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Post by shaxper on Apr 12, 2002 12:12:27 GMT -5
We've been debating about the state of literature lately, and it's really gotten me thinking. If you were a Londoner in the 1590s, Doctor Faustus and Romeo and Juliet were the recent shows you'd seen, and Shakespeare and Marlowe were "pretty good stuff". They wrote in the most common medium, and merely served as a form of entertainment; certainly not art for the ages.
What if the same can be said about the age we live in? Maybe the past few years haven't produced any Shakespeares, but will the film you just saw last week be revered as an artistic legend? It's amazing how many amazing film works (the new common medium) have been produced over the past half century.
So my question. Looking back on the past five years, which were the best films that you saw? They don't have to be tear-jerkers, or particularly "artistic" films; just the ones that had the most impact and continue to stay with you. The ones that you'll remember forever.
Here are mine. Keep in mind that this is based solely upon what I've seen. 1997 was my most difficult choice because I didn't see much that year:
1997: The English Patient 1998: The Big Lebowski 1999: Boys Don't Cry 2000: Titus 2001: Hedwig and the Angry Inch 2002 (so far): The Royal Tenenbaums
Finally, what's the single best film you've ever seen? I know it's a tough question to answer.
Mine would be Pink Floyd: The Wall
Looking back on the past five years, 1998-2002 have been chock-full of amazing stuff. Each choice was either difficult because there was SO much to choose from (ex.1998) or incredibly simple because the one I loved the most was TOO amazing to pass up (ex.1999,2001). I wish I'd seen more in 1997. Maybe I'm just not thinking hard enough. I loved The English Patient, but not enough to ever sit through it again. I considered Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet, but I hate that film at least as much as I love it.
How about you?
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Desdemona
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Post by Desdemona on Apr 14, 2002 7:21:17 GMT -5
That's a rather tough question... many movies I saw a few years ago, don't interest me anymore today. My taste changed, I guess. I also don't usually remember the year in which I saw a particular movie--plus I live in Europe, which means I get to see new movies later than you all in the States... but I tried to refresh my memory and this is what I came up with:
1996 Romeo + Juliet 1997 LA Confidential, The Sweet Hereafter 1998 American History X, Lola Rennt, Festen 1999 Being John Malkovich, Sleepy Hollow, The Talented Mr. Ripley 2000 Titus 2001 The Man Who Wasn't There, Moulin Rouge, The Anniversary Party 2002 Monster's Ball, The Royal Tenenbaums, Hable Con Ella
I know, I was supposed to only choose one movie a year, but that's really too difficult; I've left out many great films already. About 'Romeo + Juliet'... of course there are things about it that I don't like, e.g. the trying to be too cool, like Ganymede said, but in general I just love that movie. 'Lola Rennt' is a German film and 'Festen' is a Danish one; that probably explains why most paople haven't heard of them, but REALLY, you should see them. 2000 was a tough year to choose a film from; I just can't remember any other movie than 'Titus', which I very much liked, but I don't think it's really THE best movie I've seen that year. This year I haven't seen taht many movies yet, so I had a very limited set of titles to choose from. Apart from 'Monster's Ball', I also liked 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'The Others'.
I don't think I can choose the best movie ever... therefore I haven't seen enough by far. And if I choose one today, tomorrow I will prefer another one. If I really have to pick one today it'd be 'American History X' I think, because it really gets to you--to me anyway. Edward Norton is the best actor I know at the moment and he plays his role magnificently. At first you hate him, but throughout the film his character changes, and you change your mind about him. And the end of course is incredibly cruel, but I think it's also very realistic... many things in life don't have a happy ending. This movie also has the best soundtrack I know: you notice the music while watching, but it doesn't distract your attention. I have listened to that cd a thousand times already and I never get tired of it.
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Post by Ganymede on Apr 14, 2002 21:56:50 GMT -5
Like Desdemona, I can't remember which year movies were released in, so I'm just going to give you all a sampling of my favorite movies, in no particular order because the order changes depending on my mood.
Edward Scissorhands Life is Beautiful Ever After The Wedding Singer Hedwig and the Angry Inch The Rocky Horror Picture Show Amadeus Pink Floyd: The Wall The Graduate Ghostbusters Some Like It Hot
I'm sure I'm leaving movies out, but there's a good sampling already. All these movies are incredibly different, and I love them all for different reasons. Some of the move me, some of them are just fun. For example, Ever After is a movie that makes me feel good-- I have no problem watching it a couple times a year. And of course, Ghostbusters is just frickin' hilarious. I have that movie memorized. (It's unfortunate that comedies don't receive the attention they deserve!) In contrast, Life is Beautiful takes a lot out of me every time I watch it so I can't see it too often.
I own almost all these movies, which says something. Owning a movie makes it mine, and in some ways, most of these movies feel like they belong to me, I connect to them so deeply.
Don't know if that answered your question. I think movies can be such a personal thing that it's hard to gauge which movies will last beyond our time period. A lot of movies may fall through the cracks for a long time before reemerging as one of our period's greatest works of artistic expression. It's hard to say. I think we also have to consider how these films may be interpreted in a different time, which inevitably means a different historical context. Perhaps a movie that gets little attention now will become poignant to people living centuries down the road.
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Post by nolablue on Apr 15, 2002 10:19:33 GMT -5
This comes at an opportune moment, when Dmitri and I were discussing what movies we would want saved for our children, what movies we thought taught something important. That prompted me to want to go back and review a lot of movies with posterity in mind--a project that's just getting underway. I couldn't begin to tell you my favorite movie of all time, but here's the list of Movies To Make Children Geniuses With, so far:
My Neighbor Totoro Lola Rennt (marketed Stateside as Run Lola Run) Red (French film by Kiezlowski, part of the Trois Couleurs series. I didn't like Blue as much and I have yet to see White) Dark City Fargo The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman) A Tale of Winter (French film by Erich Rohmer, which shares themes with Shakespeare's 'Winter's Tale')
I'm sure I'm forgetting something somewhere along the line.
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Post by shaxper on Apr 15, 2002 11:01:37 GMT -5
Good choices, but are you really going to show Fargo and Dark City to your kids?
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Post by nolablue on Apr 16, 2002 9:08:40 GMT -5
Of course I will, when they're a little older. I would wait 'til they were older for a lot of these, with the exception of perhaps Totoro.
Speaking of Totoro, I forgot to mention Laputa, also a Miyazaki film, also held hostage by Disney in the US and is thus only available in fansub (at my local anime store 5 minutes from here, yay!)
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Desdemona
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Post by Desdemona on Apr 16, 2002 13:24:35 GMT -5
Nolablue, does 'Laputa' have anything to do with Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels'?
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Post by nolablue on Apr 17, 2002 8:00:24 GMT -5
I never read all of Gulliver's Travels, so I don't know if he might have made mention of it. In any case the film's full title is "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" and it's about a legendary empire that once ruled the world from a castle above the clouds. It's set in late Victorian times and is about a little girl who has an amulet which is the key to finding the location of the castle, and all the people who want to take that amulet from her for various reasons. It's an incredibly beautiful movie, and like most Miyazaki films is characterized by a reverence for nature and far fewer real villains than you might first expect.
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Post by shaxper on Apr 17, 2002 11:53:02 GMT -5
Is Miyazaki the one who did Princess Mononoke?
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Post by nolablue on Apr 17, 2002 14:07:39 GMT -5
Yes, and My Neighbor Totoro. All his films released in the States were bought up by Disney, and Disney is now holding them hostage in various ways. Princess Mononoke was poorly distributed to theaters, making it difficult for people to find out about it and see it--leading Disney to say, oh dear, there just isn't a demand for this kind of thing....My Neighbor Totoro is not scheduled to be released on DVD ever, and Laputa as I've said is only available fansubbed. I believe Miyazaki also did a film about a lion cub which was the direct inspration for Lion King, though that might be another anime.
Miyazaki is an amazing talent. Even though he has animators working for him, he still personally oversees each cell. He has an instinct for the way people, especially children, actually behave. If his films were properly distributed in the US, they could give any Disney movie a run for their money, but he isn't interested in distribution outside of Japan and so what Disney has done with his films doesn't bother him.
I'm depressed now. I think I'll eat some chocolate and plot stealing David's stuffed Totoro.
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Post by shaxper on Apr 27, 2002 18:06:40 GMT -5
Amazingly, Disney has also acquired the rights to The Wiggles, a kid show from Australia that ranks as possibly the stupidist, most ridiculous form of kids' entertainment that I have ever seen, and they show their videos regularly on the Disney Channel. I think it's definately an issue of Disney being the strongest animating company in The West. They can't be shown up. Interestingly, they borrowed heavily from Japanese anime in creating Atlantis. Unfortunately, Disney botched that pretty badly. I hate corperations
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Post by nolablue on Apr 29, 2002 8:44:41 GMT -5
Disney also borrowed from anime for The Lion King, though I can't remember the name of the original Japanese film. I suspect it was a Miyazaki film once again.
I really need some English-speaking friends in Japan so we can start an anime-smuggling ring....
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Post by shaxper on May 20, 2002 9:06:05 GMT -5
A revision to my earlier votes for this thread:
I just saw A.I. the other night, and it completely floored me. I was expecting an overly manipulative sentimental piece with a simple plot and overly done special effects. What I got was one of the strangest films I've ever seen; very much haead of its time. I don't know if any other film has ever gotten me to cry the way that one did either. It wasn't a perfect film, but it was immensely powerful. It now replaces my earlier vote for the best film of 2001. I highly recommend that everyone sees it.
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N.N.W
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Post by N.N.W on May 27, 2002 10:25:46 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] - I'm a big David Lynch fan... he can do no wrong in my eyes...
...except for Dune... [/glow]
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Desdemona
Money Lender
He was not of an age, but for all time!
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Post by Desdemona on May 30, 2002 3:59:48 GMT -5
David Lynch is absolutely great indeed! One thing I really like about his films is that the soundtracks are great. I could listen to the Lost Highway soundtrack 24 7...
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