having trouble getting through a few classics (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Gatie]

Edited for stupidity.:b

 

[Dome Vongvises]

HELL NO!!!

That movie was awful. Validate my morality my ass.

They say you can drink any woman pretty. It's too bad you can't do that with this one.

 

[Angelo.M]

Ducking for cover...

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Yeah Angelo, you are right. I was a little too brash. I've edited for stupidity.

 

[Zen Butler]

Not true. I love the film also.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Good point, Zen. To bring up a point made before, I happen to think for sheer scope, story and difficulty of source material alone, "The Lord of the Rings" is a shoo-in as the greatest epic of all time. I love Ben-Hur, love The Ten Commandments and love GWTW, but I believe LOTR harkens back to those great epics and outdoes them. Some would immediately call me a "whippersnapper", unless they knew the reverence I held for the old classics.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Ture, but I'm a Gen-Yer myself (born 1980), so that's the group I know best. Now that you mention it, this sums up the counterculture of most generations.

 

[Holadem]

You may want to address someone other than Zen on this one

--
H

 

[Michael Reuben]

You can tell who the real film lovers are. They're the ones who don't do either of those things.

M.

 

[Angelo.M]

No worries, Jeff. Actually, I wasn't referring to anything you've written. I think you and I are on the same page.

Like what you like, cognoscenti be damned, vox populi be damned. But establish your preferences based on experience, not on prejudgement. And it never hurts to try something different.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I’ll bring the beer, Zen.

 

[Carlo_M]

You know, if more people lived by this credo, we wouldn't have half the problems we do (and not just in film appreciation either).

And there's nothing wrong with not liking certain old films--heck I can't admit to liking everything that is considered a "classic". But the wrongheaded attitude is the "I don't like older films" generalities, just as it is wrongheaded to say "I don't like new films because they don't make films like they used to". Both are prejudgments.

 

[Zen Butler]

From what I've gathered, the ladies too.

 

[Lew Crippen]

If 34 years of marriage does not help one know how to talk to women, I don’t know what will.

In any case on my worst day, I could do better than those losers in L’Avventura.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Not that hard of a task.

Speaking of beer, I'll drink to some of the best posts I've read here. Cheers.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Powerful art is timeless and it transcends its era. Just a few weeks ago I revisited 1950's All About Eve, and, just like each time I've seen it, the film lingers in my mind for days. Such is the power of a well-directed film based on a solid, well-developed story and fleshed-out characters. And, of course, there's Bette Davis's performance -- one for the ages.

Appreciating film is about opening one's mind. Learn to "read" films, to expand your vocabulary of film. Then look at films with informed eyes.

 

[Zen Butler]

[Dome, you bring up a great point, so much much disagreement, discussed so civil. I love when people point this out.]

Like Blade Runner, it took some time for me to warm to L’Avventura. Now, with layers of the onion peeled away, don't know many films that compare to this ugly/beautiful.
So strange, that another of my top 5, Sabrina (1954) has yet to appeal to anyone I've viewed it for. "Dated" or "corny" are a few popular responses. I can't put my finger on it, but I find the relationships very real. J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, Monet, Jack Kerouac, Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, Metropolis, all "dated?" Okay fine, but "art" it is [/end tinge over-the-top]

Wow, that began to tailspin.






Lew, it shows. I admire that.

Personally, I'm too sexy for my shirt and for marriage.

 

[Jeff B.]

Well after following this thread closely and reading what a lot of people had to say, I rented Casablanca. Let me start off by saying I had an urge during most of the movie to open a bottle of fine bourbon, and puff on a cigar.

I really liked this film. I'm not sure why yet, but I literally finished the movie about five minutes ago. This film surprised me in more ways then one. First off, I found the acting to be superb. Many of the characters intrigued me with their complexity, especially Rick. (Bogart's a badass.) Also, I did not find this film slow moving at all. I thought most of the dialogue was written in a way, that the pace of the movie did not suffer. I actually laughed out loud in the beginning when Rick's "girlfriend" asked him where he was last night, and he replied with something like "that was so long ago I can't remember."

There were many great scenes in the film, but one I really liked was when the german officers where singing the anthem, and then the french one was sung over them. Very cool.

OK, so I enjoyed the film much more then I thought I would. I'm glad I started this movie with as open mind as possible, and what I found out was that a 60+ year old movie can still be great. Now, I'm still not sure why this is considered one of the greatest movies of all time. Perhaps because of the statement it made, considering what was happening at the time? Realize this is the first time I've seen this movie, and I basically know nothing about it besides what I have concluded myself. I plan to watch it again with the Roger Ebert commentary, as I've read in this thread that he provides some great insight into the film.

I'm happy I had time to get this movie in before I go off to school in three days. Its not like this is the first classic I've seen, but its probably the first time I've gone out of my way to see one. This was definetely a different experience from last night's showing -- Kill Bill Vol 2. But I'm learning that a good movie is a good movie, regardless of time.



Now, about that bourbon and cigar...

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Glad to see you enjoyed it!


This scene got a big round of applause from the audience at the theatrical showing I ran this past June.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I think some genres age better than others. Slapstick comedy and thrillers probably hold up the best.