FALLING DOWN by the wretched Joel Schumacher was pretty good… although I hear the story behind this is that the original script was amazing and that the film doesn’t nearly match up.
Before Sunset
Bowling for Columbine
The Corporation
The Incredibles
Memento
Once
The Royal Tennenbaums
United 93
Wall*E
Wonder Boys
I never spend a lot of time laboring over these kinds of lists. I focused more on personal favorites, while films like City of God and There Will Be Blood would have made a true “Best of…” list.
After a shaky start that only produced one real masterpiece, KING OF THE HILL, Soderbergh had a great rebirth with SCHIZOPOLIS which started a truly solid six-film run. Then, it fell apart when he got the greenlight to do essentially whatever he wanted, resulting in a half-as-long-and-yet-overlong remake of SOLARIS and the total misfire FULL FRONTAL. OCEAN’S TWELVE was also miserable, though the modest delight of OCEAN’S THIRTEEN made up for that.
I haven’t watched BUBBLE, THE GOOD GERMAN or CHE, so I can’t comment on where he’s at currently. I was really looking forward to THE GOOD GERMAN, but I haven’t heard a single review of that film that isn’t brutal.
1. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (1995/2004, Richard Linklater)
2. Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
3. Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood)
4. Boogie Nights (1997, P.T. Anderson)
5. Pleasantville (1998, Gary Ross)
6. The Apartment (1960, Billy Wilder)
7. Jerry Maguire (1996, Cameron Crowe)
8. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 (1995/1999, John Lasseter)
9. Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis)
10. The Sweet Smell of Success (1957, Alexander Mackendrick)
And then…
11. Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)
12. Dr. Strangelove (1964, Stanley Kubrick)
13. Network (1976, Sidney Lumet)
14. L.A. Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson)
15. Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)
16. Three Kings (1999, David O. Russell)
17. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
18. Notorious (1946, Alfred Hitchcock)
19. Memento (2000, Christopher Nolan)
20. Trainspotting (1996, Danny Boyle)
21. The Shop Around the Corner (1940, Ernst Lubitsch)
22. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985, Tim Burton)
23. The Man Who Would Be King (1975, John Huston)
24. Bottle Rocket (1996, Wes Anderson)
25. Quiz Show (1994, Robert Redford)
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES – Around the time Laura Linney was detailing the dream she had where she was in the water surrounded by Christmas presents. My friend and I had sneaked in after catching another movie, but it was just so laughably bad. Because it’s under the pretense that it all really happened, we’re supposed to take these ridiculous coincidences as seriously as all these stone-faced actors on the screen.
I think besides that, I’ve only walked out on films because of technical problems (where I leave in the first five minutes, tell an usher that they need to fix it, get a refund and see it sometime later that week), which used to happen all the time such as when there was a hair on the projector’s lens during AMERICAN BEAUTY, or because I accidentally fell asleep, which was the case with THE STRAIGHT STORY and WILD STRAWBERRIES.
Oh, wait. I walked out on PUBLIC ENEMY halfway through because I had a pain in my ear, which turned out to be swimmer’s ear in both ears. It got so bad that I had to go to the emergency room that night.
Oh, and I was at a cinema with my then-girlfriend to see a preview screening of CHARLIE’S ANGELS and we walked out before it even began because we decided it would be more fun to have sex in her car for the first time. It left her with a scar on her leg that she was perfectly happy to have, though I bet she hates it now.
Even though I’m not a big fan of the film overall, there’s a moment during that scene with the landlord where one brief moment, one little look, turns the entire scene on a dime. Really brilliant storytelling.
I thought this would have been a really solid film if not for the mishandling of the Diamond Dog character, which really undercut the tension in the third act.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed it, especially the overall metaphor of the writer’s responsibility to his/her characters.
As a screenwriter, I found ON DIRECTING FILM to be one of the most helpful books I’ve read. Really got at the heart of telling the story visually, through the cut, and providing no more information than necessary. He does steal from the best, and doesn’t hide that.
Mamet’s films do, at times, feel a little academic. I found SPARTAN to be a fascinating exercise in reversals. I love them, but I can understand people, especially the casual filmgoer, being totally perplexed at this style of filmmaking.
It feels like Mamet, in trying to pull filmmakers towards the better use of the craft, pulls too far. Audiences have become so accustomed, especially through episodic television, to the notion of “tell them what they are about to see, show it to them, and tell them what they’ve just seen.” To see a film where the filmmaker uses a MacGuffin to strong effect, and then refuses to reveal the MacGuffin because it would only distract the audience from the film’s theme, can be infuriating when you’re so used to other narratives showing your what’s inside the box.
I also highly recommend reading THE THREE USES OF THE KNIFE: ON THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF DRAMA.
A MIDNIGHT CLEAR (terrific small scale WWII film)
ONE MAGIC CHRISTMAS (weirder, sadder and smarter than you’d expect)
THE REF (cynical, foul-mouthed fun)
SCROOGED (might just be Bill Murray’s best film)
This year’s supersize Best Picture race also brings with it a new voting system. Rather than simply check off one of the 10 nominees, Academy members are being asked to rank the contenders from 1 to 10. After all the first-place citations are counted, the film with the fewest votes will be eliminated, and those voters’ second choices will count instead. The process continues until one film has more than 50 percent of the vote.
The purpose of this thread is to see at what points (if any) the winner with the new system is NOT the winner by the traditional “pick your one favorite” method. I’ll do the tallying on occasion… and the more voters we get, the more interesting it’ll be.
So, to everyone who wants to participate, rate the ten Best Picture nominee in order from 1 to 10 (or fewer, but they must be in numerical order).
Here are the ten nominees…
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Favorite auteurs missing from the profile selection box. about 3 years ago
Why is DAVID MAMET not listed? He’s very influential, and even has two films in the collection.
I’d also like to see GARY ROSS.
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Singular films you love from directors you don't care for about 3 years ago
FALLING DOWN by the wretched Joel Schumacher was pretty good… although I hear the story behind this is that the original script was amazing and that the film doesn’t nearly match up.
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TOP TEN 2000 - 2008 about 3 years ago
Before Sunset
Bowling for Columbine
The Corporation
The Incredibles
Memento
Once
The Royal Tennenbaums
United 93
Wall*E
Wonder Boys
I never spend a lot of time laboring over these kinds of lists. I focused more on personal favorites, while films like City of God and There Will Be Blood would have made a true “Best of…” list.
Go to Comment
Top 5 Hitchcock about 3 years ago
I feel like the list couldn’t really be anything but…
North by Northwest
Notorious
Psycho
Rear Window
Vertigo
The three that come closest to matching that pack of flawless films…
Rebecca
Shadow of a Doubt
Strangers on a Train
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What are your thoughts on Steven Soderbergh? about 3 years ago
After a shaky start that only produced one real masterpiece, KING OF THE HILL, Soderbergh had a great rebirth with SCHIZOPOLIS which started a truly solid six-film run. Then, it fell apart when he got the greenlight to do essentially whatever he wanted, resulting in a half-as-long-and-yet-overlong remake of SOLARIS and the total misfire FULL FRONTAL. OCEAN’S TWELVE was also miserable, though the modest delight of OCEAN’S THIRTEEN made up for that.
I haven’t watched BUBBLE, THE GOOD GERMAN or CHE, so I can’t comment on where he’s at currently. I was really looking forward to THE GOOD GERMAN, but I haven’t heard a single review of that film that isn’t brutal.
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Slumdog Millionaire Overrated Film of the Year about 3 years ago
My assessment of this film was that it’s CITY OF GOD meets SERENDIPITY, and the result was as uneasy a mix as you would expect from that hybrid.
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What are your thoughts on Steven Soderbergh? about 3 years ago
SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE is a good film. KING OF THE HILL is a masterpiece.
That first run of films is shaky (or maybe “uneven” says it better) in comparison to the run from SCHIZOPOLIS through OCEAN’S ELEVEN. That’s my point.
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What's your Top 10? about 3 years ago
Last September, I came up with…
1. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (1995/2004, Richard Linklater)
2. Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
3. Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood)
4. Boogie Nights (1997, P.T. Anderson)
5. Pleasantville (1998, Gary Ross)
6. The Apartment (1960, Billy Wilder)
7. Jerry Maguire (1996, Cameron Crowe)
8. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 (1995/1999, John Lasseter)
9. Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis)
10. The Sweet Smell of Success (1957, Alexander Mackendrick)
And then…
11. Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)
12. Dr. Strangelove (1964, Stanley Kubrick)
13. Network (1976, Sidney Lumet)
14. L.A. Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson)
15. Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)
16. Three Kings (1999, David O. Russell)
17. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
18. Notorious (1946, Alfred Hitchcock)
19. Memento (2000, Christopher Nolan)
20. Trainspotting (1996, Danny Boyle)
21. The Shop Around the Corner (1940, Ernst Lubitsch)
22. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985, Tim Burton)
23. The Man Who Would Be King (1975, John Huston)
24. Bottle Rocket (1996, Wes Anderson)
25. Quiz Show (1994, Robert Redford)
Go to Comment
What films have you walked out on and why ? about 3 years ago
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES – Around the time Laura Linney was detailing the dream she had where she was in the water surrounded by Christmas presents. My friend and I had sneaked in after catching another movie, but it was just so laughably bad. Because it’s under the pretense that it all really happened, we’re supposed to take these ridiculous coincidences as seriously as all these stone-faced actors on the screen.
I think besides that, I’ve only walked out on films because of technical problems (where I leave in the first five minutes, tell an usher that they need to fix it, get a refund and see it sometime later that week), which used to happen all the time such as when there was a hair on the projector’s lens during AMERICAN BEAUTY, or because I accidentally fell asleep, which was the case with THE STRAIGHT STORY and WILD STRAWBERRIES.
Oh, wait. I walked out on PUBLIC ENEMY halfway through because I had a pain in my ear, which turned out to be swimmer’s ear in both ears. It got so bad that I had to go to the emergency room that night.
Oh, and I was at a cinema with my then-girlfriend to see a preview screening of CHARLIE’S ANGELS and we walked out before it even began because we decided it would be more fun to have sex in her car for the first time. It left her with a scar on her leg that she was perfectly happy to have, though I bet she hates it now.
Go to Comment
Classic movies you can't get on d.v.d. about 3 years ago
THEY WON’T BELIEVE ME
Brilliant film noir, similar story to A PLACE IN THE SUN but I think it’s better. Susan Hayward was never hotter.
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The Criterion Collection should release the Watchowski brothers 'Bound' about 3 years ago
I own that DVD but haven’t opened it yet. What’s wrong with it?
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A notion about 3 years ago
Just avoid doing anything like the current Co-Write Contest, which shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the writing process.
Avoid “let’s just make it up as we go along” methods of collaboration at all costs.
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Films You'd Like To See Restored about 3 years ago
The Marx Brothers films.
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Favorite Films For Shakespeare's Birthday(s) about 3 years ago
I’ll give a shout-out to Branagh’s complete HAMLET and its companion comedy A MIDWINTER’S TALE.
And you can’t beat the post-modern brilliance of ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, which was even better than the original play.
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Help me unload my DVR! about 3 years ago
-Children of Men
-Drugstore Cowboy
-L.A. Confidential
-Talk to Her
-The Big Sleep
-The Dreamers
-The Shop Around the Corner
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No. about 3 years ago
Even though I’m not a big fan of the film overall, there’s a moment during that scene with the landlord where one brief moment, one little look, turns the entire scene on a dime. Really brilliant storytelling.
Go to Comment
Best movie with a train in it ? about 3 years ago
Narrow Margin (1952)
Runaway Train
The Seven Per-Cent Soluition
The Station Agent
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The best use of an animals in a film ? about 3 years ago
TWO BROTHERS
Terrific visual storytelling. A charming, emotional, mature story that I can’t seem to convince anyone isn’t just a kiddie film.
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The best use of an animals in a film ? about 3 years ago
“The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
Seriously, I once included it in a 50 greatest films of all time list, and I’ve not regretted it. Milo and Otis rock.
—PolarisDiB"
I’d call that the worst use of animals. They (allegedly) had no regard for the safety of the animals.
Kinda hard to appreciate a family film that treated kittens like disposable props.
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The Brothers Bloom over 2 years ago
I thought this would have been a really solid film if not for the mishandling of the Diamond Dog character, which really undercut the tension in the third act.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed it, especially the overall metaphor of the writer’s responsibility to his/her characters.
Go to Comment
David Mamet over 2 years ago
As a screenwriter, I found ON DIRECTING FILM to be one of the most helpful books I’ve read. Really got at the heart of telling the story visually, through the cut, and providing no more information than necessary. He does steal from the best, and doesn’t hide that.
Mamet’s films do, at times, feel a little academic. I found SPARTAN to be a fascinating exercise in reversals. I love them, but I can understand people, especially the casual filmgoer, being totally perplexed at this style of filmmaking.
It feels like Mamet, in trying to pull filmmakers towards the better use of the craft, pulls too far. Audiences have become so accustomed, especially through episodic television, to the notion of “tell them what they are about to see, show it to them, and tell them what they’ve just seen.” To see a film where the filmmaker uses a MacGuffin to strong effect, and then refuses to reveal the MacGuffin because it would only distract the audience from the film’s theme, can be infuriating when you’re so used to other narratives showing your what’s inside the box.
I also highly recommend reading THE THREE USES OF THE KNIFE: ON THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF DRAMA.
Go to Comment
CHRISTMAS MOVIES? over 2 years ago
Four terrific Christmas movies…
A MIDNIGHT CLEAR (terrific small scale WWII film)
ONE MAGIC CHRISTMAS (weirder, sadder and smarter than you’d expect)
THE REF (cynical, foul-mouthed fun)
SCROOGED (might just be Bill Murray’s best film)
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Best Western of all Time? over 2 years ago
UNFORGIVEN by a mile.
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What movies you will watch while going through a breakup or divorce over 2 years ago
MODERN ROMANCE by Albert Brooks.
Required viewing.
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Film Database Submission March 2010 over 2 years ago
Pleasantville (1998)
Dir: Gary Ross
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Film Database Submission March 2010 over 2 years ago
I should have submitted this as an alternate image for Pleasantville. As much as I love J.T. Walsh, it’s the better of the two…
URL:
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n269/TheKeenGuy/pleasantvilleauteurs2.jpg
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A film that everyone doesn't dislike over 2 years ago
Anyone keeping a list of the films that haven’t been disliked yet?
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Let's test the Oscar's Best Picture formula (Please vote!) over 2 years ago
From Entertainment Weekly:
This year’s supersize Best Picture race also brings with it a new voting system. Rather than simply check off one of the 10 nominees, Academy members are being asked to rank the contenders from 1 to 10. After all the first-place citations are counted, the film with the fewest votes will be eliminated, and those voters’ second choices will count instead. The process continues until one film has more than 50 percent of the vote.
The purpose of this thread is to see at what points (if any) the winner with the new system is NOT the winner by the traditional “pick your one favorite” method. I’ll do the tallying on occasion… and the more voters we get, the more interesting it’ll be.
So, to everyone who wants to participate, rate the ten Best Picture nominee in order from 1 to 10 (or fewer, but they must be in numerical order).
Here are the ten nominees…
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Go to Comment
Let's test the Oscar's Best Picture formula (Please vote!) over 2 years ago
Here’s my ballot…
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Up
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. An Education
5. District 9
6. Up in the Air
7. A Serious Man
8. Avatar
I left off the two films that I have not seen (Precious and The Blind Side).
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Let's test the Oscar's Best Picture formula (Please vote!) over 2 years ago
EW just happens to be where I took a concise explanation of the voting formula from. Not an endorsement.
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