Greatest Films

Barry Lyndon is an 8.5/10 for me. Once I get around to re-watching all my movies it will move farther down the list. It ranks highly for me because it is without a doubt one of the most beautifully photographed films of all time. On top of that, the costumes & soundtrack are flawless. Why do you think O'Neil was miscast? Thematically it's a rather simple film: innocent young man gets his heart broken and then tramples beauty wherever he goes. I urge you to give it another shot, it's one of Kubrick's finest.

It's a wonderful film and one of the best silent films I've seen. Definitely check out Metropolis if you haven't, for my money the most formidable silent film of all time and one of the greatest works of art of the 20th century, if I may be so bold.

Great film, really surprised me. I was thinking sappy romance movie, but Linklater made a remarkable film. Have you seen Before Sunset & is it any good?

He's certainly one of my favorite directors. Have you seen "Slacker"? It's a lot like "Waking Life" and a lot less didactic. Just a camera drifting around Austin, eavesdropping on an interesting conversation, then moving across the street to catch up on another one. It gradually becomes this reflection on communication. "Dazed and Confused" ranks high with me, at least an 8.0; not surprised to see it made Criterion collection.

Well said. I'll add that Barry Lyndon is something of a "Story without a Hero" as Barry is not like most protagonists. He's more like your regular human being - selfish, passionate & vain. There is little about him that is romanticized. You're right, he's at the mercy of more powerful forces and in Barry's case I believe that force to be the ruthless society that is always closing in on him.

I've been watching Barry Lyndon a lot the past few months and what surprised is how much my perception of it has changed over time. First of all, I've yet to hear someone say anything intelligible about Ryan O'Neil's performance. Out of all of Kubrick's films, no one is more 'human' that Redmond Barry and no other film of his has as much genuine feeling. That could be what is so hard about enjoying this film - it's really just a tale of frail human emotions.

Everyone seems to think that Redmond is one of the weak parts and that this was intentional. He has his faults that is undeniable, but the movie is really about him. And the more you watch it, the more empathize with him and how unfair his life has been. The idea that the characters are insignificant in the grand scheme of the film is probably the most blasphemous and untrue statement one could make. I can understand that being the case in a film like 2001, but this is not that film (at all). This is literally a movie about Redmond Barry and the people he loves or encounters. That is literally what it is about. There are other themes of course, but that's what the movie is at its core. It's not really political, philosophical, historical or even psychological, at least not to the extent that other Kubrick films are. It is really a case of what you see is what you get. He is just showing you a man's life, it's ups and downs.

It's true what a lot of people have said about the narrator, though I wouldn't call him unreliable. He just has his own way of looking at things and it isn't necessarily matched by what is taking place on the screen. You can learn a lot from him, but he's often filling you in on something quite far removed from the actual movie and also sometimes he is completely off base. His purpose often seems to be to lessen the emotional impact of scenes, and if you shut him out you can find the most tenderest of moments. Take for instance when Redmond wins the duel against Captain Quinn; he rides home and his Mother comes running out of the house and flings her arms around him because she wasn't sure if she would ever see him again. You can barely notice this exchange because the narrator is talking about how different Barry's fate would have been had he not falling in love with Nora etc. This is only one example of which there are countless. The narrator is almost like a counter-point to the film, like in Bach's music, he is there to compliment and provide his own melody. The important thing is to focus on the more important part of the film. The narrator doesn't really say anything particularly useful at all.

One of the film's biggest strengths is it's marriage of film and music. I really cannot think of any other film that uses music to signal emotions within the characters as masterfully. I point to this clip as an example of that. It's also a good example of the narrator's take on things vs. what is actually being filmed. In the first scene, it looks like Redmond is seeing Lady Lyndon for the first time and falling in love with her at first sight. The narrator's claims seem pretty unlikely given what is shown. But really it's all about the music and the images.

I don't know which is better, but they are both excellent films. So is Punch Drunk Love for that matter, and of course There Will Be Blood. The thing is, it's been awhile since I've watched P.T. Anderson's films again. He used to be one of my top 5 directors when I started to seriously get into movies awhile back. Magnolia was just the most recent one I watched, and that's basically why it's on. I would not fault you at all for ranking Boogie Nights higher - I think it very well could be better. There's many, many great moments in it and an exceptional experience on the whole. I love that long shot of little Bill at the new years eve party.

Barry Lyndon is indeed a stunning film to look at, as are all of Kubrick's films, and I'll admit that ever since I saw Barry Lyndon (about 5 years ago) the visuals were mostly all I admired about it. It's always been one of my least favourite Kubrick movies up until about 6 months ago. What gets me most about it is how passionate Barry is as a young man, but over the course of his journeys his romantic soul slowly withers away due to his experiences with fate. His relationship with Lord Bullington is painful to watch because his step-son is in many ways a reincarnation of Barry when he was younger, and thus he's made aware of how he has turned into what he always despised. It's not an easy movie to sum up, but there's a lot more to say about it and I know I won't do it justice; though I think the addition of the narrator is interesting because he represents the rational man looking back indignantly on his former, boisterous, soul and completely misunderstanding himself. So that we're not just watching Barry's story, but an old detached man watching Barry's story, in order to show how we'll never understand the past, never fully understand ourselves.

The fact is, I love Kubrick: he has taught me a lot about life and I share a very similar world-view as contained in his films. To me he is the epitome of the pessimistic and aloof rationalist, with a paradoxical romantic fervor. He also introduced me to Nietzsche and Freud, two of the greatest thinkers ever imo. In short, he's my hero. So there's no possible way I can be objective regarding the artistic quality of his films. Although I do think his cinematography is generally among the greatest in all of cinema. Paths of Glory is a great film, though you'd have to be nuts to take that one over just about any other film he did after that. As for good taste - right back at ya.

Battleship Potyomkin is pretty boring by today's standards, as are many of the old silent films. But what really made it stand out for me is its enthusiasm for Socialism and Anarchy. It's basically a throbbing love-poem written for Bolshevism, and my understanding is that it was a propaganda film. I find this really touching to watch, no matter how naive. It's the best example of Socialism in film I've seen, aside from Seven Samurai. Though nonetheless I understand why people don't like it, and I think it's generally very overrated (it often gets mentioned quite highly).

Woody Allen has gotten funnier and funnier to me only after I figure out what he's saying. His jokes are quite esoteric in many ways, and I find it helps to be equipped with a basic understanding of existentialism (esp. Kierkegaarde), psychoanalysis & popular culture. But all that aside, he's also a talented director who writes and films beautiful stories. What are your top 3 Bergman films, and do you enjoy him in general? Matrix I feel is a stunning myth of the meaning of life, of waking up to reality. It's a very religious/philosophic movie and I thought it was filmed in a very sophisticated way. It also possesses some of the best special effects and action sequences I have seen, though I'll admit it's something of an oddity on this list.