Favorite Directors & Films
 

Note from Chris Hurd: Here's an amalgamation of Joseph George's recent "who are your favorite (insert genre here) films." In order to keep our boards flowing for other topics, all of those threads have been merged into this one big pile... and any new threads of a similar nature will be merged here as well. Enjoy! -- CH

--------------------------

Tell me what kind of films you like and I'll tell you who you are. Just kidding.

Name some favorite directors and films that come to mind.

I'll start:

Directors: Bertoluci, Visconti, DeSica, Antonioni, Bergman, Altman, Kubrick, Menzl, etc., etc.

Movies:

Frida, Before Revolution, Children of Paradise, My Sweet Little Village, etc., etc.

Re: Favorite Directors & Films
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Joseph George : Tell me what kind of films you like and I'll tell you who you are. Just kidding.


Directors: Bertoluci, Visconti, DeSica, Antonioni, Bergman, Altman, Kubrick, Menzl, etc., etc.
-->>>

I don't know who any of those folk are, but I'm partial to Russ Meyer and Roger Corman.

;)

As directors go, bertoluci really stands out there as a visual artist.

His movie "the conformist" is considered the most beautiful movie ever made.

Anyways,

Zac

Terence Malick, Wong Kar Wai, Stanley Kubrick, John Boorman, Michael Mann, Akira Kurosawa, Sidney Lumet, Khrystofh Kieslowski, David Lean

Days of Heaven, In the Mood for Love, Paths of Glory, Deliverance, Last of the Mohicans, Ran, Fail-Safe, Red, Bridge on the River Kwai

For further reference, my YMDB top 20 list: http://www.ymdb.com/user_top20_view....rsid=7032&ce=y

Who are your favorite actors/actresses
 

My choices:

Robert DeNiro

Jessica Lang

Current: Jean Reno / Helen Hunt
Of all: Bogart / Ingrid Bergman

Al Pacino!!!!

I'm one of those people who doesn't necessarily follow a particular director. For any particular director, I may love one film but be completely annoyed by another.

For example, PT Anderson's Magnolia, to me, was incredible. But then Punch Drunk Love was one of the most annoying films I've seen in recent history.

I can say what films I really like though...

Next Stop Wonderland, Personal Velocity, Magnolia, Sidewalks of New York, Amelie, Groove, Swingers, Afterlife, Joe vs. the Volcano (hehe - despite opposition, I stand by this one), Smoke Signals, Monsoon Wedding, Life as a House...

... oh I could go on and on...

Oh, and I also happen to believe that all you ever need to learn about life is encased in the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Being Australian it's hard for me to go past the original Mad Max (Road Warrior to you Yanks). It is shot in rural Victoria and the scenery is simply stunning. The simplicity and the colours make this a visually beautiful film. A little know fact is that this film was actually dubbed for American release as it was though that the American movie going public would not be able to understand the Aussie drawl. I didn't know this until I saw the film here in Japan and though everyone was speaking funny. It was really strange to hear now well know Australian actors with American accents.

As far as directors I think the current crop of Brits are doing a fine job. Movie like Snatch, Lock Stock ... Mean Machine (Longest Yard remake) are threatening Hollywood and bringing a freshness to the big screen

Still, they got used to the Aussie drawl by the time of Crocodile Dundee, which, funnily enough, also showed off some terrific scenery.

Directors: Hitchcock, John Houston, Fritz Lang, Sergio Leone

Films: LA Confidential, Rebecca, Lawrence of Arabia, Casablanca

William Holden, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman

aaaaand...

Katharine Ross, Sandy Dennis, Isabelle Adjani, Diane Lane

and the list could go on and on and on...but these came to mind first

Robert Duvall, hands down, Robert becomes , it's not an act.

Keith,

I'll bring the six-pack, you pick out the videos. Pretty much everything on your list would match mine. Some others would be:

The Graduate
The Parallax View
A River Runs Through It
Some Girls
The Shuttered Room
The World of Susie Wong
The Whole Nine Yards
Le Grand Bleu
...among a huge list of others.

Directors? Right now, I'd have to say my favorite directors are Steffen Werske, Neil & Nori Wentworth, T.C. Lin, Suntje Freier, Ali Imran Zaidi, Tony Teulan, Dustin Cross, Oliver Kolling, Alican Serbest, Dylan Couper, Keith Loh, Rob Lohman, Barry Goyette, Peter Sieben, Ken Kil, Dale Murchie, John Heskett, Ken Tanaka, Jami Jokinen, Michael Meyerson, Dutch Doscher, Ronnie Grahn, Brendan Bowen, John Lee, William Boggs, Paul Sedillo...and, oh yeah...Ridley Scott. ;)

Male actors:
Jean Reno
Gary Oldman
Tim Roth

Female Actors:
Pamela Anderson

Male Actors:

Gary Oldman
John Malcovich
Robert DeNiro
Kevin Spacey
Joaquin Phoenix
Edward Norton
Johnny Depp

Female Actors:

Diane Lane
Meryl Streep
Susan Sarandon
Winona Ryder

How could I forgotten Kevin Spacey? <slaps forehead>

Meryl Streep? <slaps Brad>

Male Actors:
Willam Defoe
Kevin Spacey
Edward Norton
John Malcovich
John Cusack
Sean Gullette
James Caviezel
Harvey Keitel
Vincent D'Onofrio

Female Actors:
Jennifer Connelly :)
Jodie Foster
Barbara Hershey
Milla Jovovich

<<<-- Originally posted by Nigel Moore : How could I forgotten Kevin Spacey? <slaps forehead>

Meryl Streep? <slaps Brad> -->>>

oh come on! She's great. She's not the best looking, but she's had many good performances. ;)

Billy Bob Thorton. Click here for his pic:

http://www.dvfreak.com/dah.gif

I don't follow directors either.... But my list of much liked movies
from low budget to high budget and anything in between:

- 12 Monkeys
- 24 (tv series)
- Amelie
- American Beauty
- American History X
- Armageddon
- Avalon
- Beach,tThe
- Being John Malkovich
- Blade
- Bound
- Cruel Intentions
- Dark City
- Desperados
- El Mariachi
- Enemy at the Gates
- Fight Club
- Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within
- F---ing Amal (and no this isn't a porn movie)
- Godfather 1
- Green Mile, the
- Heat
- Iron Giant, the
- Lock, stock & two smoking barrels
- Magnolia
- Matrix, the
- Meet Joe Black
- Memento
- Moulin Rouge
- Nightmare Before Christmas, the
- O Brother Where ARt Thou
- Ocean's Eleven
- Requiem for a Dream
- Se7en
- Shawshank Redemption, the
- Sixth Sense, the
- Snatch
- Thomas Crown Affair, the

I'm probably missing some great ones that I can't think of
now...

Actually, I thought she was pretty good-looking in Defending Your Life and The River Wild. But I often get the sense she's performing rather than being. I prefer actors/actresses who seem to be themselves on screen.

But her performance in Defending Your Life was rather touching.

Nigel, if you think she's good-looking, go see Shallow Hal; there may be an explanation for the aberration. Just kidding.

heres my short list of WAR movie: my favorite category.

*best (all time):
- Starlingrad
- Apocalypse Now
- The Young Lions
- Cross of Iron
- Full Metal Jacket (kubrick's worst)
- Das Boat
- Saving Private Ryan
- Platoon
- Deer Hunter
- Band of Brothers (HBO)
- The Great Escape
- Patton
- Schindler's List
- Best Years of Our Lives, The

*good movie but not my best:
- BlackHawkDown
- Tora Tora Tora
- The Bridge on the River Kwai
- To Hell and Back
- Bataan
- Battleground (Van Johnson ^-^)
- Paths of Glory
- Quiet on the Western Front

*worst (recent):
- Pearl Harbor
- Hart's War
- We Were Soldiers
- Windtalkers

As far as war films go, The Heroes of Telemark, Where Eagles Dare, The Battle of Britain and Stalag 17 are pretty decent.

The director/producer who did "Spider," is a master of creep. Canadian to boot. Lynch is always good.... Let's see, hmmm. Oh, yeah, Alex. I like his web movie clips. :)

<<-- Originally posted by Dylan Couper "I don't know who any of those folk are, but I'm partial to Russ Meyer and Roger Corman."-->>

I will have to agree with you on this one Dylan.

I will Add David Lynch to my list as well.

favorite films
-Eraserhead
-Blue Velvet
-Coffy
-The Big Bird Cage
-the Big Doll house
-Truck Turner
-Wildstyle
-Barbarella
-Black Caeser
-The Taking of Pelham 123
-Charley Varrick
-Enter the Dragon
-The Last House onThe Left
-Walking Tall
-The Dynamite Bros.
-man Bites Dog
-Assault on Precinct 13
-the French Connection
Sweet Sweetbacks Badass song
-Blackbelt Jones
-liquid Sky
-brazil
_Darkstar
-Urban Cowboy
-Blowout
-Foxy Brown
-In Like Flint
-Our Man flint
-etc. etc. etc.

Erik,

Have you seen "Enemy at the Gates"?

<<<-- Originally posted by Frank Granovski : The director/producer who did "Spider," is a master of creep. Canadian to boot. Lynch is always good.... Let's see, hmmm. Oh, yeah, Alex. I like his web movie clips. :) -->>>

David Cronenberg. Always an interesting directory, even though variable in quality. My favourite Cronenberg movies: THE NAKED LUNCH, DEAD RINGERS, THE FLY, THE DEAD ZONE. His early films are actually good to watch to learn how you can make an effective psychological horror film on a low budget. SHIVERS and RABID are cheap but effective.

<<<-- Originally posted by Adrian Douglas : Being Australian it's hard for me to go past the original Mad Max (Road Warrior to you Yanks). -->

Over here THE ROAD WARRIOR was the title for MAD MAX 2. I assume that's the movie you are referring to. THE ROAD WARRIOR is an excellent popcorn movie that has great direction and editing of action. It hits all the marks and it has something the new Matrix movie lacks, rhythm.

The second Mad Max movie is another Aussie classic. It was filmed in the middle of nowhere in South Australia, actually on an airforce missile range. Pretty apt considering it is supposed to be post apocalyptic.

As for Mad Max 3, lets not go there, it's a great example of how sucess and Hollywood can screw up a good thing.

I'm not Eric but I loved the movie Enemy at the gates. One of the greatest. A true classic.

Hearing anything about Mad Max 4? Last thing I heard was that George Miller got the go ahead with Mel Gibson returning.

Mad Max 3 sunk the moment they introduced the kids. Another great concept destroyed by someone wanting to make it 'accessible'.

Meryl is gorgeous in The Bridges of Madison County, and acts totally naturally with Eastwood dousing her acting flames. Splendid.

So there's two of my favourites.

Here's some more:
Gene Hackman
Jeremy Irons
Jodie Foster (Contact!)
Nicole Kidman (The Others!)
Rutger Hauer (Blade runner: "Time.... to die... ")
Don't get me starteeeeeed

Rob Lohman:
No Dutch films? Abel? De Noorderlingen? Antonia?
Well, our DVNET friends wouldn't understand, would they?

Joseph, I couldn't watch Shallow Hal...I saw the trailer, and the whole thing is just too horrible to contemplate! No kidding! :-)

Actually I must confess I haven't seen any of those. I have seen
a small piece of "De Lift" (Down?) and "Amsterdamned". Dutch
TV is already boring as .... The movie scene is very small here and
there doesn't seem to be much interesting stuff out. When I see
trailers I for dutch movies I usually feel like I've seen enough.

There is one coming out on rental DVD soon that I will check out
though!

Indeed, they wouldn't understand <g>

I saw that movie Nigel, don't worry, you have missed nothing.

Favorite Comedies
 

Tell me your favorite comedies and I'll tell you if we can be best friends, said Freud ................ or maybe he didn't

Here are some of my favorite ones:

There Is Something About Marry
My Sweet Little Village
Legally Blond
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
America's Sweethearts

An Englishmans List of favourites.

Dustin Hoffman... Rainman & Marathon Man. (I still cringe at the scene when his teeth are drilled)

Sir Lawrence Olivia.... Marathon Man.

James Stewart... Several Films.

Robin Williams.... Mrs Doughtfire.

Big John Wayne..... Of Course.

Richard Dreyfuss... Mr Hollands Opus

Sir John Mills.... Several Films. but favourite Ryans Daughter.

Sir Richard Attenborough... Several Films

Sean Connery..... Enough said.

Women! Can't think of any but Doris Day allways gave me a stiffy.

Peter