Skepsis' 100 - Movie Forums

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Re: Skepsis' 100

I have only seen the first, and was not fully impressed until the last hour

the first part is my least favorite so I had a feeling that I will dislike other two films but I ended up loving them and later the first one grew on more,too.So give it a try. ;)

Originally Posted by Masterman (Post 895146)

Never seen the lord of the rings movies.

I only saw 1, impressive scenery, but just couldn't get into it as much as others.

Originally Posted by fuze931 (Post 895145)

;) All kidding aside, I plan on a marathon this weekend to finally watch them in sequence.

Do it with the Extended Cut of each film. Pushing 12 hours of film-watching joy right there.

Originally Posted by Masterman (Post 895146)

Never seen the lord of the rings movies.

My God, I envy you. I wish I could say that.

Re: Skepsis' 100

The Lord of the Rings movies are the best blockbuster movies made in the last 30 years. In fact, they are the best movies ever made on a >= 100 million dollars budget. Wan't a movie with top notch special effects, battles and epicness? Nothing beats Lord of the Rings.

They are the pinnacle of Hollywood entertainment and it's plays on Hollywood's strongest qualities (huge budgets, top notch special effects, epic casts and crew) while minimizing hollywood's usual flaws (artificial characters, simplistic and moralistic).

Re: Skepsis' 100

Watching movies I have yet to see on your list, starting with My Dinner With Andre.

Re: Skepsis' 100

Relative to most of the other films in my top 10 I've got a couple coming up here that you guys might be less likely to have seen. If nothing else I hope it encourages you to see them and hopefully love them as much as I do. :)

Originally Posted by Skepsis93 (Post 895935)

I'm curious!

Originally Posted by Skepsis93 (Post 895935)

Sounds good, I think I know what one of the lesser known films is but for the life of me I can't remember what the others might be :rolleyes:

http://i.imgur.com/BXzLlEX.jpg http://i.imgur.com/SaoHI8W.jpg

3. The Savages
Written & Directed by Tamara Jenkins, 2007
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney & Philip Bosco

"Maybe dad didn't abandon us. Maybe he just forgot who we were."

A tour-de-force of acting and writing, a small but immensely powerful film that finds humour in the most unlikely of places. Jenkins' story is one of tough realism, about the realities of the human experience, but one from which she pulls a remarkable amount of bittersweet humour and unsentimental pathos, a film that shocks you with its dark wit and sneaks up with an emotional kick to the gut. It hits you in the heart, in the stomach, and in the mind.

http://i.imgur.com/MyunQ4R.jpg

"We're not in therapy now, we're in real life."

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are easily two of my very favourite actors and it's an unrelenting pleasure for me to watch them work together in this context; a joint-lead performance that displays great dynamism and chemistry. They each possess a rare commodity in the acting world - many performers please us with their comedic chops or emotional intensity but Hoffman and Linney are among the few, at least for me anyway, who consistently deliver performances grounded in an emotional reality that makes us feel as if we are watching real people on screen. The Savages is the perfect platform to showcase this energy, a character-driven film about real people in a very real situation.

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing this yet, I can't recommend it enough. It's not broad but I do think it has something that everyone will be able to appreciate, even if you don't love it as unabashedly as I do.

Good choice with The Savages.

Re: Skepsis' 100

Wow did not see that one coming. Not seen it myself but perhaps I should one day.

Oh and obviously great pick with Return of the King. :up:

Originally Posted by JayDee (Post 895969)

Wow did not see that one coming. Not seen it myself but perhaps I should one day.

Shows how much attention you pay to my favourites list then, it's been there for ages. :p

Re: Skepsis' 100

I remember this one, twas a random video store(!) pick-up, I liked it well enough, unique.

Re: Skepsis' 100

I picked The Savages up super cheap when Blockbuster closed, but haven't gotten around to watching it. I'll have to give it a go soon.

Originally Posted by Skepsis93 (Post 892961)

8. Lawrence of Arabia
David Lean, 1962
Screenplay by Robert Bolt & Michael Wilson based on the writings of T. E. Lawrence
Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif & Alec Guinness

"I pray that I may never see the desert again. Hear me, God."

Knowing where to start with this one is difficult because it's extremely hard to find a single aspect of Lawrence of Arabia that is anything less than brilliant, let alone sub-par. I guess the most obvious place is with the titular character. As extraordinarily unlikely as the film is, it may have crossed the line into downright impossible to make work without a scintillating character at the heart of it all. T. E. Lawrence might just be the most well-developed yet mysterious, most brilliantly conceived, perfectly written, and crucially, of course, most brilliantly-portrayed character in the history of film. Peter O'Toole is perfectly cast, and he brings an exciting rebelliousness and large helpings, but just enough, eccentricity and flamboyancy to him. In a long running time, we're treated to a perfectly arced rise and fall of the man, an epic emotional descent into egomania.

Visually, I don't think I've seen anything else so stunningly vibrant and technically accomplished. The images of the desert are awe-inspiring, capturing the vastness of the desert with remarkable skill, perhaps never more evident that in the famous "Mirage at the Well" scene. I can't find the source, but I think I'm paraphrasing Tarantino when I say that one of the great pleasures of film is experiencing the perfect match of image and music, and Lawrence of Arabia is the epitome of that idea. The match between the beautiful cinematography and Maurice Jarre's sensational score could not be better and evokes wonderful swells of emotion.

"Truly, for some men nothing is written unless they write it."

"Epic" is a word that's thrown about a lot these days but I think this and Gone with the Wind are among the few films that really deserve the title. As I mentioned, the look and feel of the film, the length and scale of the narrative provokes the use of the word but it's the complexity of its story, themes and characters that truly makes this an epic. It just deals with so much. So many characters come and go, each more riveting than the last. Bolt, Wilson and Lean pack an immense amount of material into the 216 minutes, but it never once feels poorly paced or loses my interest. It deals with themes as wide ranging as existential struggle, political conflict, the morality of war and national and personal identity.

A clip on YouTube will not do it justice but hopefully for those who haven't seen it, it'll give you a taste and maybe encourage you to see this miracle of a film for yourself. Please do.

Agree, one of the most glaring aspects of Lawrence of Arabia is how it conveys the burning sands of Arabia with vast beauty.

Re: Skepsis' 100

The Savages was one of the few films of that, or any recent year, that I actually wanted to see.

Originally Posted by honeykid (Post 896867)

The Savages was one of the few films of that, or any recent year, that I actually wanted to see.

You didn't get round to it?

Almost finished now. It's been a month since I started this thread, I figure it's about time I wrapped it up! :p

http://i.imgur.com/oiFOnPI.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Y6p2fiP.jpg

2. Super
Written & Directed by James Gunn, 2010
Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page & Kevin Bacon

"People look stupid when they cry."

You ever see a film and get the feeling that you're the only person the director made their movie for? Like every facet is perfectly matching up with your sensibilities? That's the experience I've had every time I've seen James Gunn's Super.

It's hard for me to write about it in the same way I've written about the other films on my list because I know the reasons I love it so much are far from universal. On an objective level I'm sure you could find many, many technical flaws and the mishmash of themes and tones are sure to throw a lot of people off. It's as polarizing a movie I've ever been on the side of loving. It speaks to me on every level – as a fantasy, as a romance, as a drama, as a comedy.

http://i.imgur.com/GD8320j.jpg

"How am I supposed to tell crime to shut up if I have to shut up?"

The gritty, washed-out realism of the handheld cinematography coupled with darkly surreal comedy. The unabashed, cartoonish violence in very real, everyday situations, playing out like a sick revenge fantasy. The injection of pathos that comes with watching Frank D'Arbo's immensely strange yet intense emotional journey and Gunn's ability to seamlessly, nonchalantly flick between each, and finally, the wild performances from Wilson, Page, Bacon and Tyler.

It's a very personal film to me, something I find difficult to explain but it's definitely there. I've visited it many times and it has only ever gotten better. It encompasses so much to me and there's something new there every time. Love it.