I think that Nicolas Cage is just getting less likable/more predictable as his career goes on. Adaptation was probably the last good movie he was in, and this goes along with a theory that a couple of my friends and I have talked about: after you star in a Charlie Kaufman movie, you’re cursed.
Charlie Kaufman is an amazingly creative writer, but it seems like the careers of Nicolas Cage (Adaptation), John Cusack (Being John Malkovich), Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) have all entered slumps or downward spirals since their brilliant performances in Kaufman-written films.
Aside from Adaptation, the only good Cage films I’ve seen are Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas and Bringing Out the Dead (all pre-Kaufman).
Magnolia is also one of my favorite films – I also watched it for the first time when I was around your age; I’m now in my early twenties, and it still holds up. I agree with the sentiment expressed by a lot of the people who have posted in this topic – you will undoubtedly come across other films that you will love just as much or more than Magnolia. I would strongly recommend the rest of P.T. Anderson’s films and Robert Altman’s films, which are a big influence on Anderson.
I hate Michael Bay, and I pretty much always have. I CANNOT believe that Armageddon, of all the other wonderful movies in the world, has a Criterion edition. His movies are horrible and formulaic (or just horribly formulaic), and I can’t believe he’s still surviving as a filmmaker, which makes me quite sad. And he is remaking The Birds (his title has moved from director to producer on the project, but still). I really dislike remakes, but it bothers me even more that someone is even attempting to remake a Hitchcock film.
Add to this my recent realization that he and I share the same birthday, and I want to go sit in a corner somewhere and cry until someone tells me he has stopped making movies.
I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a 100-percent-perfect film, but here are the ones that I think come close:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – I’ve seen this film at least 20 times and it still draws an emotional response every time I watch it.
The Royal Tenenbaums & Rushmore – Wes Anderson has the extraordinary gift of being able to craft films that are both dramatic and comedic, and he perfectly creates some of the most endearing and quirky characters.
The Philadelphia Story – The combination of Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart is in itself impressive, but the incredibly witty dialogue is the major selling point for me.
I forgot to say this earlier: one of the main things I love about Magnolia – and films in general – is when there is a good integration of music. Some people dislike the sing-a-long scene, but I have to say that it is probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire film.
I’m in my last semester as a Film Studies student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. All the classes I’ve taken in my major – Intro to Film Analysis, Architecture in Film, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, The Films of Woody Allen, Critical Reviewing, East European Cinema, Trends in World Cinema, Black Film, Psychology at the Movies, Adaptation of Literature to Film, Food & Film, Brazilian Cinema – have helped me learn massive amounts about film terminology and how films are made, which has only assisted me in writing my first full-length screenplay for my Screenwriting capstone. In most of these classes, we simply watched films and discussed them using film terms and referencing readings the professors found useful.
My college doesn’t officially have a Film Studies major yet (I’m majoring in it through a special degree program), but the fact that I was still able to learn so much about film has really been great.
As far as having a career after all of this, I really don’t know, but I know that I will not be truly happy unless I’m doing something involved with film.
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned Pauline Kael. I also enjoy reading Libby Gelman-Waxner and Stanley Kaufmann.
Also, Philip Lopate’s book Totally Tenderly Tragically is probably one of my favorite books about someone’s film experiences – I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Jon Brion is amazing… I haven’t seen Synecdoche, NY yet, but I’ve heard some of the music and I love it. He’s the second reason why I want to see the film (the first being Charlie Kaufman).
Aside from him, Philip Glass, Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone and Mark Mothersbaugh are all equally wonderful.
I can’t believe no one has brought this up yet, so I’m going to rant a little bit:
I don’t think that I have ever thoroughly enjoyed a TV show or cared about one as much as I do PUSHING DAISIES. It crosses almost every genre line to come out with an end product that can be charming, hilarious and heartbreaking. Pushing Daisies is probably the best (or at least the most original) show on network television. It won three Emmys, criticial acclaim and a strong fan base in its short first season, and it doesn’t look like ABC is going to give it a chance to do even better things with a full second season unless something changes. New episodes air Wednesday nights on ABC. The first season is available to buy or rent on DVD, and ABC.com is streaming all of the episodes that have aired so far from season two.
Like a lot of others, I’m going to have to say that Arrested Development, Dexter, Flight of the Conchords, The Office and Mad Men are all very good television. I also love Lost, but I think it’s something you definitely have to get into at the beginning.
Theme: Perception of Memories
Prelude: La Jetee
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2) Memento
3) Solaris
4) Persepolis
5) City of God
6) 12 Monkeys
Theme: Great Music Movies That Aren’t Musicals or Documentaries About Musicians
1) I’m Not There.
2) High Fidelity
3) Almost Famous
4) The Pianist
5) 9 Songs
6) Velvet Goldmine
I have an old trunk that I decoupaged with cut-out pictures of my favorite films and film people that I usually have opened to display both the trunk and my collection of DVDs, which it houses.
However, having only 50 to 60 movies probably makes this easier to do. But the collection is growing, so maybe it’s time for something else.
Film is still a minor here, and I think it’s officially becoming a major either in January or August 2009. Film is my major through the interdisciplinary studies program.
The new Ragtag is pretty awesome, but I miss the old one a bit.
Who else dislikes Nicolas Cage? over 3 years ago
I think that Nicolas Cage is just getting less likable/more predictable as his career goes on. Adaptation was probably the last good movie he was in, and this goes along with a theory that a couple of my friends and I have talked about: after you star in a Charlie Kaufman movie, you’re cursed.
Charlie Kaufman is an amazingly creative writer, but it seems like the careers of Nicolas Cage (Adaptation), John Cusack (Being John Malkovich), Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) have all entered slumps or downward spirals since their brilliant performances in Kaufman-written films.
Aside from Adaptation, the only good Cage films I’ve seen are Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas and Bringing Out the Dead (all pre-Kaufman).
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Can we talk about "Magnolia" for a bit? over 3 years ago
Magnolia is also one of my favorite films – I also watched it for the first time when I was around your age; I’m now in my early twenties, and it still holds up. I agree with the sentiment expressed by a lot of the people who have posted in this topic – you will undoubtedly come across other films that you will love just as much or more than Magnolia. I would strongly recommend the rest of P.T. Anderson’s films and Robert Altman’s films, which are a big influence on Anderson.
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the hate corner over 3 years ago
I hate Michael Bay, and I pretty much always have. I CANNOT believe that Armageddon, of all the other wonderful movies in the world, has a Criterion edition. His movies are horrible and formulaic (or just horribly formulaic), and I can’t believe he’s still surviving as a filmmaker, which makes me quite sad. And he is remaking The Birds (his title has moved from director to producer on the project, but still). I really dislike remakes, but it bothers me even more that someone is even attempting to remake a Hitchcock film.
Add to this my recent realization that he and I share the same birthday, and I want to go sit in a corner somewhere and cry until someone tells me he has stopped making movies.
That was therapeutic, to say the least.
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When I say "A Perfect Film", What One Film Pops Into Your Head First? over 3 years ago
I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a 100-percent-perfect film, but here are the ones that I think come close:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – I’ve seen this film at least 20 times and it still draws an emotional response every time I watch it.
The Royal Tenenbaums & Rushmore – Wes Anderson has the extraordinary gift of being able to craft films that are both dramatic and comedic, and he perfectly creates some of the most endearing and quirky characters.
The Philadelphia Story – The combination of Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart is in itself impressive, but the incredibly witty dialogue is the major selling point for me.
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Age / Level of education? (An informal poll) over 3 years ago
22 – film studies student, doing my last semester/capstone in screenwriting
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Can we talk about "Magnolia" for a bit? over 3 years ago
I forgot to say this earlier: one of the main things I love about Magnolia – and films in general – is when there is a good integration of music. Some people dislike the sing-a-long scene, but I have to say that it is probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire film.
Go to Comment
Film Education over 3 years ago
I’m in my last semester as a Film Studies student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. All the classes I’ve taken in my major – Intro to Film Analysis, Architecture in Film, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, The Films of Woody Allen, Critical Reviewing, East European Cinema, Trends in World Cinema, Black Film, Psychology at the Movies, Adaptation of Literature to Film, Food & Film, Brazilian Cinema – have helped me learn massive amounts about film terminology and how films are made, which has only assisted me in writing my first full-length screenplay for my Screenwriting capstone. In most of these classes, we simply watched films and discussed them using film terms and referencing readings the professors found useful.
My college doesn’t officially have a Film Studies major yet (I’m majoring in it through a special degree program), but the fact that I was still able to learn so much about film has really been great.
As far as having a career after all of this, I really don’t know, but I know that I will not be truly happy unless I’m doing something involved with film.
Go to Comment
The longest movie you've ever sat through over 3 years ago
The Best of Youth, which was fantastic.
And luckily, the theater that was showing it gave a couple short intermissions with food included in the price of the ticket.
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Which Film Critics Do You Read? over 3 years ago
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned Pauline Kael. I also enjoy reading Libby Gelman-Waxner and Stanley Kaufmann.
Also, Philip Lopate’s book Totally Tenderly Tragically is probably one of my favorite books about someone’s film experiences – I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Like most people in here, I also read Ebert.
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Favorite film composers over 3 years ago
Jon Brion is amazing… I haven’t seen Synecdoche, NY yet, but I’ve heard some of the music and I love it. He’s the second reason why I want to see the film (the first being Charlie Kaufman).
Aside from him, Philip Glass, Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone and Mark Mothersbaugh are all equally wonderful.
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Your Favorite Films of This Summer 2008 over 3 years ago
Wall-E
The Fall (I’m not sure if this is technically a summer movie, but that’s when it came out where I live)
The Dark Knight
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the love corner over 3 years ago
I love Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Woody Allen, Jason Schwartzman, Kate Winslet, and the list could go on.
Also… I love film nerds.
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Your Favorite Michel Gondry Film? over 3 years ago
It’s definitely Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I also love The Science of Sleep and Be Kind Rewind.
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TV SHOWS over 3 years ago
I can’t believe no one has brought this up yet, so I’m going to rant a little bit:
I don’t think that I have ever thoroughly enjoyed a TV show or cared about one as much as I do PUSHING DAISIES. It crosses almost every genre line to come out with an end product that can be charming, hilarious and heartbreaking. Pushing Daisies is probably the best (or at least the most original) show on network television. It won three Emmys, criticial acclaim and a strong fan base in its short first season, and it doesn’t look like ABC is going to give it a chance to do even better things with a full second season unless something changes. New episodes air Wednesday nights on ABC. The first season is available to buy or rent on DVD, and ABC.com is streaming all of the episodes that have aired so far from season two.
Like a lot of others, I’m going to have to say that Arrested Development, Dexter, Flight of the Conchords, The Office and Mad Men are all very good television. I also love Lost, but I think it’s something you definitely have to get into at the beginning.
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TOP BERGMAN over 3 years ago
Wild Strawberries is definitely my favorite.
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TOP BERGMAN over 3 years ago
Stupid double posts.
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Best of Animation over 3 years ago
Persepolis and Wall-E are probably my favorites, not necessarily for their innovation in animation, but for the stories they tell.
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D.I.Y. Film Playlist over 3 years ago
Theme: Perception of Memories
Prelude: La Jetee
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2) Memento
3) Solaris
4) Persepolis
5) City of God
6) 12 Monkeys
Theme: Great Music Movies That Aren’t Musicals or Documentaries About Musicians
1) I’m Not There.
2) High Fidelity
3) Almost Famous
4) The Pianist
5) 9 Songs
6) Velvet Goldmine
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Solutions to the DVD storage dilema over 3 years ago
I have an old trunk that I decoupaged with cut-out pictures of my favorite films and film people that I usually have opened to display both the trunk and my collection of DVDs, which it houses.
However, having only 50 to 60 movies probably makes this easier to do. But the collection is growing, so maybe it’s time for something else.
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Guilty Pleasures over 3 years ago
For me, it’s chick flicks: The Holiday, Never Been Kissed, etc.
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College film-lovers, unite! over 3 years ago
Stupid double posts.
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College film-lovers, unite! over 3 years ago
I am also a college student, from the University of Missouri-Columbia/Mizzou. I’m the president of the film club here.
The Fountain is amazing, it’s probably my favorite of Darren Aronofsky’s films.
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Your favorite Woody Allen's film? over 3 years ago
I took an entire class on Woody Allen and have seen nearly all of his movies, so it’s hard to pick just one.
Here’s my top five: Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Stardust Memories, Love and Death, Deconstructing Harry.
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What IS Cinema? over 3 years ago
Cinema is life.
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What IS Cinema? over 3 years ago
Stupid double post.
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Whats your favourite actor,and what actor is so bad you cant look at him over 3 years ago
Favorite actor: Cary Grant or Johnny Depp
Worst actor: Hayden Christensen or Richard Gere
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George Clooney over 3 years ago
I love George Clooney, although I do think he has made some missteps.
He’s delivered good performances in Out of Sight, Ocean’s 11, Three Kings, O Brother Where Art Thou, Syriana and Michael Clayton.
His work as a filmmaker on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck has also been impressive.
Everything else, more-or-less, has been disappointing.
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College film-lovers, unite! over 3 years ago
Film is still a minor here, and I think it’s officially becoming a major either in January or August 2009. Film is my major through the interdisciplinary studies program.
The new Ragtag is pretty awesome, but I miss the old one a bit.
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Favorite films that Clint Eastwood stars in or directs. over 3 years ago
I’d probably have to go with Unforgiven for both acting and directing.
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Whats your favourite actor,and what actor is so bad you cant look at him over 3 years ago
I am so happy to see that other people don’t like Richard Gere.
Since people are adding female actors, I’ll do the same: favorite: Bette Davis or Kate Winslet; least favorite: Sissy Spacek.
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