Movie Recommendation Experiment

[lordofdance]

blackmoses said:

I haven't heard of Bride Wore Black, but I will check it out. And yes, I do like Wes. I actually love him. Every film of his I give a ten except for Bottle Rocket, but i still like the movie. Rushmore is one of my favorite films ever, it was used to be in my top 20.
Also, i can't wait to see some of those other films you recommended.

I forgot to recommend Frankenhooker! If you like Basket Case you need to see Frankenhooker. It's by the same director. The film I'm most interested to see if you like is Cave of the Silken Web. It's live action, but it's weird like an anime film, I think. You might think it's stupid, but it's worth a try.

ie, SAI, NOMANSVALLY
Yours are coming, I've just been busy.

[ie]

Thanks. Don't worry, take care of other things first. I just wasn't sure if you forgot about it earlier.

[lordofdance]

OK ie, let's do this (STYLIZED is your highest trait by far, so that does influence my choices):

Firstly, I have to ask if you've seen Donnie Darko, because some of your traits seem to point you toward it. Just curious.

Secondly, have you seen Five Deadly Venoms (1978), Five Fingers of Death (1972), Boxer's Omen (1983), The Bride with White Hair (1993), Shogun Assassin (1980) and/or Iron Monkey (1993)?

Thirdly, I'm going to try something new and see which movies from various directors come closest to your traits (some come closer than others, and some may be pushing it a little):

Amarcord (FELLINI), The Man Who Fell to Earth (NICOLAS ROEG), Band of Outsiders (GODARD),
Wise Blood, Maltese Falcon (JOHN HUSTON), The Departed (SORSESE), Youth of the Beast, Branded to Kill (SEIJUN SUZUKI)

It really seems like Seijun Suzuki is a good director for you, though his technique is a little nuts. He is very STYLIZED. You might also like Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970) and Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972). Gun Crazy (1949) might hold your interest, though I don't know how you feel about Film Noir. Full Contact (1992) seems to be up your alley. Maybe the film Amateur (1994) will be agreeable.

I'm working on finding a movie that comes really close to the Cowby Bebop film. Of course, there are probably reasons unique to that film that you like it which can't be duplicated exactly.

I'll have some more later.

[ie]

I've made note of all of your recommendations. Thanks, I really appreciate your efforts, and hopefully on your end, you've been able to work out a few things on your experiment.

I hate to sneak in behind the scenes, although we do that all the time with documentaries about movies and director commentaries and the like, but I was wondering how you do this. Is it some kind of program you've written?

Anyways, here are my thoughts:


I've seen Donnie Darko. I haven't seen it for a while, so I can't say how I feel about it now, but when I saw it, I thought it was decent enough although I thought it might have been a little overrated. I gave it a 9/10 then, and I might give it an 8/10 now.

I haven't seen any of the first five, but I did see Iron Monkey, once in the theater and then a heavily edited version on VHS. Really liked it, but I haven't seen it quite a number of years, so I can't quite rate it.

Of the movies you recommended based off of director, I have actually seen Branded to Kill, and own Youth of the Beast. Suzuki should be right up my alley, but for some reason, I'm just not really impressed with his output. I'll give Youth of the Beast a try sometime, and rewatch Tokyo Drifter (which I also own) some other time, to see if that will help any.

I haven't seen much film noir, but I'm interested. At this point, all I've really seen is film noir deconstructions / reinterpretations, like the Long Goodbye, the Big Lebowski and Brick.

Samurai movies (and martial arts movies), animated movies, documentaries and what I call "talking movies" all seem to agree well with me, for a couple genre types of the top of my head.

Concerning the "talking movies," those I've grouped together based around the idea where there's not much action, kind of like Coffee and Cigarettes and Taste of Cherry.

I like movies where people just talk about stimulating ideas, although I feel that something must be going on. I don't quite like it when there's just ten minutes of looking at nothing (space ships!); if I want to sit and think by myself, I have plenty of time to do that on the bus.

As far as something of interest, that could be anything from a fight scene to just talking about something. The point of movies, in my opinion, is to not only help you think about something different, but also to learn about something different.

I really like movies where I learn about other cultures. In some cases, it's really hard for an American to showcase how Korean life is like, so that's part of the appeal of foreign movies, to me at least.

Also, animated movies just seem to work really well with me. I'm an artist, so I enjoy seeing drawings, and while there is art captured with a paintbrush in the form of a camera, sometimes I guess it's easier for me to see the art in an animated movie. (Although speaking of that, I've been trying to check out more than just the Japanese sorts of animation.)

What I liked about Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door was that, on the surface, it looked and sounded really good. The visual part is well, you know, it looked nice, but on the audio part: music was used to very high effect, not just to set a mood, but just to compliment a scene. Additionally, there were fight scenes, which is always agreeable, but there was also thought involved. It's not a philosophical movie by any stretch, but it has some things to think about. Those are a couple reasons I like it, and maybe that will help you out.


So, I think I do like stylized movies, but I also like some substance behind them. I like something to learn or think about while watching movies, inspired by the movies themselves.

[lordofdance]

I hate to sneak in behind the scenes, although we do that all the time with documentaries about movies and director commentaries and the like, but I was wondering how you do this. Is it some kind of program you've written?

I've been analyzing various movie recommendation sites and how they come up with recommendations and then attempting to combine various methods into one system. If you're not familiar with Pandora, it's a website that recommends songs based on the traits of songs that you like. I liked that idea and thought I'd try it with films.

When it comes to favorite films, it takes most people many years of movie watching to develop a truly personal list. Most people start out with the standards and then branch out. I figured that looking for patterns in a person's Top 20 would still make it possible to find personal preferences, even if the person has a list full of standard choices (Godfather, Citizen Kane, Pulp Fiction, Titanic, ect.) just because the person will still choose standards with the traits that they favor. I purposely do not look for well known films because I want to assist the person in branching out. I don't have a lot of data well known films, but I would like to see how many people actually favor traits in a film like Citizen Kane based on their Top 20. I don't purposely go by genre if I can avoid it because I'm curious only about traits that could apply to any genre. Of course, particular genres favor certain traits.

Based on your reoccuring traits, I wouldn't recommend Citizen Kane. You gave me 50 movies to sort through and it only reinforced your strong traits from the Top 20.

ATMOSPHERIC, STYLIZED, VISCERAL, QUIRKY, REFLECTIVE, DREAMLIKE & FORCEFUL came up the most, with STYLIZED towering over everything else. REFLECTIVE is your strongest "thoughtful" trait. VISCERAL & FORCEFUL are often in violent films. ATMOSPHERIC, STYLIZED & DREAMLIKE are more visual. QUIRKY indicates that you prefer movies that are "different." Ultimately I'd like to be able to find movies that match each person's traits exactly, but I still need to analyze and catalogue more movies to do that.

It's intersting that even though you share similar traits with others here, everyone is different enough to go in their own directions. Even though criterionmaster has STYLIZED & ATMOSPHERIC, for example, his other traits make him distinct from yours. I want to make it even more precise, and studying your movies did give me some ideas.

[ie]

Thanks for explaining how you do things. Also glad you explained just enough to not take the smoke and mirror effect away.

Why wouldn't you recommend Citizen Kane, though, just wondering? What about it might I not like?


I'll let everyone else have their turn now.

[lordofdance]

ie said:

Why wouldn't you recommend Citizen Kane, though, just wondering? What about it might I not like?

I don't necessarily think you won't like Citizen Kane, I just wouldn't recommend it based on the traits you seem to prefer. People are capable of liking all kinds of movies, of course, but everybody has preferences. In your case, Citizen Kane has these traits - Literate, Sweeping, Atmospheric, Enigmatic, Ironic, Poignant, Melancholy while your strongest trais are ATMOSPHERIC, STYLIZED, VISCERAL, QUIRKY, REFLECTIVE, DREAMLIKE & FORCEFUL. Only one trait matches. I look for at least 2 or 3. That isn't the only criteria I use, but it's a major one.
I am working on personalizing recoomendations even more based on other factors. This is just the test stage, afterall.

SAI
These are your strongest traits:
Humorous, Disturbing, Menacing, Poignant, Talky, Tense, Visceral
You're one of the rare people who doesn't have Stylized or Atmospheric. Does the visual style of a film matter much to you?

NOMANSVALLY
Here are yours:
Atmospheric, Deliberate, Disturbing, Downbeat, Enigmatic, Lyrical Reflective, Somber, Stylized, Wry

I'm working on both of yours and should be done tonight.

[sai]

LOD, don't get me wrong, visuals matter... it's a film for god sake, but for me they usualy take second place. The big qualifier for me is acting. If a film's badly acted it could be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, it's still likely to suck.
I'd suggest that my directorial selections lean more towards stylisation. There are different criteria for choosing favourite Directors for me, a nd they clearly are more visually led (certainly in the case of Kim Ki-duk and Park Chan-wook) or about the ability to turn one's talents to a wide variety of subjects and put a personal mark on each (Francois Ozon).

Does that rather longwinded screed answer the question?

And by the way, thanks for taking the time on these, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for me.

[lordofdance]

SAI
You're a combination of happy and dark, it seems. I'm using a slightly different approach with your recommendations that I've developed after working on the people before you. Let's see what happens (there are quite a few):

Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Muriel's Wedding (1994), Funny Games (1997), One False Move (1991), Bagdad Café (1987), Wait Until Dark (1967), Kitchen Stories (2003), You Can Count On Me (2000), Brief Encounter (1946), Buffalo ’66 (1998), Raising Victor Vargas (2002), Sexy Beast (2000), Kontrol (2004), Barfly (1987), Claire’s Knee (1970), The Grass is Greener (1961), Yi Yi (2000), Secrets & Lies (1996), Dogfight (1991), Three Times (2005), Caché (2005), Tell Me Something (2000), Living Out Loud (1998), African Queen (1951), Melvin and Howard (1980)

These are all over the place, but they all possess traits that you seem to prefer.

[sai]

Interesting list. Of the ones I've seen it's largely interesting...

Muriel's Wedding (1994) Long time ago... Probably 3/5
Funny Games (1997) 4/5
Wait Until Dark (1967) 4/5 (I LOVE Audrey Hepburn and she's great here)
You Can Count On Me (2000) Been a while and needs a rewatch, but probably 4/5
Brief Encounter (1946) 4/5
Buffalo ’66 (1998) 4/5
Raising Victor Vargas (2002) Bored me shitless 2/5
Secrets & Lies (1996) Overrated, but nicely played 3/5
Caché (2005) Dread machine 5/5
African Queen (1951) 4/5

Of the rest... I own these but haven't got to them yet
One False Move (1991)
Bagdad Café (1987)
Yi Yi (2000)
Tell Me Something (2000)
Living Out Loud (1998)

I've been meaning to see these
Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Barfly (1987)
Claire’s Knee (1970)
Dogfight (1991)
Three Times (2005)

That leaves a few I've not really heard of, and Sexy Beast, which I've conciously avoided, having hated most of the British gangster films of the 90's. I'm off dvd shopping tomorrow... watch this space.

[lordofdance]

That leaves a few I've not really heard of, and Sexy Beast, which I've conciously avoided, having hated most of the British gangster films of the 90's.

Well, I didn't like it all that much, but everyone's different. It's an odd movie, and not very typical of most gangster films, I would say.

[Nomansvally]

lordofdance said:

ie said:

NOMANSVALLY
Here are yours:
Atmospheric, Deliberate, Disturbing, Downbeat, Enigmatic, Lyrical Reflective, Somber, Stylized, Wry

Man, when I reflected these words they made sense to me. I actually really love atmospheric films with enigmatic and lyrical scent that got striking visuals like Bleu (a sombre and deliberate film too), La Double Vie De Veronique, Belle de jour, Il deserto Rosso, Mouchette, 3 Women among others. Yeah, right on!

On the other hand I like that films has a disturbing, wry and downbeat quality or content but only to a certain degree. I have contempt for explotationfilms and horror-gore-shock-killing and raping films. I hate 'em. But deliberate disturbing, wry and downbeat is put together very well by Buñuel, Haneke, Jarmusch and early Hitchcock and Polanski. Those I praise very much! So again, you made me realize what I really like in films. Thanks for doing this, I think of it as very interesting.

There's something very beautiful about the melancholy and sad, can't put words on it why, but my emotions just stir when I watch films with tears, personal downfalls and failures for the characters.

Have you any films to specifically recommend me? I would really appreciate it.

[lordofdance]

Have you any films to specifically recommend me? I would really appreciate it.

You can give these a shot:

Eternity and a Day (1998), The Last Wave (1977), Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Vagabond (1985), Two English Girls (1971), The Silence (1998), Daughters of the Dust (1992), The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), Days of Heaven (1978), Monsieur Hire (1989), Ashes and Diamonds (1958), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Maborosi (1995), The Claim (2000), The Pillow Book (1996), Rebecca (1940), Images (1972), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), The Night Porter (1974)

[Nomansvally]

Thank you very much!

From the list I've seen:

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) - My #2 fav Altman and really love everything about it.
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) - Yeah, only seen it once and was on my sometime list last year.

I'll definitely copy these titles and search for them, thanks again lordofdance. Have you tried recommending yourself some films, used the program on you?

[sacrilegend]

And me, lordofdance, please?

[sai]

Let me second LOD's rrecommendation of The Claim. One of Michael Winterbottom's best films.

[lordofdance]

sacrilegend said:

And me, lordofdance, please?

These are the ones I already recommended:

The Reflecting Skin (1991), Paperhouse (1989), The Ruling Class (1972), Sweetie (1989), 3 Women (1977), Juliet of Spirits (1965), City of Lost Children (1995), Science of Sleep (2006), Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), Drowning By Numbers (1988)

Have you seen any of them? Let me know what you think.

Here's some more:

Alice (1988), Possession (1981), Mysterious Skin (2004), Spider (2002), Little Otik (2000), Maelstrom (2000), Bye Bye Monkey (1978), Seven Beauties (1976)

Have you seen Suspiria (1977)? I don't know your feelings about blood and gore, but it seems like your kind of film.

Have you tried recommending yourself some films, used the program on you?

Yes, I have tried to use it on myself. It works pretty good, but it is easier because I'm very familiar with what I like. When I use it on others I don't know as much about them. It's mostly guided guesswork.

[lordofdance]

It looks like your strongest traits are:

QUIRKY, ATMOSPHERIC, BITTERSWEET, MEDITATIVE, REFLECTIVE, STYLIZED & SOMBER

This should be interesting. I'll get to work on it.

[misterbalco]

Yes, do me:

1. Raging Bull
2. Offret (the Sacrifice)
3. Cries and Whispers
4. La Dolce Vita
5. Werckmeister Harmonies
6. Rosetta
7. A Woman Under The Influence
8. Andrei Rublev
9. Hannah And Her Sisters
10. Days Of Heaven
11. Spirit Of The Beehive
12. Såsom i en spegel [Through A Glass Darkly]
13. George Washington
14. Goodfellas
15. Stroszek
16. Le Fils (The Son)
17. Hoop Dreams
18. Easy Rider
19. My Night At Maud's
20. Little Miss Sunshine (for now)

3 Directors:
1. Ingmar Bergman
2. Andrei Tarkovsky
3. Martin Scorcese

[sacrilegend]

lordofdance said:

These are the ones I already recommended:

The Reflecting Skin (1991), Paperhouse (1989), The Ruling Class (1972), Sweetie (1989), 3 Women (1977), Juliet of Spirits (1965), City of Lost Children (1995), Science of Sleep (2006), Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), Drowning By Numbers (1988)

Have you seen any of them? Let me know what you think.
Here's some more:

Alice (1988), Possession (1981), Mysterious Skin (2004), Spider (2002), Little Otik (2000), Maelstrom (2000), Bye Bye Monkey (1978), Seven Beauties (1976)

Have you seen Suspiria (1977)? I don't know your feelings about blood and gore, but it seems like your kind of film.

Haven't seen one of them... but I'll try, now, and let you know. Thanks very much!

Blood and gore? Icky. Usually, I try to stay away, but I guess everyone becomes conditioned, and when it's in aid of a good story I don't mind it so much.

[sacrilegend]

ie said:

Concerning the "talking movies," those I've grouped together based around the idea where there's not much action, kind of like Coffee and Cigarettes and Taste of Cherry.

I like movies where people just talk about stimulating ideas, although I feel that something must be going on.

The reason I love Coffee and Cigarettes so much is because it suits me perfectly. All talk and not so much action.

[lordofdance]

MISTERBALCO
You have DELIBERATE, MEDITATIVE, SOMBER, ATMOSPHERIC, REFLECTIVE, UNDERSTATED, CLAUSTROPHOBIC, DOWNBEAT & LYRICAL

You'll have yours soon. You, too, ANDRUINI.

Haven't seen one of them... but I'll try, now, and let you know. Thanks very much!

Yeah, no problem. I appreciate any participation. Many of the films I chose for you are dark/fantastical. I'm curious about your reactions to them.

[criterionmaster]

sacrilegend said:

lordofdance said:

Have you seen Suspiria (1977)? I don't know your feelings about blood and gore, but it seems like your kind of film.

Blood and gore? Icky. Usually, I try to stay away, but I guess everyone becomes conditioned, and when it's in aid of a good story I don't mind it so much.

Just want to say you may want to check out Suspiria because the gore isn't much, and it is very operatic and beautiful. It is bright red, and shown in amazing, unique ways. The use of color in that film is one of the most beautiful I have seen. Not to mention the score, which is one of the most haunting scores I have heard. (It came in my DVD set ) So you may want to see it sometime, just because it is different than what you might expect, and you may actually find beauty in it.

[lordofdance]

ANDRUINI

Happy Accidents (2000), Day for Night (1973), The Adjuster (1991), Henry Fool (1997), The Station Agent (2003), When Father Was Away on Business (1985), Resurrection (1980), After Life (1998), The World According to Garp (1982), Atlantic City (1980), Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), Forbidden Games (1952), Cabaret (1972), Wild Strawberries (1957), Heart of Glass (1976)

I recommended this to SAI as well, but The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) looks like a good choice for you. Another one I previously recommended that you might like is My Life As a Dog (1985).

Yours was pretty hard. I think After Life is your best bet, but maybe you'll like the others. I'll look harder for some more, because I haven't really found too many movies that match up tour traits as closely as I wanted.

[lordofdance]

andruini said:

i've seen the station agent. sorta liked it, though not that much. also seen purple rose of cairo which i adore. seen almost every allen film (he's my fav) so don't worry about him. i'll look for the rest.

thanks.

Hey, I forgot about the Saragossa Manuscript. You should check that out, perhaps.

[lordofdance]

MISTERBALCO

Story of Adele H. (1975), Mouchette (1967), Nobody Knows (2004), Japanese Story (2003), Life of Oharu (1952), Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), The Taste of Cherry (1997), Pickpocket (1959), Black Rain (1989), Umberto D (1952), Five Easy Pieces (1970), L'Humanité (1999), My Dinner With Andre (1981), King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

How do you feel about Robert Bresson? Have you seen any of his films?

[lordofdance]

THE CLARK NOVA/SAM PECKINPAH MATCHUP

According to your Top 20 traits, these are the Sam Peckinpah films that are most likely to appeal to you (from most to least):

(Very Likely)
The Wild Bunch
The Getaway
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

(Maybe)
Ride the High Country
Straw Dogs
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

(Very Unlikely)
Junior Bonner
Ballad of Cable Hogue

[lordofdance]

THE MISTERBALCO/PETER GREENAWAY MATCHUP

According to your Top 20 traits, these are the Peter Greenaway films that are most likely to appeal to you (from most to least):

(Likely)
The Pillow Book

(Maybe, though probably not))
Prospero's Books
Belly of An Architect
The Draughtsman's Contract

(Very Unlikely)
Drowning by Numbers
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
A Zed & Two Naughts

You don't appear to have an affinity with this director.

[lordofdance]

andruini said:

are those randomly chosen?

Yeah, I was just curious to see how a random director would match up. It passes the time.

THE ANDRUINI/KEN RUSSELL MATCHUP

(Maybe)
Mahler
Gothic
Women in Love
Tommy

(Not Likely)
Lair of the White Worm
The Devils
Altered States
Crimes of Passion

[ie]

A few quick things:

• I have The Departed just waiting for an opening in my movie-watching. Might get to in next week.
  
• Maltese Falcon is coming up soon.
  
• I may need to rewatch Donnie Darko at some point. Not only did I pay a few dollars more for it than I could have, but it's just one of those movies where if I'm going to say I like it, I need to mean it. Too many indie kids like it.
  
• I'm not really that interested in Fellini. 8 1/2 didn't really do its magic on me and I was left underwhelmed.
  
• I did put a hold on Band of Outsiders, though, and now that I have some room for borrowable DVDs at the library, I'll try to throw on a couple more of your recommendations.
  
• Thanks again.
  
• It's about that time for another Suzuki movie, so I'll probably try to squeeze Youth of the Beast in as well.
  

Also, I was wondering if you could generate a couple more movies (five to ten) that are more common movies. I just want to see if there are a couple movies that may have slipped out of my Top 50 that seem like they could/should be in there.

(Maybe also looking at my IMDB ratings might help as well.)