Good Movies that are Depressing | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Good Movies that are Depressing

John said:
It's not as depressing as some of the ones mentioned so far, but I just watched Nebraska. Very good movie (filmed in B&W) about an alcoholic older guy and his son. Lots of very good performances, and a sobering view of the Midwest.
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Nebraska is a very good movie, as as is most everything directed by Alexander Payne. We saw this film a couple of years ago. My wife loved it and still talks about it on occasion, to the point where I am taking the hint and getting the DVD for her this Christmas. Bruce Dern in his ornery mindset in this film reminds her of her father, who is still very much alive and kicking.
 
I remember being in a hotel on a business trip, watching Shawshank Redemption on demand, and almost turning it off about 3 times because it was so depressing. I will admit that I was not expecting that ending.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I remember being in a hotel on a business trip, watching Shawshank Redemption on demand, and almost turning it off about 3 times because it was so depressing. I will admit that I was not expecting that ending.
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Shawshank goes on list of movies with all time great endings.
 
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G0UCONN said:
Shawshank goes on list of movies with all time great endings.
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Only entertainment, I know, but whenever I watch it I always have the thought there's no way they'll live happily ever after in Mexico. The FBI would never stop searching for an escaped convicted murderer and it would only be a matter of time before he was expedited back to prison.
 
8893 said:
On the list of all time great movies, period. Definitely in my top five.
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It varies from time to time but:

Godfather
Casablanca
12 Angry Men
Shawshank
A Few Good Men
 
CL82 said:
It varies from time to time but:

Godfather
Casablanca
12 Angry Men
Shawshank
A Few Good Men
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Great list.

I may lean Godfather 2 over 1 (for its Deniro backstory) but both are all time greats.

I also may include Raiders of Lost Ark slightly over Shawshank or Few Good Men but our top 5 pretty much matchup.
 
Never Let Me Go. Not really a silver lining or ray of hope on that one. Fairly haunting. Most movies I forget about within a day or a couple hours. That one stuck with me for a good week or so.
 
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CL82 said:
It varies from time to time but:

Godfather
Casablanca
12 Angry Men
Shawshank
A Few Good Men
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My favorite movie has changed from time to time. As a teenager, it was The Graduate. As a college student, Casablanca took over. For the last ten years or so it has been The Maltese Falcon. As for composing of top 5 or even a top 10 list, it would just be too difficult for me as there are so many films that I enjoy, other to say that my top one and two would still be The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.
 
G0UCONN said:
Great list.

I may lean Godfather 2 over 1 (for its Deniro backstory) but both are all time greats.

I also may include Raiders of Lost Ark slightly over Shawshank or Few Good Men but our top 5 pretty much matchup.
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My perfect version of the Godfather would include the Deniro back story up through the end of the first film. I wasn't a fan of the rest of the 2 story, with the exception of the Fredo, "you're dead to me" lines.

Raiders is well made movie. It keeps a terrific pace and genuinely very funny.

@dbmill - The Maltese Falcon is a very good movie as well. As is Key Largo.
 
CL82 said:
My perfect version of the Godfather would include the Deniro back story up through the end of the first film. I wasn't a fan of the rest of the 2 story, with the exception of the Fredo, "you're dead to me" lines.

Raiders is well made movie. It keeps a terrific pace and genuinely very funny.

@dbmill - The Maltese Falcon is a very good movie as well. As is Key Largo.
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Right on about Raiders. It's just a load of fun.

Bogart made several excellent films, and Key Largo is one of them. Speaking of Key Largo, it is one of the films that turned my wife into a big Edward G. Robinson fan.

The first two Godfather films are among my wife's favorites. While not among my absolute favorites, both are certainly very watchable for me.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Never Let Me Go. Not really a silver lining or ray of hope on that one. Fairly haunting. Most movies I forget about within a day or a couple hours. That one stuck with me for a good week or so.
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Ooh yea, good call, totally agree.

Another few that just came to mind: Atonement, Brokeback Mountain, The Green Mile, and Road to Perdition.

Edit for more: Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (Charlie Kaufman is from West Hartford, my home town.)
 
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In The Bedroom - also belongs on underrated list
Crimes and Misdemeanors - similar theme a lot more talky

Speaking of rapists, I agree with citing of the Ice Storm and its always burned me that the more commercial suburbs malaise treatise American Beauty got much more love. Maybe now that Spacey's unlikability is unavoidable, Ice Storm moves ahead.
 
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Mano said:
Ooh yea, good call, totally agree.

Another few that just came to mind: Atonement, Brokeback Mountain, The Green Mile, and Road to Perdition.

Edit for more: Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (Charlie Kaufman is from West Hartford, my home town.)
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Talk about quality mind bending movies, and you are bound to get around to Charlie Kaufman. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation are both excellent and surreal experiences. He also wrote the screenplay for Being John Malkovich, which is also a quality film and another rather wacked out experience.

Of course, Adaptation is the film adaptation of Susan Orleans book “The Orchid Thief”, thought by some to be an unfilmable book until Kaufman (and director Spike Jonze) got their hands on it. Kaufman literally puts a version of himself (and a nonexistent identical twin brother) into the movie, showing a version of himself going through the anguish of trying to write a screenplay about this unfilmable book. And in the process, he actually and oddly gives you a good idea of what the book is about. I find it to be a wildly brilliant exercise that will leave you thinking about it for some time to come.
 
dbmill said:
Talk about quality mind bending movies, and you are bound to get around to Charlie Kaufman. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation are both excellent and surreal experiences. He also wrote the screenplay for Being John Malkovich, which is also a quality film and another rather wacked out experience.

Of course, Adaptation is the film adaptation of Susan Orleans book “The Orchid Thief”, thought by some to be an unfilmable book until Kaufman (and director Spike Jonze) got their hands on it. Kaufman literally puts a version of himself (and a nonexistent identical twin brother) into the movie, showing a version of himself going through the anguish of trying to write a screenplay about this unfilmable book. And in the process, he actually and oddly gives you a good idea of what the book is about. I find it to be a wildly brilliant exercise that will leave you thinking about it for some time to come.
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Agree, Adaptation seriously underrated and sneaky funny too. The rental car door open 'bong.. bong' killed me
 
One of the most depressing best movies for me:

Sleepers

Also:

Stand by Me
American History X
Closer
Remains of the day
 
i know what Sophie's Choice is about, and I won't watch it. I have heard The Road with Viggo Mortensen is grim too. Won't watch that either.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
i know what Sophie's Choice is about, and I won't watch it. I have heard The Road with Viggo Mortensen is grim too. Won't watch that either.
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The Road is quite good and worth watching, it's sad, sure, but still has something uplifting about it. The book is way better though.

Edit: lol totally forgot I mentioned The Road in my first post ITT.
 
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Thought of a couple others. "The Secret Life of Words" w/ Tim Robbins and Sarah Polley and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" w/ Elizabeth Olsen.
 
Oslo, 31 august. If you haven't seen it, it is about a recovery drug addict who sneaks out of his out-patient treatment in Oslo. Fantastic film.
 
I mentioned A Perfect Day in the recently watched thread. It's about getting a corpse out of a well in Bosnia, but done in a black comedy style that's a veneer to make the proceedings palatable to watch.

But it's another movie about Bosnia that is perhaps more riveting and more depressing: Welcome to Sarajevo, which bombed in the US despite making several top 10 lists the year it was released.
 
The Parallax View

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Obviously not for most of the movie, but One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest gets pretty depressing at the end, and the undertones of the movie throughout are grim.
 
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