My Favorite Films
Submitted by Kza on Sat, 06/26/2004 - 10:06
Tags:
- Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)
- Return of the Living Dead (1985, Dan O'Bannon)
- Stalker (1980, Andrei Tarkovsky)
- Irma Vep (1996, Olivier Assayas)
- Dead Man (1996, Jim Jarmusch)
- Winchester '73 (1950, Anthony Mann)
- Them! (1954, Gordon Douglas)
- Deep Red (1975, Dario Argento)
- King Kong (1933, Merian Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack)
- Our Hospitality (1923, Buster Keaton)
- War of the Gargantuas (1966, Ishiro Honda)
- My Neighbor Totoro (1993, Hayao Miyazaki)
- The Leopard Man (1943, Jacques Tourneur)
- Dragonslayer (1981, Matthew Robbins)
- Messiah of Evil (1975, Willard Huyck)
Author Comments:
Constantly updated, as I think of them.
Also, the first and second are literally nos. 1 & 2 of all-time; everthing else is tied for #3.
Damn, how could I forget Jaws?
Geez, I hate to admit it (as both a friend and a major zombie-flick fan), but I'm not a fan of "Return of the Living Dead". IMO, it has the same problem as many post-"NOTLD" horror flicks... the characters are obnoxious, one-dimensional Bickersons. But then, that's just my take...
Well, I don't expect anyone to show the kind of devotion to ROTLD that I do (99/100). I'll be the first to admit that it's kind of like being devoted to, I don't know, Mannequin or something.
I've always wanted to write a long piece about the movie, but never seem to get around to it. If I did, I think some of my notes would read thusly:
* The Dr. Strangelove of zombie movies; needs comedy to offset nihilism inherent in premise.
* Very funny: the split dogs, "We've known each other 20 years, he might do it out of friendship, I don't know", the military guy and his wife.
* O'Bannon interested in showing people doing their everyday jobs: the intro to the warehouse, Ernie and the corpse, the paramedics. Similar interest shown in Dark Star and Alien.
* Historical precedent: running zombies, "brains!"
* Hawksian overlapping dialogue; "punk rockers" form an interesting unit, with clear visual differentation between characters, a pecking order, relationships are not deep but are clearly sketched in. No one ever mentions that Freddy is the link between the punk rockers and the new wavers; some groups of friends work that way, where two people have nothing in common except for a relationship with a third person.
* THERE IS NO PROTAGONIST, from what I can tell, which is somthing I'm still trying to get my head around, from a structural standpoint. Possible that it is a group protagonist.
* "Slimy Zombie" is an amazing design; has a distinctive walk, which can't be said of many zombies.
*Some of my favorite cinematography in a horror film: Tina's solo walk to the warehouse, the car crossing the railroad tracks as dust billows, the revelation of the Slimy Zombie via curtain. Probably was influenced by Creepshow and EC Comics, only toned-down for a slightly more realistic look.
That's enough for now... :-)
Dude, pick up the new issue of Fangoria -- six-page retrospective on "ROTLD"!
Dammit -- I keep forgetting to do this...