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06/19/2007 12:45:51 AM · #1 |
Now ends the first day of my official summer vacation! yay! So I've decided that I need to expand my movie-watching and book-reading horizons this summer, but alas, I have no idea where to start.
I love sci fi/fantasy and I've just delved into the world of classic literature. I've been getting into classic movies and flim noir (I just watched Le Samourai, btw, highly recommended) but I am also sadly ignorant of most movies out there.
What are your favorite books and movies?
(and I know there are probably a million threads on this subject already, but I'm too lazy to look them up) :/ |
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06/19/2007 12:51:45 AM · #2 |
OK, I used to be a children's librarian. Some fun books for pure entertainment, even for adults:
"Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
"Dragonspell" by Donita Paul and the other 2-3 in the series (can't remember the names at this time)
These books are so fun! I love them. I suggested them to everyone who came in the library. The parents wouldn't put them down, the kids had to wait for them.
Also, I think that everyone should find a favorite children's picture book. It keeps us all young!
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06/19/2007 01:04:48 AM · #3 |
I think I might have read Dragonspell once... I'll have to give it another go.
I just realized, though, that I forgot to start us off with some favorite books/movies of mine:
books: 2001: A space odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, Timeline by Michael Crichton, 1984+Animal Farm by George Orwell, Sabriel by Garth Nix... there are more but those are the first that popped into my head.
movies: 2001, the Conversation, LOTR, there are more...
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06/19/2007 01:11:53 AM · #4 |
Good classics to watch:
12 Angry Men - An old Henry Fonda movie about 12 jurors locked away to decide a young man's fate. Interestingly enough, none of the characters are actually named
Casablanca - Bogie and Bacall. Nuff said.
The Godfather - the epic saga of the Corleone family. I'd recommend watching the trilogy however many would say to stop at part II
Terrible but fun to watch:
Badmovies.org is a great site to look for crap.
Here are my personal favorites:
Dead Alive
Peter Jackson directed this B Movie well before his fame in Lord of the Rings. A zombie flick with tonnes of pinky gooey blood like stuff, it cannot possibly taken as a serious horror. Especially when you have a Kung Fu fighting Catholic Priest yelling "I KICK ASS FOR THE LORD!" as he stomps the undead. Bonus: A Zombie baby is created by the unholy union of the zombie priest (yeah he lost) and a zombie nurse. Zombie nookie is weird...
Dolemite - One of the original blaxpoitation films (at least in terms of B movies). Great filming standards. Um..not really. You see the boom mike bounce into a couple of scenes. Still its a farsical romp.
Anything with David Carradine in it that's not directed by Quentin Tarantino
Death Race 2000
Every year violent role-playing psychopaths are placed behind the wheels of high performance killing machines and sent across the country. Their goal? Finish alive with the most points from running down as many pedestrians as possible and it's all perfectly legal. See a line of doctors and nurses on the sidewalk? Thump, thump, thump: 110 points.
Future Force: David Carradine has a crotch punching robotic glove. Fun! |
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06/19/2007 01:18:32 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by smartypants:
I think I might have read Dragonspell once... I'll have to give it another go.
I just realized, though, that I forgot to start us off with some favorite books/movies of mine:
books: 2001: A space odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, Timeline by Michael Crichton, 1984+Animal Farm by George Orwell, Sabriel by Garth Nix... there are more but those are the first that popped into my head.
movies: 2001, the Conversation, LOTR, there are more... |
if you haven't read 2010,2061 and 3001 I highly recommend them. Clarke is by far one of my fav's, tho in 3001 it is obvious he is getting old,the book has a somewhat abrupt/anticlimactic ending and one glaring chronological error, but still a good read |
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06/19/2007 01:25:33 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by Citadel:
Good classics to watch:
12 Angry Men - An old Henry Fonda movie about 12 jurors locked away to decide a young man's fate. Interestingly enough, none of the characters are actually named
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I second that! Last sunday, a very lazy day, i was had the movie channel on and that was playing, i was completely glued to the screen...excellent.
Off the top of my head..I really liked Trainspotting, Babel, and everything Monty Python |
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06/19/2007 01:26:03 AM · #7 |
Not really into the sci-fi/fantasy much anymore. Read one recently that is sorta in between that and a suspense/adventure called "Traveller" by John Twelve Hawks. Kind of a mix of The Matrix, Highlander and others. Part one of a trilogy (next is due out in a couple of months) and I was hooked after page 3 or so. Check it out!
Doesn't sound as if we see the same movies... I am more into mystery, action or comedy.
Good luck!! Enjoy your vacation!
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06/19/2007 01:47:53 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by smardaz:
if you haven't read 2010,2061 and 3001 I highly recommend them. Clarke is by far one of my fav's, tho in 3001 it is obvious he is getting old,the book has a somewhat abrupt/anticlimactic ending and one glaring chronological error, but still a good read |
I've read 2010 but not 2061 or 3001.
And I've seen 12 Angry Men, too, but I could hardly sit through it to the end. I thought it should have been titled more like "12 boring, sweaty men with some anger management problems" but that's just me :-) |
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06/19/2007 01:50:59 AM · #9 |
"Ender's Game" + "Ender's Shadow"
Those are an amazing set to read. LOVE.
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06/19/2007 02:08:27 AM · #10 |
Movies:
Shawshank redemption
Box of Moonlight
Fearless
Hairdressers Husband
Cool Hand Luke
Just a few |
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06/19/2007 02:19:38 AM · #11 |
| spongebob squarepants series - they are all good |
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06/19/2007 02:47:25 AM · #12 |
i'm a huge Stephen King fan.
his two best are "The Stand" and "Everything's Eventual"
the movie "1408" with John Cusack and Samual L Jackson is from "Everything's Eventual"!! very excited!
note: if you do read "The Stand," go ahead and read the abridged version. The other one has about 300+ pages added of really nothing special...imho |
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06/19/2007 03:54:43 AM · #13 |
If you liked Sabriel, read the other two in the series (Abhorsen and Liriel) and i hear his other books are amazing too.
Also The magicians Trilogy by Trudi Canavan and the Last of the Wilds series (Only the first two are out here so far), very well written fantasy/sci fi.
If you liked the film LOTR, try reading the books, starting with the Hobbit. The books are loads better than the films (IMHO) :)
And read Steven King (as djtiek said) all the ones i have read are fantastic! |
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06/19/2007 05:20:50 AM · #14 |
Films
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Battle of Algiers
Persona (Bergman)
Spirit of the Beehive
Lawrence of Arabia
L'appartement
The City of Lost Children
M
Delicatessen
Blow Up
La Haine
Dead Man's shoes
The Seventh seal
The Devils backbone
Uzak
Far too many other films from my collection to list :-)
Books
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Age of reason - Thomas Paine
The Canterbury Tales - Chaucer
Seize the day - Saul Bellow
1984 - Orwell
Old man and the sea - Hemmingway
Great expectations - Dickens
Crime and punishment - dosotovsky
Chomsky/Zinn/Monbiot/Pilger etc etc
Various books by various travel writers
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06/19/2007 05:30:52 AM · #15 |
My favorite books are Tolkiens LOTR and The Hobbit, but one of my favorite is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.
My favorite movies are of course the LOTR trilogy and I can always watch Sin City, it's pure eyecandy.
And since I'm from Iceland I have to mention one Icelandic film, that would have to be "Englar Alheimsins" or "Angels of the universe" excelent film and I recommend that you check it out if you have the opportunity.
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06/19/2007 05:38:32 AM · #16 |
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06/19/2007 06:24:08 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by NightShy:
"Ender's Game" + "Ender's Shadow"
Those are an amazing set to read. LOVE. |
Actually, almost all the books by Orson Scott Card.
If you're into Sci/fi try:
David Weber: Honor Harrington Series
Damn, my brian just went on vacation and I can't think of anything else. I'll try to get back to this thread when my brain starts working again. |
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06/19/2007 06:58:18 AM · #18 |
| One classic that I enjoyed reading is Watership Down by Richard Adams. |
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06/19/2007 07:01:27 AM · #19 |
The Stephen King short story that inspired "Stand By Me" (it's in a collection of four novellas, but don't remember which one), and the Stephen King story that inspired "The Shawshank Redemption". "The Green Mile" while you're at it (way fun to read at the time; he'd printed the first few and sold them before he'd finished the story. I'd wait in the grocery store for the guy to bring them out at the end of the month. Me and about thirty other people...)
If you've seen the LOTR, but not read it, you MUST read it. Must. |
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06/19/2007 07:02:47 AM · #20 |
| The Road was awesome, read it in one sitting. |
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06/19/2007 07:08:10 AM · #21 |
A big fat book I read recently, "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell" by Susanna Clark
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06/19/2007 07:50:41 AM · #22 |
If you like Science Fiction then try The Player of Games by Iain M Banks, personally I prefer his non-sci fi stuff (where he drops the M from the titles), The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road are beautifully written and have a lot of very dark humour
You might also like Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke which is a great piece of Sci Fi. It is the first in a series of four books (the others being Rama ll, The Garden of Rama, Rama Revealled, but the later books were co written with Gentry Lee (I understand that Gentry Lee actually wriote them and then Clarke made a few plot suggestions/editing comments)
For a Sci Fi Movie try Silent Running
For general books you cant go wrong with either of Mice and Men by Stienbeck or To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird is also a great film Gregory Peck is a perfect Atticus Finch
Goodfellers is a great gangster Movie and as mentioned before the Godfather Trilogy is spot on
For a mind candy cheer whoop and holler movie Conair cant be beaten and Escape From New York fits very nicely into that category as well
I saw Babel last week on DVD and was V Impressed
If you really want a cool movie to make you think try Memento - Its brilliant |
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06/19/2007 07:54:40 AM · #23 |
Originally posted by Melethia:
The Stephen King short story that inspired "Stand By Me" (it's in a collection of four novellas, but don't remember which one), and the Stephen King story that inspired "The Shawshank Redemption". |
Stand by me was made from "the body" which i agree si fantastic. the other is Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption which is very good as well. the Shawshank redemption may very well be my all time fav movie. |
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06/19/2007 08:37:33 AM · #24 |
Books:
A River Runs Through It: Norman MacLean
The Rum Diary: Hunter S. Thompson
Catch 22: Joseph Heller
All of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee mysteries
Films:
Casablanca: it's a classic, it's Bogie (but actually not Bacall - Ingrid Bergman. She's almost as good.)
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid: it's a sort of Western, but with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Total classic.
Cool Hand Luke: Newman again, one of his most memorable roles.
On Golden Pond: nice family movie, with Katherine Hepburn
The list goes on and on for both, but these are the ones that come to mind as the best of the best.
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06/19/2007 08:41:54 AM · #25 |
Originally posted by WaysOfSeeing:
Chomsky/Zinn/Monbiot/Pilger etc etc
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Definately! |
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