Anything with a gun, anything with anyone in a uniform, any kind of violence, anything louder than conversation, anything with a helicopter, anything with a computer that says Access Denied, anything with a racial minority who is there solely for political correctness, anything with fast cuts, any American film made in the past thirty years.
You have to be 77 years old, like me, to know what a great film is – there hasn’t even been a good one, least of all a great one, in half a century. (Whoops, sorry Chinatown.) Is there anything worse than a “contemporary” American film? You have to go to Taiwan to find good films now – the sad truth
“101 Dalmations and Britt-Marie.” GREAT Danish film. Saw it in 1968, in Copenhagen. Thirty-seven minutes long. Dog-lovers went (excuse me) nuts over it.
I am writing this for a disabled friend named MIchael Buonora, who “liked ‘My Own Private Idaho’ but wasn’t fond of the explicit gay scenes.Mike was especially pleased with the location scenes, shot in Oregon – nice to get off the lot.”
Victoria, in the night-time bed-room scene, saying Good-Bye to Paulie in “Lost & Delirious.” And Victoria telling Mouse, in the library, to stick wtih Paulie because she. Victoria, has to leave her.This marvelous Canadian film wasn’t understood by American audiences, who perceived it as soft-core lesbo porn (which is probably why HBO aired it at 5 a.m.) I came away with a better understanding of gays and gay-ness.A real masterpiece, with interesting origins: the Director (Directress), Lea Pool, is a Swiss-Canadian. Rent it, watch it; over and over.
If we condemn artists for their politcal sympathies, the world will be a poorer place. Agreed, pro-Nazi artists are less tasty than pro-Communist artists, and there are a lot more of the latter than the former (Hemingway, Picasso, Eluard, Aragon – the list is endless) but I think these folk have to be forgiven their politics. Virtually everyone in Germany during that period was a Nazis or a sympathizer.Leni invented documentary film.’nuf said.
-It’s comforting to see that someone even remembers Los Olvidados (The Forgotten Ones). I saw it the very day it was released, at the old Exeter Cinema at the end of Newbury St., in Boston, in the (very) early ‘50. It’s a jewel, too raw for the American audience. Bunuel was penniless when he made it – it was shot on out-dated film stock with beat-up cameras. The crew, I understand, worked for IOUs, and in time they all got rich.One of my “Ten Best.” I buy my early Bunuels from Amazon/France (Amazon.fr). Happily, I own a Region2 laptop. Cheers, guys.
I know enough to know that the best Portuguese film director celebrated his hundredth birthday four months ago by starting production on a new film. This cheers me – I’m 77. In 23 years I can start my masterpiece. Meanwhile (still with me?), keep in mind that, in a large sense, there is no such thing as “Portuguese” cinema.That’s not where the market is for Portuguese-langauge films. The market is in (Portuguese-speaking) Brazil.Portuguese film directors aim their products at the Brazilian audience, not at the tiny Portuguese audience.Brazilian profits fund Portuguese film-makers. Without Brazil, there would be no Portuguese-language films. I wonder if a Portuguese, reading this, would be offended. Let me know. Stop smoking, look both ways before crossing streets, dress warmly in the winter and come see me in 23 years.Cheers, G.A.
Soybean. Tonight and every night, the Portuguese watch what the rest of the world watches – major U.S. chart-busters. You will find the same films playing in downtown Lisbon as in downtown Cleveland, downtown Osaka and downtown Helsinki, dubbed or with sub-titles. There surely are Portuguese films made by Portuguese directors, but very few. Those films are shown in Portugal, Brazil and a small, former Portuguese colony in Africa, the name of which escapes me. But the biggest audiences for those films are, I think you will find, in Brazil. That’s the major market for Portuguese-language films. Needless to say, Brazil has its own Portuguese-language film-makers – City of God is a Portuguese-language, Brazilian film. People who don’t know better ( we provincial, naieve Americans, notably) think Spanish is the language of Brazil. It’s not. The same can be said of films made in Spain – with one or two exceptions (Almodovar, above all, if I spell it correctly), no Spanish director could earn a living making films solely for the Spanish market,. They don’t, strictly speaking, make films for the Spanish market, they make films for the Spanish-speaking, Latin American market, which is infinitely greater than the Spanish market. Trust Joana on these topics rather than me. Her name suggests that she is either Brazilian or Portuguese. Take care.
Keagan – How’s your French? Go to Amazon/France (amazon.fr) and see if they have a Region1 CD of the film(s) you seek. They offer many DVDs in Region1 format as well as Region2 (for France and the rest of Europe) but they ship all over the world. You will pay a lot for a Region1 CD, however. Careful – you may get a Russian sound track and French sub-titles.And you will need the French title of Mothers and Son, which may or may not be Mere et Fils. If you’re determined then give it a spin. You’ve got French-speaking friends up there, don’t you? Ask them to order it for you. Cheers. G.A.
I believe some of you folk may be confusing Russian film with Soviet film – a grave error: they definitely are not the same thing. Soviet films are generally excellent, Russian films far less than excellent. The Cranes are Flying and Ballad of a Soldier (I saw them in Paris in the early 50s) are Soviet masterpieces. The title of one of the best Soviet films translates from Russian to English as “Pieces for a Mechanical Piano” or possibly “Five Pieces for a Mechanical Piano” but I do not believe it was ever shown in the West, sadly. It was made in the 70s, and it’s noteworthy for it’s use of color – Soviet film-makers were never comfortable with color. I have a Region2 DVD of it, sent me by a Russian friend in Moscow, not long ago. Cheers
Thank you so much for these insightful responses.I had a friend who was studying cinematography in Paris at the time Mona Lisa was released. Every couple of days, sitting around their dorm, he and his classmates would go to the very, very tail-end of that film to watch the remarkable “swing-shot” of Hoskins on the pier. This involved intricate, collaborative use of a zoom lens, a “stedi-cam” and a (yep) baby carriage – the cameraman was in a baby carriage, wheeled around by an assistant. Worth the price of the DVD!
“Au Revoir Les Enfants” by the wonderful Louis Malle. He did equally wonderfully with Laurent, the teen, and Michel, the boy, in Souffle au Coeur (Murmurs of the Heart.)
You have to go to Europe to find children and young people handled properly in film. American directors, in my humble judgment, can’t do it. Name one American film in which a child or young person has been properly directed. And don’t tell me My Friend Flicka.
Ignatio Perez (real name) as “Ignatio” at the Catholic boarding school in Bad Education was, I feel, very well-directed. As was his pal, whose name escapes me.
Ignatio Perez (real name ) as “Ignatio” at the Catholic boarding school in Bad Education was, I think, well-directed. As was his classmate.
I believe this film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the year it was released – not sure. A French reviewer wrote of Ignatio, “This person is not an actor and not a singer. He’s a dancer who sings and acts extraordinaily well.”
What about “Ferris Buhler’s Day Off” (or however his name is spelled)? Saw it so long ago I’ve forgotten whether it was any good.
Joana – Are you professionally-involed in film, Portuguese or otherwise? You certainly do know your subect. Who’s the Portuguese director who celebrated his hundredth birthday couple of months ago? Thank you.
It wasn’t primary school, but I was quite moved and touched by Tori’s and Paulie’s remarkable performances as tragic, gay lovers at the all-gal boarding school in Lost & Delerious. Am I alone?
“Forbidden games” – “Jeux Interdits”, for the uni-lingual – was a French masterpiece of the late 40s or early 50s. It’s lovely sound-track attracted more attention than the story.
What Is "Movie Hell" For You? over 3 years ago
Anything with a gun, anything with anyone in a uniform, any kind of violence, anything louder than conversation, anything with a helicopter, anything with a computer that says Access Denied, anything with a racial minority who is there solely for political correctness, anything with fast cuts, any American film made in the past thirty years.
Go to Comment
If you had to pick ONE film as your favorite... over 3 years ago
The Third Man – the greatest film ever made.
You have to be 77 years old, like me, to know what a great film is – there hasn’t even been a good one, least of all a great one, in half a century. (Whoops, sorry Chinatown.) Is there anything worse than a “contemporary” American film? You have to go to Taiwan to find good films now – the sad truth
Go to Comment
Most erotic films you've seen. over 3 years ago
“101 Dalmations and Britt-Marie.” GREAT Danish film. Saw it in 1968, in Copenhagen. Thirty-seven minutes long. Dog-lovers went (excuse me) nuts over it.
Go to Comment
Opinions of Van Sant? over 3 years ago
I am writing this for a disabled friend named MIchael Buonora, who “liked ‘My Own Private Idaho’ but wasn’t fond of the explicit gay scenes.Mike was especially pleased with the location scenes, shot in Oregon – nice to get off the lot.”
Go to Comment
What film scenes really make you cry? over 3 years ago
Victoria, in the night-time bed-room scene, saying Good-Bye to Paulie in “Lost & Delirious.” And Victoria telling Mouse, in the library, to stick wtih Paulie because she. Victoria, has to leave her.This marvelous Canadian film wasn’t understood by American audiences, who perceived it as soft-core lesbo porn (which is probably why HBO aired it at 5 a.m.) I came away with a better understanding of gays and gay-ness.A real masterpiece, with interesting origins: the Director (Directress), Lea Pool, is a Swiss-Canadian. Rent it, watch it; over and over.
Go to Comment
THOUGHTS ON LENI RIEFENSTAHL over 3 years ago
If we condemn artists for their politcal sympathies, the world will be a poorer place. Agreed, pro-Nazi artists are less tasty than pro-Communist artists, and there are a lot more of the latter than the former (Hemingway, Picasso, Eluard, Aragon – the list is endless) but I think these folk have to be forgiven their politics. Virtually everyone in Germany during that period was a Nazis or a sympathizer.Leni invented documentary film.’nuf said.
Go to Comment
WHAT IS YOUR PICK FOR THE WORSE MOVIE EVER MADE? over 3 years ago
Dr. Zhivago.While I was watching this monstrosity my feet went to sleep. I envied them.
Go to Comment
Favorite use of a song in a film. over 3 years ago
The “Wheel of Fortune” in L. A. Confidential.
Go to Comment
Bunuel in Mexico (Eclipse 3Q) over 3 years ago
-It’s comforting to see that someone even remembers Los Olvidados (The Forgotten Ones). I saw it the very day it was released, at the old Exeter Cinema at the end of Newbury St., in Boston, in the (very) early ‘50. It’s a jewel, too raw for the American audience. Bunuel was penniless when he made it – it was shot on out-dated film stock with beat-up cameras. The crew, I understand, worked for IOUs, and in time they all got rich.One of my “Ten Best.” I buy my early Bunuels from Amazon/France (Amazon.fr). Happily, I own a Region2 laptop. Cheers, guys.
Go to Comment
If you had to pick ONE film as your favorite... over 3 years ago
That’s not a question, is it? Ou, en francais, La question ne se pose pas.
It’s not that The Third Man is the best film ever made, it’s that it is the ONLY film ever made. There are no others.
Stay cool, guys.
PS – Mladen, your taste in films is better than your French. It’s Quatre Cents COUPS.
Go to Comment
Wild Strawberries over 3 years ago
A soap opera masquerading as art and saved by a beautiful face.
Go to Comment
Fanny & Alexander over 3 years ago
Stay awake till the end and I’ll give you a second bag of popcorn.
Go to Comment
What Do You Know About Portuguese Cinema? over 3 years ago
I know enough to know that the best Portuguese film director celebrated his hundredth birthday four months ago by starting production on a new film. This cheers me – I’m 77. In 23 years I can start my masterpiece. Meanwhile (still with me?), keep in mind that, in a large sense, there is no such thing as “Portuguese” cinema.That’s not where the market is for Portuguese-langauge films. The market is in (Portuguese-speaking) Brazil.Portuguese film directors aim their products at the Brazilian audience, not at the tiny Portuguese audience.Brazilian profits fund Portuguese film-makers. Without Brazil, there would be no Portuguese-language films. I wonder if a Portuguese, reading this, would be offended. Let me know. Stop smoking, look both ways before crossing streets, dress warmly in the winter and come see me in 23 years.Cheers, G.A.
Go to Comment
What Do You Know About Portuguese Cinema? over 3 years ago
Soybean. Tonight and every night, the Portuguese watch what the rest of the world watches – major U.S. chart-busters. You will find the same films playing in downtown Lisbon as in downtown Cleveland, downtown Osaka and downtown Helsinki, dubbed or with sub-titles. There surely are Portuguese films made by Portuguese directors, but very few. Those films are shown in Portugal, Brazil and a small, former Portuguese colony in Africa, the name of which escapes me. But the biggest audiences for those films are, I think you will find, in Brazil. That’s the major market for Portuguese-language films. Needless to say, Brazil has its own Portuguese-language film-makers – City of God is a Portuguese-language, Brazilian film. People who don’t know better ( we provincial, naieve Americans, notably) think Spanish is the language of Brazil. It’s not. The same can be said of films made in Spain – with one or two exceptions (Almodovar, above all, if I spell it correctly), no Spanish director could earn a living making films solely for the Spanish market,. They don’t, strictly speaking, make films for the Spanish market, they make films for the Spanish-speaking, Latin American market, which is infinitely greater than the Spanish market. Trust Joana on these topics rather than me. Her name suggests that she is either Brazilian or Portuguese. Take care.
Go to Comment
What´s the best Spanis movie? over 3 years ago
How ’bout Los Olvidados (The Forgotten), shot in Mexico in the early 50s by Luis Bunuel, a Spanish director?
Go to Comment
Russian Film over 3 years ago
Keagan – How’s your French? Go to Amazon/France (amazon.fr) and see if they have a Region1 CD of the film(s) you seek. They offer many DVDs in Region1 format as well as Region2 (for France and the rest of Europe) but they ship all over the world. You will pay a lot for a Region1 CD, however. Careful – you may get a Russian sound track and French sub-titles.And you will need the French title of Mothers and Son, which may or may not be Mere et Fils. If you’re determined then give it a spin. You’ve got French-speaking friends up there, don’t you? Ask them to order it for you. Cheers. G.A.
Go to Comment
Russian Film over 3 years ago
I believe some of you folk may be confusing Russian film with Soviet film – a grave error: they definitely are not the same thing. Soviet films are generally excellent, Russian films far less than excellent. The Cranes are Flying and Ballad of a Soldier (I saw them in Paris in the early 50s) are Soviet masterpieces. The title of one of the best Soviet films translates from Russian to English as “Pieces for a Mechanical Piano” or possibly “Five Pieces for a Mechanical Piano” but I do not believe it was ever shown in the West, sadly. It was made in the 70s, and it’s noteworthy for it’s use of color – Soviet film-makers were never comfortable with color. I have a Region2 DVD of it, sent me by a Russian friend in Moscow, not long ago. Cheers
Go to Comment
Film quotes you love over 3 years ago
“You know what happens to nosey fellas? They lose their noses. Next time I’ll……….cut it off and feed it to my goldfish.”
(Gee, Roman, for that one I’ll even forgive you for bedding little girls.)
Go to Comment
Fashion in Film over 3 years ago
Eva Marie Saint’s red dress in the Chicago hotel room in North by Northwest.
Go to Comment
MAY I HEAR OPINIONS OF MONA LISA, PLEASE? over 3 years ago
This was a marvelous British film but Americans didn’t seem to take to it. Wonder why?
Go to Comment
MAY I HEAR OPINIONS OF MONA LISA, PLEASE? over 3 years ago
Thank you so much for these insightful responses.I had a friend who was studying cinematography in Paris at the time Mona Lisa was released. Every couple of days, sitting around their dorm, he and his classmates would go to the very, very tail-end of that film to watch the remarkable “swing-shot” of Hoskins on the pier. This involved intricate, collaborative use of a zoom lens, a “stedi-cam” and a (yep) baby carriage – the cameraman was in a baby carriage, wheeled around by an assistant. Worth the price of the DVD!
Go to Comment
Film quotes you love over 3 years ago
“You’re a very nosey fella. Know what happens to nosey fellas? They lose their noses. Next time, I’ll…………cut it off and feed it to my goldfish.”
(Thank you, Roman and Jack..)
PS – Some of you good people (Tobias and EFE) high-light portions of your text. Where do you find that option, please? Thank you.
Go to Comment
Best Films about or related to (primary) school over 3 years ago
“Au Revoir Les Enfants” by the wonderful Louis Malle. He did equally wonderfully with Laurent, the teen, and Michel, the boy, in Souffle au Coeur (Murmurs of the Heart.)
You have to go to Europe to find children and young people handled properly in film. American directors, in my humble judgment, can’t do it. Name one American film in which a child or young person has been properly directed. And don’t tell me My Friend Flicka.
Go to Comment
Best Films about or related to (primary) school over 3 years ago
Ignatio Perez (real name) as “Ignatio” at the Catholic boarding school in Bad Education was, I feel, very well-directed. As was his pal, whose name escapes me.
Go to Comment
Best Films about or related to (primary) school over 3 years ago
Was Ferris Buhler’s Day Off (or however it’s spelled) any good? Can’t remember.
Go to Comment
Best Films about or related to (primary) school over 3 years ago
Ignatio Perez (real name ) as “Ignatio” at the Catholic boarding school in Bad Education was, I think, well-directed. As was his classmate.
I believe this film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the year it was released – not sure. A French reviewer wrote of Ignatio, “This person is not an actor and not a singer. He’s a dancer who sings and acts extraordinaily well.”
What about “Ferris Buhler’s Day Off” (or however his name is spelled)? Saw it so long ago I’ve forgotten whether it was any good.
Cheers
Go to Comment
What Do You Know About Portuguese Cinema? over 3 years ago
Joana – Are you professionally-involed in film, Portuguese or otherwise? You certainly do know your subect. Who’s the Portuguese director who celebrated his hundredth birthday couple of months ago? Thank you.
Go to Comment
Best Films about or related to (primary) school over 3 years ago
It wasn’t primary school, but I was quite moved and touched by Tori’s and Paulie’s remarkable performances as tragic, gay lovers at the all-gal boarding school in Lost & Delerious. Am I alone?
Go to Comment
May I Have Some Thoughts on Forbidden Games, Please? over 3 years ago
“Forbidden games” – “Jeux Interdits”, for the uni-lingual – was a French masterpiece of the late 40s or early 50s. It’s lovely sound-track attracted more attention than the story.
Go to Comment
stupidest things ever said in a movie over 3 years ago
“I’m in love with you. I’m in love with you.”
Naomi Watts to her lady paramour in Mulholland Dr.
Go to Comment