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Post by idioticbunny on May 22, 2017 16:29:49 GMT
Another year closer to being done with the decade. Might be the fullest decade outside of the 2000s for me - in terms of the amount of films I've seen. Anyway, here's 1928:
Best Picture: 01. The Last Command. 02. The Crowd. 03. The Circus. 04. Lonesome. 05. The Passion of Joan of Arc. 06. Speedy. 07. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 08. The Wind. 09. The Cameraman. 10. Spies. ----------------- 11. Easy Virtue. 12. The Man Who Laughs. 13. The Farmer’s Wife. 14. October (Ten Days that Shook the World).
Best Director: 01. Josef von Sternberg - The Last Command. 02. Carl Theodor Dreyer - The Passion of Joan of Arc. 03. King Vidor - The Crowd. 04. Pal Fejos - Lonesome. 05. Fritz Lang - Spies.
Best Actor: 01. Emil Jannings - The Last Command. 02. Charles Chaplin - The Circus. 03. Glenn Tyron - Lonesome. 04. James Murray - The Crowd. 05. Buster Keaton - Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Best Actress: 01. Maria Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc. 02. Lillian Gish - The Wind. 03. Eleanor Boardman - The Crowd. 04. Isabel Jeans - Easy Virtue. 05. Barbara Kent - Lonesome.
Best Supporting Actor: 01. Lars Hanson - The Wind. 02. Lupu Pick - Spies. 03. Cesare Gravina - The Man Who Laughs. 04. William Powell - The Last Command. 05. Maurice Schutz - The Passion of Joan of Arc.
Best Supporting Actress: 01. Evelyn Brent - The Last Command. 02. Violet Farebrother - Easy Virtue. 03. Lillian Hall-Davis - The Farmer's Wife. 04. Dorothy Cumming - The Wind. 05. Gerda Maurus - Spies.
Best Original Screenplay: 01. The Last Command. 02. The Circus. 03. Lonesome. 04. Speedy. 05. The Cameraman.
Best Adapted Screenplay: 01. Spies. 02. The Crowd. 03. The Wind. 04. Easy Virtue. 05. The Man Who Laughs.
Best Ensemble: 01. The Wind. 02. The Last Command. 03. Spies. 04. The Passion of Joan of Arc. 05. The Man Who Laughs.
Best Editing: Lonesome.
Best Cinematography: The Passion of Joan of Arc.
Best Art Direction: Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Best Costume Design: The Last Command.
Best Makeup: The Last Command.
Best Visual Effects: Steamboat Bill, Jr.
I thought this year would top last year in terms of how strong it would be. Unfortunately, even pairing my favorite '20s star, Lillian Gish, with my favorite '20s director, Victor Sjostrom, for his apparent "masterpiece" didn't quite work for me. Maybe it was the hype for it, but it let me down. Gish was still fantastic, of course, but not on the level of her past performances. Same goes for the much talked about Passion of Joan of Arc, while beautifully shot and amazingly acted, never quite lived up to the expectations set for it. Maybe it was the fact that there was no music, which doesn't exactly help a silent film, so I think this is one I'll have to re-watch when I find a version with music.
However, there were some surprises, such as The Last Command (which might be my 3rd 10/10 of the 1920s). Josef von Sternberg proved himself with last year's Underworld, but he certainly outdid himself here. He's got a style that I feel has inspired more filmmakers than any other. It's sort of mainstream - just a quick, sharp, witty style - almost similar to Billy Wilder's films. But yet, just like Wilder, their films are so rich with detail and strong characters. To boot, Emil Jannings gives possibly the finest performance of the decade, if not one of the finest leading actor performances I've ever seen. So glad I went for this Sternberg over The Docks of New York - though I will catch up with that one down the road. The Crowd and Lonesome are a nice double feature as well, and though both are still very flawed films, the emotional impact and beauty of each kind of outweighs the cons. Also, I'm surprised The Circus is noted as one of Chaplin's weakest. I might like it even more than The Kid and maybe on the same level as The Gold Rush. Beautiful little movie.
So yeah, a decent year for film, but aside from those first four, not much else to get excited about. On the Hitchcock end, I skipped over Champagne (as Hitchcock himself said it was the least favorite of his own movies), but Easy Virtue and Farmer's Wife have a lot going for it on the directorial perspective, even if the writing just doesn't quite reach that level.
Lastly, of course, would love some recommendations for 1929. I feel like the only three notable ones on my list are Pandora's Box, Man with a Movie Camera, and Woman in the Moon. Would love to weed out some other ones.
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Post by stephen on May 22, 2017 16:50:26 GMT
Really sad that you didn't seem to like The Man Who Laughs (and Conrad Veldt) as much as I do. And I absolutely recommend The Docks of New York.
For 1929, be sure to check out Diary of a Lost Girl, Bulldog Drummond, Wild Orchid and The Broadway Melody (less for the actual film and more for Bessie Love).
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Post by idioticbunny on May 22, 2017 18:05:20 GMT
Really sad that you didn't seem to like The Man Who Laughs (and Conrad Veldt) as much as I do. And I absolutely recommend The Docks of New York. For 1929, be sure to check out Diary of a Lost Girl, Bulldog Drummond, Wild Orchid and The Broadway Melody (less for the actual film and more for Bessie Love). Yeah, I had high hopes for that film as well considering how groundbreaking and visionary his previous film, The Cat and the Canary, was and I loved Veidt's last film before that - The Hands of Orlac. I guess maybe it's because I was expecting a horror film and instead got a romantic drama. Veidt was good, though, but I think it deserves a re-watch with a different mindset. Very excited for Docks of New York though, as well as Blue Angel. Had not heard of Bulldog or Wild Orchid, so I'll be sure to add those to the list. Glad to hear good word about Diary of a Lost Girl though, and I'll probably wind up checking out Broadway Melody at least to see why it won Best Picture, but I'll make special note of Bessie Love. Thanks again! Any line-ups to share for either '28 or '29?
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Post by stephen on May 22, 2017 20:05:46 GMT
Really sad that you didn't seem to like The Man Who Laughs (and Conrad Veldt) as much as I do. And I absolutely recommend The Docks of New York. For 1929, be sure to check out Diary of a Lost Girl, Bulldog Drummond, Wild Orchid and The Broadway Melody (less for the actual film and more for Bessie Love). Yeah, I had high hopes for that film as well considering how groundbreaking and visionary his previous film, The Cat and the Canary, was and I loved Veidt's last film before that - The Hands of Orlac. I guess maybe it's because I was expecting a horror film and instead got a romantic drama. Veidt was good, though, but I think it deserves a re-watch with a different mindset. Very excited for Docks of New York though, as well as Blue Angel. Had not heard of Bulldog or Wild Orchid, so I'll be sure to add those to the list. Glad to hear good word about Diary of a Lost Girl though, and I'll probably wind up checking out Broadway Melody at least to see why it won Best Picture, but I'll make special note of Bessie Love. Thanks again! Any line-ups to share for either '28 or '29? I lost most of my lineups when my old computer crapped out on me, but I am slowly but surely rebuilding them, especially as it had been ages since I'd updated them and certain films/performances rose and fell over the years.
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Post by idioticbunny on May 22, 2017 22:51:47 GMT
Yeah, I had high hopes for that film as well considering how groundbreaking and visionary his previous film, The Cat and the Canary, was and I loved Veidt's last film before that - The Hands of Orlac. I guess maybe it's because I was expecting a horror film and instead got a romantic drama. Veidt was good, though, but I think it deserves a re-watch with a different mindset. Very excited for Docks of New York though, as well as Blue Angel. Had not heard of Bulldog or Wild Orchid, so I'll be sure to add those to the list. Glad to hear good word about Diary of a Lost Girl though, and I'll probably wind up checking out Broadway Melody at least to see why it won Best Picture, but I'll make special note of Bessie Love. Thanks again! Any line-ups to share for either '28 or '29? I lost most of my lineups when my old computer crapped out on me, but I am slowly but surely rebuilding them, especially as it had been ages since I'd updated them and certain films/performances rose and fell over the years. Ahh, well that's a shame. Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing them again once you build them up.
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tobias
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Post by tobias on May 25, 2017 19:13:55 GMT
Another year closer to being done with the decade. Might be the fullest decade outside of the 2000s for me - in terms of the amount of films I've seen. Anyway, here's 1928: Best Picture: 01. The Last Command. 02. The Crowd. 03. The Circus. 04. Lonesome. 05. The Passion of Joan of Arc. 06. Speedy. 07. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 08. The Wind. 09. The Cameraman. 10. Spies. ----------------- 11. Easy Virtue. 12. The Man Who Laughs. 13. The Farmer’s Wife. 14. October (Ten Days that Shook the World).It's surprising how this is so different from my 1928 lineup (aside from The Man Who Laughs and October which I agree are boring - which is a shame considering both are from otherwise skilled and intruiging directors). I basicly prefer all your 5-10 picks (aside from Speedy which I haven't seen) to all your 1-4 picks. The Crowd and Lonesome both have some excellent sequenses but the stories feel quite goofy and are played too much for laughs imo (they don't really hold a candle to Sunrise or Seventh Heaven). The Last Command is good but it's still one of my least favorite Sternberg films (most of all a case of strong competition really). The Docks of New York is actually my favorite, it's very simple but in terms of atmsophere Sternberg hit the nail on the head. In turn The Passion of Joan of Arc, Steamboat Bill Jr. & The Wind are all some of my very favorite silent films and I do like The Cameraman and Spies a fair deal aswell (although Spies was a bit disappointing considering the other stuff Lang did). What was it excactly you didn't like about the Wind? 1929 I would add Blackmail which is probably the silent film Hitchcock himself thought of most highly and imo about as strong as The Lodger, if not a little better (it's a little less atmospheric but has much better pacing). You might also want to check out Spite Marriage (which is much better than it gets credit for) and Asphalt (which is a tad drawn out but still a nice and unique film). As for 1928 I'd say you missed Docks of New York, The Wedding March and Storm over Asia which are all among the very finest of silents imo.
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Post by idioticbunny on May 26, 2017 5:34:32 GMT
Another year closer to being done with the decade. Might be the fullest decade outside of the 2000s for me - in terms of the amount of films I've seen. Anyway, here's 1928: Best Picture: 01. The Last Command. 02. The Crowd. 03. The Circus. 04. Lonesome. 05. The Passion of Joan of Arc. 06. Speedy. 07. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 08. The Wind. 09. The Cameraman. 10. Spies. ----------------- 11. Easy Virtue. 12. The Man Who Laughs. 13. The Farmer’s Wife. 14. October (Ten Days that Shook the World).It's surprising how this is so different from my 1928 lineup (aside from The Man Who Laughs and October which I agree are boring - which is a shame considering both are from otherwise skilled and intruiging directors). I basicly prefer all your 5-10 picks (aside from Speedy which I haven't seen) to all your 1-4 picks. The Crowd and Lonesome both have some excellent sequenses but the stories feel quite goofy and are played too much for laughs imo (they don't really hold a candle to Sunrise or Seventh Heaven). The Last Command is good but it's still one of my least favorite Sternberg films (most of all a case of strong competition really). The Docks of New York is actually my favorite, it's very simple but in terms of atmsophere Sternberg hit the nail on the head. In turn The Passion of Joan of Arc, Steamboat Bill Jr. & The Wind are all some of my very favorite silent films and I do like The Cameraman and Spies a fair deal aswell (although Spies was a bit disappointing considering the other stuff Lang did). What was it excactly you didn't like about the Wind? 1929 I would add Blackmail which is probably the silent film Hitchcock himself thought of most highly and imo about as strong as The Lodger, if not a little better (it's a little less atmospheric but has much better pacing). You might also want to check out Spite Marriage (which is much better than it gets credit for) and Asphalt (which is a tad drawn out but still a nice and unique film). As for 1928 I'd say you missed Docks of New York, The Wedding March and Storm over Asia which are all among the very finest of silents imo. Yeah, I'm glad I'm not alone on October as I've enjoyed everything from Eisenstein (and his peers as well), but the severe lack of a plot or character focus dragged it down so bad. I kept just waiting for it to end. I definitely recommend Speedy as I think it's one of Lloyd's best. I think The Crowd and Lonesome are certainly flawed films, especially with the advent of sound in the latter - it was cute, but their line deliveries were awful. For me, it was just the sheer amount of emotion and beauty involved in the direction as well as the acting that sold them for me. It was especially surprising in The Crowd to have such a harrowing romance film - it felt like Revolutionary Road for the silent era. I'm mostly happy to hear that The Last Command is one of your least favorites of von Sternberg, as that only makes me excited to see more of his work (the only other I've seen is Underworld). To me, The Last Command is a near perfect film with such slick, strong direction and two fantastic performances in Jannings and Brent (possibly two of the best I've seen in the silent era). As you can tell, this is the most films I've seen for a year this decade, so there were quite a lot I had to skip just to make time (such as Docks of New York, Storm Over Asia, and Wedding March - all of which were high up on my list). On the other hand, I think the lack of music severely hurt my opinion of Passion of Joan of Arc. It made the film feel two hours longer (and it's only a fairly short film) and I'm a pretty easily distracted person, so without music to keep my attention, it was tough to feel emotionally invested. I'd love to watch a version down the road that actually has a soundtrack to it, possibly if I buy the Criterion and listen to the "Voices of Light" version as I've heard that's the one that sealed the deal for people. Otherwise, it was superbly directed and insanely well-acted. I agree on Spies. It was a good film, I still give it a solid 7 to 8 out of 10, but it was way too long and didn't need to be. Plus the writing could have used some work (which was my same issue with Metropolis, written by the same person). As for The Wind, I thought Gish and Lars Hanson were fantastic, and even Sjostrom's direction was really nice, but it had such a dull story compared to his other films. It just didn't have that same passionate spark that his others had (kind of flip-flopped on our opinions of this and Scarlet Letter as I felt that one was made with far more passion than this one). Really disappointing, but still worth it for Gish. Also I just watched Blackmail and enjoyed it. It feels like the first true Hitchcock film. For the record, I'm also planning to just watch all of Hitchcock's filmography (currently skipping Champagne - as I've heard he himself hated it - and The Lodger - which I'm waiting for my Criterion disc). I believe you may have mentioned Asphalt before because it's on my list, and I'm glad to hear good things about Spite Marriage as I was considering skipping because I've heard virtually nothing about it, but now I might check it out. P.S. Blackmail was actually Hitchcock's first talkie
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tobias
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Post by tobias on May 26, 2017 22:12:18 GMT
idioticbunnyI'd consider Spite Marriage better than Three Ages and College. Some of the jokes are repeated perhaps one or 2 times too much but overall it's a really fun film. I don't understand why it gets such a (relatively) bad wrap (or at least so little attention for a Keaton film). It's odd you watched Joan of Arc without sound. There is a post-rock version on YouTube which I watched and enjoyed (although I assume Voices of Light is better). If you plan to watch all Hitchcock films you might consider to read Hitchcock/Truffaut which covers his entire filmography. I read it recently and while it's no holy grail of cinema books (which it is at times made out to be), it was hard to put down and more or less read itself (really, it's 300 pages or so and I was through it before I noticed I had picked it up). It's always interesting to hear Hitchcock's own thoughts on the films. He has quite a few interesting stories to tell (especially regarding his first film) and it also gives you an insight about his techniques and inspiration. Rich and Strange is another one coming up soon which Hitchcock thought highly of himself (or at least he thought it deserved better than what it got back then). Oh and Blackmail exists in 2 versions. It's at the same time Hitchcock's last silent film and his first sound film. There were some sudden changes in the middle of production (because sound was such a big thing) and thus the film ended up with 2 versions. I've heard the silent one is a little better but I've personally seen the sound version. You can notice that the lead actress is actually lip-synched. The sound version is a bit odd but it's also fun.
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Post by idioticbunny on May 27, 2017 5:29:19 GMT
tobias (I always wondered how people did this, hopefully this works). Anywho, yeah, I mean I've liked just about everything from Keaton so I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I feel like the 1920s would have been a pretty dull period for films if not for the likes of he, Chaplin, and Lloyd because all the other films made, even the comedies, don't have half the energy that their films do. Apparently Dreyer preferred Joan of Arc to be without sound, which I'm assuming is why the Criterion version (aka FilmStruck version) that I watched was without an accompanying score. I did see there was a post-rock version, but I feel like the modern soundtracks take me out of the film too much, so I thought going with Dreyer's preference would be better but I think I'll settle with Voices of Light in the future. Yes! I certainly plan to read that once I finish his films as well as catch the documentary. It'll be nice to get some insight into his creative process as he's my favorite director and has served as such a large inspiration to my own creative mind. (Also I was confused that there was a Hitchcock title called Rich and Strange as I know it as East of Shanghai ha). That makes sense. I read about how (badass) Hitchcock was told to shoot only parts in sound and he thought it was dumb so he shot the whole thing in sound. Didn't realize a silent version existed. I think I preferred the sound though - even if poorly dubbed, which I feel most of them are around this time - just because the pacing was so solid.
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tobias
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Post by tobias on May 27, 2017 12:54:33 GMT
tobias (I always wondered how people did this, hopefully this works). It does. Didn't know that about Joan of Arc and Dreyer but I still don't feel like watching it without sound. Maybe sometime in the far future. The funny thing about Blackmail is that it isn't even dubbed as technology did not exist back then but it's lip-synched on set because the lead actress did not want to speak. I also think I would prefer the sound version had I seen both.
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Post by idioticbunny on May 27, 2017 16:32:51 GMT
tobiasThat makes sense about the dubbing, I probably meant lip-synching ha. That's so weird that she didn't want to speak. And I can tell you that watching Joan of Arc without sound really adds nothing. I'm not sure why he preferred it that way. It might have worked had there have been sound with the dialogue, but having just static while watching Joan of Arc is a great way to become sleepy - which is what happened to me - and I know it's a film that deserves better so maybe I'll just buy the Criterion and watch it with Voices of Light.
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Post by Joaquim on May 27, 2017 22:39:31 GMT
Did you check out Storm Over Asia? Worth watching just for its GOAT-tier cinematography.
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Post by idioticbunny on May 28, 2017 16:46:10 GMT
Did you check out Storm Over Asia? Worth watching just for its GOAT-tier cinematography. It was honestly right up there on my list, I really wanted to check it out, but made room for others instead. Very loaded year for me. I'll definitely get back around to it, though.
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