Friday, September 4, 2009

Recommended Viewing

Okay. It's been awhile since anyone has posted here. I thought I would start a thread concerning must see television and film. I've been listening to more film podcasts, and there are probably fifteen films I want to see reasonably badly, but the question is always time. I haven't seen Umberto D yet. I haven't seen F is for Fake or any number of other cult classics. Why spend time going to see Funny People?

So, I'm going to start a list of things I want to see/feel like it's a shame I haven't seen and then hopefully get some responses back from the peanut gallery. So many films/shows...so little time.

TV: I want to watch the 3rd season of Dexter. I really enjoyed the first two, and I simply haven't had the follow through to get through the rest of Season 3.
I want to finally watch the rest of Twin Peaks Season 2. I always get bogged down after they catch Laura's murderer.

Film: I want to go on a Kurosawa tear. Yojimbo, Ran, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, etc. etc. etc.
In general, I want to beef up on my foreign film library. Those films force you to sit and pay attention, and my short attention span just isn't allowing me extending viewing.

What say you?

3 comments:

Kenneth M. Camacho said...

I'm not doing Dexter yet, but I do want to finish Mad Men and then maybe run through Lost again to get ready for the final season.

I'm also game for helping out with the Kurosawa kick--I haven't watched a lot of those movies in a long time, and I would be excited to do that again. We should make something happen during Evey's morning or afternoon naps (9:30-11:30 and 2:30-4:30).

For myself, I want to do a Woody Allen thing. I still haven't seen a lot of his 'best' flicks--Love and Death, Hannah and Her Sisters, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know..., etc.--and I'm wondering if watching a few good Allen flicks will soften my opinion.

Gaston Monescu said...

What's your feeling on Allen now? You DO need to see Hannah and Love, but if you've seen Crimes and Misdemeanors, Annie Hall, and Manhattan, I think you've seen his three best.

Stardust Memories also has a place in my heart.

Tuesday or Thursday afternoons? Mornings don't work for me because It each every day.

I wonder what you'll think of Dexter. This is another show that revolves around one character (though moreso than Mad Man), but the strength of any given episode is really the supporting cast. It's also much more plot driven than Mad Men (and violent, sexual, etc. etc. etc.) so there are different spectacles on display. I think you would dig it.

Did you already do The Wire?

Kenneth M. Camacho said...

Haven't done 'The Wire' yet...it's in the que. As for 'Dexter,' you should talk with Graham about it--he's been watching it on Mon/Wed while Evey takes her naps.

As for Allen, I've seen Crimes/Annie/Manhattan, and I think all 3 are 4 star movies. Annie is the clear winner and just superb filmmaking--top 25 material. Crimes is also really good and really powerful, even if it thumps you over the head a bit towards the end. Manhattan? I like Manhattan--it's really, really beautiful--but I don't really connect to it. It has funny points, but I don't find the characters all that compelling and, especially in retrospect, Woody's near-pederasty lecherousness doesn't come across as provocative or enigmatic (as I think he intends) but rather creepy and confusing. To me, that damages the flick a bit. Put another way: Manhattan feels like the most technically and creatively interesting of the many, many retellings of the same story he's given us ad nauseum. Annie Hall doesn't do that, which is why I'm always so baffled by people who tell me MH is better. Prettier, sure...but better? How?

Anyway, I'm interested in seeing more.

Speaking of TV shows, are you ever going to do 'lost' or are you just going to stick your nose up at it?

Oh, and Tuesdays are good. Let's try that this week and see what happens.