JefCostello

Joan Bennett was at her best as femme fatale, like in Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street and Woman in the Window. She's definitely underrated, and I need to watch more movies of hers.

_Overrated_ Nashville Cabaret (trash) A Clockwork Orange? (I?m torn on this one) Days of Heaven (well shot but no story) A Woman Under the Influence M*A*S*H (more crap from Altman) The Travelling Players Death in Venice Last Tango in Paris Network? (I need to see it again before I?m sure) Eraserhead The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Bananas Rocky All the President's Men Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid _Underrated_ The Passenger Stalker The Phantom of Liberty Dirty Harry Mean Streets The Last Detail Claire?s Knee Fat City Days and Nights in the Forest Straw Dogs Alice in the Cities Five Easy Pieces Marathon Man

I was just thinking about starting a thread about her for SOTM. What an incredibly sexy and stunning woman. What a figure. She had a great screen presence as well, and I've tried to watch every film of hers that's been on in the last few months, because admittedly, I hadn't seen many of her films before that (not counting the really famous ones that she was in).

I've seen about fifteen of his films, and he was a terrific filmmaker, and one of the most underrated ever, as Truffaut and Godard get most of the publicity when it came to French New Wave. Unlike his New Wave contemporaries, he stayed pretty active all the way up to the end. Him and Rohmer both died this year, and both should get more recognition than what they've gotten.

Probably my favorite genre. Not many classic noirs that I don't like or can't sit through. That's more than I can say about most genres.

Pretty good list. Great to see Jacques Becker and Jean Pierre Melville getting some love, but I expected as much from Marty, who's a film nut. I've honestly never heard Scorsese saying anything bad about any film. I'd love to hear what he doesn't like, especially the classics.

Dean, definitely. He was a troubled loner, despite people mistaking him generations later for being a rebel, which he wasn't in any of his roles. I've never thought of Brando as fitting those qualities. My favorite performances of his are his bizzarre character of Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, and his role of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront. I guess he has those qualities in those films. Not so much in his other roles, but maybe I'm not being open minded enough.

I've always been drawn to the troubled, alienated and desperate loners. Especially the cynical ones, like Bogart's best roles. Seems like most actors gave their best ever performance in playing such roles. I don't think there's that many people in society who fit those qualities, but in movies it's a disproportionate amount.

Those actresses you named weren't sex symbols, hence they weren't always being cast in dumb blonde roles against their wishes. Marilyn's films made money, hence Zanuck was unwilling to give her leeway to do different things. Grace Kelly was also a sex symbol, but she like Liz Taylor always got good roles. I don't know if that's because they had a dominant personality or because they came from good backgrounds and good families, giving them more leeway and power in the industry. In any case, Marilyn wasn't in the same boat as them in terms of picking her roles. She was basically a slave to the studio until later in her career.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and I don't blame you for being fond of Ava Gardner. I like Carole Lombard, but she's not nearly as sexy as Monroe. That's why I mentioned those 3 criteria, especially her ability to be this huge sex symbol, yet come off so innocently on the screen. For instance, could women like Liz Taylor, Sophia Loren or Bardot come off as innocent while sexy at the same time? Not a chance. Other women may come off innocently, but aren't in Monroe's league when it comes to sex appeal. Add her humor to that, and she made for a truly rare star. Her lack of dramatic roles is not her fault. At that time, women didn't have as much freedom as they do now in movies. She desperately wanted dramatic roles, but didn't get many thanks to the studio system and Zanuck. The ones she did get, however, I think she was pretty darn good in. And being a great comedic star is not easy (especially when you look like Monroe), but she did that quite well, and should not be underrated just because that was her primary genre.

Fedora is actually not a bad film. It got mixed reviews, if I'm not mistaken, but many of the critics bashed Wilder for having a nostalgia for classic Hollywood and were disappointed that he didn't make another elite film to add to his collection. All in all, though, it was a decent film and it's always great to see Holden, even if he's 60.

Don't get me wrong, because Marilyn is my favorite film star of all time. What I hate is the very fact that people who know nothing about her and haven't seen any of her films capitalize on her popularity and make money off of her. These books come out all the time and are all basically alike. I guess in one sense, she's one of the few classic film stars that every common idiot nowadays can name, but at the same time, there's way too many misconceptions about her. I do think that she was a good star, who had the most remarkable screen presence I've ever seen, great comedic timing, and an impeccable ability to combine humor, innocence and sex appeal. I don't think there's ever been a female star that could combine those 3 things like Marilyn could. She was definitely a great star, but isn't remembered for that at all.

Is it just me, or are there 5 to 6 new Marilyn Monroe books out every month at Barnes and Noble? Amazing how much money people have made off her, especially her estate. Most of these books are all alike as well.

The Leopard The Enforcer (the Bogart one) Lawrence of Arabia (on the big screen) An Autumn Afternoon 120 Days of Sodom (heard so much about this one) A Voyage to Italy

The Conformist is the best movie of 1970, and maybe the most beautifully photographed film ever. Tremendous score as well. I can't really think of any other film that year that could challenge it in my opinion. It wasn't a very strong year for films compared to some other years.

Audrey Hepburn

Too many great Japanese directors to name. Obviously, Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi get most of the attention, but there are others that are badly underrated. Teshigara and Kobayashi are both masters of cinema that need to get more attention. Same with Naruse, who's sadly been passed over for his contemporaries. Suzuki and Imamura are always fun to watch as well, with their experimental style. I like what I've seen from Oshima and Ichikawa, but I need to watch more to understand them better. As for Kurosawa, he's easily one of the 5 most liked directors if film history, in terms of popularity with fellow directors. Up there with guys like Fellini, Ford and Welles. Edited by: JefCostello on Aug 26, 2010 9:43 PM

Last year they honored several people as well, and the whole thing was a freaking joke. They only get a few minutes of airtime. The Oscars have become unwatchable.

The kissing scene in the rain in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is by far the best.

1. Billy Wilder 2. Michelangelo Antonioni 3. Jean Pierre Melville 4. Sergio Leone 5. Alfred Hitchcock 6. Howard Hawks 7. Akira Kurosawa 8. Ingmar Bergman 9. Francois Truffaut 10. Woody Allen

When Audrey sings 'La Vien Rose' in Sabrina. Also, when 'La Marseillaise' is sung in Casablanca.

They played together in Love Streams, but weren't husband and wife in the film. Cassavetes only appears in a few of his films.

Coen Brothers seem to be running out of ideas if they're making a True Grit remake. I guess there's holier Westerns that they could butcher, but it still seems pointless.

Burton and Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I'm not even sure that they were acting in that movie.

Yes, it was a great decade for the master Bunuel. As for Fellini, there are some (like myself) who would argue that his films after 8 1/2 were a complete mess. The only exceptions I'd make for that are Amarcord and Roma. 1960 is special in that several foreign films came out that year which caused a boom in the 60's which became the Golden Age of foreign cinema. L'Avventura is in my opinion the ultimate masterpiece of that year. The use of landscape, scenery, photography, space and architecture in that movie is unlike anything else I've ever seen. Not my favorite Antonioni movie, but certainly his best.