When a director makes movies based on past movies he loved, it is always difficult to call him a genius. QT sometimes takes the best parts of those past movies and imposes his own unique story or style upon them, like a great hip-hop song, as he did with Pulp Fiction. Or sometimes he just throws together episodes of violence and cinematic references to create a “remix” movie like Kill Bill. His best work results when he listens to the little Godard angel on his one shoulder telling him to create something, rather than the Uwe Boll devil on his other shoulder telling him to throw a bunch of nonsense together.
Personally, I don’t think he has a “genius” level catalog of films yet. Some are very good, but he doesn’t have that long list of greats like a Kubrick or a Bergman. Maybe he will, and at least his movies are usually fun enough to enjoy the journey!
I have a few Eclipses and I’ve found they are quite interesting. Just to help you out with the ones I own:
Early Bergman – I really liked everything in this set, but I really like everything by Bergman, which made this a no-brainer. If you don’t know any Bergman movies, these would probably seem quite boring. My favorite was the admittedly uneven “To Joy” because I never imagined Bergman could make such an over the top soap opera, complete with evil villains. It has a great soundtrack though.
Larisa Shepitko – Totally a blind purchase, as it was for most other people who bought this, I’d imagine. Wings was so awesome. The Ascent was pretty good as well, with a lot of war-related moral themes. I don’t want to write any spoilers, but the way some of these characters behaved in certain situations, just bothered me a little bit.
Postwar Kurosawa – I’ve only seen the political saga “No Regrets from our Youth”, and it was pretty good, with some interesting insights into Japanese society. Looking forward to watching the rest! I assume this set will be worth the purchase price, since I’ve seen enough other Kurosawa movies to predict that they will all be pretty solid.
Keep up those recommendations so I can think of another set to get (maybe on boxing day!).
Battle of Algiers. Don’t know if it was the first one I saw, but it was the first one I bought.
Needless to say, with all the extras in that release and the overall quality of the movie itself, I was hooked on Criterion Collection big time.
This is quite a strange trip. The Maddin style is present, but it also has a lot of documentary-style footage as well. Some parts are fantastic and others leave you scratching your head. Definitely not for everyone.
I liked the opening scene from 8 1/2, with the traffic jam.
But I will submit the single greatest moment of film history:
In “The Spy Who Loved Me” James Bond causes the villain “Jaws” to fall into the shark tank. But instead of being devoured by the sharks, Jaws eats them! Classic.
Band of Outsiders.
It just sums up Godard for me. It has both the crazy Godard aspects – like the dance sequence – as well as a touch of his more serious side, as in his other movies like Contempt.
The scene where Sanjuro decides to kill everyone in the town after talking to the coffin-maker in the movie Yojimbo. Of course the action that follows isn’t bad either, but the look on Mifune’s face during this scene is unforgettable.
I’ve also always loved the scene in Mad Max II where Lord Humungus gives his speech and the little kid briefly interrupts him by killing a henchman with his boomerang – and chopping another henchman’s fingers off.
By the way, They Live! That was a classic scene, “I’m giving you a choice: either put on these glasses or start eatin’ that trash can.”
I was re-watching the beginning of this at lunch yesterday (since it’s on this website for free), and I have to hand it to these guys – Cuadrado and Erice – they really understood how to film in color. I don’t know how influential/obscure this film was, but the cinematography is very impressive.
“Armageddon” – Since I’m sure nobody mentioned this yet, huh?
“The Thief of Bagdad” – I guess the cheesy special effects were ok for that time, but the movie as a whole doesn’t have much else going for it. To me this is the “Armageddon” of early color films. Maybe it can still pass as a decent kid’s movie. I guess I’m trying to find something positive because I’ve been cringing at some of the titles other people have mentioned (Band of Outsiders!!!!), so I’m sure someone must like this film.
I think it will be about as good as “Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors”.
But I agree with Brandon Bedaw, Speilberg can’t just rip off that signature scene from Oldboy, or he’ll look like a hack. Other than that, it will be a typical “english remake” along the lines of “The Ring” movies, except it will be way less violent since Speilberg/Smith are attached.
The best is either “Army of Shadows” or “Battle of Algiers”, I can’t decide which one I like more.
Also add…
“Grand Illusion”
“Graves of the Fireflies”
“Lacombe Lucien”
…to the greatest list!
In the big picture piracy is obviously bad for the films you love. I might indulge in it for the odd TV show I missed or one of those films that can’t be purchased in my region, but I still buy DVDs like they’re crack. The thing is that piracy is here and the film industry has to adjust, whether it’s fair or not. I think Criterion is on the right track, as their DVD/BluRays are such a superior experience to just a poor quality pirated rip, that I would never think twice about choosing the Criterion release over the pirated release – or even the legit $5 bin DVD that was released by another studio for that matter. Heck, I bought “Rules of the Game” for $40 and it’s in PUBLIC DOMAIN!
But the rest of the movie industry still has to do something. I was able to tape VHS movies off my TV 20 years ago, so the industry evolved movies into blockbusters that “must” be seen on the big screen. Now, in the 2000s, I can watch movies on my own big screen in my own house (without some ass holes yapping around me either), and even for free if I wanted to pirate or tivo them. So what can they do to convince me to leave the comfort of my living room? 3D technology? Bigger effects? Shut up those gabby bastards in the audience? Who knows? If I did, I’d be working at Warner Bros or something.
Thank god I haven’t suffered through too many of the dogs listed here. But I’m shocked that people have mentioned Dark Knight. That is a little spiteful, isn’t it? You could call it overrated, but not one of the worst movies of the year.
Worst 5 I’ve actually seen:
5- Mummy 3 – Bad effects, bad pacing, bad acting, bad everything.
4- The Happening – So very dull. When the evil killing machine is… well nothing, that sure makes for a dead end plot, at least in a visual medium.
3- X Files I Want to Believe – It’s been a while, but I think I remember the TV series being more interesting than this film.
2- Eagle Eye – This was the most idiotic action movie in years (at least Wanted was intentionally idiotic so I’ll give it a pass). The contrived plot devices, the convenient coincidences, the ripping off of far superior movies, all just offended me like a Bob Sagat stand up routine. I put this one in the list instead of Jumpr because I would have used that jumping power to loot and steal as well, so I got a kick out of that one scene.
1- 10000 BC – This was the “Eagle Eye” of “historical epics”. Even Uwe Boll thought this was crap!
Creepy. I meet people like that all the time (through work – not that I want to). I don’t know the movie, but I will definitely check it out if somebody knows the title.
Yes, I’m sorry to those directors who have a higher output, but you can’t just ignore 90% of their movies. Good for them for making more money and getting more practice, but their garbage movies do taint their masterpieces.
My example would be Coppola vs Kubrick. If you compared both of their top 3 movies, you would conclude that these are two of the greatest directors of all time. However once you get past the Godfather-Apocalypse Now era, Coppola has a whole bunch of mediocre and even some bad films in his resume. Meanwhile, even Kubrick’s worst work is still fairly close to those top 3, whichever 3 of his you might like. So, I just can’t give Coppola the same status as a filmmaker that I would give Kubrick. And that would be purely for the reason you mentioned: That he was more prolific and thereby “dragged down” the overall quality of his catalog of films.
Why not? The natural progression of the film industry has brought us to this point. Now that effects technology is capable of doing absolutely anything, the most obvious source material would be the highly visual medium of comic books. It’s almost as if comics have been sitting around for decades taunting the film industry to just try and recreate their impossible images. Clumsy attempts have been made over the years, but nothing that could come close to representing what your imagination would see while you are reading the comic book itself. This trend will run itself out, just as you rarely see a stage play anymore, or even very many musicals, eventually Hollywood will find another source of inspiration that they could bleed dry. Video Games perhaps? Or youtube? Oh no no no, keep those comic book movies coming!
It is definitely a notch above the standard 80s sci fi/action movie. I’d say it’s in the upper class of that era with the likes of Alien, Blade Runner and Terminator. I really don’t know what people hate about it. I thought the mix of parody and violence was quite groundbreaking.
Yeah, of course the problem with what I said is that you have to ignore some of the crappy movies. Directors have made movies while they were starving just to make a few dollars. Or a prolific director may have a number of “lost” movies that almost nobody has seen. So I guess you can make a few mistakes, and they would be outweighed by your better films, as long as you can maintain a high level of quality through that 10 year window Fellini was talking about. Then, if you are Coppola, you should retire so you could have the Godfathers (unsoiled by the third one), The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and The Outsiders as your legacy.
Film can ONLY be both. The point of art is to express something, which will hopefully be seen by others. In order to have other people take time out of their busy days to actually look at your art (or listen to your music), is to entertain them to some degree.
As a filmmaker, you could completely ignore the “art” side of the process and just make a derivative movie that adds nothing new to the medium but does sell a lot of tickets, but you could not completely ignore the entertainment aspect of your film project. If you did, you would be making a home movie for yourself and nobody would watch it, so it couldn’t really be called “art” at all. Although I’m pretty sure some films were made with no regard to entertainment, but they ended up being entertaining by accident, and thereby became popular. Perhaps “Un Chien Andalou” was made in such a way, or at least it gives that impression as part of it’s “edgy” reputation. (Why do I always cover my eye when I think about “Un Chien Andalou”?)
Art needs an audience – or it is just a paperweight.
And remember when you start planning your first project, even Orson Welles had no idea what he was doing when he started. But with a good visual mind and a talent for story telling, he was able to come up with Citizen Kane. Of course the lesson you could learn from Welles is that he had some incredibly talented help, like Gregg Toland, who had the technical virtuosity to compliment Welles’ imagination. So, when it comes time for you to find people to work with, being able to spot a true talent can make or break your entire career! Just keep it in mind when you are sorting out the various egos of your collaborators – and put the good of the film ahead of personal feelings.
Seven Samurai – My all time favorite.
Yojimbo – Deconstructs the “gun for hire” genre, as Mifune’s character makes a mockery of the people who hire him.
Mad Max 2 – Mad Max is more like the wandering Sanjuro than a professional mercenary, but I love that Lord Humungus.
Wages of Fear – One of the best depictions of mercenaries, their relationships and their motivations, and yet they aren’t even soldiers.
Missing in Action – Once a cobra bit Chuck Norris’ leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
Nope.
I’m so happy that a “typical Hollywood blockbuster”, that should be a simple cgi-orgy of explosions – challenging the explosion per minute ratio of Spiderman 3 or Transformers – actually turned out to be a thoughtful AND entertaining film. The exploration of order vs chaos and good vs evil transcends the usual “Batman is a vigilante” theme. If Ingmar Bergman explores these themes, we applaud him, but if Chris Nolan squeezes this in between outstanding action sequences, then he has blurred the line between “film” and “movies”, which spurs this backlash from both sides.
The arrogance of this movie to be way better than it should be, that is what justifies all the praise. May every Hollywood project aspire to be this good.
A Boy and His Dog
Big Trouble in Little China
They Live
The Saddest Music in the World
Chop Shop
Killer of Sheep
Burn After Reading (it wasn’t that bad)
I definitely would second Collateral and 13th Warrior (I think it was just too muddy to become a hit?)
Matthew: Yeah, you don’t have to be an expert in film history to make films, but it sure helps. Not that I have the time or money to film a movie myself, but I would at least know what I’m striving for if I did. It would be so embarrassing to make a film with no background knowledge, and proudly show it to an audience, only to have them call it amateur garbage. Why? Because you made the same mistakes that a hack filmmaker in the 1920s would have made since you have no idea what a good film looks like
Sorry, but all the greatest artists ever were inspired by those that came before them, and they took their art to a new level. How can you do that if your knowledge is still at the most rudimentary level?
Seven Samurai – The best scenes are in the first hour! How can you cut out the introduction of Kambei?
Other than that obvious choice:
Yojimbo and Sanjuro – Another obvious choice. These are almost anti-samurai movies if you listen to the informative commentaries, but they are all the more entertaining for it.
Eagle Eye Computer – HA, just kidding.
Darth Vader – He was the best villain when I was a kid.
Hans Gruber – “Thank you, Mr. Cowboy, I’ll take it under advisement. Hit it again!” Brilliant.
Anton Chigur – Made that whole movie worthwhile.
Orson Welles – Twice! As Harry Lime in The Third Man and Hank Quinlan in Touch of Evil. (Honorable mention: Unicron in Transformers)
Jaws – No, not the shark, but the dude that eats the shark in The Spy Who Loved Me. Had to put a Bond Villain in here!
Disturbing Movies that You Love... over 3 years ago
I found “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” to be more disturbing than “Oldboy”
“Marketa Lazarova”
“If….”
and my favorite documentary/musical/horror movie: “Gimme Shelter”
And of course all the ones that have been mentioned already!
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QUENTIN TARANTINO over 3 years ago
When a director makes movies based on past movies he loved, it is always difficult to call him a genius. QT sometimes takes the best parts of those past movies and imposes his own unique story or style upon them, like a great hip-hop song, as he did with Pulp Fiction. Or sometimes he just throws together episodes of violence and cinematic references to create a “remix” movie like Kill Bill. His best work results when he listens to the little Godard angel on his one shoulder telling him to create something, rather than the Uwe Boll devil on his other shoulder telling him to throw a bunch of nonsense together.
Personally, I don’t think he has a “genius” level catalog of films yet. Some are very good, but he doesn’t have that long list of greats like a Kubrick or a Bergman. Maybe he will, and at least his movies are usually fun enough to enjoy the journey!
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Eclipse over 3 years ago
I have a few Eclipses and I’ve found they are quite interesting. Just to help you out with the ones I own:
Early Bergman – I really liked everything in this set, but I really like everything by Bergman, which made this a no-brainer. If you don’t know any Bergman movies, these would probably seem quite boring. My favorite was the admittedly uneven “To Joy” because I never imagined Bergman could make such an over the top soap opera, complete with evil villains. It has a great soundtrack though.
Larisa Shepitko – Totally a blind purchase, as it was for most other people who bought this, I’d imagine. Wings was so awesome. The Ascent was pretty good as well, with a lot of war-related moral themes. I don’t want to write any spoilers, but the way some of these characters behaved in certain situations, just bothered me a little bit.
Postwar Kurosawa – I’ve only seen the political saga “No Regrets from our Youth”, and it was pretty good, with some interesting insights into Japanese society. Looking forward to watching the rest! I assume this set will be worth the purchase price, since I’ve seen enough other Kurosawa movies to predict that they will all be pretty solid.
Keep up those recommendations so I can think of another set to get (maybe on boxing day!).
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What was the first Criterion movie you watched? over 3 years ago
Battle of Algiers. Don’t know if it was the first one I saw, but it was the first one I bought.
Needless to say, with all the extras in that release and the overall quality of the movie itself, I was hooked on Criterion Collection big time.
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Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection over 3 years ago
The Hottie and the Nottie (LOL)
I’m looking at all these suggestions and going “yes yes YES!”
I’d buy the Apu trilogy the day it’s released, and so many of those others too.
Nobody suggested “Marketa Lazarova” yet, so I will.
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When I say "A Perfect Film", What One Film Pops Into Your Head First? over 3 years ago
The Crowd (King Vidor)
I know, not my first choice, but Rules of the Game, Sunrise, Persona and 3rd Man have all had multiple mentions already.
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Rate The Last Film You Watched over 3 years ago
Wow, I want to see Scenes from a Marriage.
My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin) 75/100
This is quite a strange trip. The Maddin style is present, but it also has a lot of documentary-style footage as well. Some parts are fantastic and others leave you scratching your head. Definitely not for everyone.
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Disturbing Movies that You Love... over 3 years ago
Forbidden Zone – Good one!
If Salo was a comedy/musical, you would have Forbidden Zone.
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favourite scene from any film over 3 years ago
I liked the opening scene from 8 1/2, with the traffic jam.
But I will submit the single greatest moment of film history:
In “The Spy Who Loved Me” James Bond causes the villain “Jaws” to fall into the shark tank. But instead of being devoured by the sharks, Jaws eats them! Classic.
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Your Favorite Godard Film? over 3 years ago
Band of Outsiders.
It just sums up Godard for me. It has both the crazy Godard aspects – like the dance sequence – as well as a touch of his more serious side, as in his other movies like Contempt.
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BEST SEQUENCE OR SCENE FROM ANY FILM(CAN BE AN OPENING OR ANYTHING ELSE) over 3 years ago
The scene where Sanjuro decides to kill everyone in the town after talking to the coffin-maker in the movie Yojimbo. Of course the action that follows isn’t bad either, but the look on Mifune’s face during this scene is unforgettable.
I’ve also always loved the scene in Mad Max II where Lord Humungus gives his speech and the little kid briefly interrupts him by killing a henchman with his boomerang – and chopping another henchman’s fingers off.
By the way, They Live! That was a classic scene, “I’m giving you a choice: either put on these glasses or start eatin’ that trash can.”
Go to Comment
Spirit of the Beehive over 3 years ago
I was re-watching the beginning of this at lunch yesterday (since it’s on this website for free), and I have to hand it to these guys – Cuadrado and Erice – they really understood how to film in color. I don’t know how influential/obscure this film was, but the cinematography is very impressive.
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Worst Criterion DVDs over 3 years ago
“Armageddon” – Since I’m sure nobody mentioned this yet, huh?
“The Thief of Bagdad” – I guess the cheesy special effects were ok for that time, but the movie as a whole doesn’t have much else going for it. To me this is the “Armageddon” of early color films. Maybe it can still pass as a decent kid’s movie. I guess I’m trying to find something positive because I’ve been cringing at some of the titles other people have mentioned (Band of Outsiders!!!!), so I’m sure someone must like this film.
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Oldboy remake - Good idea or sacrilege over 3 years ago
I think it will be about as good as “Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors”.
But I agree with Brandon Bedaw, Speilberg can’t just rip off that signature scene from Oldboy, or he’ll look like a hack. Other than that, it will be a typical “english remake” along the lines of “The Ring” movies, except it will be way less violent since Speilberg/Smith are attached.
Go to Comment
Best War Movie(s) over 3 years ago
The best is either “Army of Shadows” or “Battle of Algiers”, I can’t decide which one I like more.
Also add…
“Grand Illusion”
“Graves of the Fireflies”
“Lacombe Lucien”
…to the greatest list!
Go to Comment
Is buying pirated DVDs justified - due to state censorship? cost of original DVDs? love of films? over 3 years ago
In the big picture piracy is obviously bad for the films you love. I might indulge in it for the odd TV show I missed or one of those films that can’t be purchased in my region, but I still buy DVDs like they’re crack. The thing is that piracy is here and the film industry has to adjust, whether it’s fair or not. I think Criterion is on the right track, as their DVD/BluRays are such a superior experience to just a poor quality pirated rip, that I would never think twice about choosing the Criterion release over the pirated release – or even the legit $5 bin DVD that was released by another studio for that matter. Heck, I bought “Rules of the Game” for $40 and it’s in PUBLIC DOMAIN!
But the rest of the movie industry still has to do something. I was able to tape VHS movies off my TV 20 years ago, so the industry evolved movies into blockbusters that “must” be seen on the big screen. Now, in the 2000s, I can watch movies on my own big screen in my own house (without some ass holes yapping around me either), and even for free if I wanted to pirate or tivo them. So what can they do to convince me to leave the comfort of my living room? 3D technology? Bigger effects? Shut up those gabby bastards in the audience? Who knows? If I did, I’d be working at Warner Bros or something.
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The Worst Films of 2008 over 3 years ago
Thank god I haven’t suffered through too many of the dogs listed here. But I’m shocked that people have mentioned Dark Knight. That is a little spiteful, isn’t it? You could call it overrated, but not one of the worst movies of the year.
Worst 5 I’ve actually seen:
5- Mummy 3 – Bad effects, bad pacing, bad acting, bad everything.
4- The Happening – So very dull. When the evil killing machine is… well nothing, that sure makes for a dead end plot, at least in a visual medium.
3- X Files I Want to Believe – It’s been a while, but I think I remember the TV series being more interesting than this film.
2- Eagle Eye – This was the most idiotic action movie in years (at least Wanted was intentionally idiotic so I’ll give it a pass). The contrived plot devices, the convenient coincidences, the ripping off of far superior movies, all just offended me like a Bob Sagat stand up routine. I put this one in the list instead of Jumpr because I would have used that jumping power to loot and steal as well, so I got a kick out of that one scene.
1- 10000 BC – This was the “Eagle Eye” of “historical epics”. Even Uwe Boll thought this was crap!
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LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC JAPANESE FILM over 3 years ago
Creepy. I meet people like that all the time (through work – not that I want to). I don’t know the movie, but I will definitely check it out if somebody knows the title.
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Is being a prolific Director an impediment to critical acclaim? over 3 years ago
Yes, I’m sorry to those directors who have a higher output, but you can’t just ignore 90% of their movies. Good for them for making more money and getting more practice, but their garbage movies do taint their masterpieces.
My example would be Coppola vs Kubrick. If you compared both of their top 3 movies, you would conclude that these are two of the greatest directors of all time. However once you get past the Godfather-Apocalypse Now era, Coppola has a whole bunch of mediocre and even some bad films in his resume. Meanwhile, even Kubrick’s worst work is still fairly close to those top 3, whichever 3 of his you might like. So, I just can’t give Coppola the same status as a filmmaker that I would give Kubrick. And that would be purely for the reason you mentioned: That he was more prolific and thereby “dragged down” the overall quality of his catalog of films.
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2008: The Year That Comic Movies Went Too Far over 3 years ago
Why not? The natural progression of the film industry has brought us to this point. Now that effects technology is capable of doing absolutely anything, the most obvious source material would be the highly visual medium of comic books. It’s almost as if comics have been sitting around for decades taunting the film industry to just try and recreate their impossible images. Clumsy attempts have been made over the years, but nothing that could come close to representing what your imagination would see while you are reading the comic book itself. This trend will run itself out, just as you rarely see a stage play anymore, or even very many musicals, eventually Hollywood will find another source of inspiration that they could bleed dry. Video Games perhaps? Or youtube? Oh no no no, keep those comic book movies coming!
Go to Comment
Why all the hate? over 3 years ago
It is definitely a notch above the standard 80s sci fi/action movie. I’d say it’s in the upper class of that era with the likes of Alien, Blade Runner and Terminator. I really don’t know what people hate about it. I thought the mix of parody and violence was quite groundbreaking.
Go to Comment
Is being a prolific Director an impediment to critical acclaim? over 3 years ago
Yeah, of course the problem with what I said is that you have to ignore some of the crappy movies. Directors have made movies while they were starving just to make a few dollars. Or a prolific director may have a number of “lost” movies that almost nobody has seen. So I guess you can make a few mistakes, and they would be outweighed by your better films, as long as you can maintain a high level of quality through that 10 year window Fellini was talking about. Then, if you are Coppola, you should retire so you could have the Godfathers (unsoiled by the third one), The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and The Outsiders as your legacy.
Go to Comment
Film: Is it art or entertainment? over 3 years ago
Film can ONLY be both. The point of art is to express something, which will hopefully be seen by others. In order to have other people take time out of their busy days to actually look at your art (or listen to your music), is to entertain them to some degree.
As a filmmaker, you could completely ignore the “art” side of the process and just make a derivative movie that adds nothing new to the medium but does sell a lot of tickets, but you could not completely ignore the entertainment aspect of your film project. If you did, you would be making a home movie for yourself and nobody would watch it, so it couldn’t really be called “art” at all. Although I’m pretty sure some films were made with no regard to entertainment, but they ended up being entertaining by accident, and thereby became popular. Perhaps “Un Chien Andalou” was made in such a way, or at least it gives that impression as part of it’s “edgy” reputation. (Why do I always cover my eye when I think about “Un Chien Andalou”?)
Art needs an audience – or it is just a paperweight.
Go to Comment
Film Self-Education over 3 years ago
And remember when you start planning your first project, even Orson Welles had no idea what he was doing when he started. But with a good visual mind and a talent for story telling, he was able to come up with Citizen Kane. Of course the lesson you could learn from Welles is that he had some incredibly talented help, like Gregg Toland, who had the technical virtuosity to compliment Welles’ imagination. So, when it comes time for you to find people to work with, being able to spot a true talent can make or break your entire career! Just keep it in mind when you are sorting out the various egos of your collaborators – and put the good of the film ahead of personal feelings.
Go to Comment
SECOND OLDEST PROFESSION: MERCENARIES over 3 years ago
Seven Samurai – My all time favorite.
Yojimbo – Deconstructs the “gun for hire” genre, as Mifune’s character makes a mockery of the people who hire him.
Mad Max 2 – Mad Max is more like the wandering Sanjuro than a professional mercenary, but I love that Lord Humungus.
Wages of Fear – One of the best depictions of mercenaries, their relationships and their motivations, and yet they aren’t even soldiers.
Missing in Action – Once a cobra bit Chuck Norris’ leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
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Does anyone else feel THE DARK KNIGHT is way overrated? over 3 years ago
Nope.
I’m so happy that a “typical Hollywood blockbuster”, that should be a simple cgi-orgy of explosions – challenging the explosion per minute ratio of Spiderman 3 or Transformers – actually turned out to be a thoughtful AND entertaining film. The exploration of order vs chaos and good vs evil transcends the usual “Batman is a vigilante” theme. If Ingmar Bergman explores these themes, we applaud him, but if Chris Nolan squeezes this in between outstanding action sequences, then he has blurred the line between “film” and “movies”, which spurs this backlash from both sides.
The arrogance of this movie to be way better than it should be, that is what justifies all the praise. May every Hollywood project aspire to be this good.
Go to Comment
Underrated Films... over 3 years ago
A Boy and His Dog
Big Trouble in Little China
They Live
The Saddest Music in the World
Chop Shop
Killer of Sheep
Burn After Reading (it wasn’t that bad)
I definitely would second Collateral and 13th Warrior (I think it was just too muddy to become a hit?)
Go to Comment
FORGOTTEN, BUT NOT GONE over 3 years ago
Matthew: Yeah, you don’t have to be an expert in film history to make films, but it sure helps. Not that I have the time or money to film a movie myself, but I would at least know what I’m striving for if I did. It would be so embarrassing to make a film with no background knowledge, and proudly show it to an audience, only to have them call it amateur garbage. Why? Because you made the same mistakes that a hack filmmaker in the 1920s would have made since you have no idea what a good film looks like
Sorry, but all the greatest artists ever were inspired by those that came before them, and they took their art to a new level. How can you do that if your knowledge is still at the most rudimentary level?
Go to Comment
Greatest samurai film of all time? over 3 years ago
Seven Samurai – The best scenes are in the first hour! How can you cut out the introduction of Kambei?
Other than that obvious choice:
Yojimbo and Sanjuro – Another obvious choice. These are almost anti-samurai movies if you listen to the informative commentaries, but they are all the more entertaining for it.
Go to Comment
Most Memorable Villain over 3 years ago
Eagle Eye Computer – HA, just kidding.
Darth Vader – He was the best villain when I was a kid.
Hans Gruber – “Thank you, Mr. Cowboy, I’ll take it under advisement. Hit it again!” Brilliant.
Anton Chigur – Made that whole movie worthwhile.
Orson Welles – Twice! As Harry Lime in The Third Man and Hank Quinlan in Touch of Evil. (Honorable mention: Unicron in Transformers)
Jaws – No, not the shark, but the dude that eats the shark in The Spy Who Loved Me. Had to put a Bond Villain in here!
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