The Movie Nerd Bible: Part I
- Thread starter MovieBob
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I've seen The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Psycho, Night of the Living Dead, Planet of the Apes (first one only), Jaws and Logan's Run.
Never seen Soylent Green. Hell I've never even heard of it. I went and watched the trailer.
Never seen Soylent Green. Hell I've never even heard of it. I went and watched the trailer.
Is it people? Cannibalism cookies?
Do I have to? I hate horror films in general (not just the bad ones: I have an extremely overactive imagination that results in sleepless nights pacing back and forth in my room putting a sword or staff through its paces) and a lot of those were horror films. I have seen Nosferatu (Bless you, Frau Van Blaricom) and Fantastic Voyage.
I note with some displeasure that you have not listed Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein on this list, however, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt: most of Brooks' famous films (Spaceballs and Men in Tights, notably) were released post-Star Wars.
Another great series that I do hope you include (despite them being made-for-TV and having terrible cinematography) are the Librarian films (The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice). If you have never seen them, I highly recommend them, if only for the ridiculous premise and Noah Wyle's goofy-nerd role. XD
I note with some displeasure that you have not listed Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein on this list, however, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt: most of Brooks' famous films (Spaceballs and Men in Tights, notably) were released post-Star Wars.
Another great series that I do hope you include (despite them being made-for-TV and having terrible cinematography) are the Librarian films (The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice). If you have never seen them, I highly recommend them, if only for the ridiculous premise and Noah Wyle's goofy-nerd role. XD
I raise you Blue Demon. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPKIcCQ57es]ironlordthemad said:
The best line in that movie is when the midget does a barrel roll out of the room then kicks the door closed as he says "Sayonara Sushi". A shark then busts into the room and eats the bad guy.
Oh and spoilers because this movie totally merits a spoiler tag.
Nice list, bob.
It's worth mentioning that Night of the Living Dead was also famous (among film geeks) for its social commentary at the time.
People too young to remember Harryhausen may remember his name being a funny reference in Monsters, Inc.
I loved the first time I saw Jaws. The best part HAD to be what immediately follows the line: "Smile, you son of a-"
It's worth mentioning that Night of the Living Dead was also famous (among film geeks) for its social commentary at the time.
People too young to remember Harryhausen may remember his name being a funny reference in Monsters, Inc.
I loved the first time I saw Jaws. The best part HAD to be what immediately follows the line: "Smile, you son of a-"
Remember too though, Bob's listing movies that fundamentally changed how we view movies. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are definite must-sees, but they weren't game changers. Just really good at the genre they fell into. Probably the same reason he didn't include "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (although I would have left that one off just because I'm sick to death of people who think they're movie nerds because they can quote Grail, but not any other Python stuff!).RagnorakTres said:
While we're talking about Mel Brooks films, add "The Producers" to the list.
I doubt he'll put it in. The list seems to go in order by year. And the Wizard of Oz was way back in the 30's. In all honesty I'm glad he didn't put it on the list. In my opinion it's only a landmark film for being the first film in color. Other than that, it's pretty dated and not really that good.Adventurer2626 said:
Yea it likely won't go in there now. But hey I thought it was iconic enough for me as a kid though it's not as engaging as an adult. To each his/her own.Apples_McGrind said:
Edit: missed a couple posts. Yea I see what he's shooting for: the game (read as movie genre) changers.
Also, it's interesting to note that Metropolis had at it's time the reputation of...say...Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, since it cost ridiculous amounts of money, looked pretty and was universally panned by critics for being kinda stupid.
That said, while the story can hardly be considered to be very good, i guess the critics of that era would spin in thier graves nowadays.
Definitely a milestone, but given how overrated and boring (due to amazingly slow pacing) this movie is, and given that just about every scene has been parodied or referenced dozens of times in modern pop culture, i don't really see why someone still would HAVE!!!! to see this movie.
Other than that, i think i mostly agree with the list. There are some really bad movies among them, but it can be easily argued that as a movie sci-fi/fantasy nerd, you are sort of expected to know them.
I have seen every single one of those. My dad is a huge movie buff, so at a young age I was watching movies. Even though, at the time I couldn't even understand most of them fully. It's was great watching alot of great flicks as I got older, because I could comprehend them fully, and it was like seeing them all over again.
Oh yeah, as nostalgia, It'll always have a special place in my heart. But seeing it a few months ago made me realize how many problems the actual movie has.Adventurer2626 said:
Read: Every horror and sci-fi movie you should see.
Are movie nerds really relegated to these two genres? A true movie nerd appreciates all types of films. I list some here, but there are of course about 200+ missing.
Are movie nerds really relegated to these two genres? A true movie nerd appreciates all types of films. I list some here, but there are of course about 200+ missing.
Not bad Snowman, but I think Blue Demon looks like just a bad movie, but it starts off from a solid starting point, training sharks, fine, the government getting involved, fine, it all going horribly wrong, well lets face it we all seen it coming, so thats fine too.snowman6251 said:
Sharktopus has all that plus the idea of impossible genetic engineering. Its not that genetic engineering is impossible, its just that a shark an an octopus is impossible. Not to mention Blue Deamons LOOKS almost realistic, which is a good thing in Sci-Fi, because it adds to the verisimiltude of the movie.
I glance at Sharktopus and shout "BULLSHIT!"
I see Blue Deamon and say... "hmm... maybe..."
But a good try Snowman, a very good try.
Good list. Initially I was going to comment that it's heavy on the genre films and wonder why some extremely influential films like "Birth of a Nation" aren't present, but I get that our definitions of "movie nerd" may be different. But even going with the genre-picture angle, no "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?" No "Aguirre: The Wrath of God?" I will say, though, that it's good to see "Solaris" on the list. Nobody seems to remember "Solaris," and when they do they're usually talking about the Clooney movie in the same way that anybody talking about "Scarface" is generally referring to the Pacino movie.
With the exception of "Solaris", the Hammer-horror movies and "Night of the Living Dead" I've seen all of these.
There are shitloads of movies outside the "nerd" genres that are equally good (and better) and just as influential than what's on this list.
Like all the heist movies ("Outside the Law", "The Killing", "Rififi"), the crime noir ones (almost anything with Bogart in it), the endless number of war movies, samurai movies, westerns and so on. And all the other movies Fritz Lang and Kubrick did.
This.KarmicToast said:
There are shitloads of movies outside the "nerd" genres that are equally good (and better) and just as influential than what's on this list.
Like all the heist movies ("Outside the Law", "The Killing", "Rififi"), the crime noir ones (almost anything with Bogart in it), the endless number of war movies, samurai movies, westerns and so on. And all the other movies Fritz Lang and Kubrick did.
Well written, Bob. I haven't seen Soylent Green yet (for shame) and the last time I saw Logan's Run I was 10... but every other film you've listed there is a classic. I fell in love with Nosferatu and Metropolis, and will be going to go see the (nearly) fully restored version airing in my town in a couple of weeks. Three solid hours of Cinematic goodness.
I also felt incredibly nerdy but completely smug for my final piece of college work in Film Studies to choose to focus on Tarkovsky's works such as Stalker, Mirror and Solaris while most people chose Tarantino. That was a fantastic piece of coursework, my preperation for the written work was to simply enjoy some of the best Soviet films ever made.
I also felt incredibly nerdy but completely smug for my final piece of college work in Film Studies to choose to focus on Tarkovsky's works such as Stalker, Mirror and Solaris while most people chose Tarantino. That was a fantastic piece of coursework, my preperation for the written work was to simply enjoy some of the best Soviet films ever made.
Birth of a Nation's complexity (for the time) is, for me, totally overshadowed by the racism, haha. Cabinet of Dr Caligari was also another one that could have been on the list, though when comparing it to Metropolis or Nosferatu, it is the inferior film. There's just something about the other two for me that just makes them so much more special.MrGone86 said:
