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Author Topic: 1SO vs. All the Directors  (Read 85460 times)

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Richard Lester
« Reply #610 on: April 04, 2020, 04:21:59 PM »
#233 Richard Lester Ranked List

Lester leans heavier than most into slapstick comedy and sometimes it works, sometimes it's a struggle. Oddly, some of the best examples of this are in his Superman films, where his action scenes play out as large scale gags of epic destruction. Supe II has the Metropolis battle and the diner fight while III has a Rube Goldberg opening and an unforgettable fight between Superman and evil, dirty Superman.

For something different, Juggernaut is a buried treasure, a bomber thriller set on a cruise ship starring Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley Knight and Ian Holm.

I started this up again because Lester has a number of Comedies on my Watchlist.



The Knack… and How to Get It (1965)
The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
The Mouse on the Moon (1963)
The Ritz (1976)
Petulia (1968)

Petulia is not a comedy, but it's one I promised to give a 2nd look to.
Petulia is a really great film.
That's what everyone told me, but aside from the editing which is equal parts interesting and distracting I found the central story pretty underwhelming.

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Robert Siodmak
« Reply #611 on: April 14, 2020, 02:29:24 PM »
#234 Robert Siodmak Ranked List

I see Siodmak as a journeyman director. Aside from working in Noir, sometimes really well, I don't notice anything that's distinctly him. Still, these films are my comfort food.

ICM highly recommends The Devil Strikes at Night (1957)

POSSIBLE:
Personal Column (1939): Musical/Thriller starring Maurice Chevalier and Erich von Stroheim
The Night Before the Divorce (1942)
The Great Sinner (1949): Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas and Walter Huston

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Rouben Mamoulian
« Reply #612 on: April 15, 2020, 09:04:28 PM »
#235 Rouben Mamoulian Ranked List

I'm really not minding these indistinct directors, especially now when I'm getting back into the swing of this marathon. Like with Siodmak, I don't have a specific opinion about Mamoulian. His name has come up in some of my old time-y movie watching, nothing too great and nothing too bad. I see he directed less than 20 features and I've seen more than half of them.

LIKELY:
Blood and Sand (1941): Been interested, but bullfighting is not a sport I care to watch.
Rings on Her Fingers (1942): (re-watch) I liked this lightweight rom-com starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney

POSSIBLE:
The Song of Songs (1933): Marlene Dietrich

MAYBE:
Summer Holiday (1948): Low-rated musical, but an interesting cast (Gloria DeHaven, Walter Huston, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead) supporting Mickey Rooney

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Edward Yang and Robert Rossen
« Reply #613 on: April 18, 2020, 10:14:30 AM »
#236 Edward Yang
1. Yi Yi
2. Taipei Story
3. A Brighter Summer Day
4. The Terrorizers

He's so acclaimed, but when I watch one of his films they're so bland-looking with thinly connected plots that I feel like I'm being punk'd. I can't find a way in.
I still have no understanding of his lasting success, and I'm not prepared or willing right now to give him a fresh look.


#237 Robert Rossen Ranked List
Old Hollywood's David Mamet who luckily came along as Noir was kicking in. Along with the films he directed, he had a hand in writing The Roaring Twenties, A Walk in the Sun, Edge of Darkness and Blues in the Night. But this is about directing, where I have 5 titles to choose from, and 3 are not well-reviewed so...

The Brave Bulls (1951): Maybe a better matador film than Blood and Sand. This has Anthony Quinn too
Lilith (1964): Rossen's final film stars Warren Beatty, Jean Seberg, Peter Fonda and Kim Hunter

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Claude Sautet
« Reply #614 on: April 20, 2020, 12:51:59 AM »
#238 Claude Sautet

This is unusual, a director I've never heard of. A couple of title sound familiar.

LIKELY:
Classe tous risques (The Big Risk) (1960)
Un coeur en hiver (A Heart in Winter) (1992)

MAYBE:
Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995)

Teproc

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #615 on: April 20, 2020, 01:47:15 AM »
Really? Claude Sautet is a relatively big name in France, about as well-known as Pialat or Tavernier for instance. I say this having seen none of his films though. Un cœur en hiver, Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud, César et Rosalie and Vincent, François, Paul et les autres... are titles I'm familiar with, though I don't really know what their reputations are exactly. Max et les Ferrailleurs and Garçon! both aired in the past few months on TV, I've got them lined up to watch... along with many, many other things, so who knows when that'll happen.
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1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #616 on: April 20, 2020, 11:53:11 AM »
Max et les Ferrailleurs and Garçon! both aired in the past few months on TV, I've got them lined up to watch... along with many, many other things, so who knows when that'll happen.
If you want to team up on some titles let me know.

Teproc

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #617 on: April 20, 2020, 12:22:20 PM »
I'm only planning on watching those two from Sautet right now... I generally use random.org to select what I watch (barring specific things), but if you want to watch these two specifically, I can do that whenever you want. Max starts Michel Piccoli and Garçon ! stars Yves Montand, so there's that... no idea how good they might be though.
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1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #618 on: April 20, 2020, 02:15:28 PM »
Well, I found my 2 LIKELY so let me see how I feel after that. I don't think that will be enough to get a handle on Sautet as a director, but I may not be interested in more. I just know that sometimes watching with friends is the push to get you to queue up something you've been putting off.

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #619 on: April 20, 2020, 07:37:39 PM »
#236 Edward Yang
1. Yi Yi
2. Taipei Story
3. A Brighter Summer Day
4. The Terrorizers

He's so acclaimed, but when I watch one of his films they're so bland-looking with thinly connected plots that I feel like I'm being punk'd. I can't find a way in.
I still have no understanding of his lasting success, and I'm not prepared or willing right now to give him a fresh look.


I truly don't understand the "bland-looking accusation" thrown at Yang. What other filmmakers use extended long shots and masters to show a conversation? Hollywood cinema is locked in over-the-shoulder two shot mode. You can literally turn on any movie made by a studio right now and 90% of the time, once we get to a conversation, it's the same over-the-shoulder two shot rhythm (sometimes with a close-up at the end, oooOOOooo!). No one in Hollywood is putting half the work Yang put into his staging, alone. That alone makes him unique.

Part of me really just wants to ask: what is visual style to you? What exactly makes a style unique?

 

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