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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 2, 2017 20:38:21 GMT
After about a week long break to go marvel at the Grand Canyon for a bit, I was finally able to finish what was probably the weakest year in quite a long time. Turns out my favorite film was actually just a re-watch of a classic Hitchcock, but kudos to pickpocket for the recommendations of The Good Fairy which was the only film to really get close to it (and what a lovely film it was, with one of the best ensembles of the decade thus far - who knew The Wizard from Oz could be so downright hilarious). Top Hat was about on par with The Gay Divorcee - both really fun and cute films, but lacking a really strong plot. Have high hopes for Swing Time, though, which I've always heard is the best of the bunch. Super weird seeing the Marx Brothers make a sentimental, moving film as well, but it totally works and might just top Animal Crackers as my favorite of their work in time. Also would probably give Triumph a solid 10 purely from a filmmaking standpoint, and further drives home the point that Riefenstahl was an absolute underrated genius behind the camera, yet it's sickening to think of the purpose the film served in the long run and how it lent "credibility" to a terrifying regime. Some of the best use of editing and sound for the decade, regardless. Other than that, not much to say about the year. Very excited to move onto the promising 1936. Best Picture: 01. The 39 Steps. 02. The Good Fairy. 03. A Night at the Opera. 04. Top Hat. 05. Triumph of the Will. 06. Mutiny on the Bounty. 07. The Informer. 08. Captain Blood. 09. Crime and Punishment. 10. Anna Karenina. ----------------- 11. Alice Adams.
Best Director: 01. Leni Riefenstahl - Triumph of the Will. 02. John Ford - The Informer. 03. Alfred Hitchcock - The 39 Steps. 04. Sam Wood - A Night at the Opera. 05. William Wyler - The Good Fairy.
Best Actor: 01. Charles Laughton - Mutiny on the Bounty. 02. Victor McLaglen - The Informer. 03. Peter Lorre - Crime and Punishment. 04. Errol Flynn - Captain Blood. 05. Robert Donat - The 39 Steps.
Best Actress: 01. Margaret Sullavan - The Good Fairy. 02. Greta Garbo - Anna Karenina. 03. Katharine Hepburn - Alice Adams. 04. Ginger Rogers - Top Hat.
Best Supporting Actor: 01. Frank Morgan - The Good Fairy. 02. Herbert Marshall - The Good Fairy. 03. Franchot Tone - Mutiny on the Bounty. 04. Harpo Marx - A Night at the Opera. 05. Basil Rathbone - Anna Karenina.
Best Supporting Actress: 01. Madeleine Carroll - The 39 Steps. 02. Ann Shoemaker - Alice Adams. 03. Lucie Mannheim - The 39 Steps. 04. Marian Marsh - Crime and Punishment. 05. Tala Birell - Crime and Punishment.
Best Original Screenplay: 01. A Night at the Opera. 02. Top Hat.
Best Adapted Screenplay: 01. The Good Fairy. 02. The 39 Steps. 03. Captain Blood. 04. Mutiny on the Bounty. 05. Crime and Punishment.
Best Ensemble: 01. The Good Fairy. 02. Mutiny on the Bounty. 03. Top Hat. 04. Anna Karenina. 05. A Night at the Opera.
Best Editing: Triumph of the Will.
Best Cinematography: The Informer.
Best Art Direction: Top Hat.
Best Costume Design: Captain Blood.
Best Makeup: Mutiny on the Bounty.
Best Visual Effects: Captain Blood.
Best Sound Design: Triumph of the Will.
Best Original Score: Louis Levy & Jack Beaver - The 39 Steps.
Best Original Song: "Isn't This a Lovely Day (to Be Caught in the Rain)" - Top Hat.As usual, feel free to leave some recs for 1936. I've already got a mighty list built up ( Modern Times being top priority), but would love to narrow it down.
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Post by stephen on Aug 2, 2017 21:07:57 GMT
Recommendations for '36:
• Modern Times • After the Thin Man • Camille • Dodsworth • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town • My Man Godfrey • The Petrified Forest • Rembrandt • Sabotage • San Francisco
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 2, 2017 22:13:05 GMT
stephenSo, sequel to The Thin Man is pretty good then, eh? My girlfriend loved the first one to bits, as did I, so I'd love to get another dose. I actually managed to check out Sabotage already as well and just reaffirms I'm getting into some good Hitchcock territory. Was a big fan of that one. Will be checking out Secret Agent as well. Thanks again for the recommendations!
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Post by stephen on Aug 2, 2017 22:13:50 GMT
stephen So, sequel to The Thin Man is pretty good then, eh? My girlfriend loved the first one to bits, as did I, so I'd love to get another dose. I actually managed to check out Sabotage already as well and just reaffirms I'm getting into some good Hitchcock territory. Was a big fan of that one. Will be checking out Secret Agent as well. Thanks again for the recommendations! Yeah, I actually prefer it to the first film. Plus baby Jimmy Stewart!
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 2, 2017 22:27:32 GMT
stephen So, sequel to The Thin Man is pretty good then, eh? My girlfriend loved the first one to bits, as did I, so I'd love to get another dose. I actually managed to check out Sabotage already as well and just reaffirms I'm getting into some good Hitchcock territory. Was a big fan of that one. Will be checking out Secret Agent as well. Thanks again for the recommendations! Yeah, I actually prefer it to the first film. Plus baby Jimmy Stewart! Oh sweet! I'm looking forward to it then. I totally forgot Jimmy was in it as well. He's one of my favorite actors, so I'm excited to finally get around to him. Also, how do you feel about The Great Ziegfield? I'm not sure if I feel like spending close to three hours on a Best Picture winner solely because of it being a Best Picture winner if it's not also worth checking out.
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Post by stephen on Aug 2, 2017 22:32:55 GMT
Yeah, I actually prefer it to the first film. Plus baby Jimmy Stewart! Oh sweet! I'm looking forward to it then. I totally forgot Jimmy was in it as well. He's one of my favorite actors, so I'm excited to finally get around to him. Also, how do you feel about The Great Ziegfield? I'm not sure if I feel like spending close to three hours on a Best Picture winner solely because of it being a Best Picture winner if it's not also worth checking out. Haha, The Great Ziegfeld was the last film I wrote a Best Picture review for before IMDb shuttered its forums, and I unfortunately don't have it handy, but I guess I should sum it up thus: it's a very long film with some interesting albeit forgettable music, but Luise Rainer is in my Top 30 of all time for Supporting Actress for it, so I'd recommend the film solely for her. The irony, though, is that she won her Oscar for a supporting performance the same year that the supporting categories were introduced, but she won the leading prize.
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 2, 2017 23:05:22 GMT
Oh sweet! I'm looking forward to it then. I totally forgot Jimmy was in it as well. He's one of my favorite actors, so I'm excited to finally get around to him. Also, how do you feel about The Great Ziegfield? I'm not sure if I feel like spending close to three hours on a Best Picture winner solely because of it being a Best Picture winner if it's not also worth checking out. Haha, The Great Ziegfeld was the last film I wrote a Best Picture review for before IMDb shuttered its forums, and I unfortunately don't have it handy, but I guess I should sum it up thus: it's a very long film with some interesting albeit forgettable music, but Luise Rainer is in my Top 30 of all time for Supporting Actress for it, so I'd recommend the film solely for her. The irony, though, is that she won her Oscar for a supporting performance the same year that the supporting categories were introduced, but she won the leading prize. Interesting... It actually sounds like an interesting story, and I'm a fan of what I've seen of William Powell. I suppose I'll check out the must-sees first and see what I still have time for when I get to it. I do enjoy me a good supporting performance, so it's hard to pass that up. Thanks for the input!
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tobias
Full Member
Posts: 824
Likes: 396
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Post by tobias on Aug 2, 2017 23:38:50 GMT
I'm surprised you liked Triumph of the Will so much. I agree, it's astonishing filmmaking and it will forever be the film the nazis are remembered by, gives it a really brooding and somber air.
I just don't think '35 is all that great, don't think you missed too much.
As for '36 (excluding Modern Times which is my favorite): - Fury (Lang) - really surprisingly great, my 2nd favorite of his American films - A Day in the Country (Renoir) - this one is a much watch. Maybe not necesarilly something that will hit you immediatly but I think Renoir grows with time and this is in a way the quintessence of what Renoir is about. - The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Renoir) - I don't know what the odds are that I can convince you to watch 2 Renoir's in one year if your introduction wasn't stellar so far but this one is his most tightly plotted I've seen, I promise. It's a great fusion of sleazy crime film and human comedy. I very much think you would enjoy it. I watched it just last week and wholheartedly enjoyed it. At this point it becomes hard for me to distinguish which Renoir I like better because they're all so amazing... ehr but again, this is one I think you will find a whole lot more accesible because the narrative is more restrained and clear.
Othwerwise I haven't really seen anything, safe for Sabotage which I wasn't really a fan of, though I liked the famous bombing sequense and the aquarium scene. If I might suggest some from my watchlist though:
My Man Godfrey (I suppose you're going to watch this one anyway) Things to Come (I think it depends on how much you like Sci-Fi if you should watch this but it looks very interesting for such an early Sci-Fi) The Only Son (Ozu) The Petrified Forest (man, I love that title) By the Bluest of Seas (this one aswell) Fährmann Maria (often lined out to be one of the best Dramas from Nazi Germany, I don't know how high the propaganda level is though)
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 3, 2017 1:24:59 GMT
tobias I actually had caught bits and pieces of Triumph of the Will in my cinema courses before and I was given a whole new appreciation for the work. Its content, similar to Birth of a Nation might be appalling, but damn if there aren't some fine filmmaking techniques on display. Yeah, 1935 was a super weak year. I had a hard time even filling my ten film quota whereas normally I'm struggling to narrow it down to ten. I just kind of picked the last couple by random. One was a super pleasant surprise ( The Good Fairy), the other an incredibly superficial and boring melodrama ( Alice Adams). I do hope to check out Fury and Monsieur Lange. I consider Day in the Country a short, but I will come back around to it eventually, so that helps narrow down which I'm going for I sure hope I enjoy Msr. Lange though. Anything with the word "Crime" in the title should be an automatic thumbs-up for me, so I'm hoping for the best. I actually caught Sabotage already (as I own a slew of Hitchcock's lesser-known early works on DVD, hence why I have no problem trying to go through his entire filmography right now) and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Not as strong as The 39 Steps or Man Who Knew Too Much, but his signature visual style is all there and it makes for a really engaging film. Strange how much Inglourious Basterds borrowed from the film for its third act, even lifting an entire clip of the film to use in it (the part about film being flammable). The third act of Sabotage gets kind of messy, but its another great Hitchcockian exercise in tension that always leaves me feeling pleased with his work and reminds me why he's my favorite. I've heard My Man Godfrey brought up as being one of the best of the '30s, but I honestly have no idea what it's about. Regardless, I'll be watching it and hope I enjoy it. I was wondering if Things to Come was worth watching. It's on a couple of the 1001 Movies to Watch Before You Die type of lists I resort to when looking for picks for each year. I like seeing H.G. Wells' name attached, yet I've hardly heard anything about it. And I do enjoy sci-fi, FYI. I believe the rest are on my list (except Fahrmann Maria), so I'll be sure to see about them. I almost want to watch Petrified Forest solely for Bogart as he's one of my favorites, but have no idea how the film itself is.
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demille
Full Member
Posts: 939
Likes: 305
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Post by demille on Aug 6, 2017 10:59:43 GMT
My choices of those years are:
1935
La kermesse héroïque Anna Karenina Top Hat Lucrèce Borgia The 39 Steps A Night at the Opera
1936
Modern Times Le roman d'un tricheur Camille Sabotage My Man Godfrey Swing Time
Top Hat is my favourite of the Astaire/Rogers musicals.
I need to rewatch The Good Fairy. I remember liking it.
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Post by idioticbunny on Aug 6, 2017 17:12:21 GMT
demilleThe Good Fairy was such a pleasant surprise, and it seems very re-watchable so I'd go for round two if I were you. Top Hat was a lot of fun and really sweet, but the plot felt very thin compared to the other two Fred/Ginger works I've seen. Having just watched Swing Time, I think that one is probably my favorite so far. It's got the best story, some beautiful and moving dance numbers, and I think Ginger Rogers gets a lot more to do which is another thing I felt the other films lacked. Plus, I had no idea "The Way You Look Tonight" came from the film, so that was a cool surprise as it's one of my favorite songs. Thanks for the lists, too! I'm almost done with the next year, but I've got an open slot so I'm debating between Things to Come, Story of a Cheat, or Fury.
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