Has American cinema ever produced a better film than....

[MC Moot]

Citizen Kane?....I used to balk at the idea that it was the greatest acheivment of the industry....but the more often I catch it,in it's entirety or in bits,I find I'm being won over by that commonly held opinion...(amongst critics)....I mean the use of light and shadow,the dialogue/plot,the special effects including set's and makeup....especially given the year of release/production.....every time I watch I see something else amazing....it's like a deal with the devil was made.....the only thing that really come close for me is "Millers Crossing".....what's better????

P.S: Rosebud was really a reference to her clit not a tobogan.....;)

[Schmeltz]

I don't understand what makes Citizen Kane so great, it's boring as shit. All those things that are supposed to be so good about it don't strike me as anything particularly special.

[MC Moot]

I don't understand what makes Citizen Kane so great, it's boring as shit. All those things that are supposed to be so good about it don't strike me as anything particularly special.

Yeah,I once was blind but now I see......;)

[abcdefz]

It's one of the best so far, yeah. The only drawbacks are that Rosebud really is kind of a cheap device, and just what Kane's politics were are kind of muddy.

I think Goodfellas is probably the best American movie so far. Kane is probably number two, though. Goodfellas and Memento are the most perfect movies made.

[ToucanSpam]

Citizen Kane is grossly overrated. And yes American Cinema has produced greater works.

[roosta]

Yes, it's called The Karate Kid

[abcdefz]

I know I've said it before, but it's worth repeating:

Many years ago, when I was in a band, our guitarist finally got around to watching Citizen Kane. He told me later that one of the amazing things about it was you could pretty much pull any single frame from the movie and it would be a great album cover.

True, James. (y)

[mikizee]

obviously u guys havent seen catwoman with halle berry.

[abcdefz]

That's number four.

[MC Moot]

It's one of the best so far, yeah. The only drawbacks are that Rosebud really is kind of a cheap device, and just what Kane's politics were are kind of muddy.

I think Goodfellas is probably the best American movie so far. Kane is probably number two, though. Goodfellas and Memento are the most perfect movies made.


I wrestle Goodfellas/Millers Crossing quite a bit and come up on the Coens side everytime,so snappy,so stylish,so pulp.....Memento never really hit me that hard,at all.....Kane's politics seemed to be aimed at the Rockefellers and philanthropy or lack thereof....

[abcdefz]

Miller's Crossing is definitely sick. I could see a case being made for that.

Can you believe Finney was cast only two days before production started? I can't imagine anyone else, let alone the Raising Arizona furniture guy doing it.

[skra75]

I think Goodfellas is probably the best American movie so far. Kane is probably number two, though. Goodfellas and Memento are the most perfect movies made.

yes, you are right

[MC Moot]

Yes, it's called The Karate Kid

Honestly,though did Different Strokes even ever air on the emerald isle?....James Joyce rolls over in grave,has a drink,laments loss of national identity.....;)

[paul jones]

Yes, it's called The Karate Kid
no shit(y)

[roosta]

Honestly,though did Different Strokes even ever air on the emerald isle?....James Joyce rolls over in grave,has a drink,laments loss of national identity.....;)

Different Strokes did indeed air...but its cultural impact wasnt nearly as great here as it was in its home country.

[MC Moot]

Miller's Crossing is definitely sick. I could see a case being made for that.

Can you believe Finney was cast only two days before production started? I can't imagine anyone else, let alone the Raising Arizona furniture guy doing it.

no shit,wow.....

Verna: What're you chewin' over?

Tom Reagan: Dream I had once. I was walkin' in the woods, I don't know why. Wind came up and blew me hat off.

Verna: And you chased it, right? You ran and ran, finally caught up to it and you picked it up. But it wasn't a hat anymore and it changed into something else, something wonderful?

Tom Reagan: Nah, it stayed a hat and no, I didn't chase it. Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat.


(y) (y) (y)

"American Beauty" hacks idea.....:D

[MC Moot]

I know I've said it before, but it's worth repeating:

Many years ago, when I was in a band, our guitarist finally got around to watching Citizen Kane. He told me later that one of the amazing things about it was you could pretty much pull any single frame from the movie and it would be a great album cover.

True, James. (y)


Was this the Lou Reed cover band?....If you would have found your Nico,big things would have happened!.....:D

[Tompz]

You know that opening shoot of Citizen Kane when you see the surroundings of Xanadu and the overgrown golf course and the drifting gondolas and all the insanse shit his gathered for himself. That's so great i just love it.

Anyway i think both Raging Bull and Taxi Driver tops Goodfellas.

[bigblu89]

I think Goodfellas is probably the best American movie so far. Kane is probably number two, though. Goodfellas and Memento are the most perfect movies made.

I'd agree with you on Goofellas being perfect, except for the fact that I think Lorrane Bracco is one of the worst actresses that I've ever watched.

There's just something about her voice and delivery in movies (and on the Sopranos) that just kills me.

Other than that, yes, Goodfellas is as good as it gets.

[bigblu89]

You know that opening shoot of Citizen Kane when you see the surroundings of Xanadu and the overgrown golf course and the drifting gondolas and all the insanse shit his gathered for himself. That's so great i just love it.

Anyway i think both Raging Bull and Taxi Driver tops Goodfellas.

Bull maybe, but Goodfellas is better than Taxi Driver.

[abcdefz]

Anyone else want to try a top twenty list or so?

This is hazardous, and very much off the top of my head. Imagine a big ol' asterisk. :D


Goodfellas
Citizen Kane
The Godfather
Fargo
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Memento
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Birdy
Dead Man Walking
Diner
Miller's Crossing
Annie Hall
Hail the Conquering Hero
Raging Bull
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Conversation
Defending Your Life
The Fly (Cronenberg)
The General
Young Frankenstein

[abcdefz]

I'd agree with you on Goofellas being perfect, except for the fact that I think Lorrane Bracco is one of the worst actresses that I've ever watched.

There's just something about her voice and delivery in movies (and on the Sopranos) that just kills me.

Other than that, yes, Goodfellas is as good as it gets.



I loved her in that. Even with the grating voice. I think she was working it.

Liotta's performance is way underrated. The guy who played Henry as teenager was great, too.

[abcdefz]

Was this the Lou Reed cover band?....If you would have found your Nico,big things would have happened!.....:D



Ha!

We did one Velvets song, actually. "I Can't Stand It." That's a fun one.

[M.C. Guevera]

I've seen Citizen Kane before, but I don't remember much about it. I need to see it again.

[MC Moot]

You know that opening shoot of Citizen Kane when you see the surroundings of Xanadu and the overgrown golf course and the drifting gondolas and all the insanse shit his gathered for himself. That's so great i just love it.

Anyway i think both Raging Bull and Taxi Driver tops Goodfellas.


The last shot in the film which starts as an aerial view of a storage area,initially it looks like a city skyline but as the shot zooms/tightens you see the individual objects as they're being incinerated....I mean,fuck me,it looks like a city,stacks of furniture,lamps,art,piano etc,etc....wow......Taxi Driver has alway's struck me as much ado about not too much,but Raging Bull...man,the fact that Scorsese lost best director nod to Redford over "Ordinary People" is friggin perverse!

[Tompz]

personal fovorites include;

the third man
apocalypse now
taxi driver
citizen kane
guns of navarone
the platoon
raging bull
the graduate
the godfather
gone with the wind
vertigo
once upon a time in the west
royal tenenbaums
lawrence of arabia
rebel without a cause
a clockwork orange

probably forgot som quality

[MC Moot]

Anyone else want to try a top twenty list or so?

This is hazardous, and very much off the top of my head. Imagine a big ol' asterisk. :D


Goodfellas
Citizen Kane
The Godfather
Fargo
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Memento
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Birdy
Dead Man Walking
Diner
Miller's Crossing
Annie Hall
Hail the Conquering Hero
Raging Bull
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Conversation
Defending Your Life
The Fly (Cronenberg)
The General
Young Frankenstein

I think I like "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" alot more than a few of those....(y)......never seen "Birdy".....:o

[abcdefz]

personal fovorites include;

the third man
apocalypse now
taxi driver
citizen kane
guns of navarone
the platoon
raging bull
the graduate
the godfather
gone with the wind
vertigo
once upon a time in the west
royal tenenbaums
lawrence of arabia
rebel without a cause
a clockwork orange

probably forgot som quality


Shit. I forgot Hitchcock altogether.

Don't know what I'd pick. Rear Window, maybe. Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, North by Northwest, Notorious. Those are my favorites.

[abcdefz]

I think I like "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" alot more than a few of those....(y)......never seen "Birdy".....:o



Birdy is fantastic cinema. The real deal.

[MC Moot]

personal fovorites include;

the third man
apocalypse now
taxi driver
citizen kane
guns of navarone
the platoon
raging bull
the graduate
the godfather
gone with the wind
vertigo
once upon a time in the west
royal tenenbaums
lawrence of arabia
rebel without a cause
a clockwork orange

probably forgot som quality

I'd have to pick "Bottlerocket" or "Rushmore" before "Tenebaums" and wayyyy ahead of "Life Aquatic".....remember "American Cinema" being the premise....;)

[YoungRemy]

I wrestle Goodfellas/Millers Crossing quite a bit and come up on the Coens side everytime,so snappy,so stylish,so pulp.....Memento never really hit me that hard,at all.....Kane's politics seemed to be aimed at the Rockefellers and philanthropy or lack thereof....


it was a shot at William Randolph Hearst... newspaper tycoon and philanderer... rumor has it that he tried to obtain the original reels of the film and destroy them all... to no avail...

i think what made it special was the techniques used were unprecedented...sure, every film student is gonna say the same regurgitated crap they learned about CK, but some of those techniques really were being used for the first time- high key lighting , deep focus, depth of field, etc...

it is a true cinematographic masterpiece

[abcdefz]

i think what made it special was the techniques used were unprecedented...sure, every film student is gonna say the same regurgitated crap they learned about CK, but some of those techniques really were being used for the first time- high key lighting , deep focus, depth of field, etc...





Like Birth of a Nation gets credited for breakthroughs, it was really more of a consolidation of things that had already been done. Just bringing them together in genius form and planting the flag.

Deep focus and such had already been done -- look at a Peter Lorre movie called Mad Love, for instance.

The theatrical way he used lights -- dimming areas of the screen instead of fading out the whole picture -- that stuff is legitimately his. Kane's main innovation was the way he used sound, really.

[Otis Driftwood]

What :mad:
about :mad:
12 :mad:
Angry :mad:
Men :mad: ?
Fucking brilliant! Ranks up there with Third Men, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard and the Hitchcock movies.

[MC Moot]

What :mad:
about
12
Angry
Men ?
Fucking brilliant! Ranks up there with Third Men, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard and the Hitchcock movies.

Word...

But we all know the spic greaser kid,did it...now I got a baseball game to go to....what's the hold up?....could be the origin of the ensemble cast.....(y)

"To Kill a Mockingbird" , "White Heat" , "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" , "Key Largo".....(y)

[Bob]

I loved her in that. Even with the grating voice. I think she was working it.

Liotta's performance is way underrated. The guy who played Henry as teenager was great, too.

yeah, i really love liotta in that movie. sometimes i'll be thinking about something, and i'll start thinking it in his narrative voice. like right now, as i'm thinking this post in my head, i'm thinking it in his voice. it's a good voice.

i finally got around to watching memento about a week or two ago, i really liked it even though you accidentally ruined the ending for me :mad:

well you didn't ruin it exactly, i had taken what you said (about someone killing someone) and interpreted it to mean something, whereas in the movie it turned out to be something else, and that wasn't even the only shock about the ending anyways, so it was alright.

but yeah, i liked it. i haven't returned it to netflix yet because i keep meaning to watch it a second time (obviously it bears a second watching), but i never put aside the time for it. so my queue is stagnant.

[MC Moot]

I have to say "L.A Confidential" and "The Proposition" are both soooo much better than "Momento".....and it's all down to the fact that Joe Pantoliano may be the most annoying character actor in the history of American cinema.....;)

[monkey]

i LOVE kane. i couldnt even tell you why anymore. i believe it's a cinematic masterpiece, but also, you just cant get bored of the story. and i love orson welles way too much. he's my fantasy dream man. <3

[MC Moot]

O.K troop,huddle up now......words come down that the brass has reviewed this thread and decided that as of now Young Remy and A-Z are on point.....me?.....well......I'm gonna hang back and call in the artillery if the shit gets thick up there....Simmer down! Simmer down!....look,I promise no more fucked up fire missions....O.K?.....good.....now if A-Z or Remy will show me how to use this map and compass we can begin.....smoke em if you got em......(y)

[Otis Driftwood]

There's a time and place for every statement. Plus, does a movie really have to hold up on second viewing? I'm avoiding seeing Memento again just 'cause of that. None of Tarantino's movies do. The Big Lebowski, on the other hand, I watched more than 50 times and I still love it. (y)

[MC Moot]

There's a time and place for every statement. Plus, does a movie really have to hold up on second viewing? I'm avoiding seeing Memento again just 'cause of that. None of Tarantino's movies do. The Big Lebowski, on the other hand, I watched more than 50 times and I still love it. (y)

hmmmm.....but I did have to watch Jackie Brown twice to make sure it was as shitty as I thought......:D

[Bob]

There's a time and place for every statement. Plus, does a movie really have to hold up on second viewing? I'm avoiding seeing Memento again just 'cause of that. None of Tarantino's movies do. The Big Lebowski, on the other hand, I watched more than 50 times and I still love it. (y)

well i figure memento needs to be seen twice because of the way it's filmed. everything's done backwards (which is really clever, given the guy's condition), so when you finish watching the movie the first time, you understand more or less everything that's going on, so you have to go back and watch it a second time to pick up on the things you missed. i assume.

[MC Moot]

What's the proper film term for when the plot is unfurled "out of time" or backwards like in Memento,Resevoir Dogs or Run Lola,Run?

Why do they wet down streets/pavement for filming? Is it to provide depth or context in the shot?

Why is it that the most common poster seen in the background of movies seems to be Bruce Lee with nunchauks or scratches across his chest circa Enter the Dragon?

Do film makers sometimes include continuity gaps on purpose? Like wristwatches on soldiers in Braveheart kind of thing,not so much boom mike appearances.....

Inquiring minds have to know....