Favorite Movies and Directors

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

As a companion piece to the recent "Favorite Authors" topic I made, which was also hosted on the old site, I thought I might add something slightly original.

I know we already have a topic on fantasy movies, but that can range from the excellent to the atrocious, and then only on fantasy. Therefore, I'd like to have everyone discuss their all-time favorite movies here, and as an extra, you may even list what particular directors you gravitate towards - anyone with a particular body of work of significant achievement or just plain fun. Have you discovered anything or anyone new recently? What are some childhood favorites? How about guilty pleasures? Have they influenced you in any way? Why exactly do you like them?

Genre doesn't need to be an issue, nor does it have to be a sophisticated deconstruction on a technical basis - meaning you don't have to go into too much detail if you don't want to. This isn't a college course. Just have fun with it!

[Raven]

Schultze Gets the Blues is one of my all-time favorite films. It is a German language film, and it tells the story of an older, retired miner who plays traditional German polka like his father before him. But, one day he hears Zydeco music on the radio, and the moving, quiet film follows what happens after.
It's really a great film, but not for everyone.

That'll be my first entry into the thread.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

It's going to take me a bit to get some of my own all-time favorite films together, but if I could think of one that immediately jumps out at me right now, it would be My Favorite Year (1982) by Richard Benjamin. This film follows a writer on a variety show who, while trying to keep him sober until airtime, strikes up a friendship with a famous actor of swashbucklers and adventure films (Peter O'Toole); as the two get more acquainted with each other's lives, the variety show comes under fire from a mobster who does not take kindly to being parodied in a prominent sketch.

Produced by Mel Brooks's production company, this is not so much a biopic as it is an embellishment of his tenure on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" and a guest appearance from Errol Flynn. Thus, there's a great deal of effective comedy about it as well as personal drama. The real highlight of the film is Peter O'Toole's extraordinary performance as the drunken yet flamboyant actor and his closely developing friendship with the writer, and the subplot about the variety show antics builds into a highly satisfying climax. It's a wonderful watch for fans of film and television as well as people who love strong charcter interaction.

[Philosoraptor]

1. Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki. A fantasy fairytale about curses, gods, conflict, yet with no villain. A young prince is cursed by a dying god and accepts exile from his people, journeying far to the west, where he encounters a war between a colony of ironworkers and gods of the forest. Beautiful meditation on peace, hatred, war, and human choice.

2. Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro. A fairytale for adults. A young girl in 1940s Spain is told by a faun that she is the Princess Moanna, and must complete three labors to return to her kingdom. Horror, violence, and pure childlike love abound. Moanna learns the price for breaking rules as well as the proper time to reject them. In short, we become witnesses to the flowering of a true conscience.

3. Calvary, John Michael McDonagh. The most beautiful depiction of the priest as true shepherd of souls I have ever seen. Released in 2014, it follows an Irish priest after the sex abuse scandals in Ireland, set in a time (our time) where faith in Christ our God as Savior is seen as irrelevantly antiquated at best. The encounter of the priest with despair and the cross I can only describe as hauntingly beautiful.

[Raven]

I've never heard of Calvary. It sounds interesting. May need a watching.
I like Princess Mononoke, despite the fact that it's 100 hours long . . . Okay, slight exaggeration.
Pan's Labyrinth -- Oh so good, oh so difficult to watch.  Glad I saw it. Brilliant film. Haven't ever been able to bring myself to watch it again.

Here's one for ya that popped into my head:
War Arrow, a Korean archery film. It's a hunter-hunted wilderness sort of film. No masterpiece, maybe not even a favorite, but a film I really enjoyed watching and just came to mind.