Wednesday, June 30, 2010

"Stop" Movies...

I forget exactly where/when it came up, but the subject of "STOP" movies came up. These are movies that you have to stop and watch if you happen to be flipping around the dial. Some are classics - movies that transcend time and space in a crescendo of awesome that simply overwhelm the senses and force you to watch, drawn in by the sheer cinematic masterpiece unfolding before you. Others are pure camp; movies so incredibly cheesy and trainwreck bad that you simply can't turn away. Others just reach out and speak to you from the celluloid - maybe it's a movie you saw as a child that has extra meaning; maybe it's a favorite among your clique of friends.

Here are a few of mine:
  • The Blues Brothers
  • Independence Day
  • Rio Bravo
  • Pulp Fiction
  • Fifth Element
  • Unforgiven
  • Christine
  • A Christmas Story (this gets problematic at Christmas time...)
  • Ghostbusters
  • Stripes
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Predator
What are the movies that make you put down the remote and watch?

That is all.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Usual Suspects

The Quiet Man

Schindler's List

Wizard of Oz

...and more. :D

sv

Joe Allen said...

I call them "flypaper movies".

Add to the list: "The Silence of the Lambs."

David said...

Ooooh!

Better Off Dead
Army of Darkness
The Matrix
Airplane!
Clue

Stretch said...

Where Eagles Dare (just the other night)
The Guns of Navarone
The Magnificent Seven
Murder on the Orient Express
Silent Running
any Bogart film particularly
Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
To Have and Have Not (Bacall "Just put your lips together and blow." Hot,hot,hot!!!)
The Thin Man

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

The Princess Bride

"Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - (thud)!"

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

Also, Serenity.

wv: fortface. I kid you not.

Midwest Chick said...

You all hit my major films, but in addition:
McClintock (any John Wayne, actually),
Young Frankenstein,
Enter the Dragon,
Down Periscope,
Cannonball Run,
Dirty Harry,
Kelly's Heroes

misbeHaven said...

Blade Runner

wv: sisorc... the annoying younger sibling of a Cave Troll

Anonymous said...

Must add Mel Brookes classics: "History of the World Part 1" and "Blazing Saddles".
Also, the first two "Alien" movies. Especially the second one.
"The Three Amigos"
.....

Angry Patriot said...

OMG...there are so many....

The Patriot (#1 favorite of mine, period)
WIld Hogs (as a biker, I love that one)
Ghost Rider
Star Trek (even numbered ones ONLY)
Stargate
Galaxy Quest (Drop dead FUNNY)
Three Musketeers (1980's Disney Version...Oliver Platt does such a great Porthos in that one...)

Bubblehead Les. said...

Patton, The Longest Day, most of the John Ford movies (he made some goodies that didn't have the Duke, like Mr. Roberts, but that doesn't mean I have anything against John Wayne, not at all!), The Outlaw Josey Wales (the Original BrownCoat), and almost anything with Maureen O'hara( SIGH! Where's my Time Machine?).

Atom Smasher said...

"The Manhatten Project" with John Lithgow.

Anonymous said...

I agree with a lot of the commenters here.

Add to that pretty much any of the "spaghetti westerns" from the 60's and 70's...especially those with Clint Eastwood or John Wayne in them, but many others are stop-worthy as well.

Some others that I haven't seen mentioned:

Alien
Aliens

Any of the Die Hard series

Blade Runner

Mad Max
The Road Warrior

And, of course, Red Dawn

Anonymous said...

You primed the pump

I almost left that as part of my response here so it really wasn't relevant to your question so I moved it over to my blog.

Thanks for the provocation.

David said...

Almost every thing mentioned here so far, plus:

Rocketeer
Adventures of Robin Hood (1937)
Mark of Zorro (1940)
Prisoner of Zenda (1937, 1952)
To Hell and Back
Sergeant York
Ivanhoe (1952)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Mysterious Island
Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Neophyte said...

Interesting films people like, The Usual Suspects along with The Quiet Man and Wizard of Oz? Fascinating. Many on the list are ones I watch as well. Have to add a few though
The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
cuz Stephen King writes great prison movies

Also
The Last Boy Scout
Donovan's Reef
Reservoir Dogs
Any Die Hard Movie

B Smith said...

Enemy of the State
Saving Private Ryan
Lonesome Dove & Dead Man's Walk (David Arquette as Gus = BEST CASTING EVER)
Little Big Man (Best Dustin Hoffman role ever)
Collateral (ONLY Tom Cruise movie worth watching, except perhaps Risky Business.)

RW said...

Diehard
My cousin vinny
Blazing Saddles
Office Space
Band of Brothers
Anything including Hercule Poirot (someone else likes the Orient Express!)



Jay, you gotta check this out.

Veeshir said...

Most of mine were covered by our host and Midwest Chick (if you are a chick), but I have a couple newer movies, I call them "Velcro movies".

The Incredibles and Cars and, in just the last few months, Land of the Lost.
That movie makes me laugh each time I watch it. I've never laughed so hard at seeing a walnut in my life.

BillH said...

"Jeremiah Johnson" does it for me.

Tango said...

Dirty Harry (Any of them)
Spaghetti Westerns w/ Clint
The Usual Suspects
Army of Darkness
Monty Python (any of them, Jabberwocky and Time Bandits do NOT count)
Bridge on the River Kwai
Scratch that... pretty much ANY war movie.
Bruce Lee movies