I don’t know if someone has mentioned it yet but how about Vittorio De Sica’s “Shoeshine” and “Miracle In Milan?”
And maybe they can explore the early careers of some famous American filmmakers like Capra before “Mr. Deeds” and silent von Sternberg.
Max Ophuls influenced Stanley Kubrick. Jean-Luc Godard influenced Bertolucci. Fellini influenced Paul Mazursky. Hitchcock influenced Brian DePalma (and Ingmar Bergman among others, by the way). It seems Martin Scorsese influenced Paul Thomas Anderson. Murnau influenced Borzage. Von Sternberg influenced Capra (at least with “The Bitter Tea Of General Yen.” ) These are pretty well known.
Who do you think inspired your favorites? It doesn’t have to be in terms of every film they made.
I am thinking, specifically, of such TV films as “An Englishman Abroad” by John Schlesinger, “Noon Wine” by Sam Peckinpah or “December Flower” by Stephen Frears.
I know that these films, or whatever you want to call them, have given me as much or more pleasure as the best work of each director.
Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons
Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life Of Oharu
Peter Lorre in M
Angela Lansbury in The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Walter Huston in The Treasure Of Sierra Madre
Per Oscarsson in Hunger
Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City
Soumitre Chatterjee in The Life Of Apu
Max Von Sydow in The Emigrants
Roberto Cobo in Los Olvidados
Jean Hagen in Singin In The Rain
Joanne Woodward in The Stripper
The Lady With The Dog based on a Chekov short story. Absolutely perfect.
Also, the Russians made some splendid movies based on classic plays and novels. There is a version of Hamlet with Innokenti Smoktunovsky which is fine. And a magnificent version of Crime And Punishment with Smoktunovsky as Inspector Porfiry.
There is also a wonderful film of King Lear by Grigori Kozintsev.
I LOVE COMEDIES. I take them as seriously as I do dramas. However many of the National critics’ groups, not to mention the Oscars, prefer to honor dramas. Most of the 10 best lists in these forums concentrate on highbrow art films or westerns or melodramas and, only occasionally, comedies. I would love to know the reasons behind this.
I think after LOLITA and, to a lesser extent DR. STRANGELOVE, he became more interested in exploring new technical advancements and less interested in the humanity of his characters. Except for Malcolm McDowell, who gave a brilliant performance in CLOCKWORK ORANGE, it seems that most of the actors who have worked for him in his later films have been treated as puppets or pawns. Even when they have been pitched very high like Vincent D’Onofrio or R. Lee Ermey in FULL METAL JACKET and Shelley Duvall in THE SHINING, they are clearly following strict orders from the master. Every gesture is coaxed, not coming from the actor’s imagination.
“Me! I disgust you! You cad! You dirty swine! I never cared for you not once! I was always making it up to soften you! You bored me stiff! I hated you! It made me sick when I had to let you kiss me! I always did it because you begged me! You hounded me! You drove me crazy! And after you kissed me I always used to wipe my mouth! Wipe My Mouth!”—Bette Davis to Leslie Howard in OF HUMAN BONDAGE
There is a Gene Hackman film called “All Night Long” that is one of the most brilliant comedies released in the 80s. It was trashed when it came out in part because it co-starred Barbra Streisand who is clearly miscast. She isn’t bad in the role but the film is primarily Hackman’s and it is one of his greatest performances. I think he disowns it but he shouldn’t. He never did anything like it before or since. It is available on DVD and maybe one day it will get the praise it deserves.
Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. I know what she was desperately aiming for. She missed it by a mile.
The whole movie was not calibrated correctly so her performance was not that bad in relation to the other miscalculations.
I should say, however, that I found it all fascinating. I was not bored.
I know how hard it is to trust your own instincts when you watch a film. I sometimes wonder if I am liking something because someone told me it was good. How do you know when something really connects with you, personally?
An impossible question. So much depends upon what role they are playing. Audrey Hepburn was exquisite in some roles and not so hot in others and you react to her beauty according to how she affects you in that role. Plus, we have so much indoctrination to fight. So, I think Garbo in “A Woman Of Affairs,” Ava Gardner in “Bhowani Junction,” Louise Brooks in “The Canary Murder Case,” Frances Dee in “So Ends Our Night,” Merle Oberon in “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” Catherine Deneuve in “Belle De Jour,” Mireille Balin in “Pepe Le Moko,” Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express,” Maria Casares in “Orpheus,” Arletty in “Children Of Paradise,” Josette Day in “La Belle et la Bete,” Claudia Cardinale in “The Leopard,” Sharmila Tagore in “Days and Nights in the Forest” are among the most beautiful women in the world in the films that they inhabited.
There is a neglected Italian film director named Francesco Rosi who has made such films as “Salvatore Giuliano,” “Hands Over The City,” (both on Criterion), “Three Brothers,” “Christ Stopped at Eboli,” “Illustrious Corpses,” “The Mattei Affair” and “The Moment of Truth” among others. He is definitely worth studying.
Films that changed how you looked at cinema over 3 years ago
I was completely overwhelmed by “L’Avventura.” I don’t think it is possible to overestimate the effect it had when it first was released.
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Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection over 3 years ago
I don’t know if someone has mentioned it yet but how about Vittorio De Sica’s “Shoeshine” and “Miracle In Milan?”
And maybe they can explore the early careers of some famous American filmmakers like Capra before “Mr. Deeds” and silent von Sternberg.
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Best title over 3 years ago
Each Dawn I Die
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Underrated Films... over 3 years ago
The original “The Mummy” directed by the famous cinematographer Karl Freund with Boris Karloff. It is a beautiful film.
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Obscure recommendations over 3 years ago
Poil de Carotte (Julien Duvivier)
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Your favorite title sequence over 3 years ago
Journey Into Fear
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favorite funniest movie over 3 years ago
Million Dollar Legs with Jack Oakie.
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Great films about artists.. over 3 years ago
Alexander Korda’s film “Rembrandt” starring Charles Laughton in a very moving performance.
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IF WE IGNORE 81/2 AND DOLCE VITA, WHAT'D BE THE BEST FELLINI MOVIE? over 3 years ago
Nights Of Cabiria and I Vitelloni are both superior to 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita, as much as I enjoy the decadence and pageantry of the last two.
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Top 5 Bertolucci over 3 years ago
The Conformist
Last Tango In Paris
Before The Revolution
1900
Partner
I also like Besieged.
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Your 5 Favourite Directors over 3 years ago
Renoir
Satyajit Ray
Antonioni
Preston Sturges
Orson Welles
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Favorite Romances of all time over 3 years ago
So many Borzage films: A Man’s Castle, History Is Made At Night, Desire, etc.
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What directorial influences do you see in your favorite directors' work? over 3 years ago
Max Ophuls influenced Stanley Kubrick. Jean-Luc Godard influenced Bertolucci. Fellini influenced Paul Mazursky. Hitchcock influenced Brian DePalma (and Ingmar Bergman among others, by the way). It seems Martin Scorsese influenced Paul Thomas Anderson. Murnau influenced Borzage. Von Sternberg influenced Capra (at least with “The Bitter Tea Of General Yen.” ) These are pretty well known.
Who do you think inspired your favorites? It doesn’t have to be in terms of every film they made.
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Do you consider a director's work for television as significant as his work for the big screen? over 3 years ago
I am thinking, specifically, of such TV films as “An Englishman Abroad” by John Schlesinger, “Noon Wine” by Sam Peckinpah or “December Flower” by Stephen Frears.
I know that these films, or whatever you want to call them, have given me as much or more pleasure as the best work of each director.
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Return your oscar statuetes over 3 years ago
Going My Way won over Double Indemnity.
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My Top 25 Performances of All Time over 3 years ago
Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons
Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life Of Oharu
Peter Lorre in M
Angela Lansbury in The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Walter Huston in The Treasure Of Sierra Madre
Per Oscarsson in Hunger
Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City
Soumitre Chatterjee in The Life Of Apu
Max Von Sydow in The Emigrants
Roberto Cobo in Los Olvidados
Jean Hagen in Singin In The Rain
Joanne Woodward in The Stripper
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Russian Film over 3 years ago
The Lady With The Dog based on a Chekov short story. Absolutely perfect.
Also, the Russians made some splendid movies based on classic plays and novels. There is a version of Hamlet with Innokenti Smoktunovsky which is fine. And a magnificent version of Crime And Punishment with Smoktunovsky as Inspector Porfiry.
There is also a wonderful film of King Lear by Grigori Kozintsev.
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Films that benefit from being in black and white over 3 years ago
The Bad And The Beautiful
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Except for the acknowledged classics, I am finding that most people in these forums prefer dramas over comedies. Why is that so? over 3 years ago
I LOVE COMEDIES. I take them as seriously as I do dramas. However many of the National critics’ groups, not to mention the Oscars, prefer to honor dramas. Most of the 10 best lists in these forums concentrate on highbrow art films or westerns or melodramas and, only occasionally, comedies. I would love to know the reasons behind this.
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What's your top 3 Marilyn Monroe Films? over 3 years ago
Some Like It Hot
The Prince And The Showgirl
Clash By Night
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Do you prefer to watch films alone or with friends? over 3 years ago
Alone. I don’t want to talk about them right away.
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Is Stanley Kubrick 'cold' or not? over 3 years ago
I think after LOLITA and, to a lesser extent DR. STRANGELOVE, he became more interested in exploring new technical advancements and less interested in the humanity of his characters. Except for Malcolm McDowell, who gave a brilliant performance in CLOCKWORK ORANGE, it seems that most of the actors who have worked for him in his later films have been treated as puppets or pawns. Even when they have been pitched very high like Vincent D’Onofrio or R. Lee Ermey in FULL METAL JACKET and Shelley Duvall in THE SHINING, they are clearly following strict orders from the master. Every gesture is coaxed, not coming from the actor’s imagination.
Go to Comment
Film quotes you love over 3 years ago
“Me! I disgust you! You cad! You dirty swine! I never cared for you not once! I was always making it up to soften you! You bored me stiff! I hated you! It made me sick when I had to let you kiss me! I always did it because you begged me! You hounded me! You drove me crazy! And after you kissed me I always used to wipe my mouth! Wipe My Mouth!”—Bette Davis to Leslie Howard in OF HUMAN BONDAGE
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Film quotes you love over 3 years ago
There is a clip on YouTube of the Bette Davis/Leslie Howard scene
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Underrated Films... over 3 years ago
There is a Gene Hackman film called “All Night Long” that is one of the most brilliant comedies released in the 80s. It was trashed when it came out in part because it co-starred Barbra Streisand who is clearly miscast. She isn’t bad in the role but the film is primarily Hackman’s and it is one of his greatest performances. I think he disowns it but he shouldn’t. He never did anything like it before or since. It is available on DVD and maybe one day it will get the praise it deserves.
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Performances that make you wince over 3 years ago
Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. I know what she was desperately aiming for. She missed it by a mile.
The whole movie was not calibrated correctly so her performance was not that bad in relation to the other miscalculations.
I should say, however, that I found it all fascinating. I was not bored.
Go to Comment
Are you able to make up your own mind without being influenced by outside opinion? over 3 years ago
I know how hard it is to trust your own instincts when you watch a film. I sometimes wonder if I am liking something because someone told me it was good. How do you know when something really connects with you, personally?
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Favorite use of a song in a film. over 3 years ago
I love the sequence in THE ENGLISH PATIENT when they dance to “Where Or When.”
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WHO IS / WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FILM ACTRESS EVER? over 3 years ago
An impossible question. So much depends upon what role they are playing. Audrey Hepburn was exquisite in some roles and not so hot in others and you react to her beauty according to how she affects you in that role. Plus, we have so much indoctrination to fight. So, I think Garbo in “A Woman Of Affairs,” Ava Gardner in “Bhowani Junction,” Louise Brooks in “The Canary Murder Case,” Frances Dee in “So Ends Our Night,” Merle Oberon in “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” Catherine Deneuve in “Belle De Jour,” Mireille Balin in “Pepe Le Moko,” Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express,” Maria Casares in “Orpheus,” Arletty in “Children Of Paradise,” Josette Day in “La Belle et la Bete,” Claudia Cardinale in “The Leopard,” Sharmila Tagore in “Days and Nights in the Forest” are among the most beautiful women in the world in the films that they inhabited.
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DIRECTORS I NEED TO CATCH UP ON THIS YEAR over 3 years ago
There is a neglected Italian film director named Francesco Rosi who has made such films as “Salvatore Giuliano,” “Hands Over The City,” (both on Criterion), “Three Brothers,” “Christ Stopped at Eboli,” “Illustrious Corpses,” “The Mattei Affair” and “The Moment of Truth” among others. He is definitely worth studying.
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