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Author Topic: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film  (Read 64402 times)

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #30 on: March 12, 2010, 10:32:31 AM »
Also, C Dub, unofficially let's say that George Washington is my favorite film?

I will make an exception because it is in your top 3, but I don't want to start a trend or another "Master and Commander" marathon.

Plus, I've always wanted to see it.

I thank you. I do not mean to impose, but you've watch the other DGG films I have seen and, apparently, really enjoyed them, so I am interested to see what you think about George Washington.

zarodinu

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #31 on: March 12, 2010, 02:55:20 PM »
This is awesome, hope you enjoy Woman in the Dunes, its all kinds of awesome.
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ferris

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #32 on: March 14, 2010, 12:18:13 AM »
Great idea, Corndog!  You can be sure everyone will be interested in what you have to say...

yea, no pressure, right?
Especially since we all know you already love my favorite film.  ;)

Yep same here! 

A marathon like this is precisely why I love these boards so much  :)
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Corndog

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #33 on: March 15, 2010, 10:41:10 PM »
Actually, Signin' in the Rain is gonna get watched tomorrow in my other marathon. So really that one is next.
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ses

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #34 on: March 16, 2010, 04:39:23 PM »
Awesome idea Corndog! 
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

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frantastical

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #35 on: March 21, 2010, 06:33:54 PM »
This is really awesome!  Can't wait to see what you think, and seriously, no pressure.  :)

Woodpecker from Mars

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #36 on: March 22, 2010, 07:01:30 AM »
just by chance i'm downloading this one now. 3.15GB in two .avi files, with English and Chinese subs.
I downloaded a 1.36GB version of the laserdisc rip. Chinese and english subs both hardcoded. The quality is quite bad :(

This is awesome, hope you enjoy Woman in the Dunes, its all kinds of awesome.
It is, I really enjoyed it when I did something like this marathon last fall :)
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Corndog

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #37 on: March 29, 2010, 03:25:38 PM »
THATguy
Singin' in the Rain
Directed by Stanley Donen
Written by Adolph Green & Betty Comden
Will Most Likely Contain Spoilers
There has not been one single disappointment in this entire marathon, and Gene Kelly and company are no exception. Or maybe they are an exception. An exception in that fact that they act like nobody else in this marathon, talk like no one else, perform like no one else, tell jokes, and most assuredly dance and sing like no one else. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds are all exceptions. Exceptions to the hum-drum world and the single threat. All of these actors are triple threats and every single one of them make this a great film with everything they do in it. I always says musicals are not really my thing, but I think I used to say that because I had not seen many. After seeing a few and now the ever so famous Singin' in the Rain, I would say that musicals might be my thing. They are just so much fun.

The story is about two silent film stars of the screen, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). They are a big pair and star together all of the time. The film studio they work for, Monumental Pictures, has fabricated a story that they have moved their on-screen romance to the real world, a concept embraced by Lina, but not by Don. At an after party of one of their premiers, the concept of the "talkie" is presented, only problem is Lina Lamont has a horrible speaking voice, and is a little stupid to boot. While at this party, Don bumps into somebody that helped him escape a mob situation earlier in the film by giving him a lift in her car. What is special about this girl, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), is that she can sing and dance too, but puts Don's self-esteem into question by proclaiming that silent film stars are not real actors, only stars of the stage are the real actors. In order to compete with the "talkie" boom, Monumental Studios makes the next Lockwood and Lamont film a talkie, but it is horrendous at a pre-screening. Lockwood and longtime buddy Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) rework the story and make it into a modern musical, with the part of Lina Lamont being dubbed over by the lovely Kathy without Lina knowing about it. The resulting film is 'The Dancing Cavalier' , a major hit. But when Lina is asked to give a speech for the audience and sing a song for them, she is laughed at when the curtain is raised behind her for everyone to see Kathy singing for her. Her career is over, as it should be given her ridiculous behavior and lack of talent. Kathy and Don are the stars now, and their love is just beginning to blossom.

It really is a lovely story, and amazing to think they developed it around the idea of the songs, all of which were written before the rest of the script. Every single musical number was awesome though. The dancing and singing talents of the cast were great. Gene Kelly is the man, plain and simple. The man can do it all and even in his "silent film" acting he was not only great, but hilarious too. I know it is known for the great dance numbers, but the acting and some of the dialogue make this one of the best comedies ever too I think. The opening sequence where Don is talking about how he came to be such a star is really funny. Pretty much everything he says contradicts what we are seeing on screen to be the reality and the stunt sequences are probably the best part of that. But as great as Gene Kelly is, I think my favorite sequence was the "Make 'em Laugh" number by Donald O'Connor. And the sequence with the dialect coach would probably be a second.

The look of the film was great too. Especially the set design, those sets were awesome! I wish I could go walk around on them today, especially the one in the Broadway sequence where it dissolves from the night club to a great big open room with the girl having an extremely long scarf, just awesome. I may have had more fun with this one than with any of the other films in this short marathon. It certainly lived up to the hype and I think letting it settle before doing this write-up made me appreciate it that much more. Will be in serious serious contention when I make my revised Top 100 at some point later this year. It might even climb higher than I expect, especially with a rewatch or two, which are certain to come at this point.

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Might sound funny in a few places, but it is copied and pasted from my Dancing in the Clouds Marathon if that helps make things clearer.
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oneaprilday

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #38 on: March 29, 2010, 10:37:22 PM »
Glad you loved Singin' in the Rain so much, Corndog. It's my #2 all-time favorite! :)

Corndog

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Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #39 on: March 30, 2010, 04:16:59 PM »
faceboy
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Directed by Alain Resnais
Written by Alain Robbe-Grillet
This was an extremely interesting film. It seemed to repeat itself over and over again, but that was the style that Resnais seemed to be going for. I generally have a lot of patience and this film requires it, but I think I seemed to lose it once or twice over the short 96 minute runtime. The story is hard to describe, but I would say it consists of a man trying to get him lover to remember a year earlier to when they were at a hotel in Marienbad. It is hard to tell whether the scenes we see are memories or actually dreams, because the woman seems to not remember the time at all.

The film is marked by extended periods of repeated dialogue (the opening consists of the same phrase being repeated over and over for about 15 minutes as we see images of the large, seemingly vacant hotel). To accent the repeated dialogue sequences, we also have extended periods of silence accompanied by great ominous organ music. There does not seem to be anything conventional about the entire film. I cannot recall a "normal" scene between two or more characters, I cannot remember any sort of "normal" storytelling". It is hard to say whether the style was my cup of tea or not, but I certainly appreciated what Resnais was attempting to do here. As I said, it became quite tedious at some points, but looking back I think the appreciation of this piece of art, which is what it is, greatly outweighs the style that bogged me down with my initial viewing. Repeat viewings my prove this to be as good as advertised by faceboy having it as his all-time favorite film, but for now I cannot put it there. It was too different for me to fully comprehend right now. I know I liked it and was intrigued and interested by it, but something like this will not make my upper echelon of films with its first viewing.

My favorite part of the film was definitely the look of it. The hotel was gorgeous and Resnais shoots it so beautifully with black and white. The hotel is accompanied by a striking French garden out back that is greatly utilized. The angles, the camera movements, are all utilized to make an overall very pretty film. I will give it that.

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