Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2023)

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AfterHours



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Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

  • #731
  • Posted: 01/08/2022 02:19
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TiggaTrigga wrote:
Oh dang, did you find Black Swan interesting (if so, why)? I literally watched it for the first time the other day.


It's an excellent film. No change in rating upon this revisit (still 7.1/10). It has a bit more exposition and builds less momentum than Aronofsky's 3 better films (Requiem for a Dream: 7.2/10; Pi: 7.4/10 possibly higher; Mother!: 7.7/10 possibly higher) and a bit less ambiguity than Pi and Mother!, which are also a bit more vigorous and more creative, including more explosive ripple effects of themes/emotions and more daring cinema too (and more ascendant, metaphysical; Black Swan starts approaching such nearer its end but those films are more so throughout which is the simplest explanation of the rating difference). Black Swan basically combines a mother/daughter relationship similar to a film like De Palma's Carrie (but not so theatrical and not so blackly comic) with strong psycho-sexual themes (as in Polanski, De Palma) and the unclear delineation of loss of reality of films like Polanski's Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant. And of course the obsession of art over life found in the ballet film, Powell's Red Shoes. It is shot/composed most similarly to Polanski or perhaps Von Trier or even a more controlled Cassavetes, and of course the way he edits is often influenced most by Scorsese (less this film than his prior ones). However even though wholly competent and effective as itself, it doesn't have the profound subtle meaning/allusion, the meticulous shot placement, movement and composition of Polanski's best cinema that, if he found more of his own language in this wise, could elevate to higher ratings.
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AfterHours



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  • #732
  • Posted: 01/11/2022 00:49
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For my criteria page, go here: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/vi...hp?t=15503

To visit my Main lists, go here:
Greatest Classical Music Works: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15098
Greatest Albums (Rock & Jazz): https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15276
Greatest Films: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15558
Greatest Paintings: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15560
Greatest Works of Art: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=16117

Bold = Newly added
Bold + Italics = Was already listed but recently upgraded/downgraded

Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week(s): 1-10-2022 - 1-23-2022
The Godfather, Part 2 - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
It's a Wonderful Life - Frank Capra (1946)
Symphony No. 4 in E Minor - Johannes Brahms (1884)
Salvador - Oliver Stone (1986)
The Stranger - Orson Welles (1946)
Late Spring – Yasujiro Ozu (1949)
Network - Sidney Lumet (1976)
Once Were Warriors - Lee Tamahori (1994)
The Piano - Jane Campion (1993)
Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock (1946)
Paths of Glory - Stanley Kubrick (1957) (7.2)
Wild River - Elia Kazan (1960)
Saturday Night Fever - John Badham (1977)
Predator - John McTiernan (1987)
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die - Country Joe and The Fish (1967)
High Noon - Fred Zinnemann (1952) (7.2 maybe 7.3+)
The Hustler - Robert Rossen (1961)
On the Waterfront - Elia Kazan (1954)
Following - Christopher Nolan (1998) (7.1)
The King of Comedy - Martin Scorsese (1983)
Die Hard - John McTiernan (1988)
Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane (1969)
Sackcloth 'n' Ashes - 16 Horsepower (1996)
The Big Lebowski - Joel & Ethan Coen (1998)
Last Tango in Paris - Bernardo Bertolucci (1972)
A Streetcar Named Desire - Elia Kazan (1951) (7.1)
Falling Down - Joel Schumacher (1993)
Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty (1979)
Niagara - Henry Hathaway (1953)
Night and the City - Jules Dassin (1950)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Werner Herzog (1972)
All About Eve - Joseph Mankiewicz (1950)
Picaresque - Decemberists (2005)
Purple Rain - Prince (1984)
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac (1976)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Martin Scorsese (1974)

Top 10+ Albums/Movies for the Week(s) - Rated 2.8/10 to 6.7/10
Monster - Patty Jenkins (2003)
I Married a Witch - Rene Clair (1942)
Compulsion - Richard Fleischer (1959)
Time Code - Mike Figgis (2000)
Johnny Mnemonic - Robert Longo (1995)


Note: Ratings updates in RED are not based on a revisit of the work DURING the listed week(s) or very recently, but usually a result of ratings tweaks being made in comparison to others or it may be part of a "domino effect" that can follow from a change in the ratings scale itself.

FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED:
The Dance of Reality - Alejandro Jodorowsky (2013) 8.0/10 to 7.9/10
The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986) 7.8/10 to 7.9/10
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1974) 7.9/10 to 7.8/10
On the Waterfront - Elia Kazan (1954) 8.0/10 to 7.7/10
The Tenant - Roman Polanski (1976) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
A Woman Under the Influence - John Cassavetes (1974) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Hero - Zhang Yimou (2002) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Head On - Fatih Akin (2004) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Peeping Tom - Michael Powell (1960) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Late Spring – Yasujiro Ozu (1949) 7.4/10 to 7.6/10
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948) 7.5/10 to 7.6/10
Johnny Guitar - Nicholas Ray (1954) 7.6/10 to 7.5/10
The Stranger - Orson Welles (1946) 7.3/10 to 7.5/10
Network - Sidney Lumet (1976) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman (1971) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
Don't Look Now - Nicolas Roeg (1973) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
Baby Driver - Edgar Wright (2017) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
Alien - Ridley Scott (1979) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
Once Were Warriors - Lee Tamahori (1994) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
The Piano - Jane Campion (1993) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10
Ugetsu - Kenji Mizoguchi (1953) 7.5/10 to 7.3/10
The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin (1940) 7.4/10 to 7.3/10
Last Tango in Paris - Bernardo Bertolucci (1972) 7.5/10 to 7.3/10
Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Werner Herzog (1972) 7.3/10 to 7.4/10; 7.4/10 to 7.3/10
Petulia - Richard Lester (1968) 7.3/10 to 7.2/10
The Man With A Movie Camera - Dziga Vertov (1928) 7.3/10 to 7.2/10
Shadows - John Cassavetes (1959) 7.3/10 to 7.2/10
The Big Lebowski - Joel & Ethan Coen (1998) 7.3/10 to 7.2/10
Miller's Crossing - Joel Coen (1990) 7.3/10 to 7.2/10
Ivan the Terrible, Part 1 - Sergei Eisenstein (1944) 7.3/10 to 7.1/10
Predator - John McTiernan (1987) 5.7/10 to 7.0/10
Die Hard - John McTeirnan (1988) 6.8/10 to 7.0/10
Saturday Night Fever - John Badham (1977) Not Rated to 7.0/10
All About Eve - Joseph Mankiewicz (1950) 7.5/10 to 7.0/10
Night and the City - Jules Dassin (1950) 7.2/10 to 7.0/10
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Martin Scorsese (1974) 7.1/10 to 6.9/10
Monster - Patty Jenkins (2003) Not Rated to 6.1/10

NEWLY ASSIMILATED FILMS - RATED:
Salvador - Oliver Stone (1986) 7.4/10 ... Closest comp is probably Klimov's Come and See. At times Salvador is perhaps even more impressive technically and in its immersion into such a spontaneous, arresting, shockingly realistic depiction of people and environment in a war-torn, devastated and ideologically/politically confused country. It only falls short of a masterpiece like Klimov's because it is somewhat less focused with some of its material superfluous (whereas Come and See achieves a greater development of emotion/theme due to its better consistency of focus, direction), and because the lead performance of Come and See -- while not especially superior as "acting" to Wood's impressive performance -- does accumulate a greater empathy with its horror and devastation. That said, Salvador is a pretty startling experience with several scenes that one is left wondering how they were filmed, and also questioning how much of it was completely real versus how much of it was staged for the film.
Wild River - Elia Kazan (1960) 7.2/10
Niagara - Henry Hathaway (1953) 6.9/10
I Married a Witch - Rene Clair (1942) 6.0/10 ... Clever, delightful, charming, with inventive effects and a constant change/disruption of plot through the relentless shenanigans of a witch and her father enacting a (semi-ambiguous) double helping of love and revenge... Just may be a bit too "breezy" relative to masterpieces of the genre. I don't mean it's entirely superficial -- there are merits to its shenanigans against politics and marriage/love and its comedy of errors/revisions -- but I'm not sure it really builds the substance and multiplication of thematic, symbolic meaning of artists like the peaks of Keaton, Chaplin (where their actions or dispositions often "double" as symbols, metaphors beyond mere shenanigans or ridiculous circumstance), or the more vital and vibrant screwball work of Edwards, Hawks, Milestone, Wilder... Still, very clever on its own, with a whimsical performance by the beautiful Lake and the other leads with fun visuals, and a pace that keeps things witty and interesting. I'm sure I'll revisit at some point as it's certainly possible there's more to it than meets the initial evaluation (as is often true with the great comedies or action films that are usually more multi-dimensional, more sub-textual, than first glance indicates). There is perhaps more to be assimilated, or observed more closely, in the constant ambiguity or "double" expression of love and revenge (both at the same time, or alternating) that the witches are unleashing on the politician throughout. This is the sort of thing that could improve the rating upon a revisit or two, assuming it accumulates more depth, perhaps nuance too, than it seemed on first viewing.
Compulsion - Richard Fleischer (1959) 6.0/10
Time Code - Mike Figgis (2000) 5.1/10 ... In my opinion this was more a novelty/curiosity than a truly engrossing work. It's indeed a valiant effort to try something new, and it was technically impressive that each quadrant was an unbroken shot and that the acting was in part improvised, but I just didn't find it especially effective as cinema. I can understand though, why someone like Scaruffi, would find it to be a much more significant work -- it just didn't work all that well for me beyond a casual immersion and interest in what it was doing. I'm also not sure how significant it was that, apparently, each quadrant of the film was supposed to be showing (symbolically, as its main POV) the same female from different points of her life, as I didn't find this to be expressed (or the narrative developed) in a particularly interesting way (beyond the novelty of the four simultaneous quadrants), even though it's an interesting idea that could probably be utilized to make more compelling cinema.
Johnny Mnemonic - Robert Longo (1995) 4.7/10 ... The most interesting aspect of the film are its visuals: low-budget artifice, noir-dystopia, post-apocalyptic sets and scenery, striking virtual reality scenes, referencing a combination of influences (besides the virtual reality) ranging from Gilliam's Brazil, to Mad Max, to Escape from New York. Its main ideas are fairly compelling (cyber-punk film about a pandemic that has swept humanity, while couriers smuggle computerized data inside their heads, risking death), yet in execution much of the film is mediocre or lacking, thus rendering most of it inconsequential, lacking in drama, tension, suspense, etc. The main issues with the film are several: the acting of the protagonist (Reeves) and the main Yakuza antagonist hunting him is terrible (which breaks the suspense and interest that the action may have otherwise had). Most of the supporting actors are terrible-to-mediocre. The female lead is okay. Lundgren (the psychotic "Jesus" figure) is the most compelling character and one of the better ideas of the film (alas, under-utilized), and Ice T is serviceable. One way to forgive the acting is in the context of the "over-acting" associated with comic book characters, so I suppose that might be a way around it -- but even then, it's a bit much; way too empty to matter. The shot composition ranges from poor to mediocre, or sometimes interesting when it has nothing to do to make mistakes (its set or establishing shots are generally fine). When the camera moves and composes scenes it sometimes employs (virtually) pointless dutch angles as if the cinematographer studied Orson Welles (and Gilliam) but doesn't realize the substance and purpose (the "why") of his shots. I suppose these might be to insinuate the mental disturbance of Reeves, a world on edge, falling apart, but there is too much incongruence between the shots and the generally poor acting, as well as the mixed direction of most everything else, for techniques like this to connect with much substance. Anyway, watching the film is basically like this brief review: a battle between its artistic confusions and failures, and an interesting premise from which much was lost, with some occasional, interspersed brilliance that isn't enough to wade through so much incompetence.

One only needs to watch a film like Minority Report to see a much better example of fairly similar ideas can be in execution and direction (manages to convey all its ideas successfully, even when immersed in oneirism) ... its acting, its thriller elements, its atmosphere, its visual style/cinematography, etc. Obviously a much bigger budget, and 7 more years of tech advance, but still... Or, Total Recall, for a more "comic-book" comparison, but also much better in execution, direction, tension, etc...

On the other hand, it appears that a good chunk of the result wasn't the fault of the director and featured much studio intervention (big surprise...) in an attempt to make it into a summer blockbuster ... And, apparently there is a Black and White version, which might be worth a shot at some point. Interview with the director here: https://www.screenslate.com/articles/jo...-interview


TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2022)
St. Peter's Basilica - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donato Bramante, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1626) [Architecture]
The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986)
Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (2010)
Cache - Michael Haneke (2005)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2004)
Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese (1990)
Schindler's List - Steven Spielberg (1993)
Strange Days - Kathryn Bigelow (1995)
Don't Look Up - Adam McKay (2021)
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804)
Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910)
City of Lost Children - Jean-Marie Jeunet (1995)
Hagia Sophia - Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles (537) [Architecture]
Leon: The Professional - Luc Besson (1994)
Funny Games - Michael Haneke (1997)
Pi - Darren Aronofsky (1998)
Wild Strawberries - Ingmar Bergman (1957)
Badlands - Terrence Malick (1973)
Baby Doll - Elia Kazan (1956)
Something Wild - Jonathan Demme (1986)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)
Duel - Steven Spielberg (1971)
The Crying Game - Neil Jordan (1992)
Countdown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan (1973)
The Deposition (The Florentine Pietà) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1555) [Sculpture]
A Face in the Crowd - Elia Kazan (1957)
Time - Kim Ki-duk (2006)
Black Swan - Darren Aronofsky (2010)
Great Sphinx of Giza - Unknown Artist; for Pharaoh Khephren (circa 2515 BC) [Sculpture]
Pontiac - Lyle Lovett (1987)
Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman (2008)
Cape Fear - Jack Lee Thompson (1962)
Electric Warrior - T-Rex (1971)
Porta Pia - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1565) [Architecture]
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (1973)
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Best Films
Best Paintings


Last edited by AfterHours on 01/25/2022 05:08; edited 44 times in total
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  • #733
  • Posted: 01/13/2022 02:45
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Best Visuals (Film History)

Working on putting this together for the time being... (very incomplete, in-progress ... RECOMMENDATIONS WELCOME...)

Note that this is NOT a list about "Best Visual Effects". It is just film visuals in general. Furthermore, the selections are not entirely dependent on only how beautiful or spectacular (etc) "what" is being shot is, but also can include the meaning or emotion or significance conveyed through the cinematography. Simply put, there is "what" is being shot and "how" it is being shot. Usually the higher selections combine both to a more marked degree than the lower selections. An example of a film that has spectacular visuals but doesn't have particularly great cinematography (serviceable cinematography, not great) could be Lucas' original Star Wars (whereas Empire Strikes Back improves the cinematography). So while there is no doubt that Star Wars should be listed regardless, it just won't be as high as, say, Blade Runner, which is stunning in both regards. Almost reversely, you can have a director like Tarkovsky, who was so astounding as a visual artist via his cinematographers, that he could shoot very little (in terms of spectacle) and yet make it utterly mesmerizing and profound. Stalker perhaps represents a near ultimate in this regard (such minimal means, yet absolutely stunning visually). I would definitely say that great cinematography alone tends to rank above sheer spectacle (especially if said spectacle is particularly empty, like say, a Marvel film). But a combination of both (like 2001, Brazil, two heights of imaginative cinema) tends to rank the highest or among the highest.

Fundamentally, the criteria remains the same (basically) as my general criteria. So the selections are ultimately about (A) How creative is the visual expression (including how unique, singular, imaginative, visionary, etc); (B) How emotionally/conceptually engaged, profound, impinging, compelling (etc) is the visual expression (including how substantially is the visual expression contributing to the overall emotional/conceptual conveyance of the film).

One more note: A film that is both black and white and color will be categorized onto the list ("Color" or "Black and White") that best applies from the majority of its running time (ex: Wizard of Oz or Stalker would be "Color" even though both have black and white scenes). And, even though these would be categorized as Color, the selection still represents ALL of the visuals for the film (so both of those film's black and white scenes would be considered in their ranking too, even though categorized as "Color", and this would also be the case if vice versa). I may eventually merge both the Color and Black and White lists, so this would no longer matter, but I'm not sure at this time. They are often such different cinematic visual arts that it seems like they should remain separate, even though some films cross into both.

Best Visuals (Color)
2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968)
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985)
Blade Runner - Ridley Scott (1982)
Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1974)
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - Peter Greenaway (1989)
Medea - Lars Von Trier (1988)
Days of Heaven - Terrence Malick (1978)
Antichrist - Lars Von Trier (2009)
City of Lost Children - Jean-Marie Jeunet (1995)
Play Time - Jacques Tati (1967)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders - Jaromil Jires (1970)
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986)
Enter The Void - Gaspar Noe (2009)
Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford Coppola (1979)
Once Upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone (1968)
A Zed & Two Noughts - Peter Greenaway (1985)
Underground - Emir Kusturica (1995)
Solaris - Andrei Tarkovsky (1972)
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976)
Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone (1994)
Delicatessen - Jean-Marie Jeunet (1991)
Amelie - Jean-Marie Jeunet (2001)
In the Mood For Love - Wong Kar-Wai (2000)
Blow Out - Brian De Palma (1981)
Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
Hero - Zhang Yimou (2002)
The Tree of Life - Terrence Malick (2011)
Alien - Ridley Scott (1979)
Ran - Akira Kurosawa (1985)
A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick (1974)
Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman (1973)
The Godfather, Part 2 - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
The Piano - Jane Campion (1993)
The Witch - Robert Eggars (2015)
Walkabout - Nicolas Roeg (1971)
The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick (1998)
Strange Days - Kathryn Bigelow (1995)
Seven - David Fincher (1995)
Dressed to Kill - Brian De Palma (1980)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2004)
Mother! - Darren Aronofsky (2017)
Come and See - Elim Klimov (1985)
Salvador - Oliver Stone (1986)
Don't Look Now - Nicolas Roeg (1973)
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner (1980)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - George Lucas (1977)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)
Marnie - Alfred Hitchcock (1964)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Werner Herzog (1972)
Lost Highway - David Lynch (1997)
Melancholia - Lars Von Trier (2011)
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
Carrie - Brian De Palma (1976)
Scarface - Brian De Palma (1983)
Belly of an Architect - Peter Greenaway (1987)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World - Edgar Wright (2010)
Minority Report - Steven Spielberg (2002)
The Shining - Stanley Kubrick (1980)
Fight Club - David Fincher (1999)
Niagara - Henry Hathaway (1953)
Predator - John McTiernan (1987)

Again, many to add...

POSSIBLY / RANKING UNDECIDED
Shane - George Stevens (1953)
The Searchers - John Ford (1955)
North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
Blow Up - Michelangelo Antonioni (1966)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors - Sergei Parajanov (1968)
Rosemary's Baby - Roman Polanski (1968)
Zardoz - John Boorman (1972)
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Badlands - Terrence Malick (1973)
Holy Mountain - Alejandro Jodorowsky (1973)
Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? - Bae Yong-kyun (1989)
Three Colors: Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994)
Casino - Martin Scorsese (1995)
Conspirators of Pleasure - Jan Svankmajer (1996)
The Dance of Reality - Alejandro Jodorowsky (2013)
Miyazaki / Anime

Best Visuals (Black and White)
Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927)
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais (1961)
Europa - Lars Von Trier (1991)
Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000)
The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928)
Marketa Lazarova - Frantisek Vlacil (1967)
The Night of the Hunter - Charles Laughton (1955)
The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949)
Eraserhead - David Lynch (1977)
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994)
L’Avventura – Michelangelo Antonioni (1960)
Woman in the Dunes - Hiroshi Teshigahara (1964)
Sansho the Bailiff - Kenji Mizoguchi (1954)
8 ½ - Federico Fellini (1963)
Andrei Rublev - Andrei Tarkovsky (1966)
Schindler's List - Steven Spielberg (1993)
Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock (1946)
Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980)
Ivan's Childhood - Andrei Tarkovsky (1962)

Again, many to add...

POSSIBLY / RANKING UNDECIDED:
The Lady from Shanghai - Orson Welles (1948)
Ordet - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1955)
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? - Robert Aldrich (1962)
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Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings


Last edited by AfterHours on 01/15/2022 23:55; edited 6 times in total
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TiggaTrigga





  • #734
  • Posted: 01/13/2022 23:32
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I think The Shining has AMAZING visuals.
Also Akira and probably any Miyazaki film of your choice.

I'd put L'avventura as a contender for black and white.
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  • #735
  • Posted: 01/14/2022 00:36
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TiggaTrigga wrote:
I think The Shining has AMAZING visuals.
Also Akira and probably any Miyazaki film of your choice.

I'd put L'avventura as a contender for black and white.


Thank you - L'Avventura is a slam dunk and I just added it. Revolutionary for cinematography as a subtle, profound visual art.

The Shining is a possibility, though for me it would likely be at the lower end of the current selections (maybe I'll revise that after a revisit). Personally, while great, I don't consider it close -- talking visually here -- to (especially) Kubrick's 2001, or (with lesser differential between) Clockwork Orange, both much more creative as cinematic visual art even though (again) Shining is no slouch. Currently, I am thinking with Predator as the lowest qualified selection, or at least roughly so (though still great). So there is pretty big gap between it and the top and there will be many selections in between but probably not many below. The Shining is one that I would consider around there or maybe just above (but again, I need to revisit, and by that I don't mean that it isn't superb visually -- just that the list is probably going to be fairly strict).

Akira, Miyazaki and Anime in general needs more consideration, though peak examples are surely going to make it. Probably after some revisits and then further viewing of those I'm not familiar with so a more proper comparison can be made.
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homelessking





  • #736
  • Posted: 01/15/2022 15:15
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Thief of Fire or We Are Time? :^)
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  • #737
  • Posted: 01/15/2022 19:53
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homelessking wrote:
Thief of Fire or We Are Time? :^)


Close call but probably Thief of Fire as it is ultimately more original (compositionally), even if We Are Time is the central emotional climax of the album.

But it's very close and I would rate them similarly, so on any given listen it could go either way.
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  • #738
  • Posted: 01/16/2022 00:28
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Best Film Editing/Composition/Structure

RECOMMENDATIONS WELCOME

(Also still actively working on "Best Acting" and "Best Visuals, so feel free with those too...)

"Editing" can lead one to focus ones attention primarily on "removal of superfluous content, or exhibiting a lack of superfluous content". "Composition" can lead one to focus ones attention primarily on "organizing content into a coherent whole". "Structure" can lead one to focus ones attention on the "architecture" of a work, particularly when uniquely formatted (especially coherent or not), where narrative or form is split, variegated, deconstructed, reversed, chaotic, etc.

So by using all three in the title (each of which could also mean the other or all combined) I am really trying to focus attention on any or all of these facets and not remain too pigeon-holed on what a "well edited" film should be, but to also think outside that box to more unique, creative, revolutionary applications of cinematic composition and structure too.

Ex: If you are familiar enough with a film like Citizen Kane it doesn't take long to recognize it as a masterpiece in all regards. It is among the most flawlessly edited films ever (is there a single superfluous scene or even shot?). It is also immaculately composed, each shot and scene leading to a profound insight or conveyed theme in a virtually ideal sequence and organization. Structurally, it is among the most revolutionary and extraordinary in film history, applying a seemingly endless variety of editing techniques to erect and delve into its narrative from countless angles, both fluid and constantly disrupting itself across varied timelines, jump-cutting in time, seamlessly tying together great leaps in form, etc. To be so revolutionary structurally, flawlessly edited and composed all at once is no small trick. Often, the more expansively variegated a film gets structurally, architecturally, the more it tends to also add some superfluous baggage or become disorganized compositionally. But Kane manages these facets probably above all other films in history. Food for thought when searching for or considering the top-most selections, as these will tend to excel in multiple ways, or at worst, will be very significant/revolutionary in one.

Best Film Editing/Composition/Structure

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994)
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1974)
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976)
Memento - Christopher Nolan (2000)
Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais (1960)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2003)
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
8 ½ - Federico Fellini (1963)
Breathless - Jean Luc Godard (1959)
The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928)
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) [1998 Restored "Welles' Memo" Cut, 111 minutes]
2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968)
Peppermint Candy - Lee Chang-dong (1999)
21 Grams - Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (2003)
Irreversible - Gaspar Noe (2002)
Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles (1955) [Comprehensive Version, 105 minutes]
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese (1990)
Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone (1994)
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) [The Final Cut, 142 minutes]
The Godfather, Part 2 - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) ["The Complete Metropolis", 147 minutes]
Requiem for a Dream - Darren Aronofsky (2000)
Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock (1946)
Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980)
Pi - Darren Aronofsky (1998)
The Stranger - Orson Welles (1946)
Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein (1925)

..MANY more to add...

POSSIBLY / RANKING UNDECIDED:
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
Rosemary's Baby - Roman Polanski (1968)
Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000)
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Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings


Last edited by AfterHours on 01/17/2022 01:52; edited 1 time in total
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AfterHours



Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

  • #739
  • Posted: 01/16/2022 21:26
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To anyone interested:

RE: FILM CATEGORIES

I am interested in RECOMMENDATIONS for MY selections AND also I am interested in YOUR LISTS of these film categories: "Best Acting Performances"; "Best Visuals (Color)"; "Best Visuals (Black and White)"; "Best Editing/Composition/Structure".

I will also be including "Best Ensemble Acting Performances" soon, so feel free to have a jump start on that one.

At some point, I am going to post these category lists separately from this "Top 10+" log, probably on the same page with my "Greatest Film" list in the Movies and TV forum. I would like to include other users lists with my own, whether they are similar to mine or not. So it doesn't matter how aligned our selections are -- I am interested in them for both my own curiosity, as possible recommendations to myself (perhaps, where different, I will reconsider certain works? Perhaps it could remind me of selections I forgot?) and as a variety of recommendations for others (whether similar or different criteria, an expanse of points of view can lead to more experience and discernment overall).

The only thing I ask is that you provide at least a "Top 10" or more per category. If you post a very long list of selections, please try to only include entries that are qualitatively justified (as in, don't list "every film ever made" just because, but try to have a qualitative cut off point that makes selection at least fairly exclusive). If your criteria is different for a category than mine, or if you would simply like to state yours in your own words, please provide that as well so there is no confusion when viewing them.
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homelessking





  • #740
  • Posted: 01/17/2022 03:15
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Why do you think Magic City is better than Atlantis?
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