Vic Sage

14. Hoop Dreams (1994)-- I'll grant that this was probably easier to sit through at home than in the theater, but... heartbreaking, sterling work. Still. (If you didn't care about the people in this, frankly, it's on you.) Fine, it's on me. It was still a bore.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: ...And I liked (really liked!) her tight t-shirts too. HEY, that's GIDGET, SYBIL and SISTER BERTRILLE (a NUN, fer crissakes) you're talking about! I don't care how tight her t-shirts get, that chick just ain't sexy; she was cute in her younger days, but never hot.

also: SILKWOOD BLUE COLLAR F.I.S.T. SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION BOUND FOR GLORY NORTH COUNTRY SALT OF THE EARTH

these kinds of critics lists always have a bias for the arty, esoteric, and ironic over the big, entertaining and sentimental. Also for the independent and international over Hollywood films.

i should give LONE STAR another try, i suppose. Its well thought of... maybe i was tired. concur on SECAUCUS 7; i like it better in theory than in practice. I used to work for the movie studio distributing it, so i always had to make an argument for it to potential licensors, vis-a-vis BIG CHILL.

i have no "buts" about either MATEWAN or PASSION FISH, and have huge affection for BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and SECRET OF ROAN INISH. SECAUCUS 7 is good but limited, and BABY ITS YOU is ok but slight. EIGHT MEN OUT should have been better, LIANNA is near unwatchable, and LONE STAR is uninvolving and dull. i haven't been able to get through anything of his since.

also: grapes of wrath Reds Billy Elliot Hoffa Newsies Molly Maguires The Pajama Game and i would take MATEWAN, GRAPES OF WRATH, REDS, and BILLY ELLIOT over NORMA RAE. I'd actually take all of them except HOFFA over it.

48. Ed Wood (1994) - funny, bizarre, and strangely touching, its probably Burton's best movie * 47. Starship Troopers (1997) - piece o crap 46. Heavenly Creatures (1994) - tedious, pretentious Ozzie (sorry, New Zealand) twaddle 44. Metropolitan (1990) - tedious, pretentious prep school twaddle 43. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - not as good as the 1st, but damn good on its own terms 40. Trainspotting (1996) - too intense for me, but great filmmaking 39. The Blair Witch Project (1999) - overhyped bullshit 37. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - great adaptation; Baldwin's 7-minute monologue worth the price of admission 36. L.A. Confidential (1997) - solid noir, great perfs 34. Seven (1995) - motherlode of chilling despair; beautiful in its horrible way 33. The Matrix (1999) - exciting, fascinating, ground-breaking, mindbending, influential 30. The Thin Red Line (1998) - tedious, pretentious auteurist twaddle 28. Election (1999) - good, not great 26. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - tedious, pretentious auteurist twaddle, part 2 25. Fight Club (1999) - action film with something on its mind; great perfs, cool movie 24. Crumb (1994) - sad bio doc about art as a survival mechanism 23. Carlito�s Way (1993) - overheated crime drama with cartoonish perfs, and not in a good way. 21. Fargo (1995) - Ditto. Typical Coen Bros BS, more concerned with shotmaking than storytelling 18. Schindler�s List (1993) - moving epic 16. The Big Lebowski (1998) - rambling and overrated, but strangely funny and compelling 15. Groundhog Day (1993) - funny, romantic, profound in its way; Bill Murray at his best. 14. Hoop Dreams (1994) - overlong doc; i just didn't care. 13. Boogie Nights (1997) - sexy, sad, funny; unsparing yet compassionate in its depiction of a group of people in a particular time and place 12. Miller�s Crossing (1990) - A good Coen Bros gangster film; more about hats than people, but there you go. 11. Barton Fink (1991) - Ugh. Why do i do this to myself? 10. Being John Malkovich (1999) - funny, brilliant satire. 9. Rushmore (1998) - Quirky, and then some. But i liked it. 8. Unforgiven (1992) - Best western in ages... which is as good a thing as one could say about anything. 7. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - Tarantino unplugged. Awesome. 6. Out Of Sight (1998) - solid crime drama, with great romantic chemistry between Clooney and whatshername with the great ass. 4. Dazed And Confused (1993) - coming of age in slackerville; a seminal film. 3. Toy Story 2 (1999) - Its OK, but why over TS 1? 2. Pulp Fiction (1994) - yup. I'd put it first. 1. Goodfellas (1990) - I wouldn't put it first, but its in the top 5. * Tim Burton filmography: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=19045

[u:333vcbat]My Top 50[/u:333vcbat] would include only 20 from their list (though not necessarily in this order): Ed Wood (1994) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) L.A. Confidential (1997) Seven (1995) The Matrix (1999) Fight Club (1999) Crumb (1994) Schindler�s List (1993) The Big Lebowski (1998) Groundhog Day (1993) Boogie Nights (1997) Being John Malkovich (1999) Rushmore (1998) Out Of Sight (1998) Unforgiven (1992) Reservoir Dogs (1992) Dazed And Confused (1993) Pulp Fiction (1994) Goodfellas (1990) [u:333vcbat]plus these 30 (in no particular order):[/u:333vcbat] Avalon (1990) American Beauty (1999) Defending your life (1991) Shawshank Redemption (1994) Lion King (1994) Usual Suspects (1995) Silence of the Lambs (1991) Braveheart (1995) Sixth Sense (1999) Beauty & the Beast (1991) Toy Story (1995) Gattaca (1997) Donnie Brasco (1997) The Crow (1994) Thelma & Louise (1991) Iron Giant (1999) 3 Kings (1999) Grosse Point Blank (1997) Fisher King (1993) A Perfect World (1993) The Player (1992) Shine (1996) Almost Famous (1996) Big Night (1996) Fearless South Park Searching For Bobby Fischer The Grifters The Rocketeer White Men Can't Jump [u:333vcbat]honorable mentions[/u:333vcbat] to big and/or sentimental films which therefore got little critical respect: Total Recall (1990) Dances with Wolves (1990) Titanic (1997) Forrest Gump (1994) good will hunting (1997) Last of the Mohicans (1992) Jerry Maguire (1996) The Fugitive (1993) Misery (1990) The Hunt for Red October (1990) In The Line of Fire (1993) City Slickers (1991) 4 Weddings & a Funeral Air Force One Jurassic Park Men In Black Phenomenon Pretty Woman Saving Private Ryan Shakespeare In Love American President The Birdcage Bridges of Madison County The Freshman [u:333vcbat]and some personal faves[/u:333vcbat] (for which i make neither arguments nor apologies): A League of their own galaxy quest Office Space Alien 3, 4 Beautiful Girls A Simple Plan Bicentennial Man Blade Bob Roberts Bullets Over Broadway Chasing Amy Clerks Con Air Dark CIty Dave Diggstown Don Juan DeMarco Dragon Face / Off From Dusk til Dawn Get Shorty Happy Gilmore Heart and Souls Independence Day Jumanji Kalifornia Little Big League The Professional Mighty Aphrodite Monster in a Box Mother Mystery Men One False Move ONly the Lonely Pleasantville Reality Bites Red Rock West Rounders Singles Smoke Truman Show True Romance TMNT 13th Warrior The Green Mile The Indian In the Cupboard The Last seduction The Long Kiss Goodnight The Muse The Ref The truth about Cats & Dogs Tin Cup 12 Monkees Wag the Dog Waiting for Guffman Waterworld Wayne's World Wedding Singer

loved her in KICK ASS and HUGO, but i didn't see this one and have no interest in doing so.

A typical Martin Ritt film... heavy-handed agitprop mixed with melodramatic soap opera. Even though I agree with it's message about unionism, it's still the kind of drivel for which i have no patience. And i can only stomach Sally "you like me! you really like me!" Field for limited periods. All that being said, it's a solid, well-crafted piece of film-making and this performance is about as good as Field gets. If nothing else, Ritt was a great director of actors.

it IS Sayles' 1st film, and is a progenitor of the BIG CHILL baby-boom movies about middle-aged protagonists looking back ruefully at their own youthful idealism and wondering where it went and how they ultimately had to accommodate real life. It is also the best of those films, despite it's ridiculously low budget, somewhat amateurish acting and rambling storytelling. Unlike BIG CHILL, this film doesn't posit that an entire generation completely sold out its values to make a buck. People became teachers and organizers, or whatever. Their lives became an extension of their values, not a cartoonish violation of them. A good soundrack doesn't cover up Kasdan's soulless apologia for going into the advertising business before striking it rich in Hollywood.

1) Did you watch it on a 20" zenith tube tv? 2) the AVENGERS cartoon totally rocks; i've been watching it with my son since it started.

existential survival tale; beautiful, ugly, sad. But it could've used more character development; given that the whole thing is about a bunch of guys stuck together (often around a fire in the dark), you'd think they'd have the time to differentiate the characters and allow us to care a bit. but they didn't and i didn't. still, Neeson carries it on his back.

It might be shit but, heck, I'd watch Clint talk to an empty chair.

i would opine that posting a few pages of a script that's probably over 120 pages is a "de minimis" and "non-commercial" use, putting it within the fair use exception to copyright law. however, there may be "confidentiality" requirements for employees and others receiving the script that prohibits them from posting any portion of it, as a matter of contract.

The Second Spitter wrote: Why "North by Northwest" isn't held in higher regard by professional critics baffles me....always figured it was because Kim Novak was more revered than EMS. However, it gets lots of love on CPF -- iirc when we posted on our all-time top 10 lists, it appeared on the list of at least 5 CPFers. (Maybe it's time for us to repeat this exercise). Btw, has everybody seen the reimagined poster ? It made me laff. i have no doubt NXNW would make a lot of top10 lists on the CPF, or even among critics, if the criteria was "what are your FAVORITE (or even the BEST) films of all time?" I just think if your asking professionals (including critics) what are the "greatest" films, you'll get a slightly different set of responses (and they did). Because its a different question. "favorite" is entirely subjective, with no other criteria necessary beyond the listmaker's taste; "best" is a more qualitative, objective analysis, though still subject to the preferences of the listmaker's era; "greatest" is really about a picture's scale (i.e., largeness [not necessarily of physical size or scope]) of an extreme or notable degree, and of considerable originality, emotional power or intensity. These are not just semantic distinctions. "favorite" and even "best" are temporal judgments; "greatness" is a judgment that can last over time, as its more (though of course not totally) independent of subjective tastes.

that's probably why i tend to overrate RomComs that divert from the formula; its such a relief. f'rinstance, i really like the Brangelina MR. & MRS. SMITH, because its action-based, funny, and what they have to deal with to save their marriage (being assassins assigned to kill each other) is a hell of a lot more interesting than standard RomCom fare. But that's just a f'rinstance.

i remember a thread about that; intended franchises that were sunk by the failure of the first installment. REMO WILLIAMS, HOWARD THE DUCK, etc. This would jump up that list... in fact, given Carter's jumping ability, he should be able to get clear to the top.

the critics were wrong, and this was a perfectly enjoyable SF epic. And if they had called it, oh i don't know, WARLORD OF MARS (!) or something, instead of titling it after the name of ERB's secondary fantasy hero from 100 years ago that has been relatively obscure for decades, it might've sold a few tickets.

A BOY AND HIS DOG is awesome. KRULL, however...

Your brief review totally disappoints (but hardly surprised) me. I had been on the lookout for this. Lee Majors? Chris Makepeace? Burgess Meredith? Dream cast! my "review" was just a two-word synopsis of general critical opinion about the flick ("bad SciFi") because i had not seen it. Have you? Please describe.

I'm always surprised that Vertigo is so well regarded: Hitchcock made far better films. It's good, but not like Psycho, North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train or Rear Window. The same with The Searchers; Ford was far better with She Wore a Yellow Ribon, Fort Apache, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. And 2001 is hardly Kubrick's best, either. It suffers because Kubrick painted himself into a corner, then gave up, using a flashy psychedelic light show instead of resolving their problem. It was the triumph of bright, shiny objects over plot and characterizations and is ultimately responsible for all the empty films that are special effects and nothing else. i don't think these judgments are that surprising. The voters in these types of polls are critics and directors, and what they are voting for isn't which film is most entertaining to an audience. Surely NORTH BY NORTHWEST (and a number of Hitchcock's other films) are more generally entertaining than VERTIGO. But VERTIGO is an excessively personal depiction of obsession leading to tragedy and it doesn't seem to care whether you like it or not. Same with SEARCHERS and 2001 (and other selections like ERASERHEAD). They speak of artists with guns blazing, balls out, with little to no interest if an audience finds their work entertaining or not. And that's what stands the test of time, and that's what critics respond to, IMO. Also, they are making lists of "greatest" films, not "best" films. Unlike "Best", "Greatness" speaks not just of quality but of largeness (of size and/or number); of something of an extreme or notable degree; and of something unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity, etc. So while there may be better Hitchcock films than VERTIGO, i don't know that there is a greater one. ditto Ford/SEARCHERS and Kubrick/2001.

wild horses couldn't drag me to this movie

thank you; i fixed my vote. yes to SINGIN IN THE RAIN. That's what put me in mind of Gene Kelly. But while i can see some of the story elements from SUNSET BOULEVARD, that movie's hilarious cynicism about Hollywood is sadly absent. And if your going to lift from SUNSET BOULEVARD, taking plot points over its nasty humor seems to be missing the point. As a great director once said (and i'm paraphrasing), if you're going to steal, steal from the best. Knowing what to take is an art in and of itself, and this movie just lifts the most banal elements from better films. which doesn't show particularly good judgment. actors comprise the largest block of Oscar voters so i don't think your wife is wrong about this movie's oscar success. However all Oscar voters are attracted to films that get great reviews (and this did) and that take commercial risk (as this did). so its hard to put a direct cause-and-effect calculus on it.