>You've probably seen these, but Le Cercle Rouge, Rififi, The
>Killing, and The Asphalt Jungle are great. Check 'em out if
>you haven't.

Haven't seen any of them, actually.


>>I think I like the genre a lot,
>>but I'm pretty sure I don't like the old-school film noir
>>stuff (anything pre-70s for sure).
>
>Damn, man. I hope you're not saying that without seeing the
>classics. Touch of Evil, Double Indemnity, Out of the Past,
>Maltese Falcon, etc. - no good?

Haven't seen them either.


>>Hitchcock - I haven't seen much - just Psycho and The Birds.
>I
>>didn't like Psycho and thought it was really overrated. I
>>don't really remember The Birds, but I think I liked it okay
>>for an old movie. I'm pretty sure I won't like Hitchcock
>>movies given the time period.
>
>North By Northwest and Strangers on a Train. The only "hope"
>I think you have for digging a Hitchcock.

I've heard these are good. One of my friends has a Hitchcock box set - maybe I can borrow these two.


>>There's something about those older movies that just doesn't
>>appeal to me. Maybe it's the acting (which in many cases,
>>would be called overacting today), maybe it's the style,
>maybe
>>the pacing? Possibly a combination of all of the above.
>
>Really, though, there are actors and actresses that are pretty
>"realistic" (i.e., not overacting) by today's standards in
>that time period. Hackman, Pacino, De Niro, Hoffman, etc.
>were doing great work pre-76.

Yeah, those are all actors I definitely like, although I'm not sure how much of their stuff I've seen from before 1976...

Hackman - first thing I've seen him in is Superman.
Pacino - liked Godfather 1 and 2, didn't like Dog Day Afternoon at all. Haven't gotten around to Serpico, but it's on my queue.
Deniro - liked Godfather 2, love Taxi Driver. Haven't seen Mean Streets yet.
Hoffman - The Graduate is on my queue. Midnight Cowboy was just okay. Haven't seen Straw Dogs yet.

>Brando, Mitchum and Holden
>(among many) if you go further back.

Not as familiar with them, though I've seen some Brando and was never blown away.


>>Generally I want my movies to have good plots, good
>characters, good pacing, and good style... maybe in that
>order.
>
>Just my opinion, but lots of movies pre-76 have those
>characteristics.

Older movies sometimes have good plots - a good story is a good story. But the acting often ruins the characters for me, I often find the pacing is too slow, and I generally don't like the style... so that's where I am.


>>PS - I'm not trying to be deliberately dismissive of old
>>movies - it's just been my experience that I rarely enjoy
>most
>>movies made before 1976 or so, so I don't bother watching
>them
>>anymore.
>
>Preferences are preferences. Though out of curiosity, what
>pre-76 movies did you enjoy?

With this as an admittedly incomplete starting point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_in_film), here are the 1970-1975 films I enjoyed:

Dirty Harry (1971) - I've enjoyed the prequels and sequels too
Godfather 1 and 2 (1972, 1974) - though not as much as everyone else seems to
Jaws (1975) - haven't seen it in forever though
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974) - a favorite
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)


As for films earlier than 1970, I haven't seen many, and the ones I have seen I didn't like (and often didn't finish. A few exceptions:

Breakfast at Tiffany's - one of my wife's favorites; I don't mind it too much.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - this one I really liked.
Midnight Cowboy - not bad, but not great either.


Maybe I haven't given them a fair shake and I'm judging them unfairly based on incomplete viewings when they come on TV as "Classics" or whatever.