picking up from the comments in the the passenger discussion.
many years ago most of us were involved in an email exchange listing our top 10 most over and under-rated movies. i admit to having placed some films on my overrated list just to piss specific people off (vertigo for michael, for example). let’s play again, but this time let’s restrict it to films (and directors) revered by film school snobs and serious critics as masterpieces. i like to say that i once lost a job at least partly because i made fun of bergman’s persona at a lunch. i’ll nominate that again and also the seventh seal (which was on my email list as well–let me trot out yet again my oh-so clever dismissal of it then: “mournful knight plays chess with death, my ass!”). much of fellini surely, la dolce vita (la grande bora) certainly.
then there are others, by godard for example, that i can appreciate as doing something new at the time, but which don’t seem to me to hold up outside of their immediate context. i can understand why i’m supposed to love a band apart but i don’t love it.
okay, let’s have at it!
For those who know me, the obvious swipes:
The Wild Bunch.
Everything Godard did after the first half of Weekend.
Less obvious or less-frequently-maligned:
Maya Deren’s stuff.
Eric Rohmer’s stuff. A special angry shout at Claire’s Knee.
Blade Runner.
Fred Astaire. Even before he played Santa Claus, I found him dull.
2001: A Space Odyssey jumps to mind immediately. I like Persona, get pulled into it everytime I see it. Jules et Jim has never made any sense to me. I’ve never been able to get through Last Tango in Paris. Casablanca does nothing for me. It’s a Wonderful Life makes me queasy. I went through a Hitchcock phase in my early twenties (read a couple of bios and watched every film in order) and only Psycho and Strangers on a Train stick with me; the others . . . blah. I haven’t watched in a long while so I might have been a bit too immature, but I’m curious if Les Enfants du Paradis wouldn’t end up on this list. I’ve never seen a Rossellini film and don’t imagine I will. I think Mean Streets is overrated. I think Touch of Evil is overrated and overbaked. Others: La Jetee, The Wild Bunch, Daughters of the Dust, Decalogue.
I would second 2001 and probably add A Clockwork Orange to the list. I would also agree that much Bergman is overrated. I once had nasty exchange with a film critic over Persona which I will bore you with if we meet for drinks sometime.
Mean Streets and The Wild Bunch are among the greatest of American movies. and most of Hitchcock doesn’t stick with you?? oy! Touch of Evil is a great movie BECAUSE it’s overheated and overbaked. The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom, as somebody said. Last Tango is not to everyone’s taste, but I think you have to concede that it includes one of the best performances on film. Rossellini’s Germany Year Zero is an unforgettable movie about the aftermath of WW2–well worth making the effort to see it. Vertigo, Touch of Evil, The Wild Bunch, Mean Streets–I mean you guys do like movies, right??
re rosselini: rome, open city is also very good.
as much as i love tarkovsky, i’m not sure sacrifice deserves its reputation. pather panchali is not overrated in absolute terms but it unfairly overshadows not only ray’s own great middle period films (not to mention the rest of serious indian cinema) but also aparajito, the second film in the trilogy, which i think is better.
I haven’t we done this already? Not just elsewhere but here, on this blog?
John, this is a remake of earlier posts, with more action. Why just a moment ago I shot a child square in the face. Now that’s f-in’ blogging, my friend!
Speaking of Persona . . . maybe its the end of the semester blues, but I really need to take a vacation from myself. None of the usual remedies appear to be working (legal or otherwise). Any ideas?
Cathy always cheers me up.
And if she doesn’t work, punch a kid dressed like a clown.*
*No children have been harmed in the making of any comments by Reynolds today.
Your link does not work but I was looking forward to an injured toddler in a clown suit.
Jeff,
the old standby alcohol isn’t working? I’d suggest maybe overdosing on Italian zombie movies or watching 24 hours of laurel and Hardy. in fact, why not enter a dance contest..waltz til you hallucinate. it always works for me.
jeff, take a trip to miami. it’s still not too hot. we can put you up for exactly three days: how’s that? (NB: offer valid for jeff only, cuz he’s got the blues).
john, we did have this selfsame conversation on this selfsame blog. since arnab likes lists and competition, he cannot let it go. so i’ll repeat: Citizen Cane.
jeff, Decalogue?!?
Gio, you’re sweet and generous. Let me get through graduation and we’ll talk but the invitation alone lifts my spirits (Mike did something similar on Monday but it didn’t involve Miami).
Eventually I will get all the way through The Decalogue, but for now I’m still curious what the buzz is all about.
we did? where? and where can i find citizen cane?
oh, i keep on doing it! kane, kane!
michael is an incredibly generous man. that’s why i like him so much.
*this* roman catholic finds the decalogue a very moving portrayal of christianity, done with great subtlety and and deep understanding of the concepts, to name two, or forgiveness and redemption.
did i remember to thank all the people on this blog who signed the petition to president shalala? thank you, from the very bottom of my heart.