Your Own Private Film Course

As I may have mentioned, one of the classes I'm taking at university is Film, and naturally during a Film "lab" we watch certain movies to appreciate whatever aspect of Film it is that we're looking at that week (to be fair, most everyone in the class just sees it as an opportunity to relax and enjoy a decent flick). And so far the movies we've seen (Chinatown, Goodfellas, Casablanca) have all been great (as well as one-worded titles, which might mean something or not, I have no clue).

But the next few screenings will be of things that look like real doozies :(

So just for fun's sake, I thought I'd make a list of movies that could be viewed in Film and not bore people to death. Or at least keep them awake. Feel free to make your own response list, but these are my picks (purely subjective)

Rushmore: for sound editing and the use of music to convey moods (both the original score and songs selected for the soundtrack

The Producers (the 1968 original): the first twenty minutes is almost a seminar in maintaining the integrity of a scene.

Battleship Potemkin: the famous montage sequence, naturally

8 1/2: because I've never seen it, and would like to :p

Dr. Strangelove: examining the film genres now, starting with comedy

The Empire Strikes Back: Sci-fi fantasy

Halloween or The Thing: horror

Spider-Man 2: exceeding the typical standards for summer blockbuster "filler"

L.A. Confidential: drama

any Bugs Bunny shorts from the golden years of Warner Brothers: animation

No Direction Home, The Last Waltz, and The Kids Are Alright: documentary

That's a Film class I'd like to take

BLADE RUNNER

Well I liked it a lot...

Taboo # 7 wrote:

8 1/2: because I've never seen it, and would like to :p

Shame on you!

Seriously, why then would you include this movie if you've never seen it?

[orange]|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3[/orange] wrote:

Taboo # 7 wrote:

8 1/2: because I've never seen it, and would like to :p

Shame on you!

Seriously, why then would you include this movie if you've never seen it?

It's one of those movies you have to see before you die (and what better place to see it than in Film lab)

Can't believe I didn't think of any Woody Allen for the list, but if I had to take off the horror selections for Crimes and Misdemeanors, Love and Death, or Annie Hall (all of which I've seen)

At least we get to see Purple Rose of Cairo a few months from now

A Peter North compilation?

Taboo # 7 wrote:

[orange]|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3[/orange] wrote:

Taboo # 7 wrote:

8 1/2: because I've never seen it, and would like to :p

Shame on you!

Seriously, why then would you include this movie if you've never seen it?

It's one of those movies you have to see before you die (and what better place to see it than in Film lab)

Can't believe I didn't think of any Woody Allen for the list, but if I had to take off the horror selections for Crimes and Misdemeanors, Love and Death, or Annie Hall (all of which I've seen)

At least we get to see Purple Rose of Cairo a few months from now

Add Blow Up just for the sound of the rustling leaves of the garden.

any stanley kubrick filmed in colour. notice how he uses the colour orange and uses long shots with no cuts.

kurosawa's rashomon--the first time the sun was filmed directly by a camera. done through leaves, of course, so as not to destroy the film and show some texture!

lemme think. citizen caine, city lights, i love north by northwest. i should throw a few more hitchckocs in there, but youtake your pick. metroplis. that will do for now.

enjoy the screenings.

Add Jaque Tati's Mon Oncle. The earliest example of play with contrast artifical colours.

Add Fritz Lang's M. I'm astounded by the way he used the sound in such an early tonfilm. Each doze of the sound is perfectly measured there.

Add Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grossstadt, you'll get the purest obsession with metal and industrial movements.

Fitzcaroldo Aguirre

both starring that madman of german cinema klaus kinski. both a visual treat.

wings of desire - wim wenders.

an updated "Hotdog - the Movie" would be good.

you only need: a camera a ski slope a wooden hut and 40 big pairs of tits.

HOTDOG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taboo # 7 wrote:

8 1/2: because I've never seen it, and would like to :p

DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to study it last year :barf:

Christopher Owens wrote:

Taboo # 7 wrote:

8 1/2: because I've never seen it, and would like to :p

DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to study it last year :barf:

i agree. i fell asleep in the middle.

The obvious choice is BASIC INSTINCT 2.

It threatens to challenge every conventional notion of cinema as an art form.

Ronald Kirsch wrote: Fitzcaroldo Aguirre

both starring that madman of german cinema klaus kinski. both a visual treat.

wings of desire - wim wenders.

Amen. Remind me to show up at film class that day.

Werner + Klaus =

I'm afraid early word on Wim's latest isn't too encouraging, though.

Trying to remember what we watched in film......Potemkin, of course, for the editing, 400 Blows and Jules et Jim....can't remember why, great films though, andRules Of The Game for the mise-en-scene

Also in the mix were Chinatown,Notorious and Rope from Hitchcock, Bicycle Thief,Solaris, Seventh Seal, and L'Aventurra, which was the only film I hated, fell asleep during that one.

Oh yeah, a couple of short classics from the early days as well,Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari and Un Chien Andalou. I can still recall the teacher saying "You're gonna want to watch this (Un Chien) over and over again." Luckily I figured what was coming before any one else did in the class.....and I can still hear the "eeeewwwwwww" in my mind.

[darkgreen]Green[/darkgreen] wrote: Oh yeah, a couple of short classics from the early days as well,Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari and Un Chien Andalou. I can still recall the teacher saying "You're gonna want to watch this (Un Chien) over and over again." Luckily I figured what was coming before any one else did in the class.....and I can still hear the "eeeewwwwwww" in my mind.

Yeah, I think whoever had that avatar of the eye-cutting scene can be credited for desensitizing me to that (just in case it ever comes up in the film class I'm taking now)

the only film class i took in college was 'the holocaust in film.' a real super happy class. but we did watch all 8 hours of shoah, which is quite a feat. unfortunately, i really enjoyed schindler's list before the class, but we deconstructed it to the point where it's hard for me to enjoy it anymore without seeing the flaws.

although i would recommend the white rose, a german film about a small group of german students who tried (and failed) to build an anti-hitler movement.

edit: i wanted to take 'the history of B movies' and 'the history of television,' but the instructor who taught those courses took a sabbatical my senior year. bastard. although i do know a film student who wrote his BA dissertation on 'attack of the killer tomatoes.'

OK, this is a pretty goddamn good example of editing and sound; even better than that "Shining" trailer:

Brokeback to the Future

personal favourites that haven't been mentioned so far - in no particular order

Everything by Chris Marker especially 'La Jetee' the greatest film of all time Stan Brakhage (where to start?) Peter Kubelka's 'Metric Films' If.... Lindsay Anderson (+ O! Lucky Man) Godfather 1 & 2 All Tarkovsky with the possible exception of 'Nostalgia' 'Russian Ark' 'Ivan the Terrible' 1 + 2 Das Boot, the director's cut Kieslowski's 'Dekalog' Bonnie and Clyde, Arthur Penn Thieves Like Us, Robert Altman (is there a connection?) Vertigo, etc. etc.

The last "fairly recent" film that I saw that was any good was 'Downfall', but I don't get out so much these days.

'Eternal Sunshine...', for example, I thought was cack

i forgot 'ashes and diamonds,' 'rome: open city,' 'closely watched trains,' 'the bicycle thief,' and 'the shop on main street.' for a seminar i took in college on reconciliation and retribution in post-WWII europe i wrote a paper on european cinema in the post-war years and these were the best films i watched.

Thank you AW for mentioning Rome: Open City.....that was another one we viewed that I liked.

Gnu Odor wrote: OK, this is a pretty goddamn good example of editing and sound; even better than that "Shining" trailer:

Brokeback to the Future

Excellent editing! Well worth alook in on the FILM Study. How about Apocalypse Now (Redux?), Call Northside 777,12 Angry Men and if you've got plenty of refreshments for a long night..The Last Emperor?

And to finish off the night,and completely freak everyone out,how about an nice experiment in sheer terror,THE DESCENT? I've just been watching it,and although it follows the same formula of most horror films,the old "..and then there were three..",why it works so better,is that,like BLAIR WITCH,it uses a location which most people would find unnerving in the first place.Good use of locations,minimal lighting,good use of sound for those audiences suffering from constipation.Good performances,claustrophbia,scary creatures and an unexpected ending..

Yours Sincerely Petrified from Manchester

Or if it was a PRIVATE film course,you could always watch a few ONE-HANDED "Frankie Vaughans" :bag: