Friends list, you're my only hope!

[astridv]

Me and the roommates are in need of movie recs for Buffynight. Well, we still call it Buffynight but we ran out of first Angel and then Buffy episodes well over a year ago. Now it's basically Movie Night, on which two of us cook a nice dinner while the other two get a movie. The food is the easy part.

We saw some fantastic movies already (I should really have made notes for a recs list... some of those, like The Prestige, I had no expectations for and was really pleasantly surprised.) I could use some recs, so: What are your, say, three favorite movies? The ones you'd bring on the desert island (if the desert island had electricity)?

---

And while I'm here, I'm snagging the Ask Me Anything meme I just saw at kradical:
ask me anything you want in the comments. I shall answer as best as I can though I'll reserve the right to skip questions.

(x-posted to DW and LJ)

Comments

[rheanna]

(1) Where in Germany do you live? (Feel free to skip if you don't want to be too specific in a public post. And, erm, I promise I'm not planning to stalk you or anything. I'm just curious!)

(2) Did you always want to be a professional artist, or did you consider any other careers?

As for movies -- hmmm, I'll have to ponder that. Are there any particular genres (rom com, action, SF, indie etc) that your group particularly enjoys? (I enjoyed The Prestige a lot, as well. I wasn't spoiled for the plot, and thought it had some really nice twists). Or, maybe you could give a couple of examples of things that have gone down well, and we'll try to think of recs in a kind of, "If you liked that, you might like this" way.

[astridv]

(1) Where in Germany do you live?

I live in Westphalia, in beautiful Muenster - a city mostly known for its universities and for the citizens' love of bicycling. (The city, at any given moment or place, looks like this.) We're somewhere in the middle of the way between Hamburg and Cologne, an hour from the dutch border.

(2) Did you always want to be a professional artist, or did you consider any other careers?

I considered other lines of work. After school I couldn't decide between architecture, graphic design, or something language-related... my stepdad was Polish, and at the time I was taking Russian for fun, so I considered Slavistic briefly but decided against it quickly, probably a wise decision.

I knew that for design I'd need an internship and pass the entrance exam, so I took care of those without even having made up my mind... just to keep my options open. And then I figured, now that I passed that exam and have a internship spot secured, might as well enroll.

I actually enrolled in architecture after a few semesters of studying design, because I missed the intellectual challenge. And then I studied the two simultaneously for three semesters because I just couldn't make up my mind which I liked better. In the end I decided on design since I needed to get my diploma, and I couldn't get both degrees (I was developing a nervous twitch in my left eye which I took as a sign to cut back ;) I like my job a lot, but I think I could've been content as an architect, too.

As for movies -- hmmm, I'll have to ponder that. Are there any particular genres (rom com, action, SF, indie etc) that your group particularly enjoys?

Or tastes are pretty eclectic. What we don't like are movies that are heavy on special effects but light on plot. No brainless action or gratuitous violence, but if it's got an interesting, well-written plot like Terminator II we'll go for it. I like romantic comedies but the others don't. SF is cool, if the plot is good.

(I enjoyed The Prestige a lot, as well. I wasn't spoiled for the plot, and thought it had some really nice twists).

I was unspoiled too, and loved the ending. And I liked all the parallels in the narration and structure. Very clever, and so well done that you only notice it all afterwards. I want to watch that one again.

Or, maybe you could give a couple of examples of things that have gone down well, and we'll try to think of recs in a kind of, "If you liked that, you might like this" way.

Yeah, I'll try to put together that list of movies we liked.

[rheanna]

Ooooh, Muenster looks beautiful. And that's a LOT of bikes!

Now, movies: Toy Story was on TV last weekend, and I started watching it and realised I'd forgotten how good it was (and scripted by Joss Whedon, which I'd also forgotten). Toy Story 2 is as good or better. And while we're on animated films, Finding Nemo is one of my favourites, and Ratatouille is also very enjoyable.

I've really enjoyed the comedies Simon Pegg and Nick Frost made together, especially Shaun of the Dead (terrific Hallowe'en viewing) and Hott Fuzz.

The Matrix - the sequels were rubbish, but the first movie is a genius idea executed brilliantly, and at the time it looked completely fresh and original. I still get shivers when Neo asks, "Are you saying I'll be able to stop bullets?" and Morpheus answers, "No, I'm saying you won't *need* to", and that, of course, is exactly how it goes down. A superlative action film.

Little Miss Sunshine -- very funny, and just the right mix of bitter and sweet. My favourite moment is the finale, when we discover exactly what the 'dance routine' grandad was teaching little Olive.

Leon - the first 18 cert movie I saw at the cinema (I actually was 18; yes, I had a sheltered childhood). Jean Reno plays a contract killer who forms an unlikely bond with a young girl who lives in his apartment block. Surprisingly touching.

Apollo 13 - I love this because you *know* it's not a story of success -- the failure of the mission is a matter of historical record -- and so the film becomes the story of something else, human survival and ingenuity and hope in the face of failure. It's also a remarkable reminder of how much the space programme achieved using technology which now looks archaic (and yet we still haven't managed to better what they did.)

[astridv]

Oh, thanks, great list. Several of those I haven't seen yet, and the rest I loved. You're the third person or so to recommend Hot Fuzz, and I remember someone reccing it to me before, so I think that's the one I'll suggest next.

[sqweakie]

Movies first: 1. The extended Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The theatrical versions cut out so much that the last movie was so confusing when I watched it. When we finally got the extended version, it was like 'Oh, so that's how they got from X to Y'.

2. Bringing up Baby. It's an old black and white movie with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant that has to one of the top ten funniest movies I have ever seen.

3. Mirror Mask. It came out a couple years ago and was produced with the Jim Henson Muppet Company. It's visually stunning with a unique but beatiful artistic style. It's about a girl who's mother collaspes and is very sick. She goes to sleep the day before her mom's surgery and wakes up in this surreal world that looks like the drawings that cover the wall of her room and she has to find her way out.

Questions: What drew you to drawing in the first place? And, what are your three movies on the desert island?

[astridv]

Oh, number 3 sounds particularly interesting.

And, what are your three movies on the desert island?

That's actually a tricky question to answer. :D
Um... Groundhog Day, The Nightmare Before Christmas... and as my guilty pleasure comfort movie, I'd bring The Karate Kid.

What drew you to drawing in the first place?

I've always drawn, since I was a little kid. I suppose most kids draw in the beginning and then most people stop for some reason?
Later, I tried to illustrate the stories I wrote in my mind. I was constantly writing stories in my head, mostly fanfic, and I wanted to be able to see them, dammit. :)

And I drew a lot to pass the time in class... most of my teenage drawings were scribbled in my note books. So I lost almost all of those when I threw my old note books into the recycling container when my parents sold the house. I knew the moment it made *thud* that I'd made a mistake. I'm still kicking myself for that.

[whizzy]

Hm, movies.

A Better Tomorrow.

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a href"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/amelie">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

Hm, movies.

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Better_Tomorrow">A Better Tomorrow</a>.
<a href"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelie">Amelie</a>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Brother,_Where_Art_Thou%3F">O Brother, Where Art Thou?</a>
Oh, and I was just thinking about this one. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Bandits">Time Bandits</a>

Those are pretty standard fare, should be easy to find.

[whizzy]

Blargh, my typing fails me.

A Better Tomorrow.
Amelie
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Oh, and I was just thinking about this one. Time Bandits

[astridv]

Thanks! I haven't seen any of these yet. :)