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Dmitri Russkie
Feb 13, 2008

bitterandtwisted, Didn't see it, but the movie on your list that most intrigues me is The Man Who Fell To Earth.

Been away a while (Move to a new city), but finally saw Oklahoma. Very enjoyable musical. I don't always go for musicals, but this one was kind of fun. Was surprised how many songs I heard of before. Great singing and dancing.

My List:
Fort Apache - This will be my John Wayne spot for now.

Sideways - My mom disliked this movie, but I'll give it a shot.

Jabberwocky - Following up one Terry Gilliam movie with another.

Our Hospitality - Another Buster Keaton movie.

The Cocoanuts - Working my way through the Marx Brothers movies. This is their first movie.

Castle in the Sky - Need to see some more Studio Ghibli.

Stray Dog - Starting to run out of Kurosawa films. What a great director. OLDEST

Jesus Christ Superstar - I may have heard of this guy.

Die Nibelungen - Interested in seeing another Fritz Lang picture.

To Catch a Thief - More Hitchcock here.

King Creole - A slot here for Elvis, Sinatra, Beatles movies. Starting with one of Elvis'.

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Magic Hate Ball
May 6, 2007

ha ha ha!
you've already paid for this
The Oklahoma movie is cute but god I wish they’d make a film of the dark and anti-colonial current revival. I wanna see that gory-rear end bloody gunshot in glorious CinemaScope.

edit:

Veronika Voss

I've finally identified what bothers me about the Fassbinder films I've seen: they don't have a hook! The hook is that it's Fassbinder, so it has an interesting visual style and you know it'll eventually lead somewhere, and it does, but it's kind of exhausting to spend the first half of a movie paying attention via good will. I also have to say that I still don't really understand the language of Fassbinder. I feel like I know more German than I know Fassbinder - this is the fourth film of his I've seen, and he still refuses to cohere in my hands. Why?

On the other hand, this is a pretty tasty noir. Fassbinder shoots it in gorgeous, high-key monochrome, emulating the films Voss once starred in and the films Voss is based on, but giving it a kind of violent clarity. One great effect is the insanely bright white offices of the main villain (who peddles morphine), contrasting aggressively with the conflicted, murky settings throughout the rest of the film. What does she have to offer? She grips ultimate control, wields it fiercely over her subjects, both a demon and an angel. Hell and heaven become the same, and the rest of the world is purgatory.

The weirdly shifting nature of the characters and story is both appealing and, strangely, offputting. I feel like Fassbinder was purposefully agitating, pushing his audiences away and giving them only displeasure, which I'm entirely for. They, the characters, are all drawn straight from typical noir melodrama tropes, but for some reason they seem compellingly original. I paid attention to them because they kept giving me new things - the girlfriend who assists her boyfriend in sleuthing his new fling, or the strange elderly couple with the Treblinka tattoos. The film does the same, eventually accruing enough tokens of interest to properly develop a surreal, blistering third act.

Maddeningly, it almost seems like it would be best seen after having already seen it, but it's hard to consider returning to, considering how clinically devastating it is. And the worst part - everything I'm writing here seems to be thematically relevant. I feel like Fassbinder is taunting me. The old couple take their sleeping pills with honey and tea, because they want to go out to something sweet, and yet the movie bitterly kicks you to the curb. And your whole life, really, is best enjoyed knowing where it goes, but does it have to end like that? Did his?

I have to go lie down.

9/10

shamezone

1) L'Eclisse - discontent movie
2) Ivan's Childhood - war kids
3) God's Country - louis malle documentary
4) Othello - shakespeare movie (welles)
5) The Tree of Wooden Clogs - mike leigh's favorite
6) Ran - da doo ran ran
7) Salesman - real movie
8) Journey to Italy - TSPDT 1000
9) Alexander Nevsky - ice movie
10) The Hidden Fortress - meesa like kurosawa

[full list] Floating Weeds 9/10, Daisies 8/10, Stray Dog 8/10, Victim 6/10, Man Bites Dog 9/10, Night and Fog 10/10, Weekend 8/10, Jubilee 10/10, Sans Soleil 10/10, Candidate 8/10, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 10/10, The Freshman 5/10, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers 10/10, Branded to Kill 8/10, In Heaven There Is No Beer? 10/10, Blood Simple 10/10, The Marriage of Maria Braun 7/10, A Day In The Country 7/10, A Brief History of Time 10/10, Gates of Heaven 10/10, The Thin Blue Line 10/10, The Fog of War 10/10, My Beautiful Laundrette 10/10, Blind Chance 8/10, My Winnipeg 10/10, The River 7/10, Odd Man Out 8/10, The Passion of Anna 9/10, Brute Force 10/10, The Rite 5/10, The Piano Teacher 10/10, Ashes and Diamonds 7/10, Meantime 9/10, Carnival of Souls 8/10, La Notte 10/10, Frances Ha 10/10, L'avventura, Again 10/10, A Room With a View 9/10, Laura 8/10, Marjorie Prime 10/10, Ex Machina 8/10, Tampopo 10/10, Pickpocket 4/10, Harlan County USA 10/10, The Spirit of the Beehive 10/10, Heaven's Gate 4/10, A Short Film About Killing 9/10, The Pillow Book 6/10, Desert Hearts 9/10, Alice in the Cities 10/10, Yi Yi 10/10, Rififi 9/10, Children of Paradise 10/10, A Poem is a Naked Person 8/10, Late Autumn 8/10, Chimes at Midnight 10/10 Watership Down 9/10, Ugetsu 9/10, Veronika Voss 9/10 (total: 160)

Dmitri Russkie gets Castle in the Sky

Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Jun 26, 2019

Magic Hate Ball
May 6, 2007

ha ha ha!
you've already paid for this
edit: i dumbed here

Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Jun 26, 2019

DeimosRising
Oct 17, 2005

¡Hola SEA!


Magic Hate Ball posted:

edit: i dumbed here

I really like the way you write your reviews :)

Magic Hate Ball
May 6, 2007

ha ha ha!
you've already paid for this
Thanks! I’m really just trying to collect my thoughts into one semi-coherent unit, which also helps me to better understand the movie. It’s good brainular exercise.

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




I haven't seen this, but I keep meaning to.

quote:

10) The Hidden Fortress - meesa like kurosawa

The Man Who Fell to Earth

You get to see David Bowie's penis.

Newton (Bowie) is an alien looking to transport water from Earth to his drought ridden world. He crashes in a lake, apparently on purpose? It doesn't seem his transport method was reusable so he has to build a new ship on earth, which he does by building up a business empire by patenting alien tech.

It's more about the characters than the plot and Bowie is perfect for this otherworldly, brilliant but naive and vulnerable being. He gets sidetracked by the many distractions and vices Earth has to offer. He falls in love, he watches TV, he switches from water to booze.
Newton's girlfriend, Mary-Lou, is the other major character and they make a charming pair at first, but as Newton drifts into ennui, they fall apart.

It's slow, thoughtful and beautiful to look at. Unlike Rip Torn's penis, which you also get to see.



My List:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Andhadhun Really unfamiliar with Indian cinema in general

2) (comedy) The Seven Year Itch It has that iconic shot of Marilyn's dress being blown upwards

3) (animation) Grave of the Fireflies Ghibli's not let me down so far

4) (Academy Award winner) Wings The first winner

5) (foreign language) The Lives of Others It's very highly regarded

6) (Monster) Critters Best known of the Gremlins knockoffs

7) (Horror) Candyman Heard good things about it

8) (sci fi/fantasy) The Dark Crystal dark muppet movie

9) (epic) Dr Zhivago Just very famous

10) (wildcard) Quardophenia mods vs rockers

Watched (68): Taxi Driver; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Iron Giant; Platoon; American History X; City Lights; My Neighbour Totoro; Rashomon; Duck Soup; Friday 13th (1980); Birdman; Frankenstein (1931); Time Bandits; Carrie (1976); King Kong (1933); Das Boot; The Blair Witch Project (1999); The Sting; Annie Hall; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Godzilla (1954); Bicycle Thieves; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); The English Patient; Scanners; Forbidden Planet; Deliverance; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Life is Beautiful; Minority Report; Rosemary's Baby; On the Waterfront; Solaris (1972); Driving Miss Daisy; Eraserhead; M (1931); This is Spinal Tap; Death Race 2000; The Producers (1967); Martin; Easy Rider; Office Space; Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Kid; Freaks (1932); The Abyss; Ben Hur (1959); Poltergeist (1982); Escape from New York; Once Upon a Time in America; Phantasm; Dracula (1958); Videodrome; Slumdog Millionaire; The Blob (1958); The Blob (1988); My Fair Lady; Avengers: Infinity War; Cinema Paradiso; 8 1/2; The Lord of the Rings (1978); Logan's Run; Willow; Misery; Bringing up Baby; Aguirre, The Wrath of God; The Man Who Fell to Earth

Samuel Clemens
Oct 4, 2013

I think we should call the Avengers.

Magic Hate Ball posted:

I also have to say that I still don't really understand the language of Fassbinder. I feel like I know more German than I know Fassbinder - this is the fourth film of his I've seen, and he still refuses to cohere in my hands. Why?

How do you feel about Bertolt Brecht?

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

bitterandtwisted posted:

7) (Horror) Candyman Heard good things about it

"Be my victim. Be my victim."



The Living Daylights - This one takes place in locales such as Czechoslovakia, Austria and Afghanistan. It's so action-packed and things aren't quite what they seem as Bond starts off with a short-lived sniper duel.

I liked the aesthetic and sequences such as the villain using exploding milk bottles. It was slightly predictable but thankfully the villains were dopey conmen and military nuts rather than the typical Bond fare (insane and over-the-top caricatures).

Alliances change and like Rambo III (1988) it kind of lionizes the mujahideen.


The Living Daylights took a long time to arrive so I watched a couple of others as well:

The Crowd - I thought this would mainly be about working life in NYC but it's a lot like other 1920s silents in its portrayal of domestic life. With many films from this era you can tell The Great Depression is right around the corner. So many struggling to make ends meet and in the desperate search of money.

The main character goes through a few tragedies before falling in love and becoming entrapped in all of marriages ills. Tiresome domestic arguments and the predictable reconciliations etc. A $500 prize leads to a shocking truck accident as our lead character deteriorates in his work on ledgers and spirals into giving up on work and life: "The crowd laughs with you always...but it will cry with you for only a day."

Like most it goes dark but then light by the finale.


Anand - It confronts topics such as unethical doctors, mortality, cancer, terminal cancer, sickness and how people seek solace in various religions. But the character of Anand is what makes this one memorable. One of those outside of the box free spirits that cannot be stopped. He's a matchmaker and jokester determined to touch the lives of those around him and change them for the better.

Ultimately, Anand ascribes to a fatalistic viewpoint is his final recorded message: "Babu Moshai, we are mere puppets in the game of life and death. Whatever happens here, we do not know for it is all in the hands of the Almighty."

I was reminded at times of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003).




James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (97/100 completed):

new #39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#83 Tabu: A Story of the South Seas - An island adventure. 10/20/18

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (6 completed):

#2 Dog Star Man - Seems like it might be time to watch this one. 3/28/19

#4 Frost/Nixon - A best picture nominee I keep forgetting to watch. 4/13/19

#7 Summer with Monika - I feel like I've seen thirty Bergman films but there are still other acclaimed ones I've missed. 5/11/19

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

I had an okay time doing BBCs 100 Greatest American Films so I'll try this new category.

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (81/100 completed):

new #18 A City of Sadness - Highly rated but seemingly underviewed. 7/5/19

new #54 Eat Drink Man Woman - An early Ang Lee film. 7/5/19

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




RND:

Zogo posted:

new #18 A City of Sadness - Highly rated but seemingly underviewed. 7/5/19

Candyman

Contemporary folklore of a guy with a hook for a hand.

The class/race divide is a big feature, with these middle class academics being basically poverty tourists as they conduct their research.
The film makes a point of showing Helen's nice apartment is identical to the slum apartments as they were both originally social housing, only Helen's area got gentrified. I've read that the real location of the slums have since themselves become gentrified, which could make the upcoming Jordan Peele sequel interesting.

I normally hate it when a horror movie ends with the monster going "boo!" before the credits, but it worked here. It was setup well ahead of time with the Candyman's talk of immortality and legends and it's clear what's going to happen by the time Helen's name is said the second time. It was a proper ending, not a lazy jumpscare or sequel hook.

Love the Philip Glass score

Also saw:
The Dark Crystal

Young elf-boy has to restore balance to the world.

The plot's a little thin, but the characters are engaging and it's an interesting world they inhabit.

Absolutely loved the creature designs. The Skeksis are especially impressive and each one is distinctive.
I think this is the only Henson thing I've seen with no humans at all (though there are wideshots of Jen walking that's clearly a person). I liked that - paradoxically, it made the world feel more real, as everything you see is consistently fantastical rather than some things being puppets and some real humans/animals.

Timed this one well, as I found out a new all-star Netflix show is out next month (which I guess is why the film has been just been added)



My List:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Andhadhun Really unfamiliar with Indian cinema in general

2) (comedy) The Seven Year Itch It has that iconic shot of Marilyn's dress being blown upwards

3) (animation) Grave of the Fireflies Ghibli's not let me down so far

4) (Academy Award winner) Wings The first winner

5) (foreign language) The Lives of Others It's very highly regarded

6) (Monster) Critters Best known of the Gremlins knockoffs

7) (Horror) Any Giallo Not seen any*

8) (sci fi/fantasy) Tron Iconic visuals

9) (epic) Dr Zhivago Just very famous

10) (wildcard) Quardophenia mods vs rockers

Watched (70): Taxi Driver; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Iron Giant; Platoon; American History X; City Lights; My Neighbour Totoro; Rashomon; Duck Soup; Friday 13th (1980); Birdman; Frankenstein (1931); Time Bandits; Carrie (1976); King Kong (1933); Das Boot; The Blair Witch Project (1999); The Sting; Annie Hall; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Godzilla (1954); Bicycle Thieves; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); The English Patient; Scanners; Forbidden Planet; Deliverance; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Life is Beautiful; Minority Report; Rosemary's Baby; On the Waterfront; Solaris (1972); Driving Miss Daisy; Eraserhead; M (1931); This is Spinal Tap; Death Race 2000; The Producers (1967); Martin; Easy Rider; Office Space; Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Kid; Freaks (1932); The Abyss; Ben Hur (1959); Poltergeist (1982); Escape from New York; Once Upon a Time in America; Phantasm; Dracula (1958); Videodrome; Slumdog Millionaire; The Blob (1958); The Blob (1988); My Fair Lady; Avengers: Infinity War; Cinema Paradiso; 8 1/2; The Lord of the Rings (1978); Logan's Run; Willow; Misery; Bringing up Baby; Aguirre, The Wrath of God; The Man Who Fell to Earth; Candyman; The Dark Crystal


*Seen Suspiria. Not sure it's considered a Giallo.

York_M_Chan
Sep 11, 2003

bitterandtwisted posted:


8) (sci fi/fantasy) Tron Iconic visuals

I also just watched Tron, so there you go.

I finally saw The Best Years Of Our Lives which I did not care for but it did have some really heartfelt performances. I also saw Dunkirk since I last posted and it was fine.

From the IMDB Top 250: Once Upon a Time in America 1984
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Wiki: Les Vampires (1915)
From the Janus Arthouse Essential Collection: Umberto D. (1952)
In memoriam, From Roger Ebert's Top Films of All Time List: Notorious (1946)
Best Movies of All Time based on the Tomatometer (sigh) Score: Dunkirk Lady Bird (2017)
AFI 100 Years 100 Movies (2007 updated list): The Best Years Of Our Lives Shane (1953)
List of films considered the best, Wikipedia: Cross of Iron (1977)
The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, NY Times: A Nous la Liberte (1932)
Best 100 Movies Ever Made, TIME Magazine: Nayakan (1987)
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: Manhattan (1979)

Completed Assignments: Mad Max, The Conversation, Tombstone, Diabolique, The Last Picture Show, Fanny and Alexander, Dawn of the Dead, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Bridge on the River Kwai, Robot & Frank, 12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, City Lights, Spartacus, La Règle du Jeu, Gravity, Mud, Aguirre, Wrath of God, Andrei Rublev, Captain Phillips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The King of Marvin Gardens, Once Upon a Time in the West, Still Walking, Come and See, Tokyo Story, The Intouchables, All About Eve, The Lives Of Others, L' Avventura, Paths Of Glory, Floating Weeds, High Noon, Jailhouse Rock, Gates of Heaven, Repulsion, A Matter of Life and Death, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Dunkirk

Magic Hate Ball
May 6, 2007

ha ha ha!
you've already paid for this
The Hidden Fortress

I thought this was fine! Sometimes I feel guilty for not liking something as much as I want to, but I also don't have to like everything. My tolerance for bumbling peasants is fairly low, and much of the first hour of the film, though dotted with spectacle (that staircase scene!), is kind of repetitive and a little bit sparse. It isn't until the princess arrives that things start to pull together, and once they begin trekking with their hidden gold (the gold is, somehow, embedded in hundreds of pieces of wood) it becomes quite suspenseful. I particularly liked the various arrangements of characters, and the majority of the second act is divided into neat, satisfying vignettes that continuously and quietly up the ante while doling out novel little pieces of character. In one sequence, to cross an enemy border, Makabe (Mifune), carrying dozens of pieces of gold hidden in plain sight on his back, sacrifices a single piece to the border guard, saying he found it in the mountains - the gold everyone's looking for. The border guards go crazy, and, to get the others past, Makabe makes a fuss about getting his single gold piece back. It's satisfying and clever!

It's also hard to watch this movie without constantly thinking of Star Wars and, by extension, most modern blockbusters. There's a certain somethingness to movies like The Hidden Fortress, and I think a big part of that is the inventiveness, but also the willingness to present things that are truly grim and a little bit discomforting. In the opening sequence, the main characters are taken prisoner and dumped into a hole in the basement of a castle and told to dig in the walls until they pass out, in search of the gold said to be buried there. Kurosawa presents this scene in all its ugliness, and you get a sense of how crushing it was then to be trapped as a peasant in wartime. Elsewhere, characters are dirty, dusty, sweaty, scarred - their physical and mental toiling is depicted unflinchingly, which adds weight to the ideal of escape that the gold represents. You feel just as worn as they do, and you really have a sense of wanting them to get it across the border. I love that ugliness.

I don't have a huge amount to say about this one. It drags in places, but it's fun to see such a physically big-scale movie. All those people, the big fires, the buildings and the mud and the mountains are all there! The anti-war and anti-greed themes are nicely played, down to the cute punch-line ending, and the situations feel consistently fresh. It remains novel, which is an achievement for having inspired the movie that went on to crush the industry.

7/10

shamezone

1) L'Eclisse - discontent movie
2) Ivan's Childhood - war kids
3) God's Country - louis malle documentary
4) Othello - shakespeare movie (welles)
5) The Tree of Wooden Clogs - mike leigh's favorite
6) Ran - da doo ran ran
7) Salesman - real movie
8) Journey to Italy - TSPDT 1000
9) Alexander Nevsky - ice movie
10) The Tin Drum - screaming movie

[full list] Floating Weeds 9/10, Daisies 8/10, Stray Dog 8/10, Victim 6/10, Man Bites Dog 9/10, Night and Fog 10/10, Weekend 8/10, Jubilee 10/10, Sans Soleil 10/10, Candidate 8/10, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 10/10, The Freshman 5/10, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers 10/10, Branded to Kill 8/10, In Heaven There Is No Beer? 10/10, Blood Simple 10/10, The Marriage of Maria Braun 7/10, A Day In The Country 7/10, A Brief History of Time 10/10, Gates of Heaven 10/10, The Thin Blue Line 10/10, The Fog of War 10/10, My Beautiful Laundrette 10/10, Blind Chance 8/10, My Winnipeg 10/10, The River 7/10, Odd Man Out 8/10, The Passion of Anna 9/10, Brute Force 10/10, The Rite 5/10, The Piano Teacher 10/10, Ashes and Diamonds 7/10, Meantime 9/10, Carnival of Souls 8/10, La Notte 10/10, Frances Ha 10/10, L'avventura, Again 10/10, A Room With a View 9/10, Laura 8/10, Marjorie Prime 10/10, Ex Machina 8/10, Tampopo 10/10, Pickpocket 4/10, Harlan County USA 10/10, The Spirit of the Beehive 10/10, Heaven's Gate 4/10, A Short Film About Killing 9/10, The Pillow Book 6/10, Desert Hearts 9/10, Alice in the Cities 10/10, Yi Yi 10/10, Rififi 9/10, Children of Paradise 10/10, A Poem is a Naked Person 8/10, Late Autumn 8/10, Chimes at Midnight 10/10 Watership Down 9/10, Ugetsu 9/10, Veronika Voss 9/10, The Hidden Fortress 7/10 (total: 161)

York_M_Chan gets Once Upon A Time In America

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

Magic Hate Ball posted:

6) Ran - da doo ran ran

"In a mad world only the mad are sane."




A City of Sadness - It's 1945 in Taiwan and things are dire. Taiwan should be celebrating that the Japanese imperialists have surrendered and been booted out but the fearsome Chinese overlords make a quick return and impose their own set of rules. The aftershocks of WWII lead to tensions and the subsequent power vacuum leads to unintended consequences. Characters remark that people can now use the Japanese flag as a diaper but it's not much of a consolation.

Four brothers have issues: one is deaf, one is missing (probably dead), one is mentally ill and one is hotheaded. They go through familiar economic problems and vent their frustrations and gripes with the mainlanders. Some see an opportunity to make money through smuggling.

It's sorrowful as the Taiwanese are squashed like bugs by the KMT. Chinese soldiers are intrusive and carry out executions as martial law is imposed. Other characters go through vicious beatdowns via clubs and sticks and also endure knife fights.

Overall it's more atmospheric than explicitly political as things like funerals and weddings are shown more than things like political rallies. It's versatile in its variety of camera shot types. Scenes are often broken up by long shots of landscapes. Those shots reminded me of Breaking the Waves (1996).


Also watched:

Eat Drink Man Woman - This one is of a high quality. Food is so front and center that it feels like one is watching a chef perform on a cooking show at points. The sumptuous meals make me wish I had the power of The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and could grab a bite of Uncle Chu's cooking.

Some of the shots taking place at the school and in the city are awesomely scenic and immersive. It may seem out of left field but the intersecting worlds of the characters and the life changes they go through reminded me of Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). There's less comedy but so many surprises and chaotic twists (but still plausible ones).

I also liked the concept of a chef being in a war zone (figuratively).


Frost/Nixon - David Frost (Michael Sheen) engages in an adversarial battle of wits against Nixon. Seeing Frank Langella play the larger-than-life Nixon is simply movie magic. His paranoia, his disgust and many other traits come through. It's so funny when he's later magnanimous to David Frost. It's an ensemble of great acting and I'm amazed Langella did not win an Academy Award for this. Frank Langella could run for POTUS and debate as Nixon in the present day and get a lot of votes I bet.

The important thing is that Ron Howard doesn't take things too far and portray him as being one-dimensional. In contrast, Oliver Stone lampooned and pigeonholed GWB and his inner circle so hard in W. (2008) that it became self-defeating. The aspect of the immortal political duopoly also comes through. The familiar and neverending detestation of Rs and Ds and liberals and conservatives raging at each other leads to humor.

The editing at times seems a little too fast but it's a small complaint. I wish all biopics were this good. It's too bad they haven't made a film like this for Trump and Clinton and many other presidents.

I've seen some of the actual interviews from 1977 and the ability of Nixon to argue is amazing. After a few hours he twists things around so much that it makes breaking the law seem like the sensible thing to do.



James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (97/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#83 Tabu: A Story of the South Seas - An island adventure. 10/20/18

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (7 completed):

#2 Dog Star Man - Seems like it might be time to watch this one. 3/28/19

#7 Summer with Monika - I feel like I've seen thirty Bergman films but there are still other acclaimed ones I've missed. 5/11/19

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

new #12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (83/100 completed):

new #43 Good Work AKA Beau Travail - Something about the military. 7/17/19

new #85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

York_M_Chan
Sep 11, 2003

Zogo posted:


#83 Tabu: A Story of the South Seas - An island adventure. 10/20/18


There ya go.

I was so excited to watch Once Upon a Time in America and it ended up being one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It was shamelessly self-indulgent, way too long, and just a poor mimic of a dozen other movies that came before it. Awash in sacrine nostalgia and bloated flashbacks. The characters were so stiff the blocking literally felt like I was watching a Muppet movie. I have liked every Sergio Leone movie I have seen but this movie angered me for forcing me to sit for almost 4 hours with this garbage. I was done with this movie before the kids even grew up. Tonino Delli Colli's cinematography is pretty great though.

From the IMDB Top 250: Once Upon a Time in America Andhadhun (2018)
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Wiki: Les Vampires (1915)
From the Janus Arthouse Essential Collection: Umberto D. (1952)
In memoriam, From Roger Ebert's Top Films of All Time List: Notorious (1946)
Best Movies of All Time based on the Tomatometer (sigh) Score: Lady Bird (2017)
AFI 100 Years 100 Movies (2007 updated list): Shane (1953)
List of films considered the best, Wikipedia: Cross of Iron (1977)
The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, NY Times: A Nous la Liberte (1932)
Best 100 Movies Ever Made, TIME Magazine: Nayakan (1987)
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: Manhattan (1979)

Completed Assignments: Mad Max, The Conversation, Tombstone, Diabolique, The Last Picture Show, Fanny and Alexander, Dawn of the Dead, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Bridge on the River Kwai, Robot & Frank, 12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, City Lights, Spartacus, La Règle du Jeu, Gravity, Mud, Aguirre, Wrath of God, Andrei Rublev, Captain Phillips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The King of Marvin Gardens, Once Upon a Time in the West, Still Walking, Come and See, Tokyo Story, The Intouchables, All About Eve, The Lives Of Others, L' Avventura, Paths Of Glory, Floating Weeds, High Noon, Jailhouse Rock, Gates of Heaven, Repulsion, A Matter of Life and Death, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Dunkirk, Once Upon A Time In America

York_M_Chan fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Jul 18, 2019

DeimosRising
Oct 17, 2005

¡Hola SEA!


What’s wrong with muppet movies

York_M_Chan
Sep 11, 2003

DeimosRising posted:

What’s wrong with muppet movies

Good point, absolutely nothing.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

York_M_Chan posted:

I was so excited to watch Once Upon a Time in America and it ended up being one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It was shamelessly self-indulgent, way too long, and just a poor mimic of a dozen other movies that came before it. Awash in sacrine nostalgia and bloated flashbacks. The characters were so stiff the blocking literally felt like I was watching a Muppet movie. I have liked every Sergio Leone movie I have seen but this movie angered me for forcing me to sit for almost 4 hours with this garbage. I was done with this movie before the kids even grew up. Tonino Delli Colli's cinematography is pretty great though.

I'm a HUGE Leone fan and it pains me to say that I agree with you(although "worst movie I've ever seen" would be a stretch), I've never been able to "get" Once Upon A Time in America. People talk about it as one of his unquestioned masterpieces and I just don't see it. Like you said, the cinematography is top notch but literally everything else is lacking imo(mostly the story and the acting). And I've watched it twice to try to see if maybe it would hit me differently the second time but nope.

York_M_Chan
Sep 11, 2003

Basebf555 posted:

I'm a HUGE Leone fan and it pains me to say that I agree with you(although "worst movie I've ever seen" would be a stretch), I've never been able to "get" Once Upon A Time in America. People talk about it as one of his unquestioned masterpieces and I just don't see it. Like you said, the cinematography is top notch but literally everything else is lacking imo(mostly the story and the acting). And I've watched it twice to try to see if maybe it would hit me differently the second time but nope.

Yeah I was being hyperbolic, which I try to avoid. I think it was my swing from what I was expecting to what I got. So maybe one of the biggest film disappointments is what I should have said.

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

York_M_Chan posted:

List of films considered the best, Wikipedia: Cross of Iron (1977)

"I will show you where the Iron Crosses grow."




Tabu: A Story of the South Seas - The first striking thing about this one is that the aspect ratio is 1.2:1 (nearly a perfect square). We follow Polynesians as they play in the water and do daily life things like canoeing and spearfishing.

It's an archetypal story where a girl is selected to remain a virgin and go untouched. Kind of like the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome (as one example). Naturally the boyfriend doesn't take kindly to this turn of events. So they run off and transgress against the customs and mores of their culture. Reri feels guilt in breaking the rules and she hallucinates and continually sees Hitu the stern old man appearing. Because they've transgressed everyone faces the prospect of being cursed.

The rest of the film deals with their entwined fate as they hunt for pearls (and try to avoid sharks) to get money to continue to run away. It's a surprisingly bleak ending (like many others from the Notebooks on Cinema list).

This was F.W. Murnau's last film made before his deadly car crash. Surely with his resume he would've continued to make other memorable features.


Also watched:

Good Work - In a general sense every film is different but when you've seen thousands of films it gets harder and harder to use terms like "original" or "unique" while being completely explicit. But the presentation in this one does feel that way both visually and topically.

Operatic music plays as Legionnaires chew qat, run drills, toil with pickaxes, play chess, do laundry et al. in the midst of desolate Djiboutian salt flats and beautiful waterscapes. Their training exercises reminded me of Elite Squad (2007) and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010).

Definitely has vibes of David Lynch and Terrence Malick which makes for an uncommon mixture. Also, the injection of a handful of dance club sequences gives it an interesting aesthetic. I wish more films felt as fresh and unpredictable as this one did.



James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (98/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (7 completed):

#2 Dog Star Man - Seems like it might be time to watch this one. 3/28/19

#7 Summer with Monika - I feel like I've seen thirty Bergman films but there are still other acclaimed ones I've missed. 5/11/19

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

#12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

new #13 Weekend at Bernie's II - Put the lime in the coconut. 7/28/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (84/100 completed):

new #80 The Young and the Damned - There are still many Luis Bunuel films I mean to see. 7/28/19

#85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

York_M_Chan
Sep 11, 2003

Zogo posted:

#2 Dog Star Man - Seems like it might be time to watch this one. 3/28/19

There you go.

I was assigned Cross of Iron and aside from James Coburn's performance and a few specific scenes this was an ultimately forgettable film. I went back and looked at the list it was on and it isn't on there anymore.

From the IMDB Top 250: Andhadhun (2018)
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Wiki: Les Vampires (1915)
From the Janus Arthouse Essential Collection: Umberto D. (1952)
In memoriam, From Roger Ebert's Top Films of All Time List: Notorious (1946)
Best Movies of All Time based on the Tomatometer (sigh) Score: Lady Bird (2017)
AFI 100 Years 100 Movies (2007 updated list): Shane (1953)
List of films considered the best, Wikipedia: Cross of Iron Shiri (1999)
The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, NY Times: A Nous la Liberte (1932)
Best 100 Movies Ever Made, TIME Magazine: Nayakan (1987)
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: Manhattan (1979)

Completed Assignments: Mad Max, The Conversation, Tombstone, Diabolique, The Last Picture Show, Fanny and Alexander, Dawn of the Dead, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Bridge on the River Kwai, Robot & Frank, 12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, City Lights, Spartacus, La Règle du Jeu, Gravity, Mud, Aguirre, Wrath of God, Andrei Rublev, Captain Phillips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The King of Marvin Gardens, Once Upon a Time in the West, Still Walking, Come and See, Tokyo Story, The Intouchables, All About Eve, The Lives Of Others, L' Avventura, Paths Of Glory, Floating Weeds, High Noon, Jailhouse Rock, Gates of Heaven, Repulsion, A Matter of Life and Death, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Dunkirk, Once Upon A Time In America, Cross of Iron

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

York_M_Chan posted:

The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: Manhattan (1979)

"This is so antiseptic. It's empty. Why do you think this is funny? You're going by audience reaction? This is an audience that's raised on television, their standards have been systematically lowered over the years. These guys sit in front of their sets and the gamma rays eat the white cells of their brains out!"




Dog Star Man - Another unconventional and unpredictable film and this one doesn't have sound either. Lots of different images are spliced, distorted and superimposed together. Things like traffic lights, sunspots/coronas on the Sun itself, internal organs with blood pumping. The color red is probably the dominant color throughout.

It has a cosmic feel to it as it shows things both celestially large and organelles seemingly at the cellular level. And things in between such as the birth of a baby, a woman showering and a woodsman hiking and stumbling with his double-axe through the snow with his dog. So broadly all the stuff shown is natural and normal but its presentation makes it somewhat alien almost as if visualizing and looking into someone's psychological id.

At times it's kind of an enigmatic guessing game.



James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (98/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (8 completed):

#7 Summer with Monika - I feel like I've seen thirty Bergman films but there are still other acclaimed ones I've missed. 5/11/19

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

#12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

#13 Weekend at Bernie's II - Put the lime in the coconut. 7/28/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (84/100 completed):

new #51 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - This one keeps ending up on the back-burner. 8/5/19

#80 The Young and the Damned - There are still many Luis Bunuel films I mean to see. 7/28/19

#85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

York_M_Chan
Sep 11, 2003

Zogo posted:

new #51 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - This one keeps ending up on the back-burner. 8/5/19

Looks like it just you and me left, Zogo. I hope you like Umbrellas.

I saw Manhattan and it was one of the most beautifully shot films I have ever seen. Other then that, I absolutely hated it. It's main theme is literally that it is ok for a 40 something man to prey on a 17 year old girl as long as he actually loves her. Which, since he really only goes back to her after being rejected by Mary, I don' t believe he even does. Every time I felt this movie was about to become self-aware - that Allen's character is terrified of strong women and that's why he is dating teenagers - it doesn't at all. Even without the Allen baggage it is insanely problematic.

From the IMDB Top 250: Andhadhun (2018)
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Wiki: Les Vampires (1915)
From the Janus Arthouse Essential Collection: Umberto D. (1952)
In memoriam, From Roger Ebert's Top Films of All Time List: Notorious (1946)
Best Movies of All Time based on the Tomatometer (sigh) Score: Lady Bird (2017)
AFI 100 Years 100 Movies (2007 updated list): Shane (1953)
List of films considered the best, Wikipedia: Shiri (1999)
The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, NY Times: A Nous la Liberte (1932)
Best 100 Movies Ever Made, TIME Magazine: Nayakan (1987)
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: Manhattan The Wicker Man (1973)

Completed Assignments: Mad Max, The Conversation, Tombstone, Diabolique, The Last Picture Show, Fanny and Alexander, Dawn of the Dead, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Bridge on the River Kwai, Robot & Frank, 12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, City Lights, Spartacus, La Règle du Jeu, Gravity, Mud, Aguirre, Wrath of God, Andrei Rublev, Captain Phillips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The King of Marvin Gardens, Once Upon a Time in the West, Still Walking, Come and See, Tokyo Story, The Intouchables, All About Eve, The Lives Of Others, L' Avventura, Paths Of Glory, Floating Weeds, High Noon, Jailhouse Rock, Gates of Heaven, Repulsion, A Matter of Life and Death, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Dunkirk, Once Upon A Time In America, Cross of Iron, Manhattan

York_M_Chan fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Aug 12, 2019

Dmitri Russkie
Feb 13, 2008

York_M_Chan, see Shane.

Just saw Castle in the Sky. Early Studio Ghibli movie. Good soundtrack. Great visuals. Interesting characters. Kids were fun. With all that though, maybe I've just seen too many Studio Ghibli movies in this thread. Just seemed kind of average. Very transparent bad guy, and very predictable.

My List:
Fort Apache - This will be my John Wayne spot for now.

Sideways - My mom disliked this movie, but I'll give it a shot.

Jabberwocky - Following up one Terry Gilliam movie with another.

Our Hospitality - Another Buster Keaton movie.

The Cocoanuts - Working my way through the Marx Brothers movies. This is their first movie.

Transformers: The Movie - Taking a break from Studio Ghibli. Not the Michael Bay movies. The animated movie from the 80's. NEWEST

Stray Dog - Starting to run out of Kurosawa films. What a great director. OLDEST

Jesus Christ Superstar - I may have heard of this guy.

Die Nibelungen - Interested in seeing another Fritz Lang picture.

To Catch a Thief - More Hitchcock here.

King Creole - A slot here for Elvis, Sinatra, Beatles movies. Starting with one of Elvis'.

Dmitri Russkie fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Aug 17, 2019

SidneyIsTheKiller
Jul 16, 2019

I did fall asleep reading a particularly erotic chapter
in my grandmother's journal.

She wrote very detailed descriptions of her experiences...
Hey, shamless plug here but I feel like I have a relevant thread going in GBS about watching The Godfather movies for the first time. I'm watching Part III as I type this!

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3896228

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

Dmitri Russkie posted:

Jesus Christ Superstar - I may have heard of this guy.

"I remember when this whole thing began; no talk of God then, we called you a man! And, believe me, my admiration for you hasn't died. But every word you say today gets twisted round some other way; and they'll hurt you if they think you've lied!"



The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - This is a loose sequel to Lola (1961) and it features some classic European sorrow and wallowing over anomie and fractured relations in late 1950s France. It's unique for its singsong presentation coupled with overbearing and infatuated love that's mingled with sadness.

It's the familiar war/love story where a guy (named Guy) goes off to war and is abandoned by his lover. Despite being pregnant Genevieve does not wait for his return. As she's in a catch-22 situation she chooses financial security over true love. When the second part of the film came along I was interested to see the soldiers singing in Algeria while guns and grenades were going off but they never even showed Algeria.


James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (98/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (8 completed):

#7 Summer with Monika - I feel like I've seen thirty Bergman films but there are still other acclaimed ones I've missed. 5/11/19

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

#12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

#13 Weekend at Bernie's II - Put the lime in the coconut. 7/28/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (85/100 completed):

new #69 Love AKA Amour - I remember this one getting a lot of talk back in 2012 but I forgot to watch it. 8/17/19

#80 The Young and the Damned - There are still many Luis Bunuel films I mean to see. 7/28/19

#85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
Zogo see #69 Love AKA Amour. i havent seen any of the films on your list btw



MY LIST:

Bicycle Thieves
Tokyo story
400 Blows
Schindler's List
Notorious
High and Low
Spartacus
Inception

unshamed: ben hur, 2001, Ikiru, 7th seal, gone with the wind

reposting my list from 5 years ago :smugdon:

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

Slaapaav posted:

Schindler's List

"It will take more than that."



Love - Many scenes feature the old couple (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) doing things like chatting and eating. These moments are subdued, understated and mundane.

After multiple strokes Anne descends into a disturbing downward spiral. It's difficult acting for someone to accurately portray this. The dying process is the last part of living. For some it's instantaneous and for others they must go through years of pain. As death nears parts of the body give out and the body becomes like a flickering light bulb. Confusion, incontinence, weakness, delirium et al. So she's tired of living.

The couple demonstrates true love rather than the more common dumb and fleeting lust and passion that's much easier to find e.g. lots of people will dump their spouse into a nursing home the instant they need real caregiving. We're also shown scenes of authentic grief and bereavement in the midst of family arguments.

It doesn't happen often but the ratings reason box spoiled the ending. It goes back to Bringing Out the Dead (1999).




James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (98/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (8 completed):

#7 Summer with Monika - I feel like I've seen thirty Bergman films but there are still other acclaimed ones I've missed. 5/11/19

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

#12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

#13 Weekend at Bernie's II - Put the lime in the coconut. 7/28/19

new #14 Superman II - I keep forgetting to watch this one. 9/1/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (86/100 completed):

#80 The Young and the Damned - There are still many Luis Bunuel films I mean to see. 7/28/19

#85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




Zogo, I've not seen this in forever

quote:

new #14 Superman II - I keep forgetting to watch this one. 9/1/19



Tron

Computer programs are little people who live in your computer, a bit like ReBoot.

Kevin Flynn is trying to hack a system to retrieve some files but is instead beamed inside the computer, where he has to battle the programs in deadly games.
Extras and minor characters get killed off a lot more frequently than you normally see in a Disney movie. I guess because they're not 'real' people, although they are certainly presented as if they were.

I loved the look of the film. Its a computer world, but computer animation was in it's absolute infancy so it's mostly some really creative sets and costumes.

It's a fun adventure and Jeff Bridges is likeable as always.



My List:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Andhadhun Really unfamiliar with Indian cinema in general

2) (comedy) The Seven Year Itch It has that iconic shot of Marilyn's dress being blown upwards

3) (animation) Grave of the Fireflies Ghibli's not let me down so far

4) (Academy Award winner) Wings The first winner

5) (foreign language) The Lives of Others It's very highly regarded

6) (Monster) Critters Best known of the Gremlins knockoffs

7) (Horror) Any Giallo Not seen any*

8) (sci fi/fantasy) Alphaville sounds intriguing

9) (epic) Dr Zhivago Just very famous

10) (wildcard) Quardophenia mods vs rockers

Watched (71): Taxi Driver; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Iron Giant; Platoon; American History X; City Lights; My Neighbour Totoro; Rashomon; Duck Soup; Friday 13th (1980); Birdman; Frankenstein (1931); Time Bandits; Carrie (1976); King Kong (1933); Das Boot; The Blair Witch Project (1999); The Sting; Annie Hall; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Godzilla (1954); Bicycle Thieves; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); The English Patient; Scanners; Forbidden Planet; Deliverance; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Life is Beautiful; Minority Report; Rosemary's Baby; On the Waterfront; Solaris (1972); Driving Miss Daisy; Eraserhead; M (1931); This is Spinal Tap; Death Race 2000; The Producers (1967); Martin; Easy Rider; Office Space; Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Kid; Freaks (1932); The Abyss; Ben Hur (1959); Poltergeist (1982); Escape from New York; Once Upon a Time in America; Phantasm; Dracula (1958); Videodrome; Slumdog Millionaire; The Blob (1958); The Blob (1988); My Fair Lady; Avengers: Infinity War; Cinema Paradiso; 8 1/2; The Lord of the Rings (1978); Logan's Run; Willow; Misery; Bringing up Baby; Aguirre, The Wrath of God; The Man Who Fell to Earth; Candyman; The Dark Crystal; Tron


*Seen Suspiria. Not sure it's considered a Giallo.

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
bitterandtwisted watch andhadhun!



Schindler's list

funny and disgusting. theres a lot of good stuff there but some of it is just disgusting exploitation of a real tragedy, this could only have been made in america. ben kingsly and liam neeson are fantastic though. the beginning and the end is great but the middle part contains stuff that just makes me want to throw up. favorite (good) scene is when schindler starts crying, very few movies could have handled a scene like that without coming off as corny. very mixed bag overall but technically very solid. looks great




MY LIST:

Bicycle Thieves
Tokyo story
400 Blows
NEW One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Notorious
High and Low
Spartacus
Inception

unshamed: ben hur, 2001, Ikiru, 7th seal, gone with the wind, Schindler's List

TrixRabbi
Aug 20, 2010

Time for a little robot chauvinism!

Wait, what parts of Schindler's List are funny?

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
some of the early scenes where ben kingsley and liam neeson first meet had me laughing out loud. the scene where schindler wants him to thank him in particular. ben kingsley is a fantastic actor.

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




Try this one

Slaapaav posted:


NEW One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest




Andhadhun

A blind musician is the only witness to a murder.

This is a dark and at times very funny crime story. I laughed aloud several times
The main two characters are both assholes, but they get enough character moments that I cared what happened to them and my sympathies kept changing from wanting them to get their comeuppance to hoping they would escape scot free
Both lead actors are great as are the supporting cast.

The implications of the ending were dark as gently caress :stare:.
Liked this one a lot and would certainly recommend it.



My List:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Avengers Endgame lol this stupid category

2) (comedy) The Seven Year Itch It has that iconic shot of Marilyn's dress being blown upwards

3) (animation) Grave of the Fireflies Ghibli's not let me down so far

4) (Academy Award winner) Wings The first winner

5) (foreign language) The Lives of Others It's very highly regarded

6) (Monster) Critters Best known of the Gremlins knockoffs

7) (Horror) Any Giallo Not seen any*

8) (sci fi/fantasy) Alphaville sounds intriguing

9) (epic) Dr Zhivago Just very famous

10) (wildcard) Quardophenia mods vs rockers

Watched (72): Taxi Driver; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Iron Giant; Platoon; American History X; City Lights; My Neighbour Totoro; Rashomon; Duck Soup; Friday 13th (1980); Birdman; Frankenstein (1931); Time Bandits; Carrie (1976); King Kong (1933); Das Boot; The Blair Witch Project (1999); The Sting; Annie Hall; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Godzilla (1954); Bicycle Thieves; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); The English Patient; Scanners; Forbidden Planet; Deliverance; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Life is Beautiful; Minority Report; Rosemary's Baby; On the Waterfront; Solaris (1972); Driving Miss Daisy; Eraserhead; M (1931); This is Spinal Tap; Death Race 2000; The Producers (1967); Martin; Easy Rider; Office Space; Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Kid; Freaks (1932); The Abyss; Ben Hur (1959); Poltergeist (1982); Escape from New York; Once Upon a Time in America; Phantasm; Dracula (1958); Videodrome; Slumdog Millionaire; The Blob (1958); The Blob (1988); My Fair Lady; Avengers: Infinity War; Cinema Paradiso; 8 1/2; The Lord of the Rings (1978); Logan's Run; Willow; Misery; Bringing up Baby; Aguirre, The Wrath of God; The Man Who Fell to Earth; Candyman; The Dark Crystal; Tron; Andhadhun


*Seen Suspiria. Not sure it's considered a Giallo.

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
bitterandtwisted watch Avengers Endgame ( I liked it and i think it was suprisingly interesting but a bit long)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

very predictable and not very interesting or funny. there is some good acting but mostly its just very cheesy. i like the energy in the fishing trip scene. but eventually i started to dislike the movie and mostly wanted it to end. this won 5 oscars for some reason. its also way to long


MY LIST:

Bicycle Thieves
Tokyo story
400 Blows
NEW (DOWNER MOVIE SLOT) Grave of the fireflies
NEW (LYNCH SLOT) Mulholland Dr.
NEW (THE ARCHERS SLOT) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Notorious
High and Low
Spartacus
Inception

unshamed: ben hur, 2001, Ikiru, 7th seal, gone with the wind, Schindler's List, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

edit: added some more movies

Slaapaav fucked around with this message at 11:53 on Sep 6, 2019

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




Next:

Slaapaav posted:


Spartacus




Avengers Endgame

A 10 year old boy smashes his toys together for three hours.
Lots of cg monsters being punched and laserbeamed.

Time travel is needed to undo the previous movie and it's possibly the least interesting time travel adventure I've seen. No tension and nothing clever. There's a scene with Tony and his dad that I think was meant to give some emotional closure, but I don't remember his dad ever being mentioned in these movies (edit: he might have been bought up in IM1 - not seen that since it first came out).

So many characters with nothing to do. Every character we've ever seen before (and a bunch I haven't) had to make an appearance and have a couple lines except strangely the red skinned dude who wasn't in this at all despite having quite a lot of screentime in IW.

It's a big flabby mess and I don't think it could have been otherwise.
I kinda liked the Hulk's new sunny outlook? I liked Fat Thor and it could be fun if he's in the next Guardian's movie.

I didn't hate it. It wasn't a chore to sit through. But I wouldn't recommend it to the other five people on Earth who haven't yet seen it.



My List:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Harakiri

2) (comedy) The Seven Year Itch It has that iconic shot of Marilyn's dress being blown upwards

3) (animation) Grave of the Fireflies Ghibli's not let me down so far

4) (Academy Award winner) Wings The first winner

5) (foreign language) The Lives of Others It's very highly regarded

6) (Monster) Critters Best known of the Gremlins knockoffs

7) (Horror) Any Giallo Not seen any*

8) (sci fi/fantasy) Alphaville sounds intriguing

9) (epic) Dr Zhivago Just very famous

10) (wildcard) Quardophenia mods vs rockers

Watched (73): Taxi Driver; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Iron Giant; Platoon; American History X; City Lights; My Neighbour Totoro; Rashomon; Duck Soup; Friday 13th (1980); Birdman; Frankenstein (1931); Time Bandits; Carrie (1976); King Kong (1933); Das Boot; The Blair Witch Project (1999); The Sting; Annie Hall; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Godzilla (1954); Bicycle Thieves; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); The English Patient; Scanners; Forbidden Planet; Deliverance; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Life is Beautiful; Minority Report; Rosemary's Baby; On the Waterfront; Solaris (1972); Driving Miss Daisy; Eraserhead; M (1931); This is Spinal Tap; Death Race 2000; The Producers (1967); Martin; Easy Rider; Office Space; Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Kid; Freaks (1932); The Abyss; Ben Hur (1959); Poltergeist (1982); Escape from New York; Once Upon a Time in America; Phantasm; Dracula (1958); Videodrome; Slumdog Millionaire; The Blob (1958); The Blob (1988); My Fair Lady; Avengers: Infinity War; Cinema Paradiso; 8 1/2; The Lord of the Rings (1978); Logan's Run; Willow; Misery; Bringing up Baby; Aguirre, The Wrath of God; The Man Who Fell to Earth; Candyman; The Dark Crystal; Tron; Andhadhun; Avengers: Endgame


*Seen Suspiria. Not sure it's considered a Giallo.

bitterandtwisted fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Sep 9, 2019

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

Slaapaav posted:

bitterandtwisted watch Avengers Endgame ( I liked it and i think it was suprisingly interesting but a bit long)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest


very predictable and not very interesting or funny. there is some good acting but mostly its just very cheesy. i like the energy in the fishing trip scene. but eventually i started to dislike the movie and mostly wanted it to end. this won 5 oscars for some reason. its also way to long


Limiting my posts here since I haven't watched my movie yet (Casablanca) but regarding Cuckoo's Nest I just....

Holy poo poo.

I was going to edit out the Endgame comment but left it in because...

Holy poo poo.

Not to be a dick, but I'd be real curious to read a list of your top 10 films. I can't fathom someone not liking this film, especially for the reasons you cited. To each their own.

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
some of the attitudes in the movie just feels so silly. the billy suicide stuff is just so dumb and comes out of nowhere. how can a movie with the billy bibbit character in it be considered a great movie? he had sex with a woman so he has to commit suicide i guess?? why does it need to be so super edgy all the time? this is too edgy for me i guess?

Slaapaav
Mar 3, 2006

by Azathoth
its trying to be a serious drama about mental illness but this doesnt give it carte blanche to have its characters commit suicide at the drop of a dime. this isnt trying to be freddy vs jason x in space or final destination so im gonna hold it to higher standards! this is trying to be a masterpiece, its not about teenagers dying in strange and mysterious ways!

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

bitterandtwisted posted:

There's a scene with Tony and his dad that I think was meant to give some emotional closure, but I don't remember his dad ever being mentioned in these movies (edit: he might have been bought up in IM1 - not seen that since it first came out).

Some of the conflict in Captain America: Civil War between Captain America and Iron Man arises when Iron Man realizes that The Winter Soldier (Captain America's frienemy) killed Iron Man's parents.

It has that scene where RDJ looks a lot younger. Kind of going back to how he looked in things like Less Than Zero (1987).

BiggerBoat posted:

I can't fathom someone not liking this film, especially for the reasons you cited. To each their own.

It's a very minority opinion but I've never been a big fan of it either. In fact, it gave me a headache and I was surprised that it won all those awards. And it reminds me of Titicut Follies in a disturbing way. Milos Forman is a great director with things like Amadeus, Ragtime, Hair, and The Firemen's Ball on his resume. I enjoyed all those more.

Forman films I still need to see:
-Man on the Moon
-The People vs. Larry Flynt
-Valmont
-Loves of a Blonde

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

bitterandtwisted posted:

5) (foreign language) The Lives of Others It's very highly regarded

"An innocent prisoner will become more angry by the hour due to the injustice suffered. He will shout and rage. A guilty prisoner becomes more calm and quiet. Or he cries. He knows he's there for a reason. The best way to establish guilt or innocence is non-stop interrogation."



Superman II - This one reminded me of Man of Steel (2013) and some of the ethos found in the Spider-Man trilogy of the early 2000s. It showcases Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower and finally NYC as Superman must overcome obstacles at each locale. Superman is portrayed as being valorous unlike some of the recent superheroes that come across as ignoble and buffoonish.

The bigger problem arises when Non, Ursa and General Zod are released from their prison of sorts. They toy and then thrash a lot of the pesky humans.

It makes the good point missed by most recent films in this genre. Namely the fact that there'd be politicians lining up all over the place to kiss the rings and pay tribute to the bad guys the moment real supervillains appeared. Lex Luthor reminds me of contemporary egoist politicians in this regard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQDiQoQ8oxE

PS I was glad the charade was over and Lois finally realized Clark Kent's true identity. Although the ending reset this completely I guess.

There's a really high amount of product placement in this film.


Also watched:

Summer with Monika - Harry and Monika quickly fall into a kind of young love that's full of chemistry, zest and vitality. They have different issues and decide to both abruptly quit work and life as they've known it (due to Harry's bad work environment and Monika's bad work/family environment). Harry's overbearing bosses and Monika's handsy bosses to name just a couple of problems that cause them to flee all their troubles.

Paradise is found in their boat travels but quickly lost as Monika gets pregnant and they descend into a dark downward spiral and start thieving and foraging for food as Monika is very hungry.

The last third of the film was unexpectedly dour as the marriage turns into a domestic nightmare of infidelity and financial problems as Monika doesn't want a baby and would rather party and have more flings.



James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (98/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

Hesitation (10 completed):

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

#12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

#13 Weekend at Bernie's II - Put the lime in the coconut. 7/28/19

new #15 East of Eden - Some say this is even superior to Rebel Without a Cause. 9/15/19

new #16 Last Tango in Paris - Marlon Brando dances in Paris. 9/15/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (86/100 completed):

#80 The Young and the Damned - There are still many Luis Bunuel films I mean to see. 7/28/19

#85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




Zogo:

quote:

#88 Him AKA El - I haven't seen a Luis Bunuel film lately. 1/16/19

The Lives of Others

Stasi Captain Wiesler monitors a playwright, Dreyman, for signs of subversion.

Wiesler's character arc is that of a voyeur falling in love with his target, going from a super-zealous agent to actively working to protect Dreyman, which eventually cost him his career
The atmosphere is always oppressive. A great tension comes from us knowing, though Wiesler, what Dreyman is up to and seeing the carelessness mistakes he makes in his scheming.
Its a really good looking movie


Also saw Critters

This was cute and well made for what it is. The cat doesn't die, which was my main concern throughout.
Tonewise it's sort of a family-friendly horror like Gremlins, except the critters are more foul mouthed. They're a lot of fun and just love being dicks.


I'm going to retire the monster category from my list as there's a lot of overlap with horror, and replace it with two genres I've never really been into: westerns and musicals.



My List:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Harakiri

2) (comedy) The Seven Year Itch It has that iconic shot of Marilyn's dress being blown upwards

3) (animation) Grave of the Fireflies Ghibli's not let me down so far

4) (Academy Award winner) Wings The first winner

5) (foreign language) Tokyo Story Probably the most frequently occurring movie itt

6) (Western or Musical) The Searchers Often ranked among the best ever

7) (Horror) Any Giallo Not seen any*

8) (sci fi/fantasy) Alphaville sounds intriguing

9) (epic) Dr Zhivago Just very famous

10) (wildcard) Quardophenia mods vs rockers

Watched (75): Taxi Driver; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Iron Giant; Platoon; American History X; City Lights; My Neighbour Totoro; Rashomon; Duck Soup; Friday 13th (1980); Birdman; Frankenstein (1931); Time Bandits; Carrie (1976); King Kong (1933); Das Boot; The Blair Witch Project (1999); The Sting; Annie Hall; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Godzilla (1954); Bicycle Thieves; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); The English Patient; Scanners; Forbidden Planet; Deliverance; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Life is Beautiful; Minority Report; Rosemary's Baby; On the Waterfront; Solaris (1972); Driving Miss Daisy; Eraserhead; M (1931); This is Spinal Tap; Death Race 2000; The Producers (1967); Martin; Easy Rider; Office Space; Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Kid; Freaks (1932); The Abyss; Ben Hur (1959); Poltergeist (1982); Escape from New York; Once Upon a Time in America; Phantasm; Dracula (1958); Videodrome; Slumdog Millionaire; The Blob (1958); The Blob (1988); My Fair Lady; Avengers: Infinity War; Cinema Paradiso; 8 1/2; The Lord of the Rings (1978); Logan's Run; Willow; Misery; Bringing up Baby; Aguirre, The Wrath of God; The Man Who Fell to Earth; Candyman; The Dark Crystal; Tron; Andhadhun; Avengers: Endgame; The Lives of Others; Critters


*Seen Suspiria. Not sure it's considered a Giallo.

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Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

bitterandtwisted posted:

1) (highest ranked imdb) Harakiri

"Swordsmanship untested in battle is like the art of swimming mastered on land."



Him - Francisco is afflicted with a foot fetish brought on presumably from some kind of Catholic sexual repression. He's fixated on stalking the latest pair he's seen. This obsession begins a character study on how people can appear one way before marriage and then do a complete reversal after the vows.

Through a variety of acts he demonstrates jealousy, paranoia and lunacy. Eventually things worsen and he experiences hallucinations. This leads him to living the life of a friar.

I found the perverted Don Jaime to be a more interesting character in Bunuel's later film Viridiana (1961).



James Bond versus Godzilla (35/64 completed):

Notebooks on Cinema's 100 Most Beautiful Films in the World (99/100 completed):

#39 Ivan the Terrible, Part II - Released fourteen years after the first film. 7/5/19

Hesitation (10 completed):

#10 Child's Play 2 - Some say it's better than the original. 6/15/19

#11 The Golden Thread AKA Subarnarekha - It's been called an underwatched classic. 6/15/19

#12 Demon Seed - This one sounds prescient. 7/17/19

#13 Weekend at Bernie's II - Put the lime in the coconut. 7/28/19

#15 East of Eden - Some say this is even superior to Rebel Without a Cause. 9/15/19

#16 Last Tango in Paris - Marlon Brando dances in Paris. 9/15/19

new #17 Frankenhooker - I recently watched Basket Case and this one is directed by the same guy. 9/27/19

BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (86/100 completed):

#80 The Young and the Damned - There are still many Luis Bunuel films I mean to see. 7/28/19

#85 Umberto D. - Years ago I heard this was Bergman's favorite film so I got it from Netflix but the disc was crunched. Maybe it's time to try again. 7/17/19

bitterandtwisted posted:

Andhadhun

A blind musician is the only witness to a murder.

This is a dark and at times very funny crime story. I laughed aloud several times
The main two characters are both assholes, but they get enough character moments that I cared what happened to them and my sympathies kept changing from wanting them to get their comeuppance to hoping they would escape scot free
Both lead actors are great as are the supporting cast.

The implications of the ending were dark as gently caress :stare:.
Liked this one a lot and would certainly recommend it.

I recently watched this one and was impressed. It's something I can rarely say but it's like a modern Hitchcock film.

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