Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 15

ClintM · 05-25-2003, 10:12 PM

Hey all. I've been looking for something like this for months. Out of the list, I've seen 24 films (All of them in the last 2 years), but plan on watching as many as I can now!

Films seen (Bold indicates I own it)
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Casablanca (Getting SE on 8/6!)
Citizen Kane
Dr. Strangelove
E.T., The Extra Terrestrial
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Great Expectations
It's a Wonderful Life
Jaws
The Maltese Falcon
North by Northwest
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Rear Window
Schindler's List
Some Like It Hot
Spirited Away
Star Wars (VHS)
The Third Man
To Kill a Mockingbird
Vertigo

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Adam_S · 05-26-2003, 01:44 AM

Welcome Clint, hope you enjoy yourself

Caught Annie Hall

I was actually surprised, I really liked this film. A Lot. In fact I downright loved it. A fantastic comedy. Its like a Capra movie that plays to the intellectual elite intelligence level and doesn't end happily. (oddly enough I write that and its not an insult but a sort of backhanded begrudging compliment). It manages to be pretentious without being offputting. And its hostile and bitter but yet affecting and sweet. Truly an astonishing movie, if only for the fact that its such a baffling ball of contradictions that it is amazing it actually works. not only that it works marvelously, brilliantly even.

To bring in a fishing metaphor, I started to take the bait with the Fellini guy, and got hooked on the Henry James Turn of the Screw joke. Allen does a marvelous job of capturing that which is most annoying about people that think they know alot but are nothing but bluff and bluster that they use to impress other people.

The subtitles, oh the subtitles, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

a movie I'll definitely be watching again.

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I don't think that it's on the list (I have to install Office again on this computer before I can get MY spreadsheet with the titles to work), but I watched Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live here anymore. THis film was simply marvelous, a joy to watch. Scorsese manages to take a female melodrama (a genre I generally loath) and make it visually interesting, with compelling characters that all rise above the stereotypes they began as. By the films end I truly cared for the characters, and not only that, I respected them. ANd most important of all, I got the very distinct impression that the filmmakers had a great deal of respect for these people as well, and I find it to be very rare that people like these characters (all of whom I've known in some form or another and are all marvelous wonderful people, except for the real scum like the first couple men) are treated with real compassion instead of simply played for jokes or stereotypes or treated with scorn and contempt. Very refreshing, and I think I would give it 3.5 stars if only so that it has room to grow on me, because I think it will.

Adam

Kirk Tsai · 05-26-2003, 03:47 AM

John, don't worry about it, I actually like going through the list on the front page.

Adam, you just convinced me to watch "Alice." Being a big fan of Scorsese's post Taxi Driver work, I really need to catch up on everything before that.

The more I think about That Obscure Object of Desire, the more I like it. I don't know if Luis Bunuel is among my favorites yet--Kurosawa, Ozu, Murnau, Spielberg, Scorsese are--but his voice is so unique that I have to acknowledge him as a master. Half a year ago I had not seen any of his pictures, but Los Olvidados, Un Chien Andalou, Belle De Jour, Discreet Charm, and Obscure Object have left a strong impression. The next Bunuel coming up is Diary of a Chambermaid.

Mathew Shaw · 05-26-2003, 07:35 AM

Hello everyone!

I just joined this forum and I'm hoping to join in on this little club. I really like the idea of watching the movies off this big list and discussing them. Thing is, I'm a big newbie with serious films like these (I mainly go for the more contemporary and mainstream stuff). So maybe this can broaden my horizens a bit.

I've seen a grand total of six off the list:

Citizen Kane
Ran
E.T.
Spirited Away
Star Wars
My Neighbor Totoro

So I've got a LOT of stuff to experience. I think first of all I'll go back over the ones I've seen with a more critcal eye. I've read an Intro to Film study book and taken a jr. college class, so I know a bit about about the actual filmmaking stuff...

After that I think I'll stick with the big name American films on the list first; seems less daunting for a beginner than just grabbing one of the many foreign films from the list, plus there's several very famous ones I've never even seen (Godfather, Blade Runner, Lawrence of Arabia, Pulp Fiction).

So, hope to have some fun discussion here, I'll be back in a few days if I get accepted and with some updated thoughts on four of those I've already seen (don't own E.T or Ran).

John^Lal · 05-26-2003, 01:08 PM

Welcome clint and matthew. don't worry about having to catch up, just keep watching great films.
but, you better get on the ball to see Godfather and Pulp Fiction . "do you all know what movie that scene was from? because, if you haven't, i think you are going to be lost in this class." thats what my film professor said after showing the opening scene from The Godfather. those two films are part of our culture unlike most films on the list.

Matt<>Broon · 05-26-2003, 01:34 PM

Heh, I think there's masses on that list that's part of your culture.

Anyway I'd like to add my welcome to Matthew and Clint, there's plenty in this list which is eminently watchable & entertaining. After all that's the primary function of film and even if you find you are not the sort to get all gooey over a particularly nice bit of framing (Ordet has that effect on me) there's still plenty to watch that I'm sure you'll enjoy. The godfathers are an excellent place to start.

I watched Les Vacances de Mr Hulot this weekend having managed to snag a French copy on ebay.

I've always loved the gentle, endearing subtlety of this film there's an innocence that you simply don't see often in films made these days. Despite the lack of any real narrative or spoken words and despite lacking the outrageous pratfalls or gags of a Marx brothers or Laurel & Hardy skit I find this film endlessly charming and viewable upon renewed acquaintance. It's a lot like My Neighbour Totoro in that respect.

I haven't seen anyone else discussing Jacques Tati's work elsewhere in this list (although I'm sure I've just forgotten) and I'd be very interested to hear what some of the other more academic film lovers who read this thread think of the film.

John^Lal · 05-26-2003, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Heh, I think there's plenty on that list that's part of your culture

i knew i was going to get that. i know that there are plenty that are a part of our culture. but i am talking about movies that almost everyone knows about, movies that get reffered to all the time. not many on the list get notice like Godfather, and for my generation, Pulp Fiction. he said that he mostly saw mainstream movies, these are mainstream movies.

ClintM · 05-26-2003, 01:46 PM

Just caught The Third Man last night. Great movie. I enjoyed the fact that

Spoiler:

Reed certainly had a knack of building up suspense. The cinematography during the

Spoiler:

must have been a template for later directors such as Frankenheimer.

Speaking of Welles, next to watch on that list for me is Touch of Evil. Looking forward to it!

Matt<>Broon · 05-26-2003, 01:50 PM

No offense meant John, I was just a little suprised.
I can see your point though.

I'm all agog to hear if anyone in your class hadn't seen Godfather.

Stephen R · 05-26-2003, 02:44 PM

Well, after plenty of reading, I think it's time I joined this thread. I guess I'm actually already a semi-member since I was one of the first to sign up for the original version of the thread (started by JungWoo) that dealt with the 1992 list.

My current tally is: 172.

Most Recent Viewings

A Woman Under The Influence, Viewed on DVD

Shattering, realistic depiction of mental breakdown and the dissolution of familial harmony. The performances are wrenching and Cassavetes' highly volatile style compliments the emotions well. One I won't soon forget. A

Nanook of the North, Viewed on DVD

Obviously less a "documentary" and more a recreation or a docu-drama, this is still no less compelling than the majority of similar films that've come out in the eighty years since its release. It's funny (Nanook wrestling with the seal through the ice reminded me of Chaplin or Keaton), thrilling, informative, and unique. The ending is particularly fantastic and eerie (is this the first instance of a film ending with the ritualistic bedtime preparations?) and bears a distinct melancholy with the foreknowledge of Nanook's imminent demise. A

Holadem · 05-26-2003, 03:37 PM