The MoFos Top 100 of the 90s Countdown - Redux

That's a pretty broad swath style-wise.
I love Breathless and 400 Blows. I haven't seen the others, but I have seen a lot French films from the Eighties and Nineties. I enjoyed most of them.
Oh well, too each his own.

Sound advice.

Neither Glenfiddich Glenn Close nor Princess Mononucleosis is on my list.

Now back to the Pope's funeral.

No not hardly; not at all. I know this reply you wrote is in response to Citizen Rules, but I think you're also alluding to the issue I took with Sorkin a few days back. Yes, both David Mamet and Sorkin write highly stylized and quippy dialogue, but I think you missed the point.

Stylized and quippy dialogue isn't the critique.
Characters sounding similar isn't the critique (my mentioning the "Our American Stories" broadcast with Rod Serling was to observe how in some cases it matters, and in others it doesn't) - it matters IF and WHEN it's within or out of context.

David Mamet is a great writer whereas Sorkin can write great and there's a world of difference. I don't intend to blow this up into a full fledge comparison and contrast between Sorkin and Mamet, but rather just to clarify a point - Mamet's writing and dialogue is appropriate to the story and the characters in which he creates... in so many words... it fits AND his story/plot progression isn't hackneyed as much as Sorkin who feels the need to Frank Capra-up the underlying story with a fresh coat of snappy dialogue and big speeches. Also just because two things share surface similarities and might be stylized doesn't mean they're the same and can't widely differ, which Mamet and Sorkin do.

For example, the primary reason why the "You can't handle the truth!" sequence and plot development doesn't work is that it betrays the characters. There is no way a seasoned and corrupt grizzled general Jessup (sp?), Nicholson's character is going to be baited on the stand like that no less be allowed to give a self incriminating speech in front of a judge, lawyers, and military personnel. It's just a nicely, neat wrapped up with a pretty box package of a ending for a cheap audience "feel good" ending where the bad guy gets his comeuppance at the expense of having his say. This also provoked by an inexperienced upstart lawyer AFTER the judge has already indicated contempt in court... it's a bridge too far. Yeah on a very surface elementary level this stuff might sound like Mamet, but it hasn't been earned because the underlying story and framework is weak and contrived.

Sorkin is Frank Capra with the pat-on-the-back edginess cuss words and mean-spirited plotting and Machiavellian characters, but without the heart and sincerity behind the Capra-corn. Whereas Capra telegraphs to his audience and admits he is writing fantasy and a world we would want to have as the real world, Sorkin disguises that fact behind his stylizations and I find the stuff I have seen from him incredibly insincere, but again this is the type of stuff, just like Good Will Hunting that gets the applause lines from both audiences and the intellecktuals in academia. And underneath it all, yeah from watching numerous interviews and discussions with both Mamet and Sorkin, I find Mamet to be brilliant but sincere and real and also humble while recognizing his greatness. Meanwhile I find Sorkin to be smug and arrogant... so there's that.

If Mamet is Charlie Parker then Sorkin is Kenny G... both have adoring fans, both are playing the same instruments, both are playing in the same genre, both are hitting similar notes... but one is jazz and the other ain't.




Oh but as for Glengarry Glen Ross, it's frippin' brilliant AND it was my number 14... more on this...

My list so far:

10. Dead Man
14. Glengarry Glen Ross
19. Close-Up
25. Beauty and the Beast

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This is ridiculous IWP. Pull yourself together.

Breathless-It's OK, nothing more imo
400 Blows-This is alright. Not sure how anyone can not stand it. It's a decent film.
Mon Oncle-I agree, I find Tati boring
Passion Joan d'Arc- You need the right soundtrack.
Le Samourai- this is OK nothing special..

These French films are special though imo:
12. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964 France
11. Le Bonheur 1965 France
10. Bob the Gambler 1956 France
9. Fire of Love (doc) 2022 France
8. Last Year at Marienbad 1961 France
7. Lola 1961 France
6. Panique 1946 France
5. La Belle et La Bete 1946
4. Pierrot Le Fou 1965
3. Alphaville 1965
2. Le Cousin Jules (doc) 1973
1. La Jetee 1962

Fire of Love is spectacular, enchanting and fascinating.

Marienbad is a slow watch the first time. It's still an experience though, and actually it becomes more enjoyable and more fluid the second time. It does actually build to a climax which takes you by surprise.

Lola Lola is a charm.

Panique is a conventional film superbly done. It's hugely overlooked.

La Belle is magical. Some of the scenes are completely ordinary, but others are pure delight.

I have recently bumped Pierrot Le Fou up my list because I just love the freedom of it. It's just completely freestyling.

Alphaville I can completely understand people thinking it's terrible, but it is genius. Improvisation. Metaphors wrapped in metaphors. Foresight. And a love story.

La Cousin Jules is simply a beautiful film.

La Jetee is a little miracle of artistic creation.


Others I would recommend:
Port of Shadows 1938
La Pointe Courte 1955
Cleo from 5 to 7 1962
Bay of Angels 1963
Le Mepris 1963
Stolen Kisses 1968
At First Sight 1983
L'Argent 1983
Au Revoir Les Enfants 1987
Spoorloos The Vanishing 1988
The Double Life of Veronique 1991
Le Petit Soldat 1963

I've heard the names Glengarry Glen Ross and Princess Mononoke and have absolutely no knowledge of the films beyond their names.

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Oh I've seen Last Year at Marienbad. I remember being bored to near-death. The others don't sound familiar. Everyone who has responded to my post seems to believe I watched the wrong French films to see their true quality. I'll start with Army of Shadows and Man Escaped and go from there.

Some others of your list sound familiar although I can't quite place them. I don't think I've seen them though, apart from Marienbad.

I have seen Princess Mononoke and try as I might, I still find myself struggling to get into anime.

Glengarry Glen Ross is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, if you're a Prime member, and honestly, is there anyone in the US under 70 years old who isn't a Prime member at this point?

that actually did make me lol.

fair enough.

actually, i'm about the same.

which reminds me, I'd better do my tally update...

I think I have Prime. I did for a while, and then I didn't. I think I do again though. I don't feel like going into detail.

I like anime personally. I just haven't watched Princess Mononoke for some reason. It could be because I rarely remember it exists.

I'm just getting home from a fun shopping trip at the grocery store, not really fun...Anyway, I'm not wanting to go too deep on Glengarry Glen Ross as I mentioned before I've only seen the first 45 minutes. So I can't critique the entire movie. But I really hated those first 45 minutes. It was a film I wanted to watch as the subject matter sounded fascinating.

When I said "as it was, it was a poser", I was not meaning to say it was posing as something else. I meant poser as a negative, not an analytical term of any kind...I wasn't deep thinking it, just a throw away shot at the movie.

I suppose loosely I meant 'it's a poser' as in all dressed up with nowhere to go. One thing that I really hated was the dialogue got repeated. A good example is when Baldwin comes into the office and gives his speech after a few minutes the writer has him saying the same thing with a few changes. I call that lazy writing and padding. If others like that sort of thing well that's OK, I like old Elvis movies.

I like Princess Mononoke but didn't vote for it.

Have never seen Glengarry Glen Ross. No votes.

1 step forward yesterday, 1 step back. Oh well.

My list:
#25 Apollo 13 list proper #68

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Heard of: 30/36
Started: 25/36
Finished: 13/36
In my ballot: 2/36

Maximum films from my ballot that can still make the list: 25/25

As a Boston Red Sox fan, I must protest!

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I like both of today's entries, especially GGR. No votes from me.

I discovered Glengarry Glen Ross about ten years ago, saw it twice then. Good film for audience that love the theatre type of approach. Superb cast indeed and above all of them for me that's Jack Lemmon, outstanding performance.
No vote from me, would make my extended list, range #40-60.

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My favourite thing about Glengarry Glen Ross was finding out that the cast referred to it as "Death of a F#cking Salesman" which I think encapsulates it perfectly

I wouldn't mind watching this. Lemmon was brilliant in Short Cuts.

I've been keeping up with the reveals, but haven't really had much to say before today, since other than Home Alone - which I enjoyed as a kid (and still sometimes put on at Christmas time if it's on tv), I don't really remember much about the other films I've seen.

I think I meant to rewatch The Fugitive when compiling my shortlist, but it completely slipped my mind. I know I've seen Good Will Hunting and Apollo 13, but the details about them are foggy at best. Similarly, the only thing I really remember from Glengarry Glen Ross is "coffee is for closers".

I haven't seen Election, Close-up, The Double Life of Veronique, or Three Colours: Blue.

I am not really a fan of Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki's films, but for some reason Princess Mononoke has always been a very nostalgic film for me. I was actually afraid to revisit it in case I ruined my memory of the film, but I rewatched it before submitting my list, and I still enjoyed the story, animation style, and its kind of depressing tone.

But most importantly, I still love that sound the kodama make when they rattle their heads haha

Seen: 22/36

My List: 4

07. Strange Days (1995) - #82
11. Gattaca (1997) - #86
13. Princess Mononoke (1997) - #65
18. Total Recall (1990) - #87

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Guess for tomorrow:

The Thin Red Line
From Dusk Till Dawn

Got a 1955 Czechoslovakian Jurassic Park version in my YouTube suggestions today?
So maybe Jurassic Park.

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