Johnny Rico

Heres some of my favourites

Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources - An achingly tragic story which needs all of it's combined screen time to bring the characters alive. Shot like a painting , it makes the most of the French Countryside. The Elder Soubayran's face as the final twist is revealed is poignant beyond belief.

Beautiful Girls - A much overlooked ensemble piece which takes some very average actors ( Michael Rapaport , Uma Thurman ) , some actors who need good material to shine ( Matt Dillon , Mira Sorvino ) and the upcoming talent of Natalie Portman - and mixes them into this " You can't Go Home again" Story.

Robocop - The thinking Person's Action Movie? Laced with Verhoeven's trademark humour , it manages to shoehorn various themes such as Corporate Greed and Privatising Public Services into a Wham Bang Action Flick. Forget the sequels - thay miss the point by a country mile.

Kiss Me Deadly - Apparently Micky Spillane hated this film which took a thick ear Detective Pulp and turned it into a marvellous Atomic Age Noir. The "hero" is thoroughly detestable with almost no likeable characteristics. The Villains are incredibly ruthless ( there is an off-screen use of pliers which is chilling even by today's standards ). The victims all appear genuinely frightened . I'm surprised Tarantino hasnt "homaged" it yet!

The Incredibles - One of the best James Bond Pics ever made! OK , I'm joking - however this is a loving tribute to that era . The animation is superb , the characters go through changes and the Villains actually kill. Pretty adventurous for an animated film aimed at kids.

Spirited Away - Exploring a fairy tale world takes a light touch and this film has it. Scrambling Japanese mythology with a touch of Alice through the looking glass , this film grasps the elements of fantasy and weaves them into a tale of ruthlessness that is turned to right through love. It's full of the usual barmy Japanese motifs which we come to expect. Finally the " Train across the lake" sequence is wordless and quite haunting.

Couldn't You just try acting , Old Boy...It's so much easier

scholes

Also
Hello where ya from
Austria
G'day mate.....let's put another shrimp on the barbie!

scholes

One flew over the cuckoos nest
The Apartment
Dirty Harry
Any film by Sierge Leone
Some like it hot
Goodfellas
American Beauty
LA Confidential
The usual suspects

grillreaper

12 monkeys
dead man
the believer

Scorpio1156

IN COLD BLOOD
MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE
ROMAN HOLIDAY [ANYTHING WITH GREGORY PECK]
SNEAKERS
THE HUSTLER
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
ZODIAC [2007]
THE APARTMENT
SPIRAL STAIRCASE
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
THE UNINVITED
...to name a few.

Ragamuffin

You don't have to go all the way across the Atlantic to find a classic, how about the captivating - Jean de Florette with the equally as good sequel Manon des sources.
Quote - Cesar Soubeyran: He's such a bigot he might confess other people's sins,
some how I couldn't see this story line fit well into a British film.

Nita St. James

Les Diabolique
Wings of Desire
Murder My Sweet
Double Indemnity
Laura
Sunset Blvd
La Belle et la Bête
Frida
Vertigo
Rear Window
The Trouble With Harry

…time is short. So you gotta ask yourself: Are you a fighter, Fish Queen, or are you zombie food?

stevie boy

Potrait of Jennie, superb

christoph404

Im quite partial to the films of French film maker Jean Pierre Melville and his inclusion of Americana in his Parisian underworld films. Much of the style and iconography of his films has been borrowed by modern day film makers and transposed back to the US . I would recommend "le Cercle Rouge" (1970) with Yves Montand and Alain Delon,for its depiction of a diamond heist in "Place de Voges" in Paris, its superbly done with very little dialogue in the whole film and stunning visuals, its not a well known film in the UK or US but its been ripped off thousands of times!

dremble wedge

Army of Shadows is excellent too.

batman

As are Bob Le Flambeur and Le Doulos, the latter features what is IMHO Jean Paul Belmondo's best performance.

I wish I had claws.

petandav

Thinking of America, I don't think anyone's mentioned It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. For me, it owes so much to the performance of British actor Terry Thomas - in particular, I love his exposition as to what he thinks is wrong with America!
Across the channel, rather than the atlantic, so many good films have come from France. The wonderful Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources have already been mentioned, but how about La Gloire de Mon Pere, Le Chateau de ma Mere, Plein Soleil, La Cage aux Folles, Au Revoir les Enfants, Tatie Danielle, Le Diner des Cons and Le Placard to name but a few.

christoph404

Ah yes, La Cage aux Folles, hilarious! the US remake was awful, it just didn't translate at all.

petandav

Funnily enough I did like the American remake (The Birdcage) even though they usually spoil everything they do remake.
My one regret is that I've never been able to find La Cage aux Folles 3 (The Wedding) in anything other than a dubbed version. The first and second films are easily available with subtitles that preserve the original. But the dubbing on the third film (which, admittedly is a poorer film as well) is just awful.