Just got Netflix. Name some great old movies.

[Jhamin]

Try "The Sting" with Newman and Redford as a pair of con men. Moden movies have twist endings. This had half a dozen twist endings inside eachother.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

My first 2 netflix rentals:

Triumph of the Will
The Wonderul Horrible Life of Leni Reifenstahl


Some wondeful films Netflix can provide:

Olympia
Tokyo Story - a Japanese film without samurai or Godzilla
M starring Peter Lorre
TMC archives Buster Keaton Collection includes The Cameraman (even my kids liked this one)
Nosferatu
Central Station (Central do Brasil)
House of Cards trilogy (BBC t.v. series)

 

[Wombat]

Couple of other comedies sprung to mind after thinking about Arsenic & Old Lace...

If you end up liking those, definitely do yourself the favour and see two other classic screwball comedies -- It Happened One Night and Bringing Up Baby

Truly great stuff

 

[Lawrence of Arabica]

Have you thought of a Kurasawa-fest? Sanjuro, Yojimbo, The Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, Ran -- great films, all! They may even inspire games in you.

Also The Hidden Fortress -- one of the inspirations for Star Wars IV

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Try "The Sting" with Newman and Redford as a pair of con men. Moden movies have twist endings. This had half a dozen twist endings inside eachother.

That was a good movie. Haven't seen it in a long time.

 

[Vigilance]

Yojimbo: the best Samurai movie ever made. If you want to know my Lucas rips off Kurasawa at his every opportunity, watch this.

Sanjuro: not as good imo as Yojimbo, but it is a sequel so there you go. Still a great movie and a chance to see our ronin hero let his conscience get the best of him again.

Ladyhawk: I just love this movie, it would make a great D&D campaign. The fight scenes between Rutger Hauer and the mooks are hilarious, but well done and the film really evokes a feeling of magic.

From Beijing with Love: If you liked Shaolin Soccer, watch Stephen Chow play the Chinese James Bond and laugh your *** off.

 

[qstor]

Wild bunch is awesome! I'd go with that. If you're a Western fan check out Shane, the Searchers and My Darling Clementine three classic westerns. We wactched all 3 in this western/dectective film class I took in college.

Bad day at Black rock was just released on DVD. It got a fantastic review in the NYT a few weeks ago. Never seen it though but I added it to my list on Netflix.

Mike

 

[Gomez]

Here are some suggestions.

Alexander Nevsky (1938), A propaganda film aimed at stiring up russian patroitism. It is set in the 13th century and has some great battle scenes.

Some Like it Hot (1959), Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis play two out of luck musicians running from the mob. They hid out by joining a all lady band. A great comedy!

Thing from Another World (1951), A superior blend of science-fiction, horror, naturalistic dialogue and flesh-and-blood characterizations.

 

[Krug]

The Apartment - Classic comedy.
Onibaba - Distrurbing tale of sexual horror.
Kwaidan - Classic Japanese horror.
The Samurai Trilogy - The story of Musashi. First movie is probably the strongest though.

 

[Mallus]

Can't go wrong with Preston Sturges...

Sullivan's Travels
The Lady Eve
The Miracle at Morgan's Creek

Or Ben Hetch...

Nothing Sacred
His Girl Friday

Or a film that features Scotch being made out of grain alcohol, Coke, and iodine...

Mr. Roberts

And I'll second Operation Petticoat. If only contemporary high-concept comedies --here's the kicker, pink submarine!-- were this good...