Great to see Abdellatif Kéchiche being mentioned. A difficult director
Also great to see The Counselor, an unfairly maligned masterpiece written by the great Cormac McCarthy, his only screenwriting effort.
Movie/film suggestions.
While this is of course a forum for the discussion of all things audio/hi-fi and music, pretty much all of us are also lovers of movies, the enjoyment of which is effected by the reproduction of the sound they contain (with the exception of silent movies 
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I've been focused on David Lynch movies since his death, but with current events so much a part of our lives at the moment, I plan on re-watching a movie I’ve seen only once, and years ago. That movie is:
The Madness Of King George. Apropos, no?
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I enjoyed Whiplash enough to watch it more than twice. JK Simmons was great in that one. Also it is a movie with a musical theme; I would think that the drummers on this site might like it. Alpha Dog was another I have watched more than twice. Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster. . . . War Dogs is another I've watched more than twice.Jonah Hill and Miles Teller create good film chemistry and the plot kept my attention and gave me a few laughs at the same time.
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@thecarpathian: Speaking of Casablanca, I love all Bogie's Noir movies. I recently saw In A Lonely Place for the first time, and never miss a chance to watch your choice, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon, High Sierra, Dark Passage, and Dead Reckoning. The one movie he's in that I don't like is The African Queen; I can't stand Katharine Hepburn.
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Years ago I saw the movie Nashville (directed by Robert Altman), and while perusing the soundtrack section in the good LP vendor booth at my local vintage marketplace store yesterday I came upon the soundtrack for the movie. All the musicians are listed on the back cover, and it’s an impressive group of players (Harold Bradley, Lloyd Green, David Briggs, Vassar Clements, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, many others). I had to look at the center label on the LP to get the song info, and it appears that Ronee Blakely was very involved in the making of the album (as well as appearing in the movie). I’m familiar with her name, but not her music, so I look forward to listening to the album. I’ve been buying from this vendor for a few years now, and he was obviously in the record business. Every LP has pertinent info written on the card each has taped to it’s plastic outer sleeve, and on this one he wrote "A great, great album!" The cover has a very mild amount of ring wear, but the LP is in Near Mint condition. I happily paid $7 for it.
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+1 @bdp24 I definitely agree, Wings of Desire is my all time favorite art flick.
How about the final scene, where Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are the band playing in the hotel bar. Peter Falk … esp at the food cart, that’s one of my favorite scenes also. Just a lovely film, everything about it, imo.
It’s a great campy film. Doesn’t get much more fun than that. Pretty great soundtrack and even a hit by Meatloaf as Eddie. My fav song is The Time Warp. What a classic. Tim Curry was Transexual before it was even a thing, lol. |
I'm with you @77jovian. I have no idea what Barton Fink is about, and it's unlike the Coens to be so abstract. I find this film very disturbing. Mulholland drive is slightly more understandable, since we know Lynch likes to play around with dream sequences vs. reality. And we expect his films to be abstract.
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@bdp24 I admit that part of my affection for The Fortune Cookie is because I practiced law for 40 years and the TFC is a perfect send-up of personal injury lawsuits. And great in other ways, too. Probably my career also heightens my appreciation of the Coens' Intolerable Cruelty. I also loved the Hudsucker Proxy and Burn After Reading. The Ladykillers is good but not among their bests IMO. Surprising nobody has mentioned Blood Simple and The Big Lebowski as Coen essentials, too. |
@77jovian: I haven’t seen The Fortune Cookie, but I sure love Lemmon and Matthau in The Odd Couple. Who doesn’t?! Agree about the Coen’s, with the exception of Intolerable Cruelty. But then I haven’t seen The Hudsucker Proxy, Burn After Reading, or The Ladykillers (love the original). I love, love, love The Man Who Wasn’t There and A Serious Man. The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs is pretty darn great, and of course it goes without saying so are Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Mean Streets was the first Martin Scorsese film I saw, which may be why it remains my favorite of his (well, it and Taxi Driver).
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+1 for Jean de Florette and its sequel, Manon of the Spring....breathtakingly beautiful and heart-rending Hear My Song...little known, funny, touching and wonderful music Chaplin's City Lights...maybe my all-time favorite Billy Wilder's The Fortune Cookie...seriously, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau at their best Singin' in the Rain...hmm, maybe this is my all-time favorite Fritz Lang's Metropolis Everything by the Coen brothers Almost everything by Wes Anderson and about 1,000 others... |
Here’s a great film entitled "David Lynch Teaches You The Art Of Life---Full Masterclass." It’s almost three hours long, but it’s time well spent to watch it.
https://youtu.be/yJqSSE9b90o?si=ZkGNQGuzhULXLGcM
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. . . Michael Clayton kept my attention, House Of Sand And Fog was good enough that I watched it a second time after a year or two, and American Pastoral was another that kept my attention. And speaking of Al Pacino (which I did last post), although I don't like them as much as Phil Spector or Donnie Brasco, I did enjoy Scent Of A Woman and Paterno. |
Sunshine Cleaning, maybe? If so, +1 @slaw . Besides dramas that are about everyday people in everyday scenarios that turn sideways on them (such as A Map Of The World with Sigourney Weaver), I seem to gravitate to dark movies with non gratuitous violence, and if based on factual events--all the better. In no particular order, I immensely enjoyed Phil Spector, Donnie Brasco (I thought this was Al Pacino's best acting), Wonderland, Black Mass, The Departed, No Country For Old Men (I particularly thought that was a great one!), The Counselor, Gone Baby Gone. Breaking away from the dark side, I really enjoyed Rushmore, and I can watch that one over again and find some facet I missed before and enjoy it almost as much as the first time I watched it.
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After a promising start Linda Manz pretty much dropped out of acting. Another one of hers to catch is Dennis Hopper’s "Out of the Blue"(1980). It’s full of improvised dialog, raw and ponderous, but not far off from Hopper’s Easy Rider in mood. Feels like Hopper was drawing a painfully sharp dividing line between between ’70s and ’80s culture and film making. |
If you want a movie that's visually stunning check out "Days of Heaven" directed by Terence Malick and shot by Nestor Almendros, who won the Oscar for cinematography. It stars Richard Gere in one of his earliest film roles, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, and a young actress named Linda Manz. The dialogue is very sparse and Manz does a great voiceover narration which was reportedly unscripted. The story takes mostly takes place on a farm in the Texas Panhandle and the farm scenes are gorgeously shot. |
Post election I'm leaning heavily into the Criterion Collection for relief, tranquility, and determination to escape the grotesquerie of the news cycle. Criterion was fortunately rescued from AT&T's decimation of Time Warner/HBO properties after acquisition, and for $100/year deserves the subscription of any film lover. Recent finds include Mark Cousins's impressionistic Orson Wells documentary "The Eyes of Orson Wells" and "Mr. Arkadin" (in two cuts), and Sean Baker's "The Prince of Broadway" and "Starlets"-- the latter a risqué but convincing vindication of the acting skills of a fourth generation of Hemingway women. Also much enjoyed introducing my wife to Truffaut's "400 Blows." |
In no particular order: Jean de Florette & Manon of the Spring The Searchers Hombre Donovan's Reef Knox Goes Away Lawrence of Arabia Paths of Glory Dr. Strangelove Fail Safe Interstellar The Professionals The Thing (the original version) Arrival Blade Runner 2049 Hell or High Water You Won't Be Alone (be prepared for nothing, and everything) Only Lovers Left Alive Too many to list makes it impossible to come up with all the good ones so have at it. All the best,
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@whipsaw: The Conversation is my favorite of Coppola’s. His "small" movie.
Another favorite of mine is The Last Picture Show by Peter Bogdanovich. A great soundtrack too, with lots of Hank Williams.
And Tender Mercies with Robert Duvall. A related film is Crazy Heart, with Duvall in a supporting role to Jeff Bridges. Not too bad a singer, and some great songs. Produced by the ubiquitous T Bone Burnett.
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I tend to gravitate towards foreign films, and primarily dramas. A fair percentage might be considered "art" films, and/or off-beat, especially in contrast to mainstream films. This is a list of many of my favorites, and if you notice any that you have seen and liked, you may find some (or many) of the others to be to your taste, as well. Unfortunately, most would likely be difficult, if not impossible to find on streaming services. I like to own hard copies of excellent films, so am willing to purchase DVDs and Blu-Rays. The directors are on the right, for reference. White Material Claire DenisBreaker Morant Bruce Beresford Barbara Christian Petzold Phoenix Christian Petzold Jerichow Christian Petzold Yella Christian Petzold Rabbit Proof Fence Noyce I Am Love Guadaguino Bloody Sunday Greengrass The Conversation Coppola In The Fog Loznitsa Withnail and I Robinson Dark River Barnard 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days Mungiu Winter’s Bone Granik Klute Pakula Das Vorspiel Weisse Lives of Others von Donnersmarck Couscous Abdellatif Kechiche Matewan Sayles Silent Souls Fedorchenko Western Grisebach The Past Farhadi A Separation Farhadi Applause Zandvliet Uzak Ceylan Disobedience Lelio Biutiful Inorritu Perfect Days Wender Like Someone in Love Kiarostam La Haine Kassovitz Control Corbijn Only Lovers Left Alive Jarmusch Ghost Dog Jarmusch Vier Minuten Kraus Red Road Arnold The White Ribbon Haneke Compartment No. 6 Juho Kuosmanen
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I’m a huge fan of all of the directors mentioned in this post especially Lynch and Kubrick. I’m a movie buff with a huge library of Blu Rays and DVDs with lots of films by Lynch, Kubrick, Billy Wilder, the Coens, Hitchcock, and Jim Jarmusch. I’m also a fan of Chaplin and recently felt compelled to purchase a Criterion Blu-Ray copy of his 1940 dark satire featuring his very first speaking role. A time less classic which was extremely relevant when it was released and unfortunately still is. |
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@bdp24 I was somewhat joking, about Dumb and Dumber. I am pretty sure our movie taste varies widely. The smartest movies were made in Eastern Europe in the 60s as a protest again the regime disguised as satire or comedy or documentary. We might soon see Hollywood produce those too. |
Okay @grislybutter, I admit it. Dumb And Dumber is a guilty pleasure of mine. Is Bad Santa in that same category? I’m pretty lenient when in comes to movies, though I have to draw the line at super hero and "action" ones.
@winoguy17: The Man Who Wasn’t There stars Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Galdolfini, Scarlett Johansson, and Richard Jenkins. A great story, as usual from the Coen brothers. To return to the premise of this thread, there is one guy I sure wish wasn't there. Or anywhere.
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