I'll go first:

1. Yes. (I went from ambivalent confusion to thinking it's really funny and sweet.)
2. Tie: Casablanca and Seven Samurai

1.) Yes, was confused at first but quickly caught on and really liked it.

2.) "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

yep.
probably something like The Sting although maybe it's The Untouchables or Lord of the Rings.

1) Love it

2) It's a Wonderful Life

I liked it when I first watched it, but got sick of everyone quoting it. It's been a while since I've actually seen it, so I don't know how I'd react to it now. (How's that for an answer?)

My favorite movies are High Fidelity, Rachel Getting Married, and The Philadelphia Story, if that tells you anything.

1) No

2) Probably a tie between The Importance of Being Earnest and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. With a bunch of other movies rather close up there... Mostly all British (with the exception of several fantasy or scifi movies, and dance related movies, but if they're just general movies they're generally either modern day British, or they're period dramas and thus British)

It grew on me.
How do you pick ONE favorite movie? I love The Princess Bride, The Green Mile and Overboard along with a ton of others :)

1. Yes
2. A Walk to Remember (don't shoot me)

1. Hated it
2. LOTR - Fellowship of the Ring

1. Loved it

2. It's a Wonderful Life

On a side note: I wonder if there's a link between a person's attraction to redemptive stories and love of Napoleon Dynamite? It was extremely redemptive, I thought.

1. Count me among those still confused - dozed through half of it, so, indifferent toward it at best......my kids (teenagers) all loved it....I'm all about redemptive stories Bill, but the movie has to be at least mildly entertaining as well......I found it......weird

2. "Glory"

......btw - Manders has a very cool favorite film list

1. Yes, I love Napoleon.
2. I have a list of 1007 favorite films. If I had to choose one, it would be LOTR or maybe Chariots of Fire or Princess Bride or . . .
See, I can't choose.

My teenagers unanimously hated Napoleon. They either said it made no sense, wasn't funny, or even that it was cruel. I think, like, BIll, that it's redemptive. I also think it may work better if you think of it as a series of comic strip vignettes.

Whoops, that would be 107, not 1007.

The first time I saw it (when it came out on DVD), I liked it but was disappointed because it didn't live up to the hype. Now I love it, and it gets better with each viewing.

I can't possibly pick one favorite movie, so I'll go with the first one I thought of: Strictly Ballroom.

1) Yes.

2) Amadeus.

I have found that the longer a person waited to see the movie, the less likely they were to enjoy it. Someone above mentioned that they got sick of everyone quoting it. I remember when I saw it, I and everyone with me liked it. The more people went to see it, the less people seemed to like it.

I still think it was a very funny movie, though I've had to fight the urge to hate it, since everyone I've met in the last five years has told me, "Hey, you look like Napoleon Dynamite." Ugh.

You don't look like Napoleon D, but there have been times when you had his mannerisms :-)

Now, you're friend Daniel A. - also doesn't look like Napoleon, but completely pegs his mannerisms.

1. Yes, although with time I think the cruelty of it bothers me.

2. Seriously, just one favorite? LOTR, You've Got Mail are two.

When my sister first met Beau she said he reminded her of a grown up Napoleon Dynamite. I was equally offended and amused because it was a great assessment of him when you first meet him.

1. No - but I didn't hate it either. Thought parts of it were charming, but found the movie overall somewhat boring. It seemed to me like it was the movie equivalent of a collection of faddish YouTube clips.

2. I'll go with a tie, between The Shawshank Redemption and Braveheart.

Yes, I liked it.

Hard to choose one favorite. Even choosing a favorite movie from each of several different genres would be hard. I'll go with the original Star Wars (ep IV)for the nostalgia factor and the ground-breaking movie that it was. Love Casablanca, The Godfather, Les Miserables, the original Indiana Jones, The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Sound of Music.

1. I liked it, though I had to warm up to it. Oddly enough, I laughed at the scenes harder when thinking back to them than I did the first time. When he's trying to compliment the girl over her skim milk is hilarious.

2. Boy, I don't know what my favorite movie is. Maybe I should watch several favorite ones and see what rating I can give them. I'll choose "It's a Wondermous Life."

1. Liked it. FWIW, I've heard from a number of people that the key to going from ambivalent to liking it (or even loving it) was repeated viewings.

2. LOTR - FOTR.

1. Yes, I liked it.

2. I am a movie "junkie," and so my favorite list goes on and on, but if I were to choose one right at this moment in time - 1967 Barefoot In The Park w/Robert Redford & Jane Fonda.

1) Yes - Liked it from the start when I saw it before it went mainstream

2)Don't really have a fave:
Comedy - Blazing Saddles/Wayne's World
Drama - Saving Private Ryan, ET, The Shawshank Redemption
Musical - Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain (not West Side Story, Bill)
Action - Die Hard, True Lies (although I disdain James Cameron), Indiana Jones (all four - yes, I said all four)
Miscellaneous - Princess Bride, It's A Wonderful Life, Dr. Strangelove

1) Tolerate it
2) BBC Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Maybe Napoleon Dynamite just wasn't long enough for me. :-)

1) Liked it alot.

2) Lawrence of Arabia

The similarities between the two films are startling, when you think about it.

FWIW I think the typical thinkling reader is probably quite a bit different from the general public. Hence using the readers here to do a scientific study may skew the results.

I only say that because almost all commenters are saying they liked it. Or perhaps the negative folks just don't want to say anything.

I think I would put Napoleon Dynamite in the Wes Anderson film category.....quirky and eliciting strong reactions on both ends of the like/dislike scale.....I know that "Bottle Rocket" gets a lot of love in this forum, but I was pretty meh about it.....However, "The Royal Tennenbaums" is one of my all time favorites....

If I were NetFlix and I was giving recommendations to Napoleon Dynamite fans I would suggest a bunch of Wes Anderson films - still hit or miss, but both appeal to the crowd that likes quirky films.....

.....another film I'd put in this category would be "500 Days of Summer" - just ok for me, but people raved about it......Manders mention of "High Fidelity" (which was great btw) is the closest I've seen in this thread to that quirky humor genre...."Princess Bride" would be there too.....

If a film is placed in the quirky genre, it will be put in with a lot of other films that people love or hate - no one loves "all" the quirky films. By definition, they are hit-or-miss.

"Be Kind to Rewind" anyone?.....quirky.....and awful.

FWIW I think the typical thinkling reader is probably quite a bit different from the general public.

True. The typical Thinkling reader is far superior to the general public :-)

Bill, were you kidding about ND being "redemptive"?

Loved it.

Some faves: The Apostle, Waiting for Guffman, White Christmas, Shawshank Redemption, etc.

Saw it. Liked it but did not love it.

Favorite movie of all time is The Godfather.

Bill, were you kidding about ND being "redemptive"?

No I wasn't kidding. I think it's a very redemptive movie. Napoleon, Pedro, ND's girl-friend (I forget her name), NDs brother (his name also escapes me) and LaFawnduh, Uncle Rico - (at the end of the movie his significant other comes back to him) - all had, to one degree or another, their situations improved/redeemed.

The girl (what is her name? Argh!) is, in and of herself, a great picture of grace in Napoleon's life.

By redemptive, I mean in a general sense. Not in a "The Gospel According to ND" sense.

My whole family thinks Napoleon is hilarious. It is even funnier to watch at 1 1/2 speed.

I agree it is too hard to pick one favorite movie but some on the top of my list (that I could watch over and over again) are Sense & Sensibility, LOTR - all, Matrix - all, Moulin Rouge, Braveheart, anything made by Pixar.

1. yes (from "hello" when i watched the previews online)

2. bottle rocket, saving private ryan, the goonies, ocean's 11, swingers, die hard, LOTR, BTTF, this is spinal tap...

i think netflix may be on to something OR the fact that the movie was/is SO over quoted that when people watch it now, they give a negative review. is that how netflix is basing their success in referring it to people? off of their responses after viewing it, once it's been recommended by netflix? OR are people all reviewing their faves and netflix sees no relation between it and all the other interests of people who like it? sorry for the lengthy comment.

1.) Yes.
2.) No single favorite. Comedy - Mystery Men, Waiting for Guffman; Action - Bourne Trilogy, Indiana Jones 1 & 3.

1. Yes, I loved it. I saw it before it got popular, though. I liked it less once everyone started quoting it. But, as a whole, I still really like the movie.

2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Its been my favorite since the first time I saw it. But in reality, my favorite movies are almost always either epic type dramas: my favorites are LOTR Trilogy, Gladiator, Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, 3:10 to Yuma (the new one).

In all honesty, though, I think that most people who particularly enjoy artsy, (sometimes fartsy) independent films (specifically comedies) would like Napoleon Dynamite. I particularly enjoy indy films. Most times.

1. The first time I saw it was waaayyy after the hype. I spent the entire movie thinking,and possibly even saying out loud, "Seriously?!? I don't get it" UNTIL the dance scene at the end. I think I laughed for a full five minutes after the movie was done. I generally don't re-watch movies, but ND is one that will make me stop and watch if I come across it while changing channels.

2. Like so many others, a single favorite movie is hard to name. I'll go with The Princess Bride.

Yes I enjoyed it.

Tie: Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me

1. Love it...never tire of it...so funny!
2. Les Miserables

1. Love it...never tire of it...so funny!
2. Les Miserables

1. Yes, I loved it.

2. Favorite film is Harvey.

1. Loved it.
2. Ben Hur. How's that for a contrast.

1. In contrast to virtually everyone else, I find myself particularly unmoved by it. I saw it because "everyone" was quoting it. My reaction: "meh." I don't seemuch in it. Not worth a recommendation.

2. The book is almost always better than the movie. On the other hand, I do like the Star Wars / Trek genre.

1) I got it from Netflix just so that I could answer this question ... No, I don't care for it. I'd actually sort of like that two hours of my life back, please.

2) Favorite? Hmmm ... probably "The Princess Bride," "Les Miserables," or "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the real one, not the remake).