I probably should update this list soon, but last time I managed a top ten, it went something like this...
1. Amateur (1994) - Hartley
2. Citizen Kane (1941) - Welles
3. North by Northwest (1959) - Hitchcock
4. Bringing Up Baby (1938) - Hawks
5. 8 1/2 (1963) - Fellini
6. Cabaret (1972) - Fosse
7. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - Leone
8. Pulp Fiction (1994) - Tarantino
9. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) - De Sica
10. Andrei Rublev (1966) - Tarkovsky
I've seen movies (and read books) where the continuous wave of bad luck and ill fortune grew more and more silly and unlikely as it grew more dark and dire. That can really strain an artistic work's plausibility as much as continuous good fortune can. Believable bleakness though, such as in Biutiful or Chinatown (great example!) is no artistic fault on its own, I reckon.
It may not be much fun, but...
I am now hearing rumors that both Blue Valentine and Rabbit Hole are arriving in my city in the next few weeks. I think I'm losing the screeners very soon, and since I favor the big screen anyhows, this is great news.
I remember seeing it on one of the pay channels over my sister's house and thinking it looked quite bad compared to the theater.
Of course, I caught the movie around 11 PM and left much much later, so maybe fatigue ratcheted up my kindness and mess with my memory. I don't think so, but perhaps...
I suspect I'll have more free time in the future, so I'll try to get back into reviewing in one format or another...
I'm rather baffled at the critical reaction to the movie, and I'm pretty glad I saw the film before I noticed it! I didn't even find the film all that bleak, and besides, I'm not sure that alone is a great criticism of such an obviously well-made film...
I loved it.
I actually have a borrowed screener of Blue Valentine (along with Rabbit Hole) at home, so hopefully I see it soon despite its absence from my city's cinemas...
So much fun! I especially loved the reviews for The Social Network and the David Lean films.
I'm impressed you watched Fireworks (not too many do) and Salo (gulp!).
Your King Kong review hits on something very real. Those effects look worse on the television and DVD transfers I've seen than I remember them looking at the theater. I'm not sure if my memory or the transfers are to blame (maybe I don't want to know), but to my memory, the only effects that looked really poor on the big screen were the ones where the various tiny boats were sharing space with shore; all those land approaches looked bizarrely fake...
Now if I could only figure out how to get notified when you update this list...
I love most of Tarkovsky's work!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs (addict of all things Vertigo)
Done! :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I probably should update this list soon, but last time I managed a top ten, it went something like this...
1. Amateur (1994) - Hartley
2. Citizen Kane (1941) - Welles
3. North by Northwest (1959) - Hitchcock
4. Bringing Up Baby (1938) - Hawks
5. 8 1/2 (1963) - Fellini
6. Cabaret (1972) - Fosse
7. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - Leone
8. Pulp Fiction (1994) - Tarantino
9. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) - De Sica
10. Andrei Rublev (1966) - Tarkovsky
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Look out! There goes Gordon... :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Those are some great suggestions, many of them only absent from the list because of my "one song per artist" rule. I particularly love Darkness...
I need to pick a Cohen song, don't I? :) I'll ponder...
Thanks!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Who knew that one would turn out so good? I guess Moore was the big hint, but still...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Explains a lot...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I finally caught Animal Kingdom last night, and yes, it is well worth seeing for more than just Weaver's performance...
The Lost Thing bored you? Well, I'm a little surprised, but to each his own, eh? The Gruffalo was the one that found me nodding off a tad...
Yes, you should try to catch God of Love. I absolutely adored it!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
You're welcome, and sorry I couldn't think of a more polite way to explain it!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
His response, "Alimentary, Dr. Leiter," puns on the old Sherlock Holmes quote and indicates the diamonds are in the body's alimentary canal.
In other words, to be blunt and vulgar, he shoved them up the corpse's butt...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I've seen movies (and read books) where the continuous wave of bad luck and ill fortune grew more and more silly and unlikely as it grew more dark and dire. That can really strain an artistic work's plausibility as much as continuous good fortune can. Believable bleakness though, such as in Biutiful or Chinatown (great example!) is no artistic fault on its own, I reckon.
It may not be much fun, but...
I am now hearing rumors that both Blue Valentine and Rabbit Hole are arriving in my city in the next few weeks. I think I'm losing the screeners very soon, and since I favor the big screen anyhows, this is great news.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I remember seeing it on one of the pay channels over my sister's house and thinking it looked quite bad compared to the theater.
Of course, I caught the movie around 11 PM and left much much later, so maybe fatigue ratcheted up my kindness and mess with my memory. I don't think so, but perhaps...
I suspect I'll have more free time in the future, so I'll try to get back into reviewing in one format or another...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Nice work!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I'm rather baffled at the critical reaction to the movie, and I'm pretty glad I saw the film before I noticed it! I didn't even find the film all that bleak, and besides, I'm not sure that alone is a great criticism of such an obviously well-made film...
I loved it.
I actually have a borrowed screener of Blue Valentine (along with Rabbit Hole) at home, so hopefully I see it soon despite its absence from my city's cinemas...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
So much fun! I especially loved the reviews for The Social Network and the David Lean films.
I'm impressed you watched Fireworks (not too many do) and Salo (gulp!).
Your King Kong review hits on something very real. Those effects look worse on the television and DVD transfers I've seen than I remember them looking at the theater. I'm not sure if my memory or the transfers are to blame (maybe I don't want to know), but to my memory, the only effects that looked really poor on the big screen were the ones where the various tiny boats were sharing space with shore; all those land approaches looked bizarrely fake...
Now if I could only figure out how to get notified when you update this list...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs