1999-10 years on from a benchmark year for movies

krudler

If look back at 1999, it really was the year that changed,or at least redefined modern movies, take what came out that year (this isnt a list thread btw)

The Matrix
Star Wars Episode 1
Fight Club
American Pie
The Blair Witch Project
American Beauty
The Green Mile
Toy Story 2
Sleepy Hollow
The Sixth Sense
South Park:Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Being John Malkovich
10 Things I hate About You
Boys Dont Cry
Man on the Moon
Cruel Intentions
Election
eXistenZ
The Insider
The Iron Giant
Lake Placid
Mystery Men
Office Space
Run Lola Run

We had incredible hype for the new Star Wars movie, granted the movie was a let down but the run up to its release was a great time to be a Star Wars fan, the anticipation, the teaser trailers, trying to find any new info online long before the internet ruined movies.

The biggest dark horse blockbuster ever in The Matrix, in what was meant to be the summer of Star Wars along came an unhyped sci-fi actioner that blew audiences away, I remember only seeing a few brief tv spots and teaser for it, went to see it with some friends on opening night and at the end of the movie the entire audience had the same though on their minds "Where the **** did THAT come from?!" I saw it 4 times in the cinema on its intial release.

Fight Club made Brad Pitt cool, and defined how a lost generation were feeling about commericalism and not having a sense of purpose.

The Blair Witch Project was unique way of making a movie, take 3 people and dont tell them entirely what they're letting themselves into, scare the bejesus out of them in the forest and create a modern mythology to hype the movie up, so much to the point where audiences at first thought they were watching a genuine documentary before word of mouth spread, and use the internet to create a marketing campaign like no other movie before it.

The teen movie genre was reborn with American Pie, She's All That, 10 things.. Varsity Blues, Cruel Intentions, a genre long since dead since the days of Porkys, teen sex was back in a big way

The Sixth Sense shocked audiences and relaunched mainstream horror movies, and got everyone talking about the twist at the end.

Toy Story 2 did the impossible and made a sequel to an instant classic and not only matched but surpassed the original, its the Godfather 2 of animated movies

The Green Mile backed up Frank Darabont as being one of the few directors that trusted an audience enough to invest 3+ hours in a story and characters,something studios have long balked at as they dont think audiences will sit still for more than 90 minutes, not a dry eye in the house at the end either

Anyone got any more thoughts on this superb year for movies?

candy-gal1

i think that was one of the best years for modern classics!
like horrors such as sleepy hollow and blair witch, and the 3rd Scream movie!
and for chick flick fans there were lots including shes all that!

love stuff like that!! they were some of the best movies!

Basq

Let's not forget 'Magnolia' and 'Office Space' in 1999 also.

Agreed... a really great year for movies.

krudler

Office Space is amazing, being that I work in an office I try to get as many of my coworkers as possible to watch it, everything is so accurate, the multiple bosses telling you the same thing, the politics, the wierdos who work there, what I wouldnt give to treat the way I work like Peter does in this

Basq

Indeed, it is the most realistic representation of an office environment committed to film.

Although Fran's experience working in an office in one episode of 'Black Books' was excellent also!

Otis Driftwood

Theres alot of **** in the list in fairness.


Star Wars Episode 1
American Pie
10 Things I hate About You
Cruel Intentions
Election
Lake Placid
Mystery Men


Hardly genre defining movies.

You could take any year and list 20 or more outstanding movies.1999 is no different from 2009/8/7/6 etc.

Nolanger

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - one of the best
Another Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy - great sequel
At the Circus, Starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx - funnier than anything out this year
Babes in Arms - great Mickey Rooney movie
Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis (favourite role)
Destry Rides Again, starring James Stewart - watched it on DVD last week
Dodge City, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland - great Western
Drums Along the Mohawk, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda - brilliant movie
The Four Feathers starring John Clements and Ralph Richardson - great adventure yarn
Five Came Back starring Lucille Ball - war movie classic
Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - need I say more?
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson - best movie about school ever!
Gulliver's Travels - best of all versions
Gunga Din - great adventure fun
The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - best of the SH movies
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton - another classic
Intermezzo, starring Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard - movie that launched Bergman in Hollywood
Jamaica Inn, by Alfred Hitchcock - terror on the coast
Jesse James, starring Tyrone Power - best version
Le Jour se lève (Daybreak) - masterpiece
The Little Princess - best of the Shirley Temple's
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart - another famous classic
The Oklahoma Kid, starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp - great western
Of Mice and Men, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr. - best version
Only Angels Have Wings, with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur - airplane classic romance
Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo - Russian romantic comedy
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn - anther classic
The Roaring Twenties - one of the best gangsters
The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), by Jean Renoir - masterpiece
Son of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff - great horor sequel
Stagecoach, directed by John Ford - Orson Welles' film school!
The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and Ray Bolger - need I say more?
The Women, with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell - better than the recent remake
Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven - best version
Young Mr. Lincoln, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda - great bio

Basq

nedtheshed wrote: »

American Pie

..

Hardly genre defining movies.

To be fair, "American Pie" re-invented the teen sex comedy. You may not have enjoyed it but it was definitely more worthwhile than you may think IMO.

nedtheshed wrote: »

You could take any year and list 20 or more outstanding movies.1999 is no different from 2009/8/7/6 etc.

Can't agree... 1999 was a very memorable year for movies. Especially when looking at the listing above.

In my opinion, the same can't be said for 1998.

nyarlothothep

existenz kinda sucked imo, the matrix handled the is this reality idea much better. Also Lake Placid is a bit flaccid. Fight Club, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, American Pie and South Park are classics, the 90s went out with a real bang, best decade ever.

TheManWho

Lake Placid is a great film in my opinion. Perhaps because it was one of the first modern comedy horror films it confused it's audience, but that genre has grown with films like Severance, Black Sheep and to a lesser extent Shaun of the Dead. I'm sure that if Lake Placid was released today it would receive much better reviews as people now know what to expect from the genre.

krudler

nedtheshed wrote: »

Theres alot of **** in the list in fairness.


Star Wars Episode 1
American Pie
10 Things I hate About You
Cruel Intentions
Election
Lake Placid
Mystery Men


Hardly genre defining movies.

Not one of those movies is ****, Episode 1 aside, Lake Placid is hugely underrated, is a load of fun and the script is brilliant, Mystery Men is great and American Pie, 10 things, Cruel Intentions and Election rebooted the teen comedy movie genre

tarbuck

Yep a great year for movies and also my fav year for movies. The opening night of The Matrix is still my fav single movie-going experience ever.

(you forgot Three Kings btw).

Otis Driftwood

krudler wrote: »

Not one of those movies is ****, Episode 1 aside, Lake Placid is hugely underrated, is a load of fun and the script is brilliant, Mystery Men is great and American Pie, 10 things, Cruel Intentions and Election rebooted the teen comedy movie genre

None of the above did anything new though.

Lake Placid is on homage to the 50s and 60s creature features.Nostalgic,yes,groundbreaking,not a hope in hell.
Mystery Men (I thought) was a load of codswallop that didnt know what it wanted to be.
American Pie was a very,very obvious "comedy"
10 things is Shakespere with an attractive cast.
Cruel Intentions is a remake of a remake.

Election wasnt bad in retrospect.

As Ive said,pick any year and you can come up with a list of decent movies.It doesnt make that year any more special than any other.

S.M.B.

I'm not sure if 99 was any better for movies than other years or whether it just happened to be they year I fell in love with movies.

Otis Driftwood

In my humble,there are only a couple of benchmark movies on that list.

The Matrix was truly spectacular and mind bending.

Blair Witch proved genuine tension and fear can be created with a few grand and a video camera.

The 6th Sense was a breath of fresh air and a very unique movie viewing experience.The only movie I can think of that comes close is the Usual Suspects.


Others like Fight Club,Being John Malkovic,Office Space,Green Mile or Boys Dont Cry,while great movies didnt set a standard or create a new genre for movies to come.They are excellent stand alone movies,but not benchmarks.

I would consider Goodfellas,Halloween or Scream for example to be benchmark movies.They set a standard for the genre.

With the exception of the first 3 above,the movies on the list really couldnt be lay claim to be genre defining or bench marks,IMO.

S.M.B.

There's never going to be one single year that has that large a number of genre defining movies though.

It was more a year which marked the arrival of a lot of fresh young talented directors imo.

Running Bing

nedtheshed wrote: »

As Ive said,pick any year and you can come up with a list of decent movies.It doesnt make that year any more special than any other.

99 is widely regarded as a benchmark year for film....certainly nothing to touch it since.


In fact upon reflection it has been a pretty poor decade for cinema. Id probably say its the weakest decade in history?

Otis Driftwood

S.M.B. wrote: »

There's never going to be one single year that has that large a number of genre defining movies though.

Thats my point exactly.What makes 1999 so special and such a benchmark year?
Nothing.

The Matrix
Star Wars Episode 1
Fight Club
American Pie
The Blair Witch Project
American Beauty
The Green Mile
Toy Story 2
Sleepy Hollow
The Sixth Sense
South Park:Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Being John Malkovich
10 Things I hate About You
Boys Dont Cry
Man on the Moon
Cruel Intentions
Election
eXistenZ
The Insider
The Iron Giant
Lake Placid
Mystery Men
Office Space
Run Lola Run

S.M.B. wrote: »

It was more a year which marked the arrival of a lot of fresh young talented directors imo.

On the above list,there arent very many that wernt already established directors -
Darabont,Cronenberg,Wachowski Brothers,Burton and Fincher all had successful movies before 1999.

Of the ones that hadnt directed before 1999,how many of them are still making movies or have made anything worthwhile in the last 10 years -

Mendes,Shayamalan(his subsequent movies wernt up to much but he is successful) Parker and Stone.

Apart from them,there has been nothing too note worthy since.

Otis Driftwood

Running Bing wrote: »

99 is widely regarded as a benchmark year for film....certainly nothing to touch it since.


In fact upon reflection it has been a pretty poor decade for cinema. Id probably say its the weakest decade in history?

That depends on what you define as weak though.

Its certainly been the decade of remakes/reimaginings and TV to screen movies - by and large pure crap - but its also been the decade that non American cinema has come to the fore.

Oldboy,Dead Mans Shoes,City of God,Wolf Creek,Eastern Promises,Pans Labyrinth,The Orphanage,Pusher 2 and 3,Inside,Carandiru,The Elite Squad,This Is England or Chopper to name but a very small few,are all outstanding films and none of which were shot in Hollywood.

mike65

Prefered 1975 myself.

Valmont

nedtheshed wrote: »

Cruel Intentions is a remake of a remake.

That's missing the point. It took de laclos' story and gave it some modernity with a few oversexed teenagers. That and it showed us how hot Sarah Michelle Gellar is. The soundtrack was pretty good too. This was my favourite movie for a few years.

Lamper.sffc

nedtheshed wrote: »

None of the above did anything new though.

Lake Placid is on homage to the 50s and 60s creature features.Nostalgic,yes,groundbreaking,not a hope in hell.
Mystery Men (I thought) was a load of codswallop that didnt know what it wanted to be.
American Pie was a very,very obvious "comedy"
10 things is Shakespere with an attractive cast.
Cruel Intentions is a remake of a remake.

Election wasnt bad in retrospect.

As Ive said,pick any year and you can come up with a list of decent movies.It doesnt make that year any more special than any other.

Go ahead then and see if people agree

Corkfeen

1999 was a benchmark year for hollywood. Though I think each year we're seeing plenty of films coming from abroad that are brilliant. There just seems to be a stream of originality.
The last decade hasn't been great in hollywood. We have gotten plenty of epic movies. But the amount of remake is getting sickening at this stage.

4zn76tysfajdxp

nedtheshed wrote: »

Of the ones that hadnt directed before 1999,how many of them are still making movies or have made anything worthwhile in the last 10 years -

Mendes,Shayamalan(his subsequent movies wernt up to much but he is successful) Parker and Stone.

In fairness, Parker and Stone had already made two films before the South Park movie:

Cannibal! The Musical (1996)

Orgazmo (1997)

That doesn't even include the film they merely acted in.


Personally, I think that '99 was a great year for films. Christ, it would go down in history for The Matrix up-staging Episode 1 alone in my books ("books" is plural because they're multi-volume, like the Oxford Dictionary).

Paul_Hacket

When I saw the title of this post I honestly thought it was someone taking the piss. Seriously, 1999?

Most of the titles on that list are just further examples of the bland teen-oriented crap we've had to endure since Spielberg and Lucas ate Hollywood in the late 70s (Office Space is a deadly satire I'll admit, but it's not exactly a 'benchmark' film).

I'm not knocking the OP but the guy above who said he preferred 1939 was bang on the money in my book. It's widely agreed by film critics and historians that there hasn't been a strong period of artistic excellence in US cinema since the late 70s/early 80s, when the 'auteur' directors of that period (Scorscese, Coppola, Polanski, Ashby, etc) were locked out by a Hollywood that was much more interested in producing a handful of hyper-budgeted blockbusters per year rather than the larger number of smaller more personal films that those guys had been allowed to produce previously.

If you look at all the movies on the OP's list their average budget, even in 1999, would be well over $50 million. When budgets get that high artistic risk-taking basically goes out the window as there's just too much at stake for the backers - they need a movie that audiences in dumb-ass redneck America are going to be able to relate to so we end up with one special effects **** fest after another.

Office Space was a goodie though.

Kess73

Somebody said 1975 a few posts back.


A bit of online searching throws up this lot.


Jaws
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Deathrace2000
Tommy
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
The Man Who Would Be King
Dog Day Afternoon
Rollerball
The Stepford Wives
Shampoo
Rooster Cogburn
The Yakuza
The Land That Time Forgot
the great waldo pepper

Otis Driftwood

Lamper.sffc wrote: »

Go ahead then and see if people agree

Ya,just what this forum needs,another list thread.
:rolleyes:

2000
Snatch
O Brother Where Art Thou
Traffic
Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon
Quills
Nightmare Before Christmas
Requiem For A Dream
The Way of The Gun
Nutty Professor 2
Chicken Run
Me,Myself & Irene
Human Traffic
Gladiator
American Psycho
Ghost Gog

2001
Fellowship of the Ring
Ali
Moulin Rouge
Royal Tenenbaums
Monsters Ball
Baby Boy
Memento
Mulholland Drive
Amores Perros
The Piano Teacher
The Devils Backbone
Brother
Donnie Darko
Ghost World

Do I need to continue?

The above are just a few movies that most would have seen that came out post 1999.

Stamping your foot and demanding a list without giving any reason why 1999 is so great is kinda childish dont you think?

Otis Driftwood

Elsie Embarrassed Sauce wrote: »

In fairness, Parker and Stone had already made two films before the South Park movie:

Cannibal! The Musical (1996)

Orgazmo (1997)

That doesn't even include the film they merely acted in.


Personally, I think that '99 was a great year for films. Christ, it would go down in history for The Matrix up-staging Episode 1 alone in my books ("books" is plural because they're multi-volume, like the Oxford Dictionary).

Orgazmo bombed and Cannibal : The Musical was largely unseen prior to South Park the movie.

I agree with you on The Matrix.
That was a benchmark movie.

The rest,more or less,wernt.

niallon

Not disagreeing that 99 was a great year for movies but ultimately wasn't it just a great year for the Wachowski brothers? Sure there was a lot of great films released but I think it's fair to say that without The Matrix 1999 would just be regarded as another good year for movies, The Matrix and it's complete upstaging of Star Wars was what really made 1999 an exciting year for film, only for the Wachowski brothers to disappear up their own a**es!

krudler

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

When I saw the title of this post I honestly thought it was someone taking the piss. Seriously, 1999?

Most of the titles on that list are just further examples of the bland teen-oriented crap we've had to endure since Spielberg and Lucas ate Hollywood in the late 70s (Office Space is a deadly satire I'll admit, but it's not exactly a 'benchmark' film).

I'm not knocking the OP but the guy above who said he preferred 1939 was bang on the money in my book. It's widely agreed by film critics and historians that there hasn't been a strong period of artistic excellence in US cinema since the late 70s/early 80s, when the 'auteur' directors of that period (Scorscese, Coppola, Polanski, Ashby, etc) were locked out by a Hollywood that was much more interested in producing a handful of hyper-budgeted blockbusters per year rather than the larger number of smaller more personal films that those guys had been allowed to produce previously.

If you look at all the movies on the OP's list their average budget, even in 1999, would be well over $50 million. When budgets get that high artistic risk-taking basically goes out the window as there's just too much at stake for the backers - they need a movie that audiences in dumb-ass redneck America are going to be able to relate to so we end up with one special effects **** fest after another.

Office Space was a goodie though.

What about Fight Club? that had a massive budget and was a complete flop on release, it became a cult hit afterwards but it didnt make back half its budget intitially, yet its regarded as one of the boldest and best movies of the 90s

Maybe I should rename this thread since people are getting so uppity about what the term benchmark means, I intended it as being a great year for movies, one that widely regarded as the last great year for consistently good movies coming out one after another, of course theres a few duds in there but it was the level of talent that was coming along that year that made it special, David Fincher made his masterpeice, so did the Wachowskis, Same Mendes, audiences were introduced to Heath Ledger , adv Weitz brothers restarted the teen comedy genre.

Have to disagree that there's been no examples of artistically excellent movies since the 80s though, look at directors like PT Anderson, The Coens, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan,Darren Aronofsky, hell even Tarantino have all made offbeat and non blockbuster type movies

Running Bing

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

If you look at all the movies on the OP's list their average budget, even in 1999, would be well over $50 million. When budgets get that high artistic risk-taking basically goes out the window as there's just too much at stake for the backers - they need a movie that audiences in dumb-ass redneck America are going to be able to relate to so we end up with one special effects **** fest after another.

Yes Being John Malkovich and Fight Club how safe.:rolleyes:

Tbh your talking absolute crap, offensive racist crap at that.

The 90's saw a huge influx of independently minded filmmakers who managed to make interesting and innovative films within the hollywood system. As krudler mentioned people like Tarantino, Spike Jones, Fincher, Coens, PT Anderson immediately come to mind.

70's was a great decade for film no doubt (probably the greatest ever) and Ill personally always prefer the earlier decades like the 30's-50's but all we remember from those decades was the good stuff....there was plenty of pure sh1te as well that nobody wants to remember.

Its certainly been the decade of remakes/reimaginings and TV to screen movies - by and large pure crap - but its also been the decade that non American cinema has come to the fore.

Oldboy,Dead Mans Shoes,City of God,Wolf Creek,Eastern Promises,Pans Labyrinth,The Orphanage,Pusher 2 and 3,Inside,Carandiru,The Elite Squad,This Is England or Chopper to name but a very small few,are all outstanding films and none of which were shot in Hollywood.

That is a good point actually....there have been a lot of strong foreign films this decade.

I think the days of filmmakers like those mentioned above been given free reign is pretty much over. I think this is the decade Hollywood died (artistically) and I cant see it ever recovering.....having said that I probably would've said exactly the same thing in 1989.:p

krudler

I'd agree that the 70s was the best decade for movies, because it gave us Jaws and Star Wars, two movies that epitomise right place-right time filmmaking and launched the modern summer blockbuster. I'm a child of the 80s so a lot of my favourite movies come from there, but a lot of them are purely for nostalgia reasons. People my age(28) are pretty lucky as we were kids when stuff like Indy, Star Wars, The Goonies, Ghostbusters etc were around, then teenagers by the time the 90s hit and we had The Matrix, American Pie, Scream etc and we were the target audience, the good to crappy blockbuster ratio has declined massively recently, moviemaking by commitee and Mcdonalds tie ins have ruined summer blockbusters, along with release dates, putting pressure under filmmakers to get something out by the advertised release date as its all about demographics and what weekends are known to open big for movies (May 5th and July 4th being the two big ones in the states)

Lamper.sffc

nedtheshed wrote: »

Ya,just what this forum needs,another list thread.
:rolleyes:

2000
Snatch
O Brother Where Art Thou
Traffic
Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon
Quills
Nightmare Before Christmas
Requiem For A Dream
The Way of The Gun
Nutty Professor 2
Chicken Run
Me,Myself & Irene
Human Traffic
Gladiator
American Psycho
Ghost Gog

2001
Fellowship of the Ring
Ali
Moulin Rouge
Royal Tenenbaums
Monsters Ball
Baby Boy
Memento
Mulholland Drive
Amores Perros
The Piano Teacher
The Devils Backbone
Brother
Donnie Darko
Ghost World

Do I need to continue?

The above are just a few movies that most would have seen that came out post 1999.

Stamping your foot and demanding a list without giving any reason why 1999 is so great is kinda childish dont you think?

Lets get it straight

Firstly, I wasnt stamping my feet or demanding anything. I noticed you had made a comment a few times without backing it up. I purely asked you to back it up thats all. Whether i agree with the op or not had nothing to do with it.

You made two lists and thats all I was asking for.

The two lists you made could be argued against in the same vein as you are arguing against 1999. There is a lot on there I wouldnt use as an argument to say this was a good year for movies. But that just my opinion and it doesnt necessarily make me right it.

So leave the rolley eyes out and the remarks about being childish. I didnt know a simple question could rile you up that much. Relax

Paul_Hacket

Running Bing wrote: »

Yes Being John Malkovich and Fight Club how safe.:rolleyes:

Tbh your talking absolute crap, offensive racist crap at that.

The 90's saw a huge influx of independently minded filmmakers who managed to make interesting and innovative films within the hollywood system. As krudler mentioned people like Tarantino, Spike Jones, Fincher, Coens, PT Anderson immediately come to mind.

Excuse me gob****e, but where did i say ANYTHING even remotely racist in my post? Seriously, wtf are you takling about? I really have to insist you explain yourself or take it back you wanker.

And just to pick up on a few of your points - if you think that people like PT Anderson, Fincher and Tarantino are great film-makers that's up to you, however I have to say that if you hold that opinion and are over the age of thirty it's kind of pathetic. Fincher, Anderson and Tarantino are fanboy hacks with absolutely nothing to say. Their films are all surface gloss, mood and blather, however I sincerely doubt you have the ability to critically asses anything if you can read my post and somehow come up with the idea that I'm a racist, you twat.

I'd have given you a more civil and considered response if you hadn't just called me a racist for no apparent reason whatsoever. Idiot.

Otis Driftwood

Lamper.sffc wrote: »

The two lists you made could be argued against in the same vein as you are arguing against 1999.

We appear to be going around in circles here.

This is exactly the point Ive been making.1999 is no more a special or a bench mark year for movies than any other.Thats what I have been saying all along.

Paul_Hacket

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Excuse me gob****e, but where did i say ANYTHING even remotely racist in my post? Seriously, wtf are you takling about? I really have to insist you explain yourself or take it back you wanker.

And just to pick up on a few of your points - if you think that people like PT Anderson, Fincher and Tarantino are great film-makers that's up to you, however I have to say that if you hold that opinion and are over the age of thirty it's kind of pathetic. Fincher, Anderson and Tarantino are fanboy hacks with absolutely nothing to say. Their films are all surface gloss, mood and blather, however I sincerely doubt you have the ability to critically asses anything if you can read my post and somehow come up with the idea that I'm a racist, you twat.

I'd have given you a more civil and considered response if you hadn't just called me a racist for no apparent reason whatsoever. Idiot.

We'll be seeing you as the ban hammer should befall you any minute now.

I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt till I read your above post. You obviously know nothign about cinema and I guess that the little you think you know is gleamed from Empire.

indough

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Excuse me gob****e, but where did i say ANYTHING even remotely racist in my post? Seriously, wtf are you takling about? I really have to insist you explain yourself or take it back you wanker.

And just to pick up on a few of your points - if you think that people like PT Anderson, Fincher and Tarantino are great film-makers that's up to you, however I have to say that if you hold that opinion and are over the age of thirty it's kind of pathetic. Fincher, Anderson and Tarantino are fanboy hacks with absolutely nothing to say. Their films are all surface gloss, mood and blather, however I sincerely doubt you have the ability to critically asses anything if you can read my post and somehow come up with the idea that I'm a racist, you twat.

I'd have given you a more civil and considered response if you hadn't just called me a racist for no apparent reason whatsoever. Idiot.

redneck is a racial slur

and your taste and opinion in movies is also crap

Paul_Hacket

Deleted User wrote: »

We'll be seeing you as the ban hammer should befall you any minute now.

I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt till I read your above post. You obviously know nothign about cinema and I guess that the little you think you know is gleamed from Empire.

if you can get banned on this board for calling someone who accuses you of being a racist for absolutely no reason whatsoever a gob****e then go ahead and ban me. I joined today and made what I hope are useful contributions on other threads. I left a civil post on this one and some twat started insulting me in a manner I take far more seriously than calling someone a gob****e.

And believe me pal, I know a lot more about movies than you do, cause you wouldn't be arguing for 1999 to be considered some sort of landmark year in cinema of you did. The simple point I made in my post was that since the late 1970s mega budgets have ruined Hollywood films. They have now descended to being a bland sequence of over-marketed drivel with virtually no persona films being made (of course the odd exception does get through).

It would seem that the critics agree with me - if you look at the American Film Institute's updated list of top 100 movies from 2007 only two films from the past THIRTY YEARS are included in the top 50 (Schindler's List at 13 and Lord of the Rings scraping in at 50).

Don't agree with that list? Fine, there's a lot of things on there I don't agree with myself. Let's check the other top 100 list that surveyed a wide number of critics, the one at theyshootpictures.com (a really good site in my opinion). On their poll of critics the results for films made since 1979 - when Lucas and Spielberg's hyper budget blockbuster model took over - again only two films made the top 50 (Raging Bull and Bladerunner). Personally I think that Blue Velvet and Do The Right Thing would be worthy candidates of making the top 50 but overall the large number of critics on both of these wide ranging surveys seem to agree that the past thirty years have been crap. And that's all my point was. Now go ahead and ban me for taking someone to task after he called me a racist for no reason whatsoever.

Paul_Hacket

indough wrote: »

redneck is a racial slur

and your taste and opinion in movies is also crap

No, redneck isn't a racial slur. If you really think it is then go ahead and explain how it is - I'd really enjoy seeing you try to do that.

And what do you know about my taste in movies? Apart from the fact that I don't think Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher are great film makers, nothing it would seem.

krudler

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

And just to pick up on a few of your points - if you think that people like PT Anderson, Fincher and Tarantino are great film-makers that's up to you, however I have to say that if you hold that opinion and are over the age of thirty it's kind of pathetic. Fincher, Anderson and Tarantino are fanboy hacks with absolutely nothing to say. Their films are all surface gloss, mood and blather, however I sincerely doubt you have the ability to critically asses anything if you can read my post and somehow come up with the idea that I'm a racist, you twat.
.

There Will Be Blood, Zodiac, Seven, Boogie Nights, Jackie Brown were made by "fanboy hacks?" thats just laughable

oh and ban in 3...2...

indough

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

No, redneck isn't a racial slur. If you really think it is then go ahead and explain how it is - I'd really enjoy seeing you try to do that.

And what do you know about my taste in movies? Apart from the fact that I don't think Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher are great film makers, nothing it would seem.

it is a derogatory term used to identify one specific colour of person, as only whites can be rednecks

and calling those directors fanboy hacks automatically voids your taste in movies

krudler

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

if you can get banned on this board for calling someone who accuses you of being a racist for absolutely no reason whatsoever a gob****e then go ahead and ban me. I joined today and made what I hope are useful contributions on other threads. I left a civil post on this one and some twat started insulting me in a manner I take far more seriously than calling someone a gob****e.

And believe me pal, I know a lot more about movies than you do, cause you wouldn't be arguing for 1999 to be considered some sort of landmark year in cinema of you did. The simple point I made in my post was that since the late 1970s mega budgets have ruined Hollywood films. They have now descended to being a bland sequence of over-marketed drivel with virtually no persona films being made (of course the odd exception does get through).

It would seem that the critics agree with me - if you look at the American Film Institute's updated list of top 100 movies from 2007 only two films from the past THIRTY YEARS are included in the top 50 (Schindler's List at 13 and Lord of the Rings scraping in at 50).

Don't agree with that list? Fine, there's a lot of things on there I don't agree with myself. Let's check the other top 100 list that surveyed a wide number of critics, the one at theyshootpictures.com (a really good site in my opinion). On their poll of critics the results for films made since 1979 - when Lucas and Spielberg's hyper budget blockbuster model took over - again only two films made the top 50 (Raging Bull and Bladerunner). Personally I think that Blue Velvet and Do The Right Thing would be worthy candidates of making the top 50 but overall the large number of critics on both of these wide ranging surveys seem to agree that the past thirty years have been crap. And that's all my point was. Now go ahead and ban me for taking someone to task after he called me a racist for no reason whatsoever.

You're a film studies student arent you:D

indough

and those lists are crap too

any list that puts citizen kane as the best movie ever is a load of me bollocks, sure its technically well made and was revolutionary for its time but its not even slightly entertaining

Paul_Hacket

krudler wrote: »

There Will Be Blood, Zodiac, Seven, Boogie Nights, Jackie Brown were made by "fanboy hacks?" thats just laughable

oh and ban in 3...2...

Yup they were. There isn't a single film on your list that I think is beyond averagely good. Boogie Nights has entertaining bits but is just a sprawling yawn fest for its last hour. And incidentally Anderson is nothing but a watered down soulless version of Robert Altman. Seven? Please tell me what's so great about this sordid little exercise in sadism. Honestly, it's just the kind of cynical technically adept vapid crap that Hollywood specializes in pumping out, if you think it's some sort of masterpiece then God help you. Zodiac nearly put me to sleep, and again it's nothing but a rip-off of much better films that were made decades earlier by the likes of Sidney Lumet. There Will Be Blood was one of the dullest films I've ever sat through in the cinema, again it's a watered down version of an earlier masterpiece - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - only it's been spruced up for the modern age with an extra veneer of sadistic violence. Jackie Brown is a half decent film, but just an average one in any other era.

And by the way, I'm glad you relish the thought of me being banned cause I called that twat out for calling me a racist for zero reason. It says a lot about your mindset. I'm guessing you were first to rat on your mates at school - you're a good little worker-bee and a happy consumer of Hollywood drivel. Good for you.

PS - I couldn't give a shag about being banned from this board if twerps like you are typical of the posters on here.

krudler

"It insists upon itself"

krudler

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Yup they were. There isn't a single film on your list that I think is beyond averagely good. Boogie Nights has entertaining bits but is just a sprawling yawn fest for its last hour. And incidentally Anderson is nothing but a watered down soulless version of Robert Altman. Seven? Please tell me what's so great about this sordid little exercise in sadism. Honestly, it's just the kind of cynical technically adept vapid crap that Hollywood specializes in pumping out, if you think it's some sort of masterpiece then God help you. Zodiac nearly put me to sleep, and again it's nothing but a rip-off of much better films that were made decades earlier by the likes of Sidney Lumet. There Will Be Blood was one of the dullest films I've ever sat through in the cinema, again it's a watered down version of an earlier masterpiece - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - only it's been spruced up for the modern age with an extra veneer of sadistic violence. Jackie Brown is a half decent film, but just an average one in any other era.

And by the way, I'm glad you relish the thought of me being banned cause I called that twat out for calling me a racist for zero reason. It says a lot about your mindset. I'm guessing you were first to rat on your mates at school - you're a good little worker-bee and a happy consumer of Hollywood drivel. Good for you.

PS - I couldn't give a shag about being banned from this board if twerps like you are typical of the posters on here.

Fine, dazzle us with some movies you DO find good, hang on I'll sit down just to be sure in case somehing happens

ok


go...

And you must be a film studies student:D

Paul_Hacket

krudler wrote: »

You're a film studies student arent you:D

Nope, I live in New York and run a small business over here. I have worked as a video editor for a TV station in the past so maybe I have more of an interest in films than some people. I guess it's unbelievable to you that someone could have a genuine interest in films other than the dross that Hollywood's been piling out since Spielberg and Lucas changed the game. Too bad for you - shows how small your little world is.

krudler

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Nope, I live in New York and run a small business over here. I have worked as a video editor for a TV station in the past so maybe I have more of an interest in films than some people. I guess it's unbelievable to you that someone could have a genuine interest in films other than the dross that Hollywood's been piling out since Spielberg and Lucas changed the game. Too bad for you - shows how small your little world is.

Good lord, I can smell the pretentiousness from here, look you'd probably be better off on the imdb.com forums, thats full of trolls like yourself, bye;)

Paul_Hacket

krudler wrote: »

Fine, dazzle us with some movies you DO find good, hang on I'll sit down just to be sure in case somehing happens

ok


go...

And you must be a film studies student:D

Films I like personally and would say are arguably great movies that were either innovative or masterpieces of their type? Let's see....

Chinatown

Les Enfants Du Paradis

Blue Velvet

The 400 Blows

Casablanca

Touch of Evil

The Third Man

Stolen Kisses

The Graduate

Local Hero

I Know Where I'm Going

2001

Solaris (original version)

Persona

Excalibur (a personal favorite)

Dr. Strangelove

A Fistful of Dynamite

Do The Right Thing

those are just a few that come to mind. Sorry if I forgot to include the great nineties masterpiece Seven....

Paul_Hacket

krudler wrote: »

Good lord, I can smell the pretentiousness from here, look you'd probably be better off on the imdb.com forums, thats full of trolls like yourself, bye;)

Ah, anyone who doesn't like the same thing you do is "pretentious". And nope, I think you'd be much more comfy on IMDB, fanboys like you tend to congregate in your masturbatory zeal for the likes of Fincher, PT Anderson et al there...

krudler

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Films I like personally and would say are arguably great movies that were either innovative or masterpieces of their type? Let's see....

Chinatown

Les Enfants Du Paradis

Blue Velvet

The 400 Blows

Casablanca

Touch of Evil

The Third Man

Stolen Kisses

The Graduate

Local Hero

I Know Where I'm Going

2001

Solaris (original version)

Persona

Excalibur (a personal favorite)

Dr. Strangelove

A Fistful of Dynamite

Do The Right Thing

those are just a few that come to mind. Sorry if I forgot to include the great nineties masterpiece Seven....

Nice safe list there, well done. Most of them are hardly the stuff of huge innovation now are they?

Excalibur? production design aside its an awful movie