Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 100

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Welcome back Martin:

I'm a big time fan of Playtime (as is George).

To your point about Playtime having less Hulot in the spotlight with few of the other characters filling the spotlight as appealingly as Hulot ... I understand your viewpoint.

I think that Tati wanted the film to breathe a bit without Hulot being in the spotlight all the time. I think that's why I'm not quite as found of M. Hulot's Holiday (for example). Hulot is always in the spotlight much like a Jerry Lewis film.

I really enjoy that Tati took the time in Playtime to shine more attention on those around Hulot. I think it made for a richer film.

Whether, the characters given more of the spotlight were as developed or as interesting as they could have been ... seems like a valid point.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Well to tell you the truth, I don't recall much about it, but do remember that there was some speculation about why you had disappeared. Since I didn't recall the circumstances, and your posts from back then seem to be missing so I can't refresh my memory, but do remember vaguely that it was at least speculated to be something controversial, I was just trying to be a bit circumspect. That's all.

As to your post above, like Rich I largely agree with your assessment of Playtime (I haven't seen A Canterbury Tale), and do feel it's the weakest of the Hulot films (though I also haven't seen Traffic), though I don't have the problem with secondary characters you do, and I'd still give it a 10 out of 10.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Even in Holiday, Tati is fairly generous about letting other characters take center stage for a little while, at least to my recollection. I completely appreciate Tati's desire to move Hulot out of the spotlight (and Playtime is my favorite Tati film so far), I just wish the other characters like Barbara had a bit more spark to them. I did like the doorman a lot.

One more nitpicky thing: boy, do we spend a lot of time in the nightclub. There isn't anything I would necessarily cut out, but it does start to feel claustrophobic after a while. The brief trip to the drugstore was a welcome break, and I thought more could have been done in that environment. Like I said though, that's nitpicking.

As for why I was gone, I had some kind of disagreement with Ron. I don't even remember what it was about. But I guess that's ancient history now.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

That too. Some brutal movies on this "greatest" list.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

That's unfortunate. This challenge needs more members... But then again, most participants have seen upward to 200 films on this list while I still need to see lots of essential stuff.

--
H

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I don't know if it was in the commentary or a documentary, but apparently the night club scene used to be much longer.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

#233 - Pyaasa

The DVD case says (besides giving away almost the entire plot): "reproduced from vintage source for the sake of nostalgic appeal, hence possibly compromising on quality". In other words, they were too cheap to do a proper restoration or try to find decent elements. Which is a shame because the camerawork is this film's best feature. There are some stunning compositions and usage of lighting (although they go way overboard with the zooms, which are often too shaky anyway).

Other than some nice imagery, there's not much to see here. The acting is okay, but on the whole the film is way too overdramatic. The first two acts drag on and on, weighed down by songs that are, for the most part, completely boring. I reckon that Dutt may have been going for some kind of anti-Bollywood thing here, and I'm not particularly a fan of Bollywood myself, but a little more exuberance would have been welcome.

The third act is quite a bit more engaging, but ultimately comes off as extremely egotistical, as Guru Dutt positions himself as some kind of Messiah. If this is the best Dutt has to offer, I think I'll pass on the rest. Rating: 5/10


EDIT: actually that's #232 for me... for some reason I had marked down The Travelling Players as one that I'd seen.

I was going to rate/rank all the movies on the list that I've seen, but I guess if anyone really cares about that, they can check out my responses in the director threads in the Polls area. I've been slowly working through them.

Highest ranking films I haven't seen yet: Intolerance, The Conformist, and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum. I watched half of Intolerance and the DVD froze up, but I wasn't too keen on it anyway. The other two I'm extremely interested in seeing.

Anyone else wish it was 2012 already? I'm really curious to see how the DVD era will affect the voting.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

The Last Picture Show -
199th S&S movie
10/29/2006

There's really nothing wrong with this movie, I just found it really, really depressing and honest.

Superb performances, assured direction, fabulous script. Wonderful production design editing, camerawork. All around a wonderful film. I don't really want to see it again, but it will definitely be living in my head. Iconic and breathtaking at times it's a wonderful film.
------------------------

My next film will be my 200th film from the list. What do you all think should be my next film? Here's a list of what I've not seen.

33	Andrei Roublev	Tarkovsky	1969
37	Au hasard Balthazar	Bresson	1966
55	Barry Lyndon	Kubrick	1975
64	Pickpocket	Bresson	1959
82	City of Sadness, A	Hou	1989
82	Dekalog	Kieslowski	1990
82	Leopard, The	Visconti	1963
82	Traveling Players	Angelopoulos	1975
82	Viridiana	Bunuel	1961
82	Voyage to Italy	Rossellini	1953
95	Argent, L'	Bresson	1983
95	Breaking the Waves	Von Trier	1996
95	Chimes at Midnight	Welles	1965
95	Don't Look Now	Roeg	1973
95	El	Bunuel	1952
95	Gospel Accoring to St. Matthew, The	Pasolini	1964
95	Vivre sa Vie	Godard	1962
124	Close Up	Kiarostami	1990
124	Cries and Whispers	Bergman	1972
124	Crimes and Misdemeanors	Allen	1989
124	Eclipse, The (Eclisse, L')	Antonioni	1962
124	Floating Clouds	Naruse	1955
124	Gertrud	Dreyer	1964
124	Jeanne Dielman	Akerman	1976
124	Los Olvidados	Bunuel	1950
124	Loves of a Blonde	Forman	1965
124	Man Escaped, A	Bresson	1956
124	Marnie	Hitchcock	1964
124	Music Room, The	Ray, Satyajit	1958
124	Satyricon	Fellini	1969
124	Solaris	Tarkovsky	1972
124	Time to Live and the Time to Die, The	Hou	1985
124	Tristana	Bunuel	1970
124	Yi Yi	Yang	2000
157	Aguirre, Wrath of God	Herzog	1973
157	In the Realm of the Senses	Oshima	1976
157	Badlands	Mallick	1973
157	Belle de jour	Bunuel	1967
157	Berlin Alexanderplatz	Fassbinder	1980
157	Black Dog, White Devil	Rocha	1964
157	Celine and Julie go Boating	Rivette	1974
157	Charulata	Ray, Satyajit	1964
157	Chungking Express	Wong	1994
157	Day for Night	Truffaut	1973
157	Days of Heaven	Mallick	1978
157	Exterminating Angel, The	Bunuel	1974
157	Fear Eats the Soul	Fassbinder	1962
157	In a Year of Thirteen Moons	Fassbinder	1978
157	India Song	Duras	1975
157	Kaagaz ke phool	Dutt	1959
157	Kind Hearts and Coronets	Hamer	1949
157	Life of Oharu	Mizoguchi	1952
157	M. Hulot's Holiday	Tati	1954
157	Mother and the Whore	Eustache	1973
157	Paisa	Rossellini	1946
157	Piano, The	Campion	1993
157	Providence	Resnais	1977
157	Pyaasa	Dutt	1957
157	Rise to Power of Louis XIV, The	Rossellini	1966
157	Rocco and His Brothers	Visconti	1960
157	Stalker	Tarkovsky	1979
157	Taste of Cherry	Kiarostami	1997
157	That Obscure Object of Desire	Bunuel	1977
157	Three Colours Trilogy	Kieslowski	1994
157	Through the Olive Trees	Kiarostami	1994
157	Wages of Fear	Clouzot	1953
157	Wind Will Carry Us	Kiarostami	1999
157	World of Apu	Ray, Satyajit	1959
157	Written on the Wind	Sirk	1956
226	1900	Berolucci	1976
226	Accattone	Pasolini	1961
226	Age of Innocence	Scorsese	1993
226	And Life Goes On	Kiarostami	1991
226	Apu Trilogy, The	Ray, Satyajit	1959
226	Atanarjuat	Kunuk	2001
226	Baby Doll	Kazan	1956
226	Bigger Than Life	Ray, Nicholas	1956
226	Bob le flambeur	Melville	1955
226	Burnt by the Sun	Mikhalkov	1994
226	Dames du Bois de Boulogne, Les	Bresson	1945
226	Death in Venice	Visconti	1971
226	Demoiselles de Rochefort, Les	Demy/Varda	1967
226	Devils, The	Russell	1971
226	Don't Look Back	Pennebaker	1967
226	Double Life of Veronique, The	Kieslowski	1993
226	Naked Childhood	Pialat	1970
226	Eternity and a Day	Angelopoulos	1998
226	Europa	Von Trier	1991
226	F for Fake	Welles	1976
226	Phantom of Liberty	Bunuel	1974
226	Farewell My Concubine	Chen	1993
226	Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!	Meyer	1985
226	Woman Next Door, The	Truffaut	1981
226	Fires Were Started	Jennings	1943
226	Germany Year Zero	Rossellini	1947
226	Godfather Trilogy, The	Coppola	1992
226	Hate	Kassovitz	1995
226	Hidden Fortress, The	Kurosawa	1958
226	Hotel Terminous: Klaus Barbie, His Life and Times	Ophuls, Marcel	1988
226	Red Desert, The	Antonioni	1964
226	Lacombe Lucien	Malle	1974
226	Limelight	Chaplin	1952
226	Lola	Demy	1961
226	Ludwig	Visconti	1972
226	Make Way for Tomorrow	McCarey	1937
226	Masculin Feminin	Godard	1986
226	Meghe dhaka tara	Ghatik	1960
226	Miracle in Milan	De Sica	1951
226	Moment of Innocence, A	Makhmalbaf	1996
226	Nights of Cabiria	Fellini	1957
226	Odd Man Out	Reed	1947
226	Oedipus Rex	Pasolini	1967
226	Orlando	Potter	1992
226	Pakeezah	Amrohi	1975
226	Pandora's Box	Pabst	1929
226	Passenger, The	Antonioni	1975
226	Performance	Roeg	1970
226	Puppetmaster	Hou	1993
226	Region Centrale, La	Snow	1971
226	Riff-Raff	Loach	1990
226	Round-Up, The	Jancso	1965
226	Rue Cases-Negres, La	Palcy	1983
226	Sacrifice, The	Tarkovsky	1986
226	Salvatore Giuliano	Rosi	1961
226	Shadows	Cassavetes	1959
226	Short Cuts	Altman	1993
226	Silences du palais, Les	Tlati	1994
226	Still Life	Saless	1974
226	Stray Dog	Kurasawa	1949
226	Three Colours Blue	Kieslowski	1991
226	Time of Gypsies	Kusterica	1988
226	Tingler, The	Castle	1959
226	Shoot the Piano Player	Truffaut	1960
226	To Sleep with Anger	Burnett	1990
226	Topsy-Turvy	Leigh	1999
226	Touch of Zen, A	Hu	1969
226	Underground	Kusterica	1995
226	Vidas Secas	Dos Santos	1963
226	Weekend	Godard	1967
226	Where is My Friend's House?	Kiarostami	1987
226	Woman under the Influence, A	Cassavetes	1974

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Depends if you want to watch one of the remaining great films on the list, or in more spirit of the overall list, watch one of the worst of the remaining films.

The best:
124 Marnie Hitchcock 1964
157 Aguirre, Wrath of God Herzog 1973
157 Exterminating Angel, The Bunuel 1974
157 Kind Hearts and Coronets Hamer 1949
157 M. Hulot's Holiday Tati 1954
226 Godfather Trilogy, The Coppola 1992
226 Odd Man Out Reed 1947

The worst:
95 Breaking the Waves Von Trier 1996
95 Don't Look Now Roeg 1973
124 Cries and Whispers Bergman 1972
157 Piano, The Campion 1993
157 Written on the Wind Sirk 1956
226 Performance Roeg 1970

All in my opinion of course, which means most people will chime in and tell you the complete opposite.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Adam, the following are my standouts from your "left-to-see" list:

Dekalog
Breaking the Waves
The Piano
Three Colors Trilogy
Wages of Fear
Bob Le Flambeur
Farewell My Concubine


I am going to try to tackle this list on a director basis in coming weeks. I think it makes more sense that way. Often I would like a film enough to want to see more from the author, but would only have that one disk.

George was right for once in saying that City of God would show up on the next list . I truly believe that, except I actually think it deserves a spot.

--
H

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

#99 - M (1931) -

Yeah, this rating is higher than what I had told Haggai in the other thread. But the more I think about it, and the more I feel this one is fully deserving of masterpiece status (I know that it is firmly part of the canon but eh... we're here to express our personal reactions, not blindly worship). Lang displays a whole bag of tricks to tell this gripping thriller. That elusive perfect blend of technical prowess and story, I find M one of those rare films which embody the culmination of the art of cinema at the time.


#100 - The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) -

My first foray into iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's oeuvre turned out pretty much as expected: A minimalist, largely plotless affair dealing with... profound themes. But my mocking tone notwhistanding, I actually liked it, even if there is a lot left to get. A group of journalists travel from Tehran to the boondocks to cover the mourning rituals of a dying elderly woman. But the woman seems intent on taking her time to leave this earth, causing our journalists to well... sit around bored stiff. The movie actually focuses entirely on one guy's restlessness again the simple and quiet rhythm of the country - best conveyed through the rich soundscape filled with the sounds of ordinary life and nature (think the recent The New World). Perhaps as a way to show his estrangement from his surroudings, most of this fellows' conversations are with someone off screen. Visual motifs galore, most prominent of which is the length our protagonist has to go thru in order to receive a cell phone call, symbolizing the compulsive and marginally rewarding elaborate enterprises of the urban rat race.

If often wonder, how much of the high ratings can be attributed to the "national geographic" aspects of such work? The themes dealt with here are universal, so would this movie be held is such high regard if it were set in North Dakota as it very well could be? Or even the backwoods of Scotland?

You have to be in a certain mood to enjoy this sort of stuff, and I was certainly prepared. I still wonder about the significance of that bone, or the guy's quest for milk, or even the presence of a path or road in about half the scenes of this movie. Deserving of a place on this list? Dunno... that will have to wait till my next screening, but I am definitely willing to watch this again, it is a pleasantly immersive, if oblique experience.

So I've reached 100. Yay for me. Do I get a cookie?

--
H

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

#233 - The Magnificent Ambersons

I've been holding out for some kind of miracle that the lost footage would somehow turn up, but when I saw it was showing on Comcast OnDemand, I decided to jump on the chance to see this at last. I wish I could see the complete version, but the edited one is absolutely marvelous. Not as innovative as Kane or as daring as The Trial, it's still wonderfully constructed. Welles had a special talent for positioning characters, there's a splendid example where we see George looking down from a staircase above the mother he's manipulated... and then the camera goes up to reveal Fanny (who's been manipulating HIM) on the landing above. I'm a sucker for Joseph Cotten, and the rest of the cast is great, too (Agnes Moorehead may be a tad over-the-top). And the ending credits are superb. A truly fine experience, although ultimately frustrating because of the studio intervention. 9/10

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Recap time. Doesn't exactly add up to a hundred, due to duplicates and stuff, or some I left out. Will revise later.... The ratings are from memory, i.e, how I remember the films, or how they grew on me with time, which may be different from initial impressions recorded here and elsewhere. For instance, I remember giving the highest marks to Annie Hall 3 years ago, but now, I can barely remember the movie, and what dim memories I have do not strike me as overwhelmingly positive. Weird.


1 Citizen Kane Welles 1941
2 Vertigo Hitchcock 1958
3 Rules of the Game Renoir 1939
4 8 ½ Fellini 1963
5 2001: A Space Odyssey Kubrick 1968
6 Tokyo Story Ozu 1953
7 Godfather Part II, The Coppola 1974
8 Seven Samurai Kurosawa 1954
9 Rashomon Kurosawa 1950
13 Searchers, The Ford 1956
14 Lawrence of Arabia Lean 1962
15 Godfather, The Coppola 1972
16 Bicycle Thieves, The De Sica 1948
16 Passion of Joan of Arc, The Dreyer 1928
19 Touch of Evil Welles 1958
22 Jules and Jim Truffaut 1962
22 Raging Bull Scorsese 1980
25 Psycho Hitchcock 1960
25 Sunset Blvd. Wilder 1950
28 Fanny and Alexander Bergman 1982
28 Some Like it Hot Wilder 1959
33 Andrei Roublev Tarkovsky 1969
33 Grand Illusion Renoir 1937
33 Apartment, The Wilder 1960
33 Apocalypse Now Coppola 1979
37 Seventh Seal, The Bergman 1955
37 Taxi Driver Scorsese 1976
43 Casablanca Curtiz 1942
43 Chinatown Polanski 1974
43 Contempt (Le Mepris) Godard 1963
43 Third Man, The Reed 1949
50 400 Blows, The Truffaut 1959
50 M Lang 1931
55 Barry Lyndon Kubrick 1975
55 North By Northwest Hitchcock 1959
55 On the Waterfront Kazan 1954
55 Strada, La Fellini 1954
64 Battle of Algiers, The Pontecorvo 1965
64 Blade Runner Scott 1981
64 Gold Rush, The Chaplin 1925
64 Once Upon a Time in the West Leone 1968
64 Pulp Fiction Tarentino 1994
64 Rear Window Hitchcock 1954
82 Clockwork Orange, A Kubrick 1971
82 Dekalog Kieslowski 1990
82 Goodfellas Scorsese 1990
82 Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Ford 1962
82 Ran Kurosawa 1985
95 Blue Velvet Lynch 1986
95 Breaking the Waves Von Trier 1996
95 Double Indemnity Wilder 1944
95 Gone with the Wind Fleming 1939
95 It's a Wonderful Life Capra 1946
95 Notorious Hitchcock 1946
95 Stagecoach Ford 1939
124 All About Eve Mankiewicz 1950
124 King Kong Cooper/Shoedsack 1933
124 Marnie Hitchcock 1964
124 Throne of Blood Kurosawa 1957
124 To Kill a Mockingbird Mulligan 1962
124 Un Chien Andalou Bunuel 1929
157 Belle de jour Bunuel 1967
157 Best Years of our Lives, The Wyler 1946
157 Bridge on the River Kwai, The Lean 1957
157 Chungking Express Wong 1994
157 Conversation, The Coppola 1974
157 Do the Right Thing Lee 1989
157 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Spielberg 1982
157 Exorcist Friedkin 1973
157 Great Dictator, The Chaplin 1940
157 In the Mood for Love Wong 2000
157 Jaws Spielberg 1975
157 Paths of Glory Kubrick 1957
157 Piano, The Campion 1993
157 Spirited Away Miyazaki 2001
157 Star Wars Lucas 1977
157 Three Colours Trilogy Kieslowski 1994
157 Unforgiven Eastwood 1992
157 Wages of Fear Clouzot 1953
226 Annie Hall Allen 1997
226 Bob le flambeur Melville 1955
226 Bride of Frankenstein Whale 1935
226 Farewell My Concubine Chen 1993
226 Fargo Coens 1996
226 Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Leone 1967
226 Hidden Fortress, The Kurosawa 1958
226 High and Low Kurosawa 1963
226 Lacombe Lucien Malle 1974
226 Lady Vanishes, The Hitchcock 1938
226 Network Lumet 1976
226 Rosemary's Baby Polanski 1968
226 Schindler's List Spielberg 1993
226 Shining, The Kubrick 1980
226 Strangers on a Train Hitchcock 1951
226 Three Colours Blue Kieslowski 1991


--
H

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Orpheus

The best Cocteau film I've seen, this is almost good enough, but his affectations just keep it from making my collection. If he was just a little bit less artsy-fartsy avant-garde poet and just a little bit more film director, this film would be much the same as it is, but so much better. Oh well. If all the films on this list that didn't merit a were as enjoyable to watch as this one, I'd be a happy camper.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Considering I started at zero seen(even though I have, I wanted to revisit them all), I am currently at 17 watched:
1 Citizen Kane Welles 1941
10 Singin' in the Rain Donen/Kelly 1952
15 Godfather, The Coppola 1972
22 Dr. Strangelove Kubrick 1964
22 Raging Bull Scorsese 1980
43 Third Man, The Reed 1949
55 North By Northwest Hitchcock 1959
64 Magnificent Ambersons, The Welles 1942
95 Black Narcissus Powell/Pressburger 1947
124 Cries and Whispers Bergman 1972
124 Duck Soup McCarey 1933
124 King Kong Cooper/Shoedsack 1933
124 To Kill a Mockingbird Mulligan 1962
157 Bonnie and Clyde Penn 1967
157 Conversation, The Coppola 1974
226 African Queen, The Huston 1951
226 Maltese Falcon, The Huston 1941
Coming soon:
Seven Samurai, Searchers, Passion of Joan of Arc, Tokyo Story, Godfather Pt. 2, Taxi Driver, Casablanca, Wild Strawberries, Star Wars, All About My Mother, Man With a Movie Camera, Pulp Fiction, Fargo, Gone With The Wind, Notorious, Solaris, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, E.T. and La Jetee (all of which I have easy access to)

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Addio


I Vitelloni, while not up to Frederico Fellini’s highest standards is a must-see for anyone interested in his movies or in Italian neo-realism. While still strongly rooted in the post war tradition, there are many elements that are precursors to his more familiar works. And what a fine score by Nina Rota.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I Vittelloni still stays with me three years after I've seen it, there are dozens of films on this and other lists I can't say the same of.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Interesting Adam. I know I saw I Vittelloni, but I have absolutely no recollection of what it was about. I'm sure if I looked up a summary some of it would come back to me, but except that it's Italian, without looking it up, I could tell you nothing about it. Which, in a warped way is a good thing about it. While it's not one of the many films on this list that I remember very well, and very fondly, at least it's not one of the many that I remember all too well, and with great disgust at the memory.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I’d seen most of the movies on this list and reset when I began the challenge. I do regret watching The Piano a second time—and a few the first, but overall, I’m having a ton of fun.

It all depends on your interestes and tastes—and perhaps mood.

Barry Lyndon (for me Kubrick’s best work)
Yi Yi (Yang’s best—and one of the best to come out of Taiwan ever)
Aguirre the Wrath of God (hard to believe that you have not seen this seminal work—watch it several times to see if you can tell if Klaus Kinski is as deranged as Aguirre. I like this so much I once watched it in German with Spanish subtitles)
M. Hulot’s Holiday (While not so polished a movie as Playtime, it is M. Hulot at his most endearing)
The Apu Trilogy (the very definition of humanity. If I Vittelloni stays with you, you will never forget Apu)
Through the Olive Trees (ditto—actually I pretty much feel this way about all of his movies)
Gospel According to St. Matthew (now this is how to make a movie about Christ—Pasolini may have been a debauched, lefitist atheist, but there is more true Christianity in this movie than a dozen Ben-Hurs or anything by Mel Gibson.
Vivre sa Vie (Jean Luc at his best)
That Obscure Object of Desire (maybe not Luis Buñuel’s best, but certainly one of his most accessible and entertaining)

An interesting project is to watch Cries and Whispers and Crimes and Misdemeanors back-to-back.

And for something really different, you can watch In the Realm of Senses, which contains by far the most and the most graphic sex ever filmed in a serious movie.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Lew,

Surely you're not saying that you don't think Deep Throat was a serious movie, are you?

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Well that and Debbie Does Dallas

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Hmmm... really. I walk by this thing all the time at my local rental store, never even knew it was on this list.

--
H

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

#16 Ladri di biciclette (1948) (The Bicycle Thief) a.k.a. The Bicycle Thieves

Admittedly I've had this film on DVD for a couple years yet, only recently did I watch it.

Terrrific film.

Obviously at number 16, this film works quite well for a lot of people. All I can say is that I'm one of them.

People discuss the use of amateur actors and achieving the results De Sica did. For me, I was delighted by the cinematography. If I were a first time director or cinematographer I would be hard press to find a better film to study for camera and actor positioning. Economical yet magnificant.

Also, as a father the film hits home. I was transported to a country where things are dire, with people just scraping by. How do you provide for your family?

But to do something criminal and having it being exposed directly in front of your child's eyes ... that is something there is no recovery from. The film ultimately 'hitting home' tragically reaching a father's deepest fears.

That fear and the understanding of that is understood, even in our more mundane lives. Haven't many of us given a 'free pass' to some guy because he was with his kids?

Never understand why someone would want to put the key specific plot point in the title of their film (unless for comedic effect or promotional value (i.e. you know what you're getting anyway such as The Birds, Psycho, Snakes on a Plane). But in Bicycle Thief, the audience spends time just waiting for the crime just so they can just get on with the film. That seemed like a poor decision to me.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

thanks for the suggestions everyone, the four movies I had shortlisted myself to be my 200th movie were marnie, Aguirre, M Hulot and St. Matthew. I think I'll probably go with Aguirre. I've wanted to see it for ages.

Adam

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I LIVE

Holadem, IIRC In The Realm is on the list under its Japanese name. I had the same problem with Sugar Cane Alley. The Cloud Capped Star, which I haven't seen, is another.

I've considered posting to lambaste (that's a word that doesn't get used enough) Adam a few times, but always talk myself out of it.

DP and DDD are better names than films, even on a porn level.....or so I've been told

No time for anything real, but as a half-assed contribution, I'll say that The Godfather Part III is much better than its rep and really a pretty worthy follow-up to the "Big 2". Sofia Coppola isn't close to as bad as she's made out to be. Really Joe Mantegna is the one who should be called on the carpet. He's clearly trying way to hard to wear the mantle of "Villain in Godfather movie". There's some top-notch editing during the opera scene. It was an interesting way to take Michael as well; the last scene was easily my favorite and I feel a worthy end to the story of the Corleone's.

#297 The Godfather Trilogy - A-

The Godfather - A
The Godfather Part II - A-
The Godfather Part III - B+

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

...

Hey Brook.

Ai no corrida is the name on the list.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I think the list on the front page is my version of the list where I went through and translated all the foreign films into their English titles, so "Ai No Corrida" is In the Realm of the Senses, Le Mepris is Contempt. Sansho Dayu is Sansho the Bailiff. etc.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Brook, glad to hear someone else also enjoying Godfather III. I think Coppola is entirely correct in his assessment--that audiences were not happy with the direction he took, where he made Michael less dominating and more vulnerable. Let's face it, a large part of the appeal of I and II is the cunning Michael, and in III, Coppola brings tragedy to him in a way that strikes close to home, unlike his alienation at the end of II. The way Coppola edits with the opera never fails to move and excite me.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

While not as perfect as the first two films, I always thought GODFATHER III succeeded at showing Michael's suffering and punishment after all he'd done.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Seen 159

1 Citizen Kane Welles 1941

2 Vertigo Hitchcock 1958

3 Rules of the Game Renoir 1939

4 8 ½ Fellini 1963

5 2001: A Space Odyssey Kubrick 1968

6 Tokyo Story Ozu 1953

7 Godfather Part II, The Coppola 1974

8 Seven Samurai Kurosawa 1954

9 Rashomon Kurosawa 1950

10 Battleship Potemkin Eisenstein 1925

10 Singin' in the Rain Donen/Kelly 1952

12 Sunrise Murnau 1927

13 Searchers, The Ford 1956

14 Lawrence of Arabia Lean 1962

15 Godfather, The Coppola 1972

16 Bicycle Thieves, The De Sica 1948

16 Dolce Vita, La Fellini 1960

16 Passion of Joan of Arc, The Dreyer 1928

19 Avventura, L' Antonioni 1960

19 Breathless (A Bout de souffle) Godard 1960

19 Touch of Evil Welles 1958

22 Dr. Strangelove Kubrick 1964

22 Jules and Jim Truffaut 1962

22 Raging Bull Scorsese 1980

25 Atalante, L' Vigo 1934

25 Psycho Hitchcock 1960

25 Sunset Blvd. Wilder 1950

28 Fanny and Alexander Bergman 1982

28 General, The Keaton/Bruckman 1927

28 Godfather & Godfather Part II, The Coppola 1974

28 Mirror, The Tarkovsky 1975

28 Some Like it Hot Wilder 1959

33 Andrei Roublev Tarkovsky 1969

33 City Lights Chaplin 1931

33 Children of Paradise Carne 1945

33 Grand Illusion Renoir 1937

37 Apartment, The Wilder 1960

37 Apocalypse Now Coppola 1979

37 Au hasard Balthazar Bresson 1966

37 Pather Panchali Ray, Satyajit 1955

37 Seventh Seal, The Bergman 1955

37 Taxi Driver Scorsese 1976

43 Casablanca Curtiz 1942

43 Chinatown Polanski 1974

43 Contempt (Le Mepris) Godard 1963

43 Third Man, The Reed 1949

43 Ugetsu Monogatari Mizoguchi 1953

48 Ivan the Terrible Eisenstein 1947

48 Metropolis Lang 1927

50 400 Blows, The Truffaut 1959

50 Intolerance Griffith 1916

50 M Lang 1931

50 Ordet Dreyer 1955

50 Wild Strawberries Bergman 1957

55 Amarcord Fellini 1973

55 Barry Lyndon Kubrick 1975

55 Conformist, The Bertolucci 1970

55 Modern Times Chaplin 1936

55 North By Northwest Hitchcock 1959

55 On the Waterfront Kazan 1954

55 Persona Bergman 1966

55 Story of the Late Chrysanthemum, The Mizoguchi 1939

55 Strada, La Fellini 1954

64 Age d'Or, L' Bunuel 1930

64 Battle of Algiers, The Pontecorvo 1965

64 Blade Runner Scott 1981

64 Gold Rush, The Chaplin 1925

64 Greed Von Stroheim 1925

64 Last Year at Marienbad Resnais 1961

64 Magnificent Ambersons, The Welles 1942

64 Man with a Movie Camera, The Vertov 1929

64 Napoleon Gance 1927

64 Nashville Altman 1975

64 Once Upon a Time in the West Leone 1968

64 Pickpocket Bresson 1959

64 Pulp Fiction Tarentino 1994

64 Rear Window Hitchcock 1954

64 Rio Bravo Hawks 1959

64 Sweet Smell of Success Mackendrick 1957

64 Wild Bunch, The Peckinpah 1969

82 City of Sadness, A Hou 1989

82 Clockwork Orange, A Kubrick 1971

82 Dekalog Kieslowski 1990

82 Goodfellas Scorsese 1990

82 Ikiru Kurosawa 1952

82 Leopard, The Visconti 1963

82 Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Ford 1962

82 Night of the Hunter Laughton 1955

82 Ran Kurosawa 1985

82 Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu) Mizoguchi 1954

82 Traveling Players Angelopoulos 1975

82 Viridiana Bunuel 1961

82 Voyage to Italy Rossellini 1953

95 Argent, L' Bresson 1983

95 Black Narcissus Powell/Pressburger 1947

95 Blue Velvet Lynch 1986

95 Breaking the Waves Von Trier 1996

95 Chimes at Midnight Welles 1965

95 Don't Look Now Roeg 1973

95 Double Indemnity Wilder 1944

95 Earrings of Madame De, The Ophuls, Max 1953

95 El Bunuel 1952

95 Gone with the Wind Fleming 1939

95 Gospel Accoring to St. Matthew, The Pasolini 1964

95 Grapes of Wrath, The Ford 1940

95 His Girl Friday Hawks 1940

95 It's a Wonderful Life Capra 1946

95 Lady Eve, The Sturges 1941

95 Letter from an Unknown Woman Ophuls, Max 1948

95 Matter of Life and Death Powell/Pressburger 1946

95 McCabe & Mrs. Miller Altman 1971

95 My Darling Clementine Ford 1946

95 Nosferatu Murnau 1922

95 Notorious Hitchcock 1946

95 Once Upon a Time in America Leone 1984

95 Pierrot le fou Godard 1965

95 Sherlock Jr. Keaton 1924

95 Shoah Lanzmann 1985

95 Stagecoach Ford 1939

95 Treasure of the Sierra Madre Huston 1948

95 Two or Three Things I know about her Godard 1967

95 Vivre sa Vie Godard 1962

124 Alexander Nevsky Eisenstein 1938

124 All About Eve Mankiewicz 1950

124 All About my Mother Almodovar 1998

124 Beauty and the Beast Cocteau 1946

124 Brief Encounter Lean 1945

124 Canterbury Tale, A Powell/Pressburger 1944

124 Close Up Kiarostami 1990

124 Cries and Whispers Bergman 1972

124 Crimes and Misdemeanors Allen 1989

124 Duck Soup McCarey 1933

124 Earth Dovzhenko 1930

124 Eclipse, The (Eclisse, L') Antonioni 1962

124 Floating Clouds Naruse 1955

124 Gertrud Dreyer 1964

124 Jeanne Dielman Akerman 1976

124 King Kong Cooper/Shoedsack 1933

124 Late Spring Ozu 1949

124 Los Olvidados Bunuel 1950

124 Loves of a Blonde Forman 1965

124 Man Escaped, A Bresson 1956

124 Marnie Hitchcock 1964

124 Music Room, The Ray, Satyajit 1958

124 Red River Hawks 1948

124 Rome, Open City Rossellini 1945

124 Satyricon Fellini 1969

124 Solaris Tarkovsky 1972

124 Throne of Blood Kurosawa 1957

124 Time to Live and the Time to Die, The Hou 1985

124 To Kill a Mockingbird Mulligan 1962

124 Tristana Bunuel 1970

124 Umberto D De Sica 1952

124 Un Chien Andalou Bunuel 1929

124 Yi Yi Yang 2000

157 Aguirre, Wrath of God Herzog 1973

157 In the Realm of the Senses Oshima 1976

157 Ashes and Diamonds Wajda 1958

157 Badlands Mallick 1973

157 Belle de jour Bunuel 1967

157 Berlin Alexanderplatz Fassbinder 1980

157 Best Years of our Lives, The Wyler 1946

157 Black Dog, White Devil Rocha 1964

157 Bonnie and Clyde Penn 1967

157 Brazil Gilliam 1985

157 Bridge on the River Kwai, The Lean 1957

157 Broken Blossoms Griffith 1919

157 Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Wiene 1920

157 Celine and Julie go Boating Rivette 1974

157 Charulata Ray, Satyajit 1964

157 Chungking Express Wong 1994

157 Conversation, The Coppola 1974

157 Crime of Monsieur Lange Renoir 1936

157 Day for Night Truffaut 1973

157 Days of Heaven Mallick 1978

157 Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Bunuel 1972

157 Do the Right Thing Lee 1989

157 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Spielberg 1982

157 Exorcist Friedkin 1973

157 Exterminating Angel, The Bunuel 1974

157 Fear Eats the Soul Fassbinder 1962

157 Great Dictator, The Chaplin 1940

157 In a Year of Thirteen Moons Fassbinder 1978

157 In the Mood for Love Wong 2000

157 India Song Duras 1975

157 Jaws Spielberg 1975

157 Jetee, La Marker 1962

157 Kaagaz ke phool Dutt 1959

157 Kind Hearts and Coronets Hamer 1949

157 Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Powell/Pressburger 1943

157 Life of Oharu Mizoguchi 1952

157 M. Hulot's Holiday Tati 1954

157 Meet Me in St. Louis Minnelli 1944

157 Monsieur Verdoux Chaplin 1947

157 Mother and the Whore Eustache 1973

157 One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Forman 1975

157 Out of the Past Tourneur 1947

157 Paisa Rossellini 1946

157 Palm Beach Story, The Sturges 1942

157 Paths of Glory Kubrick 1957

157 Piano, The Campion 1993

157 PlayTime Tati 1967

157 Providence Resnais 1977

157 Pyaasa Dutt 1957

157 Rise to Power of Louis XIV, The Rossellini 1966

157 Rocco and His Brothers Visconti 1960

157 Salo Pasolini 1975

157 Spartacus Kubrick 1960

157 Spirited Away Miyazaki 2001

157 Stalker Tarkovsky 1979

157 Star is Born, A Cukor 1954

157 Star Wars Lucas 1977

157 Sullivan's Travels Sturges 1941

157 Taste of Cherry Kiarostami 1997

157 That Obscure ****** of Desire Bunuel 1977

157 Three Colours Trilogy Kieslowski 1994

157 Through the Olive Trees Kiarostami 1994

157 To Have and Have not Hawks 1944

157 Trouble in Paradise Lubitsch 1932

157 Unforgiven Eastwood 1992

157 Wages of Fear Clouzot 1953

157 Wind Will Carry Us Kiarostami 1999

157 World of Apu Ray, Satyajit 1959

157 Written on the Wind Sirk 1956

226 1900 Berolucci 1976

226 Accattone Pasolini 1961

226 African Queen, The Huston 1951

226 Age of Innocence Scorsese 1993

226 All that Heaven Allows Sirk 1956

226 And Life Goes On Kiarostami 1991

226 Angel Lubitsch 1937

226 Annie Hall Allen 1977

226 Apu Trilogy, The Ray, Satyajit 1959

226 Atanarjuat Kunuk 2001

226 Autumn Afternoon, An Ozu 1964

226 Baby Doll Kazan 1956

226 Bigger Than Life Ray, Nicholas 1956

226 Birth of a Nation, The Griffith 1915

226 Bob le flambeur Melville 1955

226 Bride of Frankenstein Whale 1935

226 Bringing up Baby Hawks 1938

226 Burnt by the Sun Mikhalkov 1994

226 Dames du Bois de Boulogne, Les Bresson 1945

226 Day of Wrath Dreyer 1943

226 Death in Venice Visconti 1971

226 Demoiselles de Rochefort, Les Demy/Varda 1967

226 Devils, The Russell 1971

226 Don't Look Back Pennebaker 1967

226 Double Life of Veronique, The Kieslowski 1993

226 Naked Childhood Pialat 1970

226 Eternity and a Day Angelopoulos 1998

226 Europa Von Trier 1991

226 F for Fake Welles 1976

226 Phantom of Liberty Bunuel 1974

226 Farewell My Concubine Chen 1993

226 Fargo Coens 1996

226 Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Meyer 1985

226 Woman Next Door, The Truffaut 1981

226 Fires Were Started Jennings 1943

226 Germany Year Zero Rossellini 1947

226 Godfather Trilogy, The Coppola 1992

226 Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Leone 1967

226 Great Expectations Lean 1947

226 Hate Kassovitz 1995

226 Hidden Fortress, The Kurosawa 1958

226 High and Low Kurosawa 1963

226 Hiroshima mon Amour Resnais 1959

226 Hotel Terminous: Klaus Barbie, His Life and Times Ophuls, Marcel 1988

226 I vitelloni Fellini 1953

226 Red Desert, The Antonioni 1964

226 Lacombe Lucien Malle 1974

226 Lady Vanishes, The Hitchcock 1938

226 Lancelot of the Lake Bresson 1974

226 Last Laugh, The Murnau 1924

226 Last Picture Show, The Bogdanovich 1971

226 Limelight Chaplin 1952

226 Lola Demy 1961

226 Love Me Tonight Mamoulian 1932

226 Ludwig Visconti 1972

226 Make Way for Tomorrow McCarey 1937

226 Maltese Falcon, The Huston 1941

226 Masculin Feminin Godard 1986

226 Mean Streets Scorsese 1973

226 Meghe dhaka tara Ghatik 1960

226 Miracle in Milan De Sica 1951

226 Moment of Innocence, A Makhmalbaf 1996

226 My Neighbor Totoro Miyazaki 1988

226 Nanook of the North Flaherty 1922

226 Navigator, The Keaton 1924

226 Network Lumet 1976

226 Nights of Cabiria Fellini 1957

226 October Eisenstein 1927

226 Odd Man Out Reed 1947

226 Oedipus Rex Pasolini 1967

226 Orlando Potter 1992

226 Orphee Cocteau 1949

226 Pakeezah Amrohi 1975

226 Pandora's Box Pabst 1929

226 Day in the Country, A Renoir 1936

226 Passenger, The Antonioni 1975

226 Performance Roeg 1970

226 Puppetmaster Hou 1993

226 Red Shoes, The Powell/Pressburger 1948

226 Region Centrale, La Snow 1971

226 Remains of the Day, The Ivory 1993

226 Riff-Raff Loach 1990

226 Rosemary's Baby Polanski 1968

226 Round-Up, The Jancso 1965

226 Rue Cases-Negres, La Palcy 1983

226 Sacrifice, The Tarkovsky 1986

226 Salvatore Giuliano Rosi 1961

226 Scarlett Empress, The Von Sternberg 1934

226 Schindler's List Spielberg 1993

226 Shadows Cassavetes 1959

226 Shane Stevens 1953

226 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Ford 1949

226 Shining, The Kubrick 1980

226 Short Cuts Altman 1993

226 Silences du palais, Les Tlati 1994

226 Steamboat Bill, Jr. Keaton/Reisner 1928

226 Still Life Saless 1974

226 Strangers on a Train Hitchcock 1951

226 Stray Dog Kurosawa 1949

226 Strike Eisenstein 1925

226 Thief of Bagdad, The Berger/Powell 1940

226 Thing from Another World, The Hawks/Nyby 1951

226 Three Colours Blue Kieslowski 1991

226 Time of Gypsies Kusterica 1988

226 Tingler, The Castle 1959

226 Shoot the Piano Player Truffaut 1960

226 To Be or Not ot Be Lubitsch 1942

226 To Sleep with Anger Burnett 1990

226 Topsy-Turvy Leigh 1999

226 Touch of Zen, A Hu 1969

226 Underground Kusterica 1995

226 Vampires, Les Feuillade 1915

226 Vampyr Dreyer 1932

226 Vidas Secas Dos Santos 1963