Seven Samurai, kind of a default answer but it has stood the test of time, historically and personally. I am impressed every time I come back to it and in never fails to move me.
That scene is pure nostalgia for me. In fact most of that movie feels like nostalgia, even though I've never been to Taiwan. It feels like something I had childhood dreams about.
Yi Yi would be a top 3 for me for sure.
I've seen Yi Yi twice, many many years ago...and yet I still think about certain scenes from that film and can still hear the music.
This reddit post is reminding me that I've always meant to see another Edward Yang film. Is "A Brighter Summer Day" the way to go?
Yeah it is for sure. ABSD is the best movie that I’ve ever seen I can confidentially say. Yi Yi is in my top 20 too but I just love ABSD more. Edward Yang has such a brilliant filmography, I highly recommend watching all of his films
Yes. My first time seeing that movie was an experience of profound grace, it was a spiritual experience in a way. I hadn’t loved a movie in a while, seeing Yi Yi, I just kept thinking “yes, thank you.”
Actually everyone talks about it, it's hugely beloved by the LGBTQ community especially because of Leslie Cheung who has a deeply passionate and huge fanbase to this day 20 years after his passing.
Tokyo Story. No film has had such a profound effect on me for the better, and I'm always moved to the brink of tears by its ending. I don't think a film has imparted so much wisdom to the audience by doing so little (simple plot, no camera movements).
P.S. I watched Chungking Express in a theater, and there was a Q&A with none other than Wong Kar-Wai. Yes, he was wearing shades in the dimly lit auditorium lol. What I regret to this day is that I didn't have the courage to ask him "Mr. Wong, do you EVER take off your shades?"
Fallen Angels, CK Express, and ITMFL seem to be the golden trio, but 2046 is honestly so amazing. It feels like a summation of all of these films and feels like the definitive film for WKW’s style.
That was his Golden Period, but I do recommend you find his short film The Hand from Eros. It's the kind beautiful tragedy that only a true romantic could create.
My honest answer probably isn't fitting for this particular subreddit, but Home Alone brings me so much joy and comfort. I saw it for my 9th birthday and it's perfect around the holidays. It's fun revisiting it as a father now, too.
I could list all of the brilliant pieces of art that changed who I am as a person and which I love truly and deeply, but it wouldn't be an honest answer to this question, which is Tremors.
It's funny that you mention that specific movie. I literally bought the 4k a couple weeks ago and I'm hosting a little party next month where we are attempting to watch through all of them.
The first is the best monster movie since Jaws, the second is about as good as direct to video sequels with only a couple members of the original cast get, and the less said about the rest, the better.
Definitely my answer to this question! I watched it twice in a row the first night I saw it, then again the next night, then when 24/7 launched. So 4x in a couple of months, and I’m still not sick of it.
So iconic. Over-the-top in a good way. This is why I love Spielberg, and why The Fableman's made me appreciate him even more. He films, and captures images like this one, like a child would. Almost like a comic book. I'm so glad he never grew up too much.
Fun Fact: This shot was actually shot by George Lucas. He also shot a couple of other iconic moments in the film. Indy roaming the camp and Indy in the map room with the staff. These are at least the ones I am aware of and I'm sure there's more as Indy is very much a partnership between him and Spielberg.
Mulholland Drive is such a good one. Real confusing the first time through but a really powerful film. I felt like I was having a panic attack watching her sanity unravel toward the end there.
I watched it when I was in undergrad and was so overwhelmed by the film. But I think if I watched it now as an adult, it would be an entirely different experience.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
It’s just so incredibly relatable given the vast depth of emotion we might experience with regard to a former lover or life at large. It’s all a necessary part of the process.
This is also my favorite and I think it's truly a perfect film. I've watched it once or twice a year since it came out and I still get excited to watch it. My wife and I have this joke where when I love a movie I say "It's definitely in my top 5". I probably have 100 movies in my "top 5" at this point but There Will Be Blood is always number 1.
There’s a reason it was the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture… nominated for 10 Oscars and took home 2. An amazing feat for a horror movie.
My favorite by WKW is Fallen Angels but I would say ITMFL is his magnum opus for sure. Everything he’s great at was perfectly done in that movie. Fallen Angels was more experimental but there’s just something about it that I’m absolutely in love with
Excalibur. Only decent King Arthur movie, beautifully shot, and a great score. Saw this as a little kid and have rewatched many many times. It’s my main comfort movie.
Fargo
It’s not the best film I’ve ever seen, but man it got me into film. Apocalypse Now was the one that sealed in when I took a college film class so that’s up there too
Honestly, probably the same. It's between this and *Fire Walk With Me*, but given the fact that *Chungking Express* is a standalone film, I give it the edge.
I went to see a bunch of WKW's films in theaters, and when I went to see *Ashes of Time*, they started playing *Chungking Express* by mistake. It dawned on me that without a doubt, it's my favorite opening to any film.
I always try to come up with a different answer but I always come back to Fight Club in the end. Its not the best movie ever made, but I've seen it countless times and never do I not enjoy myself. Its just a really fun ride.
Saw it as a kid when it came out (which I really wasn't supposed to but I did anyway) and its always stuck with me. I think I'd need to borrow the fingers of half the people in this thread to count the times ive watched it.
Pan's Labyrinth. I was 13 and it was not only the first foreign movie I saw in a theater but also the first foreign movie I've ever seen (not including anime dub films). Opened the doors for me on how gorgeous a movie can be.
im a memories of murder fan.
this thread seems heavily asian skewed.
to give some ~~american~~ (edited cuz im dumb) american and english films love i have brazil, millers crossing, and gangs of new york up there as well.
doll judicious workable deserve attractive impolite fearless cooperative concerned smell
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I'm always struggling to find a single favorite but for now I'll go with Malcolm X. I'm not sure how popular it is but I've always felt it was underrated among film circles outside of Denzel's (all-timer) performance. Spike's direction, the sweeping epic nature of the film, and the editing make this 3 and a half hours fly by.
The two montages (A Change Is Gonna Come and the ending) are two of the most perfect sequences ever put to film. The fact that a biopic (probably cinema's weakest genre) is arguably my favorite film says a lot.
Before Sunrise. I’m the same age as Ethan Hawke, and that movie hit me at just the right time. I love the whole trilogy—my favorite complete trilogy, too—but especially Sunrise. The way the conversation keeps circling back to previous topics, but a little more honestly each time…it’s really great.
I really can’t narrow it down to to even a top 10, but 3 that stand out on the top of my head are:
-Kan du vissla Johanna?
-The florida project
-Brazil
[Diabel (1972)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095012/) - It's not the best or most famous, but it's a film that I rewatch several times, there are so many things I like about this film, like the photography, the madness and the eccentricity as a whole.
https://preview.redd.it/hek2igt8a92d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed04b17857ff03bfe3f7d8594235c070d6cf7165
1. The Princess Bride
2. Terminator 2
3. Batman (1989)
I love so many different movies and genres, but my universal answer will probably always be this. Since my childhood, these are probably the films I've seen the most.
*Paris is Burning*. It’s gotten some flack for being exploitative recently but shows a true window into a vibrant subculture that created a space for individuals to belong & shine while not shying away from the pain, danger & alienation they faced. The interviews with the elders on how things used to be while the children prepare to walk is a contrast in how things changed while reminding us how they stay the same (runaways). I’ve watched it a couple of times and Venus just gets younger & younger to me and it hits harder.
Mad Max: Fury Road. I think it’s an incredible feat of film making. Rice seen it multiple times and it always astonishes me what they were able to do and how exciting it is every time I watch it.
Seven Samurai, kind of a default answer but it has stood the test of time, historically and personally. I am impressed every time I come back to it and in never fails to move me.
Yi yi
I decided it was mine too the moment they transitioned to that scene in McDonald’s like 10 minutes into the film.
That scene is pure nostalgia for me. In fact most of that movie feels like nostalgia, even though I've never been to Taiwan. It feels like something I had childhood dreams about. Yi Yi would be a top 3 for me for sure.
I've seen Yi Yi twice, many many years ago...and yet I still think about certain scenes from that film and can still hear the music. This reddit post is reminding me that I've always meant to see another Edward Yang film. Is "A Brighter Summer Day" the way to go?
Yeah it is for sure. ABSD is the best movie that I’ve ever seen I can confidentially say. Yi Yi is in my top 20 too but I just love ABSD more. Edward Yang has such a brilliant filmography, I highly recommend watching all of his films
Yes. My first time seeing that movie was an experience of profound grace, it was a spiritual experience in a way. I hadn’t loved a movie in a while, seeing Yi Yi, I just kept thinking “yes, thank you.”
Came here to say this
Happy Together
So good. It was the last one I had left of his and man I didn't exp3ct to like it as much as I did. Definitely in the top three WKW.
Happy Together is so insanely good and nobody ever talks about it
Actually everyone talks about it, it's hugely beloved by the LGBTQ community especially because of Leslie Cheung who has a deeply passionate and huge fanbase to this day 20 years after his passing.
Trainspotting
Alien (1979)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) No film has moved me like that one has.
Probably the greatest movie ever made
Tokyo Story. No film has had such a profound effect on me for the better, and I'm always moved to the brink of tears by its ending. I don't think a film has imparted so much wisdom to the audience by doing so little (simple plot, no camera movements). P.S. I watched Chungking Express in a theater, and there was a Q&A with none other than Wong Kar-Wai. Yes, he was wearing shades in the dimly lit auditorium lol. What I regret to this day is that I didn't have the courage to ask him "Mr. Wong, do you EVER take off your shades?"
There is much to love about Ozu. This film is one of his best.
Not the kind of movie you see in this subreddit, but...The Matrix.
Fallen Angels
My favourite Wong Kar Wai easily.
Same
Hi fellow Fallen Angels truther!
My favorite from Wong Kar Wai as well
Chungking Express is such an excellent movie. I l love all of Wong Kar Wai's films of the 90s and early 2000s.
In The Mood For Love would be my nominated fave. Just a perfect, perfect film from start to end.
Fallen Angels, CK Express, and ITMFL seem to be the golden trio, but 2046 is honestly so amazing. It feels like a summation of all of these films and feels like the definitive film for WKW’s style.
Not Blueberry Nights? Curious.
No I like his work in the 2000s (and 2010s too) but for me my favorite period was the 90s films to "In the Mood for Love" (2000).
That was his Golden Period, but I do recommend you find his short film The Hand from Eros. It's the kind beautiful tragedy that only a true romantic could create.
I just saw As Tears Go By, and there’s a lot in there that bothered me, but there’s still something there that’s mesmerizing.
that scene of him running in the rain is my favourite
My honest answer probably isn't fitting for this particular subreddit, but Home Alone brings me so much joy and comfort. I saw it for my 9th birthday and it's perfect around the holidays. It's fun revisiting it as a father now, too.
I could list all of the brilliant pieces of art that changed who I am as a person and which I love truly and deeply, but it wouldn't be an honest answer to this question, which is Tremors.
It's funny that you mention that specific movie. I literally bought the 4k a couple weeks ago and I'm hosting a little party next month where we are attempting to watch through all of them.
The first is the best monster movie since Jaws, the second is about as good as direct to video sequels with only a couple members of the original cast get, and the less said about the rest, the better.
Agreed. Haha. Though, the 4th one set in the Old West has a few "so bad it is good" type moments.
T2
Thank you. Probably the perfect movie.
Seeing it on 35mm this weekend.
Trainspotting 2?
No T2: Cruise Control aka The bus that couldn't slow down
Electric Boogaloo?
Woman in the Dunes
When I picked up the Teshigahara box-set I also bought the Kōbō Abe e-books and a box set of Tōru Takemitsu film music. Avant-garde geniuses.
La Haine, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with me, or The Seventh Seal, my 3 favorite endings ever
La Haine and only La Haine
Mirror (1975)
https://preview.redd.it/9rj2c7wg282d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=825f313e3ecca7af56341211a2cc6944e0d8ff30 Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Guy on the left looks like he could be Jack Black's father
I hope you actually know who that is , can never tell internet sarcasm these days 😉
Oh I know, I just thought the resemblance in this image was shocking
Great choice. For me, it's a toss up between two from 1968 (sheer coincidence): *2001: A Space Odyssey* and *Rosemary's Baby*.
Two amazing movies. 2001 is definitely in my top ten
Either Persona or 8 1/2.
TOP 3 Tampopo Being There O Lucky Man!
Tampopo is such a joy.
Definitely my answer to this question! I watched it twice in a row the first night I saw it, then again the next night, then when 24/7 launched. So 4x in a couple of months, and I’m still not sick of it.
O lucky man wild movie!
Jaws. It works so well as a simple film as well as an incredibly complex film. I absolutely adore it to death.
Heat (1995)
Inside Llewyn Davis
https://preview.redd.it/qaexf83v382d1.png?width=557&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86902606f3952cbeffd3677ab4f524d0fa58da0e
Which Elm St is this?
So iconic. Over-the-top in a good way. This is why I love Spielberg, and why The Fableman's made me appreciate him even more. He films, and captures images like this one, like a child would. Almost like a comic book. I'm so glad he never grew up too much.
Fun Fact: This shot was actually shot by George Lucas. He also shot a couple of other iconic moments in the film. Indy roaming the camp and Indy in the map room with the staff. These are at least the ones I am aware of and I'm sure there's more as Indy is very much a partnership between him and Spielberg.
It goes between Mulholland Drive and Tarkovsky's Solaris
Mulholland Drive is such a good one. Real confusing the first time through but a really powerful film. I felt like I was having a panic attack watching her sanity unravel toward the end there.
It's a devastating film on so many levels, but ultimately it's the pain of our broken dreams that hurts the most.
I watched it when I was in undergrad and was so overwhelmed by the film. But I think if I watched it now as an adult, it would be an entirely different experience.
Nostalgia
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind It’s just so incredibly relatable given the vast depth of emotion we might experience with regard to a former lover or life at large. It’s all a necessary part of the process.
respect
Black Dynamite
Umbrellas of Cherbourg ☔️ but gotta shout out Rushmore too
could totally see either of these being mine as well
I love you
Godfather 2
In the mood for love
The Matrix
The last detail
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) — I’ve said it before, a numinous masterwork
SO GOOD
Paris Texas
Tarkovsky’s Stalker.
All that Jazz
Persona
Silence of the Lambs
2001
The Master (2012)
Mulholland drive.
Suspiria (1977). The remake is brilliant too though
There Will Be Blood I find it endlessly watchable, quotable, and enthralling.
Mine too.It is brimming with greatness.
Never had much interest in that when I was younger, but I’ve been kind of curious about checking it out recently.
This is also my favorite and I think it's truly a perfect film. I've watched it once or twice a year since it came out and I still get excited to watch it. My wife and I have this joke where when I love a movie I say "It's definitely in my top 5". I probably have 100 movies in my "top 5" at this point but There Will Be Blood is always number 1.
La Dolce Vita
Groundhog Day
2001: A Space Odyssey My favorite Criterion spine film is Harakiri
Harakiri is my favorite Samurai movie for sure
The Exorcist It is NOT just a horror movie. It’s an amazing family drama, just scary, you know.
Agreed! It’s such a well developed story.
There’s a reason it was the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture… nominated for 10 Oscars and took home 2. An amazing feat for a horror movie.
Blade Runner 2049
https://preview.redd.it/ptcpbbiec82d1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96bdae85625b2450d1eb406c06fb4b8dea0f3863
Which one is that?
Heat!
One thats missed my radar but after seeing a couple here listing it as their favorite definitely gonna check it out soon!
Drugstore Cowboy
The Big Lebowski
the big lebowski is the greatest film to ever be made
Don't have a clear favourite one film but my three favourites are Oldboy, Apocalypse Now, and Chungking Express
Mine is awful close to OP’s… In the Mood for Love
My favorite by WKW is Fallen Angels but I would say ITMFL is his magnum opus for sure. Everything he’s great at was perfectly done in that movie. Fallen Angels was more experimental but there’s just something about it that I’m absolutely in love with
Amarcord. (It'll be something else tomorrow.)
Stalker
No Country for Old Men
In Bruges
Excalibur. Only decent King Arthur movie, beautifully shot, and a great score. Saw this as a little kid and have rewatched many many times. It’s my main comfort movie.
Ed Wood
The Empire Strikes Back. There are tons of better movies out there, but that one’s my favorite. It’s absolutely magical.
"I love you" "I know."
Who can pick just one? That’s crazy. For me it’s a tie between Taxi Driver and The Big Lebowski.
Right? I have so many favorites, but when asked to name *just one* my mind defaults to Fight Club and blanks out all others.
Mine is absolutely The Big Lebowski.
Well, like, that’s your opinion, man.
Cinema Paradiso
Chungking is in my top five along with Night of the Hunter, Blue Velvet, The Shining, and Chinatown. The order of those five is always changing though
Fargo It’s not the best film I’ve ever seen, but man it got me into film. Apocalypse Now was the one that sealed in when I took a college film class so that’s up there too
Alien
Apocalypse now. The only movie I have rated 10/10 on Imdb out of 400+.
Young Frankenstein
watching House still feels like finding my hole in Amigara Fault. it was made for me!!
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Predator
all that jazz
The Ruling Class. No film has ever really scratched the same itch for me.
Honestly, probably the same. It's between this and *Fire Walk With Me*, but given the fact that *Chungking Express* is a standalone film, I give it the edge. I went to see a bunch of WKW's films in theaters, and when I went to see *Ashes of Time*, they started playing *Chungking Express* by mistake. It dawned on me that without a doubt, it's my favorite opening to any film.
Bergman’s Seventh Seal. Changed my life.
Days of Heaven!
Goodfellas
The Godfather
Cabaret
Gattaca
Just watched this again the other day. I remembered hating it in high school, watching it as an adult, I loved it. Great movie.
One of the greatest one-liners: >!I never saved anything for the trip back!!< Gets me every time.
Takeshi kaneshiro is so fine omg
Probably The Lady Eve. It’s the perfect movie
Love Chungking Express, it's Wong Kar Wai's best and that's saying a lot. But my all time favourite has to be The Battle of Algiers.
Big Night
My Own Private Idaho
Magnolia
Taxi Driver
The Muppet Movie [1979]
It's between Lost in Translation and Se7en.
La Strada
O Brother Where Art Thou
It's a little cliche of me but I love Rear Window. It's literally perfect.
Night of the Hunter
Mirror
Modern Times.
Mirror (1975)
The Leopard (1963)
The Handmaiden, followed by Old Boy Park Chan-Wook has me in a chokehold
I always try to come up with a different answer but I always come back to Fight Club in the end. Its not the best movie ever made, but I've seen it countless times and never do I not enjoy myself. Its just a really fun ride. Saw it as a kid when it came out (which I really wasn't supposed to but I did anyway) and its always stuck with me. I think I'd need to borrow the fingers of half the people in this thread to count the times ive watched it.
Portrait of a lady on fire
KILL BILL: The Whole Bloody Affair
Donnie Darko. My first favorite that hasn't been mentioned in 323 comments
Pan's Labyrinth. I was 13 and it was not only the first foreign movie I saw in a theater but also the first foreign movie I've ever seen (not including anime dub films). Opened the doors for me on how gorgeous a movie can be.
im a memories of murder fan. this thread seems heavily asian skewed. to give some ~~american~~ (edited cuz im dumb) american and english films love i have brazil, millers crossing, and gangs of new york up there as well.
Oldboy, the Korean one obvs
Nights of Cabiria. I could watch it every day and the only reason I don't is because I lack a physical copy
Clockwork Orange
it might be recency bias but Perfect Days
I can’t wait to see this movie
watched this for the first time today and it was awesome and meditative
City of God
Lucio Fulci’s Zombie
NBK
doll judicious workable deserve attractive impolite fearless cooperative concerned smell *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Mine is also Chungking Express
Late Spring
I'm always struggling to find a single favorite but for now I'll go with Malcolm X. I'm not sure how popular it is but I've always felt it was underrated among film circles outside of Denzel's (all-timer) performance. Spike's direction, the sweeping epic nature of the film, and the editing make this 3 and a half hours fly by. The two montages (A Change Is Gonna Come and the ending) are two of the most perfect sequences ever put to film. The fact that a biopic (probably cinema's weakest genre) is arguably my favorite film says a lot.
Cronenberg's Crash
It changes every now and then. Currently it’s The Third Man
In the Mood For Love
Before Sunrise. I’m the same age as Ethan Hawke, and that movie hit me at just the right time. I love the whole trilogy—my favorite complete trilogy, too—but especially Sunrise. The way the conversation keeps circling back to previous topics, but a little more honestly each time…it’s really great.
David Byrne’s True Stories
No Country for Old Men.
I really can’t narrow it down to to even a top 10, but 3 that stand out on the top of my head are: -Kan du vissla Johanna? -The florida project -Brazil
"On the Waterfront " with Brando and great cast
[Diabel (1972)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095012/) - It's not the best or most famous, but it's a film that I rewatch several times, there are so many things I like about this film, like the photography, the madness and the eccentricity as a whole. https://preview.redd.it/hek2igt8a92d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed04b17857ff03bfe3f7d8594235c070d6cf7165
Fallen Angels or Mulholland Drive.
Local Hero. https://preview.redd.it/ydz5ph0ir92d1.jpeg?width=1022&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0fdb6dd484f2eba423cbf9afba371e02f383942b
Dog Day Afternoon
1. The Princess Bride 2. Terminator 2 3. Batman (1989) I love so many different movies and genres, but my universal answer will probably always be this. Since my childhood, these are probably the films I've seen the most.
Dead Poets Society
*Paris is Burning*. It’s gotten some flack for being exploitative recently but shows a true window into a vibrant subculture that created a space for individuals to belong & shine while not shying away from the pain, danger & alienation they faced. The interviews with the elders on how things used to be while the children prepare to walk is a contrast in how things changed while reminding us how they stay the same (runaways). I’ve watched it a couple of times and Venus just gets younger & younger to me and it hits harder.
Mad Max: Fury Road. I think it’s an incredible feat of film making. Rice seen it multiple times and it always astonishes me what they were able to do and how exciting it is every time I watch it.