Dome Vongvises

Cries And Whispers
Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Overall Score: C+/B-

Fairly disappointed with this one. Not as bad as george puts it out to be nor the masterpiece others have praised it for. The narrative used to execute the theme/issue was on the dull and uninteresting side. Nothing inherently bad, but not my cup of tea either.

The Conversation
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Overall Score: B+/A-

Wonderful film that seems more relevant today than ever given the current political climate. Had a lot more stars than I thought it would with Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford.

Rick Salt

How come every " great" film has to be a drama. When i go to the movies i want to escape for at least a couple of hours from all the death, depression, and anger in this world. If i want to see death and depression i can watch the news and when i need a little anger all i have to do is take a short drive and every other jerk on the road who somehow has a licence to drive thinks 30 mph speed limits mean 80, who have no clue what the hell a blinker is, who since 9-11 drives down the street with a flag and a bumper sticker on his car that says " united we stand " wouldn't let you out if his life depended on it." Whats the rush @$$hole the lights red " United we stand my @$$. Oh and lets not forget the brain dead morons who drive down the street with their cellphones glued to their ear. Maybe they should have it surgically removed and glued up a different part of their body.
OK i think i have strayed far from the subject. My point is when i go to the movies i want to laugh and enjoy myself. Now if you will excuse me i'm late for my anger management class

Jim_K

Holadem,

I ran into the same experience at one of my local libraries. Your average film snob would probably get a major chubby at this one, with about 200+ Criterions & about 200+ more assorted foreign/art-house DVD titles. No audio/visual charge either so it's completely free.

Dome,

If you want to check out a Bergman film with an interesting story that you might possibly like then you'll have to stray a bit from the S&S list.

The Virgin Spring
My second favorite Bergman after The Seventh Seal. Set in Medieval Sweden & starring Max Von Sydow as the peasant father of a young girl who is brutally raped & murdered. The killers mistakenly seek refuge at the girls farm & when the family finds out what happened, all hell breaks loose.

I mistakenly thought Varda's Cleo From 5 to 7 was on this list but I guess not. What can I say other then what I've already said about the French New Wave. This one didn't change my opinion.

Kaige Chen

Farewell My Concubine
Story of two boys who become famous actors in the Beijing Opera. The backdrop spans 50 years over the turbulent 20th century of China. Lyrical film-making comparable to the films of Yimou Zhang, though I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much. The story strays from it’s intent a bit too much & the main characters were a bit too ambiguous.

Dziga Vertov

The Man With the Movie Camera
The title says it all, a documentary like silent film in which a montage of unrelated images is set to sound effects & music. This film about film was most likely groundbreaking for its time but one of the greatest films ever made? No.

The Collection (Blu-Ray High Definition/DVD)

Pre-orders - BLU-RAY: Akira, The Dark Knight, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Proof, King Kong, La Femme Nikita, Planet Terror, Raging Bull, Ronin, The Third Man DVD: .................

Jim_K

Charles Chaplin

City Lights
The Tramp helps a blind flower girl & what happens after she regains her sight is truly moving.

Modern Times
The Tramp takes on the industrial revolution along with having several escapades involving the Communist party, jail-breaks, etc. Cute.

The Great Dictator
The Tramp lampoons Hitler & Nazi Germany in this sometimes funny & thought-provoking film.

The Gold Rush
The Tramp goes on the Klondike Gold Rush. To be honest this one didn’t do much for me but to be fair the version I re-watched was the 1942 reissue with the voiceover.

The Collection (Blu-Ray High Definition/DVD)

Pre-orders - BLU-RAY: Akira, The Dark Knight, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Proof, King Kong, La Femme Nikita, Planet Terror, Raging Bull, Ronin, The Third Man DVD: .................

Dome Vongvises

You know, that Rick Salt guy's got a point.

I'll be watching Broken Blossoms and Intolerance later this afternoon to see what all the hoopla's about.

george kaplan

Well to be fair, I think you need to watch the 1925 version. That is the version that made the S&S list (and deserves 4 stars). The 1942 version didn't make the S&S list, and may not even deserve 2 stars (I can't say since I didn't make it past a few minutes watching it).

"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder

"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.

"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock

"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk

george kaplan

Actually looking at the list, it doesn't appear that a year is listed. Nevertheless, I still believe that the film that people were voting for was Gold Rush (1925), not Gold Rush (1942).

"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder

"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.

"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock

"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk

Jim_K

Until a specific year is confirmed I'll be scratching that one off my list as I really don't have the inclination of watching it yet again in the not too distant future.

The Collection (Blu-Ray High Definition/DVD)

Pre-orders - BLU-RAY: Akira, The Dark Knight, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Proof, King Kong, La Femme Nikita, Planet Terror, Raging Bull, Ronin, The Third Man DVD: .................

Dome Vongvises

Is The Gold Rush supposed to have an orchestral score? The one I watched was completely silent, only the clicks and pops to accompany the images. I fucking hated it.

Dome Vongvises

Broken Blossoms
Directed by D.W. Griffith

Overall Score: B/B+

One of the problems of placing a value on history is that the guy that does anything first always scores a lot of points. It exists in sports, and it also exists in film. In some people's eyes, Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell will always be the greatest center that ever lived, no matter what.

Personally, I don't see a problem with giving Birth of a Nation an asterick in the annals of film history. Subsequent films have done "it" either equally as well or better (I would believe the latter, but I'm not exactly in the company of people who would agree with me ). It shouldn't be forgotten, but it shouldn't be revered either, given today's social mores and values.

But that's my two cents on that film's place in history. Which leads me to Broken Blossoms. The original short story is very racist and derogatory, but I was amazed that D.W. Griffith didn't port that over into the film. Some stereotyping still exists but I think it wasn't too bad (but then again, I'm thinking in terms of BoaN).

I'm Asian myself, and I wasn't offended. I thought the stereotypes were comical myself. The original short story is much worse.

Edit: I went back and read some posts, and I do agree about the music. Fanfuckingtastic. The young girl's theme is great.

Very emotionally moving and a fine piece of work, and it's times like this I wish this film were remembered over BoaN.

I wonder how I'll react to Intolerance.