Xixax Film Forum

I'm new to this board...I got came through the link on the cigarettes and coffee website....
I'm going to attempt to start my own thread...hopefully it will attract a few responses, otherwise, my pride will be a little shattered and i'll go back to reading other people's threads....so now then....
I was just wandering what are some of your most significant films in your life.  I'd like to hear mostly to get some ideas for films I should look for...

Mine are:
*Pulp Fiction: I saw it when i was thirteen and it completely turned me onto films as more than entertainment and began studying more intriguing films.
*Most films of 1996 (at least the respectable ones)....I believe it was a big year for movies, in particular, the independent movies, ie, fargo, breaking the waves, big night, secrets and lies, bound, welcome to the dollhouse, lone star, etc., etc.
*Magnolia which, if anything, completely restored my faith in filmmaking, along with boogie nights, which i came to appretiate much more later.  And this is the point where the director influenced my desicions moreso on which films to see
*Seventh Seal: First foreign film i ever saw and realized there was a whole world of cinema out there
*La Dolce Vita: everything about this movie amazes me everytime i see it and it's hard to imagine why it is not considered one of the greatest films ever. Cinema begins and ends with Fellini
Others are Punch Drunk Love, Jules and Jim, M, My Life to Live, Fanny and Alexander, Leaving Las Vegas, Taxi Driver and the old cliched (but much deserved) Citizen Kane...
I could go on and on, but i realize I've written too much than you guys care to read....this is a great outlet to finally talk about films, since my roommates aren't into the same movies as me...

So, please share some thoughts on the subject, if you'd like....

here is one of my old posts that explains this topic.

when boogie nights came out i wanted to see it and nobody i know wanted to see it, well they did but ya know people in their late teens have a way of doing things " Yeah lets go im down yeah cool, ..............hey look drugs" my point is they would get distracted to easy and all they really cared about was sex and drugs, and so did I, but i also craved good art

i knew that they would drag their feet, and i fucking hate going anywhere alone, but i up and went to a late light showing on a weekday alone, and that movie changed my life ( it helped me see things more clear as a artist, what type of work i should be doing, it helped that i saw gummo the same week. One stood out as the type of work I should be doing and the other stood out as what kind of work i may end up doing if i do not put Pretentious influences in check)

anyway after that night i became a huge PTA fan, then come magnolia time, Nobody i know wanted to watch that, i ended up alone again. And that film just fucking rocked me. I know that being alone added to the film, because it spoke to me in such a personal way, that i almost didn't give a fuck what anyone else would have to say about it. That really is one of those films some people will get and others wont. I know that is a cliche that is used to defend shitty films, but in this case its true, its sad to say this but a lot of the people who claim to love that film, are on the list of people who do not get it, but they would never admit that , god forbid they look uncool, shudder to think. I would list kevin smith as someone who walked into that movie wanting to like it, he loved boogie nights, and well magnolia just didnt speak to him, at least he is honest enough to admit it. He could of said " Ohhhh yes i found that film to be BLAH BLAH BLAH" but that he would of had to change his name to budgie, :: giggles::

When PDL came out i brought my girl with me .

http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=545

http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=245

Welcome.

I think Boogie Nights had a bigger impact on me than i thought at the time.  i went to see magnolia on the basis of that film, but magnolia had a bigger impact.  but i still like boogie nights and i've probably seen it fifteen times or more...everytime it's on hbo, i can't resist.

I guess I've come too late in the game...all the good topics have surely been discussed...oh well....

nope.  a lot of them already have threads, but feel free to comb thru them all and add your own thoughts, which will surely spark renewed conversation. :wink:

Pi-never seen such energy in a small film before..i am biased b/c i am a huge aronofsky fan but still that film is what started it all for me...i can go on and on about it but if you seen it you can see why it'  s influential to some....

magnolia-wouldn't be here if i didn't see it....

blue velvet/lost highway/mulholland drive-...strange and beautiful films that i watch repeatedly.

the bicycle thief-first foray into foreighn film

caddyshack-funniest comedy



just a few .....for now..

There are a whole bunch of landmark movies for me...

The first memory I have, of anything in my life, is crying when E.T. is found by Elliot almost dead by a river. That was the definite beginning of my film addiction. It rocked me completely. I was two years old. I don't remember any other thing from those times until I was like 5 or something.

Then when I was 6, 7 years old I fell in love with mexican comedies from the 50's and 60's...comedians like Cantinflas and Tin Tan, I loved them. They made me want to be an actor, or a comedian in a sense, but in movies.

Another big leap was Who Framed Roger Rabbit?? I kind of knew it but with this one I founf myself having an enormous curiosity about how films actually got made. It was such a fantastic movie. For the first time I knew what  a director was...I think at that point I decided that was my thing.

Scent of a Woman was big for me in the sense that I was witnessing a performance that truly ringed the bell for me...I mean I was 12 years old and not even Hopkins in The Silence of the lambs had such an impact on me. Pacino rocks in that movie, after that, I grew an intense interest in seeing all kinds of films with this actors, and getting familiar with the filmography of Pacino, de niro, nicholson, dustin hoffman means you get to see a lot of great movies from the seventies...I was a kid, but it meant something.

Then in 94 I watched, in the same week, two films that changed my life: Pulp Fiction and Ed Wood. They taught me a lot. Great movies could be anything and could take any form. Pulp was like pretty much nothing I¿ve seen before, I was iliterate, but at the same time, even if Pulp is a rehash of everything, is wildly fresh in the way it's made and performed. Ed Wood, with it's dark humour approach to a real life story, taught me about the important things in filmmaking, the most importan thing: Passion.

At some point I discovered Kubrick and Scorsese and that was it. Film as a limitless canvas with so much visual posibilities you could actually do anything you wanted, and as a form of personal expression. I watched thi sguy's films over and over...

Casino, I remember, I saw it like 1000 times, good fellas too...

Boogie Nights and Magnolia came a little late for me. I love them but I had my tastes and my preferences pretty much developed by then. Boogie Nights is great but is visually like a twin from casino and good fellas, I liked the style but no one can deny it is a borrowed style. Magnolia is great too, but I had seen Shor Cuts five years earlier and, no matter what anyone tells me about comparing those two films...it's inevitable and the "original" made a more lasting impact on me...

Dirty Work - I'm a Norm fan and I really wanted to see this movie. It was the summer before I moved away for college and I had broken off my relationships to start a new at old FSU. But still, I really wanted to see this movie and I hate going to theaters alone. So I asked a girl I worked with on a date to see it. I made sure to accurately outline we were totally seeing it "as friends." Well it was the best date I'd ever had and five years later we're married. All thanks to Norm.

American Beauty - The first time I left a theater completely and utterly wowed. I didn't think movies like that existed until that point (read: unconventional, not afraid to push the envelope, with smart and characters of that complexity).

The Shining.......I wasn't allowed by a certain video collection of my mum and dads. When I got my hands on it, I was about 9 years old, maybe younger. I was totally scared, grosed and it gave me the love for horrors.

The Goonies........I could watch that film over and over and never get tired of it.

Watership Down.......Another film/cartoon from my childhood. This cast such a view on me, their journey, thoughts etc. I love the trippyness and harshness of it all.

Scarface......I completely fell for this film, tits over arse in love with it. Everything from the camp thing they were in, to the fallen angel/crucified jesus ending. It's just amazing.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.....I shall never tire of this film.

The Pianist......... Watch it, and you'll see why.

Pirates of the Caribbean...... I just fancy Johnny Depp big time in it! ha ha

two moon junction was very significant in my life.

Barry Lyndon, upon its initial release, made me realize film is an art form, not merely entertainment.  Clockwork Orange and 2001 were re-released later the same year, and both of them blew my young, impressionable mind.  Concurrenly, I saw MASH, Nashville and McCabe & Mrs. Miller, along with Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

Many years later, Dazed and Confused made me remember why I love movies.

My reasons for these films are quite personal, so I won't go into detail about them.  These are not necessarily on my top ten, but they were important to me being who I am today......

Annie Hall
When Harry Met Sally
Boogie Nights (esp. b/c of commentary)
In a Lonely Place
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Risky Business
The Big Chill

When Harry met Sally, great choice! : )

Quote from: chainsmoking insomniacAnnie Hall

i'm beginning to think lately that this is the greatest film ever. and will redeem woody for anything he ever does, like chinatown does polanski.

oh yes, i went there.

I agree.  I recently heard an interview on Howard Stern with Mia saying how much of a fucking miserable bastard Woody is, how he's so full of self-loathing and he's got a doctor for every psychosomatic illness under his belt...not to mention the whole stepdaughter fiasco...but damn if you can't love him for Annie...

y'know what though, as if Mia isn't just as fucked up as Woody. Who the hell is she to talk?


Not that I agree in his choice of wives, but the man is brilliant. Zelig is so so so underrated.

I was deprived by parental over-protectiveness.  I was not allowed to watch rated R movies til I was 18.  But like every rebellious teen, I just didnt bring them into the house :)

The Shining - awesome movie, first real horror movie I saw. The twin girls scared the shit out of me

Requiem for a Dream - I never knew a movie that can make you feel a million emotions at once til I watched this.  It disturbed, intrigued, disgusted, depressed, and mortified me.  It should be shown at every DARE meeting.

Pulp Fiction- The first movie to really draw me in and make me notice music, direction, and wonderful dialogue.  It really made me want to be a part of the movie industry.

While You Were Sleeping - best romantic comedy (with Bridget Jones's Diary a close second)  I know, I'm cheesy, but it was a really funny movie.

Finally, Beauty and the Beast - I still watch this movie.  I used to know this movie by heart when I was little.  Its still great fun to watch.
Disney animation when it was at its best.

This thread is awfully close to the "films that made you a film buff" one IMO.

Quote from: RaviThis thread is awfully close to the "films that made you a film buff" one IMO.

yeap, but maybe this is more general..

in my case i must to say Rain Man the same i said in "films that made you a film buff" , but now i'll say something more:

In fact this movie changed my life (now i don't like it so much but i have a very special feeling for it), i was nine years old and when i watched i realized three things:

first= that i had hormones and i wanted a boyfriend like Tom Cruise

second= that i wanted to being actor as Dustin Hoffman (i'm an amateur actress)

and third and most important= that i needed tell stories to express myself through images as Barry Levinson and manipulate people felings just for an hour and a half...

since that moment i'm a freak film lover.

DIE HARD...first interest in movies.............BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID...further away from the entertainment train and discovering older movies..........2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, art and all that blah.......WALKABOUT.............made filmmaking a realistic career perspective.........FIRST TWO REPEATED.......made me realize why the best elements of those movies are still essential and must be kept into mind......GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, SPIRITED AWAY, GEORGE WASHINGTON, RED, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, HOW I WON THE WAR, CITY OF GOD.........movies I identify with now..........L'AVVENTURA.........the movie I'm gunning to to surpass in the future.

~rougerum

Quote from: The Gold TrumpetDIE HARD...first interest in movies.............BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID...further away from the entertainment train and discovering older movies..........2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, art and all that blah.......WALKABOUT.............made filmmaking a realistic career perspective.........FIRST TWO REPEATED.......made me realize why the best elements of those movies are still essential and must be kept into mind......GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, SPIRITED AWAY, GEORGE WASHINGTON, RED, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, HOW I WON THE WAR, CITY OF GOD.........movies I identify with now..........L'AVVENTURA.........the movie I'm gunning to to surpass in the future.

~rougerum

Are you Neon Mercury?!?!

Daffy duck's fantastic island, one of the greatest influences of my childhood.

Underground, because it's so fucking good, made me have the passion of cinema that defines me among my friends.

Scent of a woman, because it reminds me of the most perfect quality family time I had. I viewed it with my parents.

Apparently I have to see "Underground".  I'm always up for good recommendations...is it on Netflix?  I suppose I could check myself.

Goodfellas - Completely blew my mind the first time I saw it. The most vivid memory for me from when I first saw it was in the middle of the film when it goes through a quick run through of what we saw at the beginning of the film (when Tommy stabs Billy Batts in the trunk and Jimmy shoots him), I remember the time when Jimmy fired the gun and it freeze framed the lense flare of the gunshot. I remember thinking "holy shit this movie is cool." I don't know why I remember that particular moment, I guess it was kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back. I also remember getting really sad when Tommy died, and thinking what a great performance it was that he's such an evil character, yet you get sad when he dies. But back then I didn't know anything about Martin Scorsese, I didn't really even know what a director's job was exactly. I just remember this was one of the films that got me really interested in movies that weren't all about bus's blowing up or buildings blowing up or people blowing up or various other things blowing up.

Taxi Driver - When I first saw it, it was one of my favorite films, and it still is one of my favorites. It sounds stupid but I guess you could say it was the first movie that told me that films made before the 90s could be cool too.

Pulp Fiction - I remember my best friend showed me this because he thought I'd like it. I was really skeptical at first for some reason. But I think everybody remembers the first time they saw this film, and I just loved how different it was from any other film I had seen, and how much it made you laugh at things you shouldn't necessarily laugh at.

Boogie Nights - It's the first film that I ever saw that really got me interested in a particular filmmaker to the point where I was anticipating his next film (and this was long before I even knew about Magnolia, which I saw in a theater). It was funny, it was sweet, and it had the only scene that I knew about that could make you laugh and shit yourself at the same time (the Rahad Jackson scene). I just loved everything about it. And it's probably the spark that got me interested in the making of films for myself.

Fight Club - The first film that actually showed me rules don't exist when you are making a film. And at the time it was one of the most entertaining films I had ever seen. And it probably still is.

Casino - For a long time before I saw this film I was watching all kinds of different movies from Netflix and Blockbuster, I was kind of dabbling with the idea of becoming a filmmaker but didn't take it too seriously. Then earlier this year I realized I have never seen Casino and it was one of the few Scorsese movies I haven't seen, so I watched it and I remember it gave me memories of watching Goodfellas for the first time and that's when I decided I wanted to try to make a few films myself.

anyway. yeah.

Star Wars made me think "Hey, movies are cool, I think I'm gonna do nothing but watch them for the rest of my life."
Aliens made me think "Wow, this action stuff can really be creative."
Back to the Future made think "This is the movie I will watch the most times during my lifetime."
Almost Famous made me think "Favorite movie ever. Grow hair long. Must download Tiny Dancer."
Fellowship of the Ring made me think "I'm in love. With my date to the movie. Which wasn't bad either."
I saw Magnolia, and couldn't think for a week.

american tail- the story of the little mouse who gets lost from his parents who r also mice. probably the first movie i got really sad in, but also sumthing i remember watching a lot as a kid. got me into cartoons, from there came beauty and the beast, aladdin, lion king, and all the rest. thank u senior spielberg.

goonies- who didn't grow up w/ this movie? i used to stay home from school simply to watch it repeatedly. ultimate kid fantasy- a bunch of buddies and two chicks on an adventure through caves and pirate ships. hidden gold and bad guys too... and that jeep was my dream car for a while. again, thank u snr. spielnut.

thelma and louise- i watched it first w/ my mom right when it came out on video. i was reluctant at the time, for i was a little tyke, but man... what a movie. i scoff at ppl who say its a ball-busting chick flick. road movies r the best, trully. buddy movies r a close second. this one has it all. and that ending, w/ the music... ridley at his best.

do the right thing- senior year of high school, wanted to see what this spike lee character was all about. definitely the first movie that made me go 'whoooa, so that's what u can do in a movie!' one of the few movies that gets better w/ repeat viewings. 'man ur jordans r fucked up!!"

jfk- how i came to know and luv mr. stone, for no other reason than the passion and energy he puts into his films. saw it when i was 14 maybe. it got my mind racing. probably the movie that made me a film guy.  

and u know the rest.

Quote from: WithnailStar Wars made me think "Hey, movies are cool, I think I'm gonna do nothing but watch them for the rest of my life."
Aliens made me think "Wow, this action stuff can really be creative."
Back to the Future made think "This is the movie I will watch the most times during my lifetime."
Almost Famous made me think "Favorite movie ever. Grow hair long. Must download Tiny Dancer."
Fellowship of the Ring made me think "I'm in love. With my date to the movie. Which wasn't bad either."
I saw Magnolia, and couldn't think for a week.

I think I like everything about this post...

aw

Mulholland Drive
Fight Club
Magnolia
The Matrix
Clockwork Orange
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Shawshank Redemption
Three Colors (Kieslowski)
Almost Famous

Those come to mind. I'm sure I could think of more.

Quote from: ©bradamerican tail- the story of the little mouse who gets lost from his parents who r also mice. probably the first movie i got really sad in, but also sumthing i remember watching a lot as a kid. got me into cartoons, from there came beauty and the beast, aladdin, lion king, and all the rest. thank u senior spielberg.

I like that...I completely forgot this existed....I was (am) a huge fan of this as a little kid as well.

leaving las vegas and natural born killers did it for me.

Quote from: P

Quote from: chainsmoking insomniacAnnie Hall

i'm beginning to think lately that this is the greatest film ever. and will redeem woody for anything he ever does, like chinatown does polanski.

oh yes, i went there.

boo-yeah (Sept. 5, 6)

http://www.michaelwilliams.com/beverlycinema/showtimes.cfm

Just like this, tonite, I would say Sixteen Candle cuz I watched this movie hundreds of times when I was a kid, thinking my 16th birthday would look somehow like that.... :| my 16th birthday sucked, Ididn't get a BF, but still I have some fondness for this film! ^_^[/b]

Quote from: Ptwo moon junction was very significant in my life.

ohh sherylynn fenn and her tits ::sigh:: why cant hot chicks stay hot forever

When I was younger, science fictions were my bag, baby. ET, Close Encounters, and this one called Spaced Invaders... oh my. Watched it too many times.

Boogie Nights and Magnolia really hooked me into the cinema and how great it'd be to make great films like his. Lead me to Altman masterpieces and to a lesser degree, Scorsese masterpieces.

Bergman and Godard introduced me to the wonders of foreign cinema. Lead me to find love in Bunuel, Kieslowski, Kurosawa, Resnais, etc.

And Orson Welles became THE god of movies for me with the Third Man. Not Citizen Kane. I loved it when I first saw it but the Third Man made me think, "fuck I wish I was Harry Lime."

All my significant films - talking about films that changed my relationship with the world, though not on their own but acting as catalysts and planes of reflection - are recent.

Fight Club. No other movie can be as radical.
Secretary. The tears welled when Mr. Gray explained why Lee cuts herself.
Crash. Now I know why I've nearly killed during sex.

Pre-all that, I'd have to say The Wizard of Oz, for obvious reasons.

The Nightmare Before Christmas - the first time I can honestly say I fell in love with a movie. It began my love affair with stop motion animation, and sparked my first idol... Tim Burton (despite the fact that he didn't direct it, his name's attached to it)

Now, I didn't actually want to become a filmmaker because of a movie... a show actually made me persue this...

South Park - I guess what thrilled me most about this show, when it first aired, was that I was only nine and that it was for adults. I started reading up on the creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I guess when I first read that they'd gone to film school, I immediately felt that I had to go too. Despite the fact that they haven't made many movies, they're the reason I want to.

Magnolia - yeah, yeah. Lots of people are saying this, but that's just the kind of impact that this film can have on a lot of people. When I saw this I realized that movies didn't have to just be entertainment... it could be art. So, because I Magnolia, I want to make art films.

Other films that have impacted me in one way or another, but not as significantly as Nightmare and Magnolia.

The Evil Dead
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Graduate
Edward Scissorhands
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Dr. Strangelove

ghostbusters made me want to use a fucking camera when i was a youngster (very very young, maybe 5 or 6).  ive branched out considerably since then, but the passion has been there ever since

Jurassic Park.
It made me watch movies.

KIDS- because its just so raw. and i just love it all together.

Stand By Me-- i know every word of that movie

Pulp Fiction- awesome movie

requiem for a dream--i love the soundtrack
donnie darko--part of me is still confused
the burbs--childhood favorite
et--i had a crush on elliot when i was 3
one flew over the cuckcoos nest--i love jack nicholson...and chief. 'mmm...juicy fruit'


so many movies i cant even think of them all....but most movies mean something to me.

Quote from: Vodkathe burbs--childhood favorite

I'm surprised by how many people have said positive things about this flick in different threads. I think I've only seen it once, when it was first in the theaters. And I remember it as being pretty bizarre, but not necessarily memorable.

Perhaps I need to revisit it. ... It's a fairly slapstick, over-the-top Hanks, like his roles in Bachelor Party and The Money Pit, right?

Chasing Amy - Great insite into the way women think, always a plus if your as big of a shmuck as I am.  Also taught me not to use homophobic slang.

Good Will Hunting - Sparked my love of psychology and increased my relationship esteem.  Also helped me decide to go to college.

It changes...naturally...but right now they are:

21 Grams
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Amelie

...and

Roger Dodger
The Godfather
Fargo

The Point - i can remember being a kid and my parents playing me a shitty quality vhs version of this that they must've taped off of tv.  i was totally addicted to it and would recite every song from it daily(much to my parents' chagrin) This film taught me some valuable lessons about acceptance and proved to me how powerful film can be.  I hope to show it to my kids if that day ever comes.

Quote from: About a year ago Withnail & GarfunkelStar Wars made me think "Hey, movies are cool, I think I'm gonna do nothing but watch them for the rest of my life."
Aliens made me think "Wow, this action stuff can really be creative."
Back to the Future made think "This is the movie I will watch the most times during my lifetime."
Almost Famous made me think "Favorite movie ever. Grow hair long. Must download Tiny Dancer."
Fellowship of the Ring made me think "I'm in love. With my date to the movie. Which wasn't bad either."
I saw Magnolia, and couldn't think for a week.

Those still stand as important films to me, for their respective periods of my life, though I'll do a right-now one as well:

Eternal Sunshine; Almost obligatory, the new Mag
Contempt
Withnail & I
Annie Hall
Hedwig
Winter Light
My Own Private Idaho

INCLUDES BIG EFFIN' SPOILERS!!
Radioland Murders-the fast paced dialogue and the jumpy energy that was present in the movie encaptured what it was like to work on a stage, which I had done for many years

The Usual Suspects: I had a big connection to this film because Verbal kint had Cerebral palsy and so did I. Kevin did a great job at protraying a man who has, apparently, lived his whole life with a disability even though he, of course doesn't have it.

Taxi Driver: It encapsulated my utter lonliness that I have felt throughout my life and really pinpointed how I felt about culture and the world throughout my early to mid teen years.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: It literally took my breath away the first time I saw it at the arclight. I couldn't keep my eyes away the visuals were so stunning.

The Year 1999 was a significant year for me because it was the year that I really decided that I was going to be a screenwriter. It was also the year I saw the following films that inspired me in an immense way:

Goodfellas: the kinetic editing during Henry hill's last day of freedom at the end made me feel like I was on coke.

Pulp Fiction: I couldn't see it when it first came out because right before Uma gets stabbed in the heart by John travolta, my mom ran out of the room (because my parents were seeing at home on video, my dad for the second time, my mom, her first) and she didn't finish it, my dad kept watching. She said that it was too intense for a young kid like me. I finally saw it in 1999, my mom in her room reading, my dad watching it with me.

JFK: I saw this and was just amazed by the cimentography and the great handful of stars added fuel to the fire of my love for films.

American Beauty: The writing blew me away and I enamored by kevin's Spacey's proformance. This was the film that made me go out and write my first short film screenplay.

Magnolia: I remember exactly where I was when I first saw this and how things were going in my life, pretty shi**y actually and I saw this with my parents and they got depressed but it had a profound effect on me, I had not seen born on the fourth of july yet and this really brought out a side of cruise that surprised me. I came out of that film feeling exaused but ultimately optimistic about my life.

Short Cuts: My first delve into multicharacter movie. I rented this on tape one night because it had some great actors in it and I watched it when no one was home, making it ok to watch a scene where Julianne Moore is naked.

Fight Club: At the time that I first saw it, I thought it was the most brutal movie since I saw platoon, a year earlier, in 1998. The movie hooked me on to chuck as a writer, thus challenging me as a writer.

Boogie Nights: I was told that I would never be able to see this movie because my dad walked out of it ten minutes in (when Jack is talking to Eddie addams). I first saw a bootleg copy I think I either got it from a friend or downloaded it of this film in early fall of 1999 and watched it on my computer and then quickly got rid of it. Of course, I couldn't get enough of the film and I asked my friend Trevor if he would buy it for me if I gave him the money. Of course he did and in one night late November 1999 I had my copy of the double disc version of boogie nights. I gave Trevor a big hug and kept it a secret that I had this movie from my parents for quite a while and when they finally found out I was old enough that they didn't really give a damn.

Age 4-11:
Star Wars
Jurassic Park
Gremlins
Backdraft

Age 13-17:
Boogie Nights
Fight Club
Snatch

Age 18-20:
Traffic
Magnolia
Punch-Drunk Love
Buffalo '66

pee wee's great adventure
cloak and dagger
flight of the navigator
never ending story
legend
willow
conan the destroyer
labrynth
dark crystal
fantasia
jaws
karate kid
e.t.
close encounters
dances with wolves
punch and judy shows
princess bride

these were all in HEAVY rotation in my youth.

my formative years...........
-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
-Back to the Future 1,2
-A Christmas Story
-The Karate Kid
-The Goonies
-Labrynth
-UHF

i'm feeling listy..

network - it's like, mind-blowing how well this holds up. but at the time i saw it first i was like 13/14, and i was amazed that i cared about this very 'adult' movie. like it was just about old ppl and their careers, and suddenly i realised growing old will be cool.. cos u can still be crazy.

umberto d - another old man movie, weird. anyway this was life-altering around the same time. it was the most touching black and white thing i'd seen, and i had just watched citizen kane for the first time and thought it sucked (which it doesn't) so i was thinkin black and white movies were prolly not sumthing i could get into.

hah, ok, honestly, Mrs Miniver - the colorized versioN! i just thought greer garson was the best chick ever, and that the movie was ahead of its time.  :?  

altered states - seriously apart from the ending (EL OH EL) and the fact that the story is totally schizophrenic, there is sumthing brilliant about it that stuck with me and has been there for countless repeat viewings. it's a gem.

and uh, kubrick, or sumthin.

I think its very hard to put a list especially for people in this forum who watch several movies every week/month. The more great films you watch and the older you get makes it even more difficult.

Some I can think of now that shocked me and made changes in my life maybe or defined more what I wanted to do...

Boogie Nights
Adaptation
The Neverending Story
Point Break
StarWars
The Matrix
A Clockwork Orange
Fight Club
Karate Kid

Quote from: cowboykurtis(lots of stuff)
these were all in HEAVY rotation in my youth.

mmmm.... 80s.

I can't believe I haven't responded to this thread yet.

It all started with the Star Wars trilogy, 2001, Dracula (the Lugosi version) and Pinnochio (the Disney version).

But mostly Star Wars, which then branched out into Indiana Jones, Willow, etc. (anything with George Lucas's name on it). Then when I was 10 I discovered Tim Burton and that, as they say, was that.

Quote from: GhostboyThen when I was 10 I discovered Tim Burton and that, as they say, was that.

...until you were fourteen, then that was that...again?

Quote from: GhostboyI've wanted to make movies for as long as I can remember, ever since 'Star Wars' I guess, but the point where I stopped wanting to 'make movies' and become a filmmaker was when I saw 'Pulp Fiction' when I was fourteen...I saw it three times in a row and it changed everything.

http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=545

Quote from: MacGuffin...until you were fourteen, then that was that...again?

Not quite. From that point on, I was a cineaste with such a devorous appetite for motion pictures that I ceased to be enamored by just one film or filmmaker; 1994 was when I discovered just how much there was out there and the stopper was pulled, so to speak, the floodgates opened,  and the that that was that ceased to be that which it was (that being George Lucas and Tim Burton movies).

window water baby moving by stan brakhage
i saw this short film when i was 9; i was already learning about sexuality and my obsession with female physiology was making an interesting arc. the effects of my parent's lenience toward what i was exposed to had created a growing dissonance between me and everyone else my age, and also strenghtened my early interest in film. wwbm changed the way i looked at cinema, but more importantly it changed the way i looked at everything and i became frighteningly aware of the fact that my eye was a lens.

begotten by edmund elias merhige
this is more or less the same story. i saw this when i was 11, and i would have to invent a new language pronunciated with invisible vocal chords to be able to describe my emotional reaction to seeing it.

fantastic planet by rene laloux & roland topor
i don't know when i first saw this. my father worked in a hospital that had a film library and i know that he stole the film for some reason while i was in my infancy. he says that i watched it constantly when i was too small to remember.

the short films of mauricio kagel
i don't remember when i saw these first. i think i saw antithese or solo when i was 14, but i am unsure. these are significant because my girlfriend liked them and she cut open her throat with a steak knife in march while i was sleeping next to her. she would play them constantly, and i didn't mind because i'm quite fond of them.

03 is much better then me

and that's the way it should be.

bloodsport - first time I ever considered a movie to be unintentionally funny, I was 12.
pushing hands - first time ever engaged by a "boring movie", I was 9
dead poets society - first time crying at a film, I was 14
pulp fiction - first time realizing what a "writer-director" is