Redcafe Top 100 Movies Discussion and Prep

Kurosawa pretty has the perfect career that spans decades, not many match it, Kubrick does but has like half the films.

Ikiru, Red Beard and Stray Dog are my favourites. However Seven Samurai, Rashomon, High and Low, Ran and Throne of Blood all highly recommended too. You enjoy all them, naturally go deeper and watch the rest, if you get them on Criterion, you'll get fantastic insight as well from the extras.
 
Yeah, it's a damn shame that they have to be so strict about region coding on them. Masters of Cinema do a good job with their own little thing, but it's just not as good, the catalogue or the presentation in my opinion.

I'd buy a Region A player instantly if I wouldn't get robbed by import duties and stuff.
 
I have completely rearranged my netflix queue to prepare for my list.... serious business this, its amazing the number of movies I've forgotten once you start looking into it, and rarely hear mentioned like "One flew over the cuckoos nest"
 
Zen said:
Yeah, it's a damn shame that they have to be so strict about region coding on them. Masters of Cinema do a good job with their own little thing, but it's just not as good, the catalogue or the presentation in my opinion.

I'd buy a Region A player instantly if I wouldn't get robbed by import duties and stuff.
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CC's designs are fantastic and all. Yojimbo and Sanjuro would look great on any DVD/BR rack.
 
Are there any Hollywood remakes that anyone thinks betters the foreign original, or is that as ridiculous a notion as it sounds?

Surely there must be a couple, but I can't think of a singe one where a big budget Hollywood outshone the foreign counterpart.
 
Heardy said:
Are there any Hollywood remakes that anyone thinks betters the foreign original, or is that as ridiculous a notion as it sounds?

Surely there must be a couple, but I can't think of a singe one where a big budget Hollywood outshone the foreign counterpart.
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I have a feeling "dragon tatoo" series has possibilities, I was disappointed with the originals, I thought they failed to capture the essence of most of the characters from the books. I expected more from a Scandinavian production
 
Prophet_of_Doom said:
Let the Right One In. Discuss.
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Good call.

I thought Let Me In did justice to Let The Right One In, rather than ruin a very interesting take on a vampire story.

Chloe Moretz was very good as Abby, and probably as good as Lina Leandersson's portrayal of Eli in the original.

I'd have to give it to the Nordic version, purely on grounds of originality, but yes I agree that the remake can stand shoulder to shoulder with the original.
 
Let Me In didn't nothing unique to consider it great really. It was just translating the film for people who don't like subtitles.
 
Heardy said:
Good call.

I thought Let Me In did justice to Let The Right One In, rather than ruin a very interesting take on a vampire story.

Chloe Moretz was very good as Abby, and probably as good as Lina Leandersson's portrayal of Eli in the original.

I'd have to give it to the Nordic version, purely on grounds of originality, but yes I agree that the remake can stand shoulder to shoulder with the original.
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I was completely against the remake but had to eat humble pie on seeing the result. And it doesn't have that insane moment with the CGI cats which appears to have been left-over footage from Lady and the Tramp.
 
I didn't actually like Let the Right One In nearly as much as the other poncey filmies did... I put this down partly to watching a dubbed version, but also partly to it being foreign which (let's be honest here) filmies do love a bit of, and can sometimes elevate a very good film into a great one in the minds of some (conversely, the opposite can also be true for other people)...

Considering the remake was virtually the same and, as Zen said, merely a translation, and didn't create any big shakes, I think it virtually backs up my opinion.

Very good film. Not a great.

Remakes that are merely translations, or English versions don't deserve to be considered...They'd have to be re-imaginings or loose remakes, like the Magnificent Seven to merit it IMO, or do something significantly better than the original...Which should hopefully preclude anyone voting for The Departed..
 
Mockney said:
In the voice of the actor on screen, the actor of our choice, or Stephen Hawking?
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Stephen Hawking... I reckon he'd be able to capture the emotion of a love scene, including sound effects.

And this Jack3d stuff is making my ears ring.
 
Dresilved said:
I have completely rearranged my netflix queue to prepare for my list.... serious business this, its amazing the number of movies I've forgotten and rarely hear mentioned like "One flew over the cuckoos nest"
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My netflix is getting a serious workout as well. Saw a LOT of movies over the weekend. Next up - 'The Killing'
 
Rififi?

Influenced Reservoir Dogs and The Killing. Famous heist scene.
 
Heardy said:
Are there any Hollywood remakes that anyone thinks betters the foreign original, or is that as ridiculous a notion as it sounds?

Surely there must be a couple, but I can't think of a singe one where a big budget Hollywood outshone the foreign counterpart.
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12 Monkeys was a good remake of the brilliant short film La Jetée.
 
Fargo came on the tele just as I turned on the television yesterday after work. Really enjoy that film. Frances McDormand really adds to the film when she's suddenly apart of the story. No wonder she got the Oscar.

One of the few films I like Macy in. Normally he rubs me the wrong way. His acting ability is not in question, just not a general fan.

Citizen Kane up next. I'm in an oldie mood. No films younger than 1960 the next week or so.
 
Heardy said:
Are there any Hollywood remakes that anyone thinks betters the foreign original, or is that as ridiculous a notion as it sounds?

Surely there must be a couple, but I can't think of a singe one where a big budget Hollywood outshone the foreign counterpart.
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Well, the Departed certainly outshone Infernal Affairs in terms of awards and fame but I personally like the original better. It fits better. Departed is very good though.

I'm going ti watch A Fistful of Dollars soon but can't see it being better than Yojimbo.

Insomnia?
 
The Departed was complete and utter shit. I hated it and I'm not even a massive fan of the original. It was almost as bad as There Will Be Blood for massive and irritating overacting.

A Fistful of Dollars is great although I haven't seen it for at least 25 years so it might have aged badly and Insomnia is worth a watch. From memory it benefits from not trying to be too clever for once.
 
I've seen Insomnia but not the original. Therefor I can't compare myself.

Insomnia is the mark for when Al Pacino stop making good movies.
 
I thought There Will Be Blood was something special. Maybe it's a crap theory of mine but I did wonder if the overacting was deliberately done to highlight the ridiculous extremism of the true American Dreams: the twin insanities of greed, and religious zealotry.
 
SteveJ said:
I thought There Will Be Blood was something special. Maybe it's a crap theory of mine but I did wonder if the overacting was deliberately done to highlight the ridiculous extremism of the true American Dreams: the twin insanities of greed, and religious zealotry.
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I found it dragged on worse than Foo Foo Lamar.
 
Saw '39 Steps' last night. Didn't enjoy it as much as I had the first time I saw it, but I have to admit it was great for its time. Going to give the original 'King Kong' a watch tonight and then its going to be either some of the Ghibli stuff I havent seen yet and/or 'The Station Agent', which I have been meaning to see for the longest time.
 
The original King Kong is still fantastic IMO. Considering the techniques used the actual end product was almost a complete miracle really.
 
Yeah! Withnail & I will be high on my list for sure. It's a fantastic film.
 
SteveJ said:
I thought There Will Be Blood was something special. Maybe it's a crap theory of mine but I did wonder if the overacting was deliberately done to highlight the ridiculous extremism of the true American Dreams: the twin insanities of greed, and religious zealotry.
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No. It is because DDL needs a strong director to stop him hamming it up.
 
SteveJ said:
I thought There Will Be Blood was something special. Maybe it's a crap theory of mine but I did wonder if the overacting was deliberately done to highlight the ridiculous extremism of the true American Dreams: the twin insanities of greed, and religious zealotry.
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Er, no. It was a disgusting piece of masturbatory showing off. The sort of thing that children used to be slapped for.
 
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