Author Topic: What should I watch? (2007-2010)  (Read 709624 times)

pixote

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #340 on: February 03, 2008, 04:26:51 AM »
What was your process for making this group (or, what do you mean by "worldwide cinema in transition")?  If you're planning on watching them, I'd happily watch along, I've only seen two of those.

Basically the process was as unsophisticated as looking at all the films on my various, complexly intertwined lists of films to see and narrowing them down to about ten (at least one per year) that fit the bill.  I wasn't opposed to having more than one film per country, but there were enough options to choose from that I couldn't justify it to myself.

For the idea of transition, I merely looked to (re)emergent national cinemas (sub-Saharan Africa, Cuba), various new waves (Nouvelle Vague, Japanese New Wave, Cinema Novo, Czech New Wave), and other films that, in their local contexts, seemed to signify a break with the past or the embodiment of a trend rooted in the sixties.  I also gave weight (at least subconsciously) to politically engaged films, especially those concerned with revolution and other transitions beyond cinema.

One factor I did not bother to consider, though, is DVD availability — something which would have kept at least four of the films off the list.  If you're really up for a lineup like this, I'd have to make some tweaks.

A few of other titles on the shortlist:  Barren Lives (Nelson Pereira Dos Santos, 1963, Brazil); Muriel (Alain Resnais, 1963, France-Italy); Le Joli mai (Chris Marker, 1963, France); Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964, France-Italy); Intentions of Murder (Shohei Imamura, 1964, Japan); Diamonds of the Night (Jan Nemec, 1964, Czechoslovakia); Loves of a Blonde (Milos Forman, 1965, Czechoslovakia); Not Reconciled (Jean-Marie Straub, 1965, West Germany); Masculin Feminin (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966, France-Sweden); Yesterday Girl (Alexander Kluge, 1966, West Germany); The Hour of the Furnaces (Octavio Getino & Fernando E. Solanas, 1968, Argentina); Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968, US); Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968, US); and Ådalen '31 (Bo Widerberg, 1969, Sweden).

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sdedalus

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #341 on: February 03, 2008, 04:32:31 AM »
Masculin Feminin (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966, France-Sweden)

Sweden?
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pixote

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #342 on: February 03, 2008, 04:34:43 AM »
Hmm, curious.  I guess I forgot to proofread.  Though IMDb has the same thing:

Quote
Country: France / Sweden

Just a financing thing, I guess (Svensk Filmindustri).

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sdedalus

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #343 on: February 03, 2008, 04:54:59 AM »
Weird.  I don't recall ever hearing that before.

Guess that's why it didn't get a Best Foreign Film Oscar.
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skjerva

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #344 on: February 03, 2008, 10:43:34 AM »

 If you're really up for a lineup like this, I'd have to make some tweaks.


tweak away.  after the filmspots?
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Colleen

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #345 on: February 04, 2008, 08:33:46 AM »
Should someone who knows relatively little about Bob Dylan and his music beyond the really big songs (Like a Rolling Stone, Blowin in the Wind etc) bother with this movie?  Do you have to have a lot of knowledge of his life/music to see what they are doing with the film or does it stand on its own no matter what you know or how much you care about the "real" Bob Dylan?


skjerva

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #346 on: February 04, 2008, 11:57:14 AM »
I know about nothing about Dylan (I've only ever owned one album, and not spent much time listening to him) and don't feel it really hurt my viewing, it seems the film is more about the gimmick.  I went with a guy who knew a fair amount about Dylan and he got more little references out of it, but I wouldn't say any of that mattered to me; the other person I went with felt inspired to learn about Dylan after seeing it, not me, again.  I'm going to have to watch this film again sometime to get a better sense of what is going on with it - I love the idea, but am unsure about the execution.  Definitely worth a look.
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

oneaprilday

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #347 on: February 04, 2008, 04:54:38 PM »
I'd echo skjerva here - I know relatively little about Dylan, but thoroughly enjoyed the film. The concept is fascinating and the performances wonderful.

alexarch

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #348 on: February 04, 2008, 05:05:04 PM »
To be contrary, I'll not echo skjerva.  I know NOTHING about Dylan, and watching it, I felt like I was at my first female lingerie party.  It was VERY interesting structurally and visually, but I couldn't help thinking, "So you do what with what?  And what's this thing for?  I don't get it." 

When I left I felt no desire to learn more about Dylan.

Colleen

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Re: What should I watch?
« Reply #349 on: February 04, 2008, 07:52:49 PM »
But how did you feel about lingerie?

 

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