What are your "must-see" movies?

[Jan Tore Soerensen]

Good evening.

 

Over the years, I feel like I have missed a lot of good movies. Both older and newer. So, I'm looking into tips on really good movies to see.

 

What are your favourites?

[David Mullen ASC]

A very broad question...

 

I'm a big fan of Kurosawa movies and recommend his 60's b&w widescreen movies -- 'Yojimbo", "Sanjuro", "High and Low", "The Bad Sleep Well", and "Red Beard".

 

I also love rewatching "Dr. Strangelove" and "8 1/2".

 

A more recent movie that is worth revisiting is "The Assassination of Jesse James".

[Max Field]

Stuff Spike Lee made that scored over 7/10 on imdb is cool when it comes around.

 

Superbad is very underrated in terms of people taking it seriously and remains my first recommendation for someone trying to learn comedy screenwriting.

 

My generic answer is the 50's "12 Angry Men"

[George Ebersole]

1990 "Cyrano De Bergerac" with Gerard Depardieu.

 

One of the best shot films I've ever seen. Regrettably it's only available on SD DVD here in the US, but you can get a bluray from France if you have the player for it.

[Jay Young]

I would say you need to see at least one Todd-AO Musical in your life - Oklahoma is perhaps my choice. And you should look at one of the big 70mm musicals if only for the beautiful photography, and for the fact that if it were done today, most of the song and dance props would be inserted digitally - for whatever reason.

 

Take a look at a 3-strip picture: Around the World in 80 days.

 

Then there are the big space epics: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Solaris (Tarkovsky 1972),

 

The Scandinavian film that have come out in the last 20 years are simply superb: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, Rams

 

I feel everyone should watch Downfall at least once, its long, German, and excellent. While you are there, you should check out Faru im Mond, and M. Fritz Lang will appreciate you for it. The double exposure/holdout matte work in Frau is enough alone.

[Aapo Lettinen]

Old scifi films which have optical effects and miniature work (Star Wars, Logan's Run, 2001 Space Odyssey, etc.) . Tarkovsky's, Kurosawa's and Kubrik's films.

Soviet epics like Gypsies are found near heaven, Lautarii. I highly recommend watching more Soviet films, they did some great work there, also in large format (like Dersu Uzala, a Kurosawa film)

 

I like Almodovar films quite a lot, he has great crazy characters and drive. Fatih Akin has done some great films. There is also some great Korean and Chinese films (some the epics are quite dull and full of bad cgi though)

 

Generally everything which is not American or British mainstream helps you to widen your perspective, it is good to watch films which have very different style compared to usual Hollywood stuff. It's like finding a different music style after listening only pop music all your life...

 

Watching some B-movies may be more beneficial than you would think of, it is much easier to analyze them than great classics which you adore. Keep in mind though not to choose intentionally badly made stuff like Sharknado etc. , it is much better to watch stuff where the filmmakers have just had low resources or too little time (or skill) to make the film good, you can learn a lot from how they have managed to still get watchable finished film when everything went wrong starting from the script...

[Adam Frisch FSF]

Elephant Man.

[Michael LaVoie]

[Peter Gilabert]

Theres a slightly over-looked film called

"Boccaccio '70" made up of 4 short-ish Italian directed segments, notable for Sophia Loren in one and Fellini's contribution, which is hilarious. Listen to Nino Rota's score to find out all about Danny Elfman.

Another often forgotten film is "L'Atalante" an otherwise ordinary French Love story set on a barge but directed so imaginatively, really hypnotic.

I don't know if it's too obvious to mention "Citizen Kane", because to me it's like the Big Bang, a great place to start...

[Shawn Sagady]

If you have not seen Lawrence of Arabia it is a must see. It inspires me every time I watch it, the directing, editing and cinematography are all incredible.

[Jan Tore Soerensen]

Very nice input here. Tips on newer good stories are also welcome.

[Satnam Khalsa]

Prince of the City (1981). It is a great story with great acting. There are a lot of great little visual touches by Sidney Lumet and Andrzej Bartkowiak that make this film worth watching.

[Simon Wyss]

La cabina, Antonio Mercero, 1972

[Sebastien Scandiuzzi]

Said to myself I'd add one or two but that quickly changed.

 

Federico Fellini - He's been added already but I'm Italian so its illegal for me not to mention him. Like Kubrick, you can spot his movies a mile away: Amarcord, 8 1/2, I Vitelloni

 

Jim Jarmusch - I'm a big fan of his so maybe I'm biased. Love his dialogue, love his characters: Midnight Train, Down By Law, Stranger Than Paradise, Only Lovers Left Alive

 

Lynne Ramsay - Movern Callar, Ratcatcher, We Need To Talk About Kevin

 

Robert Wiene - Faust, Cabinet of Dr Caligari

 

Djibril Diop Mambety: The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun

 

Jane Campion - An Angel At My Table, The Piano

 

Jean Pierre Jennet - His movies are so inventive and fun: City of the Lost Children, Delicatessen, Amelie

 

PT Anderson - I've been re-watching a lot of PT Anderson's movies lately, I always thought he was a great director/writer but I find that I enjoy them more and more with each viewing, I think he's the best of the next generation of american directors (cue the arguing): Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights

 

Yasuhiro Ozu - Beautifully composed, sad, funny and unadorned: I Was Born But...

 

Jacques Audiard: A Prophet

 

Michael Cimino: Heavens Gate, The Deer Hunter

 

Krzysztof Kieslowski: A Short Film About Killing, Double Life of Veronique

 

Wong Kar Wai: Chung-King Express, In The Mood For Love

[Tyler Purcell]

Take a look at a 3-strip picture: Around the World in 80 days.

One of my favorite movies. It was the first movie to be made in the Todd-AO process, which is pretty much the 5/65 standard, but a shot in a defunct 30FPS format. Todd-AO was the first to incorporate 6 track magnetic sound onto the 70mm prints. So Around the World in 80 days in 1956, was one of the first true 5/70 6 track release.

 

For technical historical value alone, the film is absolutely worth watching.

[David Mullen ASC]

Yes, I didn't catch that but "Around the World in Eighty Days" was not a 3-strip Technicolor picture nor a 3-panel Cinerama feature, it was the second 5-perf 65mm spherical Todd-AO picture, made after the first, "Oklahoma!".

 

"Oklahoma!" was shot twice at 30 fps 65mm and 24 fps 35mm CinemaScope, but "Around the World in Eighty Days" was shot in 24 fps and 30 fps 65mm, the 24 fps version used to make a reduction print to 24 fps 35mm CinemaScope.

 

There is now a blu-ray with the 30 and 24 fps versions of "Oklahoma!" on it. I started a thread on it:

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=65410

 

If you want to see a good 3-strip Technicolor musical, see something like "Singin' in the Rain" or "American in Paris".

 

Besides the Cinerama travelogues, the only narrative features shot in 3-camera/lens/panel Cinerama were "How the West Was Won" and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm".

[Tyler Purcell]

Yes that's right, I forgot Oklahoma came before Around the world. :)

[Guest]

Imagine if people had to pick their favourites for the first 9 mos of 2016. It's been a wasteland so far. How many sequels, prequels, and super hero movies has Hollywood cranked out in just the first 9 mos of the year?

 

R,

[Jay Young]

Yes, I didn't catch that but "Around the World in Eighty Days" was not a 3-strip Technicolor picture nor a 3-panel Cinerama feature, it was the second 5-perf 65mm spherical Todd-AO picture, made after the first, "Oklahoma!".

 

"Oklahoma!" was shot twice at 30 fps 65mm and 24 fps 35mm CinemaScope, but "Around the World in Eighty Days" was shot in 24 fps and 30 fps 65mm, the 24 fps version used to make a reduction print to 24 fps 35mm CinemaScope.

 

There is now a blu-ray with the 30 and 24 fps versions of "Oklahoma!" on it. I started a thread on it:

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=65410

 

If you want to see a good 3-strip Technicolor musical, see something like "Singin' in the Rain" or "American in Paris".

 

Besides the Cinerama travelogues, the only narrative features shot in 3-camera/lens/panel Cinerama were "How the West Was Won" and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm".

 

Hmm.. Sorry David, I must have gotten mixed up there! Maybe it was the wide field of view lenses they used on the front of the train I was confusing for 3-panel Cinerama.

 

I might have also been thinking of "Seven Wonders of the World".

[joshua gallegos]

Imagine if people had to pick their favourites for the first 9 mos of 2016. It's been a wasteland so far. How many sequels, prequels, and super hero movies has Hollywood cranked out in just the first 9 mos of the year?

 

R,

I haven't been to a movie theater for over a year, it's not an enjoyable experience anymore. Even most of these Sundance/Cannes movies are about homosexual romances, it's as if these directors think we want to see their autobiography. I am absolutely done with new films.

[Robin R Probyn]

"I haven't been to a movie theater for over a year, it's not an enjoyable experience anymore. Even most of these Sundance/Cannes movies are about homosexual romances, it's as if these directors think we want to see their autobiography. I am absolutely done with new films."

 

End Quote..

 

 

I think your onto something here..Im pretty sure Jason Bourne is a closet gay.. and hence all his angst and violent behavior .. after all these years its the only answer.. and those tight T shirts..

Edited September 10, 2016 by Robin R Probyn

[Max Field]

Guys, I think we're overlooking the upcoming 2016 sequel to the greatest Christmas film ever made; Bad Santa.

[JD Hartman]

One of my favorite movies. It was the first movie to be made in the Todd-AO process, which is pretty much the 5/65 standard, but a shot in a defunct 30FPS format. Todd-AO was the first to incorporate 6 track magnetic sound onto the 70mm prints. So Around the World in 80 days in 1956, was one of the first true 5/70 6 track release.

 

For technical historical value alone, the film is absolutely worth watching.

 

How are the six audio tracks used? More than front left, front right, real left, rear right? Something completely different?

[Jay Young]

Cinemas in the 50's showing 70mm had five speaker systems up front that were way better than most of the sound systems in cinemas today - of course that is a point of conjecture, and an argument for a different thread.

 

The six tracks were: left / left center / center / right center / right, and rear (which could be panned, left to right).

 

Up front, the five speaker system was able to give precise aural location and even show spatial movement across the screen - something that really wouldn't happen again until SONY's SDDS 8 channel system came about. The single surround channel could be automated left side / right side / rear, and sometimes even overhead to simulate aircraft flying. Something I personally hate about Dolby's new Atmos overhead and too loud speaker system - in my area, it just sounds terrible.

[Tyler Purcell]

How are the six audio tracks used? More than front left, front right, real left, rear right? Something completely different?

Jay is right, it was almost entirely front with one rear channel. Having just watched a few 70mm films from that era, they really only used the rear channels for echo, rather then effects.