Films I Definitely Need to See Again
Submitted by lukeprog on Wed, 08/18/2004 - 11:31
Tags:
- Bambi
- The Treasure of Seirra Madre
- The Wizard of Oz
- City Lights
- Duck Soup
- A Night at the Opera
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- Bringing Up Baby
- The Bank Dick
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- Double Indemnity
- Strangers on a Train
- Harper
- Touch of Evil
- Animal Crackers
- The 39 Steps
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- The Philadelphia Story
- Lifeboat
- The African Queen
- Roman Holiday
- 12 Angry Men
- The Poseidon Adventure
- The Conversation
- Chariots of Fire
- Blade Runner
- E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial
Author Comments:
A list of "movies I want to see again" would be much longer. These are just the movies I need to see again. As I watch these again, they will be removed from the list.
What did you think of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", anyway?
Loved it. Better than The Graduate, though I'm sure I'll get some flak for saying so. Perhaps the ONLY weak point in the entire film is the 'story so far' part of Spencer Tracy's final speech.
Eh, to each his own. I found it talky, calculated, and boring, though not terrible.
You've got some great films up there. I imagine most of these will seem richer when you rewatch them today. Although, if you didn't like "Road to Utopia", you may want to skip rewatching the Marx Brothers movies. The Marx movies are more popular, but it's still the same kind of vaudeville humor that you described as not liking. If you liked them as a kid, maybe it would be better to remember them that way.
Yes, its definitely a play on film, like Glengarry Glen Ross or In the Company of Men. It was certainly calculated, but in a bad way????
Yes, I'll have to see what I think upon rewatching Marx brothers humor.
By calculated, I just kind of meant it felt like "Okay, now let's have Spencer Tracy talk to the daughter. Then, Katharine Hepburn talks to Sidney Poitier. Now, let's see, Tracy and Hepburn. Then Poitier and Tracy. Then the daughter and Poitier. Then Hepburn and the daughter. Hmm, is that all we can do? Okay, film over."
Don't get me wrong. I like plenty of plays on film. This one just didn't work for me. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.
You're right. After this time (what's it been, a week or two), I keep thinking about it, and it doesn't measure up to some other similar movies like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (as I remember, anyway) or even A Patch of Blue.
I still think it's a really good film, just not as great a film as I originally thought. I think every good film is highly calculated (think of Rules of the Game, for crying out loud), it's just that the best of the best do a great job of hiding how calculated they are and make everything feel a bit more natural. Or something.
Oh, I definitely hear what you're saying about calculatedness. Certainly, there are plenty of films that are, in reality, more calculated than GWCTD. There's a single shot in Chaplin's City Lights which required about 350 takes. Chaplin couldn't get it just right for so long. But the shot feels very natural in the end (not to mention touching). Luckily, you said it better that I did: that regardless of how calculated a film actually is, the problem is when it feels too calculated.
I dunno. Maybe I'm asking too much for a film to pull off difficult feats and make it all look easy. If GWCTD weren't boring and dated (IMHO), I might have been a bit more forgiving.
boring??? Well, if that's how you felt, that's fine, but I'm surprised - I certainly didn't think it was boring. Not too sure about dated, either. To each his own.
I'm with Mr. AJ on Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. I thought it was a pretty embarrassing example of late 1960s guilty white liberalism. The upcoming remake with Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher can't any worse than the original.
Have you seen 'A Patch of Blue?' If so, did you think that was better?
(also a 60s release, similar subject matter, also starring Potier)
I remember liking A Patch of Blue when I was younger, but I really can't trust my teenage opinions.
Have you seen Dreyer's Ordet. It's VERY similar to GWCTD, except that the division of the two potential lovers is about religion instead of race. It'd be interesting to hear how you'd compare the two, if you've seen it.
Personally, I think GWCTD has better dialogue, but Ordet may seem less calculated, if only because there are fewer, longer discussion between the characters (instead of using up every single combination like GWCTD or TV's Friends).
lol, funny thing is this si no your "need to see again" list and if i was to make it would have to be called "NEED TO SEE" list :) haven't seen one of them. :(
Not a single one? lol, yeah, check these out some time.