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Post by Anasazie on Dec 9, 2008 22:41:51 GMT
If that question means, "Does every single square inch of every single frame of every single shot in a film have to be consciously loaded with information decisively directed toward communicating a conclusive statement on a particular issue?" or something to that effect, then no. That's a completely unreasonable demand to make. I certainly never suggested anything of the sort. But hell there are some directors that have managed this, maybe not to communicate a "statement", but every inch is related to every other inch. Antonioni, Dreyer, Tsai, Angelopoulos etc etc......These guys can do it so that makes the benchmark for me......
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Dec 9, 2008 23:31:34 GMT
Maybe so, but at the other end of the spectrum there's the prioritisation of process over product or of chance over design.
There are interesting questions in this, but I don't see how any of them arise from my contentions about Scorsese.
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Post by theundergroundman on Jun 7, 2009 21:04:11 GMT
Features:
1. Raging Bull (1980) - 9/10 2. Taxi Driver (1975) - 8.5/10 3. Mean Streets (1973) - 8/10 4. The King of Comedy (1982) - 8/10 5. Goodfellas (1990) - 7/10 6. After Hours (1984) - 7/10 7. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) - 7/10 8. Who's That Knocking on My Door (1967) - 6/10 9. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) - 6/10 10. The Departed (2006) - 4/10 11. Gangs of New York (2002) - 3/10
Shorts:
The Big Shave (1967) - 5/10 What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963) - 4/10
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Capo
Administrator
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Post by Capo on Jun 10, 2009 22:45:32 GMT
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Post by ronnierocketago on Jun 11, 2009 1:05:01 GMT
Thanks Capo, and here is your reward: the SHUTTER ISLAND Trailer www.shutterisland.com/Surely I cant be the only one who wished he was doing SILENCE next instead of that friggin Sinatra biopic.
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Post by Anasazie on Jun 11, 2009 1:41:53 GMT
What a perfect opportunity to continue the debate about free movies...HA!!!! don't worry, i'll spare you all. Has anyone watched any of these? Any good?
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Post by ronnierocketago on Jun 11, 2009 3:20:33 GMT
Oh yes, that debate. Like all those free movies posted on Youtube (if fragmented into parts) like Walter Hill's STREETS OF FIRE, among other shit.
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Post by Anasazie on Jun 11, 2009 3:23:56 GMT
Oh yes, that debate. Like all those free movies posted on Youtube (if fragmented into parts) like Walter Hill's STREETS OF FIRE, among other shit. Someone must've been bored to be doing that!
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Post by ronnierocketago on Jun 11, 2009 3:26:10 GMT
Well thank God for boredom then.
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Jenson71
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Post by Jenson71 on Aug 6, 2009 17:35:04 GMT
My Voyage to Italy
I was expecting Scorsese to physically travel to Italy. But wouldn't that have derailed the point? Scorsese wants us to know that movies have the power to take us to places, take us to emotions, take us to events that change our beings right from a movie theater or even your couch in your living room. Scorsese pleads to the young to watch the Italian neorealist movies, and Fellini movies, and Antonini movies because they left an impression on him and he is confident they will leave an impression on us. Not that we will all grow up to become famous directors, but because a two hour slice of art can help show us what it means to be a human in desperate times, with a devasted country, with devasted people (see neorealism, especially). All good art should help explain what living is, what people really do and how they really feel. These Italian films that Scorsese talks about and shows us strove for these ideals.
If do plan on watching some of these films, and do not like having the ending revealed, you'll have to skip Scorsese's film. I've never had a problem with knowing the ending myself in most cases. The end result is not the only important thing to a film. The entire process is important. You know Romeo and Juliet die at the very beginning of the play. Does it make their love any less dramatic? Does knowing that the muses sing of the "doomed" raging Achilles make his story any less exciting? Of course, some movies benefit from the suspense. That is their purpose. Hitchcock pleaded to audiences not to tell others what happens to Janet Leigh or who the mother really is. He was a master story teller. His art excelled in that. But the point of these Italian movies is not to be frightened or filled with suspense. We do want to know what happens next though, but it's just as important to realize why "next" happens, what events unfold to lead these people to these decisions. Scorsese talks about how he watched some of these films over and over. We do that too, with out favorite movies. We know Michael becomes the Don, but we watch anyway. We watch film verisions of our favorite books, and not because we want to see how it ends. If you are more interested in the process, the criticism, and the art appreciation, knowing the end is just a small detail. Scorsese wants us to think like that.
The movie is over four hours long. Most of it is scenes from Scorsese's favorites sometimes with his own musings voiced over interspersed with the film dialogue. He talks about a final shot that continues to haunt him to this day (L'Avventura) for example and things of that nature. He also talks about growing up in NYC, going to the theater with his dad, or watching the Italian movies on his little TV with neighbors and family. He mentions what movies particularly influenced his own (I Vitelloni and Mean Streets). He really does a great job of placing the movies in their actual historical context with the neorealists movies. His commentary completely upholds his love for movies, but it's never something like "Wow! I LOVE this part!" It stays sophisticated and interesting and deeply knowledge based, like a college professor.
The majority of major films today can be something like Transformers, which isn't even about humans, or superhumans, or comedies featuring awkward, immature men struggling with hangovers and getting laid. It's worth opening ourselves up to something different from movies, an art that has the capability to morph mulitple arts - music, photography, theater - into something that is truly meaningful for human beings. My Voyage to Italy asks us to do this, and I think it's worth taking Scorsese up on it.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Aug 6, 2009 18:50:36 GMT
At least you told your mates at Chiefs Planet what film you were reviewing.
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Jenson71
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Post by Jenson71 on Aug 6, 2009 18:53:38 GMT
Hah, alright fixed, I wanted to leave the Baby Lee part out but should have checked that. Did you see the first comment: Are there any naked chicks in it?
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Post by svsg on Aug 6, 2009 19:55:02 GMT
The duration of this film kind of scares me, as I hardly ever manage to find that much of time without daily life interrupting it severely. But I am interested in a documentary on Italian Neorealism, especially from someone talented like Scorcese. I might eventually give it a watch.
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Kino
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Post by Kino on Aug 6, 2009 22:09:13 GMT
Scorsese's documentary on American film is excellent as well.
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