amateurist, i have a question,

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I've defended Kurosawa (my favourite director) and Seven Samurai (my favourite movie). There's a short piece by me on that film on Freaky Trigger, if you care to search. It's not a very good piece, or terribly illuminating.

Some people in these parts will realise how badly I react to the critical move from 'this film is shit/I hate it because' to 'this is the kind of film wrongly liked by people who,' and we see big steps towards the latter above.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 17 July 2005 08:25 (eighteen years ago) link

I think I see what yr driving out re. Kurosawa, 007. My first thought this morning is it's about the beauty of austerity: not much "meat" in say Seven Samurai because it's about an ethic which is almost the inverse of traditional Western humanism. On the other hand tho you've got Yojimbo or Hidden Fortress which seem to me to be v. humanistic, albeit from a different tradition. Then I was going to say the trickster who plays one side off against the other but I remembered Odysseus and wondered if it's such a unique/different tradition after all?

(Mumbles some stuff about Zen and empty beauty which is urgent and key but not easy to convey on a Sunday morning.)

― Scream! Scrovula, Scream! (noodle vague), Sunday, 17 July 2005 09:00 (eighteen years ago) link

another of my favorites is distant voices, still lives.

that's three gay directors--minnelli, eisenstein, davies--if you're keeping count, anthony.

i kid, i kid.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Sunday, 17 July 2005 09:17 (eighteen years ago) link

"The Long Day Closes" is just as good imo.

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 17 July 2005 10:47 (eighteen years ago) link

do you think eisenstein was gay? i have read a couple of essays but i remain unconvinced.

and minelli liked pussy to much to be totally a cocksucker. (though really judy garlands pussy was the dmz of that war wasnt it?

― anthony, Sunday, 17 July 2005 12:35 (eighteen years ago) link

On the other hand tho you've got Yojimbo or Hidden Fortress which seem to me to be v. humanistic

Kurosawa's def. a humanist, but usually in a completely unsentimental way. I love how his movies are full of schemers and backstabbers(like the whole village in Yojimbo, or the two schleps in Fortress, the 3PO/R2 characters), and all the Mifune characters who are mostly in it for the money (although not in Fortress). I like the humor in his movies, although it's not there in all of them (his two Shakespeare adaptations are pretty grim straight through). And his movies move, there's an aliveness that I always forget until I sit down to watch them again.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 17 July 2005 13:57 (eighteen years ago) link

(and 007, right, I don't actually mean Eyes Without a Face is Best of the '50s, just what popped into my head from that decade; my second choice was A Face in the Crowd)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 17 July 2005 13:58 (eighteen years ago) link

yeah im sry i totally inflated that kurosawa shit from a night i came home and ran ws on and it seemed just deadserious and ebert and locked up, while even say the costumes i remember fondly. and there is humor in seven sam sure and probably caregiving and caretaking too. i like that, that they move, sidescroll, v spacial, putting the sky on wheels

― 007 (thoia), Sunday, 17 July 2005 17:57 (eighteen years ago) link

i didn't really care for ninotchka! but to be or not to be is one of my favourite movies.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 17 July 2005 18:16 (eighteen years ago) link

eisenstein was sort of tortured (he tried certain therapies to get rid of his homosexual urges), and he slept with plenty of women, but he also had affairs w/men, yes.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Sunday, 17 July 2005 18:57 (eighteen years ago) link

bad ones cont.
Being There
Capturing the Friedmans
Roger & Me
Clerks
Peeping Tom (Powell)

― älänbänänä (alanbanana), Sunday, 17 July 2005 20:31 (eighteen years ago) link

Kurosawa Dodes’ ka-den - C/D? I saw it at least six years ago and hardly remember much other than.. it was incredibly weird and kind of.. garish, maybe?

― daria g (daria g), Monday, 18 July 2005 00:43 (eighteen years ago) link

ooh, add to my least faves: Bowling For Columbine.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 18 July 2005 00:45 (eighteen years ago) link

I like The Dreamers.

Just wanted to say that.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 00:53 (eighteen years ago) link

I mean, it wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it.

As you were.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 00:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Michael Pitt has the most annoying screen presence I can think of. Every role has been downhill since Dawson's Creek.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 18 July 2005 00:56 (eighteen years ago) link

I feel that, in this world of Jeremy Pivenses and Steve Zahns, I'd have to disagree with you.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 00:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Steve Zahn is awesome, but you're on to something with Jeremy Piven.

Michael Pitt kind of reminds me of a junkie Chris Klein.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:00 (eighteen years ago) link

Anyway, I'm very fickle and I've listed my favorite films on here countless times, but this week, I like Underground, Sweet Smell Of Success, Shoot The Piano Player, the films of Patrick Keiller, Wisconsin Death Trip, Songs From The Second Floor, Ariel, Rear Window, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Bus 174, Cure, Bad Day At Black Rock, Stardust Memories, Bad Education, etc.

Least favorite: 8mm, Four Rooms, Lost In Translation, Crash (the Paul Haggis one), Sin City, Rules Of Attraction...

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:11 (eighteen years ago) link

I need some new films to hate, really.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:13 (eighteen years ago) link

I really like ALL the Harry Palmer films too, especially Billion Dollar Brain.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:15 (eighteen years ago) link

another of my favorites is distant voices, still lives.

oh, me too!

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:16 (eighteen years ago) link

adam u listed underground 1st, shd i starve and sniff it out? i ws doing some reading today and im thru fussing abt fellini. i didnt know rules ws so objectionable i probably wasnt even that uncomfortable elbowing n tryna smile at them jumping on the bed?

what abt new york minute guys? ok let me search palmer

― 007 (thoia), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:26 (eighteen years ago) link

I like Underground, but a lot of people disagree with me about a lot of things...

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:28 (eighteen years ago) link

underground is really great. if i was asked to list my 20 favorite movies, underground would definitely be there.

― t0dd swiss (immobilisme), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:32 (eighteen years ago) link

does it have a scene where everything is quiet and you almost crack a smile and lean forward and back and a cut and your, ah this heartbroken world and then you still have 2 more hours of conceit and accordian piling on and your thankyou thankyou, ill try that too?

ive been hopint to watch it for awhile. and the gallo one

― 007 (thoia), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:34 (eighteen years ago) link

i watched Children Underground last night. It was good but perhaps the most brutally upsetting thing i have ever seen.
I try to get 'Underground' but my dvd rental place says it's not out on dvd in the uk yet. i wish they'd hurry up.

― jeffrey (johnson), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:40 (eighteen years ago) link

hahahaha!

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:42 (eighteen years ago) link

yes!

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:43 (eighteen years ago) link

great!

― 007 (thoia), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:46 (eighteen years ago) link

There can never be too much accordian. Sorry. It's just one of those thingd.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:48 (eighteen years ago) link

God, I can't stop laughing at that post. Well done.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:49 (eighteen years ago) link

the films of Patrick Keiller

I just rented Robinson in Space and I'm really excited to watch it.

I want to see Anthony's lists!

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Anthony started a thread somewhere about his top 100. It was great.

Robinson In Space is amazing, but I prefer London. They're both essential.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 01:52 (eighteen years ago) link

my top 100 films

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 02:03 (eighteen years ago) link

barry lyndon! god like i sd mccabe and mrs miller is so fucking funny, maybe later tonight warren

― 007 (thoia), Monday, 18 July 2005 02:08 (eighteen years ago) link

my own personal top 101...
The 39 Steps
A Face In the Crowd
Apocalypse Now
Ashes and Diamonds
Audition
Back to the Future
Before the Rain
Below
Bend of the River
The Big Sleep
Black Christmas
Body Double
The Boxer
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bringing Out the Dead
Bullitt
Carlito's Way
Casino
Chungking Express
Come and See
Contempt
Dawn of the Dead
Deep Red
Drunken Master II
Eyes Wide Shut
Fallen Angels
Fireworks
The Fog of War
Get Carter
God of Cookery
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good Thief
Goodfellas
The Great Escape
Happiness of the Katakuris
Heat
The Hidden
I Walked With A Zombie
Infernal Affairs
Irma Vep
Jaws
JFK
Joint Security Area
The Killer
Kiss Me Deadly
La Dolce Vita
Lancelot du Lac
Land Without Bread
The Last Detail
Le Doulos
Light Sleeper
Lilya-4-Ever
The Long Goodbye
The Lord of the Rings
Lost Highway
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Meet the Feebles
The Million Dollar Hotel
The Mission (2000)
New Jack City
The Night of the Hunter
Night and the City
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Oktober
Once Upon a Time In China
Once Upon a Time In the West
One, Two, Three
Our Hospitality
Out of the Past
Paris Blues
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Pierrot le Fou
Prince of the City
Repo Man
The Right Stuff
The Roaring Twenties
The Rules of the Game
Rushmore
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
Sexy Beast
Shadow of a Doubt
Shaun of the Dead
Sherlock Jr.
Soldier of Orange
Stalker
Starship Troopers
Sweet Smell of Success
Taxi Driver
Terror Firmer
The Thing
The Third Man
Time Out
To Live and Die In L.A.
Too Many Ways To Be Number One
Vivre Sa Vie
Waco: The Rules of Engagement
The Wages of Fear
White Heat
The Wild Bunch
Young Frankenstein

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 02:48 (eighteen years ago) link

1. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)
2. The Shop Around The Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
3. Imitation Of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959)
4. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
5. Notorious (Alfred Hitchock, 1946)
6. Pather Panchali, Aparajito, The World of Apu (Satyajit Ray, 1955, 1957,1959)
7. The Rules Of The Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
8. Mon oncle d'Amérique (Alain Resnais, 1980)
9. Spies (Fritz Lang, 1928)
10. Simon of the Desert (Louis Buñuel,1965)

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 18 July 2005 13:29 (eighteen years ago) link

i thought this thread was going to be akin to "jaymc tells you what celebrity you look like" only amateurist was offering advice instead of comparing you to fancy famous folk.

― kelsey (kelstarry), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:05 (eighteen years ago) link

Man, I went to all the trouble with the tags and the dates, and misspelled Hitchcock. And Luis Buñuel.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:07 (eighteen years ago) link

I'd like for Am to offer advise to everyone based on their submitted lists of films.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Monday, 18 July 2005 16:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Like he's going to give a recommendation of what else they should watch? Or draw conclusions about their character or tell their fortune?

This has turned out to be the most amicable film thread ever.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 18 July 2005 16:37 (eighteen years ago) link

i think am should just guide us in this crazy thing we call "life."

― kelsey (kelstarry), Monday, 18 July 2005 17:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Let's go amateur!

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 18 July 2005 17:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I saw "Dancer" as sort of a stand-off between Bjork and von Trier. The good parts were all hers -- the songs, mostly. The obnoxious plot and nausea-inducing camerawork were all his.

But I forgave a lot of his sins after Dogville, which is my favorite movie of the last couple years.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:01 (eighteen years ago) link

WTF RETCON!

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:06 (eighteen years ago) link

Let's go amateur!
-- k/l (lauter...), July 18th, 2005.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

huh? what advice do you want?
-- Amateur(ist) (amateurist@gmail.com), June 27th, 2001.

Did Amateur!st turn back time just to show what awesome advice-giving power he wields???

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:08 (eighteen years ago) link

No specific advice. Just fun advice.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't know why my post was cut-and-pasted up there without the previous one. Makes no sense at all.

― Kovacs Laszlo (Ken L), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Uhm, just to show that, exactly after your post, it suddenly became June 27th, 2001. But I've just realised that this happened on every ILX thread, so yeah, the joke's pretty lame.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:33 (eighteen years ago) link

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