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Author Topic: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time  (Read 235149 times)

Bill Thompson

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1040 on: March 22, 2011, 07:50:46 PM »
On one hand, it’s far too dark and mature for a Disney film.

Why is it too dark and mature for Disney? They are a film studio, they make films, they aren't confined to making light and happy films. I really like Hunchback, except for its ending. It easily outshines everything in the 90s era of Disney, until you get to the ending.

FroHam X

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1041 on: March 22, 2011, 08:10:59 PM »
I think he means that Hunchback's darkness is at odds with the cheeriness and childishness of the rest of the film. I agree with that. Disney is allowed to make dark movies, but in this case it might have been too dark for the regular Disney formula.
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Bill Thompson

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1042 on: March 22, 2011, 08:15:56 PM »
I think he means that Hunchback's darkness is at odds with the cheeriness and childishness of the rest of the film. I agree with that. Disney is allowed to make dark movies, but in this case it might have been too dark for the regular Disney formula.

I wouldn't say that Hunchback followed the regular Disney formula, if you could say there is such a thing when there wide variety of animated features pretty much shoots down the formula idea. They like more cheerful movies most of the time sure, but I don't think they ever developed a set formula from movie to movie. But, back to Hunchback, it has some lighter moments, but they contrast with the darkness rather nicely, so I still disagree with the criticism.

FroHam X

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1043 on: March 22, 2011, 08:20:20 PM »
Disney, especially during the Renaissance period, most definitely had a formula.

But yeah, the issue of whether the darkness helps or hinders the film is just a matter of opinion. I tend to think the darkness of not just the tone, but the actual content is the problem. Disney had to soften everything about it so much already that a lot of the power is lost already, and then the dark content that's there still seems way to much when put next to a bunch of singing gargoyles. Still a decent movie, just falls short compared with the rest of the films out of Disney at the time.
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sdedalus

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1044 on: March 22, 2011, 08:28:46 PM »
I don't think any of the post-Mermaid Disneys come close to the classics: Sleeping Beauty, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland.
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Antares

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1045 on: March 22, 2011, 10:13:44 PM »
I don't think any of the post-Mermaid Disneys come close to the classics: Sleeping Beauty, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland.

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oldkid

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1046 on: March 22, 2011, 11:07:33 PM »
Hunchback is one of the best Disneys.  Possibly the best soundtrack of them all and the adult and dark themes, as well as the far-less-than-gorgeous lead, show that while they weren't breaking the formula, they were warping it almost beyond recognition.
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1SO

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1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time - Halloween
« Reply #1047 on: March 23, 2011, 12:41:30 AM »
Marathon Update


Halloween
I spent eight years trying to reach him and then another seven trying to keep him locked up
because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil.


Quote from: Roger Ebert
“Halloween” is an absolutely merciless thriller, a movie so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to “Psycho.”
“Halloween” is a visceral experience -- we aren't seeing the movie, we're having it happen to us.
Carpenter is uncannily skilled, for example, at the use of foregrounds in his compositions, and everyone who likes thrillers knows that foregrounds are crucial.
We see movies for a lot of reasons. Sometimes we want to be amused. Sometimes we want to escape. Sometimes we want to laugh, or cry, or see sunsets. And sometimes we want to be scared. I'd like to be clear about this. If you don't want to have a really terrifying experience, don't see “Halloween.”
Quote from: Bill Thompson
There’s no doubt in my mind that Halloween is a great movie, and it isn’t a great movie because of nostalgia. Halloween has held up over time because of how finely constructed it is
So many stories try to be layered and complex, but Halloween is a relentless shark of a film. From the camerawork to the lighting and editing to that nerve-jangling score, this film is coming to get you and there's little you can do to stop it. I was lucky enough to first watch Halloween in a theater at midnight on Halloween night, back in 1990. The experience has stuck with me. By then the first wave of slasher films had buried the genre deep into the ground, but this film got to me in a big bad way. I didn't sleep well that night and purchased the film soon after so that I could shake the experience and start enjoying John Carpenter's technique. I found a lot to appreciate.

Carpenter really gets how to use the widescreen frame in a way few filmmakers have attempted. There are few jump scares and a lot of creepy pans to something ominous, usually in the foreground but not always. He builds suspense perfectly; the asylum escape scene remains one of the more unsettling moments in the film, with the too quick edit of someone climbing the car and that hand taking a beat before it strikes the window.

Michael Myers is such an enigma, this quiet shell of a human containing pure evil, that he becomes fascinating through subtle gestures. He moves slow, savoring the moments. Every kill is some kind of child-like game. He's in no hurry to kill. He wants to have fun, wants to play. There's a classic moment where he pins a guy to the wall with his knife and then his head tilts slightly in wonder at what he's done.

My problem with Halloween is that it's impossible to recreate the initial experience. The movie is great, and anybody who wants to see a scary movie needs to check this one out. The numerous copies have not diminished its ability to scare one bit. But what was once the scariest movie I ever saw is now a really well-made film that shows how to create classic scares. It belongs in the Top 100 just because it works perfectly the first time you see it and leaves a lot to admire over repeat viewings.

For my current rankings Click Here.

Next Up:
12 Angry Men
Bonnie and Clyde
The Breakfast Club
Charade
Seven
The Terminator
« Last Edit: March 23, 2011, 10:39:33 AM by 1SO »

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1048 on: March 23, 2011, 01:22:15 AM »
I appreciate how it paved the genre in a lot of ways and it certainly does have some fantastic moments of suspense, but I didn't find it quite as thrilling or horrific as most have. Then again, I think the entire slasher genre is pretty goofy to begin with and I tend to prefer slasher films with more comedic vibes (Scream, Nightmare franchise, Jason Lives, etc...).

1SO

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1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time - The Terminator/The Breakfast Club
« Reply #1049 on: March 23, 2011, 11:28:00 AM »
Marathon Update - I Love the 80s Double Shot


The Terminator
It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear.
And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.


How Exciting!
I mean that with all sincerity. Here is the start of James Cameron, a superb director who would go on to all sorts of record-breaking blockbusters. Yet with a very modest budget, The Terminator remains one of the most exciting and creative action films ever made. On this rewatch I loved the non-stop bone-crushing chase, unrelenting suspense, black humor and first look at Cameron's post-apocalyptic future. On top of that, this one looks so simple in its execution. The excitement comes from ideas that for the most part you could do at home with a few stunt guys and some pyro. For all the resources Cameron had for the sequel, this is a better film cause it's free of the bloat and self-importance. This is a story of the uneasy relationship between man and machine, executed by a filmmaker who has already mastered the tools of his trade.

The tension remains high through a healthy sound mix of industrial noise. Even while Michael Biehn has to deliver a ton of exposition, it's done while in flight, so there's tire screeching, guns blasting, cars crashing and glass smashing. This must be the record for the greatest amount of momentum-killing dialogue that never actually kills the momentum.

Here is the Terminator as it was first designed. Without fear or feelings, it kills in broad daylight. It doesn't get frustrated when Sarah Connor escapes, it just gets up and resumes the chase. With his impressive size and unsympathetic attitude, Schwarzenegger makes the Terminator into one of the greatest villains of all time. Cameron manages to make him funny as well. The limited dialogue brings some memorable lines including "I'll be back", which is great when seen in its proper context. (I also love the roommate's answering machine message which ironically says "Ha, ha. You're talking to a machine."

The Terminator can't hide its low budget in spots, but that never detracts from the excitement. It's a real shame Cameron never completed the trilogy himself, cause this is two-thirds the greatest trilogy of all time. This one's in the Top 50.


The Breakfast Club
Screws fall out all the time, the world's an imperfect place.

I was 14 when The Breakfast Club came out. Back then I remember thinking the film should be placed in a time capsule so twenty years later I could show kids what school was like in my day. Here we are, 25 years later and while I have no kids The Breakfast Club isn't as perfect a time piece as i thought. It's my generation filtered through a decade when movies were kind of weak. By that I mean a lot of the film now doesn't feel honest. This isn't quite how I remember it.

The film is a stereotyped, potty-mouthed therapy session and I know I'm getting old when I'm starting to sympathize with the unfair way it looks at parents. Everybody comes from a broken home where there's either too much pressure put on them to win and succeed or they're left completely alone. Nobody's family exists in a middle ground. None of them are interested in listening to their kids. I always knew Vernon was a cartoonish figure, and I still find a lot of his interactions to be funny, but I much more enjoyed Carl the janitor. ("I am the eyes and ears of this institution.")

John Hughes' direction is very stagy, but you know how I'm drawn to good dialogue and I still find his script to be witty, perceptive and mostly realistic when dealing with the five kids. There's an affection for the kids, and the writing respects them in the way their parents do not. I had trouble finding a quote, but I chose the one above because it's not only hilarious in the context of the film, it also says a lot about being a teenager.

The cast is still great. Just all around fantastic. I'd put this group up against the Pacino, Lemmon and the rest of the Glengarry salesmen. (I know I'm inviting an attack I don't want. Let's agree this is the sole opinion of 1SO.) There's an electricity between them, like an all-star cast. They keep the film from ever feeling slow, even more than Hughes' musical interludes.

I would love to know what happened to The Breakfast Club come Monday. I'm guessing they would quickly fall back into their cliques. This has become a deeply nostalgic pick for me. I'm keeping it in the Top 100, but it's going to be on the bottom half.

For my current rankings Click Here.

Next Up:
12 Angry Men
Bonnie and Clyde
Charade
Seven
« Last Edit: September 22, 2017, 08:40:51 AM by 1SO »