817 replies to this topic

[Magnus Malcolm]

Tarkovsky only made seven features. I've seen all seven. Solaris is the worst.

Think what you will, but I disagree. I actually love Solyaris. It's too bad you don't like it, for me, it's just a beautiful film. To be fair though, it was the first Tarkovsky film I saw, so it was an experience from that alone. I think picking a "worst" Tarkovsky film is a hard thing to do, because his "worst" is better than many filmmaker's "best." Due to this, I would never pick a worst, because there's not a film of his I can think of that I clearly like much less than the others. Andrei Rublev would be my least favorite, but that's not due to quality, I just have a hard time getting interested in the monks.

What is your favorite Tarkovsky film, Tony?

And bummer that you don't like Stalker, agrimorfee, I love that one.

[Agrimorfee]

Cliched Swill happens to be the title for my next album.

[Agrimorfee]

1. Eve's Bayou
2. Ice Storm
4. Mrs Brown...

Still missing on my needed to see from that year items were:
Ulysses Gaze

Pleasantly surprised to see those in your top positions, held.
"Ulysses' Gaze" is difficult, (if you think Tarkovsky has glacial pacing!...) but ultimately rewarding. It's also a 1995 movie.

Might as well throw my '97s up here, too.

1. Titanic (in spite of everything, it really was the best movie of the year, for many reasons)
2. A Life Less Ordinary
3. Rory & Michelle's High School Reunion
4. Fifth Element
5. Lost Highway
6. The Apostle
7. Eve's Bayou
8. Chasing Amy
9. Jackie Brown
10. The Ice Storm
11. Midnight In The Garden of Good & Evil
12. Mrs. Brown

I must disclose that I haven't seen Waiting For Guffman or Good Will Hunting, which could very well effect that list

[QWERTY Hate Machine]

I've only see Vampyr once and really loved the first 20 minutes. I think there is a significant drop-off in the style as soon as the woman is bitten, though. The early shots with the emphasis on shadows and that amazing shot of the man with the scythe set the bar really high and I don't think the rest of the film followed through. I've only seen the film once, though, so a second viewing might improve my opinion. I went in expecting a vampire film like Nosferatu and not the expressionistic Caligari-esque film that unfolded. I agree though that the upcoming Criterion set looks wonderful and I just may be moved to buy it. Love that cover. And a cleaned-up transfer will be nice.

The Passion of Joan of Arc is absolutely brilliant, one of the greatest films of all time and probable in my top ten favorite films. I haven't seen any of Dreyer's other films, though. I have The Parson's Widow, Michael, and Leaves From Satan's Book in my stack of DVDs to watch. Are any of those MUST SEE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE pictures?

OMG, go watch Ordet ASAP. Everyone in this thread owes it to themselves. I'm gonna make a point to watch it myself some time this week. Fabulous, fabulous.

[Tony]

Tarkovsky only made seven features. I've seen all seven. Solaris is the worst.

Your initial statement appeared to suggest you were appealing to critical consensus or something else besides your own opinion.

I haven't seen all of his films, but I would take Solaris over Stalker, which has grievious pacing problems and isn't as deep as it thinks it is.

Well on IMDB it's ranked 5th worst. I've heard it reffered to as the worst by other critics.

[Tony]

Tarkovsky only made seven features. I've seen all seven. Solaris is the worst.

Think what you will, but I disagree. I actually love Solyaris. It's too bad you don't like it, for me, it's just a beautiful film. To be fair though, it was the first Tarkovsky film I saw, so it was an experience from that alone. I think picking a "worst" Tarkovsky film is a hard thing to do, because his "worst" is better than many filmmaker's "best." Due to this, I would never pick a worst, because there's not a film of his I can think of that I clearly like much less than the others. Andrei Rublev would be my least favorite, but that's not due to quality, I just have a hard time getting interested in the monks.

What is your favorite Tarkovsky film, Tony?

And bummer that you don't like Stalker, agrimorfee, I love that one.

I like Solaris I just like the others more. My favorite is either AR or Stalker.

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

Tony, please to be moving Titanic into the cliched swill column. Thx.

Titanic was aware of the cliches and was using them for expressive purposes. The other two I mentioned thought they were all deep and shit.

[Slackmo]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

I don't know when Tony became the board's Movie Montana, but it's an entertaining development. Keep on keeping on, deathman.

[Tony]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

I don't know when Tony became the board's Movie Montana, but it's an entertaining development. Keep on keeping on, deathman.

I don't read the Music board enough to know what this means. Care to clarify?

[M_Rots]

I'm guessing this isn't the forum to mount an argument for just enjoying what's onscreen and not worrying too much about the filmmakers' deeper intentions?

Good Will Hunting seemed too pat in the relationship between Damon and Williams - I just kept thinking, "It's like answering the question, 'What would the Hutton-Hirsch relationship in Ordinary People have been with closure?'"

But I don't much care whether Damon/Affleck were angling for depth or not. The story pretty much stands/falls on its plot, as played out onscreen.

The Ice Storm was just the kids' eye view of a John Updike melodrama.

[Agrimorfee]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

I don't know when Tony became the board's Movie Montana, but it's an entertaining development. Keep on keeping on, deathman.

I don't read the Music board enough to know what this means. Care to clarify?

At least Tony doesn't go for the cheap and pointless personal shots like Monty.

Tony, Montana is a dweeb who poo-poos everything everybody else likes in the world of music if he does'nt like it himself. Wanna have some fun? Start a thread on the Music side, title it something like "Roger Waters is a pretentious fop" and watch him roll.

[M_Rots]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

I don't know when Tony became the board's Movie Montana, but it's an entertaining development. Keep on keeping on, deathman.

I don't read the Music board enough to know what this means. Care to clarify?

At least Tony doesn't go for the cheap and pointless personal shots like Monty.

Tony, Montana is a dweeb who poo-poos everything everybody else likes in the world of music if he does'nt like it himself. Wanna have some fun? Start a thread on the Music side, title it something like "Roger Waters is a pretentious fop" and watch him roll.

or "Roger Waters Hates Camping."

[Tony]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

Tony, please to be moving Titanic into the cliched swill column. Thx.

Titanic was aware of the cliches and was using them for expressive purposes. The other two I mentioned thought they were all deep and shit.

Please. "Titanic" is an ill-fated love story involving conflicts primarily with class, religion, and socioeconomic status. It's injected into a historical event that goes tragic and then gets happy after or near death. If it were filmed on Harvard Square, it'd be called "Love Story Without The Ship". It it were filmed in Italy, it could be called "Romeo Doesn't Quite Marry Juliet But Dies Anyway".

There's no grandiose self-awareness, no namby-pamby lyrical evocative George Ballenshine movement. It's just a movie that tells a very predictable story on a big scale. You can run down the cliche checklist before the end of the first act. My date and I took bets on what was going to happen next. Neither of us were wrong.

The treatment of the central romance and everything around it was scaled just broadly as the setting. If you noticed there really wren't any subplots. The whole thing was a lush almost symphonic homage to Melodramatic Romantic Doom.

[Tony]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

Tony, please to be moving Titanic into the cliched swill column. Thx.

Titanic was aware of the cliches and was using them for expressive purposes. The other two I mentioned thought they were all deep and shit.

Please. "Titanic" is an ill-fated love story involving conflicts primarily with class, religion, and socioeconomic status. It's injected into a historical event that goes tragic and then gets happy after or near death. If it were filmed on Harvard Square, it'd be called "Love Story Without The Ship". It it were filmed in Italy, it could be called "Romeo Doesn't Quite Marry Juliet But Dies Anyway".

There's no grandiose self-awareness, no namby-pamby lyrical evocative George Ballenshine movement. It's just a movie that tells a very predictable story on a big scale. You can run down the cliche checklist before the end of the first act. My date and I took bets on what was going to happen next. Neither of us were wrong.

The treatment of the central romance and everything around it was scaled just broadly as the setting. If you noticed there really wren't any subplots. The whole thing was a lush almost symphonic homage to Melodramatic Romantic Doom.

The biggest cliche of all. And that's why it bored me to tears.

There isn't a lot of that these days. It's more of a 19th century ideal.

[M_Rots]

I have to admit, I saw Titanic the first time based on Cameron's reputation for staging spectacle, and when he finally got around to it, the spectacle was... spectacular. But it's most of three hours getting there, so it needed to enage me at story level, and for one viewing it was fine. Not amazing; not so engrossing and nuanced that repeat viewing were called for, but enough to keep me watching until the boat sank.

It'd never make my list of All Time Faves. If the list were of Significant Films, though, it'd earn a place. You gotta pay some kind of attention to any movie that grosses a billion dollars.

[Waylon]

Melodramatic Romantic Doom.

Speaking of adolescent...

[Tony]

I have to admit, I saw Titanic the first time based on Cameron's reputation for staging spectacle, and when he finally got around to it, the spectacle was... spectacular. But it's most of three hours getting there, so it needed to enage me at story level, and for one viewing it was fine. Not amazing; not so engrossing and nuanced that repeat viewing were called for, but enough to keep me watching until the boat sank.

It'd never make my list of All Time Faves. If the list were of Significant Films, though, it'd earn a place. You gotta pay some kind of attention to any movie that grosses a billion dollars.

The sinking is virtually the entire 2nd half of the film.

Tony, you was born 150 years too late. Or I'm a cynic.

I'm just descrbing the ideal of the film not saying we should go back to that being the only ideal. It was just done well there.

Melodramatic Romantic Doom.

Speaking of adolescent...

Yes but it achieves a poetic grandeur however kitschy.