4 more in. 27 for the year.
La Strada
Masculine feminine
2 or 3 things I know about her
Ugetsu (re-watch)
The way I see it, ill keep posting my progress, but every other post or so will actually be a blog about something, like my film club post or new wave post.
By the way Dave, I gave “drag me to hell” 3 ½ stars. Atypical in most ways except a few major ones, like the banging of pots and pans and crashing tea cups. Mostly a creative film that I enjoyed.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Still Going Strong
23 films in now - im surprised. Here are the next 5.
contempt
the brothers bloom
drag me to hell
the sweetest thing
broken embraces
Broken Embraces is simply brilliant by the way. Contempt is also very strong, and then they go down from there until you hit The Sweetest Thing - one of the worst films ever made.
contempt
the brothers bloom
drag me to hell
the sweetest thing
broken embraces
Broken Embraces is simply brilliant by the way. Contempt is also very strong, and then they go down from there until you hit The Sweetest Thing - one of the worst films ever made.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Film Club
Right now I’m reading a book called “Film Club”. It’s a true story written by a man who let his 16 year old son drop out of school as long as he promises to watch 3 movies with him each week. The dad gets to choose the movies. The 16 year old kid, Jesse, likes movies alright, but is no film scholar and hasn’t really seen most of the classic and important films in history. Essentially, the father has a clean slate to work with and can choose anything. His choices are interesting, films like; The 400 Blows, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Shining, Notorious, Last Tango in Paris, On the Waterfront, and many more.
This got me thinking, if that was me, what would I choose? It’s a more difficult question to answer than I thought it would be, and then I decided to narrow it to ten, and the decisions became even more difficult. Would I choose ten films that teach about life? Maybe ten that reveal film from various eras’ or various countries from around the world? Then I just sat down and thought about it without a real criterion, and ten films just came to me. To be clear, these ten films are NOT my ten favorite films of all time. In fact, only two of these films make my personal top ten. But when it came time to pick ten films I would show someone wanting to know more about great films, these are the ten I came up with.
1) Casablanca
The ultimate film. Solid performances by an iconic cast, great dialogue, and the best romance ever put onto film. Bogart and Bergman were larger than life and ever supporting cast member delivers perfectly. This is a great example of how to make a war film without showing a battle or even taking place in a country where the war was being fought. As far as America goes, there is no more important film ever made. Directed by Michael Curtiz.
2) Seven Samurai
The greatest action film ever made, without question. Seven samurai battle 40 bandits to save a village that none of them live in, and they aren’t even being paid well. The 3 ½ hour running time isn’t a problem for this film that simply flies by. Each time I watch it I love it more, which is why every time a new transfer of the film is released I buy it, even if it’s expensive. I don’t mind owning multiple copies of this film at all. Shimura and Mifune get a lot of praise for their performances, but the entire cast is perfect and Kurosawa directs this film way ahead of its time. This film has been remade many times, and no one has come close to duplicating it.
3) Roshomon
The second Kurosawa film in a row, and its well deserved. This is the first film to introduce an important plot style to serious audiences. The film is about a murder being told from various perspectives, so we see the same murder scene multiple times from each person’s perspective but everyone’s story is different. Who is telling the truth? Mifune is excellent in the lead role, playing a villain, and the layout of the story is simply brilliant. Philosophies play an important role in the start and end of the film.
4) The Godfather
This is an obvious choice, but for me, the reasons are different than most. Coppola’s direction is flawless as we move from scene to scene getting into the midst of a powerful mafia family. Many people love this film for its gritty crime story and shocking violence, I love this film for its beautiful and haunting cinematography, equally haunting musical score, and superb acting from everyone but especially Brando. Perfect movie making.
5) Le Doulos
Melville made much more popular films, but I think this is his best. Jean-Paul Belmondo has probably never been better than in this crime drama where one moment you think he’s our hero, the next our villain, and then back and forth through the film until we finally get the real story. The thing is, in the end, I’m not sure if I would have cared whether or not he was our antagonist or protagonist, I just loved the ride to find out. In this film, the script is the standout. Simply brilliant.
6) Tokyo Story
Roger Ebert once said that all true fans of film eventually end up at Ozu, and this is his best film. Ozu is that rare director who can make essentially the same film many times over, and have each and every one of them be simply brilliant. Not all of his films are alike, Tokyo Twilight, Ohayo, and Floating Weeds for example are fairly unique, but Tokyo Story is actually very similar to a few of his other films, its just better than the rest of those which are already very good films. Ozu is a master at family drama, drawing in emotion that films rarely accomplish. Despite the fact that Ozu is the most “Japanese” of all great Japanese directors, I still feel myself completely resonating with his characters from all the way across the globe.
7) The Seventh Seal
Ingmar Bergman can get a little tedious to watch at times because his pacing and temperament doesn’t change much from film to film, but this is by far his most intriguing and unique film, and also his most profound. The film gives us some iconic images, greatest of which is our knight played brilliantly by Max Von Sydow playing chess with the Grim Reaper (yes the one copied in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey). The film is about Death chasing down a knight to end his life, and the knight attempting to keep himself alive. The dialogue is brilliant despite being a bit too chatty at times, and the philosophical questions that arise as a result of close evaluation of the dialogue make the film worth many viewings.
8) 8 ½
I have an up and down relationship with Fellini’s films, but lately I have been nothing but up on this film. The film is shot beautifully despite being in black and white, and like Anotnioni’s “L’ Avventura” the film has so many perfect shots that they can be frozen and placed on postcards. The film seems semi-autobiographical, although Fellini has denied that to some degree, in that it is a film about a movie director making a film, but doesn’t know what he wants to make. He has no real script, no real vision, and is simply throwing things together as he goes in order to appease his producers. Many have speculated that Fellini made this film because he needed to make another movie, and was out of ideas himself, so why not make a movie about a director making a movie who is out of ideas? Whether this is true or not, the result is wonderful. Guido, our main character, takes us on a ride through his relationships with various women (who are no doubt autobiographical to some degree), as well as taking us through dream sequences and visions of his past as they are blended in with reality. The first time I saw this film I was a bit confused, the second time I was awestruck.
9) The Third Man
This British film Noir is my favorite example of a truly excellent style of film. A crime story starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles, the film centers around a man (Cotton) trying to figure out how and why his friend Harry (Welles) died. He’s been told the death was an accident, but he knows better. He gets a little too close to the truth, and the realities he uncovers are truly shocking if you haven’t already had them spoiled for you through the various pop culture references to the film over the past 50 years. Carol Reed directs the film beautifully, capturing haunting images through a perfect use of lighting. The sewer scene at the end is one of my favorite scenes in film history.
10) Raiders of the Lost Ark
What else can be said – Its Indiana Jones. This film seems to endure better with each passing year, and despite a strong misstep from the fourth film in the series, this film remains one of my favorite action-adventure films of all time. The way the journey is paced in accordance with the music just sounds off as adventurous, and the story and execution of the story are absolutely perfect. Probably the best film in the careers of two brilliant men, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford.
This got me thinking, if that was me, what would I choose? It’s a more difficult question to answer than I thought it would be, and then I decided to narrow it to ten, and the decisions became even more difficult. Would I choose ten films that teach about life? Maybe ten that reveal film from various eras’ or various countries from around the world? Then I just sat down and thought about it without a real criterion, and ten films just came to me. To be clear, these ten films are NOT my ten favorite films of all time. In fact, only two of these films make my personal top ten. But when it came time to pick ten films I would show someone wanting to know more about great films, these are the ten I came up with.
1) Casablanca
The ultimate film. Solid performances by an iconic cast, great dialogue, and the best romance ever put onto film. Bogart and Bergman were larger than life and ever supporting cast member delivers perfectly. This is a great example of how to make a war film without showing a battle or even taking place in a country where the war was being fought. As far as America goes, there is no more important film ever made. Directed by Michael Curtiz.
2) Seven Samurai
The greatest action film ever made, without question. Seven samurai battle 40 bandits to save a village that none of them live in, and they aren’t even being paid well. The 3 ½ hour running time isn’t a problem for this film that simply flies by. Each time I watch it I love it more, which is why every time a new transfer of the film is released I buy it, even if it’s expensive. I don’t mind owning multiple copies of this film at all. Shimura and Mifune get a lot of praise for their performances, but the entire cast is perfect and Kurosawa directs this film way ahead of its time. This film has been remade many times, and no one has come close to duplicating it.
3) Roshomon
The second Kurosawa film in a row, and its well deserved. This is the first film to introduce an important plot style to serious audiences. The film is about a murder being told from various perspectives, so we see the same murder scene multiple times from each person’s perspective but everyone’s story is different. Who is telling the truth? Mifune is excellent in the lead role, playing a villain, and the layout of the story is simply brilliant. Philosophies play an important role in the start and end of the film.
4) The Godfather
This is an obvious choice, but for me, the reasons are different than most. Coppola’s direction is flawless as we move from scene to scene getting into the midst of a powerful mafia family. Many people love this film for its gritty crime story and shocking violence, I love this film for its beautiful and haunting cinematography, equally haunting musical score, and superb acting from everyone but especially Brando. Perfect movie making.
5) Le Doulos
Melville made much more popular films, but I think this is his best. Jean-Paul Belmondo has probably never been better than in this crime drama where one moment you think he’s our hero, the next our villain, and then back and forth through the film until we finally get the real story. The thing is, in the end, I’m not sure if I would have cared whether or not he was our antagonist or protagonist, I just loved the ride to find out. In this film, the script is the standout. Simply brilliant.
6) Tokyo Story
Roger Ebert once said that all true fans of film eventually end up at Ozu, and this is his best film. Ozu is that rare director who can make essentially the same film many times over, and have each and every one of them be simply brilliant. Not all of his films are alike, Tokyo Twilight, Ohayo, and Floating Weeds for example are fairly unique, but Tokyo Story is actually very similar to a few of his other films, its just better than the rest of those which are already very good films. Ozu is a master at family drama, drawing in emotion that films rarely accomplish. Despite the fact that Ozu is the most “Japanese” of all great Japanese directors, I still feel myself completely resonating with his characters from all the way across the globe.
7) The Seventh Seal
Ingmar Bergman can get a little tedious to watch at times because his pacing and temperament doesn’t change much from film to film, but this is by far his most intriguing and unique film, and also his most profound. The film gives us some iconic images, greatest of which is our knight played brilliantly by Max Von Sydow playing chess with the Grim Reaper (yes the one copied in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey). The film is about Death chasing down a knight to end his life, and the knight attempting to keep himself alive. The dialogue is brilliant despite being a bit too chatty at times, and the philosophical questions that arise as a result of close evaluation of the dialogue make the film worth many viewings.
8) 8 ½
I have an up and down relationship with Fellini’s films, but lately I have been nothing but up on this film. The film is shot beautifully despite being in black and white, and like Anotnioni’s “L’ Avventura” the film has so many perfect shots that they can be frozen and placed on postcards. The film seems semi-autobiographical, although Fellini has denied that to some degree, in that it is a film about a movie director making a film, but doesn’t know what he wants to make. He has no real script, no real vision, and is simply throwing things together as he goes in order to appease his producers. Many have speculated that Fellini made this film because he needed to make another movie, and was out of ideas himself, so why not make a movie about a director making a movie who is out of ideas? Whether this is true or not, the result is wonderful. Guido, our main character, takes us on a ride through his relationships with various women (who are no doubt autobiographical to some degree), as well as taking us through dream sequences and visions of his past as they are blended in with reality. The first time I saw this film I was a bit confused, the second time I was awestruck.
9) The Third Man
This British film Noir is my favorite example of a truly excellent style of film. A crime story starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles, the film centers around a man (Cotton) trying to figure out how and why his friend Harry (Welles) died. He’s been told the death was an accident, but he knows better. He gets a little too close to the truth, and the realities he uncovers are truly shocking if you haven’t already had them spoiled for you through the various pop culture references to the film over the past 50 years. Carol Reed directs the film beautifully, capturing haunting images through a perfect use of lighting. The sewer scene at the end is one of my favorite scenes in film history.
10) Raiders of the Lost Ark
What else can be said – Its Indiana Jones. This film seems to endure better with each passing year, and despite a strong misstep from the fourth film in the series, this film remains one of my favorite action-adventure films of all time. The way the journey is paced in accordance with the music just sounds off as adventurous, and the story and execution of the story are absolutely perfect. Probably the best film in the careers of two brilliant men, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford.
Monday, January 18, 2010
A film per day
Add 6 more films to the list for this year. I’m on a staggering pace, but oddly, I don’t feel that I've neglected my other more important responsibilities. The secret is in finding clever times to fit a film in really. Like getting up earlier in the morning or staying up slightly later than normal. Maybe fitting in a flick when you would normally watch T.V. or play a video game. So far it’s going well. Here are the next six.
8 ½ (a re-watch)
Au hazard Balthazar
Green lantern: first flight
Made in USA
Pierrot le fou
The book of Eli
18 days in and 18 films down. Ill have to slow down at some point I know.
8 ½ (a re-watch)
Au hazard Balthazar
Green lantern: first flight
Made in USA
Pierrot le fou
The book of Eli
18 days in and 18 films down. Ill have to slow down at some point I know.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Godard and the French New Wave
Two weeks in and things are going well. Add three more to the tally to make twelve.
All About Steve
A Woman is a Woman
Band of Outsiders
Six per week is a blistering pace, and I’m sure I won’t keep it up.
Something I am doing right now is going through the films of the great French director Jean-Luc Godard. Godard is one of the pioneers of the French New Wave film movement that began in the late 50’s and ran through the middle of the 60’s. The French New Wave was very influenced by Italian neo-realism which was a movement in Italian cinema about a decade earlier where films were more “real” and a little less literary and polished. Old Hollywood also influenced this movement quite a bit, especially directors like John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock.
The point of French New Wave was to make excellent films about real people on small budgets. Dialogue is huge in this movement, as well as doing wonderful things with simple cameras and being very creative in the editing room. Godard specifically did what was called a “jump cut” where he would cut a scene seemingly in the middle of it and jump to the next scene, but without compromising the script in anyway. He did this a lot in his film “Breathless” which was a New Wave pioneer film from 1959. Godard also did some really creative if not risky things with music in his films where he would stop a song right in the middle of it for effect, then pick the song back up again, almost as if a record skipped, but its obviously intentional.
Francois Truffaut was another director that was very influential in New Wave cinema, especially with his first feature film, “The 400 Blows”. After I watch my way through Godard’s films, I’m going to watch more Truffaut, and I'll write about my experiences with both as I go. I’m excited about diving more into this movement.
All About Steve
A Woman is a Woman
Band of Outsiders
Six per week is a blistering pace, and I’m sure I won’t keep it up.
Something I am doing right now is going through the films of the great French director Jean-Luc Godard. Godard is one of the pioneers of the French New Wave film movement that began in the late 50’s and ran through the middle of the 60’s. The French New Wave was very influenced by Italian neo-realism which was a movement in Italian cinema about a decade earlier where films were more “real” and a little less literary and polished. Old Hollywood also influenced this movement quite a bit, especially directors like John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock.
The point of French New Wave was to make excellent films about real people on small budgets. Dialogue is huge in this movement, as well as doing wonderful things with simple cameras and being very creative in the editing room. Godard specifically did what was called a “jump cut” where he would cut a scene seemingly in the middle of it and jump to the next scene, but without compromising the script in anyway. He did this a lot in his film “Breathless” which was a New Wave pioneer film from 1959. Godard also did some really creative if not risky things with music in his films where he would stop a song right in the middle of it for effect, then pick the song back up again, almost as if a record skipped, but its obviously intentional.
Francois Truffaut was another director that was very influential in New Wave cinema, especially with his first feature film, “The 400 Blows”. After I watch my way through Godard’s films, I’m going to watch more Truffaut, and I'll write about my experiences with both as I go. I’m excited about diving more into this movement.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Solid start to 2010's movie journey
So far the first part of week two on my mission for 2010 has gone well. Here is a recap of the films I've seen in the past few days.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Road
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Nine
Precious
Il Postino
Brothers
Nine films in for the year and none are films of 2010. 6 of them are from 2009, and my movie watching for 2009 films is almost finished. No 5 star films, one 4 ½ star film (Nine), five 4 star films (The International, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Road, Precious, and Il Postino), one 3 star film (Brothers), one 1 star film (Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), and one ½ star film (In the Name of the King). When 6 of 9 films are 4 stars or higher, it’s the beginnings of a good year.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Road
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Nine
Precious
Il Postino
Brothers
Nine films in for the year and none are films of 2010. 6 of them are from 2009, and my movie watching for 2009 films is almost finished. No 5 star films, one 4 ½ star film (Nine), five 4 star films (The International, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Road, Precious, and Il Postino), one 3 star film (Brothers), one 1 star film (Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), and one ½ star film (In the Name of the King). When 6 of 9 films are 4 stars or higher, it’s the beginnings of a good year.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Journey in 2010
After a long break, I’m back to blogging for the New Year.
This year in film watching is exciting to me. I can’t wait to navigate through the plan I have in place. Every year I watch almost exactly 200 new films, which works out to about 4 films per week. In 2009 I saw 218 of them, and I rewatched another 20 or so films that I had already seen in years past. Usually how it breaks down is as follows; I try to watch around 50 new releases in theater’s, meaning about one per week, and then about 150 films from across various previous years. Of these films, I try to make at least 50 of them films that were made outside of my own country here in the U.S.
This year, I have a large list of films I'm anticipating to watch as they hit theaters, and my netflix queue for older films is at 219 films. My goal: get through them all. That means upping my film intake to about 250 or so. It might not happen, but we’ll see.
I also plan to make 2010 the year of Kurosawa. I know, I know, according to Jason EVERY year is the year of Kurosawa for me. Well this year I plan on going more over the top than ever before. I plan on rewatching all 30 of his films at least once each, as well as read his autobiography and at least 10 other books written about his life and career. I will be writing about this adventure here on the blog as I go, and may even create a schedule for navigating all of this and post the schedule here. Ill also update the blog with each of the films I watch in this calendar year. So far I have a late start – Only two films the first week –
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The International
What do you plan on doing this year with film?
My journey begins.
This year in film watching is exciting to me. I can’t wait to navigate through the plan I have in place. Every year I watch almost exactly 200 new films, which works out to about 4 films per week. In 2009 I saw 218 of them, and I rewatched another 20 or so films that I had already seen in years past. Usually how it breaks down is as follows; I try to watch around 50 new releases in theater’s, meaning about one per week, and then about 150 films from across various previous years. Of these films, I try to make at least 50 of them films that were made outside of my own country here in the U.S.
This year, I have a large list of films I'm anticipating to watch as they hit theaters, and my netflix queue for older films is at 219 films. My goal: get through them all. That means upping my film intake to about 250 or so. It might not happen, but we’ll see.
I also plan to make 2010 the year of Kurosawa. I know, I know, according to Jason EVERY year is the year of Kurosawa for me. Well this year I plan on going more over the top than ever before. I plan on rewatching all 30 of his films at least once each, as well as read his autobiography and at least 10 other books written about his life and career. I will be writing about this adventure here on the blog as I go, and may even create a schedule for navigating all of this and post the schedule here. Ill also update the blog with each of the films I watch in this calendar year. So far I have a late start – Only two films the first week –
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The International
What do you plan on doing this year with film?
My journey begins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)