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Critics' picks serieses (your choices); topic titles not long enough, kemosabe
Topic Started: Mar 4 2005, 07:58 PM (1,572 Views)
Jaime
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Every year, the American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY (practically in a foreign country, from where I live) shows a series of films comprised of selections by members of the New York Film Critics Circle: J. Hoberman, Armond White, Andrew Sarris, those guys. Each year's series has a theme, "a great performance," "Breaking Boundaries," etc.

For the most part, it looks like the critics are at least making an effort towards "making a statement" with their films, whether that statement is "I'm a loony rebel type" or "More people really oughta see this film, it's swell."

For this thread, put yourself in the NYFCC and pick a film for each of the following (real/made up) programs. And try to go off the beaten path just a little - if you pick Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront or Robert De Niro in Raging Bull for the first category, I'll...be really mad:

1) Great performances (just one film and one performance)
2) "Innovation and Influence"
3) "Breaking Boundaries"
4) Diaspora: masterpieces in a strange land
5) Shorts!
6) ...Doth protest too much: This movie isn't gay...honest!
7) But this one is - whoa, Nellie, is it ever
8) Wide open spaces [be creative]
9) Very tight spaces [ditto]
10) Very bad...I love it!

My picks, as of Jan 21, 2005:

1a) George Sanders, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (Albert Lewin, 1947)
1b) Summer Phoenix, Esther Kahn (Arnaud Desplechin, 2000)
2) Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
3) Je t'aime, je t'aime (Alain Resnais, 1968)
4) This Land is Mine (Jean Renoir, 1943)
5) Cosmic Ray (Bruce Conner, 1962)
6) Father and Son (Alexander Sokurov, 2004)
7) The Women (George Cukor, 1939)
8) Alyonka (Boris Barnet, 1961)
9) Fury (Fritz Lang, 1936)
10) One More Time (Jerry Lewis, 1970)
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YancySkancy
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Thanks for importing this cool thread, Jaime. This was my contribution to it:

1) Great performances (just one film and one performance)
Tim McIntire, Fast Walking (James B. Harris, 1982)
2) "Innovation and Influence"
The Sin of Nora Moran (Phil Goldstone, 1933)
3) "Breaking Boundaries"
Nothing But a Man (Michael Roemer, 1964)
4) Diaspora: masterpieces in a strange land
The People vs. Larry Flynt (Milos Forman, 1996)
5) Shorts!
Kreise (Oskar Fischinger, 1933)
6) ...Doth protest too much: This movie isn't gay...honest!
Pillow Talk (Michael Gordon, 1959)
7) But this one is - whoa, Nellie, is it ever
Desert Fury (Lewis Allen, 1947)
8) Wide open spaces [be creative]
Last of the Comanches (Andre De Toth, 1953) - although I guess it's more of a literal-minded choice than a creative one
9) Very tight spaces [ditto]
Fantastic Voyage (Richard Fleischer, 1966) - a more literal-minded Fleischer choice would be The Narrow Margin (1952)
10) Very bad...I love it!
Hellfighters (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1968)

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Helen Wheels!
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I love this thread! I added this second list on Friday. Now I'll work on a third.

1) Great performances (just one film and one performance) - Tadanobu Asano / Last Life in the Universe

2) "Innovation and Influence" - Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)

3) "Breaking Boundaries" - The Rapture (Michael Tolkin, 1991)

4) Diaspora: masterpieces in a strange land - The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir, 1982)

5) Shorts! - L'Homme qui plantait des arbres / The Man Who Planted Trees (Frédéric Back, 1987)

6) ...Doth protest too much: This movie isn't gay...honest! - The Odd Couple (Gene Saks, 1968)

7) But this one is - whoa, Nellie, is it ever - (Double feature) - Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) / Rope (Alfred Hitchcock, 1948)

8) Wide open spaces [be creative] - Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996)

9) Very tight spaces [ditto] - Jacob's Ladder (Adrian Lyne, 1990)

10) Very bad...I love it! - Bugsy Malone (Alan Parker, 1976)
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Eric
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I missed this one last time around, and I've been thinking about answers since it was bumped a few days ago. I'm still stumped at the moment, but I'll come up with something someday.
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c.l.hoehnen
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hastur hastur hastur
Here's one that's almost completely new:

1) Lon Chaney in The Unknown - (Tod Browning, 1927)
2) The Cheat - (Cecil B. DeMille, 1915)
3) Der Letzte Mann / The Last Laugh - (F.W. Murnau, 1924)
4) The Marriage Circle - (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924)
5) Shakhmatnaya goryachka / Chess Fever - (Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1925)
6) Murder! - (Alfred Hitchcock, 1930)
7) Madchen in Uniform - (Leontine Sagan, 1931)
8) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932)
9) La Bandera - (Julien Duvivier, 1935)
10) The Raven - (Lew Landers, 1935)

"Yes! I like to torture."
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YancySkancy
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Okay, I'll do a new one, too:

1) Great performances (just one film and one performance)
Romane Bohringer, Les Nuits Fauves / Savage Nights (Cyril Collard, 1992)
2) "Innovation and Influence"
Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
3) "Breaking Boundaries"
Medium Cool (Haskell Wexler, 1969)
4) Diaspora: masterpieces in a strange land
Atlantic City (Louis Malle, 1980)
5) Shorts!
The Caretaker's Daughter (Leo McCarey, 1925) - a Charley Chase short
6) ...Doth protest too much: This movie isn't gay...honest!
Night and Day (Michael Curtiz, 1946) - Minelli's Tea and Sympathy sounds like a good candidate for this one, but I haven't seen it.
7) But this one is - whoa, Nellie, is it ever
Les Enfants Terrible (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1950)
8) Wide open spaces [be creative]
The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold, 1957)
9) Very tight spaces [ditto]
Secret of the Blue Room (Kurt Neumann, 1933)
10) Very bad...I love it!
Protocol (Herbert Ross, 1984) - just about any Goldie Hawn vehicle will fit here (Wildcats, Overboard, Housesitter, etc.)
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Nostalghic
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Taketwo:

1. Holly Woodlawn, Trash (Paul Morrissey)
2. Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau)
3. The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Paradjanov)
4. La Soufriere (Werner Herzog)
5. Children (Terence Davies)
6. Teorema (Pier Paolo Pasolini)
7. The Angelic Conversation (Derek Jarman)
8. The Shooting (Monte Hellman)
9. Double Suicide (Masahiro Shinda)
10. The 4th Man (Paul Verhoeven)
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Russ
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Nostalghic,Mar 8 2005
10:54 AM
10. The 4th Man (Paul Verhoeven)

I thought this was a pretty good offering by a pre-Hollywood Verhoeven. Do you really think it's a bad film?
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Inflatable Love
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Bring the action!
Oh Jaime!

I just noticed your subtopic. I'm sorry! I don't think there's anything I can do about that. <_<
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Richard Sagawa,Mar 8 2005
12:38 PM
Nostalghic,Mar 8 2005
10:54 AM
10. The 4th Man (Paul Verhoeven)

I thought this was a pretty good offering by a pre-Hollywood Verhoeven. Do you really think it's a bad film?

It's considered a silly film by many, and I can see how the Verhoevenian excesses of violence, explicit sexuality, overloaded religious symbolism (the notorious gay crucifix fantasy, esp!), could make the film look like a glossy B-movie. I personally think the outrageous excesses approach silliness at times, but it's so damn seductive.
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Nostalghic
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dragonflies appear
Eh, that was me just now.
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Russ
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Because Jaime's original thread was so cool (and because I'm bored), here's some new categories to consider. Word associative, I guess. Remember, be creative!

1. Performance: Maculine feminine.
2. Getting the most out of the least.
3. The art of ensemble.
4. Darkness
5. Isolation
6. The importance of being earnest.
7. Glorious flops.
8. Ahead of its time.
9. Anti-establishment
10. If it's such a classic...why don't I love it?
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Kevin Harvey
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Another deserter....
When asked to come up with a film to match a particular mood or trait, my mind usually goes blank, which is why a few of my selections are pretty uninspired, but there were a couple of titles that sprang to mind instantly, so I decided to squeeze out a list. Of course, many of the titles that "sprang to mind" might seem similarly uninspired (depending) but honesty is the best approach I think.


1. Performance: Maculine feminine.
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There (Haynes, 2007) -- Too obvious? :)
Klaus Kinski, Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Herzog, 1979)

2. Getting the most out of the least.
Mr. Arkadin (Welles, 1955)

3. The art of ensemble.
I was going to put down Short Cuts, which I saw for the first time earlier this week (really brilliant and not particularly comparable to Magnolia, despite some surface similarity), but there are several weak links in the cast (MacDowell, Modine, and even Robbins, who I'm starting to believe I don't much like) and it's a loose, jazzy, free-wheeling picture that, while it definitely depends on its performances to create the film, doesn't succeed or fail on the quality or "committedness" of its performances alone. Essentially, though some of the performances are subpar, the film is still awesome. (And besides, isn't throwing up an Altman title just plain cheating in this category?)

No Country for Old Men (Coen Bros., 2007) -- Shit: just last year. Fantastic performances all 'round though.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Anderson, 2004) -- Ugh! Still in the new millenium (and we might have to re-title the category "The art of caricature ensemble"), but everyone is tip-top, with a few absolute knock-outs, and the performances really do make the film what it is (though it's all part of Anderson's unique sensibility, I guess).

Alright, I'll stop fishing.

4. Darkness
INLAND EMPIRE (Lynch, 2006)

5. Isolation
"Afro Samurai" (Fuminori Kizaki, 2007)

6. The importance of being earnest.
There Will Be Blood (Anderson, 2007) -- :)
Andrey Rublyov (Tarkovsky, 1966) -- Do the Russians even have a word for irony? Picking a Tarkovsky might be cheating (any of his titles would do in this category), but his seriousness and commitment is palpable and I think we're all better for it.

7. Glorious flops.
Alexander (Stone, 2004). The original theatrical cut, mind -- not the two (2) later director's cuts, which, despite certain improvements within particular scenes, definitely fail to conceal the whiff of desperation....

Also -- Duck, You Sucker (Leone, 1972)

8. Ahead of its time.
Videodrome (Cronenberg, 1983)

9. Anti-establishment
Roadkill (Bruce MacDonald, 1989) -- I'm a much (much) bigger fan of his Hard Core Logo (1996), and I can't wait to see The Tracey Fragments (2007), but they don't get much more DIY, anti-establishment than this (despite the fact that I don't think it's very good).

10. If it's such a classic...why do I hate it?
Long Day's Journey Into Night (Lumet, 1962) -- Though I like Robards.
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Russ
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Dr. Raskolnikov,Feb 23 2008
09:16 PM
3. The art of ensemble.
I was going to put down Short Cuts, which I saw for the first time earlier this week (really brilliant and not particularly comparable to Magnolia, despite some surface similarity), but there are several weak links in the cast (MacDowell, Modine, and even Robbins, who I'm starting to believe I don't much like) and it's a loose, jazzy, free-wheeling picture that, while it definitely depends on its performances to create the film, doesn't succeed or fail on the quality or "committedness" of its performances alone.  Essentially, though some of the performances are subpar, the film is still awesome.  (And besides, isn't throwing up an Altman title just plain cheating in this category?)

Yeah, I guess I'll change my Altman pick (A Wedding) to something else. Should have qualified the category ("NO Altman").

I find your statement about the weak links in Short Cuts interesting. I'm trying to think of one of Altman's ensemble pieces with no "weak links" (M*A*S*H, maybe? Nashville?). Because there are some weak links in many other of his ensemble pics (Burnett in both HealtH and A Wedding...and Desi Arnaz Jr for that one too.
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Kevin Harvey
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Another deserter....
Richard Sagawa
 
Yeah, I guess I'll change my Altman pick (A Wedding) to something else. Should have qualified the category ("NO Altman").

My second choice was actually Gosford Park. :)

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I find your statement about the weak links in Short Cuts interesting. I'm trying to think of one of Altman's ensemble pieces with no "weak links" (M*A*S*H, maybe? Nashville?). Because there are some weak links in many other of his ensemble pics (Burnett in both HealtH and A Wedding...and Desi Arnaz Jr for that one too.

Once again, I'd throw out Gosford Park, but then I remember Ryan Phillippe's clumsy fakery (intentional) and otherwise awkward performance and I'm forced to rescind it....

I feel like I need to qualify my earlier statement. These films (M*A*S*H, Nashville, Short Cuts) rely almost entirely on their performances -- particularly the latter two and especially Short Cuts, which, in effect, is just the sum of its performances edited together without any real narrative arc: it's all observation, with Altman and his screenwriter riffing on Raymond Carver, and the actors riffing on their screenplay. The film is the performances. And yet, even with a weak showing by a couple of the actors (I forgot to mention Lyle Lovett, who's particularly disappointing in an important role), the film shines through gloriously. How does this happen?

It's a bizarre little paradox, but I think it's explained by the way Altman invites you to observe the characters (and by extension the actors), to watch each new scene unfold and reveal its little secrets, until you find yourself in a place where, whatever is happening on screen, you're just so damned intrigued by the whole thing that you can't get enough of it. Even if some of the perfs fall flat. So in a sense the film is its performances, but it also transcends them.

Alright. Too much random babble.
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