Ultimate DVDs for Parties?

Adore333 asks: "I'm hosting a party on new year's eve and was thinking of playing some DVDs in the background (party music over the original soundtrack). I've chosen Trinity and Beyond and Microcosmos as the movies. Even though its likely a bit too late for New Year's Eve, I'd like to hear what media other Slashdot readers would suggest. The films should have great emphasis on visual expression and it would be nice if they were enjoyable as movies as well (like Trinity and Microcosmos). So, what's your ultimate party DVD?"

Comments

Porn

[Idealius]

Conquest with Jenna Jameson.

Duh!

[floamy]

Don't mod me down, but we just had a party here with mostly guys and we went with Girls Gone Wild. Also some action movie with lots of explosions always works.

Re:Duh!

[Molina the Bofh]

Simply put, he's a geek, and you're not. You don't belong to Slashdot. Get out.

The Qatsi Trilogy

[eak_the_freak]

Evidently, any of the Qatsi trilogy films are beyond comparison as background visuals.

Baraka

[Malfourmed]

Baraka

the wizard of oz

[Mr.Coffee]

I'm sure you've all heard of this,but if you obtain a copy of the wizard of oz, and a copy of dark side of the moon, and start the album with the lion's roar on the mgm logo, the movie and album sync up perfectly. slighty, ot, but i have done this at parties to rave reviews. does anybody know of any other interesting combinations?

Re:the wizard of oz

[mcmonkey]

The buzz was to start the CD at the second roar of the MGM lion, but that depends on how long it takes for your player to get going. A jukebox or cd-rom generally take longer to get up to speed than a stand-alone single-disk player.

Now-a-days, the word is to pause the CD at 0:00 and start with the third roar.

some selections, not all dvd.

[dTaylorSingletary]

For DVDs with music:

Talking Heads Stop Making Sense

DJ Q-Bert Wave Twisters

For movies in general, dvd or not.

#1 all-time best party movie:
Pippi in the South Seas (no foolin!)

Voltron (goes with any music)

Kiss Meets the Phantom - Need I say more?

And then, calm it all down with Bjork's Volumen.

Underworld - Everythign Everything

[szyzyg]

This is a fantastic live CD, and it has a second angle which is basically trippy visuals to go along with the music - they look perfectly good with any decent uptempo music. Not so geeky though.

Being a DJ I'm working on making a Demo video to complement my usual demo CD's - early days yet - maybe I'll have something one day....

AniMusic

[arrow]

AniMusic. Not much of a plot, but it will impress the hell out of your party goers.

demo dvd

[termos]

Definitly the demo dvd (mindcandy).

It features PC demos from 1993 to today. For definition of what a demo is check here

"nice to look at" movies

[wrinkledshirt]

Akira
The Wall (Pink Floyd)
Baraka
Microcosmos
Matrix
Porn
Stop-mo tion films like A Nightmare Before Christmas
Ultimate Fighting or Kickboxing

Also, really really dumb action or cheesy old sci-fi movies are ideal for this situation, because you don't have to listen to the crappy dialogue.

Re:assorted arty dvds

[slaker]

Why not Fantasia 2000, especially if you've got a HT setup that does DTS?
"The Firebird" (the last piece in the movie) makes a fantastic demonstration of what a home theater setup can do.

The recent remake of "Solaris" is cool, too. The production design and cinematography on that movie is breathtaking, and the Cliff Martinez score is remarkable. The movie itself is so low-key that it's very easy to step away from; there just isn't that much to see besides the cool visuals (and George Clooney's ass, if you're into that sort of thing).

OK, some non-artsy choice:
If all you have are geeks: Monty Python. It must be said. Holy Grail, Life of Brian, whatever. A roomfull of fans and the fun is in watching with the sound off, to see who remembers the most lines.

If your party is a bunch of alienated, socially awkward geeks who might actually sit down and watch a movie instead of talking at a party, I'd suggest "Ghost World". We are all Seymour.

Or maybe Aronofsky's "pi", which is visually very stark and distinct, and has a cool plot involving math(!) and an interesting score.

Horny Guys? Midget porno.

Classic

[Oopsz]

Pink Floyd's The Wall

Equillibrium

[JonnyRo88]

Have you seen equillibrium? That movie has some great action shots while sticking to a very relevant plot about the prices people are willing to pay to make society work, and the consequences of those decisions.

This movie has something called gunkata, which is sort of a martial arts around guns. You'll like it, trust me. This is the first movie since the first Matrix (not sure which came out first) to spark my interest to that level. Terminator 3 was nice, but having watched Matrix and Equillibrium it was not as powerful.

The weirdest thing...

[doublebackslash]

I threw a party for my roomates birthday. Loads of fun and liquor. Had my server spin tunes from a playlist, etc. Some people were looing at my movies, somehow Finding Nemo was picked.
Now, I think that this is the trick, I could be wrong, but I turned on the subtitles so that we could read the movie when we couldn't hear it.
By the time Dorry and Marlin were with the sharks I had 20+ drunks sitting still, quitetly watching Finding Nemo!!!! Weirdest thing I EVER saw.
Anecdote asside, turn on closed captioning, more will watch, cause they can read what they can't hear. Unless its just porn, then just turn it up. Either way ;)

Strongbad!

[breon.halling]

I recommend the collected works of Strongbad. I've converted most of 'em to MPGs > VCD (they're SFWs initially). Fun for the whole family!

the way things go

[oskillator]

This is mostly good for engineer types, but this is slashdot...

The Way Things Go is a half hour recording of the performance of a rube goldberg machine. All sorts of physical and chemical reactions happening in a row. You may have seen the Honda "Cog" advertisement that ripped it off.

If you have the right mindset, it's riveting from beginning to end.

Re:the way things go

[skotte]

oh! I've seen this! it was in a sort of collection, so we really had no idea what it was or how long it would last. if you arent expecting it, the thing you notice most is how incredibly fFunny it is. it goes on and on and on .... seemingly without end or purpose, smashing things, breaking things, burning things -- damned impressive, i can tell you.

it's a tiny tiny bit repetitious in a couple places, due to the choice of plastic bags and tiny a number of times. and, at the risk of destroying the illusion, it isnt a continuous 28 minute shoot: it breaks every now and then to change reels and all (5 times perhaps?). but it's really well done, and *could* last 28 minutes.

definitely a winner. now, good luck acquiring a copy..... i've never seen or heard of it since my one viewing.

Re:the way things go

[elemental23]

good luck acquiring a copy

No luck is needed, Amazon has it for under $20.

Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"

[ThinkingGuy]

I used to work at a bar that played music, and also played videos on monitors around the bar. They had problems with customers wanting to listen to the soundtrack of the movie instead of the DJ's music. The solution they came up with: play silent movies, so those who wanted to could still follow the movie. My bar played Charlie Chaplin films, but for a party situation I think "Metropolis" would be a good choice, if just for the interesting imagery and cinematography.