Author Topic: Bondo's Great Directors  (Read 70447 times)

Bondo

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Bondo's Great Directors
« on: March 14, 2010, 01:31:17 PM »
So often a marathon will focus on some pantheon director whose material one hasn't explored sufficiently, and there are plenty that I could choose from for this purpose. But I'm at a point where I feel like I'm always struggling to watch new and old films that I haven't seen yet and don't get a chance to go back to those films I've seen only once or not for a long time but liked and would like to revisit. Thus for this long-term marathon I will be going one director at a time with directors whose filmographies I am very familiar with and revisiting both favorites and some that perhaps I didn't love as much but can explore in context of the whole filmography, and perhaps catch up on a few that I haven't seen from the director.

Danny Boyle
28 Days Later 5/5
Trainspotting 5/5
Sunshine 5/5
Slumdog Millionaire 4/5
127 Hours 4/5
Shallow Grave 4/5
Millions 4/5
A Life Less Ordinary 3/5
Strumpet 3/5
The Beach 2/5
Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise 1/5
Alien Love Triangle
Trance


Christopher Nolan
Memento 5/5
The Prestige 5/5
Inception 5/5
The Dark Knight 4/5
Following 3/5
Insomnia 3/5
Batman Begins 3/5
Doodlebug 2/5
The Dark Knight Rises


Steven Spielberg
Minority Report 5/5
Jurassic Park 5/5
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 5/5
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence 5/5
Amistad 4/5
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4/5
Schindler's List 4/5
Jaws 4/5
Catch Me If You Can 4/5
War Horse 4/5
Saving Private Ryan 4/5
Munich 4/5
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 4/5
Duel 4/5
The Adventures of Tintin 4/5
Hook 3/5
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 3/5
The Sugarland Express 3/5
Always 3/5
Empire of the Sun 3/5
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 3/5
War of the Worlds 3/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls 2/5
The Color Purple 2/5
The Terminal 2/5
The Lost World 2/5
1941 1/5
Lincoln
Robopocalypse


Hayao Miyazaki
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 5/5
Spirited Away 5/5
My Neighbor Totoro 5/5
Princess Mononoke 4/5
Howl's Moving Castle 3/5
Castle In The Sky 3/5
Lupin The Third: Castle of Cagliostro 3/5
Porco Rosso 2/5
Kiki's Delivery Service 2/5
Ponyo 1/5
Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess
Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie


Kevin Smith
Chasing Amy 5/5
Clerks 2 5/5
Clerks 5/5
Dogma 4/5
Red State 4/5
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 4/5
Jersey Girl 4/5
Zach and Miri Make A Porno 3/5
Mallrats 3/5
Cop Out
Hit Somebody


Andrea Arnold
Fish Tank 5/5
Red Road 4/5
Wasp 4/5
Dog 4/5
Milk 3/5
Wuthering Heights


Richard Linklater
Before Sunrise 5/5
Before Sunset 5/5
Waking Life 5/5
A Scanner Darkly 4/5
Fast Food Nation 4/5
Me and Orson Welles 3/5
The School of Rock 3/5
Dazed and Confused 3/5
The Newton Boys 3/5
Slacker 2/5
SubUrbia 2/5
Tape
Bad News Bears
Bernie


M. Night Shyamalan
Unbreakable 5/5
Sixth Sense 5/5
The Village 4/5
The Happening 4/5
Lady In The Water 3/5
Devil 3/5
Signs 2/5
Wide Awake 2/5
Praying With Anger 2/5
The Last Airbender 1/5


Edgar Wright
Hot Fuzz 5/5
Shaun of the Dead 4/5
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World 4/5
A Fistful of Fingers 1/5
Them
Ant-Man


John Cameron Mitchell
Shortbus 5/5
Hedwig and the Angry Inch 4/5
Rabbit Hole 4/5


David Fincher
The Social Network 5/5
Panic Room 4/5
Se7en 4/5
Zodiac 4/5
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo 4/5
Fight Club 3/5
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 3/5
The Game 2/5
Alien 3 2/5


Alfonso Cuaron
Children of Men 5/5
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5/5
Solo Con Tu Pareja 3/5
A Little Princess 3/5
Y Tu Mama Tambien 2/5
Great Expectations 2/5
Gravity


Martin McDonagh
In Bruges 5/5
Six Shooter 4/5
Seven Psychopaths


Gaspar Noé
Irreversible 5/5
Enter The Void 4/5
We CINECAST! Alone 4/5
I Stand Alone 1/5


Joe Wright
Atonement 5/5
Hanna 4/5
Pride and Prejudice 4/5
The Soloist


Jason Reitman
Juno 5/5
Up In The Air 4/5
Thank You For Smoking 4/5
Young Adult 4/5


Gurinder Chadha
Bend It Like Beckham 5/5
Bride and Prejudice 5/5
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging 2/5
Bhaji on the Beach
What's Cooking
It's A Wonderful Afterlife


Mike Leigh
Another Year 5/5
Vera Drake 5/5
Naked 4/5
High Hopes 4/5
Topsy Turvy 4/5
Secrets & Lies 4/5
A Sense of History 4/5
Life Is Sweet 3/5
Happy-Go-Lucky 3/5
The Short and Curlies 3/5
Abigail's Party 3/5
Career Girls 2/5
All or Nothing 2/5
Bleak Moments 2/5


Debra Granik
Winter's Bone 5/5
Down To The Bone 4/5


Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Amelie 5/5
Micmacs 4/5
A Very Long Engagement 4/5
Delicatessen 3/5
The City of Lost Children 3/5
Alien: Resurrection


Akira Kurosawa
Ran 5/5
High and Low 5/5
Dreams 4/5
Ikiru 4/5
Rashomon 2/5
Rhapsody In August 2/5
Seven Samurai 1/5
Red Beard 1/5
Yojimbo 1/5
Throne of Blood
The Bad Sleep Well


Baz Luhrmann
Moulin Rouge 5/5
Romeo and Juliet 5/5
Strictly Ballroom 3/5
La Boheme 3/5
Australia 3/5
The Great Gatsby


Hirokazu Koreeda
After Life 5/5
Still Walking 4/5
Air Doll 4/5
Nobody Knows 2/5
Maborosi 1/5
Hana
I Wish


Tomas Alfredson
Let The Right One In 5/5
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy 4/5


Stanley Kubrick
Full Metal Jacket 5/5
A Clockwork Orange 5/5
Spartacus 4/5
Dr. Strangelove 4/5
The Killing 4/5
Paths of Glory 3/5
The Shining 3/5
Eyes Wide Shut 3/5
Lolita 2/5
2001: A Space Odyssey 2/5
Barry Lyndon


Denys Arcand
The Barbarian Invasions 5/5
The Decline of the American Empire 4/5
The Age of Ignorance 4/5
Jesus of Montreal 4/5
Stardom 3/5
Love and Human Remains 3/5


Makato Shinkai
5 Centimeters Per Second 5/5
Voices of a Distant Star 4/5
A Place Promised In Our Early Days 2/5
She and Her Cat 2/5
Hoshi o ou kodomo


Billy Wilder
The Apartment 5/5
Stalag 17 5/5
Some Like It Hot 4/5
Witness For The Prosecution 4/5
Double Indemnity 3/5
One, Two, Three 3/5
The Spirit of St. Louis 3/5
The Seven Year Itch 2/5
Sunset Boulevard 2/5
Irma la Douce 2/5
Ace In The Hole 2/5
The Major and the Minor
The Lost Weekend
Sabrina


Frederick Wiseman
State Legislature 5/5
Near Death 4/5
La Danse 4/5
High School 4/5
Law and Order 3/5
Model 3/5
Titicut Follies 2/5
Hospital 2/5
Basic Training
Juvenile Court
Welfare
High School II
Ballet
Public Housing
Domestic Violence
Boxing Gym


Tom Tykwer
Perfume: Story of a Murderer 5/5
Run Lola Run 5/5
The International 2/5
Winter Sleepers
The Princess and the Warrior
Heaven
Three


Matthew Vaughn
Kick-Ass 5/5
X-Men: First Class 4/5
Stardust 4/5
Layer Cake 4/5


Joel and Ethan Coen
O Brother Where Art Thou 5/5
The Man Who Wasn't There 4/5
Miller's Crossing 4/5
A Serious Man 4/5
True Grit 4/5
Burn After Reading 4/5
The Big Lebowski 4/5
No Country For Old Men 3/5
Fargo 3/5
Raising Arizona 3/5
Blood Simple 2/5
Barton Fink 2/5
Intolerable Cruelty 2/5
The Hudsucker Proxy 2/5
The Ladykillers


Kim Ji-Woon
The Bittersweet Life 5/5
The Good, The Bad, The Weird 4/5
I Saw The Devil 4/5
The Tale of Two Sisters 2/5
Memories 1/5
The Quiet Family
Foul King
The Last Stand


Guillermo del Toro
Pan's Labyrinth 5/5
The Devil's Backbone 5/5
Blade II 3/5
Hellboy II: The Golden Army 2/5
Hellboy 2/5
Cronos 1/5
Mimic 1/5


Matt Stone and Trey Parker
Team America: World Police 5/5
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut 4/5
Cannibal The Musical 2/5
Orgazmo 1/5


Morgan Spurlock
Super Size Me 5/5
30 Days 5/5
POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold 5/5
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden 4/5


Robert Altman
Gosford Park 5/5
A Prairie Home Companion 5/5
MASH 3/5
Ready To Wear 3/5
The Gingerbread Man 2/5
Dr. T And The Women 2/5
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Long Goodbye
Nashville
Short Cuts


Alfred Hitchcock
Rear Window 5/5
Strangers on a Train 5/5
Rope 4/5
Psycho 4/5
The Birds 3/5
Notorious 2/5
North By Northwest 2/5
Dial M For Murder 2/5
Vertigo 1/5
Torn Curtain 1/5
Rebecca 1/5
Shadow of a Doubt


Michael Moore
Bowling For Columbine 5/5
Sicko 4/5
Fahrenheit 9/11 4/5
Roger and Me 2/5
Capitalism A Love Story 2/5
The Big One 2/5


Martin Scorsese
The Departed 5/5
Kundun 5/5
Shutter Island 4/5
The Aviator 4/5
Gangs of New York 4/5
The Last Temptation of Christ 3/5
Raging Bull 3/5
The King of Comedy 2/5
Shine A Light 2/5
Hugo 2/5
Bringing Out The Dead 2/5
Taxi Driver 2/5
Goodfellas 1/5
Casino 1/5


David Hamilton
Laura, Shadows of a Summer 5/5
Tendres Cousines 4/5
Bilitis 3/5
A Summer in St. Tropez 2/5
First Desires 1/5


Mel Brooks
Spaceballs 5/5
Blazing Saddles 4/5
History of the World Part I 4/5
Robin Hood Men In Tights 4/5
Young Frankenstein 4/5
The Producers 3/5
Dracula Dead and Loving It 2/5
High Anxiety 1/5
Silent Movie 1/5


Steven Soderbergh
The Girlfriend Experience 5/5
Ocean's Eleven 4/5
Contagion 4/5
Bubble 4/5
Traffic 4/5
Erin Brockovich 3/5
Ocean's Twelve 3/5
sex, lies and videotape 3/5
Ocean's Thirteen 3/5
Out of Sight 3/5
The Informant 3/5
The Good German 2/5
Solaris 1/5


Kim Ki-Duk
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring 5/5
The Bow 4/5
3-Iron 4/5
Address Unknown 3/5
The Isle 3/5
Dream 2/5
Arirang 2/5
Samaritan Girl 2/5
Real Fiction 2/5
Bad Guy 1/5
The Coast Guard 1/5
Time 1/5


Quentin Tarantino
Inglourious Basterds 5/5
Reservoir Dogs 4/5
Kill Bill 4/5
Pulp Fiction 3/5
Jackie Brown 3/5
Death Proof 2/5


Charles Chaplin
Modern Times 5/5
City Lights 4/5
The Kid 4/5
Gold Rush 3/5

The Circus 3/5
The Great Dictator 3/5

Neil Jordan
Breakfast on Pluto 5/5
The Crying Game 4/5
Ondine 4/5
Interview With The Vampire 4/5
Michael Collins 4/5
The Brave One 3/5
Mona Lisa 2/5


Ashutosh Gowariker
Swades 5/5
Lagaan 4/5
Jodhaa Akbar 3/5
Pehla Nasha
Baazi
What's Your Raashee?
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey


The Wachowskis
The Matrix 5/5
The Matrix Revolutions 3/5
Speed Racer 3/5
Bound 3/5
The Matrix Reloaded 3/5


Lukas Moodysson
CINECAST!ing Amal 5/5
Together 4/5
Lilya 4-Ever 2/5


Catherine Breillat
Sex Is Comedy 5/5
Anatomy of Hell 4/5
The Sleeping Beauty 4/5
Brief Crossing 4/5
Fat Girl 4/5
Bluebeard 3/5
The Last Mistress 3/5
Perfect Love 3/5
36 Fillette 3/5
Romance 2/5
A Real Young Girl 2/5
Dirty Like An Angel 1/5
Nocturnal Uproar 1/5


Gus Van Sant
Good Will Hunting 5/5
Elephant 4/5
Milk 4/5
Finding Forrester 3/5
To Die For 2/5
Paranoid Park 2/5
Gerry 1/5


Spike Lee
Do The Right Thing 4/5
Inside Man 4/5
Malcolm X 4/5
When The Levees Broke 4/5
Summer of Sam 2/5
25th Hour 2/5


Nicole Kassel
The Woodsman 5/5

Satoshi Kon
Millennium Actress 5/5
Tokyo Godfathers 4/5
Perfect Blue 3/5
Paprika 2/5


Ramin Bahrani
Man Push Cart 4/5
Plastic Bag 4/5
Goodbye Solo 3/5
Chop Shop 2/5


Pedro Almadovar
All About My Mother 5/5
The Skin I Live In 4/5
Volver 4/5
Talk To Her 4/5
Bad Education 3/5
Broken Embraces 2/5


Curtis Hanson
L.A. Confidential 5/5
8 Mile 4/5
Wonder Boys 4/5
In Her Shoes 4/5


Lars von Trier
The Idiots 5/5
Antichrist 4/5
Melancholia 4/5
Breaking The Waves 4/5
The Boss Of It All 4/5
Manderlay 3/5
Dogville 2/5
Medea 2/5
The Element of Crime 2/5


Rob Reiner
The Princess Bride 5/5
When Harry Met Sally 4/5
This Is Spinal Tap 4/5
The American President 4/5
Misery 4/5
A Few Good Men 3/5
Stand By Me 3/5
The Bucket List 3/5
Flipped 2/5
Alex and Emma 2/5


Sidney Lumet
12 Angry Men 5/5
Network 4/5
Fail-Safe 4/5
Find Me Guilty 3/5
Dog Day Afternoon 2/5
The Verdict 1/5
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead 1/5


Frank Capra
It's A Wonderful Life 4/5
Arsenic and Old Lace 4/5
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington 4/5
You Can't Take It With You 2/5
It Happened One Night 1/5


Denis Villeneuve
Polytechnique 5/5
Incendies 4/5
Maelstrom 3/5


Paul Greengrass
United 93 5/5
Bloody Sunday 4/5
Green Zone 4/5
The Bourne Ultimatum 3/5
The Bourne Supremacy 2/5


Judd Apatow
The 40-Year-Old Virgin 5/5
Knocked Up 4/5
Funny People 4/5


Deepa Mehta
Earth 4/5
Fire 4/5
Water 3/5
Heaven on Earth 3/5
Camilla 2/5
Bollywood/Hollywood 2/5
The Republic of Love 2/5
Midnight's Children


Terry Gilliam
Monty Python and the Holy Grail 5/5
12 Monkeys 4/5
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus 4/5
Brazil 3/5
The Fisher King 3/5
The Brothers' Grimm 2/5
Tideland 2/5
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 2/5
Time Bandits 2/5


Woody Allen
Match Point 5/5
Whatever Works 4/5
Stardust Memories 4/5
Zelig 3/5
Annie Hall 3/5
Vicki Christina Barcelona 3/5
Manhattan 3/5
Scoop 2/5
Anything Else 2/5
Bananas 2/5
Hannah and Her Sisters 2/5
Crimes and Misdemeanors 2/5
Everyone Says I Love You 2/5
Cassandra's Dream 1/5


Tim Burton
Big Fish 5/5
Mars Attacks! 4/5
Vincent 4/5
Beetlejuice 4/5
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 4/5
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure 3/5
Ed Wood 3/5
Batman 3/5
Edward Scissorhands 3/5
Sleepy Hollow 3/5
Planet of the Apes 2/5
Alice In Wonderland 2/5
Batman Returns 2/5
Corpse Bride 2/5
Sweeney Todd 2/5


Ang Lee
Eat Drink Man Woman 4/5
Brokeback Mountain 4/5
Pushing Hands 4/5
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 3/5
Taking Woodstock 3/5
The Wedding Banquet 3/5
The Ice Storm 3/5
Sense and Sensibility 2/5
Lust, Caution 1/5


Peter Greenaway
The Baby of Macon 5/5
The Pillow Book 4/5
The Draughtsman's Contract 4/5
Drowning By Numbers 4/5
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover 3/5
8 1/2 Women 3/5
The Falls 2/5
The Shorts 2/5
A Zed & Two Noughts 2/5
The Belly of an Architect 1/5
Prospero's Books


Fritz Lang
Metropolis 5/5
M 2/5


Kimberly Peirce
Boys Don't Cry 5/5
Stop-Loss 4/5


Niki Caro
North Country 5/5
Whale Rider 4/5
The Vintner's Luck 2/5


Mira Nair
The Namesake 4/5
Monsoon Wedding 3/5
Salaam Bombay
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
Vanity Fair


The Archers
Red Shoes 4/5
Peeping Tom 3/5
Black Narcissus
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A Matter of Life and Death
« Last Edit: January 19, 2012, 10:33:14 AM by Mx. Bondo »

Clovis8

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2010, 02:03:37 PM »
One of these is not like the others.  ;)

hint: first name M.

Melvil

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2010, 03:43:31 PM »
Cool! Sounds like fun.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2010, 03:54:24 PM »
One of these is not like the others.  ;)

hint: first name M.

You're right, he's the one with all of the talent  :P

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2010, 09:09:35 PM »
You got a funny definition of great, but I'd agree that all of them have made great films. 

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2010, 10:13:20 PM »
You got a funny definition of great, but I'd agree that all of them have made great films. 

Admittedly, I use great slightly loosely, though I feel like M. Night is the only one who the average person here would have a real problem with using the g word in reference to. It is more a convenience to describe directors whose work I want to revisit and M. Night is certainly on that list. In spite of The Happening, M. Night is still a director whose films I am automatically interested in.

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2010, 10:27:11 PM »
Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)


The joy of this marathon is that I have a decent idea what to expect, and that is loving most of these films. That is the whole point. I saw Se7en once back in 2001 and I definitely remembered it as a good experience. It does everything I could hope for in a crime thriller. The premise of the seven deadly sins is a strong hook, like an addictive pop song. It seems a bit easy in some ways, a substitute for real character development for the serial killer, but it is just delightful as pulp fiction.

I do appreciate that the film holds us back at the pace that the detectives work the case rather than cutting around to put us in an omnipotent role. That said, there aren't a lot of clues here, it isn't about the mystery so much as the atmosphere (something that the script commentary touches upon). This aspect does perhaps prevent us from fully appreciating why each murder is selected or how it fits, leading to a frustrating bit of exposition toward the end. One thing about the end that does not really work for me, through the first five murders the victims were guilty of the associated sin, but Tracy Mills does not seem to be guilty of any, rather she is the victim of John Doe's sin and Doe is the victim of Det. Mills' sin. This leads to a very interesting ending but seems to be a flaw in the logic.

I think Se7en is a good example of when we need to remember not to go too far in demanding art rather than entertainment. Whether it was because I was younger and more easily impressed, this movie had left an impression of being deep. In rewatching it I realize it is actually a fairly shallow story, but it is still fabulous entertainment and I'm not sure this should be considered taking anything away from it. It is faux-deep by putting an intellectual veneer on a pretty simple story, much like David Mills use of Cliffs' notes in the film. It seems to give us what we really want while also giving us the cover to feel better about wanting it.

Rating: 4/5

Next up is the one Fincher selection (that is released) that I have not seen (in its entirety anyhow), The Game. I should mention that I did not include Alien3 in the marathon. I don't think being a hired gun in the middle of a series is a useful indicator of one's style. I have seen it however and as a child not old enough to probably be watching it, I remember liking it in that dumb exciting movie kind of way.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2010, 09:40:04 AM by Bondo »

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2010, 12:06:53 AM »
I find the whole conceit of the film self-indulgent and far too episodic. Then again, I'm pretty critical of any kinds of religious ideas in a film. You're taking a lot of baggage in with that and instead of creating something interesting, I feel that Seven just neglects it entirely and reduces the religious elements to sheer spectacle. Just my two cents.

And a shame you are skipping over Alien3. It's probably my favorite (Although Zodiac is objectively better.)

ferris

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2010, 01:21:10 AM »
Great start Bondo!  This is going to be a fun marathon.  I'm looking forward to hearing a lot of thematic ties as you work through these different directors.

As far as Se7en is concerned, if I'm honest, I enjoyed this comment the most:

Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
In rewatching it I realize it is actually a fairly shallow story
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs" - Exodus 8:2 KJV
(switchboard)

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2010, 05:40:42 PM »
I remembered (thanks to a crossword clue in The Onion) one thing I was meaning to comment on originally for Se7en is how it might be seen as an influence to the Saw franchise. Minor spoilers of Se7en follow (but only slight).

In Se7en, we see two of the murders, Greed and Pride, where the victim is given a choice. In terms of Greed, it is where to take the pound of flesh. In terms of Pride, it is whether to die or live defaced (alas, literally). These aspects are basically hinted at and they move on. Saw takes this idea of a sick mastermind forcing people who have committed some form of moral transgression to make some sort of brutal choice as its central premise. I don't feel like Se7en is consistent in this (certainly the lawyer didn't seem to have the choice of life and it is hard to say whether the woman actually had one either). Ultimately, I think Se7en gets away with it because it chooses to focus on the cops rather than the murders. Thinking more about the film, I still enjoyed it but I did edit the rating to 4/5 (which is how I actually had it on Netflix from my first viewing). It could have done a lot to approach the premise with more depth.

As to Saw, I've only seen the first in the series but I felt a bit let down because I feel that film ultimately gets too obsessed with the torture porn than the moral dilemmas. Phone Booth, in an odd way, also takes the idea of some person exacting justice on a stranger for his transgression. I remember liking that film a great deal but I forget how well it handles the moral dilemma and should probably watch it again at some point.

 

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