 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
194.59.251.241
Inmates,
In the wake of the generally appalling rush of CGI comic book heroes, further Star Bores and Hairy Plodder spin off's, over the last three or four months I've been revisiting some of my old favorites, most of which are in glorious B&W:
Seven Samurai
Dr. Strangelove
Jojimbo
Throne of Blood
The Third Man
Our Man in Havana
Hobson's Choice
All About Eve
Citizen Kane
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Beat the Devil
Pygmalion
City Lights
Duck Soup
Kind Hearts and Coronets
M
Metropolis
To Kill a Mockingbird
Barry Lyndon
Slaughterhouse Five
The Exorcist
Fahrenheit 451
A Clockwork Orange
Patton
The Godfather trilogy
- and so much, much more,..
This has been interspersed with a some made for the television machine series:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Smiley's People
Wolf Hall
Not every one of these is the pinnacle of film-making of course, and it would take many pages to describe the qualities of these, but suffice to say, these have all been a welcome respite from our VR real world and the current hyper blockbuster marketing research-driven movies.
Cheers,
BambiB
Follow Ups:
Laura - 1944
The Killers - 1946
Out of the Past - 1947
PhilJ,
Yes, I'm a Laura and The Killers fan. Thinking of Laura makes me think of Rebecca.
I've never seen "Out of the Past" and Robert Mitchum is always terrific.
Thanks!
Some more:
The Stranger
Birdman of Alcatraz
Some Like it Hot < I don't know how I could forget that one
Diabolique
Bambi B
I guess Laura and Rebecca both felt alone?
have watched many of those many times and look forward to watching many again.
Perhaps many times.
Always good to read a post by ya!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
musetap,
Good to see a familiar name.
I must be getting old. I'm having attacks of nostalgia for movies made thirty to fifty years before I was born.
Last evening I saw again, Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" of 1946 and it has more magic in it than all of Harvey Plopper. And it's original. One of the tragedies of so much of modern film-making is that everything has to be a block-buster having a built-in audience, name-recognition, and positive market share analysis. I remember in the 70's the excitement around Truffaut, Bunuel, Fellini, Visconti, Fassbinder, Bergman, Wenders, and Herzog. They were all subsumed into the Spielberg Corporation.
Of course Walt Dismal had to make a musical version of B & the B and have a committee analyze each feature of Cocteau's and exaggerate it. There will be three sequels of the Dismal version, B & the B will have kids, one of which is a Beast. This presents an opportunity for the Beast family to go through various trials when Baby eats one his classmates in second grade, thereby demonstrating the glory of the American nuclear family, if they're patriotic, honest, and can afford good lawyers. Spoiler alert: Baby Beast starts a Christian rap group.
There are still many original movies made, but even those work to the established formulae and torture their fans with sequels.
Bambi B
OK, I love Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast", and it has more magic that any film I can think of. I don't think you can tell that story better.
I agree that it is an excellent list and includes some of my favorites. I was surprised to see Pygmalion, not because I don't think it is an excellent film. I do. I just wasn't aware that a lot of people had heard of it. I used to come home from school and watch the Janis Collection on public television. This film and others based on Bernard Shaw Plays were very entertaining to me, Caesar and Cleopatra, Major Barbara. They also played the great Japanese films. Of course Seventh Samurai, Yojimbo, Hara Kiri and Throne of Blood.
Thanks for the list! It brought back a lot of memories.
PS: Good to see you back!
Dave
Well, as far as age goes we've been viewing some silent films recently!
Funny, with more limited time these days I'll devote it to a film (preferably classic) than to listening to music.
Billy Wilder remains a favorite.
Looks like you could have a bright future with Dismal should you lower your standards and go down that path.
Hope things are well and good with you and that your ARC equipment is still bringing you wonderful music.
Happy viewing!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
musetap,Yes, silent movies are fine and well-recorded mono sound is fantastic. Beyond movies, by far the best FM I ever heard was from the McIntosh MR67 on mono.
Billy Wilder is more or less a never-miss director and I'd add Carol Reed, Scorcese, Bergman, Coppola, Fellini, Lean, Lang, and Tati to that. I will also automatically give anything by Herzog, Tarrantino!, Welles, and the Coen Bros at least a try. Woody Allen is, however,very undependable the last twenty+ years.
My music listening habits have changed quite a bit in the last few years. I spend tremendous amounts of time in front of a computer (HP z620 / Xeon E5-1680 v2 / 64GB / Quadro P2000 + GTX 1070 Ti / Samsung SM951 M.2 + Samsung 860EVO + HGST 7K6000 4TB) doing 3D CAD, rendering, and writing.
At the moment I listen to YouTube videos probably twelve+ hours of my twenty hour days, using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB recording /MIDI interface running balanced XLR though Mackie HR824 studio monitors. One of the benefits of the Mackies is that the placement can be perfect- centerline of tweeters on the centerline of my ears and accurate toe in, plus the four integrated mono Class D amplifiers are OK- surprisingly good imaging and transparency, and the 8" woofers provide very flat bass down to 34Hz for my favorite Mahler and Bach organ. Really, I think it's that I've never had speakers so well placed and the balanced connection is quiet and more quiet.
Soon- I hope- I'm building a new desk that will incorporate my new MIDI controller (Studiologic SL88) and I hope to do a bit of composing. Both ARC systems: SP10/D115/ Oracle 3 + McIntosh MR67/ Vandersteen 3A and moreso the LS3 /D130/ Cambridge Audio 640C are silent as I'm hearing music all day at work.
When I watch movies, I use an HP z420 (Xeon E5-1620 v2 / 16GB / GTX 660Ti / Samsung 850 EVO + HGST 7K6000 4TB) with an ASUS STX Essence soundcard / Logitech Z2300 2.1 speakers to run a Samsung 40" 4K monitor. So, I've gone from strictly tube analog to pure digital/ compressed in about the last five years.
What have you been up to?
Bambi B
Edits: 09/18/18
Working too much - thusly the slooooow response!
That (to my monkey brain) sounds... like a complicated system but I'm
sure the end result is worthwhile given your passion for music and love of sound.
I'm basically using the same system I've had the core of for 10+ years (ARC SP3A,
Class D amps, Trente speakers, Jolida CDP).
Much LESS vinyl listening these days.
Life is good though the recent departing of our 22 YO cat Rupert leaves a huge
gap my wife and I and the two boneheads (below) need to adjust to.
Always good to read your posts at AA!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Kubrick and "The Chin" would be hurt. It's got yer B&W, yer Kubrick imagery, but a not-so-good script or cast.
Was it discounted?
Wages of Fear, Battle of Algiers, Seven Samurai---but good list nevertheless
Des
SS is first on his list...
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Ta Muse!-- the Post was under the menu bar--duhhhhhh
Dumbass here!
Des
Billy Wonka,
See my reply to pictureguy in which I list a few more recent viewings.
I think actually that Paths of Glory is one of Kubrick's best. It's not a high concept movie; it's a realistic story of the real casualties of war- ordinary people. WWI stars as the greatest, senseless waste of humanity in Human history (with the American Civil War a close second).
The casting was in my view terrific; Adolphe Menjou as the arrogant, uncaring general living in luxury away from the front in contrast to the randomly selected soldiers from the muddy, disease ridden tranches that were executed so poignantly expressed the fear and outrage of their fate.
And, the interesting quality of writing and directing is that it's so quiet and matter of fact as to make it seem as surreal as war must be in reality. My nephew is a Marine Major a few years stationed in Fallujah for 15 months, was wounded 4 times and saw some horrific stuff. His descriptions of war is similar to PoG, it's quiet and sort of ordinary until a bomb goes off sixty feet away and then it's quiet and ordinary again, but with fewer people. S u r r e a l
Bambi B
You need to hook up with Victor and his wife. They seem to have ventured into that territory recently. How about Casablanca?
Mike B.,
Casablanca is a great one, which I haven't seen in awhile; 4 or 5 years as I remember it so well. I can call out the dialogue as it's spoken.
But I have enjoyed some Bogart, besides "Treasure" in the not too distant past: "The African Queen", "The Big Sleep",and "The Caine Mutiny."
Yes, I've been following Victor's own home B&W Home Festival. I've been meaning to ask him where I can find Tarkovsky's "Solaris" which is one of the greatest Sci-Fi films ever. Moreso than another great Sci-Fi, "Forbidden Planet", Solaris is actually about something!
Bambi B
Casablanca was on TV a few weeks ago and the wife cracked up when in the opening scene a plane flew low over head and I said "the last plane to Lisbon"right on cue.
"Trying is the first step towards failure."
Homer Simpson
Edits: 09/19/18
Just one minor exception.
The 3rd 'Godfather' movie was a real turkey. And miscast, at that.
You have 2 Stanley Kubrick films on your list, which some would object to, like my brother, who has no use for him, while NO mention of any Woody Allen stuff.
Anyway? Decent list which would be a good start for a discussion.
Also? You seem to have entirely missed 1939? The WIKI has a list of film releases for that year.
Quite impressive.
Too much is never enough
pictureguy,
This is not a list of my favorites or the most admired, but mostly B&W movies that I watched recently.
Forgot to mention:
Mr. Hulot's Vacation
Mon Oncle
Playtime
The Ladykillers (1955)
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Paths of Glory
Young Frankenstein
Prospero's Books
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Basquiat
Yes, Godfather III was by very far the weakest link; Sofia Coppola by name.
I am indeed a Kubrick fan and very much like Woody Allen, although Sleeper, Bananas, Annie Hall, Hannah and her Sisters, and perhaps Stardust memories and Zelig are preferred over the newer. Zelig is the only movie I every saw on opening day.
One thing about great movies is that I remember them so well, I don't like to wear them out by watching too often. For example, two of greatest hits are The Seven Samurai and The Third Man, which I see only once every 5 or 8 years.
There are a number of movies I've not run across that I'd like to see again, for example, Truffaut: L'Enfant Savauge, Fellini: Amacord, Visconti: Death in Venice.
So many movies, so little time!
Bambi B
What? No "His Girl Friday" or "Life with Father" or "My Man Godfrey"?
Glad to see you posting. I bought an ARC SP-8 on your advice and still have it many years later.
Let's don't forget "To Catch a Thief" or "Strangers on a Train".
LowIQ
by FAR my favorite Woody Allen movie is the one he purchased from the Japanese.
'What's Up Tiger Lily' is recut / editied and dubbed (poorly) from a Japanese version of a James Bond movie from the era.
Woody turned it into a search for the Perfect Egg Salad Recipe.
The Yaki Sisters, Suki and Teri are a particular highlight.
Not to be mistaken for 'great cinema' but rather a funny experiment. At least entertaining in a zany way.
Too much is never enough
. . . as one of the uTube posters notes, a prescient foreshadowing of today's US/Mexico relationship! ;-)
BTW, in addition to Star Bores and Hairy Plodder, you could have also mentioned Star Blecch - "These are the voyages of the star ship, Booby-Prize!" I should talk though, because, five days a week, Ms. CfL watches re-runs of Star Trek (the OS) and Star Trek TNG, and I often get roped in - LOL!
Oh - and I also see you're a fan of "A Crockwork Lemon". ;-)
View YouTube Video
Now we are getting obscure! Then Mad satire of "A Clockwork Orange"? "When I say rape ...-" "We'll say forget it!"
dave
Did you ever hear the DJ Al "Jazzbo" Collins?
He was on KSFO way back, and on KCSM until his death.
He had a Club, The Bandidos, and their motto was that line, in Spanish-
No tengo que ensenarle ningunas chapas maldidas!
No Tilda on my keyboard...
Chris from Lafayette,
Yes, wasn't there a "stinkin' badges" tribute in "Blazing Saddles"?
I really liked the original Star Dreck series as a kid, but keep forgetting or rather try to forget the movies, although the 2009 one was better than expected.
Yes, I admit to liking about everything Kubrick did quite a bit, partly because of the range: 18th Century to WWI to Cold War to SciFi to Dystopia, to Vietnam, comedy to tragedy plus the amazing attention to detail.
I even like a movie with only a distant connection to good ol' Stanley "Colour Me Kubrick". Based on a true story, John Malkovich plays a con artist pretending to be Kubrick to get free drinks.
Bambi B
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
