Bear in mind that this is by no means a ranking. I have no real favourites. I generally lean toward historical movies (either cultural or war), but I also enjoy science fiction, superhero, kung fu and I dab into various others. 

By no means am I saying this is the be all and end all of movies you have to watch to save your life from nothingness and despair. Just that I like these, and they’re what I can currently think of. 

Historical/Cultural/International 

• Goodbye Lenin! - If I did have a favourite, this would probably be it. 
• Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain - This shares the same musician with Goodbye Lenin! 
• Waking Ned Devine - is an extremely charming Irish film
• Das Leben der Anderen - in English, “The Lives of Others”
• Trainspotting - Although this film is about heroin addiction, its background is of an economically depressed Edinburgh which is part of the motivator for the addicts in the film. 

War films - I’m going to generally stay away from the American ones which most people would have heard of. 

• Das Boot - A German submarine in WW2
• Indigénes - African and Arab soldiers in the French army of WW2
• Letters from Iwo Jima - this is American made but really well done, told from the Japanese side (which is really freaking rare, I don’t have to tell you)
• Joyeux Noel - German, French and Scottish soldiers celebrate Christmas 1914
• Gallipoli - Mel Gibson’s original role in the classic (and good) Australian film in the titular battle of WW1
• Glory - An all black regiment in the American Civil War, and Mathew Broderick. But still an excellent film. 
• Waltz With Bashir - Completely animated anti-war film of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon
• Taegukgi - Bear in mind, most war films are depressing but this is probably the most depressing I’ve ever seen. Interesting though, Korean made and set in the Korean War. 
• Gettysburg - Only if you’re really interested in the American Civil War. The attention to detail is superb. 

Science Fiction: 

• Moon - I recently watched this and loved it
• Star Trek 2, 4, 6 - Of all the Star Trek movies ever, these from the original crew are my favourites. For storyline cohesion you should watch 3, which is still good sci-fi but less entertaining. First Contact is the best of the TNG movies but a little dumbed down. 
• Blade Runner - based on the Philip K. Dick story “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”
• Total Recall - Despite that this is an Arnold action movie, it’s actually great science fiction as well since it’s also based on a Philip K. Dick story (“We can remember for you wholesale”). Besides, Arnold adds his very odd charm to it. 
• District 9 - South African movie with aliens as a metaphor of apartheid
• Star Wars - This isn’t really science fiction, more space fantasy, but I couldn’t put it anywhere else. Original Trilogy only. 
• Aliens - also more of an action movie than sci fi, it’s still utterly terrific and has one of the best heroines on film ever. 
• Predator - Also an Arnold classic and more of an action movie than sci-fi, it still holds up today. Note that the filmmakers satirized the culture of guns and violence, which is why the overly macho and gun-toting characters are just so comical

Kung Fu - I’m not an expert on these but these are the ones I enjoy: 

• Drunken Master 2 (in the US “The Legend of Drunken Master”) - Jackie Chan playing Cantonese folk hero Wong Fei Hung. This is probably the best Jackie Chan movie, in my view. Genuinely funny, good kung fu, ridiculous stunts. 
• Bruce Lee’s movies. Don’t need to name them all, they’re all great. 
• Once Upon A Time in China - Probably the best of Jet Li’s early work
• Hero - This is an odd one to recommend. I don’t entirely like it but it really is extremely pretty. 
• Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle - these movies aren’t really kung fu movies, they’re comedies by Stephen Chow (who is first and foremost a comedian) which play on the Kung Fu genre. I wish I understood Cantonese better to watch his actual comedies, because these films were more catered towards international audiences, which includes me. I found them very charming and very fun. 

Superhero - Again, everyone knows the famous ones, so I just have one to add:

• Super - Ironically came out around the same time as Kick-Ass and has the same basic principle of a normal dude who dresses up in a costume to fight crime, but takes its subject matter a lot more seriously. It’s a good overall film with interesting themes about the nature of vigilantism, the culture of entertaining violence, and so on. 
• The Rocketeer - This is a relatively less known but rather classic movie. It’s really well made and tells a really good, rather heart-warming story. 

“Classic” movies: 

• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Is probably the most famous and the best of the Spaghetti Westerns. Probably my favourite Western ever
• Seven Samurai - black and white classic
• The Princess Bride - is one of the most charming films from the early 90s. 
• Ghostbusters - Just the first one. The second is just okay. But the first is brilliant

So bad they’re funny - Best digested with beer and friends:

• Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness - This is a trashy B movie and it totally knows it, which is what makes it so brilliant. It has a lot of fun with itself and invites you to have fun with it
• Passchaendaele - This is my favourite war movie to completely trash. It is so ridiculously bad that it blows my mind, despite the high production values. 
• Death to Smoochy - This is an odd one. But it features Edward Norton in a pink rhino costume, and Jon Stewart. 
• Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure - I think history nerds all should see this, sooner or later. 
• Commando - Probably the purest representation of an Arnold action movie ever. Ridiculously over the top, ridiculously 80s, and probably the best one-liners ever. 

Misc.

• Shaun of the Dead - A really smart, funny movie having fun with the zombie genre. In England. 
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - I almost put this in the cultural section, because it has such fun with cockney accents and the way English northerners and southerners hate each other
• Fight Club - it says a lot that the movie is far, far more well known than the book, with reason. 
• The Boondock Saints - This is a cult classic. It has charming Irish men as vigilantes in Boston and Willem Dafoe. Willem Dafoe. 
• A Fish Called Wanda - Quite the all star cast and really fun
• Lola Rennt - I like how simple this story is and how creative it is

jonaki:

uncdan replied to your post: Just showing some support for you standing up against “thisiswhiteculture”. I’ve read the blog once and it was one of the most stupid things I’ve ever encountered. Obviously these people have absolutely no knowledge of history (besides slavery) or real “white” culture and their ignorance is obviously showing. Trying to talk to them probably won’t help, because they’re full of shit, but I’m glad to see people calling them out on what they do, because it is not okay and extremely offensive.

Seriously, only Americans view “white culture” as this monolithic antagonistic force.

I think it’s because that’s sort of the way things are in the US, so i guess i understand part of their logic. But i think i the fact that they persistently refuse to accept that things work differently outside of their own society is definitely a sign of American entitlement and exceptionalism 

stupidiamaxima:

uncdan:

I think it’s related, really. The question is about whether it’s ethical to use disturbing media to spread important information. 

And I figure that if it’s done with respect (“the following images may be disturbing/ we have censored the faces”), then it’s to the better. 

If it’s just spread for shock value, blasted out for all to see, then no, I don’t think so. 

Yes, we’re absolutely furthering the humiliation and hurt of those captives by continuing to circulate the evidence of their humiliation. You can condemn the soldiers without having to do that, is my point. And even if you do, you can do it with respect. 

Yes, I think so too, but I was wondering if I am to hard on people that do reblog and spread these images (including professional journalists). 

Not everyone does it well, that’s for sure. And some value shock more than others. But I appreciate that most larger news agencies have rules and guidelines when it comes to disturbing footage or photos. They’ll generally smudge faces, or warn you before showing you footage, or tell you where to look if you want to but it’s up to you. 

I don’t like when people just blindly spread the stuff, though. Every reblog is one more place on the Internet that naked, tortured man will never be able to hide from. 

radetzkymarch:

uncdan replied to your post: Art requests, anyone?

Sam Vimes on a riverboat. Lookingly surreptitiously happy. Source material is Snuff, by Terry Pratchett.

I was not aware of the existence of new Discworld!
Life significantly improved.  Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Eeee! My request went through. 

Don’t let me detain you. 

meiran:

uncdan replied to your post: uncdan replied to your post: Dear people who…

I don’t know about you, but it seems that a far larger ratio of Americans are less educated, less informed, and more impressionable and easier to manipulate. In that way, democracy as a whole suffers. Supreme Court or not.

Yeah, I have many long and detailed rants about that. Basically I think America got complacent about education and we stopped fighting for it, and stopped realizing what a privilege education is, and so we let it fall through the cracks and get muddled up.  We started focusing on teaching names and dates and facts because that’s easier to test people on and we stopped teaching them WHY.  WHY does the government run the way it does, WHY do we have three branches, WHY is it the Bill of Rights?  

Even in the sciences, WHY should we learn about these things, WHY is the periodic table so amazing? I mean, screw memorizing the elements, that’s cool and all, but the periodic table is AWESOME when you get down to it. We should start learning about scientific literacy, not just a litany of science facts. Teach kids to look at who did the experiment, what their methodology was, why they reached the conclusion they did and if it’s valid reasoning.

Ugh, it makes me mad. We’re too busy testing our kids and trying to just usher them through the school system, and then they get out and they’re not responsible citizens, they’re not informed, they don’t know how to think and question and debate.  And now they’ve elected a bunch of idiots and it’s all falling downhill so fast we can’t keep up.

I’m kind of passionate about education, if you haven’t noticed ; )

Reblogged for agreement and truth. :) 

I just totally agree. I think the standardized testing system is bollocks. 

Any even casual look at SAT or GMAT preparation material makes it very clear that what is taught is test-taking skills, not knowledge or understanding. 

I got taught about scientists in school, and about why the periodic table was amazing. Yay British-based international school education!

jonaki:

uncdan replied to your photo: I don’t have a problem with the issue at hand…

Only certain Americans would think that white cultures are boring, because I don’t think they’re aware enough about what European culture is…

It’s just funny to me how some Americans think that their “European descent” (whatever that means) automatically allows them to spew homogenizing gibberish and generalizations about an entire continent which they have no actual, tangible, empirical relation with

We share a skin tone, not a culture. Tumblr (and especially those concerned with “racism” and SJ issues) should understand this simple dichotomy —although i’m not getting my hopes up

Yeah. 

It’s basically just a failure to take in the wider context. It happens fairly often with Americans because their concept of “white” tends to start at the Pacific and end at the Atlantic. 

It’s just ironic that some people might think that “European descent” means “culturally dry.” Because any casual trip to any country in Europe belies long cultural and historical heritage. 

As with many complaints about Americans, it comes down to: don’t place your American context on my part of the world. It does not apply. 

gedenkenbrauchtwissen:

uncdan:

gedenkenbrauchtwissen:

uncdan hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet: uncdan hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet: uncdan…

It’s true though. Racism in Europe manifests quite differently from in America, and the approach to racism is also different.

Interesting!  Would you mind going into more detail about this?  People ask me a lot about racism in Europe today, I only know how it is in Russia because I did my thesis on that.  I would like to know more about this.

Well, I haven’t done a thesis on this, so I’m going from mostly observation, reports and speculation, so, you know, pinch of salt. 

But one of the differences is that there are real, legal neo-nazis in Europe. And they have political parties. They just don’t call themselves nazis. 

Red Light Politics here on Tumblr focuses mostly on racism in Europe, especially where she’s based in the Netherlands. And it’s quite shocking. It is legal to go blackface in the Netherlands, complete with a comical “ethnic/colonial” costume. The argument is that racists are allowed free speech too, which, okay, is technically true, but in practice hands a carte blanche to them. She is a white immigrant to the Netherlands and still has trouble being accepted by the locals, so you can imagine their feelings on others. Officially it’s a very free and progressive country, but the trends are worrying. 

Basically, it just seems like racism is a lot more direct here in Europe than it is in America. One way or another, activists against racism in America have at the very least made everyone politically correct, or at least try to hide it better. You know how in America it’s fringe nuts or offhand comments and we hint that certain people think certain races should be booted back to where they came from? In Europe there are political parties specifically geared to that stance. 

In a way this isn’t completely a bad thing. It’s a little more honest, even though it’s terrible. And it puts the issue directly on the table: “I am against immigration and think that multiculturalism has failed.” 

Hell, there’s a frighteningly popular book in Germany about how Turkish people are eventually going to take over Germany because they fuck more and birth more Turkish kids than Germans do. This kind of book would never fly very far in America, even though there are people who think along similar lines there about whatever race it is they don’t like. 

Berlusconi came into power and held onto it for as long as he did for being popular on the anti-crime stance. For most Italians who were his supporters, that directly meant to them “All the African immigrants are causing so much crime and he’s against them.” Crime in Italy was so bad that there were volunteer citizen militias. They didn’t do much other than walk around with mobiles, but some took it more seriously than others. Some were specifically right-wing, targeting African immigratns, and even had fascist salutes. 

Even here in peaceful Switzerland we get our share of anti-immigration politics. I posted a long time ago about this. The Schweizer Volks Partei is the local right-wing anti-immigrant party. And it has risen to popularity in the last several years on that note. If you follow the link, check out the very obvious “white sheep kicking out black sheep” poster. 

There were protests against it of course, but the fact that it happened from an official, and disturbingly popular, political party, is something that would never happen in America. 

I have a Polish friend who was pretty well travelled. She has had boyfriends from Turkey, India, Lebanon, and so on. But she carries a frighteningly common opinion that, although she likes Muslims just fine, she thinks they’re dangerous and will take over Europe and are bad about women’s rights. The irony is quite lost on her. 

But like I said, there’s institutional racism in America. Racism activists there spend most of their time trying to prove that it exists and happens. In Europe, there’s little attempt to hide it. It’s a more honest debate, but it’s also a more disturbing one.

I mean this in the sense that there are real debates with people’s honest racial opinions. I don’t like it, BUT by having these anti-immigration parties, they actually talk about saying that the crime rate has increased with immigration. They don’t hide it, the way American politicians do when they try to hide their racism for votes. 

Wow.  I didn’t know anti-immigration in politics was so widespread.  I’ve only heard of this sort of belief in a few individuals (like Marine Le Pen).  Thank you for expanding on this, it’s fascinating and very important to be aware of.

You didn’t? Oh I’m surprised! Well anyway, right-wing anti-EU or anti-immigration parties are on the rise around Europe. The ones to watch for are:

The Swedish Democrats. 
The Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands. Check out the views of its leader Geert Wiilders on Islam. Scary stuff. 
Marine le Pen and the Front National in France, but you knew that.
The British National Party. 
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) are the ones at least partially behind that controversial ban on minarets.  

All of them won seats in their respective parliaments in the last several years. It’s a very worrying trend. 

gedenkenbrauchtwissen:

uncdan hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet: uncdan hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet: uncdan…

It’s true though. Racism in Europe manifests quite differently from in America, and the approach to racism is also different.

Interesting!  Would you mind going into more detail about this?  People ask me a lot about racism in Europe today, I only know how it is in Russia because I did my thesis on that.  I would like to know more about this.

Well, I haven’t done a thesis on this, so I’m going from mostly observation, reports and speculation, so, you know, pinch of salt. 

But one of the differences is that there are real, legal neo-nazis in Europe. And they have political parties. They just don’t call themselves nazis. 

Red Light Politics here on Tumblr focuses mostly on racism in Europe, especially where she’s based in the Netherlands. And it’s quite shocking. It is legal to go blackface in the Netherlands, complete with a comical “ethnic/colonial” costume. The argument is that racists are allowed free speech too, which, okay, is technically true, but in practice hands a carte blanche to them. She is a white immigrant to the Netherlands and still has trouble being accepted by the locals, so you can imagine their feelings on others. Officially it’s a very free and progressive country, but the trends are worrying. 

Basically, it just seems like racism is a lot more direct here in Europe than it is in America. One way or another, activists against racism in America have at the very least made everyone politically correct, or at least try to hide it better. You know how in America it’s fringe nuts or offhand comments and we hint that certain people think certain races should be booted back to where they came from? In Europe there are political parties specifically geared to that stance. 

In a way this isn’t completely a bad thing. It’s a little more honest, even though it’s terrible. And it puts the issue directly on the table: “I am against immigration and think that multiculturalism has failed.” 

Hell, there’s a frighteningly popular book in Germany about how Turkish people are eventually going to take over Germany because they fuck more and birth more Turkish kids than Germans do. This kind of book would never fly very far in America, even though there are people who think along similar lines there about whatever race it is they don’t like. 

Berlusconi came into power and held onto it for as long as he did for being popular on the anti-crime stance. For most Italians who were his supporters, that directly meant to them “All the African immigrants are causing so much crime and he’s against them.” Crime in Italy was so bad that there were volunteer citizen militias. They didn’t do much other than walk around with mobiles, but some took it more seriously than others. Some were specifically right-wing, targeting African immigratns, and even had fascist salutes. 

Even here in peaceful Switzerland we get our share of anti-immigration politics. I posted a long time ago about this. The Schweizer Volks Partei is the local right-wing anti-immigrant party. And it has risen to popularity in the last several years on that note. If you follow the link, check out the very obvious “white sheep kicking out black sheep” poster. 

There were protests against it of course, but the fact that it happened from an official, and disturbingly popular, political party, is something that would never happen in America. 

I have a Polish friend who was pretty well travelled. She has had boyfriends from Turkey, India, Lebanon, and so on. But she carries a frighteningly common opinion that, although she likes Muslims just fine, she thinks they’re dangerous and will take over Europe and are bad about women’s rights. The irony is quite lost on her. 

But like I said, there’s institutional racism in America. Racism activists there spend most of their time trying to prove that it exists and happens. In Europe, there’s little attempt to hide it. It’s a more honest debate, but it’s also a more disturbing one.

I mean this in the sense that there are real debates with people’s honest racial opinions. I don’t like it, BUT by having these anti-immigration parties, they actually talk about saying that the crime rate has increased with immigration. They don’t hide it, the way American politicians do when they try to hide their racism for votes. 

uncdan:

toreasonwhy:

lord-kitschener hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet: I HAVE A YODEL STUCK IN MY HEAD

UNSER EVIL PLAN IST VORKING MOST PERVECTLY. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA[Evil Teutonic Laughter.]

Was it tasteless to use that gif? Yes. Do I care at this point? No.

You wait. I’m going to wait until everyone goes out of the house and then record the yodel of my people for posterity. AND THEN THE DISEASE WILL SPREAD. O HO HO HO HO HO HO. 

Guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67rc96joOz8

FUCK YOU SO HARD UNCDAN

AND ALSO FRANZL LANG. HE HAUNTS MY DREAMS. 

When I first moved to Zurich, I took German classes at this one place which also offered classes in Alpenhorn and Yodellilng. 

In hindsight, how didn’t I sign up for that? 

hannahpannah:

uncdan replied to your post: I found an old writing of mine

That all sounds very young. As much as people say you’re supposed to, you still don’t know who you are when you’re 22, let alone who you should be with. ;)

Haha yes I know, I made this I don’t know how long ago I am not going to try to get up with these ages because it’s just riduculous, I will just let everything happen when it has to happen. I just posted it because I found it and I had to laugh about what I wrote myself.

But I also think there is nothing wrong with marrying on the age of 22 or 23. I know a lot of adults and eldery people who have been together with their husband/wife since they were something like 17 or 18 or 20 or 22 haha.

Damn character limit on replies…

Yeah, I know. When I was 16 or whatever, 22 sounded like a long, long way off. :) I think it depends on the person, and whether you’re ready. The problem is that when you’re young you often think you’re ready for things when you’re not, but you have no way of knowing that. 

I know some people who got married young to their high school sweethearts or something similar… and then ten years went by and they’re 28. Sometimes they discover that they feel like they haven’t lived enough. Either spouse might say “Wow, what did I do with my youth?” 

I know one person at about that age, who is discovering that she’s still attractive to men, attractive enough to get propositions, offers, lengthy flirting… And she found out that she liked it. Even though she says she loves her husband, it looks rather clear that even if so, she hasn’t gotten her youth out of her system, and is tempted to enjoy it at the wrong time of her life. 

And that kind of situation isn’t uncommon among people who get married young and become successful. They find they still want some adventure and that it calls to them, and they feel like they’re at the prime of their lives and yet… stuck. They have a home, a spouse, someone to hold them back, domesticate them, bring them back down to earth. It’s a nice thing, but maybe they find out they don’t want it just yet. 

I’m inclined to believe that people of previous generations who got married young had fewer criteria to worry about. They wanted a stable job, a house, and kids with a future. Our generation is more demanding, and more ambitious. The world is so open and so inviting that we aspire to do far more than they ever did. 

I think that successful marriages at a young age are generally successful because they aren’t truly challenged. You never move away from a small town, you never find that a dream job conflicts with your marriage, you’re not meeting wild, new interesting people… 

Either that, or they’re really, really lucky. 

And I also think that there are a fair number of bad marriages that they continued anyway because they didn’t have other options. 

… Man I’m cynical.