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Post by idioticbunny on Mar 28, 2017 17:43:34 GMT
I pretty much breezed through this year, but it also helps that a lot of the films were incredibly short. I'm so glad I found Sergei M. Eisenstein though. A serious game-changer for cinema, and his films are probably the closest to just simple, pure art you could find in silent cinema. Even if Strike is just depression personified, its artistic endeavors were incredible for a debut film (which he then perfected a style with Battleship Potemkin).
Pretty timid year though for the rest though, even if all of my tech wins are probably best of the decade. Hitchcock's debut (Pleasure Garden) is a pretty lame movie, The Lost World is only worth it for the groundbreaking visual effects, and even my favorite Buster Keaton didn't feel like he was giving it his all. Plus for The Big Parade being the highest-grossing silent film ever, it feels very of its time - the film was basically two completely different movies cut right down the middle, with macho patriotism and propaganda galore that's not much my taste. But damn if Vidor can't direct a killer emotional scene - would have been the big Oscar contender in its day if Oscars existed then.
But the top three (or four) are all worth checking out. The Gold Rush is definitely the Chaplin I've been waiting for, probably top three of the decade. Lloyd is at his finest, with a fantastic supporting turn from Ralston, that really boosts The Freshman - possibly topping A Sailor-Made Man as my favorite Lloyd film.
Best Picture:
01. The Gold Rush.
02. Battleship Potemkin.
03. The Freshman.
04. Strike.
05. Seven Chances.
06. Master of the House.
07. The Big Parade.
08. The Phantom of the Opera.
09. The Joyless Street.
10. The Pleasure Garden.
11. The Lost World.
Best Director:
01. Sergei M. Eisenstein - Battleship Potemkin.
02. Charles Chaplin - The Gold Rush.
03. Sergei M. Eisenstein - Strike.
04. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor - The Freshman.
05. King Vidor - The Big Parade.
Best Actor:
01. Harold Lloyd - The Freshman.
02. Charles Chaplin - The Gold Rush.
03. Lon Chaney - The Phantom of the Opera.
04. Buster Keaton - Seven Chances.
05. Johannes Meyer - Master of the House.
Best Actress:
01. Greta Garbo - The Joyless Street.
02. Mathilde Nielsen - Master of the House.
03. Virginia Valli - The Pleasure Garden.
04. Mary Philbin - The Phantom of the Opera.
Best Supporting Actor:
01. Mack Swain - The Gold Rush.
02. Miles Mander - The Pleasure Garden.
03. Lewis Stone - The Lost World.
04. Malcolm Waite - The Gold Rush.
05. Wallace Beery - The Lost World.
Best Supporting Actress:
01. Jobyna Ralston - The Freshman.
02. Carmelita Geraghty - The Pleasure Garden.
03. Georgia Hale - The Gold Rush.
04. Astrid Holm - Master of the House.
05. Claire McDowell - The Big Parade.
Best Original Screenplay:
01. The Gold Rush.
02. The Freshman.
03. The Big Parade.
04. Battleship Potemkin.
05. Strike.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. Master of the House.
02. Seven Chances.
03. The Pleasure Garden.
04. The Joyless Street.
05. The Phantom of the Opera.
Best Ensemble:
01. The Gold Rush.
02. Master of the House.
03. The Big Parade.
04. The Pleasure Garden.
05. The Freshman.
Best Editing:
Battleship Potemkin.
Best Cinematography:
Strike.
Best Art Direction:
The Gold Rush.
Best Costume Design:
The Gold Rush.
Best Makeup:
The Phantom of the Opera.
Best Visual Effects:
The Lost World.
I have a pretty heavy list for 1926, but I'd love to hear any recommendations I might have missed. Plus if anyone knows where I can watch King Vidor's La Boheme, I'd love to know!! Lillian Gish in such a meaty role sounds like heaven to me.
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Post by Joaquim on Mar 28, 2017 19:03:37 GMT
Yea I really liked Phantom of the Opera and Potemkin is pretty great too. I wasn't as big on Strike and only gave it a positive rating for its editing and cinematography.
For 1926 check out Faust, The General and The Devil's Wheel.
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Post by stephen on Mar 28, 2017 19:49:54 GMT
If Garbo's in it, don't ignore it.
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tobias
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Post by tobias on Mar 29, 2017 3:44:58 GMT
Oh, I just realised I've slept on your 1924 thread. Maybe I'll comment there sometime later.
But as far as 1925 goes I've seen about half of those you've seen and then some you haven't seen in addition (but only 8 in total)
My ranking of the year would be:
1. Seven Chances
2. The Gold Rush
3. Battleship Potemkin
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Lady Windermere's Fan
6. The Big Parade
7. Herr Tartüff
8. Strike
They are all good films in my opinion and the top 3 are great, it's especially hard to pit Seven Chances and The Gold Rush against each other, the former is incredible sany fun and the later is has a more humanist orientation and better set pieces. It's very understandable that Gold Rush is the more acclaimed film today and I could give a lot more arguments about why it's such a great film than about Seven Chances but I just had so much fun with Seven Chances...
Battleship Potemkin is one of the first films that really feels like an action film (at least in the non comedy section) and overall it's an incredible film but I still prefer Dovzhenko's Earth (1930) when it comes to soviet propaganda. I wasn't as impressed by Strike, it didn't have the same focus that Potemkin had.
I don't have so much more to say about the rest. The 2 you haven't seen, Herr Tartüff & Lady Windermere's Fan are both good films but Tartüff is a little uneventful (it is based on a play by Moliere, kind of hard to adapt as a silent) and Lady Windermere's Fan goes in a similar direction as The Marriage Circle (which you weren't that mad about if I remember correctly).
The Big Parade and Phantom of the Opera are kind of the blockbusters of the year I guess but they are both very well done, especially Phantom has some great atmospheric set pieces, Big Parade is probably a little clunky in the narrative as you describe (it's been a while for me) but the big war scenes are great.
I should seek out the others of yours (well, maybe not the Hitchcock, although what he told about it in Truffaut/Hitchcock was interesting). I've still only seen 1 Lloyd film. I really ought to check out at least his major ones sometime.
As for '26 I don't think I have anything really special to recommend. I've seen 6 and I think 5 of them are probably generally deemed essential and the other 1 is by Sjöström, so you'll probably watch it anyway. The 6 I've seen are: The General, Faust, Die Abenteur des Prinzen Achmed (first animated feature), The Scarlet Letter, Ménilmontant & Flesh and the Devil. I'd recommend all of them but I assume you have them in your lineup already. 3 eastern films which I usually hear high praise for are: By the Law, Mother and A Page of Madness.
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Post by idioticbunny on Mar 29, 2017 16:44:59 GMT
Yea I really liked Phantom of the Opera and Potemkin is pretty great too. I wasn't as big on Strike and only gave it a positive rating for its editing and cinematography. For 1926 check out Faust, The General and The Devil's Wheel. Yeah, honestly that tells you how weak I felt the second half was because Strike didn't feel like a huge accomplishment to me outside of its editing and cinematography, but I think knowing that it would be just pure depression through and through going into it, I might be able to pick up on the artistic sentiments next time around. It's still immaculately made, I just don't think it had the cinematic depth that its successor had - which is just pure brilliance. Thanks, I actually just watched Faust last night - not what I was expecting at all. Buster Keaton is my fave so The General is top of the list for sure, and thanks for the rec on The Devil's Wheel. Never heard of it, but I'll add it to my list of shorts to watch - which is a whole other separate master list in itself  |
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Post by idioticbunny on Mar 29, 2017 16:45:34 GMT
If Garbo's in it, don't ignore it. I'll have room for one or the other: The Temptress or Flesh and the Devil? Leaning toward the latter. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Mar 29, 2017 16:56:11 GMT
Oh, I just realised I've slept on your 1924 thread. Maybe I'll comment there sometime later. But as far as 1925 goes I've seen about half of those you've seen and then some you haven't seen in addition (but only 8 in total) My ranking of the year would be: 1. Seven Chances 2. The Gold Rush 3. Battleship Potemkin 4. Phantom of the Opera 5. Lady Windermere's Fan 6. The Big Parade 7. Herr Tartüff 8. Strike They are all good films in my opinion and the top 3 are great, it's especially hard to pit Seven Chances and The Gold Rush against each other, the former is incredible sany fun and the later is has a more humanist orientation and better set pieces. It's very understandable that Gold Rush is the more acclaimed film today and I could give a lot more arguments about why it's such a great film than about Seven Chances but I just had so much fun with Seven Chances... Battleship Potemkin is one of the first films that really feels like an action film (at least in the non comedy section) and overall it's an incredible film but I still prefer Dovzhenko's Earth (1930) when it comes to soviet propaganda. I wasn't as impressed by Strike, it didn't have the same focus that Potemkin had. I don't have so much more to say about the rest. The 2 you haven't seen, Herr Tartüff & Lady Windermere's Fan are both good films but Tartüff is a little uneventful (it is based on a play by Moliere, kind of hard to adapt as a silent) and Lady Windermere's Fan goes in a similar direction as The Marriage Circle (which you weren't that mad about if I remember correctly). The Big Parade and Phantom of the Opera are kind of the blockbusters of the year I guess but they are both very well done, especially Phantom has some great atmospheric set pieces, Big Parade is probably a little clunky in the narrative as you describe (it's been a while for me) but the big war scenes are great. I should seek out the others of yours (well, maybe not the Hitchcock, although what he told about it in Truffaut/Hitchcock was interesting). I've still only seen 1 Lloyd film. I really ought to check out at least his major ones sometime. As for '26 I don't think I have anything really special to recommend. I've seen 6 and I think 5 of them are probably generally deemed essential and the other 1 is by Sjöström, so you'll probably watch it anyway. The 6 I've seen are: The General, Faust, Die Abenteur des Prinzen Achmed (first animated feature), The Scarlet Letter, Ménilmontant & Flesh and the Devil. I'd recommend all of them but I assume you have them in your lineup already. 3 eastern films which I usually hear high praise for are: By the Law, Mother and A Page of Madness. Ahh yes, please comment on it when you can! I'm in the minority that finds Buster Keaton to be far superior to Charlie Chaplin, but 1925 was too difficult to pit the two against one another. After Sherlock Jr being such an astonishing technical marvel and hilarious romp, I expected a lot more from there on out. Aside from the unbelievably fun climax in Seven Chances (and of course Keaton being his hilarious self throughout), there wasn't much to set it apart from the rest of his work. The Gold Rush, on the other hand, really accomplished something unique entirely - and of course, the human aspect is always what gets me. It was an easy choice for me, though usually I always take Keaton over any others. I agree that Strike seemed a lot less focused, and I would argue that Eisenstein's issue is that he can't seem to make us care about a character for more than two or three minutes, but with Battleship, I felt that the revolution itself stood as one as a main character and that's what made it so enthralling despite not really knowing too much about the characters. In that way, it was pretty brilliant and I expect some bright things in seeing more of his work. I'm also excited to check out more Russian cinema following that, especially Earth. I do want to see Tartuffe at some point because I like all the stuff Murnau's churned out since Nosferatu. It seems he really picked up his style, and I think The Last Laugh is his best film thus far, so I'm curious to see his follow-up to that. Big Parade is definitely clunky, that's a good word to describe it, it seems it didn't know what tone to go for, but what it strove to do in its serious moments, it did well. I'm not sure what Hitchcock said in that interview, I've always wanted to see all his films before checking out that interview so I can understand what he discusses about certain films, but it's certainly not bad. I think it's ruined by some poor editing (maybe there's another print that's unavailable which cuts some pieces out, which is entirely possible), and it's definitely not a "Hitchcock" movie per se, but there are at least a couple scenes at the beginning and end that sort of foreshadow his style. Oh, yes, please check out more Lloyd. I'm assuming the one you've seen is Safety Last!, but I find A Sailor-Made Man and The Freshman to be superior. Just as worth checking out as Keaton and Chaplin I say. Thanks for the recommendations! Of course, you are correct in assuming all of those are on my list It sounds like it could topple 1921 as the best year in silent film (personally), so I'm excited to get on it. I also have Mother and A Page of Madness on my list, but I had not heard of By the Law so I'll look that up. Thank you per usual! |
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Post by stephen on Mar 29, 2017 17:13:33 GMT
If Garbo's in it, don't ignore it. I'll have room for one or the other: The Temptress or Flesh and the Devil? Leaning toward the latter. She's my win for the latter, so that. |
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tobias
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Posts: 824
Likes: 396
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Post by tobias on Mar 29, 2017 21:12:37 GMT
I'm not sure what Hitchcock said in that interview, I've always wanted to see all his films before checking out that interview so I can understand what he discusses about certain films, but it's certainly not bad. I think it's ruined by some poor editing (maybe there's another print that's unavailable which cuts some pieces out, which is entirely possible), and it's definitely not a "Hitchcock" movie per se, but there are at least a couple scenes at the beginning and end that sort of foreshadow his style. Oh, yes, please check out more Lloyd. I'm assuming the one you've seen is Safety Last!, but I find A Sailor-Made Man and The Freshman to be superior. Just as worth checking out as Keaton and Chaplin I say. Yeah, I think he called The Lodger the first real Hitchcock film himself (which is also the earliest I've seen). Yes, Safety Last is the one I've seen. I liked it allright but there are quite a few Keaton/Chaplin films I prefer. I think I have said already that I also like Keaton the best of the 3 by quite a bit. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Mar 30, 2017 6:35:48 GMT
I'm not sure what Hitchcock said in that interview, I've always wanted to see all his films before checking out that interview so I can understand what he discusses about certain films, but it's certainly not bad. I think it's ruined by some poor editing (maybe there's another print that's unavailable which cuts some pieces out, which is entirely possible), and it's definitely not a "Hitchcock" movie per se, but there are at least a couple scenes at the beginning and end that sort of foreshadow his style. Oh, yes, please check out more Lloyd. I'm assuming the one you've seen is Safety Last!, but I find A Sailor-Made Man and The Freshman to be superior. Just as worth checking out as Keaton and Chaplin I say. Yeah, I think he called The Lodger the first real Hitchcock film himself (which is also the earliest I've seen). Yes, Safety Last is the one I've seen. I liked it allright but there are quite a few Keaton/Chaplin films I prefer. I think I have said already that I also like Keaton the best of the 3 by quite a bit. I'm glad to hear you're a big fan of Keaton as well! If you had said it before, I must have forgotten, but good to know I'm not alone there. My girlfriend is partial to Chaplin so far, but I'm trying to get her to come around to Keaton Safety Last! is a decent film, but I still wouldn't call it top three Lloyd, and I've not even seen that much from him. It's still a good film, but aside from the monumental set piece in its climax, it doesn't do a whole lot for me the way his other films have. Oh, and I'm so excited The Lodger is being released on Criterion. I'm still upset I missed the opportunity to see this on the big screen with a live orchestral score when it was playing near me, but being able to finally own another Hitchcock film on Blu-ray makes me just as happy. Can't wait to watch it for the first time. |
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