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Film Meme for Film Buffs (and a question on last night's House)
[Difficult day - spent the majority of it resolving problems, resolved all of them and got a "Good Job" from my boss who is not a woman prone to compliments.
So yay me. Also did my laundry or rather did my laundry the way most working New Yorker's do, which is get up bright and early (6:30 am), lug it to the laundramat, drop it off, then come back later, fork over some money, and lug it home again.
House was cool last night, but I missed approximately 20 minutes of it, because a close pal called me half way through, completely devastated over something personal, and I turned off the tv to calm her down. Didn't occur to me to tape until around the last 10 minutes or so, when the pal put me on hold to talk to someone else. So I caught the end and know what Stacy did. Also why she did it. What I don't know is what caused House's leg muscel to atrophy or die, and was the dead muscle causing the pain, if so why does he still have pain? Anyone out there know?]
Last night in between tv shows (ie. during commercials) I came up with my own film meme. It is a rigid, tough film meme, that may only be for film buffs.
Rules for the meme are:
1. In each category, name four films that you love and would want to own on DVD, already own on DVD or VHS, or would recommend to a friend to buy or see.
Films you consider A's.
2. The films must be accessible on DVD or in the theaters, they cannot be films that no one but you can find.
3. None of the films can be directed by George Lucas, or Steven Spielberg. You also are not allowed to list Lord of the Rings, although other films by Peter Jackson are permitted.
4. Try not list more than two films by any one director. In other words - you cannot list all the films the Coen Brothers or Alfred Hitchcock did. OR the entire Matrix triology. Of course if you are like me and can't remember the names of these frigging directors this may be a problem - I'm assuming I haven't, smack me if I have.
5. Try not to copy any of the films someone on your friends list has already listed. (ie. If you take this meme or gank it from me, don't use my choices, come up with your own.)
6. Explain briefly your choices.
Anyone Still with me? Or did you roll your eyes, and move on? Or just ignore me completely?
If so, here's the meme & my choices, cut for space considerations and to protect those who hate these things:
A. Film Noir/Mystery/Suspense/Crime Dramas (*Note, while there are noir Science Fiction films, do not list any in this category - save those for the Science Fiction category. These are pure mystery/suspense.)
1. The Big Easy, stars Dennis Quaid, Ned Beatty & Ellen Barkin.
Mystery/Suspense with a touch of romance. May be Quaid's best film. Sultry, suspenseful and comical. The dialogue is the reason I adore it though, the back and forth banter between Quaid and Barkin, the strong female role, and
the mystery which is neither emotionally nor dramatically simple.
2. La Femme Nikita - dir. Luc Besson. Stylish french noir thriller. A female assassin falls for an innocent artist and seeks a way out of her profession. Much better than either the series or the American remake - because the main character is kept dark, she actually killed an innocent person without remorse. The director doesn't pull any punchs either with the violence of the profession nor does he romanticize it the way most American versions have.
Subtitled.
3. Blood Simple - dir Coen Brothers. My favorite of their films and in my opinion possibly the best. The characters are dark, multifaceted, and at times monsterous. The movie is frightening in places. Sticks to the classic view of noir film, yet is innovative at the same time in its use of photography and character development. Plot is simple - a man hires someone to kill his wife and things go awry.
4. Shadow of a Doubt - dir. Alfred Hitchcock. My favorite Hitchcock. stars Teresa Wright, Hume Crone and Joseph Cotton. Girl's favorite uncle may in fact be the lady strangler. The best part of the movie is the dialogue riffs between Crone and another character actor I forget the name of, whose favorite past-time is figuring out the perfect murder.
B. Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror/Western (trick here is to try not to do all one genre, although you can if you wish. )
1. Blade Runner, (Sci-Fi)dir. Ridley Scott. Harrison Ford, Scean Young, Rutguer Hauer. Examines what it means to be human and to die and how the two are inter-related. Sort of an I Robot meets Philip K. Dick. Stylish photography. Every detail of the film is perfect. (If you hate the voice over - get the director's cut).
2. Red River, (Western) dir. Howard Hawkes, stars John Wayne and Montgomery Cliff. (John Wayne only becomes dark in two films - the Searchers by John Ford and Red River, Red River may be the better of the two because of Monty Cliff (Jeffery Hunter doesn't come close) and because Wayne's motivations are more muddied. The story is simple - a man and a boy start a cattle ranch, they drive the cattle to town, on the way they have a falling out - regarding how they should run the drive and how to treat others on it. This film was directed prior to the Searchers and is in black and white. The cinematography is amazing.
3. The Haunting (horror/fantasy) dir. Robert Wise (I think, will have to check), stars Julie Harris, Clair Bloom, Russ Tambolyn. Far more frightening than the remake. Wise (or whatever his name is) was of the less is more school of direction and special effects, he believed in suggesting something with just a tilt of a camera angle, and felt that it was what we thought we saw, not what we actually saw that was the most frightening. He was right. The camera angles suggest ghosts. It's not your typical ghost story - the tale is about a lonely woman who joins a bunch of paranormal specialists in what may be a haunted house - very close adaptation of Shirly Jacksons Novel, the Haunting of Hill House. At the end we are left with more questions than answers.
4. Total Recall (science fiction) dir. Paul Verhovan, starred Arnold S and Sharon Stone, one of the few Arnold movies I enjoy. Based on a Philip K. Dick short story, I Can Get it For You Wholesale - Verhovan has a great deal to say and the perfect cast to say it with. Deals with memory, perception, and what is real and what is a dream. Hard to say whether Arnold is hero or anti-hero here, possibly both. Plot? Construction Worker goes to a place to get a vacation implant - apparently you can have virtual reality vacations in the future, finds out he and his wife aren't who he thought they were and ends up on Mars, or does he, was he just sitting in the chair the whole time and if so, what does that say about him?
C. Romantic Comedy/Comedy/Animation/Musicals
1. Philadephia Story, (Romantic Comedy) Carey Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn. (no clue who directed, sorry) Been copied a million times but nothing holds a candle to the bantering dialogue and wit of this piece. Story? Socialite is about to get remarried. Her ex shows up and ruins things along with a reporter covering the story.
2. The Triplets of Belleville - (comedy/animated musical)About a woman and her son and a bicycle and a bunch of jazz singers. French. Most innovative animated story to come out in years.
3. Heathers (comedy) - Christian Slater/Winona Ryder (can't remember the director) Great high school black comedy, for anyone who hated high school. The first to actually go there - all the way. Paved the way for shows like BTVS, Freaks and Geeks, Mean Girls (which looks a bit weak next to it), Clueless, Popular, etc.
Plot: Girl meets Guy, guy convinces girl to kill girl's enemies and make it look like a suicide.
4. Gross Pointe Blank (comedy)- John Cusak, Joan Cusak, Minnie Driver. Hitman goes to his highschool reunion. Great soundtrack. Best known for the scene in which he tries to go home again.
D. Dramas (straight drama, can be historical, classical, epics, but none of the other categories)
1. Breaking Away- (can't remember the directors name or the name of the cast. Dennis Quaid and Barbara Berrie, but that's all that I remember. Will look it up later and update when I get a chance, if it's not available on DVD or VHS, will choose another. will do the same with others up there) Plot: bunch of friends go their separate ways over the course of a year - is set around a bicycle race.
2. Lawrence of Arabia - dir. David Lean, stars Peter O'Toole and Omar Shariff. Story of TE Lawrence during first World War (I think it's the first). Best desert movie ever, also best bio-pic. Also notable for it's ability to show the complexity of its hero without flinching.
3. The Year of Living Dangerously - dir. Peter Weir, stars Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver. About a journalist in war torn Indonesia. Perplexing morality play, with many hidden complexities. I'm pretty sure it's available.
4. All About Eve - Bette Davis, don't remember the director. Story about age, rivalry, jealousy, envy, and rising above it. Also about the theater in the 1930s/40s. The best of old Hollywood. Plot: Broadway Diva is upstaged by her under-study.
Okay must eat, will come back at some point and fill in directors and such, unless some nice reader knows them and tell me? Smack me if any aren't available on DVD or VHS (I know they aren't in theaters at the moment), also if I've used one director twice. Hate to think I broke my own rules.
So yay me. Also did my laundry or rather did my laundry the way most working New Yorker's do, which is get up bright and early (6:30 am), lug it to the laundramat, drop it off, then come back later, fork over some money, and lug it home again.
House was cool last night, but I missed approximately 20 minutes of it, because a close pal called me half way through, completely devastated over something personal, and I turned off the tv to calm her down. Didn't occur to me to tape until around the last 10 minutes or so, when the pal put me on hold to talk to someone else. So I caught the end and know what Stacy did. Also why she did it. What I don't know is what caused House's leg muscel to atrophy or die, and was the dead muscle causing the pain, if so why does he still have pain? Anyone out there know?]
Last night in between tv shows (ie. during commercials) I came up with my own film meme. It is a rigid, tough film meme, that may only be for film buffs.
Rules for the meme are:
1. In each category, name four films that you love and would want to own on DVD, already own on DVD or VHS, or would recommend to a friend to buy or see.
Films you consider A's.
2. The films must be accessible on DVD or in the theaters, they cannot be films that no one but you can find.
3. None of the films can be directed by George Lucas, or Steven Spielberg. You also are not allowed to list Lord of the Rings, although other films by Peter Jackson are permitted.
4. Try not list more than two films by any one director. In other words - you cannot list all the films the Coen Brothers or Alfred Hitchcock did. OR the entire Matrix triology. Of course if you are like me and can't remember the names of these frigging directors this may be a problem - I'm assuming I haven't, smack me if I have.
5. Try not to copy any of the films someone on your friends list has already listed. (ie. If you take this meme or gank it from me, don't use my choices, come up with your own.)
6. Explain briefly your choices.
Anyone Still with me? Or did you roll your eyes, and move on? Or just ignore me completely?
If so, here's the meme & my choices, cut for space considerations and to protect those who hate these things:
A. Film Noir/Mystery/Suspense/Crime Dramas (*Note, while there are noir Science Fiction films, do not list any in this category - save those for the Science Fiction category. These are pure mystery/suspense.)
1. The Big Easy, stars Dennis Quaid, Ned Beatty & Ellen Barkin.
Mystery/Suspense with a touch of romance. May be Quaid's best film. Sultry, suspenseful and comical. The dialogue is the reason I adore it though, the back and forth banter between Quaid and Barkin, the strong female role, and
the mystery which is neither emotionally nor dramatically simple.
2. La Femme Nikita - dir. Luc Besson. Stylish french noir thriller. A female assassin falls for an innocent artist and seeks a way out of her profession. Much better than either the series or the American remake - because the main character is kept dark, she actually killed an innocent person without remorse. The director doesn't pull any punchs either with the violence of the profession nor does he romanticize it the way most American versions have.
Subtitled.
3. Blood Simple - dir Coen Brothers. My favorite of their films and in my opinion possibly the best. The characters are dark, multifaceted, and at times monsterous. The movie is frightening in places. Sticks to the classic view of noir film, yet is innovative at the same time in its use of photography and character development. Plot is simple - a man hires someone to kill his wife and things go awry.
4. Shadow of a Doubt - dir. Alfred Hitchcock. My favorite Hitchcock. stars Teresa Wright, Hume Crone and Joseph Cotton. Girl's favorite uncle may in fact be the lady strangler. The best part of the movie is the dialogue riffs between Crone and another character actor I forget the name of, whose favorite past-time is figuring out the perfect murder.
B. Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror/Western (trick here is to try not to do all one genre, although you can if you wish. )
1. Blade Runner, (Sci-Fi)dir. Ridley Scott. Harrison Ford, Scean Young, Rutguer Hauer. Examines what it means to be human and to die and how the two are inter-related. Sort of an I Robot meets Philip K. Dick. Stylish photography. Every detail of the film is perfect. (If you hate the voice over - get the director's cut).
2. Red River, (Western) dir. Howard Hawkes, stars John Wayne and Montgomery Cliff. (John Wayne only becomes dark in two films - the Searchers by John Ford and Red River, Red River may be the better of the two because of Monty Cliff (Jeffery Hunter doesn't come close) and because Wayne's motivations are more muddied. The story is simple - a man and a boy start a cattle ranch, they drive the cattle to town, on the way they have a falling out - regarding how they should run the drive and how to treat others on it. This film was directed prior to the Searchers and is in black and white. The cinematography is amazing.
3. The Haunting (horror/fantasy) dir. Robert Wise (I think, will have to check), stars Julie Harris, Clair Bloom, Russ Tambolyn. Far more frightening than the remake. Wise (or whatever his name is) was of the less is more school of direction and special effects, he believed in suggesting something with just a tilt of a camera angle, and felt that it was what we thought we saw, not what we actually saw that was the most frightening. He was right. The camera angles suggest ghosts. It's not your typical ghost story - the tale is about a lonely woman who joins a bunch of paranormal specialists in what may be a haunted house - very close adaptation of Shirly Jacksons Novel, the Haunting of Hill House. At the end we are left with more questions than answers.
4. Total Recall (science fiction) dir. Paul Verhovan, starred Arnold S and Sharon Stone, one of the few Arnold movies I enjoy. Based on a Philip K. Dick short story, I Can Get it For You Wholesale - Verhovan has a great deal to say and the perfect cast to say it with. Deals with memory, perception, and what is real and what is a dream. Hard to say whether Arnold is hero or anti-hero here, possibly both. Plot? Construction Worker goes to a place to get a vacation implant - apparently you can have virtual reality vacations in the future, finds out he and his wife aren't who he thought they were and ends up on Mars, or does he, was he just sitting in the chair the whole time and if so, what does that say about him?
C. Romantic Comedy/Comedy/Animation/Musicals
1. Philadephia Story, (Romantic Comedy) Carey Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn. (no clue who directed, sorry) Been copied a million times but nothing holds a candle to the bantering dialogue and wit of this piece. Story? Socialite is about to get remarried. Her ex shows up and ruins things along with a reporter covering the story.
2. The Triplets of Belleville - (comedy/animated musical)About a woman and her son and a bicycle and a bunch of jazz singers. French. Most innovative animated story to come out in years.
3. Heathers (comedy) - Christian Slater/Winona Ryder (can't remember the director) Great high school black comedy, for anyone who hated high school. The first to actually go there - all the way. Paved the way for shows like BTVS, Freaks and Geeks, Mean Girls (which looks a bit weak next to it), Clueless, Popular, etc.
Plot: Girl meets Guy, guy convinces girl to kill girl's enemies and make it look like a suicide.
4. Gross Pointe Blank (comedy)- John Cusak, Joan Cusak, Minnie Driver. Hitman goes to his highschool reunion. Great soundtrack. Best known for the scene in which he tries to go home again.
D. Dramas (straight drama, can be historical, classical, epics, but none of the other categories)
1. Breaking Away- (can't remember the directors name or the name of the cast. Dennis Quaid and Barbara Berrie, but that's all that I remember. Will look it up later and update when I get a chance, if it's not available on DVD or VHS, will choose another. will do the same with others up there) Plot: bunch of friends go their separate ways over the course of a year - is set around a bicycle race.
2. Lawrence of Arabia - dir. David Lean, stars Peter O'Toole and Omar Shariff. Story of TE Lawrence during first World War (I think it's the first). Best desert movie ever, also best bio-pic. Also notable for it's ability to show the complexity of its hero without flinching.
3. The Year of Living Dangerously - dir. Peter Weir, stars Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver. About a journalist in war torn Indonesia. Perplexing morality play, with many hidden complexities. I'm pretty sure it's available.
4. All About Eve - Bette Davis, don't remember the director. Story about age, rivalry, jealousy, envy, and rising above it. Also about the theater in the 1930s/40s. The best of old Hollywood. Plot: Broadway Diva is upstaged by her under-study.
Okay must eat, will come back at some point and fill in directors and such, unless some nice reader knows them and tell me? Smack me if any aren't available on DVD or VHS (I know they aren't in theaters at the moment), also if I've used one director twice. Hate to think I broke my own rules.
no subject
no subject
Ugh. why is this show on at the same time as Veronica Mars? Damn.
Toss-up between which is better.