going back and rewatching movies

[backbreaker]

I saw enemy of the state like when i was a freshman in high school. GF had never seen it, i said what the heck, it's been like a decade since i saw it, i was blown away with how good the movie was. alot more stuff i picked up on now than I did then


that wasn't even the best movie in 98 lol and it would crush anything out right now. what in the world has happened to our movies.

 

[PRMoon]

I'm introducing my six monther to the dollar series. Sergio Leone's three spaghetti western films are still hands down the best flicks I've ever seen. I can't even count how many other movies borrow from the infamous trio or copy them outright. The unfortunate thing is she doesn't realize is that I unconsciously model my life after these films, and I refer to her as "the six monther".

 

[KarmaSutra]

Miller's Crossing.

From a classically trained Filmmakers' perspective; the most perfect film ever made.

Enemy of the State one way to let 2 hours pass by while you're writing.

 

[synergy1]

agreed, you can watch a movie again and pick up a lot of subtleties you didn't the first time around. Even the second matrix, which is often regarded as a bad movie in general, has a few good quotes thrown in that are relevant to many discussions here.

Not really sure why movies come up short these days. One thing that gets me is most aren't realistic. They don't film on location as often, and employ bluescreens now. Its catchy, but the lack of realism takes away a lot from the movie. Another thing that comes to mind is that movies just don't say a whole heck of a lot. I am not sure how to articulate this well, but it seems that there are no messages in movies ( maybe there shouldn't be? I donno), thus making them boring. I like cinema that reflects major issues of the time.

Heck you could look at James Cameron's terminator 1 and argue this does a better job than most movies now. The idea wasn't that machines would actually "kill" us, so much as eliminate a human factor in decision making which could metaphorically kill us. This is a stretch, but look at what has happened with automation and HFT trading algorithms on wall street that are basically ****ing up our financial system and really making life tougher for the average person. Could one argue that our use of intelligence carry's with it huge and real downsides? There is a lot to why that series was successful, but I feel that new "ideas" like that are few and far between now.

(editors note, I am going to read this and feel horribly inarticulate with the point I was trying to make. This is a pre-emptive ninja edit warning!)

 

[KarmaSutra]

I'm introducing my six monther to the dollar series. Sergio Leone's three spaghetti western films are still hands down the best flicks I've ever seen. I can't even count how many other movies borrow from the infamous trio or copy them outright. The unfortunate thing is she doesn't realize is that I unconsciously model my life after these films, and I refer to her as "the six monther".

'Moon, These kids today don't have any idea what "great films" are. There's no reference for them.

Films that were shot with no explosions, which rely solely upon the Writer, the Director and, most importantly, the Editor, are a thing of the past.

Quentin reinvigorated the spark of creativity in filmmaking for a stint, but his time has passed.

Sergio Leone's: Once upon a time in the West, best capitulated every frame shot through the Arriflex camera directed toward the actors. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is his best use of mythology in any of his films.

 

[Rogue]

backbreaker:
that wasn't even the best movie in 98 lol and it would crush anything out right now. what in the world has happened to our movies.

Confirmation bias.

Nothing has happened to the state of cinema. The "what in the world has happened to our movies" was said by people in the 90's, 80's, 70's, 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's, and 20's. Screenwriter William Goldman (best known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President's Men (1976)) classically once said "90% of anything is crap." Even during the golden era of cinema, the overwhelming vast majority of released films were worth shït, but the biases of nostalgia only remembers the good movies and forget the misses.

There are also cycles in the release of films in Hollywood. Studios deploy game strategies. The first week of January is the time for the wide release of art house films which had limited release at the last week of December, to give them an Oscar run, but the rest of January is when studios dump their worst selection of movies the studios determined wouldn't be able to successfully compete during the other months of the year. (Independent films run on a different schedule and gravitate around the Sundance and Cannes film festivals.) Studios do sometimes run counter-strategies and release a good movie during a traditional dump time, but such releases are flukes. So yes, Enemy of the State is probably better than any Hollywood movies out right now during Hollywood's dump cycle, but it cannot compare to the good movie season of November and December.

I have given up on mainstream movie theaters and attend an independent art house movie theater, but 95% of independent movies suck. The only difference is the independent art house theaters have flexibility to apply their discriminatory tastes at selecting the good films out of the masses of crap.

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

'Moon, These kids today don't have any idea what "great films" are. There's no reference for them.

Films that were shot with no explosions, which rely solely upon the Writer, the Director and, most importantly, the Editor, are a thing of the past.

Quentin reinvigorated the spark of creativity in filmmaking for a stint, but his time has passed.

Sergio Leone's: Once upon a time in the West, best capitulated every frame shot through the Arriflex camera directed toward the actors. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is his best use of mythology in any of his films.

I have to disagree. Movies are as good as ever.

Look at some of the OUTSTANDING movies that have come out over the last 2-3 years that rely entirely on what you said no longer exist:

-Shutter Island
-City Island
-Inception
-Gone Baby Gone
-Bad Lieutenant
-Black Swan

And those are the ones that just came to mind. There are dozens more that easily rank in the top films of all time.

 

[element0]

I have to disagree. Movies are as good as ever.

Look at some of the OUTSTANDING movies that have come out over the last 2-3 years that rely entirely on what you said no longer exist:

-Shutter Island
-City Island
-Inception
-Gone Baby Gone
-Bad Lieutenant
-Black Swan

And those are the ones that just came to mind. There are dozens more that easily rank in the top films of all time.

I honestly haven't seen a movie that made me excited to see it again since the Departed and the Prestige in 2006.

I haven't seen Black Swan, but the rest you listed were extremely mediocre.

 

[element0]

'Moon, These kids today don't have any idea what "great films" are. There's no reference for them.

Films that were shot with no explosions, which rely solely upon the Writer, the Director and, most importantly, the Editor, are a thing of the past.

Quentin reinvigorated the spark of creativity in filmmaking for a stint, but his time has passed.

Sergio Leone's: Once upon a time in the West, best capitulated every frame shot through the Arriflex camera directed toward the actors. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is his best use of mythology in any of his films.

First time I watched that movie it bored me to tears, but on second viewing I was drawn in the movies builds so much tension without much happening; Claudia Cardinale didn't hurt on either viewing.

 

[backbreaker]

I saw just about every movie you listed. The best of those movies IMHO, and the most underrated is the Bad Lieutenant.. shutter island vastly overrated, if it didn't have that cast would not be so hyped.. and that movie (bad lieutenant) doesn't have anything on a movie like enemy of the state or good will hunting, which was like, a 2nd tier movie in 97. That is the year titanic came uot and titanc would crap over all of those movies, as long as it is.

 

[element0]

I saw just about every movie you listed. The best of those movies IMHO, and the most underrated is the Bad Lieutenant.. shutter island vastly overrated, if it didn't have that cast would not be so hyped.. and that movie (bad lieutenant) doesn't have anything on a movie like enemy of the state or good will hunting, which was like, a 2nd tier movie in 97. That is the year titanic came uot and titanc would crap over all of those movies, as long as it is.

Just looking at some of the less than acclaimed movies from 1997-1998 in my DVD rack, and they are much better than the best movies now.

Rounders - 1998
Donnie Brasco - 1997
Boogie Nights - 1997
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - 1998
Truman Show - 1998
Big Lebowski - 1998

 

[squirrels]

Sometimes a movie gets "missed" by the critics. I remember the first time I saw "Rounders"...my roommate and I were bored and wanted to watch something on PPV...we were browsing through flicks no one had heard of and saw something about Matt Damon and high-stakes poker. We were always talking about gambling, so why not?

Then there are some movies that you get so wound up in the action the first time that it's not until the 2nd or 3rd time you watch the movie that the ideas in it REALLY start to blow your mind. "Fight Club" is a perfect example. The first time you watch it, it gets your testosterone up and all you wanna do is act out and be a hooligan. But the second time through, it completely ROCKS your perception of things.

Best movie I've seen recently...Inception, hands down.

Rogue said it best...90% of anything is crap.

 

[Rogue]

Christopher Nolan's Inception and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan were good movies. I even flew up to Washington DC from my home in Orlando to see Black Swan at Georgetown while the film was in limited release. But (not to argue) in my opinion the best two movies I saw last year were Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop (it's up for an Oscar for Best Documentary) and the French movie A Prophet.

Yes, great movies will be made every year, but one thing which does happen is people become locked in their ways. As the bar of excellence is established and as the body of movies we have watched increases, novelty and surprise become harder to come by. It's hard for your mind to be blown when it has already been blown. Thus, we each individually come up with the golden eras of movies released in our time even though there is no real difference in quality between 2010, 2000, 1990, and 1980.

squirrels:
Sometimes a movie gets "missed" by the critics. I remember the first time I saw "Rounders"...my roommate and I were bored and wanted to watch something on PPV...we were browsing through flicks no one had heard of and saw something about Matt Damon and high-stakes poker. We were always talking about gambling, so why not?

Thanks for the reminder. I still have yet to see it.

 

[KarmaSutra]

Unfortunately, after film school, it's impossible for me to watch a film as a spectator. I'm subconsciously looking at shot selection, Eisenstein's Theory of Montage, Mise-en-scène, Campbells' Hero's Journey, editing cuts, sound placement, the D.P's lighting particulars, and how the script was manipulated to accept each shot.

Inception was spectacular. Does it have the power of Billy Wilder's, The Apartment? No. Does it beg for multiple viewings to catch every nuance of Sterling Hayden's fantastic performance in The Killing? Nope.

I'll say Christopher Nolan and The Coen Brothers are THEE filmmakers of our generation.

The best shot film I've ever seen is still Miller's Crossing. Barry Sonnenfeld is a Master lensman.

Black Swan isn't Aronofsky's best film by any stretch. That still lies with Pi. Natalie Portman has been my favorite actress since her upping Gary Oldman in The Professional.

 

[backbreaker]

The best writers seem to be at the premium networks now. Sopranos, oz, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, these are all kick ass shoes. We sat down and started watchin Pillars of the earth tonight (netflix), just wonderful. Why can't we get movies like this I don't know.

 

[Rogue]

I'll say Christopher Nolan and The Coen Brothers are THEE filmmakers of our generation.

I agree with you except I'd add Paul Thomas Anderson to the short list. What do you think of him?

Black Swan isn't Aronofsky's best film by any stretch. That still lies with Pi.

I agree. I've never seen Pi but Black Swan didn't rise to the visceral horror of Requiem for a Dream and so I was kinda let down. It's those expectations from previous works which can screw your enjoyment of a film.

 

[KarmaSutra]

I'm a HUGE Ian McShane guy, but Pillars didn't do jack sh!t for me.

Deadwood will always be close to my heart. Those c0cksuckers...:rockon:

Have any of you had the pleasure of watching Spartacus: Gods of the Arena or Blood and Sand? Though it is gratuitous as fvck, the writing is superb. DeKnight has carte blanche to do whatever the hell he wants.

Starz gave him more control than they gave McFarlane with Family Guy.

 

[KarmaSutra]

I agree with you except I'd add Paul Thomas Anderson to the short list. What do you think of him?I agree. I've never seen Pi but Black Swan didn't rise to the visceral horror of Requiem for a Dream and so I was kinda let down. It's those expectations from previous works which can screw your enjoyment of a film.

P.T. has a phenomenal legacy in the making. The problem is his films are, well; boring.

He wants to be Cecil B. Demill in his extravagance, but he doesn't have the pull of his actors (yet) to make his vision succinct. Marty has Bobby, Quentin has Uma, The Coen Brothers have Jeff Bridges.

Brother, you have to do yourself a favor and buy Pi! Don't even download it for $free.99. It's a film you must own.

 

[romangod]

I'll say Christopher Nolan and The Coen Brothers are THEE filmmakers of our generation.

The best shot film I've ever seen is still Miller's Crossing. Barry Sonnenfeld is a Master lensman.

Natalie Portman has been my favorite actress since her upping Gary Oldman in The Professional.

I'm a big Coen Brothers fan. I find all of their movies beautifully filmed and their characters have depth and humor.



Natalie Portman was a cute kid in The Professional and she's turned into a beautiful woman. She's one of my favorites also. V for Vendetta was an underrated film in my opinion and is worth a look.

I thought Tarantino blew his load with "Pulp Fiction" but was pleasantly surprised with "Inglourious Bastards". It's look and colors were reminiscent of John Ford's "The Searchers" and is in the same league as the Coen Brothers as far as visual appeal.


I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Kubrick. "A Clockwork Orange" was a disturbing masterpiece that captured the book brilliantly. "Barry Lyndon" was visually stunning as were all his films.


Here's a short list of other films I watch over and over again when the mood strikes me.

Trainspotting
A Christmas Story
The Godfather 1 & 2
The Princess Bride
Amadeus
The Lord of the Rings
Spartacus
Goodfellas
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Outlaw Josie Wales
Fargo
The Searchers



Cheers!

 

[Bible_Belt]

True Romance and Natural Born Killers are my favorite movies out of the 90's. Requiem for a Dream gets an honorable mention.