Discussion about great films

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:59 am

Das Boot is incredible Nin, one of my favourites.

A bunch of movies that etched themselves indelibly on my mind for whatever reason:

Betty Blue
Requiem for a Dream
Once Upon a Time in the West
Amelie
Streetcar Named Desire
Godfather I and II
2001 A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner Directors Cut
On Golden Pond
Ben Hur
The Ten Commandments
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Alien
The Empire Strikes Back
Back to the Future

and obviously
Lord of the Rings

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 1:21 pm

Elentári wrote:Since nobody else seemed to like my earlier choices, how about REMAINS OF THE DAY...that's another stunning film with an impeccable cast, that brings a lump to the throat.

Agreed 100%. that is one amazing film and could be used as the perfect model of great acting. The scene where Thompson is trying to finally get Hopkins to be a real man and show emotion with her is among the best ever filmed.

Post by **JewelSong** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:24 pm

City Lights!

My own list...these are movies that have made a lasting impression on me - either I can view them over and over again, or I saw them once and was powerfully affected so I still think about them. (In no particular order)

The Wizard of Oz
Miracle on 34th Street (our family's "must watch" Christmas move. The ORIGINAL, with Natalie Wood as the little girl.)
Shawshank Redemption (one of the very few instances where I truly think the movie is BETTER than the book.)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Pan's Labyrinth
Papillion
Glory
Silence of the Lambs
Deliverance
Casablanca
The African Queen
Up
Toy Story - especially the 3rd one.
Sideways (I hated all the characters in this...but I still think about the movie.)
Sound of Music
West Side Story (hate the lip-synced singing and stupid fake Spanish accents and the dumb lyrics, but the DANCING and the MUSIC...ahhhh.)

ETA:

Nin wrote:One movie which really marked me was The Mission by Roland Joffre

.

Forgot about this one...devastating movie and beautifully done.

Post by **Elentári** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:57 pm

JewelSong wrote:ETA:
Nin wrote:One movie which really marked me was The Mission by Roland Joffre
.

Forgot about this one...devastating movie and beautifully done.

Oh, yes - definitely!

I love film musicals, too, Jewel, and those you listed (West Side Story, Sound of Music) are wonderful examples...I have to admit to a soft spot for the original "Grease," mainly because of the songs, and my all-time favourite musical is "The Slipper and the Rose"

I also have a secret fondness for the old Deanna Durbin musicals - what a lovely voice!

Post by **JewelSong** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:35 pm

Elentári wrote: I love film musicals, too, Jewel, and those you listed (West Side Story, Sound of Music) are wonderful examples...

See, most of the time I DON'T care as much for film musicals - mostly because I find the original stage play so much better and most film musicals (for me) fail to capture the magic of a live production. (That doesn't mean I don't watch them...I do.)

"West Side Story" was exceptional mostly because of Robbin's incredible choreography and of course, Bernstein's score. And "Sound of Music" I just love, period. "Grease" is fun, but completely different than the play...they wrote a couple of songs just for Travolta. I expected to be blown away by the recent film version of "Les Miz" but I really wasn't.

On the other hand..."Singin' in the Rain" is tops. Of course, that was not adapted from the stage, but made as a movie.

Post by **Elentári** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:01 pm

JewelSong wrote:
Elentári wrote: I love film musicals, too, Jewel, and those you listed (West Side Story, Sound of Music) are wonderful examples...
See, most of the time I DON'T care as much for film musicals - mostly because I find the original stage play so much better and most film musicals (for me) fail to capture the magic of a live production. (That doesn't mean I don't watch them...I do.)

"West Side Story" was exceptional mostly because of Robbin's incredible choreography and of course, Bernstein's score. And "Sound of Music" I just love, period. "Grease" is fun, but completely different than the play...they wrote a couple of songs just for Travolta. I expected to be blown away by the recent film version of "Les Miz" but I really wasn't.

On the other hand..."Singin' in the Rain" is tops. Of course, that was not adapted from the stage, but made as a movie.

I guess I'm the opposite...I enjoy the movie version more than the stage show a lot of the time, since a movie offers the opportunity to explore the story and setting in more depth - although with Les Mis I couldn't get drawn into the story at all, but that may have been to do with the fast moving storyline taking place over a long period of time.

However, it is usually the music I fall in love with first...

btw...the stage show of Sound of Music has extra songs, doesn't it? I remember an LP my grandma had of S of M and it had 2 songs on it that weren't in the film - one was the Baroness's song, I believe. Same thing with "The King and I..."

Post by **Passdagas the Brown** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:19 pm

Elentári wrote:Since nobody else seemed to like my earlier choices, how about REMAINS OF THE DAY...that's another stunning film with an impeccable cast, that brings a lump to the throat.

Not true! Of your choices, I love:

LAWRENCE, DR ZHIVAGO, though I have not seen RYAN'S DAUGHTER.

I'm also a huge fan of (and own) CROUCHNG TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. I liked the Jodie Foster remake of THE KING AND I, as well.

Nobody shoot me, but I have never seen DANGEROUS LIAISONS or REMAINS OF THE DAY...

Post by **Elentári** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:45 pm

Passdagas the Brown wrote:
Nobody shoot me, but I have never seen DANGEROUS LIAISONS or REMAINS OF THE DAY...

That's criminal...

You really should rectify that immediately!

Post by **Passdagas the Brown** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:51 pm

I will! But please, put the gun down.

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:54 pm

Nobody shoot me, but I don't think I know what DANGEROUS LIAISONS or REMAINS OF THE DAY are.

Post by **Passdagas the Brown** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:02 pm

Run, yov. Run.

Post by **Elentári** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:03 pm

yovargas wrote:Nobody shoot me, but I don't think I know what DANGEROUS LIAISONS or REMAINS OF THE DAY are.

Amazon is your friend...

The Remains of the Day:

The Remains of the Day is one of Merchant-Ivory's most thought-provoking films. Anthony Hopkins is a model of restraint and propriety as Stevens, the butler who "knows his place"; Emma Thompson is the animated and sympathetic Miss Kenton, the housekeeper whose attraction to Stevens is doomed to disappointment. As Nazi appeaser Lord Darlington, James Fox clings to the notion of a gentleman's agreement in the ruthless political climate before World War Two. Hugh Grant is his journalist nephew all too aware of reality, while Christopher Reeves gives a spirited portrayal of an American senator, whose purchase of Darlington Hall 20 years on sends Stevens on a journey to right the mistake he made out of loyalty. As a period drama with an ever-relevant message, this 1993 film is absorbing viewing all the way. Adapted by the Merchant-Ivory team from the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, 'The Remains of the Day' was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.

Dangerous Liaisons:

A sumptuously mounted and photographed celebration of artful wickedness, betrayal and sexual intrigue among depraved 18th-century French aristocrats, Dangerous Liaisons (based on Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses) is seductively decadent fun. The villainous heroes are the Marquise De Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Vicomte De Valmont (John Malkovich), who have cultivated their mutual cynicism into a highly developed and exquisitely mannered form of (in-)human expression. Former lovers, they now fancy themselves rather like demigods whose mutual desires have evolved beyond the crudeness of sex or emotion. They ritualistically act out their twisted affections by engaging in elaborate conspiracies to destroy the lives of their less calculating acquaintances, daring each other to ever-more-dastardly acts of manipulation and betrayal. Why? Just because they can; it's their perverted way of getting their kicks in a dead-end, pre-Revolutionary culture. The Marquise challenges the Vicomte to conquer young Cecile (Uma Thurman), the wife-to-be of an old friend. However, the perverse Vicomte prefers to work upon the seduction of Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer), a married and moral young aquaintance. The sexual and social repercussions of the seduction has disastrous effects. The film won Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Post by **Nin** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:19 pm

Just to be very picky: Dangerous Liaisons is based on a 18th century novel by Choderlos de Laclos, written exclusively in letters... The book is a masterpiece of its own kind.

Does any of you know the Franco-Italian movie Cinema Paradiso? That was another milestone movie for me.

Post by **Passdagas the Brown** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:38 pm

Nin wrote:Just to be very picky: Dangerous Liaisons is based on a 18th century novel by Choderlos de Laclos, written exclusively in letters... The book is a masterpiece of its own kind.

Does any of you know the Franco-Italian movie Cinema Paradiso? That was another milestone movie for me.

Yes. I lived in Italy for 6 years, and soaked in all of its cinema. I appreciate Cinema Paradiso, but it's not close to my heart like films such as La Strada, Bicycle Thief, I Vitelloni, and Rome, Open City are.

I'm also a huge fan of a great contemporary Italian film "Io Non Ho Paura."

Interestingly, I guess, my favorite French film-maker is Melville (of "Army of Shadows" fame - one of the greatest films of all time, IMO). It's interesting because he was of a French school that was heavily influenced by the American cinema of the day!

Post by **Smaug's voice** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:42 pm

Best movies?

Not saying. I haven't seen many of the films listed here even though I know they are considered classics, so my list is more "childish" you may say.

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:45 pm

Nin wrote:Just to be very picky: Dangerous Liaisons is based on a 18th century novel by Choderlos de Laclos, written exclusively in letters... The book is a masterpiece of its own kind.

Does any of you know the Franco-Italian movie Cinema Paradiso? That was another milestone movie for me.

I love that film CINEMA PARADISO. Its simply wonderful. Thank you for bringing it up as it truly is a great film.

Has anybody seen JOYEUX NOEL? I would put that in the same class with PATHS OF GLORY.

And Scorsese's HUGO ---- just a beautiful film that makes one love the very art of film making even more. I saw it without knowing one thing about it story wise and boy was I glad as I just became so overjoyed when it turned into what it was.

Post by **Passdagas the Brown** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:11 pm

I liked HUGO well enough, but I feel that for a while now, Scorcese hasn't been able to capture that raw, effortless spirit he used to have. His films feel too much like films with film-making in mind, if you catch my meaning. They've become more film-world, more artificial, and less viscerally real.

HUGO shouldn't be viscerally real, of course. But I felt it was lacking an effortlessness. Overwrought, IMO.

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:32 pm

Passdagas the Brown wrote:I liked HUGO well enough, but I feel that for a while now, Scorcese hasn't been able to capture that raw, effortless spirit he used to have. His films feel too much like films with film-making in mind, if you catch my meaning. They've become more film-world, more artificial, and less viscerally real.

HUGO shouldn't be viscerally real, of course. But I felt it was lacking an effortlessness. Overwrought, IMO.

I can see what you are saying but I felt the subject matter benefitted from the way he handled it. It was a love letter to that era of film and as such comes with certain sensibilities that I accept and go with. I think it was his best film since GOODFELLA'S.

and ..... Scorsese is no longer the young man full of piss and vinegar who created the "you looking at me" icon. I really would not expect him to be making the same films with the same spirit he had thirty and forty years ago.

Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:23 pm

Understood. But that was some great piss and vinegar!

Post by **kzer_za** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:44 pm

I wanted to go through this topic and put together all the movies mentioned in it so far that I liked or loved, but there are so many! I still might try to later.

Glad The Mission got mentioned. I love that movie. Such amazing visuals and music, and so inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time. How did Roland Joffe go from debuting with The Killing Fields and The Mission to Super Mario Bros. less than a decade later?

One of my favorite directors is Billy Wilder. He was a very consistent director - I've seen 10+ of his movies, and enjoyed every one of them. Not many directors about whom I can say that. I like Ace in the Hole, Double Indemnity, and One Two Three best.

The Remains of the Day is good, but the book is better (of course, it almost always is). Kazuo Ishiguro is one of the best living authors.

A few others I really like that haven't come up (or that I missed):
The Roaring Twenties
Life is Beautiful
The Lives of Others
Out of the Past
The Maltese Falcon
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Unforgiven
UHF (my dumb mid/lowbrow comedy of choice)
What's Up Doc? (A rather overlooked comedy)
Almost everything Marx Brothers (Horse Feathers is favorite - a darkhorse choice

)

My favorite Malick movie is actually Days of Heaven - I'm just a sucker for those visuals. Need to rewatch Thin Red Line though. And I still haven't seen To The Wonder.

Kurosawa - I thought Seven Samurai and Hidden Fortress were good with some excellent scenes, yet I couldn't quite connect with them the way I can with my favorite movies. It might be the east-west cultural barrier. However, I recently watched Yojimbo and loved it, maybe because it's basically a western set in feudal Japan (and I know Leone remade it starring Eastwood!)

Tarantino - Sorry, but I really hated Django Unchained. Pulp Fiction is good though. And I recall liking the Kill Bills at least somewhat, though it's been awhile.