Random 10: Random Films for Comment - Week 17

Paths of Glory is a breathtakingly good film. It should be one of Kubrick's best loved.

Have only seen Bride of, not Frank himself...

Almost bought The Beast a few weeks back, but not seen it either.

Annie Hall is the best Woody Allen bar-none, combining the sadness and the comedy in a way no one would ever do again. I love the spontaneity, and if you dig this film, I highly recommend reading Woody's editor's book, When the Shooting Stops, The Cutting Begins for a good history of how the film evolved in the cutting room.

I never saw Someone to Watch Over Me, but I still remember the commercials from it, b/c they were on my tape of Ghostbusters (recorded off of network TV) I used to watch ad nauseam when I was a little kid.

Throw rotten veg at me if you must, but I actually find 8 1/2...and while we're at it, a lot of Fellini...quite overrated. I own it, it's great cinematography, and sometimes inspired filmmaking. It's also sometimes a big pile of stinking hot poo, and the final press conference scene just loses itself by the end. I'm not completely convinced - I admire this film far more than I enjoy it.

I should see Gregory's Girl - I very much enjoyed Local Hero.

Paths of Glory is like the total middle child of the Kubrick family. Everyone praises it to high heaven - justifiably - but few really remember much about it. It exceeds a lot of his later work, and needs to be recognized as such. Sure, there's not as many overly quotable lines, no crazy orgies, no psycho Jack Nicholson, and so on. But I'd easily rank it in the top three of his. (xpost)

To think that "Annie Hall" beat "Star Wars" for Best Picture - I can live with that. How can you not fall in love with Diane Keaton here?

Fellini overrated? Watch "Nights of Cabiria" or "Amarcord" and tell me if you still feel the same way.

i'll eventually be watching blow job in my film class, which is good as i've wanted to see it for awhile. (i know, i know, still...)

the last 40 or so minutes of 8 1/2 i remember thinking was brilliant, the first part of it didn't make much of an impression on me at all (like basically every other fellini movie i've seen).

annie hall is nearly perfect.

and that's all i've seen from this list.

Frankenstein -- cant remember if i have seen this or not. i assume this is the one that created the definitve image of frankenstein?

Annie Hall -- yeah, this is good. even tho i find diane keaton kind of annoying!

8 1/2 -- my favorite movie. i'd try to defend it but im not really sure what everyone is saying against it. in any case, as with most of my favorite films, it's an emotional connection that i cant completely explain and wouldnt want to. i should add that i strongly dislike most fellini!

i think what i like about it so much is that it seems to address the gap between the perfection of good art and the messiness and the banality of that messiness in life--that the self-criticism that appears in the film is less a smug pre-emption against criticism as it is an acknowledgement that the movie (art in general? realism? art as salvation?) is a failure. and for this it is profound and great and "important" etc. he never makes the movie, and the movie we are watching never pulls together into anything really, but he solves his problem somehow. the pessimism is real, and the optimistic conclusion is so willful and contrived AND beautiful that it makes me cry every time.

i did not like paths of glory as a teenager, so i need to see it again. but i still doubt it is better than anything that came after it except maybe a clockwork orange. the last scene strikes me as pretty dopey, and i dont buy the revisionist angle on it.

blow job -- is like like sleep or empire? just a blow job i assume?

Frankenstein is classic. Haven't seen Bride though...

To understand my appreciation of Annie Hall - or Woody in general, for that matter - one would have to live my life from the very beginning. The man speaks to me like nobody else. It's one of those strange, intangible art experiences.

I absolutely love 8 1/2. It smashes all conventions, throws the rule book out the window. I admire his work immensely, but I admit, I find a lot of Fellini to be... well, like most art films, not very exciting. 8 1/2 is an exception, though. Call me a loser, but I find this movie more entertaining than any big-budget action blockbuster.

I just got Local Hero from Netflix, so my Forsyth adventure is just beginning. I'll get to Gregory's Girl eventually.

Paths of Glory is awesome. Just like The Killing, it's such a taut piece of filmmaking. Everything is for effect, nothing is for show. I've heard one critic say Kubrick uses his camera like a weapon, and I can't think of a more apt description. He pries into everything, leaves no stone unturned, never shies away from any of the grim details. It gets pretty intense.

Blowjob, I believe, is the extended reaction shot of the guy receiving. None of the fun stuff, unfortunately.

Frankenstein Again, often these lists are reminders of how bloody long it's been since I've seen some of this stuff. I probably haven't seen this movie in almost 30 years.

Round Midnight This got so much hype/press at the time, but I barely remember anything about it except for Dexter Gordon's inimitable vibe/style. I don't think the story was up to much, and despite said hype, I don't remember the music being up to much either. It did lead me to Gordon's music, however, and that was a good thing.

Annie Hall I've been having a series of conversations with a co-worker about great scenes in this film that I barely remember. Guess I need to see it again.

8 1/2 Haven't seen this all the way through since college. And having reacquainted myself with La Dolce Vita and fallen in love all over again, I'm looking forward to checking it out again.

Gregory's Girl Again, another film I probably haven't watched for 20 years. I remember it being quite charming, in a low-key way. Local Hero is/was much showier and "Hollywood," though at this distance, that might be a virtue.

Paths of Glory Great film. It's been years since I've seen this one as well, but I have a much more vivid impression of it than the others. And I'll admit that Timothy Carey in all of his freaky, scene-stealing glory is one of the reasons this is a fave. The bit with the cockroach alone . . .

"8 1/2" made me want to be a filmmaker. The direction & cinematography are impeccible, the acting is great, the vision to make the film in the first place is amazing. The subject matter and subjective storytelling were incredibly ahead of its time, and the long crane shot at the Spa with "Ride of the Valkyries" is one of the greatest shots in the history of cinema. I couldn't count how many films pay homage to "8 1/2", and it really boggles my mind how anyone could dislike this film or find it overrated.

"Annie Hall" is still one of the boldest achievements in cinema. The experimentation is incredible--direct address of the camera, subjective subtitling, the Marshall McLuhan scene, the animation sequence--and on top of that, you have on-screen chemistry between all of the actors, and one of the greatest modern love stories ever written. I have to agree that it's Woody Allen's masterwork, and I'm so glad that the academy had the guts to give it the Oscar & not that overrated piece of trash "Star Wars".

BTW, one point I forgot to mention earlier: No serious discussion of Annie Hall is complete without mentioning in some detail The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (the book Alvy buys Annie after they split). Unfortunately, I'm not one to initiate the discussion. I only got about a quarter of the way through the book before I plummeted into a pit of hopeless despair, which has taken quite some time to recover from. When I finally muster up enough courage to finish the book, I'll let you know.

hopeless despair is just my thing. i will check that book out.