tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post6563622720399865322..comments2023-07-23T09:45:33.199-05:00Comments on the last lullaby (and) peril: 1959: Pickpocket (Robert Bresson)Jeffrey Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-45671967192745636072010-03-08T21:36:17.965-06:002010-03-08T21:36:17.965-06:00Dave, no argument at all from me on RIO BRAVO. I ...Dave, no argument at all from me on RIO BRAVO. I absolutely love it, too! <br /><br />Thanks, Dave. Always great to have you here!Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-89876142967694185502010-03-08T18:18:07.050-06:002010-03-08T18:18:07.050-06:00RIO BRAVO by so much that it's not even close....RIO BRAVO by so much that it's not even close. I rank it as either my #1 or #2 western of all time (along with Unforgiven) depending on when you ask me and think its Hawks best film. I love this movie about as much as is possible... I really can't express it any stronger. It's one of those "benchmark films" for me.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07134196370913749544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-74933536003400711372010-03-08T11:11:48.148-06:002010-03-08T11:11:48.148-06:00Samuel, thanks so much for the great comments! I ...Samuel, thanks so much for the great comments! I haven't seen ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, WARLOCK, THEY CAME TO CORDURA, or HUMAN CONDITION. But I will add all of them to my list of things to see.<br /><br />Always wonderful to hear from you! Thanks, Samuel.Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-80203590560672202972010-03-08T10:49:39.010-06:002010-03-08T10:49:39.010-06:00Jeffrey, Pickpocket is a strong choice. I finally ...Jeffrey, Pickpocket is a strong choice. I finally saw it last year and it was brilliantly done. My own eccentric choice for this year is Robert Wise's late noir apocalypse, ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, with great grim performances by Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan. Along with Pickpocket, my runners-up include Fires on the Plain, L'Avventura, Edward Dmytryk's Warlock and Robert Rossen's They Came to Cordura. I have Human Condition and Generale della Rovere at home but haven't watched them yet.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-66280068130835805892010-03-08T08:40:37.940-06:002010-03-08T08:40:37.940-06:00John, great to hear from you!
I struggled with SO...John, great to hear from you!<br /><br />I struggled with SOME LIKE IT HOT the one time I saw it but certainly owe it subsequent viewings. I will make sure that happens moving forward. <br /><br />I still need to see INHERIT THE WIND, ROOM AT THE TOP, and BALLAD OF A SOLDIER. <br /><br />Thanks, John. Always wonderful to hear from you!Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-69811272866621490602010-03-08T08:36:34.651-06:002010-03-08T08:36:34.651-06:00Sam, your piece on BEN-HUR is tremendous! I'v...Sam, your piece on BEN-HUR is tremendous! I've actually never heard the film defended so it's so refreshing to hear your perspective and certainly will send me to revisit soon. I love the term you use, "intimate epic". <br /><br />I too struggle with SOME LIKE IT HOT but will revisit it at some point. <br /><br />Thanks for the words on PICKPOCKET, too. I know that you and I completely share an affinity for Bresson and that I'll always have support from you on that one.<br /><br />Always great to hear from you, Sam!Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-45018739472949022782010-03-08T08:09:41.888-06:002010-03-08T08:09:41.888-06:00For me 1959 has always been one of the great years...For me 1959 has always been one of the great years in film and selecting a best film is difficult, however I will go with what I believe to be one of the greatest and funniest scripts ever written, “Some Like it Hot.” <br />Great performances from Jack Lemmon and an underrated Tony Curtis. Wonderful take offs on the St Valentine Day’s Massacre, and George Raft’s early career with the coin flipping. Monroe proved herself a funny lady. I would be hard pressed to select a second favorite between Rio Bravo, Anatomy of a Murder and North by Northwest. All films that I love. "Pickpocket" I still need to see. <br /><br />I have “Breathless” listed in my 1960 list since that the release date listed in IMDB. <br /> <br /><br /># Some Like it Hot<br /><br /><br />Rio Bravo<br />Anatomy of a Murder<br />North by Northwest<br />Ride Lonesome<br />Inherit the Wind<br />The 400 Blows<br />Ben-Hur<br />Room at the Top<br />Ballad of a SoldierJohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-71769670101238849552010-03-08T08:01:19.036-06:002010-03-08T08:01:19.036-06:00My Own #1 Film of 1959:
Ben-Hur (Wyler)
Runner...My Own #1 Film of 1959:<br /><br /><br />Ben-Hur (Wyler)<br /><br /><br />Runners-Up:<br /><br />Pickpocket (Bresson; France)<br />L'Aventura (Antonioni; Italy)<br />Breathless (Godard; France)<br />Floating Weeds (Ozu; Japan)<br />Human Condition I & II (Kobayashi; Japan)<br />The 400 Blows (Truffaut; France)<br />Eyes Without A Face (Franju; France)<br />Fires on the Plain (Ichikawa; Japan)<br />Hiroshima Mon Amour (Resnais; France)<br />North by Northwest (Hitchcock; USA)<br />Ballad of a Soldier (Chukrai; Russia)<br />Rio Bravo (Hawks; USA)<br />Shadows (Cassevettes; USA)<br />The Savage Innocents (N. Ray; USA)<br />Generale Della Rovere (Rossellini; Italy)<br />Pillow Talk (Gordon; USA)<br />Blue Denim (Dunne; USA)<br />Sleeping Beauty (Geromini; animated; USA)<br />Anatomy of a Murder (Preminger; USA)<br />Ride Lonesome (Boetticher; USA)<br /><br /><br />I defiantly proclaim BEN-HUR as the Best Film of 1959. While I never link up to my own reviews at other sites, I will break this rule one single time, as I penned an exhaustive defense of the film months ago at WitD, calling it the most intimate epic film of all time. The years don't seem to have been all that kind to the film (at least with some) but it stands today as one of the most spectacular of all entertainments. Miklos Rosza's score may well be the greatest ever written in the history of the cinema, there are splendid set pieces, and an emotional center, that few epics have ever been informed with. Heston, Boyd and others are most effective and it remains a film for the ages, and it's no wonder that in 1959 it won Best Picture from the New York Film Critics Circle, who rarely honored the 'popular' films. I will always defend this film vigorously with every last drop of blood in my body, even to the point of placing over three films that rank among the greatest in the history of the cinema.<br /><br />http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/sam-says-ben-hur-is-a-deeply-moving-life-affirming-experience/<br /><br />As far as PICKPOCKET, well it's a staggering masterpiece and just about equals BEN-HUR in my affections, though Wyler's epic has been with me since childhood. I have other Bresson titles at #1 for their respective years, and PICKPOCKET could very well have been as well. You're choosing it is to be applauded of course, and you inform it here with your typical passion.<br /><br />The Kobayashi, Antonioni, Ozu, Godard, Truffaut, Hitchcock, Ichikawa and others are masterworks of course.<br /><br />I am no fan of Wilder's SOME LINKE IT HOT, which I know is a supreme minority position.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com