Favorite Films

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I don't have access to a laptop right now, so I'll update the list later, but all of your nominations have been counted.

Also, I've been thinking of replacing one of my earlier entries with The Brave And The Bold, but I need at least one other WB special to nominate with it, but I'd like to keep it something Superhero themed.

[gunswordfist]

i was going to say die hard..

[gunswordfist]

robot chicken christmas special. (2005)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Nobody else is going to nominate any movies/specials? I guess there's just no Christmas spirit on this board. You guys are all like Internet versions of The Grinch.

I'll wait until tonight for more nominations, but if there aren't any, then I'll just raise the cap so that Avaitor, CX, and myself can nominate more stuff.

[talonmalon333]

Nobody else is going to nominate any movies/specials? I guess there's just no Christ,as spirit on this board. You guys are all like Internet versions of The Grinch.

Not me. I just haven't checked this topic until not.

It's a Wonderful Life
The Snowman
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Carol (1951 Version)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just re-watched Batman Begins and Die Hard last night.

Batman Begins is still my personal least favorite film in The Dark Knight trilogy (seriously, for the people complaining about the plot-holes in TDKR, they sure conveniently ignore the very flaws of this movie). And don't get me wrong. This is a legitimately good movie, and I like it a lot. I'm just tired of this one getting away with its flaws and TDKR being the only one to get hammered for them. Interestingly, TDKR feels more like a direct sequel to this movie than TDK does. I mean, the pacing is similar, unlike the uniquely fast-paced TDK, and The League of Shadows are the main villains again, with the plot heavily referencing Batman Begins more than TDK, aside from the Dent Act.

As for Die Hard, it's still such a perfect action movie. I love how well this film can make you take the plot legitimately seriously (unlike most 80's action films which were more cheesy fun than serious fun), but also manages to blend in tons of humor thanks to John's foul mouthed remarks. Also, as Alan Rickman's debut role, this is still one of his best. Whenever I think of this actor, it's always Hans Gruber who comes to mind first for me, even more than Snape, even though he portrayed the latter character in 8 films.

[gunswordfist]

i didn't know that was his first film. i just knew he was from theater.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, I'm lifting the limit of nominations. Anyone can nominate whatever they want on a first come first serve basis, until we have 31 entries, but I have decided to split the 2-hour-long or 4-episode specials into two 1-hour long 2-episode specials, instead, so factor that in when you nominate.

I'm doing this because clearly nobody else cares about making any nominations, and I know that some of you have a lot more that you wanted to post, so now's your chance.

[talonmalon333]

I need to see more Christmas themed movies. I'll try to do that this December. I've seen plenty of horror films, but not as many that are rooted in Christmas. In fact, with that fact said...

Black Christmas

As well, here are a few other nominations (two of these are Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials, and I'm not sure how many people here are fans of those, but I'll take a stab and nominate them as they are classics for me)...

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
The Night of the Meek (Twilight Zone Episode)

I'll try to think of some more.

[LumRanmaYasha]

FOX:

The Simpsons - "Marge Be Not Proud"
American Dad! - "Minstrel Krampus"

South Park - "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics"
Maison Ikkoku - "Love Takes Guts! Godai's Part Time Job Ploy!" & "A Bittersweet Favor! Budding Christmas Love!?"

[Avaitor]

Er, just reinstate my Warner entry for now, I guess.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

1. South Park: A Woodland Critter Christmas

2. Die Hard

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

4. Gremlins

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol

6. Disney-
Goof Troop Christmas
The Weekenders- "The Worst Holiday Ever"

7. Warner-
A Pinky & the Brain Christmas
Justice League- "Comfort and Joy"

8. Nickelodeon-
Hey Arnold!- "Arnold's Christmas"
Invader Zim- "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever"

9. Cartoon Network-
Dexter's Laboratory- "Dexter vs. Santa's Claws"
Johnny Bravo- "'Twas the Night"

10. Cartoon Network-
I Am Weasel- "Happy Baboon Holidays"
Sheep in the Big City- "Home For The Baa-lidays"

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas

12. A Charlie Brown Christmas

13. Urusei Yatsura- The House of Mendou-Summer Christmas

14. FOX:
- Futurama - "A Tale of Two Santas"
- American Dad! - "Rapture's Delight"

15. Robot Chicken Christmas Special (2005)

16. It's a Wonderful Life

17. The Snowman

18. A Christmas Story

19. A Christmas Carol (1951 Version)

20. Black Christmas

21. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

22. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

23. Night of the Meek

24. FOX:
The Simpsons - "Marge Be Not Proud"
American Dad! - "Minstrel Krampus"

25. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

26.  South Park - "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics"

27. Maison Ikkoku - "Love Takes Guts! Godai's Part Time Job Ploy!" & "A Bittersweet Favor! Budding Christmas Love!?"

28. Home Alone

29. Scrooged

30. Batman:
Batman: The Animated Series - "Holiday Knights"
Batman: The Brave and the Bold - "Invasion of the Secret Santas"

31. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

[Spark Of Spirit]

We rated the Die Hard movies in the other thread, so I figured I'd do the same with the Lethal Weapon films. AKA, my other favorite action series. (Third would probably be Dirty Harry.)

Lethal Weapon (10/10) - The ultimate buddy cop movie. Murthaugh and Riggs are cops heading for different dead ends in their lives but find the will and inspiration to beat their demons and move on with their lives. Special attention must be made to the score in these movies (Blues and cop movies are a match like PB&J to me) and the villains who are usually really good at being bad. I also insist that any viewer of this movie watch the director's cut. There isn't much of a difference, but several key short scenes are added that give much to Riggs' character.

Lethal Weapon 2 (10/10) - I think this might be one of the few sequels I like more than the original, even if barely. The action is better, the comedy is better, the stakes are higher (if that isn't hard enough to believe), and everything is put to the test. Joe Pesci as Leo was also a wonderful addition to the cast, and is actually the best thing about the next movie. The plot may not seem like much more than typical cop business, yet as it goes it swirls into something bigger due to the actions of everyone involved. That's just great plotting. All in all, excellent. What's to say? You'll never sit on a toilet without thinking twice ever again. You'll also probably be quoting this movie for a month.

Lethal Weapon 3 (4/10) - Shane Black, writer of the first two, has no involvement in this film and I think it desperately shows. The only thing that really works in this movie is the comedy. The action is generic and cliched (a cop actually dies on their birthday, I kid you not) and the villain is the worst in the series. The stakes are not very high here, and everything feels . . . uninspired. This movie also feels like Donner is phoning it in, the direction is so pedestrian and unimaginative. So yeah, not a fan of 3.

Lethal Weapon 4 (8/10) - This, I feel makes a better LW3 than the actual movie with that title. Jet Li evokes Mr. Joshua from the original movie in his first American role and is sizeable threat throughout. My only issue continues with the fact that despite the plot finally feeling like Lethal Weapon again, the personal stakes don't seem as natural as the first two movies, but that's minor. My bigger issue is that the cast is much too big instead of focusing on Murtaugh and Riggs (with Leo's random intrusions) which are always the highlights of these movies. Shane Black still has no involvement, but it feels far more true to the first two than 3 does. At the end of the day it is a good conclusion to the series and quite a good action film.

[gunswordfist]

i think 3 is average. either way, if 3 were better, lw would easily be my favorite quadrilogy.

[gunswordfist]

i could have swore i nominated both home alones.