First off, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA is a 2007 release, which is smart. Why would Sony/Paramount fuck themselves out of 2 possible Oscar contenders and waste them in the same year?

Second, as I see it, FLAGS could very well win Best Picture.

However, I also see THE DEPARTED winning Best Director, since Eastwood has won what, two Oscars for that same category, he'll be like Oliver Stone was for JFK. Alot of press and heat, but Scorsese is the babe this year. Besides, people wanting to vote for Scorsese can do it emotionally with a very damn good movie with them. Save for Wyler and Ford, nobody has won 3 prizes in that category.

At least thats how I see things playing.

Thanks 24fps and welcome to the boards. I am planning to get netflix in January next year, hopefully I will find some of these movies on it. BTW, your first post was great [/b][/quote]No problem. Glad to be of help. I'm pretty sure all of the films are available on Netflix.

Just curious, what are your 5 or 10 favorite movies? I ask because it might be a shock how different those Asian films are from the martial arts/action genre Hong Kong movies. And, some of them are different going by Western filmmaking norms.

For those that like "Twelve Monkeys," be sure to check out Chris Marker's "La Jetee" - the inspiration for Gilliam's film. One of the truly innovative and unique works ever. Available in Region 2 DVD or seen on a Region 1 DVD collection titled, "Shorts: Dreams."

An image:

http://www.docpoint.info/press2005/marker/pikku/la_jetee.jpg

The only film in tsp's top 10 list I haven't seen. Doesn't sound that interesting. [/b][/quote]I hope that doesn't dissuade you from attempting to get into Ozu. There are many genius filmmakers, but Ozu I think is really deserving of really being considered one of the few greatest of the greatest.

Ozu doesn't have imaginative plots or stories; they're pretty straightforward. They are, despite their variations (large and small), about family.

His characters aren't larger than life, but that's what's so great about them. Often times, people say they love cinema because there are edification possibilities; portrayals of the human condition; insight; or reflection of life...no matter how personal or indiosyncratic the auteur's world (themes and techniques, etc.) is.

His characters are everyday people. The relatable/resonance factor goes through the roof in his films.

"Tokyo Story," while in my opinion not his greatest film, shines because of his ability to capture family and the conflicts/relation between generations and age.

One might say, "Yeah, films about family?...big deal." But, most family portrayals are extreme: dysfunctional or sappy. Ozu's are beyond gross generalizations.

As for his visual style, Ozu was very much experimental. There are more ways to craft a cinematic visual style than a moving camera!

A great intro to Ozu, of the ones I've seen, would be "Late Spring" (I think his best work) or "Record of a Tenement Gentleman."

I can see that. For me though, in terms of accessibility it's only behind "Full Metal Jacket" and "Shining" because those fit loosely under very appealling genres: war and horror. In terms of his best, for me, it's "Barry Lyndon."

Agreed on the cinematography...so great that it's a good enough reason alone to check out the movie. That is not to say that I think Kubrick's narration is something to sneeze at.

I'm glad you enjoyed this movie. Raw emotion, that's right! And if you are interested in Italian Neorealism, I'd suggest you "Rome, Open City" (by Roberto Rossellini, 1946). Oh, and another "must see" by Vittorio De Sica is definitely "Umberto D." [/b][/quote]Have you seen the works of Alberto Lattuada? I haven't but, his "Mafioso" has been screened recently in New York (a work I've been wanting to see for some time).

I really like the two Ermanno Olmi's I've seen. Highly recommended for Italian Neorealism admirers.

Have you seen Sans Soleil? It's the only Marker film I've seen, and one of my favorite movies of all time. I'd love to see La Jetee some time soon.

I just rented United 93. What an emotional rollercoaster of a movie. It's difficult to make a good movie when everyone knows how it ends, but the director does an admirable job nonetheless. No melodramatics here. For example, the "Let's roll" line was delivered in the matter-of-fact manner in which it was originally stated.

I was somewhat surprised there was no real development of 2-3 characters that were on the plane talking with their loved ones. I thought we might have seen Todd Beamer's wife or one of the other victim's family members. But there were multiple storylines occuring so that added dimension may have not been what the film needed.

The confusion of the day is front and center. And seeing the guys who played the terrorists made me hate jihadists even more than I already did. It makes me sick how 19 men caused such devastation to not only the victims, but their families and friends as well. What makes me hate these terrorists is that they somehow had the idea that they can continue praying and deem themselves as holy men while at the same time carrying out mass murder.

I have watched films I like more than once and I really liked this movie. But I don't think I can bear to watch it again.

4 out of 4 stars

The Fast and the Furious **
(Second Viewing)

Pretty lame action movie that is laughable in parts

THE FAST & THE FURIOUS (2002) - **

Irishman is right. This is the POINT BREAK of street car racing(though with the film, one would be given the idea that its boring and not risque, despite Rob Cohen's hackish attempts at trying to make it neither) to the point(pun!) that now, I'll give a favorable rating to POINT BREAK the next time I catch it, since at least it had a humorous robber gimmick("I'm still not a crook!")

I presume you are not asking about martial arts movies. Because I frankly don't have so many favorites and don't even remember the names of many of those movies I watched on TV. These are my favorite 10 movies:

The top three in strict order, the rest not so rigid.

1. Apocalypse Now - Redux
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Godfather part 1/2
4. Raging Bull
5. American Beauty
6. Taxi Driver
7. Requiem for a Dream
8. Vertigo
9. Dead Man
10. Matrix part1

Edit: Removed accidental double post

I presume you are not asking about martial arts movies. Because I frankly don't have so many favorites and don't even remember the names of many of those movies I watched on TV. These are my favorite 10 movies:

The top three in strict order, the rest not so rigid.

1. Apocalypse Now - Redux
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Godfather part 1/2
4. Raging Bull
5. American Beauty
6. Taxi Driver
7. Requiem for a Dream
8. Vertigo
9. Dead Man
10. Matrix part1 [/b][/quote]I'm quite interested to know yours 24fps. Care to share?

As am I.

I'm glad you enjoyed this movie. Raw emotion, that's right! And if you are interested in Italian Neorealism, I'd suggest you "Rome, Open City" (by Roberto Rossellini, 1946). Oh, and another "must see" by Vittorio De Sica is definitely "Umberto D." [/b][/quote]Have you seen the works of Alberto Lattuada? I haven't but, his "Mafioso" has been screened recently in New York (a work I've been wanting to see for some time).

I really like the two Ermanno Olmi's I've seen. Highly recommended for Italian Neorealism admirers. [/b][/quote]I haven't seen any Lattuada or Olmi films. Which two Olmi films have you seen?

Yes, I wasn't asking about martial arts movies. Just wanted to see if any of my previous recommendations might need some preface of some sorts based off of your taste.

Except Wong Kar-wai, most of the films I suggested might raise the objections/criticisms of being slow. But, so are some Western classics like some of what you cited above: the Coppolas, Scorseses, and Jarmusch (save the violence). So, I don't see much problem. I think steady is the better word than slow.

Cheers.

Yes, I have. Remarkable isn't it. Intelligent cinema, but not intellectual (a play on a Welles quote).

Sadly, those two and "Le Joli Mai" (another great one) are the only ones I've seen.

If you have Netflix or some other rental service, bump "La Jetee" to the top of your queue ASAP.

Okay. Only if you and DVC, and anyone else, do the same (not unless you guys already did earlier in this huge thread; care to point me to the page number?)

1-In The Mood For Love (Wong, 2000)
2-Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
3-Happy Together (Wong, 1997)
4-Godfather Part 2 (Coppola, 1974)
5-Friday Night (Denis, 2002)
6-Three Colors: Blue (Kieslowski, 1993)
7-Late Spring (Ozu, 1949)
8-La Jetee (Marker, 1962)
9-Stalker (Tarkovsky, 1979)
10-Orpheus (Cocteau, 1950)

Gosh, I had to leave out so many others and very funny ones at that (weird because I love to laugh). Note these are my favorites according to my personal aesthetic and criteria. No objectivity was intentionally strived for. And they all could move higher or lower on any given day. That's just how I feel today.

Oh, make that three: "I Fidanzati," "Il Posto," and "Tree of Wooden Clogs."

All highly highly recommended.

2 Fast 2 Furious * 1/2
(First Viewing)

THIS is exactly why I never watched these movies when they first came out, because they are pieces of sh*t. Casting Cole Hauser as Carter Verone was a HORRIBLE idea as well

edit

1. Goodfellas (1990/Scorsese)
2. Magnolia (1999/Anderson)
3. Fight Club (1999/Fincher)
4. The Godfather Pt II (1974/Coppola)
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968/Kubrick)
6. Heat (1995/Mann)
7. American Beauty (1999/Mendes)
8. Boogie Nights (1997/Anderson)
9. The Godfather (1972/Coppola)
10. Casino (1995/Scorsese)

The Outsiders ***
I picked it up from my library just because it was directed by Coppola. From the poster and tagline, I thought it would be a goofy teen movie. But I was very wrong. This movie is a powerful portrayal of tragedy and hope associated with youth. The two main characters, ponyboy and johnny are developed really well. This was one of those small movies that coppola made through Zoetrope in 1983. I am now looking forward to his Youth without Youth, supposed to be a small personal movie from Coppola after a long time.

1. Stalker (Tarkovsky; 1979)
2. Dead Man (Jarmusch; 1995)
3. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Herzog; 1972)
4. Paris, Texas (Wenders; 1984)
5. Chinatown (Polanski; 1975)
6. A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes; 1974)
7. Le Samourai (Melville; 1967)
8. Krótki film o zabijaniu (Kieslowski; 1988)
9. Vivre sa vie : Film en Douze Tableaux (Godard; 1962)
10. Professione: Reporter (Antonioni; 1975)

Something like that. It was hard to leave out a lot of movies.

Wow, that's amazing that you think it is anything but a goofy teen movie. To each his own.

I agree w/you about the development of Ponyboy & Johnny, but that's it. IMO, it contains some of the worst, most cliched acting ever by Patrick Swayze and Matt Dillon ("Do it for Johnny, man" and "he's just a kid"). It's interesting seeing a lot of today's leading actors (Cruise, Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane) and some actors who have fizzled out (Emilio Estevez, C. Thomas Howell, Leif Garrett, and Ralph Macchio).

I liked this movie when I was 13, but I didn't really have a lot of cultural perspective at that point.

Yet, you're shocked that Swayze and Dillon couldn't cut the acting mustard? I mean, thats like being surprised that Steven Seagal can't act.

THE OUTSIDERS is nice but overrated. Of course, I haven't seen that supposed "recut" that Coppola made.

Meanwhile, I always prefered RUMBLE FISH. :p

1. The Godfather (Coppola)
Magnolia (P.T. Anderson)
The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson)
Rushmore (Wes Anderson)
Contempt (Godard)
Leon (Besson)
Le Samourai (Melville)
Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
Bob Le Flambeur (Melville)
Irreversible (Noe)

This list is in no way difinitive .

I currently rate six films four stars. So here's my top six, in alphabetical order:

Don't Look Now (1973/Roeg)
Éloge de l'amour (2001/Godard)
Eraserhead (1976/Lynch)
Irréversible (2002/Noé)
Taxi Driver (1975/Scorsese)
Weekend (1967/Godard)

I'm surprised you don't rank Vivre sa Vie among Godard's best, Capo. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.

Figured I'd repost these here as this thread has livened up a bit as of late.

Permanenet Record
(1988/Silver)
An effective look at teen suicide and its after-effects. Suprisingly respectable direction, especially coming from a woman, and one with as little expierience as Silver. Keanu Reeves retains his Bill and Ted surfer accent, but he keeps it from crossing into laughable, and displays some early acting chops. The outdated music is the only real negative, but overall, enjoyable.

Reassemblage
(1982/Trinh)
An interesting experimental documentary, where the subjects of the film (the people of Senegal), are just as important to the overall mix as the filmmakers themselves. Not only a commentary on documentary filmmaking, but also just on the way we as humans look at different cultures and strange objects. This film, having been directed by a woman, also seems to have some sort of message about the female presence in the Senegal culture, although this was a little bit unclear. Technically, Trinh's rapid fire editing was enjoyable, but her choices in audio mixing seemed a bit odd at times.

Lapis
(1966/Whitney)
Momentum
(1969/Belson)
While I'm so glad to have finally moved into the avant garde section of my film course, I was not blown away by these first two selections. Yes, they both effectively dive headfirst into the idea of cinematic purism we've been discussing; producing something that can only be created on film, and yes, they are both visually and mentally stimulating despite the near-complete lack of any explanation, but I feel as though personally, I will most likely have trouble ever considering avant garde films independently from my preconceptions derived from the ending to 2001, along with various Windows screensavers and Media Player displays. Original for their era, but perhaps cheapened by the passage of time.

La Dolce Vita
(1960/Fellini)
Great black and white cinematography, great performance by Mastroianni, some interesting ideas tossed around by Fellini. Despite the many notable positive aspects here, the overwhelming redundancy and sprawling length of the film are stifling. The last 15 minutes were great, showing some similarities to 8 1/2, but it was too little too late here. And why is it that if you listen to the dialogue and watch the actor's move, they never sync up? Mildly annoying. Still very interested in seeing more Fellini though.

A Trip to the Moon
(1902/Melies)
Really liked the set construction, as well as the primitive special effects.

Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
(1895/Lumiere)
Glad I finally thought to look this up online. Anyone know of other classic shorts I might find on youtube?

Wild at Heart
(1990/Lynch)
Decent. Could've used more Willem Dafoe.