Movie Tab II

All right. So keeping in mind your memory, don't make derogatory remarks unless you have your facts straight.

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My Movie Review Thread | My Top 100

I don't know how it was derogatory at all but whatever you say.

I don't see how I can say anything which will help anybody get into a movie more than they're predisposed to do. Citizen Kane doesn't make my Top 100 and it doesn't even make my Top 5 of 1941, but these ratings and lists really have little to do with the merit of an individual film, and if I were told that I could teach a class in film, using just one film to study various forms of film communication, I'd probably have to pick Citizen Kane because it did basically reinvent films in the most dramatic ways possible since the changeover from silents to talkies.

On a technical level, the film is phenomenal, from Gregg Toland's deep focus, often expressionistic photography to the weird ways the film tells its story, starting out as a newsreel biography of the leading character after his death and then having the interviewer question Kane's friends and enemies, thus having multiple "narrators" tell the story of the biggest man in the history of the U.S. during the early 20th century. The acting is all very realistic and Welles, although he didn't pioneer the technique, used overlapping dialogue in new, powerful ways which certainly made him the envy of later directors such as Robert Altman. Bernard Herrmann's musical score is also powerful and poignant, and Welles used strange editing techniques (for example, editing to the cackle of a parrot) and special effects effortlessly, not to show off but to try to keep the film moving cinematically. I find the story of the little boy who lost the only love of his life and tried to replace it with money and things a touchingly human tale, so when you call what I find one of the strongest endings of all-time lame, I'm left to scratch my head. Yes, the combo of the fire, the sled "melting", the musical score, the smoke billowing from the chimney all showing Charlie Kane's life and dreams going up in smoke, it really makes me think that I'm seeing something special. (I certainly never had any trouble getting into it, right from the "No Trespassing" beginning with the awesome snow globe scene and weird photographic shot of the nurse through the broken glass.) Then, after the ending, Welles closes with unique end credits, even giving DP Toland the last credit.

Maybe some people give the movie extra points because Welles had to fight William Randolph Hearst just to get the film released. Hearst wanted to destroy the film, and even though he was unable to do it, he did just about break Welles and kept him from making films the way he wanted to for most of the rest of his life. I've also been to San Simeon (Hearst Castle) many times, so I can see how close the life of Kane resembles that of Hearst, so maybe the story has more meaning to me than some. Then again, I loved Citizen Kane before I ever went to Hearst Castle or took a film class in college.

As I said, I can't change anybody's mind about anything, but if you truly want to see if you missed something, I'd rewatch the movie sooner rather than later. However it turns out, keep watching movies and telling us what you think.

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Thank you, Mark. The edition of the movie I have is the 2-disc, so perhaps watching a few of the informative special features will also help shed some light on the film, perhaps allowing me to get into it a little more and better understand it, etc. upon a rewatch. I'll plan to do so in the future.

Schindler's List -

Okay, so someone once told me that I wouldn't like this movie because I couldn't understand it. Well in a little less than an hour into the movie, I was beginning to think that was really true, but after it passed this point, it really got interesting and amazing even. I was sorta confused about what was going on the first hour, luckily I had my mom there to tell me what was happening. But if it wasn't for the first hour of it, this movie would have been a full perfect score from me. Liam Neeson is just incredible in this, I've seen him in quite a few other things, and I guess I've always considered him one of my favorite actors, mainly from Batman Begins, but he just suddenly went into my top 5 favortie actors just from his role in this. I'm actually surprised I liked it so much, because the movie itself is a very depressing movie, but at the same time it's just an incredible movie, and I can see why it's considered one of the greatest movies of all-time. I'm glad I got this to watch before I finish off my favorites list.



Eagle Eye -

Meh, the film itself is pretty average, a good watch for maybe once or twice, or a good movie to watch in between long periods. I had higher expectations for this because of how much I loved Disturbia. I'm sorta glad I waited until DVD to see instead of paying to see it in theaters like I had originally planned to. Shia LeBouf was good, just good, which I was surprised about too because I thought he did a great job in Disturbia. Maybe it was because I was comparing it to Disturbia, but I don't know I just didn't like it as much as I had hoped to.

I'll make a comment about your reaction to the first part of Schindler's List. I agree with you that the storytelling seemed a little odd, almost as if you were looking at things through a fog which lifted and all of a sudden you were totally into an intense story involving characters you really care about. I'll tell you one more thing now. If you rewatch the first part now, after having finished the entire movie, that first part makes complete sense and provides important details concerning major characters which make the whole film even more powerful.

I'm definitley gonna rewatch it sometime soon because I was confused about the beginning, I've got quite a bit more to watch that I recently bought on DVD and I haven't seen to watch first though. After I finish those though, Schindler's List will be one of the first that I rewatch.

Whereas if a man had directed the same movie it would have been limp celebration of such? Regardless of the director's gender, this movie is not a mighty anything. Anyway I'm curious why you peg it as a movie primarily about gender. The big idea of the movie, related to the audience in the most blunt terms possible, is that if you dress it up with the right pretensions a given audience will watch just about anything and even expect meaningful insights. If the movie had actually engaged me into more than giggling at a few one-liners and expressions and not spending the rest of the running time glancing at my fellow viewers to see if they were similarly bored (I was very happy to see that my girlfriend was -- swoon), it might have actually stung enough to leave a lasting impression. I mean, the self-professed point of the movie is to trick you into liking it and then call you an idiot at the end, but I didn't really ever like the movie so instead I get the same honor to feel my smugness validated that I'd get from being called smart by a drooling imbecile. Pretty thin reward.

Anyway I stand by my "below-avg." grade, in spite of the fact that I found the movie entertaining enough to sit through. I find 99% of the movies I watch entertaining enough to sit through and most of the times I don't it's because I'm physically exhausted or internally distracted. The entire fun of bitching or bragging about movies online, it seems, is in going through the effort to sort the good ones from the ones that just seemed good when you were too lazy to care.

Blue Velvet (Lynch, 1986) -

The first time I saw Blue Velvet was on a badly scratched rental DVD that would skip and glitch at all the worst possible moments, thus compromising the experience quite a bit. Fortunately, this didn't happen the second time around and I was able to actually appreciate the film a bit better. Once again, I like the way everything in the film comes together, even if there are quite a few parts that seem a little too corny in their representation of kind folks in quiet suburbia. Nonetheless, it's still a gripping film, although deep down I prefer Lynch's more surreal works.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Iro, which bits would you say were corny? I thought the bit that i imagine you mean, just added to the whole surrealism of it all. Also, did you read it as MacLachlan and Hopper playing the same character?

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Amélie (2001) -

So I finally rewatched it. The first time I didn't like it that much, but I think it was just the wrong time and place. The film made me super happy this time! I was debating between a 4.5 and a full 5, and it could actually be both. They were talking really fast at times (I had to rewind a bit during the film to read all the subtitles and understand them), the opening narration especially, but it's my fault that's an issue, not their's. As I rewatch it, I will be able to know what they are saying easier, and it will go up to a 5. Audrey Tautou is so awesome.

It's safe to say this is a new favorite of mine. Maybe not top 10, at least not right now, but still a favorite.

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Mulholland Dr.



lovelovelovelovelove

I was worried this was gonna be a movie that was just over the top weird to the point were it has no story and it's just confusing, but it had the perfect balance of weirdness and comprehensiveness. The cast was outstanding. Naomi Watts blew me away and added to my already great love for her, and Laura Harring gave the most surreally hypnotizing performance that melted perfectly with the overall feel of the movie. And the two of them are the perfect compliment to each other on screen. Watts is the epitome of the blonde-haired blue-eyed innocent, and the dark-featured Harring is just sourrounded by an aura of darkness. Evey time they're together on screen, it's both visually and i don't know...energetically pleasing. I'm looking forward to watching more Lynch, I love Blue Velvet and this movie certainly lived up to my standards set by that. I couldn't have asked for more out of Mulholland Dr.

It's rare of me to do this after a first viewing, but I'm pretty confident in my rating of...

Gabriel -

A cool concept and story, but laughable fight scenes and other action altogether. The score and performances were utterly forgettable and everything else about the film was mediocre at best. I'm glad I only picked this one up for $3.

Cause of Death -

This wasn't much better than Gabriel.

Bram Stroker's Dracula -

For some reason, I just couldn't quite bump it up to a full 10/10. I don't know why, because it definitely deserves a full perfect score. Gary Oldman is just amazing in this, he wasn't quite as amazing in this as Leon: The Professional, but still quite amazing. Actually now that I think about it, all the cast gives quite amazing preformances, except Keanu Reeves which is sorta a given because his acting in this is just very stale. The story had me sucked into the movie right from the very start of it though, and it had an amazing ending. Francis Ford Cappola as just blown me away again, this would probably be my third favorite of his after The Godfather Part I and Part II. I was actually surprised, because after watching Apocalypse Now not too long ago, I didn't know what to expect, because I thought Apocalypse Now was a little overly long. This is by far his shortest movie that I've seen of his though, but I thought the length fit perfect for this. But I look foward to see some more Gary Oldman movies, because as of right now he's my second favorite actor of all-time. I also want to point out that it had some amazing music that just fit so well with the movie, but I find it weird that I like never hear any talk about this movie, I don't know why because it definitely deserves it.

As you can see from my latest post here, after watching a good half-dozen of the true classics, I'm sort of taking a brief hiatus from them (not that I'm getting tired of them) and watching a few lesser-known titles, as per my usual trend. To continue that:

Higher Learning -

A very enjoyable, very thought-provoking film that follows the seperate stories of 3-4 different groups of people who are all interconnected in some way. Toward the end of the movie, they all come clashing together in a chaotic but enlightening struggle that left me stunned. I liked it a lot.

Plus Jennifer Connelly kissing Kristen Swanson gives it an automatic two popcorn bags minimum.

At first I just read the "Swan" in "Swanson", and then I read the "Jennifer Connelly kissing".

The image that immediately came to mind made me very happy.

We all have our dreams, Swan. But then we wake up.

I'm thinking of the way they established the place and several characters with that seemingly stereotypical small-town America vibe where everybody's friends with everybody else and nobody swears or acts out. It took a little getting used to, I suppose, but I figure it was necessary in the context of the film as a whole. What bit were you imagining?

And no, no I didn't read it that way.

Lynch was satirizing Reagan America. Now, I have no patience for Lynch or Reagan America, but please don't try to extrapolate what it means because it obviously doesn't mean what lackadaiscal kids today think it means. I don't claim that any of you are lackadaisical, but come on now, you could barely speak when this flippin' flick came out. And I do want to apologize because I said I gave Blue Velvet , when I was spaced out and should have given it . I give Dune although I'm the first to admit how extreme that is. The Elephant Man is easily a and the film which Lynch will be remembered by (Sorry, Bros!). The Straight Story seems much more significant today than it was when Lynch made it. As far as his later flicks go, I give Lost Highway , Mulholland Dr. and Inland Empire . I am going to watch the entirety of the "Twin Peaks" TV series right now, and I give that at least a , but I'll check back if it's better.