| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Chris C |
Posted - 06/02/2010 : 23:40:16
This is based on the long running BBC Radio series "Desert Island Discs", but amended slightly for Fwiffers.
Here's the premise: you're stranded on a desert island, with nothing to accompany you other than a portable DVD player with an endless power supply. You have two books with you: the religious or philosophical text of your choice, and a copy of the movie guide of your choice.
You are allowed one luxury. You are not allowed to choose a radio to communicate with the outside world.
You are allowed to choose EIGHT movies for your DVD player. I will let you, for the purpose of this exercise, select a maximum of THREE box-sets. This will let you take the entire Police Academy series should you so desire. 
Get your thinking caps on, and decide which movies you couldn't do without. Add your reasons why for each choice, if you want. |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sean |
Posted - 06/04/2010 : 10:16:37
A few years ago I bought every movie I thought would stand up to repeat watching, that was about 30 movies. I could happily get rid of half of those now; movies that for me stand up to multiple viewings are extremely rare.
On the desert island I'd go for atmosphere and escapism. I came up with these:-
1. Studio Ghibli box set - 13 feature-length movies, need I say more? 
Grave of the Fireflies
Laputa: Castle in the Sky
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Porco Rosso
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Nausicaa: The Valley of Wind
Only Yesterday
Ocean Waves
Pom Poko
Whisper of the Heart
The Cat Returns
2. Sergio Leone western box set - unfortunately no Once Upon A Time In The West or My Name Is Nobody 
A Fistful of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
A Fistful of Dynamite
3. LOTR Extended Cut box set - 11.5 hours of escapism; also reminding me of home. 
4. Lost In Translation - could never tire of this
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey - see above
6. Pulp Fiction - see above
7. Let The Right One In - a charming 'horror' sounds better than a 'nasty' horror
8. Casablanca - why not?
Book: What use is philosophy or a movie guide on a desert island?
Luxury: Scarlett Johansson on heat. If people aren't allowed then a lifetime supply of psychoactive drugs (I don't do such things but if I was stuck on an island on my own then I'd sure take up the habit). |
| Beanmimo |
Posted - 06/03/2010 : 22:19:35
quote:
Originally posted by Cracovian
Eight copies of Brokeback Mountain -- sand is pretty scratchy so better safe than sorry.
Nice!! |
| Salopian |
Posted - 06/03/2010 : 17:06:08
If it can count as a philosophical work, I'd have The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. I'm always happy to read that over and over.
I'd just have whatever film guide is the largest and so could be used to start the most fires.
Are we allowed a satellite phone as the luxury?  Otherwise, a mirror -- again to start fires, attract attention and avoid looking like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.
Eight copies of Brokeback Mountain -- sand is pretty scratchy so better safe than sorry. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 06/03/2010 : 15:24:05
I'm sure to forget something, but here goes. In no particular order.
1. Ivan the Terrible, Parts I and II - so not really a box set. Because director Sergei Eisenstein represents the finest balance of dramatic and visual story-telling with an inherent feeling for the illusion of cinematic movement. Plus there's a villain to rival any that came later.
2. La Grande Illusion - because Jean Renoir has clearly ingested the painterly sensibility of his father, impressionist Auguste. This film not only seduces you into a very human World War I story of how ordinary people are affected by war, it leads to you draw your own conclusions about its futility and the nobility of the human spirit.
3. Les Carabiniers - because Jean-Luc Godard was once able to trod Renoir's path reflecting a later era, and to add laugh-out-loud humor to ram home his points.
4. Kurosawa Box Set - for the tidal wave of every single aspect of human behavior, treated variously with delicacy, dynamic power, the eye of a deity that never allows raw intellect or obscurity to mar your moment-to-moment enjoyment. If I have to choose one - guess it would be either Ran or Kagemusha.
5. Marx Bros Box Set - because to laugh is to live.
6. Any IMAX film shot on location in space. Because we may be small but we can roar among the stars.
7. Ken Loach Box Set - to remind me that consummate screen management can be the perfect vehicle for ideas that continually challenge the status quo, both politically and as a depiction of society. With a lotta laughs along the way.
8. Scorsese Box Set - because from the very first his talent glowed onscreen, and the glow of his genius has only warmed every genre he touches. OK I cheated, that's 4 sets. Don't care.
Book - The Tale of Genji. I WILL read this. I WILL. I WILL!!!! [soon as I watch another movie  ]
Luxury - my computer and all its programs, except of course any internet access. :(
I would need to include a copy of fwfr up the latest possible date to remind myself of my fave, if obsessive, past-time! 
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| Beanmimo |
Posted - 06/03/2010 : 13:23:44
12 Monkeys, Gilliams finest hour
Marx Brothers box set, Cocoanuts... need I say more?
I, Robot, there's something about Sonny.
The Godfather boxset, you offered? I can't refuse it.
The Empire Strikes Back redux.
Any Tim Burton box set, must to include Ed Wood, Timmy Depp at their best.
Breakfast at Tiffanys, so I have somebody to sing moon river (badly) with.
Frankenstein 1931, I saw this when I was about twelve and my heart still skips a besat when the Burgomaster rallys up the lynch mob after the unfortunate creature.
Cool game Chris.
Oh and my luxury... a full whipped ice cream machine. |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 06/03/2010 : 12:19:38
Hm... too bad this isn't FWTVR, since that would be much easier - box set of "M*A*S*H", box set of the British version of "Coupling" (which I already own), box set of "Gilmore Girls", box set of "Dr. Who", box set of "Saturday Night Live", maybe even a box set of "How I Met Your Mother".
But you want films, hm...
I can start with:
1. Box set of all the James Bond movies - as long as it also included the spoof version of Casino Royale as well. I never get tired of them, no matter how corny or bad the plots are - I'm just a sucker for these movies.
2. Philadelphia Story - this was the first movie I bought on DVD and can watch it a million times. Strange, it doesn't seem to appear in any boxed sets - not for Hepburn and not for Grant!
3. Holiday Inn - yet another old favourite of mine, one I only have on VHS at the moment, which includes one of the best Fred Astair dance routines - Firecrackers.
4. The Wizard of OZ - especially the one that was put out for their 25th Anniversary with all the extra stuff, that's so much fun to watch.
5. Amadeus - another one I got very soon after having bought my first DVD player. Maybe it's just for the music that I'd want this in my collection - I can't imagine I'd be able to survive without some Mozart.
6. A Celebration Of Song And Dance Box Set - this collection has All That Jazz/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang/De-Lovely/Fiddler On The Roof/Guys And Dolls/Hello Dolly/Love Me Tender/Some Like It Hot/West Side Story/Yentl - although I'm not sure about Love Me Tender, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is cute, but not essential, the rest are all very good and I would watch them often.
7. Arsenic And Old Lace - ditto as with Philadelphia Story that it doesn't appear in any boxed sets for Grant (why, is beyond me), but I just adore this film - the humour, the timing, those two old ladies - just perfect from start to finish.
8. The last one is always the hardest to pick. For now, I think I'll go with Lion in Winter - the original with Hepburn and O'Toole. Of course, if there was a boxed set with this, Becket and A Man for All Seasons...
Luxury: Air Conditioning!
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| Chris C |
Posted - 06/02/2010 : 23:54:04
In no particular order:
1) The Blues Brothers - I love this movie, it makes me smile EVERY time I see it.
2) Cry Freedom - Triumph over adversity, this does it for me every time.
3) Diva - This was the first Beneix film I ever saw and I still like it.
4) Singin' in the Rain - possibly the best musical Hollywood ever made.
5) Snatch - I like this. Tough luck if you don't.
6) The Matrix boxset - must have No 1, not sure about the rest.
7) The Godfather boxset - need I say anything about this
8) The Alien boxset - Need more sci-fi
Luxury: Chocolate, or writing materials. |
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