Author Topic: 28 Film Polls Later  (Read 15736 times)

Ocicat

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on: April 16, 2008, 07:13:58 PM
Okay, putting films against the Princess Bride was getting dull. Last week it got over 50% of the vote. There's only a few weeks left of the regular poll, and it's time for a bunch of new films. Let's see if one of them is still standing at the end of week 30.



birdless

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Reply #1 on: April 16, 2008, 07:17:17 PM
I haven't seen 7S, but Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window is in my All-Time Favorite top ten list, so I think it may be safe for me to vote for it.



wintermute

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Reply #2 on: April 16, 2008, 07:31:06 PM
I'd like to vote for Seven Samurai or Memento, I really would. They're both amongst my favourite films ever.

But how can I vote against Rear Window. Possibly Hitchcock's best (I was never a fan of Vertigo, which a lot of people cite as the main contender).

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birdless

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Reply #3 on: April 16, 2008, 07:51:43 PM
I'd like to vote for Seven Samurai or Memento, I really would. They're both amongst my favourite films ever.

But how can I vote against Rear Window. Possibly Hitchcock's best (I was never a fan of Vertigo, which a lot of people cite as the main contender).
I've never been able to get into Vertigo, either. Then again, I really love Rope, which most other people don't care for too much. Did you know AH actually has a cameo in that movie, too? I admit, I didn't see it... I just read about it.



stePH

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Reply #4 on: April 16, 2008, 08:00:00 PM
Of the films listed, I've only seen Mememto and Superman

(Or does Battle Beyond the Stars count?  It's a sort of remake of Seven Samurai, right?)

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wintermute

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Reply #5 on: April 16, 2008, 08:00:24 PM
I'd like to vote for Seven Samurai or Memento, I really would. They're both amongst my favourite films ever.

But how can I vote against Rear Window. Possibly Hitchcock's best (I was never a fan of Vertigo, which a lot of people cite as the main contender).
I've never been able to get into Vertigo, either. Then again, I really love Rope, which most other people don't care for too much. Did you know AH actually has a cameo in that movie, too? I admit, I didn't see it... I just read about it.

Rope is good. The "no-cuts" style make the cuts that do appear especially jarring. If I recall Hitchcock is reading a newspaper in the street as the opening credits roll?

He had a cameo in the majority of his movies. You can see a list of them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hitchcock_cameo_appearances. The easiest ones to spot, I think, are in Topaz and To Catch a Thief.

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Reply #6 on: April 16, 2008, 08:19:43 PM
Hrm.  I really need to see Rear Window and Seven Samurai...


Darwinist

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Reply #7 on: April 16, 2008, 08:51:28 PM
Tough call.  Loved Memento, but I went with Rear Window.  Loved that movie.

At Universal in Orlando ten years ago I went to the Hitchcock show where they had the Rear Window apartment building among many other things from his movies.  The apartment building was actually a scale model with little TV screens for windows. 

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Reply #8 on: April 17, 2008, 02:55:17 AM
Hail the Princess Bride!  ;D

But I had only seen Superman and Rear Window in this batch... and, well... Superman didn't age well for me.

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birdless

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Reply #9 on: April 17, 2008, 04:25:51 AM
I'd like to vote for Seven Samurai or Memento, I really would. They're both amongst my favourite films ever.

But how can I vote against Rear Window. Possibly Hitchcock's best (I was never a fan of Vertigo, which a lot of people cite as the main contender).
I've never been able to get into Vertigo, either. Then again, I really love Rope, which most other people don't care for too much. Did you know AH actually has a cameo in that movie, too? I admit, I didn't see it... I just read about it.

Rope is good. The "no-cuts" style make the cuts that do appear especially jarring. If I recall Hitchcock is reading a newspaper in the street as the opening credits roll?

He had a cameo in the majority of his movies. You can see a list of them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hitchcock_cameo_appearances. The easiest ones to spot, I think, are in Topaz and To Catch a Thief.
Hm, I didn't know about the opening credits cameo, but that Wiki confirms it. The "cameo" I was referring to was his famous profile in neon lights outside one of the apartment windows.



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Reply #10 on: April 17, 2008, 05:44:23 AM
I'd like to vote for Seven Samurai or Memento, I really would. They're both amongst my favourite films ever.

But how can I vote against Rear Window. Possibly Hitchcock's best (I was never a fan of Vertigo, which a lot of people cite as the main contender).
I've never been able to get into Vertigo, either. Then again, I really love Rope, which most other people don't care for too much. Did you know AH actually has a cameo in that movie, too? I admit, I didn't see it... I just read about it.

Wow.  I didn't know very many people knew about Rope.  I thought it was excellent.  I love how it starts as the murder is just being completed and the movie is about the effects upon the perpetraters, with the dead body in the room the entire movie...very very good, very Poe-esque.  Other Hitchcock favorites: North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Birds (not the whole movie, but that classic scene with the crows on the playground seals the flick for me), and Rear Window, which I voted for.

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Reply #11 on: April 17, 2008, 06:44:59 AM
Looks like we have a real horse race this week.  Kind of nice after the carnage The Princess Bride left behind.



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Reply #12 on: April 17, 2008, 06:45:05 AM
No offense to Memento and the others, but Rear Window is Rear Window.

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Ocicat

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Reply #13 on: April 18, 2008, 11:05:42 PM
Looks like we have a real horse race this week.  Kind of nice after the carnage The Princess Bride left behind.

Indeed, PB was out of control there.  Presumably the finals will be PB vs. ESB - but you never know.



sirana

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Reply #14 on: April 19, 2008, 08:39:25 AM
I'm a religious Nolan fan, so I went with Memento. Tough call though with Rear Window and Seven Samurai in the race-



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Reply #15 on: April 19, 2008, 12:16:17 PM
I may have to try to see Memento before the poll closes... it has come up in multiple conversations this week (unrelated to the forum) and is tied with Rear Window.  Hmm....

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Reply #16 on: April 19, 2008, 02:01:55 PM
I may have to try to see Memento before the poll closes... it has come up in multiple conversations this week (unrelated to the forum) and is tied with Rear Window.  Hmm....

Be advised that it's best appreciated after (at minimum) a second viewing.

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birdless

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Reply #17 on: April 20, 2008, 02:31:59 AM
I heard it broke down on repeated viewings. I've only seen it once, and a long time ago. I'd kinda like to see it again.



Russell Nash

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Reply #18 on: April 20, 2008, 07:05:07 PM
I may have to try to see Memento before the poll closes... it has come up in multiple conversations this week (unrelated to the forum) and is tied with Rear Window.  Hmm....

Be advised that it's best appreciated after (at minimum) a second viewing.
I heard it broke down on repeated viewings. I've only seen it once, and a long time ago. I'd kinda like to see it again.

I bought the disc and watched it several times in quick succession, including backwards.  It held up for me.



stePH

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Reply #19 on: April 20, 2008, 09:54:19 PM
I bought the disc [Memento] and watched it several times in quick succession, including backwards.  It held up for me.

How do you watch it backwards?  Does it necessitate programming the DVD player to play the chapters in reverse order, or is there an easier way to do it?

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Heradel

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Reply #20 on: April 20, 2008, 10:06:48 PM
I bought the disc [Memento] and watched it several times in quick succession, including backwards.  It held up for me.

How do you watch it backwards?  Does it necessitate programming the DVD player to play the chapters in reverse order, or is there an easier way to do it?

Don't be silly, he just used a portable DVD player and walked backwards on a treadmill whilst holding it.

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wintermute

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Reply #21 on: April 20, 2008, 10:56:54 PM
I'm a religious Nolan fan, so I went with Memento. Tough call though with Rear Window and Seven Samurai in the race-

Following is Nolan's best. Had that been up against Rear Window, I might have had to vote for it...

I bought the disc [Memento] and watched it several times in quick succession, including backwards.  It held up for me.

How do you watch it backwards?  Does it necessitate programming the DVD player to play the chapters in reverse order, or is there an easier way to do it?

Some versions of the DVD have a special feature that re-assembles the movie into chronological order (black and white scenes, then colour scenes in reverse order). I assume that is what he means.

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sirana

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Reply #22 on: April 21, 2008, 07:35:29 AM
I'm a religious Nolan fan, so I went with Memento. Tough call though with Rear Window and Seven Samurai in the race-

Following is Nolan's best. Had that been up against Rear Window, I might have had to vote for it...

It's at least the one with the best bang for the buck, it cost only 6000$ to make.
Regarding his best film, I am torn between "The Prestige" and "Batman begins".

I mean Following was great, Memento was great, Insomnia was good, but Prestige and BB were incredible.



Russell Nash

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Reply #23 on: April 21, 2008, 08:29:42 AM
I bought the disc [Memento] and watched it several times in quick succession, including backwards.  It held up for me.

How do you watch it backwards?  Does it necessitate programming the DVD player to play the chapters in reverse order, or is there an easier way to do it?

I had to make up a playlist.  As soon as I turned the player off it was gone.  The chapter breaks are set up perfectly to let you do this.  I watched the main story backwards with the charaters comentary parts in the normal order. it was pretty cool.



wintermute

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Reply #24 on: April 21, 2008, 12:10:29 PM
I'm a religious Nolan fan, so I went with Memento. Tough call though with Rear Window and Seven Samurai in the race-

Following is Nolan's best. Had that been up against Rear Window, I might have had to vote for it...

It's at least the one with the best bang for the buck, it cost only 6000$ to make.
Regarding his best film, I am torn between "The Prestige" and "Batman begins".

I mean Following was great, Memento was great, Insomnia was good, but Prestige and BB were incredible.


Both excellent movies, yes, but I feel that Following has a certain something that he doesn't seem to have been able to replicate with sudios throwing money at him. And I agree that Insomnia is the least great, but that's not saying a whole lot. One of these days, I want to see the original, though.

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