My Favorite Films
Submitted by pbrice on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 09:12
Tags:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
- Nashville (Robert Altman)
- Fearless (Peter Weir, 1995)
- Dr Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1966)
- Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1986)
- Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders)
- Alien (Ridley Scott)
- What's Up Doc? (Peter Bogdonavich)
- Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
- Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
- The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
- Elephant Man (David Lynch)
- Rushmore (??)
- Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark (the finest 'B'
- movie of all time, and also one of the best
- satires ever...give it a try)
Are there any other Kubrick films that you really like: Spartacus, Clockwork Orange, Paths of Glory, The Killing, Lolita, Full Metal Jacket? Have you seen any of these? Also, since you like Nashville, did you Altman's 2 critically acclaimed 90's movies, Player and Short Cuts?
I have seen (and loved, to some degree) every Kubrick except for Fear & Desire and Spartacus. Not that I didn't love these, just that I didn't see them. I have no excuses for not seeing Spartacus, but Kubrick, himself, owned the only copy of Fear & Desire, and would not let anyone see it.
I own all of them (F&D, Spartacus excluded), and watch each of them on a regular basis. Each of his films are one of my favorites, but I didn't want the list to be too long.
I find that A Clockwork Orange has proven to be somewhat prophectic in its depiction of bored-teenage violence (and some would agrue, helped create it).
I also think that Quentin Tarantino watched The Killing one too many times. Each of Tarantino's films seem to be told through Kubrick's "The Killing" style (albeit, a little more modern and vulgar). Not that I don't like Tarantino, but everytime I watch one of his movies and The Killing around the same time, I find myself saying "Wait a minute..."
Paths of Glory? Do war movies get much better than this? Oh! Full Metal Jacket. There is something about the Kubrick symmetrical compositions and fast zooms that just really hit home in this one.
Is there a movie more beautifully shot than Barry Lyndon? My vote is Eyes Wide Shut. The most overlooked and misunderstood film of his career. I also nominate it for the best cinematography of all time (runner up: Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent).
Altman, Altman, Altman,...
He's a card. As much as I like Nashville, and enjoyed The Player, I found Short Cuts to be unnecessarily long.
It seems like The Player and Short Cuts are his star-fucker films. These movies were more about who was playing the parts than the actual stories. I mean, can you believe Lyle Lovette made cakes? He's a pop/county/blues star? But, still, enjoyable.
The best thing about Altman is that the acting is always top-notch. Julianne Moore in Short Cuts. Shelly Duvall in 3 Woman. Tim Robbins in The Player, and so on. Although I don't know if I can say if Robin WIlliams was good in Popeye, or bad? I mean, of all the Hollywood cartoon movies, this was the most cartoonish. And is this good or bad?
Rushmore was directed by Wes Anderson