Here are the last ten films I watched, with a screen-captured frame and quick sentence on the subject. Last week, I decided to dig into my collection for some classics I hadn't watched in a while; halfway through the week, I realized each so far had been from a different decade so I decided to continue the trend. As a result, I've included one movie from each decade between the 1910s and the 2000s. Visit my #WatchlistScreenCaps archive for more arresting images. Links below are to previous posts on the film in question.
Creation myth for the modern age
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), dir. Stanley Kubrick
viewed September 1, 2013
"Don't take the ring, Laura..."
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), dir. David Lynch
viewed September 2, 2013
An honest living in a crooked town
Chinatown (1974), dir. Roman Polanski
viewed September 2, 2013
Checking the early edition for his own obituary
Sweet Smell of Success (1957), dir. Alexander Mackendrick
viewed September 3, 2013
A man who knows how to make an entrance
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), dir. Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
viewed September 4, 2013
"All my friends/They all died!" - The Jim Carroll Band (first song on this soundtrack)
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by Steven Spielberg
viewed September 5, 2013
Vows renewed transform city into garden
Sunrise (1927), dir. F.W. Murnau
viewed September 8, 2013
Behold, the hand that slew men
Beauty and the Beast (1946), dir. Jean Cocteau
viewed September 8, 2013
Not an asshole, just a sonofabitch
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), dir. Wes Anderson
viewed September 9, 2013
On the movie screen, human faces loom large as gods
Intolerance (1916), dir. D.W. Griffith
viewed September 9, 2013
5 comments:
A fine choice of films--all of which have a unique, in some cases mythological resonance beyond their own time and setting.
The caption for "Sweet Smell of Success" sums up Sidney's (Tony Curtis) situation very well.
Yeah, this was fun to do as mostly this year I've been watching films I hadn't seen before, and more based on subject matter or whim than aesthetic greatness. I suppose among the classics here, Fire Walk With Me is the outlier as its critical/audience reputation hasn't fully recovered from getting the crap kicked out of it in '92 but to me it may be Lynch's most powerful film, and way underrated. Visually, it certainly has moments to compare to the others on here.
And yeah, damn, I just love that character in that movie (Sweet Smell of Success). Such a complete asshole, irredeemably slimy, but I included him in the "sociopathic charisma" section of my favorite characters list a while back for good reason.
I love that image from Sunrise, although there are so many screen-cap worthy moments in that film. Definitely one of a kind. Criterion really needs to get on releasing it on Blu-ray.
Alas, I'm not a fan of Chinatown or The Royal Tenenbaums. Perhaps I need to re-visit the latter, but I just recently saw Chinatown and, well, I can't see my opinion on that one changing. What a sour, tedious film.. I'm obviously in the minority here but I find it difficult to appreciate films that are so indiscriminately bleak like that. As opposed to something like Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me which is at least sympathetic of its characters.. I just did not get that from Chinatown.
Random, I know, but have you had the chance to see The Grandmaster yet? I saw it in theaters and it blew me away. It is now my second favorite Wong Kar Wai just behind Days of Being Wild. I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you do see it. Easily the best film of the year for me.
I think Chinatown has a certain romantic, melancholy atmosphere that keeps it from being completely black, at lest for me. Haven't seen the Kar-Wai film yet; I've still seen only a few of his.
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