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385,074
391,152
348,121
9
Underrated
Hardly perfect , but this really did not deserve to be dismissed as thoroughly as it was . It's one of the most outstandingly awesome animated films ever made . The visuals are simply eye-popping , and the action and adventure are top notch . This film imagines an alternate route for science where steam is harnessed to...
385,013
391,152
460,791
9
Great
Reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz , The Princess Bride and Pan's Labyrinth . It's the story of two people convalescing in a hospital in 1910s Los Angeles . One is a foreign girl around 4 ( Catinca Untaru ) , who fell from a ladder while picking oranges and broke her arm and collarbone , the other is a Hollywood stuntman ...
385,714
391,152
332,452
9
Don't listen : It's great ! PART 1
All film buffs spend a good deal of time imagining what movies they would make if they only had a chance . For years , I've been thinking up various cinematic adaptations of The Iliad , which is probably my single favorite work of literature . I would not have come up with the same film Wolfgang Petersen has , but I am...
385,052
391,152
460,792
9
A far better film than people have given it credit for being
Richard Linklater examines the cogs in the giant machine called the fast food industry . The film is much like its much more successful competitor , Babel , in that if follows several story threads . Much like Babel , it doesn't quite make any real points by the end . Unlike Babel , I don't think Linklater especially w...
384,595
391,152
51,196
9
Hilarious and intelligent
A fantastic satire of the modern world of business . Tony Randall stars as Rockwell Hunter , a writer for television advertisements . He's not really making it at his job , and is about to go under . By a couple of coincidences , he finds out where Hollywood starlette , Rita Marlowe ( Jayne Mansfield ) , is hiding out ...
385,871
391,152
289,879
9
The critics really dropped the ball and turned a cold shoulder on a fine film here
( note : this is a review of the director's cut of the film , which has a completely different ending than the theatrical release ) The Butterfly Effect was either ignored or ridiculed by most major critics . Most minor ones , too . In reality , while it has its flaws , and some rather big ones , too , it is one of the...
384,596
391,152
124,857
9
Remarkable rope tricks !
SPOILERS SPOILERS Will Rogers was apparently one of the most important figures of the first half of the 20th Century , but I have heard almost nothing about him myself , except that he is credited with the quotation : " I never met a man I didn't like . " Last week I picked up a tape from the library entitled The Saga ...
384,549
391,152
154,421
9
Great
While not quite at the same level as _ Breaking the Waves _ , the only other Lars von Trier I have seen ( his films are quite hard to come by in Midwestern American video stores , you understand ) , _ The Idiots _ is still a great film , and , in some ways , is just as important . I have to comment on a lot of the revi...
384,643
391,152
276,919
9
Brilliant filmmaking , but von Trier misses his mark a bit
A brilliant film , no doubt , although I think I prefer almost all of the other films I've seen by Lars von Trier . His work is always problematic , but he has such a mad genius that even something as questionable as Idiots ( or , indeed , Dogville ) succeeds even as it kind of fails . This is the story of a small town...
384,823
391,152
27,652
9
Lang's first American film is a visceral experience
An idealist sets out to visit his girlfriend , whom he hasn't seen for a year , but he is picked up by the cops for no real reason and thrown into a cell because a flimsy piece of evidence hints that he might be the kidnapper of a young woman . A rumor flares in the small town and soon most of the populace is standing ...
385,156
391,152
56,905
9
amazing .
What can you say ? It's Godard . If you appreciate Godard , his early stuff , particularly , Les Carabiniers fits in perfectly with films such as Breathless , My Life to Live , Une femme est une femme , Band of Outsiders , and Pierrot le fou . It is utterly complicated , and seems to be saying dozens of things at once ...
384,749
391,152
33,563
9
A wonderful film from Disney's classic era
As a kid , I would watch over and over several Disney features : Pinnochio , Peter Pan , Bambi , Alice in Wonderland , Lady and the Tramp , and Dumbo . When I come back to those films now , I recognize that they are all marvelous films and gave Walt Disney much deserved success . It's truly sad how far Disney has falle...
384,977
391,152
109,504
9
A wonderful , sentimental , and bittersweet film
If you're wondering which Spike Lee film to watch first , if you're a little worried that you won't like his work , Crooklyn is a good one to start with . I certainly don't want to express disdain for his more polemic works , which represent some of the best work the cinema has to offer , but it might intimidate some p...
385,478
391,152
74,312
9
A strange and amazing film
Like most Fassbinder films , it's seemingly simple , but there's a lot too it when you walk a bit closer . This one sets up a great tragicomic situation : a disabled teenager manipulates her parents each to bring their lover to their summer mansion for the weekend . When the father arrives with his lover ( Anna Karina ...
385,382
391,152
87,469
9
I love everything about this installment , except for Willie Scott
It was definitely Indiana Jones week in my home , as I watched the original three films , several episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles , and on Thursday ( I really couldn't wait ) the new Indy film . I was actually not an Indy fanatic before this week . I like all the movies , but have only seen Raiders in re...
385,507
391,152
67,778
9
a beautiful coming of age story
There have been a million coming of age stories in the history of the world , most of them probably in the film medium . What a pathetic thing to have to endure something as trite as the American film American Pie when something like The 400 Blows exists . Murmur of the Heart will remind most of that classic , and , ak...
385,072
391,152
399,201
9
Wow ! It turns out Michael Bay can actually make a good movie . Even a great one !
Maybe I was just feeling easy , but Bay's The Island strikes me as the most satisfying film I've seen all summer ? very possibly the best film I've seen so far from 2005 . Is it brilliant ? Perhaps not , but it's a gripping sci-fi thriller that works on almost all levels . As sci-fi , it reminds me of stuff from the 70...
385,897
391,152
45,070
9
Great pulp Western by the great Fritz Lang
Rancho Notorious is a gorgeous film , with beautiful Technicolor cinematography . It almost reaches the poetry of a John Ford film , or a great film noir , but falls just a little short . Arthur Kennedy plays Vern , a rancher whose fiancee is brutally raped and murdered . He goes out for revenge , following the clues ....
385,983
391,152
39,677
9
There are a couple of themes that don't seem entirely worked out , but it's an exceptional film
A startling and powerful film by the man who would direct The Third Man two years later , and a big spit in the face of anyone who has ever said he only made one great film . It's not quite as good as The Third Man , but it definitely nears its greatness . The visual style for The Third Man was being developed in this ...
385,518
391,152
27,752
9
Another enormously touching Ozu film
Incredibly gentle and touching Ozu picture about a single mother who works her butt off to send her only son off to school . Many years later , we follow her journey to visit that son in Tokyo . He hasn't kept in contact very well . His mother doesn't even know about his wife and infant son , nor that he is a grade sch...
385,607
391,152
39,651
9
Very nice
A beautiful little film by Ozu , only 72 minutes long , about a young boy who was apparently abandoned by his father . He shacks up with Tané ( exquisitely played by Choko Iida ) for the first night , but when she can't find his father , he becomes a permanent fixture in her household . At first , she's bitter and mean...
385,164
391,152
32,080
9
Excellent epic by DeMille , probably my favorite of his films
It doesn't suffer from any of his usual flaws . The pacing is perfect , the acting is not at all stilted , and the technical aspects don't dominate the story or the characters . The story centers around the building of the titular railroad . A banker hires a motley group of gamblers and whoremongers ( led by Brian Donl...
385,965
391,152
33,606
9
Surprisingly excellent
René Clair lost some of his charm when he went to Hollywood , but chances were good that he couldn't lose it all . I quite love his 1942 film I Married a Witch , starring Veronica Lake . I think I like this Marlene Dietrich vehicle even better . Oh , this is a charmer , all right . The plot is too complicated to descri...
385,980
391,152
51,065
9
This should be better known
A remarkable film that , had it been made in Italy around the same time , would today be called an important and seminal film . It's worth mentioning right next to any of Antonioni's films , which it sort of resembles . There are only two Greek directors who are well known outside of their country , and I was hoping th...
385,250
391,152
51,055
9
Powerful
Let's get this straight right off the bat : I have read William Faulkner's novel Pylon , and Douglas Sirk's cinematic adaptaion of it , Tarnished Angels , lives in the original's shadow . Pylon , which for some reason is the only Faulkner novel currently out of print , is one of that glorious author's best works . Stil...
385,808
391,152
62,480
9
Quite a brilliant piece of Godardian cinematic anarchy
Easily one of Godard's best films , although I'd hesitate to call it the best as many have in the past , Weekend is without a doubt his biggest film . Whatever its worth in Godard's canon , it is undoubtedly the summation of his early career and it is , indeed , a great film . See it if you like Godard . If you don't l...
385,431
391,152
111,252
9
Very Effective DRAMA . This film is not a comedy
Spanking the Monkey was clearly not meant to be a comedy , but I found it in the comedy section , it had a quotation from Peter Travers that said : " Shockingly Funny , " and most of the other reviews on the imdb and from professionals have called it a dark comedy . I think if it had not been advertised as a comedy , i...
384,952
391,152
477,348
9
Almost a horror movie at times , this is one fantastic thriller and one of the Coens ' best
I'm not sure one viewing can do this film justice . It leaves a lot to think about , and I spent a good portion of my Sunday reading other people's views to see if I can come to some sort of conclusion about it . But I can't yet . Well , I can come to the conclusion , in any case , that this is a fantastic movie . Ther...
385,891
391,152
22,286
9
Cagney is amazing ! So is Wellman's direction !
Public Enemy is a rather flawed film . Several scenes drag on . A lot is left unresolved ( most notably Jean Harlow's role ) . The plot is a bit plodding . And a lot of the performances are not very good . That seems like a lot , and it is . However , the rest of the film is so shocking , so brilliant , that most of it...
385,483
391,152
78,754
9
Self-congratulatory , but , without a doubt , brilliant
A brilliant movie from a brilliant artist , and you'll be reminded of that constantly as you sit through All That Jazz , both in positive and negative ways . This , Fosse's fourth and also penultimate film , is his version of 8 ½ . But the great success of Fellini's semi-autobiographical masterpiece , easily one of the...
385,213
391,152
57,007
9
A beautiful film
A flawed film , certainly , but also an enormously beautiful one . It seems like simple , frivolous fun at first , but I also found it quite moving . I love the setting , above all else . The film is set on a small island in the Pacific where elements from a handful of cultures have been mixing for many years already ....
385,556
391,152
119,823
9
A true gem , all the way
Just like when Jed Clampett was out shootin ' for some food , I thought that I'd watch this movie because I was hungry to see every single version of William Faulkner's fiction put to film . I expected possum stew , but , lo and behold , this was quite the bubblin ' crude . I mean , who would expect such a high quality...
385,876
391,152
360,009
9
Mamet's ugly staccato dialogue harms what is otherwise a perfect film
Okay , so I hate David Mamet's dialogue style . Whatever critics came along in his early days and convinced him he was a genius for writing like this deserves torture . However , Spartan succeeds despite the dialogue , and perhaps because , by the film's nature , dialogue is sparse anyway . In fact , Spartan is one of ...
385,191
391,152
297,721
9
Just excellent
A strange and difficult film , but also an amazing one born from the world of dreams . I think it can best be described as a mood piece . The film runs two and a half hours , and not much really happens plot-wise . But a lot does happen emotionally . The film is about a teenage boy in Japanese junior high school ( earl...
385,220
391,152
206,634
9
Has some minor flaws and not the strongest storyline , but is so astoundingly created it's hard to care too much
Impressive as all Hell , at least from the standpoint of direction . There are a couple of long takes that are just about the greatest sequences I've ever seen . Cuarón is a master of putting the audience in the middle of the action . I've never felt more like I was in a war zone before . The collapse of society has ne...
384,979
391,152
24,183
9
One of the funniest comedies of the 30s
International House is an entirely insane and hilarious romp . A bunch of wacky characters travel to Wu Hu , China in order to bid for the rights to manufacture the new invention of television . W . C . Fields is the standout here , giving perhaps the funniest performance of his early career , rivaling such other class...
385,705
391,152
330,229
9
Takeshi Kitano is evolving as a filmmaker
Strange and far from perfect , but an amazing cinematic experience . Takeshi Kitano is best known for his yakuza films , but , with Dolls and Zatoichi , I think he's moved beyond and become a more well-rounded artist . Dolls is a highly aestheticized film that intertwines three stories about undying , insanity-causing ...
385,204
391,152
26,017
9
One of Fields ' Best
Well , what did W . C . Fields ever do that was bad ? Even in lesser works , he's still at least interesting to watch . You're Telling Me is his second or third best of all those I've seen . The opening sequence , the suicide sequence , and the ostrich sequence are its highlights . The golf sequence might be counted , ...
384,906
391,152
39,871
9
A little-known Kurosawa that's well worth rediscovering
I had said two weeks ago , in a review of Scandal , that Eclipse's new Kurosawa box set could just as easily be called Lesser Kurosawa . That's not fair . I know there are those who champion The Idiot and No Regrets for Our Youth , and even the one film I had previously seen from the set , I Live in Fear , is quite goo...
384,627
391,152
18,379
9
Would-be masterpiece slightly knocked down by a weak ending
A beautiful melodrama , which , at its best , nears Sunrise . Janet Gaynor starred in both of them , and one the first Best Actress Oscar for her work in those two films . She plays a destitute Parisian girl kicked out of her home by her father . When a police officer attempts to arrest her , a sewer worker who has jus...
384,774
391,152
829,482
9
One I think that people will be watching over and over again
Hilarious and smart teen comedy , without a doubt one of the funniest of the year . Michael Cera and Jonah Hill play two high school seniors who are best friends . When invited to a cool chick's party , they try to get their über-geeky friend , played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse , to use his fake ID ( on which he is no...
385,538
391,152
57,091
9
Sumptuous , but difficult to follow
That's probably because the version I saw was cut somehow . The video box swore it wasn't , but the copy I rented was only a bit over three hours long . That's quite a bit more than the version that was originally released in the U . S . the first time around , but there's obviously something missing , somewhere around...
385,294
391,152
45,361
9
The green monster rears its ugly head
SLIGHT SPOILERSEl is similar in style to other productions made by Bunuel in Mexico . It reminded me of both Los Olvidados and Nazarin . Unlike in the early or late films , the style is more realistic and more akin to melodrama . In fact , all three of these films each contain a single surrealist scene . Los Olvidados ...
385,506
391,152
212,720
9
Worst ending to a great movie ever ; SPOILERS
For a majority of its running time , A . I . promises to be the best movie this year , and possibly one of the best films ever . There is hardly a wrong step in the script , acting , direction , scoring , set design , special effects , or cinematography for the longest time . Then , the film comes to a dead end : David...
384,634
391,152
40,980
9
Forceful and powerful
Startling , forceful tale of women descending into a life of prostitution in post-war Osaka . Kinuyo Tanaka , who would play the lost mother of the protagonists in Sansho the Bailiff , stars as a woman who lost both her husband and son to illness long after the war has ended . When her younger sister , Sanae Takasugi ,...
385,976
391,152
24,115
9
Powerful , painful Depression-era tale
Found on the same disc as my favorite Wellman film , Wild Boys of the Road . Anyone interested in Depression-era movies should throw that disc up on your Netflix queue immediately ! That's got to be one of the all-time great double features ( which lasts only just over two hours ) . Heroes for Sale is an episodic , som...
385,978
391,152
50,839
9
Beautiful accomplishment
Exceptional , affecting melodrama about small-town life in America . The story is at times a bit tawdry , but it is always intelligent , complex and it is populated with many memorable and realistic characters . They're people to care about . Better yet , the actors portraying them are mostly brilliant . I had some pro...
385,003
391,152
371,246
9
Far from perfect , but somehow perfectly satisfying
The story involves a Mexican woman ( Paz Vega ) becoming the maid for a dysfunctional , wealthy white family . Other characters include the white family's son and daughter , the grandma , and the maid's own daughter . The plot is very loose , and is more an excuse for well developed characters to interact in complex si...
385,397
391,152
906,665
9
Weird and wild
Miike's best film since Gozu . It's an eye-popping , furious , hilarious pastiche of spaghetti Westerns . Of course , the spaghetti Western was invented by stealing from Akira Kurosawa , but then of course Yojimbo was invented from stealing from American sources , too . It goes back and forth and cuts across cultures ....
385,274
391,152
338,751
9
Great work by Scorsese and his cast
Well directed biopic of Howard Hughes that's probably too ambitious and original to be called a biopic . This is simply the story of Hughes ' early , gigantic life where he imagined giant movies , glamorous women , and futuristic airplanes , but was crippled by an obsessive-compulsive disorder . Sure , this isn't Scors...
384,892
391,152
43,081
9
A gem
When people ask the question " Why don't they make musicals anymore ? " I find that it is quite easily answered : " Well , the genre was perfected in classical Hollywood . " We can never get to that point again , and can only hope for re-invention , which we kind of got this past year with Moulin Rouge . However , that...
385,432
391,152
47,478
9
Great Film , but I think Kurosawa did better
Watching this film for over 3 hours , I felt excited every step of the way . I thought the situation was interesting , the characters were interesting , the acting was spectacular , and the action to be very intelligently crafted . But I felt there were some small problems , as well . The characters ' names were rarely...
385,600
391,152
29,751
9
I have to admit that I liked it a lot !
Surprisingly great John Ford film starring Shirley Temple . I was unsure if I could stand her cuteness for an hour and forty minutes , but I was never as annoyed as I expected to be . She's actually quite - good ( I'll probably never live that down , will I ? ) . Once in a while , she got a bit cloying , but for the mo...
384,761
391,152
47,437
9
A wonderful romantic comedy from Wilder
Humphrey Bogart and William Holden star as rich brothers , the former an ever-busy CEO the latter a lazy , womanizing playboy . Audrey Hepburn plays their chauffer's daughter , Sabrina , who is in love with Holden . He doesn't even know she exists . Hepburn's father sends her to Paris to forget , but she comes back wit...
384,808
391,152
276,501
9
Excellent film ; could possibly be a critical hit in the U . S .
When you read a synopsis of Beijing Bicycle , it may remind you of Vittorio de Sica's 1948 masterpiece The Bicycle Thieves . A poor man , having recently come to the city from the country , wins a job at a bicycle courier business , and , on a delivery , gets his bike stolen . He then proceeds to search the city of Bei...
385,604
391,152
64,897
9
Must-see for any Bergman fan
Made for television during what is probably Bergman's most innovative period , around the same time as Persona , Shame , A Passion , and Cries and Whispers . Three actors , played by Bergman regulars Gunnar Bjornstrand , Anders Ek , and Ingrid Thulin , are brought up on an obscenities charge in an unnamed European coun...
385,293
391,152
43,117
9
Marvelous John Ford
Watching The Wagonmaster is not likely to result in deep thoughts , unlike many other great Ford films , like The Searchers , My Darling Clementine , The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance , and The Grapes of Wrath among others , but it is likely to produce a feeling of awe and deep satisfaction . The story is very simple : ...
385,016
391,152
845,046
9
A charmer
It's the kind of movie that reminds me that the words " cute , " " sweet " and " quirky " ought not to be criticisms in and of themselves . The film is about two pre-teens , a troublemaker ( Will Poulter ) and a sheltered kid from a strict religious sect ( Bill Milner ) , who decide to make a sequel to First Blood . Po...
385,371
391,152
47,445
9
A great film
I don't have too much to say about the film itself . I think anyone can agree that it is a great film . Kenji Mizoguchi is a great humanist here ( this is my first film of his ) . It is a very polished film , too . The acting is marvelous , the direction and cinematography are great , and the script is the highlight of...
385,689
391,152
50,782
9
Probably my favorite film of Visconti's
He's not a director I'm overly enthusiastic about , but he's good . This is a simple love story , based on Dostoyevsky . Marcello Mastroianni plays a man who meets a beautiful young girl ( Maria Schell ) . He falls for her instantly , but finds she is awaiting an older man ( Jean Marais ) with whom she fell in love the...
384,944
391,152
47,443
9
Wildly inspirational
Salt of the Earth is simply one of the greatest achievements in American cinema , not because it is exemplary in those aspects which usually make a film great , but because it excels in its ideals where so many others during the period were failing . The plot is deceptively simple . Mexican American men , along with a ...
385,089
391,152
41,090
9
Battle of the sexes : Spencer Tracy vs . Katharine Hepburn
The comedy and romance in this film are so well scripted , directed , and acted that it seems absolutely effortless . It's grace , pure grace . Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play two lawyers married to each other . Tracy is assigned to prosecute a wife who took a couple of pot shots at her cheating husband and hi...
385,248
391,152
215,545
9
A fireball of a movie
I am absolutely embarrassed right now that I have never watched a Spike Lee film before . I have always wanted to see Do the Right Thing , which is generally considered his best film , and I even rented it once , but never got around to watching it . When Bamboozled opened last year , it sounded very interesting , but ...
385,278
391,152
80,397
9
Underrated Bergman
Bergman made this film in Germany , while in exile from Sweden for tax-related reasons . It's a dark and disturbing psychological portrait of a man , Peter , who murders a prostitute in the opening scene . The film moves back and forth in time , using title cards to establish the setting in time , trying to explain Pet...
385,738
391,152
78,480
9
Would have been my favorite film if I had seen it when I was a kid
If I had had this video when I was 8 or 9 , I think I would have watched it as much as or more than I watched any other video that I had at the time . It's quite an extraordinary film . I'm 21 now , and I found it very exciting and involving throughout . The only problem is that it always seems like the episodes in the...
385,645
391,152
57,261
9
You really couldn't hope for a better film version of the novel
And saying that , I also should clarify that I've never seen more than a few minutes of the 1990 remake . I have read the novel , though . It is good , but its none-too-subtle parable make it sort of a weak read to an adult . I was 15 when I read it , and I thought it was obvious then . As far as the prose goes , it co...
384,886
391,152
66,026
9
Great , but takes a stupid turn near the end that harms the overall product
I loved nearly every moment of MASH . It balanced its drama and comedy quite perfectly . The acting was great and the characters were well developed . This is also one of the few episodic movies which works well . Episodic films usually become tedious . Every episode in MASH is entertaining and works towards developing...
384,901
391,152
22,074
9
Jazz up your lingerie !
Among some movie buffs , there is a line of thought about Gene Kelly that he comes off as an unlikeable and smug jerk . Those people have never seen a film starring Maurice Chevalier . Kelly might stalk you until you fall for him , and a little more creepily than Fred Astaire would , but at least you know he'd probably...
384,663
391,152
14,341
9
Better than the more famous " The General "
I thought this film set up a masterful comic situation . The train jokes in this film were much funnier than the ones in The General . Also , there are a lot of great close ups to Keaton's hilarious deadpan expression . He probably has the funniest face of any actor who ever lived .
385,814
391,152
142,032
9
The most ambitious miniseries in a very long while
I despise David Lynch's Dune . In my not so very humble opinion , it is the worst film I have ever seen . It is utterly nonsensical and impossible to follow , the actors are almost all miscast ( except for Sting , Dean Stockwell , and Patrick Stewart , who all mainly work as novelty ) , and the visuals are hideous . I ...
385,704
391,152
22,835
9
Excellent
I haven't read Stevenson's famous novel , but this film is adapted from a play which is supposedly a lot different anyway . The story is really not especially great . A scientist makes a potion that turns him into a total spazz . The spazz version ruins Dr . Jekyll's romance with Rose Hobart and tortures a loose woman ...
384,995
391,152
269,746
9
Brilliant , for the most part
Tsai's unique style gives rise to another film about isolation in urbanization . Hsiao-kang's father has just died , and he and his mother must hold together . He doesn't have much problem doing that , but his mother is going insane with loneliness , so much so that she entirely imbues herself in her religious beliefs ...
384,593
391,152
25,335
9
Excellent Ford / Will Rogers film !
This film is pure Ford , so , if you're a fan , definitely seek it out . Will Rogers plays the title character , a relaxed judge in a small , Southern town at the end of the 19th Century . He's a kind man with a homespun sense of justice . Others in the legal profession around him disdain him for his casualness , and J...
384,861
391,152
383,574
9
Surprisingly great given what I had heard
It boggles my mind how down the critics were on this . It's at the same level as the first one , which everyone seemed to love . Yes , there are some things to complain about , mostly that there's just way too much going on . Characters from the first one that , if you last saw it when it was in the theaters ( as I did...
385,050
391,152
410,764
9
My third favorite Gilliam film , after 12 Monkeys and Brazil
If you're a fan of Terry Gilliam's films , I think you'll like Tideland . Gilliam has always been a champion of style over substance , so I wasn't particularly expecting a masterpiece of ideas here . Tideland , on the other hand , is a visionary fantasy / horror film seen from the point of view of a young girl , Jeliza...
385,054
391,152
84,509
9
Depressing , but impressive
A forgotten animated film directed by the man who made Watership Down in 1978 , and also adapted from a novel by the same author who wrote it , Richard Adams . Watership Down is famously not for small kids , although it's smart and good for older children . The Plague Dogs , on the other hand , is so relentlessly bleak...
384,793
391,152
362,269
9
A great film !
Probably the most well liked movie of 2004 that I missed . I'm glad I finally decided to sit down and watch it , because it really is one of the best films of that year . There was a glut of biopics at the time , but I think this one is the best . It's just a truly fascinating movie about an important individual . It a...
385,005
391,152
352,465
9
Takashi Miike is my hero !
Miike makes another yakuza picture . It's not especially groundbreaking , and it's certainly not one of Miike's deeper films , but it is extremely entertaining . That's mostly because of the main character , Kunisada ( Miike regular Riki Takeuchi ) , who is the most psychopathic character in Japanese movies since Tatsu...
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For what it's worth , it fully lives up to its reputation
If you're curious about Salo , and can stand anything , no matter how depraved , then go for it . I think it wins the award for the most profane and pornographic film ever made , beating the hell out of its closest competitors like The Night Porter or In the Realm of the Senses . However , I think Salo is a better film...
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An excellent film about rival New York City newspapers in the 1880s
Its main draw is Sam Fuller's direction ? he is , without a doubt , one of the most skillful American directors to have ever lived . You have to see some of the brilliant long takes in Park Row to believe them . The flowing shots make the rather brilliant moves in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope look trite ( which is no dump o...
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9
Chaplin's Best Talkie .
Charlie Chaplin is one of the undisputed masters of the cinema . He was one of the funniest actors of the cinema , and he was also one of the greatest directors . Of course , the films that he is most famous for are his silent comedies , especially The Gold Rush , City Lights , and Modern Times . The latter two were th...
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9
Great flick . Can't wait for the special edition DVD !
Although I've pretty much despised every film David Fincher has made up to this point , I'd always readily admit that he was a pretty good director . If only he had decent material . Zodiac is a super-detailed account of the Zodiac murders that occurred in California in the late ' 60s through the mid ' 70s , one of the...
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9
I may not have been entirely won over , but I certainly was wowed !
May be a ways down from perfection , but with such an ambitious project , that's more than understandable , as well as forgivable . It's a poetic , impressionistic mood piece on the desperation of man to escape death , told over three intermingled , interrelated stories , one of a Spanish conquistador , one of a modern...
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9
Much deserving of the first Best Picture Academy Award ( even if Sunrise is a better film )
As the answer to one of the most commonly known trivia questions in history , Wings is a rather overlooked film . It's often thought of as extremely dated , but that seems a silly notion after you've seen it . Wings actually stands as one of the best films made about WWI - the amount of detail that went into the produc...
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9
A fine , forgotten film
Cacoyannis , best know for directing the film Zorba the Greek ( aka Alexis Zorbas ) in 1964 , explored some of its themes in this 1956 film , which stars Ellie Lambeti . She plays a young woman who is constantly harassed by the young bachelors who live on the island of Hydra because she refuses to marry any of them . W...
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9
Provides more fun than all of the summer blockbusters put together
The 14 year-old in me is immensely happy that they're now able to make really good looking fantasy movies , and that they're all the rage , what with Lord of the Rings , Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia making loads of cash at the box office . This year will see ( and already has seen ) several more , most not...
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Seems Run-of-the-Mill at first , but soon blossoms into something very beautiful
Three of the greatest talents in filmmaking history , Elia Kazan , Warren Beatty , and especially Natalie Wood , make this film great . I've seen three of Kazan's films , and I would say that this one may not be quite as good as On the Waterfront , but I think it is better than A Streetcar Named Desire . It doesn't get...
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9
Surprisingly excellent !
A surprisingly excellent adaptation of my very favorite novel , William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury . A lot of things are changed - and I mean A LOT - but I would much rather see something new than a slavish adaptation of a great novel . Besides , Faulkner's novel would probably be impossible to adapt as written ...
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9
An incredibly beautiful mood piece
There's not too much to say about Picnic at Hanging Rock . It's one of the most beautiful films ever made . Technically , it's perfect . The cinematography is godly , and the musical score , much of which is performed by Zamfir , master of the pan flute , is exquisite . It's also wonderfully directed by Peter Weir - he...
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9
The Beverly Hillbillies as directed by America's greatest poet
The back side of the same coin whose front is The Grapes of Wrath . It's a Depression piece about a family of Georgia dirt farmers who are about to be driven from their home . Here John Ford stays much in his comedy mode , so most of his detractors will certainly want to stay clear of it . And even I admit that at time...
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Powerful , powerful movie
I almost skipped this one , given my distaste for British period pieces in general and the other Merchant / Ivory film I had seen in particular . I'm damn glad I didn't . This is a very subtle and quietly devastating picture about a butler whose major character flaw is that he's just too good a butler . Anthony Hopkins...
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Gorgeous
A very beautiful film by master Ingmar Bergman . Four women , all sisters-in-law , await their husbands in a house on an island . They converse , and soon begin to tell each other the big stories of their lives . The first tells how she had an affair with her teenage sweetheart and how her husband reacts . The second t...
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A great film
Katharine Hepburn plays an aging woman . She is alone on a vacation in Venice - she was alone before she left , and she has , for the most part , always been alone . To be on vacation alone is a sort of tragedy . Hepburn walks around the beautiful city with her movie camera and captures the spectacle of it all . Unfort...
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Forgive the cliché , but I laughed until I cried
If you're looking for great film-making or thoughtful satire , definitely turn around . On the other hand , if you're looking for a funny comedy , you're in the right place . Will Ferrell plays a character that would stand perfectly well next to all of his SNL characters , which , I know , is kind of a backhanded compl...
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I wrote this way back when I saw it in February of 2002
A fantastic film about adolescence Unfortunately , I doubt many in the U . S . will ever see it . I'm also unsure as to whether U . S . audiences would like it much anyway . I myself loved it - it's very beautiful , one of the best films on that age group I've ever seen . The story revolves around three teens in a Ta...
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Excellent ! One of Hitchcock's most underrated .
SPOILERS : Like any good film enthusiast , I consider Hitchcock one of the best directors who ever lived , right along with the likes of Fellini , Bergman , and Welles . Hitch consistently made films that were not only as entertaining as a film can possibly get , but also films that were extraordinarily intellectual an...
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7 . 1 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Okay , in a year where you put American Beauty on a pedestal like it's some kind of divinity you also crucify possibly the funniest film of the 1990s ? It figures . I've hardly ever laughed this hard at a movie . I liked every piece of it , and think it should be up for a lot of Oscars this winter , though it won't , b...
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Exceptional ; a must-see for Tracy fans
A remarkable film , a Western based on Shakespeare's King Lear . It's nearly as good as Kurosawa's samurai Lear , Ran . Spencer Tracy plays the Lear character , Matt Devereaux . He made a fortune as a cattle ranger . He has four sons , three by a deceased wife and one , Joe ( Robert Wagner ) , the son of his second wif...
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Actually , one of Luis Bunuel's most interesting films
After Un Chien Andalou and L'Age d'Or had caused such earthquakes , Bunuel picked for his next project a documentary on the Hurdanos . These people live in mid-western Spain , near the border of Portugal , under the most horendous conditions possible . They are a primitive , almost neolithic people , who only barely un...
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Vintage Altman
Gosford Park is indeed one of Robert Altman's best films . Third best of all that I've seen , following Nashville and 3 Women . Still , I am a tiny bit disappointed with it . I was hoping it would be next to Nashville and 3 Women . I'm not sure if it will even remain in the third spot in my mind for too long . It's not...