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RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 4/1/2013 11:46:54 PM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2510
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

I've never seen anything from Melies, but I've seen little bits and pieces of A Trip To The Moon. Same goes for The Great Train Robbery, I think I'll Youtube the last three later on.

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My Aussie Film Thread

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

I just want to see everyone naked.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 61

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 11:38:32 AM

Gimli The Dwarf

Posts: 73474
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Central Park Zoo

The Great Train Robbery. That one I have seen! And pretty great it is too.

_____________________________

So, sir, we let him have it right up! And I have to report, sir, he did not like it, sir.

Fellow scientists, poindexters, geeks.

Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!

Much more better!

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 62

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 12:14:44 PM

impqueen

Posts: 6779
Joined: 24/7/2006

A Trip to the Moon is still brilliant, bloody natives!

The Great Train Robbery is fantastic.

_____________________________

Yes, always.

Mr Clever!

(in reply to Gimli The Dwarf)

Post #: 63

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 12:17:05 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

quote:

ORIGINAL: scarface666brooksy!!

I've never seen anything from Melies, but I've seen little bits and pieces of A Trip To The Moon. Same goes for The Great Train Robbery, I think I'll Youtube the last three later on.

quote:

The Great Train Robbery. That one I have seen! And pretty great it is too.

I'm surprised you haven't seen A Trip to the Moon, given the biatch connection.

quote:

A Trip to the Moon is still brilliant, bloody natives!

You pine for the days of Empire, don't you?

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 64

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 12:33:36 PM

impqueen

Posts: 6779
Joined: 24/7/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

quote:

A Trip to the Moon is still brilliant, bloody natives!

You pine for the days of Empire, don't you?

No Empire, no longing...

_____________________________

Yes, always.

Mr Clever!

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 65

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 12:53:10 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

5. The Infernal Boiling Pot

1903
Director: Georges Melies

Melies again, this time reverting to the one minute single idea shorts. Two green-skinned demons throw some captives into a boiling pot, cook them up and summon forth their spirits from the pot, before torturing the souls one last time. Another fun, playful short from the great man. It may seem like a step backwards from the intricate delights of A Trip to the Moon, but it's still a fine little fantasy with great effects, and definitely a short of great interest to anyone with an interest in the development of horror cinema.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to impqueen)

Post #: 66

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 1:11:08 PM

impqueen

Posts: 6779
Joined: 24/7/2006

I�d not seen that one, entertainingly ghoulish, love the colours.

_____________________________

Yes, always.

Mr Clever!

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 67

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 1:19:30 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

A blast, isn't it?

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to impqueen)

Post #: 68

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 5/1/2013 2:41:07 PM

SadFace

Posts: 1425
Joined: 1/1/2008
From: Derbyshire / Leicester

I love A Trip to the Moon. The Great Train Robbery is fantastic of course. I haven't seen The Infernal Boiling Pot but judging from that picture, it looks both gorgeous and sinister - I will definitely check it out.

_____________________________

Tobias, you blowhard.

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Post #: 69

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 6/1/2013 2:05:35 PM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2510
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

Watched both Melies films earlier, he really had an awesome imagination didn't he

I loved the spirit effect in the Infernal Boiling Pot too. I'll watch Great Train Robbery tomorrow I guess.

_____________________________

My Aussie Film Thread

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

I just want to see everyone naked.

(in reply to SadFace)

Post #: 70

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 8/1/2013 3:07:01 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

Sadface, definitely check out Boiling Pot. It's only around a minute long so you can slot it in with ease.

Brooksy, if you like Melies' imagination, you should like the next film.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 71

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 8/1/2013 3:07:45 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

6. The Impossible Voyage

1904
Director: Georges Melies

Much like A Trip to the Moon, the film starts with a society proposing a trip, this time around the world. They sit about building various modes of transport for the trip, before setting off an adventure that will see them visiting both the Sun and the ocean depths. Basically, the explorers are a bunch of fuckwits. Everything they touch goes wrong as they stumble from adventure to adventure. I'm not sure how much of this was a result of Melies poking a little fun and how much was the limitations on the characters, either way, it's fun to watch them.

Again, the approach to film is very obviously a stage performer playing with a new technique. Magicians had to learn to create illusions on a very small scale, and Melies is bringing that same approach to his films. The effects are primitive but wonderful. The train journey to the sun, where they are swallowed by the mouth of the Sun and the submarine trip through the ocean all inspire a greater sense of wonder in me than a lot of the modern effects driven fantasies. But you can also see Melies learning to use film to tell a more in-depth story. The plotting still isn't exactly what you call complicated, but it's a string of adventures rather than just one. A film to rank alongside A Trip to the Moon as not only Melies greatest accomplishment, but one of the best of the early days of cinema.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 72

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 8/1/2013 5:05:42 PM

SadFace

Posts: 1425
Joined: 1/1/2008
From: Derbyshire / Leicester

The Infernal Boiling Pot - loved it.

_____________________________

Tobias, you blowhard.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 73

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 8/1/2013 5:45:12 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to SadFace)

Post #: 74

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 12/1/2013 11:48:10 AM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

7. A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire

1906
Director: Earl Miles

Possibly the simplest film on the list so far, a 10 minute long short that simply puts a camera on a cable car and records the life around it as it makes its ways down Market Street in San Francisco towards the Ferry Building. Thought to have been recorded mere days before the 1906 earthquake and fire, the film is a remarkable time capsule of life before devastation. San Francisco was a city that was transforming, horse and carts now shared the streets with cars and neither seem to know what the hell they're doing on the road. A film that's captivating in its simplicity, with the lingering air of tragedy because you know that in just a few days time it will all be destroyed.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 75

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 12/1/2013 5:35:30 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

8. The Red Spectre

1907
Director: Segundo de Chom�n, Ferdinand Zecca

The films of Segundo de Chomon are often mistaken for the work of Melies. If that makes him sound a cheap knock-off, then he isn't, but he's obviously strongly influenced by his films. The Red Spectre sees a demonic magician performing illusions in what appears to be a section of Hell. De Chomon (and his co-director Zecca) use similar trick photography as Melies to bring these illusions to life. The magician performs tricks (such as levitation) on women whose souls he holds captive, but a force of good is out to stop him. One of the most interesting sequences places it as a forerunner to the scenes in Bride of Frankenstein of little people held prisoner in glass jars. If truth be hold, it's stretched close to breaking point at near ten minutes, but the visual playfullness makes up for the idea that at times you're just watching a skeleton-suited Paul Daniels and a couple of Debbie McGees.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 76

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 12/1/2013 5:54:24 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

9. The Haunted House

1908
Director: Segundo de Chom�n

Chomon again deals in what are essentially magic tricks, but this time puts them inside a narrative that will be familiar to anyone with an interest in ghost stories. A trio of travellers seek shelter inside a house, unaware that the building is inhabited by a demon. When inside some camera trickery and early stop motion effects lead to clothes getting up and walking around, cutlery wielded by unseen hands starts cutting up food and a painting comes to life. It's not exactly frightening, but visually it's a delight, and some of the imagery makes this into a masterpiece of mindfuckery, especially that ending.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 77

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 13/1/2013 8:27:30 AM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2510
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

Just caught up with Great Train Robbery and Man With Rubber Head. GTR is good and the Man With The Rubber Head is fantastic. I'll check out the new(er) entries soon

< Message edited by scarface666brooksy!! -- 13/1/2013 8:30:04 AM >

_____________________________

My Aussie Film Thread

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

I just want to see everyone naked.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 78

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 13/1/2013 11:17:46 AM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

If you're liking the Melies then I think you should really enjoy the last two.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 79

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 14/1/2013 2:22:07 PM

Gimli The Dwarf

Posts: 73474
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Central Park Zoo

Just seen Star Theatre and Rubber Head. Good and great respectively.

_____________________________

So, sir, we let him have it right up! And I have to report, sir, he did not like it, sir.

Fellow scientists, poindexters, geeks.

Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!

Much more better!

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 80

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 27/1/2013 2:38:39 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

10. A Corner in Wheat

1909
Director: D.W. Griffith

A tycoon decides to corner the market on wheat, raising the cost of flour, which raises the price of bread, bringing more devastation to the lives of the poor. Griffith is still most famous today for the unpleasant Birth of a Nation, a film that's as startling in its technical accomplishments as it is distressing in its narrative and viewpoint, but outside of that troubling masterpiece, he created some genuinely exciting films that seemed to have a decent social conscience. Like many of the films so far, one of the most impressive aspects of the film is the way it's finding new ways to use editing techniques. Griffith took the crosscutting pioneered by the likes of Edwin Porter and used it here to highlight social injustice, cutting between scenes of the greedy businessman and the people on bread lines. I sympathise with those who find the film heavy-handed, Griffith could so often be just that. And in this film even the rightly praised cross-cutting is used to tug on the heart-strings. But it works. And at the time, when cinema was still a relative novelty, it's the kind of film that could have spoken to a mass audience. Even now, over one hundred years on, it retains a sense of power, even if you find it all a little naive.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to Gimli The Dwarf)

Post #: 81

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 29/1/2013 2:30:38 PM

Gimli The Dwarf

Posts: 73474
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Central Park Zoo

Just seen A Trip The Moon. Quite why I've never seen it in full I have no idea. It was alright with some great bits. The iconic Man in the moon image is iconic for a reason but the best bit was the rocket and the cannpon. reminded ,me how damn good Space Mountain is

Man With The Rubber Head is way better.

_____________________________

So, sir, we let him have it right up! And I have to report, sir, he did not like it, sir.

Fellow scientists, poindexters, geeks.

Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!

Much more better!

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 82

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 4:21:49 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

Ok, restarting this, but not in the format it was in. Cos it was boring me. So I'm squashing these into decade lists, different numbers depending on the decade, and doing them in countdown forms. Probably with reviews. Maybe not.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to Gimli The Dwarf)

Post #: 83

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 4:24:10 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

2000 - 2013 Top 300

300. Happy Accidents

2000
Director: Brad Anderson

Marisa Tomei stars as Ruby, a woman with a bad history with men. One day she meets the oddball Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) in the park and the two soon start a relationship. Ruby soon becomes suspicious about Sam and the secrets he seems to keep from her, but when Sam reveals his biggest secret she's left uncertain if he's insane, a liar, or frighteningly real. Tomei and D'Onofrio are both highly underrated performers and they make the most of their well-written and interesting roles. It's especially great to see Tomei with this kind of material. She should have been one of the biggest stars of the 90s after her unexpected (and, screw the naysayers, greatly deserved) Oscar win. But an idiotic rumour that tried to undermine her victory loomed over her career. Thankfully, the last decade has been a bit of a personal reinvention for her, a further two Oscar nominations and some of the best work of her career has seen her acclaimed as an exceptionally talented actress. This is possibly her finest performance, certainly up there with her best. D'Onofrio is a brilliant piece of casting. Sam seems to be a sweetheart, but D'Onofrio is an actor who forever suggests rage just beneath the surface, which adds greatly to the ambiguity of the character. It's great to see a sci-fi film based on ideas rather than effects, even if it does lift from everything from Quantum Leap to La Jetee, and it'd be nice to see more films like Happy Endings.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 84

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 4:31:19 PM

Rebel scum

Posts: 3027
Joined: 2/1/2006

Woo-hoo! An incoming 300 new titles to add to the Lovefilm list!

_____________________________

"We are not safe! A dark menace rises to the east! Duckies go quack! Cows go moo! I want ice cream. Verily, will you two hobbits join my quest?"

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 85

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 5:06:43 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

If you haven't seen some of these then I'll be very disappointed.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to Rebel scum)

Post #: 86

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 5:08:25 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

299. Roger Dodger

2002
Director: Dylan Kidd

Campbell Scott will never be an actor who gets the same level of acclaim as his father, which is a shame, because his performance here as cynical New York ad copywriter Roger Swanson can stand alongside any of his dad's work. Roger views the relationship between the sexes as less a battle and more an all out war. As Roger begins to hit a rare run of bad luck, including being dumped by his boss (Isabella Rossellini), he's visited by his sixteen year old nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg, in his big-screen debut) who wants his uncle's help to lose his virginity. The film follows the duo through a New York night as Roger takes Nick through a variety of locations, from bar to brothel, to get his nephew laid.

The dialogue heavy film demands great performances to work, and both Scott and Eisenberg are on superb form, and there's also nice smaller roles for Rossellini and Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley as two attempted conquests. Roger is a motormouth, and given that he's the centre of the film and barely offscreen, usually you'd need to like the character. Here it doesn't matter that he's nearly impossible to like, because Campbell makes him so dynamic and fascinating to watch. The film is at its strongest when characters challenge him, especially during the segment with Beals and Berkley, with Berkley in particular so good that she wipes all memory of Showgirls from the mind. Ultimately the film isn't as much about gender roles as it is a character study of Roger, a man who defines himself by how he defines other.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 87

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 5:10:34 PM

impqueen

Posts: 6779
Joined: 24/7/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

2000 - 2013 Top 300

300. Happy Accidents

2000
Director: Brad Anderson

Marisa Tomei stars as Ruby, a woman with a bad history with men. One day she meets the oddball Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) in the park and the two soon start a relationship. Ruby soon becomes suspicious about Sam and the secrets he seems to keep from her, but when Sam reveals his biggest secret she's left uncertain if he's insane, a liar, or frighteningly real. Tomei and D'Onofrio are both highly underrated performers and they make the most of their well-written and interesting roles. It's especially great to see Tomei with this kind of material. She should have been one of the biggest stars of the 90s after her unexpected (and, screw the naysayers, greatly deserved) Oscar win. But an idiotic rumour that tried to undermine her victory loomed over her career. Thankfully, the last decade has been a bit of a personal reinvention for her, a further two Oscar nominations and some of the best work of her career has seen her acclaimed as an exceptionally talented actress. This is possibly her finest performance, certainly up there with her best. D'Onofrio is a brilliant piece of casting. Sam seems to be a sweetheart, but D'Onofrio is an actor who forever suggests rage just beneath the surface, which adds greatly to the ambiguity of the character. It's great to see a sci-fi film based on ideas rather than effects, even if it does lift from everything from Quantum Leap to La Jetee, and it'd be nice to see more films like Happy Endings.

Roger Dodger is superb too.

_____________________________

Yes, always.

Mr Clever!

(in reply to rawlinson)

Post #: 88

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 5:42:36 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

Happy Accidents remains sadly underseen. I think I remember a bit of a fanbase forming for Roger Dodger when first released, but it's also seemed to have been mostly forgotten. Glad you like them both.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to impqueen)

Post #: 89

RE: My Favourite Films - 2013 Edition - 24/3/2013 6:38:44 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40206
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

298. Intacto

2001
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

A wonderfully inventive slice of magic realism/horror takes luck and turns it into a commodity like any other, one that can be lost, or taken away by those more gifted. The film focuses on the underworld of gambling, one that only those of us who are the luckiest of the lucky can take part in, a world presided over by the reclusive figure of Samuel Berg (Max von Sydow), concentration camp survivor and a man with supernatural reserves of the L word. Into this world comes Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia), the only survivor of a plane crash who has found a mentor in Federico (Eusebio Poncela) who starts entering him in a series of games of chance, to confirm if he could be the luckiest man alive. The eeriness of the film's concept is matched by the script and performances, enabling the director to create a world that feels like our own, but one that's just a little distorted. Most interesting aspect of the film is the exploration of the downside of luck, not just the ability of the lucky to win big, but to survive horrible situations, often with horrific consequences for the loved ones of the lucky. Film's highpoint, a headlong, blindfolded run through a forest, remains one of the most thrilling sequences of the last decade of cinema.

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