Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 109

Joe Karlosi · 01-31-2007, 03:55 PM

Mario, all I can say is the last time I spoke to you, you were excited about your trip and everything was very cordial. Your attack on me here comes completely out of left field and I don't understand. Well, enjoy your films.

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Mario Gauci · 01-31-2007, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Karlosi

Mario, all I can say is the last time I spoke to you, you were excited about your trip and everything was very cordial. Your attack on me here comes completely out of left field and I don't understand. Well, enjoy your films.

Relax, old man. I'm currently coming down after a "high" fortnight in London so bear with me.

Frankly, I was merely impatient (for lack of a better word) with seeing the usual "Joe vs. Michael" tit-for-tats (which, for all the entertainment value they provide to those who bother to read them, never really lead anywhere) on HTF threads in which they didn't belong. What's a discussion on remakes and stuff doing in the "Sight & Sound" thread?

Hope this helps.

Joe Karlosi · 01-31-2007, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mario Gauci

Relax, old man. Frankly, I was merely impatient (for lack of a better word) with seeing the usual "Joe vs. Michael" tit-for-tats (which, for all the entertainment value they provide to those who bother to read them, never really lead anywhere) on HTF threads in which they didn't belong. What's a discussion on remakes and stuff doing in "Sight & Sound" thread?

Then why would you even begin a back and forth between you and I right here, and what's this now doing in a "Sight & Sound" thread? Hey, those so-called "versus" posts were the most discussion this thread has seen in a long time. In the meantime, I'll bow out here now, lest this become another "Mario vs. Joe" tit-for-tat which also never leads anywhere.

Mario Gauci · 01-31-2007, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Karlosi

Then why would you even begin a back and forth between you and I right here, and what's this now doing in a "Sight & Sound" thread? Hey, those so-called "versus" posts were the most discussion this thread has seen in a long time. In the meantime, I'll bow out here now, lest this become another "Mario vs. Joe" tit-for-tat which also never leads anywhere.

The ideal outcome of this whole thread would be that you actually start watching some of the films on the list. The fact that you resurrected the thread as it were is rather immaterial.

Anyway, I'll be predictable once more and bow out now, too...

.

Joe Karlosi · 01-31-2007, 04:38 PM

Movies seen from this list -- a few of which (*) are questionable to even be on a "greatest" list

:

Citizen Kane Welles 1941
Vertigo Hitchcock 1958
2001: A Space Odyssey Kubrick 1968
Godfather Part II, The Coppola 1974
Singin' in the Rain Donen/Kelly 1952
Searchers, The Ford 1956
Godfather, The Coppola 1972
Touch of Evil Welles 1958
Dr. Strangelove Kubrick 1964 1/2
Raging Bull Scorsese 1980 1/2
Psycho Hitchcock 1960
Sunset Blvd. Wilder 1950
City Lights Chaplin 1931
Apartment, The Wilder 1960
Taxi Driver Scorsese 1976
Casablanca Curtiz 1942
M Lang 1931 1/2
North By Northwest Hitchcock 1959 1/2
On the Waterfront Kazan 1954
Pulp Fiction Tarentino 1994
Rear Window Hitchcock 1954
Clockwork Orange, A Kubrick 1971
Goodfellas Scorsese 1990
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Ford 1962
El Bunuel 1952
Gone with the Wind Fleming 1939
It's a Wonderful Life Capra 1946
Nosferatu Murnau 1922
Treasure of the Sierra Madre Huston 1948
All About Eve Mankiewicz 1950
Duck Soup McCarey 1933
King Kong Cooper/Shoedsack 1933
To Kill a Mockingbird Mulligan 1962 1/2
Belle de jour Bunuel 1967 1/2
Bonnie and Clyde Penn 1967
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Wiene 1920
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Spielberg 1982
Exorcist Friedkin 1973
Jaws Spielberg 1975
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Forman 1975
Paths of Glory Kubrick 1957
Spartacus Kubrick 1960
Star Wars Lucas 1977
Sullivan's Travels Sturges 1941
To Have and Have not Hawks 1944
Unforgiven Eastwood 1992 1/2
Annie Hall Allen 1997
Birth of a Nation, The Griffith 1915
Bride of Frankenstein Whale 1935
Bringing up Baby Hawks 1938
Don't Look Back Pennebaker 1967
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Leone 1967
Maltese Falcon, The Huston 1941
Rosemary's Baby Polanski 1968
Schindler's List Spielberg 1993
Shane Stevens 1953
*Shining, The Kubrick 1980
Strangers on a Train Hitchcock 1951
*Thing from Another World, The Hawks 1951
*Tingler, The Castle 1959
Vampyr Dreyer 1932
White Heat Walsh 1949

rich_d · 02-07-2007, 09:56 PM

The Passenger

I liked it. Started too slow, but a film worth staying with.

The premise that someone is so fed up with their life that they wouldn't just change their life but actually assume a stranger's is a hard one to swallow, but if you can get past that, it's pretty interesting.

The Antonioni visuals are terrific, particularly the scene where they're driving down a tree filled lane with the girl looking back, her hands out. I wonder if that influenced the similar scene in The Titanic.

Also the long shot that comes out of the room and pans back to look at the hotel was quite interesting as well.

Maria Schneider not a great beauty but boy does she have a sexy voice.

Spoiler:

Bob Turnbull · 02-08-2007, 11:21 AM

Quote:

particularly the scene where they're driving down a tree filled lane with the girl looking back

Though I haven't seen the film yet, I just saw that very clip the other day while watching the very fine documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession. It's quite a gorgeous shot and made me immediately want to watch the film. I've bumped it on my zip.ca queue.

Brook K · 02-08-2007, 02:34 PM

That doc is a definite recommend. I came across it on IFC flipping channels one day and was immediately pulled in.

I'm about to hit the home stretch as I should reach the #300 barrier tonight. I'm painfully behind in writing reviews, but a few weeks ago polished off #298 A Day in the Country, followed this week by #299 The Crime of Monsieur Lange to complete the Renoir's from the list. Last night I watched half of Pandora's Box and should finish it up tonight.

Pandora is rather disappointing so far, Country was interesting but hardly overwhelming...Monsieur Lange is a fine film, if not quite on the level of my favorite Renoir's such as La Bete Humaine, The River and Rules of the Game

Mario Gauci · 02-08-2007, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brook K

I'm about to hit the home stretch as I should reach the #300 barrier tonight. I'm painfully behind in writing reviews, but a few weeks ago polished off #298 A Day in the Country, followed this week by #299 The Crime of Monsieur Lange to complete the Renoir's from the list. Last night I watched half of Pandora's Box and should finish it up tonight.

Pandora is rather disappointing so far, Country was interesting but hardly overwhelming...Monsieur Lange is a fine film, if not quite on the level of my favorite Renoir's such as La Bete Humaine, The River and Rules of the Game

Coincidentally, while in London recently, I purchased the R2 BFI SE DVD of A DAY IN THE COUNTRY (1936) but I've yet to watch the disc; the film itself I've watched twice on Italian TV and, in my view, it's one of Jean Renoir's most beguiling works.

On the other hand, I've only watched THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE (1935) once on VHS (without the aid of English subtitles) and I'd love to reacquaint myself with it on a decent DVD release. Besides, I've yet to pick up the Criterion DVDs of BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING (1932) and LA BETE HUMAINE (1938)...

As for PANDORA'S BOX (1929), I was floored by my one and only viewing (so far) of it several years ago on PAL VHS; the reason I haven't upgraded to the Criterion 2-Discer just yet is that I'm really trying to cut down on my DVD purchases; after all, I have almsot 600 unwatched DVDs as we speak

!! But with all the essential collections coming up - Mario Bava, W. C. Fields, Renoir himself - it's going to be tremendously hard for me not to buy anything...

Still, I wanted to comment on Brook's splitting up of PANDORA'S BOX as it were; I know sometimes it's hard after a long day's work to be able to summon up the necessary stamina and concentration required to watch a movie properly but, personally, I would never split a film up unless it's awfully long or was intended to be split up from the start. Hell, I've even watched Louis Feuillade's 10-part/7-hour serial LES VAMPIRES (1915-16) and Sergei Bondarchuk's massive 7-hour epic WAR AND PEACE (1968) each in 1 day!

Personally, if I don't have the necessary time to get something watched from start to finish, I'll change my plans and watch something shorter and leave a long film - and, at 133 minutes, PANDORA'S BOX is fairly long - for the weekend.

Some of you may find this next remark snobbish but, in my view, a film of PANDORA'S BOX's stature - and anyone who rents or buys the film is already aware of it, otherwise he wouldn't bother with an 80 year-old Silent film - demands to be seen under ideal circumstances and not merely to notch off another title off of the "Sight & Sound" list. Not that I'm in any way accusing Brook of having done so himself, of course....

!

Martin Teller · 02-08-2007, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mario Gauci

I know sometimes it's hard after a long day's work to be able to summon up the necessary stamina and concentration required to watch a movie properly but, personally, I would never split a film up unless it's awfully long or was intended to be split up from the start. Hell, I've even watched Louis Feuillade's 10-part/7-hour serial LES VAMPIRES (1915-16) and Sergei Bondarchuk's massive 7-hour epic WAR AND PEACE (1968) each in 1 day!

I rarely have the luxury of being able to watch a movie straight through in one sitting. Nor do I think that it is necessarily ideal to do so. I'm on my third day of watching The Leopard because of other obligations at work and home.

Martin Teller · 02-08-2007, 11:48 PM

#236 - The Leopard

I'm not particularly a fan of period epics, but it's impossible not to be impressed by the sweep and grandeur of this movie. The palaces and balls and costumes are jaw-dropping displays of opulence and extravagance, and gorgeously photographed too. The amount of time, thought, planning and money that must have gone into this is staggering. Definitely an A+ for effort. I'm not at all interested in Italy's political history, and yet that aspect of the story held my attention and was handled with a degree of subtlety and eloquence. Mostly I enjoyed the theme of Don Fabrizio's coming to terms with his own obsolescence, as not only his mortal death looms near, but also the death of his way of life and position in society. Burt Lancaster is not an especially great actor, but he manages to convey th