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Sporadic, you get to see The Seventh Seal! Hurray for you! Unless you have Netflix Instant an HDTV and you can regularly get HD with it, and in that case watch Barry Lyndon, but if not then back to Seventh Seal. Maybe I should draw a flowchart. Also, The Seventh Seal is actually pretty amusing in places. Don't tackle it like some huge monolithic towering achievement in Scandinavian existentialism. Which it also is, but it's not as somber as a lot of people make it out to be, or as impenetrable, for that matter. The same goes for Barry Lyndon, there's a lot of dry humor in that one. Going through the Top 250 and some of my favorite director's wikipedia pages and skipping all the "I'm waiting for Blu-Ray" ones: 1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why. 2) Saving Private Ryan - Another film my dad loved, another set of VHS tapes. This one I probably have misconceptions about : "late" Spielberg doing a film about WWII, a subject I have like zip interest in? At least it's on Blu, I guess. 3) Downfall - I loving own this, why haven't I seen it? A: I keep putting it off because, you know, three hour Hitler docudrama? mmmmeeehhhhh 4) The 39 Steps/Notorious - Fancy Hitchcock double feature! I know nothing about either film but apparently they're classics or something and I should, like, watch them. I actually own Notorious on VHS, but there's a nice new DVD out. Another "don't know why I've put it off". 5) Gone With The Wind - Ever since I saw the Carol Burnett spoof this has been floating around in my Netflix queue. That's a great spoof. Y'all should go watch it. 6) Jules and Jim - Apparently this is really famous and totally Truffaut's masterpiece but why would I know that I haven't seen it but poo poo I love Truffaut so make me your bitch and choose this one because I've heard so much about it and there's references everywhere apparently or don't whatever it's your life. 7) Baraka - Put it on Netflix queue after seeing Koyaanisqatsi, never got it up to the top three because half of my dogged devotion to Koyetc is the Philip Glass score and the theme about industrialization. But apparently it's like mindblowingly cool or something I dunno. 8) The Color Purple - This is one of those "You've never seen x? Not even in high school!?" films. It sounds intriguing, and I like Spielberg, and the DVD cover is a really nice shade of purple, but I've just never built up the desire to bump something else out of my Netflix top three. 9) Fitzcarraldo - Ha! Ha! I still haven't seen this even though I've checked it out from the library and everyone loves Herzog, none of whose films I have yet to see. 10) A Collection Of Best-Picture Winners I Haven't Seen But Are Apparently Totally Canon - Dances With Wolves, Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man, Terms Of Endearment, The French Connection, In the Heat of the Night, The Bridge on the River Kwai, On the Waterfront. These all kind of form a big mass in my mind, a jumble of things that have collected dust on my Netflix queue back from when I was first getting into film.
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Jun 1, 2010 20:51
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Haha, goddamn FFD, that's a lovely list. You'd better hope whoever posts theirs next picks The Prestige. Even if you know the details it's at least good filmmaking.
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Jun 1, 2010 21:12
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Ha ha, FFD has to watch Shrek.
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Jun 1, 2010 21:42
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To be fair, this seems like a pretty awesome thread and I'm looking forward to working through my never-seens.
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Jun 2, 2010 06:13
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Pick one for Fayez Butts.
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Jun 2, 2010 07:26
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Psmith, you're just going to love North By Northwest, because that's the one you have to watch. Watched Jules et Jim tonight. I have to say I liked it but I didn't love it. Truffaut just doesn't get me like Godard does. Godard set out to revolutionize film, but it feels like Truffaut set out to idolize film. Jules et Jim is a mostly corny melodrama that meanders across a decade and change, never really boiling. It's shapeless in a way I'm not fond of. However, it makes up for many of its faults by being poetic and having a nice tone, following the years with a sort of "time keeps on slipping" manner, and occasionally the tone and poetic nature blend with the characters and plot and create some really unbelievably splendid moments, but usually I was just kind of tagging along with the film while it did its own thing. I might write more on this later if I ruminate on it. I will say that I loved the climax. List repost! I chopped the best-picture-winners down to one film. 1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why. 2) Saving Private Ryan - Another film my dad loved, another set of VHS tapes. This one I probably have misconceptions about : "late" Spielberg doing a film about WWII, a subject I have like zip interest in? At least it's on Blu, I guess. 3) Downfall - I loving own this, why haven't I seen it? A: I keep putting it off because, you know, three hour Hitler docudrama? mmmmeeehhhhh 4) The 39 Steps/Notorious - Fancy Hitchcock double feature! I know nothing about either film but apparently they're classics or something and I should, like, watch them. I actually own Notorious on VHS, but there's a nice new DVD out. Another "don't know why I've put it off". 5) Gone With The Wind - Ever since I saw the Carol Burnett spoof this has been floating around in my Netflix queue. That's a great spoof. Y'all should go watch it. 6) Vivre sa vie - Replacing a new-wave with a new-wave, this is another meant-to-never-saw. Great that it's on Blu now. I think I skipped this one for A Woman Is A Woman when they were doing a Godard retrospective at SIFF. 7) Baraka - Put it on Netflix queue after seeing Koyaanisqatsi, never got it up to the top three because half of my dogged devotion to Koyetc is the Philip Glass score and the theme about industrialization. But apparently it's like mindblowingly cool or something I dunno. 8) The Color Purple - This is one of those "You've never seen x? Not even in high school!?" films. It sounds intriguing, and I like Spielberg, and the DVD cover is a really nice shade of purple, but I've just never built up the desire to bump something else out of my Netflix top three. 9) Fitzcarraldo - Ha! Ha! I still haven't seen this even though I've checked it out from the library and everyone loves Herzog, none of whose films I have yet to see. 10) The French Connection - Another been-in-the-queue-for-ages one, apparently it's a stunning magnificent thriller and frankly I could watch Gene Hackman eat a lightbulb and come away thrilled. Kinda miffed about the goofy color timing on the Blu-Ray, but it's ok, I managed Do The Right Thing, I could manage this.
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Jun 3, 2010 07:51
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JohnnyDavidson posted:Magic Hate Ball: You have to watch Saving Private Ryan. Once you get passed the first 20 minute gun battle, the movie gets really fun. I remember thinking it was going to be boring, but it really wasn't. It's nothing like Schindler's List btw, if that's what you meant by your Speilberg comment. It's more like...generally, I find that segment of WW2 history boring and I'm not a huge fan of pretty much anything he did past Schindler's List (which I love), though that's probably unfair to say because the only one I can really remember is War Of The Worlds. Glad I got this one, actually. thegloaming posted:I had the same reaction when I saw it. Glad someone else feels the same way. Are we just missing something, or is it really just a fun little thing that's been lauded to hell and back? It's basically the same reaction I've had to every Truffaut I've seen. They're kind of fitfully brilliant, but the guy was totally unable to tell a tightly paced, continuously compelling story. His films just go and go, like he wound up the spring and then kind of sat back and let it run. Maybe I'm hilariously wrong or maybe I've just seen the wrong ones but except for Day For Night I could gladly go the rest of my life without seeing them again.
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Jun 3, 2010 12:49
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Peaceful Anarchy posted:I don't love or hate either of the two, but from what I've seen Truffaut is always very good to great, whereas Godard's daring can be very entertaining and great but also really grating or just plain uninteresting. I think in general I just get more of a kick out of Godard's leaping, even when he does fail. I understand that Truffaut was working with ideas and subjects that were personal and close to him, and I understand why his films are paced like they are, but that doesn't stop me from occasionally being bored by them. However, I've only seen three Godards and four Truffauts, and both have a fairly large body of work. I'm not going to form any concrete opinions yet.
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Jun 4, 2010 00:27
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meanmikhail posted:4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid/The Sting- Newman and Redford were a hell of a team...so I hear, but I've seen neither of their movies together. The Sting is way better than Butch Cassidy, which hasn't aged well.
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Jun 10, 2010 20:52
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He should watch it anyways. 
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Jun 10, 2010 21:05
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The problem with a lot of film musicals (like The Music Man) is that what's possible and obvious on-stage (a town full of stuck-ups bursting into song) seems weird and unfitting on film. It also hurts that sometimes the directors just weren't sure how to bridge that gap, so they amped up the goofiness (CHICKENS LOL). However, sometimes it works and you get a great number like Marian The Librarian or Trouble where the concept, cinematography, music, and story come together.
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Jun 11, 2010 00:51
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Yo, Zogo! You get to watch The Shining! Turn the lights down and the sound up. I'll allow you one bathroom break. USE IT WELL. Saving Private Ryan Well, poo poo. I'm actually kind of glad I waited so long to see this, because the Blu-Ray is really, really excellent (my doctor wouldn't be pleased to know I took full advantage of my Sennheiser headphones and the uncompressed soundtrack). Say what you like about Spielberg, he has the ability to produce the kind of film that you get excited about just buying the ticket for. It's not really an "epic" film, that's a title reserved for films with ice castles and chariot races. It's not even a particularly grand film, as it follows a mere handful of characters straggling bleakly towards a destination. I was surprised by how earthy it is, with somewhat newsreel-y cinematography and location shooting. Spielberg always steers the film away from bombast, preferring to stay on the humane side of things. At first I was kind of irritated by the choice of Matt Damon to play Ryan, because he's always come across to me as kind of an insufferable rear end in a top hat, but his casting makes sense. He's supposed to come across as sort of unlikeable, and you feel for Tom Hanks and his men, who have trekked across enemy lines and put their lives in peril and are never really in full support of the mission. The two major battles that bookend the film are just incredible. A lot of attention is inevitably directed towards the D-Day sequence, but I kind of preferred the final battle. The D-Day sequence is a kind of emotionally detached overture that introduces you to the film's language but doesn't do a whole lot more than shock you and introduce you to the main character. On the other hand, the end battle is packed with characters you have come to know somewhat intimately, and a mountain of kudos should be delivered to the doorstep of Steven Spielberg for being able not only to make sense of the chaos but to make it one-hundred-percent engaging. Never once are we unsure what's going on, but always we are on the edge of our seat. I guess I might as well mention that it bugs me that this film has no intermission. I know, it's unprofitable, but there's such a great act break between the "Steamboat Willie" scene and the next scene where they find Ryan. Maybe it's because I like theatre, but the artful placement of the intermission in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey or It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World is almost as exciting as the film itself. But this has nothing to do with anything, really. Saving Private Ryan is one of the best films I've seen this year. List repost! Replaced Saving Private Ryan with Run Lola Run. Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jun 14, 2010 07:21
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The films all have their qualities. Holy Grail is probably the most anarchic, the plot following whims and jokes flying out of left field, while Life Of Brian is the most straightforward film (Cleese once commented "Yes, it has got a bit of a shape, hasn't it?"). Meaning Of Life is the most episodic, and as a result it's the most hit-or-miss. I will give it points for being hilariously cruel in its black humor (the Mr. Creosote sketch is possibly the best thing they ever did).
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Jun 17, 2010 19:00
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Saw Fitzcarraldo. Goddamn. It is definitely a flawed gem, but that doesn't mean it's not amazing. The film does a lot of wandering, and frankly as far as A-B-C storytelling goes it doesn't quite work, but that adds to the appeal. I love films where you genuinely don't know which way it can go, and Fitzcarraldo is one of those films, and what's really great is that by the time you get ninety minutes in you're just as wound up in the dream as Fitzcarraldo himself. What's incredible, and obvious, is that it's really a boat going up a hill. It's literally a huge boat being pulled up a hill. It's terrific. Whatever flaws the film has, the sheer spectacle of a boat going up a hill is more than enough to fill the gap, as well as the amazing location-shooting. Fitzcarraldo is a very location-y film. You can feel the Amazon, and the grime and dirt, and all the bugs. It's dangerous and frightening and it oozes off the screen. I wish this was on Blu-Ray because it's really gorgeous at times. I might have to sit on this one for a while because it's hard for me to congeal my thoughts. All that comes to me are images like the bugs gathering around the lamp, or Fitzcarraldo waking up surrounded by children, or him clenching the cigar in his teeth. edit: fuuuuuck. JVO, I'm annoyed at you for that and hey, you get to watch Shakespeare In Love. Have fun! Updated list, replaced Fitzcarraldo with The Searchers. Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jun 20, 2010 05:02
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It's coming to Blu-Ray in late July, which is why it's not on my list.
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Jun 20, 2010 05:46
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It's only three and a half hours! Also, The Departed isn't very good. As far as I'm concerned, Scorsese won the Oscar for The Aviator.
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Jun 21, 2010 00:12
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JVO, you get to watch 12 Angry Men! It's really good. Saw The 39 Steps and Notorious (fancy double feature) and enjoyed them both. Notorious was a little slow to get started but once it got rolling (and once I realized what it was going for) it morphed into a really superb thriller. Poor Claude Rains, he really did love her. Hitchcock does a really great job of making the characters ambiguous without making things confusing, and Ebert is right when, at the end, you do feel more sympathy towards Rains than Grant. The mother character is magnificent, managing to be both humorous and creepy, reflecting glimpses of Rebecca's Ms. Danvers. I do wish the film were a little bit tighter, it seems to take forever to get going in the beginning, but by the time you get to the scary champagne you've forgotten the wait. The 39 Steps is, I think, structured better, but it suffers from being sort of transitory between silent films and talkies. What's funny about that, though, is that by the time he's off the train the film has become almost entirely "talkie", and Hitchcock's gradual familiarization with synchronized sound almost plays out like an early subplot. There's a lot of Hitchcock regulars; a Macguffin, a wrongfully-accused man, an exciting trip across some distance, a very public revelation, a friendly-countryfolk sequence, and quite a few others. The use of Mr. Memory was a very good trick, and I loved following the twists and turns. It's so much fun to go along with the ride, and we're sorry when it's over. It's a little rough and unpolished but it's all Hitchcock, all the time, and, well, that's always a good thing. Updated list, replaced The 39 Steps/Notorious fancy double feature with Tokyo Story. Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jun 27, 2010 03:32
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I have absolutely no beef with length. If I did, Gone With The Wind wouldn't be up there.
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Jun 27, 2010 03:58
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Zogo, go watch The Lives Of Others. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Finished watching Run Lola Run not ten minutes ago, and good lord I think just watching that was the best workout I've had since I visited a friend on the second floor. Phenomenal editing, excellent pacing, fantastic cinematography, the whole film is just utterly electrifying. I think it's a little less shallow than a lot of people make it out to be, but even if it's no deep psychological study there's enough said about the characters that we actually do care about their situation. It'll be fun to revisit this at some point, hopefully soon. Good lord. Updated list, replaced Run Lola Run with Bicycle Thieves. Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jul 1, 2010 09:12
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If you're making a Shame list you have to recommend a movie for me to watch from my list, and make your own list. If you're just casually posting, you should definitely at least see 8 1/2 and Pierrot Le Fou. If you would like to talk to an operator, please stay on the line...
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Jul 1, 2010 11:24
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Peaceful Anarchy, go watch Akahige. Watched Downfall. I loved it, but warily. I'll have to revisit it at some point, today just wasn't my day to watch movies (tired, hungry, got up to make dinner at the hour-and-a-half mark), but nevertheless I thought it was powerful and shocking, but not in an obnoxious way. The cinematography was surprisingly active, for some reason I was expecting a lot of long steady shots of people talking but it was really very energetic. The acting was terrific (the guy really looked like Hitler, it was almost upsetting) as well, just all around. Actually, the whole film was kind of upsetting. Maybe that's why I had trouble with the first half, I just couldn't come to terms with watching these people, who I knew were responsible for millions of deaths, but eventually that weird alienation wall came down and I got really, really into the film. It's absolutely tragic and utterly horrific. I hope there are plans for an American Blu-Ray, though I would be willing to shill out for the British version. The Searchers should arrive on Saturday, but whoever posts next, recommend something else anyways. Whatever it is won't get here until after I watch The Searchers, so it doesn't matter. Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jul 2, 2010 07:20
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The only catch with Let The Right One In is that Magnet's first release of the DVDs and Blu-Rays had simplified subtitles, which, for example, changes this exchange:theatrical version posted:OSKAR: Do you live here? ...into this: DVD/BR posted:ELI: I live here. Next to you. If the DVD/Blu-Ray has "English Subtitles/English (theatrical) Subtitles/Spanish Subtitles" in the subtitles bar on the back, then you're good.
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Jul 2, 2010 21:18
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dotCommunism, watch Scenes From A Marriage. The television version.  Saw The Searchers, thought it was incredible. It's ambiguous without being obtuse and driven without being linear. Ford really does have an eye for framing, spending nearly the entire film in Monument Valley, always producing bold, unwavering compositions. John Wayne as an immoral racist is a really interesting choice, both playing against and playing into our expectations of him and his kind of character. He plays just who we expect him to, but the context is different this time. The comic relief was a little odd, but with great older films sometimes you have to take the period "bad" with the good, and what's good is really, really good. I'll have to see this again some time, hopefully sooner than later. Replaced The Searchers with Touch Of Evil. Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jul 6, 2010 01:06
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You guys suck.
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Jul 6, 2010 07:18
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I wish there were more good movie musicals. There are so many really incredible stage musicals that got clunky film adaptations, it just kills me. Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story...and that's not even mentioning the great musicals that don't have film versions. It's a miracle Sunday In The Park With George was videotaped.
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Jul 7, 2010 04:04
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Arkane posted:I've finished my movie but man...someone else do Peaceful Anarchy; I've had him twice in a row. I want to recommend a movie I genuinely love. He should watch Berlin Alexanderplatz, it's got a good Criterion release.
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Jul 10, 2010 05:49
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I own that on like three different formats. And you're right, it beats the hell out of Burton's version, which I stopped giving leeway to after the castrated version of God That's Good (and no, I don't like it). The stage version is actually grimier and more convincingly "period" than the film, somehow.
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Jul 10, 2010 08:09
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I was gonna say the same thing, it's both thematically appropriate and one of Bergman's best films in general.
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Jul 12, 2010 11:09
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FitFortDanga posted:Killer's Kiss is decent, but you're not missing much. I've never seen the earlier films, but I've never heard anything good about them. Killer's Kiss has some decent cinematography and there are parts that are actually pretty great in a rough sort of way (the chase across the rooftop and the mannequin fight are the two that stuck with me). Fear And Desire I haven't actually seen all the way through, mostly because the only copy available is the one on Google Video, which looks like someone's applied a neon-edge filter to it. The shorts are okay (he copies most of Day Of The Fight in the opening of Killer's Kiss), but unless you're a completist anything before Killer's Kiss isn't really worth watching.
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Jul 13, 2010 21:22
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Saw Tokyo Story. I wasn't in the right frame of mind, I suppose, to watch it. I did tear up when the grandmother cries at her daughter-in-law's house, but the final act didn't do much for me. However, the fact that this film is a big amazing masterpiece is pretty obvious, and I'd like to revisit it at some point in the future. Ozu has an interesting way with his camera, and I do like how he isn't directly melodramatic. The only issue I really had was that I could hear my boyfriend watching Retsupuraes through the headphones, and I kept having flashbacks to the far more sentimental Make Way For Tomorrow. But it's still a masterpiece and in the future it will probably have a rightful place on my "favorites" shelf. thegloaming, I think you'll enjoy A Clockwork Orange. SHAME! Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Jul 22, 2010 07:39
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Maybe I'll watch all three!
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Jul 22, 2010 09:18
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I think the longer cut is superior.
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Jul 23, 2010 21:38
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modestduty, go watch The Seventh Seal. To copy-paste from my previous Seventh Seal recommendation: The Seventh Seal is actually pretty amusing in places. Don't tackle it like some huge monolithic towering achievement in Scandinavian existentialism. Which it also is, but it's not as somber as a lot of people make it out to be, or as impenetrable, for that matter. So I watched Gone With The Wind, and I was ( ) blown away. I frankly didn't really expect it to be so...modern? It had a really interesting edge that really makes it a lot different than what you'd expect from a 1939 film about a southern belle. For one thing, she's completely ruthless throughout most of the picture, and there are more than a few traces of Richard III in her. Of course, though it's this total ruthlessness that is eventually her downfall, she's not really aided by her bad luck. It just sucks to be her sometimes. It is impressive to watch her battle her way to the top in a very Charles Foster Kane kind of way, and even more impressive that the film is never satisfied to let her be two-dimensional. As much of an epic historical drama Gone With The Wind is, it's also a character study. We see her at her highest and lowest, we see her tell the truth and spin lies, we see her run the full gamut of emotions, and the film builds on what we learn about her character until the final act, which would be preposterous if it hadn't been preceded by three hours of character development.It's also a goddamned gorgeous movie. The Blu-Ray is incredible, making it look at times like a film that could have been shot at any point during the golden age of the Studio (and there are a few scenes that look as if they literally could have been shot yesterday), and in fact if you told me it had been produced in 1969 I wouldn't bat an eye. There are so many absurdly breathtaking moments of cinematography that I can't even sort them out in my mind. The dramatic pull-backs of the characters in front of sunset clouds (are those paintings? they must've been monstrous), the use of silhouette, the moment when Scarlett comes down the red-velvet staircase to find Rhett drunk (the way she comes out of the darkness, and is later carried back up, is incredible), the tremendous crane shot of the hundreds of wounded soldiers (it ends on a tattered-but-flapping Union Jack), on and on. Of course, the sheer fact that it held me on the edge of my seat for four hours is a tribute to how drat fine of a film this is. It's just unbelievable. It may become an annual thing. SKAMMEN! Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why.
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Aug 4, 2010 06:14
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No, I'm just having trouble getting ahold of the Criterion version. I'm anxious to see it, I've heard great things, but I don't want to watch some piece of crap public-domain disc. It looks like the local library's got it, though first I'll have to wade through my old fines; Nroo, recommend me something else, and I'll put Bicycle Thieves on standby. Nroo! Go watch and love Amadeus. As far as I know only the director's cut is available on DVD/BD. Some have said the original cut is better but I've never seen it. It's still a drat fine motion picture. Anyways, I watched Touch Of Evil of my own accord. Welles is kind of a funny director because he's got such an interesting personal touch, but aside from Citizen Kane I don't know a single film of his that came out unscathed. Fortunately, though it didn't do much in a timely fashion, Welles wrote a huge memo detailing what was wrong with the hacked-up version the studio originally released, which allowed for an extensive recobbling in the late nineties. I guess whatever they did worked, because the film I saw was a weird, thrilling masterpiece. I mean, my palms were actually sweating, it was like someone had strapped my eyeballs to the screen. What I think makes it work is the feeling that anything can happen, which makes segments such as Susan's hellish stay at the motel all the more exciting. It's a totally unusual film in almost every aspect. The cinematography is worth a note, too, capturing that ugly dusty 50s vibe that you see in so many bad films from the era, the kind of crummy wallpaper and the old ceiling trim and the curtainless windows, and it's exploited in such a way that a simple location becomes grimy and suspicious (though I suppose the cleanliness of the Bates Motel serves to raise the tension in Psycho). It strikes right through to the ugly heart of the film's complicated (but coherent) narrative. HONTE Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why. STANDBY: Bicycle Thieves (hunting the Criterion disc)
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Aug 4, 2010 07:42
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Hell Diver, go watch McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Well, Ikiru. I liked it, but not without reservations. Maybe it's because I've been a little preoccupied lately (and maybe because today didn't seem to be a great day for movies: loud housemates) but I found my attention wandering. In the first half Kurosawa takes the basic idea of an old bureaucrat suddenly grappling with his meaningless life and stretches it as far as it will go, and it's frankly a little bit wearisome. Then the film jumps to a different track probably halfway through and focuses on a very long, 12-Angry-Men-esque funeral where his coworkers gradually come to realize that he did, in fact, build that park. This half is interesting because there are no ellipses or cuts; Kurosawa follows the conversation's rises and falls and lulls and panics almost unblinkingly, only moving away for flashbacks as the mourners put the pieces together. It's actually pretty interesting, kind of similar to Bergman's longer conversation segments. But it all seemed kind of distant and alien, again probably because I was both preoccupied and distracted, and as a whole it didn't have the emotional impact I was kind of expecting. Actually, I had the same response to Tokyo Story, maybe when I revisit these I won't be all set up for weepiness and then I'll get more out of them. But like Tokyo Story, it's an obvious masterpiece. They make for interesting companions. VERGOGNA! Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why. STANDBY: Bicycle Thieves (hunting the Criterion disc)
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Aug 8, 2010 22:30
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Dang, I wanted to make him watch Casablanca. But I like you, so I'll recommend M Hulot's Holiday. A Criterion Blu-Ray is rumored (and likely) to be arriving soon, but drat, it's just such a charming film anyways. If you're like me and want to hold out for a possible Blu-Ray, then see Blow-Up. Saw The Apartment (while waiting for The French Connection to arrive), liked it a lot with a couple minor quibbles. Mostly I just wish that the characters had been more fleshed out. McClaine's character feels too much like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl whose motivations are shifted according to the whims of the screenwriter. It also doesn't do such a great job of balancing between reality and fantasy. Wilder never seems sure exactly how much of a satire he wants the insurance company to be, exactly how farcical he wants the actual dealings with the apartment itself to be, so on and so forth. However, it was released in 1960, and though these traitorous hallmarks of the era kind of damage the film, it's nevertheless totally sweet and totally well-made and occasionally totally well-written. I can't deny that it's a pretty swell film. SCHANDE! Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why. STANDBY: Bicycle Thieves (hunting the Criterion disc)
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Aug 13, 2010 03:08
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Wow, after this it's just Baraka and Das Boot and I'll have seen my entire original list. I'll feel accomplished. Eventual thanks, internet!
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Aug 13, 2010 06:53
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Hellybunny, go watch Dancer In The Dark. Bicycle Thieves was good. It's my first Italian Neorealist film, I think, and I can see why it was so influential and generally hailed as greatness, but it didn't really light any fires in me. There are some magnificent sequences, though, my favorite being the church scene, which played out almost like something from a Hitchcock film. The actors are all very good, and I particularly liked the kid (he looked familiar, though the internet tells me he went on to be a math teacher), who managed to balance precociousness, actual street-smarts, and a sense of innocence into an interesting little bundle. ΝΤΡΟΠΗ! Magic Hate Ball posted:1) Das Boot - Having just recently had to clean out my old family home, it became really obvious how much my dad loving loved this movie because I came across like four different recorded-from-TV VHS tapes. It's been on my "should see" list for a while but I've just never gotten around to it and I don't know why. STANDBY: The French Connection, The Color Purple
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Aug 22, 2010 03:20
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Bodnoirbabe posted:Just out of curiosity, why is this on standby? Standby as in, I've just sent out the Netflix today and it should be here on Wednesday. Same with Moon and The French Connection (which got lost somehow). Gonna see if I can make a triple-movie day and get them all out of the way in one go.
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Aug 24, 2010 00:19
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Hellbunny posted:Argh, I hate you so much Magic Hate Ball! Dancer in the Dark was soo.... whyyyyyy did she have to diiiiieeeeee!! This was the reaction I'd hoped for.
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Aug 25, 2010 07:12
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I mean yeah, it was pretty obvious but still... gently caress.