Best classic from these choices.

~Clip my wings and blinde my eyes, but watch your back cause still I rise~ STW

That's another toughie. There are so many films that can be added to the poll. I voted GWTW, but only because it is so epic in nature. The LOTR of the 30s!

I enjoy watching CASABLANCA and GRAPES more, though. One of my favorite 'older classics' is 12 ANGRY MEN (on last night!). Set in one room, it is a true character piece. Sidney Lumet (director) used a lot of close-ups to give the impression of being cooped up in a tiny room. I really like this movie for a lot of reasons. The way it was shot, the story, the characters, and the actors were brilliant!

I'm sure there are a dozen films that could be added to the poll, but you only get five choices!

Mark M
Scooter Productions

I watched that movie in High School so it's been awhile, but I remembered that I liked it. I didn't know aboutthe close up thing though...I'll have to check it out again, sounds like an interesting tec.

~Clip my wings and blinde my eyes, but watch your back cause still I rise~ STW

Yeah, I can't remember where I read/heard that, but EVERY time that movie is on, I watch it!

Watching it always makes me feel almost claustrophobic and hot (calm down now). The fan in the room doesn't work, so they open windows for a breeze. Everyone is sweating and arguing the whole time.

For me, it goes to show you that if you have a decent script (the writer won an Emmy and was nominated for an Oscar), and you know what you're doing behind the camera, you can make people feel what you want them to feel . . . by telling your story, your way. Twelve actors, one room, ninety minutes. You would think boring, but not for me!

Let me see if I can name the 12 actors from memory, in order, who played the jurors - starting with the foreman:

Martin Balsaam (sp?)
John? Fiedler
Lee J. Cobb
E.G. Marshall
Jack Klugman
Edward Binns
Jack Warden
Henry Fonda
(the 'old man', McCordle was his name in the film)
Ed Begley
(the 'foreigner', the polite man)
Robert something (the 'ad/marketing' guy)

Oh well. Nine out of twelve. I guess I better watch it some more!!!

Mark M
Scooter Productions

According to my dad the best classic is The Great Escape. Ive never seen it though.

Your dad has good taste! GE is also one of my favorite movies (though personally I like 12 ANGRY MEN a bit better).

When I was a kid (before cable), when GE came on TV, it was a 'two night special event', because it's so long. It's one of the few really long movies that will hold my attention all the way through (like LOTR does to the Rings fans).

Great script and actors. Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Charles Bronson, among others. Based on a true story, too which makes it better (to me!). POWs in Germany that are 'escape artists' are put into a brand new camp so that the Germans can watch them all at once. So, they obviously try to escape!

One of the many good lines - Steve McQueen is talking to the camp commandant:

COMMANDANT
Why don't you just sit out the war and give up this nonsense about trying to escape?

HILTS (McQueen)
Because I haven't seen Berlin yet. From the ground or the air, and I intend to do both.

COMMANDANT
Are all American officers as ill-mannered as you?

HILTS
Yeah, pretty much so.

If you have a rainy day with nothing going on, you should rent that (or watch it the next time it's on TV). You won't be disappointed.

"Cooler, Hilts!"

Mark M
Scooter Productions

Murnau's "The Last Laugh"

quote:

---

Originally posted by GETCHA MIND RITE FILMS:
Best classic from these choices.

~Clip my wings and blinde my eyes, but watch your back cause still I rise~ STW

---

I must admit I love the old John Wayne Westerns.

Two of my favorite JW westerns - RIO BRAVO (if Walter Brennan didn't win best supporting actor, then no one should have!); and THE SEARCHERS, in which I think Wayne plays his best part.

Two more movies that I will watch whenever they come on!

Mark M
Scooter Productions

I just watched Citizen Kane again for the first time in awhile. Damn boys and girls this movie is so good I think it lives. I just check my DVD player for a pulse...and yes I have a DVD, they are the best! Anyhow Citizen Kane is the best movie ever!!!! I think best shot film of it's time if not ever...Greg Toland is the damn man with the plan. The "every thing in focus" look is soooo rad, and the "big" look is what makes the film a "great". The pace of the movie is epic and I love the characters!!Let me repeat...I love the characters! Does anyone know how to write great films anymore? Hmmmmm not sure Spike does an ok good and Spielberg almost touched "KANE" with E.T. but I have yet to see a film that even comes close to Orson's first attempt to make a film, which was a classic and in my opinion "the greatest" although tomorrow I might say that "Stand by Me" or "Do the Right Thing" is the greatest...all perspective! Watch Citizen Kane for filming , watch "ET" for craft and watch "American History X" for screen writing...Love film and always put your heart to the picturtes, words and music. Motion picture is a great thing and we as students must bring the old feeling back. I love this shit and hope to God we ban together to make it "crack" like thunder once again! ~KEEP ON FILMING!

~Clip my wings and blinde my eyes, but watch your back cause still I rise~ STW

I like the older, tell-a-good-story movies too. There are enough filmmakers out there who do "shoot'em up, beat'em up, take'em to the bar and pick'em up" movies. And maybe that is more reflective of what goes on in this day and age or a truer assessment of what people really want to see, I don't know.

I think it's why I liked ROAD TO PERDITION so much. Yeah, it had some violence, but where it was needed . . . it had a story . . . and a darn good one. The late, great Conrad Hall shot this film beautifully, too. I thought it would have a chance at the OSCARS, but I guess I'm wrong (no GLOBE nominations for Director or picture).

Everything I write and/or shoot is/will be built around a good story (or at least what I think is a good story!).

The long story made short? If I can replicate the older movies in style and substance (not remakes!), I would be a happy man!

Mark M
Scooter Productions

The picks are all American. What's the go with that? I think in these days of America using the world as its doormat it wouldn't hurt to focus more on the rich diversity that we humans are capable of. (tongue firmly in cheek) Besides, other national cinemas had so called classical periods.

Everyone left out "All's Quiet on the Western Front". I remember watching that in my World History class and being amazed that they could make such a horrific war film at the time.

Most American films since 1959 have not been very good, except some of the "auteur" types. People like Speilberg get too much credit for what they do (reliable workhorse, not much more than that) but at least that's better than giving credit to phony, pretentious pseudo-auteur types like Tarantino, Harmony Korine and Kubrick. (Hey, just one guy's opinion, that's all).

Cheers...

quote:

---

Originally posted by Yossarian!:
The picks are all American. What's the go with that? I think in these days of America using the world as its doormat it wouldn't hurt to focus more on the rich diversity that we humans are capable of. (tongue firmly in cheek) Besides, other national cinemas had so called classical periods.

---