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What's your favourite film?

Started by Noodle Lizard, September 05, 2013, 11:16:48 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Noodle Lizard

It occurred to me today that, if pushed, I'd say my all-time favourite film is Big Fat Liar.  So what's yours?

Just one.  That's the only rule.  No long, inevitably dull rambling about how it's not fair or it's too hard to choose or it depends on your mood.  Just name one film, you can give your reasons why if you like.


#2
Herbie Goes Bananas.

Probably a joke answer.

CaledonianGonzo

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Not a joke answer.

holyzombiejesus

It's too hard a question to answer, I think.

Today, at about half past eleven it's The Last Picture Show. Or 400 Blows. Or Kes. Or Trust. Or Together.



Kane Jones

Raiders Of The Lost Ark.  Loved it since I was about 8 and have never grown out/tired of it.  Pure undiluted entertainment.  10/10.

Jerzy Bondov

The Rules of Attraction fucking amazing film from start to finish

monkfromhavana


billtheburger


grassbath


SteveDave

Hmmmm at the moment...Jaws[nb]but it could've been A Hard Day's Night, Superbad, Clerks or Double D POV[/nb]

checkoutgirl

#11
Blade Runner



"Let me tell you about my mother"

Blade Runner has all sorts of permutations and moral questions buried inside it. Endlessly debatable and breathtaking to look at, fantastic performances. A stoic Ford, a chatty and loony Hauer, a dark and oddly believable vision of the futur..well it's actually the past now I think. I feel the same way about this film as Kermode says he feels about The Exorcist in that every time I watch it I see something new.  People are still coming up with all sorts of explanations for the various plot points and character traits and script lines and a lot of them make sense. A beautiful, dark, rubiks cube of a film.

edit - Fuck me I forgot to even mention the soundtrack which is fucking epic stuff from Greek ambient legend Vangy Baby (Vangelis). The soundtrack is a story all on its own and is perfectly moody and futuristic and evocative. The bit where Deckard approaches the Tyrell Corp building is beautiful as Vangelis works the synths.


Johnny Townmouse

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)



A beautiful, awe-inspiring film that was a huge cinematic epiphany for me. I've never been the same since.

samadriel



Noodle Lizard

In case it wasn't obvious, my choice of film was a joke.  Don't get me wrong, Big Fat Liar is a really great film, but it's not my favourite of all time.

I think the film that's been consistently my favourite is Once Upon A Time In America.

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on September 05, 2013, 12:56:18 PM
In case it wasn't obvious, my choice of film was a joke.  Don't get me wrong, Big Fat Liar is a really great film, but it's not my favourite of all time.

I think the film that's been consistently my favourite is Once Upon A Time In America.

Which version did you see? I saw the three (?) hour version and I thought the first half was SPECTACULAR, then pretty much after the scene where
Spoiler alert
they go into the maternity ward
[close]
it really falls apart. It just gets very schizeophrenic, the tone shifts and it feels like there's major scenes missing, because, well, there is. Joe Pesci is set up to come back, has an ominous sting over him, then he's never seen again. And all the stuff with super old James Wood getting
Spoiler alert
Super old Robert DeNiro to come back and kill him just felt...well, it didn't make sense to me. And then James Woods jumps in a garbage truck?
[close]
. I know there's a four or five hour cut around which was the intended one, and I know it was originally released even shorter theatrically. But it seemed to me that the first half was all there and all had been restored, everything was there up till the scene where Robert DeNiro
Spoiler alert
kills the guy in the pillow factory(? I'm sorry, it's been a bit since I saw it. It was a place full of feathers. Not sure if it was pillows, or a chicken processing plant or whatever.)
[close]

But like I said, the first half is a true masterpiece. I can understand why you love it. Just felt the second half fell a bit flat for me, personally. I like the ending-ending of it though!

And if I'm being slightly more serious, I'd probably say something like 'Clockwork Orange'. Don't know if that's an obvious one, and I know it has its critics, but I don't really care, obviously. I think it's an absolutely brilliant film, both technically, and in it's characterisation overall story and thematics. Both high and low brow at the same time and gorgeous to look at.

Steven

Withnail & I

The script, the script.

Miasma

<b>Y Tu Mama Tambien</b>, cos watching it feels like going on holiday.

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: Bored of Canada on September 05, 2013, 01:08:30 PM
Which version did you see? I saw the three (?) hour version and I thought the first half was SPECTACULAR, then pretty much after the scene where
Spoiler alert
they go into the maternity ward
[close]
it really falls apart. It just gets very schizeophrenic, the tone shifts and it feels like there's major scenes missing, because, well, there is. Joe Pesci is set up to come back, has an ominous sting over him, then he's never seen again. And all the stuff with super old James Wood getting
Spoiler alert
Super old Robert DeNiro to come back and kill him just felt...well, it didn't make sense to me. And then James Woods jumps in a garbage truck?
[close]
. [/Spoiler]

But like I said, the first half is a true masterpiece. I can understand why you love it. Just felt the second half fell a bit flat for me, personally. I like the ending-ending of it though!

I've only ever seen the DVD release, which is the most common 230-minute version (or thereabouts).  One of the longer versions has been released on Blu-Ray, but I'm waiting until the Scorsese-sanctioned 269-minute version comes out (if ever).

I think any of those minor oddities you mention (Joe Pesci disappearing and all that) are almost entirely down to the film's tumultuous re-editing at the time of its release, which is really worth reading about if you want definitive proof that studio execs are absolute fucking idiots[nb]They basically thought the film would be better if it was in chronological order and a fraction of the length, hence the theatrical cut apparently making absolutely no sense and getting panned as a result[/nb].  As a result of this, we still don't have a complete film, and the version(s) we do have aren't necessarily as Leone would have it.

As far as your issues with the narrative itself go, you may want to consider reading up on some of the speculation about whether or not everything is quite as it seems in that final "era" and then re-watching.

To me, it's just great.  Everything about it.  It looks beautiful, has great performances from some of the best actors at their peak, its score is among Ennio Morricone's best and the story itself just has all the elements any story could need.  It's got it all:  crime, (unrequited) love, nostalgia, friendship, corruption of all kinds, as well as being clever, funny, tragic and deeply disturbing all in equal measure.  And on top of that, a lot of it's open to interpretation.  Mystery, YES.

Trust me, it's really fucking good.  Give it another go when you've got a spare 4 hours or so.

Tiny Poster


billtheburger

Quote from: Miasma on September 05, 2013, 01:35:31 PM
<b>Y Tu Mama Tambien</b>, cos watching it feels like going on holiday.
Including
Spoiler alert
cancer death
[close]

mrfridge

Dazed and Confused or Rushmore.

Not the most earth shatteringly brilliant or life altering films but I can't find fault with either and can still happily watch them for the umpteenth time without ever getting bored. As I probably said in the film music thread they both have utterly flawless soundtracks too which I always find helps.

See also Almost Famous. Not as good as the above but gets additional points for starring the exquisite Kate Hudson before she turned to shit rom coms and Matt Bellamy.

pk1yen

Synecdoche, New York

It seems to mean something new every time I watch it.

DJ Solid Snail

Mine's Blade Runner as well - specifically the '92 director's cut. Having seen that version so many times, the new dialogue in the director's cut jarred oddly for me, and it excises my absolute favourite moment in the film - when Deckard falls asleep at the piano. The idea was to make it a waking memory rather than a dream, thus drumming home the Deckard=replicant angle even more, but so much has been made of that idea already anyway it doesn't feel particularly necessary. And for whatever reason I love that moment of stillness in the middle of the film.

Re: Once Upon a Time in America

From a recent A.V. Club interview with William Forsythe:

Quote from: William ForsytheThe greatest gift I was ever given. I mean, people ask me all the time about my favorite movie, and I don't really know how to pick a favorite, but I usually pick that one because, without Sergio, I wouldn't have the rest of them. I mean, he gave me a chance to go from Thrasher to the big time. I owe him a lot. Him and Robert De Niro, because Robert approved me as well. It was an experience that was life altering, to go and work with such profound artists and in a project where everyone really wanted to make something great. I wish I felt more of that today. It's the rare project where everyone has that energy, you know? It's kind of a spoiler, really. At age 27, you start thinking, "Maybe they'll all be like that." But if you're lucky, it's one out of 10 or 20 that has that kind of special energy.

AVC: What were your thoughts on the American cut of the film?
WF: Well, we all hated it, but it broke Sergio's heart. I mean, the only European director in history who made movies about America, and what did they do? They brought in the editor of Police Academy [Zach Staenberg] to butcher his movie because the company was afraid. So they put out a two-hour-and-20-minute version that feels longer than the five-hour version because it makes no sense. It was terrible. And can you imagine? I waited two years for it to come out, thinking it was going to be the break of a lifetime, and then when it came out, they put out that version, and it opened to a sleepy audience. Worldwide it's one of the biggest movies in history, and in America it's a cult film. Everywhere else I went I was treated like the president, but not here. It's so weird.

AVC: When we asked Elizabeth McGovern about it, she said the butchering of the film was almost too extreme for her to be horrified by it.
WF: Yeah. Like I said, we all hated it, but poor Sergio. [Sighs.] He made American movies, but he was over in Russia preparing to make a movie when he passed away because he had given up on us. He was going to go try going the other direction. But it wasn't in the cards.

Steven

Re:Once Upon A Time In America

I love gangster films so was looking forward to seeing this but was never sure which version to watch, think I got the 229 odd minute version a few years back. The first hour or so of the movie is fine, but yeah it just begins to get confusing and messy after that, and by the end I am really struggling to understand what's going on. It really should have been released as two movies, like Godfather Part 1 & 2, obviously more like Part 2 as it skips back and forth through time and that managed to work in the Godfather but just gets confusing here. Doing one film where the plot stretched over five or so decades really needs a strong narrative, or it ends up like Erock's time travel film! It may be down to editing, but with so many hours of footage, it really needed segmenting out a bit into multiple films.

Spoiler alert
That rape scene though, yeesh!
[close]

VegaLA

Dawn of the Dead - 1978

Saw it during the video nasty boom in the early 80s and the opening scene just filled me with so much dread I sat there in shock. The electronic score provided by Goblin just sets the tone off right from that opening scene.

Also, the film has been cut and edited into so many versions I was always finding out new things years after I first saw the movie.

eluc55

American Psycho

Eminently quotable.

Which is lucky, as Artemis lost my DVD.

prwc

I've had 3 tied at the top spot for quite a few years now:

Eraserhead
Satantango
Two-Lane Blacktop

Serge