Looking for some direction (1 Viewer)

[ChuckSolo]

No problem Lew. I am curious though, why do you NOT consider "Gone With the Wind" a classic? I don't really think that anyone can in his lifetime really see all the "classics." None of us have that much time. You are right about informed opinions. I have had many a conversations with some members of the 20 something generation who absolutely claim to be movie buffs, affectionados, etc., but they abhorr any movie shot in black and white. They can tell you who the cinematographer was on the "Star Wars" movies, but have never even tried to watch anything considered "classic" by anyone's standards. Heck, I even had one of the aforementioned 20 somethings squeal with delight when she watched the colorized version of Howard Hawkes "The Thing" saying how she would have never watched it in black and white.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Actually I do consider Gone With the Wind a classic. It is just a movie that (for me) has many flaws (the death of Bonnie, being one). I’ve written on it in both the S&S thread and the in AFI thread, so if you are interested you can check out my posts. I do know that this is another minority opinion. On my four star scale, I’d give GWTW thee—Ben-Hur only 1.

If you are interested in a discussion as to any film’s merits, start a thread. Most probably someone will join in.

 

[Ruz-El]

Dennis,

I'd recommend renting the following DVD's:
AFI top 100 Films past 100 years
AFI top 50 Stars of the past 100 years
Martin Scorses A Personal journey through film.

The first 2 show allot of clips of what I guess could be call the canonized classic (and modern classic) films.

The Scorses films are more interesting to me, as they go deeper into the films that influenced him, and aren't nesseccarly what are considered classics in traditional sense.

The nice thing about these releases is they have a ton of clips, which could pique your interest, although there are spoilers in the AFI ones, so be warned. They also both contain some rather entertaining commentary by film insiders. IMHO, the Scorses one is a must see, with the AFI deffinately geared to the commercial, but I'm a sucker for lists and clips, and enjoy all of them. I've never dealt with NETFLIX, but I'm sure you could rent these, or get them from you local library (on VHS). collectively, they are like a mini film history course (although in the case of AFI, an admittedly shallow film course.)

My biggest mistake as a amateur film buff was writing off whole genres of films, and then kicking myself for missing out on some fine viewing. Most recent example: Musicals. I always considered them crap based on clips (Rocky Horror and Dancer in the Dark being the only exceptions, I typically don't count animation as musicals, but then again, I've mostly been disappointed by Disney's recent output, which are so Broadway in style it makes me cringe). I saw the recent SE of Singin' in the Rain, mainly due to Robert Harris praising it, and now it is easily one of the best movie watching experiences I've had. I saw it 2 months ago, and have just bought it for myself, and can't wait to force my friends to watch it this weekend. (I was pretty much forced into watching it myself). Now I'm not saying I like all musicals, "Fiddler On The roof" bored me last week, but I'm deffinately going to give them a fare shake.

I also wouldn't put two much on the HT set-up. I've been just as awed by watching Able Gances silent Napoleon on my creaky zenith 18" from '84 as I was by Singin' in the Rain on a nice flatscreen. Good film making and storytelling always beats technology IMHO:b

That's my 2 cents, as an amateur film buff. I hope it helps some of you in your quest for knowledge. Best thing about being a film fan is there really isn't a wrong road when it comes to watching movies!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Sounds very similar to me. I write reviews for my friends web site but you won't see them here. Right now they are rather amateurish. I'm very hard on myself. I figure the more I write, the more films I see, the better I'll get. I'm going to be taking classes in January that will gear me towards film and writing.

These are two entirely different disciplines. If you want to become a film critic, focus primarily on your writing skills. The most famous critics endear themselves to their audience through their use of the english language rather than their vast knowledge of film. One technique to both practice writing and increase your knowledge of film would be to write a review of every movie you see and seek out a wide variety of films to review. Experiment with how much you summarize the film and how much you comment on it. Experiment with how much you're willing to give away and how much you only hint at. Research the great filmmakers... Sergei Eisenstein, Orson Welles, Robert Wise, Francis Ford Coppola, François Truffaut,David Lean, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, John Huston, John Ford, Fritz Lang, Elia Kazan (and especially the controversy surrounding him), Sergio Leone, Frank Capra, George Cukor, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, the Coen brothers, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Milos Foreman, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and what the hell, D.W. Griffith. If you study these men and the times they worked in, you should hit every era of film many times. That baseline knowledge will give you a fairly good idea of the range of film, and how various movies relate together. Don't dismiss the less prestigious films either... Animal House, Cheech and Chong, and the like may not top critic's lists of greatest films, but they play a significant role in the grand scheme of things.

But more important than any of that for a film critic is a good writing style. Ebert may be respected as a film historian, but it's his exellence as a writer that keeps us coming back every week, whether we agree with him or not.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

don't watch a film if you don't want to. Never watch something just because it's a classic or just so you can say you've seen it, because nine times out of ten it'll be a totally empty experience. I speak from experience.

Absolutely disagree. On Monday night, I watched My Fair Lady, not really wanting to, just because it was on my list of AFI films that I had not seen. Wasn't really interested in seeing it, and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

I now own the disc, and am going to a well-reviewed stage production of MFL on Saturday night. Which is quite a change from sitting down to watch a film not expecting to enjoy it.

I do recommend if you sit down and watch a film that you might not normally watch, try to be open. Most of the time, films are considered classsics for a reason - because they are good - and so you should expect a good film. Sometimes you will be disappointed ... but not too often.

BUT try if you can to forget the hype. If you watch Kane expecting the greatest film ever made, you will almost certainly be disappointed. If however you sit down to watch Kane just as a good film, you will find it the greatest film ever made.

Sometimes, a film will leave you cold on first viewing, but revisiting that film may really change the film in your eyes. I wasn't a big fan of Vertigo the first time I saw it - it was good, but not great. But it stayed with me, preying on my mind, and when I watched it again, it was a different film. And today it stands as my favourite film.

 

[Dennis Castro]

Ebert may be respected as a film historian, but it's his exellence as a writer that keeps us coming back every week, whether we agree with him or not.

Thank you for your advice. It's funny you should mention Ebert because he is kind of like my Idol. I've been watching and reading him ever since he had that show on PBS.

My plan is two fold. First I'm going back to school to improve my skills as a writer and along the way pick up a two-year degree.

Second I plan to go on to four-year college such as Emerson since I'm in the Boston area. There I plan to study film and how films are made, possibly even take I crack at as well. Then I hope to combine that knowledge with my writing skills.

Now I realize that you do not have to go through all of that to become a movie critic. I want to. Within the last couple of years, I have developed a real thirst for learning about film and the art of filmmaking, along with writing about film as well.

Thank you all for your input!

 

[Jason Seaver]

Don't forget that here in the Boston area, there are plenty of ways to see classics properly - in a theater with an audience. The Brattle, Harvard Film Archive, Boston Public Library and several other venues routinely show classic movies, often at very reasonable prices.

 

[Jack Briggs]

For the record, when the vast body of critical opinion and audience appreciation accords a film classic status and when that film endures the test of time as has Citizen Kane, one has to accept a certain fact: If you don't like it, the film is not "overrated"; it happens to be a still-great film that you simply don't care for.

There are a number of films I fully acknowledge as great but don't cotton to. My not caring for them doesn't make the films any less great.

This is an important distinction that often seems lost on today's audiences.

 

[Dennis Castro]

I just want to say again, thank you all for your input. It is greatly appreciated!