Pretty good, but I highly recommend seeing this in IMAX. I think my opinion would be much lower if I hadn't seen it like that. The scenes on the Burj Khalifa (the tallest structure in the world) are particularly insane!
My whole life growing up I was told that The Searchers was a masterpiece and now I can finally confirm that it is! From the brilliant cinematography to the incredible story of the pointlessness of obsession, this is one for the ages.
I guess my only real problem with it is the very hammy acting that was really popular back in the 40s and 50s. Seriously, if John Wayne gives the most subtle performance in a film, you know you have problems.
Before I go into my rant I'll just say that there are some really great female performances in this film. Viola Davis especially deserves every award she will likely win this season.
That said, this movie was awful. It is so contrived and cliched. It reeked of the same trappings that "The Blind Side" had. It paints everyone in these cheap, one-dimensional notes that make it so that the audience never has to think or be challenged. There is absolutely no attempt to actually talk about race or race relations at all. It's just another pathetic attempt by white filmmakers to make white audiences feel better about the horrible abuses we inflicted on other races. It's just lazy Oscar bait with good acting.
Just a reminder that if you're watching this for the New Cult Canon list entry, technically the entry is for the commentary track for the film between Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Lem Dobbs. Just pointing that out for all the completionists out there.
@Quartoxuma Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on the list. The only thing is if you want the mods to keep the list updated you should just use the contact feature and send them the updates directly. I do that for every entry in Roger Ebert's Great Movies list and they usually update it within a couple days.
I hate when people say a film shouldn't be on list just because they don't want to see it. I absolutely didn't want to see Salo, but I did because it was on so many lists. The only way to become a well-rounded film viewer is if you are willing to take risks on films and see things you may have never tried on your own. In fact that's kind of the idea of this site, helping you expand your viewing library by exposing you to films you would never have watched if you weren't trying to finish a list.
Plus you never know what your reaction will be. I really didn't want to watch The Celebration but I ended up loving it! Never short change yourself on a possible new favorite film.
It's a subject worth talking about but it's presented in such a boring and mediocre format. I'd rather read a book or hell even a Wikipedia article about this subject than suffer through Ben Kingsley's hammy acting.
I'm not exactly sure how I'm being "childish" but okay. Whatever you want. I'm done. There are far more important things to talk to about than one movie on one list on the internet. So there you go. You all win, now let's move on to something much more interesting.
@jimbotender "I'm sure it's much more frustrating for Top 250 followers in any country other than America because so much of that site's traffic is based around the release of films in the West. Just look at how quickly Drive entered multiple IMDB lists after is Los Angeles premiere. So yeah I see your point, just because I can't see it doesn't make the film unworthy of the Top 250."
Thanks for not reading my whole post! Next time you want to argue with someone how about you listen to their whole argument first instead of skimming the top lines or just ignoring that I even said that.
@Oaktown I definitely agree with AFGiant that the changing nature of the shorts list is one it's best features. You'll find some really great stuff that only shows up every once in a while. For example the short "I Am So Proud of You" just came back to the shorts lists. That was one I just happened upon the week it was on the list that now I'm madly in love with.
The only problem is sometimes you'll get shorts like "Mei and the Kitten Bus" which are so rare that you can't even see them. But that hasn't happened in a while.
Managed my way into an advanced screening tonight. Wow, what a film! I'd say the film is very akin to Taxi Driver and the early work of the auteur 70s directors. The story is fairly cliche but the stunning work of Refn and the great performances from Albert Brooks and Ryan Gosling make this a must see.
Still it's a very love/hate movie and I think the reaction for this one will be very similar to Tree of Life.
"Now I have just seen it again and am stunned that I praised it. It is one of the most historically important documentaries ever made, yes, but one of the best? It is a terrible film, paralyzingly dull, simpleminded, overlong and not even 'manipulative,' because it is too clumsy to manipulate anyone but a true believer. It is not a 'great movie' in the sense that the other films in this group are great, but it is 'great' in the reputation it has and the shadow it casts."
Wow, I'm stunned at how honest Roger Ebert was about reviewing this famous of a film. Personally I thought the film was decent and had some great visuals but was ultimately fairly uninteresting.
I'm not trying to say that I'm not a fan or Iranian cinema or unable to give A Separation a chance. Two of my most sought after directors are Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Abbas Kiarostami whose every film I try to acquire. I understand what you mean ThyCaptain about waiting forever for films you want to see. There's almost no availability for these two directors other than insanely overpriced Ebay DVDs. I think Iran and Korea are two of the most exciting places for filmmaking today. Iranian filmmakers are making these very unique sudo-metafictional works that cross the boundaries of art, film, documentary and autobiography (though it seems like A Separation is a more straight-forward narrative).
ThyCaptain, I definitely have to agree with your idea that I shouldn't be upset about it not being available in my country. I'm sure it's much more frustrating for Top 250 followers in any country other than America because so much of that site's traffic is based around the release of films in the West. Just look at how quickly Drive entered multiple IMDB lists after is Los Angeles premiere. So yeah I see your point, just because I can't see it doesn't make the film unworthy of the Top 250.
My main problem with A Separation is still the same: it's clearly a case of overrating the IMDB page to get attention for the film. There's been plenty of forum chatter about how fans have been rating the film higher than usual because of fear that the film might be buried by the Iranian government. Even if it's not the case, the simple statistics of A Separation's rating just don't add up (you can see my earlier post for more information about that). This could be due to the small group of dedicated film goers who are more prone to rate the film higher than the general population. This would just go with the classic case of films being grossly overrated by a small group of fans. I just hate that the Top 250 can become a marketing board like that. Perhaps it is for a good cause and certainly it is an effective strategy (I hadn't heard anything about the film before, other than that it had won the Golden Lion), but I just worry that it has now become "that film that 'no one' has seen on the Top 250" and not an excellent film from a booming cinematic country.
Also the fact that I am only 3 films away from finishing the Top 250 is driving me a little nuts. I don't care about the award, I just want to appease the completionistic nature inside of me.
@operationdropkick Usually it's every two weeks, but the writer is kind of random. He's always trying to add new films to the list and so far he has no plans on stopping.
Very overrated film. Crappy camera work, bad acting, weak story, miserable ending, horrible narration, completely unfocused and no character development. Some of the training scenes were good but overall I just say watch City of God and avoid this tripe.
@DeanWindow It's not that we don't want to give A Separation a chance it's that we are frustrated it keeps appearing on the IMDB Top 250 when it hasn't even been released in many international markets. Many of us want to watch all the films on the IMDB Top 250 but are now stuck because one unattainable film keeps popping up. I guarantee that when it finally is released with English subtitles that many people from this site will go see it and give it an honest evaluation. It's just frustrating that it may not happen for several months or possibly years.
The other problem is that the film is a clear example of Top 250 hacking. I can prove this very quickly. Go look at the distribution of votes for A Separation and The Shawshank Redemption. 75% of all of the votes for A Separation are 10s. Compare that with Shawshank, where 60% of the votes are 10s. Now if A Separation has 15% more tens than Shawshank, the highest ranked film on IMDB, that says something. It could say that A Separation is the best film of all time, but I doubt it. Doesn't mean it can't be brilliant, but it takes a while to reach a consensus like that. More likely the film suffers from either a high ranking from a relatively small niche group of viewers or it is the result of people voting highly to get the film on the Top 250 to garner more attention for the film and there have been rumors that this is why A Separation has appeared several times on the list.
While I see why you would think Thin Red Line was a better film in terms of cinematography, I think Saving Private Ryan was the right choice. Kami?ski did a lot of revolutionary things like stripping away the protective coating on the film stock, running it through a bleach bypass and basically establishing the "shaky-cam" action style. I think aesthetically Thin Red Line is prettier but Saving Private Ryan created a visual style that had never really been done before.
Comments 51 - 75 of 151
Movie comment on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
mi-16evil
Pretty good, but I highly recommend seeing this in IMAX. I think my opinion would be much lower if I hadn't seen it like that. The scenes on the Burj Khalifa (the tallest structure in the world) are particularly insane!Movie comment on The Searchers
mi-16evil
My whole life growing up I was told that The Searchers was a masterpiece and now I can finally confirm that it is! From the brilliant cinematography to the incredible story of the pointlessness of obsession, this is one for the ages.I guess my only real problem with it is the very hammy acting that was really popular back in the 40s and 50s. Seriously, if John Wayne gives the most subtle performance in a film, you know you have problems.
Movie comment on Goodbye Solo
mi-16evil
Slow and languid, but well worth. Very incredible.Movie comment on Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
mi-16evil
Ughhh still waiting for this one to show anywhere close to my town. Probably won't be able to see it until it is finally released on DVD. Can't wait.Incidentally, Roger Ebert named this the best film of 2011! High praise indeed.
Movie comment on The Help
mi-16evil
Before I go into my rant I'll just say that there are some really great female performances in this film. Viola Davis especially deserves every award she will likely win this season.That said, this movie was awful. It is so contrived and cliched. It reeked of the same trappings that "The Blind Side" had. It paints everyone in these cheap, one-dimensional notes that make it so that the audience never has to think or be challenged. There is absolutely no attempt to actually talk about race or race relations at all. It's just another pathetic attempt by white filmmakers to make white audiences feel better about the horrible abuses we inflicted on other races. It's just lazy Oscar bait with good acting.
Movie comment on Hugo
mi-16evil
One of the best film tributes to cinema I have ever seen. An absolutely incredible tribute to one hundred years of magic.Toplist comment on IMDb's Top 250
mi-16evil
Nice to see Nosferatu enter the list! It's very rare to see a film that old get on the Top 250.Movie comment on The Limey
mi-16evil
Just a reminder that if you're watching this for the New Cult Canon list entry, technically the entry is for the commentary track for the film between Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Lem Dobbs. Just pointing that out for all the completionists out there.Movie comment on Tower Heist
mi-16evil
Pretty mediocre action comedy with a few good moments, but mostly forgettable.Toplist comment on Scott Tobias's The New Cult Canon
mi-16evil
@Quartoxuma Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on the list. The only thing is if you want the mods to keep the list updated you should just use the contact feature and send them the updates directly. I do that for every entry in Roger Ebert's Great Movies list and they usually update it within a couple days.Thanks again!
Movie comment on The Three Musketeers
mi-16evil
@ste, Couldn't have said it better myself.Movie comment on Eye Myth
mi-16evil
Too long.Toplist comment on Reddit Top 250
mi-16evil
I hate when people say a film shouldn't be on list just because they don't want to see it. I absolutely didn't want to see Salo, but I did because it was on so many lists. The only way to become a well-rounded film viewer is if you are willing to take risks on films and see things you may have never tried on your own. In fact that's kind of the idea of this site, helping you expand your viewing library by exposing you to films you would never have watched if you weren't trying to finish a list.Plus you never know what your reaction will be. I really didn't want to watch The Celebration but I ended up loving it! Never short change yourself on a possible new favorite film.
Movie comment on 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets
mi-16evil
It's a subject worth talking about but it's presented in such a boring and mediocre format. I'd rather read a book or hell even a Wikipedia article about this subject than suffer through Ben Kingsley's hammy acting.Toplist comment on IMDb's Top 250
mi-16evil
I'm not exactly sure how I'm being "childish" but okay. Whatever you want. I'm done. There are far more important things to talk to about than one movie on one list on the internet. So there you go. You all win, now let's move on to something much more interesting.Toplist comment on IMDb's Top 250
mi-16evil
@jimbotender "I'm sure it's much more frustrating for Top 250 followers in any country other than America because so much of that site's traffic is based around the release of films in the West. Just look at how quickly Drive entered multiple IMDB lists after is Los Angeles premiere. So yeah I see your point, just because I can't see it doesn't make the film unworthy of the Top 250."Thanks for not reading my whole post! Next time you want to argue with someone how about you listen to their whole argument first instead of skimming the top lines or just ignoring that I even said that.
Toplist comment on IMDb's Shorts Top 50
mi-16evil
@Oaktown I definitely agree with AFGiant that the changing nature of the shorts list is one it's best features. You'll find some really great stuff that only shows up every once in a while. For example the short "I Am So Proud of You" just came back to the shorts lists. That was one I just happened upon the week it was on the list that now I'm madly in love with.The only problem is sometimes you'll get shorts like "Mei and the Kitten Bus" which are so rare that you can't even see them. But that hasn't happened in a while.
Toplist comment on 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
mi-16evil
They just updated the list. I'll be sending all the changes to the mods.Movie comment on Drive
mi-16evil
Managed my way into an advanced screening tonight. Wow, what a film! I'd say the film is very akin to Taxi Driver and the early work of the auteur 70s directors. The story is fairly cliche but the stunning work of Refn and the great performances from Albert Brooks and Ryan Gosling make this a must see.Still it's a very love/hate movie and I think the reaction for this one will be very similar to Tree of Life.
Movie comment on Triumph des Willens
mi-16evil
"Now I have just seen it again and am stunned that I praised it. It is one of the most historically important documentaries ever made, yes, but one of the best? It is a terrible film, paralyzingly dull, simpleminded, overlong and not even 'manipulative,' because it is too clumsy to manipulate anyone but a true believer. It is not a 'great movie' in the sense that the other films in this group are great, but it is 'great' in the reputation it has and the shadow it casts."Wow, I'm stunned at how honest Roger Ebert was about reviewing this famous of a film. Personally I thought the film was decent and had some great visuals but was ultimately fairly uninteresting.
Toplist comment on IMDb's Top 250
mi-16evil
I'm not trying to say that I'm not a fan or Iranian cinema or unable to give A Separation a chance. Two of my most sought after directors are Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Abbas Kiarostami whose every film I try to acquire. I understand what you mean ThyCaptain about waiting forever for films you want to see. There's almost no availability for these two directors other than insanely overpriced Ebay DVDs. I think Iran and Korea are two of the most exciting places for filmmaking today. Iranian filmmakers are making these very unique sudo-metafictional works that cross the boundaries of art, film, documentary and autobiography (though it seems like A Separation is a more straight-forward narrative).ThyCaptain, I definitely have to agree with your idea that I shouldn't be upset about it not being available in my country. I'm sure it's much more frustrating for Top 250 followers in any country other than America because so much of that site's traffic is based around the release of films in the West. Just look at how quickly Drive entered multiple IMDB lists after is Los Angeles premiere. So yeah I see your point, just because I can't see it doesn't make the film unworthy of the Top 250.
My main problem with A Separation is still the same: it's clearly a case of overrating the IMDB page to get attention for the film. There's been plenty of forum chatter about how fans have been rating the film higher than usual because of fear that the film might be buried by the Iranian government. Even if it's not the case, the simple statistics of A Separation's rating just don't add up (you can see my earlier post for more information about that). This could be due to the small group of dedicated film goers who are more prone to rate the film higher than the general population. This would just go with the classic case of films being grossly overrated by a small group of fans. I just hate that the Top 250 can become a marketing board like that. Perhaps it is for a good cause and certainly it is an effective strategy (I hadn't heard anything about the film before, other than that it had won the Golden Lion), but I just worry that it has now become "that film that 'no one' has seen on the Top 250" and not an excellent film from a booming cinematic country.
Also the fact that I am only 3 films away from finishing the Top 250 is driving me a little nuts. I don't care about the award, I just want to appease the completionistic nature inside of me.
Toplist comment on Scott Tobias's The New Cult Canon
mi-16evil
@operationdropkick Usually it's every two weeks, but the writer is kind of random. He's always trying to add new films to the list and so far he has no plans on stopping.Movie comment on Tropa de Elite
mi-16evil
Very overrated film. Crappy camera work, bad acting, weak story, miserable ending, horrible narration, completely unfocused and no character development. Some of the training scenes were good but overall I just say watch City of God and avoid this tripe.Toplist comment on IMDb's Top 250
mi-16evil
@DeanWindow It's not that we don't want to give A Separation a chance it's that we are frustrated it keeps appearing on the IMDB Top 250 when it hasn't even been released in many international markets. Many of us want to watch all the films on the IMDB Top 250 but are now stuck because one unattainable film keeps popping up. I guarantee that when it finally is released with English subtitles that many people from this site will go see it and give it an honest evaluation. It's just frustrating that it may not happen for several months or possibly years.The other problem is that the film is a clear example of Top 250 hacking. I can prove this very quickly. Go look at the distribution of votes for A Separation and The Shawshank Redemption. 75% of all of the votes for A Separation are 10s. Compare that with Shawshank, where 60% of the votes are 10s. Now if A Separation has 15% more tens than Shawshank, the highest ranked film on IMDB, that says something. It could say that A Separation is the best film of all time, but I doubt it. Doesn't mean it can't be brilliant, but it takes a while to reach a consensus like that. More likely the film suffers from either a high ranking from a relatively small niche group of viewers or it is the result of people voting highly to get the film on the Top 250 to garner more attention for the film and there have been rumors that this is why A Separation has appeared several times on the list.
Toplist comment on Academy Award - Best Cinematography
mi-16evil
While I see why you would think Thin Red Line was a better film in terms of cinematography, I think Saving Private Ryan was the right choice. Kami?ski did a lot of revolutionary things like stripping away the protective coating on the film stock, running it through a bleach bypass and basically establishing the "shaky-cam" action style. I think aesthetically Thin Red Line is prettier but Saving Private Ryan created a visual style that had never really been done before.Showing items 51 – 75 of 151