I have been getting into Akira Kurosawa films lately. http://www2.tky.3web.ne.jp/~adk/kurosawa/AKpage.html He has been a huge influence for many filmmakers, Hidden Fortress >> Star Wars. His films are incredible. I also have always had a fascination with the Marx Brothers and their films. Trivia Question: Name all 5 of the brothers. I grew up in a town and time of only 10 channels and no remote control. Lots of late Friday and Saturday night, classic Sci-Fi and horror films. Plus on Sunday a Tarzan and then a classic comedy movie, Marx Bros, Ma and Pa Kettle, etc.
Stephen Balderson is a new filmmaker to keep your eye out for. He is from and still lives in Wamego, the same small Kansas town we grew up in. His movie Pep Squad was filmed in the high school I went to. For you people in Cal that ain't no big deal, but to us Kansas folk ... well we take what excitement we can get. heh. I could go on and on about all of the great "hidden" movies out there, indy films, foreign, classic, anime, etc. Thank the gods for Netflix. pillwatch.com
I had a good rant about this a couple weeks ago on my blog. I'm really starting to despise the current film direction. There have only been a few really good movies in the last couple years, and the rest either were horrible or just mediocre.
The number of movies that has come out in the last year that I have been tempted to see: 1 (LOTR). I've been a classic movie buff for a while, I *LOVE* noir type films, especially Humphrey Bogart. I think that The Maltese Falcon is one of the best movies I've ever seen, classic or modern. No special effects, no big money scenes, just tight writing, acting and directing.
I think part of the reason there's not much interest in older films is that they are "old" and many are in (gasp) black and white, some even (double gasp) silent! I used to think that way, then I caught Chaplin's Modern Times and laughed so hard it hurt. I like several other classic movies, but classic comedy is my fav genre.
One movie that is a classic that involved no special effects is "12 Angry Men". Both the original and recent remake are excellent. In fact most of the story takes place in one room.
I love classic movies! They have stories that actually make sense!! Amazing how that works!!!
And I like learning about visual metaphors used, and the backgrounds of films that aren't familiar for us anymore. You only see what you know - I like to see as much as possible.
I hold firmly to the belief that Burt Lancaster is still the manliest man in movie history, so some of his movies are among my favorites: Sweet Smell of Success, The Swimmer, and again and again From Here to Eternity.
Then there's all the old spy capers - The Man Who Came In From The Cold, The Third Man, and Casablanca. (And Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid as a genius fake fits in here too.)
And the sweet , gentle stuff - I never get tired of It's A Wonderful World, or of Harvey.
Kurosawa, Chaplin, Marx Bros., Film Noir... *all* good stuff!
I have way too many classics on my list. Sunrise, Metropolis, Modern Times, Duck Soup are prolly the more known ones. I could go on and on.
I also find it hard to comprehend that a lot of people out there have a hard time watching a film that strays from their norm... black & white, silent, subtitled, etc. Whatever happened to appreciating a film for what it is... an art form?
I'm so glad that there are like-minded people out there. We should talk flicks more often!