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The Big Lebowski used to be my favorite Coen, but its mantle was stolen by A Serious Man last year. When I first watched it, I found it funny as hell, but had many issues with the story. It wasn't until later when I realized how great it is and how character rich the film was. It's a rare example of a film which is even better than its own hype. Glad to see it so high, though it didn't make my ballot.
I haven't seen Chinatown yet, but plan to watch it soon.
I haven't seen Chinatown yet, but plan to watch it soon.
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Let's ask @Guaporense
I see what you're saying, but I found the film's faults much more than just boring. Boring is the end results (for me) of a director who doesn't know how to rein in every last idea he has and instead makes a bloated film when it comes to the montage sequences. Those montage sequences go on forever, far past the point of 'OK I get it'. It's like the director had all these ideas for different montage images and needed to show just how cinematic he could be by including them all. I don't know the director's thought process of course, but I do know those really long montages pissed me off. And made me do this
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Chinatown sits as my #2. I'll have to wait and see where my Will Riker stands. I must admit that I'm thrilled to see that Kung-Pow! Will fall into this MUCH higher than anticipated.
Speaking of anticipation, I'm also glad to see so many others ranking RHPS so high on your lists!!! Where will these two monsters of cinema mastery duke it out, and which will crack the 10-count!?
Speaking of anticipation, I'm also glad to see so many others ranking RHPS so high on your lists!!! Where will these two monsters of cinema mastery duke it out, and which will crack the 10-count!?
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Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
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The scene where the "real" Evelyn Mulwray shows up is a classic where Gittes talks about "contemplating the moon", but it introduces many of the concepts of Film Noir into modern film usage. "Noir" literally means "Black" in French, but since most film noirs were made and shot in America before the French defined the term, I think that we are allowed to adapt the definition to mean anything which seems to involve a man, a woman, a mystery and something "Pitch Black". I cannot think of a plot more "black" or "noir" than Chinatown, so you will never convince me that it's not a perfect example of film noir. Even though the cinematography by John Alonzo of Chinatown is often crisp and bright, the plotting is dark and murky, but that doesn't mean that Alonzo doesn't go out of his way to use plenty of shadows throughout the film.
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The scene where the "real" Evelyn Mulwray shows up is a classic where Gittes talks about "contemplating the moon", but it introduces many of the concepts of Film Noir into modern film usage. "Noir" literally means "Black" in French, but since most film noirs were made and shot in America before the French defined the term, I think that we are allowed to adapt the definition to mean anything which seems to involve a man, a woman, a mystery and something "Pitch Black". I cannot think of a plot more "black" or "noir" than Chinatown, so you will never convince me that it's not a perfect example of film noir. Even though the cinematography by John Alonzo of Chinatown is often crisp and bright, the plotting is dark and murky, but that doesn't mean that Alonzo doesn't go out of his way to use plenty of shadows throughout the film.
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Chinatown is certainly a film noir. Along with the aspects you mentioned, two of my personal favorites for noir are a narrator, and a detective. It's one of the handful of color films that I privately consider a good noir. Great film, good twist at the end.
As far as "Lebowski", I thought it was a humorous film, and a perfect stoner portrayal by Jeff Bridges. Goodman was good too, although the writing and his acting were a little overdone. I should be partial to the film, as I was playing music for a small part of the film score..
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I should be partial to the film, as I was playing music for a small part of the film score..
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The Big Lebowski is growing on me. If it wasn't a Coen Bros. movie it would be stuck in the didn't like it category but I usually like the Coens and give them more chances than I would other directors (like the next movie coming up). After watching it a couple times, because everyone tells me it's great and I just don't "get it", it has become more enjoyable but I think it has peaked for me. It's a solid , found a spot in my library and is in the Bros.' second tier of films, well behind their classics Fargo, Blood Simple and Raising Arizona and just behind True Grit, but slightly ahead of NCfOM and O Brother, which are a hair better than Intolerable Cruelty and Burn After which are all much farther up the pole of good than A Serious Man, Ballad of Buster, Ladykillers and Inside Llewyn Davis. So that's where it sits in the Coens filmography for me. About fifth. If I didn't mention one of their movies it's because I haven't seen it yet.
Chinatown I mentioned it when Rosemary's Baby made an appearance that I'm not much of a Polanski fan. Something about his movies are off. Pacing maybe? Anyway, I didn't care for this and probably won't give it another shot. Maybe, if I catch it while channel surfing, I'll stop on it and see if it's any better. Not surprised it's this high as it seems almost everybody loves it, it just didn't work for me
Chinatown I mentioned it when Rosemary's Baby made an appearance that I'm not much of a Polanski fan. Something about his movies are off. Pacing maybe? Anyway, I didn't care for this and probably won't give it another shot. Maybe, if I catch it while channel surfing, I'll stop on it and see if it's any better. Not surprised it's this high as it seems almost everybody loves it, it just didn't work for me
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I've seen Chinatown once and I liked it enough to give it a positive review. I'd have to revisit it to try and place it on my Top 100, if it would even make it there.
As for The Big Lebowski, it's my favourite Coen's movie with Fargo not far behind. Of course, it made my list. It's quotable, it's funny, it's sad and Jeff Bridges IS the Dude. There are few actors out there who personify a character and he does with The Dude, no question.
As for The Big Lebowski, it's my favourite Coen's movie with Fargo not far behind. Of course, it made my list. It's quotable, it's funny, it's sad and Jeff Bridges IS the Dude. There are few actors out there who personify a character and he does with The Dude, no question.
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Tomorrow's hint:
Your mind is a weapon
As much as a gun
And to freedom it beckons
Come rain or come sun
Sometimes it's heroic
Merely to sing
And to remain stoic
Standing athwart kings
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I've seen The Big Lebowski twice, and I don't understand the love for it. Maybe it's just not my type of movie, but it just seemed like a pretty dumb movie, and The Dude was just an annoying character.
Chinatown is a good movie, but it's not a favorite movie for me, and I never considered it for my list.
Chinatown is a good movie, but it's not a favorite movie for me, and I never considered it for my list.
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.
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Tomorrow's hint:
Your mind is a weapon
As much as a gun
And to freedom it beckons
Come rain or come sun
Sometimes it's heroic
Merely to sing
And to remain stoic
Standing athwart kings
No, wait...
The Shawshank Redemption and...
...whatever Lord of the Rings movie had them rowing between those two huge statues...
Oh wait, was that one already on the list?
Then I vote for Inception twice.
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Chinatown is certainly a film noir. Along with the aspects you mentioned, two of my personal favorites for noir are a narrator, and a detective. It's one of the handful of color films that I privately consider a good noir. Great film, good twist at the end.
As far as "Lebowski", I thought it was a humorous film, and a perfect stoner portrayal by Jeff Bridges. Goodman was good too, although the writing and his acting were a little overdone. I should be partial to the film, as I was playing music for a small part of the film score..
The Big Lebowski is prime Coen for me. Saw it the first week as me and the wife are Coen fans. We laughed our selves silly. The dialogue was aces and the performances were terrific all down the line. I say it's in Jeff Bridges top 3 performances and I haven't decided what the other two are.
There were some things he said, like "You human... paraquat!" that I had to look up. Paraquat turns out to be a herbicide or weed killer. So he was calling the guy a human herbicide. 
I don't think the Dude even knew what he meant. But he's definitely a classic character. This, for some reason, is my favorite exchange (be forewarned, foul language follows):Now Chinatown is a film I still have not seen. I have no excuse. I even own the DVD! But, like a conversation earlier about another film, I had the ending spoiled for me. But it wasn't a person who did it---as I recall, it was either some news program that played a clip from it while the local reviewer talked it up or it was the Oscars themselves that did it, showing a clip. It then followed that the entire mystery about the agua was revealed in the newspaper and so forth. So, I've held off all these years just out of damned cussedness, always meaning to watch it but when I felt like it and not before. As I've been heavy into film noir lately, it stands a heavy chance of being watched before, say, the next Academy Awards air. Not that that has anything to do with anything, just setting a goal, I guess.
Neither made my list
19. The Searchers #97
1. To Kill a Mockingbird #85
25. Die Hard #63
14. Rear Window #40
8. It's a Wonderful Life #38
2. Aliens #37
13. The Wizard of Oz #36
9. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back #30
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Both great films. Neither on my list. At this rate, I think most of my movies are not going to make it.
Chinatown is probably Polanski best. But I guess Pianist now doesn't make it.
I still expect Fargo to make it, but again this is looking increasingly unlikely.
Chinatown is probably Polanski best. But I guess Pianist now doesn't make it.
I still expect Fargo to make it, but again this is looking increasingly unlikely.
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Chinatown, really? 
I did enjoy The Big Lebowski but it's another for the seen it, liked it, haven't thought about it much again list. Definitely due a rewatch.
Casablanca
I did enjoy The Big Lebowski but it's another for the seen it, liked it, haven't thought about it much again list. Definitely due a rewatch.
Sometimes it's heroic
Merely to sing
Merely to sing
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The Big Lebowski #1
Something that I really didn't like as a 14 or so year old back in 1998 even though I just about spontaneously combusted during the "ashes scene". It slowly grew on me as an adult, climbing all the way to the top spot. It's such an absurd movie, with hilarious scene after hilarious scene, and hilariously absurd characters, too many to talk about. How Walter and the Dude only care about bowling mirrors my local pool league (9 ball etc), there are actually characters like Walter always involved in drama with the league officials, though not to the degree of pulling a gun! John Goodman and the Coen's brought to life a character as good as any on this list imo. I've even watched it twice this year of lockdowns on Netflix. I'll shut the **** up like Donny and move on now though.
Empire Strikes Back #6
I watched it over Xmas for possibly the first time in a decade, expecting it to lose some of it's power but it hasn't. Irvin Kershner takes hold of a campy Star Wars and makes it serious. What else can be said other than this is such a simple story, filled with magic with 2 diverging paths that smash together at the end.
My favorite film scene of all time, the moment the power of the Force was revealed, and by the smallest of creatures;
The Shining #15
The true masterpiece of the horror genre, yet avoiding all the gore of others. When I was little watching Danny ride around the corridors on his tricycle I have to quote Fear and Loathing "There is no way of explaining the terror I felt". The doom and gloom car journey through the mountains always sets the tone perfectly. Poor Shelley Duvall though......
The Matrix #18
If you love Sci-Fi, Action and Martial Arts this is the movie for you. What an impact this had on me, the target audience as a 15 year old, we went in a massive group of 30 or so to see it and we were BLOWN AWAY, even that simple opening with Trinity was awesome. Maybe a lot of us don't hold it as high as we once did but this one was a groundbreaking leap in the action genre. The film itself is brilliant, and from the moment Neo says "I believe I can bring him back" you're in for one of the most exhilarating finishes you could ever hope to watch, from the lobby to the Rooftop, the rescue, the showdown what a rollercoaster. Yea it's not meant to be some grand art or anything but for what it is it's maybe the best. Special mention to Yuen Woo Ping the greatest of fight coordinators, whose contribution was as important as John Williams to Star Wars.
The Thing #forgotten about cause I'm literally an idiot
Probably my most re-watched film since I discovered it 10 years ago. Of all the films you imagine yourself being in and what you would do, like zombie movies, The Thing is the king of those. Watching the group tear itself apart through suspicion, culminating in the legendary blood test scene is just something I can do again and again. The sequel was an abomination. .
Something that I really didn't like as a 14 or so year old back in 1998 even though I just about spontaneously combusted during the "ashes scene". It slowly grew on me as an adult, climbing all the way to the top spot. It's such an absurd movie, with hilarious scene after hilarious scene, and hilariously absurd characters, too many to talk about. How Walter and the Dude only care about bowling mirrors my local pool league (9 ball etc), there are actually characters like Walter always involved in drama with the league officials, though not to the degree of pulling a gun! John Goodman and the Coen's brought to life a character as good as any on this list imo. I've even watched it twice this year of lockdowns on Netflix. I'll shut the **** up like Donny and move on now though.
Empire Strikes Back #6
I watched it over Xmas for possibly the first time in a decade, expecting it to lose some of it's power but it hasn't. Irvin Kershner takes hold of a campy Star Wars and makes it serious. What else can be said other than this is such a simple story, filled with magic with 2 diverging paths that smash together at the end.
My favorite film scene of all time, the moment the power of the Force was revealed, and by the smallest of creatures;
The Shining #15
The true masterpiece of the horror genre, yet avoiding all the gore of others. When I was little watching Danny ride around the corridors on his tricycle I have to quote Fear and Loathing "There is no way of explaining the terror I felt". The doom and gloom car journey through the mountains always sets the tone perfectly. Poor Shelley Duvall though......
The Matrix #18
If you love Sci-Fi, Action and Martial Arts this is the movie for you. What an impact this had on me, the target audience as a 15 year old, we went in a massive group of 30 or so to see it and we were BLOWN AWAY, even that simple opening with Trinity was awesome. Maybe a lot of us don't hold it as high as we once did but this one was a groundbreaking leap in the action genre. The film itself is brilliant, and from the moment Neo says "I believe I can bring him back" you're in for one of the most exhilarating finishes you could ever hope to watch, from the lobby to the Rooftop, the rescue, the showdown what a rollercoaster. Yea it's not meant to be some grand art or anything but for what it is it's maybe the best. Special mention to Yuen Woo Ping the greatest of fight coordinators, whose contribution was as important as John Williams to Star Wars.
The Thing #forgotten about cause I'm literally an idiot
Probably my most re-watched film since I discovered it 10 years ago. Of all the films you imagine yourself being in and what you would do, like zombie movies, The Thing is the king of those. Watching the group tear itself apart through suspicion, culminating in the legendary blood test scene is just something I can do again and again. The sequel was an abomination. .
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Chuffed to see my predictions were right but even happier to see Chinatown and The Big Lebowski show up, although they were never really in doubt.
Both are five-star films for me but didn't make my list. Both easily could have, I think I remember making a conscious decision to leave off Lebowski as one of my last cuts, but I think I somehow forgot to even consider Chinatown - a mistake when rushing my list that I made with a couple of other films too.
These are two of my very favourite screenplays of all time and both are absolute masterclasses in writing. The plot in Chinatown is full of deceit, shadiness, corruption and is one of the darkest and infuriating film noirs out there. I remember reading that Polanski made the decision to remove Gittes narration from the script so that we would discover the different clues and revelations at the same time as him and this really is an inspired decision. As Gittes delves deeper into the story and hits various roadblocks and takes a few beatings, we feel his fury and pain as he tries to work out what's going on. Sometimes I feel like when I'm talking about my favourite movies that I too often just lazily list my favourite ingredients, but sometimes these ingredients are just perfect and need no further explanation: incredible performances from the perfectly cast trio of Nicholson, Dunaway and Huston, one of the most beautiful scores ever created, and cinematography and direction that perfectly captures the intrigue and danger of the story.
The Big Lebowski is probably my favourite comedy of all time. I watched it a few times when I first got into films but it's held up and remained hilarious to me ever since. It's another film that I've probably watched at least once each year since I first saw it, and a film that I've watched with all sorts of different crowds of people. There are lots of iconic lines and scenes that people rightfully remember and repeat, like "the dude abides" or the simple act of ordering a White Russian but there are probably hundreds of lines that I find laugh-out-loud funny and just the simple sight of Walter about to launch into some rant or the Dude looking confused makes me ready to laugh, I just loved spending time with these characters.
The Coen Brothers are interesting to me because they are not like some other directors that I love in their use of mise-en-scene to tell stories visually but are experts at using other creative means that work perfectly to tell the stories the way they want to tell them. When I think of Lebowski I think of the sequences where the Dude is flying on a rug, or bowling in his dreams with Saddam Hussein, I think of Sam Elliott's voice-over and cameo, the use of iconic tracks from the likes of Bob Dylan and The Eagles, or the little movie-within-a-movie with "Logjammin'". These all add a special quirky quality that is unique and synonymous with the Coen Brothers comedy and make their films endlessly rewatchable.
Both are five-star films for me but didn't make my list. Both easily could have, I think I remember making a conscious decision to leave off Lebowski as one of my last cuts, but I think I somehow forgot to even consider Chinatown - a mistake when rushing my list that I made with a couple of other films too.
These are two of my very favourite screenplays of all time and both are absolute masterclasses in writing. The plot in Chinatown is full of deceit, shadiness, corruption and is one of the darkest and infuriating film noirs out there. I remember reading that Polanski made the decision to remove Gittes narration from the script so that we would discover the different clues and revelations at the same time as him and this really is an inspired decision. As Gittes delves deeper into the story and hits various roadblocks and takes a few beatings, we feel his fury and pain as he tries to work out what's going on. Sometimes I feel like when I'm talking about my favourite movies that I too often just lazily list my favourite ingredients, but sometimes these ingredients are just perfect and need no further explanation: incredible performances from the perfectly cast trio of Nicholson, Dunaway and Huston, one of the most beautiful scores ever created, and cinematography and direction that perfectly captures the intrigue and danger of the story.
The Big Lebowski is probably my favourite comedy of all time. I watched it a few times when I first got into films but it's held up and remained hilarious to me ever since. It's another film that I've probably watched at least once each year since I first saw it, and a film that I've watched with all sorts of different crowds of people. There are lots of iconic lines and scenes that people rightfully remember and repeat, like "the dude abides" or the simple act of ordering a White Russian but there are probably hundreds of lines that I find laugh-out-loud funny and just the simple sight of Walter about to launch into some rant or the Dude looking confused makes me ready to laugh, I just loved spending time with these characters.
The Coen Brothers are interesting to me because they are not like some other directors that I love in their use of mise-en-scene to tell stories visually but are experts at using other creative means that work perfectly to tell the stories the way they want to tell them. When I think of Lebowski I think of the sequences where the Dude is flying on a rug, or bowling in his dreams with Saddam Hussein, I think of Sam Elliott's voice-over and cameo, the use of iconic tracks from the likes of Bob Dylan and The Eagles, or the little movie-within-a-movie with "Logjammin'". These all add a special quirky quality that is unique and synonymous with the Coen Brothers comedy and make their films endlessly rewatchable.
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The Big Lebowski is probably my favourite comedy of all time. I watched it a few times when I first got into films but it's held up and remained hilarious to me ever since. It's another film that I've probably watched at least once each year since I first saw it, and a film that I've watched with all sorts of different crowds of people. There are lots of iconic lines and scenes that people rightfully remember and repeat, like "the dude abides" or the simple act of ordering a White Russian but there are probably hundreds of lines that I find laugh-out-loud funny and just the simple sight of Walter about to launch into some rant or the Dude looking confused makes me ready to laugh, I just loved spending time with these characters.
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The Big Lebowski is probably my favourite comedy of all time. I watched it a few times when I first got into films but it's held up and remained hilarious to me ever since. It's another film that I've probably watched at least once each year since I first saw it, and a film that I've watched with all sorts of different crowds of people. There are lots of iconic lines and scenes that people rightfully remember and repeat, like "the dude abides" or the simple act of ordering a White Russian but there are probably hundreds of lines that I find laugh-out-loud funny and just the simple sight of Walter about to launch into some rant or the Dude looking confused makes me ready to laugh, I just loved spending time with these characters.
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[Lebowski] I should be partial to the film, as I was playing music for a small part of the film score..
Oh wow. Please elaborate.
Fairly early in the film, when "The Dude" is mixing his first White Russian cocktail, is when the song is heard. Why they chose that song for that scene is unknown to me. I think probably that "T Bone" Burnett was a fan of ours. He was the music supervisor (archivist) for the film.
I'm glad they used it, and I still get a few bucks every year for residuals...
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It was a song called "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles" by Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band, from an album we did in 1972 for Warner Reprise called Clear Spot. I played drums on it.
Fairly early in the film, when "The Dude" is mixing his first White Russian cocktail, is when the song is heard. Why they chose that song for that scene is unknown to me. I think probably that "T Bone" Burnett was a fan of ours. He was the music supervisor (archivist) for the film.
I'm glad they used it, and I still get a few bucks every year for residuals...
Fairly early in the film, when "The Dude" is mixing his first White Russian cocktail, is when the song is heard. Why they chose that song for that scene is unknown to me. I think probably that "T Bone" Burnett was a fan of ours. He was the music supervisor (archivist) for the film.
I'm glad they used it, and I still get a few bucks every year for residuals...
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