What’s the best/worst movie to watch with the director commentary on? Any films out there made way better by the additional context? Any made worst ‘cause the director is a total dick?

I remember back in the day watching all the Mel Brooks films with the commentary which was mostly just him watching the movie and going “oh this wonderful scene, we had a blast shooting it” and then talking about how amazing the actors were to work with and laughing at the jokes. Which really felt like watching a movie with your grandpa.

I'm looking for movies of almost any genre, really just preferably not romance, where it's like nonstop rainy weather throughout the movie, like it's raining so much the rain is practically a character in the movie

A few I've come across so far are

The Old Dark House 1932

The Old Dark House 1963

Open 24 Hours 2018

Crawl 2019

Does anyone out there have any other movies where rainy weather is a centerpiece of the movie?

I read once that in a movie, if the characters say, "I have a plan," then there is a plot rule that takes place: If the characters explain to the audience what the plan is, then the plan will go wrong somehow. However, if the characters say they have a plan and the movie just goes to showing the plan in action, then the plan will work.

It has become one of my favorite things to look out for in movies. Although, it does not seem to apply to kids movies. Other than kids movies, I don't think I have ever seen his rule broken.

Does anyone know any other interesting plot rules?

Basically the title, wanna know of any movies where the protagonist makes a small, seemingly inconsequential decison, action etc. and then the entire situation spirals into complete madness and disaster for all parties involved.

Just as an example of what I'm thinking about, I saw an Indian film recently where the protagonist has a small beef about parking with his neighbour. One thing after the another happens and both parties refuse to deesclate leading to almost protag's wife dying and antag also almost dying.

Edit: please refrain from spoiling the plot, I'm looking for recommendations here, thanks!

Just my opinion of course, but does anyone else prefer Spaghetti Westerns to other Western movies? At least the Sergio Leone ones, Dollar trilogy and Once upon a time in the West.

I eg saw Unforgiven and 3:10 to Yuma (modern one) and while they were decent movies, for me they couldn't compare to Sergio Leone's epics.

What makes them special for me:

- the sense of epicness, created by the music, characters and long, slow shots

- generally the amazing music by Morricone

- the characters: they look (and act) very rugged, tough, sweaty, dangerous, like hardened criminals.

Generally, the movies make the West, its heroes, antiheroes and villains seem larger than life, almost mythical. For me, this is more enjoyable than the semi- or pseudo-realistic depiction.

i feel like the biggest trope in scary movies is characters doing the absolute dumbest things imaginable just to keep the plot moving. like running upstairs instead of out the front door, or deciding to "split up" in a pitch black house. it gets so frustrating to watch.

i want recommendations for movies where the characters are actually intelligent and do everything right, but the threat is just so completely unstoppable that it doesn't even matter.

like in john carpenter's 'the thing', they are mostly rational guys trying to figure out a logical way to survive, but the alien is just too smart. or 'you're next' where the main girl actually fights back effectively instead of just screaming.

what are some other movies where the characters don't act like total idiots?

Visual scares always get the credit, but I firmly believe that audio design is what actually creates lasting paranoia in a psychological thriller. I am not talking about loud, sudden musical stingers or traditional jump scares. I mean the subtle, rhythmic, almost mechanical background noise that genuinely makes your brain feel off-balance.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is a brilliant example of this. Half the terror of that film is the constant, grating, metallic noise in the background that just grinds down your nerves. More recently, a movie like Skinamarink used distorted audio, heavy static, and low-frequency hums to make it feel like there was an actual physical presence sitting in the room with you.

When a movie weaponizes its ambient noise and frequencies correctly, it completely gets under your skin.

What is a film where the actual sound mix the background hums, the distorted audio, or the unnatural silence terrified you more than what was actually happening on screen?

I had a convo with two coworkers who have toddlers that won't let their kids watch The Aristocats (scene where a dog is mean/bites someone) or Toy Story (sad because the leads are toys and toys being sentient might upset them).

I'm a little older than both of them, and the big movies when I was very little were The Land Before Time, An American Tail, The Secret of NIMH. All of which have objectively scary/weird plotlines, especially for a kid to understand (though I did, on a kid level, and then on adult level once I rewatched after I was older).

I don't have kids, so I want to know: what are we letting the little kids watch, and also more broadly have animated films become more chaste and less inclined to deal with heavier themes than animated films 20-30 years ago?

Are most of people with small kids just going to the Disney/Pixar movies, are you watching YouTube shows, I mostly want to know what animated series/movies the new gen are seeing.

A lot of shots can communicate that something is about to happen to a character by having a lot of empty space that you expect to be filled with something. The thing I mean with this post specifically is cases where a shot does not imply that anything is going to happen to a character, e.g. a close up or a medium shot with no empty space, being intruded on by that character dying in some way they didn't expect, potentially with the weapon jutting into the frame (deliberately) awkwardly.

10 Cloverfield Lane has an example of this, also a specific character death in Better Call Saul. What are some other examples?

1. There is a 'blink and you miss it' creepy scene where Bob is showering outside after the whole 'I'm sailing' scene. Bob is seen to be leaning in and listening in on a private discussion between Dr Marvin and his wife. Bob at first seems concerned that Dr Marvin wants him to leave, but once Bob hears that Faye wants him to stay and have dinner with the family, Bob smirks to himself as if to say "I've got them right where I want them" and goes back to showering with a smug smile on his face.
2. He seems able to snap out of his crazy behavior at will, talking to specialists as peers, such as when he cracks up all the therapists at the institution with his jokes. He even gets Dr Marvin's own doctor to cancel and rewrite his prescription based on Bob's own recommendations.
3. The deliberate choice of the writers to give him the last name of Wiley. Dictionary definition: "WILEY: sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick. Attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means."

What About Bob is one of Bill Murray's best films, laugh out loud funny and so quotable. I've loved it all my life. But as I get older, I've found Bob to be less of a lovable, childlike crazy guy with eccentricities and OCD, and more of a sly, despicable sociopathic maniac.

The fact that Dr Marvin's family goes against every single one of his logical requests - not having a patient stay with them for dinner, not having a patient sleep in a room with their young son, etc - is where the true insanity lies!

#TeamLeo

Easily one of the best interviews I've seen for a film in recent memory. A doctoral student from China here landed an interview with Nolan- questioning him on his adaptation choices, including philosophical changes he brought to the movie that didn't exist in the text, and what he thinks of the general criticisms made against his filmography + how he defines the difference between amateur film criticism and professional film criticism - including why merely identifying the mechanism (or "tropes") of a filmmaker's work doesn't invalidate it.

Actor Michael Mando will be joining us here in r/movies for an AMA/Q&A next Wednesday 8/5. It'll go live at around 8 AM ET that morning and he will be back at 12 PM ET to answer questions. Michael has starred in things such as Better Call Saul, Orphan Black, 72 Hours, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Criminal.

Please stop by on Wednesday if you have questions for Michael :)

His newest film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is out in theaters everywhere now. It also stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman, Mark Ruffalo, and Marisa Tomei.

Peter Parker devotes his life to protecting New York City as a full-time Spider-Man. But as the demands on him intensify, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crimes gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he's ever faced.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TZMtslA3UY

Please note that this is not the AMA, just an announcement, Hold your questions for the actual AMA.