Lew Crippen

I’m oddly taken with the beginning, which I can only describe as sepia-toned Fellini. Of course the band continues to show up at odd (and all) times, but the very start is the most madcap. Except perhaps when one of them is a victim of ‘friendly fire’.

¡Time is not my master!

glen_esq

All the energy and craziness in Underground reminds me of Duck Soup.

Excellent film (Underground... and Duck Soup).

The only knock I have on the Kusturica films I've seen is that they're repetitive - the same black market, petty gangster theme, and use similar imagery (flocks of geese running about for example, boisterous weddings is another).

On the other hand, it's a darn entertaining theme to repeat.

S&S Film Club: 336 viewed; last watched -> Kaagaz ke phool (Gutt, 1959)

Seth Paxton

Well, they are connected by plotline a lot closer than that. If it was the same cast but with different names and sort of doing the same thing then maybe, but having the same names half the time and clearly following some of the same plotlines/timelines, like Wayne's wife arriving in Rio Grande and then being buried at the fort in Yellow Ribbon, as well as the exact same actor/character being the new scout in Rio and then the trusted ace scout in Yellow...that's the exact same storyline.

Except they switched Wayne's name, so you then wonder if it is or not.




I just watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and loved it. I really can't believe I'd never seen this film before. The script is just great and its amazing how the different acting styles of Stewart and Wayne work well to emphasize the clash between the two paradigms the two characters represent.

It features very complex situations/conflicts, yet based in a simpler western plotline. If Leone's Once Upon a Time...commented on the transition between the old and new west, this film does it in spades and with perhaps more imagery.

For example, Vera Miles loves the "new" west of Stewart and commits to it, but she also in the end pines NOSTALGICALLY for the "old" west of Wayne, a perfect representation of American society as a whole. After all Ford himself made quite a career out of it.

And of course the film not only discusses the very real problem of transitioning the old west law by force to the new west legal recourse, it also questions whether one can exist without the other at all when we see Stewart's dilemma.

Wayne is able to relieve Stewart of the guilt of violence as a deterrent but clearly the two must work hand in hand. It seems like wishful thinking for Stewart to be so easily relieved of his guilt, though in the end it seems he may have just as much guilt about the myth that surrounds him.

There are just endless layers to this fantastic film. Definitely a film I will now buy.

That puts me at 157 down, 183 to go.


Like Brook, finishing this S&S thing will go a long way to getting my purchased disc pile under control, to say nothing of bumping up my 2003 and 2004 films lists.

However, the S&S is probably the best thing I have done to increase my filmic vocabulary because of its wide scope.

SteveGon

My feelings as well - I did a mini-writeup on Underground in the Expanding Horizons thread and described it as Fellini meets Gilliam.

Recently viewed films:

Death of a Cyclist ***
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Zombie Movie Appreciation Thread

Haggai

I can't believe it either.

Pilgrim.



Great movie, very entertaining, with lots of fun characters. Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance is of course an excellent and menacing bad guy (how frickin' awesome is that first showdown between him and Wayne in the restaurant?), Edmond O'Brien is great as the newspaperman/town drunk, and John Carradine is very memorable in a short appearance as a corrupt, bloviating politician with a particularly colorful name: Major Cassius Starbuckle!

Seth Paxton

Err, actually I saw The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (period, no "?") Whoops. :b

Edmond O'Brien was great, I was very impressed.

Even as the film began and I looked at the cast I was amazed. Side bits by Devine, Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin. Yes, and John Carradine turns in a great performance at the end as well.

The film is like an All-Star film rather than just some normal work, especially with it being directed by Ford on top of all that.

Dome Vongvises

I wonder how good those steaks tasted?

Haggai

Heh, right, Dome, they looked pretty tasty!

Holadem

The Seventh Seal -
I don't quite know what to say, other than I was intrigued by the premise and begining, nearly fell asleep in the middle, and was quite disturbed by the last third. I want/need to see it again, but not anytime soon.

The Conversation -
The pacing and unusual score gives a european feel to this "thriller". Hackman is perfect as the low key, socially inept survellance wiz. interesting insight into the surveilliance world, slightly hurt IMO by the unlikable protagonist. I am unsure about why this belongs on this list, while All Quiet on the Western Front isn't (I know, I know).

--
H

Brook K

The Man Who Shot Libert Valence has been on my "to buy" list for quite awhile. Outstanding film in all respects.

Underground is one I still need to see. I've seen Kusturica acting in several films (The Good Thief, The Widow Of St. Pierre), but I have yet to see a film he directed. He has a new film showing at Cannes this year.

I don't have a problem with Hackman being unlikeable per se, but I was similarly underwhelmed by The Conversation; finding it rather uneven. But I know it has its fans. IIRC, it won the Films of the American Renaissance tournament I ran in Polls a couple of months ago.

I have A Touch Of Zen on the way. Hopefully it will arrive today. I'm planning on picking up the pace a bit. I have 4-5 in my top 20 at Netflix, plus May is a pretty big month for new S&S DVD releases. I'm also back up to having 5 in my possession (2 DVD, 3 VHS), but who knows when I'll have the time to watch those.

I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that. - George Bailey

2002 Sight & Sound Challenge: 312 Last Watched: The Life of Oharu

Last 10 Films Watched:
Wall*E - A- / Presto - B+
Definitely, Maybe - C+ / Shanghai Express - B+
Persepolis - B+ / The Life of Oharu - B
Charulata - B / Before the Rain - B-
The Decameron - B+ / In the Valley of Elah - B


DVD BEAVER My Collection

george kaplan

Finding some more common ground with Brook.

was similarly underwhelmed by The Conversation; finding it rather uneven.

"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

The Lakers may have sucked this year, but at least they didn't suck as much as the Spurs.

Adam_S

exactly what George said

in fact I was making up the list of films I"d add for the AFI revote, and Liberty Valance was number four of my additions, damn I love that film. Still my favorite western, favorite Jimmy Stewart, and favorite John Wayne.

Adam

top 20 films
2008 film list