MC Yearly Consensus - 2005

[Spinal]

Submit your five favorite films from this year and in a week I will give you a top ten. IMDb dates will be used.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-5 points
2nd Place-4 points
3rd Place-3.5 points
4th Place-3 points
5th Place-2.5 points

There will be no restrictions on short films. A minimum of three films must be listed. You may edit your post freely up until the time that the voting is closed, which will be in about a week. I will give at least 24 hours warning before tallying votes.

You may begin now.

IMDB Power Search (http://www.imdb.com/list)

[Spinal]

1. Me and You and Everyone We Know
2. Manderlay
3. 49 Up
4. Grizzly Man
5. Caché


6. V for Vendetta
7. Capote
8. Good Night, and Good Luck
9. Brokeback Mountain
10. Land of the Dead

[soitgoes...]

1. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg)
2. L'Enfant (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)
3. The Descent (Neil Marshall)
4. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Zhang Yimou)
5. Caché (Michael Haneke)
---------------------------------------------
6. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black)
7. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
8. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones)
9. Pride and Prejudice (Joe Wright)
10. The New World (Terrence Malick)

HM's:
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (Michael Winterbottom)
Into Great Silence (Philip Gröning)
Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney)
The Proposition (John Hillcoat)
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July)
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Steve Box, Nick Park)
The Bow (Ki-duk Kim)
Election (Johnny To)
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Marc Rothemund)

[Spinal]

Oh yeah. I forgot that A History of Violence was this year and that people like it.

[Raiders]

1. The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach)
2. The Proposition (Hillcoat)
3. The New World (Malick)
4. A History of Violence (Cronenberg)
5. Wolf Creek (Mclean)

------------------------------------

6. Pride & Prejudice (Wright)
7. Grizzly Man (Herzog)
8. Munich (Spielberg)
9. Me and You and Everyone We Know (July)
10. War of the Worlds (Spielberg)

[Spinal]

Indeed Spinal. People do like that film...

1. A History of Violence
2. Rent
3. Hard Candy
4. Last Days
5. Battle in Heaven

I feel nauseous.

[Derek]

Indeed Spinal. People do like that film...

1. A History of Violence
2. Rent
3. Hard Candy
4. Last Days
5. Battle in Heaven

:lol:

[Lazlo]

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. The New World
4. Jarhead
5. Munich

[Philosophe_rouge]

1. The New World
2. Capote
3. Good Night, and Good Luck
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. Conversations with Other Women

[Derek]

I hate using IMdB for recent years...

1. The New World (Terrence Malick)
2. Last Days (Gus Van Sant)
3. C.R.A.Z.Y. (Jean-Marc Vallée)
4. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Christi Puiu)
5. Noriko's Dinner Table (Sion Sono)
***************************
6. Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
7. The Proposition (John Hillcoat
8. Mutual Appreciation (Andrew Bujalski)
9. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
10. The Child (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne)

HMs:
Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)
Tale of Cinema (Hong Sang-soo)
A History of Violence (David Cronenberg)
Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow)
Head-On (Fatih Akin)
Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)
Best of Youth (Marco Tullio Giordana)
Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Shane Black)
Good Night and Good Luck (George Clooney)
Rize (David LaChapelle)
Downfall (Oliver Hirschbeigel)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July)
Oldboy (Chan-wook Park)
The 40 Year Old Virgin (Judd Apatow)
La Moustache (Emmanuel Carrère)
Junebug (Phil Morrison)
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
Café Lumière (Hsiao-hsien Hou)

[dreamdead]

1. The New World
2. L'Enfant
3. The Proposition
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. Brokeback Mountain

HM: Three Times (will be rewatching this soon; hopefully the third act works better than I remember), The Squid and the Whale, Grizzly Man, Wallace and Gromit:The Curse of the Wererabbit, Conversations with Other Women

[Spinal]

I hate using IMdB for recent years...

Suck it up, Captain Grumpy Pants. :P

[dreamdead]

5. Conversations with Other Women

Yes, this was a pleasant surprise. It feels a little bit like LaBute territory, but there's enough formal intrigue in the split screen that it possesses its own life. Rather remarkable, and far better than Soderbergh's formal experiments with split screen.

[Ezee E]

A History Of Violence -- Match Cut Best Picture Winner

[Stay Puft]

1. Takeshis'
2. The Wild Blue Yonder
3. Three Times
4. Caché
5. Grizzly Man

HM: Brokeback Mountain, Munich, The New World, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Man Push Cart, Election... hard to decide what to put on the list for this year.

[Watashi]

1. Good Night and Good Luck
2. The Proposition
3. War of the Worlds
4. The Squid and the Whale
5. The New World

6. Munich
7. Downfall
8. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
9. Brokeback Mountain
10. Serenity

[Boner M]

This year was actually pretty great.

1. Last Days
2. The New World
3. Cache
4. The Wayward Cloud
5. Regular Lovers

6. Mutual Appreciation
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
8. Takeshis'
9. The Devil's Rejects
10. The Sun

HM: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, A History of Violence, Junebug, War of the Worlds

[Watashi]

Oh yeah. I forgot that Me, You, and Everyone We Know was this year and that people like it.

[The Mike]

Oh yeah. I forgot that Me, You, and Everyone We Know was this year and that people like it.

Well, considering the film had a cast and crew, I suppose it's entirely possible that there was more than one fan.

[Spinal]

Oh yeah. I forgot that Watashi posts here and that I haven't banned him yet.

[Henry Gale]

1. Munich (Spielberg)
2. The Constant Gardener (Meirelles)
3. Batman Begins (Nolan)
4. Stay (Forster)
5. The New World (Malik)

6. Match Point (Allen)
7. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Black)
8. The Squid And The Whale (Baumbach)
9. King Kong (Jackson)
10. Caché (Haneke)

11. Sin City (Miller/Rodriguez)
12. The Upside Of Anger (Binder)
15. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Apatow)
13. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (Box/Park)
14. Jarhead (Mendes)

Man.. it's been so long since I've seen any of these (except for 40YOV).

[Winston*]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the Wallace rabbit from the Wallace and Gromit Movie. "Cheeese, Gromit?". Hahahaha...oh man. So funny.

[Spinal]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the Wallace rabbit from the Wallace and Gromit Movie. "Cheeese, Gromit?". Hahahaha...oh man. So funny.

It was only three years ago. You'd think we'd remember these things better.

[Sven]

"I'm inventing, mostly."

[Silencio]

1. Caché
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
4. The New World
5. The Squid and the Whale

[Russ]

1. Ashes and Snow
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. Grizzly Man
4. MirrorMask
5. Funky Forest: The First Contact

[Raiders]

1. Ashes and Snow

Eventually I'll convince myself this is worth $50 and buy it. I have wanted to see it since a friend of mine went to an exhibit and said it was one of the most extraordinary visual experiences he has ever seen.

[Pop Trash]

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. The Squid and the Whale
3. Last Days
4. The New World
5. Grizzly Man

6. A History of Violence
7. Match Point
8. Munich
9. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
10. Batman Begins

[Hugh_Grant]

1. Rent
2. Hustle & Flow
3. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
4. Junebug
5. March of the Penguins

[Russ]

Raiders has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space.
umm...dude, clear some space.

[Melville]

1. The New World
2. The Forsaken Land
3. The Wayward Cloud
4. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
5. Grizzly Man

6. L'Enfant
7. Three Times
8. Brokeback Mountain
9. A History of Violence
10. Match Point

HM: The Last Hangman, Munich, Paradise Now, Romance & Cigarettes, SPL, The Sun, The Squid and the Whale, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

[Ivan Drago]

1. Match Point
2. Batman Begins
3. A History of Violence
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. The New World
----------------------------
6. Capote
7. Munich
8. King Kong
9. Sin City
10. good night, and good luck.

[Raiders]

umm...dude, clear some space.

Done.

[Dead & Messed Up]

01. Sin City
02. The Forty-Year-Old Virgin
03. Capote
04. Batman Begins
05. Grizzly Man

Leaving so many good movies off...it breaks the heart.

[Yxklyx]

1. Brick (Rian Johnson)
2. Down in the Valley (David Jacobson)
3. The New World (Terrence Malick)
4. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
5. King Kong (Peter Jackson)

6. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu)
7. Who's Camus Anyway? (Mitsuo Yanagimachi)
8. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Steve Box & Nick Park)
9. 13 Tzameti (Géla Babluani)
10. The Proposition (John Hillcoat)

[Yum-Yum]

1. Me and You and Everyone We Know
2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
3. Brick
4. The Devil's Rejects
5. C.R.A.Z.Y.

[Mysterious Dude]

1. Caché
2. The Squid and the Whale
3. The Proposition
4. Good Night, and Good Luck
5. Syriana

6. MirrorMask
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
8. Joyeux Noël
9. Match Point
10. Batman Begins

[Weeping_Guitar]

1. Pride & Prejudice
2. Good Night, and Good Luck
3. Munich
4. Brick
5. The Constant Gardener

[MadMan]

Ah yes, 2005. Good year from what I remember.

1. The Proposition
2. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
4. Brick
5. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
============================== ==
6. Dave Chappelle's Block Party
7. Serenity
8. Batman Begins
9. The Matador
10. Sin City

[origami_mustache]

1. The Wayward Cloud
2. Hanging Garden
3. Funky Forest: The First Contact
4. Caché
5. Three Times

6. Grizzly Man
7. Me and You and Everyone We Know
8. The Devil's Rejects
9. The New World
10. Tideland

[thefourthwall]

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Batman Begins
3. Down in the Valley
4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
5. Brick
---------------------
6. A History of Violence
7. Capote
8. Match Point
9. L'Enfant
10. MirrorMask

HMs: Munich, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit, Tsotsi, Serenity, The Descent

[EyesWideOpen]

1. Sin City
2. Linda Linda Linda
3. The New World
4. Brick
5. Pride & Prejudice

HM's: Good Night, and Good Luck, Corpse Bride, Brokeback Mountain, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Strange Circus, Syriana...too many other's to name.

[thefourthwall]

2. Linda Linda Linda


I wanted to like this one, but just didn't--seemed a bit simplistic, I didn't get much depth of character. What did I miss?

[The Mike]

Didn't realize Brick counted as 2005. Must edit.

1. Serenity
2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
3. A History of Violence
4. Brick
5. V for Vendetta

HM: The Constant Gardner, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, King Kong, Match Point, Good Night and Good Luck, Hard Candy, The Exorcism of Emily Rose

[Ezee E]

Quite the awesome year:

1. The Descent
2. King Kong
3. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
4. Manderlay
5. Batman Begins

[Grouchy]

1. Caché
2. MirrorMask
3. Brick
4. The Descent
5. Strange Circus

6. A Bittersweet Life
7. Batman Begins
8. Election
9. The Devil's Rejects
10. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

11. Takeshis'
12. Manderlay
13. King Kong
14. Princess Raccoon
15. Tideland

[Duncan]

1. The New World
2. The Wild Blue Yonder
3. The Proposition
4. L'Enfant
5. The Squid and the Whale

[trotchky]

1. Last Days
2. The Child
3. Cache
4. The Squid and the Whale
5. The Beat that My Heart Skipped

And all five are straight-up masterpieces. :cool:

[Torgo]

1. Good Night, and Good Luck
2. The New World
3. Syriana
4. Cache
5. Brick

[baby doll]

1. Manderlay (Lars von Trier)
2. Last Days (Gus Van Sant)
3. L'Enfant (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
4. Three Times (Hou Hsaio-hsien)
5. Brick (Rian Johnson)
6. Domino (Tony Scott)
7. The Wayward Cloud (Tsai Ming-liang)
8. Les Amants réguliers (Philippe Garrel)
9. My Dad Is 100 Years Old (Guy Maddin)
10. Match Point (Woody Allen)

[Kurosawa Fan]

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Good Night, and Good Luck
3. Jarhead
4. Brick
5. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

[MacGuffin]

1. Caché (Michael Haneke)
2. The Weather Man (Gore Verbinski)
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black)
4. Manderlay (Lars von Trier)
5. Who's Camus Anyway (Mitsuo Yanagimachi)

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

1. The Wayward Cloud
2. Me You and Everyone We Know
3. L'Enfant
4. Ashes and Snow
5. Three Times (really only for one segment of the film)

[dreamdead]

5. Three Times (really only for one segment of the film)

The 1960's section? That was the revelation to me, with the contemporary landscape possessing interesting elements about HK's rampant narcissism and materialism. Naturally, though, these ideas aren't new so their presentation works best in the scenes where Chang Chen photographs Shu Qi while she sings (capturing a gesture that only cinema could produce) and during the final image of the cycle carrying the two beyond the city...

[Pop Trash]

1. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Caché (Michael Haneke)
3. L'Intrus (Claire Denis)
4. The Weather Man (Gore Verbinski)
5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black)

6. Manderlay (Lars von Trier)
7. Who's Camus Anyway (Mitsuo Yanagimachi)
8. Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)
9. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
10. Brick (Rian Johnson)

Umm you might want to edit those since we are going by IMDB dates here dude.

[eternity]

1. Brick
2. Tideland
3. A History of Violence
4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
5. The Descent

[chrisnu]

1. A History of Violence
2. The Proposition
3. Junebug
4. Caché
5. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

[Spinal]

Last day.

[Robby P]

1. Three Times
2. L'Enfant
3. Grizzly Man
4. The Descent
5. Down in the Valley

[Cherish]

1. Lady Vengeance
2. Pride & Prejudice
3. Funky Forest: The First Contact
4. Junebug
5. Brick

6. The Wayward Cloud
7. Match Point
8. Linda Linda Linda
9. Munich
10. Millions

[Spinal]

Still not feeling great. Still busy. If someone wants to tally this up, go ahead. 10 rep points if you do a satisfactory job. Please don't cut corners.

[Boner M]

Still not feeling great. Still busy. If someone wants to tally this up, go ahead. 10 rep points if you do a satisfactory job. Please don't cut corners.
I can tally it once I get my assignment done (in 8 hours).

[MacGuffin]

I can tally it now.

[Ezee E]

for ten rep points, you sure see a different side of match cutters.

[Boner M]

for ten rep points, you sure see a different side of match cutters.
I will fail this assignment to finally get that glowing light green block.

[MacGuffin]

Tallied; number 10 coming up.

[MacGuffin]

#10

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7918/18413696yo3.jpg

Last Days

Director: Gus Van Sant

Country: USA

"Introspective artist Blake is buckling under the weight of fame, professional obligations and a mounting feeling of isolation. Dwarfed by towering trees, Blake slowly makes his way through dense woods. He scrambles down an embankment to a fresh spring and undresses for a short swim. The next morning he returns to his house, an elegant, if neglected, stone mansion. Many people are looking for Blake--his friends, his managers and record label, even a private detective--but he does not want to be found. In the haze of his final hours, Blake will spend most his time by himself. He avoids the people who are living in his house, who approach him only when they want something, be it money or help with a song. He hides from one concerned friend and turns away another. He visits politely with a stranger from the Yellow Pages sales department, and he ducks into an underground rock club. He wanders through the woods and he plays a new song, one last rock and roll blowout. Finally, alone in the greenhouse, Blake will look and listen--and seek release.

"The "long dolly shot" in which the camera slowly pulls away from the window while Blake plays inside took seven takes to successfully complete. As the crew only had three pieces of dolly track, crew members had to take track from the front and run it around to the back while the dolly moved backward." - IMDb

"The film really comes in handy for casual fans that wonder why such a rich, successful and talented rock star should have taken his own life. Last Days shows that the reason was little more than aching loneliness, and few films have ever come closer to visually capturing that horrible feeling." - Jeffery M. Anderson

[Spinal]

Please follow the established format. Look at previous threads.

[MacGuffin]

#9

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/3640/ahov01xe3.jpg

A History of Violence

Director: David Cronenberg

Country: USA

"In Millowbrook, Indiana, the mild Tom Stall owns a bar and has a calm life with his beloved wife Edie, his teen-aged son Jack, and his little daughter Sarah. His life turns upside-down when her kills two cold-blooded killers in his bar to protect his waitress, becoming a local hero and being shown in the front page of the local news and on TV. The next day, mobster Carl Fogarty comes to the town, calling him Joey Cusack and telling that he was a former hit man. When Carl and his men threaten his family, Tom defends them, and violence is released in a chain reaction.

"Has the distinction of being the last major Hollywood movie to be released in the VHS format." - IMDb

"Cronenberg's movie manages to have its cake and eat it--impersonating an action flick in its staccato mayhem while questioning these violent attractions every step of the way." - J. Hoberman

[Derek]

Awesome, I didn't think this had a shot to crack the top 10.

[MacGuffin]

#8

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1797/goodnightgoodluckik4.jpg

Good Night, and Good Luck.

Director: George Clooney

Country: USA

"In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was. However, their actions took a great personal toll on both men, but they stood by their convictions and helped to bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history.

"The man introducing Edward R. Murrow's keynote address to the 1958 convention of the Radio-Television News Directors Association cites Murrow's reporting on, among other topics, the plight of migrant workers. In fact, Murrow did not report on the conditions of migrant workers until 1960. His documentary on the subject, Harvest of Shame (1960) (TV), was the last project he worked on as a CBS broadcaster." - IMDb

"Clooney understands you can sometimes see more inside the TV fishbowl looking out than the other way around. He also knows there are far worse things than holding Ed Murrow up to modern audiences and asking them to emulate his horse sense and innate fairness." - Ty Burr

[MacGuffin]

#7

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9427/pdvd031sw7.jpg

L'Enfant

Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Country: Belgium

"Bruno and Sonia are boy friend and girl friend, playful, immature. She's still in her teens; they chase each other, share cigarettes, spray sodas and wrestle. The thing is, they also have a new baby. Just out of hospital, Sonia seeks out Bruno to bring him his son. Bruno's indifferent. In the grimy Belgian city of Seraing, he's a petty thief with no interest in work, no plan, spending money as fast as he can fence cameras and jewelry. He sells the baby. Sonia's reaction and Bruno's surprise at her response inform his subsequent actions. The camera follows and observes him: has he a nascent conscience or any chance at redemption? Can he help himself?

"There is no score or soundtrack in this film, not even in the final credits." - IMDb

"Their camera maintains an intimate, at times uncomfortably claustrophobic proximity to the characters, an approach that feels attentive rather than instrusive. In "The Son," the camera often seems to hang off the back of one of the lead characters' necks, almost as if the filmmakers were struggling to keep up. The Dardennes initially keep Bruno at arm's length, perhaps because they want to give us room to discover him for ourselves. That they will eventually move closer to him by the end, folding him in their embrace, should come as no surprise." - Manohla Dargis

[MacGuffin]

#6

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/792/squidandtc8.jpg

The Squid and the Whale

Director: Noah Baumbach

Country: USA

"The patriarch (Jeff Daniels) of an eccentric Brooklyn family claims to once have been a great novelist, but he has settled into a teaching job. When his wife (Laura Linney) discovers a writing talent of her own, jealousy divides the family, leaving two teenage sons to forge new relationships with their parents. Linney's character begins dating her younger son's tennis coach. Meanwhile, Daniels' character has an affair with the student his older son is pursuing.

"Noah Baumbach originally wanted Wes Anderson to direct but Anderson convinced Baumbach to direct it himself, due to the film being very personal to Baumbach." - IMDb

"All the performances are flawless, but Daniels' portrait of a man trying helplessly to break out of the cocoon of his own self-regard is a finely tuned tour de force and his shining hour onscreen. Without jerking tears or reducing the acid content of his wit, Baumbach's humane movie gets under your skin." - Peter Travers

[MacGuffin]

#5

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/25/propositionwideweb470x3ex7.jpg

The Proposition

Director: John Hillcoat

Country: Australia

"Rural Australia in the late nineteenth century: Capt. Stanley and his men capture two of the four Burns brothers, Charlie and Mike. Their gang is held responsible for attacking the Hopkins farm, raping pregnant Mrs. Hopkins and murdering the whole family. Arthur Burns, the eldest brother and the gang's mastermind, remains at large has and has retreated to a mountain hideout. Capt. Stanley's proposition to Charlie is to gain pardon and - more importantly - save his beloved younger brother Mike from the gallows by finding and killing Arthur within nine days.

"Originally, John Hillcoat approached Nick Cave about doing the soundtrack for a Western, eventually he asked if Cave would write the screenplay as well." - IMDb

"By the rot of their teeth, the dirt on their skin, and the indifference of the camera eye as it observes men beating, shooting, and betraying one another shall we know the damnation of the white populace in this bloody place Down Under." - Lisa Schwarzbaum

[MacGuffin]

#4

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5362/c42132r01zn3.jpg

Pride & Prejudice

Director: Joe Wright

Country: France, UK

"This tale of love and values unfolds in the class-conscious England of the late 18th century. The five Bennet sisters - including strong-willed Elizabeth and young Lydia - have been raised by their mother with one purpose in life: finding a husband. When a wealthy bachelor takes up residence in a nearby mansion, the Bennets are abuzz. Amongst the man's sophisticated circle of friends, surely there will be no shortage of suitors for the Bennet sisters. But when Elizabeth meets up with the handsome and - it would seem - snobbish Mr. Darcy, the battle of the sexes is joined.

"Emma Thompson did an uncredited and unpaid re-write of the script. She receives a "Special Thanks" credit at the end of the film. One of the two scenes that Emma Thompson wrote was the scene in which Charlotte Lucas tells Elizabeth Bennet that she will marry Mr. Collins. The other one is the scene in which Elizabeth Bennet tries to tell Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Darcy about Lydia's elopement with Wickham. Here Keira Knightley's walking in and out of the room was Emma Thompson's idea according to Joe Wright's DVD commentary." - IMDb

"Wright wastes no time in squeezing the plot into his just-over-two hours running time, but the film never feels rushed, particularly when so much of it is spent watching and waiting, as the characters come to understand the world they live in—and that even with its hypocrisies, love still means more than anyone can put into words." - Keith Phipps

[MacGuffin]

#3

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1858/brickphotoht3.jpg

Brick

Director: Rian Johnson

Country: USA

"The lonely teenager Brendan finds his former girlfriend Emily dead in the entrance of a tunnel of sewage and recalls her phone call two days ago, when she said to him that she was in trouble. Brendan, who still loved Emily, met bad elements of his high-school trying to contact her, and when he succeeded, she told him that she was OK. He hides her body in the tunnel and decides to investigate the meaning and connection of four words, including "brick" and "pin", that Emily told him to find who killed her. Using the support of his nerd friend Brain, he successively meets the small time drug dealers Kara, Dode, Brad Bramish, Laura and Tugger, to reach the teenager powerful drug dealer The Pin. Slowly, Brendan unravels the motives why Emily was killed and plots a revenge.

"Rian Johnson wrote the original screenplay in 1997. It took him six years in order to fund the project." - IMDb

"Filmed mostly during the day with few locations, Brick still manages to be visually arresting, packed with geeky allusions to everything from Raymond Chandler to Blue Velvet. The cross-pollination of genres leads to some hilarious juxtapositions, especially when the adult world comes into the picture: The biggest confrontation in the movie takes place over cereal and an oatmeal cookie, with a cheerfully oblivious mom dishing out the snacks. Brick doesn't necessarily amount to more than ingenuity for its own sake, but in Johnson's hands, that's still a significant sum." - Scott Tobias

[MacGuffin]

#2

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9462/cachepb5.jpg

Caché

Director: Michael Haneke

Country: France

"In Paris, Georges Laurent is a famous host of a literary talk show on TV, who lives in a comfortable house with his wife Anne and their teenager son Pierrot. When Georges and Anne receives videotapes of surveillance of their private life and weird and gore childlike drawings, they go to the police, but they do not get any protection since there is not a clear menace to the Laurent family. When Georges follows a clue in one of the tapes that shows his childhood home, he meets his former adopted brother, the Algerian Majid and accuses him of sending the tapes. Meanwhile, through glimpses of Georges' nightmares, his lies due to his jealous relationship with his foster brother are disclosed.

"In the scene right after the main character leaves Hajid's apartment and hides in a movie theater we can see posters of several European successful films. One of them is "La mala educación" by Pedro Almodóvar, another one is "Les choristes" (2004) directed by Christophe Barratier." - IMDb

"But the recent opus that came to mind while watching Haneke's was David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence," a movie also about a man, his family, and the vagaries in his past. Cronenberg turned a commentary on the proverbial sins of the father into an action movie. With his cheesy-satirical smokescreens, however, Cronenberg wanted us to laugh with him. Haneke is determined to haunt us. Maybe Georges's ghosts are ours, too." - Wesley Morris

[MacGuffin]

#1

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4064/thenewworldbf0.jpg

The New World

Director: Terrence Malick

Country: USA

"When 17th century explorer John Smith and a few men go up the river to trade with the Indians, he befriends the princess Pocahontas and they fall in love. While in love, Smith must obtain his duties as president of Jamestown fort and challenges to himself what is the better path for himself to take: stay with the fallen apart colony or go up the river and love Pocahontas in the wild. The Indians realize that the English do not mean to leave, so they attack. A few men at the fort decide to capture Pocahontas as a hostage so the Indians will not attack them. Smith is ordered to leave Jamestown by the King, and John Rolfe, a wealthy tobacco planter arrives at the fort. Pocahontas, now living there adapts to the English cultures and falls in love with Rolfe. She falls apart deciding who she is dedicated to, Smith or Rolfe.

"Before the start of the shoot, director Terrence Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki devised a series of photography rules that were to be used during filming. They were: - 1) No artificial lights. All is shot in natural light. - 2) No crane or dolly shots, just handheld or Steadicam shots. - 3) Everything is shot in the subjective view. - 4) All shots must be 'deep-focus shots', that is everything (foreground and background) is visible and focused. - 5) You (the camera crew) are encouraged to go and shoot unexpected things that might happen in accident or if your instinct tells you so. - 6) Selective shots: any shot that does not have visual strength is not used." - IMDb

"Like the creaky ships slowly shuttling the characters back and forth across the Atlantic, "The New World" is a work of breathtaking imagination, less a movie than a mode of transport, and in every sense a masterpiece." - Carina Chocano

[MacGuffin]

1. The New World 60.5
2. Caché 44
3. Brick 42
4. Pride and Prejudice 34.5
5. The Proposition 27.5
6. The Squid and the Whale 27
7. L'Enfant 26
8. Good Night, and Good Luck. 24.5
9. A History of Violence 23.5
10. Last Days 21.5

Just missed it:
Brokeback Mountain 20.5
Grizzly Man 20
Batman Begins 17
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 17.5
The Wayward Cloud 16.5
Three Times 16.5
Manderlay 15
Me You and Everyone We Know 14
Munich 11
Down in the Valley 10
Sin City 10

[Watashi]

Just missed it:

The Proposition 16
The Preposition 11.5


Uh....

[MacGuffin]

Uh....

Fixed.

[Watashi]

That means The Proposition is in the Top 5?

Woohoo!

[Boner M]

That's one handsome list, though Brick's placement is ridiculous.

[eternity]

That's one handsome list, though Brick's placement is ridiculous.

It deserves to be higher.

[baby doll]

Starting at the bottom: David Cronenberg, for all his talent, is probably the most overrated Canadian filmmaker around. (True, Deepa Mehta enjoys an international reputation she plainly doesn't deserve, but how many people thought Water was a great movie?) During the tax shelter days in the 70s, he made schlock horror films that only became fashionable retroactively when he started making art films in the 80s. And now that Telefilm, like the rest of the country, has swung to the right, he's making reputable genre fare. A History of Violence is more challenging than most multiplex gangster movies, but with Eastern Promises he's moved even further towards mainstream respectability, suggesting the nervous laughter the earlier film tends to provoke wasn't a purposeful stratedgy but evidence of his ambivilance towards the material.

Good Night, and Good Luck is compelling and well shot by Robert Elswit, but it's narrow liberal agenda doesn't leave any room for ambiguity. It wants us to nod in agreement (like Oprah) rather than to think.

The Squid and the Whale is terminally slight, so of course it won the Grand Prize at Sundance. It's watchable and funny at times, but I wish it were darker. I've always regarded Noel Burch's dismissal of Les Quatre cents coups for being amateurishly autobiographical as insanely wrong-headed, but the difference is that Truffaut had an interesting childhood--not to mention a stronger sense of storytelling and mise en scène. This is an amateurishly autobiographical story about a boring childhood that's not even very accomplished as a work of cinema. Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding is a major leap forward in every way, so no wonder it alienated reviewers looking for easy laughs.

The Proposition is inadvertedly the most compelling argument for a matriarchical society I can recall seeing in the movies. If Hawks' Rio Bravo made its homosocial in-club seem appealing, this film is a cousin to The Passion of the Christ (another movie directed by an Australian) in its fetishized suffering. It's slick and gripping, but not my idea of a mature work of art.

I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice, but serious, WTF?

I'll have to see it again, but The New World suggests that Malick's gone on autopilot, churning out the same story of Paradise Lost once more without expanding his style as he did in Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line.

[Pop Trash]

Starting at the bottom: David Cronenberg, for all his talent, is probably the most overrated Canadian filmmaker around. (True, Deepa Mehta enjoys an international reputation she plainly doesn't deserve, but how many people thought Water was a great movie?) During the tax shelter days in the 70s, he made schlock horror films that only became fashionable retroactively when he started making art films in the 80s. And now that Telefilm, like the rest of the country, has swung to the right, he's making reputable genre fare. A History of Violence is more challenging than most multiplex gangster movies, but with Eastern Promises he's moved even further towards mainstream respectability, suggesting the nervous laughter the earlier film tends to provoke wasn't a purposeful stratedgy but evidence of his ambivilance towards the material.

Good Night, and Good Luck is compelling and well shot by Robert Elswit, but it's narrow liberal agenda doesn't leave any room for ambiguity. It wants us to nod in agreement (like Oprah) rather than to think.

The Squid and the Whale is terminally slight, so of course it won the Grand Prize at Sundance. It's watchable and funny at times, but I wish it were darker. I've always regarded Noel Burch's dismissal of Les Quatre cents coups for being amateurishly autobiographical as insanely wrong-headed, but the difference is that Truffaut had an interesting childhood--not to mention a stronger sense of storytelling and mise en scène. This is an amateurishly autobiographical story about a boring childhood that's not even very accomplished as a work of cinema. Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding is a major leap forward in every way, so no wonder it alienated reviewers looking for easy laughs.

The Proposition is inadvertedly the most compelling argument for a matriarchical society I can recall seeing in the movies. If Hawks' Rio Bravo made its homosocial in-club seem appealing, this film is a cousin to The Passion of the Christ (another movie directed by an Australian) in its fetishized suffering. It's slick and gripping, but not my idea of a mature work of art.

I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice, but serious, WTF?

I'll have to see it again, but The New World suggests that Malick's gone on autopilot, churning out the same story of Paradise Lost once more without expanding his style as he did in Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line.

1. No.

2. Sort of.

3. Hell no.

4. Yeah I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this. I blame Cave's fashionably nihilistic screenplay just as much as Hillcoat. It is well made and has some striking cinematography that suggests Hillcoat might have a lot of talent so I do look forward to his take on The Road.

5. I turned it off after half an hour. What I saw was well made and well acted but I can just care less about Jane Austen. Atonement was good.

6. Maybe but it's still a pretty great film that will stand the test of time much better than other films of this decade. I look forward to watching the extended cut of this.

[soitgoes...]

I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice, but serious, WTF?
My favorite quirk of your's. The baby doll dismissal without ever seeing the film in question. Both irritating and amusing at the same time. :lol:

[MadMan]

1. The New World 60.5
2. Caché 44
3. Brick 42
4. Pride and Prejudice 34.5
5. The Proposition 27.5
6. The Squid and the Whale 27
7. L'Enfant 26
8. Good Night, and Good Luck. 24.5
9. A History of Violence 23.5
10. Last Days 21.5

Just missed it:
Brokeback Mountain 20.5
Grizzly Man 20
Batman Begins 17
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 17.5
The Wayward Cloud 16.5
Three Times 16.5
Manderlay 15
Me You and Everyone We Know 14
Munich 11
Down in the Valley 10
Sin City 10The New World as #1? Really? Honestly? Cause um, the last act pretty much ensured that the film wouldn't receive a score higher than an 85. Which is what I ended up giving it. I guess I should finally see Cache I guess. I'm really surprised that Brick cracked the Top 5.

[Derek]

My favorite quirk of your's. The baby doll dismissal without ever seeing the film in question. Both irritating and amusing at the same time. :lol:

Really? I like the outright dismissal of anything that ever plays in a multiplex. It's especially rich coming from a so-called auteurist considering auteurism started when critics looked deeper into films that they believed were unfairly dismissed as mainstream entertainment.

[Derek]

Cause um, the last act pretty much ensured that the film wouldn't receive a score higher than an 85. Which is what I ended up giving it.

Really. Cause um, the last act is pretty amazing and the final few minutes are among the most powerful and transcendent in all of cinema. Pretty much ensured I wouldn't give it less than a 91.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Really. Cause um, the last act is pretty amazing and the final few minutes are among the most powerful and transcendent in all of cinema. Pretty much ensured I wouldn't give it less than a 91.

:lol:

I love that there's only a 6 point difference between the two of you.

[Spinal]

Last Days is such crap. It astonishes me that people see it and that is what they want out of a film.

[Watashi]

Last Days is awesome.

As with Elephant.

And Paranoid Park (his best film).

Gus Van Sant makes films I should hate, but I found myself loving them. Still need to see Gerry.

[MacGuffin]

Fixed.

That's almost like saying Before Sunrise and Before Sunset suck because there is too much talking, it is to what effect Linklater and von Trier use the dialogue in order to achieve.

[transmogrifier]

Last Days is such crap. It astonishes me that people see it and that is what they want out of a film.

I think the exact same thing about Me, You and Everyone We Know. :)

[eternity]

Last Days is awesome.

As with Elephant.

And Paranoid Park (his best film).

Gus Van Sant makes films I should hate, but I found myself loving them. Still need to see Gerry.

While I'm not all that fond of Last Days, I LOVE Gerry, and it's about as strong as Gus Van Sant can be with films that completely alienate everyone.

[Grouchy]

I really don't like History of Violence and Squid and the Whale. I think both are crap, actually.

I passionately agree with Brick, Caché and The Child.

I like New World and Good Night and Good Luck, but I wouldn't watch them again.

Where's The Descent? Surely it must at least have been an honorary mention. No?

[MacGuffin]

I really don't like History of Violence and Squid and the Whale. I think both are crap, actually.

I passionately agree with Brick, Caché and The Son.

I like New World and Good Night and Good Luck, but I wouldn't watch them again.

Where's The Descent? Surely it must at least have been an honorary mention. No?

I think it only got somewhere around nine points.

[baby doll]

Maybe but it's still a pretty great film that will stand the test of time much better than other films of this decade. I look forward to watching the extended cut of this.When we talk about films standing the test of time, it's always always always mainstream commercial fare. For example, Chicago won the Oscar and made piles of cash, but The Pianist is a more ambitious and interesting film (albeit not in the same league as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown or Bitter Moon), so it's more likely to be remembered ten years down the road. If one could imagine prior to The Departed a Live 8-esque benefit concert to get Martin Scorsese his Oscar, nobody seems too perturbed when directors like Todd Haynes and Jim Jarmusch--to say nothing of filmmakers outside the US--don't get a fraction of the recognition that Scorsese's received.

[The Mike]

This list severely lacks fun. And by fun, I mean Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Serenity.

[baby doll]

My favorite quirk of your's. The baby doll dismissal without ever seeing the film in question. Both irritating and amusing at the same time. :lol:Based on Atonement, Wright's stock in trade appears to be juicing up Masterpiece Theatre-style literary adaptations with show-offy camera movements.

[baby doll]

Really? I like the outright dismissal of anything that ever plays in a multiplex. It's especially rich coming from a so-called auteurist considering auteurism started when critics looked deeper into films that they believed were unfairly dismissed as mainstream entertainment.First of all, in the 50s and 60s when auteurist criticism started up, there was no such thing as a multiplex. And if you know of any mulitplex filmmakers equal to Samuel Fuller, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk and Orson Welles, I'd love to see their work.

EDIT: Okay, Wes Anderson but he's the only one.

[chrisnu]

Last Days is such crap. It astonishes me that people see it and that is what they want out of a film.
I absolutely hated Last Days. It felt so formless. Not in an intriguing way, but in a boring as hell and seeing what sticks on the wall kind of way.

Thinking of that "song" makes me want to punch Michael Pitt in the face, all over again.

[Pop Trash]

I absolutely hated Last Days. It felt so formless. Not in an intriguing way, but in a boring as hell and seeing what sticks on the wall kind of way.

Thinking of that "song" makes me want to punch Michael Pitt in the face, all over again.
Ironically, I thought the movie was pure form.

[Pop Trash]

When we talk about films standing the test of time, it's always always always mainstream commercial fare. For example, Chicago won the Oscar and made piles of cash, but The Pianist is a more ambitious and interesting film (albeit not in the same league as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown or Bitter Moon), so it's more likely to be remembered ten years down the road. If one could imagine prior to The Departed a Live 8-esque benefit concert to get Martin Scorsese his Oscar, nobody seems too perturbed when directors like Todd Haynes and Jim Jarmusch--to say nothing of filmmakers outside the US--don't get a fraction of the recognition that Scorsese's received.
The fuck? I thought we were talking about The New World here. Who gives a shit about awards? That was my point. I think people will remember THE FILM The New World long after anyone remembers what AWARDS it won or didn't win.

[Bosco B Thug]

When we talk about films standing the test of time, it's always always always mainstream commercial fare. For example, Chicago won the Oscar and made piles of cash, but The Pianist is a more ambitious and interesting film (albeit not in the same league as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown or Bitter Moon), so it's more likely to be remembered ten years down the road. If one could imagine prior to The Departed a Live 8-esque benefit concert to get Martin Scorsese his Oscar, nobody seems too perturbed when directors like Todd Haynes and Jim Jarmusch--to say nothing of filmmakers outside the US--don't get a fraction of the recognition that Scorsese's received. Yeah, I usually think of the phrase "stand the test of time" as meaning when a film lives on in film theory, analysis, and scholarship. But it could also be seen your way, I guess.


Based on Atonement, Wright's stock in trade appears to be juicing up Masterpiece Theatre-style literary adaptations with show-offy camera movements. Pride and Prejudice is far and away a better film.


First of all, in the 50s and 60s when auteurist criticism started up, there was no such thing as a multiplex. And if you know of any mulitplex filmmakers equal to Samuel Fuller, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk and Orson Welles, I'd love to see their work.

EDIT: Okay, Wes Anderson but he's the only one. That's actually a good question. A hard one, too. American multiplex filmmakers, you probably mean. Wes, arguably. I'd say Tarantino but I'm afraid to. I can't think of any others that are deep enough into their career to be for sure. I won't say Spielberg. Haven't seen enough Demme. Probably forgetting some major candidates... or maybe not. Haven't seen enough Scorsese but I did really like The Departed, so...

[Derek]

First of all, in the 50s and 60s when auteurist criticism started up, there was no such thing as a multiplex. And if you know of any mulitplex filmmakers equal to Samuel Fuller, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk and Orson Welles, I'd love to see their work.

EDIT: Okay, Wes Anderson but he's the only one.

I never said there was, but people were dismissing directors like Hawks and Minnelli for making mere entertainment. I'm not suggesting there are directors as great as the ones you mentioned to be found there. It's not even your disdain of multiplex cinema that I find bothersome as I find much of it awful and most mediocre at best. It's your constant use of absolutes and blanket statements used to dismiss otherwise good/deserving films and solid directors using the multiplex insult as some sort of concrete proof of their uselessness. I can't think of many examples off-hand, but your dismissal of Eastwood as a mere multiplex director was quite amusing. Whether or not your like his work, I think it's fairly clear he's at least worthy of consideration as an auteur.

[baby doll]

The fuck? I thought we were talking about The New World here. Who gives a shit about awards? That was my point. I think people will remember THE FILM The New World long after anyone remembers what AWARDS it won or didn't win.Maybe I didn't make my point well. For instance, when people talk about which film should've been won the Oscar for a certain year, it's always from a narrow pool of mainstream American releases. Maybe Raging Bull was a better film than Ordinary People (I don't know), but it would be irrelevant to point out that The Falls, Loulou and Popeye are all vastly superior to Scorsese's film (Greenaway's is more avant-garde and a lot funnier, Pialat's is better acted and more focussed as storytelling, Altman's is more eccentric and personal) since they either fared poorly at the box office or weren't widely seen, and they weren't nominated for any Oscars. Malick's film on the other hand, got a wide release, did alright and was nominated for best cinematography.

[baby doll]

I never said there was, but people were dismissing directors like Hawks and Minnelli for making mere entertainment. I'm not suggesting there are directors as great as the ones you mentioned to be found there. It's not even your disdain of multiplex cinema that I find bothersome as I find much of it awful and most mediocre at best. It's your constant use of absolutes and blanket statements used to dismiss otherwise good/deserving films and solid directors using the multiplex insult as some sort of concrete proof of their uselessness. I can't think of many examples off-hand, but your dismissal of Eastwood as a mere multiplex director was quite amusing. Whether or not your like his work, I think it's fairly clear he's at least worthy of consideration as an auteur.I've considered six or so of his films, many of them quite reputable, and I found them aesthetically bland, heavy handed and impersonal.

[soitgoes...]

Maybe I didn't make my point well. For instance, when people talk about which film should've been won the Oscar for a certain year, it's always from a narrow pool of mainstream American releases. Maybe Raging Bull was a better film than Ordinary People (I don't know), but it would be irrelevant to point out that The Falls, Loulou and Popeye are all vastly superior to Scorsese's film (Greenaway's is more avant-garde and a lot funnier, Pialat's is better acted and more focussed as storytelling, Altman's is more eccentric and personal) since they either fared poorly at the box office or weren't widely seen, and they weren't nominated for any Oscars. Malick's film on the other hand, got a wide release, did alright and was nominated for best cinematography.
You lost me at Popeye, but yeah, the Academy Award is generally going to celebrate the works of American films. Afterall the majority of the voters are American, and it's impossible to watch every international film in contention for a given year, unless that is your job. I'm pretty sure you aren't going to find many here who disagree with you that the Oscars is a poor way of determining the worth of film.

And Malick's film is hardly typical Hollywood fare. It opened "wide" to 811 theaters, and made only $30 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. That is not successful.

[soitgoes...]

Based on Atonement, Wright's stock in trade appears to be juicing up Masterpiece Theatre-style literary adaptations with show-offy camera movements.My first two Altman features were Popeye and Prêt-Ã*-Porter. I dislike the first one, and despise the latter. Lucky for me I kept on truckin' through his films.

[baby doll]

And Malick's film is hardly typical Hollywood fare. It opened "wide" to 811 theaters, and made only $30 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. That is not successful.Again, it's a matter of context. For some one like Spielberg, 811 theatres is nothing, but I can't imagine a film by Philippe Garrel or Tsai Ming-liang even opening on 100 screens.

[Boner M]

I think the exact same thing about Me, You and Everyone We Know. :)
Pride and Prejudice for me. It's not bad, but I just don't get it. It's easy to imagine Wright directing: "Girls! More mud on your dresses! Cameraman, close-up of that pig's balls! Remember, we're going for revisionism!"

Last Days will endure.

[transmogrifier]

Pride and Prejudice for me. It's not bad, but I just don't get it. At all. I can just picture Wright directing it: "Girls! More mud on your dresses! Cameraman, close-up of that pig's balls! Remember, we're going for revisionism!"

You're not playing the game right - you're supposed to choose a film that you know the poster you are quoting likes, in order to make a cheap potshot in lieu of anything meaningful to say. I don't care one way or the other about Pride and Prejudice.

Keep up! :)

[Boner M]

You're not playing the game right - you're supposed to choose a film that you know the poster you are quoting likes, in order to make a cheap potshot in lieu of anything meaningful to say. I don't care one way or the other about Pride and Prejudice.

Keep up! :)
I don't know of any 2005 films you liked that I didn't. This game sucks!

[transmogrifier]

Jarhead? King Kong? 40YO Virg.?

[Boner M]

Jarhead? King Kong? 40YO Virg.?
Like, but don't love all three. :sad:

[baby doll]

Yeah, I usually think of the phrase "stand the test of time" as meaning when a film lives on in film theory, analysis, and scholarship. But it could also be seen your way, I guess.Looking back on the favorites of the Cahiers du Cinema gang way back in the 50s (Hitchcock, Lang, Ray), it's surprising how well their evalutations have held up. When we say a film hasn't stood the test of time, we mean commercial films that make a lot of money and are quickly forgotten.


Pride and Prejudice is far and away a better film.This is hardly a persuasive argument.


That's actually a good question. A hard one, too. American multiplex filmmakers, you probably mean. Wes, arguably. I'd say Tarantino but I'm afraid to. I can't think of any others that are deep enough into their career to be for sure. I won't say Spielberg. Haven't seen enough Demme. Probably forgetting some major candidates... or maybe not. Haven't seen enough Scorsese but I did really like The Departed, so...There are certainly multiplex filmmakers in other countries (at least one new Korean film opens in Pusan every week), so there's no reason to be exclusive about it.

If you're afraid to say Tarantino, maybe that's because you know deep down he's not all that great. Admittedly, I loved Pulp Fiction when I was eleven--perhaps almost as much as Tarantino loved Z-grade genre fare at the same age. Yet as I grow older, I find Tarantino's "never grow up" attitude just a little sad. Going back to Korean multiplex directors, Tarantino claims to be obsessed with lousy commercial films from Asia. It's understandable that middle school girls would to go see these films (that's who they're made for), but when you're a middle-aged man, isn't it kind of pathetic? Similarly, I've never read any of the Harry Potter books because I'm an adult. I'd rather read something more challenging, like Franz Kafka or Edith Wharton.

[soitgoes...]

Again, it's a matter of context. For some one like Spielberg, 811 theatres is nothing, but I can't imagine a film by Philippe Garrel or Tsai Ming-liang even opening on 100 screens.
I'm going to have to back out of this discussion, as I've no clue apparently where it is going or likely where it has been. I thought it was about Malick's film, not Speilberg, Garrel or Tsai; and whether or not it "will stand the test of time." Apparently it won't because it was a successful American film (it wasn't), that was released in a predetermined number of theaters (I'm not certain what this number is, perhaps 500?), and it garnered at least one technical Academy Award nomination? Is that right? Only obscure, flops that are ignored by the Academy will stand the test of time? Sucks for The Godfather. Then again you have ten films better than it from the year it came out, and every one matches the standard you set for "standing the test of time." Perhaps... nah, I'm done for the night.

[Watashi]

I would love to hang out with soori drunk.

[Spinal]

I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice, but serious, WTF?



This is hardly a persuasive argument.



Agreed.

[MacGuffin]

Agreed.

I don't really think he was trying to argue the first statement.

[baby doll]

I would love to hang out with soori drunk.So I could tell you what's really on my mind.

[Bosco B Thug]

There are certainly multiplex filmmakers in other countries (at least one new Korean film opens in Pusan every week), so there's no reason to be exclusive about it. Well, we were mainly considering the re-evaluation of mainstream American filmmakers back then, and then speculating a comparison to the mainstream "multiplex" filmmakers now.


This is hardly a persuasive argument. Atonement is a really bad or at least very unsatisfying sexual experience, while Pride & Prejucide (which you really should at least give a chance eventually, if only to cement the idea of Wright's hackery) stretches long and sweetly into the night.

I am less convinced of Wright now, though, with Atonement, and The Soloist looking rather mediocre. And Pride and Prejudice does have its nagging shortcomings.


If you're afraid to say Tarantino, maybe that's because you know deep down he's not all that great. No, I was just afraid I'd get a reply like yours. :P


Admittedly, I loved Pulp Fiction when I was eleven--perhaps almost as much as Tarantino loved Z-grade genre fare at the same age. Yet as I grow older, I find Tarantino's "never grow up" attitude just a little sad. Going back to Korean multiplex directors, Tarantino claims to be obsessed with lousy commercial films from Asia. It's understandable that middle school girls would to go see these films (that's who they're made for), but when you're a middle-aged man, isn't it kind of pathetic? Similarly, I've never read any of the Harry Potter books because I'm an adult. I'd rather read something more challenging, like Franz Kafka or Edith Wharton. I'm confused.


Looking back on the favorites of the Cahiers du Cinema gang way back in the 50s (Hitchcock, Lang, Ray), it's surprising how well their evalutations have held up. When we say a film hasn't stood the test of time, we mean commercial films that make a lot of money and are quickly forgotten. You're confusing. So the phrase, as you are considering it now, isn't in reference to films that lay outside the commercial mainstream radar and so we're essentially in agreeance. I think.