love

Author Topic: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection  (Read 35024 times)

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2012, 08:10:00 AM »
Are we going by imdb years?

Probably best. It can be misleading in more recent years due to festival releases but in older years I don't think that was as much of an issue.

I suppose I might support either 1930 or 1934 as those are the only two years I haven't reviewed a film from since the start of 2010 going all the way back to 1920.

sdedalus

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 16585
  • I have a prestigious blog, sir!
    • The End of Cinema
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2012, 10:02:51 AM »
Are we going by imdb years?

Probably best. It can be misleading in more recent years due to festival releases but in older years I don't think that was as much of an issue.

I agree.  There's an occasional bit of weirdness, like single screenings of The General and Casablanca the year before their general release, but that kind of thing is relatively rare.
The End of Cinema

Seattle Screen Scene

"He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?"

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #12 on: March 14, 2012, 10:07:51 AM »
Personally, I'm inclined to vote for a year that DOESN'T make it's case, for maximum discovery AND because I think it'll be best if the first one we do doesn't have an obvious choice. My vote will be in the hope that we keep the first one to a year not represented in our filmspotting top 100

I see where your head is at but this is a recipe for non-participation. You want a year that has a solid base of films most have seen with a lot of shames we've been meaning to get to. For example, 1919 is a blank slate for me and I'm betting most others, but it's too daunting to tackle a year where I've seen nothing and I'd need to do research just to figure out which titles might appeal to me for nominations. Maximum discovery, sure. It just feels like too much work to catch up with 1919 while also watching 2012 and whatever special film projects I'm also working on.

tinyholidays

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3715
  • It's a hard world for little things.
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2012, 10:13:33 AM »
I don't feel like making an impassioned argument at the moment, but I'll say 1957 just because it's always stuck with me as a year with a lot of my favorites.

But honestly, I'm okay with any year, although I'm fairly weak on the silent era.

I agree that 1957 is a particularly strong year. It would be fun to see a shoot-out between Wild Strawberries, Paths of Glory, 12 Angry Men, The Seventh Seal, Throne of Blood, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Sweet Smell of Success, and Nights of Cabiria. The best actor category would be insane. And in a year with Kubrick, Kurosawa, Fellini, Lumet, and two Bergmans, who gets best director? Also, I would finally have an incentive to watch An Affair to Remember.

So, I'm for 1957 if we're going for a fun Filmspots exercise with movies that we've mostly all seen. For the sake of discovery, I would also be for dipping back into the 30s. Bondo's suggestion of 1930 sits well with me. I know that All Quiet on the Western Front and The Blue Angel are favorites, but I haven't seen them. In fact, I don't think I've seen any from that year's checklist. In 1937, I think I've only seen Snow White.

But I think an appropriate question is what do we want to get out of our Retro Filmspots? Do we want to play with the familiar (while of course rounding out what we haven't seen) or delve together into the unfamiliar?

I think going with the 30s instead of the teens would be rather more accessible for people looking to participate. I'd like Retros to be a smash hit out of the gate so that we can keep them going. We can always go weirder later.

sdedalus

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 16585
  • I have a prestigious blog, sir!
    • The End of Cinema
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2012, 10:36:15 AM »
I'm torn between advocating for a year from the 1930s, because it's the era I'm most interested in right now and one I think is under-experienced on the forum, or a later year from the 50s or 60s, because there's a wider range of films available.  The 30s (say 1939) is a great time for Hollywood, and there are a ton of American films readily available from those years.  But non-English language films are a lot harder to find.  There are great ones, to be sure, coming from Japan and France in particular, but there's a lot more easily available world of film in the later decades.
The End of Cinema

Seattle Screen Scene

"He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?"

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2012, 10:52:04 AM »
I was just posting for 1939!


For Your Consideration

    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
    The Wizard of Oz
    Gone with the Wind
    The Rules of the Game
    Beau Geste
    Midnight
    The Women
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Ninotchka
    Le jour se lève
    Wuthering Heights
    Stagecoach
    The Four Feathers
    On Borrowed Time
    Destry Rides Again
    The Roaring Twenties
    The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums
    La fin du jour
    The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Of Mice and Men
    Goodbye, Mr. Chips
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    The Old Maid
    Young Mr. Lincoln
    Only Angels Have Wings
    The Cat and the Canary
    Bachelor Mother
    Gunga Din
    Dark Victory
    Love Affair
    Another Thin Man
    Each Dawn I Die
    You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
    Union Pacific
    Drums Along the Mohawk
    The Man in the Iron Mask
    Essex and Elizabeth
    Five Came Back
    Dodge City
    Son of Frankenstein
    Jesse James
    The Little Princess
    They Made Me a Criminal
    In Name Only
    It's a Wonderful World
    The Spy in Black
    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Intermezzo: A Love Story
    Four Seasons of Children


pixote

  • Administrator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 34237
  • Up with generosity!
    • yet more inanities!
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2012, 10:52:43 AM »
Are we going by imdb years?

For the most part, I guess. But I personally really want to correct any notable oddities we discover (like the one you mentioned with The General; or, like, the classic example of Ivan the Terrible, Part II). Especially with IMDb occassionally changing the years on us.

pixote
Great  |  Near Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Fair  |  Mixed  |  Middling  |  Bad

roujin

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 15508
  • it's all research
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2012, 11:01:49 AM »
But I think an appropriate question is what do we want to get out of our Retro Filmspots? Do we want to play with the familiar (while of course rounding out what we haven't seen) or delve together into the unfamiliar?

I'm always in for these things for the latter. I always hope to watch something new that's totally awesome and that I wouldn't have prioritized if it weren't because of these projects. But, I'd also like to the opportunity to revisit some stuff and see how it holds up. Any year we pick should ideally offer equal opportunities for both.

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2012, 11:15:17 AM »
For me, any year is going to be a mix of movies I already know and movies I have yet to discover.  I just updated my IMDb watchlist (up to 616 titles now) and I think just about every year has a good number of films I intend to check out.

toro913

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 558
Re: Retro Filmspots I: Year Selection
« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2012, 11:19:02 AM »
I've barely seen a dozen movies from any year pre-1970, so any year will be a year of discovery.