Also add The Conversation, Hoosiers, & Unforgiven. Also, his version of Lex Luther is way better than Kevin Spacey's in the bad Superman Returns. Unforgiven though remains my favorite.
Cinema's greatest classics
- Thread starter ajay124
- Start date
Also add The Conversation, Hoosiers, & Unforgiven. Also, his version of Lex Luther is way better than Kevin Spacey's in the bad Superman Returns. Unforgiven though remains my favorite.
ajay124
Well-Known Member
Marlon Brando was without a doubt Hollywood's most talented and enigmatic actor. Unfortunately very few of his films made it to the Indian cinema halls. Even dvd's are not very easy to find.
A streetcar named desire
Viva zapata
On the waterfront
The teahouse of the august moon
Sayonara
The young lions
Mutiny on the bounty
The ugly american
The nightcomers
The godfather
Last tango in paris
Apocalypse now
A dry white season
My favorite scene from my favorite Hollywood movie:
"On the Waterfront" Most Famous Scene - YouTube
A streetcar named desire
Viva zapata
On the waterfront
The teahouse of the august moon
Sayonara
The young lions
Mutiny on the bounty
The ugly american
The nightcomers
The godfather
Last tango in paris
Apocalypse now
A dry white season
My favorite scene from my favorite Hollywood movie:
"On the Waterfront" Most Famous Scene - YouTube
OT... many of us would have seen the Hindi version of On The Waterfront... Ghulam staring Aamir Khan & Rani Mukerji and featuring the song Aati Kya Khandala! At least Aamir can act and did a good job, cannot say the same for the rest of the movie though.
I have seen some of them, getting DVDs of #4,8,9,13 is difficult, my pick is Apocalypse now and last tango in paris - exemplary performance, I have seen On the waterfront at least 5-6 times and will see again, brilliant plot,cast and performances, at least include Godfather 1 in the list
ajay124
Well-Known Member
"many of us would have seen the Hindi version of On The Waterfront"
I believe that Indian mainstream cinema does not really have an identity of its own because it has always blindly aped (and lived in the shadow) of Hollywood. Even the Indian new wave cinema movement (roughly from 1956-86) was heavily influenced by European and Japanese auteurs.
I wish we has producers, scriptwriters, directors and actors who could dump all foreign influence (in fact all influence) into the dustbin and begin a new wave which is not beholden or derived from any other nation or culture. That would truly be Indian cinema. I wish that film makers could dump the synthetic, desensitized, dehumanized model of post 80's Hollywood and make films about actual human beings rather than gun toting superheroes and icy cold superheroines.
For a long time now I have been indifferent to films made in India and the United States. I don't like any Indian director except Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. I don't like any Indian actor except Naseer and Irfan.
I believe that Indian mainstream cinema does not really have an identity of its own because it has always blindly aped (and lived in the shadow) of Hollywood. Even the Indian new wave cinema movement (roughly from 1956-86) was heavily influenced by European and Japanese auteurs.
I wish we has producers, scriptwriters, directors and actors who could dump all foreign influence (in fact all influence) into the dustbin and begin a new wave which is not beholden or derived from any other nation or culture. That would truly be Indian cinema. I wish that film makers could dump the synthetic, desensitized, dehumanized model of post 80's Hollywood and make films about actual human beings rather than gun toting superheroes and icy cold superheroines.
For a long time now I have been indifferent to films made in India and the United States. I don't like any Indian director except Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. I don't like any Indian actor except Naseer and Irfan.
Last edited:
Truth be told present day Hollywood is no good either. They made a Spiderman trilogy with Tobey Maguire and then again rebooted the franchise with The Amazing Spiderman. They even rebooted the Batman franchise at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.
2013 & 2014 only feature remakes or sequels of superhero movies... Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, X-Men, Die Hard, GI Joe, Star Trek, Fast & Furious 6, Superman, 300, Paranormal Activity 5, Hunger Games, and then some more.
2013 & 2014 only feature remakes or sequels of superhero movies... Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, X-Men, Die Hard, GI Joe, Star Trek, Fast & Furious 6, Superman, 300, Paranormal Activity 5, Hunger Games, and then some more.
ajay124
Well-Known Member
With the welfare states of the west drowning in a sea of debt, comic book reality can provide a temporary escape from the actual reality that the ATM machine is no longer functioning.
Bill Bonner: The Great Cycle Of Debt - Aug. 13 - YouTube
Cinema booms as Britons seek escape from reality - Business Analysis & Features - Business - The Independent
Indeed, and unfortunately although most superhero movies get released in India, most of the good arthouse films don't
ajay124
Well-Known Member
A quartet of Indian films which may turn out to be good.
The Hindu : Arts / Cinema : Search for contemporary realism
The Hindu : Arts / Cinema : Search for contemporary realism
I was hoping someone better than Deepa Mehta would tackle a work like Midnight's children. It is a class act, one of the better books I have read.
I also can't understand India's (esp the media's) obsession with Pakistanis. 'The reluctant fundamentalist' was an ordinary book. Neither the author nor the book deserves the attention. I remember watching an interview of Hamid and the guy sounded like a phoney.
ajay124
Well-Known Member
Dinesh
I don't like Deepa Mehta's films either. The couple I have seen were extremely mundane and phoney. I have absolutely no hope that her film version will do justice to the book. Midnight's Children is one of the two good books Rushdie has written. The other being The Moor's Last Sigh. Personally I found The Reluctant Fundamentalist to be a superb book. I loved it from start to finish.
Been listening to music since 7 pm. The Dynaudio's won't let me sleep
* Last night I noticed that posts made on hifivision showed a time which was one hour behind the actual time. For example, I made this post at 2.33 am but the time mentioned is 1.33 am.
I don't like Deepa Mehta's films either. The couple I have seen were extremely mundane and phoney. I have absolutely no hope that her film version will do justice to the book. Midnight's Children is one of the two good books Rushdie has written. The other being The Moor's Last Sigh. Personally I found The Reluctant Fundamentalist to be a superb book. I loved it from start to finish.
Been listening to music since 7 pm. The Dynaudio's won't let me sleep
* Last night I noticed that posts made on hifivision showed a time which was one hour behind the actual time. For example, I made this post at 2.33 am but the time mentioned is 1.33 am.
Last edited:
ajay124
Well-Known Member
Time for my annual cinema-thon. I will be heading for Goa soon to watch a couple of dozen films from different parts of the world
The International Film Festival of India is beginning on 23rd November. Delegate registration is on....but only for a few days more.
Entertainment Society of Goa
The International Film Festival of India is beginning on 23rd November. Delegate registration is on....but only for a few days more.
Entertainment Society of Goa
ajay124
Well-Known Member
The making of one of the greatest films of all times. UNDERGROUND. Absolutely original. Amazingly inventive. Funny. Sad. Unforgettable. More energy, excitement and entertainment in one film than most film makers can pack into an entire lifetime of film making. Emir Kusturica is my favorite living film maker. More than any other film maker, I look forward to a new film by this director from a country which was once called Yugoslavia but has now become many small nations.
Emir Kusturica - Underground (1995) MAKING OF 1_2 - YouTube
Emir Kusturica - Underground (1995) MAKING OF 2_2 - YouTube
Emir Kusturica - Underground (1995) MAKING OF 1_2 - YouTube
Emir Kusturica - Underground (1995) MAKING OF 2_2 - YouTube
Ajay,
I respect your opinion, but you should try some of the movies by the younger generation of directors and actors before declaring Indian cinema dead. If anything, Indian cinema is in the midst of a revival.
Have you seen Gulaal for example? Or Kaminey? Or A Wednesday? Actually, I'm not even sure if I have chosen a good representation, but there are plenty of directors such as Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bharadwaj among the more famous, and plenty of actors who are not so hyped up as Naseer but equally good - such as KK Menon, Piyush Mishra, and even Vinay Pathak. Heck, you can even see Dasvidaniya - it is such a nice movie to watch!
Now I'm not sure what you are specifically looking for in a movie and perhaps the movies I mentioned are not intellectual enough for your tastes. However, I do feel it would be a pity for you to completely shut the door and miss out on so many movies that are being made. Tarring everything with the same brush would be wrong.
P.S. I deliberately did not include some of the other art movies like Matrubhoomi or Hazaaron Khwaishen Aise, but personally, I find dreary movies depressing to watch.
Anyway, just my two cents - this is a highly subjective point of view after all.
having read my fair share of zane grey, louis l'amour, oliver strange, j.t edson and company i thought it was time to visit some great western movies..
watched...
once upon a time in the west...typically sergio leone, spaghetti western, dark, moody, almost ponderous but lacking in humour... henry fonda is cast in a scheming, villainous role, there is charles bronson too without his moustache but a harmonica...many wiser folks consider it to be one of the greatest movies ever made..could be but ....best part i liked was the supper scene...the tables are spread in front of the mountains, father and son come home after shooting quail in the bushes..dinner is ready and then fonda comes a calling to spoil that prosaically wholesome setting..
the gunfighter....gregory peck in a moustache is tall, lithe and ramrod straight...a gunfighter with a reputation he is in town to meet his wife and child whom he has not seen since he was born..there are other folks too who are itching to make a call on him...with a bullet...liked this one better ..this isn't so epic..but definitely more poignant and cool..
the treasure of sierra madre...this isn't strictly western...could call it an adventure movie..but of course not so one-dimensional as that tag makes it out to be...a down and out humphrey boggart (who gets dirtier, meaner, craggier, edgier as the movie progresses) teams up with another out of luck chap and convinces an old prospector (walter huston in a great role) to go hunting for gold in the sierra madre mountains...they find gold alright but things get complicated and .... the historical backdrop is the mexican revolution and there are some great mexican and indian characters...the rag tag mexican bandits...one of them spouts the classic line..'we don't need no stinkin badges..' they are simply lovable...a real classic movie...reminded me of kurosawa's dersu ujala...
great scene...a good old fashioned fight at a bar where boggart and his friend confront a corrupt contractor who has swindled them earlier..
high plains drifter..a noirish western which when i come to think of it is quite a testament to the collective cowardice of a corrupt town...an allegory that doesn't work quite well on the 'enjoyable' front but surely there is more here than what meets the eye...
shenandoah after Who Shot Liberty Valence and Rear Window..i quite love the way James Stewart talks in his typically twangy, sonorous fashion..this one is about a family that doesn't want to get involved in a war (the american civil war) since the issues don't touch them..till when the action comes too close to home...a wholesome, melodramatic, old fashioned movie...the people in it are good looking, the locations great, the dialogue crisp and polished..the sentiments well very sentimental....
coming up...
Bend of the River,
Stagecoach...
watched...
once upon a time in the west...typically sergio leone, spaghetti western, dark, moody, almost ponderous but lacking in humour... henry fonda is cast in a scheming, villainous role, there is charles bronson too without his moustache but a harmonica...many wiser folks consider it to be one of the greatest movies ever made..could be but ....best part i liked was the supper scene...the tables are spread in front of the mountains, father and son come home after shooting quail in the bushes..dinner is ready and then fonda comes a calling to spoil that prosaically wholesome setting..
the gunfighter....gregory peck in a moustache is tall, lithe and ramrod straight...a gunfighter with a reputation he is in town to meet his wife and child whom he has not seen since he was born..there are other folks too who are itching to make a call on him...with a bullet...liked this one better ..this isn't so epic..but definitely more poignant and cool..
the treasure of sierra madre...this isn't strictly western...could call it an adventure movie..but of course not so one-dimensional as that tag makes it out to be...a down and out humphrey boggart (who gets dirtier, meaner, craggier, edgier as the movie progresses) teams up with another out of luck chap and convinces an old prospector (walter huston in a great role) to go hunting for gold in the sierra madre mountains...they find gold alright but things get complicated and .... the historical backdrop is the mexican revolution and there are some great mexican and indian characters...the rag tag mexican bandits...one of them spouts the classic line..'we don't need no stinkin badges..' they are simply lovable...a real classic movie...reminded me of kurosawa's dersu ujala...
great scene...a good old fashioned fight at a bar where boggart and his friend confront a corrupt contractor who has swindled them earlier..
high plains drifter..a noirish western which when i come to think of it is quite a testament to the collective cowardice of a corrupt town...an allegory that doesn't work quite well on the 'enjoyable' front but surely there is more here than what meets the eye...
shenandoah after Who Shot Liberty Valence and Rear Window..i quite love the way James Stewart talks in his typically twangy, sonorous fashion..this one is about a family that doesn't want to get involved in a war (the american civil war) since the issues don't touch them..till when the action comes too close to home...a wholesome, melodramatic, old fashioned movie...the people in it are good looking, the locations great, the dialogue crisp and polished..the sentiments well very sentimental....
coming up...
Bend of the River,
Stagecoach...
John Huston is one director whose work is not to be missed. I've seen most of his movies and they are excellent.
PS - Don't expect Kurosawa. Huston's theme was more humans, their weaknesses, greed, etc.
Another favorite is Frank Capra. His theme was the polar opposite... being optimistic, the good inside us human beings, etc.
PS - Don't expect Kurosawa. Huston's theme was more humans, their weaknesses, greed, etc.
Another favorite is Frank Capra. His theme was the polar opposite... being optimistic, the good inside us human beings, etc.
Other classic directors whose work I've seen and enjoyed are...
George Cukor - IMDb
Michael Curtiz - IMDb
Cecil B. DeMille - IMDb
Victor Fleming - IMDb
John Ford - IMDb
Howard Hawks - IMDb
Alfred Hitchcock - IMDb
Elia Kazan - IMDb
Fritz Lang - IMDb
David Lean - IMDb
Sergio Leone - IMDb
Jerry Lewis - IMDb
Sidney Lumet - IMDb
Most of their work is considered from Hollywood's Golden Age and at least watching their best movies comes highly recommended.
PS - Don't expect The Avengers like crap... I love Joss Whedon and have seen most of his work like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse, etc. and enjoyed them immensely, but The Avengers was a huge letdown considering the stars and the budget.
George Cukor - IMDb
Michael Curtiz - IMDb
Cecil B. DeMille - IMDb
Victor Fleming - IMDb
John Ford - IMDb
Howard Hawks - IMDb
Alfred Hitchcock - IMDb
Elia Kazan - IMDb
Fritz Lang - IMDb
David Lean - IMDb
Sergio Leone - IMDb
Jerry Lewis - IMDb
Sidney Lumet - IMDb
Most of their work is considered from Hollywood's Golden Age and at least watching their best movies comes highly recommended.
PS - Don't expect The Avengers like crap... I love Joss Whedon and have seen most of his work like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse, etc. and enjoyed them immensely, but The Avengers was a huge letdown considering the stars and the budget.
ajay124
Well-Known Member
Some Hollywood directors whose films are a cut above the rest:
Frank Capra
Fritz Lang
Charlie Chaplin
John Ford
Howard Hawks
John Houston
Orson Welles
Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Elia Kazan
Michael Curtiz
Otto Preminger
Sergio Leone
Woody Allen
Billy Wilder
William Wyler
Ernst Lubitsch
David Lean
Robert Allman
Martin Scorcese
Francis Coppola
Michael Cimino
Bernardo Bertolucci
Louis Malle
Roman Polanski
Woody Allen
Brian De Palma
Sam Peckinpah
Sydney Lumet
Stanley Kramer
John Schlesinger
Terrence Mallick
David Lynch
Anthony Minghella
Mike Nichols
Peter Weir
Norman Jewison
Arthur Penn
Willianm Friedkin
Sydney Pollack
Steven Soderbergh
Robert Zemeckis
Steven Spielberg
Quentin Tarrantino
Paul Anderson
Joel & Ethan Coen
Clint Eastwood
Frank Capra
Fritz Lang
Charlie Chaplin
John Ford
Howard Hawks
John Houston
Orson Welles
Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Elia Kazan
Michael Curtiz
Otto Preminger
Sergio Leone
Woody Allen
Billy Wilder
William Wyler
Ernst Lubitsch
David Lean
Robert Allman
Martin Scorcese
Francis Coppola
Michael Cimino
Bernardo Bertolucci
Louis Malle
Roman Polanski
Woody Allen
Brian De Palma
Sam Peckinpah
Sydney Lumet
Stanley Kramer
John Schlesinger
Terrence Mallick
David Lynch
Anthony Minghella
Mike Nichols
Peter Weir
Norman Jewison
Arthur Penn
Willianm Friedkin
Sydney Pollack
Steven Soderbergh
Robert Zemeckis
Steven Spielberg
Quentin Tarrantino
Paul Anderson
Joel & Ethan Coen
Clint Eastwood
Buy from India's official online dealer!
Similar threads
