Forum Topic

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 10:35 AM[b]Definition of Science Fiction[/b]
Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories often tell about science and technology of the future. It is important to note that science fiction has a relationship with the principles of science—these stories involve partially true-partially fictitious laws or theories of science. It should not be completely unbelievable, because it then ventures into the genre fantasy. The plot often creates situations different from those of both the present day and the known past. Science fiction texts also include a human element, explaining what effect new discoveries, happenings and scientific developments will have on us in the future.
[url=http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson927/SciFiDefinition.pdf]SourceOfScienceFictionDefinition[/url]
With this definition in mind Here are 5 Films, which upon the first time I saw each, In it's theatrical release, in the theater, I thought to myself that each was what we today consider today to be an "Instant Masterpiece"!
[b]#5-Angel Heart-1987[/b]
Directed By: Alan Parker
Written By: Alan Parker and William Hjortsberg
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Robert Deniro and Lisa Bonet.
Harry Angel has a new case, to find a man called Johnny Favourite. Except things aren't quite that simple, and Johnny doesn't want to be found. Let's just say that, amongst the period detail and beautiful scenery, it all gets really, really nasty. Written by David Carroll @ IMDB
It's 1955. Small time New York City gumshoe Harry Angel is hired through a law firm by a mysterious man named Louis Cyphre. Cyphre tells Harry that choosing him as the private investigator for this case was by no accident despite Harry not knowing who Cyphre is or in turn Cyphre not directly stating why he chose Harry. The case is to locate a man by the name of Johnny Favorite, a popular singer before World War II, who served in the war and supposedly was institutionalized due to his injuries since, although Cyphre has not seen Favorite during that time. As Harry progresses through the case, he doesn't quite trust Cyphre as every step Harry takes leads to people angry about his questions and/or who what to beat him. Johnny's associates are highly populated by those into mysticism and particularly voodoo, which takes Harry to New Orleans. As Harry continues his investigation, one by one, the people he interviews turn up dead. Although Harry isn't sure if he wants to continue with the case, he does so if only to satisfy his own curiosity as to Johnny's whereabouts and why Cyphre wants to find him. Written by Huggo @ IMDB
From"Serious Seats".com
For breakfast this morning I boiled a couple eggs. And, don't you know it, every time I peel a hard-boiled egg, I think of this scene from Angel Heart. I'm usually a little faster than Robert DeNiro and can often manage to remove the shell in one piece, but his technique is solid—crack it all over; roll it around on the plate, applying moderate pressure to further crack the shell; then peel. The egg scene, after the jump.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQfiuHK_U84]HarryAngelVSLouisCyphre[/url]
I have to say that the very moment I got a load of [b]"Louis Cyphre"[/b], that very second in fact, I knew I was watching an [b]"Instant Masterpiece" ![/b]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1deniroheart.jpg[/img]
[b]#4-Minority Report-2002[/b]
Directed By Steven Spielberg
Written By Philip K. Dick & Scott Frank
Starring Tom Cruise, Max Von Sydow, Steve Harris
In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=901lYbPmqu4&feature=fvsr]Spiders[/url]
[b]What I Loved the Most in this film was that from about 20 minutes in and until the end from that point, you can FEEL and UNDERSTAND everything John Anderton is Thinking!!![/b]
From Just The Very Creation for this Film Of [b]The Murder Ball[/b] + From The Moment Cruise utters the words..."Every Body Runs" I knew I was watching...An [b]Instant Masterpiece" ![/b]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1murderball.jpg[/img]
[b]#3-The Boys From Brazil-1978[/b]
Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner
Written By: Ira Levin and Heywood Gould
Starring: Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason
A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
Barry Kohler, a young Nazi hunter, tracks down a group of former SS officers meeting in Paraguay in the late 1970s. The Nazis, led by Dr Mengele, are planning something. Old Nazi hunter, Ezra Lieberman, is at first uninterested in Kohler's findings. But when he is told something of their plan, he is eager to find out more. Lieberman visits several homes in Europe and the U.S. in order to uncover the Nazi plot. It is at one of these houses he notices something strange, which turns out to be a horrible discovery.
This is such a classic piece of mystery drama, it's inconceivable that it's not better known. A late seventies film starring the cream of cinema from 20 years earlier, this follows a Nazi plot (in the present day) and the efforts of a Nazi hunter to put the pieces together. The elements include a number of apparently unrelated children, a decades-old plot, a series of murders, Josef Mengele, and a short appearance by one `Steven' Guttenberg, in an early film role. When you finally realise what has been going on, it ups the stakes dramatically. Well worth seeking out. By R O U S @ IMDB !
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcNS5Gxut8c&feature=related]TheBoysFromBrazil[/url]
The Moment I saw Laurence Olivier deliver that Message, I knew I was watching an [b]"Instant Masterpiece" ![/b]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1Boys.jpg[/img]
[b]#2-Sorcerer-1977[/b]
Directed By: William Friedkin
Written By: Walon Green and Georges Arnaud
Starring: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal
A group of outcasts from different backgrounds/nationalities are forced by misfortune to work in a remote oil drilling operation in South America. When fire breaks out of control, four of the outcasts are given the opportunity to earn enough money to get out by transporting six crates of unstable dynamite through miles of jungle in two ancient trucks. Will they succeed and regain their honor and citizenship, or get blown up for their efforts? Written By Keith Lo and David Lee @ IMDB
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMof5PuQF7w]Sorcerer[/url]
An absolutely Incredible and Daunting Sound/Musical Score by Progressive Artists "Tangerine Dream" enhances this film all the more.
The Moment I saw This image On the Cab Of One of the [b]TNT Trucks[/b] I knew, immediately I was watching an [b]"Instant Masterpiece" ![/b]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1sorc.jpg[/img]
And now My Personal Best Rated [b]"Instant Masterpiece"[/b] Film Of All Time !!!...
[b]#1-The Ninth Configuration-1980[/b]
Directed By: William Peter Blatty
Written By: William Peter Blatty
Starring: Stacey Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Neville Brand George Dicenczo, Moses Gunn, Robert Loggia
A new commanding officer arrives at a remote castle serving as an insane asylum for crazy and AWOL U.S. Army soldiers where he attempts to rehabilitate them by allowing them to live out their crazy fantasies while combating his own long-suppressed insanity.
A brilliant and unconventional film. As I'm sure many others have said it is very difficult to describe or sum up accurately. It has so many seemingly incongruous elements yet amazingly in the end it ties them all together and packs an emotional punch very few films manage.
Basically it's about how a new lead psychiatrist arrives at an asylum maintained by the military. It is loaded with stunning scenes, images, symbolism, scares and emotionally devastating moments and it leaves me both uplifted and sad yet so intellectually stimulated I want to discuss it because there is a LOT to talk about once it's over.
It also has some brutal violence and the nastiest bar fight ever filmed.
Stacey Keach plays the role of Kane perfectly, he shows no outward humor but is not humorless himself. He is clearly dedicated to helping the inmates in any way he can using every means at his disposal and wisely the character is not played as being detached and totally unemotional. When Kane (Keach) gets annoyed, enthusiastic or is dealing with a difficult issue he doesn't simply deadpan it he communicates what is happening within the character despite the constraints needed for the role. Brilliant work.
Where his treatments lead the inmates (and where it leads Kane himself) is the core of the film and the whole thing is actually about all of us and how we can reconcile faith, science and the horrors of existence. Faith can mean many different things...
There are multiple edits available but the major aspect that changes is related to one brief scene involving a knife and a bit a dialog. It's worth mentioning because it does change the tone for many viewers depending on the version they see.
The Ninth Configuration is a treasure, a sadly overlooked and misunderstood film. ~From Conor Kiley @ IMDB.
[b]“In order for life to have appeared spontaneously on earth, there first had to be hundreds of millions of protein molecules of the ninth configuration. But given the size of the planet Earth, do you know how long it would have taken for just one of these protein molecules to appear entirely by chance? Roughly ten to the two hundred and forty-third power billions of years. And I find that far, far more fantastic than simply believing in God.”[/b]
~Colonel Kane - The Ninth Configuration !!!
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itB1iFU-8Xk]TheNinthConfigurationFeaturette[/url]
The Moment I heard Colonel Kane {Stacey Keach} Deliver that soliloquy I knew In was looking at a special film, but not until it's last act, did I realize Just How Freaking Special.... This Film Was !!! For Me It Stands By Iteself ALONE as One The All Time Greatest Attempt at intelligent Film Making Ever Made !!!
A Freaking Masterpiece in My Mind it was, maybe the biggest EVER, But I did not realize it until The Moment I saw How It ended !
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1ninth1.png[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1ninth4.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1ninth3.gif[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/1a1brawl.jpg[/img]
What Films Did You Think Were "Instant Masterpieces" The Moment You Saw them First In The Theater???
63 Replies

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 12:53 PMwow Robeeb_V you nailed another one IMHO...
No Country For Old Men.
I flipped Out On this film, no other way to say it, for me it was MAGIC !!!
Interesting story...I saw an advanced screening of this film about 3 months before it was released and called everyone I knew and told them it would win Best Picture at the Next years' Oscar Ceremony!
It Did !

robeeb_v
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 12:56 PM
@red hood
The part in Halloween that really got me, was near the end of the film when we think Michael is dead, and then behind Jamie Lee you see him sit up. That fact that he wasn't dead isn't what got me, it was the absolutely mechanical way that he sat up and then turned his head to look at her. Like a robot.

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 1:08 PMI have a very special copy of that film Robeeb_V. #291123 of 40000 ever made that is entitled.."Halloween, The Limited Edition".
It is a Remastered version of the original Film with all of the deleted scenes Plus the entire Television sequence put back in it!!!
Remastered in April of 1998 using state of the art DVNR [b]Nosie/Stratch[/b] correction and color enhanced with the "Davinci" 4.4.4 Unified color coreection system!!!
Love It Man !

iapetus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 2:56 PMHey all
Given it's not only "sci-fi" and not only "5" and not only "seen in theater" (lol) I can participate and just throw a list of movies which are my personal pantheon, either because they shaped my view of life and cinema or because they fell closest to it...
The Thin Red Line
Midnight Express
Jurassic Park (am a dinosaur paleontologist, was 9 back then... *emotional*)
Rain Man
Blade Runner
West Side Story
One flew over the cuckoo's nest /&/ Schock Corridor
The Fountain
2001 a Space Odyssey
Summer Palace (YĂhĂ© Yuán)
Easy Rider
Fight Club
The Ten Commandments
Terminator 2
The Big Lebowski ; +2nd Coen? ... Fargo /or/ Barton Fink
THX-1138 (?)
The Arrangement
Cool hand Luke
A Clockwork Orange
Spartacus
It is in no particular order except maybe for the first 2 which have been absolute in-your-face life lessons. Some of the others also have a specific meaning to me, like Rain Man, JP, T2 or West Side Story, for I watched these several dozens of times as a young kid.
might edit that for additions later if something else hits me....
EDIT: as an atheist "Tree of Life" almost managed to stain "The thin red line" for me. Luckily I am firm enough that I could move over it and still enjoy reading what pleases me in that story and on those faces.

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 3:03 PMWhat I want to know most form you bro is [b]which 5[/b] you thought, at the Moment you saw them first, were [b]"Instant Masterpieces" ![/b]

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 3:08 PMIf I had to pick 5 from your list I thought might be "Instant Masterpieces on first viewing" it would be these...
#1-Midnight Express
#2-Easy Rider
#3-The Big Labowski
#4-Cool Hand Luke
#5-Blade Runner!
All stand Outs to me man !!!

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 3:11 PMand there is "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" which is in and of itself a special kind of film.
Milos Forman
{I did not even have to check that I am sure it is him}

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 3:36 PMMost of the people here have Not seen Prometheus yet. I will not until the N.A. premier at 12:01 a.m. this Friday Morning so I do not like seeing all these threads discussing the film...let's talk about these films, the ones that you thought were Instant Masterpieces the moment you first saw them!

iapetus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 3:46 PMWell, being those are really a personal pantheon, it is difficult to clear out what is personal attachment from anything more rational. Plus am not sure I usually like listing/ordering films on rational criteria, I think it's only fair if people disagree on what a masterpiece is. Only few if any hit the nail for everyone.
Another thing is, many of those I first have seen when I was maybe 7, so wasn't really trying to judge in such way back then, but was sure struck and hooked.
I can see which I wouldn't include in a strict 'masterpiece' list though, but not many actually - Rain Man, Summer Palace, The Fountain - which may be there for more personal resonance.
To me others are all masterpieces in their way (again, as I like to think there are many ways).
For example, JP and T2 are not just great action/adventure films I think, they together gave that genre his codes in the 90's and sublimated these. Plus, in their respective ways, they were the true first "photorealistic CGI" SFX revolutions, more than subsequent evolutions like Avatar was.
Also, The Ten Commandments is some kind of absolute in film-making that I think might never be revived ever again. Etc etc... not sure I have the authority to go along those lines.
Shall add a couple more Kubricks btw. Clockwork Orange and Spartacus Hehe should have thought of that earlier...
Spartacus is an amazing 'whole' of story-telling plus a lesson in cinema history and history altogether. (Kubrick requiring "McCarthyism Hollywood Ten" blacklisted Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplay, Douglas all powerful over Hollywood syndicates getting Trumbo under a false name, then the Kubrick/Douglas opposition for the rest of the shooting etc)
EDIT: not saying that ^here^ is what makes it a masterpiece. Just threw that in.
Maybe some Kusturica, too. Can't recall which one is which! Haha
Will also try to probe my brain in the Korean dpt. Great, great films.
oh man, Spartacus, what have you done!?!

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 3:59 PMlmfao, great job man !
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/JCE.jpg[/img]

iapetus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 4:17 PMhaha, excellent
Not sure I ever really got the meaning of lime-cat though!? (if there ever was one). Is it that you're not pleased?
My reply was really not meant to achieve that in any way lol
Anyway... sorry, 'nuff staining that interesting thread with my ramblings!

Spartacus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 4:24 PMmeaning is...I luv ya, and ya crack em up, but can't you just post a few films {5} you remember having really thought, wow, that was great, just fantastic, superb, the first time you saw it? Even a dumb Cat with a Piece of watermelon stuck on his head to make him look more like a Xenomorph could do it bro.

red hood
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 4:42 PMMy 5 Comedies
5. Hot Tub Time Machine. The one armed guy kills me.
plus, I didn't mind the eighties.
4. Ben Stiller Flicks
A- Something About Mary
B- Along came Polly.
3. Woody Allen Flicks
A- Love and Death
B- Bananas
c- Take the Money and Run
2. Marty Feldman's The Last Remake of Beau Geste
1. Gene Wilder Flicks
A- Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother
B- Young Frankenstein

Sky
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 5:23 PM1. Blade runner
2. Clockwork orange
3. Matrix
4. Inception
5. No Country for Old Men 5-a) The Shining
Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.

iapetus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 5:24 PMHaha...
Well no, am actually no man for that kind of question, thought I did good enough proving that already!
You have no idea what you're asking, but because you're nice, am throwing that list of films that I saw in theater and which struck me with that wow effect right after... obviously no way I can make that a definitive list!
Jurassic Park
Fight Club
American Psycho
The Fountain
The Thin Red Line
+ 2001 a Space Odyssey (was 10, a special feature in 70mm on Europe's largest screen back then... totally stunned and unable to say what I just saw)
(+ years after release and not in theater, but Midnight Express did that to me too.)
Ok, now enough with your easy tasks your maniac. What kind of lunatic psycho are you, asking people simple questions and expecting simple answers!!!
I'll check back when I'm done with the sweating and shiverring...
EDIT: come on, Svanya! no way you saw RotJ in theaters! ...omg. Stop it, no way anyone ever did. I wasn't born, it's unfair!

Sky
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 6:01 PMWhy there is no 'Lord of the rings' in someone's list :P ? Great minds have similar tastes. :D
Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.

Sky
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 5:45 PMLOL. It is really hard to answer this question. I have list in evernote where i maintain list of good movies. I just don't think there is something like best 5 for non-genre specific movies.
Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.

iapetus
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 5:54 PMooh oh Sky... don't go down that slope with Spartacus...
He will not take "I am trying to be brainy" for an answer haha
Just throw a few that made you choke on your pop corn!
...and stop laughing at my "Jurassic Park"!
EDIT: funny that Brazil is mentionned now. Was on TV tonight, missed it but vaguely remember bits from long time ago. Def something!

David 1
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 5:54 PMWell, since I never been a theatre goer for the most part of my life, I'll just throw my 5 favs "instant classics":
- 2001 [needless to say, the best movie ever was IMHO]
- Dune - David Lynch version
- Star Trek - the motion picture [V'ger rules]
- The Fly - Cronemberg version
- The Exorcist Directors cut [This one I actually saw at the theatre]
p.s.: Fun you mentioned Angel Heart... LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!!! classic
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

David 1
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 6:06 PMBecause SKY... I dunno... lol
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

Sky
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 6:26 PM[img]http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/21428012.jpg[/img]
Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.

David 1
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 6:21 PMI TOTALLY FORGOT TWO MOVIES THAT HIT ME!!!!!
- Jacob's Ladder
and:
Sonny Boy [believe it or not]
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

David 1
MemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 6:41 PMahahah. True SKY true.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

NCC 1701
Veteran MemberMemberOvomorphJun-03-2012 7:22 PMoh man ,,this is a hard one , i got my top 3 , but after this point there is so many !!!, But l`ll keep it simple
#1
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/alien.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/ALIEN2.jpg[/img]
#2 wrath of khan
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/wrath.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/ship.jpg[/img]
#3 planet of the Apes
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/planetofthe.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/th_apes.jpg[/img]
#4journey to the far side of the sun,,,, 1969
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/sun.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/1sun.jpg[/img]
#05 silent running
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/SILENTR.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/rob9401/SILENTSHIP.jpg[/img]
Holy Smoke there Spart ,,that was alot of work
and FUN

David 1
MemberOvomorphJun-04-2012 7:09 AMhey Ncc:
saw Silent Running a few weeks back. I personally find it somewhat lacking, but with lots of potential. Loved the Idea of saving the forests inside space domes and having one character trying to preserve them from the greedy humans. But there was so many cheese plot moments that [unfortunately] made me chuckle.
ex:
- the trees are dying because they need the Sun [really? is that how it works? The guy is all about plants and trees and he missed that part?]
- overacting of the main character when the domes blow-up. His reaction to the explosions are always the same [angry look] till he finally takes some action.
- There are no more trees in the world... so how do people breathe?
But, all in all, it had a lot of potential for a straight ecology story + drama + action movie.
kudos.
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

NCC 1701
Veteran MemberMemberOvomorphJun-04-2012 8:49 AM
Davy1
i know , but i loved it when i was 12 ,,,now l`m 49 ,
the last two movies al ways stuck in my head when i was much younger
all in all , this post was hard to pick a top 5

db73
MemberOvomorphJun-04-2012 9:28 AMMy minds a bit blank after the disappointment of Prometheus (incidently if this was a top 5 of most disappointing cinema films Prometheus would probably be number one for me all things considered). Okay here goes;
Terminator 2 (blew our minds, although we were on acid when we went to see it)
The Matrix (absolutely gob smacked by this one. Just forget about the other 2 Matrix films)
The Doors (fantastic biopic of Jim Morrison .... Think we were on acid for this one as well)
No country for old men (one of the most engaging films i've ever seen in the cinema)
There will be blood (stunning in every way. The Johnny Greenwood score was so haunting)
The dark knight (far too long but what a ride. Can't wait for the sequel. Mark Nolan is the man)
Inception (confusing, crazy concept but another win for Mark Nolan)
Lord of the rings trilogy (let's face it, they absolutely nailed this one)
Oops! I've done more than 5! There are loads more but that will do for now ;-)

David 1
MemberOvomorphJun-04-2012 2:52 PM[img]http://kimberlyback.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sam-and-frodo-bend-over.jpg[/img]
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

Lone
MemberPraetorianJun-04-2012 3:30 PMAlien
Bladerunner
Don't Look Now
Halloween
The Thing (John Carpenter)
"Let The Cosmic Incubation Begin" ~ H.R. Giger
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