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 Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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 Burke's 1001 Movie Project   5
#16382614 - 06/14/12 09:36 PM (1 year, 5 days ago) |
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So I got this book a couple months ago called "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". I'm slowly watching my way through it.
Here's some info on the book.
I've seen, so far, 232 of the films. It's gonna take a while. But I'm going to catalog the films I watch from the book in this thread, and discuss them a little. If that's cool with the mods.
Comments or discussion is fine, but other than movies from the book, I won't be taking suggestions. While it's incomplete, here's the best list I could find of the movies in my edition of the book. I'm operating from the first ed., 2003. Subsequent editions have taken out and added other films. I'll get to those eventually.
Here is a list of the 231 films from the book that I'd seen before making this thread.
I may complete it, I may not. I'm just hoping to watch a lot of good movies before I die.
Edited by Burke Dennings (08/09/12 03:55 PM)
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#232
Ran (Japan, 1985)
This was the first color film I've seen of Akira Kurasawa's, and it was pretty glorious. It's his version of 'King Lear', but taking place in feudal Japan. Wonderfully acted, gorgeous cinematography, great story telling. Everything you expect from a Kurasawa picture.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#233
Destry Rides Again (U.S., 1939)
A western comedy starring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. Both were great, but Dietrich has a weird singing voice. There were only a few song numbers though. Some pretty funny stuff, some humor that was dated even in 1939. Overall decent, maybe not a "must see" type film, though.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#234
The Day the Earth Stood Still (U.S., 1951)
An early sci-fi movie with a message: Earth needs to pull its shit together and not be so aggressive, or giant robots will kill us. Starring Michael Rennie and the 7'7" giant (no lie) that played 'Gort'. Very early examples of the benefits of a soundscore feature electronic music, in the form of the theremin here. Composer Bernard Herrman went on to do a ton of great work, and is in excellent form here. A very nice example of sci-fi with substance.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#235
M*A*S*H (U.S., 1970)
War comedy is a rare genre. This one took me a minute to get used to- the dialogue is over-lapping throughout most of the film. Once I did acclimate to that, there was a lot to enjoy, even the odd dialogue (which ended up showing me how un-lifelike a lot of movie conversations are). Donald Sutherland is great, and Robert Duvall plays an uncharacteristically "human" role. The theme song, 'Suicide is Painless' was a stand out. I remember watching the spin-off TV show as a young kid and not liking it, but the movie was very good.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#236
The Apartment (U.S., 1960)
This seemed to me like a prototype for what would be called "dramedy" today. But it was mostly comedy, anchored with some drama. Jack Lemmon (in all his Jack Lemmon-y greatness) plays C.C. Baxter, an insurance accountant moving up in the corporate world by allowing his philandering bosses the use of his apartment for their trysts. He falls in love with Shirley Maclaine's character (who was all melodramatic and emo: a comedic relief in reverse) after she gets laid up at his place following an "accident". Some really funny stuff from the supporting cast too. And Jack Lemmon!
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#237
On The Town (U.S., 1949)
This one needs a bit of prefacing: I don't like musicals, okay? They push the limits of my willful suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. As such, I can usually only enjoy musicals on a technical level, as I'm unable to not be yanked out of the story by song and dance. I try to keep these brief, and focus on the positives, so....
This was a pretty straight forward musical: 3 sailors are on leave for 24 hours in Manhattan. They're basically trying to get laid, but due to restrictions on film content back then, they can only allude to that fact. Gene Kelley, Frank Sinatra, and a few other people star. The song and dance numbers were well choreographed and shot. I really liked how they shot on location for a lot of the movie- it's neat to see NYC in the 1940's. The movie was okay.
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 jammin
Karma Farmer
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Quote:
Burke Dennings said:
#235
M*A*S*H (U.S., 1970)
War comedy is a rare genre. This one took me a minute to get used to- the dialogue is over-lapping throughout most of the film. Once I did acclimate to that, there was a lot to enjoy, even the odd dialogue (which ended up showing me how un-lifelike a lot of movie conversations are). Donald Sutherland is great, and Robert Duvall plays an uncharacteristically "human" role. The theme song, 'Suicide is Painless' was a stand out. I remember watching the spin-off TV show as a young kid and not liking it, but the movie was very good.
would you say the movie is better than the show? Alan Alda is a pretty funny guy and I enjoy a good satirist, so I'd say the show.
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"Bassnectar is god, and I am Jesus"
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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 Re: Burke's 1001 Movie Project [Re: jammin]
#16407112 - 06/20/12 02:47 AM (1 year, 3 hours ago) |
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Truth of it is, I haven't seen the show since I was a little kid, more than 20 years ago. I don't think I really got satire, social cynicism, and Alan Alda (who is fucking great in everything) at the time.
I'd have to re-watch to the series sometime before I could form a real opinion.
Thanks for the input. 
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#238
Princess Mononoke (Japan, 1998)
A nice re-imagining of one of the oldest themes in storytelling: man vs. nature. This film was very fanciful, filled with sentient animals, ancient gods, and forest apparitions. The content pretty much demands that it be done as a cartoon, and the animation was great. Speaking as someone who isn't really a fan of anime, I can say that this film goes a long way towards validating the genres existence. (Usually I don't watch foreign films in their dubbed version, but I didn't want to miss the animation so I did. This is where the film's only real misstep comes in- the voice of Mononoke is Claire Danes, who was very in fashion at the time, but really doesn't fit the bill.) Very nice picture.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#239
Salo (The 120 Days of Sodom) (Italy, 1975)
A film that shows the depravity of fascism: oppression, complacency, degradation. 4 libertine fascists (a president, a bishop, a judge, and some other official) rule over a captive collective of young adults. Loosely based on Marquis De Sade's book "120 Days of Sodom", this film is full of graphic sexuality and violence. Powerful imagery underlines the base nature of humanity, and shows little hope for redemption. Nice work in the score by Ennio Morricone (a personal favorite). Fascinating film, but might make some squeamish. I enjoyed it.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#240
La Voyage dans la Lune (France, 1902)
One of the most historically important films ever made. The first science fiction film, this one was also an early innovator of animation. It's the story of 6 astronomers who build a rocket to fly to the moon and encounter strange terrain and natives. It was really cool to see the old-timey sets and simultaneously consider what a technical triumph the film was in it's day and how far movies have really come in 110 years. Very well done, groundbreaking movie.
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jammin
Karma Farmer
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the creatures turning to smoke when they were killed must've tripped those french people out back in the day.
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"Bassnectar is god, and I am Jesus"
-Bassfreak
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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Loc: Moscow Disco
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Re: Burke's 1001 Movie Project [Re: jammin]
#16446581 - 06/27/12 07:43 PM (11 months, 16 days ago) |
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That shit was unseen before.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#241
Moulin Rouge! (U.S., 2001)
This musical love story pulls it off nicely by making nothing realistic- it's like watching a live action cartoon, down to the zany sound effects. Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman star. The story is that of a fin-de-siecle Parisian nightclub putting on a play that parallels the love triangle of the financier, the star, and the writer. Elaborate sets and interesting takes on modern and classical songs are all over the place. Very fun movie, even with John Leguizamo annoying the shit out of me throughout.
Edited by Burke Dennings (08/02/12 08:02 PM)
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
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#242
The Great Escape (U.S. 1963)
The "true" story of British and American POWs in an Axis POW camp. They coordinate an escape via tunnel, met with all kinds of fraught and peril along the way. It kind of felt like a vehicle for Steve McQueen, and could've easily been an hour shorter than it's 3 hour run time. It was an okay story with okay acting. Probably my favorite part was the film's score. (I guess I also liked seeing younger versions of Donald Pleasance and Charles Bronson.) Not one I would care to watch again.
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jammin
Karma Farmer
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First thing... I FUCKING HATE JOHN LEGUIZAMO. he's a horrible actor, and I have never found out the reason why he was welcomed to hollywood.
Exhibit A: "The Big Hit" (Staring mark wahlberg and lou diamond phillips) and "The Happening" (M Night shamamalalfbslbfs directed it).
Second thing... The great escape was and is a classic. Steve McQueen at his best. Too bad he got tangled in the barbed wire at the end with his motorcycle...
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"Bassnectar is god, and I am Jesus"
-Bassfreak
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 47,685
Loc: Moscow Disco
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Re: Burke's 1001 Movie Project [Re: jammin]
#16455239 - 06/29/12 11:56 AM (11 months, 14 days ago) |
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I'm right there with you re: leguizamo. So annoying.
I see the appeal of The Great Escape, but it just didn't do it for me. Felt too much like a vanity role for McQueen, motorcycle jumpin' all over the place. I did like how the film got the ending it needed, not what the audience wanted.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 47,685
Loc: Moscow Disco
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#243
Singin' In The Rain (U.S., 1952)
This is probably musical comedy at its best. Gene Kelley stars and directs (and dances like a motherfucker). It's about the transistion film stars had to make when "talkies" came about. Kelley as Don Lockwood falls in love with the woman who provides the voice for his co-star, an idiot. Very funny stuff, with great song and dance numbers like "Make 'Em Laugh" and the titular number. Excellent movie.
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Burke Dennings
Tiffany Blue
Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 47,685
Loc: Moscow Disco
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#244
Nanook Of The North (U.S., 1922)
This film has a slightly controversial history, as it purports to be a documentary, but is really a documentary/historical fiction hybrid. It follows around the Eskimo family of Nanook, natives to a part of the Hudson Bay in the Arctic Circle. Very fascinating vignettes of Eskimo life, some clearly staged, but never the less interesting. Nanook died of starvation a year after filming, which underscores the severity of the harsh and beautiful landscape filmed for this picture. Real or not, very nice movie.
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