Serious Movie Discussion

[Will Jacobs]

Apocalypto was a typical Gibson movie to me. It was entertaining and extremely well mad ebut FULL of historical inaccuracy and ridiculous plot points.

[JSN]

Originally Posted by Gabedo

Sure,

First of from my cinematic pantheon is Robert Bresson, - especially his later color pictures L'argent (1983), Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971), and Lancelot of the Lake are his absolute best in my opinion. I really admire his style, and how he presents the inner conflict of the characters through the most simplest and minimal means. I've seen all his films by the way...and the other foreign filmmakers I like are Ingmar Bergman, Antonioni, Fellini, Bunuel, and Andrei Tarkovsky...but I don't think any of them touch Bresson.

I also love a lot of the Hollywood pictures. I tend to go for classic ones from the early 60's and back, because I was always enamored with that sort of stuff. One of my favorite musicals was Vincent Minelli's An American in Paris (1952), and I love alot of Keaton and Chaplin's silents especially City Lights. Two of the really great film director's from classic Hollywood I truly admire are Orson Welles and Frank Capra. I do have reservations with the former, especially when he does more pretentiously tedious movies like the Trial, but I like his creative energy (kind of reminds you of someone from the renaissance), Capra...I just like his style and love for humanity. Too much to name, I think i'll name some more of my favorites later...

Also I apologize for snubbing Van Helsing and Die Hard to people who are into that, but I'm not. I mean I love Martial Arts and BJJ, but not Martial Arts and Action movies...just not my cup of tea.

finally, another true connoisseur of fine film. nice list- the true pantheon of greats. i'm a tarkovsky guy though. bresson is obviously at that same top level of cinema, but he's not my favorite. i may be missing a lot of conventions he uses though as supposedly he uses catholic themes (although they don't seem to be to me) that i haven't been exposed to. i would definitely put l'argent at the top of my bresson list. or actually diary of a country priest. i thought that, that film captured bresson's recurring themes in a little more artful manner.

i actually tried watching 'the mirror' for the first time last weekend. i failed though because i was drunk as shit and fell asleep, and i won't have time until sat. to watch it again. what i've seen so far though- WOW! a lot more challenging that his other films that i've seen. really crazy stuff. i can't wait to watch the whole thing so i can start making sense of it.

are you a dreyer fan? i've just seen a couple of his movies. not a massive fan from the couple i saw, but i know he's usually placed in the highest tower of cinematic greats. if you're a fan, recommend some movies other than joan of arc s'il vous plait.

[JSN]

Originally Posted by Will Jacobs

Apocalypto was a typical Gibson movie to me. It was entertaining and extremely well mad ebut FULL of historical inaccuracy and ridiculous plot points.

this is the perfect review of it. one more sentence and it's ruined.

[Nightmare Woody]

Originally Posted by Will Jacobs

Apocalypto was a typical Gibson movie to me. It was entertaining and extremely well mad ebut FULL of historical inaccuracy and ridiculous plot points.

The guy asked for a good blue ray, that was one of the best I have seen so far from a visual perspective.

[fu-noob]

Originally Posted by Gabedo

Sure,

First of from my cinematic pantheon is Robert Bresson, - especially his later color pictures L'argent (1983), Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971), and Lancelot of the Lake are his absolute best in my opinion. I really admire his style, and how he presents the inner conflict of the characters through the most simplest and minimal means. I've seen all his films by the way...and the other foreign filmmakers I like are Ingmar Bergman, Antonioni, Fellini, Bunuel, and Andrei Tarkovsky...but I don't think any of them touch Bresson.

I also love a lot of the Hollywood pictures. I tend to go for classic ones from the early 60's and back, because I was always enamored with that sort of stuff. One of my favorite musicals was Vincent Minelli's An American in Paris (1952), and I love alot of Keaton and Chaplin's silents especially City Lights. Two of the really great film director's from classic Hollywood I truly admire are Orson Welles and Frank Capra. I do have reservations with the former, especially when he does more pretentiously tedious movies like the Trial, but I like his creative energy (kind of reminds you of someone from the renaissance), Capra...I just like his style and love for humanity. Too much to name, I think i'll name some more of my favorites later...

Also I apologize for snubbing Van Helsing and Die Hard to people who are into that, but I'm not. I mean I love Martial Arts and BJJ, but not Martial Arts and Action movies...just not my cup of tea.

Would you like a latte? Chai you say? With or without sugar?

[DREAM.6]

Originally Posted by Gabedo

lol, I came into this thread expecting a discussion on Robert Bresson, Charlie Chaplin, Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and even someone like Howard Hawks...and instead I see Van Hellsing and Die Hard, like that has any cinematic value...this thread is Fail!

Dude, if you don't think Van Helsing is freaking amazing you need to go get checked out. That movie has Frankenstine, Werewolves, and Vampires all in one. Of course Frankenstine was kinda stupid and Dracula was a little overboard but c'mon. You can't expect something so awesome to be 100% perfect. Lets face it. We all want to be Van Helsing. Van Helsing is a cooler version of James Bond who junts beasties instead of military noobs. Imagine Van Helsing in League of Extrodanry Gentlemen! That movie would have killed all others like nobodies business. The fact Van Helsing wasn't a part of the movie is what mad eit so awful imo. Find a way to incorperate him in.

ANYWAYS

Bill&Ted anyone? Those truely are great movies. Not intentional by any means. They are great.

[gogoGomi]

Originally Posted by Will Jacobs

Apocalypto was a typical Gibson movie to me. It was entertaining and extremely well mad ebut FULL of historical inaccuracy and ridiculous plot points.

Fair enough. Were you aware of the historical inaccuracies before you saw the film? Did you notice them while you were watching? I know that sort of thing turns JSN's day upside down but in what way does it really take away from a spectacle like Apocalypto?

Just curious.

[The Hug Dog]

Originally Posted by fu-noob

Would you like a latte? Chai you say? With or without sugar?

lols

Apocalypto was ridiculous. Did they really need the woman to start giving birth when she's trapped down the hole and it's filling with water, seriously?!

[Gabedo]

Originally Posted by JSN

finally, another true connoisseur of fine film. nice list- the true pantheon of greats. i'm a tarkovsky guy though. bresson is obviously at that same top level of cinema, but he's not my favorite. i may be missing a lot of conventions he uses though as supposedly he uses catholic themes (although they don't seem to be to me) that i haven't been exposed to. i would definitely put l'argent at the top of my bresson list. or actually diary of a country priest. i thought that, that film captured bresson's recurring themes in a little more artful manner.

i actually tried watching 'the mirror' for the first time last weekend. i failed though because i was drunk as shit and fell asleep, and i won't have time until sat. to watch it again. what i've seen so far though- WOW! a lot more challenging that his other films that i've seen. really crazy stuff. i can't wait to watch the whole thing so i can start making sense of it.

are you a dreyer fan? i've just seen a couple of his movies. not a massive fan from the couple i saw, but i know he's usually placed in the highest tower of cinematic greats. if you're a fan, recommend some movies other than joan of arc s'il vous plait.

Yeah, Bresson was very influenced by his catholicism and the work of Blaine Pascal's work, but I try not to pay attention to many of his themes. They're important but I like his rhythm, the frosty expressions of his characters, and his sense of space and movement. Alot of people like to categorize him with Andrei Tarkovsky because of such superficialities as "spiritual style", but I think he's more similar to Yasujiro Ozu. Anything from Diary of a Country Priest and up are masterpieces, but I love his color movies most of all...

I've actually seen only Two Tarkovsky movies - Solaris and Stalker, and I've fallen a sleep a little in both. I haven't seen the mirror, but I think i'll check it out. His films ARE challenging, and they require a lot of patience, I guess I would need to see them again and again to fully appreciate them...whats your favorite Tarkovsky movies?

Yeah I'm a Dreyer fan...I recommend you watch his three sound masterpieces after Joan of Arc - Day of Wrath, Ordet, and Gertrud. If im not mistaken, I think Criterion has a compilation of all of them. If your a fan of Bergman or Tarkovsky, I think you'll like some of it...

[hysteria]

Originally Posted by DREAM.6

Dude, if you don't think Van Helsing is freaking amazing you need to go get checked out. That movie has Frankenstine, Werewolves, and Vampires all in one. Of course Frankenstine was kinda stupid and Dracula was a little overboard but c'mon. You can't expect something so awesome to be 100% perfect. Lets face it. We all want to be Van Helsing. Van Helsing is a cooler version of James Bond who junts beasties instead of military noobs. Imagine Van Helsing in League of Extrodanry Gentlemen! That movie would have killed all others like nobodies business. The fact Van Helsing wasn't a part of the movie is what mad eit so awful imo. Find a way to incorperate him in.

ANYWAYS

Bill&Ted anyone? Those truely are great movies. Not intentional by any means. They are great.

Are you on about the recent Van Helsing film? I watched that at the cinema, immediately after watching Harry Potter.

There was one part, right at the end, where the whole cinema laughed in unison.