Fellini’s Amarcord -Best and Fellini’s Rome-Worst
Definitely Hitchcock. He has made some of my favourites such as North by Northwest and Vertigo, but he also made a lot of crappy films.
Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express is one of the best, but Blueberry Nights was terrible. I had to stop after about 15 minutes.
Andrei Tarkovsky – Best: Mirror Worst: Ivan’s Childhood (still amazing though)
Alfred Hitchcock – Best: Vertigo Worst: Foreign Correspondent (out of the 20 or so films I’ve seen of his)
Carl Dreyer – Best: Ordet Worst: Vampyr
Robert Bresson – Best: Diary of a Country Priest Worst: Au Hasard Balthazar
Orson Welles – Best: Touch of Evil Worst: Mr. Arkadin (only seen these 2 along with CK and The Trial)
I didn’t care for Country Priest, but Balthazar was just so lovely. How can anyone dislike a donkey?
I don’t hate it, I was just underwhelmed with it, especially watching it after seeing the masterpieces, Pickpocket and Diary of a Country Priest. Who knows, a re-watch might change my opinion though.
Kubrick – Best: 2001; Worst: Eyes Wide Shut
Hitchcock – Best: Vertigo; Worst: Saboteur
Sturges – Best: Lady Eve; Worst: The Great Moment
Apparently the only two Kubrick films you have seen Mathias are 2001 and Eyes Wide Shut, in which case I agree with you, 2001 is the best and EWS is the second best.
Well, Drew, I’ve seen most (maybe all) of Kubrick’s movies and I thought Eyes Wide Shut was pretty bad. I realize there are a lot of people around here who like that film.
Haha, if I may ask. How many times have you seen it?
Worst Kubrick for me was Lolita. I saw it about 3 times, and I still find Lolita laughable.
Can any Kubrick fan explain me why they find it to be so great?
Hitchcock – Best – Rear Window. Worst – Under Carpricorn
Howard Hawks – Best – Rio Bravo. Worst – A Song is Born
Martin Scorsese – Best – Taxi Driver. Worst – New York, New York
Fellini – Best – 8 1/2. Worst – Satyricon
Kubrick – Best – Barry Lyndon. Worst – Killers Kiss
Spielberg – Best – E.T. Worst – Hook
Kurosawa – Best – Rashomon. Worst – Dodeska Den
John Ford – Best – The Searchers. Worst – 3 Godfathers
Billy Wilder – Best – Sunset Boulevard. Worst – The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Bergman – Best – Fanny and Alexander. Worst – Persona
Bresson – Best – A Man Escaped. Worst – Lancelot du Loc
Woody Allen – Best – The Purple Rose of Cario. Worst – Scoop (Celebrity, Anything Else)
>>Can any Kubrick fan explain me why they find it to be so great?<<
It just doesn’t work for me, either. It may be that the subject matter disinterests me … or it may be the Shelley Winters in her relentless acting mode …
>>Orson Welles – Best: Touch of Evil Worst: Mr. Arkadin (only seen these 2 along with CK and The Trial)<<
Welles never made a bad film, though THE STRANGER may be his least interesting. ARKADIN is wonderfully complex and perverse.
Woody Allen – Best: Crimes & Misdemeanors, Worst: September
Martin Scorsese – Best: Casino, Worst: New York, New York
Coen Brothers – Best: No Country For Old Men, Worst: The Ladykillers
Hitchcock – Best: Vertigo, Worst: The Trouble With Harry
Miss J, I love films that deal with obsession (Vertigo is my #1 of all time), because I feel it is one of the strongest and complex emotions. Where does passion stop and obsession begin? I love how Lolita balances his obsession with his love so you never know what’s really going on in his head. Its a terrifying and powerful film, that is filled with some incredible performances.
Miss J – I’m with Harry on this one. After reading Nabokov’s book, the film adaptation (written by Nabokov) seems silly. But then again, maybe that was the point. I think Nabokov was well aware of how deeply rooted in film culture his own novel actually was, and when he tried to adapt it, he added measures that seemed grossly out of place in order to compensate for the change in medium. The film seemed to capitalize on the more humorous elements of the book, but lacked the lyrical beauty that made the novel so haunting.
I want to read the book so bad. Stupid assigned school reading…
re: Lolita … Im in agreement w/ Harry, Miss J, Nathan, here too. I love every Kubrick I’ve seen except Lolita. I’ve never really been able to pin point what it is I dislike about it, but I think I’m just such a devotee of the book that I cant appreciate this adaptation. I’ve always found it a bit trite or insincere I suppose. I’ll take the Lynch-Irons version over the Kubrick any day- better performances, more poetic, and closer to the obsessive and melancholy sub-layers of the book.
I actually loved Lolita, the book as well as the movie. I felt the actors were really something— James Mason made such a perfect Humbert Humbert. Peter Sellers is obviously adds a silly touch, but put him a side and there is a deeply moving, somewhat darker picture. I find it more compelling, a story that deals mostly with character, than an epic like 2001.
I also agree with Drew that obsession a fascinating topic for film. Vertigo is a fabulous movie— last night I saw the original of “The Vanishing”, the French “Spoorloos” and found it very well done.
It took me years after watching the film to read the book version of Lolita. I was surprised at how different the book was from the film, and it’s one of those books that’s just impossible to adapt into a 2 hour film. Maybe, I’ll try to watch the film again for the fourth time just for the sake of it. Who knows, I might have a different impression of the film this time. Thanks for the explanations.
Miss J, I think its really awesome how open you are to rewatching films you don’t care for. Most people just write them off and never give them a second chance, and I respect that you don’t act this way.
To me, I’ve realized that I often have different impressions of things depending on the mood. When I first saw Breaking the Waves, I was obsessed with it. When I finally bought a DVD of it years later and re-watched it, I found it silly, and I realized only thing I liked about the film was how the camera was shaking entire time. I only have a faint memory of Kubrick’s Lolita although I remember the book clearly. I think it’s worth giving it another try after all.
It’s funny how people have different opinions on different films. Hook is my all time favourite. It’s interesting that someone would think of it as ‘the worst’.
actually,Spielberg’s worst film is probably Terminal,i don’t see why there’s no love for Hook :P
i understand the hatred of many for Lolita (critically speaking,there’s no such hatred) but sorry Drew,i’d definitely take Eyes Wide as his weakest..not as a worst because all Kubrick movies are extremely intriguing but this is definitely not on par to his first work,i haven’t seen Killer’s Kiss yet to judge it but so far,Eyes Wide is the least superb of them all…
Miss J.: ‘It’s funny how people have different opinions on different films.’
I know what you mean. I actually love The Trouble with Harry. :D
I’m no huge Kubrick fan, but did all ya’ll really like “Killers Kiss”? That movie didn’t seem to wake up until the last 15 minutes. Of course, those 15 min. were great, but the film as a whole was a total bore.
Rumplesink – No love for “The Trouble with Harry”. I thought it was a pretty hilarious send up of his own films. I gained even more respect for Hitchcock when I saw that he wasn’t afraid to make fun of himself.
Nathan M.: Plus it’s also a very beautiful film; the shots of Vermont in autumn and Herrmann’s playful score.
yeah Rumplesink,have you seen Topaz or Family Plot?now these are really shitty Hitchcock films :P
and before anyone mentions Mr and Mrs Smith,that’s not bad,it’s more of a campy satire :D
I too love The Trouble with Harry.
Nathan, Killer’s Kiss is obviously Kubrick still trying to learn his craft. I mean not everyone is Orson Welles. He started with three bad shorts, then he made a bad movie (Fear and Desire), then he made a decent movie (Killer’s Kiss), and then he finally made his first great film with The Killing. Still Killer’s Kiss has its moment, and since its short, its worth watching for the brilliant fight scene with the mannequins.
I liked Stage Fright the least, it just seemed so lifeless to me.
MDB
Ok, give me your favourite directors best film…and their worst!
Alfred Hitchcock Best: Notorious (1946) Worst: Lifeboat (1944)
Akira Kurosawa Best: Red Beard (1965) Worst: I Live in Fear (1955)
and the only one I know to have both in the same year:
Alan Parker Best: Shoot the Moon (1982) Worst: The Wall (1982)