Who's better than Stanley Kubrick?

@Matt Parks –
Thanks for making me laugh :)

@Columbiatch –
If that quote is real it’s priceless! I love it!

Aww Rivette. <3

I agree with Rivette. Bunuel is another obvious choice. ;)
BTW Stanley Kubrick was closer to the devil. He died 666 days before the first day of 2001 (January 1st).

It’s from an interview posted on senses of cinema:
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/16/rivette.html

Rivette on Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997) :

I’ve seen it twice and I like it a lot, but I prefer Showgirls (1995), one of the great American films of the last few years. It’s Verhoeven’s best American film and his most personal. In Starship Troopers, he uses various effects to help everything go down smoothly, but he’s totally exposed in Showgirls. It’s the American film that’s closest to his Dutch work. It has great sincerity, and the script is very honest, guileless. It’s so obvious that it was written by Verhoeven himself rather than Mr. Eszterhas, who is nothing. And that actress is amazing! Like every Verhoeven film, it’s very unpleasant: it’s about surviving in a world populated by assholes, and that’s his philosophy. Of all the recent American films that were set in Las Vegas, Showgirls was the only one that was real – take my word for it.I who have never set foot in the place!

[ Thinks to himself, “This thread is just asking for a non sequitur……..” ]

“Of all the recent American films that were set in Las Vegas, Showgirls was the only one that was real – take my word for it.I who have never set foot in the place!”

sounds to be a rather idiotic statement to me. (not talking about the quality of the film “showgirls”, but rivette’s admitted lack of knowledge of vegas)

Rivette is really adorable.

Jacques Rivette on Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)

I agree completely with what Jean-Luc said in this week’s Elle: it’s garbage. Cameron isn’t evil, he’s not an asshole like Spielberg. He wants to be the new De Mille. Unfortunately, he can’t direct his way out of a paper bag. On top of which the actress is awful, unwatchable, the most slovenly girl to appear on the screen in a long, long time. That’s why it’s been such a success with young girls, especially inhibited, slightly plump American girls who see the film over and over as if they were on a pilgrimage: they recognize themselves in her, and dream of falling into the arms of the gorgeous Leonardo.

An aside:

Every time I see this thread pop up I think, “It’s just a bad question.”

If you say, “No one,” then you obviously need to get out more (but even more obvious is the fact that all of this is mightily subjective).

If you spout of a well-reasoned list, you leave yourself open to all kinds of irrelevant debate, given the subjective nature of the topic and aforementioned silliness of the question.

Please continue talking amongst yourselves.

he’s not an asshole like Spielberg

Odd, I really like most of his films but I never place him among my favorite filmmakers….

Law, Rivette is awsome!

Still, Kate Winslet is twice the woman Di Caprio is, in every sense. hahaha.

And Titanic is one of the worst films I’ve seen, including Coyote Ugly (which I’m not sure how how I got to see…).

“Every time I see this thread pop up I think, “It’s just a bad question.””

True, inevitably, the question becomes “what is great filmmaking” no matter how it’s phrased.

Some of Rivette’s late criticism seems more like shock-jock theatrics than insight. I suppose Winslet’s appearance might be relevant if the discussion were based on a comparison of Titanic with the romantic Hollywood classics it emulates, but the whole discussion still seems rather trivial since many of those films probably aren’t worth analyzing either.

considering all of Rivette’s films are about theater/acting, it wouldn’t surprise me if those were meant as theatrics.

i have a lot of respect for rivette as a new wave auteur, but i tune out the minute you start talking about an actresses weight and have the nerve to call it criticism.

Tarkovsky
Bresson
Dreyer
Antonioni
Ozu
Godard
Nicholas Ray
Jules Dassin
Sam Fuller
Mizoguchi
Resnais
Maurice Pialat
Jean Eustasche

plenty of people and much more than just these guys.

lol I love your hatred of Kubrick.

Hah- yeah it is kind of funny.

I think it’s hilarious when the Kubrick fans get mad about someone criticizing or disliking his films. (This never seems to happen with other filmmakers’ fans- except for maybe the Von Trier fans). They act like they’re gonna piss their pants they get so angry!

art isn’t a competition. who cares?

^

Wait… can I be unmoved by Kubrick’s work in general and still also think Citizen Cane is unwatchable? I’m starting to think they’re mutually exclusive points of view.

Maybe I’m on an island…

Laszlo: Then it’s your opinion, just as it’s someone else’s if they love Kubrick or Citizen Kane. Neither right nor wrong. :)

No no no, you’re missing the point of the internet, Josh. Someone is supposed to tell me I’m an idiot. How can I possibly enjoy film or want to post messages about it on some forums if I don’t like Citizen Cane and am ambivalent toward Kubrick? How?!

Laszlo: I guess I’m the wrong person for the job then…… :(

Would it make you feel better if I verbally assaulted you for making the minor error of spelling ‘Kane’ with a ‘C’? ;)

God I love you Mr. S.

^ And it was after this and the comments on the Ultimate List thread that led to the implication of Mr. Gregory’s first restraining order…..

Eh, I could fix it and all, but I’d rather leave it. It’s proof I don’t care for that movie… can’t even spell the name of the greatest film of all time correctly.

It’s just like that time I was forum posting about The Bilbe.

^ Hey- you died in 2007. Stop posting and get back in the ground.

Sorry, I’m Laszlo Kovacs the film alias, not Laszlo Kovacs the cinematographer. So I’m an homage to an homage. I’m not original enough to be an actual homage.

I liked Kramer, and someone said something about there are no humans in his films, in Paths of Glory the whole cast is full of humans, fighting for survials on different levels. The last scene where the Girl sings a song to a bunch of soldiers about to go off on a shitty detail because of Kirk Douglas stand, is one of the most touching scenes I have ever seen. The feelings it arose in me touched me deeply.

No one is better and will be a greater director than Stanley Kubrick,the only ones who came pretty close are Akira Kurosawa and Alfred Hitchcock,some Ingmar Bergman movies also.