Old flicks

[strangebrew]

Here's a few of my favorites:

3-Iron
Adaptation
Almost Famous
Amelie
American Beauty
American History X
Amores Perros
Awakenings
Being John Malkovich
The Big Lebowski
Blue Velvet
Chungking Express
City of God
The City of Lost Children
Down by Law
The Experiment
Fargo
Finding Neverland
Following
Garden State
Glengarry Glen Ross
Goodfellas
Heat
Hotel Rwanda
I'm Not Scared
In America
In the Name of the Father
Infernal Affairs
The Incredibles
The Insider
Kontroll
L.A. Confidential
Life Is Beautiful
Miller's Crossing
The Motorcycle Diaries
Mulholland Drive
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...And Spring

Bleh, got bored, so that's it.

 

[strangebrew]

I'm curious, but you don't have to if you don't want. PM if you want.

Are we talking mainstream film or the indy scene here?

I don't really differentiate between the two. If it's a good movie it's a good movie.

 

[novamanms]

I understand not differentiating, but what I fundamentally meant was the state of mainstream film.

Out of the 37 films you listed, only 6 or 7 of those are American mainstream films that were extremely successful at the box office.

Also, Scorsese, Mann, and the Coen Bros. are the three Americans on there that really stick out. They are all awesome, don't get me wrong. But the argument I should have went into more detail about was that from 20's until the 50's, every director in Hollywood was solid. Every actor knew how to act. The artform and profession was sacred. And the ratio of classics to each film produced was much higher. Nowadays, one has to swim through a sea of shit to find truly good films. Back then, there wasn't even a need for an Indy scene. Now, the international market and indy market is the only place talent predominantly comes from.

And I can count like 5-10 truly great actors since the 70's. Male or female. Of course, I'm real picky about actors.

And I agree with most of those selections. I could split haird with a few of those, but that isn't my point.

 

[strangebrew]

That's all true, but you also have to take into consideration that there are a higher total volume of movies made today. Therefore there's bound to be more crap out.

But I think if you compiled all the best movies of the 90's 00's (when the 00's are done) and compiled the best from the 40's and 50's you would come out to a very similar number. With maybe a slight edge to the older films. Obviously there's going to be some difference in opinion but I've found that most film buffs have the same basic taste in movies.

That's really all I was saying. I think 06 is gonna be a particularly good year.

 

[novamanms]

I see what you're saying. It just always pisses me off that so many people settle for so many second-rate movies. Of course, I have friends that think King's Ransom was a great film.

05 had some great films. No doubt about that. Capote was the best film I've seen in a long, long time. I hope 06 is a good year.

 

[Spartacus]

Here's a few of my favorites:

3-Iron
Adaptation
Almost Famous
Amelie
American Beauty
American History X
Amores Perros
Awakenings
Being John Malkovich
The Big Lebowski
Blue Velvet
Chungking Express
City of God
The City of Lost Children
Down by Law
The Experiment
Fargo
Finding Neverland
Following
Garden State
Glengarry Glen Ross
Goodfellas
Heat
Hotel Rwanda
I'm Not Scared
In America
In the Name of the Father
Infernal Affairs
The Incredibles
The Insider
Kontroll
L.A. Confidential
Life Is Beautiful
Miller's Crossing
The Motorcycle Diaries
Mulholland Drive
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...And Spring

Bleh, got bored, so that's it.

Miller's Crossing
that film got nowhere near the attention it deserved

 

[strangebrew]

Miller's Crossing
that film got nowhere near the attention it deserved

Yeah, tell me about it. I'd say it's one of the best gangster flicks ever made. Right up there with The Gofather.

 

[Spartacus]

"Bernie Bernbaum is a conglomeration of Joel, Ethan, people that I've met, and imagination. He's a guy who's just trying to be a survivor. He's constantly on the move. Which is kind of Jewish history. But I was also thinking of a street hustler, just trying to keep alive from moment to moment."

 

[novamanms]

Blood Simple is my favorite of the Coen Bros. films...and I can't even say why. It's obviously not their best.

As an interesting side note, they filmed Oh Brother about 2 hrs. south of where I live, and a few girls I went to high school with were extras.

 

[Spartacus]

James Cameron wanted Chuck Norris to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.