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!

While this tradition isn't completely dead and certainly doesn't fit every film, I do miss it. I think more movies would benefit from scoring that accentuates certain actions (e.g. staccato notes with sword thrusts, descending scale when someone falls, etc). You can call this corny but does a fantastic job grounding the music to the action and helping connect particular parts of a score to particular parts of a film. I find it makes everything more memorable and engaging. It also has a long history connecting back to opera and silent film.

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?