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Welcome Wednesday: What are your favorite movies?

Dave LIAO

Bonjour, Atlassian Community[1]! 🥐

It's time for yet another Welcome Wednesday, a chance for you to participate on these forums about topics that aren't necessarily Atlassian-focused. 🙃 (Curious on what you missed? See past Welcome Wednesdays here.)

On the forums, we have been asked about our favorite childhood series/movies, what you can watch over and over again, and your favorite lovey-dovey movies.

But for this week’s prompt[2], I ask: Comment with your favorite movies AND why I should watch them!

📣 Looking forward to your responses! Responses aren’t limited to your childhood, and certain movies just aren’t made for repeat viewings - either they’re too intense, or too freakin’ long. 😂

☕️ Why this prompt? During a coffee break in Team ’26 in Anaheim, a bunch of us discussed films we loved and films we should watch. I ended up with quite a few recommendations that I’m digesting now… 🫠

[1] I’m feeling French, and I’m already two espressos in.
[2] Not THAT kind of prompt. I know you’re humans, not bots. Right?

Comments

Shawn Stevens

Momento - Interesting on how the movie is constructed and it was an early Christopher Nolan film. Well shoot apparently I like several of Christopher Nolan's movies (Interstellar and Inception).
Shawshank Redemption - Love the story plus that was filmed close to where I live.
Serenity - Brown Coat? and it has Nathan Fillon, Sad that the series only made it 1 year.

David Cowley

I used to watch a lot of movies, less so these days, but some favourites from the past:

The Fifth Element - I like the scale, story and love the clever editing.
The Game - w/ Michael Douglas, I really enjoy a good thriller, and this delivered for me

I'm sure I could come up with more, but those are the two that are standing out for me without spending a lot of time thinking about it.

Shawn Stevens

The Game was highly underrated as a movie. That was a good one, and like you I could probably come up with 20 movies.

Matt Doar_fellaq

British ones. Because they are more original than Hollywood ones. Subtitles may not be optional however

Steve Ashton

I love a good war movie (We were soldiers, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon etc) but I digressed a few weeks ago and watched 'The Roses' after seeing a catchy scene on socials. I loved it! It told some familiar stories for many couples and finished well!

Rilwan Ahmed

These are my favorites. Old but good to watch.

The Pursuit of Happyness
Baby's Day Out

Huwen Arnone [Deiser/Devoteam]

My top 3:

The Matrix. I think you probably watched this one. Just because cyber-punk.
Garden State. Very dark, and dry humor. Still, kinda romantic? It worth it.
Idiocracy. A comedy that reflects the current bizarre state of the world.

Lukasz Modzelewski

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore - it is funny and awkward

Funny Games - from 2007, disturbing, dark, humans...

The Man from Earth - philosophical, rather slow movie

3 Idiots - great Indian comedy with some engineering! Thanks to this movie I've started watching Indian comedies (if I have time for that! 3h!

I Hate Mondays (Nie lubię poniedziałku) - Polish comedy from '70s, one of the classics

John D Patton

Great ideas Dave! Love that this came out of those Team ’26 coffee break conversations – side chats in Anaheim were some of the best parts of the whole event for me for sure!!

I always find “favorite movies” so hard to define because it depends so much on the mood. But here’s a good cross-section:

Galaxy Quest – It’s funny, surprisingly heartfelt, and may secretly be one of the best Star Trek movies ever made. If you love teamwork, fandom, and underdogs rising to the occasion, this is your movie.

The Princess Bride – Quotable without being annoying, funny without being dumb, sweet without being too much. Sword fights, giants, revenge, true love, Miracle Max. Close to perfect.

Groundhog Day – I appreciate this one more every year. Starts as a comedy, but it’s really about learning to pay attention, be less selfish, and slowly become a better person. Pretty good trick for a movie with a groundhog in it.

The Fifth Element – David, you and I are on the same page. Big colorful sci-fi nonsense that somehow completely works. Gary Oldman chewing every piece of scenery in sight. Love it.

Shawshank Redemption – Shawn, same. I will stop everything for this movie. Every. Single. Time.

Tombstone – Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday is one of the greatest performances ever. “I’m your huckleberry” should be on currency.

Memento – Another Shawn co-sign! Early Nolan, tiny budget, backwards storytelling that rewires your brain.

The Dark Knight – Heath Ledger’s Joker ruined every other movie villain for me.

Clerks / Mallrats / Dogma – Gotta rep my New Jersey cinema hero Kevin Smith. Clerks was shot on credit cards at a real convenience store. Mallrats is pure 90s comfort. Dogma is a religious satire that absolutely should not work and yet it’s brilliant.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – My annual holiday tradition. Chevy Chase falling off the roof never gets old. Ever.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Not just the best animated movie in years, one of the best movies period.

Idiocracy – Huwen, you nailed it. It was supposed to be a comedy. Now it feels like a documentary. 😂

The Game – David called this underrated and he’s 100% right. Michael Douglas at his paranoid best.

Full Metal Jacket – Steve, great taste. R. Lee Ermey’s drill sergeant is one of the most iconic performances ever filmed.

Soundtrack bonus: I’m a huge movie soundtrack person, so anything scored by John Williams, Hans Zimmer, or Ludwig Göransson gets automatic bonus points. The Star Wars saga, Interstellar, and Sinners all live rent-free in my head musically. 🎵

I guess my short answer is: give me a movie with imagination, a sense of humor, and at least a little hope. I can handle dark, but I usually need the good guys to earn the win by the end. Whenever a movie ends like yesterday's jam I shake my fist at the clouds!

Great thread as always Dave – looking forward to stealing recommendations from everyone’s lists! 🎬🍿

Barbara Szczesniak

I have a lot of favorites that I will watch any time they are on—Serenity, Knotting Hill, The Princess Bride, The Sound of Music, Camelot, Beauty and the Beast (animated original), Holiday Inn, …

My current favorite, however, is The American President – a man with principals, who understands that he serves the people of the country and who has trouble buying a woman flowers because he has separated himself from all of his personal money. Gee, I wonder why I find this so comforting right now?

Morgan Henderson -drawio Diagrams-

This was hard, but these were the first 3 movies that came to mind for me:

Parasite
The Princess and the Frog
Poetic Justice

I enjoy a good balance of psychological thrillers and romance films. 😎

Jack Graves_poy4r4

Spirited Away

Absolute masterpiece of character design that says everything without dialogue.

Snatch

Guy Ritchie at his absolute peak. The dialogue is razor-sharp

Brazil

Terry Gilliam’s dystopian masterpiece is Orwell’s 1984 directed by Monty Python.

Sean Perry

Well, given that today is World Bicycle Day, I'll have to say 'Ladri di biciclette' (The Bicycle Thief). Why should you watch it, well, because it's a masterpiece. Filmed in the rubble strewn streets of Rome in the aftermath of WWII, it is hard not to be moved by it.

Dave LIAO

@John D Patton - I need to have a Kevin Smith deep dive - I think it’s way more likely that I’ll finish all his films before I ever get into Lord of the Rings...

And so glad no one has mentioned LotR here YET. 🤣

Dave LIAO

Loved The Princess and the Frog and wish it was advertised more!

Parasite has been on my list forever, I’ll have to watch it sooner rather than later...

Dave LIAO

Loved Spirited Away, and I THINK I watched Snatch a million years ago.

✅ Brazil? Never heard of it, adding it to the list!

Steve Ashton

Actually, to get your brain and beliefs working, try 'The Man from Earth', and the sequel 'Holocene Man'. Both are quite well done and thought provoking

Liam Do - DevSamurai

It is so hard to narrow it down, but here are my three absolute favorites:

Catch Me If You Can: A fast-paced, pure fun cat-and-mouse chase with prime Leo and Tom Hanks.
Interstellar: Breathtaking visuals, mind-bending sci-fi, and an unforgettable soundtrack.
Parasite: A flawless masterpiece full of unpredictable twists.

Jack Graves_poy4r4

Never give up. Never surrender!

Anne Saunders

Memento is on my list of "once is enough, but everyone should see it once" movies.

Anne Saunders

There are SO MANY good movies already on this list, but my hands-down (and as yet unlisted) favorite is Playing by Heart (Miramax, 1998)

It was released basically minutes before Shakespeare in Love (also a favorite) which means Miramax put all their eggs in the one that was more likely to get an Oscar. Fair play to them, huge disservice to this movie.

The cast *includes* Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Jon Stewart, Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Dennis Quaid, Madeleine Stowe, Gena Rowlands, and Jay Mohr. The (eclectic!) soundtrack is by John Barry.

Anne Saunders

Oooh, and if you're feeling French, watch Jeux d'enfants in the original French. It follows an unlikely pair from childhood through their little game of "cap ou pas cap" and is hilarious as well as heart-rending.

Arkadiusz Wroblewski

@Dave LIAO

Born in 1995, so my movie taste is strongly shaped by late 90s and early 2000s nostalgia, but I also like movies that stay in your head after watching them.

For nostalgia and rewatch value, I would pick The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, Gladiator, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, The Mummy, Men in Black, Toy Story and the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies.

But I also really enjoy deeper movies:

The Shawshank Redemption: because it is such a strong story about hope, patience and not giving up.
The Green Mile: emotional, heavy, and one of those movies you do not forget quickly.
Good Will Hunting: I like movies where the character development feels honest.
Dead Poets Society: inspiring, but also sad.
The Truman Show: Simple, but it says a lot about control, freedom and identity.
A Beautiful Mind: a powerful movie about talent, struggle and how complicated life can be.
Interstellar: because it combines science fiction with emotion, family and time in a really memorable way.
Schindler’s List: not an easy movie to watch, but an important one.

And maaaaaaaaany more 😂🤠

Teodora V _Warsaw Dynamics_

Hmm, I am really picky about how I spend my time with movies. So to watch it, it's gotta be a good one!

Top 3 would be:

The Matrix - a pure classic that messes with the perspective of how we live our lives and what our decisions are made of. I probably watched this over 100 times in my lifetime so far.

The Fountain - an interesting way to battle with the feeling of your own mortality. Not an easy watch, but very deep.

The Imitation Game - watching Alan Turing cracking Enigma during WWII is a fascinating view of what a human brain is capable of. And of course, Benedict Cumberbatch.