History Gush / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' is probably the greatest motion picture to grace a movie theater besides ''Film/ForrestGump'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. Even without the likable characters, and that touch of 80s nostalgia, the monsters are the most entertaining in film history and are so entertaining, that you'd rather root for them than the heroes.

** Creator/TimothyDalton seldom gets the respect he deserves for being Bond. People found him too dark, but he was coming in after ''[[LongRunners 12 years]]'' of [[LighterAndSofter Roger Moore]]. ''Film/LicenceToKill'' is probably the most underrated movie in the entire franchise, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny even more so since it plays out like Craig's Bond movies thus far]].

* People seem to take it entirely for granted, but ''Franchise/StarWars'' is actually pretty damned good. [[WidgetSeries And weird]]. But also good.

* No {{Kaiju}} fans here to speak up for Franchise/{{Gamera}}? Sure, the Showa Era ones are full of cheese, but the Heisei Era is top-notch kaiju storytelling- especially ''Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys'', a serious contender for one of the best giant monster movies ever made. A kaiju movie that's also just a plain good movie- dripping with mysticism to set it apart from Godzilla, and also nailing the balance between human and kaiju characters. The cinematography, creature design, and soundtrack are excellent, and the themes of love, faith, and loyalty in the face of loss and tragedy are present throughout, with a central question of "How far would you go for the ones that you love?". That's not to discount the [[Film/GameraGuardianOfTheUniverse previous]] [[Film/Gamera2AdventOfLegion films]] of the Heisei Era- Legion's design goes so incredibly hard, and the much-beloved tradition of making the Gyaos into an all-devouring swarm started here. The oft-forgotten forth film of the era, ''Film/GameraTheBrave'', may be a LighterAndSofter ContinuityReboot, but it's still a good kaiju story with plenty of charm and heart, as well as a message about the uncertainty of growing up and facing the world.

* No {{Kaiju}} fans here to speak up for Franchise/Gamera? Sure, the Showa Era ones are full of cheese, but the Heisei Era is top-notch kaiju storytelling- especially ''Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys'', a serious contender for one of the best giant monster movies ever made. A kaiju movie that's also just a plain good movie- dripping with mysticism to set it apart from Godzilla, and also nailing the balance between human and kaiju characters. The cinematography, creature design, and soundtrack are excellent, and the themes of love, faith, and loyalty in the face of loss and tragedy are present throughout, with a central question of "How far would you go for the ones that you love?". That's not to discount the [[Film/GameraGuardianOfTheUniverse previous]] [[Film/Gamera2AdventOfLegion films]] of the Heisei Era- Legion's design goes so incredibly hard, and the much-beloved tradition of making the Gyaos into an all-devouring swarm started here. The oft-forgotten forth film of the era, ''Film/GameraTheBrave'', may be a LighterAndSofter ContinuityReboot, but it's still a good kaiju story with plenty of charm and heart, as well as a message about the uncertainty of growing up and facing the world.

* It couldn't make me cry because I was smiling too hard,. I couldn't make me laugh because I was fighting back tears. ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful'' is. It just made me happy, it made me realize that there are truly beautiful people in this world. If only in the minds that envisioned such a wonderful story.

** Let's just leave it simply that the Python films are all great, including ''Live at the Hollywood Bowl''. If you don't find the sketch from ''Meaning of Life'' with John Cleese as the GrimReaper [[IncrediblyLamePun drop dead hysterical]], you are officially not a human being.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' is truly a classic film. Just the fact that a [[SciFiGhetto sci-fi]] teen [[ComedyGhetto comedy]] got an Oscar nomination for its ''writing'' says a lot about its quality. It's also been added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress and made it onto [=IMDb's=] "Top 250" list. (''Film/OutOfAfrica'', the winner of Best Picture that year, has yet to receive either honor. Just saying.) The sequels are also good, but don't measure up to this gem.

* Creator/StevenSpielberg's 1941 is a very entertaining war farce from the [[Creator/RobertZemeckis writers]] [[Creator/BobGale of]] ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. The film with a comedic AllStarCast harkens as an excellent film version of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. Though Spielberg does [[CreatorBacklash look back on it with regret]] and the Bobs seldom mention it aside from it being their stepping stone to their eventual box office gold with BTTF, this is among Spielberg's most creative of his early works.

* ''In the decade of the 1930's, even the great city of Metropolis wasn't spared the ravages of the world-wide depression. In these times of fear and confusion, the Daily Planet, a great metropolitan newspaper whose reputation for honesty and truth, became a symbol of hope for the city of Metropolis......'' Cue, Music/JohnWilliams RousingMusic and so begins '''the''' definitive, and greatest, SuperHero movie ever made. Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane. No it's ''Film/{{Superman}}''. Thirty years later, they still can't top it.

* No love for ''Film/{{Amelie}}''? This movie is my absolute favorite. I call it my "happy place" movie because even thinking about it lightens my mood. It's just a sweet romantic comedy with likeable characters and great humor. The fact that it's [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Fre]][[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench nch]] carries a certain appeal to this Francophile.

* ''Film/TheRoom'' by Tommy Wiseau is the epitome of SoBadItsGood and my utlimate guilty pleasure. It's bad but every single scene manages to be [[{{Narm}} unintentionally laughable]] and entertaining. Nothing is a waste: [[DullSurprise The incredibly bad acting]], [[FetishRetardant awkward sex scenes]], [[AngstWhatAngst an old lady who casually mentions her breast cancer]] [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment then never speaks of this again]], [[RandomEventsPlot random scenes that are irrelevant to the plot]], [[NonSequitur out of the blue lines]], and even more!

* Don't ''shoot'' me or anything, but I quite enjoyed the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' movie more than I expected to. Not only do the director and writer cut out all the unnecessary {{Wangst}}ing and constant talk of how beautiful the vampires are, but they seemed to make the movie their own. A fluffy representation, if that's really what the books are anyways. Legions of fans may be pissed, but you can't make a movie ''exactly'' the way the fans want it.

* ''Film/TheSpirit'' is a utterly bizarre movie that has a serious case of WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs made by the equally bizarre mind of Creator/FrankMiller. But its totally out there (in a good way) and I feel it doesn't always get a fair shake because it deviated so heavily from the source material(though it wouldn't be the first, second or third to do so). It's deadpan characters who always seem to be having fun, especially [[Creator/SamuelLJackson The Octopus]]. Acres of ChewingTheScenery, just as much fetish fuel, and it allows you not to think too hard about about the inane brilliance of it all.

* The 1979 film Film/{{Stalker}} by Creator/AndreiTarkovsky is in my top ten films. It has the strongest plot and characterization, and the most beautiful cinematography and music, of the Tarkosvky films. It provokes intense contemplation and meditation and really makes viewers think about the film. If I had to see only one Russian film, it would be Stalker.

* The BBC made-for-TV movies of the Literature/MissMarple novels are the epitome of TV movies. The absolute pinnacle. They're almost uniformly extremely well adapted, they're shot with gorgeous scenery and sets that make me jealous I've never been to England, and Joan Hickson IS Miss Marple. Holy shit do these films hold up!

* Out of all of the films that have come out this decade so far, I doubt any of them will top the beauty that is ''Film/CloudAtlas''. It's not my favorite movie of all time, but '''GODDAMN''', it provides a rush of cinema that makes other big-budget greats like ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' and ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' look downright small in comparison. The multiple [[ActingForTwo usage of actors playing different roles]] and all with help of, [[SpecialEffectsFailure for the most part]], [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome excellent make-up]], [[ArcWords highly quotable dialogue]], [[GunKata suspenseful]] [[ChaseScene action sequences]], [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters memorable characters]], [[SceneryPorn breathtaking scope]], [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic a]] ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic hauntingly]]'' [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic whimsical score]] and outright immaculate pacing. It may not have won [[AwardSnub the biggest awards out there]] or achieve the widest audience possible, but its easily the best thing The Wachowskis ([[DirectorDisplacement and Tom Tykwer too!]]) will ever make and a film that will stand the test of time.

* Despite frankly ridiculous levels of fame I feel this film gets ignored a lot, because it's often shown to children of a really young age who forget it when they grow up. Which is a shame, because ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' is, to me, the best film ever made. It's got everything; beautiful sets, lovely music, brilliant acting, and ''amazing'' special effects (everyone forgets that this was one of the earliest technicolor films ever made, and stepping through the door to Munchkinland is a magnificent bit of camera work that works just as well today as it did in 1938.)

* I'm really pissed that ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' hasn't gotten any notice at all on this site, as it's [[HypeBacklash passed up]] for titles [[HypeAversion I frankly think are trash]]. And it's sad that it would have never made it to this page because it isn't a dumb movie with a gimmick, so thank god I exist. But, anyway, when I was watching it, I was bored, and when I got out of it, I thought it was good, and when I thought about it more, it was excellent. The direction is great, every shot is unique & sets the mood, the acting is stellar & contains some of the best performances of the year, and the script feels fast & natural, as each character feels unique with the script & loads of little details are in there. Each character is multi-layered, even characters with smaller parts like Christy Lee has a some good amount of depth. The movie itself is brillant, as it lets us ponder about, the coming of the internet and who we are in society. I plan to see it again on DVD, just so I can get all the details of the script. The fact that no-one will second this because "it's a movie about Facebook, derp!", is stupid. It's not just a movie about Facebook, that's calling ''Film/{{Network}}'' "just about TV'. It's about the coming of the internet as a whole, and the part it plays in our everyday life. I plan to a EntryPimp for this movie, it's that good. Oh, and Trent Reznor's soundtrack. The soundtrack showed me just how much music can add to a scene.

** As I say to my friends/family/casual acquaintances when I wax eloquent about this film, faulting ''Film/TheWarriors'' for not being a realistic portrayal of BigRottenApple gangs is like faulting ''Film/WestSideStory'' for the same reason. Also, the hand-to-hand fight sequences are better than just about anything done by anyone not named Creator/BruceLee. And, as Danny Peary's ''Literature/CultMovies'' points out, how many movies successfully adapt "Anabasis" ''and'' baseball?

** As I say to my friends/family/casual acquaintances when I wax eloquent about this film, faulting ''Film/TheWarriors'' for not being a realistic portrayal of BigRottenApple gangs is like faulting ''Film/WestSideStory'' for the same reason. Also, the hand-to-hand fight sequences are better than just about anything done by anyone not named Creator/BruceLee. And, as [[DannyPearyCultMoviesList Danny Peary]] points out, how many movies successfully adapt "Anabasis" ''and'' baseball?

* ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse'' is a fantastic film in so many ways. In particular, the music and accompanying sequences. And the ending, which could have been something entirely different considering the historical context, but instead went down a route that seemed really quite fitting with the overall feel of the Beatles.

* ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'': Beautifully written, adapted, acted and narrated. You will never care so much about a bunch of jailbirds by the end of this film. It's rare to cry at a moment in a movie when no character on-screen is crying, but... "Brooks was here." And the music, oh God! After they dropped the [[{{Anvilicious}} anvil on my head,]] I took it off and [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped lovingly caressed it]] while I fell asleep that night.

* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. Every scene is either emotionally thrilling and intriguing or just jam-packed with CrazyAwesome: from the incredibly intense interrogations of the twistedly grandiose Jew Hunter Hans Landa, to the jailbreak of consummate anti-Nazi turncoat badass Hugo Stiglitz, to the raw delight of watching every Nazi big shot get taunted by a very vengeful orphan on a huge movie screen as they scramble before the all-consuming fire of her design. And, to top it all off, [[spoiler:the hard-knuckle Basterds manage to pump Hitler full of lead before the entire theater crumbles, thoroughly rewriting history for the better]]. ''Inglourious Basterds'' is the masterpiece of all guilty pleasures.

** ''Film/TopHat'' is Creator/FredAstaire and Creator/GingerRogers' finest. Great songs, elegant settings, and a great supporting cast in Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes.

** Hell yeah, I was just astonished with the film when I saw it the first time... The CrazyAwesome [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorist/freedom-fighter]]. The fireworks. The TV show of Gordon. And the soundtrack... Well, for example, "Out Of Sight" by Spirituality and "The Long Black Train" by Richard Hawley (you know the tune on Insp. Eric Finch's alarm clock?) are now on my regular playlist!