| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| benj clews |
Posted - 01/19/2007 : 23:49:08
Okay, this should make for some interesting debate... what was the best year for cinema?
I'm far from knowledgeable enough on this subject and I'm sure there'll be a lot better suggestions than this, but I have a lot of love for 1999.
This is the year we had end of the century purpose-of-life pondering from the likes of Fight Club, American Beauty and the brilliantly quirky Being John Malkovich.
The Sixth Sense threw a curve ball so influential it's been obligatory to feature a twist in every film since.
One of the best CGI films ever made- Toy Story, was actually bettered with, well... Toy Story 2.
Bond was back with a proper freaky villain (after the rather limp Jonathon Pryce in Tomorrow Never Dies) and Brosnan was also busy making a cool, decent remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Meanwhile, Steven Soderburgh made pensioners mean and hip with The Limey.
Sci-fi was reinvented (as were cinema effects) with The Matrix and suddenly Canoe Reeves was fashionable again. Also, the Star Wars saga was at last begun (albeit somewhat shakily) with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
It was also a good year for comedy. Steve Martin was actually funny in Bowfinger (which was then cancelled out by The Out-Of-Towners), Rob Schieder was tolerable in Deuce Bigalow, Austin Powers was a lot funnier than his overrated first outing and we had one of the best teen comedies in years- American Pie. Woody Allen was back on fine form after his serious period and a run of slightly ho-hum efforts with Sweet And Lowdown. There were some great genre piss-takes with the likes of Galaxy Quest and Mystery Men, and Drop Dead Gorgeous darkly spoofed the heck out of beauty pageants. Talking of darkly comic, we also got the excellent Election. Oh... and we got more "fuck"s in one film than before or since with South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut.
Dark Castle pictures was born and they had a darned good try at bringing back the old haunted house movie with House On Haunted Hill (shame about the big effect for the finale). The Blair Witch Project divided cinema-goers and showed a clever idea, cunningly marketed can still go a long way without the need for a huge budget. Lake Placid was a decent stab at reviving the shocks of Jaws in it's prime, Tim Burton gave us a good old fashioned ghost story in Sleepy Hollow, and we got the most horrifying film ever made: Guest House Paradiso.
There were some nice happy moments in 1999, too- Notting Hill made us all believe we could run into Julia Roberts in a bookshop, David Lynch shocked the world and made not only a warm, affectionate film, but also one that made sense with The Straight Story. And Takeshi Kitano also did an about turn, going from violent action films to a childish road trip in Kikujiro.
We had the critically acclaimed likes of The Cider House Rules, The Virgin Suicides, Magnolia, Buena Vista Social Club and Girl, Interrupted.
The Mummy was an enjoyable romp, not quite up to but certainly trying to be in the spirit of Indiana Jones. Three Kings was an off-beat, dark-humoured war drama doing that whole bullet-whizzing through someone's guts thing before anyone had heard of CSI. And Jim Carrey, hot off the back of The Truman Show, continued to impress with his brilliant Andy Kaufman/ Tony Clifton rendition in Man On The Moon.
Unfortunately, we also had Wild Wild West, but it had Selma Hayek busting out of provocative dress, so I can even forgive that. Oh... and us Kate Winslet fans got Holy Smoke.
All in all, not a bad year (and this is just my blinkered view on it)- it's amazing to see just how much of my DVD collection is from 1999.
Anyone else want to suggest a year? |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| damalc |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 17:19:50
i'm not sure what the best year for films was but 1986 was, no question, the best year ever for comics.
that year laid the groundwork for a lot of the films we love, some we hate, and some we doubt will ever be made: "Watchmen" (perpetually in development), "Batman: The Dark Knight," "The Man of Steel," "Daredevil: Born Again," "Classic X-Men," Walt Simonson's run on "Thor."
i know many of you are a little eccentric in your film tastes as am i. i promise you will dig these tales. they're available at your local comics store, probably in graphic-novel form. they may be a little pricey for paper-and-ink but i guarantee you will witness some brilliant story telling.
i also guarantee that i don't own a comics store. |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 01/30/2007 : 09:07:08
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
Plus lots of filth, including the amazingly unreviewed Nude Bondage Tea Party
As if by magic, there are now five reviews there! Mine's still pending, though.  |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 01/30/2007 : 06:15:10
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
On top of GHcool's and Cheese_Ed's selections:
Waking Ned
The Red Violin
Both great films - you may recall The Red Violin is coming with me to that deserted island.
quote:
Meet Joe Black (boring film but Brad Pitt looks amazing)
Hm... I can think of many better drool factor films. This remake of Death Takes a Holiday is just blah!
quote:
Gods and Monsters
The Big Lebowski
42 Up
Yes, yes and okay, sure - any and all of the 7up films are good.
quote:
And not seen by me but thought good by some:
Little Voice
Primary Colors
I'd recommend these two films very highly.
|
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 01/29/2007 : 18:20:08
Well, for me, the literal answer would be 2005.  In terms of more general selections (well, selections at all), I am torn by the arguments for 1976 (good year for new creations to first be seen by the world  ), 1994, 1998, 1999 and 2001. Maybe I'd plump for 1998 at a push, but it's hard.
On top of GHcool's and Cheese_Ed's selections:
Waking Ned
The Red Violin
Meet Joe Black (boring film but Brad Pitt looks amazing)
Gods and Monsters
The Big Lebowski
42 Up
And not seen by me but thought good by some:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Horse Whisperer
Little Voice
Pi
Primary Colors
Ring
Velvet Goldmine
The Waterboy
The Wedding Singer
Plus lots of filth, including the amazingly unreviewed Nude Bondage Tea Party
|
| numbersix_99 |
Posted - 01/29/2007 : 15:39:04
1999? I prefer 2001, with Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko, Royal Tenenbaums, Amelie, the Pledge, Sex and Lucia, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Ghost World, and the first LOTR film.
But my favourite is 1974,
Godfather Pt 2, Chinatown, Parallax View, The Conversation, Young Frankenstein, the Enigma of Kasper Hauser, Alice doesn't Live here anymore, a woman under the influence, Taking of Pelham 123, Lenny, etc. (some include Amarcord and Scenes from a Marriage, but I believe they were first releaed in 1973).
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
Okay, this should make for some interesting debate... what was the best year for cinema?
I'm far from knowledgeable enough on this subject and I'm sure there'll be a lot better suggestions than this, but I have a lot of love for 1999.
This is the year we had end of the century purpose-of-life pondering from the likes of Fight Club, American Beauty and the brilliantly quirky Being John Malkovich.
The Sixth Sense threw a curve ball so influential it's been obligatory to feature a twist in every film since.
One of the best CGI films ever made- Toy Story, was actually bettered with, well... Toy Story 2.
Bond was back with a proper freaky villain (after the rather limp Jonathon Pryce in Tomorrow Never Dies) and Brosnan was also busy making a cool, decent remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Meanwhile, Steven Soderburgh made pensioners mean and hip with The Limey.
Sci-fi was reinvented (as were cinema effects) with The Matrix and suddenly Canoe Reeves was fashionable again. Also, the Star Wars saga was at last begun (albeit somewhat shakily) with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
It was also a good year for comedy. Steve Martin was actually funny in Bowfinger (which was then cancelled out by The Out-Of-Towners), Rob Schieder was tolerable in Deuce Bigalow, Austin Powers was a lot funnier than his overrated first outing and we had one of the best teen comedies in years- American Pie. Woody Allen was back on fine form after his serious period and a run of slightly ho-hum efforts with Sweet And Lowdown. There were some great genre piss-takes with the likes of Galaxy Quest and Mystery Men, and Drop Dead Gorgeous darkly spoofed the heck out of beauty pageants. Talking of darkly comic, we also got the excellent Election. Oh... and we got more "fuck"s in one film than before or since with South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut.
Dark Castle pictures was born and they had a darned good try at bringing back the old haunted house movie with House On Haunted Hill (shame about the big effect for the finale). The Blair Witch Project divided cinema-goers and showed a clever idea, cunningly marketed can still go a long way without the need for a huge budget. Lake Placid was a decent stab at reviving the shocks of Jaws in it's prime, Tim Burton gave us a good old fashioned ghost story in Sleepy Hollow, and we got the most horrifying film ever made: Guest House Paradiso.
There were some nice happy moments in 1999, too- Notting Hill made us all believe we could run into Julia Roberts in a bookshop, David Lynch shocked the world and made not only a warm, affectionate film, but also one that made sense with The Straight Story. And Takeshi Kitano also did an about turn, going from violent action films to a childish road trip in Kikujiro.
We had the critically acclaimed likes of The Cider House Rules, The Virgin Suicides, Magnolia, Buena Vista Social Club and Girl, Interrupted.
The Mummy was an enjoyable romp, not quite up to but certainly trying to be in the spirit of Indiana Jones. Three Kings was an off-beat, dark-humoured war drama doing that whole bullet-whizzing through someone's guts thing before anyone had heard of CSI. And Jim Carrey, hot off the back of The Truman Show, continued to impress with his brilliant Andy Kaufman/ Tony Clifton rendition in Man On The Moon.
Unfortunately, we also had Wild Wild West, but it had Selma Hayek busting out of provocative dress, so I can even forgive that. Oh... and us Kate Winslet fans got Holy Smoke.
All in all, not a bad year (and this is just my blinkered view on it)- it's amazing to see just how much of my DVD collection is from 1999.
Anyone else want to suggest a year?
|
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 16:56:39
quote:
Originally posted by turrell
I thought of 1999 too when I saw the posting.
6th Sense
Matrix
Austin Powers
American Beauty
Any Given Sunday
Fight Club
Green Mile
Magnolia
Being John Malkovich
Three Kings
So many of these films were not just great, but almost revolutionary. They busted genres and have been imitated. I realize this is a modern biased list, but these films are all most universally better than any films from th elast couple of years in my opinion.
-------------
Nice list benj, gonna be hard to beat. To the 1999 list I'll add:-
The Insider
Gloomy Sunday - Hungarian, one of my favourites from this year
Boys Don't Cry
All About My Mother
My Father and Mother (aka The Road Home) - Zhang Yimou
and, meant to be good but I haven't seen it:-
October Sky.
Let's not forget:
Office Space
American Movie: The Making of Northwestern
Fantasia 2000
Buena Vista Social Club
One Day in September
Ravenous
Iron Giant, The
Virgin Suicides, The
|
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 16:50:16
quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
1999 and 1939 are generally considered stellar years for Hollywood cinema. Although it is overshadowed by its adjacent year, I rather enjoyed the films of 1998, and kind of liked that a lot of the best films all had a similar theme of characters that don't feel alien to the world they inhabit:
American History X ("2 fascists, too furious." - Tequila Mockingbird)
Antz ("Ant-y totalitarian flick." - MguyX)
Dark City ("Riff Raff rags Rufus." - Randall)
Life is Beautiful
Pleasantville ("Thinking inside the box." - Salopian)
Shakespeare in Love ("Gwyn: 'Nice play, Shakespeare!'." - Randall)
The Truman Show ("The Screw Carrey Show." - thefoxboy)
What Dreams May Come ("Paint and suffering." - noncentz)
From cheese:
Cruise, The
Happiness
Ronin
Rushmore
Saving Private Ryan
Sliding Doors
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Blade
Permanent Midnight
Run, Lola, Run
Simple Plan, A
Wild Things
|
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 16:45:19
quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Westy
1994 had some gems:
The Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump
The Madness of King George
Pulp Fiction
Ed Wood
Bullets over Broadway
Quiz Show
Three Colours: Red
Heavenly Creatures
The Lion King
The Mask
Maverick
Muriel's Wedding
Clerks
True Lies
And not forgetting those sleazy (and in one case freezy) classics -
John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut
Eskimo Gang Bang
As an added bonus it saw the end of the Police Academy franchise with
Police Academy: Mission To Moscow
I also like/love (not guaranteeing that my years are correct):
Dumb & Dumber
Hoop Dreams
Professional, The (Leon)
Last Seduction , The
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Clear and Present Danger
Crumb
Death and the Maiden
Ed Wood
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Getaway, The
Hudsucker Proxy, The
Il Postino
Nobody's Fool
Star Trek: Generations
Reality Bites
|
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 16:40:06
quote:
Originally posted by Paddy C
Ladies, gentlemen, please allow me to make a case for an oft-forgotten year in motion picture history: 1976. Not a sequel or a remake to be found here, and not even many adaptated scripts either. Many of these movies are bursting with originalty, creativity and feature memorable performers at the peak of their powers...
Network
Taxi Driver
Rocky
The Omen
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Carrie
Marathon Man
All the President's Men
Logan's Run
Bugsy Malone
The Man who fell to Earth
Couple more from my list:
Silent Movie
Song Remains the Same, The
|
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 16:36:50
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
OK, I recall 2003 being an excellent year, so, let's see if it gives 1999 a run for it's money:-
I've seen all these and can attest to their excellence:-
LOTR: Return of the King
Oldboy
Finding Nemo
Kill Bill: Vol 1
Mystic River
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
X2
Lost in Translation
21 Grams
Love Actually
Good Bye Lenin
House of Sand and Fog
The Snow Walker
I haven't seen these (yet) but are supposed to be good:-
Dogville
Big Fish
The Station Agent
The Triplets of Belleville
Zatoichi
Osama
Seabiscuit
and these are arguably pretty good:-
POTC Curse of the Black Pearl
Tokyo Godfathers
and a couple of decent feature-length documentaries:-
Touching the Void
The Corporation
So, how's that?
Couple more I think are strong from 2003:
Identity
Owning Mahowny
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, The
28 Days Later
All The Real Girls
Capturing the Friedmans
Cold Mountain
Elf
Intolerable Cruelty
Magdalene Sisters, The
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Old School
Pieces of April
Winged Migration
American Splendor
House of Sand and Fog
Last Samurai, The
Thirteen
Those are from my personal movie list, so perhaps the year I have listed isn't 100% accurate.
Hard to argue against any of these years (except 1939 ), great topic, BC. |
| Paddy C |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 14:11:48
Ladies, gentlemen, please allow me to make a case for an oft-forgotten year in motion picture history: 1976. Not a sequel or a remake to be found here, and not even many adaptated scripts either. Many of these movies are bursting with originalty, creativity and feature memorable performers at the peak of their powers...
Network
Taxi Driver
Rocky
The Omen
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Carrie
Marathon Man
All the President's Men
Logan's Run
Bugsy Malone
The Man who fell to Earth |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 13:18:41
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I'd expect 2006 to change as more movies are added and watched and the scores change (often downwards).
So, it certainly looks like a heavy bias towards more modern movies, with 1957 certainly looking like the odd one out. And looking at the excellent movies from that year it's clearly one of the world's best movie years.
Yes, well... we all know that 1957 was an amazing year for many things. Lots of great movies was just one of the fantastic things that happened that year. For instance, the Frisbee was introduced, John Lennon met Paul McCarteny for the first time, Jailhouse Rock came out, and much more.
(Not to mention, I was born that year!) |
| randall |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 12:47:39
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I'd expect 2006 to change as more movies are added and watched and the scores change (often downwards).
So, it certainly looks like a heavy bias towards more modern movies, with 1957 certainly looking like the odd one out. And looking at the excellent movies from that year it's clearly one of the world's best movie years.
I've always found IMDB rankings skewed toward latter movies, especially as surveys show many younger people actually shy away from black and white or subtitled films. [That's how somebody talked Universal into remaking PSYCHO in color. ] So as geezers like lemmy, Whippy and me kick our respective buckets, grand years like 1939 will lose even more of their reputations.
Hmmm. 1957. Isn't that the year they gave Best Picture to AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS? |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 11:40:08
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I'd expect 2006 to change as more movies are added and watched and the scores change (often downwards).
So, it certainly looks like a heavy bias towards more modern movies, with 1957 certainly looking like the odd one out. And looking at the excellent movies from that year it's clearly one of the world's best movie years.
So, class, what can we deduce from Se�n's Show and Tell [and say thank you, Se�n, for a highly thorough and elucidating presentation]?
Yes, hand up in the back row? That's right -- everyone over 50 has died, or night as well have.
Yes, you in the striped shirt? Well, possibly everyone else has the attention span of a gnat.
What's that, you with the perm? Tastes may change. Quite probably.
Class dismissed.
|
| Sean |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 10:56:38
I'd expect 2006 to change as more movies are added and watched and the scores change (often downwards).
So, it certainly looks like a heavy bias towards more modern movies, with 1957 certainly looking like the odd one out. And looking at the excellent movies from that year it's clearly one of the world's best movie years. |
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