TV/Movies Megathread

[Sheilbh]

Yes. It very much feels like a list by people who call films "texts"

[celedhring]

Taking a quick look at the official list it feels incredibly hipsterish/academic. I mean, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in terms of cinema and its history for a normal person (of course I can't compare with a professional or an academic), and I haven't ever heard of 3 out of the top 10 films, and 7 out of the top 20.

All the Top 20 is pretty traditional for snotty film buff standards    The most hipsterish thing is probably Meshes of the Afternoon, and maybe placing Jeanne Dielman #1 - but the list has had a bit of a musical chairs thing going on, all of the films in the top 4 have been #1 at some point.

[celedhring]

Yes. It very much feels like a list by people who call films "texts"

Phillistine 

[The Larch]

Taking a quick look at the official list it feels incredibly hipsterish/academic. I mean, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in terms of cinema and its history for a normal person (of course I can't compare with a professional or an academic), and I haven't ever heard of 3 out of the top 10 films, and 7 out of the top 20.

All the Top 20 is pretty traditional for snotty film buff standards    The most hipsterish thing is probably Meshes of the Afternoon, and maybe placing Jeanne Dielman #1 - but the list has had a bit of a musical chairs thing going on, all of the films in the top 4 have been #1 at some point.

Well, this is the first time in my whole life I have heard about Jeanne Dielman, for instance.    Might be a household name in snotty film critic circles, but for me it's a completely new thing.

Never heard about Beau Travail or Man with a Movie Camera either.

Also, Mulholand Drive at #8 must be a joke.

[celedhring]

Man, Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite films 

All the other films you say are staples in film buff world, yes. Man with the movie camera is a bit of a suspect case though; it's one of the most influential films of all time, but you can say that from a lot of movies from that era, when film language was still being explored and defined.

[The Larch]

Man, Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite films 

I left the cinema feeling cheated of my time and money. 

All the other films you say are staples in film buff world, yes. Man with the movie camera is a bit of a suspect case though; it's one of the most influential films of all time, but you can say that from a lot of movies from that era, when film language was still being explored and defined.

Yeah, if it had been an Eisenstein I could have understood it, but I guess he's too mainstream for that kind of people.

[celedhring]

Mulholland Drive is the definitive David Lynch film, imho, the one where he articulated his themes and language the best. It's wonderful and it had a great impact on me when I watched it.

And yeah, I'd definitely put Eisenstein ahead of Vertov. Weird to see Potemkin so "low".

But the list isn't so bad. There's two *TWO* Powell/Pressburger films in it which makes me irrationally happy 

[Duque de Bragança]

Taking a quick look at the official list it feels incredibly hipsterish/academic. I mean, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in terms of cinema and its history for a normal person (of course I can't compare with a professional or an academic), and I haven't ever heard of 3 out of the top 10 films, and 7 out of the top 20.

I guess you are not that fairly knowledgeable after all. 

Belgian Chantal Akerman is for the arthouse crowd indeed but it's a known director, if only by reputation.

PS: I would have placed Bergman's the Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries or even Fanny and Alexander instead of Persona, but that's me.
Two Akerman movies and just one of Renoir . 

[celedhring]

No Renoir? 

La Regle du jeu is in there.

Agree on Persona, but it has always been the top rated in those lists. As with Dziga Vertov, I blame the "film talking about film*" effect. Academics just lose their shit with those.

*theater in this case, but still applies.

[Duque de Bragança]

No Renoir? 

La Regle du jeu is in there.

Good. Either that one or la Grande Illusion.
Still, as said higher I can't place her work above Renoir's.

[Josquius]

I've been watching Noughts and Crosses.

A sort of alternate history romeo and juliet where Britain is apartheid South Africa having been colonised by Aprica.

Like most mainstream alternate history the base scenario is pretty dumb and doesn't make sense as an alternate history, its all just about rule of cool make the alternate world you want then hand waving to make it so.

However some of the costumers and props people on the show have really done well. Even little things like plasters being brown are correct for an alternate scenario like this.

The love story at the core doesn't make much sense of course but quite a good series nonetheless.

[Sheilbh]

I loved it but I have incredibly fond memories of the first book from school - it was a big YA hit. So it was one of those things where I was pleased it had been made into a show and, as you say, done beautifully.

[garbon]

Having no familiarity with the source, I think I gave it two episodes before turning it off. It felt like they thought they were making a significant statement on racism but in a very simplistic, heavy handed way. It felt like the white characters (as targets for racism) were met to stand in as something that a white audience could empathize with to understand that racism is bad. In this day and age, white people can only understand racism if they see a world in which they are the targets? I think we've made great strides with racism because people of all backgrounds know that it is wrong without needing to imagine it happening to people that share their skin tone.

There was also the pessimistic idea at the heart of the alt history. Change the racial group in power and racism would still look the same. Any racial group in charge would institue racial power structures in the same manner than occurred historically in Britain.

That's, of course, not even getting into the very standard, cliche love story.

[Admiral Yi]

well shoot dude, that's the most cheerful thing you've ever said about race relations.

[garbon]

well shoot dude, that's the most cheerful thing you've ever said about race relations.

We aren't in the 50s.