JefCostello
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Posts posted by JefCostello
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1. Some Like it Hot
2. Sunset Boulevard
3. Double Indemnity
4. Ace in the Hole
5. Lost Weekend
How could you not list Some Like it Hot? And Double Indemnity deserves more than just honorable mention. Along with The Maltese Falcon, there's probably never been a better noir made.
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If I'm not mistaken, that was around the same time Bogart made some negative statements toward the House Un-American Activities Committee, and protested their blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten. Also, around that time he gave maybe his best performance ever in the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Yet he was not even nominated. The other nominees that year were:
Laurence Olivier - Hamlet
Monty Clift - The Search
Clifton Webb - Sitting Pretty
Lew Ayres - Johnny Belinda
Dan Dailey - When My Baby Smiles at Me
How the hell could Bogie not crack that list, especially since he was arguably the biggest star in Hollywood at the time? It was certainly the most daring performance he'd given up until that time. I think it's fair to say the HUAC might have had an influence on that and wanted to punish this megastar for making those comments.
So is this a fair theory or just me reaching too far?
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If that's how narrow minded people are on the issue, then I can't argue with them, because I also think 1939 is the best Hollywood year ever.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best ever year for cinema. I think it's more than fair to challenge it on that point.
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I think there's about 6 or 7 movies on my list better than any film from 1939, aside from Gone with the Wind and Rules of the Game.
Just my opinion of course, and I never said it was the best year in movies. I just threw it out there as a possible answer. I could have said the same thing about 1960 for instance.
Many of those movies from 1939 are overrated in my opinion in terms of all time great film status. Also, they're only limited to Hollywood films and not as diverse as 1967.
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What's so funny?
There's plenty of terrific movies on that list. Like I said, I don't like all of them, but it's one of the best years ever in cinema, if not the best.
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Yeah, there is a difference between soundtrack and score.
One I especially think of that I forgot to mention is Apocalypse Now. That movie has an amazing soundtrack, composed mostly of jumbled electronic sounds mixed together perfectly to give it an eerie feel. It's one of the most incredible achievements ever in film scores, yet devoid of actual songs, other than that one song by The Doors.
Films now are not as daring with music as they used to be, mostly because there's too many explosions going on to pay attention to actual music.
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Here are some of the highly regarded movies that came out that year. I don't like all these films, but I think they're all interesting films, some of them being masterpieces, and deserving of the critical hype. I'm sure I left out many, so feel free to pitch in. That year can give 1939 a run for its money, and in terms of world cinema, and not just Hollywood, it takes the cake easily over 1939.
Also, it was an incredibly influential year in terms of crime films and violent films that would influence that genre of cinema in later generations. So here goes:
Bonnie and Clyde
Le Samourai
The Good the Bad and the Ugly (American release year)
Playtime
Cool Hand Luke
Belle De Jour
The Graduate
In the Heat of the Night
Branded to Kill
Point Blank
In Cold Blood
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Mouchette
Two or Three Things I Know About Her
The Dirty Dozen
Two for the Road
The Young Girls of Rochefort
La Chinoise
Week End
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How about Blade Runner for most overrated film? It's certainly an important work, but is it really a great film in its own right? I can't answer that definitively until repeated viewings, but I thought I'd throw it out there, because my initial impressions of that film are that it's important but overrated.
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I'm not surprised actually.
I couldn't put it above Vertigo, but like I said in my original post, it's such a ballsy movie and so perfectly done, that it's hard to argue against it. That movie could have bombed so easily had any other director done it.
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I don't think Morricone knows how to write a bad score.
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Why do you think you'll get in trouble?
I mentioned Vertigo's score either here or in the Hitchcock thread I started, and it's a simply magnificent and heartbreaking score that makes that movie a lot better than it would be with any other type of score.
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What is your favorite score ever from any film?
For me, it'd have to be the score from Contempt, by Georges Delerue. A lot of people don't like that film for various reasons, but I love the film predominantly for the music. It's the most beautiful and tragic score I've ever heard from any movie and it meshes perfectly with the location of Capri, the gorgeous Bardot, and the tragic and fatalistic nature of the story. I've never heard anything like it from any film.
Others I love are Morriccone's scores from Leone's films, and Nino Rota's score from 8 1/2. Lawrence of Arabia and Gone With the Wind also have scores which I love hearing whenever the films are on. Same with Vertigo, which I think is the best Herrman score.
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1. Vertigo
2. Rear Window
3. North by Northwest
4. Psycho
5. Notorious
I think Vertigo is his deepest and best acted film. Also, one of his best written films and the location shooting is marvelous. Best Hitchock score as well in my opinion. It's too personal and powerful a film for me not to rank it 1st.
Notrious is probably going to be higher for many people, but I don't see how you can rank it above the others. Slightly overrated movie, but I'm welcoming debate for people to convince me why it should be higher.
The other three I had a hard time with, but I ultimately chose the sheer genius and risk taking of Rear Window above a more obvious commercial hit like North By Northwest. It took a lot of guts to make a film like Rear Window, filmed entirely in one room with such a long buildup for suspense.
So how would you guys rank Hitchcock's best?
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There's no advertising revenue for TCM because there's no commercials on TCM. Same with FMC. That's all that article means to me.
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I thought Monty Clift died from a heart attack due to his years of drug and alcohol abuse.
I didn't know there was anything more to it when you said you're not clear about the cause of his death.
What about Veronika Lake and Jayne Mansfield? I didn't see them on your list. Unless you're only including people who were terrific talents, which in their case would be physical talents more than anything else.
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No, I'm not in Philly.
Is Philly the only place where FMC is not going to be aired anymore?
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Well that sucks!
That means I won't be able to watch any more Gene Tierney movies, unless TCM actually starts acknowledging her work.
Why don't they get rid of MTV instead? Talk about a useless channel.
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Can't believe I forgot to mention Heat.
With that cast and that film, it's criminally underrated and deserves a lot more mention. And I forgot to mention Thief as one of the most underrated 80's films, which is another Michael Mann movie.
How about Taste of Cherry by Kiarostami? It's a movie that generates lots of controversy. Many people, like myself, think it's one of the best films of the 90's, while others, like say Roger Ebert, will say that it's not a very good movie. I guess Kiarostami is like that in general in the controversy he generates. I just think that was his best 90's movie.
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I feel like the Three Colors Trilogy is horribly underrated here in America.
It was one of the best series of films of the entire decade.
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One of the best noirs ever, and it never gets played on TCM. Damn shame.
The writing, characters and directing of that film is just perfect. And of course, Gene Tierney is arguably the most beautiful actress ever.
It was also the first older film that I saw on the big screen, and probably still my favorite all time experience watching a film on the big screen.
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He was an amazing actor, and could play both character and lead roles.
Not many actors could do that well, let alone in diverse kinds of roles.
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Reservoir Dogs was underrated
The Thin Red Line is underrated
Seven is underrated
Point Break is underrated
Schindler's list is overrated in terms of where the AFI always ranks it
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That is true, but when we're talking about watching foreign films, it's those stylistic directors who we're usually talking about, and not the ones that made dumb sex comedies.
These are the foreign films that are usually discussed and shown (not frequently) on TCM. I supposed that's what the dicussion was referring to.
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Well, like I said earlier, that goes away quickly with more and more viewings.
Also, dialogue isn't as important to foreign films as it is to Hollywood movies. Style is what foreign directors tried to promote the most.
The Yellow Rolls Royce is on today
in General Discussions
Posted
Delon is my favorite actor behind Bogart, and I've never seen this film.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch it today and know that TCM doesn't play it often (from my memory).