Most Phenomenal Film You've Ever Seen?

if we're talking 'first time I ever saw it' then honestly it might be District 9

if we're talking overall, after multiple viewings it's probably The Good the Bad and the Ugly
 
I think I've walked away from Spike Jonze's films feeling the most impressed. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH is probably my favorite film for its sheer audacity and inventiveness, and the fact his first time as a screenwriter struck Oscar gold with HER is nothing short of awe-inspiring. I love his vision and sense of humor.

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Whats most impressive for me is that he's kept his edge down the years from Malkovich, to Adapatation, to Wild Things to Her. Normally I think the problem with this kind of "indie twee" style is that someone starts off with a bit of edge like Burton with Beatlejuice, Wes Anderson with Rushmore or Gondry with Eternal Sunshine and then gradually lose it ending up as glib middle class whimsy.

Her especially was a premise that I think could have failen back to tweeness alone but still had both a dramatic edge to it and the propensity to include swearing alien children and dead cat fetish cybersex jokes.
 

Its amazing really that someone given such a big second chance at his career was able to flush it down the toilet again quite that quickly.

Coolest man on earth in 1994, most uncool man on earth by 1996.
 
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Easily The Terminator for me. I was under aged at the time but the cineplex in Toronto, at the time, made it easy to buy a ticket for one movie and go into another.

The reason it was so special was that I didn't know anything about the movie. Zero. A friend had seen it and said that it was the most awesome thing ever. I was blown away.

Me too! My Dad took me and I went in as a kid not knowing what it was. I was afraid to put my feet on the floor half way through lol. Relentless, intense, extreme. We walked out out hearts pumping, and he goes “Don’t tell your mother”
 
From my own personal experiences.

Terminator 2
Jurassic Park
Saving Private Ryan
The Matrix
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

These were all huge when they came out and had the whole world talking
 
Her especially was a premise that I think could have failen back to tweeness alone but still had both a dramatic edge to it and the propensity to include swearing alien children and dead cat fetish cybersex jokes.
Tweeness is a funny word to say aloud.

I was thinking about Wes Anderson the other day, remarking how this current iteration is quite refine technically-speaking. He seems to have dialed in what he wants, and what he wants is something like a Warner's Bros cartoon mixed in with a little Kubrick. It's almost easy to forget he's the guy who gave us one of the most heart-breaking -- and real -- depictions of slashing one's own wrists. I think THAT'S who Wes Anderson is, beneath the layers of technique, and if he let go on the cutesy-wootsy he'd probably venture into Sofia Coppola territory, or even PT Anderson. I feel like he has something more to say, than drolly reciting the absurdity of manners.
 
Slumdog millionaire was pretty good.
 
There are films that I've rated higher and I think are better, but Drive is the film that comes to mind here. That shit was so unique and special, and flawlessly executed. I thought it was stunning

 
The fountain and Tarsem Sing's " The fall"

Both films had incredible stories and were very clearly a labor of love from the directors
 
Recently... Upstream Color. Though I wouldn't recommend it to most people because most people are plebs...
 
There are films that I've rated higher and I think are better, but Drive is the film that comes to mind here. That shit was so unique and special, and flawlessly executed. I thought it was stunning


maybe I need to rewatch it....but when I saw this movie all I could think to myself was "what the fuck? REALLY??" I thought it was so boring and cringey.

I'm never opposed to giving something a second chance though
 
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