Comments on: What’s the Big Deal? needs big deals

By: magic8ball

magic8ball — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:10:51 +0000

Not sure if you’re even still checking this thread, but I didn’t see Shane on here yet. I don’t know if it’s considered a big deal in the sense of “something everyone has to watch in film school just like everyone has to read Hemingway in high school English,” but people refer to it often enough for me to wonder why. I even remember Gary Larson spoofing it in The Far Side.

By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:23:23 +0000

Gone With the Wind. Yes, people saw it. Lots of people. But, lot’s of people also thought that smell-o-rama was cool.

Also, Sound of Music. But, that may be because of my wife. She loves it enough that I may be artificially inflating its place in the film pantheon.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:12:37 +0000

However, What about “M” — the other iconic masterwork by Lang?

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:04:48 +0000

Chris F.–
Metropolis? Really? That one’s obviously a big deal . . .

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:03:05 +0000

“Sunset Boulevard” is a good one; maybe “All Quiet on the Western Front” (from the 30s). And a personal favorite with some of the actors from “Sunset” – “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.”

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:51:20 +0000

How about Star Wars? IT is a religion these days, but how many people realize that the reason it still looks so good is that it redefined modern SFX?

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:13:55 +0000

Full Metal Jacket

By: m

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:02:02 +0000

The Accidental Tourist

I couldn’t stop hearing about that movie when I was a kid. My parents took me and I wanted to chew my arm off to escape. SOOOO BORING!! I’m pretty sure this thing won awards.

By: Chris F.

Chris F. — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:13:02 +0000

Looks like I’m late to the party. What a great idea, though! (I have many classic films on DVD, some of which I purchased simply because they were “a big deal.” But sometimes, I’m left scratching my head as to why.)

Here are some additional titles to consider (and some are repeats from others who have already posted):

The 400 Blows (Traffaut)
Charade (Donen)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer)
The Last Temptation of Christ (Scorsese)
That Obscure Object of Desire (Bunuel)
Solaris (Tarkovsky), NOT Soderbergh’s remake
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Gilliam)
My Life as a Dog (Hallstrom)
sex, lies, and videotape (Soderbergh)
The Rules of the Game (Renoir)
Tunes of Glory (Neame)
Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick)
Metropolis (Lang)
Videodrome (Cronenberg)
Fanny and Alexander (Bergman)
Short Cuts (Altman)
An Angel at My Table (Campion)
Bad Timing (Roeg)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Roeg)
The Last Emperor (Bertolucci)
The Ice Storm (Lee)
Henry V (Olivier), perhaps in a comparison to Branaugh’s adaptation?

Anything from John Cassavetes. I don’t “get” his style.

And, finally, though I am too young to remember Hitchcock movies when they originally came out, I have since become a fan. Except for “Vertigo.” As others have stated/posted already, I have a hard time seeing just what is so important about “Vertigo.”

I can easily see Hitchcock’s skill and craft in “Rear Window,” “Psycho,” “Shadow of a Doubt,” “Spellbound,” “Rebecca,” “The 39 Steps,” et al, but I just don’t get “Vertigo.”

By: Raul

Raul — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:38:51 +0000

Field of dreams