Discussion about great films

[sauronsfinger]

I first saw KANE when I was probably only about fourteen and liked it a great deal for the political storyline. I sat through the entire film no problem.

KANE changed American movies probably more than any other single film other than BIRTH OF A NATION. If anyone is serious about film, it is something to learn about and to appreciate.

And it is a darn good story with a tremendous cast and some of the best camera work you will ever see.

[Passdagas the Brown]

I first saw KANE when I was probably only about fourteen and liked it a great deal for the political storyline. I sat through the entire film no problem.

KANE changed American movies probably more than any other single film other than BIRTH OF A NATION. If anyone is serious about film, it is something to learn about and to appreciate.

And it is a darn good story with a tremendous cast and some of the best camera work you will ever see.

Ah, the window scene...

[Passdagas the Brown]

Completely forgot one of my favorites, Kurosawa. Seven Samurai may have had just as much of an impact on modern cinema as Citizen Kane and Lawrence.

Though my absolute favorite of his is Ran - his rendition of King Lear. Some of the most striking images in cinematic history, IMO.

[yovargas]

Of the Kurosawa I've seen only Rashomon impressed me but it impressed me a lot!

[sauronsfinger]

Completely forgot one of my favorites, Kurosawa. Seven Samurai may have had just as much of an impact on modern cinema as Citizen Kane and Lawrence.

Though my absolute favorite of his is Ran - his rendition of King Lear. Some of the most striking images in cinematic history, IMO.

I too prefer RAN. SEVEN SAMURAI is a good film - and it impacted many world filmmakers - but I would not even place it in the top 50 of all time.

[WampusCat]

I've seen Citizen Kane several times and enjoyed it. Casablanca is probably my favorite, though.

Others of note that I've watched multiple times:

North by Northwest
Rear Window
The Lion King
The Red Violin
Moby Dick (the old version, with screenplay by Ray Bradbury)
Night of the Hunter
Life of Pi
LOTR
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Princess Bride
To Kill a Mockingbird

[Passdagas the Brown]

Not for me, neither. Ran is my favorite, and I would take Rashomon and Throne of Blood over it any day.

But Seven Samurai is one of those "if you're interested in the history of film, you must see it and study it!" Like yov said about Kane, it's cinematic broccoli.

ETA: Hope you don't mind, yov, but I'm going to use that broccoli line at dinner parties and conference receptions. Will pay, if the sum is reasonable.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Wampus, your mention of "Lion King" brought to mind: "Lion in Winter." Anyone else?

And by association, it brings up one of my favorite films, which I somehow left off the list: "A Man for All Seasons." The best Henry VIII ever.

And the fact that he's played by the inimitable Robert Shaw (you know, the ornery sea captain from Jaws) clinches it for me as a film in its own category of awesome.

[sauronsfinger]

Wampus, your mention of "Lion King" brought to mind: "Lion in Winter." Anyone else?

And by association, it brings up one of my favorite films, which I somehow left off the list: "A Man for All Seasons." The best Henry VIII ever.

And the fact that he's played by the inimitable Robert Shaw (you know, the ornery sea captain from Jaws) clinches it for me as a film in its own category of awesome.

I recently saw LION IN WINTER again after many years- (okay - three or four years ago is recent for me) and I was struck by the radical difference in the amount of lines the actors were given to speak at one time without interruption.

In todays films, lines are rather short and if an actor gets more than three script lines before somebody else comes in - its a bloody filibuster. I have signed copies of the three LOTR scripts and that is no exception. But LION IN WINTER has these long speeches which go on for half a page or more and this happens many times in the film.

That sort of thing would never get green lighted today as a mass market film intended to make good box office as LION was in its day.

[sauronsfinger]

I've seen Citizen Kane several times and enjoyed it. Casablanca is probably my favorite, though.

Others of note that I've watched multiple times:

North by Northwest
Rear Window
The Lion King
The Red Violin
Moby Dick (the old version, with screenplay by Ray Bradbury)
Night of the Hunter
Life of Pi
LOTR
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Princess Bride
To Kill a Mockingbird

Oh I really do love NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and its really creepy in the best of ways. PRINCESS BRIDE is a film I have a soft spot for although I watched Robin Wright on HOUSE OF CARDS and its hard to believe that sweet young thing grew up to be such a convincing player of pure evil. What growth in an actress!

[Passdagas the Brown]

Wampus, your mention of "Lion King" brought to mind: "Lion in Winter." Anyone else?

And by association, it brings up one of my favorite films, which I somehow left off the list: "A Man for All Seasons." The best Henry VIII ever.

And the fact that he's played by the inimitable Robert Shaw (you know, the ornery sea captain from Jaws) clinches it for me as a film in its own category of awesome.

I recently saw LION IN WINTER again after many years- (okay - three or four years ago is recent for me) and I was struck by the radical difference in the amount of lines the actors were given to speak at one time without interruption.

In todays films, lines are rather short and if an actor gets more than three script lines before somebody else comes in - its a bloody filibuster. I have signed copies of the three LOTR scripts and that is no exception. But LION IN WINTER has these long speeches which go on for half a page or more and this happens many times in the film.

That sort of thing would never get green lighted today as a mass market film intended to make good box office as LION was in its day.

That really says something about evolving (or devolving) attention spans!

[yovargas]

ETA: Hope you don't mind, yov, but I'm going to use that broccoli line at dinner parties and conference receptions. Will pay, if the sum is reasonable.

I give it away free of charge as long as you don't use it against stuff I think is awesome. Your use with Seven Samurai is acceptable.


To bring it down a bit from hi-falutin' realm, I'll say that I'm a big fan of several Judd Apatow's movies, Knocked Up and Superbad in particular. And the weird reboot of 21 Jump Street was a criminally overlooked comic gem. And my favorite movie I've seen this year - Whedon's Much Ado - is probably the most fun I've had at the theater since Whedon's Avengers.

[Frelga]

Speaking of the Raiders of the Lost Ark - my view of that movie was completely changed when a character on the Bing Bang Theory pointed out that Indiana Jones was entirely superfluous to the plot. In the end, Nazis get the Ark, open it, and die, which is exactly what would have happened if Indiana wasn't there at all.

[narya]

Speaking of the Raiders of the Lost Ark - my view of that movie was completely changed when a character on the Bing Bang Theory pointed out that Indiana Jones was entirely superfluous to the plot. In the end, Nazis get the Ark, open it, and die, which is exactly what would have happened if Indiana wasn't there at all.

Except that after that, the Ark is taken to an American warehouse for who knows what eventual nefarious purposes. I've been to that warehouse, by the way, or one of its clones. The Smithsonian has a vast, and I mean vast, set of warehouses in Virginia to house the 95% of stuff you don't see on public display. The corridors were so long, I couldn't quite see to the ends of them.

But I digress. I did not put Monty Python on my list because I can never sit completely through one. Unlike my son, who can quote scenes verbatim.

And for the n00bs among us, some old threads. (Didn't you just love it when people in the m00bies forum told you that on TORC?)

Movies so good you never have/want to see them again
viewtopic.php?t=935

AFI Names Top Genre Films
viewtopic.php?t=1643

Classic Movies I Should Watch with My Girls
(Lali is posing the question about her daughters)
viewtopic.php?t=2917

(sigh) In this case, it allows us to recall input from posters no longer with us.

[Passdagas the Brown]

ETA: Hope you don't mind, yov, but I'm going to use that broccoli line at dinner parties and conference receptions. Will pay, if the sum is reasonable.

I give it away free of charge as long as you don't use it against stuff I think is awesome. Your use with Seven Samurai is acceptable.


To bring it down a bit from hi-falutin' realm, I'll say that I'm a big fan of several Judd Apatow's movies, Knocked Up and Superbad in particular. And the weird reboot of 21 Jump Street was a criminally overlooked comic gem. And my favorite movie I've seen this year - Whedon's Much Ado - is probably the most fun I've had at the theater since Whedon's Avengers.

In terms of middle-to-low-brow, I also like Apatow, love the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, the World's End), and absolutely love Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness (give me some sugar, baby!) And all Mel Brooks films. The more ridiculous, the better.

ETA: And, of course, Sharknado. Most compelling ending of any film ever made.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

In terms of middle-to-low-brow, I also like Apatow, love the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, the World's End), and absolutely love Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness (give me some sugar, baby!) And all Mel Brooks films. The more ridiculous, the better.

I am mildly offended that you would include an all-time genius like Mel Brooks in that paragraph.

[JewelSong]

My late father (who was quite an academic and maybe even "high-brow") insisted that "Young Frankenstein" was the best movie ever made.

I think he was only half kidding.

[Passdagas the Brown]

In terms of middle-to-low-brow, I also like Apatow, love the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, the World's End), and absolutely love Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness (give me some sugar, baby!) And all Mel Brooks films. The more ridiculous, the better.

I am mildly offended that you would include an all-time genius like Mel Brooks in that paragraph.

Of course he's a genius. A genius of middle-to-low-brow comedy! And I love every minute of it.

[Elentári]

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.

[Nin]

Elentári, I loved Liaisons dangereuses... I watched the movie again and again and then once again the other day - but this time for costume inspiration because I am working on an 18th century dress.

Remains of the day is wonderful. (And a regency dress is planned....) It's one of those movies which made me buy the book the next day.

There are several other films I would like to mention, but as some of them are French and/or German movies, they might not be known to others.

One movie which really marked me was The Mission by Roland Joffre.

The Tin Drum by Volker von Schlöndorff
Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen - that was before he went to Hollywood...
The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) which is a recent German movie in black and white which is absolutely haunting.

L'enfant sauvage (The Wolf Child?) by François Truffaut
Le Grand Bleu...

Silent movies:
Metropolis, of course
City Lights
The Kid
The Nibelungen


Once upon time in America


I certainly forgot several...