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Yeah, having watched Vinny recently from this thread, I too fell into the "not getting it" camp. Nothing about Vinny worked for me on any level.
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Oct 13, 2015 05:46
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friendo55 posted:Doctor Zhivago (2015.07.19) - I'll continue to put this off, mainly due to runtime - another one that truly belongs here. Floating Weeds Magic Hate Ball summarized this well (above), so I don't have a huge amount to add. The plot is melodramatic and a bit perfunctory, and the camera and music never seem as invested in it as the characters are. The camera watches tense scenes with a dispassionate gaze, while displaying greater interest in everyday conversations. Ozu frequently cuts to full face close-ups, ignoring the 180-degree-line between the characters; the effect is to suddenly throw the audience into a face-to-face conversation. Instead of drama, the film creates a quiet sense of place and atmosphere. With a subtle hand, it paints a picture of a common mood among its lower-class characters: wistful, resigned, quietly desperate, but still keeping on. I found it relaxing, but not really enjoyable, even cathartically. The Current List Antonioni -- Blow-Up (1966). There's something incredibly beautiful about 60s film. The colours in this are so vivid. Bergman -- Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). It'll be hard to watch without A Little Night Music playing in my head all the while. Buñuel -- The Exterminating Angel (1962). Probably more intellectual and less emotional than the rest of the list, but the concept is so intriguing, I'm curious how it plays out. Cocteau -- Orpheus (1950). All the frames I've seen from it look like scenes from a dream. Fassbinder -- wild card-- I have no clue where to start with Fassbinder. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul seems like his best-acclaimed pic, but it sounds boring compared to the gay films and the trashier melodramas. Recs? Fellini -- Amarcord (1974). Feel-good flick for a depressing list. Lubitsch -- Design for Living (1933). Usually older comedies seem pretty toothless to me, but I've never seen a pre-Code one. Renoir -- The Grand Illusion (1939). Saw Sunset Boulevard recently so it'd be interesting to see von Stroheim in his prime. Visconti -- The Leopard (1963) and Rocco and His Brothers (1950). Super into both of these plots, they're both long as hell, not sure which to go for since I'm trying not to revisit directors too quickly.
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Oct 13, 2015 05:52
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My cousin Vinny seems to pop up in this thread from time to time but I'm not sure where it's coming from, if it wasn't for the rumours about Marisa Tomei's oscar I'm sure it would have long since disappeared from the cultural consciousness like The Super or The Public Eye (I had to google whatever else Joe Pesci made around that time, yikes) _____________________________ Saeku, I'm picking for you again, hopefully this time my somewhat random pick will go down better: go with Blow-Up, one I've always been interested in and on my long list of shame, looking forward to your thoughts on it. _____________________________ friendo55 gave me From Up On Poppy Hill. Which was lovely. The story of a young girl in the early 1960s Yokohama, it slowly shows he daily life before introducing an interesting boy, the school newsletter he helps produce, the newsletter's cause célèbre, and how all this ties into her family's past. That probably makes it sound a bit hectic but it's a calmed paced 90 minutes that doesn't drag and is filled with nice characters doing nice things and being really nice. It's a nice film that'll leave you with a smile on your face. The plot twists and element of mystery from the past that comes in deepens the story enough to make the film interesting and engaging as early on I couldn't help but think it felt like purely a slice of life drama that was enjoyable in a relaxing nice way but lacked any real drama or conflict but these elements are brought into the film at a suitably leisurely rate and it well fits the flim's lovely seaside views and nice nostalgic 1960s Japan designs. The only negative thing that stuck out to me, and this is just down to personal taste, was a character basically referring to their situation as being like a melodrama - I don't think it's ever a good idea to remind the audience that they're watching fiction, we're all aware of it, The only other minor issue was for a while there it looked like the film was going with a "incest is fine if it's love" message, which would've been a tad creepy, but thankfully wasn't the case. An overall lovely low key film. nice. List of Shame: 1 - Achilles and the Tortoise - final film of Kitano's 'surrealist autobiographical trilogy'...[Catching up with Kitano 2/4] 2 - Noah - Getting caught back up with Aronofsky. Heard conflicting reports about this... 3 - The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - Not heard much about this, but a subject I find extremely interesting. [Documentary Slot] 4 - Silence - Long intrigued by this film, now I need to catch it before the Scorsese version comes out next year... 5 - In America - It was talked about a lot on its release but not heard much about this since, word was it was good. [Irish Film Slot] 6 - The Great Yokai War - Takeshi Miike does a kids film, one I've long intended to catch. 7 - Rope - Think the only Hitchcock film I've seen is Pyscho, which was my film unshamed film, long overdue for more. 8 - In the Heat of the Night - One that doesn't seem to get mentioned much anymore, very interested in the subject matter. 9 - An American Werewolf in London - Know very little about this other than that transformation scene. 10- The Wind Rises - new - Continuing to catch up with Studio Ghibli, now up to Hayao Miyazaki's final film (so he says anyway). Shame No More: [64] [top five] Psycho | The Third Man | The Long Goodbye | Harakiri | The Silence of the Lambs | Pi | Jaws | Panic Room | Black Swan | Star Trek II | The Brothers Bloom | Hugo | Badlands | Shame | LA Confidential | The Right Stuff | The Evil Dead | Hanna | The Master | The Untouchables | Glengarry Glen Ross | The Seventh Seal | The Apartment | The Player | Ronin | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Glory to the Filmmaker! | Frank | Dreams | Paths of Glory | Assault on Precinct 13 | Haywire | Escape From New York | 13 Assassins | A Prophet | Stand By Me | Blackfish | Pumping Iron | The Thin Blue Line | It's A Wonderful Life | What Richard Did | The Bicycle Thieves | Youth of the Beast | Once Upon A Time In The West | The Raid: Redemption | The Babadook | Calvary | The Host | Samurai Rebellion | Poltergeist | Days of Heaven | The Room | Nightcrawler | Cars 2 | Enter the Dragon | Stalker | Casablanca | M | The Maltese Falcon | The Secret World of Arrietty | Bad Lieutenant | Blazing Saddles | Mad Max: Fury Road | From Up On Poppy Hill
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Oct 14, 2015 01:06
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Chewy Bitems posted:8 - In the Heat of the Night - One that doesn't seem to get mentioned much anymore, very interested in the subject matter. It almost seems better to rate Three Colors: Red on a whole with its two predecessors. The one disadvantage is I had several months between viewings of each. I'm not sure how many films I've seen like this that have such a strong presence without ever being forceful with it. It's an interesting take on fraternity (the French ideal presented). I can relate quite a bit to being shut off from the world but still leaving my doors open for the unlikely chance someone may come through. The subtlety and nuance of every shot is as close to perfect as anything I've seen. Nothing feels forced ever, it's like the film is unraveling itself of jumpstarting the plot through more overt actions. I'm somewhat at a loss for words, I feel like it deserves several more rewatches, and even then I'm not sure I could do it justice. This trilogy was like a classical symphony compared to most films which feel like pop/rock hits relying on their hooks. New List: 1. Hotel Rwanda - We can't have all our movies be upbeat. 2. Papillon - Hoffman and McQueen, what's not to like. 3. The Searchers - I've not seen all that much from Mr. Wayne in my lifetime. I know this is universally considered one of his best. 4. The Hustler - I know it's supposed to be good! 5. Das Boot - Highest rated imdb movie I've yet to see. I assume it's something to do with war and isolation. 6. Citizenfour - Chili just watched it, and I've heard great things about it. I also work at Fort Meade so expect a bit of bias going into it. 7. Strangers on a Train - Been a while since I've done a Hitchcock movie. Best Picture Bonanza (55/88) 8. The Last Emperor - A film that feels overlooked in a year that feels overlooked. 9. A Beautiful Mind - The most recent best picture I haven't seen. 10. The Apartment - I don't know much. Watched Count 128: Chinatown, 12 Angry Men, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Do the Right Thing, A Clockwork Orange, Wall-E, Citizen Kane, Aliens, The Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, Rear Window, The Green Mile, Braveheart, Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai, The Great Escape, City of God, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, Ratatouille, All Quiet on the Western Front, Mulholland Dr., Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai, Memento, Unforgiven, The Usual Suspects, Network, The Social Network, Psycho, Black Swan, The Professional (Leon), Duck Soup, Up, The Silence of the Lambs, The Hurt Locker, Animal Crackers, American Beauty, The Princess Bride, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator, The King's Speech, American History X, Taxi Driver, The Philadelphia Story, Cars, Dial M for Murder, Amélie, Spirited Away, North by Northwest, Paths of Glory, Some Like it Hot, On the Waterfront, Platoon, Annie Hall, Patton, Harvey, Nikita, Yojimbo, How to Train Your Dragon, To Kill a Mockingbird, This is Spinal Tap, Fargo, Sin City, Wayne's World, A Streetcar Named Desire, Barton Fink, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, Rashomon, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Wild Strawberries, Rebecca, Dog Day Afternoon, The Departed, The Graduate, V for Vendetta, My Neighbor Totoro, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, City Lights, Life is Beautiful, Stand by Me, The Artist, Howl's Moving Castle, Good Will Hunting, Planet of the Apes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 12 Years a Slave, The Intouchables, The Grapes of Wrath, Ben-Hur, Three Colors: Blue, Grave of the Fireflies, Argo, Oldboy, Bicycle Thieves, Wings, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sunrise, Lawrence of Arabia, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rain Man, Three Colors: White, High Noon, The Sound of Music, The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, Ran, L.A. Confidential, Million Dollar Baby, Ikiru, Modern Times, Her, The Prestige, The Maltese Falcon, Heat, The Lives of Others, Captain Phillips, Three Colors: Red
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Oct 15, 2015 23:57
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marioinblack, go with The Hustler, as it seems to be the longest on your list. _____________________________ Right above this post, marioinblack, gave me In The Heat Of The Night. Which was very good but rather patchy. The film is very well made and the acting is largely great with an interesting setting and background however the central police story, which is engaging for most of the film, is ultimately unsatisfying. The story of a black police officer caught up in a murder investigation in a small town in rural Mississippi, the film shows the attitudes of the various locals who interact with this out-of-town detective as he tries to solve the crime. The racial tensions and hatred are what makes the film truely interesting and it is a consistent thread that feels genuine throughout. As a look at a the attitutes and atmosphere of the American South during the 1960s, the film is immensely interesting and and the the police work is at brief points a well done interesting procedural, the resolution is massively underwhelming as the film goes into a tailspin throwing facts that have been ignored and various wild coincidences combined with a seemingly pointless subplot which is ultimately what leads to solving the crime and not actual policework, undermining the abilities of the lead character. It's a good film with its place in history rightly assured by the importance of its topics and themes but the film is overall a little disappointing. My List of Shame: 1 - Achilles and the Tortoise - final film of Kitano's 'surrealist autobiographical trilogy'...[Catching up with Kitano 2/4] 2 - Noah - Getting caught back up with Aronofsky. Heard conflicting reports about this... 3 - The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - Not heard much about this, but a subject I find extremely interesting. [Documentary Slot] 4 - Silence - Long intrigued by this film, now I need to catch it before the Scorsese version comes out next year... 5 - In America - It was talked about a lot on its release but not heard much about this since, word was it was good. [Irish Film Slot] 6 - The Great Yokai War - Takeshi Miike does a kids film, one I've long intended to catch. 7 - Rope - Think the only Hitchcock film I've seen is Pyscho, which was my film unshamed film, long overdue for more. 8 - An American Werewolf in London - Know very little about this other than that transformation scene. 9 - The Wind Rises - Continuing to catch up with Studio Ghibli, now up to Hayao Miyazaki's final film (so he says anyway). 10- The Exorcist - new - One that should have been in my original list of shame in my first post. Truly Shameful. Shame No More: [65] [top five] Psycho | The Third Man | The Long Goodbye | Harakiri | The Silence of the Lambs | Pi | Jaws | Panic Room | Black Swan | Star Trek II | The Brothers Bloom | Hugo | Badlands | Shame | LA Confidential | The Right Stuff | The Evil Dead | Hanna | The Master | The Untouchables | Glengarry Glen Ross | The Seventh Seal | The Apartment | The Player | Ronin | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Glory to the Filmmaker! | Frank | Dreams | Paths of Glory | Assault on Precinct 13 | Haywire | Escape From New York | 13 Assassins | A Prophet | Stand By Me | Blackfish | Pumping Iron | The Thin Blue Line | It's A Wonderful Life | What Richard Did | The Bicycle Thieves | Youth of the Beast | Once Upon A Time In The West | The Raid: Redemption | The Babadook | Calvary | The Host | Samurai Rebellion | Poltergeist | Days of Heaven | The Room | Nightcrawler | Cars 2 | Enter the Dragon | Stalker | Casablanca | M | The Maltese Falcon | The Secret World of Arrietty | Bad Lieutenant | Blazing Saddles | Mad Max: Fury Road | From Up On Poppy Hill | In The Heat Of The Night
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Oct 18, 2015 01:11
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Chewy Bitems, I'm kind of at a loss with your list. I'll say... eh, Noah. Today I watched Ran, a revealing documentary about the 80's band A Flock of Seagulls... okay, not really, but I can't explain the title. Ran is a Japanese remake of King Lear. As I've said in this thread, I only first saw Lear recently, and it didn't do much for me. Kurosawa's version is, in some ways, better. It's certainly more filmic than Laurence Olivier's movie. The opening scenes work better than in Shakespeare, because the children's manipulations are more subtle and the father isn't such a douchebag. In Shakespeare's text, the daughters are so obviously lying that Lear comes off as utterly stupid. Instead, we get the good son cutting a tree branch down to shade his father, which says a lot with no words. Then he tries to talk sense to him and gets cast out. After that, the plot follows the play's text more or less, but with the notable absence of the Edmund character. It's probably for the best; Edmund's plight was poignant but had little to do with the main plot. One of the biggest and most interesting additions, so far as I remember, is Lady Kaede. I'm sure there was a roughly parallel character in Kind Lear, but here she's the magnificent bastard who drives nearly everything. Once Taro gets control of the clan, she spends the rest of the movie plotting its destruction to get revenge for her family, and no one catches on. This adds some depth to the conflicts between the various clans, and it's probably also a feminist statement in how she was used by all the men but also underestimated by them. Kaede channels the queen from Snow White at one point, sending an assassin to kill her romantic rival, and he comes back with the stone head of a fox. The "fox head scene" was a highlight, both very funny ("he turned into a human, and then into stone") and kind of clever with the way he hints at Kaede's duplicity. All the characters are pretty good- I enjoy Hidetaro and the Fool a lot, as they manage to be both funny and tragic. There's one very creepy scene where they're in a cabin with a man Hidetaro blinded. The movie is mostly about Hidetaro's mistakes and vicious behavior coming back to punish him. Everything he did is in line with what might be expected of a samurai warlord, but that doesn't mean he can escape the consequences of his actions. Despite it all, he and the good son Saburo almost get a happy ending, becoming subjects of another clan, and then Saburo is killed by a random shot from an enemy soldier. This leads to a couple of monologues, where one character condemns the gods for toying with them and another insists that humans bring misery on ourselves. There's a case to be made for both sides, and the movie doesn't answer the debate, but we see a scroll of Buddha near the end. I have a feeling there are a lot of Buddhist messages that I missed. On a technical level, this movie is unsuprisingly great to look at. I had some concerns about Kurosawa in color, but he still relishes in the lush countrysides. Occasionally, the camera will stare at clouds for a while, and that seems a bit indulgent to me, but it doesn't really hurt things. The framing of the indoor shots is really good- something about how close everyone is and how formal they sit. Also, this movie is very violent, with tons of graphic and realistic blood. I wasn't expecting to give this a perfect score, but I can't really think of any negatives. So: Rating: 4/4 101. Spartacus- In the end, aren't we all Spartacus? Yeah, I know how this one ends, but that's basically it. Also, I think it's popular among labor organizers. 102. Enchanted- I love Disney movies, but I also know their problems. I think this must have come out during the period when I was too old to be in Disney's target audience and too young to admit I still liked these sorts of movies without being embarrassed. 103. Judgment at Nuremberg- I had never heard about this until Slacktivist mentioned it. Sounds interesting. 111. The Great Escape- There's some guys in a Nazi prison, and some of them escape. Spoilers! 112. The Bourne Ultimatum- I like this series- ready to finish it off (I doubt "Legacy" is worth my time). 116. Boogie Nights- Uh, porn is bad. You shouldn't watch porn, m'kay? 120. The Straight Story- Doug Walker described this as "a movie that seems really slow and tedious until you get to the end, and then you realize everything that happened was for a reason." So that interested me. Also, it's by David Lynch, who ranges from excellent (Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks Season One) to pretty good (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks Season Two). No, I've never seen Dune, why do you ask? 122. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang- Somewhere, someone made a list of best pre-Hays Code movies, and this was at the top. That's all I know about it. Oh, and I think there's a twist ending of some sort, but I've deliberately avoided reading anything about it. 123. The Battle of Algiers- Roger Ebert picked this as his favorite movie of 1968, though he later said it should have been 2001. 124. The Rules of the Game- I opened the They Shoot Pictures list, and this is number five. I've never even heard of it. Okay, tell me what I'm watching! Shame relieved: The Godfather: 3.5/4, The Godfather Part II: 4/4, Taxi Driver: 4/4, Casablanca: 4/4, Duck Soup: 2/4, Pulp Fiction: 4/4, Barton Fink: 3.5/4, Annie Hall:3/4, Rashomon: 4/4, Blade Runner: 3.5/4, Chinatown: 4/4, Nashville: 3.5/4, Goodfellas: 4/4, The Seven Samurai: 4/4, Superman: 2/4, The Exorcist: 3/4, A Face in the Crowd: 3.5/4, The Seventh Seal: 2.5/4, Treasure of the Sierra Madre: 3.5/4, Apocalypse Now: 4/4, 2001: A Space Odyssey: 2.5/4, The Deer Hunter: 3/4, Schindler's List: 4/4, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: 3/4, Young Frankenstein: 3.5/4, Yojimbo: 3.5/4, Brazil: 3.5/4, Hamlet: 4/4, The Aviator: 4/4, Rocky: 3.5/4, Gandhi: 3.5/4, City Lights: 4/4, Battleship Potemkin: 3.5/4, Predator: 3/4, Easy Rider: 1.5/4, Platoon: 3.5/4, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: 4/4, Get Carter: 3.5/4, Full Metal Jacket: 4/4, My Dinner with Andre: 4/4, Lethal Weapon: 3/4, 3 Women: 4/4, Ikiru: 4/4, The Maltese Falcon: 2.5/4, Midnight Cowboy: 3/4, Gattaca: 4/4, Gone with the Wind: 3/4, Jaws: 4/4, The Bicycle Thief: 3/4, Sophie's Choice: 2/4, On the Waterfront: 4/4, North by Northwest: 3.5/4, Stagecoach: 3.5/4, E.T.: 2/4, Nosferatu: 4/4, Lawrence of Arabia: 4/4, Dirty Harry: 1/4, Vertigo: 3.5/4, Rebecca: 4/4, The Pink Panther: 3/4, Children of Men: 4/4, Wings of Desire: 3/4, Metropolis: 3.5/4, Born on the Fourth of July: 4/4, The Bridge on the River Kwai: 3.5/4, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: 4/4, Being John Malkovich: 3/4, Adaptation: 4/4, Bonnie and Clyde: 4/4, Goldfinger: 3/4, A Streetcar Named Desire: 4/4, Dog Day Afternoon: 3.5/4, Leon: The Professional: 4/4, 8 1/2: 3/4, Mulholland Drive: 4/4, 12 Angry Men: 4/4, Safety Last: 3.5/4, Dogville: 4/4, The Rapture: 2/4, Blue Velvet: 3/4, Irreversible: 4/4, Airplane!: 3.5/4, Tokyo Story: 2.5/4, Big Trouble in Little China: 3.5/4, American Psycho: 3.5/4, Dr. Zhivago: 3/4, Leaving Las Vegas:4/4, The Bourne Identity: 4/4, Out of Africa: 3/4, The Usual Suspects: 3/4, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: 4/4, Rain Man: 3.5/4, The Lost Weekend: 3.5/4, Ratatouille: 3/4, City of God: 4/4, Ed Wood: 4/4, Top Gun: 2.5/4, Trois Couleurs: Bleu: 3.5/4, The Hidden Fortess: 3/4, First Blood: 4/4, The Ten Commandments:3.5/4, Patton: 3.5/4, The Bourne Supremacy:3.5/4, King Lear (1983): 2.5/4, Repo Man: 2.5/4, King Kong: 3.5/4, Wall Street: 3/4, The Blues Brothers: 2/4, Trois Couleurs: Blanc: 2.5/4, Trois Couleurs: Rouge: 3.5/4, Animal House: 1.5/4, Ben-Hur: 3.5/4, Gojira: 4/4, Sunset Boulevard:3.5/4, Falling Down:4/4, The Night of the Hunter:3.5/4, Ran: 4/4
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Oct 18, 2015 07:54
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Jurgan, Ran means "chaos", "rebellion", or "revolt", or to mean "disturbed" or "confused" (thanks Wikipedia!), I'm guessing they kept the original word to capture those extra meanings but since they're all lost in the fact that the word exists in the english language, I've always thought it a weird to keep the name though keeping the name resulted in your Flock of Seagulls joke which made me laugh probably way more than it should have so I guess I can live with it now... (I still don't get why most of Kurosawa's later films have untranslated titles outside of Japan) Also, for your next watch, go with The Battle of Algiers, a great film and also a highly important and insightful one too. I noticed your most recent watched film have rated highly with you and I hope that continues. _____________________________ And it was Jurgan a number of hours ago who gave me, from my weird list, Noah. Which was rather amazing. I put it on once I seen Jurgan's pick (I was in the mood to knock another shameful entry off the list) and was a little reluctant when I seen the runtime of being over 2 hours however the film is constantly moving and is gripping throughout. The Biblical tale of Noah's Ark filled with plenty of embellishment by Darren Aronofsky, the film was surprisingly entertaining and continuously inventive given the story and how well known it is and going into a film knowing the ending and presumably pretty much every point along the way, the film does a great job of throwing you into the story and quickly building the world and characters. The use of small set pieces showing various stories is brilliant, creating brief inventive short segments which tell the biblical story of creation or Adam and Eve and their decendants in beautifully designed short films. The segment showing the creation of the universe and evolution of life in particular is a standout. The special effects in the film are largely excellent (I'm not overly keen on most of the animals seen close up, they just don't look like a real thing) and much of the special effects are very artisticly brilliant, particularly in the aforementioned biblical segments. The design of the Watchers, both in look and particularly their juddery stop motion style movements, was amazing and their appearance was unexpected but helped the film feel beyond any gritty/realistic take on an outlandish biblical tale and instead firmly rooted the film as a mythical, interesting, and highly artistic piece of work. The locations the film is shot in are appropriately otherworldly (Iceland is cool) and give a feeling of something ancient beyond the expected - an abundance of apocryphal items suitably add to the strangeness of the world and are acceptable given the fantastical nature of this established world and take on the story. The cast is anchored by a brilliant performance by Russell Crowe who is surrounded by a multitude of characters who mostly cry at him but everyone is pretty decent when they need to be. Except Ray Winstone... I wasn't expecting something so hammy in a Jewish story. (ah he's alright, he's just very Ray Winstoney, half expected him to tell me the latest live odds on mankind surviving the flood... ) As an Aronofsky film, it most closely resembles The Fountain, a film which was more blantant and forefront in its contemplative look at man and also its beautiful and artistic special effects. I really loved The Fountain and I know it, like Noah, isn't thought of too highly by many so I guess that should've been more in my mind going into Noah as I had put off watching it as I was under the impression it would be a boring biblical tale with a gritty real world astetic and it was anything but that. My List of Shame: (in order from oldest to newest) 1 - Achilles and the Tortoise - final film of Kitano's 'surrealist autobiographical trilogy'...[Catching up with Kitano 2/4] 2 - The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - Not heard much about this, but a subject I find extremely interesting. [Documentary Slot] 3 - Silence - Long intrigued by this film, now I need to catch it before the Scorsese version comes out next year... 4 - In America - It was talked about a lot on its release but not heard much about this since, word was it was good. [Irish Film Slot] 5 - The Great Yokai War - Takeshi Miike does a kids film, one I've long intended to catch. 6 - Rope - Think the only Hitchcock film I've seen is Pyscho, which was my film unshamed film, long overdue for more. 7 - An American Werewolf in London - Know very little about this other than that transformation scene. 8 - The Wind Rises - Continuing to catch up with Studio Ghibli, now up to Hayao Miyazaki's final film (so he says anyway). 9 - The Exorcist - One that should have been in my original list of shame in my first post. Truly Shameful. 10- The Fog - new - Getting back to some Carpenter, don't know much about this but apparently a horror classic. Shame No More: [66] [top five] Psycho | The Third Man | The Long Goodbye | Harakiri | The Silence of the Lambs | Pi | Jaws | Panic Room | Black Swan | Star Trek II | The Brothers Bloom | Hugo | Badlands | Shame | LA Confidential | The Right Stuff | The Evil Dead | Hanna | The Master | The Untouchables | Glengarry Glen Ross | The Seventh Seal | The Apartment | The Player | Ronin | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Glory to the Filmmaker! | Frank | Dreams | Paths of Glory | Assault on Precinct 13 | Haywire | Escape From New York | 13 Assassins | A Prophet | Stand By Me | Blackfish | Pumping Iron | The Thin Blue Line | It's A Wonderful Life | What Richard Did | The Bicycle Thieves | Youth of the Beast | Once Upon A Time In The West | The Raid: Redemption | The Babadook | Calvary | The Host | Samurai Rebellion | Poltergeist | Days of Heaven | The Room | Nightcrawler | Cars 2 | Enter the Dragon | Stalker | Casablanca | M | The Maltese Falcon | The Secret World of Arrietty | Bad Lieutenant | Blazing Saddles | Mad Max: Fury Road | From Up On Poppy Hill | In The Heat Of The Night | Noah
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Oct 18, 2015 17:32
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Chewy Bitems posted:8 - The Wind Rises - Continuing to catch up with Studio Ghibli, now up to Hayao Miyazaki's final film (so he says anyway). I gave you Ghibli last time, I might as well stick with what works! Cheers. Doctor Zhivago I went into this with the lowest of expectations, a 3+ hour film set in the Russian Civil War prior to WWI (besides seeing Reds a few weeks ago, it's a period unfamiliar to me) starring an actor I wasn't crazy about after getting through another Lean epic, Lawrence of Arabia. But I was surprised how the time passed and constantly held my attention - I rarely checked the time, my phone, or anything else. Maybe because the film wasn't very political at all? The story really centers on it's doomed love story between family practitioner & poet Dr. Y.A Zhivago (Omar Sharif) and Lara (Julie Christie) who volunteers to assist Dr Zhivago while looking for her missing reformer husband. It was fun seeing Tom Courtenay as the reformer Pasha Antipov, having just met him at TIFF at the screening of 45 Years. Rod Steiger was also great as the commanding Komarovsky, who reminded me of Orson Welles with such a strong screen presence. I think ultimately, it was Julie Christie that had me glued to the screen, just this captivating beacon of light and impossible to look away from. All that being said, the whole story felt pretty light and insignificant, and because of it's runtime, a film I'll probably never watch again. Also, Zhivago is apparently this great poet, yet we never hear any of his poems? LIST Anatomy of a Murder (2015.09.03) - another lengthy film that I've been meaning to see, but won't watch unless this thread makes me. Children of Paradise (2015.10.12) - here's yet another 3hr film I'll continue to put off until I get forced to watch it. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (2015.08.08) - my 2nd Bunuel film on the list, and another highly regarded film I should check out. The Fountain (2015.07.12) - I've noticed this come up way too many times, plus a good friend telling me to watch it for years now. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2015.05.07) - a blind-purchase that I'll keep putting off otherwise; Fincher's film only seems to get more of a backlash as time moves on. Leaving Las Vegas **NEW** (2015.10.18) - I claim to be a big Nic Cage supporter, yet his Oscar-winner remains a blindspot. How shameful, right? Only Angels Have Wings **OLDEST** (2015.03.31) - highly respected film directed by Howard Hawks - a versatile yet overlooked director who I've barely scratched the surface of... Peeping Tom (2015.07.12) - one of those films I should watch moreso than I want to watch. Perfect for this list! Shadow of a Doubt (2015.06.07) - a somewhat earlier Hitchcock film I've yet to see. That Obscure Object of Desire (2015.04.07) - this seems way too interesting and way too important to have not seen by now. De-shamed Pt2: True Romance (4/5), The Right Stuff (3/5), Syndromes And A Century (4/5), Still Life (3/5), My Cousin Vinny (2.5/5), Doctor Zhivago (3.5/5), [Total:106]
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Oct 19, 2015 07:30
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Friendo55, watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I have watched it in a couple of years, but quite enjoyed it the couple of times that I did. Just keep in mind going in that it's a pretty bleak film. Just watched The Godfather Part II, which just like its' predecessor, was absolutely stellar. Whereas the original film took the approach of analyzing the Corleone family as a whole, this one instead focuses more on an individual character perspective, and does so brilliantly, by contrasting the Vito's past growth with Michael's current descent. In doing so, and in spite of the dirty line of work that both end up adopting, the film very effectively conveys the gulf of difference between the two on moral and ethical level; Vito doing what he does to stand up for those too weak to defend themselves, while Michael maintains his steady decline into a cold, calculating psychopath, looking out only for his own personal interests and security. The more individual nature of the stories at play (combined with the shorter timeframe in which Michael's main story occurs compared to the decade spanning original) also works to help the film's sense of focus and pacing, even with a slightly longer runtime. Beyond that, everything that was great about the first film (the writing, the performances, the sense of authenticity) is back in full force here. 1. Good Morning Vietnam - Continuing my Robin Williams film spree with one of the films that really put him on the map. 2. Full Metal Jacket - More Kubrick. I know some of iconic scenes of the first half at boot camp and basically nothing else. 3. A Hard Day's Night - I love The Beatles but have only seen Yellow Submarine as far as their films are concerned. This one in particular seems especially well regarded. 4. Requiem for a Dream - A fun-filled romp for the whole family! 5. Plan 9 From Outer Space - The B-movie to define all B-movies? 6. Whiplash - One of my best friends considers this his favourite film of 2014, and J.K. Simmons generally hasn't steered me wrong in the past. 7. Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones - The Star Wars film I know the least about going in, that being pretty much nothing whatsoever, aside from it's not so great reputation. 8. UHF - I loving love Weird Al Yankovic, so I'm probably a bit overdue to give this a watch. Plus I've been on a bit of a kick as of late after seeing him live a few 9. Spirited Away - I have watched this one, but not since sometime in grade school, so my memories are basically non-existant. 10. Halloween - Added and watched a John Carpenter film around Halloween season last year, figured I'd do the same this year, and with probably his most iconic film. Deshamed (46): Monty Python's Life of Brian, My Neighbor Totoro, Alien, Back to the Future, Star Wars: A New Hope, Aliens, Hot Fuzz, Ghostbusters, The Fisher King, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Good Will Hunting, Wayne's World, One Hour Photo, This is the End, Inglourious Basterds, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Social Network, The Blair Witch Project, The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, Fantasia, Kill Bill, The Iron Giant, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Avengers, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Zombieland, Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, 21 Jump Street, The Godfather, Jackie Brown, Citizen Kane, Pink Floyd - The Wall, Birdman, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Back to the Future: Part II, Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Zodiac, Princess Mononoke, The Godfather Part II
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Oct 19, 2015 11:04
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Trash Boat posted:10. Halloween - Added and watched a John Carpenter film around Halloween season last year, figured I'd do the same this year, and with probably his most iconic film. As good a time as any to watch it. Well I knew The Hustler was about pool and high stakes betting, but I didn't anticipate the subject matter presented. This was far heavier than I ever imagined it would be when all I've really known Paul Newman as is a charismatic, wise-cracking but lovable protagonist. He's still charismatic and wise-cracking, but his story is just so drat depressing. I think the main takeaway is how good all the actors are in their roles and how everyone brings their A game to this movie. Jackie Gleason in particular does a great job at being so stoic and controlled in contrast to Paul Newman's big presence. Piper Laurie's character is equally as heartbreaking as Fast Eddie. It's a good contrast of self-destructive personalities and different arcs they may take. This is a fine overall movie. I know I kind of praise everything I review (mostly because 95% of the things I see are considered classics and for good reason), but this is one of the better ones I've seen in this thread. One thing I'e learned is the value of character development through action and body language, not necessarily dialogue. This movie has it in spades, and I think it's much easier to connect to body language and character actions since they're somewhat universal. New List: 1. Hotel Rwanda - 1 Oct 2015 - We can't have all our movies be upbeat. 2. Papillon - 15 Oct 2015 - Hoffman and McQueen, what's not to like. 3. The Searchers - 11 Aug 2015 - I've not seen all that much from Mr. Wayne in my lifetime. I know this is universally considered one of his best. 4. 8 1/2 - 19 Oct 2015 - I've been looking through some lists of great movies and directors, and I realize I've never seen a Fellini film. 5. Das Boot - 3 Oct 2015 - Highest rated imdb movie I've yet to see. I assume it's something to do with war and isolation. 6. Citizenfour - 7 Oct 2015 - Chili just watched it, and I've heard great things about it. I also work at Fort Meade so expect a bit of bias going into it. 7. Strangers on a Train - 20 Aug 2015 - Been a while since I've done a Hitchcock movie. Best Picture Bonanza (55/88) 8. The Last Emperor - 19 Jun 2015 - A film that feels overlooked in a year that feels overlooked. 9. A Beautiful Mind - 4 Jul 2015 - The most recent best picture I haven't seen. 10. The Apartment - 25 Jun 2015 - I don't know much. Watched Count 129: Chinatown, 12 Angry Men, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Do the Right Thing, A Clockwork Orange, Wall-E, Citizen Kane, Aliens, The Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, Rear Window, The Green Mile, Braveheart, Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai, The Great Escape, City of God, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, Ratatouille, All Quiet on the Western Front, Mulholland Dr., Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai, Memento, Unforgiven, The Usual Suspects, Network, The Social Network, Psycho, Black Swan, The Professional (Leon), Duck Soup, Up, The Silence of the Lambs, The Hurt Locker, Animal Crackers, American Beauty, The Princess Bride, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator, The King's Speech, American History X, Taxi Driver, The Philadelphia Story, Cars, Dial M for Murder, Amélie, Spirited Away, North by Northwest, Paths of Glory, Some Like it Hot, On the Waterfront, Platoon, Annie Hall, Patton, Harvey, Nikita, Yojimbo, How to Train Your Dragon, To Kill a Mockingbird, This is Spinal Tap, Fargo, Sin City, Wayne's World, A Streetcar Named Desire, Barton Fink, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, Rashomon, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Wild Strawberries, Rebecca, Dog Day Afternoon, The Departed, The Graduate, V for Vendetta, My Neighbor Totoro, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, City Lights, Life is Beautiful, Stand by Me, The Artist, Howl's Moving Castle, Good Will Hunting, Planet of the Apes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 12 Years a Slave, The Intouchables, The Grapes of Wrath, Ben-Hur, Three Colors: Blue, Grave of the Fireflies, Argo, Oldboy, Bicycle Thieves, Wings, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sunrise, Lawrence of Arabia, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rain Man, Three Colors: White, High Noon, The Sound of Music, The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, Ran, L.A. Confidential, Million Dollar Baby, Ikiru, Modern Times, Her, The Prestige, The Maltese Falcon, Heat, The Lives of Others, Captain Phillips, Three Colors: Red, The Hustler marioinblack fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Oct 20, 2015 |
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Oct 19, 2015 14:42
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marioinblack posted:10. The Apartment - 25 Jun 2015 - I don't know much. So glad I was able to recommend this one to you! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Since the film was released in 2011, there seems to be some backlash on Fincher's telling of Stieg Larsson's first novel in his 'Millennium' Trilogy - and I don't get it (granted, I just finished watching it and haven't had much time to reflect). But this was Fincher in every way I expected - bleak both in narrative and tone, gruesome, and with a meticulous execution. We get a fantastic score from Reznor & Ross (as usual), and you know just what to expect thanks to that brilliant opening credits sequence that felt like a cold, mechanical nightmare of twisted memories. And Rooney Mara was simply remarkable as the disturbed hacker Elizabeth Salander, totally immersing herself in the role and becoming an instant Hollywood star. It was daring, brave, and totally fearless. If there's plans for Fincher to make the next two sequels, I'll be there to see them. In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to Mara's performance in Carol, which is getting heaps of praise already. LIST American Hustle **NEW** (2015.10.19) - I'll replace Fincher's 'Dragon Tattoo with another lengthy modern film I'll never watch... unless I'm forced to here. Anatomy of a Murder (2015.09.03) - another lengthy film that I've been meaning to see, but won't watch unless this thread makes me. Children of Paradise (2015.10.12) - here's yet another 3hr film I'll continue to put off until I get forced to watch it. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (2015.08.08) - my 2nd Bunuel film on the list, and another highly regarded film I should check out. The Fountain (2015.07.12) - I've noticed this come up way too many times, plus a good friend telling me to watch it for years now. Leaving Las Vegas (2015.10.18) - I claim to be a big Nic Cage supporter, yet his Oscar-winner remains a blindspot. How shameful, right? Only Angels Have Wings **OLDEST** (2015.03.31) - highly respected film directed by Howard Hawks - a versatile yet overlooked director who I've barely scratched the surface of... Peeping Tom (2015.07.12) - one of those films I should watch moreso than I want to watch. Perfect for this list! Shadow of a Doubt (2015.06.07) - a somewhat earlier Hitchcock film I've yet to see. That Obscure Object of Desire (2015.04.07) - this seems way too interesting and way too important to have not seen by now. De-shamed Pt2: True Romance (4/5), The Right Stuff (3/5), Syndromes And A Century (4/5), Still Life (3/5), My Cousin Vinny (2.5/5), Doctor Zhivago (3.5/5), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (4.5/5), [Total:107]
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Oct 20, 2015 06:34
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friendo55 posted:Peeping Tom (2015.07.12) - one of those films I should watch moreso than I want to watch. Perfect for this list! Anyone who likes Nightcrawler should see this. Babel - Three stories unfold across four locations and each is connected with the other. The steady theme (by virtue of the title) is that of cultures invariably clashing and things going wrong AKA communication breakdowns (see Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown). Finding a practical application is not easy as watching this was more like watching chaos unfold than learning a lesson. Morocco: two young brothers play with a rifle and unsurprisingly disaster strikes when they use a bus as target practice without any sense of consequence. We learn this rifle has a connection to a hunter in Japan and also that the unlucky victim hails from the US. This sets off a chain of events leading to a maid in San Diego making a brash decision when she goes down to see her sons wedding in Mexico. There's a decent amount of tension that works well as we're never quite sure what will go wrong next. One of the other things that stuck out and also worked was its sexual bluntness, particularly when we follow a few lonely deaf-mute Japanese volleyball players that are dealing with sexual frustrations. I suppose I have a few quibbles. One being the idiocy of the injured couple in distress not just remaining on the bus in Morocco after a certain point. As an aside, the Tower of Babel stories from Genesis (and other texts) brings about a lot of interesting religious/theological concepts and questions: Just what were the humans doing that could've been possibly threatening to a deity to necessitate language confusion? Procrastination (195 completed): #189 My Young Auntie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoREBihOGYA 7/26/15 #195 Catastrophe AKA Shoah - Make me finish this ten hour behemoth. 8/29/15 #198 Ring AKA Ringu - I've seen the 2002 and 2005 US versions but not the original. 9/29/15 #199 Pumpkinhead - I may never look at pumpkins the same way again. 10/9/15 new #200 Crimes and Misdemeanors - It's on a lot of lists. 10/20/15 James Bond versus Godzilla: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture (18/37 completed): 2002 Swept Away - Madonna gets stuck on an island. 5/25/15 1997 The Postman - Kevin Costner delivers mail for three hours. 7/26/15 1996 Striptease - Stripshow Volume II. 8/25/15 1994 Color of Night - I haven't heard much about this. 9/6/15 1993 Indecent Proposal - A rich man offers your wife $1,000,000 American dollars for a one night tryst. What do you do? 10/9/15
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Oct 20, 2015 23:40
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Zogo, watch The Postman! This is actually a mild guilty pleasure for me, but I'm a post-apoc fan. But fear not, Kevin Costner is at his best/worst. Unforgiven: Watched half of it before I fell asleep and since it's been three months, I'm not likely to finish the rest. I don't even remember it at this point, other than it had a made-for-TVish feel. I flirted with westerns briefly since I really liked Once Upon a Time in the West, but other than that and maybe Dead Man, I don't think they're my thing. No rating. New List of Shame: 1. Thelma and Louise: I dunno, could be fun. 2. My Kid Could Paint That: I love docs with unintended twists. 3. Beyond the Black Rainbow: I'm ready for a mindfuck. 4. Zero Dark Thirty: Amerrrrca! Ferk yearrhh! 5. When a Tree Falls: An environmental doc that's been on my mind for a while. 6. El Topo: I'm not sure I like Alejandro Jodorowsky, but I'm definitely fascinated by him. 7. Nosferatu, the Vampyre: More Herzog/Kinski insanity, please. Unshamed: Evil Dead 1.5/4, Evil Dead 2 2.5/4, Hoop Dreams 3.5/4, The Prestige 3.5/4, Citizen Kane 3/4, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 3.5/5, Paths of Glory 4.5/5, Once Upon a Time in the West 4.5/5, Highlander 2/5, Ran 4/5, The Act of Killing 4.5/5, Das Boot 5/5, Cool Hand Luke 3/5, The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly 3.5/5, Fitzcarraldo 2.5/5
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Oct 23, 2015 03:09
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Oh my god finish Unforgiven dude.
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Oct 23, 2015 08:28
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Yeah, I don't want to pile on the shame or anything, but Unforgiven is really watchable and I can't imagine passing it by.
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Oct 23, 2015 14:44
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The first half hour is kind of slow but it does pick up from there, and the ending is very memorable.
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Oct 23, 2015 15:04
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Ok, I'll finish it. But I'll stand by the fact that the first 45 minutes or whatever I saw was not terribly impressive. I felt like an episode of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman or something.
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Oct 23, 2015 16:43
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Mahlertov Cocktail posted:Oh my god finish Unforgiven dude. I'll add to the pile - and this is coming from a guy who doesn't think Westerns is his thing either. It's my least favourite genre, but Unforgiven is certainly worth the watch.
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Oct 23, 2015 16:52
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:Ok, I'll finish it. But I'll stand by the fact that the first 45 minutes or whatever I saw was not terribly impressive. I felt like an episode of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman or something. Yeah you really got piled on but honestly you should've armed yourself by watching the whole movie before decorating this thread with negative opinions.
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Oct 23, 2015 17:56
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Not sure who I'm picking for now that Ramrod's going back to finish Unforgiven. If Zogo, stick with The Postman, if Ramrod Hotshot, let's say Nosferatu, The Vampyre (I guess in addition to the rest of Unforgiven). Halloween is a film that, above all else, understands the importance of pacing and suspense to the horror genre. The film's first killings don't actually occur until almost two-thirds of the way through the movie, but it's runtime before then is effectively used to build anticipation for when it does happen, frequently cutting to Michael Myers' perspective as he meticulously plans his course of attack. I also appreciate the inclusion of the psychiatrist character as a means to give further insight into Myers' psyche, though I do wish he was given more to do from about the midway point up until the end than just waiting at Myers' house. Beyond that, though a great film, it's not one that I don't have too much specifically to say about otherwise. It's pretty much become the prototypical example of the slasher genre, and it's certainly not hard to see it's influence. 1. Good Morning Vietnam - Continuing my Robin Williams film spree with one of the films that really put him on the map. 2. Full Metal Jacket - More Kubrick. I know some of iconic scenes of the first half at boot camp and basically nothing else. 3. A Hard Day's Night - I love The Beatles but have only seen Yellow Submarine as far as their films are concerned. This one in particular seems especially well regarded. 4. Requiem for a Dream - A fun-filled romp for the whole family! 5. Plan 9 From Outer Space - The B-movie to define all B-movies? 6. Whiplash - One of my best friends considers this his favourite film of 2014, and J.K. Simmons generally hasn't steered me wrong in the past. 7. Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones - The Star Wars film I know the least about going in, that being pretty much nothing whatsoever, aside from it's not so great reputation. 8. UHF - I loving love Weird Al Yankovic, so I'm probably a bit overdue to give this a watch. Plus I've been on a bit of a kick as of late after seeing him live a few 9. Spirited Away - I have watched this one, but not since sometime in grade school, so my memories are basically non-existant. 10. A Nightmare on Elm Street - Man, he sure says bitch a lot. Deshamed (47): Monty Python's Life of Brian, My Neighbor Totoro, Alien, Back to the Future, Star Wars: A New Hope, Aliens, Hot Fuzz, Ghostbusters, The Fisher King, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Good Will Hunting, Wayne's World, One Hour Photo, This is the End, Inglourious Basterds, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Social Network, The Blair Witch Project, The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, Fantasia, Kill Bill, The Iron Giant, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Avengers, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Zombieland, Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, 21 Jump Street, The Godfather, Jackie Brown, Citizen Kane, Pink Floyd - The Wall, Birdman, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Back to the Future: Part II, Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Zodiac, Princess Mononoke, The Godfather Part II, Halloween
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Oct 24, 2015 08:02
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Trash Boat posted:
A nice change of pace from Halloween. Enjoy! Peeping Tom As a reviewer on IMDb put it, think of Peeping Tom as if Steven Spielberg did his next film about bestiality. Karlheinz Bohm is perfect as Mark Lewis, an icy killer yet insecure loner - not changing much in his mannerisms either way. Moira Shearer is the beautiful stand-in actress Vivian who gets lured alone by Mark with hopes of making it big. And Anna Massey as the innocent neighbour Helen who is fascinating by Mark and his work in photography. It's shocking and controversial nature ended director Michael Powell's career - but clearly it was a work ahead of it's time. LIST American Hustle (2015.10.19) - I'll replace Fincher's 'Dragon Tattoo with another lengthy modern film I'll never watch... unless I'm forced to here. Anatomy of a Murder (2015.09.03) - another lengthy film that I've been meaning to see, but won't watch unless this thread makes me. Children of Paradise (2015.10.12) - here's yet another 3hr film I'll continue to put off until I get forced to watch it. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (2015.08.08) - my 2nd Bunuel film on the list, and another highly regarded film I should check out. The Fountain (2015.07.12) - I've noticed this come up way too many times, plus a good friend telling me to watch it for years now. Leaving Las Vegas (2015.10.18) - I claim to be a big Nic Cage supporter, yet his Oscar-winner remains a blindspot. How shameful, right? Mister Roberts **NEW** (2015.10.24) - James Cagney, Henry Fonda, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon ..... Why I haven't watched this yet is beyond me. Only Angels Have Wings **OLDEST** (2015.03.31) - highly respected film directed by Howard Hawks - a versatile yet overlooked director who I've barely scratched the surface of... Shadow of a Doubt (2015.06.07) - a somewhat earlier Hitchcock film I've yet to see. That Obscure Object of Desire (2015.04.07) - this seems way too interesting and way too important to have not seen by now. De-shamed Pt2: True Romance (4/5), The Right Stuff (3/5), Syndromes And A Century (4/5), Still Life (3/5), My Cousin Vinny (2.5/5), Doctor Zhivago (3.5/5), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (4.5/5), Peeping Tom (4/5), [Total:108] friendo55 fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Nov 2, 2015 |
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Oct 24, 2015 22:31
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friendo, watch Shadow of a Doubt, which is not only frequently overlooked within Hitchcock's filmography and as a classic film noir, but was also Hitchcock's personal favorite of his own work. Ordet is a very beautiful, very powerful character drama about faith. Featuring a brother who believes himself to be Jesus, a lad whose family faith clashes with the woman he wants to marry, and a loving mother whose life is at risk after a stillbirth, Ordet is a quiet but strong effort from Dreyer. While it doesn't pack the wallop of Joan of Arc it is just as agonizing and emotional in its own way. Lovely filmmaking. My List: Napoleon (1927) - Abel Gance's five and a half hour silent epic about the fightin' Corsican. Bring it on you bastards. (Added 10/8/2014) The Avenging Conscience (1914) - Griffith's last film before The Birth of a Nation. (Added 2/15/2015) Yi Yi (2000) - This consistently ranks high on lists but nobody ever seems to talk about it and I have no idea what it's about. (Added 2/24/2015) The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - I love Fritz Lang and I'm a big fan of his first Dr. Mabuse movie, the four-hour silent. This is apparently the second film of a trilogy and quite different from the first film. (Added 9/27/2015) Purple Rain (1984) - I've gotten big into Prince lately. (Added 9/27/2015) The War Room (1993) - Pennebaker does Clinton. Picked this up from a thrift shop awhile back. Should be good as we barrel headfirst into election season. (Added 9/27/2015) Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) - Helluva title. I'm actually not a big fan of Dario Argento so I'd like to see a non-Argento Giallo for once. (Added 9/27/2015) Flooding with Love for the Kid (2010) - A guy adapted First Blood (yes, as in Rambo) and filmed it in his 220 square foot New York apartment on a budget of $96 with a cast consisting of himself in every role. It's apparently really good. (Added 9/27/2015) Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) - 666 Hail Satan!  420 SLAAAYYEEERRR!!! (Added 10/9/2015)Faces (1968) - Making my way through the Criterion Cassavetes box set. (Added 10/24/2015) Watched: Fort Apache; Damnation; Ran; Ordet (TOTAL: 4)
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Oct 25, 2015 02:50
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TrixRabbi posted:Purple Rain (1984) - I've gotten big into Prince lately. (Added 9/27/2015) The Apartment labeled itself to me as a romantic/comedy/drama, and I was kind of expecting something fairly upbeat not quite to the extent of Some Like It Hot, but an easy overall tone. This did not have that, in fact I was pretty surprised at how hopeless this movie felt at times. I usually praise the actors in my reviews and Lemmon and MacLaine are certainly great, but this is a complete work. The screenplay is really well written and Lemmon does a great job of showing the facade of a yes man, but you can really see through his emotions the cracks and bitterness. It's impressive how fast things switch from upbeat to dreary. The story itself is pretty interesting and something that seems pretty wild nowadays. I really enjoyed this film overall, it felt very well rounded and there were no weak links. I can see why it would get a bit lost in the shuffle in the modern era, but any drama that can convey the kind of emotion that this film does is doing something right. New List: 1. Hotel Rwanda - 1 Oct 2015 - We can't have all our movies be upbeat. 2. Papillon - 15 Oct 2015 - Hoffman and McQueen, what's not to like. 3. The Searchers - 11 Aug 2015 - I've not seen all that much from Mr. Wayne in my lifetime. I know this is universally considered one of his best. 4. 8 1/2 - 19 Oct 2015 - I've been looking through some lists of great movies and directors, and I realize I've never seen a Fellini film. 5. Das Boot - 3 Oct 2015 - Highest rated imdb movie I've yet to see. I assume it's something to do with war and isolation. 6. Citizenfour - 7 Oct 2015 - Chili just watched it, and I've heard great things about it. I also work at Fort Meade so expect a bit of bias going into it. 7. Strangers on a Train - 20 Aug 2015 - Been a while since I've done a Hitchcock movie. Best Picture Bonanza (56/88) 8. The Last Emperor - 19 Jun 2015 - A film that feels overlooked in a year that feels overlooked. 9. A Beautiful Mind - 4 Jul 2015 - The most recent best picture I haven't seen. 10. All About Eve - 28 Oct 2015 - I assume it's mostly about Eve and partly about other characters. Watched Count 130: Chinatown, 12 Angry Men, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Do the Right Thing, A Clockwork Orange, Wall-E, Citizen Kane, Aliens, The Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, Rear Window, The Green Mile, Braveheart, Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai, The Great Escape, City of God, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, Ratatouille, All Quiet on the Western Front, Mulholland Dr., Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai, Memento, Unforgiven, The Usual Suspects, Network, The Social Network, Psycho, Black Swan, The Professional (Leon), Duck Soup, Up, The Silence of the Lambs, The Hurt Locker, Animal Crackers, American Beauty, The Princess Bride, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator, The King's Speech, American History X, Taxi Driver, The Philadelphia Story, Cars, Dial M for Murder, Amélie, Spirited Away, North by Northwest, Paths of Glory, Some Like it Hot, On the Waterfront, Platoon, Annie Hall, Patton, Harvey, Nikita, Yojimbo, How to Train Your Dragon, To Kill a Mockingbird, This is Spinal Tap, Fargo, Sin City, Wayne's World, A Streetcar Named Desire, Barton Fink, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, Rashomon, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Wild Strawberries, Rebecca, Dog Day Afternoon, The Departed, The Graduate, V for Vendetta, My Neighbor Totoro, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, City Lights, Life is Beautiful, Stand by Me, The Artist, Howl's Moving Castle, Good Will Hunting, Planet of the Apes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 12 Years a Slave, The Intouchables, The Grapes of Wrath, Ben-Hur, Three Colors: Blue, Grave of the Fireflies, Argo, Oldboy, Bicycle Thieves, Wings, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sunrise, Lawrence of Arabia, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rain Man, Three Colors: White, High Noon, The Sound of Music, The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, Ran, L.A. Confidential, Million Dollar Baby, Ikiru, Modern Times, Her, The Prestige, The Maltese Falcon, Heat, The Lives of Others, Captain Phillips, Three Colors: Red, The Hustler, The Apartment
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Oct 28, 2015 08:11
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Dear Prudence posted:List of Shamefulness from 3 years ago. Okay so wow I completely forgot I even joined this thread and never came back to report on what I was assigned. I'd like to join in again and will actually come back this time. The first (and only movie) I was assigned was Grosse Point Blank. I really liked it! It was fun. Dan Akroyd was more enjoyable in the movie than I've seen him in years being and John Cussack was good as per usual for himself. All in all, very entertaining, funny and fun. I also ended up watching a couple of the other movies on my original list over the ensuing years. Annie Hall - So funny! I thought for the longest time that Woody Allen was just all wacky and awkward movies. This movie was really smart and fast paced. I can see why it wont an Oscar. Diane Keaton seemed so much more real in her role here than I've ever seen her in other movies. Most of what I know of her is her playing a spastic neurotic. She was so smooth it was almost not even her. Woody Allen was charming in a really hosed up way. I'd only really seen Bananas before with him at the helm and acting and I thought it was funny, but it's a silly movie. Annie Hall was so much different than that. I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie and I think I'll be adding more Woody Allen films to my list as I go on. Glengarry Glen Ross - I had a completely wrong idea what this movie was about. I think I was getting this mixed up with Victor Victoria because I thought it was about a woman posing as a man or something like that. I also thought it was supposed to be a musical?  In any case, what it was was wonderful. Jack Lemmon was so good in this. Scratch that - EVERYONE was so good in this. As much as Alec Baldwin comes in and just knocks his small part out of the park, he really wasn't the best part of this movie. I don't begrudge him his Oscar over this, but there were so many more intrinsic characters that deserved more recognition than they got. Al Pacino - WOW. Jack Lemmon - WOW. I was really sad this movie was over because everything about it was so good I wanted to glut myself on it forever. Okay, so back to the game. I'm ready to get with the program now. marioinblack posted:9. A Beautiful Mind - 4 Jul 2015 - The most recent best picture I haven't seen. This is actually going on my new list because it's one I've always heard was fantastic but never got around to seeing. I hope you like it and it lives up to both our expectations. Also, in regards to your listing of 8 1/2 - if you've never seen Fellini before, switch that out for La Dolce Vida. It's a better introduction to Fellini, as it's much less surreal and easier to understand. 8 1/2 is kind of a sequel to it of a sorts anyhow. Just a suggestion. 1. M - The description of this sounds really intriguing. I've missed out on so many pre-1970 movies that I don't really know what to expect. My prejudice (which I fully know could not possibly be correct in any way) is that movies prior to the 70s for the most part just aren't worth the time. Either I feel I wont be able to relate or due to rose colored glasses in regards to the past, they wont be able to be honest and treat meaningful subject matter with the gravitas it deserves. Stupid, I know. 2. Dead Poets Society - A staple Robin Williams I'm told. It's been sitting on my queue and constantly being bumped for other movies. Make me watch it. 3. I Love You, Phillip Morris - I saw this all the time for streaming and never clicked play. It's supposed to be good, right? I keep hearing it is on various podcasts. The short synopsis seems interesting. 4. Synedoche, New York - Not really sure what this one is about but it won awards so it can't be bad, right? What I know about this movie is it's about a play? Maybe I'm wrong about that. 5. The Tree of Life - I tried really hard to watch this a couple times but I never got more than a half hour in. It was really boring. But so many goons talk about how good it is and how it made them cry so up on the list it goes. **eta - It occurs to me I'm getting this confused with The Fountain so now I don't even know WTF to expect** 6. Ghost Dog - From my original list. "Seemed like a ridiculous premise when it came out, but apparently it's supposed to be good." 7. A Beautiful Mind - One of those Oscar winners I've always meant to watch but never got around to. 8. L.A. Confidential - From my original list. I'm not a big film noir person. I find them too slow and agonizing in their melodrama. I'm hoping this one will change my mind. 9. Take Shelter - Been a fan of Michael Shannon since he exploded into my consciousness in Boardwalk Empire. This is something I've wanted to see for a long time, but it's never climbed my netflix queue. 10. The Great Dictator - I don't know what to expect. Not sure if it's a comedy or drama. Not even sure if it's a silent film or a talkie, but it seems to be essential viewing at least once in your life. De-shamefied: Grosse Point Blank, Glengarry Glen Ross, Annie Hall
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Oct 28, 2015 19:03
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Dear Prudence posted:10. The Great Dictator - I don't know what to expect. Not sure if it's a comedy or drama. Not even sure if it's a silent film or a talkie, but it seems to be essential viewing at least once in your life. I'll let the film speak for itself. Russell Crowe was certainly amazing in the late 90s/early 00s. A Beautiful Mind is basically carried by him with strong support from Jennifer Connelly, and they never cause my attention to waiver. It feels like the better version of The Theory of Everything when looking at films about 20th century geniuses with impairments. The huge knock is it basically uses Nash's story as a backdrop and goes its own way with the story. This spurs a bit of an internal debate of how much weight should I put on accuracy as opposed to good storytelling. This film pushes that notion about as hard as it can go. Overall, I don't have too much to say, it's an acting driven movie and nothing else really jumped out at me. I enjoyed it for what it is. New List: 1. Hotel Rwanda - 1 Oct 2015 - We can't have all our movies be upbeat. 2. Papillon - 15 Oct 2015 - Hoffman and McQueen, what's not to like. 3. The Searchers - 11 Aug 2015 - I've not seen all that much from Mr. Wayne in my lifetime. I know this is universally considered one of his best. 4. 8 1/2 - 19 Oct 2015 - I've been looking through some lists of great movies and directors, and I realize I've never seen a Fellini film. 5. Das Boot - 3 Oct 2015 - Highest rated imdb movie I've yet to see. I assume it's something to do with war and isolation. 6. Citizenfour - 7 Oct 2015 - Chili just watched it, and I've heard great things about it. I also work at Fort Meade so expect a bit of bias going into it. 7. Strangers on a Train - 20 Aug 2015 - Been a while since I've done a Hitchcock movie. Best Picture Bonanza (57/88) 8. The Last Emperor - 19 Jun 2015 - A film that feels overlooked in a year that feels overlooked. 9. Shakespeare in Love - 29 Oct 2015 - The most recent best picture I haven't seen. 10. All About Eve - 28 Oct 2015 - I assume it's mostly about Eve and partly about other characters. Watched Count 131: Chinatown, 12 Angry Men, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Do the Right Thing, A Clockwork Orange, Wall-E, Citizen Kane, Aliens, The Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, Rear Window, The Green Mile, Braveheart, Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai, The Great Escape, City of God, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, Ratatouille, All Quiet on the Western Front, Mulholland Dr., Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai, Memento, Unforgiven, The Usual Suspects, Network, The Social Network, Psycho, Black Swan, The Professional (Leon), Duck Soup, Up, The Silence of the Lambs, The Hurt Locker, Animal Crackers, American Beauty, The Princess Bride, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator, The King's Speech, American History X, Taxi Driver, The Philadelphia Story, Cars, Dial M for Murder, Amélie, Spirited Away, North by Northwest, Paths of Glory, Some Like it Hot, On the Waterfront, Platoon, Annie Hall, Patton, Harvey, Nikita, Yojimbo, How to Train Your Dragon, To Kill a Mockingbird, This is Spinal Tap, Fargo, Sin City, Wayne's World, A Streetcar Named Desire, Barton Fink, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, Rashomon, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Wild Strawberries, Rebecca, Dog Day Afternoon, The Departed, The Graduate, V for Vendetta, My Neighbor Totoro, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, City Lights, Life is Beautiful, Stand by Me, The Artist, Howl's Moving Castle, Good Will Hunting, Planet of the Apes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 12 Years a Slave, The Intouchables, The Grapes of Wrath, Ben-Hur, Three Colors: Blue, Grave of the Fireflies, Argo, Oldboy, Bicycle Thieves, Wings, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sunrise, Lawrence of Arabia, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rain Man, Three Colors: White, High Noon, The Sound of Music, The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, Ran, L.A. Confidential, Million Dollar Baby, Ikiru, Modern Times, Her, The Prestige, The Maltese Falcon, Heat, The Lives of Others, Captain Phillips, Three Colors: Red, The Hustler, The Apartment, A Beautiful Mind
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Oct 29, 2015 15:46
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marioinblack posted:
This is quite an impressive list of movies. These aren't even the artsy movies that everyone says people should watch. After watching all these movie do you feel you have a better grasp of understanding what makes a movie bad, good, or great?
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Oct 29, 2015 18:49
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marioinblack, only movie on your list that I saw was The Searchers and I think it is highly overrated. Let's see what you think. Just saw North By Northwest. Seemed to be almost a remake of The 39 Steps, but I enjoyed this movie more. Very suspenseful. Hitchcock is a phenomenal director. The cinematography was very good, with nice angles and very clean shots. Cary Grant was really good in this movie. My List: Wall Street - Greed is good, I hear. Avatar - I heard this is like Dances with Wolves. Faust - Looking forward to another Murnau film. Reds - Don't know much about this movie. A Day at the Races - More Marx Brothers madness, please. The Cat Returns - Need to see some more Studio Ghibli. Sequel to Whisper of the Heart Dersu Uzala - Starting to run out of Kurosawa films. What a great director. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - This is one of my grandmothers favorite movies. I haven't seen it yet. House of Wax - I've never seen a Vincent Price picture (except for Edward Scissorhands) Rope - More Hitchcock here. Movies Seen: Seven Samurai, Dune, Singin' in the Rain, Animal Crackers, Once Upon a Time in the West, Amadeus, Double Indemnity, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 12 Angry Men, Ed Wood, Sunset Boulevard, The Dark Knight, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Brazil, Rashomon, Yojimbo, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, M, Duck Soup, The Princess and the Frog, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Dracula, It's a Wonderful Life, Lawrence of Arabia, Ikiru, High and Low, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Kagemusha, Best In Show, Modern Times, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Red Beard, Monty Python's The Life of Brian, Cars, Cool Hand Luke, The Public Enemy, Time Bandits, Adaptation, The Producers, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gone With The Wind, My Fair Lady, City Lights, A Christmas Carol(1951), Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, West Side Story, Caddyshack, My Neighbor Totoro, Throne of Blood, The Phantom of the Opera, Yellow Submarine, Little Caesar, The Third Man, The Godfather, Persepolis, The Godfather Part II, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Invisible Man, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Beautiful Mind, The Kid, Fiddler on the Roof, The Gold Rush, Metropolis, Rear Window, Enter the Dragon, Horse Feathers, The Great Dictator, Despicable Me, The Bad Sleep Well, The Wolf Man, Nosferatu, Patton, Howl's Moving Castle, The King and I, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Kiki's Delivery Service, The King's Speech, Grave of the Fireflies, Porco Rosso, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Graduate, Whisper of the Heart, The 39 Steps, Ran, Notorious, True Grit, North By Northwest
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Oct 29, 2015 21:53
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Dear Prudence posted:This is quite an impressive list of movies. These aren't even the artsy movies that everyone says people should watch. After watching all these movie do you feel you have a better grasp of understanding what makes a movie bad, good, or great? I would like to think so, but this inherent issue is almost all of these movies are classics of some kind, and there's a reason something becomes a classic. I think I've gained an appreciation for the history of film and find some of the most enjoyable films to be from stuff pre 1960, where I was completely turned off in the past. To answer your question about if I have a better grasp, the only thing I really demand is a movie that it keeps me entertained for its runtime. If it does, then I'll try to look back and see what I really enjoyed. I admit I don't have everything nailed down, and if you look at my reviews, I've never quite been able to state why the acting was good here or why the screenplay/direction was good there. It's why I don't post here outside of this thread, but I love watching movies and this is the thread to guilt me into watching more movies and trying to come up with reasons I enjoy/didn't enjoy it.
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Oct 29, 2015 22:52
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Dear Prudence posted:
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Oct 30, 2015 04:08
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I think a lot of people consider, in a casual way, 1970 to be a kind of turning point in film, the beginning of the modern era. A lot of films and filmmakers who shaped modern culture kicked off in the 70s, for one thing, but it was also when ironic/reflexive/gritty filmmaking took over, which is a lot easier for modern audiences to watch than the more atomic-family sincere kind of filmmaking that was the overriding norm beforehand. Of course, we only remember the good and not the mediocre. Nobody remembers movies like Ice Castles, or The Turning Point, or Summer of '42, which at the time were just as much a part of the cultural cinema zeitgeist as all the movies we have today about, like, quirky girls with cancer, or whatever. There was definitely a lot of crappy studio schlock in the pre-70s but there was also a lot of amazing stuff going on both in America and around the world, and it's exciting to discover all that because it does such a good job of illustrating that people back then were just like people today.
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Oct 30, 2015 04:26
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Ok, I've decided to bite the bullet and jump in. I took a number of film theory classes Now I'm older, lazier, and have a kid so I often opt for bubblegum for the mind when I choose to rarely watch a film. This thread will force me to overcome my shameful slothfulness. Dmitri Russkie posted:Rope - More Hitchcock here. More Hitchcock is never a bad thing. Rope wasn't assigned in my Hitchcock class - my friend and I sought it out as we continued a Hitchcock binge afterwards. It's most famous for it's gimmick of being composed of only 10 long takes; but it's a cool gimmick and worth watching for that alone. It's also one of many films over the years inspired by the Leopold and Loeb case. My List: 1. Casablanca - It's a crime, really. I like Bogey - I've seen The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen - so why haven't I seen this? 2. Lawrence of Arabia - Another must-see that I've never gotten around to. 3. Breathless - The 400 Blows, Alphaville, Hiroshima Mon Amour, and La Jetee were the New Wave films we covered in my class long ago, but we skipped what is probably the most famous New Wave film of all. 4. Gate of Hell - It's supposed to be visually sumptuous. I have the Criterion Blu-Ray, why haven't I watched it yet? 5. The Ballad of Narayama - I have the Criterion Blu-Ray. My parents are in their eighties - maybe I'm shying away from a film that deals with the issues of parents, aging, and death? 6. The Hidden Fortress - One of the Kurasawa films from his golden era that I haven't seen, and supposed inspiration for Star Wars. Again, I have the Criterion Blu-Ray.... 7. Thief - I love Manhunter, and I'm sure I'll love Mann's Thief. And again I have that Criterion Blu-Ray in the shrink wrap.... 8. Kuroneko - I have the drat Criterion Blu-Ray and it's almost Halloween. 9. Solyent Green - I've binged through a fair bit of 70's sci-fi over the years, and I've seen Heston in Planet of the Apes and Omega Man already. Maybe I've put it off because the world already knows Solyent Green is people? 10. Westworld - I saw the critical turning point on TV when I was standing in Sears as a kid, when the Yul Brenner gunslinger robot kills James Brolin's character. But that's it. Maybe it's bad form, but I'd like to throw out a few recommendations for people looking to add to their lists. For instance, a lot of people rightly have Hitchcock on their lists - but I haven't seen Vertigo pop up, and I think it may be his best movie. Also, I think Rear Window may be the most influential Hitchcock - it arguably spawned an entire sub-genre of thriller. I'd also highly recommend the haunting and beautiful Ugetsu Monogatari, which Roger Ebert described as "one of the greatest of all films." Wizchine fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Oct 30, 2015 |
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Oct 30, 2015 07:00
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Wizchine posted:
I'm guessing that Vertigo and Rear Window have been seen by most who are requesting Hitchcock in their lists (maybe this is a false assumption) or they're too ashamed to list them. Vertigo has a lot of traction and many non-film obsessives have seen it. I really wish I got to see it at TIFF this year with the live orchestra. But, I don't think it's bad form to throw titles out for people to add. Anything that might spark some kind of inspiration is welcome.
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Oct 30, 2015 21:18
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Ratedargh posted:I'm guessing that Vertigo and Rear Window have been seen by most who are requesting Hitchcock in their lists (maybe this is a false assumption) or they're too ashamed to list them. Vertigo has a lot of traction and many non-film obsessives have seen it. I really wish I got to see it at TIFF this year with the live orchestra. But, I don't think it's bad form to throw titles out for people to add. Anything that might spark some kind of inspiration is welcome. Cool. I think I mentioned those two because North by Northwest and Psycho were showing up quite a bit, and those are probably his two most iconic films. Then again, Rope, Strangers on a Train, and The 39 Steps have popped up on lists, so people are obviously burrowing into his catalog a bit more deeply, too. I won't go overboard with throwing out titles since our lists should be piquing our collective interest anyway.
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Oct 30, 2015 21:47
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Wizchine posted:Cool. I think I mentioned those two because North by Northwest and Psycho were showing up quite a bit, and those are probably his two most iconic films. Then again, Rope, Strangers on a Train, and The 39 Steps have popped up on lists, so people are obviously burrowing into his catalog a bit more deeply, too. I personally think that Rebecca is perhaps his best film and his least iconic. It's a small film, brilliantly acted, but without any of the elaborate and easily parodied set pieces that many of his others had.
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Oct 31, 2015 06:01
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Hat Thoughts posted:Why are the 70s the cutoff for this? I was born in 82 so 70s culture was still relevant a bit to my life. Beyond that I feel I'm out of my territory. It's dumb and something I'm actively working to correct. Magic Hate Ball posted:...it's exciting to discover all that because it does such a good job of illustrating that people back then were just like people today. This quite a bit. I've seen a lot of good movies from pre-1970s but one of the first ones that I watched that really made me sit and take notice was The Apartment. I thought it was just a romantic comedy, in the same vein as anything Doris Day would do. But no no no. Not even close. I was shocked, really shocked that they addressed attempted suicide so candidly in that movie. I just didn't expect it AT ALL. I figured people would have strung up the director for even suggesting people are anything but happy to be alive. It's what made me realize my disregard of older films is full of poo poo and something I need to correct. Dear Prudence fucked around with this message at 07:59 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 07:53
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Wizchine, welcome to the thread! Go with The Hidden Fortress, watch it as it's a good film, an easy watch, and you can bring it up in conversation when Star Wars fever grips everyone in a month's time. _____________________________ friendo55 gave me another Studio Ghibli film, The Wind Rises. Which was decent but an oddly detatched film. The biopic of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Mitsubishi Zero fighter plane, dealing with the years leading up to the creation of that plane. The film's subject, Mr Horikoshi, is presented as a quiet, good, and driven man who dreans of creating planes, works to create planes, and then creates planes. It is a film without any real dramatic confllict or issues and you get the feeling that it's probably rather accurate to the story of these years of the protaganist's life. The obvious potential embellishment being the frequent dream/fantasy sequences showing Horikoshi's motivations. A love story adds some depth to the film but it is rather brief, though touching. The film's subject is a little uncormfortable being about a creator of fight planes used in World War 2 but sidestepping any political opinions - the engineers involved merely state that they just want to make planes - and maybe it's just me as someone who greatly dislikes militarism but it never sat right with me - these passionate engineers dedicating their lives to creating something with apparently no interest in their explicit purpose. While the subject is clearly something that would appeal to Studio Ghibli (flight being the subejct of many of their films and indeed the Studio's name) the setting and these political elements hung over an otherwise nice film. List of Shame: 1 - Achilles and the Tortoise - final film of Kitano's 'surrealist autobiographical trilogy'...[Catching up with Kitano 2/4] 2 - The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - Not heard much about this, but a subject I find extremely interesting. [Documentary Slot] 3 - Silence - Long intrigued by this film, now I need to catch it before the Scorsese version comes out next year... 4 - In America - It was talked about a lot on its release but not heard much about this since, word was it was good. [Irish Film Slot] 5 - The Great Yokai War - Takeshi Miike does a kids film, one I've long intended to catch. 6 - Rope - Think the only Hitchcock film I've seen is Pyscho, which was my film unshamed film, long overdue for more. 7 - An American Werewolf in London - Know very little about this other than that transformation scene. 8 - The Exorcist - One that should have been in my original list of shame in my first post. Truly Shameful. 9 - The Fog - Getting back to some Carpenter, don't know much about this but apparently a horror classic. 10- The Graduate - new - Another that falls into the category of being so familiar from parodies that I never sought out the original. Shame No More: [67] [top five] Psycho | The Third Man | The Long Goodbye | Harakiri | The Silence of the Lambs | Pi | Jaws | Panic Room | Black Swan | Star Trek II | The Brothers Bloom | Hugo | Badlands | Shame | LA Confidential | The Right Stuff | The Evil Dead | Hanna | The Master | The Untouchables | Glengarry Glen Ross | The Seventh Seal | The Apartment | The Player | Ronin | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Glory to the Filmmaker! | Frank | Dreams | Paths of Glory | Assault on Precinct 13 | Haywire | Escape From New York | 13 Assassins | A Prophet | Stand By Me | Blackfish | Pumping Iron | The Thin Blue Line | It's A Wonderful Life | What Richard Did | The Bicycle Thieves | Youth of the Beast | Once Upon A Time In The West | The Raid: Redemption | The Babadook | Calvary | The Host | Samurai Rebellion | Poltergeist | Days of Heaven | The Room | Nightcrawler | Cars 2 | Enter the Dragon | Stalker | Casablanca | M | The Maltese Falcon | The Secret World of Arrietty | Bad Lieutenant | Blazing Saddles | Mad Max: Fury Road | From Up On Poppy Hill | In The Heat Of The Night | Noah | The Wind Rises
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Nov 2, 2015 01:40
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Chewy Bitems posted:The film's subject is a little uncormfortable being about a creator of fight planes used in World War 2 but sidestepping any political opinions - the engineers involved merely state that they just want to make planes - and maybe it's just me as someone who greatly dislikes militarism but it never sat right with me - these passionate engineers dedicating their lives to creating something with apparently no interest in their explicit purpose. While the subject is clearly something that would appeal to Studio Ghibli (flight being the subejct of many of their films and indeed the Studio's name) the setting and these political elements hung over an otherwise nice film. I don't know if I'd say The Wind Rises actually sidesteps political opinions, so much as the politics are completely entrenched in the fabric of the story. To have the characters come out and say this or that about the war and the enemy and the morality of using a dreamily obsessive genius to create an ideal airplane to kill people with would be to dilute the ambiguity of his position. The irony that the only feasible means to pursue his dream is via military engineering is inherent (consider the line of poetry that the film takes its title from: "The wind rises!... We must try to live!").
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Nov 2, 2015 02:58
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Chewy Bitems, definitely watch The Exorcist. Halloween may be over, but it's a cold, chilling, magnificent film. Purple Rain may be one of the biggest missed opportunities in modern Hollywood cinema. The decision to hand a first-time director one of the greatest albums of all time and the flamboyant star behind it was a massive mistake. The direction is flat and fails to live up to the energy Prince's music brings. Prince will be performing 'Purple Rain' and the camera will focus solely on him in a static close-up for upwards of a minute at a time. The music demands energetic camerawork that just isn't there. Which in the end, feels like a waste when you've got that beautiful red/blue/purple spectrum lighting. The script ain't anything to languish, but it would have been a fun musical drama had the direction been there to drive it. I mean, we're supposed to believe that Prince can go up on stage and absolutely wail 'Darling Nikki' and audiences are bored? Still, I got the DVD from an FYE liquidation sale and I can see myself throwing this on in the background. But I doubt I'll ever really sit down to watch it again. I'd rather just listen to the album. My List: Napoleon (1927) - Abel Gance's five and a half hour silent epic about the fightin' Corsican. Bring it on you bastards. (Added 10/8/2014) The Avenging Conscience (1914) - Griffith's last film before The Birth of a Nation. (Added 2/15/2015) Yi Yi (2000) - This consistently ranks high on lists but nobody ever seems to talk about it and I have no idea what it's about. (Added 2/24/2015) The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - I love Fritz Lang and I'm a big fan of his first Dr. Mabuse movie, the four-hour silent. This is apparently the second film of a trilogy and quite different from the first film. (Added 9/27/2015) The War Room (1993) - Pennebaker does Clinton. Picked this up from a thrift shop awhile back. Should be good as we barrel headfirst into election season. (Added 9/27/2015) Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) - Helluva title. I'm actually not a big fan of Dario Argento so I'd like to see a non-Argento Giallo for once. (Added 9/27/2015) Flooding with Love for the Kid (2010) - A guy adapted First Blood (yes, as in Rambo) and filmed it in his 220 square foot New York apartment on a budget of $96 with a cast consisting of himself in every role. It's apparently really good. (Added 9/27/2015) Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) - 666 Hail Satan! 420 SLAAAYYEEERRR!!! (Added 10/9/2015)Faces (1968) - Making my way through the Criterion Cassavetes box set. (Added 10/24/2015) The Life of Juanita Castro (1965) - An Andy Warhol deep cut. Several actresses sit cramped in a room all facing the same direction enacting a drama about the Castros and Che Guevera during the Cuban revolution. I really dig Warhol's minimalist factory films. (Added 11/1/2015) Watched: Fort Apache; Damnation; Ran; Ordet; Purple Rain (TOTAL: 5) TrixRabbi fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Nov 2, 2015 |
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Nov 2, 2015 03:43
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TrixRabbi posted:Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) - 666 Hail Satan! Looks interesting although i've not seen it myself. So I watched The Great Dictator and I found it entertaining. Very funny. But in that, there is a very chilling currant underneath that I think those viewing this film now have rather than when it was created. At the time the movie was made, they didn't know the atrocities that were happening in the concentration camps or the full scale plan for wiping out all the Jews. It was a bit weird seeing them treat the concentration camps so lightheartedly when the reality was far from it. Overall for it's time, the move was a great nose-thumbing at Hitler and Mussolini.I liked it. 1. M - The description of this sounds really intriguing. I've missed out on so many pre-1970 movies that I don't really know what to expect. My prejudice (which I fully know could not possibly be correct in any way) is that movies prior to the 70s for the most part just aren't worth the time. Either I feel I wont be able to relate or due to rose colored glasses in regards to the past, they wont be able to be honest and treat meaningful subject matter with the gravitas it deserves. Stupid, I know. 2. Dead Poets Society - A staple Robin Williams I'm told. It's been sitting on my queue and constantly being bumped for other movies. Make me watch it. 3. I Love You, Phillip Morris - I saw this all the time for streaming and never clicked play. It's supposed to be good, right? I keep hearing it is on various podcasts. The short synopsis seems interesting. 4. Synedoche, New York - Not really sure what this one is about but it won awards so it can't be bad, right? What I know about this movie is it's about a play? Maybe I'm wrong about that. 5. The Tree of Life - I tried really hard to watch this a couple times but I never got more than a half hour in. It was really boring. But so many goons talk about how good it is and how it made them cry so up on the list it goes. **eta - It occurs to me I'm getting this confused with The Fountain so now I don't even know WTF to expect** 6. Ghost Dog - From my original list. "Seemed like a ridiculous premise when it came out, but apparently it's supposed to be good." 7. A Beautiful Mind - One of those Oscar winners I've always meant to watch but never got around to. 8. L.A. Confidential - From my original list. I'm not a big film noir person. I find them too slow and agonizing in their melodrama. I'm hoping this one will change my mind. 9. Take Shelter - Been a fan of Michael Shannon since he exploded into my consciousness in Boardwalk Empire. This is something I've wanted to see for a long time, but it's never climbed my netflix queue. 10. All About Eve - I think this is a movie about a woman with MPD? De-shamefied: Grosse Point Blank, Glengarry Glen Ross, Annie Hall, The Great Dictator
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Nov 3, 2015 05:33
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Dear Prudence posted:8. L.A. Confidential - From my original list. I'm not a big film noir person. I find them too slow and agonizing in their melodrama. I'm hoping this one will change my mind. This is definitely a quicker paced movie than old style noirs. First thing I'll say about The Searchers is it looks fantastic. It's the reputation I knew going in and John Ford took full advantage of VistaVision for this. A couple of things stuck out to me in general. There's that deep racial undertone to this movie that seems like a combination of being a product of its time, but I have to imagine there's some good reasoning behind it. It doesn't quite sit right, but I'm willing to accept it because I can't look through 19th or mid 20th century eyes to get a better understanding. This is the third Wayne movie I've seen if I'm remembering right, and I've never really been a big fan of the ultimate hero image he presents. I recognize that they paint him with flaws here, but he does seem a little too perfect at times. The plot seemed to be fairly weirdly paced once we got to the letter reading portion. There was an odd comedic musical cue that seemed to come out of nowhere, and there was comedic moments during the climax which seemed out of place considering the fairly dark tone throughout. Overall it was worth its watch. As stated it looked amazing, and Wayne does a good job carrying the load throughout. I can't rate it as highly as some of the other westerns I've seen from the era like Shane or High Noon, but it certainly has its place. New List: 1. Hotel Rwanda - 1 Oct 2015 - We can't have all our movies be upbeat. 2. Papillon - 15 Oct 2015 - Hoffman and McQueen, what's not to like. 3. The Magnificent Seven - 3 Nov 2015 - We're getting a remake here soon, so might as well watch the original (well not really original). 4. La Dolce Vita - 19 Oct 2015 - I've been looking through some lists of great movies and directors, and I realize I've never seen a Fellini film. I switched 8 1/2 to this due to suggestion. 5. Das Boot - 3 Oct 2015 - Highest rated imdb movie I've yet to see. I assume it's something to do with war and isolation. 6. Citizenfour - 7 Oct 2015 - Chili just watched it, and I've heard great things about it. I also work at Fort Meade so expect a bit of bias going into it. 7. Strangers on a Train - 20 Aug 2015 - Been a while since I've done a Hitchcock movie. Best Picture Bonanza (57/88) 8. The Last Emperor - 19 Jun 2015 - A film that feels overlooked in a year that feels overlooked. 9. Shakespeare in Love - 29 Oct 2015 - The most recent best picture I haven't seen. 10. All About Eve - 28 Oct 2015 - I assume it's mostly about Eve and partly about other characters. Watched Count 132: Chinatown, 12 Angry Men, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Do the Right Thing, A Clockwork Orange, Wall-E, Citizen Kane, Aliens, The Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, Rear Window, The Green Mile, Braveheart, Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai, The Great Escape, City of God, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, Ratatouille, All Quiet on the Western Front, Mulholland Dr., Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai, Memento, Unforgiven, The Usual Suspects, Network, The Social Network, Psycho, Black Swan, The Professional (Leon), Duck Soup, Up, The Silence of the Lambs, The Hurt Locker, Animal Crackers, American Beauty, The Princess Bride, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator, The King's Speech, American History X, Taxi Driver, The Philadelphia Story, Cars, Dial M for Murder, Amélie, Spirited Away, North by Northwest, Paths of Glory, Some Like it Hot, On the Waterfront, Platoon, Annie Hall, Patton, Harvey, Nikita, Yojimbo, How to Train Your Dragon, To Kill a Mockingbird, This is Spinal Tap, Fargo, Sin City, Wayne's World, A Streetcar Named Desire, Barton Fink, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, Rashomon, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Wild Strawberries, Rebecca, Dog Day Afternoon, The Departed, The Graduate, V for Vendetta, My Neighbor Totoro, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, City Lights, Life is Beautiful, Stand by Me, The Artist, Howl's Moving Castle, Good Will Hunting, Planet of the Apes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 12 Years a Slave, The Intouchables, The Grapes of Wrath, Ben-Hur, Three Colors: Blue, Grave of the Fireflies, Argo, Oldboy, Bicycle Thieves, Wings, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sunrise, Lawrence of Arabia, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rain Man, Three Colors: White, High Noon, The Sound of Music, The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, Ran, L.A. Confidential, Million Dollar Baby, Ikiru, Modern Times, Her, The Prestige, The Maltese Falcon, Heat, The Lives of Others, Captain Phillips, Three Colors: Red, The Hustler, The Apartment, A Beautiful Mind, The Searchers
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Nov 4, 2015 05:35
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