Match Cut's Movies to See Before You Die (or Get a Girlfriend)

[transmogrifier]

43.
http://www.wilson-brothers.com/luke/photos/movies/royal/royal-tenenbaums3.jpg

"Hell of a damn grave. Wish it were mine."

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 35
Highest ranking: 1 (Sycophant)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.6/10)



Yeah, The Life Aquatic is a much more challenging film than The Royal Tenenbaums - the characters are less schematized, their character arcs are unpredictable, and the film is wonderfully impolite at times. I think Anderson's a fine, nuanced director, though, thinking back over his work, and thankfully there were less "over-directed" scenes here than in 'Tenenbaums.'



Anderson's style seems both more postmodern and more complex in how it relates fiction to reality. In his films, as Duncan said, the characters yearn for a kind of whimsical world of yesteryear. But the form of the films insists that this whimsical world is the actual world of the films themselves. The symmetric compositions, the slow motion, the art direction littered with personal mementos, and the costumed characters all present the world as something contrived, something fictional; this effect is heightened in Tenenbaums by the narrator reading the story from a whimsical little book, and in The Life Aquatic by the similarities between Zissou's films and Anderson's film, as baby doll mentioned. And this fictional world isn't just any fiction: it has precisely the sense of a whimsical, ideal world that the characters yearn for (and which probably never existed); at the same time, as Duncan noted, all of the mementos and costumes encapsulate the characters—not in their entirety, but in their storybook dimensions. In a sense, the characters have secreted their desires and essences into the style of the film itself. Thus, the style surrounds the characters with the world that they are perpetually searching for, adding to the sense of bittersweet melancholy that pervades the stories. But the style is also extremely overt, and as you say, it draws attention to itself. This makes sure that we see the world not merely as it relates to the characters, but as it relates to Anderson himself. The world is presented as his creation as much as it is the ether of his characters' wistful yearnings. But rather than the authorial voice taking precedence over the characters' subjectivity, as in much of traditional pre-modern storytelling, here the authorial voice and the characters' subjectivity meet in the film's form and perpetually play off each other within it. This is most exemplified by scenes like Margot's arrival on the bus in Tenenbaums. Margot comes toward us in slow motion, her arrival set to music; we see her as the idealized image that Richie wishes for. But the characters' conversation (and both earlier and later events) ensures that we see this moment through a bittersweet lens; we know the characters are deeply unhappy, and that the film's presentation of this moment is a reflection of their desires rather than a fulfillment of them. At the same time, the narration, the costumes, and the overt style insist that the entire scene is an artifice. But this artificiality is not ironic. It is the author's voice, and the author's voice carries all the wistful melancholy of the characters themselves; he beckons us to sympathize, to wish for this artificial world even as we see it as an artifice. Unlike in Aronofsky's style, where the form gives us the characters' subjectivity in as direct a manner as possible, in Anderson's style we are presented with multiple layers of fiction and reality.


Using this opportunity to think out loud. Is The Royal Tenenbaums a film about characters searching for an impossible, fairy-tale world where they can finally find some sort of cathartic peace? I suppose in many ways it is. Characters desiring something which is either long past, dead, or never came to fruition in the first place (in that sense, it's sometimes less about nostalgia and more about the frustrations of desire... both of which lead the characters on the same search for this impossible world of catharsis, reconciliation and wish-fulfillment).

Wes Anderson summary:
The Royal Tenenbaums #43
Rushmore #148
The Life Aquatic #446

[dreamdead]

I regard PDL more highly for its pure idiosyncratic take on the romantic comedy, where the genre is shown a sense of visual grace and alienated otherness that is unusual for the genre. These are people who are incredibly battered by their society, and the film does not hide from that fact. And its complete recapitulation of Sandler's persona is quite nice. Finally, it has the great P.S. Hoffman line on the phone exchange. I grin whenever I hear it.

More importantly, though, is the love shown to both The Thin Red Line and It's a Wonderful Life.

[transmogrifier]

#42:
In a Vanity Fair article, Kubrick admitted that he thought this was maybe the best film ever made, and certainly the best cast.

Also, the only film to date to be nominated for four acting Oscars entirely for male performances.

#41:

IMDB keywords:

Gay Interest (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/gay-interest/)
Grandmother (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/grandmother/)
Eye Patch (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/eye-patch/)

[Watashi]

The Godfather?

[transmogrifier]

The Godfather?

Bingo.

[transmogrifier]

42.
http://imcdb.org/images/008/441.jpg

"I spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Women and children can be careless. But not men."

The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 33
Highest ranking: 12 (Fezzik)
AFI ranking (2007): 2
IMDB Ranking: 2 (9.1/10)



I suppose you could say the same about The Godfather. How many times do we need to see someone get shot?


Please do not misunderstand me: Citizen Kane is a great movie. As are Casablanca, The Godfather, On the Waterfront, It's a Wonderful Life, 8 1/2, Lawrence of Arabia, Pulp Fiction, 2001, Rashomon, etc, etc, etc. All great (inarguable!). But when your "greatest films" list contains many, if not all of those films, the only thing it indicates is that you are a champion of the status quo, and that means you are boring.

Including one, two, three on your list is understandable, warranted, and will not indicate anything beyond those films' high reputation as being for a reason--they are great movies. But if you want anyone (well, at least me) to pay attention to your list, please go out of your way to make it personal.


Just finished watching The Godfather again for the first time in a few years. This time on Blu-ray. Stunning visuals, to say the least.

Ah, it still stands as an absolutely fantastic film. Indelibly masterful. What a superb, disciplined control of tone and ambience. Can't wait to check out the second one again tomorrow night.

[transmogrifier]

#41:
IMDB keywords:

Gay Interest (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/gay-interest/)
Grandmother (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/grandmother/)
Eye Patch (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/eye-patch/)

Recital (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/recital/)
Faked Death (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/faked-death/)
Spanking (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/spanking/)

#40:

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/billypilgrimnz/no41.jpg

[Fezzik]

Recital (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/recital/)
Faked Death (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/faked-death/)
Spanking (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/spanking/)

#40:

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/billypilgrimnz/no41.jpg

That pic looks to be from Raiders of the Lost Ark...but that can't be it.

Barry Lyndon?

[Raiders]

That pic looks to be from Raiders of the Lost Ark...but that can't be it.

Barry Lyndon?

I think it is Raiders, and interestingly enough, I think #41 is Barry Lyndon.

[transmogrifier]

I suck at quiz questions - they're all too easy! It's hard for films I haven't seen myself to know, for example, whether spanking is a crucial part of Barry Lyndon or not :)

[transmogrifier]

41.
http://thisisanadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/barrylyndon.jpg

"Kiss me, me boy, for we'll never meet again."


Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 29.4
Highest ranking: 1 (Brightside)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 245 (8.1/10)


Best. Kubrick. Ever.




Kubrick is cold too, though, and Barry Lyndon is still one of the most passionate films I've seen.




I think it's very good although not one of Kubrick's best... beautiful but could have done a bit more with it's storyline. Stylistically the zooms are the weakest part of the picture... when I watched the film I conceived of the zooms as some sort of meta-textual zooming in on/re-framing of and examination of 'history', but any mildly interesting intellectual concerns which are gained via the technique are in my mind lost in the aesthetic tedium which nearly always seems to be an intrinsic element of said technique.

[Sven]

Not to pimp myself or anything, but:


Cosmic hysteria, channeled through the elegance of Thackeray’s wit and Kubrick’s impeccable symmetry.

That quote you got from Qrazy is just about the wrongest thing I've read on this site.

[transmogrifier]

40.
http://drzaius.ics.uci.edu/blogs/setbang/raiders_of_the_lost_ark_2.gif

"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 28
Highest ranking: 3 (soitgoes..)
AFI ranking (2007): 66
IMDB Ranking: 18 (8.7/10)

Spielberg overview:
Raiders of the Lost Ark #40
Artificial Intelligence: A.I. #56
Close Encounters of the Third Kind #89
Jaws #91
Saving Private Ryan #108
Schindler's List #178
Minority Report #203
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial #262



Raiders of the Lost Ark (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=24633&postcount=159) is one of the most perfectly paced action films ever made. Present day genre filmmakers should be studying this film to learn exactly how to plot, pace, and execute their action films. Like a masterclass piece of classical music in which every note is written and played with a mathematical and soulful precision, every part of Raiders is perfectly orchestrated and executed. This film marks the high point of Spielberg's and Lucas's careers, and will forever remain a bellwether of grand, pulpy adventure.



If I was rockyrules, I'd be like "Y'know what, today I'm going to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark" and then I'd go to the videostore be like "Do you have a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark?" and they'd be like "Yes, we do have a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark, would you like to rent it?" and I'd be like "Yes" And then I'd take the DVD home and be like, watching it.



I just finished Raiders of the Lost Ark a few minutes ago. The monkey is finally off my back.

And the movie is a masterpiece. Why I hadn't seen it until now, I have no idea.



It doesn't make sense to me when someone says any of the Indy films are better than or even approach the greatness achieved by Raiders. I've read the arguments before in the various incarnations of Match Cut, and my only response is :rolleyes:.




Anyone who doesn't like that film, I don't like them period.

[Watashi]

So Hook didn't make it? :sad:

[transmogrifier]

#39:

Marlon Brando, Albert Finney, Anthony Perkins, Alec Guinness

#38:

IMDB Key words:

Seduction (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/seduction/)
Monk (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/monk/)
Duck (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/duck/)

[transmogrifier]

So Hook didn't make it? :sad:

Sorry to break it to you like this...

[Winston*]

Lawrence of Arabia and Andrei Rublev

[Spinal]

I'm hoping my Godfather quote made more sense in context. Brilliant film, by the way, in case anyone was led to believe I thought otherwise.

[transmogrifier]

I'm hoping my Godfather quote made more sense in context. Brilliant film, by the way, in case anyone was led to believe I thought otherwise.

;)

Bit purposeful, on my part. You were being sarcastic with regards someone complaining about another film being repetitive in some particular way.

[Ezee E]

Why would #39 be Lawrence of Arabia?

[Qrazy]

Not to pimp myself or anything, but:



That quote you got from Qrazy is just about the wrongest thing I've read on this site.

It is a rather terribly formed sentence but I stand by it's content. I'm well aware of the thematic complexities his zooms are supposed to hold. In fact I think we had that conversation before. However, I still don't feel that they function well aesthetically. I also did not and still don't care about anything that happened in the story. If Kubrick's intention was for me not to care than he succeeded. If his intention was for me to care, then he failed. If your intention is to refuse to accept anything to do with directorial intention than so be it.

[Qrazy]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[Sven]

I still don't feel that they function well aesthetically.

So... do you just not like the zoom?


If your intention is to refuse to accept anything to do with directorial intention than so be it.

I don't understand. Are you saying that YOU refuse to accept anything to do with intention? I mean... I liked the story. I cared. But the point of the film is that nothing that happens is of any importance, which should not translate to investment, at least, not within the philosophical context of Kubrick's presentation.

[Sven]

Why would #39 be Lawrence of Arabia?

All candidates for the role.

[Pop Trash]

Anyone else surprised by the low placing of The Godfather? I'm pretty confident either one or two would make my top ten of all time. Too bad I didn't participate in this.

[Qrazy]

So... do you just not like the zoom?

Yes, on an aesthetic level. I was not trying to formulate an objective criticism for the film. I was saying why I don't consider it one of his best.


I don't understand. Are you saying that YOU refuse to accept anything to do with intention?

No I was saying you do because that's what you usually say in similar situations... such as... 'the directors intent does not matter to me'. It was a joke.

I mean... I liked the story. I cared. But the point of the film is that nothing that happens is of any importance, which should not translate to investment, at least, not within the philosophical context of Kubrick's presentation.[/QUOTE]

Well then he succeeded in relation to my lack of interest, but it's a rather hollow success in my eyes. I don't feel that the great lesson of history is that nothing is of any importance. Events/time is transient and nature indifferent, but the events of a person's life are certainly important/significant to the the person they happen to. I certainly don't think that Lyndon would feel that his life wasn't of any importance... frustrating and somewhat squandered perhaps, but not unimportant. In fact you'll have to do more to convince me that Kubrick and/or the film think that nothing that happens is of any importance. I think Kubrick and/or the film think/express the notion that historical events and events in general are important albeit transient and somewhat arbitrary.

[Sven]

Yes, on an aesthetic level. I was not trying to formulate an objective criticism for the film. I was saying why I don't consider it one of his best

I see. So the problem is you. As usual. :)


No I was saying you do because that's what you usually say in similar situations... such as... 'the directors intent does not matter to me'. It was a joke.

My aesthetic empiricism is weakening. I'm not so big on intention-free readings these days. Evolution!


I don't feel that the great lesson of history is that nothing is of any importance.

I don't think Kubrick is commenting on history as a phenomenon of the past, but rather as a perpetual phenomenon. I would argue that the film espouses an even more nihilistic position: that nothing, the present included, is of any importance.


Events/time is transient and nature indifferent, but the events of a person's life are certainly important/significant to the the person they happen to. I certainly don't think that Lyndon would feel that his life wasn't of any importance... frustrating and somewhat squandered perhaps, but not unimportant.

Right. We all like to think this. About our own lives, the lives of our loved ones, etc etc. But Kubrick is more of an eternalist: he doesn't contextualize people within their specific chronological or emotional subjectivities. I can see how one may have issues with that position, being that it basically removes the individual consciousness from its self-awareness and basically transforms the body into a motorized mass of flesh and little more. But I find it a fascinating position (and as executed in Kubrick's film, enormously witty (the movie is hilarious!).


In fact you'll have to do more to convince me that Kubrick and/or the film think that nothing that happens is of any importance.

This has been discussed at great length in a great many places, so I will let you seek it out. But I will make a couple of quick notes: 1) the title card at the end of the film reads "It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarrelled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now." and 2) the zoom! did you notice (hopefully I'm right about this, I'm pretty sure I am) that all of the zooms are zoom-OUTs, not INs? Fill the frame with a face. The face is expressive. Zoom out. The face suddenly becomes nothing but a very small part of a gigantic world. Kubrick reduces the significance of his characters by placing them within an environment that is always larger than them.


I think Kubrick and/or the film think/express the notion that historical events and events in general are important albeit transient and somewhat arbitrary.

Uh-oh, Mr. Anti-Semantics. Things that are transient (their presence dictated by a time that will inevitably vanish) and arbitrary (without impact) could very easily be argued as unimportant. Synonyms, synonyms!

[Sven]

I should correct my assessment of "arbitrary" there because I wasn't thinking down the more common use of the word.

So replace the parenthetical phrase with "subject to change without reason."

[Qrazy]

I see. So the problem is you. As usual. :)

Everyone is entitled to their aesthetic gripes, although they don't all have to agree on which gripes to have. You have gripes with many of Jackson's stylistic flourishes for instance.


My aesthetic empiricism is weakening. I'm not so big on intention-free readings these days. Evolution!

Good man.


I don't think Kubrick is commenting on history as a phenomenon of the past, but rather as a perpetual phenomenon. I would argue that the film espouses an even more nihilistic position: that nothing, the present included, is of any importance.

I agree with your first sentence in that he is aware of and interested in the present becoming the past, etc. I disagree with your second sentence, I don't think the film does that, more below.


Right. We all like to think this. About our own lives, the lives of our loved ones, etc etc. But Kubrick is more of an eternalist: he doesn't contextualize people within their specific chronological or emotional subjectivities. I can see how one may have issues with that position, being that it basically removes the individual consciousness from its self-awareness and basically transforms the body into a motorized mass of flesh and little more. But I find it a fascinating position (and as executed in Kubrick's film, enormously witty (the movie is hilarious!).

Can't say I really agree. In Paths of Glory Kirk Douglas emotional subjectivity seems fairly important and central to the film. In The Shining Jack's psychological unraveling bleeds into the atmosphere of the hotel and vice versa. In Lyndon the events in Barry's life have significance for him. We bear witness to his happy moments, his sad moments, etc. I don't see why Kubrick would make a film about Lyndon if he didn't care about the character. I think he cares a great deal about both Lyndon the character and Lyndon's story and what the story tells us about a specific period, about a lifestyle, about nobility, gain, loss, etc... and finally about history and death as the great equalizers.


This has been discussed at great length in a great many places, so I will let you seek it out. But I will make a couple of quick notes: 1) the title card at the end of the film reads "It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarrelled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now." and 2) the zoom! did you notice (hopefully I'm right about this, I'm pretty sure I am) that all of the zooms are zoom-OUTs, not INs? Fill the frame with a face. The face is expressive. Zoom out. The face suddenly becomes nothing but a very small part of a gigantic world. Kubrick reduces the significance of his characters by placing them within an environment that is always larger than them.

I am quite fond of the end title card also but I interpreted it as meaning that death is the great equalizer. It's they are all equal now, not their lives were all equally meaningless. They are all equal now that they are dead but these people did live (in a fictional sense... in that similar people did live), these events did transpire (also fictional) and these events had meaning for the people who experienced them. They also have meaning for us in so far as we are experiencing a record of their lives and can potentially learn from their mistakes. History is important precisely because it has happened, it informs the present.

I don't see the final title card as evidence that nothing that happened was of any importance. I think the film's message is actually quite the opposite. The loves of Barry's life, the man on the battlefield dying in his arms, his final choice not to kill Lord Bullingdon, they all shaped his life. Now perhaps Lyndon's honorable deed was foolish and misplaced in so far as it provided him with very little in the twilight years of his waking life, but this does not mean his final choice was an unimportant one.

Nah there are lots of zoom ins.

http://www.jeffreyscottbernstein.com/kubrick/barrylyndon.html


Uh-oh, Mr. Anti-Semantics. Things that are transient (their presence dictated by a time that will inevitably vanish) and arbitrary (without impact) could very easily be argued as unimportant. Synonyms, synonyms!

Unimportant to me suggests of no interest or value to anyone at all. It is a greater statement about the course of human events than that time is transient and that our lives are dictated by arbitrary forces beyond our control. If you meant only that the events of Barry's life are transient and arbitrary, then I agree with that.

[Sven]

Also I'd like to use this opportunity (in case I don't feel like replying to whatever Qrazy's cooking up, if anything) to express pleasure at the idea that so many here had Barry Lyndon in their top 100. Very, very cool. Restores my faith in this place, really. Okay, not really. But still. Really.

[lovejuice]

Anyone else surprised by the low placing of The Godfather? I'm pretty confident either one or two would make my top ten of all time. Too bad I didn't participate in this.
i'm more surprised by low placing of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[Spinal]

i'm more surprised by low placing of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Yeah, I thought that would be a lot higher.

[transmogrifier]

39.
http://cinematicpassions.files.wordpr ess.com/2008/06/lawrence-of-arabia-19.jpg

"Truly, for some men nothing is written unless THEY write it."


Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
List mentions: 8
Average ranking: 26.6
Highest ranking: 2 (soitgoes..)
AFI ranking (2007): 7
IMDB Ranking: 39 (8.6/10) [FINALLY!]

David Lean summary:
Lawrence of Arabia #39
The Bridge on the River Kwai #523


I've actually owned Lawrence of Arabia for about three years, but still never seen it.

*hides*



Saw Lawrence of Arabia on a big screen this weekend. You can't help but bask in a film like this. Some of the compositions made me weep a bit, right there in my seat. Details that I had once complained about were swept aside. What a great goddamn movie.




Lawrence of Arabia was good. Very good. It's really beautiful more than anything. Even O'Toole's amazing characterization is dwarfed by the scope of the shots. Inspiring stuff.

[Sven]

Everyone is entitled to their aesthetic gripes, although they don't all have to agree on which gripes to have. You have gripes with many of Jackson's stylistic flourishes for instance.

I don't think I have any problems with Jackson's flourishes. It's the way he applies them that bothers me. I actually don't think there are any techniques that bother me in themselves. I'll have to think about that.

Can't say I really agree. In Paths of Glory Kirk Douglas emotional subjectivity seems fairly important and central to the film. In The Shining Jack's psychological unraveling bleeds into the atmosphere of the hotel and vice versa.

Yeah, not every Kubrick film deals in the cosmic so bluntly the way Lyndon does, I think, but I still think there are issues in both Paths of Glory and The Shining that indicate a disinterestedness from the temporal concerns of the individual man (such as the picture reveal in Shining and the emphasis on man's inevitability to be cruel to one another in Glory).


I don't see why Kubrick would make a film about Lyndon if he didn't care about the character. I think he cares a great deal about both Lyndon the character and Lyndon's story and what the story tells us about a specific period, about a lifestyle, about nobility, gain, loss, etc... and finally about history and death as the great equalizers.

Again, we're not talking about care here. I'm sure he cares for the characters as much as an expert storyteller cares about his/her characters. But it's their role in the larger vehicle of time, not the narrative, that makes the impression. I don't really dig on nihilism (my mention of it before was moderately facetious), so to a degree I agree with you: one of the reasons I love the film so much is because it's so gosh darn successful as a narrative. Scenes are excitingly executed, characters act compellingly, despite the length and pacing I find it to be highly watchable, not just aesthetically (though it's damn beautiful) but almost as a road movie, where we share unpredictable exploits with an ever-evolving protagonist. Still, ultimately, it's Kubrick's commentary on time as an equalizer of all things that I find makes a highly enjoyable film a masterpiece.


They also have meaning for us in so far as we are experiencing a record of their lives and can potentially learn from their mistakes.

Eh... you think there's any moralism intended here?


I don't see the final title card as evidence that nothing that happened was of any importance. I think the film's message is actually quite the opposite. The loves of Barry's life, the man on the battlefield dying in his arms, his final choice not to kill Lord Bullingdon, they all shaped his life. Now perhaps Lyndon's honorable deed was foolish and misplaced in so far as it provided him with very little in the twilight years of his waking life, but this does not mean his final choice was an unimportant one.

I find that my reading of it is informed precisely because of the somewhat melodramatic events of Lyndon's life. He doesn't kill Bullingdon, and then wham! we are told that they are both equal now. Despite his "important" choice, the immediate juxtaposition of it and the card (and the rest of the film and the card) indicate a profoundly hysterical context for such an ambitious and epic narrative: that none of the class climbing means anything to the man who worked so hard his whole life to control it. Had Lyndon been successful in the end, it would probably have a different color of cynicism, so in that case, there is some thematic narrative functioning. But I think where the story itself is a wonderful texture, the thesis remains the same: they're all dead now, soon we're going to die and no matter how much we try to make ourselves beautiful and successful and rich, we are all soil.

It's hard for me to believe that the guy who directed 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove was not thinking about the Big Cosmic Joke while making this film when signs of it are strewn all over it.


Nah there are lots of zoom ins.

http://www.jeffreyscottbernstein.com/kubrick/barrylyndon.html

I've actually read that essay several times. I should've thought to consult it.


Unimportant to me suggests of no interest or value to anyone at all.

Can anything mean the same thing to everyone? That seems like a particularly unreasonable reading of the word.

If you would like to continue this, it would probably be wise to reply to this in the Film Discussion thread rather than bulk up this thread.

[Qrazy]

If you would like to continue this, it would probably be wise to reply to this in the Film Discussion thread rather than bulk up this thread.

Can't really, have a final tomorrow and more finals after that, really shouldn't have procrastinated and written that last message. I could respond in like two weeks but the conversation thread will probably be dead by then.

[Sven]

Can't really, have a final tomorrow and more finals after that, really shouldn't have procrastinated and written that last message. I could respond in like two weeks but the conversation thread will probably be dead by then.

Word. I've got a paper due at the beginning of next week that I've half-assed half of an outline for, plus, family coming in this weekend, two parties to go to (imperative!), an overnight inventory shift at my job, and an unexpected catch-up session at my internship. Yikes. This is why I left the board for a month or two. Maybe it's time for another sojourn. Anyway, it's always nice talking to you when we keep our heads screwed on tightly.

[transmogrifier]

38.
http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/grail/large/HolyGrail017.jpg


"Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away."

Mønti Pythøn ik den Høli Gräilen (Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam, 1975)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 62.2
Highest ranking: 4 (Kurosawa Fan)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 66 (8.5/10)




In coming upon a misapplied, overzealous, or otherwise random Holy Grail (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=42065&postcount=6) quote, a tragic sense of de-evolution washes over me—sadness at the thought of something so funny, so bright, so perceptive, so unexpected, turning into something generic for the generic nerd to bore me with on a generic afternoon. Oh, to have witnessed the wit of the Black Knight scene before its overexposure at the hands of The Nerd! To have experienced the piercing irony of The Bridgekeeper’s Questions before the shrill voices of Geekdom echoed the query “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?” to the response “African or European swallow?” concluded in unison with “I don’t know that! AGGGHH!”! How sad it is that many people have only witnessed this film through poor and annoying reenactments.



The funniest bits in Holy Grail are structural, anyways, like when Lancelot charges the castle. Nothing slays me with laughter quite like that scene.



Better than Time Bandits? Yes. Better than Life of Brian? No.



Monty Python and the Holy Grail Everybody quotes the **** out of that coconut scene but the black knight is what had me on the ground, oh and the horny nuns.

[Qrazy]

Word. I've got a paper due at the beginning of next week that I've half-assed half of an outline for, plus, family coming in this weekend, two parties to go to (imperative!), an overnight inventory shift at my job, and an unexpected catch-up session at my internship. Yikes. This is why I left the board for a month or two. Maybe it's time for another sojourn. Anyway, it's always nice talking to you when we keep our heads screwed on tightly.

Likewise.

[transmogrifier]

#37:

Filmed in Cottage Grove and Eugene, Oregon.

#36:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1438/1206596658_2a38b1176b.jpg

[Spinal]

#37:

Filmed in Cottage Grove and Eugene, Oregon.



Don't tell me that Animal House made the list.

[Spinal]

Ah, never mind, it's The General I think.

[transmogrifier]

Ah, never mind, it's The General I think.

Correct. For the railways tracks, apparently.

[Ezee E]

Hmm... I should say that I bet Amadeus makes the to ten.

[Derek]

Hmm... I should say that I bet Amadeus makes the to ten.

Wasn't it already listed?

[Spinal]

Wasn't it already listed?

It was.

[Ezee E]

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
4. Mulholland Drive
5. Annie Hall
6. Dr. Strangelove
7. Amadeus
8. Pulp Fiction
9. The Godfather Part II
10. The Passion of Joan of Arc

[Ezee E]

D'oh!

[Spinal]

I've already missed on at least two of my top 10 guesses and we're not even midway through the 30s.

[transmogrifier]

9. The Godfather Part II


#363

It got 2 votes. You were one of them.

[Ezee E]

#363

It got 2 votes. You were one of them.
Wow.

[transmogrifier]

37.
http://www.doctormacro1.info/Images/Keaton,%20Buster/Annex/Annex%20-%20Keaton,%20Buster%20(General ,%20The)_06.jpg

"After a nice, quiet, refreshing night's rest."


The General (Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton, 1926)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 55.8
Highest ranking: 46 (Spinal)
AFI ranking (2007): 18
IMDB Ranking: 126 (8.3/10)


I rewatched The General today in one of my classes. It's pretty much the epitome of cinema perfectness.

Though... it's still not my favorite Keaton.




Yeah I found both Sherlock Jr. and Steamboat Bill Jr. to be more formally impressive, inventive and complete. I think The General usually gets the praise because it's the most 'epic' of the bunch, but the others deserve it more. Still I'd put it just after those two and then Seven Chances, The Navigator and Our Hospitality.




What, The General? Yeah, I was also underwhelmed. Largely because, despite its stunts and production values, there was little else to the film - the formal elements are not as interesting as in other silent films, and the story was sweet, but not remarkably engaging. That said, I enjoyed it, but cannot agree with the critical consensus.




So The General was quite funny, and really highly entertaining. I know that there's a difference between Buster Keaton's work and Charlie Chaplin's, but I haven't seen enough from either one to really put my finger on what it is. Anyways this being my first Keaton I really enjoyed it, and I liked some of the stunts he performed and the fact that his expression really never changed. Which reminds me a lot of Bill Murray actually, in terms of the whole deadpan comedic bit.

[transmogrifier]

#36:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1438/1206596658_2a38b1176b.jpg

#35:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/hgroteva/innergeek/once.jpg
http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/phd/PHD347/businesswoman-standing-clock_~73006.JPG
http://www.goldenplec.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/kanye-west1_0.jpg

[Duncan]

35. Once Upon a Time in the West?

[transmogrifier]

35. Once Upon a Time in the West?

EDIT: Or rather, correct! Still waiting on #36 though.

[Duncan]

EDIT: Or rather, correct! Still waiting on #36 though.

Haha, yeah a quick edit on my part. Has Goodfellas been listed yet? They look like they could be goodfellas.

[transmogrifier]

#34


The Departed High Society Silk Stockings
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/billypilgrimnz/no34.jpg
His Girl Friday Last Man Standing Anna and the King A Song is Born

[transmogrifier]

Haha, yeah a quick edit on my part. Has Goodfellas been listed yet? They look like they could be goodfellas.

Simpler than that.

[Kurosawa Fan]

#36 is The Conversation?

[Qrazy]

Simpler than that.

Magnolia? Dead Man? Spiderman 2? The back of that guy's head looks like Alfred Molina to me... but I don't know who the other guy is... it's not Jarmusch, PT Anderson or Raimi.

[transmogrifier]

#36 is The Conversation?

Yes :)

[Ezee E]

High Noon for #34? I have no idea.

[Mara]

High Noon for #34? I have no idea.

It's The Magnificent Seven.

I thought it was so obvious that I didn't even check to see if anyone had guessed yet. Ha! Now I feel vaguely superior.

[soitgoes...]

It's The Magnificent Seven.

I thought it was so obvious that I didn't even check to see if anyone had guessed yet. Ha! Now I feel vaguely superior.

I thought it, but didn't really consider that The Magnificent Seven could actually be #34 on this list. I'm still in denial, and demand you take your post away. If we don't guess it, it will never happen.

[transmogrifier]

#36.
http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/harry-at-work.jpg

"We'll be listening to you."

The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 48.7
Highest ranking: 3 (Raiders)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 198 (8.1/10)



The Conversation is more or less a perfect film, in my opinion.




I loved The Conversation when I saw it a few years ago...




The Conversation is a fucking 10. No ifs ands or buts. I thought everyone was clear on this.




Going back to my example with The Conversation - I loved how Harry Caul was made to be a child and how that was conveyed. The problem with that is I don't know how to apply something like that to a positive or negative review - how does subtext make a movie good or bad?




Well, how does the subtext affect your understanding of Harry Caul and the film as a whole? Doesn't the subtext make for a more nuanced and interesting film that therefore has layers worth exploring? Does it help you account for Harry as a character, or some of his actions? Locate your discovery within the film, work out how it fits in relation to the rest of the film. Or, you could just recognize your discovery as compelling evidence that Caul is an effectively intriguing (and a tad enigmatic) character.

And most of all, read up on The Conversation and look into the merits of the film. Its use of sound. Its elliptic and ambiguous narrative (the apparent flash-forward contained within the dream sequence, for instance). Also, the intriguing and ambiguous digressions (again, Harry's dream sequence, which might account for how you viewed Harry as a child). Or how The Conversation represents Coppola's leaning towards films more informed by European art-cinema (this can be compared with the more commercial The Godfather).

[transmogrifier]

I thought it, but didn't really consider that The Magnificent Seven could actually be #34 on this list. I'm still in denial, and demand you take your post away. If we don't guess it, it will never happen.

The photo is from the Magnificent Seven, but the #34 film is not The Magnificent Seven

[soitgoes...]

Seven Samurai?

[Mara]

The photo is from the Magnificent Seven, but the #34 film is not The Magnificent Seven

Well, then, you tricked me.

And took away that superior feeling, which was so nice while it lasted.

[Watashi]

Yeah, it's Seven Samurai. All those films are remakes.

[Ezee E]

Seven Samurai?
I could see it being that. But I don't understand the His Girl Friday or The Departed mentions.

[Mara]

The Departed High Society Silk Stockings
His Girl Friday Last Man Standing Anna and the King A Song is Born

I get it. These are inferior reimaginings of better films (as The Magnificent Seven is to Seven Samurai.)

The Departed < Internal Affairs
High Society <<<<<<<<<<<< The Philadelphia Story
Silk Stockings < Ninotchka
His Girl Friday is actually > The Front Page
Last Man Standing < Yojimbo
Anna and the King < Anna and the King of Siam (< The King and I)
A Song is Born < Ball of Fire

[Ezee E]

Ah. Good one then.

[transmogrifier]

35.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/onceuponatime3/OnceUpon6.jpg

"How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants."

Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 48.3
Highest ranking: 1 (Daniel Davis)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 19 (8.8/10)



Strangely, I disliked the tone of Once upon a Time in the West for being too serious.

I thought the themes of change that you described were ham-fisted and banal, the pace was painfully slow, and the tone was too self-consciously serious for what I thought was a fairly inane story. I prefer the verve of The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.



Like the Titans, these remaining gunslingers (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=39057&postcount=274) are left in a world that no longer needs them, a world they cannot even hope to understand. Perhaps Stephen King said it best about his own Gunslinger, Roland, when he said, “The world has moved on.” Some, like Harmonica, bow out with grace and dignity; they see that their ticket has come up, and pass with grace. Others, like Frank, try to change; they desperately grasp at anything and everything that allows them just a few scant seconds more time. And still others, like Cheyenne, face the monster head on, mano y mano, but they do not try to stop the inevitable, but rather to experience the rush and excitement one last time, storm chasers till the very end. Yes, the railroad has come, and with it, a new era promising more civil times. But was it really more civil, or was the violence and brutality just cloaked in more shadows and conspiracy, hidden behind most powerful weapon of all – the dollar bill?



Really? Because I'd much rather talk about seeing Claudia Cardinale in that blue top in all its newly restored 35mm glory. Actually, I don't think I'm capable of thinking about anything else for the rest of the night.

[transmogrifier]

I get it. These are inferior reimaginings of better films (as The Magnificent Seven is to Seven Samurai.)

The Departed < Internal Affairs
High Society <<<<<<<<<<<< The Philadelphia Story
Silk Stockings < Ninotchka
His Girl Friday is actually > The Front Page
Last Man Standing < Yojimbo
Anna and the King < Anna and the King of Siam (< The King and I)
A Song is Born < Ball of Fire

Originally I was going to out the seven (7!) originals around the photo, but I thought that would be too easy.

[Sven]

High Society <<<<<<<<<<<< The Philadelphia Story
His Girl Friday is actually > The Front Page
Anna and the King < Anna and the King of Siam (< The King and I)

I'll actually go ahead and disagree with these, unless we're talking about Milestone's The Front Page. I think Wilder's version is the best adaptation of the play. Really can't stand His Girl Friday anymore, unfortunately. Anna and the King takes a boring, offensive story and injects it with pretty pictures and an explosion. And High Society... what can I say? Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong? Yes! I don't think it's a very good movie, but The Philadelphia Story is very tedious. One of those relying-on-the-charm-of-the-stars-and-nothing-else kind of pictures. I like the opening scene, though.

[Mara]

Originally I was going to out the seven (7!) originals around the photo, but I thought that would be too easy.

My assumption (since I didn't look too hard) was that you were listing other films that the Magnificent Seven had been in (because I somehow read "Anna and the King" as "The King and I", Yul Brenner, blah, blah, blah.)

[Mara]

I'll actually go ahead and disagree with these, unless we're talking about Milestone's The Front Page. I think Wilder's version is the best adaptation of the play. Really can't stand His Girl Friday anymore, unfortunately.

Wilder's film was made after His Girl Friday, so I meant the original one (in terms of films being reimagined.) I actually haven't seen the Wilder one, but it looks pretty good. I'll queue it up.

But His Girl Friday is awesome.


Anna and the King takes a boring, offensive story and injects it with pretty pictures and an explosion.

The story of Anna and the King is, essentially, a racist story. The original work is deeply Anglo-centric, and I see it as a snapshot of the way the English saw the entire world (cultural imperialism... the entire moral justification for colonialism.) From that context, I thought that Anna and the King was just history being bowdlerized.


And High Society... what can I say? Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong? Yes! I don't think it's a very good movie, but The Philadelphia Story is very tedious. One of those relying-on-the-charm-of-the-stars-and-nothing-else kind of pictures. I like the opening scene, though.

This opinion is becoming more popular, and I just can't agree with it at all. I thought the writing in The Philadelphia Story was beautiful and challenging, and that the film had some intriguing and uncomfortable things to say about women and human relationships. High Society was just a gutted Cliff-Notes version of the story with everything meaningful taken out and replaced with (extremely forgettable) music.

[Qrazy]

This opinion is becoming more popular, and I just can't agree with it at all. I thought the writing in The Philadelphia Story was beautiful and challenging, and that the film had some intriguing and uncomfortable things to say about women and human relationships. High Society was just a gutted Cliff-Notes version of the story with everything meaningful taken out and replaced with (extremely forgettable) music.

Yeah I quite like The Philadelphia Story although I haven't seen High Society. Also The Departed is better than Infernal Affairs. Which suffers from terrible music and editing.

[Mara]

By the way, I'm not terribly fond of ANY version of the Anna and the King story:

Anna and the King of Siam **
The King and I **.5 (because Yul Brynner)
Anna and the King *.5
The King and I (stupid animated version) * (because no Yul Brynner)

[transmogrifier]

34.
http://cinema.cornell.edu/EarlyFall07/images/SevenSamurai.jpg

"The farmers have won. Not us."

Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 43.4
Highest ranking: 6 (jamaul)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 13 (8.8/10)




I haven't seen Dersu Uzala, but I just don't see anything exceptional about the other three [Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran]. Nothing stands out as being particularly good or bad in any of them, although they are all prone to the violent overstatedness.




alright I think it's settled...Speed Racer is better than Seven Samurai.




For years I thought Seven Samurai was an overbloated, overrated and very boring movie.


(Anyone who wants to find/add a positive thought longer than one sentence, please feel free.)

[Sven]

From that context, I thought that Anna and the King was just history being bowdlerized.

And R&H didn't bowdlerize it?

[Mara]

This opinion is becoming more popular, and I just can't agree with it at all. I thought the writing in The Philadelphia Story was beautiful and challenging, and that the film had some intriguing and uncomfortable things to say about women and human relationships. High Society was just a gutted Cliff-Notes version of the story with everything meaningful taken out and replaced with (extremely forgettable) music.

Also, Grace Kelly is lovely and efferescent, but Kate Hepburn could kick her blonde patoot from here to Tuesday. And then stab her to death with her cheekbones.

[Sven]

Originally Posted by Melville
I haven't seen Dersu Uzala, but I just don't see anything exceptional about the other three [Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran]. Nothing stands out as being particularly good or bad in any of them, although they are all prone to the violent overstatedness.

I totally forgot about this. Thanks, trans, for again making me doubt the existence of intelligence on Earth.

[Mara]

And R&H didn't bowdlerize it?

Not as much.

And, Yul Brynner.

[Sven]

Not as much.

And, Yul Brynner.

I think you're being blinded by Brynner's shiny skull. Put on some sunglasses and come back down to Earth. The King and I is terrible. I'm with you in theory, that an Anglo-centric story is not itself a detrimental approach (just as King/Darabont's The Green Mile is all about white guilt, which is a legitimate point of view), but damn...

Do note that I generally loathe everything R&H because their writing is totally balls.

[Qrazy]

I totally forgot about this. Thanks, trans, for again making me doubt the existence of intelligence on Earth.

That's a bit hyperbolic and unfair. Melville's very intelligent. Still I can't fathom his analysis of Kurosawa. I could see someone not liking his style perhaps but finding it just run of the mill or uninteresting, that makes no sense to me.

[Sven]

That's a bit hyperbolic and unfair. Melville's very intelligent. Still I can't fathom his analysis of Kurosawa. I could see someone not liking his style perhaps but finding it just run of the mill or uninteresting, that makes no sense to me.

My tongue was firmly in cheek. Melville knows I love him, though like you, I find his take on Kurosawa not only unfathomable, but, if I were a man to make statements about objectively fact, objectively incorrect. Which is all the more maddening, given how smart he is. Makes me think there's something to it, but that simply cannot be.

[Qrazy]

I think you're being blinded by Brynner's shiny skull. Put on some sunglasses and come back down to Earth. The King and I is terrible. I'm with you in theory, that an Anglo-centric story is not itself a detrimental approach (just as King/Darabont's The Green Mile is all about white guilt, which is a legitimate point of view), but damn...

Do note that I generally loathe everything R&H because their writing is totally balls.

You know I never really made the connection before since I haven't seen The King and I or any adaptations of it in so long but frankly I am a bit disturbed by the content of R&H's work. I saw an adaptation of Oklahoma a little while ago and I was just baffled by the storyline. The story ends with everyone involved endorsing a kangaroo court to doll out justice and then strolling on their merry way. WTF?

I started South Pacific about a month ago but have only watched the first half hour. I'll have to see if my low opinion of their notions of justice continues.

I also haven't seen The Sound of Music since I was a kid.

[Dead & Messed Up]

(Anyone who wants to find/add a positive thought longer than one sentence, please feel free.)

Don't know if this qualifies; it's more a judgment on Mifune:


However, I love Mifune's overacting in Seven Samurai, because I feel that it works really well and is an aspect of his character in the film. He is less aggressive in Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress, though.

[Spinal]

I was going to say that Seven Samurai was way too low, but then I realized that I had it at #37 on my own list.

[transmogrifier]

Okay, I'm off until Monday. TBC!

[D_Davis]

Samurai Fiction > Seven Samurai

[Sycophant]

That's interesting.

[soitgoes...]

I was going to say that Seven Samurai was way too low, but then I realized that I had it at #37 on my own list.
I was going to say the same. How about, I'm surprised at how low it is on a consensus list like this? I figured it would make the top 10. Which Kurosawa films are left? Yojimbo & Ikiru?

[Ezee E]

I don't think Yojimbo will make it. Ikiru will .

[Winston*]

I was going to say the same. How about, I'm surprised at how low it is on a consensus list like this? I figured it would make the top 10. Which Kurosawa films are left? Yojimbo & Ikiru?

Ran. Also High and Low was the top rated film in the Kurosawa consensus if I remember right.

[Melville]

This is a great thread, especially the quotes from match-cut's history.


That's a bit hyperbolic and unfair. Melville's very intelligent. Still I can't fathom his analysis of Kurosawa.
Probably because I never provided one. Continuing that trend, I'll add that I saw Dersu Uzala recently and found it completely unremarkable.

[Ezee E]

Ran. Also High and Low was the top rated film in the Kurosawa consensus if I remember right.
Forgot High & Low.

[soitgoes...]

Ran. Also High and Low was the top rated film in the Kurosawa consensus if I remember right.
Good call on Ran. High and Low has already happened. Thankfully. It's a good film, but not the one that should be considered the pinnacle of Kurosawa's career.

[soitgoes...]

Apparently Yojimbo already happened too. That leaves Ikiru and Ran. Hopefully Ikiru will be place higher.

[Mara]

I'm... having a disturbing revelation about Rogers & Hammerstein. There are racist overtones in:

Show Boat
The King and I
South Pacific
Flower Drum Song

And then, of course, there's domestic abuse in Carousel (when blows feel like kisses!) Flower Drum Song has some serious misogyny issues, too.

The cheery music... it blinded me...

[Qrazy]

I'm... having a disturbing revelation about Rogers & Hammerstein. There are racist overtones in:

Show Boat
The King and I
South Pacific
Flower Drum Song

And then, of course, there's domestic abuse in Carousel (when blows feel like kisses!) Flower Drum Song has some serious misogyny issues, too.

The cheery music... it blinded me...

And the kangaroo court conception of justice in Oklahoma!!!

[Mara]

And the kangaroo court conception of justice in Oklahoma!!!

Psh. Like a "trial" is important enough to interrupt a person's honeymoon.

[lovejuice]

I was going to say that Seven Samurai was way too low, but then I realized that I had it at #37 on my own list.
i find it very surprising. it seems like we already calibrate ourselves for "good but popular movies." i now expect an unexpected top tep.

[transmogrifier]

#33:

http://www.sju.edu/studentlife/studentresources/oml/Pictures/music-notes.jpg
http://slowdive.users.netlink.co.uk//Photos/sisters1.jpg




#32:

http://cdn.giant.blackplanet.com/wp-content/uploads//2008/09/christina_ricci002_main-w.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/globe.svg/600px-globe.svg.png

[The Mike]

Assuming #32 is Ghost World?

[Watashi]

Has any of the Lord of the Rings films been mentioned yet?

[transmogrifier]

Has any of the Lord of the Rings films been mentioned yet?

LOTR:FOTR #113

Neither of the other two made it.

[transmogrifier]

Assuming #32 is Ghost World?

#325

[The Mike]

#325
Oops, just left out the 5. :|

[Sycophant]

Casper?!

[transmogrifier]

I'll admit, my clues are a lot more difficult this time around. Neither of them have any relationship to the TITLE of the movies in question, but rather have a connection to certain elements within the movies in question.

Take that!

Secondary hints related to the photos above:

#33: soundtrack
#32: painting

[Mysterious Dude]

Well, I think I found the painting, but I can't recall any movie that referenced it.

http://arran.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/christinas_world.jpg

(although it reminds me of Days of Heaven.)

[Winston*]

Well, I think I found the painting, but I can't recall any movie that referenced it.

http://arran.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/christinas_world.jpg

Days of Heaven, maybe?

[Derek]

Is #32 Days of Heaven?

[Mysterious Dude]

Shut up already I hate you!

My research has led me to conclude that #33 is McCabe and Mrs. Miller, for featuring the song "Sisters of Mercy" in its soundtrack.

[transmogrifier]

You guys are geniuses

[Sycophant]

You guys are geniuses

So it's Casper?

[transmogrifier]

33.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/mmm1.jpg

"I got poetry in me..."


McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 40.3
Highest ranking: 14 (Kurosawa Fan)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.6/10)


I watched McCabe and Mrs. Miller (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=14828&postcount=116) for the first time at a friend's house. I had brought it over to watch for one of our bi-monthly film marathons, and thought it would be an interesting change of pace. I think she enjoyed it, but I also think she was convinced I hated it. It really drew me in, and the film's darkness and just it's dirt hung on me. It was almost as if I couldn't cast it away. Perhaps it was my grim expression as a result that made her think I didn't enjoy or like it... understandable, but oh so wrong. Altman's exploration and deconstruction of the western mythology is incomparable in it's depth and insight into the genre and it's characters. In this way, I put him in the same league as Howard Hawks, although they are somewhat antithetical in their approaches. Both tackle a variety of different genres while maintaining their distinct styles, when they're through with it, the genre is somewhat invigorated or a new light is shed upon it.



I really really like McCabe & Mrs. Miller and it was my favorite Altman/Western until I saw Images and Fassbinder's Zombie Western Whity.




When people speak of something like McCabe & Mrs. Miller in terms of 'revisionist', I frequently have little to say, because that transforms what I see to be the more important/successful/intentional aims of the picture into something mundane and textual.




McCabe and Long Goodbye remain for me two of the greatest films of all time.

[transmogrifier]

So it's Casper?

If only, syco, if only.

[transmogrifier]

32.
http://ofilia.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/days-of-heavenpdvd_01401.jpg
"You know how people are. You tell them something, they start talking."

Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 38.3
Highest ranking: 20 (Jamaul)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)



Days of Heaven = pretty goddamned great




The Steadicam, as most excellently demonstrated by Terrence Malick in Days of Heaven, is used as a distant observer, contra the handheld, which is to create a sense of realism and subjective anxiety or intimacy. In Days of Heaven, the Steadicam rig allows the camera to be taken out into the middle of water without much movement or shake, which creates a sense of floating or omniscience, despite the character's experience. The film is notably famous for its distance and objectivity.




What I'm more interested in is these Days of Heaven type shots. We are not forced by cuts to focus on what Malick finds important, and thus we are not forced to accept Malick's point of view. Our eye is not directed by clarity of focus either, as often the depth of field is very high. The cinematography grants the viewer a distance from which to view the action. In this sense, there is a certain degree of objectivity. We are separate from the main events, and, maybe, not even emotionally involved in them. However, I believe what this shooting style emphasizes in the objectivity of the camera as a recording instrument. Somewhat paradoxically, the objectivity of the images themselves emphasizes our own subjective experience of them.




For years I have berated this film (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=53680&postcount=1) for its muted tones, for its failure to make any of the characters alluring enough to drive its story. But seeing it again, I was wrong. Malick isn't driving a story, but a feeling. The characters feel like mere images and specks against the lanscape of nature. They are objects of confusion. Nature is easier, it doesn't lie or cheat. Late in the film, Linda comments on people along the shore that "it was far off and you couldn't see what they were doing. They were probably calling for help or something--or they were trying to bury somebody or something." People confound, and it is nature that keeps us honest. The plagues that strike the land; Hell's emergence into the serenity; the distance put up between people; the wind's howling at sight of deceit; all these things point to a force simultaneously more complex and yet more simplistic than humanity.




Malick evokes sentiments of weariness and nebulosity by means of his assured use of ellipsis. Malick entices us to watch (and feel) these characters become swept up by the burden, strain and weight of time -- as well as the enormity of the land itself. Their actions begin to feel pre-determined, or at the very least unimportant, in the face of this epic landscape and the somber score which accompanies it. There is the distinct feeling that small eternities are passing away in the little isolated piece of land which the characters of Days of Heaven covet. It is in this mass of land where we watch these characters fumble with feelings of love, desperation, restlessness, anger, malaise, repression, greed. A plethora of emotions and sentiments swirling in and out of a variety of characters who are ultimately at the mercy of a vast expanse of unsympathetic land and the solemn passage of time.

[Watashi]

Where the hell does Christina Ricci fit into Days of Heaven?

[transmogrifier]

#31:

IMDB Keywords

Cufflink
Title Spoken By Character

#30:

http://www.figgypuddin.com/images/figgysingers.jpg

http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news/Karl%20Foerster%20grass.jpg

[Winston*]

Where the hell does Christina Ricci fit into Days of Heaven?

The painting's called Christina's World.

I think we should all give Antoine rep for getting those two. That's some genius googling.

[Qrazy]

31. Sunset Boulevard
30. The Third Man

[Pop Trash]

I got #30...The Third Man (pics are for director Carol Reed)

[Pop Trash]

31. Sunset Boulevard
30. The Third Man

Whatev Qrazy...I saw you had Singing in the Rain before you edited it. :P

[Qrazy]

Whatev Qrazy...I saw you had Singing in the Rain before you edited it. :P

I edited it before you posted.

[Pop Trash]

I edited it before you posted.

Uh Huh.

[Qrazy]

Uh Huh.

My post was at 4:15. Yours was at 4:17. If I had edited it after you posted it would have said at the bottom that I had edited it. It registers all edits after two minutes on the dot. Before two minutes and it doesn't make a note.

[transmogrifier]

31.
http://www.weareprivate.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/annex-swanson-gloria-sunset-boulevard_02.jpg

"There's nothing tragic about being fifty. Not unless you're trying to be twenty-five."

Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 36
Highest ranking: 9 (dreamdead)
AFI ranking (2007): 16
IMDB Ranking: 25 (8.7/10)

Billy Wilder overview:
Sunset Blvd. #31
The Apartment #48
Some Like It Hot #71
Double Indemnity #107



I wondered if I was being too intellectual about film, and decided to take another look at Sunset Blvd. just to look at the tone of the film, and what I found is that the movie really hates Norma Desmond/Gloria Swanson. The movie basically sees her as a pathetic hasbeen, rather than somebody who's been used up and spit out by the Hollywood machine (when we see Cecille B. DeMille, playing himself, we're supposed to think he's this nice, sympathetic old man). Instead of hating Hollywood, the movie hates Norma Desmond. Veronika Voss, which deals with similar subject matter, sees the title character as a victim of German society, and I think that's a far superior film.


Why can't the film see her as a pathetic has-been and as somebody who has been used up and spit out by the Hollywood machine? The concept of the pathetic has-been is presented in the film as being made possible by the nature of the Hollywood machine.



I'm with Melville on this. Pity, and contempt often go hand in hand. And even Desmond aside, the film comments and satirizes the myth of Hollywood through the main character too and his status as a B-movie writer. Furthermore all other arguments aside, how can the film possibly be complicit in Hollywood's treatment of older actresses given the fact that it uses an amazing performance by an older actress in order to condemn older actresses? One ought to conclude based on this alone that it does not condemn older actresses. Plus there's the wonderful scene in the sound stage when the boom mic literally ruffles her feathers. I'd bet an Ace in the Hole against a stack of Fortune Cookies that you're meant to feel empathy there.

rest of the discussion here (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=14&highlight=sunset+wilder&page=95)

[transmogrifier]

30.
http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/third-man-ending.jpeg

"A person doesn't change just because you find out more."


The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 34.3
Highest ranking: 10 (Weeping Guitar)
AFI ranking (2007): - (57 on the original list)
IMDB Ranking: 55 (8.5/10)



I finally watched The Third Man (Reed, 1949), and it is beyond outstanding. Gorgeous cinematography, lighting, editing--everything is simply fantastic. Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton are both phenomenal (not that I've really seen them otherwise). I wish I had something a bit more critical to offer beyond gushing, but how the AFI could axe this (or Amadeus)--for Titanic?!--is simply beyond me.


What's always excited me about the film is that this is one of the few post-war films that makes thorough use of the desolate landscape, allowing the remnants of the city to become its own fully-fledged character; one which, naturally enough, stands (or slumbers) in conflict with Holly's idealism, and one which slowly drains Holly's innocence away as he becomes more accustomed to the city. It's one of the premiere films that utilizes its architectural surroundings to best express the psychological zeitgeist that's consumed the city.

[transmogrifier]

#29:

http://www.leninimports.com/judi_dench_gallery_9.jpg


#28:

http://www.lescargotrestaurant.com/dolly_kenny.jpg

[Ezee E]

Is that Salvador Dali in #29? Un Chien Andalou?

[Winston*]

Is 29 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

[transmogrifier]

No to both.

The clue to #29 centers around one of the people in the photo, who doesn't actually appear in the movie in question.

The clue to #28 is related direcly to the film's title.

[Fezzik]

No to both.

The clue to #29 centers around one of the people in the photo, who doesn't actually appear in the movie in question.

The clue to #28 is related direcly to the film's title.

#28 - Nashville?

[Winston*]

Ah, 29 is M, no?

EDIT: And 28, maybe F For Fake?

[Ezee E]

Why would 28 be F For Fake? It'd seem more fitting with 29.

[Raiders]

#29: 8 1/2

(Judi Dench is in the photo and she stars in the remake, Nine)

Though M works just as well.

I would also guess F for Fake for #28 as it is two imposters of what appears to be Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.

[Ezee E]

Ah, very clever.

[transmogrifier]

29.
http://alexistioseco.files.wordpress. com/2008/04/peter_lorre_m.jpg

"Just you wait, it won't be long. The man in black will soon be here. With his cleaver's blade so true. He'll make mincemeat out of you..."

M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 33.4
Highest ranking: 7 (Antoine)
AFI ranking (2007): - (57 on the original list)
IMDB Ranking: 45 (8.6/10)



[This space for rent]

[Sycophant]

I think I might've ended up paying a late fee for M, but I haven't yet watched it.

[transmogrifier]

28.
http://glennkenny.premiere.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/18/sunrise.jpg

"For wherever the sun rises and sets, in the city's turmoil or under the open sky on the farm, life is much the same; sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet."


Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 32.6
Highest ranking: 4 (dreamdead)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 177 (8.3/10)



Raiders was right about Sunrise (1927) being a great film. I may have to take some time to flesh out some decent thoughts.

(now's a good time to start, MM)


F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=25292&postcount=188) (1927) is simplicity anchored by virtuosic artistry. Taking a standard of silent cinema, the country Man who must choose between a moral country Wife and a Woman from the city who cares more for modern licentiousness than for any moral imperative, Murnau transforms this traditional narrative through a reliance on precise, expressionistic images and immaculate mise en scene. Moments of comedy, such as the pig that escapes (as Raiders pointed out at the old site), are ingrained with philosophical parallelism and moments of horror that embody the themes of loss and regret that are so paramount to this work.



I've known I've needed to see something by Murnau for a long time now. That screenshot (and your write-up, but really, I was sold on the screenshot) has turned that into an immediate thing. Awesome.

And Wats hasn't logged on in nearly 3 days...

EDIT: FUCK IT'S NOT ON NETFLIX




Sunrise isn't even that great. I mean, it's stifling political conservativism alone makes it not even a contender for top 10 status, in my book.





I just watched Sunrise again for about the fourth time. And once again, during its soft and dull midsection with the wedding and photographer's studio and what not, I found myself wishing the farmer had gone through with it and killed his wife. The Woman From the City is the most interesting character in the film and its only source of energy.

I was of course once again captivated by its visuals and technical accomplishments. What a great looking film full of cool visual ideas it is!

[transmogrifier]

#27:

http://www.trinseytraining.com/pics/exhausted.JPG

#26:

http://age-group-swimming.org/SwimmingForYou/FalterSprummer/sad-swimmer.JPG

[monolith94]

Finally, I've been quoted in an entry! Internet glory is mine!

[Spinal]

Oh no! White Chicks made the list! :eek:

[Qrazy]

27. Vertigo
26. Singing in the Rain

[ledfloyd]

16 candles!? :P

[Mara]

Oh no! White Chicks made the list! :eek:

No, it's Bend it Like Beckham.

[transmogrifier]

I'll be pleasantly surprised if anyone gets the clues before I wake up in the morning. Valiant attempt by Qrazy, but incorrect.

[Ezee E]

I'll be pleasantly surprised if anyone gets the clues before I wake up in the morning. Valiant attempt by Qrazy, but incorrect.
Yeah, no idea from me.

[ledfloyd]

i still don't get the sunrise clue.

[Ezee E]

i still don't get the sunrise clue.
Two humans singing I guess.

[Mysterious Dude]

27. Double Indemnity
26. La Dolce Vita

Wild guesses, both.

Can I request to see the complete list (up to this point) in one post, so I don't have to search through the entire thread to see what's been listed already?

[Dead & Messed Up]

I thought the purpose of clues was to lead one closer to the answer, not further.

[Dukefrukem]

i still have never seen The Shawshank Redemption.

[Kurosawa Fan]

27 is Breathless. 26 is Jaws maybe? Or Breaking the Waves?

[Sycophant]

27 is Breathless. 26 is Jaws maybe? Or Breaking the Waves?

Good call, I think, on number 27. But I have a feeling number 26 is Casper.

[Mara]

Would "The Life Aquatic" be ranking this high? Or "Swimming Pool"?

[Sycophant]

Would "The Life Aquatic" be ranking this high? Oh, hey, that's probably it. Is it really liked more around here than The Royal Tenenbaums? I didn't realize we'd swung so far that way.

[Mara]

I didn't realize we'd swung so far that way.

The way of madness, you mean?

[Sycophant]

The way of madness, you mean?

Well, no, not really, since I think The Life Aquatic is a beautiful film, very nearly as good as The Royal Tenenbaums (which was my #1), but it seemed to me that people (around here and people I know) were none too excited about TLA initially (myself included).

[Raiders]

It is most definitely not The Life Aquatic. That only had a couple list mentions.

[Mara]

I thought it was good, but not at good as The Royal Tennenbaums.

[Raiders]

Uh, Ran maybe for #27? It looks like they just got done running.

[Wryan]

It looks like they just got done running.

Apologies, but I read this in Dave Chappelle's voice: "He looks like he just got done fuckin'!"

[transmogrifier]

27.
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/5484/castleburnranev4.jpg

"Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies."

Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
List mentions: 9
Average ranking: 29.1
Highest ranking: 1 (Kurosawa Fan)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 131 (8.3/10)



Ran (Kurosawa) is a re-imagining of King Lear - that's the best [Shakespeare adaptation].


[anyone want to add their thoughts??]

[transmogrifier]

Uh, Ran maybe for #27? It looks like they just got done running.

:pritch:

[transmogrifier]

26.
http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/Raketnet/Drama/AnnieHoofd.jpg

"You're what Grammy Hall would call a real Jew."

Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 57.1
Highest ranking: 12 (Watashi)
AFI ranking (2007): 35
IMDB Ranking: 134 (8.2/10)



Annie Hall is a very good movie, but it's also a precursor to the cutesy Charlie Kaufman "oh-so-adorable" self-referential stuff that I find kind of tiresome.




As for me, I've honestly never comprehended the praise for Annie Hall, though I don't hate it. I think it's the "meh"est of his popular films, however, and find Zelig to be ten times better.



Hrm, personally I find it to be his most cinematically revolutionary work. While I prefer Manhattan, his formal and narrative approach to Hall was immensely innovative and has become a cornerstone of filmic narrative technique ever after... in terms of emulation and homage at least. While Zelig might be funnier in a transient sense, Hall has dramatic depths and resonance which Zelig doesn't even attempt.


Annie Hall=Why the hell didn't I see this sooner? Amazing.

[I think we all know the answer to that, MM]

[transmogrifier]

PS: the clue was a reference to the well-known (?) original title of Annie Hall, Anhedonia (an inability to feel pleasure from normally pleasurable life events)

I have to go pretty obscure the more "classic" the films get. I'll forgo the clues for the Top 10, as by then it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel (bar one bolter that I was certainly surprised by)

[Mara]

Anhedonia (an inability to feel pleasure from normally pleasurable life events)

At first I was going to be annoyed at you for being obscure, but then I learned a neat new word. So, yay.

[Sven]

(bar one bolter that I was certainly surprised by)

RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop

[transmogrifier]

At first I was going to be annoyed at you for being obscure, but then I learned a neat new word. So, yay.

Happy to be of assistance.

[transmogrifier]

RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop
RobocopRobocopRobocopRobocopRo bocopRobocopRobocopRobocop

#155

[soitgoes...]

#155

But I noticed RoboCop 2 hasn't placed yet. :fingers crossed:

[transmogrifier]

But I noticed RoboCop 2 hasn't placed yet. :fingers crossed:

#notagoddamnchance

[Ezee E]

Mind Game seemed to hit a ton, has that hit yet?

[transmogrifier]

#25

http://iranpoliticsclub.net/history/alexander1/images/Angelina%20Jolie,%20Val%20Kilm er,%20Colin%20Farrell%20in%20A lexander.jpg

http://www.abbaswatchman.com/Pope%20benedict1.jpg

#24:

Tom Hanks
Tommy Lee Jones
Joe Mantegna
Edward Norton
Martin Sheen

[Sven]

25 ESotSM!!

[transmogrifier]

Mind Game seemed to hit a ton, has that hit yet?

#165

[soitgoes...]

Mind Game seemed to hit a ton, has that hit yet?
Sadly, I saw Mind Game after this started or it would have my vote too. I'm pretty sure it's already made an appearance.

[Watashi]

These are some of the worst clues ever.

[transmogrifier]

These are some of the worst clues ever.

:pritch:

Too easy?

[transmogrifier]

25 ESotSM!!

Record time too!

[Ezee E]

#24 is driving me nuts.

[B-side]

Ran contains one of my all-time favorite performances: Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora. Outstanding performance. Sometimes intense, sometimes absurd, sometimes funny, always tragic. That's not even to speak of the gorgeously devastating final sequence.

[Sycophant]

Record time too!

Can someone explain to me how this works?

[Winston*]

Can someone explain to me how this works?

Alexander Pope wrote the poem the movie's title is from.

[Sycophant]

I really should've got that.

[Spinal]

Eternal Sunshine is at 25? That's fairly absurd.

[transmogrifier]

25.
http://davidcoxxx.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/20041226-eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind.jpg

"Drink up, young man. It'll make the whole seduction part less repugnant."


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michal Gondry, 2004)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 54.5
Highest ranking: 17 (transmogrifier)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 60 (8.5/10)



I don't know which big picture you're talking about, but I think Eternal Sunshine is one of the defining pictures of the new millennium, both in sheer quality and its thematic material.




Though the cult of Kaufman does elevate his work a little too highly (something that this site largely doesn't do, though), I think ESotSM comes off relatively psychologically simple in a first viewing, but each successive viewing adds more in terms of character complexity (like Joel's sister, Carrie, for example).




an irrelevant sidenote here, i'm a fan of gondry and an dissenter of kaufman. i consider this their best collaboration as well as their best film. i like the movie less than other people although there is a real potential for me to really really love it. my dream project is to master some sorta editing program and cut the last five or more minutes of the movie. the perfect ending imo is when carrey wakes up, and we realize the two will eventually meet and come together.

is this supposed to be a twist? i take that it is during the first viewing, but some people claim we are supposed to realize all along the first few scenes are actually flash-forward.

i know that will make for one incomplete movie, and as it is, the movie does a good job addressing the central issue.

and yet, that's where i like the movie to end. on the beach.




Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film that I am wary of simply because it seems to play too often on my own fantasies. A tall, quiet, defensive man meets some rainbow-haired beauty who stirs his soupy life out of malaise. And then they fall in love. He associates certain things with her: dressed up potatoes, skeleton suits, Tom Waits albums. I have dated a girl who liked Tom Waits, but when I listen to Rain Dogs I do not think of her. I think of dwarfs on wharfs and how awesome Rain Dogs is. I’d love to have a relationship where Rain Dogs holds some shared meaning beyond the private ones concerning madness and loneliness that it does now. I imagine many such relationships exist. Doesn’t seem so far fetched. Aside from the narrative device of memory erasure there is nothing in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to which I cannot say, “Could happen.” Worse, there is really nothing in Eternal Sunshine that I don’t want to happen to me – even the embarrassing bits, even the break up. Works of art that speak so narrowly and directly to me, or at least one part of me, are bound to fall under suspicion.

Hollywood is often accused of whitewashing life, of trimming nuance (or thought in general), and, most dangerously, of capping off stories that by every conceivable thread of logic should be tragic with the dreaded happy ending. Mostly I consider these types of films ridiculous and have a tendency to dismiss them. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is such a troubling film to me because it is my ultimate escapist cinema, and yet I love it dearly. It is, in a significant way, everything I don’t want a film to be. It’s an accidental affirmation of longings by strangers, it’s people who never thought about bringing art (such as Tom Waits albums) to life because they were so full of life themselves, and that’s all impossible to me. I’ve never seen it happen and don’t know of anyone who honestly has, though I’ve seen it in the future. It looks like leaking streetlights through tears and rain during an unassuming credits sequence and it never comes into focus. You don’t get to be a person like Joel unless you’re mistrustful and a bit paranoid. You know: the type of person who assumes your neighbour has crashed his unscratched car into your own. I dislike ending with someone else’s thoughts, but let me return to Rimbaud. Same poem, her perspective:

Let me penetrate all your memories…

Let me be that woman who can bind you hand and foot…
I will strangle you.
…

Then again, fuck Rimbaud. I prefer to nurture my celluloid fantasies. Like I said, no one is so full of life that they don’t imagine bringing art to life. That eternal sunshine is just on the other side of the horizon shouldn't matter.




I'd prob. label Eternal Sunshine a chick fllick.

[transmogrifier]

#24:

Tom Hanks
Tommy Lee Jones
Joe Mantegna
Edward Norton
Martin Sheen

No takers on this? It helps if you don't think of them as actors.

#23:

http://prostores2.carrierzone.com/stores/g/gopostalcom/catalog/sign.gif

[DavidSeven]

You guys are ridiculous.

[lovejuice]

finally i'm quoted! :)

[B-side]

Ran contains one of my all-time favorite performances: Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora. Outstanding performance. Sometimes intense, sometimes absurd, sometimes funny, always tragic. That's not even to speak of the gorgeously devastating final sequence.

You can use this for the Ran entry.:lol:

[Watashi]

Please let #23 be UHF

[Spinal]

Blade Runner

[transmogrifier]

24.
http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/35/35/97/18385990.jpg

"Salvation is a last-minute business, boy."

The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 47
Highest ranking: 12 (Antoine)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: 159 (8.2/10)




i just watched Night of the Hunter. it was quite good. mitchum in particular was pretty haunting. however there was nothing aside from his performance that really set it apart as great for me.




The Night of the Hunter was fantastic, due in large part to Robert Mitchum's frightening performance.

The music is wonderful, and there are some beautiful shots throughout.

I have to say, though, that there is some very poor editing in the film.

Other than that, I'd say it is one damn fine movie.

[transmogrifier]

23.
http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers/movie/bladerunner/blade_runner_4.jpg

"I have had people walk out on me before, but not... when I was being so charming."

Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 42.3
Highest ranking: 1 (megladon8)
AFI ranking (2007): 97
IMDB Ranking: 109 (8.3/10)

Ridley Scott overview:
Blade Runner #23
Alien #50



I have always had major quibbles with Blade Runner because the central dichotomy between replicators and humans isn't developed and frankly, isn't even there. The human characters are nothing, and Deckard is the ultimate "is he?" because ultimately he could be either and his character wouldn't be viewed any differently for me. There is no human interest imbedded into the film, nothing that makes the replicators' "humanity" anything special because the film doesn't define any form of human emotion. A friend of mine once commented that Scott's film was reminiscent of 2001 in that the robots were more human than the humans, but I diagreed on one major point: Kubrick's film doesn't try to blur the line but rather to show how our dependence upon robotics has caused the machines to become more human, and humans more robotic. In Scott's film, perception and memory are key, and thus the ability to be able to differentiate real and fiction becomes tantamount. But Scott's film is all illusion, never daring to really ask the question and certainly never answering it. If everyone appears to be the same and the film can't establish the unique human traits that make us so, what is at stake and why should I care?




I've read many many intensely intelligent and in-depth and enlightening and theoretic defenses of Blade Runner (it was one of the films studied in my film theory class a year or so ago). As a piece of intellect, the film is arty and smarty and quite possibly neat. But I can't get past how clunky and airy it is. It's got wonderful shots in it (hooray for practical effects!), but it doesn't feel like they amount to that much.




Just got back from seeing the new cut of Blade Runner at the Cinerama here in Seattle. It was pretty cool. This was my second time seeing this film on the big screen, but my first time seeing it on a screen this big; it looks and sounds great. Here is the short review: narration out, unicorn still in, backgrounds and cars look better, and Roy still rules. Although, I do have to say that I think A Scanner Darkly is now the best PKD adaptation. Not to disparage Blade Runner at all, but it has been dethroned as the best representation of Dick's masterful imagination.



I watched Blade Runner tonight. I hadn't seen it since high school. I didn't like it much back then. Tonight I watched the "final cut". I feel about the same as back in high school. I liked it a bit more this time around, but I still feel that the atmosphere just isn't engrossing enough to make up for the slow, sprawling story. It feels like it's dragging along at a snail's pace for much of the film, and my interest was fading at times. There's a lack of... development I guess. Not much really takes place. I hate to break this word out, but the story is kind of... well... boring. It never capitalizes on such a great premise.

[Raiders]

So basically even though Blade Runner is #23, we don't like it.

:lol:

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yeah, I found that funny too. Where did you get all these quotes from, trans? Some sort of archive you collect or did you just go searching throughout threads?

I find Blade Runner to be pretty neat personally.

[Derek]

I always thought MatchCut preferred Alien to Blade Runner, yet you've been right all along!

[Raiders]

I always thought MatchCut preferred Alien to Blade Runner, yet you've been wrong all along!

I have taken the liberty of editing this post on your behalf. It is obvious you made a spelling mistake but in light of Wryan's thread did not want to edit your post and have your integrity called into question.

[Derek]

I have taken the liberty of editing this post on your behalf. It is obvious you made a spelling mistake but in light of Wryan's thread did not want to edit your post and have your integrity called into question.

:lol:

Nice.

[transmogrifier]

Yeah, I found that funny too. Where did you get all these quotes from, trans? Some sort of archive you collect or did you just go searching throughout threads?

I find Blade Runner to be pretty neat personally.

I use the search function on the site and see what I found. Just by chance, all of the substantial comments regarding BR skewed negative. Most of the positive comments were a sentence or two, or were regarding seeing it on the big screen.

[transmogrifier]

#22:

http://josepino.com/humor/others/first_kiss.jpg

#21:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tKVXSU4EZnE/SQ-OcoNgX7I/AAAAAAAAALg/QlVnj0B5ABg/s400/garbage+can_RGB.jpg

[Sycophant]

Unfortunately, I don't remember enough of your really negative opinions well enough to decode #21, trans.

#22 I'm not sure about either. My gut instinct tells me Casper, but I can't put my finger on why.

[transmogrifier]

Unfortunately, I don't remember enough of your really negative opinions well enough to decode #21, trans.

#22 I'm not sure about either. My gut instinct tells me Casper, but I can't put my finger on why.

:)

I like/love both of these films.

[Ezee E]

MASH rhymes with trash.

That's all I got.

[Spinal]

Would #22 be an example of strange love?

[Watashi]

Dr. Strangelove?

[Spinal]

Have we had Do the Right Thing yet? Trash can figures big in that film.

[transmogrifier]

Good work.

[Spinal]

I'm on a roll.

[transmogrifier]

22.
http://nighthawknews.files.wordpress. com/2008/12/dr-strangelove1.jpg

"Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks."

Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 39.4
Highest ranking: 13 (Kurosawa Fan)
AFI ranking (2007): 39
IMDB Ranking: 26 (8.7/10)



Hate to be a cliche and say that Kubrick hooked me on movies, but such was the case. It was a summer in Arizona, roughly 1996, at my grandparents' home and they had a free weekend of Cinemax. I saw a commercial advertising a double showing of Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange. They both looked weird and compelling and beautiful. My mother wouldn't let me watch them for whatever reason mothers don't allow their children to watch things (what with the ol' ultraviolence and all), but luckily it was one of those "We'll show these two movies all night" kind of programs, so I tip-toed out of my bedroom and watched them. I was elated and devastated and thrilled beyond measure. I loved film before this--my family has always been well watched. But that late-night excursion with Cinemax, into a heart of darkness that could cheerily anounce the end of humanity and aestheticize brutality to the synthesized strains of Beethoven's Ninth, heavily upped the ante. It was like a beautiful, terrifying dream. I needed more and more and more. You know the rest.



Perhaps it's too dry, too docu-like for my tastes. Or too visual. The sequences in the bomber were fairly boring while the shot of Slim Pickens riding the nuke iconic, but not really funny. Perhaps it's a product of its era what with the cold war and all. I'm sure somewhere in some underground base in some godforsaken spot on the earth there's a bunch of nukes stashed away waiting for the day they'll be launched, but it doesn't feel like a sword of damocles that hangs over me.



Dr. Strangelove just might be my favorite film if I had to choose, but I don't so I won't.



Some of the low scores for Dr. Strangelove in this thread are not only disappointing to me, but puzzling as well. The film is damn near perfect, and is very, very funny.



If one laugh for the entire film counts as very, very funny, then I agree.



Everytime I say Dr. Strangelove, someone always has to tell me "It's a great movie but it's not laugh out loud funny blah blah blah you just say that because it's Kubrick blah blah pretentious wank wank wank." Not this time, fucker.


There's something about how a few of the jokes/pratfalls in Strangelove fall flat for me that I've never figured out. It's like the timing is off, way off, so far off that it must be intentional, so very far off that it almost loops around and becomes funny again. I'm talking about the "There's no fighting in here. This is the war room!" line and when George C. Scott trips and falls in particular.



Guess what, number8? I thought Dr. Strangelove was way too close to reality for it to function as laugh-out-loud comedy. I only laughed once - at Scott's petulant, "But sir...he'll see the big board!"

[Spinal]

Well, clearly number8's quote is the winner of that bunch.

[transmogrifier]

21.
http://www.starz.com/titles/DoTheRightThing/PublishingImages/do_the_right_thing_1989_685x38 5.jpg

"You wanna boycott someone? You ought to start with the goddamn barber that fucked up your head."

Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 37.2
Highest ranking: 6 (transmogrifier)
AFI ranking (2007): 96
IMDB Ranking: - (7.9/10)




I think I would've been more impressed by Do the Right Thing if I hadn't seen later Spike films where he uses much of the same techniques. Still, powerful stuff. All the performers were great, specially Danny Aiello. Lee doesn't try at all for subtlety, and sometimes I even thought it was too much, like in the short scene where Turturro tries to explain to Spike's character why people like Prince or Michael Jordan aren't really "black". It was as if the characters were stuck on a debate forum exactly for that scene and then inmediately went back to the fiction. Still, the intensity the film builds around the final riot is commendable.




Rewatched Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing for the film class I'm taking, and it was just as powerful as before. Because of the skillful way in which Lee has music woven throughout this piece, it's extremely operatic nature became more prevalent this time through, and the Mooky/Nina relationship had far more heart to it, as there's love there but also recognition, from both parties, that Mooky's shirking his responsibility. What makes this film ultimately work, I think, is the way in which culpability is placed discursively in all the principal characters, rather than having one individuality be at fault in any moralistic sense. This lack of essentialism allows the film to have levels of ambiguity that remain implicit and open to interpretation (such as Sal's relationship with Mooky's sister).

I really wish I had seen this film when it first came out, as the issues dealt with in it would have possessed a greater resonance back in '89 (though I'm not claiming it's really lost any)...




[After stating Spike Lee was getting better with age]. To clarify, by with age, I meant his, not mine. He's making better films now that he's older. No more juvenile nonsense like Do The Right Thing.

[Spinal]

Well, clearly number8's quote is the winner of that bunch.

Hmmm. You win some, you lose some.

[transmogrifier]

Top 20 time!

Some stats:

2 directors with 2 films each (one of those directors has two in the Top 10)
Oldest film: 1928
Newest film: 2001
Average year of release: 1967
No single year has more than one film
Six foreign language films, but none in the Top 10.

[transmogrifier]

Hmmm. You win some, you lose some.

Yeah, the two faces of number8.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Top 20 time!

Some stats:
2 directors with 2 films each (one of those directors has two in the Top 10)
Oldest film: 1931
Newest film: 2001
Average year of release: 1967
No single year has more than one film
Six foreign language films, but none in the Top 10.

Did I miss The Passion of Joan of Arc somewhere on this list already? It's really not a top twenty film? I ask because it's from 1928.

[transmogrifier]

#20:

http://earthscience.files.wordpress.c om/2007/05/tornado.jpg

#19:

Christian McKay
Vincent D'Onofrio
Danny Huston
Liev Schreiber
Angus Macfadyen

[transmogrifier]

Did I miss The Passion of Joan of Arc somewhere on this list already? It's really not a top twenty film? I ask because it's from 1928.

Thank God for the edit button. Hope Wryan forgives me.

Plus, way to spoil the list, KF. ;)

[soitgoes...]

19 is Citizen Kane

[Winston*]

#19 Citizen Kane?

[transmogrifier]

No.

(but close)

[soitgoes...]

Touch of Evil then

[Winston*]

F For Fake

[transmogrifier]

F For Fake

Yes. All those actors have been "fake" Welles (played him in a movie)

[soitgoes...]

20 is Aguirre?

[transmogrifier]

Touch of Evil then

#119

[transmogrifier]

20 is Aguirre?

Correct (the wrath of God :))

[Spaceman Spiff]

Oldest film: City Lights
Newest film: Mulholland Drive?

[B-side]

Oldest film: City Lights
Newest film: Mulholland Drive?

City Lights is 1931. The 1928 film has got to be The Passion of Joan of Arc. The 2001 film is likely Mulholland Dr., or at least that'd be my guess not remembering if it's been on the list yet.:P

[Kurosawa Fan]

Thank God for the edit button. Hope Wryan forgives me.

Plus, way to spoil the list, KF. ;)

Sorry. My love for the film put me into panic mode. Technically I think this means I solved the hardest clue you've given thus far.

[transmogrifier]

Sorry. My love for the film put me into panic mode. Technically I think this means I solved the hardest clue you've given thus far.

Yep, you managed to see through my deliberately misleading statistics. That's impressive :)

[The Mike]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that found one laugh in Strangelove. :pritch:

[Spinal]

Indifference to Dr. Strangelove is a bizarre, unpleasant phenomenon much like furries or female circumcision.

[Derek]

Indifference to Dr. Strangelove is a bizarre, unpleasant phenomenon much like furries or female circumcision.

And some day it'll hopefully go out of fashion or be outlawed.

[B-side]

Indifference to Dr. Strangelove is a bizarre, unpleasant phenomenon much like furries or female circumcision.

Haha!

[transmogrifier]

20.
http://manoafreeuniversity.org/div/!ntern4/jan04/aguirre6.jpg

"That is no arrow. We just imagine the arrows because we fear them."

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 36.6
Highest ranking: 7 (Israfel the Black)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (8.0/10)



There is a moment in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=126807&postcount=966) that symbolizes, for me, everything great about the film, from its shooting style and thematic content to Klaus Kinski’s body-driven performance and the way Herzog’s camera often seems to dance with his presence in and out of the frame. It is almost a throwaway moment; one I imagine came about only through dumb luck and Klaus Kinski’s barbaric intensity. In a perfect strike of fate, now forever captured and eternalized on celluloid, about halfway through the film, Kinski spins violently around in a fit of rage on the raft to meet a bothersome horse eye-to-eye. One might expect, at most, a push of the head to move him out of the way, but no, Kinski looks the great beast in the eye and screams with an intensity few other actors could ever match, “Get out of my way!” to which the horse not only quickly stutters aside, but slips and falls. I can think of no better way to sum up the madness of Don Aguirre’s quest for El Dorado than meeting something as impossibly huge and intimidating face-to-face and scaring the ever-living shit out of it.


It's a film that I find myself neglecting far too often when in point of fact its power left me devastated after the first (and sadly only) viewing. The film's slow drawl of pacing is what allows the power of the images to become mythic in my eyes (the multitudes walking through the mountains in the film's opening), and Herzog knows how to depict the growing, unsettled sense of madness. Order cannot be restored among the trial scenes, despite the facsimile of it.

[transmogrifier]

19.
http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/images/news/originals/FFF_MoC_news.jpg

"What we professional liars hope to serve is truth. I'm afraid the pompous word for that is "art"."

F For Fake (Orson Welles, 1974)
List mentions: 10
Average ranking: 33.8
Highest ranking: 3 (eternity)
AFI ranking (2007): -
IMDB Ranking: - (7.9/10)




I like Gummo more than F for Fake.




I'm mostly taken by F for Fake for its brilliant editing, its interesting commentary on the relation between truth and fakery in the documentary form, and for Welles' engaging presense. It also manages to say as much about Howard Hughes in 15-20 minutes as The Aviator did in 2 1/2 hours.




I can't think of a film that celebrates the art of entertainment and cinema as much as F for Fake. It is quite positively among the most scrumtrulescent films I have seen.

The structure and playfulness are directly linked to Welles' use of the "respectable" art of cinema as a counterpoint and brethren of the disreputable act of forgery. He isn't merely saying "hey look, cinema is fake!" but rather equating cinema as an act of falsity and lying and that anybody who can create a great work of art, no matter how false, is worthy of praise.

I really don't see why the film has to be some eye-opening experience to be considered a remarkable cinematic achievement. That the form so seamlessly intertwines with the content is to me pure cinema, and should be respected and praised as such.



I don't think that any of Welles' explicit statements about forgery and hoaxes are particularly profound, but the way that he makes his statements using the language of film is both interesting and damned entertaining. The structure, the editing, Welles' charisma, and the intertwining of various narratives and ideas are what make the film great, regardless of whether it works as an essay on fakery.

[transmogrifier]

#18:

http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope/files/2009/04/five.jpg

"Charity Drive"
"Bart the General"
"The Stock Tip"
"Basketball"


#17:

IMDB keywords:

paraplegic
bathtub scene
dehydration

[soitgoes...]

17 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[Watashi]

Is #18 Apocalypse Now?

[soitgoes...]

18 is The Empire Strikes Back

[B-side]

18 is M. Maybe.

[transmogrifier]

18 is The Empire Strikes Back

Correct.

[transmogrifier]

17 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Correct.

[soitgoes...]

18 is M. Maybe.
No I'm pretty sure it is Empire. It is the 5th episode, as are all those titles.

Charity Drive - Arrested Development
Bart the General - The Simpsons
The Stock Tip - Seinfeld
Basketball - ??? (Not sure, but it doesn't really matter.)