DVDizzy Forum

Been catching up on 'classic movies that I must see before I die' this week.

Last night I watched the hilariously witty It Happened One Night (1934), with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. It was the first film to win all 5 top Oscars - Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay - and justifiably so. Very few aspects of this film have dated, particularly not the dialogue or the sense of humour. A near-perfect romantic comedy.

Rating: A+

Before that it was From Here to Eternity (1953), the classic rolling around on the beach war picture. While there are aspects of this film that are overrated, it is definitely a 'classic'. We get not one, but TWO forbidden love stories and the doomed Sinatra is perfect. The last 10 minutes that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor are more effective than the entire 17 hours of a Bruckheimer film (well, Pearl Harbor felt that long).

Rating: A

Prior to that it was Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens)(1935), Leni Riefenstahl infamous NAZI propaganda film. Hitler himself praised the film as being an "incomparable glorification of the power and beauty of our Movement". While the film is very much a glorification of the national socialist movement and Hitler as the Fuhrer, as a technical bit of filmmaking it is phenomenal. While Riefenstahl has lots of toys at her disposal, the camerawork is fabulous - including overhead shots of the parade and Hitler descending from the clouds with the sun behind his head framed to look like a halo. The fact that the film is such a sickening glorification of a terrible regime makes the film all the more powerful. Many will find this hard to watch, but it is hard to deny that this is great technical filmmaking.

Rating: A for the film as a film, and not for what it has to say.

Currently Watched: "The Pink Panther" starring Peter Sellers. Boy, I laughed so much throughout the film. One of the best scenes was the ballroom where Inspector Closeau accidently litted a fire-cracker that shoots fireworks throughout the room all together! The car chase scene is also hilarious! I still think that "The Return of the Pink Panther" may be the best of them all in my opinion, but this film is great and I think it may be my second favorite of the Pink Panther saga.

I'll give this rating an "A", just because of Peter Sellers.

SAW 2


What happened with the original concept?

The movie starts, moves well for a while and then.... FLOP!

For the first time in a movie series, I'm not going to buy the sequel.

PS

Except for Disney ones that I don't buy either

Showgirls

Coneheads

Evil Genie Jafar wrote:SAW 2

Saw 2?

Yeah, so what was the other movie you SAW?

(Boom-khish - sorry, couldn't resist).

I also saw Saw 2.

I've started a tide of bad puns.

Well, this morning I went looking for The Searchers (1956). Although I've always been a big fan of westerns, my interests were always in the Spaghetti Westerns and not the John Ford/John Wayne school of cowboys. However, I've been catching up. The plot, concerning the search for Wayne's niece, kidnapped by Comanches has been seen so many times since (and possibly before) that it may turn people off. However, the film is so beautifully shot by Ford - and frequent Ford collaborator Winton Hoch (cinematographer) - and well paced that much can be forgiven. While Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name may define the "western anti-hero" for many (myself included), Wayne's increasingly questionable Ethan Edwards brings all of those traits to light almost 10 years before A Fistful of Dollars. Of course, Wayne is a "true American hero" and can't plough too far off the rails, but it is great to see him play a bit more than the typical 'variation on a theme'. Also, while not quite being Dances with Wolves, the comments on racism are also quite interesting from mainstream Hollywood of the 1950s. An iconic film, with some iconic scenes (like that last fantastic shot)!

Rating: A+

I watched Godzilla: Final Wars last night, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

What strikes the viewer the most is that the film is made with a deep love and affection for the series. It doesn't pretend to be deep or profound, and indeed, the film is a hotch-potch of styles and genres. But although they don't take the movie seriously, the creators take the legacy of the series seriously.

I don't really know why the Godzilla movies don't get more "respect" in the West. The Godzilla mythology is no different to various Western comicbook mythologies - in fact, Final Wars was very "comicbooky" in it's approach.

I like how the Japanese can accept the inherent sillyness of the concept - an even have fun with it (witness the "US" Godzilla in Final Wars, who puts up no fight what-so-ever against the "real" Godzilla), while the Western audience has to analyse and rationalise every little detail.

The Columbia filmed US Godzilla used a CGI Godzilla (not something I object too) but had to redesign the monster so it looked more Lizard like and generally more plausable. But when you have a 25+ story high monster, it will never be "plausable" and thus, in an attempt to make the monster be more embraced by the audience, they failed. Especially when later the film was filled with such implausabilities as the monster "hiding" in the subway system, when it quite obviously wouldn't fit, etc.

So bravo for the Japanese with their men in rubber suits, stunning model work, cheesy and cliched alien invasion master plot, and Earth Defense Force personal subplot. The whole film had the feel and appeal of a big comicbook crossover "event" and despite it's inherent sillyness, it was still an exciting and involving film, with flashes of humour, excitement and originality.

Currently Watched: "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer" (1985)

The film is great for such a 1980's cartoon. However, the film had few minor flaws but the rest is ok.

In my opinion, the villian, known as the princess, was similiar to Madam Medusa from the Rescuers. That woman is always greedy and she wants to get the diamond spectra, which it caused the universe to die itself.

Irky and Murky's attempt to search the diamond is priceless. They stole the show and the film just to make me laugh. I don't remember any other attempts from the tv series, but they always become my favorite villians.

In terms of animation quality and plot, I'll give this a "C+". Only some minor flaws affect my rating of this film but it's the 80's style! You can't go wrong with that.

Watched Fellini's 8½ (1963) this worning before work (yes, I was up very early).

Now, I thought that the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland was trippy! While this is what most filmmakers consider to be Fellini's best work, largely because it is a movie about a filmmaker and filmmaking, it appeals to be because of the whole dreamlike nature of the film. It is not immediately apparent what is happening or who the protagonist is, and like a dream, it begins to unravel and make sense. I think I will have to watch this again to fully understand it, but as a piece of cinema it is truly outstanding. Influences can be seen in the works of Woody Allen, to be sure, especially something like Stardust Memories.

Rating: A+

The Legend of Zorro

Dune - the director's cut of the miniseries from 2000, which has now become my second favorite miniseries (next to Lonesome Dove, of course!). Now I gotta watch Children of Dune. I started it last night, but had to turn it off to watch Suite Life of Zach and Cody.

Escapay

Today I watched Fletch Lives.

All The President's Men. Ahh, the good ole days, when a crooked president didn't have one party rule & could be held accountable for his actions.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I have never seen any of the Wallace & Gromit stuff, but I really enjoyed this movie. I rented it, but will be picking it up eventually. Great movie.

Just watched Ultimate Avengers

One Day in September (1999): Well, I really should have seen this before I went and saw Munich, but I left it until now. There is more emotional resonance in the 94 minutes of this excellent doco, than there was in the far too long Spielberg film. Top shelf documentary.

Rating: A

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

I was watching The Itialian Job on TV, I got bored with it so I started to play SOCOM III on my PS2.