[Druid 2156]

Yahoo has published a new list titled "100 Movies to See Before You Die". It's not a bad compilation, but I was shocked at how many foreign and older movies are on the list. Here's the link so you can peruse at your leisure.

[Caer Ibormeith]

I've already seen about 75% of them. Most of them are great choices. The old films are classics, especially The African Queen and Casablanca. Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, and Hitchcock are sophisticated, witty, and damn scary in case of Hitchcock.

Francois Truffaut, Akira Kurasawa, and Ingmar Bergman should be seen by every film buff, foreign or not. Although, I would have chosen Small Change as my favorite Truffaut movie.

The older movies I can go back to again and again.

I do like some of the more current movies, but seeing them once is usually enough. The original Star Wars deserves multiple watches, though.

[mr dragon]

I thought that was a slightly better list than the last one put up. Glad to see Kurosawa, Lang, Chaplin and Lean in there as directors. Though no Krzysztof Kieslowski and Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger films?

There was one or two strange ones like- Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Die Hard. Enjoyable films, but are they that important?

And still, The Sound of Music and Titanic- no, no, no!

[JuanaLaLoca]

Let's see, I've seen about 87 of them, and have 18 of them in my collection.

It looks like a good mix of old and new, and a number of different countries and genres represented. I was glad to see Almodovar represented, and of course my favorite movie ever is The Wizard of Oz.

There are a few where my not seeing them has been deliberate, even though I understand they are great films. I am not really interested in seeing Raging Bull (although I have seen Rocky), and I don't think I've seen On the Waterfront because I just don't care for Marlon Brando.

[Caer Ibormeith]

Trailer for Small Change:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oRbWVTD ... re=related

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a wonderful film, too, Juana. One of my favorites from that that era.

[eddie2003]

That list looks awfully familiar...I almost think I have seen that before...

A Hard's Day Night? Other than the Beatles being the stars, was that a great film?

The Usual Suspects?

[JuanaLaLoca]

I thought I had seen it before, too, unless it's a revised/updated one. I remember the mouse-overs as to why you should see some of them.

A Hard Day's Night was revolutionary!!!

[eddie2003]

In what sense? People had sung on film lots of times before...and the writing/acting wasn't all that spectacular. The reason people love that film is because of the Beatles themselves, let's face it.

[wakeyboy]

I've only seen 35 of them.

Did the list end on the films beginning with 'W'?

[JuanaLaLoca]

In what sense? People had sung on film lots of times before...and the writing/acting wasn't all that spectacular. The reason people love that film is because of the Beatles themselves, let's face it.

I think it is more the direction, camera-work, and editing that distinguish it, than the music, writing, and acting.

Here are some quotes in wikipedia, which are listed under the heading "Influence":

British critic Leslie Halliwell states the film's influence as "... it led directly to all the kaleidoscopic swinging London spy thrillers and comedies of the later sixties..." In particular, the visuals and storyline are credited with inspiring The Monkees' television series. The "Can't Buy Me Love" segment borrowed stylistically from Richard Lester's earlier The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film and it is this segment, in particular using the innovative technique of cutting the images to the beat of the music, which has been cited as a precursor of modern music videos. Roger Ebert goes even further, crediting Lester for a more pervasive influence, even constructing "a new grammar": "he influenced many other films. Today when we watch TV and see quick cutting, hand-held cameras, interviews conducted on the run with moving targets, quickly intercut snatches of dialogue, music under documentary action and all the other trademarks of the modern style, we are looking at the children of A Hard Day's Night".

The comments on the list itself indicate that Richard Lester brought elements of the French New Wave genre to a more popular and widespread style. I think I've heard this before, and that the scene of Ringo wandering around particularly illustrates this.

I just read that a 13-year-old Phil Collins was in the audience in the theatre scenes - I'll have to look out for him next time I see it, although I don't know whether he's actually visible.

I wish they would come out with a boxed set of DVDs that included A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Let It Be, and even Yellow Submarine. I currently don't have any of their films.

[Caer Ibormeith]

In what sense? People had sung on film lots of times before...and the writing/acting wasn't all that spectacular. The reason people love that film is because of the Beatles themselves, let's face it.

I think it is more the direction, camera-work, and editing that distinguish it, than the music, writing, and acting.

Here are some quotes in wikipedia, which are listed under the heading "Influence":

British critic Leslie Halliwell states the film's influence as "... it led directly to all the kaleidoscopic swinging London spy thrillers and comedies of the later sixties..." In particular, the visuals and storyline are credited with inspiring The Monkees' television series. The "Can't Buy Me Love" segment borrowed stylistically from Richard Lester's earlier The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film and it is this segment, in particular using the innovative technique of cutting the images to the beat of the music, which has been cited as a precursor of modern music videos. Roger Ebert goes even further, crediting Lester for a more pervasive influence, even constructing "a new grammar": "he influenced many other films. Today when we watch TV and see quick cutting, hand-held cameras, interviews conducted on the run with moving targets, quickly intercut snatches of dialogue, music under documentary action and all the other trademarks of the modern style, we are looking at the children of A Hard Day's Night".

The comments on the list itself indicate that Richard Lester brought elements of the French New Wave genre to a more popular and widespread style. I think I've heard this before, and that the scene of Ringo wandering around particularly illustrates this.

I just read that a 13-year-old Phil Collins was in the audience in the theatre scenes - I'll have to look out for him next time I see it, although I don't know whether he's actually visible.

I wish they would come out with a boxed set of DVDs that included A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Let It Be, and even Yellow Submarine. I currently don't have any of their films.

I have A Hard Days Night and Help!. Both were stylistically ahead of their time, especially A Hard Days Night. Of course, it didn't hurt that the Beatles were so damn cute.

[JuanaLaLoca]

Of the two, Help! is actually my favorite, although I love both of them. I first saw Help! in a small movie theatre when I was a kid, and during the opening credits I really thought that someone in the audience was actually throwing darts at the screen! I love the guy who keeps coming out of the water and asking the way to Dover - he apparently is so off course he swims across the entire Atlantic Ocean, since they see him first in Europe and then in the Bahamas!

[Caer Ibormeith]

Of the two, Help! is actually my favorite, although I love both of them. I first saw Help! in a small movie theatre when I was a kid, and during the opening credits I really thought that someone in the audience was actually throwing darts at the screen! I love the guy who keeps coming out of the water and asking the way to Dover - he apparently is so off course he swims across the entire Atlantic Ocean, since they see him first in Europe and then in the Bahamas!

I loved Help! as a kid, not that I caught a lot of the social and political humor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3DWJF6e ... L&index=11

[mr dragon]

The comments on the list itself indicate that Richard Lester brought elements of the French New Wave genre to a more popular and widespread style. I think I've heard this before, and that the scene of Ringo wandering around particularly illustrates this.

It was probably that, and also later with the 70's American directors. The other film in their that's 'French New Wave' influenced and from the sixties is Blow Up. Though personally, I don't that's a very good film.

Do you know what, I'm a Brit, and a film lover, and I've never seen A Hard Day's Night all the way through. I should actually watch it one time.

[Druid 2156]

I've seen roughly half of them. Kind of eclectic bunch of them in retrospect.

[JuanaLaLoca]

It was probably that, and also later with the 70's American directors. The other film in their that's 'French New Wave' influenced and from the sixties is Blow Up. Though personally, I don't that's a very good film.

It's kind of interesting and visually stunning, but I wasn't completely impressed with the storyline/mystery. I think that 'Blow-Out', the Brian De Palma film starring John Travolta that was inspired by 'Blowup' was better and much more suspenseful - in that one, what he accidentally recorded was audio instead of visual. Of course, it was meant to be a suspense film rather than an artistic statement.

[eddie2003]

I watched A Hard Days Night a month ago...and stranglely...Paul was the only one who seemed out of place...The other three had interesting scenes in that.

[JuanaLaLoca]

I watched A Hard Days Night a month ago...and stranglely...Paul was the only one who seemed out of place...The other three had interesting scenes in that.

Well, Paul had his 'grandfather', so he probably stole Paul's scenes when nobody was looking.

I like the scene where George was asked his opinion about the supposedly very popular model/spokesperson, and he calls her 'grotty' and says something about his friends all getting together to watch her on TV and make fun of her. George was in fact probably the Beatle who was most interested in fashion at that time, and was very particular about what he wore.

And the conversation between John and the woman who thinks she recognizes him is priceless!

I recently read something about Ringo actually being very hung-over when they had to do his sequence, and they just told him to wander along and do whatever he wanted.

It was also fun seeing Jeremy Croft, who later was co-writer on Are You Being Served? and Allo Allo (after also being a cast member on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In), in the nightclub scene dancing and jumping up and down with Ringo.

[eddie2003]

Much of that is covered in the Beatles Anthology documentary, which is available...My wife has the original 10 hour copy.

[JuanaLaLoca]

Much of that is covered in the Beatles Anthology documentary, which is available...My wife has the original 10 hour copy.

I have the book and the CDs, but not the DVDs (yet!).

[mr dragon]

It was probably that, and also later with the 70's American directors. The other film in their that's 'French New Wave' influenced and from the sixties is Blow Up. Though personally, I don't that's a very good film.

It's kind of interesting and visually stunning, but I wasn't completely impressed with the storyline/mystery. I think that 'Blow-Out', the Brian De Palma film starring John Travolta that was inspired by 'Blowup' was better and much more suspenseful - in that one, what he accidentally recorded was audio instead of visual. Of course, it was meant to be a suspense film rather than an artistic statement.

I agree on both counts Juana. It was visually interesting- and clever. I watched the film just over twenty odd years ago while was at college. It also obviously had an interest for me because of the subject . But I remember it having no substantial plot- more a very good example of just style over substance. Visual imagery is fundamentally important to me in a film because that's what I'm passionate about and what I truly love, but you can't just do that and have a shit story in a film. It's just wanking material for slightly pretentious 'arty' people other wise.