Great responses. I feel like quoting everyone.
Soddom: Kubrick almost made my list, but I really haven’t seen many of his films. Unlike you though, I love Eyes Wide Shut. Brilliant movie. As to what AI would have been like as a Kubrick film? Well it was never going to be a Kubrick film. That was all bullshit spun by that apalling hack (who’s only ever made one decent film) Spielberg, to try and give that overblown sorry excuse for a movie a little bit of cred. You know I’ve gone and seen 3 Spielberg films now, genuinely expecting this to be a good one after all, and then just getting dissapointed at all. It was only with the last one (in which I was resigned to wathcing another piece of shite) that I was pleasantly surprised. Sorry about the Spielberg rant. Actually I exaggeratred a little - I love the Indiana Jones flicks (1 and 3 at any rate).
Ghettostyle: Yes, Yasujiro Ozu, that’s who I meant. I can never remember his first (or should that be last?) name. Love him to bits. Lars Von Trier. I agree with many of your choices. Brilliant and mad I expect. It was Dancer in the Dark that surprised me the most. I think you’ve got to admire his Dogma 95 thing. I’m really looking forward to this one with Ncole Kidman in it, although with LVT you really half expect that the next one might be complete drivel don’t you. Hey you know what film I suddenly remembered which LVT reminds me of (or the other way round)? Holy Smoke by Jane Campion. Why? Because you’re gripped, but it’s 3/4 of the way into the film and you’re still not sure whether it’s brilliant or complete drivel (brilliant int his case).
Jackburton: yeah, I love Herzog too. I almost included him. Aguirre was amazing, and I really liked a ‘documentary’ he did about the Sahara. You have to admire (or write off as insane) a man who heard a story about an island volcano that was going to erupt and the one man who refused to evacuate, so siad “that’s cool, I’ll go there and film it”. Bergman though. I really liked ‘Smiles of a Summer Night’ and ‘The Seventh Seal’, but then I saw three more that I really didn’t like. Too Northern European or something. John Ford is one fo theose American directors I should really check out. Like westerns as a genre there’s whole areas of film I have yet to explore. Spielberg - arrggh, and Oliver Stone I don’t have much time for either.
Frederika: Yep, those Coen brothers are pretty good I must admit. Hitchock’s good no doubt and a real developer of cinematic style, but too me he’s like ‘Citizen Kane’, what all the critics and theorists love to love, but not really worth quite that much.
Alleycat: [quote]"Wenders: Paris, Texas-The scene where they talk through the one way mirror. "[/quote] - Oooh yeah.
Formosa: Chaplin’s great, Godard’s cool and I’d love to see more of his stuff (seen about 4 I think - and he grows on you), but Truffaut?!? Ouch! Granted ‘The 400 Blows’ is one fot he greatest films ever made (would make my top 5 probably), and I can see why some people might like Jules et Jim, and there’s a couple more that are passable, but he went downhill rapidly from there. Man I watched 17 of his movies trying to fiund another good one (and also as research for an essay), but they just got worse and worse.
Brian
My top five picks are:
ad-boy Korean director, Kim Ki-duk…he has been eagerly sought after by a number of foreign film festivals since his movie, “Birdcage Inn”. His films are ALWAYS certain to provide striking visuals and huge doses of controversy…Usually after seeing his films, few people are likely to leave the theater without strong feelings FOR or AGAINST them. They often feature unforgettable images, shocking violence, strong and haunting acting, and he’s notorious for logic-defying plot threads.
) and Maggie Cheung star as two people whom, at first, are neighbors, and then find out a secret about their spouses - His wife and her husband are both having affairs.
Saw this film three times at theaters, twice with DVD and bought a VCD & an OST.