Good movies for film analysis

[iJin]

I need some suggestions for a film analysis paper I have to write for class. I've skimmed through some of my movies, and there isn't anything that really stands out in a analytical view.

You guys got any suggestions?

[Bhuryn]

A Clockwork Orange.

[LMingrone]

Alfred Hitchcock. If I had to write about my generation, I'd look at David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and Kubrick. Just my picks...some might not like them, but they are interesting directors' films to discuss.

Edit: and I see someone said Clockwork before me.

[LMingrone]

Oh, and if you feel like writing about The Fountain, please tell me what the fuck is going on in that movie.

[Bhuryn]

Staying in the Malcom McDowell vein, Caligula =P

[LMingrone]

I forgot George Romero. You could write several papers on his movies. About the human mind loving violence and comedy at the same time. (Had to write a thesis on his stuff)

[iJin]

A Clockwork Orange and 12 Monkeys was suggested. I will give those a watch tomorrow. I'll also go ahead and watch The Fountain and see what I can pull from that.

And yeah, I have to write about the story in an analytical form, as well as hidden symbolism, looks, names of the characters, and all this jazz. I have to like nitpick everything. I watched Gattaca today in class and we completely took it apart. If you haven't watched that film you totally should, it's pretty good.

Thanks for the suggestions. :) :)

[TheLastShamurai]

I liked Gattaca.

Speaking of Ethan Hawke, anyone else see Waking Life?

That film was trippy and awesome.

[Jayvn]

Rocky horror picture show.... just because little nell was cute

[Jayvn]

Being John Malkovich.....

[Bhuryn]

Apocolypse Now.

[Kuyuk]

I dare you to watch "strange circus" .. and I'll buy you an amazon gift if you write your paper about it.


K.

[LMingrone]

Stop naming off my DVD collection you bitches. I got every one named so far.

Just to add: I think One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is better on film than book. Shoot me.

E: Damn, I don't have Being John Malkovich. Shoot me again.

[drigore]

The City of Lost Children

[The Ponzzz]

I wrote a paper on Fight Club portraying communism. But that was when Fight Club FIRST came out. I assume it is all over the interwebz and such by now.

[iJin]

Stop naming off my DVD collection you bitches. I got every one named so far.

Just to add: I think One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is better on film than book. Shoot me.

E: Damn, I don't have Being John Malkovich. Shoot me again.

I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the book. Must watch the movie!


It's going to be a long Friday tomorrow with all these movies..

[Bhuryn]

Damn, what was that movie about the drug dealers in brazil that came out a few years ago... that movie was amazing too.

[LMingrone]

I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the book. Must watch the movie!


It's going to be a long Friday tomorrow with all these movies..

What the hell? Watch the movie, Jack and Danny are in it. (I love the book btw)

[Kuyuk]

LM, there's no way you have Strange Circus... no one in the world would keep it after the first watching ;p

being john malcovich was WTF, lol


K.

[LMingrone]

LM, there's no way you have Strange Circus... no one in the world would keep it after the first watching ;p
.

I collect a lot of strange shit. Not because I like it, but I like to have it. i probably have a 2-Girls-One-Cup DVD sitting around. Faces Of Death, check. That's how I roll.

Write your paper on 2G1C, I could write a novel on that.

[Kuyuk]

What do you think it tasted like?

[LMingrone]

Bacon

[Back]

A Clockwork Orange.


Alfred Hitchcock. If I had to write about my generation, I'd look at David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and Kubrick. Just my picks...some might not like them, but they are interesting directors' films to discuss.

Edit: and I see someone said Clockwork before me.


I forgot George Romero. You could write several papers on his movies. About the human mind loving violence and comedy at the same time. (Had to write a thesis on his stuff)


Rocky horror picture show.... just because little nell was cute


Being John Malkovich.....


Apocolypse Now.


The City of Lost Children


It's going to be a long Friday tomorrow with all these movies..

All great suggestions and yes it will be a long but entertaining weekend. Watch them twice if you have to.

If I were going to throw one into this crazy mix...

Wall•E?

[iJin]

Write your paper on 2G1C, I could write a novel on that.

That would probably be the first weirdest paper he would of read, thus far. He said a student once did a film analysis on a pornography movie long ago. ....

....

He said to not do pornos. lol.

[Kuyuk]

Bacon

I bet it tasted like shepards pie, and felt like warm refried beans in the mouth...



K.

[LMingrone]

Haven't seen WallE yet. On my list.

And your sig. I painted Pikachu (sp? Not a Pokemon player) for the little brothers. Flying out of lightning, looks awesome. Needs coloring and shading still.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3082/yankpictures.jpg

[Androidpk]

Sublime.

[radamanthys]

The Big Lebowski (or any of the Coen brothers' flicks). There's a metric fuckton of subtext in that movie.

Pink Flamingos (or something else equally reviling by John Waters)

[The Ponzzz]

Pink Flamingos is a movie no one should ever watch.

[Back]

Pink Flamingos is a movie no one should ever watch.

Pussy.


The Big Lebowski (or any of the Coen brothers' flicks). There's a metric fuckton of subtext in that movie.

Pink Flamingos (or something else equally reviling by John Waters)

Definitely Lebowski. Or Oh Brother Where Art Thou or any of their movies.

Hair Spray, Baby Face, or any of Waters movies.

[Tolwynn]

Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1), if you want to try something fairly beyond the pale.

[LMingrone]

Ichi is awesome. Don't know what you'd write a paper about though.

[radamanthys]

Pussy.



Definitely Lebowski. Or Oh Brother Where Art Thou or any of their movies.

Hair Spray, Baby Face, or any of Waters movies.

No, he's right. Pink Flamingos is like 4chan in movie format.


I love O Brother, too (Shit, I double love it as a banjo player, that soundtrack made my choice of instrument cool again). Hudsucker is also excellent.

I would say that TBL has the most subtext, with the Persian Gulf War stuff going on in the background, and the political nature of some of the characters (Lebowski the hippy peacenik, Walter the warmonger and donnie the uninformed)

Shit, we could probably spend a whole thread debating the subtext in that movie.

[Back]

Shit, we could probably spend a whole thread debating the subtext in that movie.

Forget it, Donny, you're out of your element!

[LMingrone]

TBL is probably the only CBs movies I like. I don't know, their jokes are setup and lame most of the time. I've never wrote a movie and made millions, so I'm not one to talk, but I really am not a fan of their stuff after they got famous.

[Junarra]

Anything by Peter Greenaway, which is all hard to find. Prospero's Books being my standout favorite of his.

In the WTF category (ie: most people don't remotely like it or get it apparently) Southland Tales was a recent fav immediately bought. Saddest Music in the World, too.

Or Peter Jackson's first movie. :D

You guys have great movie taste so far!

[droit]

American Beauty is a movie I consider close to technical cinematic perfection.

[Back]

Two thumbs up and I’m out.

[LMingrone]

American Beauty is a movie I consider close to technical cinematic perfection.

That's a fucked up movie. Everyone always tells me I look like the creepy photographer kid. And you know what. Since you guys/gals mentioned "American" , and since it's 2:30 in the morning, and I'm bored, I'm going to watch Hoodlum and American Gangster. (If you like AG, watch Hoodlum first.)

[droit]

My ex's father wrote the article (and eventually some of the screenplay) about Frank Lucas that inspired the movie American Gangster. He got to know the guy pretty well, and sometimes Lucas'd be over at their house. Nothing like having a former Harlem drug lord giving you life advice before going out for the evening...

Here's a cool interview with all of em on Charlie Rose:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8767

[diethx]

Hair Spray, Baby Face, or any of Waters movies.

You mean Cry-Baby?

[Miscast]

This was fucked up enough: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475984/

[LMingrone]

My ex's father wrote the article (and eventually some of the screenplay) about Frank Lucas that inspired the movie American Gangster. He got to know the guy pretty well, and sometimes Lucas'd be over at their house. Nothing like having a former Harlem drug lord giving you life advice before going out for the evening...

Here's a cool interview with all of em on Charlie Rose:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8767

That's pretty cool.

[StrayRogue]

Raging Bull. The best acting, the best editing, the best camera work you'll ever see.

[Sweets]

Gone With the Wind.

I like vintage.

[Stanley Burrell]

One of the following I did not write a college paper on. Pay close attention:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Cyclo.jpg

https://mediascapes.wikispaces.com/file/view/battle_of_algiers.jpg

http://roddysrockinreviews.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-poster-0.jpg

http://showcase.myvideostore.com/images/gallery/53627/1.jpg

[waywardgs]

battle of algiers seconded for modern day relevancy. That movie is amazing. Some heavy hitting social theorists were involved in it's making.

[Hips]

Someone else suggested David Lynch already, I would go with Blue Velvet.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090756/


The intro scene alone is so, so easy to analyze. Did it in a film course a few years ago.

[AestheticLife]

If you want to sound like you know what you're doing: Punch-Drunk Love

If you want to be controversial: Funny Games

[Bhuryn]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[ElvenFury]

"Hook". That's right, bitches, I said "HOOK".

[Allereli]

If you want to sound like you know what you're doing: Punch-Drunk Love

biggest piece of shit ever.

I'd go for: Pulp Fiction, Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet, The Graduate, Little Children and The Reader

[iJin]

Well I'll be damned, you guys really came through. All those movies sound pretty swell. The Romeo and Juliet suggestion is good, I always liked that version. You know, I haven't seen Funny Games in its entirety, so I may as well do it now.

...And I am so not doing Spongebob. lol.

Thanks guys. <3

[Ryvicke]

Punch Drunk Love...biggest piece of shit ever.


You could easily kick out 5 pages on the non-diagetic score of Punch Drunk Love that plays throughout the entire movie and what it adds to the dramatic effect of certain scenes (especially the first scene, which is a single-cut steadycam which so many people have already written about it could give you enough juice for 2/5 pages easy.) There's also PT Anderson porting the typical Adam Sandler trope of "adolescent man" coming-of-age through action made on behalf of a woman, although in this case he dropped the Sandler prototype into a world where the man is basically a product of a 21st century in which women are the only catalysts of action (his seven sisters, the ultimate management at work, the Samantha Morton customer/love interest). You could even just focus your paper on the use of the color red in this movie and what the color historically represents in connection with violence AND love (which are two things Anderson loves to mix up here, "I want to smash your face with a sledgehammer" pillow-talk line and all).

Fantastic fucking movie.

[Allereli]

Fantastic fucking movie.

glad you liked it. I can't imagine watching it again, nevermind over and over like you have to do for film analysis papers.

If you want to stretch the no porn rule, go with Auto Focus.

[Androidpk]

...And I am so not doing Spongebob. lol.

Thanks guys. <3

Well...not everyone can be a goofy goober.

[Sean]

Write a color theory paper on Dick Tracey.

[Jayvn]

Seriously...

have you ever watched being john malkovich?...
one of the greatest scenes ever was when he finds his own doorway into his own mind..and it's an entire restaraunt filled with john malkoviches and they're all talking in malkovich language?\


edited to add a link to that scene on youtube..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx0ut4xHH_0

[Jorddyn]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

[AnticorRifling]

Do it on bambi and state that the violent act early on defined the main character and children are exposed to gun play gun play causing desensitization and a desire to play violent video games.

[AnticorRifling]

Well...not everyone can be a goofy goober.

All bubble blowing babies will be beaten senseless by every able bodied person in the bar!

[Keller]

The Battle of Algiers is good.

The new movie, UP is also very good.

As a head-start, the antagonist in that movie is undoubtedly based on Percy Fawcett.

[Warriorbird]

Boogie Nights/There Will Be Blood and images of family.

[Allereli]

have you ever watched being john malkovich?...
one of the greatest scenes ever was when he finds his own doorway into his own mind..and it's an entire restaraunt filled with john malkoviches and they're all talking in malkovich language?

the movie is insane. I saw it the night before going to Prague. I'll never forget walking around the main square and seeing marionettes everywhere and almost freaking out.

[LMingrone]

Oh, and "Brazil", how could I forget "Brazil"?
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00008WQ62.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

And since I mentioned David Lynch, and a few others have. GET TWIN PEAKS.

Got lucky the other day on Amazon in the used section. Bought a used copy of Brazil for $1 and got a brand new Criterion Collection version. Ordered a used Planet Earth collection for $5 and got a brand new one instead. $5 for the Hitchcock collection at Walmart.

[Androidpk]

All bubble blowing babies will be beaten senseless by every able bodied person in the bar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRIaNlGGvxc


Oh, and "Brazil", how could I forget "Brazil"?


Brazil is one of my top fav movies of all time!

[Warriorbird]

Oh, and "Brazil", how could I forget "Brazil"?
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00008WQ62.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

And since I mentioned David Lynch, and a few others have. GET TWIN PEAKS.

Got lucky the other day on Amazon in the used section. Bought a used copy of Brazil for $1 and got a brand new Criterion Collection version. Ordered a used Planet Earth collection for $5 and got a brand new one instead. $5 for the Hitchcock collection at Walmart.

Hell yeah. Brazil...where insanity is an escape.

[AnticorRifling]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRIaNlGGvxc




Brazil is one of my top fav movies of all time! I love that song. Spongebob is the shit.

[bluesmith]

How about The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover?

Citizen Kane always rocks as well, especially on the larger symbolic side and if you like glyphs on actual historical personnages (there's even a documentary about Orson Welles vs. Wm Randolph Hearst that goes into this at great length).

[AnticorRifling]

http://www.nesplayer.com/tmnt/movies/tmnt2movie.jpg

Touch points to include the profound impact of Go Ninja Go Ninja Go and Vanilla Ice being used as an obvious stepping stone to launch the career of Eminem.

[Androidpk]

I love that song. Spongebob is the shit.

Yes he is, and I've lost track of how many times i've watched that movie with Cameron, it's his second favorite right after The Polar Express.

[Celephais]

I'm probably going to get shit for it... but cinematically ... Starship Troopers.

As far as the roots of cinema goes it's an amazing throwback to the propaganda movies coming out of Russia. That... and I'm from beunos aires, I say kill them all!

[Androidpk]

I'm probably going to get shit for it... but cinematically ... Starship Troopers.

As far as the roots of cinema goes it's an amazing throwback to the propaganda movies coming out of Russia. That... and I'm from beunos aires, I say kill them all!


Shit? More like props. Good job sir.

[Ryvicke]

Yeah man, Verhoeven--and ST wouldn't be too rough to thematically rip apart AND it's fun as fuck.

[Back]

Starship Troopers.

I enjoyed this movie as an existential bohemian.

[Valthissa]

Akira Kurosawa made some movies that provide meat for analysis. Particularly Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Throne of Blood. The downside to using Kurosawa is that (like Hitchcock for example) there is already a lot written about his movies.

C/Valth

[The Scholar]

I can't believe someone hasn't said this yet.

Memento - Great Movie

Primal Fear - I'd have a lot of fun picking the characters in this apart.

A Beautiful Mind

Big Fish


just a few off the top of my head

Being John Malkevich was an awesome movie

[LMingrone]

I liked Starship Troopers. It's not some deep movie, but I always end up watching it if it is playing on TV. Reminds me of Total Recall. And NPH is in it.

/Dr. Strangelove

[ViridianAsp]

It might be a little late to add mine, but you should totally watch The Cell. Yes it has J. Lo in it...but it is a great movie for analysis.