SF Film/Cinema Thread

Originally Posted by JBZ

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I don't know that I'd call Kubrick's filmography perfect, but it's quite good and I don't think he ever made a truly horrible film (though some debate that Eyes Wide Shut was awful - I don't agree, but I wouldn't place it among his better works). Kurosawa might be another director with an extremely good, if not perfect, filmography.
In my mind, Kurosawa's is the most impressive of any film-maker, but far from perfect. His early films like The Idiot make better reference pieces than films. But yeah, when you've done work like Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Ikiru, it pretty much nullifies any missteps. Edit: Call me pedestrian, but Kurosawa might be my favorite film-maker.

Originally Posted by jonglover

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But yeah, when you've done work like Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Ikiru, it pretty much nullifies any missteps.

Edit: Call me pedestrian, but Kurosawa might be my favorite film-maker.

Hardly pedestrian to like Kurosawa. Personally, I have only seen 4 of his 32 films (including these three) - I think they're wonderful but I couldn't really pass judgment on his overall filmography based on this small subset

Originally Posted by jonglover

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Mizoguchi, Lanzmann and Tati come to mind.

Claude Lanzmann? Really?

Originally Posted by jonglover

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Surely you're speaking exclusively about directors who did most of their work stateside?

Edit: Fuuma, would it be stepping on your feet if I put together something similar to your list? I've been trying to tackle this thread wholeheartedly for a week now and I just haven't had time. I have a "Top 100" list, so little comments akin to your's shouldn't be too hard to tack on. Plus, your list seems a lot more canonical than mine (not to say you're unoriginal, you probably just have better taste than I do), so I think it would be a perfect counter-point to your run-through.

Go ahead, that's the whole point of lists like these. By the way I quickly scanned through Kurosawa's movies on IMDB and I've seen 18 or 19 and still think he's one of the greatest directors ever so call me pedestrian too. I'm not trying to take anything away from Ozu, Naruse or Mizoguchi or more modern choices (a couple made appearance in my list) but would so that he's my fav Japanese filmaker.

90s\t
"¢Man bites dog/C'est arrivà près de chez-vous/Belgium/Belvaux/Ponzel/Poelvoorde/1992: A black comedy about the rapidly blurring relationship between observer and subject in contemporary media, in this case illustrated by watching a fake documentary crew as they follow, and gradually get more involved with, a psychopathic thief
"¢\tHard Boiled/HK/Woo/1992: The most impressive pure action movie I've ever seen, the final showdown in a crowded hospital is masterful
"¢\tFarewell my concubine/Chine/Kaige/1993: A magnificent walk through China's chaotic 20th century transformation and probably Leslie Cheung's greatest performance
"¢\tThree colors: Blue/Trois couleurs: Bleu/France/Kieslowski/1993: Binoche shows great skill in approaching this difficult role, the tints and images are gorgeous and this re-interpretation of the three colors of the French flag (blue=liberty) take on a whole different meaning. Liberty is used here in the sense of severing all points of contact with pain and social interaction, following the death of a loved one.
"¢\tExotica/Canada/Egoyan/1994: A movie about a strip club that is neither vulgar nor about sexuality/money, but concerns remembrance, guilt and parenthood, no really, I swear!
"¢\tThree colors: Red/Trois couleurs : Rouge/France/Kieslowski/1994: the final chapter of the colour trilogy, Kieslowski's fascination with chance encounters is masterfully illustrated during the great ending.
"¢\tChungking express/HK/Wong/1994: The lives of 20-something aimless characters intersect amid a thoroughly modern urbanity in these two intermingled love stories. Wong-Kar-Wai uses saturated colours and freeze frame to elevate these glimpses of instantaneity into moments to be remembered.
"¢\tHate/Haine, la/France/Kassovitz/1995: A great film about racism, this one has a B&W documentary feel and some natural acting that makes it a pleasure to watch
"¢\tMaborosi/Japon/Kore-eda/1995: A meditation on loss. The character arc of the main character, told in images and through mostly silent acting, is what makes this a work of tremendous impact
"¢\tRidicule/France/Leconte/1996: a western, set in 18 century France, where duels aren't fought with guns but words (I'm paraphrasing something Ebert said about the movie)
"¢\tMade in Hong Kong/HK/Chan/1997: Chan's movies are mainly concerned with the relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland and what it entails in term of identity. There's also a half-naked, skinny Chinese dude who prances around with a gun tucked in his underwear in case you're into that
"¢\tHana-bi/Japon/Kitano/1997: A contemplative and poetic film punctuated by disturbing explosions of violence
"¢\tCure/Japon/Kurosawa (Kiyoshi)/1997: Kurosawa has made a name for himself crafting existentialist horror films that owe as much to Sartre as to traditional b-movie fare.
"¢\tMission, the/HK/To/1999: IMHO the 90s were Hong Kong's cinematic decade and this movie, courtesy of the very innovative Milky Way's studio head Johnnie To, ends those years with a bang; a quirky, offbeat, character driven gangster movie that goes everywhere but where you most expect it.

Kudos for including C'est arrivÃ

près de chez vous !

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Kudos for including C'est arrivÃ

près de chez vous !

Haha, when I was a wee lad we used to play this tape as background during parties, we'd get a good laugh out of the horrified reactions of onlookers who decided to watch a few mins during crucial times.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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On the top of my head, I cannot think of any other prolific and talented director who has made only great films. All of my favorite directors (including Kusturica, Polanski, Scorsese, the Coen brothers, Lynch...) have made some crappy movies. I can only think of Kubrick as the only great prolific filmmaker with a perfect filmography

Kusturica is such a fun actor too, you think he's great for some gleeful overacting and then you see La veuve de Saint-Pierre and realise he does have range.

I probably saw it 40 or 50 times. Buddies and I used to know every single line by heart.

Pigeon.
Oiseaux à la grise robe,
Dans l'enfer des villes,
A mon regard tu te dà robes,
Tu es vraiment le plus agile...

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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Kusturica is such a fun actor too, you think he's great for some gleeful overacting and then you see La veuve de Saint-Pierre and realise he does have range.

Fuuma - you have to go back and add Time of the Gypsies to your 80's list!

I just checked, and your 50s list lacks Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut/A Man Escaped. You disgust me, sir. But you put Hanabi on your 90s list, so I kind of like you again a little maybe.

Originally Posted by Arethusa

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I just checked, and your 50s list lacks Un condamnÃ

à mort s'est Ã

chappÃ

ou Le vent souffle où il veut/A Man Escaped.

You disgust me, sir.

But you put Hanabi on your 90s list, so I kind of like you again a little maybe.

Huh? Un condamnà à mort s'est à chappà is my favourite Bresson and it's in there:

"-A man escaped/Un condamnà à mort s'est à chappà /France/Bresson/1956: Bresson's minimalist, almost ascetic vision of cinema shines through in this tale of quiet perseverance."

Just re-read my 50s post.

Originally Posted by Arethusa

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But you put Hanabi on your 90s list, so I kind of like you again a little maybe.
As long as you have one Kitano and one Wong Kar Wai on your 90's list, you're one of the good guys in my book

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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Huh? Un condamnÃ

à mort s'est Ã

chappÃ

is my favourite Bresson and it's in there:

"-A man escaped/Un condamnÃ

à mort s'est Ã

chappÃ

/France/Bresson/1956: Bresson's minimalist, almost ascetic vision of cinema shines through in this tale of quiet perseverance."

Just re-read my 50s post.
Gah, missed it. Your lists are impenetrably formatted, so this is all your fault. This is why we can't have nice things. I do, also, notice a distinct lack of 400 Blows.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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As long as you have one Kitano and one Wong Kar Wai on your 90's list, you're one of the good guys in my book

I really like them too, although I think they're both slipping and that their best work may be in the past.

Aretheusa: No 400 blows but there are still 2 Truffaut films including stolen kisses...