Can I trust this person's taste? Here's a self-authored bio sketch on this contributor, to help you guide your decision in trusting this person's questionable taste:
My taste is pretty diverse, but I tend to gravitate toward quirky films. I'm a big fan of dark humor, weird characters, bizarre situations, and choreography that makes your jaw drop. My favorite directors include Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Brian DePalma, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, the Coen Brothers, Todd Solondz, and John Waters. I also like movies involving Yuen Woo Ping, Jackie Chan, Stephen King, David Mamet, and Christopher Guest.
I'm the only person on this site to characterize his movie taste using a regression analysis. Based on an analysis of 1627 feature-length movies I've seen (all p's < .05, r^2= .55), I tend to mostly agree with user ratings on IMDB (r^2 = .44 if used as sole covariate), and to additionally like movies favorably reviewed at rottentomatoes, made after 1986, spoofs, musical horror comedies, independent movies about gender identity issues, romantic mysteries, dramatic romantic comedies, cult classics, funny crime mysteries with twists in the end, long movies made before 1986, and movies involving tragic villains, coming of age, judaism, irreverence, getting fired, or food.
That same analysis indicates that I don't like children's movies, romances, horror movies, war movies, unrated movies, foreign cult science fiction movies, or movies involving shootouts or shotguns. If you've done a similar project, I'd love to hear your results!
I'm a Cognitive Neuroscientist when I'm not watching movies, and I've managed to acquire a finite Erdos-Bacon number, which is currently 8 (Erd?s number = 5: C. Brozinsky -> N. Kroll -> M. Gazzaniga -> J. Victor -> J. Gillis -> Paul Erdos; Bacon number = 3 ).
| Title | Also Contributed By | Genre | Country | Comments | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42: Forty Two Up (1998) (TV) | Biography Documentary | Uk | From age 7 to 49, the Up Series revisits the same people every seven years. You should watch 28, 35, 42, and 49 Up, but 42 stands out because of Michael Apted's incredible director's commentary. | Others | |
| Amelie | Julie Heinrich Jerry Carlton Carolyn | Comedy Drama Romance | France Germany | Only Satan could dislike this film. | Top 20 |
| Bagdad Cafe | Sam Danthine Charlotte Lasserre Jerry Carlton | Comedy Drama | Germany Westgermany Westgermany | Good character piece. | Others |
| Before Sunrise | Drama Romance | Austria Switzerland Usa | A minimalist romance that does away with plot, and focuses purely on an evening spent between two strangers. The characters, and acting ability, matures in the sequel, so definitely rent both at the same time. | Others | |
| Being There | Brian Magerko | Comedy Drama | usa | He likes to watch and so will you! | Others |
| Big Lebowski, The | Comedy Mystery Thriller | Uk Usa | I didn't begin to appreciate this movie until I moved to California and started watching old film-noirs. | Others | |
| Blood Simple | Rob Haskins Brian Magerko Rich Jackson | Drama Thriller | usa | The Coen brother\'s remarkable attention to detail made this movie one of my favorite moviegoing experiences. | Others |
| Carlos Saura's Carmen | Drama Musical | spain | Exquisitely filmed and directed by Carlos Saura, this Flamenco version of Carmen rocks! | Top 10 | |
| Chung Hing sam lam | Others | ||||
| Chungking Express | Comedy Drama Mystery Romance | Hongkong Hongkong | Top 20 | ||
| City Lights | Comedy Drama Romance | usa | My favorite Chaplin film | Top 10 | |
| Delicatessen | Mark Kishiyama Jessica Maye Timothy King | Comedy Romance Sci-fi | france | Ever wonder what life would be like if you were a tenant living above a postapocalyptic deli? | Top 20 |
| Eating Raoul | Comedy | Usa | A couple of squares kill "perverts" to finance their restaurant. Although this dark comedy cracks me up, I've never met another person who like it! | Top 10 | |
| Elevator to the Gallows | Alex Pouget | Crime Thriller | france | Intense look at the period following a seemingly perfect murder. | Top 10 |
| Fast, Cheap & Out of Control | Scott Ventura | Documentary | usa | Errol Morris probes the difference between genius and madness in this gorgeous documentary. | Others |
| Harold and Maude | Jon Prince Eric Charles Barbara Scoggins Jerry Carlton | Comedy Drama | usa | Great black comedy, and excellent satire | Top 10 |
| House of Games | Crime Mystery Thriller | usa | A psychologist learns how to be a con artist. David Mamet's best film. | Top 10 | |
| Iron Monkey, The | Other | hongkong | Originally released in 1993, this is an excellent example of Hong-Kong cinema. | Top 20 | |
| Jan Svanmajer's Faust | Animation Fantasy | czechrepublic france uk | Engaging version of Faust performed by live actors, life size puppets, and stop-motion photography. | Top 10 | |
| Koyaanisqatsi | Rob Haskins | Documentary | usa | No dialogue, no actors, excellent visuals. hmmm... sounds mysteriously like The Mummy Returns. | Top 20 |
| Love and Death | Comedy | usa | Woody Allen's funniest film. | Top 20 | |
| M | David Bressler | Crime Thriller | Germany | Fritz Lang introduces the serial killer genre, treating the main character sympathetically. It communicates largely through subtlety, but its polictical and social implications are very clear. | Top 10 |
| Magnificent Butcher | Action | hongkong | Excellently choreographed Kung-Fu comedy | Top 20 | |
| Man Facing Southeast, The | Brian Magerko | Drama | argentina | Movie on which K-Pax was based. This one's infinitely more complex. | Others |
| Monster In A Box | Comedy | uk usa | Another great monologue by Spalding Gray | Others | |
| Mr. Hulot's Holiday | Comedy | france | A predecessor of Mr. Bean and Peter Seller's character in The Party, Hulot unwittingly wreaks havoc upon resort guests. | Top 20 | |
| Phantom of the Paradise | Comedy Horror Musical | usa | Faust meets Phantom of the Opera in this 70s glam-rock musical | Top 20 | |
| President's Analyst, The | Comedy | Usa | Who needs Austin Powers with 60s fun like this? | Others | |
| Rebecca | Drama Mystery Romance Thriller | Usa | Hitchcock thriller in which a new wife lives in the shadow of her predecessor. | Others | |
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Comedy Drama | uk usa | Great dialogue. | Others | |
| Secrets & Lies | Mrim Boutla Erin Rhodes | Drama | france uk | Stunning in its realism. | Others |
| Strictly Ballroom | Danielle Ross Jessica Maye | Comedy Romance | australia | Others | |
| Suspiria | Dori Schachner | Horror | Italy | Dario Argento creates a chilling atmostphere dominated by an eerie soundtrack and brilliant lighting. | Others |
| Swimming to Cambodia | Drama | usa | Spalding Gray delivers a riveting monolgue about his experiences during the filming of The Killing Fields. | Top 10 | |
| The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly | Action Adventure Western | Italy Spain | As the title suggests, it spits in the face of the simplistic Western convention of good vs. bad. The dialogue is sparse, but if effectively communicates via the soundtrack and visuals. | Others | |
| Third Man, The | Keith Schneider | Film-noir Mystery Thriller | uk | Shadowy and mysterious, this noir by Orson Welles is probably the only pre-1950 film for which I enjoy the music. | Top 20 |
| Unmade Beds | Documentary | France Uk Usa | Dark comedy/quasi-documentary about the sleazebags, gold-diggers, and pessimists that fill the NYC dating scene. | Others | |
| Westworld | Cornelius Weber | Action Sci-fi Thriller Western | Usa | Imagine the Terminator running amok in Disneyland, only without the annoying music. | Others |
| Wings of Desire | Jessica Maye Luis Alcala Timothy King | Drama Fantasy Romance | France Germany Westgermany Westgermany | No description: just see this. | Others |
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Alexis Rosoff | Comedy Drama | Spain | Pedro Almodovar's most absurd and amusing movie. | Top 10 |
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