Author Topic: 1SO vs. All the Directors  (Read 85495 times)

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Dziga Vertov and Sam Wood
« Reply #590 on: August 25, 2019, 11:39:16 PM »
#226 Dziga Vertov Ranked List

Like many, I find Man With a Movie Camera to be an experimental tonic, opening the possibilities of cinema. I've watched a lot of his other work, including the available shorts in the Kino-pravda series, and only Kino Eye has the same energy. I could watch The Eleventh Year or Three Songs of Lenin, but considering their reputation and my opinion of Vertov's non-MWAMC work, I'm going to move on.


#227 Sam Wood Ranked List

A bread and butter director for me, often working with those old Hollywood legends I live on. Few good films, but no bad ones and a couple of Essentials. He made the top film on my Watchlist, King's Row (1942), a dark slice of Americana starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Judith Anderson and Betty Field. I haven't seen it yet because 3rd in the billing is Ronald Reagan, who I can't take seriously as an actor. Now I have no excuse.

LIKELY:
Ivy (1947) - Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles

POSSIBLE:
The Man in Possession (1931) - Robert Montgomery
Madame X (1937) - Warren William
Guest Wife (1945) - Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche

MAYBE:
Hold Your Man (1933) - Clark Gable, Jean Harlow
Stamboul Quest (1934) - Myrna Loy

smirnoff

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #591 on: August 25, 2019, 11:48:54 PM »
do you keep a list of directors upcoming in this marathon or do you just jump around?

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #592 on: August 26, 2019, 12:33:45 PM »
The list is organized by when the thread was created, using the Topic number. I have the master list on a word doc and try not to look ahead. That way it surprises me.

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Mervyn LeRoy
« Reply #593 on: September 02, 2019, 10:18:39 AM »
#228 Mervyn LeRoy Ranked List

Hollywood contract director who helped define gangster films (Little Caesar) and musicals (Gold Diggers of 1933). I've seen almost half of his work and while there are no classics, there are a few where LeRoy seems more invested than a work-for-hire, like Heat Lightning with it's implied lesbian content that's shockingly strong for 1934.

This list is going to be about picking up a few blindspots in the filmography.

LIKELY:
Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
Quo Vadis (1951)

POSSIBLE:
The World Changes (1933)
A Majority of One (1961)

MAYBE:
Homecoming (1948)
Any Number Can Play (1949)
« Last Edit: September 02, 2019, 10:21:43 AM by 1SO »

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Progress Report
« Reply #594 on: September 02, 2019, 02:39:04 PM »
In two years I've now watched 500 films covering 227 Directors.

THE BEST
The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend (1949) - Preston Sturges
Black Panthers (1968) - Agnès Varda
The Chase (1966) - Arthur Penn
Girl in the News (1940) - Carol Reed
Lianna (1983) - John Sayles
Park Row (1952) - Samuel Fuller
Passing Strange (2009) - Spike Lee
The Search (1948) - Fred Zinnemann
T2 Trainspotting (2017) - Danny Boyle
Taking Off (1971) - Miloš Forman
Tea and Sympathy (1956) - Vincente Minnelli
Wild Boys of the Road (1933) - William A. Wellman


THE WORST
The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958) - John Huston
Blissfully Yours (2002) - Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Bruiser (2000) - George A. Romero
Demonlover (2002) - Olivier Assayas
Family Plot (1976) - Alfred Hitchcock
Hansel and Gretel (1982) - Tim Burton
I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse (1973) - Fernando Arrabal
Skidoo (1968) - Otto Preminger
The Visitors (1972) - Elia Kazan


Director who surprised me the most: King Vidor

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Lewis Milestone
« Reply #595 on: September 07, 2019, 08:34:57 PM »
#229 Lewis Milestone Ranked List

You can get the details reading the back half of Milestone's thread, but I found Western Front to be one of the most overrated and heavy-handed films. (Full disclosure, I've read the book, which I like a lot.) That's where I started with Milestone and it's been an uphill climb since. A rewarding uphill climb. Edge of Darkness was a big leap towards the surface for me, but it was pixote's love for A Walk in the Sun which brought me to liking Milestone, with some exceptions.

I decided I will NOT be watching Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), with 3 hours of Marlon Brando. It would derail the project because I'd be putting it off for weeks. There are two titles, probably not the best for Milestone, but I've had some interest.

Anything Goes (1936): I really like the remake starring Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor. This early version also stars Crosby with  Ethel Merman, Charles Ruggles, Ida Lupino

The Purple Heart (1944): I hear this is also heavy-handed and simplistic, but the cast includes Dana Andrews and Richard Conte
« Last Edit: September 07, 2019, 08:57:40 PM by 1SO »

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Hong Sangsoo
« Reply #596 on: September 09, 2019, 08:59:21 PM »
1SO takes a deep breath.

#230 Hong Sangsoo

The work of Hong Sangsoo represents one of my biggest blindspots. I have previously seen Oki's Movie and that's it. I always planned for this to be one of the longest stops on my tour. I am starting with The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996) and will be quietly watching from there, only posting when I want to report my progress. I imagine with Shocktober coming and the amount of reading I'm planning to do along the way, this mini-Marathon will take me into November.


Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #597 on: September 10, 2019, 08:29:07 AM »
I tend to like his movies but I could see you finding his stuff too impenetrable and tedious.

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #598 on: September 11, 2019, 08:54:44 AM »
I was getting the impression you need to watch more than a couple of films just to settle into his style and that his earliest work doesn't represent the better storytelling he developed into. This is why I want to take it like I did with Ozu, which was 19 films taken as a group instead of individual episodes. Also, most of his films run under 90 minutes and only two are over two hours.

I should put up a list.
The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996)
The Power of Kangwon Province (1998)
Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000)
On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002)
Woman Is the Future of Man (2004)
Tale of Cinema (2005)
Woman on the Beach (2006)
Night and Day (2008)
Like You Know It All (2009)
Hahaha (2010)
Oki's Movie (2010) - maybe
The Day He Arrives (2011)
In Another Country (2012)
Our Sunhi (2013)
Nobody's Daughter Haewon (2013)
Hill of Freedom (2014)
Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
Yourself and Yours (2016)
On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)
The Day After (2017)
Claire's Camera (2017)
Hotel by the River (2018)

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Chia-Liang Liu
« Reply #599 on: November 02, 2019, 03:16:32 PM »
#231 Chia-Liang Liu Ranked List

When I was young, karate films fascinated me. I didn't notice the filmmaking or learn the culture proper by calling them Martial Arts or Wuxia. They were dubbed and silly and dazzling. It was during my time here that I learned about Chia-Liang Liu and films like Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, which I loved even though I was fast losing interest in the genre.

20 years ago, I would've spent more time here filling in blind spots, but now I'm just planning to watch one or two.
Dirty Ho (1976)
Heroes of the East (1978)
Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979)
Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)