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May 15, 2007 9:52 AM

I love movies with large ensemble casts, especially ones with funny and/or surprising cameos.

Good examples are Wes Anderson movies, Ocean's 11/12/13, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. I enjoy character-driven movies with intricate story lines like Snatch/Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Michael McKean/Christopher Guest/Harry Shearer mockumentaries, and Crash.
Mostly humours, sometimes indie, but not always. What other movies should I watch?

posted by kidsleepy to media & arts (38 comments total)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World. An oldie but a goodie.
posted by OmieWise at 9:58 AM on May 15, 2007

State & Main.
posted by peep at 9:59 AM on May 15, 2007

Cannonball Run movies. The Muppet Movie.
posted by mikepop at 10:00 AM on May 15, 2007

Anything by Robert Altman. Maybe start with Nashville or The Player.
posted by chococat at 10:00 AM on May 15, 2007

Thought of another one. Happy, Texas.
posted by peep at 10:01 AM on May 15, 2007

I really enjoy a film called Safe Men.
posted by fillsthepews at 10:04 AM on May 15, 2007

Murder by Death.
posted by jamaro at 10:12 AM on May 15, 2007

The Magic Christian is loaded with hilarious cameos and is one of my favorite movies.

Spiceworld. I shit you not. Richard E. Grant, Bob Hoskins, Meatloaf, Elvis Costello, and I know I'm forgetting a bunch more. It's certainly not highbrow, but it's a lot more entertaining than a movie about the Spice Girls should have been.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:13 AM on May 15, 2007

Clue
posted by Eddie Mars at 10:25 AM on May 15, 2007

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle has one of the best cameos ever but just a normal sized cast.
posted by spork at 10:37 AM on May 15, 2007

Mamet's State and Main was a good one. I can't remember the cameo volume, though...
posted by tentacle at 10:44 AM on May 15, 2007

Seconding the Robert Altman movies, adding James Toback's Black & White.
posted by box at 10:54 AM on May 15, 2007

If you are willing to watch slightly older movies, there are lots to choose from. Caligula in the nsfw category; Ben Hur and many others in the safe-for-impressionable children category. Some of the classic spaghetti westerns might qualify, with larger casts and so on, although I don't know if there are any cameos worth noting.

If you aren't afraid of subtitles, movies like Babel might work -- there are lots of character-driven movies being made by contemporary Latin American directors, although the casts are usually smaller and you might not recognize the cameos. John Sayles' movies (Men With Guns; Casa de los Babys; Lone Star) are wonderful, and sort of sit on the boundary between US and Latin American film-making.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is great and might be close to what you are looking for.

I'll second Robert Altman's movies, and add the suggestion of almost anything by Werner Herzog. Sometimes really weird, always maniacal, and stupifyingly amazing.
posted by Forktine at 10:56 AM on May 15, 2007

Mystery Men and Galaxy Quest are two ensemble comedies I really liked. The first is a spoof on superheroes, the second a spoof on Star Trek.
posted by vorfeed at 11:33 AM on May 15, 2007

I thought I would hate it, but I ended up really liking Zoolander. Great comedic cast (although not especially huge), and some fabulous cameos.

Also, Galaxy Quest.
posted by kimdog at 11:35 AM on May 15, 2007

Mars Attacks! had Jack Nicholson, Jack Black, Glenn Close, Tom Jones, Danny deVito, Martin Short, Michael J. Fox, Natalie Portman...

Most people either love it or hate it in my experience!
posted by TwoWordReview at 11:45 AM on May 15, 2007

The Great Escape for the win. Just before the credits when they did little close-up shots of the actor with their real name on the screen, the "So THAT'S who that is!" feeling repeated frequently.
posted by Quarter Pincher at 11:57 AM on May 15, 2007

Hot Fuzz
posted by kirkaracha at 12:05 PM on May 15, 2007

Kelly's Heroes, The Dirty Dozen, The Magnificent Seven
posted by kirkaracha at 12:14 PM on May 15, 2007

The Impostors and Big Night.
posted by Sticherbeast at 12:34 PM on May 15, 2007

Lobster Man from Mars

Tunnel Vision
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:41 PM on May 15, 2007

"12 Angry Men" is not only a great movie, it also has an amazing cast.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:45 PM on May 15, 2007

Cradle Will Rock
posted by np312 at 1:28 PM on May 15, 2007

Mars Attacks!

That's what I was going to say.
posted by jaysus chris at 1:51 PM on May 15, 2007

Love, Actually has a nice sized cast.
posted by lilac girl at 2:07 PM on May 15, 2007

This is quite obscure: The Wizard of Speed and Time is quite the cult film, but it's particularly notable because of a truly amazing (and NSFW) cameo by Angelique Pettyjohn.

You may not know the name, but you'll recognize the boobs the face. (Today's secret word is "quatloo".)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 2:34 PM on May 15, 2007

Another Altman vote...I loved Shortcuts.
posted by dagnyduquette at 3:06 PM on May 15, 2007

Blues Brothers, and Blues Brothers 2000. Bonus: great music!
posted by attercoppe at 3:36 PM on May 15, 2007

A fun, funny movie with a great cast that's interesting to and safe for children is Hook. Bob Hoskins as Smee was a particularly inspired bit of casting.
posted by Cricket at 3:37 PM on May 15, 2007

I won't spoil it, but Spiderman 3 has a pretty sweet cameo halfway through, with a speaking role. might not fit the other criteria, though
posted by zachxman at 4:02 PM on May 15, 2007

How about Kind Hearts and Coronets, with scads of juicy cameos, all played by Alec Obiwan Guinness?

Or consider Dr. Strangelove, a perfect black comedy mix of great character actors (Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, James Earl Jones) and great cameo actors (Peter Sellers).
posted by rob511 at 4:37 PM on May 15, 2007

[sic]
posted by rob511 at 4:38 PM on May 15, 2007

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
posted by davidmsc at 5:05 PM on May 15, 2007

Magnolia.

Crash. Like Magnolia, but without the frogs.
posted by chookibing at 5:11 PM on May 15, 2007

It's not a movie, but the first thing I thought of based on your description is the Larry Sanders Show. It's hard to find a show more praised.
posted by tfmm at 5:41 PM on May 15, 2007

Dodgeball.
posted by misha at 7:26 PM on May 15, 2007

I came in here to recommend Mars Attacks, but since that's already been done, I'll name two more: Say Anything and Dazed and Confused.
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:58 AM on May 16, 2007

I just came back to mention Richard Linklater.
posted by box at 10:54 AM on May 19, 2007