Phil Urr
Here is the news ...
The Radio Times has published a list of 25 movies every aspiring film buff should see. Alongside undisputed classics such as La Dolce Vita and Casablanca, editor Andrew Collins has included some rather more contentious "must-sees", most prominently Armageddon, the blockbuster starring Bruce Willis as the hero protecting planet Earth from a meteorite collision. "Snobbery does not belong to the film buff," commented Collins. "To understand the 1980s/1990s blockbuster, you must accept producer Jerry Bruckheimer into your life. Armageddon is the pinnacle of Bruckheimer excess."
That's from today's Guardian. (I'm not the editor of Radio Times, by the way, but it's only a journal of record.) This breaking news story was also in the Mirror:
THE 25 MOVIE CLASSICS THAT EVERY FILM BUFF MUST SEE
BEST EPICS, FLOPS AND ODDITIES
By Nicola Methven, TV Editor
THERE are 25 iconic movies every wannabe movie buff must see, experts claim. The diverse list includes timeless classics such as Casablanca, La Dolce Vita and High Noon. But it also has blockbusters such as Jerry Bruckheimer's disaster flick Armageddon, ridiculed by critics but a worldwide hit. Radio Times' Andrew Collins, who drew up the table, said: "Snobbery doesn't belong to the film buff blah blah blah ..." The compilation, with entries in no particular order, also has well-known films such as sci-fi epic Blade Runner and Hitchcock's Rear Window. But there are some you might have missed at your local Odeon - Salvador Dali's surrealist piece Un Chien Andalou and 1919 German horror The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, for example. There is even room for Hollywood's biggest flop Heaven's Gate, which cost 22million but made back less than 2million. Andrew added: "It's possible to enjoy it despite knowledge of the budget and chaos behind the camera."
It also helped filled space in the Mail and probably others too. That's how journalism works. Radio Times puts out a press release each week running through what's in the magazine, and unless there's a war on (hang on ...), it will help fill the newspapers. This week, it just happens to be a bare-bones precis of How To Be A Film Buff, my 25 must-see-films feature in this week's mag, the subtleties of which are of course lost in translation. On the Mail website, where comments are invited after each story, they have fallen into my trap and started banging on about the films I have stupidly "missed off", as if perhaps I did actually miss them off. There are reasonable calls for the likes of Kes and The Godfather, but one chap thinks these superior titles should replace "irrelevent trash" like Blackboards, a fine allegorical piece from the flourishing cinema of Iran. Idiot. Hey, that's why we did the piece, to encourage debate. Oh, and to fill some of the Radio Times during the slow summer months!
For the record, these are the original 30 films (reduced to 25 to fit over five pages), in no particular order, each one with an alternative choice, making 60. Discuss:
1 CASABLANCA (1942)
If wet: Citizen Kane (1941)
2 THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI (1920)
If wet: Nosferatu (1921)
3 BLADE RUNNER (1982)
If wet: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969)
4 A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946)
If wet: The Red Shoes (1948)
5 OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
If wet: The Big Sleep (1946)
6 LA DOLCE VITA (1960)
If wet: The Bicycle Thieves (1948)
7 HIGH NOON (1952)
If wet: The Searchers (1956)
8 REAR WINDOW (1954)
If wet: Psycho (1960)
9 THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (1958)
If wet: Rashomon (1950)
10 BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
If wet: Easy Rider (1969)
11 BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
If wet: His Girl Friday (1940)
12 THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977)
If wet: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
13 UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1928)
If wet: L'Age D'Or (1946)
14 ARMAGEDDON (1998)
If wet: Con Air (1998)
15 HEAVEN'S GATE (1980)
If wet: Dances With Wolves (1990)
16 ANNIE HALL (1977)
If wet: Manhattan (1979)
17 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
If wet: An American In Paris (1951)
18 A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS (1985)
If wet: Drowning By Numbers (1988)
19 PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
If wet: A Few Good Men (1988)
20 PERFORMANCE (1970)
If wet: Blow-Up (1969)
21 BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
If wet: Dracula (1931)
22 BLACKBOARDS (2000)
If wet: The Apple (1998)
23 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
If wet: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
24 PULP FICTION (1994)
If wet: Reservoir Dogs (1991)
25 HERO (2002)
If wet: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
26 SHOAH (1985)
If wet: Night And Fog (1955)
27 WINTER LIGHT (1962)
If wet: The Silence (1963)
28 THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974)
If wet: Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
29 GIMME SHELTER (1970)
If wet: The Last Waltz (1978)
30 WITHNAIL AND I (1986)
If wet: This Is Spinal Tap (1982)
... oh, and Phil Urr was a made-up contributor's name we used to use at Q. Geddit?!
posted by Andrew Collins @ 12:34 PM
21 Comments
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21 Comments:
Phil Urr - Great gag...
It's a strong list, though as a massive fan of horror films I have to question The Hills Have Eyes being first choice to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The latter wrote the rules for slasher films while the former is really just a pale imitation of that kind of class.
Perhaps I misunderstood the 'if wet' ruling...
"If wet" is just my pithy way of saying, "If they haven't got the first choice in the video shop ..." In other words, either choice does the trick. I chose Hills over Chain Saw as it's more gruesome and unpleasant and will therefore score you a few extra points if you're trying to pretend to be a film buf.
Coincidentally this morning I placed an order for this film for my wife's birthday (aren't I romantic?).
Wouldn't dream of getting the remake version of this but was wondering whether there has ever been a remake of a film that was actually superior to the original?
A film I'd recommend seeing would be Le Cop (aka Les Ripoux).
This may be controversial, Mal, but I watched the remake of The Hills Have Eyes and, though I watched the original in the late eighties when I was 12, I still think my critical faculties were developed enough for me to now declare that the remake is actually better. More suspense, better characterisation and relentless blood-letting. Worth renting.
Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Hostel', so I may not be the best source for recommendations on this topic.
I'd agree with most of those choices, except maybe for swapping 'The Belly of an Architect' for the other Peter Greenaway films. It's less surreal than 'Z and Two Noughts' but gorgeously filmed with every shot composed like a classical picture. The score is better too, with Wim Mertens being the composer.
Oh, and swap 'Das Boot' for 'Paths of Glory'.
I haven't watched many of the films. I'll have to try some of them.
But I hate the film Armagadden. Not because it's stupid. I'm stupid, I like stupid films; but because it's so boring. All I remember is them pissing about on that asteroid for about ten hours while everyone in the cinema headbutted the seat in front of them wanting it all to end. There should be maximum time people are allowed to do very little on asteroids in films.
I'll have to try and watch Paths of Glory, I love A Few Good Men.
Two words: Gregory's Girl. If wet, That Sinking Feeling (definitely not Gregory's Two Girls).
I haven't seen any of those films, and I say that in a slightly concerned, 'is there something wrong with me' kind of way, rather than in any kind of boastful way. I think I saw the start of 2001..., but got bored, and Pulp Fiction has been 'on' a couple of times, but I've always dozed off.
I'm not really a film person, can you tell?
I'll get me coat...
I'd swap Hero for House of Flying Daggers. It's still pretty but not as hard work.
I will check out some of those that I haven't seen. Cool list.
Wasn't Citizen Kane made in 1940 and Easy Rider sometime in the late 60's?
Citizen Kane (1941), Easy Rider (1969), both now amended. Thanks for the pointer . . .
Hi Andrew
I regularly read and enjoy your film guide in the RT and inevitably find your reviews enlightening and accurate.
However, with the risk of sounding pedantic I feel that there are some glaring ommisions:
- No David Lynch (I'd have chosen Blue Velvet, Lost Highway for the wet option)
- No Stanley Kubrick (I'd have chosen The Shining, 2001 for the wet option)
- No Coen Brothers (I'd have chosen The Man Who Wasn't There, with Fargo as the wet option)
- No Pedro Almodovar (I'd have chosen All About My Mother, with Live Flesh as the wet option)
- No Lars von Trier (I'd have chosen Breaking The Waves, with The Idiots as the wet option)
I'd also disagree with your Hithcock choices. Vertigo is his masterpiece closely followed by The Birds.
And I also think Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The thief, His Wife and Her Lover is his best moment.
Anyway, you're DEFINITELY the expert so I bow to your superior knowledge. Plus only having 30 choices must have made life rather tricky. Hopefully you'll get Wossy's job on Film 2006 before long as his reviews are generally rubbish!
Pedantry always encouraged, Herb, although your choices are subjective, just like mine, so there's no right or wrong answer. I love David Lynch and would have chosen Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive as these define his work at either end. There is a Stanley Kubrick - Paths Of Glory. The Coen Brothers are geniuses, but I'd argue that you don't need to see their films to be an instant film buff. Nor Almodovar (I tried to limit myself to one director per significant foreign territory, and I already had Bunuel for Spain! Damn those 30 slots!) Lars von Trier, again, interesting, but not essential, I'd argue, not without a limitless list. I prefer Vertigo personally, but I felt that Rear Window better displayed his bag of tricks. Psycho more interesting than The Birds, more influential too. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover is terrific, but there's more of an argument for not putting him in at all. I indulged myself there, and he does represent a kind of European artiness that flourished in the 80s, almost becoming mainstream. That's kind of gone now.
no 'Bill and Ted'!
Am I going mad or is there nothing covering the French New Wave...?
(Am with Jim - Bill & Ted need to be shoehorned in somehow).
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Paul, I completely agree with your idea of Gregory's Girl being in the list. I'm 14 and I first saw the film when I was about 9 or 10 and I absolutely love it. I could probably quote the whole film, it's just such a delight and John Gordan Sinclair is perfect as Gregory, I feel like I know Gregory! Plus it was Gordan Sinclair's first ever acting role which is even more impressive! Haven't seen Gregory's 2 Girls as I don't want to ruin the first in any way and was warned off by the two stars in Total Film magazne.
Nice list Andrew, and great to see some Powell and Pressburger in there. I watched another of theirs the other night - 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' - what a film! Has anyone else seen it?
For me it surpasses both the P'n'P choices you make here. They're both corkers, I particularly love the magnificent 'Matter of L&D' but they lack the epic sweep of 'Blimp'. Made during WWII, apparently Churchill wanted it banned, as he felt it undermined the war effort. Perhaps the old boy had packed away one Glenfiddich too many when he saw it. Crammed full of humour, pathos, sadness and an all-pervading sense of what 'englishness' and honour mean as concepts, it might not get the critical spotlight as much as the other Archers films, but it is surely one of the greatest british films ever made.
I can't, as you might have surmised, recommend it highly enough :)
I like that you've included 'A Few Good Men' which is a deeply underrated film for what it is. Subjective true, but I would have put 'All The President's Men' higher that Parallax.
Only 17 out of the possible 60, I'm clearly not commited enough to be a film buff. Also all the horror ones are just too nasty for a wuss like me. I have been in the room while certain of those films were on, but since I was wearing a walkman and determinedly reading, I can't count them.
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