The Ultimate Film School: College - Bachelor's Degree
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 03/19/2002 - 08:48
Tags:
- The Three Musketeers (1921, Fred Niblo)
- Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau)
- Robin Hood (1922, Allan Dwan)
- Our Hospitality (1923, John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton)
- The Last Laugh (1924, F.W. Murnau)
- Sherlock Jr. (1924, Buster Keaton)
- Strike (1924, Sergei Eisenstein)
- Ben-Hur (1925, Fred Niblo)
- The Big Parade (1925, King Vidor)
- The Freshman (1925, Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor)
- Faust (1926, F.W. Murnau)
- Ten Days That Shook the World (1927, Grigory Alexandrov, Sergei Eisenstein)
- The Crowd (1928, King Vidor)
- Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928, Charles Riesner)
- The Wind (1928, Victor Sjostrom)
- Zvenigora (1928, Alexander Dovzhenko)
- Pandora's Box (1929, G.W. Pabst)
Interesting concept, I am trying to understand the distinctions. Are the movies freshman year considered more "accesible"? And as the student moves up each year and thier understanding of film as an art form increases they will be able to handle the complexities of that year's film?Also are you only including movies you have seen?
Since you seemed to have tackled the A's, may I suggest Avalon could be added. A very nice underrated movie.
The general idea I was hastily bouncing about in my brain like a hot potato was to have three factors determining this list. Films in the high school list should be artistic triumphs, historically important, and quite accessible to the average serious viewer. Films in the later classes lacked one of the above to a significant enough degree to place them in a later list.
So some may be simply inaccessible (although I admit I was fairly loose with this particular criteria and gave the average viewer quite a bit of credit). Some may be lesser films than those in the high school list. Some may simply lack as much cinematic influence.
I'm not sure this concept is going to work, but I'm giving it a shot! I was thinking of our educational system when creating the idea. As we progress to higher grades, we usually move to more difficult work while at the same time filling in gaps with lesser works that are still important to know. That's the guiding rule for these lists.
While I have seen probably around 90% of these films, I decided not to confine the lists to films I have seen.
I considered Avalon, which certainly qualifies in terms of artistic excellence. I think historical importance bumped it off my lists, but I will reconsider this. It is a good film, and although I haven't seen it in about 9 years, I remember really enjoying it.
I'll think on it. Right now, I frankly want to let these lists lie for a bit. I spent entirely too many hours pulling them together, and I'm smiling at the idea of taking a rest for a week or so before tearing into the massive amount of 'B' films.
With the criteria above in mind, how did I do?
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Which Avalon are you referring to? The Barry Levinson film of the Japanese Anime?
I was talking the Levinson Film. I am a sucker for his Baltimore movies.
This is a very cool idea (and monumental effort). The distinctions between the 5 academic levels are a bit too subtle for me, but I'll definitely be using this series as a viewing guide. So will this series supercede your So You Want To Be a Film Fanatic series? Also, I've lost track . . . Did you ever post the first assignment for Film School 101?
If the school-based level distinctions don't stick for you, simply think about these as tiered "must-see" lists - once you've seen all the films in the high school list, you can start on the Freshman flicks.
Or, of course, you can ignore them altogether! :)
These could, for most practical purposes, replace the film fanatic list, but the criteria is slightly different and will create some differences in the list. For the fanatic list, for example, I gave no thought to accessibility.
I probably should post the Film 101. I made a similar list for music, but once I posted the first album, the response was nil. The concept lost a bit of bloom for me. However, a few people do seem interested in the movie idea, so I will try to pull that together soon.
Thanks for the comments!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Interestingly, on each list I've seen either 5 or 6 movies. So I'm weakest in the Junior year so far, as it's the longest.
Sorry 'bout the music letdown. Personally, it's all I can do to keep up with the movies genre. However, on the music front I did at least print out your "100 Best Rock Albums" series so my wife could read it. She wondered if you got any hate mail for the "Elvis may have been dumb as dirt" comment. :-)
Thank you. I'm quite flattered.
As for the Elivs comment, interestingly enough, the only person who wondered if it was perhaps a tad harsh was MY wife. I haven't heard from anybody else concerning the comment. No death threats yet! Maybe the Elvis fans haven't found it out yet.
As for the music school attempt, don't worry. I throw stuff up, and sometimes there is interest, sometimes there ain't. Perhaps the fact that it is cheaper to rent a video than buy an album played into that...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I dont know why, Elvis was dumb as dirt. But this being America it has little to do with a persons ability to make a tom of money. Wife's can be so touchy sometimes. :)