shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,874
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Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2014 10:54:57 GMT -5
Whenever I'm not exploring a specific theme in my film viewing, I generally use the Top 1000 Greatest Films list put out by theyshootpictures.com. Of all the Top Greatest films lists I've ever seen, this one has aligned best with my own personal tastes ( though I still wince at the idea of Citizen Kane being the greatest film ever made). I've not seen it. It's never even crossed my mind as something to even watch in complete boredom (not saying it's a boring movie, since I haven't seen it) but can there be A greatest movie of all time? I could never commit to there being ONE greatest thing in any catergory. There's too many variables for something to remain the greatest of anything. Inevitably, it's going to be subjective, but I just can't see how anyone would think Citizen Kane is the best there is to offer. It's got great cinematography, a compelling story, strong symbolism, a compelling plot twist, and a great performance from Welles, but I I don't think it's the best at any of these. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Nov 6, 2014 11:22:07 GMT -5
I've not seen it. It's never even crossed my mind as something to even watch in complete boredom (not saying it's a boring movie, since I haven't seen it) but can there be A greatest movie of all time? I could never commit to there being ONE greatest thing in any catergory. There's too many variables for something to remain the greatest of anything. Inevitably, it's going to be subjective, but I just can't see how anyone would think Citizen Kane is the best there is to offer. It's got great cinematography, a compelling story, strong symbolism, a compelling plot twist, and a great performance from Welles, but I I don't think it's the best at any of these. I find it very easy to understand that in the 60s and 70s Citizen Kane would have been considered as the best Hollywood movie. It had a spirit of rebelliousness against the system, both in the movie and in actuality behind the scenes. It's rising popularity co-incided with the swelling appreciation of film noir technique. Once a peice of art is considered "the best" over a long period of time, it becomes entrenched in that position and its difficult for many to agree unanimously on an alternate. You can see the same phenomena occur in music (The Beatles or Sgt Pepper being hailed as the best for decades) even in comics (Watchmen). |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,874
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2014 11:26:53 GMT -5
Inevitably, it's going to be subjective, but I just can't see how anyone would think Citizen Kane is the best there is to offer. It's got great cinematography, a compelling story, strong symbolism, a compelling plot twist, and a great performance from Welles, but I I don't think it's the best at any of these. I find it very easy to understand that in the 60s and 70s Citizen Kane would have been considered as the best Hollywood movie. It had a spirit of rebelliousness against the system, both in the movie and in actuality behind the scenes. It's rising popularity co-incided with the swelling appreciation of film noir technique. Once a peice of art is considered "the best" over a long period of time, it becomes entrenched in that position and its difficult for many to agree unanimously on an alternate. You can see the same phenomena occur in music (The Beatles or Sgt Pepper being hailed as the best for decades) even in comics (Watchmen). I thoroughly concur with all of this. I also think there's a nationalistic conceit about worshiping Citizen Kane. There were far better films out there, but not red blooded American ones. Charlie Chaplin's City Lights and Modern Times aside (tremendously controversial as Chaplin was labelled a Communist and had been deported), Citizen Kane was probably the greatest American film made by an American director exploring the American dream by the 1960s and 1970s. But there were so many other amazing films either made in other countries or in the US by foreign directors to choose from. It just strikes me as ignorant to celebrate Citizen Kane as having been the absolute best. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Nov 6, 2014 18:36:38 GMT -5
Is Citizen Kane about Bob or Gil?
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Nov 6, 2014 20:01:25 GMT -5
Is Citizen Kane about Bob or Gil? It was to star Bob Kane but Bill Finger did all the actual acting and once again got no credit  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 7, 2014 17:59:21 GMT -5
"The Bad Seed" is on right now on TCM. I love this movie so much.
Oh, Rhoda, Rhoda, Rhoda. She really wanted that penmanship medal.
And don't you love the hired man, Leroy, and his bizarre feud with Rhoda Penmark?
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 7, 2014 18:46:07 GMT -5
Now we're at the scene where Leroy is taunting Rhoda and accusing her of killing the little boy.
Oh, Leroy. And his stick-bloodhounds. You are taunting the wrong little girl, Leroy.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 9, 2014 7:15:24 GMT -5
Red planet Mars from 1952, with a young Peter Graves.
It's a roller coaster of a movie; at first it's straight and very interesting hard SF movie with social and political overtones, then it seems to lose its way as it becomes religious apology, then it gets great again with a beautiful and unexpected twist and what promises to be a poignant ending... only to waste it all with a scene lasting only a few seconds. A scene that (a) makes no sense in the real world, and that (b) makes no sense in the movie. I suspect that it was added so as not to offend the fifties' sensibility.
A very good effort marred by one scene. How unfortunate.
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 10, 2014 22:57:25 GMT -5
Here's a head's up for everybody that has TCM. He Who Gets Slapped is showing in a few hours. It's must-see. Especially for Lon Chaney fans. It has one of the most heart-breaking scenes I've ever seen in a movie. Just incredibly well-done.
I really like silent films, but even the ones I like frequently require a little struggle to watch in parts. But not He Who Gets Slapped. I forget I'm watching a silent film when I watch it. It's very much overshadowed by Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame. But I think it should be as well-known as any of Chaney's movies.
A highlight of the silent era.
Norma Shearer is in it. She's great! |
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 11, 2014 3:51:39 GMT -5
Going to cross another film from the National Film Registry off my list tonight. I think I'm going to go with Blade Runner. We'll see. Which of the half-dozen versions will it be? |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Nov 11, 2014 4:21:35 GMT -5
What I can say about Citizen Kane is that it's ONE of the greatest films I've ever seen. It blew me away when I first watched it in my early 20's. I think what's most impressive to me about it is Orson Welles himself. How many artists are talented enough to act that brilliantly, direct that brilliantly and write that brilliantly? He certainly had help in all three phases, but he was the unquestionable driving force. At least in the "mainstream," I highly doubt that there is anyone capable of doing all three (few are truly brilliant at one) with such high levels of artistic quality.
I think most people with an understanding of thee limits of their own knowledge would only go so far as to state that Citizen Kane is the greatest American film. I have next to no knowledge about silent films, Asian films, etc., and would never state that it, or any other movie, was the greatest films of all-time. Obviously every culture will have a strong bias towards itself.
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 14, 2014 20:56:24 GMT -5
"Wild Strawberries" is on TCM right now. I'm not really watching it that close, I'm writing a letter and a few other little tasks, but I look up and watch it for a few minutes here and there. It's one of my favorite Ingmar Bergman films but I haven't seen it for a very long time.
I had forgotten how stunningly beautiful Ingrid Thulin is. Wow.
I had also forgotten that Bibi Andersson is frequently hilarious.
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Post by Jesse on Nov 16, 2014 16:27:59 GMT -5
TCM is showing Fellini's Nights of Cabiria and I Vitelloni tonight.
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 16, 2014 16:41:14 GMT -5
TCM is showing Fellini's Nights of Cabiria and I Vitelloni tonight. I highly recommend Nights of Cabiria.
I've never seen I Vitelloni, but I am planning on taping it and watching it tomorrow. I hear it's very good.
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Post by Jesse on Nov 16, 2014 16:47:41 GMT -5
I highly recommend Nights of Cabiria. Yeah it's excellent. I think Giulietta Masina is highly underrated. You get a real feel for her range as an actress watching both Cabiria and La Strada. |
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