Apolytoner's Favorite Films

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by molly bloom
One can make a film about boredom or suicide without making the film itself boring or causing the audience to want to kill themselves.

And yet it was universally lauded by critics, was a huge box office hit, won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Abrams)? Not to mention a slew of other awards from around the world. It was the most critically acclaimed film of its year.

So don't make such generalizations about reactions to the film. The overwhelming consensus is that the film is a masterpiece.

With regards to F. Murray Abraham's performance, I thought he perhaps had mistaken the film for an episode of 'The Perils of Pauline'- pity there weren't any railway tracks around.

And what was so bad about his performance? There was nothing cartoonish or over-the-top about it. On the contrary, he played the part superbly. I'd say winning best actor at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes belies any notion that he did a bad job.

[Asher]

1. Office Space
2. ...
n. Profit!

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Asher
1. Office Space

As a member of managment, this was a really funny realistic movie...

the character in the movie who was hyptnotised was also in Band of Brothers

Gramps
My attachment was when they took the copy machine out and beat da snot out of it my son tells me it was a paradoy of some rap video..

[Sikander]

Originally posted by molly bloom

Although I like those very much, 'Fanny and Alexander' is my favourite of his. It just seems to radiate humanity and warmth- not terms normally associated with Ingmar 'Cheery Chappy' Bergman.

I haven't seen Fanny & Alexander, but I've added it to my list of films to rent. I liked Wild Strawberries for its humanity, particularly as it is portrayed through the eyes and actions of Liv Ullman's character. Her sudden and strong reaction to the fighting married couple in the presence of the children / teenagers in the car was particularly touching. I also enjoyed the flashbacks as the old man revisits his life on the way to Stockholm, both for their inherent poignancy and their general Bergman wierdness.

Virgin Spring was the first Bergman film I ever saw, and it completely captivated me. It was so simple and clean. It's plot is mythic, but its emotional texture was completely personal. Each aspect made the film much more powerful than I would have assumed it could have been from a synopsis of the plot.

[Urban Ranger]

In no particular order:

Apocalype Now (Redux)
Blade Runner
Full Metal Jacket
Seven Samurai (also some of his other films)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Burning in Mississippi
My Neighbour Totoro (stand in for Miyazaki's animated films)
An Autumn Fairy Tale (Hong Kong)
The Crying Game
Accidental Hero

Originally posted by Locutus
13. Siu Lam Juk Kau (Shaolin Soccer) (2001, Hong Kong)

You must be jest - same with some other guy who thinks Kung Fu Hustle is great...

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Dissident
I don't understand what is so good about Fight club. Maybe I need to watch it again. It seems like I'm the only person who doesn't like this film.

It works on a number of levels, some of which won't affect or appeal to some people.

Firstly, it is a psycho-comedy and IMO a good one. I think most people are surprised by the late film revelation, and many who aren't still think that the film works despite this.

Secondly, it is hilarious social commentary on many levels / topics. Psychobabble, anarchism, militia groups, authority figures, consumerism, manhood etc. are given a jaundiced look through the eyes of the various characters as well as the camera. Some of the viewpoints are serious or semi-serious, but all are humorous or potentially so depending on the types of humor you appreciate.

Some of the humor I think is more effective with certain generations, and indeed with certain sorts of people from certain generations. My male friends and I all immediately recognized Marla as someone we had all slept with at one time or another, and for the more disturbed amongst us she isn't far off from a number of women we had longer term relationships (to the extent such a thing is possible with someone like her) with. I would even go so far as to say that the more experience you have with mental illness,
the more cynical you are and the closer you are to "the abandoned generation" (born 1961-1981) the more you will relate to this film.

Oh, and the writing, acting, direction and visual effects are all top notch.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


And yet it was universally lauded by critics, was a huge box office hit, won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Abrams)? Not to mention a slew of other awards from around the world. It was the most critically acclaimed film of its year.

Remind me- how many awards did 'Titanic' win ?

My point as I thought I made clear, was I found the film infantile, and I found F Murray Abraham's performance pantomimish. How exactly am I generalizing about a particular film and a particular performance I said I didn't like ?

You were the one who raised Mozart's scatological leanings, implying that somehow this justified the infantilism I found in the film.

And yet I don't find a play dealing with boredom and dashed hopes boring or depressing- Beckett's 'En Attendant Godot'.

I certainly don't despise other people after reading Sartre's 'Huis Clos' either.

Plenty of people have won Golden Globes and Oscars and Baftas for reasons not having anything to do with a particular role or performance- as a quick look back through the awards lists will tell you.

How shocking that I should disagree with the critics.

[JohnT]

Burning in Mississippi

Do you mean Mississippi Burning?

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by JohnT

Burning in Mississippi

Do you mean Mississippi Burning?

No, Burning in Mississippi was the remake done from the southern perspective.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


No, Burning in Mississippi was the remake done from the southern perspective.

Missippi Masala is Burning - a tale of a brave FBI agent returning to the scene of his triumph over southern racist murderers, falling in love with the daughter of an Indian motel owner, and breaking up with her when it turns out that she is an incompetent cook.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by lord of the mark



Missippi Masala is Burning - a tale of a brave FBI agent returning to the scene of his triumph over southern racist murderers, falling in love with the daughter of an Indian motel owner, and breaking up with her when it turns out that she is an incompetent cook.

'Showbloat' the story of a flatulent dock worker who earns his living by farting show tunes aboard a riverboat.

[JohnT]

"Forrest Gimp", the tale of a backward, slightly-retarded Alabama boy who took to running...

... all the way to LA, where he fell into the clutches of Zed and Maynard who put him in a leather suit and caged him in the basement of Maynard's pawn shop.

[Ned]

Has anyone mentioned "Memento?"

[Tuberski]

No, for good reason.

ACK!

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Tuberski
No, for good reason.

ACK!

You forgot about it ?