100 Films Closer to Death

Films, TV shows, and books of the 'modern' era
Mr. Arkadin
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Lots of my favorites included here. Within Our Gates is an amazing film. As MJ noted, it was originally a rebuttal of BOAN, but stands well on its own merit.

Straw Dogs can be referenced with Polanski's black comedy Cul de Sac (1966), which delivers a similar message, but without the mantrap (although Peckinpah's physical device is an accurate representation of both women in each film).

Last Tango is another great work that should be discussed in this forum. Interesting that you saw this one and Realm of the Senses in a short span. Perhaps a compare/contrast is in order.

A great film about film, Day for a Night is essential Truffaut and one of his better 70's works (along with The Story of Adele H., Small Change, and The Green Room). Scorsese once said that 8 1/2 and Peeping Tom comprise everything one needs to know about filmmaking, but few artists are able to translate a movie fan's love and infatuation like Truffaut.

The Tin Drum = German New Wave lives! Next stop, The Ninth Day (2004).
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MichiganJ
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by MichiganJ »

srowley75 wrote:I'm planning to see more Melville. I've liked what I've seen of his stylish and impressive-looking films, but I just can't quite keep in step with his pacing. It just seems off to me.
Bob le Flambeur is more of a character study; the plot doesn't even begin 'til 30 or 40-minutes into the film. I think you may find Melville's other films better paced.
srowley75 wrote:*Last Tango in Paris (1972) - a masterpiece. A new favorite of mine.
And Brando's best performance.
srowley75 wrote:*Day for Night (1973) - Exhilarating and uplifting. Valentina Cortese and Jean Pierre Aumont are wonderful.
One of, if not the best film in one of my favorite genres: films about making films.
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srowley75
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by srowley75 »

A few I've re-visited in the past few weeks:

*Stella Dallas (1937) - wonderful melodrama. All the actresses involved delivered wonderful performances.
*High Sierra (1941) - yet another highly entertaining Warners classic. I have a feeling if I'd lived during the classic era, I'd have been a frequent customer at the theater playing Warner Bros. films.
*A Nous la Liberte (1931) - Outstanding. I liked this one much more than the pleasant Le Million. I have this feeling if I did an Oscar redux for 1931 or so, most of my nominees would be foreign films/actors.
*Ace in the Hole (1951) - basically an expose of 21st century cable journalism, made in 1951.
*Ikiru (1952) - it'd been far, far too long since I'd seen this one from Kurosawa (I'd call it a classic, but what Kurosawa movie isn't?)
*Earrings of Madame de... (1953) - OK, but I confess I actually find Ophuls' Caught (1949) a lot more interesting and wish it would get some of the attention that this one seems to have enjoyed for years.

Currently working my way through the Apu trilogy (I'm currently halfway through Aparajito), and while I know I'd seen it before, it certainly feels like the first time. So many of these films have convinced me that I need to revisit everything I saw before the age of 25 or so.

Hoping to dig out my old, old VHS copy of The Baker's Wife (1938) this weekend and try to decipher the washed out white subs against the black and white background.

-S.
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moira finnie
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by moira finnie »

The longer you pursue this cinematic quest, the more interesting your choice of films seems to be! I am hoping that you will have time to continue it while pursuing your studies, Steven. You have reminded me that many of the films I first saw in my teens should be viewed again. Love your comment on Ace in the Hole, though it was certainly prescient about the future, it really seemed to encapsulate everything crass about American life, which we can now see 24/7 in our own homes, on our phones and soon, no doubt, in our mind's eye, if technology continues to outdistance common sense.
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srowley75
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by srowley75 »

Thanks, Moira. Yes, it's been fun. If anyone might be interested, I was going to post my own checklist on my Facebook page on or around my 35th birthday (which will be in October). I'm hoping to make it to 600 by then, but with work and school and all, I'm not holding my breath.

I don't mean to give these films short shrift discussion-wise, either. I'd love to discuss Realm of the Senses vs. Last Tango in a separate thread. My take (more or less) was that Realm of the Senses more or less centered on sex (and I guess you could throw love in there as well), while Last Tango was about so much more. Actually, I think Last Tango has been wrongly branded by some as a "dirty movie," but it's not what so many people seem to think it is.

I do think it's Brando's best performance, easily. It's funny to read the IMDB trivia about that performance - he was truly a character. Surprised that Bertolucci didn't follow that film up with a roman a clef comedy project based purely on Brando. Last Tango made me want to see The Conformist sooner than later.
Mr. Arkadin
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

srowley75 wrote:I do think it's Brando's best performance, easily.
Possibly. I'm not a huge Brando fan, but when he's on his game, few can touch him. My favorite of his roles, Viva Zapata (1952), will actually be playing on TCM soon.
srowley75 wrote:Surprised that Bertolucci didn't follow that film up with a roman a clef comedy project based purely on Brando. Last Tango made me want to see The Conformist sooner than later.

While The Conformist is a technical masterpiece (film books love to reference it--particularly its camerawork and framing), I don't see the same depth in performances, or themes as Last Tango in Paris. This is no fault of the actors (I am a big fan of Jean-Louis Trintignant), but the way Bertolucci uses his characters.
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by klondike »

I saw Last Tango in Paris when new at a local theatre, and afterward found it gave me a great deal to think on, and reflect about.
But the most immediate effect it had was to greatly reduce my appetite for butter, and make me wax meditative over grease & oil stains on garage floors.
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ChiO
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by ChiO »

Although I loved LAST TANGO IN PARIS upon release, the last time I watched it was about five years ago -- and I still loved it (note to self: watch it again...soon).

It is also the only soundtrack album I've ever purchased. Because of this cut:

[youtube][/youtube]
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I agree about Brando, at his best few could touch him.

I like Last Tango in Paris and the sex scenes in it didn't bother me at all, in fact they seemed quite tame when I first saw it in the 90s, yet In the Realm of the Senses I saw only a couple of years ago and found some of the content not to my taste, it's not because I'm a prude it's the mutilation. A similar scene is in Cries and Whispers, for me I don't need to be lead that far.

I would welcome a discussion on Last Tango in Paris. The monologue Brando gives as Paul contains details of his own life, I think it's the closest Brando ever came to revealing himself on screen.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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srowley75
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by srowley75 »

Am now slowly - VERY slowly, considering all I've had to do - working my way through a copy of one of Brownlow's restorations of Napoleon (1922), which has been fun thus far. If this one plays at any of the TCM festivals, I've come to the point where I will literally sell my lungs to get there. I must see this one on a big screen at some point.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Kevin's restoration of Napoleon is superlative and the Carl Davis score maginificent. One wonders what Gance would have achieved if he's have filmed the remaining episodes. It's a tantalising work of a genius.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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srowley75
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by srowley75 »

I absolutely love the photography and editing, but I'm not sure yet what to make of Dieudonne's performance as Napoleon. So far about all he's done has been to look surly, sort of like Sam the Eagle. I still have quite a way to go, however.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: 100 Films Closer to Death

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Yes, I can see why you'd think that. He does impart a certain amount of romance into the role of the young Napoleon. Contrasting this with Charles Boyer's Napoleon in Conquest, a very different performance, a different man. Did Napoleon change so much from the young captain to the middle aged Emperor. I find Napoleon a fascinating subject and to my annoyance a subject we never covered at school despite the importance of the man and the wars he fought. I'd love to watch a really good documentary or read a really good book about him.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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