Planet Skaro's Favourite Films

[SiHart]

Hello m'dears and welcome to Film Planet Skaro.

What are your favourite films and why?

[Nyder]

I do like a good Hitchcock film - Psycho, Rear Window, North By Northwest I can watch again & again. All have great pace, loads of tension and expert direction of course.

Being There I've always had a soft spot for. Peter Sellers plays a very understated lead and it works just perfectly.

Death In Venice had a big impact on me as a teenager. It's a very sumptuous, emotional film with Mahler's music overpowering every scene (in a good way!)

That'll do for starters!

[Si Hunt]

I love "The Shawshank Redemption" - such a hard hitting, clever yet moving film. I love the character of Red and the way Andy uses his intelligence to outwit everyone. Extra brilliant as it's based on a true story.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

Unfortunately, my favourite film of all time appears to be Spaceballs by Mel Brooks. I must have seen it a dozen times.

But there are so many good films (and many, many more stinkers!) that really hit the mark.

As a populist example, take 'The Lord of The Rings' trilogy. It's not a perfect adaptation of the book. Neither is it a perfectly paced series of movies. But there are so many wonderful, memorable moments. The characters and the settings are so memorable and enchanting. It's a lyrical masterpiece and a B-movie action-thriller and a hundred other things all at the same time.

[SiHart]

Dead Poets Society was watched by me at a formative age and made a HUGE impression in so many ways. It made me think, it had lovely boys in it and poetry. What's not to love there?

[Si Hunt]

Most films SEEM uninviting in theory, but some you then watch and wish you'd done it earlier. We watched a Harrison Ford thriller with my family a few months ago, it wasn't the best film in the world but we sat there and jumped and clung to cushions and really enjoyed it. Except my Mum, who went to sleep.

Then Simon and I watched all the Scream films which we hugely enjoyed. A bit samy (this being the point didn't really help) but again made us jump in a good way and made me a little edgy about going upstairs in the dark afterwards. Also that night I dreamt about slashing up my family with knives, but hey.

Si.

[Nyder]

In terms of scary films - I found both the Paranormal Activity films very frightening. Same goes for The Candyman. As a young kid I used to love all the Universal and Hammer horror films.

The very first film I saw in the cinema was The Spy Who Loved Me.

[Mike Saville]

Being There is in my top few films- a remarkably subtle (by Sellers standards) performance, and certainly my favourite too.

The original Harvey is up there, in my opinion Jimmy Stewart's finest moment. It's a film that helped define the adult I became- though the film that best claims that honour is The 7 Faces of Dr Lao.

My favourite film changes depending on where I'm at as a person, but that last one has never dropped out of my top three since I first saw it, 30 years ago.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I do like a good Hitchcock film - Psycho, Rear Window, North By Northwest I can watch again & again. All have great pace, loads of tension and expert direction of course.

High-5 that man!!!


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Some of my faves. I think I've grown out of Taxi Driver, but it was a favourite for a while. I love the alienation and spiral into madness.

I absolutely love the Russian Solaris, and used to watch it every few years - I need a DVD copy now though. I think it was because it was science fiction, but told a very personal tale of dealing with grief amongst all the lonliness and alienation of being on a different planet.

Another film I've not watched since the video era and would love to is the Seventh Seal. Alas foreign language/arthouse films haven't done well in my repurchase under DVDs. But I love the whole theme of a man trying to buy time to make more sense of life and it's purpose.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

It will probably come as no surprise that both versions of Henry V (1945 and 1985) and Richard III (1955 and 1996) are amongst my all time favourites.

A special mention must go to the 1996 film Beautiful Thing which I first saw nearly a decade ago and had a very profound effect on me.

I also have something of a strange relatioship with The Omen trilogy as the idea of the devil fascinated me when I was younger. Whilst the original will always be a favourite I actually rather liked the 2006 remake.

[SiHart]

A special mention must go to the 1996 film Beautiful Thing which I first saw nearly a decade ago and had a very profound effect on me.

Someone truly lovely once sent it to me as a Valentine's present. It was unsigned and I've never found out who, but it was very much appreciated. It had a deep effect on a very good friend of mine who I once watched it with. He can't listen to Dream A Little Dream Of Me anymore, which is sad.

[Rob McCow]

To me, Moon is exactly the kind of film that I love to see at the cinema. It's an original concept, philisophical sci-fi thriller, albeit one that takes it's thrills nice n' slow. There are many reasons to give unconditional love to Moon, love that sweeps away any flaws that it may have.

Firstly, the film's exteriors are entirely done as models. They're not 100% convincing models but damn they are beautiful to watch. There's serious attention to detail and everything has a weight and grace to it that CGI work rarely has. It really suits the tone of the film too, which is about loneliness, loss and grief. It's never too maudlin or depressing, there's always a sense of hope even as things fall apart.

Rarest of all for a film of the past decade, it gives you time to think. There are pauses for breath. It's really refreshing to watch a film where you can have these moments without them being boring. They all add to the atmosphere.

I don't know if Duncan Jones will make a film as wonderful as this again. I loved Source Code, but it had a few too many similarities in terms of it's themes. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I'd watched Source Code first.

Anyway - Moon. It's great.

[Alex]

Gosh, I could be here all day as there's so many films I love, for so many reasons too. But off the top of my head:

Harold and Maude - Quite possibly my favourite film of all time (though it changes on occasion), this is an incredibly beautiful, inspiring romantic tale between a young man and an elderly lady. I don't want to give much away, but I don't know anyone who's seen this and who hasn't fallen crazily in love with it.

Amelie - Another beautifully romantic film, though very different to Harold and Maude. I love how inventive this is, how unpredictable, and it's got a wonderfully distinctive look to it as well.

Better Off Dead - A very stupid but very funny 80s teen comedy. I watch this every few years and never tire of it, so much is going on within it's running time and it's lunacy is inspired.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The original of course, and the most brutal horror film I think I've ever seen. I love the genre but most of the time I find slasher pics funny, whereas this is just horrible, but in the best kind of way. If that makes sense. Which it probably doesn't.

The Double Life of Veronique - Beautifully shot and quite haunting, it's one of Kieślowski's best, and left a strong emotional impact on me when I first saw it which has never gone away.

That's five of at least a hundred that I'd say I'm in love with though, and I'm sure I've missed out other classics that deserve a place here.

[Jon Masters]

There's no way I could narrow it down to just a handful, let alone 1. I might be able to go for a handful in each genre though a la Bazzer Norman (though there would be no rom-coms on the list).

[Perry Vale]

Gosh, I could be here all day as there's so many films I love, for so many reasons too. But off the top of my head:...

Ditto.

The ones I always come back to are Wizard Of Oz, Planet Of The Apes (1968), Bladerunner and Life Of Brian.

Other noteable mentions go to...

Derek & Clive Get The Horn

South Park: The Movie / Team America

Beavis & Butthead : Ditto

Blue Velvet / Wild At Heart / Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Natural Born Killers

Total Recall

Superman II

The Excorcist

Dawn Of The Dead

Metropolis

Batman (Tim Burton)

And if we can include TV Movies, I'd have Buffy: Once More With Feeling right up there with all of them...