What Should I Watch?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Ok, I'm going to pick five excellent films from that list for you, for no reason other than they cover a broad spectrum.

Seven Samurai (Kurosawa could well be the best director there's ever been. Some of his films seem cliched until you realise that he INVENTED those different ways of filming).

Delicatessen (Jeunet - the director of Amelie and City of Lost Children - creates a film set in post-Apocalyptic France that's a comedy, has cannibalism and militant vegetarian freedom fighters)

Run Lola Run (it's German, doesn't always work perfectly but it's iconic with the image of Lola running with her red hair. Some fun ideas and neat tricks)

The Hustler (cos Paul Newman is one of the greatest actors in history)

Forbidden Planet (cos young Leslie Nielsen plays a very good straight role and it#s a very good sci-fi from yeeeears ago)

Also, rent Harold and Maude and then burn the copy. That film drives me crazy. Hate it.

[Jimmy]

Awesome, thanks. I was particularly interested in Delicatessen and Run Lola Run as more modern films, and I'm glad someone's picked them out for some praise. I'm watching Blow Up today and then I'm going to go get another 3 DVD's out from the library and I'll let people know what I think.

And yeah I put Harold and Maude on the list, but it was one that I didn't really feeling too enthusastic about.

[Skummy]

A few that haven't been mentioned;

Cabinet Of Dr Caligari is one of the most visually impactful movies out there. Fantastic use of lighting and set design to create a really eery atmosphere, and absolutely incredible for the '20s. I'd definitely recommend it. Similarly, Nosferatu is one of those films that you've probably seen parodied a thousand times even if you never saw the film itself, but it still holds up, thanks mostly to one of the all-time great performances by Max Schreck as Count Orlock.

The Night Of The Hunter is possibly my all-time favourite film. Robert Mitchum in a career best performance, acting completely opposite to how he was normally typecast. Genuinely sinister, creepy and menacing, but at the same time, its a film with a lot of warmth and humour in places. Brilliantly shot, directed and acted, with great use of lighting, and some amazing music. Mitchum singing "Leaning" is one of the finest musical setpieces in cinema history. Can't recommend this film enough, it's near-perfect.

Eraserhead is incredible, deranged genius. One of the most genuinely unsettling, disturbing movies you could ever watch. It's a "love/hate" thing, but I adore it. The key is to approach it as a piece of art, rather than a movie. Don't go in expecting a coherent narrative or moral, just an abstract feeling.

[GA!]

That reminds me, I need to see Cabinet Of Dr Caligari again. And Nosferatu. And Run Lola Run.

So many films, so little time.

[Jimmy]

Was thinking of using this as my own little review thread so I don't clog up the 'What did you watch today' thread and it'd help me keep track of what I've seen. If that's not cool, I'll just clog up the WDYWT thread. Watched a few British films recently.

Peeping Tom - It's so weird that this is made by the same director who made 'A Matter of Life and Death', because it's just so radically different in tone and approach. It's a very, very interesting film which still manages to be creepy decades later. It's a shame the film ruined Powell's career because I would have been really interested how he would've progressed with similar kind of funding and what he'd have done next. The colours in this film are really fantastic and I think the whole thing works well. I'll definitely get round to The Red Shoes soon.

If - Always happy to see Malcom McDowell on my screen - and I would definitely understand if this film helped him land A Clockwork Orange, but while I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I loved it. I think the finale didn't really do it for me, because I don't think the actions of the school really justified the finale. Still a really good British film, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disconnected by the end. I'm interested to read more about it, especially the constant changes between colour and black & white because there didn't seem to be a reason.

Going with Skummy's suggestion of The Night of the Hunter next before I go back to Truffaut for Day for Night.

[LL!]

How have you been doing film so long and yet haven't had Platoon and Apocalypse Now shown to you 50,000 times? Myself and everyone I've ever met that's done film has studied every scene of those a ridiculous amount.

I didn't watch either throughout my 5 years in the program.

[TKz]

How have you been doing film so long and yet haven't had Platoon and Apocalypse Now shown to you 50,000 times? Myself and everyone I've ever met that's done film has studied every scene of those a ridiculous amount.

I didn't watch either throughout my 5 years in the program.

You were already masculine enough. Split on the other hand...

[Jimmy]

Don't push me, Kazarian. Don't push me, man!

[TKz]

Your hair is far too pretty, Split! You look like the girl from E4 that has short boyish hair and dresses like a man.

I'd say the one that's not funny, but that might make you think of any of the E4 presenters. >_>

[Jimmy]

stop watching E4 you girl

[TKz]

Well unless there's a Bond film on, there isn't much else to do at work on a Sunday with only freeview access.

[Jimmy]

The Night of the Hunter - I can totally see why you love this film Skummy. It took a turn I wasn't expecting, as the film completely changes just over half way through, which turned out to be really nice. Mitchum is really, really good, although I can't compare it to his other roles as it's the first film I've seen him, but him singing 'leaning' is definitely one of my favourite uses of songs in cinema. I can forgive some of the poorer child acting, which is one of the few things that did annoy me at times. But it was surprisingly stylistic and used a lot of interesting lighting and camera work. Well worth a watch, although I'm not shocked it wasn't adored when it first came out.

Got Day for Night, Psycho, Run Lola Run and Rebel Without A Cause all to watch in the next few days.

[Jimmy]

They're doing a Roman Polanski season at the BFI in January. I'm going to see Rosemary's Baby. Is there anything else I should try and catch? I've already seen Chinatown. Was thinking of going to one of Cul-De-Sac, Repulsion or The Tenant. Any opinions?

edit: Maybe Knife in the Water, too.

Also might go catch one of their screwball comedies out of Mr Deeds goes to Town, His Girl Friday or Bringing Up Baby.

So yeah, any suggestions?

[LL!]

Repulsion for sure. The Ghost Writer is pretty great. Knife in the Water, as well. I also liked Carnage, but only if you can make time for it after everything else.

[Jimmy]

Yeah, Repulsion was going to be the other one I went to. I liked The Ghost Writer, and they're not showing his more recent stuff like Carnage. But I think I'll go to Repulsion, too. Then watch Knife in the Water on DVD if I like these two enough.

Just watched Eyes Without A Face which I thought was magnificent. Extremely creepy and unsettling, with some make-up effects that were still able to stun me, but it was all somehow very beautiful. Very nicely paced, too for a 90 minute film.

[Jimmy]

We're starting a documentary unit on our film course, and I want to watch a few to get more familiar with the format and to see what I can learn. I've recently seen The Imposter and The Invisible War and I've got The Thin Blue Line to watch, too.

I want to see both Senna and Man on Wire.

Which should I make my priority? And what other good docs are there to watch? We got introduced to a few in a lecture, and I'm interested in seeing more of Roger and Me at some point.

Any help would be handy!

[TKz]

King of Kong is wonderful. I've not enjoyed a documentary so much in a long time. Indie Game The Movie is pretty fun as well.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I'll second Indie Game: The Movie. If you're into music docs, Anvil: The Story of Anvil! is pretty good. There's another pretty good doc called Craigslist Joe about a guy who sets out to live off the kindness of strangers on craigslist for a month, going off with nothing except a phone, a laptop and the clothes on his back. It's really interesting. I imagine LL will sing its praises too (I wouldn't have watched it had he not mentioned it on Facebook a few days ago).

[Jimmy]

I'll put Indie game near the top of the list too. And the Craigslist one, seems to have got mixed reviews, but both your endorsements is good for me. Plan on seeing Grizzly Man at some point, too.

[Damian WayLNKe]

King of Kong, It Might Get Loud and the 30 Days TV show are some of my favorites.