Starting This Blog
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| Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt |
I don't consider myself a film critic nor do I ever want to be one. But I decided to start this blog because today's film criticism is far too often based solely on taste. The craft of filmmaking hardly gets mentioned. True masterpieces don't get fully appreciated. And respectable or enjoyable films get trashed unfairly.
For example, no one talks about Paul Thomas Anderson's choice in The Master to violate the 180-degree rule at the end of a lengthy conversation between the two protagonists -- Freddie and Lancaster -- to foreshadow who the true master is and highlight their duality. And I am so saddened by how people bash the Star Wars prequels simply because it's trendy to do so.
Basically, I want to talk about the craft aspect of filmmaking on this blog. Why is Todd Haynes shooting the scene from a low angle? Why is Paul Thomas Anderson giving the character a strong back lighting? Why is Wes Anderson staging that character on the left and the other character on the right? In other words, we'll be breaking down the magic of auteurs.
I'll mostly discuss the works of formal directors. And maybe there'll be time for reviewing blockbusters like The Avengers and Wonder Woman and even some B-movies like Zombeavers and Machete.
If you want to get an idea of what kind of films I'll be writing about, here are my twenty favorite films in somewhat particular order:
1. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas
2. Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master
3. Todd Haynes' Carol
4. David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia
5. Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life
6. Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt
7. Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather
8. David Lynch's Mulholland Drive
8½. Federico Fellini's 8½
9. Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers
10. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
11. Chanwook Park's Oldboy
12. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom
13. Woody Allen's Annie Hall
14. David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints
Basically, I want to talk about the craft aspect of filmmaking on this blog. Why is Todd Haynes shooting the scene from a low angle? Why is Paul Thomas Anderson giving the character a strong back lighting? Why is Wes Anderson staging that character on the left and the other character on the right? In other words, we'll be breaking down the magic of auteurs.
I'll mostly discuss the works of formal directors. And maybe there'll be time for reviewing blockbusters like The Avengers and Wonder Woman and even some B-movies like Zombeavers and Machete.
If you want to get an idea of what kind of films I'll be writing about, here are my twenty favorite films in somewhat particular order:
1. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas
2. Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master
3. Todd Haynes' Carol
4. David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia
5. Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life
6. Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt
7. Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather
8. David Lynch's Mulholland Drive
8½. Federico Fellini's 8½
9. Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers
10. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
11. Chanwook Park's Oldboy
12. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom
13. Woody Allen's Annie Hall
14. David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints
15. Richard Linklater's Before Midnight
16. Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut
17. Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura
18. François Truffaut's Jules and Jim
19. Milos Forman's Amadeus
20. Luis Buñuel's That Obscure Object of Desire
16. Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut
17. Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura
18. François Truffaut's Jules and Jim
19. Milos Forman's Amadeus
20. Luis Buñuel's That Obscure Object of Desire
And five more that could replace any on the list given my mood and state of mind:
- Orson Welles' Citizen Kane
- Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood
- Ingmar Bergman's The Silence
- Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless
- Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams
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