The Race to Finish Someone Else's Arbitrary Best of List

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Mmmmyeah, but I mean aren't there a few on the list you guys could mutually agree to take a mulligan on? I understand that kinda undercuts the whole deal here, but honestly, seeking out and sitting down to watch Pretty Woman or whatnot is just a completely pointless exercise you will get nothing out of

It's not like we're talking about 200 films worth of dreck here. I actually don't have any of the Pretty Woman type films left to see. My question marks are mostly the Bollywood musicals and the Hollywood musicals, as well as films by certain directors who I haven't had an altogether pleasant experience with so far. But like I said above, who knows? I could end up liking them.

[Qrazy]

Bizarre entries like that are what makes the They Shoot Pictures list superior to the one you're working with. I guess they're included for their cultural impact, but they're just really crappy movies.

I prefer They Shoot Pictures as well... but I'm not as far along in that one.

I mean at least once I see Top Gun, Pretty Woman and Little Miss Sunshine I can stop having friends say shit like... 'You've seen so many movies but you haven't seen THAT?? Recent cinema really is a blind spot for you.' Now I can say 'Yeah I've seen it, and it was horrible shit!'

Erm... what I mean is... I'm going into all these viewings with an open mind... yeah...

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Bizarre entries like that are what makes the They Shoot Pictures list superior to the one you're working with. I guess they're included for their cultural impact, but they're just really crappy movies.

I prefer that list too.

[Qrazy]

Mmmmyeah, but I mean aren't there a few on the list you guys could mutually agree to take a mulligan on? I understand that kinda undercuts the whole deal here, but honestly, seeking out and sitting down to watch Pretty Woman or whatnot is just a completely pointless exercise you will get nothing out of

I think what you're forgetting is that the website icheckmovies gives you digital awards for completing lists... and that's really what matters here.

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I think what you're forgetting is that the website icheckmovies gives you digital awards for completing lists... and that's really what matters here.

You can print them out and wear them like military ribbons and awards. That's what I do. Envy of the town, I am.

[Qrazy]

You can print them out and wear them like military ribbons and awards. That's what I do. Envy of the town, I am.

That's too IRL for me. I just post them onto my social networking sites and twitter out my list status. 301 to go!

[Melville]

You guys should try to become the top user on that site. Now that's a meaningless goal that takes some intestinal fortitude. Those top users must watch like 6 movies a day.

[Raiders]

You guys should try to become the top user on that site. Now that's a meaningless goal that takes some intestinal fortitude. Those top users must watch like 6 movies a day.

Or lie.

[Qrazy]

You guys should try to become the top user on that site. Now that's a meaningless goal that takes some intestinal fortitude. Those top users must watch like 6 movies a day.

The only one I know is Rich (number 4 on the charts)... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on RT... and yeah he's seen a shit ton of movies it seems.

For those of you who can't be bothered to check he's at 3,045 list films viewed.

[Melville]

Or lie.

Those sneaky bastards.

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I'll be posting entries on a few more films I've watched soon. I do wish this list had more silent entries.

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#696 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1974)



Well it was good. Something about Fassbinder's films just leave me cold. This is the third of his films I've watched in the past month (Love Is Colder Than Death, The Merchant of Four Seasons), and I just don't quite get the love. The most interesting thing about watching Ali was comparing the story, and Fassbinder's take on it, to Haynes's and Sirk's films - both of which I prefer to this one.

[Melville]

Something about Fassbinder's films just leave me cold.

I felt the same way about Ali and Maria Braun, but In a Year of 13 Moons was a stunningly gorgeous tragedy. Have you seen that one?

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#697 Footlight Parade (Lloyd Bacon 1933)



The third Busby Berkeley film I've seen (all released in 1933), and it's more of the same. Fast-paced comedy capped off with some amazing dance choreography at the end. This time the big scene takes place in a pool. I think Golddiggers of 1933 is the better film, mostly because it actually carries a pretty powerful message and better songs, but this one probably stands equal to 42nd Street. I always enjoy seeing James Cagney play someone not a gangster. What a versatile actor he was.

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I felt the same way about Ali and Maria Braun, but In a Year of 13 Moons was a stunningly gorgeous tragedy. Have you seen that one?

Not yet. I've seen Maria Braun, and probably feel it's his best I've seen thus far. I'm going to watch In a Year of 13 Moons next for the film swap. It isn't that I don't enjoy these films. I do. There's just something about them that just don't jive with me. Something that keeps me from thinking they're great.

[Qrazy]

Not yet. I've seen Maria Braun, and probably feel it's his best I've seen thus far. I'm going to watch In a Year of 13 Moons next for the film swap. It isn't that I don't enjoy these films. I do. There's just something about them that just don't jive with me. Something that keeps me from thinking they're great.

I agree.

Still, my favorites so far are Ali, Moons and Fox and His Friends.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not yet. I've seen Maria Braun, and probably feel it's his best I've seen thus far. I'm going to watch In a Year of 13 Moons next for the film swap. It isn't that I don't enjoy these films. I do. There's just something about them that just don't jive with me. Something that keeps me from thinking they're great.

I also agree. I find them to be relatively simple films done without much cinematic endeavor. They're certainly good movies, but they don't really impress me formally or thematically.

[Qrazy]

I also agree. I find them to be relatively simple films done without much cinematic endeavor. They're certainly good movies, but they don't really impress me formally or thematically.

I think he's one of those directors where the filmography is greater than the sum of it's parts. I certainly find him to be a unique and fascinating artistic voice, but I'm not blown away by any of his individual films. But his scripts are nearly always thoughtful and his aesthetic precise. I find him to be like many other high quality prolific directors. They make consistently good films (for the most part), but rarely great ones.

[B-side]

Fassbinder is terrific. He is fairly simple on the surface, but he owes a lot to Brecht, and his camera work is always great. He had a sense of humor, and his films are rife with irony and topicality.

[Melville]

I also agree. I find them to be relatively simple films done without much cinematic endeavor. They're certainly good movies, but they don't really impress me formally or thematically.

I thought In a Year of 13 Moons was awesome both formally and thematically. The way he set a scene visually and with audio (both music and dialogue) was seriously impressive, from the use of monochromatic color and Suicide's Frankie Teardrop in one scene, to the drifting of a tragic monologue over fluid shots of meat processors at work in another.

[B-side]

I thought In a Year of 13 Moons was awesome both formally and thematically. The way he set a scene visually and with audio (both music and dialogue) was seriously impressive, from the use of monochromatic color and Suicide's Frankie Teardrop in one scene, to the drifting of a tragic monologue over fluid shots of meat processors at work in another.

For sure. Interesting to note that he himself did the cinematography for that movie, and it might be his most visually impressive (that I've seen, of course).

You might be interested in checking this analysis out. I remember it revealing some layers and themes to me that I was totally ignorant to. Be warned, it's rather long.

[Melville]

For sure. Interesting to note that he himself did the cinematography for that movie, and it might be his most visually impressive (that I've seen, of course).

You might be interested in checking this analysis out. I remember it revealing some layers and themes to me that I was totally ignorant to. Be warned, it's rather long.

That is brutally long. My 5-minute attention span will never get me through it. I need the CliffsNotes version.

[Derek]

I think he's one of those directors where the filmography is greater than the sum of it's parts.

I'm with you here. I've only outright loved two of his films (Berlin Alexanderplatz and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant), but I always find myself drawn to his films and wanting to see more. He deserves his status as one of the greats even if he's not first-tier pantheon.

[Melville]

I'm with you here. I've only outright loved two of his films (Berlin Alexanderplatz and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant), but I always find myself drawn to his films and wanting to see more. He deserves his status as one of the greats even if he's not first-tier pantheon.

Did you see my question re. Up in the Air in that other thread (I don't recall which one now)? It seemed like it could be good, what with the Clooney involved.

[B-side]

That is brutally long. My 5-minute attention span will never get me through it. I need the CliffsNotes version.

Been too long for that, sorry. I do recommend you read it, though, if only in pieces.