TCM Guest Programming - Your Choice

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Lately, Turner Classic Movies has been doing a lot of nights where they have guest programmers come in, and pick roughly five movies to show in one night, which those programmers believe cover not only their taste in films, but also what they believe are the most important bits of film history.

Hypothetical situation: Let's say that you were picked up by TCM to be a guest programmer for one night, and you got to pick five movies that summarize your taste in films and cover a wide range of film history. What five movies would you pick?

Here are the rules:
-No more than five films.
-One film per genre (as in don't pick more than one film from the same type of genre)
-Keeping with how TCM traditionally works, please try not to pick a movie made in the 80s, 90s or 2000s.
-Try to pick films that you feel summarize up your taste in films, not just your five favorite films.

Here would be my picks:
-Ikiru - A film that I feel everybody needs to see at some point in their life. It speaks to every one of us in some way, and is one of the few films out there that might actually make somebody actually change their lives.

-Sunset Boulevard - If I had to make a list of what I think are the greatest movies of all time, this would most likely be number one. It's a film that gets everything right, and is damn near perfect, capturing everything beautiful and ugly about filmmaking.

-Mothra vs. Godzilla - I couldn't resist. This is one of the films that got me interested in films from the beginning, and has had a huge influence on me.

-It's A Wonderful Life - I have to include the best performance from my favorite actor (Jimmy Stewart). Much like Ikiru, it's just the kind of film that speaks to everyone, no matter what language you speak.

-City Lights - IMO, the most important silent film ever made, as well as being Charlie Chaplin's best film. Made at a time when silent films were all but dead, Chaplin proves that they can be just as powerful as any talkie, if not more powerful, and showing the amazing strength of visual art.

[G-Matt]

Very interesting idea GXG. Although the rules made it hard for me to choose my picks, here they are:

- Godzilla (1954). I don't think I need to explain why I chose the original. Even though it's my second favorite of the series, it is the best and most important one. This is where the daikaiju genre was really born, even if there had been a couple of attempts at it before (the lost Japanese King Kong movies). Pretty much everything blends well together: Ishiro Honda's stellar directing, the brilliant cast performances, Akira Ifukube's iconic music and Eiji Tsuburaya's excellent special effects.

- Seven Samurai (1954). I just had to include the other Japanese classic of this year. Again, it is not my personal favorite Akira Kurosawa movie, but I do believe that it is his greatest movie, and one of the all-time cinema classics. The story is pretty basic and simple, but the movie manages to be engaging all the way through its 200-minute runtime. That's another great thing about this film: even though it runs for over three hours, it really doesn't feel that long at all, thanks to the superb editing. Add to that Kurosawa's masterful director's skills, the magnificent cast and great cinematography, and you have classic Japanese cinema at its best.

- The Unknown Soldier (1955). Perhaps the most famous classic Finnish film. Based on the book of the same name by Väinö Linna (which I haven't read yet), the movie tells the story of soldiers that are ordered to fight in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union. I don't know how often this movie is seen outside Finland, but it truly deserves more recognition. The true strength of it lies in the characters. They're all different from one another and quite relatable.

- Rear Window (1954). Of course I had to include a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. This one actually is my personal favorite. To this day it manages to be an extremely good thriller. James Stewart and Grace Kelly have great chemistry, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the tension keeps building up brilliantly until the climax.

- Bambi (1942). I felt the need to add one animated movie to the list. This is undoubtedly one of the best of the classic Disney movies. In fact, that's the right word to describe it in general: the whole movie just screams "classic". The touching story, all the memorable characters, the beautiful animation and the enchanting music... Do I need to say more?

[wataru]

1.) Dune (1984) Theatrical & Special Edition - IMHO the single greastest sci fi space opera ever. The music and cast are amazing. Freddie Jones, Brad Dourif, Francesca Annis. The theatrical version offers a few scenes removed from the Special Edition, and the Special Edition lengthens the movie and adds some bits to help it flow. But I think if I were TCM, Id see if I could snag the SpiceDiver edit as well.

2.) Blade Runner (1982) Theatrical and Final Cut - I consider Dune to be the single greatest sci fi franchise EVER. I consider Blade Runner to be the single greatest sci fi thriller ever. The 2007 cut makes the movie MUCH better and if you've not seen the 2007 cut, you've no ground to stand on the movie. Sean Young, while not an amazing actress, IMHO portrays an android well. Edward James Olmos' small bits are also memorable.

3.) Krull (1983) - one of the 80s greatest sci fi adventures. Blows most 90s and 2000s epics away. Liam Neeson was in it in one of his earliest rolls. The film mixed sci fi AND fantasy epic. And OMG Freddie Jones again!

4.) Mary and Max (2009) - a claymation film that will make you cry at the end. A film starring no human being can invoke such strong emotions.

5.) The Breakfast Club (1985) - THE single most iconic Brat Pack film. To this day it's still relevant, unlike some other films that so-called changed the ways films were made. Judd Nelson and Molly Ringwald's performances REALLY stand out.

[Sydney Aradi]

Watsy, GxG said try not to include films from the 80's, 90's & 2000's (which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

My films:

Beast from 20,000 Phatoms (1953): Perhaps the film that started the whole giant monster on the loose film craze that swepted America in the 1950's. It is IMO one of the best made giant monster films ever made and the effects were pretty good and I loved the design of the monster and the acting is also pretty good.

Superman: The Movie (1970's): IMO this is THE greatest superhero film EVER made. Everything about is pretty impressive, it has an epic scope to it and it introduced the well known Superman theme by John Williams and the acting was impressive.

Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) (Yeah I know that this is breaking the rules but I don't give a flying f**k) To me this is perhaps one of the best slasher films ever made, it has some pretty damn good acting. Effective score, fantastic special effects and one of the best film villians Freddy Krueger and I love the concept of it, if you die in your sleep.........you die for real

Jurassic Park (1993) This is one of the films that sparked my love for dinosaurs. Everything about this film is pretty well done. Everything from the acting, music, effects & how the dinos were brought to life. IMO this is one of the best films of all time.

HOUSE (1977) The best J-Horror film I have ever seen. To me while this film is quite zany & over the top but it can be quite a ride, the acting was serviceable. The music was zany but pretty well done and I loved the camera work & the special effects as they make the film even more zany

[wataru]

Watsy, GxG said try not to include films from the 80's, 90's & 2000's (which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

TCM shows movies from those time periods. Im going with the show's feel.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

(which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

Eh, the only reason I have that rule up is because this is TCM we're talking about. They never show movies made after roughly 1975, unless they have good reason to, like coming out with a new documentary about the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and using Saving Private Ryan as their main example.

They keep the movies that they show limited to the golden age of (hollywood) cinema, so roughly the late 20s, when sound pictures were created, through the mid 60s, when the new rating system was created and the old production code faded away.

It's just how Turner Classic Movies work.

[NSZ]

(which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

Eh, the only reason I have that rule up is because this is TCM we're talking about. They never show movies made after roughly 1975, unless they have good reason to, like coming out with a new documentary about the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and using Saving Private Ryan as their main example.

They keep the movies that they show limited to the golden age of (hollywood) cinema, so roughly the late 20s, when sound pictures were created, through the mid 60s, when the new rating system was created and the old production code faded away.

It's just how Turner Classic Movies work.

And I can completely undermine this argument by pulling out my recording of TCM's airing of The Boogens, an 80's monster movie.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

(which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

Eh, the only reason I have that rule up is because this is TCM we're talking about. They never show movies made after roughly 1975, unless they have good reason to, like coming out with a new documentary about the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and using Saving Private Ryan as their main example.

They keep the movies that they show limited to the golden age of (hollywood) cinema, so roughly the late 20s, when sound pictures were created, through the mid 60s, when the new rating system was created and the old production code faded away.

It's just how Turner Classic Movies work.

And I can completely undermine this argument by pulling out my recording of TCM's airing of The Boogens, an 80's monster movie.

Like I said, they never do it, unless they have good reason to. They were probably doing an obscure monster movie night, and needed to pull out a few exceptions in order for it to work.

[wataru]

(which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

Eh, the only reason I have that rule up is because this is TCM we're talking about. They never show movies made after roughly 1975, unless they have good reason to, like coming out with a new documentary about the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and using Saving Private Ryan as their main example.

They keep the movies that they show limited to the golden age of (hollywood) cinema, so roughly the late 20s, when sound pictures were created, through the mid 60s, when the new rating system was created and the old production code faded away.

It's just how Turner Classic Movies work.

I saw Catwoman (2004) on TCM ... so no.

[Sydney Aradi]

(which is a pretty damn stupid rule but then again GxG is trying to be a film buff/historian so............)

Eh, the only reason I have that rule up is because this is TCM we're talking about. They never show movies made after roughly 1975, unless they have good reason to, like coming out with a new documentary about the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and using Saving Private Ryan as their main example.

They keep the movies that they show limited to the golden age of (hollywood) cinema, so roughly the late 20s, when sound pictures were created, through the mid 60s, when the new rating system was created and the old production code faded away.

It's just how Turner Classic Movies work.

Sure it is how they work but they need to broaden their horizens and show some films that might not be artistically as "good" as the "golden age of Hollywood" films that film buffs & historians hold so dearly and like some people say, variety is the spice of life

[Tyler]

1. Metropolis (1927) - It's the mother of all sci-fi movies, plus one of the best silent movies.

2. Fear and Desire (1953) - It's the only Kubrick film without a release and I missed it the last time TCM aired it.

3. Godzilla (1954) - Well this should go without saying.

4. The Last Man on Earth (1964) - It's my favourite old Vincent Price movie.

5. Taxi Driver (1976) - I'd choose Raging Bull but it's from the '80s. This one is good too though.

[Gawdziller]

"Manos" The Hands of Fate - To give veiwers cancer through the screen.

Blood & Roses - Lesbian vampires. skreeonk yes.

Deep Throat - Because it's pr-1980 and I wanna.

Plan 9 From Outer Space - Greatest comedy ever made.

Planet of the Apes - To prove I'm not entirely insane.

[GodzillaXGomoraFight]

Forbidden Planet (1956): It is a retro sci-fi classic. It isn't complicated to the point 2001 is and it isn't a cheap B-movie. Forbidden Planet is one of the bets sci-fi movies of that decade.

The Graduate (1967): I've only seen this movie once, but I do remember liking it when I watched it. Dustin Hoffman is very good in the film and I love the Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack. It is one of the greatest movies of the 1960s.

Singing in the Rain (1952): Perhaps one of the greatest musicals ever made, I would love to watch a movie like this on TCM.

The Bridge on the River Kwaii (1957): I've heard a lot of good things about this movie and would enjoy finally watching it.

Enter the Dragon (1973): One of the greatest kung-fu movies of all time, I always enjoy watching this Bruce Lee flick.