Author Topic: 1SO vs. All the Directors  (Read 85479 times)

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #250 on: February 06, 2018, 01:30:55 PM »
I imagine I'll watch all of them eventually, but I'm not going to push myself just for the sake of being a completionist.

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Carl Theodor Dreyer
« Reply #251 on: February 07, 2018, 02:47:05 AM »
#67 Carl Theodor Dreyer Ranked List

While I love Passion of Joan of Arc, what I love about it doesn't extend to his other films, making for a rather mixed bag of experiences.

This is another case where I've already seen all the popular titles. Reading the thread and looking at IMDB and ICM, the two most likely titles to watch are The President and Leaves From Satan's Book. One is more than half the length of the other, which could be the deciding factor.

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - F.W. Murnau
« Reply #252 on: February 08, 2018, 12:06:17 AM »
#68 F.W. Murnau Ranked List

In a Deathmatch I would easily pick Murnau over Dreyer, over most silent film directors in fact, if only because Murnau showed me that the silent movie camera could be alive to rise and fall and float around the space. It wasn't about compositions and edits and two-dimensional space. Murnau was perhaps the most visually creative filmmaker until Orson Welles made Citizen Kane. You can change a cynic's mind about silent films in four easy steps: Nosferatu, Last Laugh, Faust and Sunrise.

After that, Murnau's filmography becomes much less familiar. I watched The Haunted Castle to begin my Horror Marathon, one of 11 films he made from 1920 to 1922. As for the rest, I'm just reading about them for the first time, and I have no idea about availability. I'm considering...
Tartuffe (1925)
Phantom (1922)
Burning Soil (1922)

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Brett Ratner
« Reply #253 on: February 08, 2018, 02:43:05 PM »
#69 Brett Ratner Ranked List

Some of the quality swings in this Marathon...

In the commentary for Rush Hour, Ratner gives the secret to his success as hire great people, let them do what they do and then take all the credit for the film. If you look at his career, he's worked with a number of great Cinematographers and Editors, but the results show what happens when there's nobody in charge. I own Rush Hour 2 because it's the rare Hollywood movie where Jackie Chan got to direct the action with his stunt team, and I never disliked X-Men: The Last Stand, though there's plenty to dislike in it (mostly Juggernaut.)

I could easily let this one go and move ahead except I've always been curious about Tower Heist and Hercules stars Dwayne Johnson. Plus, after all that silent movie watching, I'm looking for something mindless and loud.

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Noah Baumbach
« Reply #254 on: February 10, 2018, 03:14:31 PM »
#70 Noah Baumbach Ranked List

I love The Squid and the Whale, and everything after has been some amount of disappointment. I don't know why there's so much difference to me, but the script for Squid has me jealous. It's a beautiful combination of smart, clever and heartbreaking, and every script by Baumbach since has been slapdash by comparison.

I'm not interested in catching up with the earlier films Highball and Mr. Jealousy, but I have some level of interest in the later films I haven't watched.
While We're Young (2014)
Mistress America (2015)
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017)

All 3 I planned to catch up with eventually, always putting it off. Looks like that time is now.

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #255 on: February 10, 2018, 03:33:10 PM »
Mistress America and Meyerowitz Stories are both pretty great. Have fun!
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Jeff Schroeck

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #256 on: February 10, 2018, 03:58:27 PM »
I just watched Meyerowitz last night and I thought it was great! It has a few good visual gags and Sandler is especially good. The only issues I had with it are an editing trick that overstays its welcome and a few exchanges where the characters are explaining the subtext to each other.

I think I've avoided Mistress America mostly because of how much I dislike the "self taught" joke they kept playing on the podcast.

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Noah Baumbach
« Reply #257 on: February 10, 2018, 06:30:16 PM »
#70 Noah Baumbach Ranked List

I love The Squid and the Whale, and everything after has been some amount of disappointment.

I feel that same way, not that there isn't good stuff in what follows but nothing has come close to The Squid and the Whale making them somewhat disappointing. But most are still worth watching, just not Top 100 material for me
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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #258 on: February 12, 2018, 12:44:20 AM »
#69 Brett Ratner Ranked List

Some of the quality swings in this Marathon...

In the commentary for Rush Hour, Ratner gives the secret to his success as hire great people, let them do what they do and then take all the credit for the film.

Do you think he started to believe his own story as time went on, and forgot the things he did that originally made him successful (i.e. seeking out the best people to work with)?

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #259 on: February 12, 2018, 01:21:28 AM »
No, and having just watched two of his more recent films it still holds true that he's an empty chair surrounded by people looking for direction. Hercules and Tower Heist and slick looking and well cast and neither has a single shot or moment that stands out as an artistic decision.