Andrei Rublev, one of the greatest pieces of art ever made.
You know what, I will recommend you a movie, but not the old standard classics that most people will be naming.
No, I recommend to you, and everyone on this board… The Spirit. Yes, that’s right, Frank Miller’s critically hated, audience ignored, goddamn ridiculous super hero movie.
And I recommend it because it is so goddamn ridiculous, in a beautiful way. It’s the complete opposite of where the super hero genre is going, in that it’s as far from reality as you could possibly get, not gritty in any way, shape or form, and purposefully comedic. And when I say comedic, I mean it. I’m talking people getting hit with toilets and giant wrenches straight out of the Acme catalogue. I’m talking Samuel L. Jackson hamming it up in Nazi uniforms and giant, fur pimp hats to such a degree that if he were still in Pulp Fiction, he would refuse to eat himself, being a filthy animal.
It’s a movie which, through the heavy use of cgi, is 90% a cartoon in the first place, and relishes in that fact.
Watch it high if that’s your thing (it only makes it better), and watch it to laugh. You cannot be disappointed.
You are 100% correct eggman on Andrei Rublev
I just received Andrei Rublev in my little red envelope from Netflix, so now my weekend lineup consists of Andrei Rublev, Odd Man Out and Stalker. This may be the best weekend of my . . . hey . . . what happened to biberkopf?
Biberkopf left The Auteurs to become a gate keeper at a factory, unfortunately he is unaware of the coming world war.
up the dreary mountain, down the rushing glen, we dare not go a hunting for fear of little men . . . you see . . . no one ever goes in and no one ever comes out . . .
Anything Kurosawa made. Same goes for Hitchcock. You’re pretty safe with Kubrick as well. Anything he made from Killers Kiss to Barry Lyndon are must sees in my book. The Godfather and the Godfather part 2. Scorsese – Who’s that Knocking at my door?, Mean Streats,Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Kundun, The Aviator, and the Departed. John Cassavetes- Shadows, & Faces. Fellini- 8 1/2 ,La Strada, and La Doce Vita. Fritz Lang- M and Metropolis. Murnau- Faust, Nosferatu and the Last Laugh.
The Swimmer (1968)
Seconds (1966)
Fuckin sick. Thanks eggman im checkin out Andrei Rublev for sure. christopher bush lets see ive scene most of those but i do still need to check out cassavetes work so ill definitely watch shadows.
PLAYTIME by Jacques Tati (on Criterion). Unique masterwork of cinema.
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Yojoimbo and Sanjuro are musts, as well as Carol Reed’s “Third Man” and David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.”
Tears of the Black Tiger, it’s basically how thailand sees american westerns, so its full of gun fights and a good ol’ love story. It’s also shot in technicolor which just adds to how awesome this film is.
“Sex and Fury”. It’s a Japanese movie with tons of swordplay action, hot girls, and you get to see a badass, super hot Japanese woman walk outside in the snow completely naked and start slicing up guys with her sword in slow motion, blood shooting all over the snow and herself. I mean come on, you said you wanted a wicked awesome description right? So far this is the best description yet and I dare someone to recommend a movie with a better description than that.
Oh and “Budo: The Art of Killing” slow, but fascinating.
Werckmeister Harmonies
I kinda want something with a super good ending like seven samurai’s or the bicycle thief.
CLASS OF NUKE ’EM HIGH
some nice pop trash
Anything by Hirokazu Koreeda
violent cop.
ONIBABA – great Japanese thriller. War, greed, ghosts, murder, hunger, demons, women in heat…
that’s a strange one Noel, beautifully filmed . . .
I’ll recommend Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Orphanage” directed by J.A. Bayona, an unusually intelligent ghost story.
Ingmar Bergman! My favourites so far are The Seventh Seal and Winter Light. I don’t know if they’re everyone’s cup of tea though.
Just saw Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock), it was impressive. I watched it without knowing a thing about the plot, apart from the meaning of the word vertigo and that’s a good thing to do.
Koyaanisqatsi, Geoffrey Reggio. Eye-opening, like Baraka.
Todd Solondz! Happiness. Palindromes too.
Takashi Miike’s Visitor Q, funny, crass, awful, funny.
Wong Kar Wai’s – Happy Together (His true masterpiece in my opinion)
Irreversible is a must-see film although you may not thank me for putting you on to it.
For a lighter choice A Midnight Clear is in my opinion a little seen American gem.
Finally for an old classic check out Angels with Dirty Faces if you haven’t already.
Now that would be a great few days of film watching.
Travelling Players by Angelopoulos: masterful camerawork including a 720 degree shot that tells a story, and a camera that moves in time as well as space. An opening shot of the players walking through a village starts in 1952 and ends in 1939. If you love character development and personal drama – dont bother. But if the camera moves of a Murnau or Mizoguchi or the contested space of a Jancso excite you, then give this a spin.
Seems a good opportunity to suggest some great ‘forgotten films’ I carry a candle for:-
Who’ll Stop The Rain? (aka Dog Soldiers) (Karel Reisz 1978) – Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld & Michael Moriarty in a great post-Vietnam movie
State of Grace (Phil Joanou 1990) – Irish gangs movie with Sean Penn, Ed Harris, John C Reilly & Gary Oldman and music by Ennio Morricone. Amazing that such a film, with such credits, should be so forgotten, but it has. Oldman once claimed that it contained his best screen performance.
My latest discovery is Quills (Philip Kaufman 2000) in which Geoffrey Rush gives a amazing performance as the Marquis de Sade in an asylum, accompanied by Kate Winslet, Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix
Someone in this thread suggested anything by Kore-eda. I would say get hold of Maborosi, one of the great films of all time.
I love The Singer (Quand J’Etais Chanteur) (Xavier Giannoli 2006) in which Gerard Depardieu gives a fantastic return-to-form performance as a provincial crooner (he does his own singing).
No one has recommended that you watch Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu. Bypass every other suggestion and watch Ugetsu. Right now.
Tears of the Black Tiger, this movie is a spawn of the Thai obsession with westerns. It’s full of some bad ass characters, some crazy gun fights, and ultimately a love story. The main clincher is that it was shot in technicolor, and awesome stylistic choice for a movie made in 2002.
Vertov’s The Man with the Movie Camera—no explanation needed—what movies are all about.
I’ve seen “Tears of the Black Tiger” since it was mentioned here a couple of months ago and I absolutely loved it. Great fun!!!
and yes, awesome to look at too! Thanks Alex.
akusokuzangatots
If you guys could recommend me a film that you think is a must to watch and a description that would be wicked awesome.