re: if you had to narrow down your all-time favorite movies to only 5...

These are not my opinion of the best movies just my favorites:

1. Fellowship of the Ring
2 Return of the King
3. The Two Towers
4. Glory
5. Saving Private Ryan

I am a huge Tolkien nerd, frick the Hobbit aberrations.

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The Last Dragon

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This is my favorite bad movie, ever.
"Catching bullets with yo teeth...**** please"

1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
2. Stand By Me (1986)
3. The Princess Bride (1987)
4. Oh Brother Where Art Thou (2000)
5. 12 Monkeys (1995)


Honorable Mention - Empire of the Sun (1987)

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I don't think I'm very racist I just love that movie. Nothing's ever stuck with me like it did.

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People's favorite movies says a lot about them. Like if Transformers is your favorite franchise of all time, you're either 10 or an idiot. Only a racist could say that's their second favorite movie of all time.

Forrest Gump
The Sandlot
Back to the Future
Not Another Teen Movie
American Pie

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I just can't imagine anyone's second favorite film being "The Birth of a Nation" unless you're incredibly racist.

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Let's not do this on the M/TV board.

A person could love Saving Private Ryan and not be a warmonger, right?

A person could love Gone With The Wind and not be a neoconfederate, right?

A person could love Night of the Living Dead and not be pro-zombie, right?

We must be able to detach content from the arts - after all Downfall paints a fairly sympathetic picture of Hitler and his close associates - it does so in an extraordinary way that it does not also condone their atrocities. And it is a fantastic film, probably my favorite foreign film of all time.

In the case of Birth of a Nation - the film is seminal - it is essentially the starting point for U.S films - nothing before it has nearly the impact on subsequent generations of American filmmakers. We can recognize that, acknowledge and even celebrate the film as art, without condoning the racist overtones of the content of the film itself, can't we?

Or is that beyond our capacity in 2016?

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Can we stick with the JFK pick? I'm still upset about that.

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Understandable. Another good example - a person (take me for example) can enjoy JFK and still think Oliver Stone and Jim Garrison were as full of shite as Christmas turkeys.

Honestly, my best guess is that Garrison thought Marcello was involved and kept his investigation going, both to build his profile to run for judge and to take the heat off Marcello. Doesn't mean I don't like the movie.

It's obviously not my favorite, but I can't see a good reason to beat up someone if that's their subjective #1 film. To each his/her own, I say.

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A person could love Saving Private Ryan and not be a warmonger, right?

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But it's not a pro-war film. It takes place during a war, but it is more about how terrible war is and the sacrifices people made. You're not supposed to look at them storming the beaches of Normandy and think that all this happening is a great thing. You're supposed to be awe struck by the violence and realize what was actually happening during the war.

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A person could love Gone With The Wind and not be a neoconfederate, right?

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Sure it takes place in the Confederacy, but that's still not what the movie is about. It's about a diva surviving a war and juggling her love interests. Really you can make Gone with the Wind take place during the Punic Wars, and I don't know how much of the actual plot itself that you'd have to change.

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A person could love Night of the Living Dead and not be pro-zombie, right?

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I like Night of the Living Dead and am eagerly awaiting the Zombie Apocalypse.

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We must be able to detach content from the arts - after all Downfall paints a fairly sympathetic picture of Hitler and his close associates - it does so in an extraordinary way that it does not also condone their atrocities. And it is a fantastic film, probably my favorite foreign film of all time.

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I haven't seen Downfall, but tales of a man's rise and fall have been around since the very beginning of story telling. The Iliad, any random Shakespeare work, Citizen Kane, and the Godfather all come to mind. I have a hard time believing the movie is pro-Nazi though and says that Hitler's actions were justified.

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In the case of Birth of a Nation - the film is seminal - it is essentially the starting point for U.S films - nothing before it has nearly the impact on subsequent generations of American filmmakers. We can recognize that, acknowledge and even celebrate the film as art, without condoning the racist overtones of the content of the film itself, can't we?

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But it portrays the Klan as just and the heroes of the story. The central theme is that blacks are degenerates and inferior and only a white society and morals will prevail. Gone with the Wind says nothing of the sort about the defeat of the Confederacy as The Birth of a Nation.

I appreciate its place in film history, but for it to be anyone's true favorite, the themes have to highly resonate. And it's not like Michael Corleone or Charles Foster Kane that are cautionary tales on how power can corrupt you. The main characters in The Birth of a Nation are heroes at the end, and sends a repulsive message to a modern day audience. Saying The Birth of a Nation is your second favorite film is like saying Mein Kampf is your second favorite book.

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Outlaw Josie Whales

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Wales, like the nation-state, but yes. Seen it 10 times.

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Godfather 1
3. Goodfellas
4. Back to The Future
5. Die Hard


Just Missed The Cut:

Reservoir Dogs
Alien
Blazing Saddles
Old School
Saving Private Ryan