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Alright gents, I run the Film Discussion Group at my school now.

So I'm now taking suggestions. Keep in mind films which are well-made, can be analyzed and discussed, movies with revolutionary techniques, movies by famous directors, and especially low-budget, foriegn, or independent films.

I'm looking for a set of interesting movies, but don't stick strictly to the really indie films.

What do you guys all suggest, and do you have any suggestions for "beefing up" my club?

You could watch a few Akira Kurosawa movies and compare them with a whole slew of modern Western films which they had enormous stylistic impact upon; The Man With No Name, Star Wars, etc.

If you can find a UK film called Spider, that was a pretty heavy film for trying to figure it all out, I don't know how good it would be for a film discussion group, but let's just say that we went in to see it on Halloween thinking it would be a simple horror or something, and when we came out, we were all silent for most of the journey home, it was one of those 'makes you think' films.

http://www.iofilm.co.uk/fm/s/spider_2002.shtml - review, first one I could find.

Try Run Lola Run and Raising Arizona.

How about the Avant Garde/Experimental genre?

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well, it's not exactly an unheard of film, but the amount of discussion you get about whether the flying around is just too silly and ruins the film or is just another medium for a plot and doesnt detract is always interesting.

The films of the Coen Brothers.

Each is fun, interesting, and works on about eighty different levels. Plus, each means more if you've watched the others.

They are:

Blood Simple
Raising Arizona
Miller's Crossing
Barton Fink
The Hudsucker Proxy
Fargo
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Man Who Wasn't There
Intolerable Cruelty
The Ladykillers

A big plus for them in a film club is that most people (especially people interested in movies) know who the Coen Brothers are, but very few people have seen all of their movies.

Spielburg's first movie, Duel would be perfect for that purpose, IP.

The Terminator, and Terminator 2 are also really good. Example: the Terminators crushing stuff throughout the entire movies (hands, toy cars, etc.) symbolizes how they are trying to crush humanity. And when Sarah Connor crushes the T-800, it shows how she is becoming more like a machine.

I second the Kurosawa films. I also throw in a suggestion for Brazil, Terry Gilliam's dystopic comedy. That movie's got more symbolism wrapped in dark humor than a college English professor can shake a stick at.

If you want low budget foreign films, you could try finding some really bad movie from Bollywood. Though probably completely unenlightening, it'll show everyone that Americans, for better or worse, don't have a monopoly on crappy movies.

I second "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" That's an excellent movie, very well done with great acting. I'd recommend "Patton," "The Desert Fox," "All Quiet on the Western Front," and "Saving Private Ryan" for military flicks.

What kind of club is this, exactly? It might be better to find that out, including what films they have watched in the past before we all just throw in all the "cool" movies we've seen.

Kurosawa films are of course great. His best, in my opinion, is Yojimbo. If you show that, you have to show Sanjuro because it's a sequel, and also Fistful of Dollars, because it's a remake. And then if you show Fistful, you have to show For a Few Dollars More and The Good the Bad and the Ugly.

The second best Kurosawa film is either High and Low or Red Beard. Or Dreams. Hm, hard to choose.

Oh, if you show Brazil, you have to show Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen as well, because Gilliam intends them to be a trilogy of sorts, with Time Bandits showing fantasy as a child perceives it, Brazil a middle-aged person, and Munchausen an elderly person. Plus, they're all awesome.

I would suggest Six String Samurai and Ghost Dog.

Heavily influenced by samurai films as well.

Reservoir Dogs
Seven
Alien
2001

Ingmar Bergman's stuff always makes for interesting discussion. The french new wave stuff is pretty cool too, anything by Truffault or Goddard. Though anything along the lines of stuff like that is relativly obscure in terms of mainstream taste and availability. Kurosawa and Leone make for excellent and accessable comparisons, in terms of themselves and contemporary style. A lot of people seem to be put off by that kind of film history though; you might want to just stick to the usual route of Scorsese, Coppola, Speilberg and the like. Though its much more interesting to specialize in genres.

Evil Dead.

For it's time, the cinemetography was wildly inventive, and it shows great useage of special effects on a budget.

Plus, it's just a fun film to watch.

One man comes immediately to mind: Takashi Miike. That is, if you're into atavistic Japanese film. Google him and you won't be disappointed.
I promise.

ukamikazu wrote:One man comes immediately to mind: Takashi Miike. That is, if you're into atavistic Japanese film. Google him and you won't be disappointed.
I promise.

If he's allowed to show his movies.

neoolong wrote:

ukamikazu wrote:One man comes immediately to mind: Takashi Miike. That is, if you're into atavistic Japanese film. Google him and you won't be disappointed.
I promise.

If he's allowed to show his movies.

Oh come on, how could any parent or teacher object to such fine cinema? Well, maybe "Happiness of the Katakuris" because I don't think anyone has a basis for comparison for that one, but I'm sure any child can relate well to "Ichi the Killer" which deals (slightly) with the problem of bullying and sexual confusion, or "Visitor Q", and no doubt have lots of family fun with "Audition."

It's all good. Give kids some credit.

HemlockGrey wrote:You could watch a few Akira Kurosawa movies and compare them with a whole slew of modern Western films which they had enormous stylistic impact upon; The Man With No Name, Star Wars, etc.

Don't forget "A Bug's Life" a direct take on 7 samurai.

Spike Lee has made a few really great films, notably X and recently 25th hour.

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Evil Dead.

For it's time, the cinemetography was wildly inventive, and it shows great useage of special effects on a budget.

Plus, it's just a fun film to watch.

Here, here!

Another film that's a fav of mine is Rear Window, building an entire apartment block for one film, doesn't get alot more revolutionary than that.

"The Adventures of Ford Fairlane"

And yes, I'm serious. Renny Harlen's direction coupled with the stylized editing was fantastic.

ukamikazu wrote:

neoolong wrote:

ukamikazu wrote:One man comes immediately to mind: Takashi Miike. That is, if you're into atavistic Japanese film. Google him and you won't be disappointed.
I promise.

If he's allowed to show his movies.

Oh come on, how could any parent or teacher object to such fine cinema? Well, maybe "Happiness of the Katakuris" because I don't think anyone has a basis for comparison for that one, but I'm sure any child can relate well to "Ichi the Killer" which deals (slightly) with the problem of bullying and sexual confusion, or "Visitor Q", and no doubt have lots of family fun with "Audition."

It's all good. Give kids some credit.

I was thinking the school might not let him because they want to prevent parents from complaining that their kiddies were watching movies where cops trip over entrails.

If the school is even paying attention. Or care.

I would second Six String Samurai. Awesome little film, if really goofy at times.

DIE HARD trilogy.
Pulp Fiction.
Shawshank Redemption.
Terminator 1 & 2.
28 Days Later.
Ghostbusters.
Leon
Dogma
Assault on Precinct 13
From Dusk Till Dawn