Cool. Well, you know what they say about taste...I agree about ATPM, btw, and would have included it in my list if I'd thought of it at the time. Maybe the most intelligent thriller I've ever seen, in every respect. You really should see Lawrence of Arabia and Paths of Glory, IMO. Have you seen the following: Iprcess File, Paralax View, French Connection, M*A*S*H, Manhattan, Take The Money & Run, Zelig, Being There, Shampoo, Odd Man Out, Nashville, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Chinatwon, the last Picture Show, In the Heat of the Night, One ZFlew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Easy Rider, and Five Easy Pieces? I;d be interested to know which you;ve seen, and what you thought. BTW, who are your favorite directors? Mine are Hitch, Kubrick, Allen, Lean, and Wilder..and the legends of the 40s like Ford, Capra, Hawks, Welles, and Huston. I wish I liked Renoir more than I do, although I suspect you;re a big fan. Most people I know who don't like Kubrick tend to like Renoir. Kurasawa is weird for me, because his more acclaimed filsm like Ran and 7 donlt impress me nearly as much as Ikiru did. Among newer directors, I'm really liking Redford and Danny Boyle, and ALtman is still really hot and cold.
Looks like we have similar tasts in movies, MacBeth, at least from what I've seen here. You are dead on about the Maltese Falcon, btw. Absolutely superb and timeless. mrpaige, in a way I really envy you. There are so many great films you can look forward to seeing for the first time. Every summer the Paramount Theatre, an art-deco venue here in Austin, has a series of classic fims. They do a good job of getting the latest restored versions, if they are available, and there is nothing better than seeing them the way they were meant to be seen, as I'm sure you would agree. You need to take time out from film making to see some of these great flicks. (that sounds a bit silly, reading it! ) You may not have a venue like the Paramount, but crank up the old DVD player.
HBO has been running a 2 hour-plus documentary on Kubrick's career, covering every film, with interviews with the cast and crew and other directors (who give their take... Scorcese is a huge fan). I can't recommend this enough!
I don't like many of Scorcese's films, but there is no one I'd rather sit down and talk movies with. He's just a huge knowledgable fan.
It is probably called "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures". I have that on video and it is very good as Scorcese, Woody Allen, Spielberg, and some of the various actors who appeared in his movies appear and talk about Kubrick. You are right about your recommendation - a great way to get introduced to the man and his films.
Let's see. I'll start with the ones I've seen. Paralax View was one of only two Warren Beatty vehicles I've liked (the other being Bullworth). I honestly need to see it again as it's been a while, but I remember liking it when I saw it. French Connection is another of my faves. I have to admit that Gene Hackman is, in my opinion, one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema. And his Popeye Doyle one of his best. I like the movie M*A*S*H* more than I liked the television show, but that's not saying a whole lot. It was a little too disjointed for me. A lot of different parts that didn't seem to fit together well enough. But I didn't dislike it. It just would never be one of my favorites. Manhattan, Zelig, Take the Money and Run. I love all that is Woody Allen. Of those, Manhattan is my favorite, but Take the Money and Run (which I saw for the first time a couple of years ago) is a lot better than I expected it to be. It's been too long since I've seen Zelig. That's another I need to watch again. Nashville, I liked it even though I didn't think I would. I saw it right after Short Cuts came out, so Nashville was far better by comparison. But the only Altman I've come back to and watched repeatedly was The Player. Chinatown is great. It's one that unfolds slowly and deliberately, but it's never boring. Nicholson was great in what was, for him, an understated performance. And John Huston was excellent. I didn't like Faye Dunaway as much in Chinatown as I did in Network, but she's still quite good. The Last Picture Show. Much like Peter Bogdonovich himself, I was once deeply in love with Cybill Shepherd but unlike him, I didn't get to live out that fantasy. I don't know why, though, but this movie never did a whole lot for me beyond lusting after Cybill Shepherd. I just didn't connect with it for whatever reason. In The Heat of the Night. I love Sidney Poitier, and this was my favorite performance of his. And Rod Steiger is quite good, as well. I loved the movie. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is another I need to see again. It has been a long, long time since I've seen it. One of my relatives was an extra in the movie, but that's about all I remember about it (it really has been that long). Easy Rider I hated. So, I haven't seen: The Ipcress File, Being There (I saw part of it), Shampoo (don't generally like Warren Beatty except on Dobie Gillis), Odd Man Out (I've actually never heard of that one), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (heard good things, but haven't gotten around to seeing it), and Five Easy Pieces (I've been meaning to pick that one up. I've wanted to see it for a long time). Hitchcock is at the top of my list, and I've long loved Woody Allen and Billy Wilder, as well. Frank Capra made a whole lot of movies I've loved (including Arsenic & Old Lace, which is an all-time favorite of mine), as did Howard Hawks. I also really like Preston Sturges. George Cukor is in there, too, if only for The Philadelphia Story. I like Orson Welles more as an interesting person than as a director. I've never been too big of a fan of the films he directed (other than Kane. I do really like Citizen Kane). I like a lot of what John Frankenheimer did (even some of his more recent stuff like Ronin), as well as Billy Friedkin. I've liked a lot of Sidney Lumet, too. Also Mike Nichols, even though I can't stand the continuous Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack on The Graduate. I like Steven Soderbergh a good deal, though he's hit and miss with me. The Coens consistently put out good movies that I love. I really like Peter Weir, as well, even though he's put out some clunkers. Barry Levinson is another I admire. Alexander Payne is on up there, too. And I like a lot of Luc Besson's work, as well (Leon is, to me, a classic). I'm also digging what Doug Liman has been doing. I like Kevin Smith, though that's more for writing (and just his general public persona) than for directing. And say what you will, but I think Savage Steve Holland had a little something going for a couple of years there. As for Kurasawa, my favorite of his is "High and Low". He did a lot of great movies (Rashomon, Seven Samurai, etc), but that one beats them all, for my money. I've honestly never seen any Jean Renoir films. The French New Wave has completely missed me so far.
Wifey says "The Last American Virgin" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" "The Candidate" with Joan Allen is my best as an adult.
What are you waiting for?! While not on the level of the first film, The Godfather Part II is still a great movie with an incredible final 45 minutes plus one of my favorite closing images of all-time. Just make sure and stop after the second one. Don't watch Part III.
I already watched Part III some time ago. I haven't watched Part II because it's hard to set aside that much time to watching a movie. It is three and a half hours long.
I can't believe I havn't seen Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil or Being John Malkovich. And jes I do think that John Cusack is under rated as an actor.
No wonder you haven't made it to Part II! Part III was so bad that I honestly wish I'd never seen it. That was the most disappointed in a movie I had been in a long time. But Part II just blew me away. I've seen it several times and have never tired of it. It's definitely one of De Niro's finest performances and he captures the young Vito Corleone perfectly. (the way he brings to mind Brando in Part I is almost scary)
See I think Kane is superior to Falcon (both awesome granted) and Zhivago way superior to L of A. (both spectacular, there is just a rawness of existence that Zhivago deals with, damn those contemptable Russians.)
I prefer Lawrence of Arabia, one of my favorite movies, but Zhivago is excellent, if a bit disjointed. One of my favorite David Lean films is Ryan's Daughter, which was underappreciated when it came out... much like Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Lean got a wonderful performance out of Robert Mitchum.
Those are great cult classics of the 80's....just like Sixteen Candles, and the Breakfast Club and National Lampoon's Vacation. "Long Duck Dong..." and the "Griswolds at Wallyworld!"
