Jeri Smith-Ready

*The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
*Akira
*Alien
*Aliens
Alphaville
*Back to the Future
*Blade Runner
*Brazil
Bride of Frankenstein
Brother From Another Planet
*A Clockwork Orange
*Close Encounters of the Third Kind
*Contact
The Damned
Destination Moon
*The Day The Earth Stood Still
Delicatessen
*Escape From New York
*ET: The Extraterrestrial
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
*The Fly (1985 version)
*Forbidden Planet
*Ghost in the Shell
Gojira/Godzilla
*The Incredibles
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
*Jurassic Park
*Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
*The Matrix
Metropolis
On the Beach
*Planet of the Apes (1968 version)
*Robocop
Sleeper
Solaris (1972 version)
*Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
*Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
*Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
*The Stepford Wives
*Superman
*Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Thing From Another World
Things to Come
*Tron
*12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
*2001: A Space Odyssey
La Voyage Dans la Lune
*War of the Worlds (1953 version)

Posted by:  Mark at 10/25/2005 12:11 PM

Oops, meant to add some commentary after my list.

"...Buckaroo Banzai..." remains one of my all-time favorite movies.

I porobably wouldn't have been able to deal with "Ghost in the Shell" if it were live action; the purely introspective segments with music and vistas work a lot better in anime, in my opinion.

I saw the "Solaris" remake with George Clooney. Maybe I didn't have my head in the right gear at the time or I'm just completely missing the point/message of the movie. The acting and everything else was fine, but at the end of the movie, I felt, well, lost.

Final comment: what, no "Mars Attacks!"?

Posted by:  Mark at 10/25/2005 12:20 PM

Good job, Mark. You did better than I did. I saw the Solaris remake, too. I liked it, but honestly I don't remember the ending well enough to explain it.

Oh, and I've seen *Village of the Damned,* so I wonder if that should count for *The Damned.*

No? Damn.

Posted by:  Jeri at 10/25/2005 2:35 PM

Thought of another comment while at work: wtf is this list doing without "The 5th Element" on it!? That is one of my all-time favorites ever since I've seen it.

Posted by:  Mark at 10/26/2005 4:09 AM

Never seen that one, Mark. I will mention, however, that the book discusses lots of movies that aren't on this list and explains why some aren't on it but are still great movies.

Posted by:  Jeri at 10/26/2005 4:56 PM

*The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
*Akira
*Alien
*Aliens
*Alphaville
*Back to the Future
*Blade Runner
*Brazil
*Bride of Frankenstein
*Brother From Another Planet
*A Clockwork Orange
*Close Encounters of the Third Kind
*Contact
The Damned
*Destination Moon
*The Day The Earth Stood Still
Delicatessen
*Escape From New York
*ET: The Extraterrestrial
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
*The Fly (1985 version)
*Forbidden Planet
Ghost in the Shell
*Gojira/Godzilla
*The Incredibles
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
*Jurassic Park
*Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
*The Matrix
*Metropolis
*On the Beach
*Planet of the Apes (1968 version)
*Robocop
*Sleeper
*Solaris (1972 version)
*Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
*Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
*Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
*The Stepford Wives
*Superman
*Terminator 2: Judgement Day
*The Thing From Another World
*Things to Come
*Tron
*12 Monkeys
*28 Days Later
*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
*2001: A Space Odyssey
*La Voyage Dans la Lune
*War of the Worlds (1953 version)

J S-M, there are some real classics you have to see. Don't know if I'd put Solaris on the list. It has the damned longest car trip with no dialogue advancing the plot I have ever seen. Probably a difference between European and U.S. [where dead air would be anathema] film-making.

Are you and hubby going to Windy?. Hope to make it there this year. YOU HAVEN'T SEEN "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS"?

Jim Young

Posted by:  Anonymous at 10/29/2005 5:09 PM

(bows to Jim) We're not worthy, we're not worthy....

Sorry, no Windycon this year. Can't afford the trip. Definitely next year though. There's still a tiny chance we'll be at this coming Capricon, but again, it's a small matter of airfare, hotel room, etc. Take up a collection if you want us to come. ;-)

Everyone has embarrassing holes in their movie-viewing history. It wasn't too many years ago that I had never seen Dr. Strangelove or Apocalypse Now. I have seen the Body Snatchers remake, but not the '56 version Scalzi lists.

Then again, I've seen Last Year at Marienbad five times. I love that mind-blast of a movie--I mean, film.

Posted by:  Jeri at 10/29/2005 5:49 PM