Mine would be Annihilation while very stoned.
Tarsem Singhs “The Fall”
It is still to this day the most powerful piece of art I’ve seen. I wish I could recreate that experience. I still remember thinking, at about a quarter of the movie through, that this was the best movie I’ve ever seen, and it got better and better. The theater was packed, everyone there was completely drawn into the movie and you could feel the room sharing emotions, it was powerful enough, here almost 20 years later, I can still feel that connection.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I’ve seen it too many times now for me to know if it’s really as good as I find it, but I think I’d really like it all over again if I could forget it.
I came to say this. We watch it most times it’s on. So good! But also so emotionally exhausting!
Clue, it is awesome knowing what’s coming but it’s so fucking wild the first time.
If you need to be stoned, then that, Interstellar, Solaris (2002), Sunshine or Sphere.
Primer
Cube
The matrix
Hackers
To kill a mockingbird
So many…
I haven’t seen hackers. How is it?
Great!
The early over the top hacker aesthetic, the ridiculous adversarial hacker battle, the complete misunderstanding of what hacking actually involved (the world has changed). It is all awesome.
Some of the stuff they got right is also cool, the social engineering is still a thing.
Also because of my age when it came out (1995)…I would have seen it in 96/97, I was in my late teens.
Do people actually enjoy Primer?
Yes.
It is a really cool take on time travel, really mind bending on the first watch. Once you have seen it a few times and understand the way things work, it kind of loses some of the entertainment value.
I think the issue for me is twofold: a) I couldn’t connect with the characters-they felt like Asimov plot devices for carrying the story forward and b) too much emphasis on the time traveling paradox riddle. What I mean by the latter was that watching the movie felt more like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube but through charts and diagrams. I get that some people enjoy that kind of stuff but I prefer having a solid story line. But I watched it a long time ago, maybe I need to rewatch it with fresh eyes.
I won’t be very original, but first thing that came to my mind is Fight Club.
But actually, it is best to watch the second time, once you know what is happening, but I want to experience this plot twist one more time. If someone didn’t watch it already, please so not spoiler it to yourself.
Your Name
Probably Contact. I cried at the line:
spoiler
“They should have sent a poet.”
I’m rewatching cosmos rn, and am gonna watch contact again when I’m finished. Such a good movie.
Vanilla Sky. That movie is a bizarre trip even when you do know what’s going on. But when you don’t, it’s a positively surreal experience.
Trainspotting
Interstellar
The Matrix
Saw it in the theatre knowing nothing about it other than that the poster looked fun.
Was not expecting a philosophical mind fuck.
Same, the “what is the Matrix” marketing was so mysterious and effective.
Just rewatched the matrix a few days ago. I swear I forget all the main details until I watch it every 6 years or so haha. It’s good, some effects are really showing their age now though.
In terms of being able to enjoy that massive reveal behind the whole plot, The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects.
In terms of being able to just enjoy the whole storyline without any prior knowledge, The Godfather (parts 1 and 2) or Se7en.
Harry Potter. All of them. I’m currently reading the books, and I know that when I’m done I’m going to be so disappointed that there’s nothing left to experience the first time.
If you haven’t listened to Jim Dale’s audiobook version, it’s a great way to have a third way of revisiting that story!
Saving Private Ryan or The Shawshank Redemption.
Both outstanding movies and heavy hitters as far as the visuals and storyline go. Getting to experience the landing in France, the terror of the knife fight, the satisfaction as the warden and Hadley got their comeuppance… yeah, that would be fantastic to experience again.
