I’m a university student from Maryland, been a film fan for a few years now. I’d love to graduate and find some way to work movies into a career somehow, but we’ll see how that goes…
I can’t remember any other film I really disliked on Criterion besides “George Washington” it came off as very pretentious to me, and really not that interesting or engaging. Although I love “Insomnia,” the Criterion of it hasn’t been treated that well. It was, and still is (as far as I know), the only American release of the film, so I guess they didn’t feel compelled to put a lot of work into it and add any decent extras.
I HATE Requiem for a Dream, and I absolutely LOATHE The Boondock Saints. I hear people in my age group (college) and younger talk about these movies all the time and how they are their favorites. I guess I can understand, because a lot of people may not have exposed themselves to a broader range of films, but I just don’t see how people can like these two so much, especially The Boondock Saints.
I can’t really think of anything I hate more than these two. I used to say I didn’t like Tarantino, but I think my dislike has more to do with the unnecessary amount of praise he gets for his films, especially when most of what he does is lift ideas and scenes from old B and exploitation movies.
As I was writing this I remembered another one I hated: The Usual Suspects. I found the premise to be totally asinine, as was the famous (and predictable) “twist” at the end. I just couldn’t take any of the plot seriously.
I really don’t think Blu-ray has done a big enough takeover for Criterion to be focusing all their energy on it. It was only earlier this year that they beat out HD DVD in the format war. Blu-ray still has a long way to go before it has even established a strong enough foothold on the market. Plus, a lot of the players are still pretty basic. Until internet connectivity becomes a standard feature and the price drops a bit I won’t be buying one, and I know a lot of people who feel the same. Personally I think Criterion is taking the right measures in the way they release Blu-ray. If they focused any more energy on it they would lose money. Criterion’s regular DVD’s are still the highest quality on the market, it’s wrong to say that they aren’t offering high quality products. Many of Criterion’s regular DVD packages are better than some of the Blu-ray’s on the market. They’re still a business, and theyhave to make money. Focusing too much energy on Blu-ray, at least right now, would be a big mistake. After the holidays this year I think we will have a better idea of where Blu-ray stands. But the world hasn’t gone HD just yet. At this point it’s just another available format, not the new standard that some may think it is.
I haven’t watched a ton of Gus Van Sant films, but I love Drugstore Cowboy, and I really like My Own Private Idaho. However, Elephant is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It seems like he can be pretty hit or miss, but what I’ve seen I liked enough to give any of his films a shot.
19, Sophomore in college and working on an English and Chinese double major. My school doesn’t offer any film major, otherwise I’d be all over that in a second. Though I do grab as many film studies classes as possible for my English requirements.
I can’t recall any time I’ve fallen asleep at the theatre, though I do frequently fall asleep when watching at home since a usually do most of my movie viewing past midnight and I’m always tired
Most of what I would like to see has already been mentioned like a cataloging feature for our profiles, so we could list everything we’ve seen, more for personal reference than anything. I really like the look of the forums, I think that they should stay as simple as possible, however, some features like quoting and overall organization would be good for simplicity’s sake. I don’t mind avatars but I hate signatures! They would clutter up the streamlined look of the forum.
Also, when we rate movies, I think it would be nice to be able to view our own rating alongside the overall rating, so we could still see what other people think of the movie.
I agree with what Zilla said! I’m not too good with technology, but I know when I watch videos on the computer with other programs it tells the computer monitor not to go to sleep. I think that should be a definite required feature.
I have to agree with Aronofsky. I found Requiem for a Dream to be completely trite and lacking in any real substance. Also, I think Quentin Tarantino gets way too much credit for what he does—mainly rehashing old B-movies. He’s not as much of an innovator as everyone seems to think he is. I find Peter Jackson incredibly overrated as well. It seems like he has gone totally to CGI and uses it in place of actual talent. His movies like Bad Taste and Braindead were fun because they had actual special effects. I can’t get in to a movie that is just hours of computer graphics.
Jerome: It’s funny you say that since my girlfriend actually likes Wes Anderson a lot, whereas I really like Jarmusch.
I love just about everything I see by him; I especially like Mystery Train. His movies have a certain charm that I can’t really describe well but he never seems to disappoint.
Insomnia (1997) is one of my favorite neo-noirs. Great atmosphere in that one.
Regarding Pulp Fiction, I think that the problem with it, at least that I have, is that it seems like all the praise Tarantino gets is based on the elements that were all homages to older films. The plot being shown out of order, for example, is one thing I always hear, but that had been done before, like in Kubrick’s The Killing. A lot of the elements in Tarantino films can be found in the old exploitation movies he loves. Pulp Fiction is a great movie, and it gives you a lot to think about. But I grate my ears when I have to hear about a lot of the “revolutionary” techniques employed that one could see years earlier. A lot of the praise it gets is for the wrong reasons—you see teenagers walking around in Pulp Fiction shirts and quoting lines from the movie because they love the luridness and violence of it. It makes it easy to call the movie overrated.
I went into the film with pretty low expectations, but I was actually really surprised how much I liked it. It had been a while since I’d seen a movie in the theatre that I really liked. The plot and characters were really well developed and I could sympathize with Lars well.
I have more of a problem with Armageddon being in the Criterion collection than The Blob (as I’m sure a lot of others do). But I love cult and b-movies. If you want to know ones worth seeing, you should start with some of the basics: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Freaks, Evil Dead, Pink Flamingos. Cult is really such a broad term and there is plenty to explore in it. They aren’t always low budget drive-in movies either.
I have no idea if this has already been covered but… it’s definitely worth mentioning.
Apparently Alex Cox is working on a sequel to Repo Man called Repo Chick.
Here’s a brief article about it: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/04/repo-man-sequel-starts-filming-next-month/
I am simultaneously dreading this while being really curious about it. Odds are it will be a total disaster but for some reason I feel like it could be decent. At the very least it will be entertaining. Even at Cox’s worst he’s still entertaining. Anyone else have the same confused feelings that I am?
I don’t understand this overwhelming hate for Indiana Jones. Honestly, what were you expecting when you walked in the theatre? I hated the CGI and the plot was ridiculous, but knowing that Harrison Ford is 100 years old and that Shia LaBeouf is in the supporting cast, I wasn’t expecting anything more than moronic entertainment, which is what it was. At the very least it was entertaining, I definitely wouldn’t put it as the worst of 2008.
Personally, I consider all film to be art. There is a creative aspect that goes into every film, and whether its goal is to be just entertainment, or a more complex, “intelligent” work doesn’t make a difference. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the film will accomplish that goal—I’m sure everyone will agree there is a big difference between Indiana Jones and Gigli. Some movies are just bad, but they all still have creativity to them.
I think almost every director deserves equal respect for what they do. We just respect them for different reasons. We admire directors like Godard and Bergman for creating thought provoking, stylish films. We admire the big budget hollywood directors, like Cameron or Spielberg, for creating films that are highly successful and entertaining. There are films that are bad, whether they are boring, stupid, or just plain unwatchable. We don’t have to like those films, but at the very least we can recognize the work that was put in to making them.
New to The Auteurs? You Belong Here over 3 years ago
I’m a university student from Maryland, been a film fan for a few years now. I’d love to graduate and find some way to work movies into a career somehow, but we’ll see how that goes…
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Good Bad Films over 3 years ago
I must agree with those who said Troll 2 and Chopping Mall, those are two of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. I’d also like to add:
Squirm
Samurai Cop
Rats: Night of Terror
Black Roses
They Live
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Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection over 3 years ago
The Night of the Hunter, for sure.
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Worst Criterion DVDs over 3 years ago
I can’t remember any other film I really disliked on Criterion besides “George Washington” it came off as very pretentious to me, and really not that interesting or engaging. Although I love “Insomnia,” the Criterion of it hasn’t been treated that well. It was, and still is (as far as I know), the only American release of the film, so I guess they didn’t feel compelled to put a lot of work into it and add any decent extras.
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Movies you hated that everyone else loves over 3 years ago
I HATE Requiem for a Dream, and I absolutely LOATHE The Boondock Saints. I hear people in my age group (college) and younger talk about these movies all the time and how they are their favorites. I guess I can understand, because a lot of people may not have exposed themselves to a broader range of films, but I just don’t see how people can like these two so much, especially The Boondock Saints.
I can’t really think of anything I hate more than these two. I used to say I didn’t like Tarantino, but I think my dislike has more to do with the unnecessary amount of praise he gets for his films, especially when most of what he does is lift ideas and scenes from old B and exploitation movies.
As I was writing this I remembered another one I hated: The Usual Suspects. I found the premise to be totally asinine, as was the famous (and predictable) “twist” at the end. I just couldn’t take any of the plot seriously.
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Criterion's lame blu-ray debut over 3 years ago
I really don’t think Blu-ray has done a big enough takeover for Criterion to be focusing all their energy on it. It was only earlier this year that they beat out HD DVD in the format war. Blu-ray still has a long way to go before it has even established a strong enough foothold on the market. Plus, a lot of the players are still pretty basic. Until internet connectivity becomes a standard feature and the price drops a bit I won’t be buying one, and I know a lot of people who feel the same. Personally I think Criterion is taking the right measures in the way they release Blu-ray. If they focused any more energy on it they would lose money. Criterion’s regular DVD’s are still the highest quality on the market, it’s wrong to say that they aren’t offering high quality products. Many of Criterion’s regular DVD packages are better than some of the Blu-ray’s on the market. They’re still a business, and theyhave to make money. Focusing too much energy on Blu-ray, at least right now, would be a big mistake. After the holidays this year I think we will have a better idea of where Blu-ray stands. But the world hasn’t gone HD just yet. At this point it’s just another available format, not the new standard that some may think it is.
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Opinions of Van Sant? over 3 years ago
I haven’t watched a ton of Gus Van Sant films, but I love Drugstore Cowboy, and I really like My Own Private Idaho. However, Elephant is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It seems like he can be pretty hit or miss, but what I’ve seen I liked enough to give any of his films a shot.
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favorite funniest movie over 3 years ago
No one mentioned Withnail & I yet? For shame! Not only is it my favorite comedy, it’s my favorite movie as well.
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Age / Level of education? (An informal poll) over 3 years ago
19, Sophomore in college and working on an English and Chinese double major. My school doesn’t offer any film major, otherwise I’d be all over that in a second. Though I do grab as many film studies classes as possible for my English requirements.
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College film-lovers, unite! over 3 years ago
Currently a sophomore at the University of Maryland College Park. No film major here. A few film studies classes, but that’s all unfortunately.
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MOMENT OF TRUTH: HAVE YOU EVER GONE TO THE MOVIES AND FALLEN ASLEEP DURING THE FILM? over 3 years ago
I can’t recall any time I’ve fallen asleep at the theatre, though I do frequently fall asleep when watching at home since a usually do most of my movie viewing past midnight and I’m always tired
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Favorite Kurosawa lead actor? over 3 years ago
Mifune is great, but I think I’ll have to go with Takashi Shimura.
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Help make The Auteurs totally awesome over 3 years ago
Most of what I would like to see has already been mentioned like a cataloging feature for our profiles, so we could list everything we’ve seen, more for personal reference than anything. I really like the look of the forums, I think that they should stay as simple as possible, however, some features like quoting and overall organization would be good for simplicity’s sake. I don’t mind avatars but I hate signatures! They would clutter up the streamlined look of the forum.
Also, when we rate movies, I think it would be nice to be able to view our own rating alongside the overall rating, so we could still see what other people think of the movie.
I agree with what Zilla said! I’m not too good with technology, but I know when I watch videos on the computer with other programs it tells the computer monitor not to go to sleep. I think that should be a definite required feature.
I love the site! Keep up the good work guys.
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Film School over 3 years ago
You can change your name if you go to your profile and click “Edit profile.” I changed mine from boring old “George” to “Withnail.”
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overrated over 3 years ago
I have to agree with Aronofsky. I found Requiem for a Dream to be completely trite and lacking in any real substance. Also, I think Quentin Tarantino gets way too much credit for what he does—mainly rehashing old B-movies. He’s not as much of an innovator as everyone seems to think he is. I find Peter Jackson incredibly overrated as well. It seems like he has gone totally to CGI and uses it in place of actual talent. His movies like Bad Taste and Braindead were fun because they had actual special effects. I can’t get in to a movie that is just hours of computer graphics.
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Jarmusch over 3 years ago
Jerome: It’s funny you say that since my girlfriend actually likes Wes Anderson a lot, whereas I really like Jarmusch.
I love just about everything I see by him; I especially like Mystery Train. His movies have a certain charm that I can’t really describe well but he never seems to disappoint.
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Contemporary Film Noir over 3 years ago
Insomnia (1997) is one of my favorite neo-noirs. Great atmosphere in that one.
Regarding Pulp Fiction, I think that the problem with it, at least that I have, is that it seems like all the praise Tarantino gets is based on the elements that were all homages to older films. The plot being shown out of order, for example, is one thing I always hear, but that had been done before, like in Kubrick’s The Killing. A lot of the elements in Tarantino films can be found in the old exploitation movies he loves. Pulp Fiction is a great movie, and it gives you a lot to think about. But I grate my ears when I have to hear about a lot of the “revolutionary” techniques employed that one could see years earlier. A lot of the praise it gets is for the wrong reasons—you see teenagers walking around in Pulp Fiction shirts and quoting lines from the movie because they love the luridness and violence of it. It makes it easy to call the movie overrated.
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Contemporary Film Noir over 3 years ago
Well said Rodney, I definitely agree with you.
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Underrated Films... over 3 years ago
Withnail & I! Seems like no one in the U.S. has heard of this movie. Though I think I would like it better to keep it that way…
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Lars and the Real Girl over 3 years ago
I went into the film with pretty low expectations, but I was actually really surprised how much I liked it. It had been a while since I’d seen a movie in the theatre that I really liked. The plot and characters were really well developed and I could sympathize with Lars well.
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Movies that should be in the library over 3 years ago
Repo Man! I keep checking to see if it’s been added…
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Why is the Blob on criterion over 3 years ago
I have more of a problem with Armageddon being in the Criterion collection than The Blob (as I’m sure a lot of others do). But I love cult and b-movies. If you want to know ones worth seeing, you should start with some of the basics: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Freaks, Evil Dead, Pink Flamingos. Cult is really such a broad term and there is plenty to explore in it. They aren’t always low budget drive-in movies either.
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Movie runtime? over 3 years ago
People have learned to hold their bladders longer than they did in the days of Hitchcock.
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Repo Man sequel over 3 years ago
I have no idea if this has already been covered but… it’s definitely worth mentioning.
Apparently Alex Cox is working on a sequel to Repo Man called Repo Chick.
Here’s a brief article about it: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/04/repo-man-sequel-starts-filming-next-month/
I am simultaneously dreading this while being really curious about it. Odds are it will be a total disaster but for some reason I feel like it could be decent. At the very least it will be entertaining. Even at Cox’s worst he’s still entertaining. Anyone else have the same confused feelings that I am?
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Repo Man sequel over 3 years ago
I think Repo Chick is supposed to be separate from the graphic novel, though I’m not entirely sure. So, in a sense, it’s a second sequel.
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Ommited Auteurs over 3 years ago
Russ Meyer, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Roger Corman, Fred Olen Ray, Lucio Fulci, Ed Wood, and John Waters should all be added.
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The Worst Films of 2008 over 3 years ago
I don’t understand this overwhelming hate for Indiana Jones. Honestly, what were you expecting when you walked in the theatre? I hated the CGI and the plot was ridiculous, but knowing that Harrison Ford is 100 years old and that Shia LaBeouf is in the supporting cast, I wasn’t expecting anything more than moronic entertainment, which is what it was. At the very least it was entertaining, I definitely wouldn’t put it as the worst of 2008.
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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? over 3 years ago
Boondock Saints
Requiem for a Dream
Both are garbage, Boondock Saints more so.
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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? over 3 years ago
I too perform that litmus test.
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FILM AS ENTERTAINMENT VS FILM AS ART over 3 years ago
Personally, I consider all film to be art. There is a creative aspect that goes into every film, and whether its goal is to be just entertainment, or a more complex, “intelligent” work doesn’t make a difference. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the film will accomplish that goal—I’m sure everyone will agree there is a big difference between Indiana Jones and Gigli. Some movies are just bad, but they all still have creativity to them.
I think almost every director deserves equal respect for what they do. We just respect them for different reasons. We admire directors like Godard and Bergman for creating thought provoking, stylish films. We admire the big budget hollywood directors, like Cameron or Spielberg, for creating films that are highly successful and entertaining. There are films that are bad, whether they are boring, stupid, or just plain unwatchable. We don’t have to like those films, but at the very least we can recognize the work that was put in to making them.
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