Films/DVD Asylum

Agree completely, but would add...

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semuta

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In Reply to: "8 1/2," yes, definitely one of the best films of all time. posted by tinear on February 3, 2007 at 06:05:18:

Coppola's Godfather 1 and 2 as up there with the greatest 1-2 punches, along with Citizen Kane/Magnificent Ambersons and Dr. Strangelove/2001. For that matter Kubrick's entire oeuvre would be a 1-2-3-4 etc. knockout.

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Coppola's films are wonderful entertainment which, unlike the pulp - tinear 05:05:19 02/04/07 (0)
novel which form their basis, strive to be... deeeeeep.
"This is a microcosm of America!"
Not.
These are thugs with no redeeming virtues who the director attempts to make noble by placing in dangerous circumstances. Yes, a brilliant and clever job of manipulation. Notice how in that early scene Luca is strangled so cowardly? Well, he did the same to many others. We should feel he deserves his fate. Yet, from the earlier scene showing such a hulk being boyishly shy, we are all but compelled to feel a certain... affection.
Great films, like all great art, must be more than the surface... they must be more than the sum of their parts.
Read Puzo's novel. It is better than the films. Is it a great novel?
Many of the "best films of all time" weren't even made in the sound era, IMO. - Audiophilander 02:03:42 02/04/07 (2)
I have to more or less disagree with both of you as to the 'best films' of all time from a historical standpoint, but no offense is intended. We are discussing subjective impressions, so there is no right or wrong.
The greatest films on my silent cinema list include at least one that is arguably euro-mustard fare as well, but old grey poupon gains something from being more universal in an unrelenting use of the silent medium to great effect:
From Europe:
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodore Dreyer); very potent mustard
Pandora's Box (E. A. Dupont)
Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
Spies (Fritz Lang), but only the restored version
Faust (F. W. Murnau), the restored domestic version (European release)
Napoleon (Abel Gance) Note: This version doesn't star Victor, but it has been sliced and diced by Francis Ford Coppola so that he could give his old man's music score acclaim. The original as restored by Kevin Brownlow is supposedly VERY close to the original with a beautiful orchestral score, but we may never get the opportunity to see it because of the Coppola clan's defensive meddling.
In the U.S.:
Sunrise (F. W. Murnau)
The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin); arguably City Lights is better
Greed (Erich Von Stroheim); unfortunately we're left with only the Cliff-Notes version of this masterpiece, but oh, what a film!
Sound era films in the U.S. are somewhat sketchier in my estimation because they were heavily restricted as to content by code between mid-1934 and the mid-1960's when a rating system was devised, but even with the Hayes code in place several films stand out:
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles), which you mentioned
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise) okay, this is a guilty pleasure, but it's also a great film that I doubt would feature prominently on anyone else's 'best films' list even with it's use of SF themes to debunk the prevalent anti-communist paranoia of the period
From Europe in this period:
Beauty and The Beast (Cocteau)
The Seventh Seal (Bergman), not one of my personal favorites; it's literally reeks of GP, but a classic of the genre none the less.
With the code (english language releases):
The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
Godfather (Coppola), begrudgingly; I usually don't like Coppola's work
A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
Lord of The Rings trilogy (Peter Jackson)
This is far from a complete list, but these selections for 'best films' are personal preferences; of course, YMMV.
AuPh
- The thread is about one-two punches. Surely your - tinear 05:11:10 02/04/07 (1)
  business wife can help you count that high? ;-)
  Now, more seriously, "Pandora's Box." Pabst is the director, and a blue-ribbon one at that.
  You're list is fine, I agree, until you get to modern film. "Brazil?" "The Wild Bunch?" "LoTR?"
  Shirley, you jest.
  - There are no one-two punches unless you're being rope-a-doped. - Audiophilander 01:29:34 02/05/07 (0)
    Yes, Brazil, The Wild Bunch and Lord of The Rings are some of the best films ever made, although I must admit that my decision to add LoTR was intended more as a burr under Victor's saddle than a curiosity for you. Nevertheless, I think that this is a classic series of films and they'll stand the test of time. Note: Brazil is a dark dystopian masterpiece that stands as unique and brilliant an achievement as Kubrick's Clockwork Orange, IMO, and The Wild Bunch is Sam Peckinpah's epic vision of the disappearing American west (And the decline of those western values as seen through the eyes of those who couldn't adapt to the changing world around them). The Wild Bunch is a classic; it may not be on your best of list, but it is mine! In fact, I took a college level course on this film within a few years of it's release; it would behoove you to revisit it.
    BTW, my wife's name isn't Shirley, although she surely can be calculating when it comes to choosing films to watch. ;^)
    Check out all the films on my list if you haven't seen them; you may not agree with those choices for your 'best of' list, but I doubt you'll deny that any of these entries provide a rich film experience.
    Cheers,
    AuPh

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