Job Discussion Forums

[benno]

good post moonraven,
but as Im a very curious guy who loves movies, what movies do make your top ten

[dmb]

moonraven, were you a film critic for more than 10 days?

[moonraven]

Yeah--for about 20 years, in fact.

My Top Ten: (The ones I LIKE best, and I believe they can be defended as top drawer film-making)

1. Ugetsu (Mizoguchi)
2. Los Olvidados (Bu�uel--shot here in Mexico City in 1950--when the Z�calo had TREES!)
3. L'Avventura (Antonioni)
4. Last Tango in Paris (Bertolucci)
5. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Paradzhanov)
6. The Passenger (Antonioni)
7. Rules of the Game (Renoir)
8. The Searchers (Ford)
9. The Seventh Seal (Bergmann)
10. One-Eyed Jacks (Brando's only directorial effort)

I am mulling over the possibility of bumping Brando to 11 and putting the Antonioni film from 1996, Beyond the Clouds, with Malkovitch, in 10th place--but Wim Wenders helped out a lot on that film, so I am not sure that I should.

Back to at least the topic of documentaries--the best one to come out since Errol Morris' Gates of Heaven (1978--about pet cemeteries) is The Revolution Will Not Be televised (2003), made by the Irish Film Board about the April 2002 coup in Venezuela which displaced Hugo Ch�vez from the presidency for 47 hours. I have given presentations of it in the States as well as here in Mexico and in Ecuador. It's one not to be missed--whether or not you are a chavista--as it shows just how much power the mass media has--and not just in Venezuela.

[distiller]

I always wonder why people feel the need to quantify art forms, I guess I approach film from more of a film school standpoint rather than pop critic. It's a bit pointless doing rankings but I'm glad that a fellow film buff resides here and sees the value in Moore's work. Personally, I've enjoyed being exposed to more Asian films in the last few years. Some of my favorites would have to be Poppoya, Tokyo Drifter, Hanabi, In This World, Raise the Red Lantern, Incense (very, very limited release), The King of Masks, Blind Shaft, and In the Mood for Love to name a few. I won't rank them but they are all wonderful in very differnt ways which is not to say that films from other areas are not as great, jsut that I've been watching alot of these types of film. In fact I just saw "2046" the new Wong Kar Wai film that is kind of a sequel but not really to "In the Mood for Love". As usual with Wong Kar Wai it drifted beautifully and provoked a lot of thinking afterwards. Check it out if you can.

[anthyp]

Moonraven -- isn't there anything you haven't done? Just give us the 2 or 3 occupations you haven't dabbled in (yet), I'm sure that will be quicker than listing those in which you have.

Interesting response, but I was only offering a critique of the movie. Beyond puffing yourself up even further (which you never seem to miss an opportunity to do), you didn't actually say much about the movie. Or were you only trying to impress us with your somewhat underwhelming assessment of global cinema?

If you were a "film critic" for 20 years (and who isn't, at least in the amateur sense?), you ought to know how to do a film critique.

Citizen Kane has nothing to do with F11. I merely mentioned it as an example (admittedly hard to match) of how one can do biographical movies (I mean movies about a person in case you can't follow) that are not lazy, poorly - stated proganda.

Unless you don't consider F11 to be actually about George Bush? Is it more on the dangerous climate of over - zealous fascism (in the guise of patriotism) that has recently enveloped the States? I suppose that's a fair response. Hey, I am writing your critique for you here, since you forgot to do it.

As I clearly said before, I don't even consider F11 a movie -- nor does it make interesting viewing as a documentary, for someone who isn't 90% sympathetic to what they're hearing. So I agree, comparisons between it and Citizen Kane are absurd. After all, the latter is a timeless classic, the former is garbage. I'm glad to see we agree on something.

So what is so great about F11, then? I found it boring and over - stated, OK? But please, tell us what you thought about the movie, and not my criticism of it, your own formidable experience in the film industry, or any other irrational thought that happens to flitter into your (one - track) mind.

[Stephen Jones]

The main objection to Fahrenheit 911 is not about it's cinematographic qualities but that it contains a large amount of innuendo and even downright lies; in this respect Moore is no different from any of the right-wing talk show hosts he affects to despise.

[Stephen Jones]

Dear Moonraven

We agree with two out of the ten. "Los Olivdados" is also my favourtie Bu�uel. and I also agree about the Renoir. I would actually include a second Renoir, "The River" set in India and based on Umar Godeens hyponymous novel; the cameran was Renoir's brother (who continued to make films into the late seventies - the last I remember was Robbins "The Pirate") and he had the same belief his father had that pigment improved nature for he insisted on painting all the grass green for the exterior shots.

If you liked the "Seventh Seal", you could check out the "Zaragoza Manuscript", which is in the same baroque style (the book is also avaliable). And if you have access to a good filmotech in Mexico City take a look at my favourite film of all time "L'important, c'est aimer" with Romi Schneider and Klaus Kinski. It was produced by a Pole, whose name I could never pronounce and now escapes me, and is based on the novel "La Nuit Americaine" by Christopher Frank; the film is such a free adaption of the book that it is worth seeing the film and reading the book (Frank's second novel "La r�ve du m�ne singe" was made into a film in English, set in Paris, by a Spanish director, and both the book and the film again are well worth seeing).

Incidentally, those who do not know Bu�uel would do well to see his version of Robinson Crusoe, which he subtly turns into a wickedly enjoyable anti-colonial satire.

[Seth]

[moonraven]

To the person who splattered the page with insults and then has the nerve to demand that I write a review of F911: How much are you willing to pay for it?

As for my PERSONAL Top 10--I presented it as a response to the poster who asked for it. I have zero interest in arguing about it--on this forum or elsewhere.

The profession I have not "dabbled" in (I do not "dabble" in anything that I do) is that of Hired Killer. That situation could change....

[leeroy]

Moonraven,

Many see those who only ever list their own accomplishments, triumphs and achievements as either dishonest or arrogant. It is common social form to, now and then, ask questions of others or concede that there are some areas of knowledge that you are relatively unfamiliar with. This needn't be "losing face", or "leaving yourself open to criticism" like some may fear - rather it is what makes us human and agreeable to others.

[stillnosheep]

'fraid you missed the point there Leeroy. Moonraven was asked a direct question (Have you ever been a ....?) and replied to it (Yes...).

Sounds fair enough to me.

[Stephen Jones]

[moonraven]

That's precisely what I meant--but more in the sense of providing the "tiro de gracia", as we say here in Mexico. That bullet at the base of the skull is usually applied AFTER the victim has crossed the bar between life and death. Some folks consider it a humane gesture.

A note to distiller--Glad you mentioned Asian films. In the spirit of this thread, here's a bizarre episode for you: In 1989 right after the massacre in Tienamen Square, I took my daughter to France for amonth as a graduation present, where the French tv featured the kangaroo court trials and the whole nasty aftermath pretty much 24/7. On our return to the States, where there had been almost zero coverage due to China's "most favored nation" status, I wrote a piece for the paper "decoding" a film by--I think it may have been Zhang Yimou--and I received a call from a guy who wanted to know if I was still working for the "Agency". I was quite mystified until he indicated that I must have been or must be still working for the CIA, as I had inside information about China that no one in the US who wasn't with the CIA could have been privy to. He didn't believe me when I said we had seen the whole enchilada on French tv, kept insisting he was retired from the "Agency" and was interested in getting together with me to "chew the fat" about where we had been in China, etc.

The guy may or may not have been CIA--who knows? It goes, however, directly to the point that Moore and other folks have made that the media in the US is almost totally controlled by the politics of the government. In 1989 Bush Padre was pulling the strings....

[Seth]

[Atlas]

Die Hard. Now that was a good movie.

Welcome to the party pal!

Ah, the benefits of a classical education.