Via SF Signal, a link to Dwight Silverman’s 15 Geek Movies to See Before You Die. Silverman is the Tech Blogger for the Houston Chronicle; see his original entry for explanations on why these particular films made the list. As usual, my own comments follow:
- Brazil
- The Matrix
- The Fifth Element
- Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- Serenity
- Dark City
- 12 Monkeys
- Shaun of the Dead
- Darkman
- Army of Darkness
- War Games
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Office Space
- Repo Man
First thought: my geek cred is in pretty good shape, according to these criteria. I’ve seen all but two of these films (Repo Man and Dark City, although it’s been so long since I’ve seen Brazil that it probably qualifies as “never seen” as well) and I own quite a few of them on either VHS or DVD. That said, I have to say that I personally find The Matrix and 12 Monkeys both overrated and depressing as hell to watch. In the case of The Matrix, it’s that grungy, clammy look of the film that gets to me — I’ve mentioned before that I hate the look of a lot of movies that came out of the latter half of the ’90s — while 12 Monkeys depresses me because, well, it’s just a downer of a movie. I’m not a big fan of any of Terry Gilliam’s movies, to be honest. He’s a fine filmmaker, but the stories he’s drawn to rarely engage me very much, certainly not enough to warrant a second viewing. But that’s just me.
Just as interesting as what’s on this list is what’s not on the list. Any true geek is, of course, going to have Star Wars on their “must-see” list, but what about Tron? Blade Runner? Alien? 2001? THX 1138, surely the geekiest titled film of all time? Colossus: The Forbin Project, which anticipated something very like the Internet? How about The Terminator, who was controlled by an evil variant of the Internet? Or John Carpenter’s Dark Star, the climax of which is a philosophical conversation between a frazzled astronaut and an artificially intelligent nuclear bomb? The list could go on and on… and I’m just thinking of the movies of the ’70s and ’80s, when “geek culture” as we now understand it was forming. What about movies from before that halcyon period? Do any of them count? I’m just asking, here…
Except Repo-Man I’ve seen all of these. For the most part I agree with you although it clearly shows your lack of intelligence that you don’t like Terry Gilliam films. They’re just too smart for you 🙂
There are far more geeky movies that should be on that list. This seems a “I’m mainstream but I want to seem geeky” list. Where are the Godzilla films? Where is the post-apocalyptic Delicatessen?
Ah well, at least I don’t have Undercover Brother in my collection.
In my defense, I just bought Undercover Brother from the $5 bin at WalMart last weekend. It’s not like I was waiting for it with cash in hand on the very day it was released or anything…
As for Gilliam, meh. To each his own. I got nothing against him, I’d just rather watch a Sam Raimi flick.
I have really enjoyed Gilliam’s movies, for the most part. At least the ones I’ve seen. They’re not happy but the visuals are something you just don’t see every day.
Oh, absolutely. As I said, I think he’s a great filmmaker. His stories are just not my cup of earl grey.