Movies

comedy

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ~ I have seriously never laughed so hard at a movie in my life. Pure genius.
Clerks ~ This is Kevin Smith's first and funniest movie. Way better than Mallrats, Chasing Amy, or Dogma. It basically has no plot and consists of two convience store clerks and their escapades.
The Nightmare Before Christmas ~ My very favorite movie. A stop-motion animation movie with delightfully funny songs by Danny ElfmanThe story centers on Jack Skellington, who lives in Halloween Town and is bored with his life until he discovers Christmas Town and plans on taking over the holiday.
Ghost World ~ The graphic novel is, of course, better than the movie, but it did really capture the characters well.
Dazed and Confused ~ A movie about the day school lets out for the summer in 1976, full of drugs, drinking, partying, and 70's music.
The Breakfast Club ~ This is one the best movies ever. Five teens from different crowds are sentenced to Saturday detention in the school library, and through the day learn that they're not so different after all.
Reefer Madness ~ This was not supposed to be a comedy, but the moronic exaggerations and downright lies make this movie seem like a parody of itself.
Coming Soon ~ A teen girl's quest for the elusive orgasm. Often called an American Pie for girls.
Spaceballs ~ A great Mel Brooks movie, parodying Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and all those other futuristic movies.
Go ~ Shows the events of one night through the eyes of three groups of people with intertwining lives.
The Princess Bride ~ A grand tale of princesses, pirates, and kidnappings, complete with the cliché and sexist rescuing of a damsel in distress, but the humorous twists on the old story make it a wonderful movie.
Saved! ~ When a devout Christian teen is impregnated by her gay boyfriend in an attempt to make him straight, she begins to question her faith.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail ~ "So, logically...If she weighs the same as a duck, then she's made of wood...And therefore?...A WITCH!"
Bend It Like Beckham ~ About the friendship between two girls on a soccer team in the UK.
Empire Records ~ When an independent music store is forced to close, the employees work together to save it.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ~ An adaptation of the brilliant book.
Heathers ~ A darkish comedy about teens, popularity, suicide, and murder.
Beetlejuice ~ A pair of ghosts hire an exorcist to rid their house of the living family moving in.
Edward Scissorhands ~ Edward is the creation of an inventor who never was able to finish him — leaving Edward with scissors for hands. A woman finds him and takes him home with her to the suburbs, and her neighbors fuss over his strange looks and hair-styling abilities.
The Addams Family ~ Not nearly as campy as the classic TV show, this movie takes many of its themes from the original cartoons of Charles Addams. The sequel, Addams Family Values, is also really good.
Freeway ~ A movie version of "Little Red Riding Hood", about a tough inner-city girl who fights back when a serial killer attacks her.
Being John Malkovich ~ Too weird to even both trying to describe.

drama

Serenity ~ Based on the short-lived but brilliant TV series Firefly by Joss Whedon.
Harry Potter films ~ I was so impressed by the first movie that I decided to try reading the series, and quickly became an obsessive fan of the books. And yes, the books are much better, but the movies are great too. Foxfire ~ Based on the book by Joyce Carol Oates. The book is better, but this movie is really good and is about a group of girls who bond after standing up to an abusive teacher. This was one of Angelina Jolie's earliest movies and also features lesbian model Jenny Shimizu and now-indie musician Jenny Lewis.
Fight Club ~ I'm not sure why this is under the action section at my video store. Sure, it's got plenty of fighting, but really it's a psychological thriller. It's just one of the best movies ever, in my opinion, with some startling implications. The only thing that bothered me was the lack of female characters (except Marla, of course). But even so, it's a great movie.
American Beauty ~ About a middle-aged man who is awakened to the futility of his current life when he falls in lust for his daughter's friend, and starts a new life for himself.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ~ Not only are the special effects and the fight scenes fantastic, but the plot and characters are well-developed, and the story focuses on the struggle against the strict gender roles of Chinese society.
The Usual Suspects ~ I love a good crime movie, but this one really takes the cake. The twist at the end is just fantastic. It's the kind of movie you have to watch at least twice, so you can see all the little clues you missed the first time.
Princess Mononoke ~ a beautiful animated movie dubbed from Japanese with a strong environmental theme.
Rabbit-Proof Fence ~ The true story of three Aborigine sisters who are stolen from their home by the Australian government to be assimilated, and then escape and walk all the way home.
Momento ~ a fascinating movie, about a man with short term memory loss. The movie goes backwards, with each scene taking place before the preceding one, to give the viewer the same feeling of memory loss as the main character.

horror

Ginger Snaps ~ A fantastic werewolf movie about two misfit sisters. This is, I think, the only one in existence to make the obvious connection between lycanthropy and menstruation.
Ravenous ~ Taking place during the Spanish-American War (late 1800's), about cannibalism. Sick and funny.
Scream ~ The best of all the recent horror movies. Its self-reference lends a humorous edge to what would otherwise be a clichéd, albeit suspenseful, movie. The sequels are, as usual, unoriginal but still worthwhile.
Urban Legend ~ Not too notable as a horror movie, but it deals with urban legends, which I'm fascinated with. (It also helps that Alicia Witt is really hot.)
The Silence of the Lambs ~ Unlike most movies based on books, I think this one really is as good as the book, or at least pretty close. It really manages to capture the spirit of the book.
Psycho ~ This is the original slasher movie, directed by Hitchcock. Don't bother with the new version. It's so similar to the original that's it's worthless. They didn't even fix his mistakes, such as the undilated pupils.

documentaries

Bowling for Columbine ~ A response to the Columbine massacre, asking why America has so much more gun violence than other nations.
Super Size Me ~ A man eats nothing but McDonald's for 30 days, after which his fiancee nurses him back to health with vegan food.
An Inconvenient Truth ~ Al Gore's film on global warming, showing the facts in a clear and simple manner, but with enough drama to make it interesting even to the layperson.
Farenheit 9/11 ~ Michael Moore examines the lead up to the Iraq War and its supposed connections to 9/11.
Outfoxed ~ An insightful and humorous look at the bias of Fox News.
One Nation Under God ~ Explores the history of homophobia and the Ex-gay movement.
Busted: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters ~ What to do to protect your rights when stopped by cops while driving, on the street, or at your home.

queer movies

But I'm a Cheerleader ~ a cute and hilarious movie about a girl who gets sent to a deprogramming camp and meets the girl of her dreams.
All over Me ~ This is such a great movie, about two friends in New York, one straight and one lesbian. And Leisha Hailey is in it (yum).
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love ~ About two high school lesbians and their relationship. It's a little corny sometimes, but it's also sweet and funny.
Brokeback Mountain ~ The beautiful love story between two cowboys.
If These Walls Could Talk 2 ~ Three stories about lesbians taking place in the same house but different times.
Get Real ~ a love story between two British high school boys, one who's out and unpopular and one who's a popular jock and closeted.
Kissing Jessica Stein ~ When a straight woman gets tired of trying to find a man, she decides to date a woman.
Better Than Chocolate ~ This is a cute lesbian comedy about a college drop-out whose mother and brother move in with her the same week as her new girlfriend, and she hasn't come out to them yet.
Boys Don't Cry ~ The true story of Brandon Teena, a transman who was killed in a hate crime.
Go Fish ~ A beautiful indie lesbo flick, shot in black and white, about a woman who finds love where she least expects it.
Chasing Amy ~ A lesbian falls in love with a guy, but he can't handle her past. I have some problems with the premises of this movie (like the ignoring of bisexuality), but over all it's funny and enjoyable and explores important queer issues. Also: Guinevere Turner cameo.
Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink) ~ This is not only one the best queer movies I've ever seen, it's also one of the best in general. A French movie with English subtitles, it's about a little boy, Ludovic, who longs to become a girl and marry his best friend. (On a side note, apparently a French slang word for gay is "flyswatter", and without knowing that I was completely confused by one scene; a French speaking friend had to explain it to me.)
Gia ~ about the lesbian supermodel Gia Carangi, her addiction to heroin, and her death from AIDS complications. Angelina Jolie is absolutely breathtaking as Gia, and this is one of her best films.
Heavenly Creatures ~ based on the true story of two teenage girls (Juliet Hulme, now famous as murder-mystery writer Anne Perry, and Pauline Parker) who develop an intense relationship and kill Pauline's mother when they're threatened to be torn apart.

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