Convince me...

There are some movies that just do it for me. I watch them, I like them, I talk about them with my friends, I feel somehow enhanced by having seen them. Then there are the other ones...I'm always extra gratified by the ones that I wasn't sure about that someone eventually talked me into watching. Not that I'm super picky about what I will watch, actually I'm quite easy. But there are some films that, for whatever reason, I just kind of chose to ignore. Movies that I saw on the shelf or in the bins and thought not for me; was then persuaded to watch only to be thrilled by someone else's discovery. It's all about finding that thing you didn't even know you needed. Here's a few and in no particular order that I might not have given a second look unless some wonderful person hadn't said "really, you haven't seen this? Well, you should."

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - Tommy Lee Jones doing his finest work in my humble opinion. Thank you to Eric for making me see this the first time
and following on that No Country for Old Men

The Red Violin

The Ghost and Mrs. Minniver - wow, Greer Garson! Thanks Mom

Howl's Moving Castle - Thank you Ticia

My Friend Totoro - with subtitles - my brother - this was the beginning of my quest for Japanese Anime

Bruce Lee Movies - Not recommended by Mrs. K (only using her initial only as I value my life) but she gave me the idea. How many homes in Piedmont, California do you think you might see with a huge Bruce Lee Poster glued to the front door of their Victorian house? Well, only one (and last time I drove by the poster seemed to be gone) and this was accented by the nunchucks hanging in the front windows and I heard from reliable sources that she drove with a machete in her glove box and could be heard yelling "I cut off the head". I. Kid. You. Not. Okay, more of a cautionary tale but when I went to her house the first time and saw for myself, I knew I had to see Enter the Dragon and find out what the fixation was. My love for martial arts and Hong Kong cinema was born. I have since found that my favorite Martial Arts movies are the more humorous ones and these take me to the Jackie Chan flicks. But were there no Bruce Lee, perhaps no Jackie Chan or Jet Li. So, Thank you Mrs. K

Pan's Labyrinth - Thank you Ticia and Corrie

Eraserhead

Tommy - Recommended by Sheryl Daughters when we were in 4th or 5th grade - although I didn't see it until about 1990 or so. Her description was dead on even after all those years I still remember vividly her relating the bit about the beans. Ergghhhh!

Heavy Metal Bhagdad - thanks to Eric...probably the documentary which I have most advocated for. The young men in this movie are inspiring and scary and sad and sweet as they leave everything and everyone in pursuit of their musical dreams and the lure of freedom. Eric and I cried when we saw this the first time.

Jackie Chan Movies - by way of Bruce Lee and I guess another thank you to Mrs. K

Rutger Hauer Movies - first one I saw was LadyHawke...and I still love it. The rest of his movies, I don't know why...I just like them...another thank you to Eric

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - never thought I'd like the movie after the book and then the PBS show but I did

This is Spinal Tap - I cannot remember who told me about it but whomever it was, I love you man!
Best in Show and pretty much all the rest of the Richard Guest movies - can he pick a cast or what?

Brazil - love that Robert Di Niro plays a revolutionary HVAC guy and of course there is the Schiaparelli hat.
Adventures of Baron Munchausen - Hilary

Evil Dead II and Tank Girl - thank you old Bookpeople Comrade

Bubba Ho Tep - Amy Willis

Dead Snow - never would have seen this one and definitely not in the theater, thanks Ticia and more on this movie when I get to #4 favorite Zombie movie in a future post

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Harvey, Arsenic and Old Lace, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, To Sir with Love and all Peter Sellers movies - courtesy of Mom - god I love watching movies with her - she's one of those kind of people who will try just about any movie if it seems as though it's got a good plot

and there are so many more, but this is just a taste. I look at my list lovingly and am glad that I listened to my friends and family and watched each and every one of them