The Dead better than Red.
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.),
better Dead than Red.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:07 (ten years ago) link
The Cinematheque did a similar list a while back (can't find link now) and included Night of the Hunter on their list, which cannot help but feel like cheating to me.
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:07 (ten years ago) link
well, as wd L'Atalante, really
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:11 (ten years ago) link
(xpost) Yes, Night of the Hunter is absurd. (Don't remember that series...)
― clemenza, Friday, 6 September 2013 15:37 (ten years ago) link
probably Huston's "The Dead" which is pretty great. "Salo" is... something. most of these are pretty bad.
― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
A Prairie Home Companion is a hell of a final film about last performances. Voted Blue before seeing it on the list.
Billy Wilder's Buddy Buddy left off the list out of respect for the deceased.
― bad bad disco (Eazy), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:42 (ten years ago) link
Of the eight I've seen, I'll vote for the Ozu, though Kieslowski comes close. I saw The Dead when it was released, but don't have much memory of it.
― cops on horse (WilliamC), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:47 (ten years ago) link
APHC is the warmest possible farewell film a director could make. I voted for it.
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:48 (ten years ago) link
the grand budapest hotel
― гір кривбас кривий ріг (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:51 (ten years ago) link
a great film in the grandest ophulsian manner, a profoundly elegiac swansong
― гір кривбас кривий ріг (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:52 (ten years ago) link
Back when it was one of the few Buñuels available on decent VHS transfer I watched That Obscure Object of Desire often without being crazy about it. The same goes for An Autumn Afternoon.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:56 (ten years ago) link
nilmar you're in a very naughty mood today
― ... Jenkinson ... ... ... ... ... ... Özil ... ... (imago), Friday, 6 September 2013 15:58 (ten years ago) link
TOOOD is perfection IMO but I've banged on about it at such length before it'd be wasteful to say much else
― ... Jenkinson ... ... ... ... ... ... Özil ... ... (imago), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:00 (ten years ago) link
most of these are pretty bad.
As always, I stand corrected.
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:01 (ten years ago) link
where's Cracking Up?
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:12 (ten years ago) link
I should probably have specified "of the ones I've seen" (which is by no means all).
idg the praise for APHC
― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
This one is just too difficult. "L'Argent", "...Astrea & Celadon", "F For Fake" and even the batshit wonder that is "7 Women" would all take top spot for me. Oh, and "Le Trou", The Buñuel... Nope. Impossible.
― That elusive North American wood-ape (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:15 (ten years ago) link
Wait - is Fellini's last one in here? Don't see it. Has one of the few Benigni performances I can tolerate. Strange and wonderful film.
― That elusive North American wood-ape (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:16 (ten years ago) link
Raul Ruiz's last one "La Noche De Enfrente" is wonderful as well. Very nearly trumps "Mysteries Of Lisbon" for me.
― That elusive North American wood-ape (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:20 (ten years ago) link
(apologies for overuse of 'wonder/ful', btw)
― That elusive North American wood-ape (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:21 (ten years ago) link
This is impossible.
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:23 (ten years ago) link
star 80 or paprika
― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Friday, 6 September 2013 16:42 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 25 September 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
Voted F for Fake over Imitation of Life just because it was listed earlier
― not some dude poking a Line 6 pedal with his dick (sarahell), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 00:07 (ten years ago) link
"f for fake" really should not be on the list -- welles's last completed film was "making othello," from 1978.
have seen shamefully few of these, but "ivan the terrible II" and "the dead" are both really great.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 01:50 (ten years ago) link
Sleuth vs f for fake
― O_o-O_O-o_O (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 03:12 (ten years ago) link
Had it down to Gertrud and Eyes Wide Shut and ended up going for the one that I expected would get less votes.
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 03:35 (ten years ago) link
Same reason I just voted for the one that has Goldfinger in it over the one that has Mahalia Jackson in it.
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 03:39 (ten years ago) link
Billy Wilder's Buddy Buddy left off the list out of respect for the deceased
Was gonna mention that one's absence in conjunction with All The Marbles, since they're linked in my mind for some reason...I think Siskel/Ebert may have reviewed them both on the very same episode back in '81.
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 22:11 (ten years ago) link
Jesus, imagine Salo as your last statement... intense
― Walter Galt, Wednesday, 25 September 2013 22:17 (ten years ago) link
sorry, jesus isn't available at the moment
― Very gud laser controled organ. (Matt P), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 22:25 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 26 September 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
Wow, no one voted for Imitation of Life?
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 26 September 2013 00:03 (ten years ago) link
I like the original better.
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Thursday, 26 September 2013 00:20 (ten years ago) link
Figured somebody would say that
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 26 September 2013 00:22 (ten years ago) link
oh what a bullshit winner
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 September 2013 02:55 (ten years ago) link
These polls always spread the vote thin and the winner is one of the three films that got the widest play.
― Aimless, Thursday, 26 September 2013 03:00 (ten years ago) link
Michael Bay's final film will be better than F for Fake
― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, 26 September 2013 03:20 (ten years ago) link
Yes, it's bullshit that the masterpiece Film Comment ranked as the 3rd best did well in this poll. Quite.
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Thursday, 26 September 2013 03:52 (ten years ago) link
4 votes for Gertrud is surprising. I always associate it with the most difficult of difficult cinema but maybe that's due more to the circumstances in which I watched it (like 13 years ago on a really blurry VHS).
― ryan, Thursday, 26 September 2013 04:15 (ten years ago) link
Gertrud in stellar company there, will have to give it a watch
― C/3 Jenks kakling Neu! military£ absinthe snkkt! pckls Özil JTCF njhtdgs (imago), Thursday, 26 September 2013 04:20 (ten years ago) link
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Thursday, September 26, 2013 3:52 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I'm sure I'm speaking for Morbs when I say that we are truly chastened and humbled by Film Comment's ranking of this Welles "masterpiece."
― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, 26 September 2013 05:45 (ten years ago) link
I think it's a masterpiece. 5 people thought it enough of a masterpiece to vote for.
― C/3 Jenks kakling Neu! military£ absinthe snkkt! pckls Özil JTCF njhtdgs (imago), Thursday, 26 September 2013 05:47 (ten years ago) link
yes plenty of people are in love with this movie and it's baffled me for a long time
― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, 26 September 2013 05:56 (ten years ago) link
what's wrong with it? obviously it's 90 minutes of orson welles vanity, but flipped around it's 90 minutes of being a guest at the greatest after-dinner speech ever recorded
― C/3 Jenks kakling Neu! military£ absinthe snkkt! pckls Özil JTCF njhtdgs (imago), Thursday, 26 September 2013 06:07 (ten years ago) link
plus it engages with the idea of the fictional narrative with loose-limbed & mischievous delight, which I enjoy. it's intelligent and sparky, the very opposite of complacent
― C/3 Jenks kakling Neu! military£ absinthe snkkt! pckls Özil JTCF njhtdgs (imago), Thursday, 26 September 2013 06:09 (ten years ago) link
it's not terrible but it is at best an amusing trifle. Just because a master made it doesn't make something a masterpiece.
― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, 26 September 2013 06:44 (ten years ago) link
WELL I THINK IT IS
wonder who my fellow Bunuel voters were :D
― C/3 Jenks kakling Neu! military£ absinthe snkkt! pckls Özil JTCF njhtdgs (imago), Thursday, 26 September 2013 07:34 (ten years ago) link
yeah, i share yr surprise - on two separate viewings it struck me as a rather stagey, ponderous chamber piece, far less compelling than Day of Wrath or Ordet. some wonderful camera movements, mind.
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 26 September 2013 08:33 (ten years ago) link
what's wrong with it?
Nothing's particularly WRONG with it except Orson Welles made at least ten better films.
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 September 2013 11:39 (ten years ago) link
Baffled by that. I thought EWS was unbearably ugly, all those cold primary colors clashing with each other.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:23 (ten years ago) link
I'm with ryan.
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:26 (ten years ago) link
i may be alone in that sentiment! (xp: or not!) i do like primary colors. (loved this about JLG late 60s films too). EWS is certainly "garish" in its color scheme but it just seems so information-dense to me. love how the colors seems to insist on some kind of symbolism that remains elusive. anyway, im a sucker for kubrick's hermetic late style.
― ryan, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:26 (ten years ago) link
I like JLG-colors as well, but they are considerably lighter and warmer than in EWS. I think of the red billiard table under the green lamp, and it's just ugly to me.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llcoh95nzM1qisxvio1_1280.jpg?.jpg
Ugh
― Frederik B, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:36 (ten years ago) link
that scene is so fucking great.
― ryan, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:38 (ten years ago) link
Three Colors: Kubrick
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
Kubrick didn't live long enough to see EWS released in cinemas and - in the UK at least - he was, unsurprisingly, pretty exacting about the way his movies were projected. I saw EWS the day it opened in UK cinemas and was massively disappointed by the quality of the print - the colours were very washed out, the image quite grainy. The DVD/Blu-ray corrects this to some extent, but I do think that if Kubrick had lived a little longer the film would've looked better on the big screen.
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:50 (ten years ago) link
the graininess and washed out colors are part of what make the intensity of the color scheme work, imo.
― ryan, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:51 (ten years ago) link
i am one of the disgusting animals that voted for f for fake fyi
― O_o-O_O-o_O (jjjusten), Thursday, 26 September 2013 15:16 (ten years ago) link
meh, horrorfans I give a pass to, what can ya do
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 September 2013 15:21 (ten years ago) link
Reductum ad Morbsurdum
― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Thursday, 26 September 2013 15:25 (ten years ago) link
haha to both of you
― O_o-O_O-o_O (jjjusten), Thursday, 26 September 2013 15:29 (ten years ago) link
same principle when one finds one's copy edited by someone who writes a long thoughtful review of the new Cher album
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 September 2013 15:35 (ten years ago) link
Was almost going to poll this before realizing I already had.
― Dirty Epic H. (Eric H.), Friday, 19 June 2020 14:28 (three years ago) link
it still bugs me that f for fake won despite not being welles's actual last film!
(even tho i like it)
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 19 June 2020 14:59 (three years ago) link
Love Streams also not technically Cassavetes' final film.
― Dirty Epic H. (Eric H.), Friday, 19 June 2020 15:22 (three years ago) link
How did Imitation of Life not run away with this?!
― i carry the torch for disco inauthenticity (Eric H.), Sunday, 6 June 2021 21:46 (three years ago) link
I was wondering that too.
― Dan Worsley, Sunday, 6 June 2021 22:15 (three years ago) link
I think that was because the top three vote-getters are all better films than it.
Tbf it’s been a while since I’ve seen Imitation of Life, so maybe it’s time for a rewatch.
― Josefa, Sunday, 6 June 2021 23:00 (three years ago) link
Of the eighteen I've seen, I'd have voted for The Sacrifice. My notes indicate that I saw The Ascent in the theatre, and I have absolutely no memory of it. Weakest is probably Lola Montes, a big fancy cake that spins and spins in front of the camera.I have a pet theory that if Tarkovsky had lived to make another film, it might well have been terrible. He was keeping such a careful balance of mysticism and absurdity, and I can't imagine him pushing forward from this film without that equilibrium collapsing. But who knows whether it would have been made back in the USSR or in the West, and how that might have affected the production and the reception of it.Most notable final film that's not on the list is The Turin Horse, which I regard less as a movie than a preview of dying.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 7 June 2021 03:47 (three years ago) link
That Tarr is still alive just underlines that.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 7 June 2021 03:51 (three years ago) link