1960: Movies Sorted By Tier
Submitted by stooky on Mon, 07/12/2004 - 11:55
Tags:
Great
- The Apartment
- L’Avventura
- **A fabulous film which seeks depth and barely plumbs a mud puddle, why then is it fabulous? Because the visuals are resplendent, each frame shining like glittering jewels in a gorgeous necklace. Antonionio apparently tries to divine the nature of love, lust and middle aged men, and he has a great story, aided by the best red herring outside a Hitchcock film. The story centres around a group of rich, pampered Italians cruising about the ocean who come upon a small island. They decide to spend the day cavorting about and sunbathing when one of their numbers inexplicably disappears without a trace. Unable to find any trace of her this event triggers a change in the lives of her closest friends, spiritually and mentally. The plot remains barely developed while the characters slowly become complex individuals. The point being, I suppose, to make a great human epic that relinquishes story to find insight, create another language for films to use. That did indeed happen, a generation of young filmmakers owe their entire oeuvres to “L’Avventura”. Yet what remains in your mind days after watching are the incredible vistas, immaculate close-ups, shots of clothing on top of flesh. More than anything else Antonionio created a new standard for beauty, which is the true marvel.
- La Dolce Vita
- The Magnificent Seven
- Peeping Tom
- Psycho
- Purple Noon
- Shoot The Piano Player
- The Time Machine
Very Good
- Elmer Gantry
- The Fall Of The House Of Usher
- Inherit The Wind
- The League Of Gentlemen
- Pollyanna
- Spartacus
- The Sundowners
- Swiss Family Robinson
Good
- The Entertainer
- Never On Sunday
- The Rat Race
- Sons And Lovers
- Tunes Of Glory
Guilty Pleasures
- Butterfield 8
- The World Of Suzie Wong
- **Probably the most racist entertaining film I’ve seen.
Average
- Ballad Of A Soldier
- **My lord is this movie long (88 minutes, yes I'm being sarcastic, but it did seem like 3 hours watching it), pretentious, maudlin and over-melodramatic in an embarssing Russian way that makes your skin wanna crawl. There's nothing really wrong with the acting...or the story...and frankly the camerwork is downright masterful. Yet it's awe-inspiring how completely average this film is. It's a "Russian Classic" but if it weren't for the subtitles you'd mistake it for some average 1950's American weeper about a soldier.
- Bells Are Ringing
- The Brides Of Dracula
- G.I. Blues
- The Last Of The Mohicans
- Macbeth
- North To Alaska
- Village Of The Damned
Dreck
- The Alamo
- Can-Can
- Ocean’s Eleven
The Big Stink
- Cinderfella
- Flaming Star
- The Wast Woman
Unfortunately Haven’t Seen
- The Angry Silence
- The Grass Is Greener
- Man On A String
- The Music Room
- Rocco And His Brothers
- Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (half)
- Seven Thieves
- Shadows
- Sunrise At Campobello
- The Testament Of Orpheus
- Two-Way Stretch
- When Comedy Was King
- Wild River
Cloned From:
I need your help, stooky :-)
I just watched La Dolce Vita, which is widely acclaimed as one of the best films ever, and certainly one of Fellini's best.
But I couldn't figure out what people love about it.
If ever a film was episodic, it's this one. If ever a film had nothing to say and no purpose, it's this one. It's not even a psychological drama. It's certainly interesting, and the characters are well-developed, but I don't understand what's so great about it. Daring narrative structure alone doesn't make a good film, there must be something here I'm missing.
I figured I'd better probe this one before I post a review, because otherwise I'll be panning what is widely respected as one of the best films ever, so I'm probably just not getting something.
I did, however, love that scene were the paparazzi is photographing this one woman who supposedly saw a manifestation. They take pictures of her against one wall, pointing at nothing at all (but supposedly, the manifestation). They move her to the railing on the other side of the walkway, she again points at nothing, facing the other way, and they photograph her doing that. She fakes crying a bit and they praise her. Hilarious.
and the opening shot, of course :-)
Oh my goodness!
Nevermind, sorry to bother you!
I was so frustrated that I started watching the movie again to see what was wrong with me. I didn't find out what had been wrong with me, but I suddenly found myself enjoying and appreciating the film the second time around. I think maybe I was sick to my stomach, or to my head, or half falling asleep, or temporarily insane when I watched the film the first time. I dunno, something was seriously wrong :-)
I now love almost every scene (especially after the first hour). I can appreciate that this movie isn't really about plot, it's more a study of characters and a society, like The Rules of the Game or (duh!) 8 1/2. I also understand it's often not about incredibly complex characters, but about refreshingly simple ones - often archetypal. I had just been assuming that archetypal characters were meant for mainstream mythological stories like Star Wars, and not for three hour character studies.
Gosh, that was scary - I hope I haven't 'whigged out' during viewings of other movies without knowing it and not been able to appreciate them because of it. I think I may have been possessed of a demon or had an alternate personality take over or something...
anyway, thanks for putting up with me, I'll stop bothering you now (about La Dolce Vita, anyway).
I bet that's what happened during Modern Times too. :-)
hahaha. Could be, I guess I'll have to watch that again some time down the line. I just hope that, if La Dolce Vita hasn't been the only such experience for me, then it has happened VERY rarely.
I'm glad you re-watched, I was writing a long essay on the film which I can now discard in it's unedited infancy. I find that certain directors (particularily Fellini, Bunuel & Tarkovsky) partake of the joy that is characters reacting to their environment in almost plotless film. It's as if they put these people in glass cages and let them tear each other apart.
I'm thinking Modern Times as well, I would find it hard not to love Chaplin at the peak of his eloquent debacle.
T'ho
:?)
I'm sorry to have started you off on a long essay and then made it unnecessary!
No problem...if I didn't have at least 10 things to think about simultaneously I'd go stir crazy. It's good practice for my future as the intellectual star of Cananda. :?)
T'ho
;?)