Good Evening: HitchFan's Top 50, 3rd Edition

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Cool. Perhaps I'll be watching his movies in the order they appear on your list!
Good stuff, I'm pretty sure that Nashville will be his highest, but I'll be interested in seeing where his other works place
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#42: The Third Man
Directed by Carol Reed
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I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this movie. Citizen Kane is great, but for my money, this is Orson Welles' finest hour. He creates one of my all-time favorite villains and a truly enigmatic character with one of the best entrances ever. As if that wasn't enough, the tilted, jagged, and generally nightmarish cinematography makes The Third Man one of the most atmospheric films of all time - a document of a cynical era refusing to bow to the happy ending conventions of most Hollywood films.


#41: Love Streams
Directed by John Cassavetes
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Cassavetes' swansong is one of the best examples of a 'final film' you're likely to find. Deeply humanistic and compassionate, Love Streams is a final affirmation of its director's core philosophies; that love can bring pain and joy, and that meaningful human connection is sometimes the only thing capable of bringing sense to damaged lives. In ways too various to list off in such a short write-up, it references almost all of Cassavetes' previous films in a way that brings his entire career full circle. When I first explored his work, I saved this one for last, and I'm glad I did. That Cassavetes was able to make what is perhaps his warmest film knowing he would die soon is nothing short of extraordinary.


#40: Boogie Nights
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
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PTA's first big hit is absolutely brimming with exuberance and love for filmmaking. In the hands of a lesser director, the subject matter could have been material for exploitation, but Anderson refuses to turn his characters into caricatures. They are deeply human people, and throughout his film we get to know and love each of them. We experience all of their highs and lows, and Anderson demonstrates his amazing range of mood through passages of sheer joy (the 'Best of my Love' sequence is one of my favorite openings ever) to scenes of darkness and hopelessness that show with brutal honesty how sometimes, our reach can fail to meet our ambition.
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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock



The Third Man is a really great film, brilliant cinematography and performances from Welles and Cotton, desperately needing a re watch.

Love Streams I have not seen, but you know what I think of Boogie Nights, I could talk about that film for ages. I have been thinking about recently and mentioned it to Mark how I find Anderson's films deeply personal due to the way that family relationships are portrayed. Boogie Nights is ultimate a cold, pessimistic and sometimes depressing film about the harsh reality of people who's lives are terrible and falsely believe they are stars, about the harsh and gruesome effects of the lifestyles (drugs) the live. Yet somehow this cold world feels deeply personal, at least to me, and the message is very powerful. It's beautiful and sad in a very tragic way, I love a lot of the characters and their own relationships and stories in the film, Julianne Moore as the mother figure is one of my favourite ever characters, then you have all the lesser characters like Don Cheadle's that add something to the story



Let the night air cool you off
The only Cassavetes I've seen is The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. I thought it was alright, but I think it deserves a rewatch.

I enjoyed The Third Man and I love Boogie Nights. Good list so far.

Hitch have you seen The Apartment? I think you might enjoy it.



#41: The Third Man
Directed by Carol Reed
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I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this movie.
I didn't enjoy it. One of the most overrated films of all time, imo. Before somebody asks why I didn't like it, here is the short review of a Criticker user that I totally agree with:
This is neither a compelling story, nor atmospherically great, nor evoking emotion of ANY kind. I don't understand why it's considered to be a well made film either, not even objectively. Everything about it is mediocre at best and the hilariously out-of-place music, silly diagonal shots and exaggerated play with light and shadow make it almost seem comical.
I've already posted this once though, I think. I needed to say that before somebody criticizes me for being repetitive, just in case. Boogie Nights is very good though. Haven't seen the other one.



the hilariously out-of-place music, silly diagonal shots and exaggerated play with light and shadow make it almost seem comical.

Hahahaha, what? Seriously. I wouldn't reply had that comment not been an attempt at being 'objective', but this has to be a joke right?



3 Women, Jaws, A Clockwork Orange, The Third Man and Boogie Nights?

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes!

Really awesome choices, Hitchfan!
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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019



This is neither a compelling story
This film has one of the best and most tragic character studies of all time and its story is one of the most compelling ever!

nor atmospherically great
Really? It's one of the most atmospheric films ever made.

nor evoking emotion of ANY kind


I don't understand why it's considered to be a well made film either, not even objectively. Everything about it is mediocre at best and the hilariously out-of-place music, silly diagonal shots and exaggerated play with light and shadow make it almost seem comical.
It has one of the best and most recognizable soundtracks of all time, it has some of the best shadow and light scenes of all time (the sewer scene obviously). It also has one of the most intriguing scripts of all time.

I said "of all time" a lot.
Oh well, I'm just saying that I am litterally disagreeing with EVERY SINGLE "criticism" you have towards this film.



Yeah, I pretty much disagree with all of BlueLion's criticisms. Or the ones he agrees with, anyway. I think that juxtaposition between the offbeat soundtrack and gloomy, expressionist visuals is incredibly unsettling. But to each his own. I definitely admire more than unabashedly love The Third Man, but I do admire it a great deal.

I love Boogie Nights too, of course.



You guys pretty much covered every reason why I disagree with BlueLion's criticisms, but I think I've debated The Third Man with him before

Love Streams I have not seen, but you know what I think of Boogie Nights, I could talk about that film for ages. I have been thinking about recently and mentioned it to Mark how I find Anderson's films deeply personal due to the way that family relationships are portrayed. Boogie Nights is ultimate a cold, pessimistic and sometimes depressing film about the harsh reality of people who's lives are terrible and falsely believe they are stars, about the harsh and gruesome effects of the lifestyles (drugs) the live. Yet somehow this cold world feels deeply personal, at least to me, and the message is very powerful. It's beautiful and sad in a very tragic way, I love a lot of the characters and their own relationships and stories in the film, Julianne Moore as the mother figure is one of my favourite ever characters, then you have all the lesser characters like Don Cheadle's that add something to the story
One thing I notice about PTA's films is that almost all of them (the lone exception I believe being Punch-Drunk Love) have a father-son/master-apprentice/teacher-student dichotomy driving the narrative. I imagine this sort of relationship is quite important to him in his own life; hell, the whole basis of Magnolia is generational conflict.

The only Cassavetes I've seen is The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. I thought it was alright, but I think it deserves a rewatch.

I enjoyed The Third Man and I love Boogie Nights. Good list so far.

Hitch have you seen The Apartment? I think you might enjoy it.
I have not seen The Apartment, but I've been meaning to for some time now. Looks like my cup of tea. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie definitely improves on re-watch, but for anyone looking to get into Cassavetes I'd recommend they start with A Woman Under the Influence. That's what I did, and I was immediately hooked, but prepare yourself for a harrowing emotional experience.



I'm probably gonna start watching Cassavetes after I finish Altman, and I'm definitely gonna start with A Woman Under the Influence. It currently has a 99 PSI for me on Criticker.



I'm probably gonna start watching Cassavetes after I finish Altman, and I'm definitely gonna start with A Woman Under the Influence. It currently has a 99 PSI for me on Criticker.
Hope you enjoy it! That's actually sort of what I did; I figured Cassavetes' style was the natural progression of my interest in Altman. They have a lot more in common than most people realize and they complement each other very nicely.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
I'm not a die hard fan of The Third Man neither and I rate it
. Maybe I'll rewatch it some time to see whether it grows on me after repeated viewing. Citizen Kane didn't, but it's an another kind of film.
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



One thing I notice about PTA's films is that almost all of them (the lone exception I believe being Punch-Drunk Love) have a father-son/master-apprentice/teacher-student dichotomy driving the narrative. I imagine this sort of relationship is quite important to him in his own life; hell, the whole basis of Magnolia is generational conflict.
Yeh I mentioned this to Mark so if he reads this it'll feel like I'm copying over what I have already said. But if you look at his films family relationships are clear in all except maybe Punch-Drunk Love.

In Sydney you have the titular character attempt to become a father figure to somebody who he feels he owes that too. And him, Reilly and Paltrow at times work together like a family unit.

In Boogie Nights you have what I have already talked about, it's like one big family with the main examples being those of Julianne Moore and Burt Reynolds. The first is a failed mother herself so attempts to be a mother figure to others, and talks a special liking to Wahlberg's character. Burt Reynolds naturally assumes the position of the father of the family as he is in charge of the whole thing, and Skater Girl, who has failed at life and has been part of the business for a long time, is like a daughter to him.

In Magnolia it is possible at its most strongest, there is family problems clear in every segment I think. And the main message for me that I got from the film was about the relationships directly between children and their parents, how parental abuse or neglect impacts and effects children for the rest of the lives, Tom Cruise's story is particularly brilliant and then you have the ongoing thing with the kid on the game show.

There Will Be Blood shows how a man adopts a child in order to use his family title as a way of helping him commercially, the cynical side of family. Once again, like in Boogie Nights, the son is adopted (although this time more literaly), and the changing relationship between the duo becomes fascinating come the films end.

And then The Master is probably the least conventional, but easy to notice. The father/son type relationships that Phoenix's character finds through Hoffman. And the cult itself being a metaphor for one big family.

Even in Punch-Drunk Love you can perhaps make a link to these themes in Sandler's character, who struggles to cope with his family, he's unusual and struggles to fit in and is the focus of jokes between his sisters.

In this article - http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/19/magazine/his-way.html - it talks a little bit about his family, and whilst we do not know the man's personal life it is fair to say it has probably influenced him and his films.

Anderson, who is trying to do for the San Fernando Valley what Martin Scorsese did for the mean streets of New York, grew up in a flat suburb called Studio City in an extended family that combined nine children from two marriages and, at one point, 18 dogs. He has a troubled relationship with his mother that he won't discuss and was very close to his father, who died in 1997.



I didn't enjoy it. One of the most overrated films of all time, imo. Before somebody asks why I didn't like it, here is the short review of a Criticker user that I totally agree with.
One thing though, in art there is no such thing as objective analysis of the quality of the work of art. What may feel as silly diagonal shots for one person may appear a great creative achievement for another person. I know that because I felt in that way about movies that now I love.

I watched the Third Man a few months ago. It's nice but I though it was a bit cold and it felt a bit cliche (which is natural given it's a classic film that's very influential). Overall I don't have a great attraction for these very old classic English speaking movies because they lack the feeling of novelty either caused by being new or being exotic (i.e. foreign) that fundamentally attracts me to watching a film. They just feel like something that I had watched several times earlier in my life (given their influences). Yoda wrote an article about that.



Finished here. It's been fun.
I saw The Third Man rather recently and while it is a good movie, i dont really love it. The soundtrack was kind of annoying in my opinion but the way the film looked was brilliant. The chase sequence throughout the sewers was incredible as was the ending. To each his own i suppose.



#39: L'Avventura
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
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My favorite of Antonioni's films is a true rarity - a film that effortlessly blends visual beauty with emotional intensity. Some of his other films often feel a bit aimless and meandering, but that's never the case with L'Avventura; this one feels absolutely fresh even today, 53 years after its release. And although on a visual level this is probably the most stunning black and white film I've ever seen, thematically it's positively haunting. Above all, Antonioni's masterpiece is a tragedy, a tale of people who are incapable of connecting with one another and therefore unable to find true happiness.


#38: The Rules of the Game
Directed by Jean Renoir
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I'm a sucker for movies with ensemble casts (as you'll see later on in this list), and Renoir's most famous work, often sited as one of the greatest movies ever made, is no exception. A deceptively simple plot soon reveals itself as biting social commentary, yet Renoir treats all of his subjects with a deep sense of compassion. There are no heroes or villains here, only people who "all have their reasons." Nothing could be more true.


#37: North by Northwest
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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I can't name many films that are more entertaining than this one. Hitchcock basically created the ultimate adventure movie and Hollywood still hasn't caught up, but North by Northwest is more than just a ton of fun. It's also a cinematic index of all Hitchcock's themes and motifs; the icy blonde, the exotic locations, the innocent man accused, the mother issues, the "MacGuffin", the suave villain... I could go on and on. There's also something about the set decoration of this film that I've always loved a lot, everything seems so polished.