Plus one of the greatest monologues–Orson Welles’ speech on the Prada wheel–and a dryly comedic opening narrated by director Carol Reed (“Of course a situation like that does tempt amateurs, but, well, you know, they can’t stay the course like a professional.”) It’s the anti-Casablanca, and a great presaging of Cold War developments, and Alida Valli is a great beauty whose sadness and stoic refusal to betray Lime makes her more than a femme fatale. It’s not my first choice, but it’s damned close.
I love everything about this movie. How it appears to be simple minded pulp violence at first glance, but then you realize that it is incredibly intelligent pulp violence. But most of all I like how the characters are influenced by pop culture. Most movies seem to forget how pop culture influences personalities but Pulp Fiction takes things in the completely opposite direction. Every character in the film is a total product of pop culture influences. That’s why I love it.
My favorite movie, my Desert Island movie, is Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. I could never begin to explain why, it just is and always will be.
To answer for CHEN, Tom is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, The Lookout, Stop-Loss, many others, one of the finest young actors around), and his sister was played by Chloe Moretz, who will soon be very very famous, as famous as Dakota Fanning was at that age. She has two movies coming out within 2 weeks of each other, and a 3rd coming in October. Any one might make her a name, all three together will explode the fabric of her time and space: First, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, based on Jeff Kinney’s wildly popular book (according to Wikipedia, it stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for children’s books for 41 weeks, also starring Steve Zahn and directed by Thor Freudenthal who directed the hit children’s movie Hotel For Dogs. That’s due to open April 2.
Next up, on April 16, is Kick-Ass, which threatens to kick everybody’s ass and send parents and conservative groups into screaming fits of rage. It’s about a group of kids who have no special superhero powers, but they become superheroes anyway. Much violence and profanity ensues. It’s said to be fun and different and unusual and will make everyone who sees it say “I can not BELIEVE they got away with making a movie like that in this pansy-assed day and age!!!” This trailer will explain a bit why. WARNING: NSFW!
If that doesn’t do it, but it will, there’s Let Me In coming in October. It’s a remake of the incredible Swedish film Let The Right One In (ok, to be fair, it’s inspired by the book, not a “remake” as such), and is directed by Matt Reeves, who directed Cloverfield. She’ll play a vampire and if it’s even a fraction as dark as the original movie based on the book, it’ll send the wimpier Twilight fans screaming out into the night.
Oh wow. Didn’t know anyone else was aware of the existence of that one. It had a wonderful atmosphere and character that, for me, really captured the spirit of Steinbeck.
That’s a great choice, but I think I’ll go with Local Hero.
“I’d be a good Gordon, Gordon.”
“You’d like to buy my church?” "Not as a going concern. . . "
“Are there two L’s in Dollar?” “Yes, and are there two G’s in ‘Bugger off’?”
Oh, I simply must get this DVD out and play it soon. . . that, and Cannery Row.
I saw TKaMB on TV back in the 60s. I was probably 10 years old. I was old enough to know that movies are make-believe & the people on screen are actors. I certainly recognized Gregory Peck from other movies. I recognized Paul Fix from his role on the Rifleman. I don’t think I had seen the kids in anything else, but no problem, I knew that they were child actors. My awareness of these things was for naught when that door swung back to reveal Boo Radley for the first time. I really thought that the film makers had brought someone in from an asylum or something. That was the only thing possible.
It was probably 20 years before I saw the movie again on VHS. As I sat there watching it, I couldn’t help but think of how the movie had drawn me in as a child & how it was drawing me in again as an adult. I was full of anticipation as the Boo Radley scene drew closer. The scene came, the door swung back, THERE WAS BOO! What? OH SHIT! IT"S ROBERT DUVALL!
:smack:
That was the day that Robert Duvall became my all time favorite actor.
Casablanca. Its got something for everyone. Except color. But for me it has Ingrid Bergman as Elsa Lund and Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine. They could have stopped there. But no. Conrad Veidt, Paul Henried helping to spice it up, but the third string players: Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet and Claude Raines.
Terrible terrible question! Looking over my list of favorites, factoring in innocent lives being held hostage I’ll pick:
Serenity
To find a better film it’d have to be deeper, more visually spectacular, more musical, a little more adult, a little more romantic and poetic, perhaps have a little fantasy or spiritual stuff mixed in, some time travel, some more intellectual content, and some more gay content.
Some other films have it beat on one or two of the criteria but so far it seems to strike the best balance of important factors.
Badlands. I only went to see it as part of a midnight double bill because I had just seen Martin Sheen in The Execution of Private Slovik on TV and had been blown away by him. Starring Sheen, Sissy Spacek and Warren Oates it is still the best movie about a nutjob ever made. Lovely to look at, horrifically banal in its violence and all punched along by the most amazing voice over narrative.
Kit and Holly are compulsively watchable even though they are hopelessly stupid and misguided. I see it again every once in a while and every time I love it.
