatessen, Doctor Strangelove, more to come if I think of them.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

It's maybe been mis-sold by its trailers etc., then? I know loads of people rave about it, but it never seemed like the kind of thing I'd like. Hm. I'll look out for it when it makes it to terrestrial TV, maybe. And thanks for the suggestions!

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Well, it's made by the same people as Delicatessen, which is a weird French film about post-apocalyptic surburban cannibalism, except where it isn't, and is very (darkly, absurdly) funny, so it was bound to be a bit stranger than your average mainstream love story. But I prefer Delicatessen in any case, so I recommend investigating that first.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Realised that the first sentence is somewhat confused. Again, with names:

Amelie was made by the same people as Delicatessen, which is a weird French film about post-apocalyptic surburban cannibalism (except where it isn't) and which is very (darkly, absurdly) funny, so Amelie was bound to be a bit stranger than your average mainstream love story.

[crisiks.livejournal.com]

In the vein of Little Miss Sunshine, try Running With Scissors. And as far as the 'new' Mr. & Mrs. Smith goes, it's actually very well done, besides being a bit polished. It took me by surprise.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

It is? Heh. I've underestimated it! It might go on there for the 'fun stuff to watch when the usual selection gets a bit too bleak', then. And thanks!

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Or if you ever end up over here, we keep meaning to watch it and we do have a copy.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Dunno whether O Brother Where Art Thou is your thing, but I like it.

Have you seen (and if so, do you like) The Usual Suspects? Or L.A. Confidential?? Or Pulp Fiction?

Lola Rennt/Run Lola Run
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Sting (Not sure which version to recommend - I've only seen one. The plot was re-used in one of the episodes of Hustle season 1 or 2, which rather gives away the ending if you've seen it)

I wasn't mad keen on Unbreakable, personally.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

I've never seen O Brother Where Art Thou, but I've heard good things, so I'll probably list that too. I love The Usual Suspects and am ambivalent about Pulp Fiction; LA Confidential I've only seen once while not really paying attention, so although I didn't like it much, I did get the impression I wasn't giving it the attention it deserved. Probably worth a rewatch.

Unbreakable: I'm one of the few people in the world that actively liked it, it seems (although I haven't seen it for a long time, and it might not stand up on a rewatch).

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Spirited Away (or possibly My Neighbour Totoro - I haven't seen it yet). And Fifth Element.

[bookly.livejournal.com]

I always associate Trainspotting with Clerks, maybe because I saw them around the same time and really enjoyed them both. Dunno if that's your cup of tea, though.

And for unlikeable people, the performance of Twelve Angry Men I saw recently was torture to sit through. I think there's a film version.