I decided to post this cause I thought you all might be interested in it. Basically here's how it goes: this website www.theyshootpictures.com has compiled several hundred critical lists representing 1000+ different critics/filmmakers/demkindafolk to form the ultimate list. These are not the opinions of the good people at They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? they are just the ones who did all of the math to combine the lists together. Anyways, I thought you all might like to see it, so I am gonna put up a link to the whole list and I will post the first 50. I have only seen 185 and I find that number embarrassingly low, but maybe after hearing some other peoples tallies I might not feel as bad. And don't lie, you are only hurting yourself.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WET7FLG0

1 Citizen Kane (Welles, Orson; 1941; US)
2 Rules of the Game, The/La Regle du jeu (Renoir, Jean; 1939; France)
3 Vertigo (Hitchcock, Alfred; 1958; US)
4 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, Stanley; 1968; UK)
5 8½ (Fellini, Federico; 1963; Italy)
6 Seven Samurai, The (Kurosawa, Akira; 1954; Japan)
7 Godfather, The (Coppola, Francis; 1972; US)
8 Searchers, The (Ford, John; 1956; US)
9 Tokyo Story/Tokyo monogatari (Ozu, Yasujiro; 1953; Japan)
10 Singin' in the Rain (Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly; 1952; US)
11 Sunrise (Murnau, F.W.; 1927; US)
12 Battleship Potemkin/Potemkin (Eisenstein, Sergei; 1925; Russia)
13 Passion of Joan of Arc, The (Dreyer, Carl; 1928; France)
14 Rashomon (Kurosawa, Akira; 1950; Japan)
15 Godfather Part II, The (Coppola, Francis; 1974; US)
16 Raging Bull (Scorsese, Martin; 1980; US)
17 L'Atalante (Vigo, Jean; 1934; France)
18 Lawrence of Arabia (Lean, David; 1962; UK)
19 Bicycle Thief, The/Ladri di Biciclette/Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, Vittorio; 1948; Italy)
20 Touch of Evil (Welles, Orson; 1958; US)
21 Third Man, The (Reed, Carol; 1949; UK)
22 City Lights (Chaplin, Charles; 1931; US)
23 La Dolce Vita (Fellini, Federico; 1960; Italy)
24 Les Enfants du Paradis/Children of Paradise (Carne, Marcel; 1945; France)
25 Casablanca (Curtiz, Michael; 1942; US)
26 General, The (Keaton, Buster/Clyde Bruckman; 1927; US)
27 La Grande Illusion/Grand Illusion (Renoir, Jean; 1937; France)
28 Sunset Blvd. (Wilder, Billy; 1950; US)
29 L'Avventura (Antonioni, Michelangelo; 1960; Italy-France)
30 Psycho (Hitchcock, Alfred; 1960; US)
31 Some Like it Hot (Wilder, Billy; 1959; US)
32 Breathless/A Bout de Souffle (Godard, Jean-Luc; 1959; France)
33 Jules et Jim (Truffaut, Francois; 1961; France)
34 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick, Stanley; 1964; UK)
35 Seventh Seal, The (Bergman, Ingmar; 1957; Sweden)
36 Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky, Andrei; 1966; Russia)
37 Gold Rush, The (Chaplin, Charles; 1925; US)
38 Ordet (Dreyer, Carl; 1955; Denmark)
39 Apocalypse Now (Coppola, Francis; 1979; US)
40 Taxi Driver (Scorsese, Martin; 1976; US)
41 Persona (Bergman, Ingmar; 1966; Sweden)
42 Pather Panchali (Ray, Satyajit; 1955; India)
43 Rear Window (Hitchcock, Alfred; 1954; US)
44 Intolerance (Griffith, D.W.; 1916; US)
45 Contempt/Le Mepris (Godard, Jean-Luc; 1963; France-Italy)
46 400 Blows, The/Les Quatre Cents Coups (Truffaut, Francois; 1959; France)
47 Ugetsu Monogatari (Mizoguchi, Kenji; 1953; Japan)
48 Magnificent Ambersons, The (Welles, Orson; 1942; US)
49 Au Hasard, Balthazar/Balthazar (Bresson, Robert; 1966; France)
50 Chinatown (Polanski, Roman; 1974; US)

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

But you know I haven't seen pretty much any of the foreign language ones. I'd say about 110-115 out of the ones I've seen were American or British.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

Just kidding, I love you.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

I thin I have about 5 of these on my DVR waiting to be seen.

and probably another 10-20 in my netflix queue.

this is going to be quite a resource.
_________________________________

you used to be alright
what the hell happened?

I have prolly watched nearly 20 movies in the last few weeks just cause of it. And I just moved into a new house, I am planning on being at at least 500 by the end of my year here.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Which seems like a lot, but I'm pretty sure there are at least two people on here who've seen more.

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hell-below.com

What do you make of the list in general?

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

It very clearly is an averaged list, in that it reflects critical consensus at the expense of championing some rarer stuff.

There are many great films NOT on this list, but I wouldn't say there are too many bad ones that slipped in. Except Forrest Gump, of course.

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hell-below.com

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

Most Stroheim

Most Mizoguchi

All Ophuls Sr.

A lot of mid-period Bunuel

Most Rossellini

Most Czech films

Most British New Wave

All Cocteau

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and nearly every other horror film)

Asian films from the 80s

All Rohmer

Most Fassbinder

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hell-below.com

very few belong among the world's greatest. most horror films are just an excuse to show blood guts and the occasional nipple (or more than occasional). also a lot have very simple world views; typically, christian ideas of right and wrong and divine punishment through evil means.
ill give you texas chainsaw (like u need my permission) but name 3 others. ya know: for fun.

Some of these placements were headscratchers to me, but I guess that's to be expected even in composite lists.

If my count is correct.

Sadly, not enough to beat colonelk's score.

I watch too many movies, apparently.

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hell-below.com

What do you think of the list?

Big names you are missing?

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

>What do you think of the list?
>

Well, on the plus side. . . many great filmmakers are well represented on the list. Pasolini, Fassbinder, Renoir, Visconti, etc. Those are some of my favorite directors and they all had several films on the list and that's great. I was glad to see George Romero's Living Dead films on there. I was glad to see a movie like Joseph H. Lewis's "Gun Crazy" on there. Glad to see Ermanno Olmi's Il Posto on there. Mohsen Makhmalbaf's "A Moment Of Innocence" was on there and that was great too.

So yeah, there's lots of stuff that absolutely deserves to be there.

However, even with the list being so big and including so many worthy films and filmmakers, there's still plenty that could've gone on there in the place of lots of stuff that didn't deserve to make it (Dances With Wolves, Forrest Gump, Doctor Zhivago, The Fountainhead, The Matrix, Natural Born Killers, etc.)

>Big names you are missing?

I still haven't seen anything by Andrzej Wajda. In fact I've almost completely neglected Polish and Czech cinema.

I still need to see lots of stuff by Ozu, Ophuls, Mizoguchi, Erich Von Stroheim, Jacques Rivette, Maurice Pialat, Powell and Pressburger, Jacques Tati, and so on.

I think I am going to watch "The Red Shoes" today and I am pretty excited. If it is half as good as "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" it will still be better than 99% of the films ever made. yeah, my new mission is to watch as much Powell as I possibly can. It only took two films to make me a believer.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

I think I've only seen Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and Peeping Tom (that one without Pressburger of course).

Of those three I liked Black Narcissus the most.

>I think I am going to watch "The Red Shoes" today and I am
>pretty excited.

The Red Shoes is really good.

>my new mission is to watch as much
>Powell as I possibly can. It only took two films to make me a
>believer.

I need to start watching more too. I got some Powell/Pressburger stuff on my Netflix queue. Been on there forever, just haven't moved them to the top.

I've been watching some other British stuff lately too. Anthony Asquith's movies in particular.

a lot of those are on my must-see list though, so i'ma keep plugging away

******************************

I am I be

I went to film school, and I've only seen 106 of these.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

And about 130 that I own that I still need to get around to watching.

Some surprises on the list though. I love Godfather 3 as much as anyone,and usually find myself defending it from the "it's TOTAL SHIT" brigade, but that's a mighty high ranking.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Happiness get on there. Not sure I agree with the placement, but anything that gets Todd Solondz some shine is cool with me. I'd put Welcome To The Dollhouse above that flick though.

___________________________
OL' DIRTY BASTARD on himself:
"I may curse, I may have a bad mouth, whatever whatever. I'm not that bad, yaknow'mean. Bad to y'all, I dunno how y'all... I don't give a fuck. Um, I'm a good person at heart, for real and shit.

guess I need to watch more movies

83 :-/



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

Someone's seen less than me!

Someone who goes to festivals, no less.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

It's not like I haven't seen a shitload of films, but these lists make me feel like I've seen nothing. Sheesh.

>Someone who goes to festivals, no less.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

not bad for my age i guess. and Late Spring got shafted.

Because SOAP is not on it

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

It's definitely more fun than Starship Troopers.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

I've seen "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"!!! Have you!???!!? I thought not.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

...i didn't count movies i don't really remember, and i don't remember the the names of any of the buster keaton movies i've seen (TCM just happened to be runnin a marathon one night)

....alotta those movies are ones i know of, but never wanted to see...

"yes, sometimes my rhymes are sexist, but you lovely bitches and hos should know i'm tryin to correct it"- hiphopopotamus

good think i like foreign films and hitchcock

hmm

A.I. is at 890something lol

--------------------
Why do you choose to mimic these wack MCs?
Why do you choose to listen to R&B?

"There are obviously many things which we do not understand, and may never be able to." Leela

*puts emceeing in a box*

(and to spark discussion)
I am going to begin posting (hopefully) brief discussions of movies on the list as I watch them. Feel free to discuss one that you have just seen, or comment on someone elses. Huzzah for film!

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Ok, admittedly I have only seen this and "The Rules of the Game", but goddam does Renoir have it like that. When I watched The Rules of the Game I watched it 3 times almost immediately just to soak in ever line and nuance. I need to do that with La Grande Illusion. I was blown back by the story and the way the story evolved, but I felt like there was so much I didnt catch. Jean Renoir is easily one of the greatest screenwriters of all time.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Later (American and then French color) Renoir is different--I would say not as good.

But Renoir from the 30s is amazing.

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hell-below.com

Is it not as sophisticated writing, does he become more of a "visual" director (you know what I mean), is it not as much about society, or is it all sort of the same just not as good?

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

But here's mine: it seems like later Renoir is the director in more "polished craftsman" mode. Kind of like the difference between 70s/80s and 90s/00s Scorsese. He's maybe the most competent director alive, but the fire in his belly seems to be gone.

Renoir films from the 40s and 50s seem thoughtful, pretty, and a lot of other good things, but not the daring heights of his 30s work.

Unlike King Friday, I thought The River was particularly stodgy.

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hell-below.com

As his career went on, Renoir sort of stoppped his deep compositions and tracking shots and moved to a more editing-dominant style. This may seem inconsequential, but the great Slawomir Idziak said (I paraphrase), "You change the style...you change the story." And I say playing off of that, change the style, you change the film; change the style, you change the actual texture...how the audience experiences the events and characters. It makes a huge difference. Renoir's early films crafted a complete lively world (onscreen and offscreen) and a tension that Andre Bazin believed is brought forth via long takes.

e.g.

The famous party scene in "Rules Of The Game" would have the same power if it were shot w/ 3-8 cameras in piecemeal assemblage through numerous coverage shots and no tracking shots?

The content of the earlier films have more grit and edge over the later flims.

>Later (American and then French color) Renoir is different--I
>would say not as good.
>

I've seen two of Renoir's American films, and two of his later color films.

From the American period. . . one of them, "The Southerner" is very good. The other one, "The Woman On The Beach", I admit, is not very good, even though it stars Robert Ryan and that's never a bad thing.

Of his color films, I have seen "The Golden Coach" and "The River" and I was a big fan of both, but especially The River which may even be my favorite Renoir film at this point.

>But Renoir from the 30s is amazing.

This is very true. Yes. I'm especially fond of "A Day In The Country" and "Boudu Saved From Drowning".

I've got to co-sign on Robert Ryan. This guy so often got pretty thankless General So-and-So roles and still carved out a very memorable body of work.

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hell-below.com

This was my first Todd Solondz movie and I am excited to see more from him. I knew that some crazy shit happened, but wow. This may be blasphemy to some people, but I kind of got the feeling like this was the effect that Lynch was trying to get in "Blue Velvet" but Solondz did it better. Now obviously Solondz was influenced by Lynch, but Blue Velvet always rang a very stylistic false to me. In this film though I felt that it managed to be quite shocking while also being funny to remove the a bit of the shock. Again, I know Blue Velvet was going for shock, but it was all so out of the blue that it doesnt work great for me. Happiness on the other hand seems to come out of real life and thus I liked it quite a lot.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

>I kind of got the
>feeling like this was the effect that Lynch was trying to get
>in "Blue Velvet" but Solondz did it better.


Lynch was in no way attempting the very pedestrian thesis of: "Believe it or not, beneath that happy surface the suburbs are fucked up."

If that's all you got from Blue Velvet, watch it again. It's the best American film of the 80s.

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hell-below.com

And I am talking more from the shock side of things, Happiness just worked all around better for me. I know that Blue Velvet isnt about darkness hiding under happiness, it is more just good ole fashioned darkness. I think it just isnt for me.





Oh, and "Do the Right Thing" is the best American film from the 80s for me.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

I haven't seen it, but it's a very divisive film.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

He said Blue Velvet was exploitive of its actors. If BV is guilty of this, then Happiness deserves the chair for it.

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hell-below.com

Exploitative of their characters or exploitative of the personality of the actual actor? Because if it is the latter, I think that BV takes the cake in a negative way. Of course one could argue that that is because each of the actors got pigeonholed afterwards as they were in that movie. However in Happiness, it changes the way you look at each of the actors, which to me is a great accomplishment.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

>He said Blue Velvet was exploitive of its actors.

he said if they're gonna be going through the stuff they do, it should be for a purpose. Siskel liked it alot though.

In Happiness all of these things are horrible but they are so for a purpose.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Welcome To The Dollhouse, his first flick. One of my favorite movies of the 90's. Weinerdog!

___________________________
OL' DIRTY BASTARD on himself:
"I may curse, I may have a bad mouth, whatever whatever. I'm not that bad, yaknow'mean. Bad to y'all, I dunno how y'all... I don't give a fuck. Um, I'm a good person at heart, for real and shit.

So I am excited about that one.

Of course I am excited about a lot of the stuff on this list.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Absolutely HATED it.

Just curious, since thats where we went with this

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Yes. Awesome. Really, I instantly love this film. Sometimes a strong dislike for people translates to film poorly, but in the case of people like Sirk and Renoir it works. My only complaint on this first viewing is the ending. If it had ended when the children gave Carrie her Christmas present and that devastating reflection shot it would have been a bit better, but I think that on a second watch I may like it as a way of building up to the ultimate emotion at the end. Nonetheless, I think that Sirk accomplished exactly what he was going for here, and as a commentary on so-called uppercrust society it was spot on. I kind of wish that I hadnt liked Harvey so much, cause he got a little bit of a raw deal. Does anybody know any other movies that are anti-children, cause this movie made me think of the sunuvabitch son in "Ikiru".

I also now very much want to write a melodrama with the tagline "She was ready for a love affair, but she wasn't ready for love."

Awesome.

I know this wasnt a great discussion, but it is all still very fresh in my mind (and I am watching Project Runway) but it was my first Sirk film and it did everything I had hoped for from him.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

>Yes. Awesome. Really, I instantly love this film.

I love it too.

You sure are on a mission watching these classics aren't you? You'll have seen all 1000 in a day or two.

>Does anybody know any other movies that are
>anti-children, cause this movie made me think of the
>sunuvabitch son in "Ikiru".

You might want to see Michael Curtiz's film "Mildred Pierce" in which Joan Crawford is constantly abused and disrespected by her bratty daughter.

>
>I also now very much want to write a melodrama with the
>tagline "She was ready for a love affair, but she wasn't ready
>for love."

I would write a melodrama with this tagline:

"She lost her leg, but she didn't lose her heart."

>it was
>my first Sirk film and it did everything I had hoped for from
>him.

Douglas Sirk was a brilliant director. One of the greats. He made those melodrama/soap opera scripts into serious works of art, strong and critical statements on society.

I HIGHLY recommend his films "Imitation Of Life" and "Written On The Wind".

If you liked All That Heaven Allows, you will love them both.

"The Tarnished Angels" is another good Sirk movie, but not quite on the level of those others.

But if you want to see ungrateful children treat their parents like shit, watch Tokyo Story (among other late Ozu films).

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hell-below.com

Are you not supposed to be shocked/amused/angry about how horrible just about everyone is in this movie?

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

An artist offering a critique of society and/or characters and dramatizing people's ugly side doesn't mean that their stance is one of a strong dislike for people or that they're misanthropes. Obviously, there are artists out there who do what you speak of.

In this case, Sirk is giving a critique on society and the characters, but it's done with a sense of empathy, sympathy, and understanding even if it's harsh or straight-forward - the truth hurts.

To me it seems like in this film his intention was to make people look bad. In his two heroes he has created people who, in my opinion, actually make humanity look better by being so imperfect. They dont know what they want (I still dont think Rock Hudsons character is truly happy in that 'paradise' he built for himself) and they dont know how to change their lives. Even though they come together it still seems a bit hollow because it came about because of an accident. After writing all of this, I probably agree with you more, but I think the sentiment I was trying to make was purposefully strong. I dont think I put my ideas out very well, so come back to me later, haha.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

The Archers continue to impress me. This movie really doesnt hit you over the head, but the subtlety you see in two people growing together is magical. I think what I liked so much about this film (and the two other Powell films I have seen) is that once you have seen the ending the rest of the film then seems that much better and you want to watch it again immediately. Oh sure, one could complain that this movie is too quaint, but grow a heart. It isnt trying to be anything serious or overblown, its just a simple love story and there is nothing wrong with that.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

John Woo's The Killer... here we go. This was my first foreign language John Woo movie, and my feelings couldn't be more mixed. First of all, this shit kicked ass. Is there really anything better than watching Chow Yun-Fat shooting as many people as he can in the span of two hours? Still, what worried me (and this is a personal thing) I couldnt help thinking that if this was an American movie I prolly wouldnt have liked it, just because of my general distaste for action movies. I mean, come on, does anybody genuinely think the plot of this movie is great? Then I thought, no, if this was an American movie I prolly still would have liked it just because it was so exciting, and I am saying that as a nonaction fan who fins about 90% of action films boring. This now brings me to the shooting and editing of this film. A lot has been made of the visual style of this movie, but I honestly believe that a lot of the things we like in this film were just happy accidents. I am not saying that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I do think that if Woo had a longer shooting schedule and a bigger budget there would have prolly been a lot less of those very quick moving shots and quite a deal more slomo. Don't believe me? Rewatch MI:II.
One other thing: I have heard alot of people compare this movie to Le Samorai. I have to ask: have those people seen Le Samorai, cause I am not sure if they have. I wouldnt bring this up if I heard more people say that Le Samorai "inspired" The Killer, but most things I have heard is that The Killer is essentially a remake, which is simply not true. The similarities are so superficial I have to assume most people have only heard the movies are similar. This isnt Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars here, people. I will break it down: both movies are about a cold blooded assassin. Both assassins are being chased by a detective. Both characters fall in love with a nightclub singer. That is basically it. You may look at that and think they look similar, but trust me, they arent. The style, tone, and intention of both movies could not be further apart. While The Killer cherishes every second of violence, Le Samorai downplays the violence, even purposefully making it clear that Alain Dulon didnt shoot first at key points. Also, while the endings are similar, the set-up for each of them is very different. I dont want to get into the endings too much because I dont want to give a lot away, but those of you who have seen both should know what I am talking about.
Though I did like the Alain Dulon inspired moustache they Chow Yun-Fat during the assassination scene. That made me chuckle.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

The similarities are not coincidental. Woo has gone on record saying Melville is his favorite director, and he is now working on a Cercle Rouge remake.

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hell-below.com

But remake? Come on. And I heard about Woo redoing Cercle Rouge though I dont know how I feel about that. Its not exactly a shoot-em-up type of movie. Not that that is all he can do, but it is what he was known for. Also, The Killer wears black gloves. So... according to his notes from the Criterion Collection of Cercle Rouge, Woo is a liar.







Just playin.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Ho. Lee. Cow.
If I had been in the wrong mood I might have disliked this movie, but I was in kind of a chilled out mood and this movie fit perfectly. I would give an outline of the plot, but I don't think I would do it justice. Basically it is about a cop whose child has died, whose wife has leukemia, and whose partner has just been crippled. For reasons never given he is now off the police force (as my roommate pointed out, he becomes a modern version of a ronin)and just kind of does whatever he wants. And by "whatever he wants" i mean he takes care of his wife and kills several people. Dont worry, that doesnt give anything away, because although the violence is jarring, it is also rare. The writer/director/editor/star Takeshi Kitano says approximately 10 lines and I didn't even care because the look on his face spoke way more than words ever could. This movie is so touching, so quiet, so beautiful you will wonder how you never heard of it before. The framing on every shot is perfection and all of the paintings featured in the movie (again, painted by Takeshi Kitano) are great. Not a single shot is cluttered, but it isn't simplistic in a dull way. The images are indelible and will stick with you. He holds his camera for long and steady shots during most of the movie, so when he does close-ups and crane shots (both used VERY sparingly) they are that much more effective.
Oh, and did I mention that Takeshi Kitano is maybe the biggest COMEDIC star of 1990s Japan? Do you watch MXC? Cause he is the main guy who is always beating up the other.

In summation, do yourself a big favor and rent this movie. The movement is pretty slow, but if you can get past that (which you should be able to) you should love this film.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Kitano was very badass and gangsta in this.

_________________________________________________________

http://www.angryasianman.com

I wish I had more to say about this one, but I am just not crazy about surrealism. In terms of Cocteau I much prefer "La belle et el bette" because, you know, it had a story. To me this was a movie that time has not treated well, for no fault of its own. Everything that happens in this movie just reminds me of a film school students first film. That isnt Cocteau's fault, and I suppose that should be a recommendation for this film because he did it all first, I just am not that interested in watching surrealism. It also proved my theory that surrealism shouldnt be longer than 20 minutes, 30 minutes tops. Maybe thats just me, but because of that if I want surrealism I will go watch "Un chien andalou" or a full film of it "La belle et el bette." If you love this movie, that is fine by me, it was enjoyable, I just cant see myself ever saying "I really want to go watch Le sang d'un poete."

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

I bet you can't guess what my first Bergman film was, can you?
It's not that I was underwhelmed by this movie, it is just that I don't feel like I have much to say. I wanted more of the knight, more of death, less of, well, less of everyone else. I really could have given a shit about most of the people in this film, and the only reason I cared for any of them in the least was because I realized "I guess these characters aren't going away." I dont want to seem overly negative, because I did enjoy the film, and it was really well done, but I dont know how much of it I feel like discussing. The one thing I will say about this movie is that its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness - and that is the seriousness with which it takes itself. There were times when the coldness of the characters worked for the movie and made it better, but at other times it felt heavyhanded and tired. Yes, there were a few moments of (brief) comedy, but it wasnt enough. I just never felt like I could get to a point where I could say "I love this movie." Don't worry though, I am by no means giving up on Bergman, I just dont want him to be one those people who I respect but dont really like.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

It's his most famous, so one's expectations are raised.

It's a good little film, sloppily made, with some brilliant stuff. But it wouldn't even crack my Bergman top 15.

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Do tell.

It could just be because I havent seen more Bergman, but it didnt seem sloppy to me.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

At least "rushed," though. The typical Bergman calculated polish is not there. Based on camera-work and editing, this film seems underfunded, rushed, or both.

I'd have to do a scene-breakdown to explain myself more clearly. But look at Seventh Seal and then Virgin Spring back-to-back and see how rough the former looks in comparison.

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I thought I was the only one who felt this way.

I think it really is one of the most unfortunate signature films out there (that one film that first leaps to mind when mentioning a director). Bergman's got better films, more entertaining films, and more "important" films. The reputation of Seventh Seal rests, I think, on the fact that it was one of the first big foreign art house hits.

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Now this is a movie I can get into. For about the first 15 minutes or so I thought I wasn't going to like it very much, but as it continued I got sucked into its magic. This is the kind of movie that (for better or for worse) film classes were created for. Every shot was important and elegant, from the framing, to the lens used, to movement or lackthereof. Now I know that this is true of all movies, and I am not saying it is in Blowup any more so than any other movie, but what seperates Blowup from most movies is that everything is done for a purpose and IT WORKS. The male lead is shown as an asshole at the beginning so that you can watch him change. The short lens is used to make the picture have a 2D feel to them, which helps to emphasize the recurring symbol of screens and layers. What is reality? Where is the line between fantasy and voyeurism? How important is the audience in the creation of art? I am not sure how many of these questions Blowup actually answered, but it allowed me to talk about them, and that pleases me. At first my only real problem with the movie was the scene with the Yardbirds, but then in a post-movie discussion with my rommates we came upon the idea that it is possibly meant to parallel the sex scene, which makes that scene more acceptable as well. Both are useless pandemonium designed to distract the photographer from what he should be doing; reporting some body or some thing to the police. Do you realize how much time he wastes during this film? He is incredibly selfish: after seeing something incriminating in one of his pictures, he calls his friend/editor to let him know how great the pictures are. The more you think about it, the more despicable it seems. Later, he steps through the looking glass and sees his suspicions realized, so what does he do? He goes to a party. Even though he wasnt intending to party initially, that is the decision he makes, and, at least in my mind, that is clearly morally unethical. So what happened? Did the police come, or did he just dream it? The mimes all believe in something and he decides to as well, so why is it so hard to believe that the whole episode was just a figment of his imagination? Of course we can't ever really know, and that is what I believe has kept this movie fresh for 40 years. I will definitely be getting more into Antonioni now.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

>The short lens is used to make the picture have a 2D feel to
>them, which helps to emphasize the recurring symbol of screens
>and layers.

Typo?

"Blow Up" is great, but different than what Antonioni is known for.

For works that the films inspired check for:

(Coppola) "Conversation"
(De Palma) "Blow Out"

The former is highly recommended if you haven't seen it yet. Some days I think it's Coppola's best even above Godfather Part 2...key word, "some days."

the mimes, that is.

this was a load of horseshit to me. and i like some Antonioni (L'Eclisse, L'Avventura)

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“Be uncomfortable; be sand, not oil, to the machinery of the world.”
- Gunter Eich

I've got to admit, this was my least favorite of the 7 Kurosawa movies that I have seen. The pacing seemed a bit too slow, without much reason. On the plus side, the comedy seemed to work well, but the story just didn't work for me all that well. Many of the relationships were interesting, but I felt underdeveloped for the most part. I don't know, I don't really have much to say about this one because I was just underwhelmed. But hey, when you are one of the biggest, most important film makers ever, I guess you can be afforded a few slip-ups.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

>I've got to admit, this was my least favorite of the 7
>Kurosawa movies that I have seen. The pacing seemed a bit too
>slow, without much reason. On the plus side, the comedy
>seemed to work well, but the story just didn't work for me all
>that well. Many of the relationships were interesting, but I
>felt underdeveloped for the most part. I don't know, I don't
>really have much to say about this one because I was just
>underwhelmed. But hey, when you are one of the biggest, most
>important film makers ever, I guess you can be afforded a few
>slip-ups.

what are the other 6 kurosawas you've seen? i think i like it better than 7 Samurai (talk about slow, though it must be said the film is damn near perfect), Stray dog, and Ran for starters.

__________________
http://twitter.com/theloniousfunk
http://havetravelled.blogspot.com
http://instagram.com/arsonwelles

“Be uncomfortable; be sand, not oil, to the machinery of the world.”
- Gunter Eich

Ikiru
Seven Samurai
Ran
Rashoman
Yojimbo
Throne Of Blood

out of those (and including Hidden Fortress) I'd rank them:

Ikiru
Yojimbo
Seven Samurai
Ran
Rashoman
Throne Of Blood
Hidden Fortress.



multiple viewings of Rashoman really helped its standing though, I just wasn't that into it the first time.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

I cried during the balet. Not from sadness, not from joy, just from the pure beauty of it. Not only does Michael Powell now have himself firmly near the top of my favorite directors list, The Red Shoes is now planted in my top 10 films ever. Incredible.

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Powell is sorely underrated. When you've seen a good amount of Powell, check out the very strange Tales of Hoffman, which is like the ballet in Red Shoes for the entirity of the film.

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