1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw one until the brink of adulthood, leave this space blank).
A.I. Artificial Intelligence was probably my favourite film for a couple years as a kid. I found it deeply moving, fascinating and enchanting, plus I loved all of the sci-fi stuff in it.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively. Why?
Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice. I watched Ivan’s Childhood and Zerkalo a couple years ago: I loved the former, and rank the latter among the greatest films I’ve ever seen. Ever since then I’ve been kind of afraid of watching more Tarkovsky, maybe because I’m worried that they may not live up to my incredibly high expectations which would be crushing. Of all the Tarkovskys I’m anticipating so much The Sacrifice seems the most interesting to me – and I’m pretty sure I’ll adore it – but I’m just so afraid of putting that dvd in the dvd player..
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?
Honestly I can’t think of any appropriate examples for this.
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you.
American Beauty. It was the film that got me in to film, which is a weird thing to say because it isn’t really all that good. But back when I was 16 or so it was a revelation: I put it in the dvd player because my dad was out at work and I felt like watching a movie. Didn’t really seem like the sort of film I’d like – I was in to superheroes and stuff like that – but thought I’d give it a try seeing as it was so highly rated on IMDb. I looooved it, but more importantly it showed me that I could love a movie for its drama, and for the interactions between its characters, and for moments of artfulness. Before then movies were all about explosions, swords and sci-fi for me, but this changed everything.
Nowadays I find the film kind of trite and unimpressive, and in some regards quite questionable, but there’s still a bit of me that can’t help but like it if only for it opening my eyes.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience.
Whisper of the Heart is a film that never ceases to inspire me and fill me with joy. I’d like to think the effect could be even stronger with a child, inspiring them to put in all the effort they need to be what they want to be!
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.
Mother: Amelie. My mum will generally watch pretty much anything with me provided it’s not too violent. She mainly takes an interest in romance films and romcomy stuff, though she has expressed appreciation for some of the artier stuff I’ve watched with her like Dekalog and some Sergei Parajanov.
Father: 2001: A Space Odyssey. He likes a lot of sci-fi and action films. Our tastes are very, veeeery different – he doesn’t like black and white films and subtitled films – but we have some sci-fi in common, particularly 2001 and A.I..
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why?
Honestly, call me naive but I can’t really imagine films getting banned in my country.
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison.
The Green Ray. It’s rare to see a film so honest and believable, where a filmmaker seems to earnestly care for the main character so much and where issues such as loneliness are explored so masterfully and delicately.
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
Margot at the Wedding. You can’t truly let us understand your characters and the things that afflict them if you as a filmmaker hate them. And if we end up hating these characters then sitting through the film becomes a chore. If you want us to be interested in your film and your characters and the issues you’re exploring then you have to love these characters and you have to want us to be sympathetic to them: this is what The Green Ray understands and what Margot at the Wedding doesn’t understand.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
Koyaanisqatsi. So annoyed someone else mentioned this before I did :P It requires no knowledge of language to understand, and would serve as a pretty fantastic summation of humanity.
@ Harry — Ikiru was another film that came to my mind, as well, alongside Paris, Texas when thinking of a truly honest and genuine film.
@ Jirin — Sunrise is a good choice.
@ Chris — Winter Light is my favorite Bergman film, I think it’s his best film.
@ Uli — The Ice Storm is underrated, one of my picks for the best of the ’90s, along with Dead Man and Double Life of Veronique.
@ Scottie — La Dolce Vita is a good choice.
@ Jack — I think Mean Streets is Scorsese’s best film, well written and we actually inhabit the characters’ world, whereas his recent films have just felt excessive and uninspired to me. Also anything Chaplin is a great choice.
@ Nina — The Big Lebowski is my favorite comedy, so infinitely quotable.
I hated Enter The Void. It figures that Tarantino would praise Gaspar Noe’s jittery, hyper fragmentation and bash the subtle and meditative textures of Meek’s Cutoff. I have zero respect for Tarantino.
@ Steve — I felt like Daniel Day Lewis did too much overacting in There Will Be Blood and the ending was so nihilistic and ridiculous.
City Lights is a great choice.
@ Drew — Blue Valentine attempted to dissect relationships in a fearless way but, by the end, I just felt like I was watching a soap opera. I didn’t gain any insights into the divide between men and women. I feel that Paris, Texas explores what Criterion dubbed “the myth of the American family” in a much more revealing and spiritual way.
City Lights is a great choice.
@ Mais — I see you have chosen City Lights, as well. It was on the favorites list of Tarkovsky and many other acclaimed filmmakers. Chaplin is the King of Comedy, and he achieves so much pathos and beauty in his films which is impossible for us to match today in our jaded, cynical, postmodern fragmentation.
I loved what Blue Valentine was trying to do, if anything I felt the boyfriend’s behavior was a little over the top at times.
City Lights was my second instinct for the alien question. I think that one’s the most fascinating of the bunch, because you want to pick something simple, but also something that doesn’t overly rely on context or verbal communication.
It’s also interesting how peoples’ response differs based on whether they have an optimistic (City Lights) or pessimistic (Koyaanisqatsi) view of the human condition. Honestly, aliens ought to see both. They should see the way individual humans are generally good, but the sum total of our behavior leads to some pretty nasty consequences. Especially when people get frightened in a group.
@Christopher Sepesy- Yes I saw Earthquake in Sensurround at it’s world premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood on a family vacation when i was in fourth grade!
Too cool, brother! I try and explain to current twentysomethings how much fun those disaster movies were for us, and they want to know why they didn’t turn them into video games. I still use The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure as examples of how to use formula in moviemaking for a good/positive force – if you want to know the definition of “movie star,” just watch Steve McQueen.
@ MEG
Well, not to influence anybody’s idea of how the question may be taken, but that is more or less how I came to my answer of Koyaanisqatsi rather than say something along the lines of Benny’s Video or Salo. Very enlightening films yes, but some things you need to wait before diving in I think. I didn’t wait on things such as Platoon or Bad Lieutenant (my first NC-17 film at the age of 12, so you know), and honestly I think I’m better to have seen things like that at that age for the levels of creativity I know and seek now wouldn’t have been known had I started, by in my opinion “neutered” convention, late (waiting till I’m 18 to see Bad Lieutenant only to have the level of shock already taken away from all the other things floating around). But that’s just my case, everyone’s different in how they take it and how early they take it.
Looks like a fun topic, and judging by these posts, it’s sure to generate great discussion!
1. The first movie I remember seeing is The Lion King. It scared me. I was a strange child.
2. Really looking forward to seeing Heneke’s Amour when it hits theatres. I love most of Haneke’s recent output; in my opinion, he’s one of the most consistent mainstream directors out there.
3. I’m thinking of the time my friend showed me Memento. At this point I had hardly heard of Christopher Nolan, let alone Mubi. By the end, I was convinced it was my favourite film of all time.
4. Once I decided to go to the local theatre to catch A Separation because I thought the actress was attractive. A Separation became my favourite film of 2011 and it spawned an interest in Iranian cinema that I’m still pursuing.
5. My dream is to show l’Avventura to a kid just before their first “serious” date. Not to be cruel but to show them love and beauty.
6. Any adaptation of a Jane Austen book.
7. I worry that violent films will slowly fall out of favour. I’m not pro-violence by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it would be weird and disconcerting to be unable to stream Scorsese or whoever.
8. The Trois Couleurs trilogy strikes me as incredibly genuine, passionnate filmmaking. Your mileage may vary.
9. American Beauty left a proverbial bad taste in my mouth.
10. I’d send Star Wars to another galaxy, if only so the aliens could have a good laugh!
I love fun lists like this!
1. A film you saw as a child: Disney’s The Little Mermaid was the first filim I ever remember seeing in a theater. I loved the experience so much that I wanted to go to the movies every weekend after.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively: I’ll get flack for this, but the trailer for Joe Wright’s take on Anna Karenina ticked every single one of my boxes and set off no alarm bells.
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed: Magnolia I was so into it… right there with all the characters… and then came those damn frogs. And suddenly the whole thing felt like a cheat.
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you: I never go into a film without knowing at least something about it, so… Tatie Danielle was shown to me in a French class in college. I thought it was hilarious.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience: Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bete – to prove that you don’t need to understand the language to understand a film when the visuals are so strong.
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like: Entre les murs Both my parents are in education and my Dad was a French teacher for twenty-five years.
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country: Latter Days, because it is not kind to the Mormons. And the whole gay thing. Not that it’s a great film or anything, but we gays need some crappy rom-coms of our own, dammit!
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison: In The Mood for Love
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end: Ummmmmmmm… I have been racking by brain for far too long about this one. Can’t think of anything that was similar in tone to number 8 that I found “lowly and pathetically predictable by the end,” so I’m going to go with something completely different that I saw recently that made me struck me that way: Dark Shadows.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them: Hmmmmmmmmm… my first impulse was Koyaanisqatsi, followed by The Kid, but now I’m leaning a bit more towards Jacques Tati’s “democracy of gags”, Playtime. Because if there’s anything that Earth is, it’s a democracy of gags.
I just felt like I was watching a soap opera. I didn’t gain any insights into the divide between men and women.
waaaaat?
Blue Valentine was skillful at getting to the heart of things vis-a-vis the divide between men and women. The whole film is based on this insight.
nothing was learned, what insight.
It was a dramatic short film stretched out to feature length by adding long pauses of contemplation
1. I agree with Lily Edsdóttir. A.I. Artificial Intelligence is one of the main reasons why I got so much into movies.
2. Sunset Blvd. (1950). I’ve heard many people talking about this film like it is something special and must see.
3. Taxi Driver. I have a friend whose favorite film is Taxi Driver and she just couldn’t stop asking me whether I have already watched it. She even gave me a copy of it that I lost somewhere. I love Scorsese, but I think Taxi Driver is one of the most overrated films ever.
4. The Darjeeling Limited. It was my first encounter with Wes Anderson. I was stunned and amazed by the visuals and creativity.
5. Big Fish. It is a film I feel very personal with. My dad is also a storyteller and I think that every kid should embrace the wisdom of parents.
6. My dad is not so much into movies, but as for my mom, I would say Hugo. I have never seen her react so heartily to any other movie.
7. Can’t imagine what kind of the film it should be to get banned in Lithuania.
8. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. So beautiful, so touching and definitely unforgettable.
9. A Single Man. I’ve never been more disappointed by any film. And I expected it to be my favorite of the year, considering the great cast (except talentless N.Hoult). However, the film turned out very empty and amateur.
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Landmark of filmmaking. It has an ability to explain what we try to find and understand.
1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw one until the brink of adulthood, leave this space blank).
Terminator 2: Judgment Day – I still love it. I was raised on non-stop Arnold films + Star Wars/Indiana Jones/etc.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively. Why?
The Master (PTA) – Anderson is probably my favorite working director. Plus the narrative sounds fascinating, and the two teaser clips posted thus far have only heightened my anticipation/excitement.
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?
Not a film that one person in particular recommended per se, but multiple people have recommended Le Samourai – I finally watched it a couple months ago and was pretty damn disappointed. I expected to love it due to the recommendations/praise, but it felt hollow and empty and didn’t leave much of an impression one way or the other.
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you.
This is tough – I’m usually familiar with who’s involved in a film before I go see it. I can’t remember the last time I stumbled upon something blindly. But I will say that I didn’t know much (besides vague recommendations) about Certified Copy before I watched it. I hadn’t seen any Kiarostami film, didn’t know who he was at the time and that film has become one of my new favorites. The actual experience of watching it had a very subtle but powerful effect on me.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience.
Heh, “subject a child to” – Um. Salo; no… I think something like The 400 Blows would be a good one as an introduction to foreign but also black and white films – also I think it would be significantly more relatable for a child. Bicycle Thieves would work too.
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.
Father – anything with Clint Eastwood. Also, Star Trek. And BMWs.
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why?
N/A
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison.
Synecdoche, New York and The Tree of Life are the two in recent years that fit this criteria for me.
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
Can’t think of anything at the moment that tried to strike the same chord as the aforementioned films.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
Maybe Kieslowski’s The Decalogue for it’s honesty, insight and running time.
Thanks for the shoutout, Tommy. Will gladly debate with you anytime.
My list (also, props for the immensely creative idea):
1. Speed. One of the first films I watched all the way through in one firm sitting. Was about five.
2. Any Ingmar Bergman film. Heard nothing but acclaim for all of them.
3. Crash. Family recommended it to me. Wasn’t much else but an overwritten, ham-fisted lecture.
4. The Trigger Effect. An unassuming, power outage thriller I caught on TV and am probably the only person who finds it very intriguing and well done after seeing the hateful reviews online.
5. Arthur’s Perfect Christmas. Was one of the first animated films I ever watched and had an impact on my compassion for others. Definitely needs to be watched. Still sort of cry to it every year.
6. The Aviator. My dad doesn’t really give a damn about film, so I doubt he’ll sit and watch something one hundred and seventy minutes long.
7. Can’t think of one (tried hard – US doesn’t ban much).
8. The Tree of Life.
9. The Vow (probably more and better examples, but this is the most recent one I encountered).
10. Martin Scorsese’s lavish and criminally underrated Casino.
And that’s all she wrote.
@Dan Bayer
That’s interesting, Little Mermaid is the first film I remember seeing in a theater as well.
I love Anna Karenina but I can’t imagine watching a film about it that’s less than five hours long.
@Mogambo
I felt that Blue Valentine took the woman’s side a bit too much. The man’s actions at times seemed completely unreasonable and downright abusive. I had no sympathy for any of his behavior in the future part of the story.
1- I don’t know for sure but i remember being fascinated by Tim Burton’s films.
2- Bergman’s “trilogy”, i know it’s not a single film but i’m a fan of Bergman and i can’t wait to see those films
3- Well, a friend told me Crash(2004) was really great…. 2 hours of my life i’ll never get back.
4- At a local film club, they screened: Werckmeister Harmonies, I went because i try to go as often as possible to the screenings, and i was shocked. Without knowing a thing about it or Béla Tarr i went, I don’t even know how i felt after watching it but i was overwhelmed and, amazed.
5- Braindead, lol. But seriously, some Chaplin or the basics, Toy Story and so on.
6- My father liked The Tree of Life when i lent him the film, and i’m sure my mother would have liked Biutiful
7- None come to mind
8- I’ll have to say: The Tree of Life
9- …….
10- Bad Taste, lol. A Trip to the Moon or The Impossible Voyage
1.) My Neighnor Totoro- I have vivid memories of my pre-school showing the English dub. Many kids were done with it 10 minutes in. I was entranced. I have noidea who was responsible for bringing Miyazaki to a pre-school but I’d like to thank them.
2.) New release: Miike’s Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, The Master, The Deep Blue Sea, and V/H/S
Classics: Most of the Guy Maddin filmography that is not My Winnipeg
3.) Up in the Air- trifling, tone-deaf Oscar-bait that loses complete steam by the second act. I felt like I was the only one in the forest on that since I heard so many good things.
4.) The Miracle at Morgan’s Creek- I just love the film’s earnestness it strives for the entire way through when so much of the story could be flipped into a dark, gritty drama. Discovered it long ago when AMC was more of a lightweight, TCM.
5.) I feel like Chaplin’s The Tramp series is a pretty good gateway.
6.) Stumped. Dad likes a lot of historical period drama, think Renaissance era, the Tudors and even further back. Cannot stomach art house or anything close to existential, pregnant silence filmmaking. Sweeping, loud, epics. Also easy to please for laughs and is an unabashed fan of classic MGM musicals. Mother does not watch a lot of films though loved Cary Grant comedies, the Marx Brothers, Hitchcock, and pre-Annie Hall Woody Allen with very little stomach for gratuitous sex and violence. Somehow their date movie was The Shining and both loved it. But is there a movie out there where I can find middle ground in their tastes? Individually, Notorious for Mom and Lester’s The Three Musketeers for Dad.
7.) I guess all Takashi Miike films.
8.) The Battle of Algiers
9.) Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The ending itself was not cliched but I was into Scandinavian dread being wrapped into a nice, tight bow in the third act. I was still entranced by the first two acts, performances, and technical aspects.
10.) Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Stagecoach, and Seven Samurai but shown in reverse order.
I felt that Blue Valentine took the woman’s side a bit too much. The man’s actions at times seemed completely unreasonable and downright abusive. I had no sympathy for any of his behavior in the future part of the story.
I didn’t see him has abusive at all. I thought the MW character was portrayed in a bad light. She was the no-fun, only concerned about money/future, no romantic inclinations type. She had had multiple sexual partners (I’m not saying this as inherently a negative, but just that the director chose to mention this for a reason). She was oblivious to her boss’s obvious intentions to get with her.
He was portrayed as naive, sure. A simple dude in love. Abusive? He gave it his all to make that MARRIAGE work. It’s not like he was banging on her door screaming while their kid was in tears. He walked away in the end.
If anything SHE was the abuser. Refusing to just end it when she knew in her heart it wouldn’t work. What was the point of allowing him to keep trying to make the marriage work?
The scene in that ‘romantic’ hotel…she could have just said NO. I don’t have any feelings for you anymore, I don’t want to have sex with you…let’s not do this. Instead she just relents to his, yes persistent, advances. It is he who is like…wait wut you are going to make me force you into this? How about no and he stops it.
1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw one until the brink of adulthood, leave this space blank).
There are quite a few that come to mind: The Goonies, Addams Family, Gremlins, Raiders of the Lost Ark and A New Hope. However the ultimate childhood movie has to Back to the Future, that is still the definitive movie that made me fall in love with the art form.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively. Why?
There are still so many movies that I have missed, and at the top of my movie bucket list has to be Delicatessen by Caro & Jeunet. I have seen Amelie (And Alien: Ressurection….) and love that (but not the later), but I somehow always keep missing Delicatessen (and as a fan of food, post-apocalyptic settings and french cinema this seems quite great)
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?
There are so many dissapointments in the history of an adventurous movie-goer, but the strongest experience has to be Bridesmaids, a movie everyone generally liked and which I rented on a whim.
Now I’ll start by saying, I get why people like it and that is great, however for me the experience was utter pain (Which is strange since I like Wiig in almost everything and SNL type stuff in general), but watching the movie I felt like Will Ferrell in Zoolander where he goes "I feel like I’m taking crazy pills*. The most annoying part of it was Maya Rudolph’s and Kristen Wiig’s dynamic banter. It just felt so fake and scripted to sound un-scripted. [SPOILER…i guess] Also I must admit the whole Shitting on the Street scene didn’t really make laugh, it just felt like we need to cater to a certain audience. Again, not the worst movie by far, but one where the hype and my own personal experience where miles apart.
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you.
The ultimate answer for this is The Matrix. We went to see this in a midnight screening and had no prior knowledge about it except that it has Keanu Reeves. We joked that it would be a movie about an accountant that likes to surf, and were excpecting something along the lines of the fantastic Chain Reaction. I remember vividly the first 10 minutes and looking over at my friend who was just as blown away. It was one of those, I hope this movie never ends, type of moments.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience.
The criteria for this question from my perspective are, that it would be memorable and challenge the child to look at the world from a different perspective. It should also be enjoyable and preferably non-violent (so, that rules out Takashi Miike). Obviously Back to the Future has to be high on my list, since that is my own childhood movie, but I would say that The Lion King is also a great option: it is emotional, entertaining and introduces a culture that might not be that often portrayed (Madagascar is also in Africa, but I guess that isn’t the main point). It also has a nice amount of issue pertaining to Morality and Revenge, which are issues that often are left out of Childrens movies. Wall-e is also great…=)
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.
Unfortunently from my fathers side the answer would be anything (pre-99) with Sharon Stone or Kim Basinger. From my mother side: The culmination of Musicals and Romance—> Mouline Rouge.
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why?
Finland is a very liberal country, so really the issue is more about fearing that niche movies that don’t cater only to large masses being excluded.
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison.
Hear i can’t limit myself to just one, the list below includes diffent genres but they all have an unflinching emotional core that separates them from the masses:
Kikujiro, Amelie, The Secret in their Eyes, Mouline Rouge, The Return, Addam’s Apples, Big Fish, Atonment.
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
Any movie about sporting horses or horses in war…any movie with horses.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
It’s a toss between Space Jam and Plan 9 from outer space.
1. The Adventures of Robin Hood: Don’t know why this came to mind above all others but I used to love old swashbucklers and this was one of my favorites. I saw it so long ago, and so many times, I can’t even remember my first experience watching it.
2. Nashville: I love Robert Altman’s films, especially MASH and The Long Goodbye, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about this from a couple of my favorite critics (Roger Ebert, Jim Emerson, Robert Horton etc.). Really, I don’t know how I haven’t seen it by now
3. One of my very good friends, who I usually trust with movie recommendations, gave me a dvd of Cats and Dogs and told me it was great. Now, admittedly, he’s a dog person and I’m not, but I turned the movie off after 45 minutes or so. It was so dull and lifeless and none of the jokes worked. It didn’t leave much of an impression but I still joke about it with him.
4. Last year I was in New York for Spring Break, and, as such, saw a bunch of movies that don’t screen in my area. One of the films I decided to see was Certified Copy. I really didn’t know much about; I had never seen a Kiarostami film before, and I only saw it based on a couple of good reviews. The trailer made it look like a Before Sunrise kind of thing that celebrates the wonderment of life, so I was surprised as hell to find out it was an ambiguous head-scratcher about how relationships shift and change and eventually deteriorate. By the time I left the theater, my mind had been totally blown.
5. Maybe a Buster Keaton or a Marx Brothers film so that they learn to accept older styles, and also to teach them about integrity, both in comedy and in visual storytelling.
6. My father love true stories, especially when they’re really perfomance-based like Serpico or All That Jazz. My mother leans more towards quirky comedies along the lines of Harold and Maude or Pulp Fiction. Recently, she loved Moonrise Kingdom.
7. I’m more scared about what might be accepted, as opposed to banned, or rather what might be accepted as great filmmaking. When people say The Dark Knight or Iron Man is one of the greatest films they’ve ever seen, I cringe, not because I’m elitist snob, but because it frightens that maybe sometime in the future these will considered examples of the finest cinema has to offer, and they shouldn’t be. I think the main film which sparked this fear was Inception, which is a blandly directed film with muddled themes and clumsy exposition that was considered by many to be a masterpiece. It was just disturbing that so many loved it, and though I know it was only their opinion, I felt like they were being tricked into loving a film that was, well, bad.
8. So many of my favorite films are honest (well, all of them), but Manhattan may be the most honest, or most authentic portrayal of life I’ve ever seen. I think this is because it acknowledges many of the contradictions of life: you can hurt people that you love, love people that you hate, hate life, love life, and none of this is a problem. It’s simply living. One of the major misconceptions about Woody Allen is that he’s a cynic or a pessimist. He may complain about life and its many foibles, but in the end his style celebrates it.
9. Another movie that tries to be a slice of life is Takeshi Kitano’s Sonatine, which is a film that avoids being about something by being about nothing. It uses vagueness to mask its lack of meaning, and the ending feels like it was written a teenage emo poet.
10. I guess people are right about Koyaanisqatsi being a perfect choice, considering it would kind of show them how life works here on Earth, and they would need no prior language. However, if we had already taught them our language and ways, then I think we would have to go with an indisputable classic like Citizen Kane or The Rules of the Game. In particular, The Rules of the Game would be perfect because it deals with emotion very directly so it would be easier to focus on the visuals of the film, and after all film is a visual medium.
@ Jirin-
Okay, that’s kind of awesome!
Here’s where I reveal myself for the philistine I am: I have not yet read Tolstoy’s novel. Or, now that I think about it, any Tolstoy. I think I’m going to save it for after the film, though, since I just don’t want it to be burdened by those kinds of expectations. It’s such a massive novel that there is no way the whole thing can end up onscreen, so I’m sure there will be plenty to discover when I read it, whether or not I’ve seen the film. I do battle with myself over this, though, since one of the things that endlessly fascinates me about film specifically and art in general is the nature of adaptation, and it would do better to think about this having read the source material first.
Then again, I would probably have to start it now if I wanted to finish it by December.
@Dan Bayer
It’s not that I think the story couldn’t be whittled down to fit in a shorter film, I just think that they’re going to focus entirely on Anna, hardly at all on Levin, and make it entirely into a modernly feminist protest.
I could be wrong about that, but that would be my strong suspicion.
@EJW0422. “7. I’m more scared about what might be accepted, as opposed to banned, or rather what might be accepted as great filmmaking. When people say The Dark Knight or Iron Man is one of the greatest films they’ve ever seen, I cringe, not because I’m elitist snob, but because it frightens that maybe sometime in the future these will considered examples of the finest cinema has to offer, and they shouldn’t be. I think the main film which sparked this fear was Inception, which is a blandly directed film with muddled themes and clumsy exposition that was considered by many to be a masterpiece. It was just disturbing that so many loved it, and though I know it was only their opinion, I felt like they were being tricked into loving a film that was, well, bad.”
YES, YES, AND YES. Summed up my thoughts perfectly. I hate when people say The Avengers, The Dark Knight, The Hangover, or god-forbid Transformers are “the best films ever made.” They come from people who have never seen an art film, a black and white film, or a silent film in their life. And, like you, I’m worried with how lenient things might get for the medium. When does shock become the norm? Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America illustrates this point beyond accurately.
1. Edward Scissorhands. One of Burton’s best films, I watched it when I was a kid, but still can’t forget the impression it made on me.
2. The Master & Twelve Years A Slave. Why? Simply put: Paul Thomas Anderson and Steve McQueen, probably some of the better directors of their generation.
3. The Fast & Furious. It was a loud action flick made for those who adore cars. If it only had a better story and cast, I might have changed my mind.
4. The Namesake. It was being shown on TV and I just decided to check it out. I enjoyed it and and could even relate to Gogol’s story.
5. The Red Balloon. One of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. It would be my top pick for children due to its purity, simplicity, imagination and just a great vibe it gives to every viewer.
6. Matrimonio all’italiana. My family loves old European films, especially those from Italy and France.
7. I tend to travel from place to place, so this really depends on the country itself. However, I cannot really think of any film other than maybe some of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s works.
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. One of my all-time favority films with a rich story and wonderful cast. It is very honest, particularly in the context of society and the struggle an individual takes against the entire establishment. I absolutely love everything about Forman’s picture, from the first to the last minute. And, I believe this was Nicholson’s best role ever (The Shining would follow along).
9. The Jacket. I had anticipated it prior the release, but was left cold after the viewing. To be frank, it was not even mediocre at its best.
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Another favorite film of mine. Kubrick did a tremendous job that the film even nowadays looks ahead of other sci-fi pictures. It would be a great pick, as it demonstrates film as a visual medium at its best. In addition, it basically follows human kind from its origin to the last step of progression. It contains so many themes and ideas that it is far more enormous than what one could see happening in it.
1. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (9 years old, home alone, 10 o’clock on a Friday night)
2. CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING – I’ve been waiting at least 20 years. Where the hell is it?!?
3. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. I had already made up my mind I hated Spielberg, and a dear and well-intentioned relative gave me some kind of “deluxe” edition of it on the affirmed precept that I was into film, and I had to convincingly pretend I liked it. Short of putting pets to sleep, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
4. TELL-TALE HEART – UPA cartoon that freaked the christ out of me and had me mesmerized. Animation unlike anything I’d seen at a probably too young age.
5. YELLOW SUBMARINE, the beginning of a great adventure.
6. Father: SCHINDLER’S LIST (hate it, but my father vouches for its greatness on the flimsy grounds that it “really happened” – we haven’t spoken for 11 years).
Mother: DRUGSTORE COWBOY (the only film about which I ever had a deep film conversation with my mother. To be able to bond with one’s mother over a film is pretty awesome).
7. NASHVILLE, because it predicts the inevitable police state.
8. ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. The closest thing to an actual dream.
9. Anything by Tim Burton. Pie in the face on that guy.
10. ROPE.
1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw one until the brink of adulthood, leave this space blank).
“Green Fire” with Stewart Grainger and Grace Kelly. I was six years old. It made me an adventurist/romantic for life.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively. Why?
“Brave:” Great strong female character; cool accent; I am an animator with an emphasis on “hair” and this promises to be a tour de force.
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?
“The New World.” A friend of mine who I did not know beforehand worships Terrence Malick sent me in. Impression: Sorry dude, just too much mud, literally and emotionally. A short distance in I noticed I was irritated at the music, said to my companion: “You know, Richard Wagner tried to go this long one time without changing keys, 138 bars…..WAIT this IS Wagner!”
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you.
“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” Wandered in on cable, hey there’s Marisa and Hawke and Hoffman and ….wow Albert Finney what the hell is this? Impression: what a nightmare. I SO wanted to turn it off, but was riveted by horror. This film was just an atrocity. Why. Why are you telling this story?
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience.
“Robots” – Terrific animation, ridiculously great Robin Williams (i usually don’t like him) and a powerful moral message.
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.
“Sound of Music”
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why?
Really explicit sexual, but also deeply romantic. Truly naked mating. Because the right can’t abide too much sex and the left too much romantic romance. Put them in the same film and don’t pull any punches?
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison.
“The Big Country”
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
“The Unforgiven.” Completely irreconcilable.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
“The Scent of Green Papaya”
1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw one until the brink of adulthood, leave this space blank).
“The Black Stallion (1979)”
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively. Why?
“My Life as a Dog (1985)” – mostly because my cinephile friend (whose taste i trust wholeheartedly) loves it.
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?
“Don’t Deliver Us From Evil (1971)” – loved it!
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you.
“Angry Harvest (1985)” – not sure how I felt about it at first, but ended up abhorring it.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience.
“The Secret Garden (1993)” – same director as above (just wanted to clarify that it was the movie I didn’t like, not the director). This movie is absolutely wonderful, with lush cinematography and great child actors.
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.
Probably “Moonrise Kingdom (2012)” – the first one that came to mind.
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why?
America hopefully won’t ban films…
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison.
“The Pianist (2000)”
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
In comparison to “The Pianist,” I’d say “Schindler’s List (1993).”
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
Definitely a silent film…possibly some Buster Keaton
1. Star wars, George Lucas – Saw it 23 times in the theaters as a child.
2. The Master, PT Anderson – The power of one individual to “seduce” a collective into believing the reality of something completely fabricated intrigues me. It almost is like someone who creates reality as a movie, and the willingness of people to accept it. I can see myself “seduced” by this manner of living.
3. Tito and Me, Goran Markovic – See my answer to 2.
Half Nelson, Ryan Fleck – Parallels to my own life.
4. Kicking and Screaming, Noah Baumbach – totally stumbled upon this title in Blockbuster after graduating college in 1995. It created a frame for the existence I was living at the time. In a way it justified what I was doing. Baumbach hates this film, now, and I agree with him. I tried to watch it the other night, and was down right disappointed. However, I am glad that I discovered it when I did.
5. Millions, Danny Boyle- Problem-solving and dealing with real-life child fears. When I was young, I used to think about finding a lot of money and how great it would be. I also dealt with thoughts of being left abandoned by my parents and being all alone. I think this movie honestly deals with these topics that were of grave importance to me as a child, but it was always avoided by grown ups as things that are silly, or not something to be contemplated by a child.
6. You’ve Got Mail, Nora Ephron -What a piece of trash!
7. JFK/Nixon, Oliver Stone – The questions this films ask spark to much curiosity on a wide-scale. I think films like this are already banned in the film industry.
8. A Separation, Asghar Farhadi – simply mind-blowing film about relationships among human beings, and the use of the marriage as the focal point of relationships between people, and how to deal with “a separation” between people, but the belief we all and are the same.
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
The Story of Us, Rob Reiner – Pitiful, schlock – to think he wrote and directed When Harry Met Sally.
10. Happiness, Todd Solondz – Why not give them something that goes to the core of the USA. a portrayal of people who live completely messed up existences, but somehow cope with their life, because they “should” be happy. Sounds like our modern way of life.
I’m game:
1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw one until the brink of adulthood, leave this space blank).
Call Me Bwana is the first film I remember seeing on the big screen. It was a very big screen, at a drive-in theater. I mainly remember a scene with a tarantula that scared the shit out of me—maybe literally. I must have been three or four.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively. Why?
A Separation, because it’s been praised so highly. Hopefully not too highly.
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or
something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?
I was invited by the woman who would become my wife to see The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain. It’s the only film I can recall ever walking out on at a movie theater. That’s the impression it left on me. (She walked out with me, happily.)
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you.
Onibaba was offered for free viewing on this site a few years ago. Not being a fan of Japanese horror, I didn’t know much about it. I was completely enthralled by it, though almost everything about it was strange.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience.
Call Me Bwana. ;-) Seriously, it’s kind of a strange way of framing the question, as though opening a child up to an experience is a sort of subjection to something unpleasant. It’s the broccoli syndrome, I suppose. I would rather hope to find a film that a child would view willingly, one in which the opening-up-to is a natural part of the experience rather than a forced par.t. I’ve just watched a lot of films of all kinds and hoped my daughter would learn to enjoy them on her own.
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.
Together: That’s Entertainment. Father: He might have liked Sweetgrass or The Hangover. Mother:: Julie and Julia or About Schmidt
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why?
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, because it might be seen to “understand” or “condone” “terrorism.”
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison.
Au Hasard Balthazar.
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end. Considering your selections, would there be anything to reconcile between both ends of this spectrum?
Red Planet Mars. To answer your question, auteurs should have some humility about their beliefs.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
I presume to teach them what film is? I’d have to go with an early silent, maybe a Lumieres, Edison or Melies.
1. A film you saw as a child:
West Side Story – I simply loved it.
2. A film you haven’t seen yet but anticipate very highly and positively:
Tarantino’s Django Unchained – QT can always jerk my chain.
3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift, not sure whether or not you would like it, or something you were invited to see in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed:
Star Wars – I am a big science-fiction fan, and I was shocked to find out how juvenile it was.
4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you:
Being John Malkovich – At the first viewing, I fell asleep and the ending was incomprehensible; I loved it at the second viewing. Outrageous and hilarious.
5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience:
The Last Picture Show – I saw this when I was in my early teens, and even though I was a bit too young for it, it remains a favorite to this day. A poignant look at both childhood and adulthood.
6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like:
A River Runs Through It – a bit overly romanticized, but quite evocative.
7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country:
Pink Flamingos – everyone needs to see it, whether they want to or not.
8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison:
Do the Right Thing – bracing, heated, unsparing, incredible.
9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end:
Forrest Gump – a big pile of Hollywood crap.
10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them:
Tree of Life – it contains the creation of life on Earth, plus an example of the human family. Not sure about the ending, though.
Meg ͏
not to" fuck a kid up", that is going to an extreme not intended either in the spirit of the question!
I would have thought it simply meant, a film outside childrens’ genre that may be challenging in some way but encouraging them to watch it in the interests of opening their minds to ideas or information being conveyed (i think this is reflected in Charles’ choice and it is his question…) obviously it would depend very much on the child’s age etc