GMD Social Poll: Top Ten Films of 1990

[CiG]

just take the fucking elephant!

Any shortcomings in Darkman are made up for with that whole carnival scene.

13) A Moment of Romance (Dir. Benny Chan)

like several early milkyway movies this was likely ghost-directed by johnnie to, but it's far removed from the precision and elegance of his later romances. even by the standards of wong's similar as tears go by this is messy, uninhibited filmmaking forged in blood and swirling emotion; there’s no content in the script, it’s all in the passionate movements and emphases of the camera, the alternately violent and steamy editing, the framing and choreography of these actors in a hong kong of moody reds and blurred neon. it's dumb as a doornail, but i live for this shit.

Really need to see this, sounds (and looks) amazing.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Great list but when are you gonna watch the best Kaurismäki movie?? (CiG, please make the next year 2002, not that I'll participate or anything.) Funny that you should call it "optimistic Stroszek", when I first saw Stroszek I thought something like "pessimistic Kaurismäki".

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

nikolaidis' remarkable tonal control has been compared to lanthimos or strickland's the duke of burgundy, but honestly those guys are pretty tame by comparison.

Funnily enough, Lanthimos acknowledged Nikolaidis as an influence during a chat he had with Strickland for some website. Of course he also cast Michele Valley, the mother in Singapore Sling, as the mother in Dogtooth.

 

[rms]

The Hunt For Red October
Misery
Goodfellas
Tremors (LATE ADD)
Total Recall
IT
Predator 2
Die Hard 2
Jacob's Ladder
Arachnophobia


Still need to see Miller's Crossing and Dreams (Kurosawa)...nothing amazing this year, but a bunch of good watching films.

 

[CiG]

nothing amazing this year

Totally disagree, thanks for the list though. I definitely need to get Misery, it's on quite a few lists.

 

[rms]

forgot about Tremors..damnit

 

[no country for old wainds]

A list of 25 now? NCFOW is trending so autistic, soon he'll be wearing a helmet on the bus while reciting pi to 100 decimal places.

i did a top 25 in the '88 thread too tbh i'm not passionate about my 24th or 25th choices but doing a top 23 just feels wrong.

i actually do know pi to 26 decimal places off by heart, so nice burn

Really need to see this, sounds (and looks) amazing.

it's good shit. have you seen as tears go by? definitely an influence on this one, and while both films star andy lau, that one also stars maggie cheung which is a pretty major upgrade tbh. wong fans dismiss it 'cause it isn't that wongian (although compared to the more inelegant, violently edited a moment of romance i think it's still pretty damn wongy), but seeing this reminded me how much i liked that one and made me regret not rewatching it for my '88 list.

Great list but when are you gonna watch the best Kaurismäki movie?? (CiG, please make the next year 2002, not that I'll participate or anything.) Funny that you should call it "optimistic Stroszek", when I first saw Stroszek I thought something like "pessimistic Kaurismäki".

i will do at some point. i like every kaurismaki i've seen so far but haven't been particularly blown away by any of them.

Of course he also cast Michele Valley, the mother in Singapore Sling, as the mother in Dogtooth.

ha, i didn't even realise that. i haven't seen dogtooth since it came out. makes sense.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Millers Crossing

For some reason i was mixing up Millers Crossing with Blood Simple. Not really a fan of the former, a 6/10 film at best.

 

[CiG]

Great film, one of the brothers' best.

have you seen as tears go by?

Nope never. I've seen fuck all by Wong unfortunately.

 

[challenge_everything]

i actually do know pi to 26 decimal places off by heart, so nice burn

But do you own a helmet?

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Great film, one of the brothers' best.

far from it imo. No Country For Old Men, Fargo, Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona etc are all far better movies.

 

[CiG]

far from it imo. No Country For Old Men, Fargo, Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona etc are all far better movies.

I'd say it's on par with No Country for Old Men, Fargo and The Man Who Wasn't There, better than the rest you mentioned, though I like them all. Out of all the Coen Bros films I've seen the only one I don't really like is O Brother, Where Art Thou.

What don't you like about it?

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I'd say it's on par with No Country for Old Men, Fargo and The Man Who Wasn't There, better than the rest you mentioned, though I like them all. Out of all the Coen Bros films I've seen the only one I don't really like is O Brother, Where Art Thou.

What don't you like about it?

i think its too slow and boring for its own good ... with weak, uninteresting characters and it just tries too hard to be something that it isnt or something the Coen bros just didn't understand at the time. One of my least favorite "mobster flicks" ... or more like "wannabe mobster flick"

Wouldn't even mention it in the same breath as a flawless masterpiece like NCFOM

 

[Krow]

1. Misery
2. Tremors
3. Total Recall
4. Predator 2
5. Flatliners
6. A Cat in the Brain
7. Maniac Cop 2
8. Basket Case 2
9. Ernest Goes to Jail

 

[challenge_everything]

i think its too slow and boring for its own good ... with weak, uninteresting characters and it just tries too hard to be something that it isnt or something the Coen bros just didn't understand at the time. One of my least favorite "mobster flicks" ... or more like "wannabe mobster flick"

Wouldn't even mention it in the same breath as a flawless masterpiece like NCFOM

Think you need to rewatch it. Not just a mobster flick, more an examination of a man in midlife crisis. I'd say Gabriel Byrne's character is probably the most fascinating, deep character they've created; smart and manipulative, but not overly ambitious or ruthless enough to succeed in his world and with a pronounced self-destructive streak. He's such a closed book and so hard to read, the best part of the movie is figuring out what's going on inside his head. It's definitely my favourite Coens film, and not sure how you can call it boring with classic scenes like the 'Danny Boy' scene and John Turturro begging for his life.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

most fascinating and deep character they've created? Lmfao, we must have watch different movies. There is literally nothing high-calibre about that film imo and its forgivable since it;s their first film form what i remember. And yes it's very boring, is this the first time you're hearing someone use that to describe the film?

a solid 6/10 and nothing more.

But sure, i'll give it another shot before this threads over.

 

[CiG]

Yeah I don't agree at all. I also don't agree that No Country for Old Men is flawless.

And no Blood Simple is their first film, Raising Arizona is their second, Miller's Crossing their third. Also I don't know anybody besides you who thinks it's boring, I personally think that even though it's basically a 2 hour film its pacing is great and it's very engaging.

What is a "wannabe mobster flick" though? That's a genre, it either is or isn't a mobster film, seems to me.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Wannabe mobster film as in it's trying to be a mobster film without actually understanding who or what mobsters are and just comes off as rather pretentious and fake. So yeah i can see why foreigners would enjoy it. And maybe if looked through some of the unfavorable reviews for the film on IMDB then you might come across dozens and dozens of people saying it's boring and slow paced(and not in a good way).

And i honestly don't give a fuck what you guys think about it, I think its boring and dont like it much. It bothers you guys? Then guess what? Not one bit of fuck was given.

 

[CiG]

Wannabe mobster film as in it's trying to be a mobster film without actually understanding who or what mobsters are and just comes off as rather pretentious and fake.

Oh. Well, I think Albert Finney was a fucking killer mob boss and that scene where

Spoiler

they try to assassinate him and he tommy guns their asses straight to hell

fucking ruled. Also Miller's Crossing is way less flashy than the more popular mob films by Scorsese or De Palma etc, and feels more in the tradition of Angels with Dirty Faces and Little Caesar.

And maybe if looked through some of the unfavorable reviews for the film on IMDB then you might come across dozens and dozens of people saying it's boring and slow paced(and not in a good way).

Sure, you can find negative reviews anywhere on anything if you look hard enough. Just saying I don't know anybody who I actually talk to who thinks that. I avoid reviews in general anyway, especially on sites where rando normies review things. Something being boring and/or slow paced can depend entirely upon the viewer's mood at the time, I've definitely had this happen to me before. Most recently Public Enemies actually, rewatched it and liked it a lot.

And i honestly don't give a fuck what you guys think about it, I think its boring and dont like it much. It bothers you guys? Then guess what? Not one bit of fuck was given.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

i usually love slow paced movies. But good ones, not ones that are poorly scripted and acted like Millers Crossing.