Letterboxd

[TM2YC]

My new list/goal: I've cancelled Netflix, so I've got 7-days to binge these films

It seems unlikely I'll succeed with all 30, since that's 4.26 movies every day but I'll give it a go! I've switched 'Crooklyn' for 'She's Gotta Have It' on my above Spike Lee 5 Directors list because it's on Netflix right now.

My account has just about expired but I managed to watch 18 of the 30 on the list. I certainly got my money's worth from this months subscription fee!

Watched:
Beasts of No Nation
Boyhood
Days of Heaven
Eddie the Eagle
Fences
The Happy Prince
Midnight Express
Northern Soul
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Restrepo
The Return of the Living Dead
She's Gotta Have It
Snowpiercer
A Star Is Born (1976)
T2 Trainspotting
Thelma & Louise
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
When Harry Met Sally...

Not watched:
Bright
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
God's Own Country
The Highwaymen
Howards End
Layer Cake
Nightcrawler
Oldboy (2013)
Operation Finale
Outlaw King
Split
Triple Frontier

I'll probably sign back up for Netflix later in the year when Stranger Things, Mindhunter, The Irishman, The Crown and Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance have dropped... and I can have another go at those last 12 films .

 

[Neglify]

Quentin Tarantino ranked. Includes writing credits and his first unfinished film.

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Inglorious Basterds
3. Jackie Brown
4. Kill Bill
5. The Hateful Eight
6. Reservoir Dogs
7. Django Unchained
8. True Romance
9. From Dusk Till Dawn
10. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
11. Four Rooms
12. Natural Born Killers
13. Death Proof
14. My Best Friend's Birthday

 

[TM2YC]

^ Putting IB at number 2 is obviously insanity but the rest isn't far off my opinion. Maybe H8 a bit lower, DP a little higher. Kill Bill is a difficult one to rank because I love part 1 loads but not so much part 2 but then again I like the two cut together more than both parts separately :s .

After watching and reviewing 'A Better Tomorrow 3', that's all 25 from my '5 Directors, 5 Films (Part II)' list complete. Thoughts on the Directors:

Kathryn Bigelow - I was hoping to discover some gems that matched her recent political thrillers but her early career is a mixed bag. Across her filmography, you can see she really likes to use extreme violence to shock the audience. IIRC, 'K-19' is her only non-R-rated movie and even that has a harrowing scene showing hideous radiation burns.

Tsui Hark - I loved his 'Once Upon a Time in China' films (the first two primarily) and I want to see more 80s/90s Jet Li movies now. He sure knows how to compose a widescreen image and handles romantic scenes very well.

Spike Lee - 'Do the Right Thing' is the best of his early films by miles, as everyone says. The rest are flawed and bad, or flawed but good. They haven't changed my opinion that he is a terrible actor and inconsistent filmmaker. Lee also has a questionable tendency to write parts for himself that just happen to involve him fondling (or worse) the most beautiful actress in his cast.

Ken Russell - 'Women in Love' and 'Altered States' are ones I'm going to rewatch for sure. I think the other three have an excess of Russell's energy and camp visuals, to the detriment of the story.

John Woo - I wanted to find something as good as 'The Killer', or 'Hard Boiled' and I almost did. 'Heroes Shed No Tears' isn't the classic Hong Kong cops vs gangsters film but it's a brilliantly crazy Rambo style offering that I'm itching to watch again already. I also praying for 'Just Heroes' to get a blu-ray, or even a new DVD release.

Time for Part 3!

This time I'm going for mostly films from the 1001-movies book (which I'm also watching through) and mostly ones from the 70s and 80s. An American, a Canadian, a German, a Frenchman and a Brit. This completes those Directors in the book:

- Robert Altman (All 5 of his films from the 1001 book)
- David Cronenberg (2 from the 1001 book and I've missed some of his other famous films. Completes his filmography between 1979 and 1991)
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder (All 4 of his films from the 1001 book, plus my as yet unwatched Berlin Alexanderplatz blu-ray boxset)
- Louis Malle (All 3 from the 1001 book and a good excuse to crack open my Malle blu-ray boxset)
- Nicolas Roeg (All 4 from the 1001 book and completes all his feature films up to 1980)

Oddly there are a few films that I've somehow seen bits, or half of long ago but never the whole thing: Videodrome, Naked Lunch, Performance, The Man Who Fell to Earth and I've watched part 1 of Berlin Alexanderplatz. It'll be nice to complete the viewing at last .

 

[Neglify]

Chucky films, ranked:

1. Child's Play (2019)
2. Bride of Chucky (1998)
3. Seed of Chucky (2004)
4. Child's Play (1988)
5. Curse of Chucky (2013)
6. Cult of Chucky (2017)
7. Child's Play 2 (1990)
8. Child's Play 3 (1991)

 

[Jrzag42]

Is that best to worst, or worst to best?

 

[Neglify]

Numbered lists usually mean 1=best

 

[Jrzag42]

I hoped not.

Edit : That sounded rude. I don't mean it.
But I am curious, what do you dislike about 2?

 

[TM2YC]

Numbered lists usually mean 1=best

Exactly.

 

[TM2YC]

I recently had yet another re-watch of Mark Gatiss' glorious 2010 3-hour BBC 'A History of Horror' doc and it's 2012 1.5hr companion 'Horror Europa'. I love the way Gatiss gleefully takes us back to his childhood feelings for the genre, getting a prized Horror book for Christmas, or being sent to bed in tears because he wasn't allowed to watch 'The Horror of Frankenstein' . He gets interviews with almost all the major players (those that were still alive at the time) including George A. Romero, John Carpenter, Dario Argento and Tobe Hooper and even manages to find somebody still alive who appeared in 1931's 'Dracula'.

It's all on youtube:

I made a list of all the Horror films he comments on: https://letterboxd.com/tm2yc/list/a-history-of-horror-with-mark-gatiss-plus/

I've seen 37 of 93. I plan to watch more of these soon.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I've decided to give next month's Scavenger Hunt a whirl. It's my first one, and the list looks daunting, but I'm looking forward to diving in...

Here's my list.

 

[Neglify]

I've decided to give next month's Scavenger Hunt a whirl...

Some great choices there. Kubrick, PTA, Altman, Lynch... excellent stuff. I hope you have fun with the hunt.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Thanks! Are you taking part at all?

 

[TM2YC]

I've decided to give next month's Scavenger Hunt a whirl. It's my first one, and the list looks daunting, but I'm looking forward to diving in...

Here's my list.

Great list, I've seen 19 of those so far. Kind Hearts, Excalibur, Barry Lyndon and Wicker Man are amazing and favourites of mine. I'd strongly recommend "The Final Cut" restoration of Wicker Man over the meddled with Theatrical cut, or the (over) extended "Director's Cut" that mixes in VHS level material.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I'm going to be relying heavily on Cinema Paradiso rental service for a lot of the films, but I'll be sure to check and see what version of the Wicker Man they have on thier site. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[TM2YC]

I'm going to be relying heavily on Cinema Paradiso rental service for a lot of the films, but I'll be sure to check and see what version of the Wicker Man they have on thier site. Thanks for the heads up!

Huh, I hadn't heard of that service before. They appear to have the blu-ray available and the FC is on disc one (that disc also includes Mark Kermode's excellent WM doc): https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/rentals/the-wicker-man-7850.html#blu-ray

 

[Neglify]

Thanks! Are you taking part at all?

Neglative. I've abandoned too many challenges already (sorry @Garp).

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Huh, I hadn't heard of that service before.

I've only been using it for a few weeks, but so far I'd recommend it. I used to use Lovefilm a lot before it shut down, so I was pleased to find this alternative. Seems really good value and it means I don't need to buy every film I want to watch that's not on a streaming service.

 

[TM2YC]

Huh, I hadn't heard of that service before.

I've only been using it for a few weeks, but so far I'd recommend it. I used to use Lovefilm a lot before it shut down, so I was pleased to find this alternative. Seems really good value and it means I don't need to buy every film I want to watch that's not on a streaming service.

I'll give it a go, I used to use Lovefilm as well. It looks expensive, or cheap, depending on how quickly they mail them out, get new back to you and quality of their catalogue. Certainly worth trying the 14-day free trial.

F**k it I'll have a pop at this Scavenger thing too, one more list won't make things worse/better and it's British themed this month to boot. My list is all DVD/blu-rays I've had sitting around unwatched, which I want an excuse to view.

My list is here: https://letterboxd.com/tm2yc/list/scavenger-hunt-56-november-2019/

All 30 films lined up and ready to go:

 

[The Scribbling Man]

^^^ I see you've got Akira on your bookshelf, @"TM2YC" .... I feel like the film has overshadowed the source material, which is a shame. The manga is fantastic and blows the film out of the water. If you haven't read it yet it's well worth getting to! (and this is coming from someone who doesn't really read manga/comics).

 

[The Scribbling Man]

December Scav hunt having zero Christmas-related tasks, I've aided in a somewhat festive rebellion. With only 5 of my November Scav movies complete so far, I must be mad to consider taking part. Alas, here we go.