My Favorite Movies

  1. sjcole4
  2. Sam

Movies that have stolen a place in my memory, for various reasons, probably for the rest of my life...(list subject to constant expansion of course)...

  sjcole4's Rating My Rating
1
Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006,  R)
Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) 5.0 Stars
Hands down...one of the best movies I have ever seen. This movie does everything right, it's the perfect combination of fantasy,horror, and drama. Top notch acting, well developed story, and amazingly talented leading young lady. Combine all this and you get truly what all fantasy/horror/drama movies should aspire to be. Simply brilliant!
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2
The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (2003,  PG-13)
The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King 5.0 Stars
Best of the series, wonderful way to end might I add! This is how all modern fantasy trilogies should aspire to end (aka the opposite of Spiderman and Pirates).
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3
Spider-Man 2 (2004,  PG-13)
Spider-Man 2 5.0 Stars
BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER!!!
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4
Kill Bill, Volume 2 (2004,  R)
Kill Bill, Volume 2 5.0 Stars
So wonderful it's hard to describe...movies of this type being excellent are soo few and far between...okay maybe I can't name another movie exactly of this type...wait KILL BILL VOL. 1! This movie improves on Vol. 1 in every way possible. Weird since it was originally 1 movie...
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5
Kill Bill, Volume 1 (2003,  R)
Kill Bill, Volume 1 4.5 Stars
The pure insanity of this movie is what makes it so good...it's unrelentless action AND (somehow!) it still manages to have a good story in there...FREAKIN' AMAZING!
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6
Children of Men (2006,  R)
Children of Men 4.5 Stars
Beautiful..beautiful movie! Watch this...most thought provoking movie of recent memory.
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7
Contact (1997,  PG)
Contact 5.0 Stars
This wonderful movie did 3 important things for me: 1) it pretty much made Jodie Foster my fav actress ever, 2) it further validated what i wanted my major to be in college in my own mind, and 3) it freakin' BLEW ME AWAY so much that I finally realized how much of a connection I formed with movies when I really loved them. By far one of my favorite movies of ALL TIME and will always hold that special place in my memory for not only the 3 reasons above but like a dozen others (smaller but still significant).

Jodie Foster's performance with the final speech she gives in this movie was PHENOMENAL! PERIOD, POINT BLANK! Damn what a great actress...
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8
Stand by Me (1986,  R)
Stand by Me 5.0 Stars
This movie is freakin' AMAZING! I still love this movie and I first saw it when I was like 10. It's one of the only movies I ever really connected with as a little kid (outside of the endless parade of Disney movies I got bombarded with) and probably one of the reasons I love movies as much as I do today! This is friendship at its finest people.
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9
The Day After Tomorrow (2004,  PG-13)
The Day After Tomorrow 4.0 Stars
I've been trying to figure out how to justify loving this movie so much. All I can say is that it's quite possibly my biggest guilty pleasure ever...

For a multitude of reasons the movie is misleading, but primarily because it tries to portray itself as a political message movie. It fails miserably on this level. But take the movie for what it is (besides political innuendo) and you will find a solidly entertaining movie.

The acting is basically on a level were it is enough to be tolerated, and some of the side stories fall flat on their faces in an attempt to humanize the movie and to make it feel less empty. Let's not focus on that either. I'm sure you understand what I am getting at now...THE SPECIAL EFFECTS. The movie succeeds wonderfully at portraying a world thrown into chaos because of the changing Earth. Let's not pretend like it all makes sense (because anyone with a modicum of knowledge about the earth's climate knows it doesn't, at least not on a short term scale) but you can say that the story is solid enough to be accepted. Hmm but what about the CGI?... it is absolutely BREATHTAKING! Some scenes contain some of the most breathtaking CGI I've ever seen in a movie! This movie succeeds because it makes you feel small and insignificant. Huge sweeping shots of chaos and the aftermath of the disaster all make you feel like a tiny dot on a piece of paper. In a world quickly going to the dumps, you can't feel any other way. If anything this should've been taken to be the movie's main message...we are small and we are dealing with forces much MUCH bigger than ourselves. And in this respect the semi-emptiness of the movie works.

The sweeping, beautiful, engaging, and dramatic climate changes are what keeps this movie entertaining and watchable...and one of my favorites.
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10
Knocked Up (2007,  R)
Knocked Up 4.5 Stars
This movie was HILARIOUS! Funniest thing I've seen since Borat. What makes it even better is the movie doesn't even have to rely on only the jokes because it is a movie with a heart...many life lessons here people.
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11
Finding Neverland (2004,  PG)
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12
Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0) (2007,  PG-13)
Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0) 5.0 Stars
Must give this movie top action, "splosion"-movie prize of the summer for '07!!! So long Fantastic Four, Spidey, and Pirates...this blew all those away. The most amazing action I can remember seeing since...I can't remember the last time I saw action this good!! Funny dialogue too, but just the right amount of funny. You had to experience this one in movie theaters to appreciate it fully!!
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13
The Descent (2006,  R)
The Descent 4.5 Stars
This movie defies several of the most terrible normalities of modern horror movies. Even when it uses "gotcha" scares it doesn't come off terribly because they are well-placed. With wonderful acting, cinematography, and music, this movie taps into our natural fears of claustrophobia, darkness, and the unknown. It has GREAT acting from all of the female leads, I can't stress enough how refreshing that is to see in a horror movie these days. And oh my goodness...CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! What? In a horror movie?....NO WAY! A horror movie were you actually care about the characters. For proving that horror movies can be taken seriously (not to mention scaring the hell out of me)...it is one of my favorites.

Best horror movie of recent memory...an actual plot, amazing level of "believable" tension, and just about everything a good MOVIE should be (not just a good horror movie). ALL horror movie fans should see this movie! It is a good movie in general though, so if you're not afraid of horror movies, see it too.
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14
Ray (2004,  PG-13)
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15
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005,  PG-13)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith 4.0 Stars
Just pure awesomeness!!! I could go on for about an hour about how cool this movie was...don't worry I'm not going to. Let's just say it's one of the slickest movies I've ever seen.
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