What Have You Bought Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I really liked Gone Girl, although time will tell whether it stands up to the scrutiny of repeat viewings.

I'm not really a fan of Panic Room, The Social Network or Zodiac.

My favourites of his are Se7en and The Game. Like Mr. Harker says, Alien 3 is very under-rated and I also enjoyed his remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I found to be on-par with (if not slightly better than) the original.

Fight Club is okay but I find it's a film that gets worse every-time that I watch it. It hasn't aged well and has lost a lot of its 'edge' to the point where it is pretty embarrassing in places.

I consider, as pieces of accomplished filmmaking rather than how much I enjoy them, his best three films are (not in to order) Zodiac, Se7en and Gone Girl.

I really like Fight Club, Panic Room, Alien3 and The Game, but don't consider them to be as well-made as the first three.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I consider, as pieces of accomplished filmmaking rather than how much I enjoy them.

That's quite an odd way to look at things.

Personal enjoyment means a hell of a lot more to me than if a film is supposedly well made.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

That's quite an odd way to look at things.

Personal enjoyment means a hell of a lot more to me than if a film is supposedly well made.

Have to agree.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

That's quite an odd way to look at things.

Personal enjoyment means a hell of a lot more to me than if a film is supposedly well made.

They are different things. Triumph of the Will, for example, is a brilliant film, but I don't like it.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I consider, as pieces of accomplished filmmaking rather than how much I enjoy them, his best three films are (not in to order) Zodiac, Se7en and Gone Girl.

I really like Fight Club, Panic Room, Alien3 and The Game, but don't consider them to be as well-made as the first three.

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

That's quite an odd way to look at things.

Personal enjoyment means a hell of a lot more to me than if a film is supposedly well made.

Exactly.

'Accomplished film-making' doesn't mean anything to me on its own; if a film is boring and I'm not enjoying/feeling it then I couldn't less how 'accomplished' it is technically, narratively or aesthetically or any other 'ly'.

That doesn't mean I don't take it into account, but film isn't some kind of objective medium which you can look at purely technically.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Exactly.

'Accomplished film-making' doesn't mean anything to me on its own; if a film is boring and I'm not enjoying/feeling it then I couldn't less how 'accomplished' it is technically, narratively or aesthetically or any other 'ly'.

That doesn't mean I don't take it into account, but film isn't some kind of objective medium which you can look at purely technically.

Maybe it's the two years I spent doing an MA in International Film, but I think it is possible to separate the two and have great works of art which aren't much fun, and films which are ineptly made but hugely enjoyable.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

They are different things. Triumph of the Will, for example, is a brilliant film, but I don't like it.

Two hours of Nazi propaganda isn't the same as Alien 3.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Two hours of Nazi propaganda isn't the same as Alien 3.

True!

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Maybe it's the two years I spent doing an MA in International Film, but I think it is possible to separate the two and have great works of art which aren't much fun, and films which are ineptly made but hugely enjoyable.

I'm not necessarily talking about 'fun' though, as some of my favourite films could hardly be seen as fun (Solyaris, Clean Shaven, Spoorloos etc.) it's all about 'feeling' for me and intensity, which can represent itself as a plethora of emotions and thoughts. 'Best' for me does not equal 'most accomplished' or 'most heralded' - I'd take Welles' The Trial over Citizen Kane any day of the week irrelevant of the fact that critics and fans want to label one as more accomplished and 'worthy' than the other and for me the former is the 'better' film, hence the subjective rather than objective nature of cinema. Lawrence of Arabia is no doubt an epic masterpiece but there's no way it's getting near a Top 500 film list of mine irrelevant of how accomplished and well-regarded it is... I gotta save space for Burial Ground and I Drink Your Blood.

I do understand where you're coming from what with you having studied film academically, I guess in a way it's like your brain has been conditioned to look at film as a puzzle or a piece of machinery, dissecting it and putting it back together again; critiqueing and analysing which in turn leads you to perhaps look deeper into the technical aspect of cinema.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I do understand where you're coming from what with you having studied film academically, I guess in a way it's like your brain has been conditioned to look at film as a puzzle or a piece of machinery, dissecting it and putting it back together again; critiqueing and analysing which in turn leads you to perhaps look deeper into the technical aspect of cinema.

It took me years after the course to enjoy a film because I spent the whole time analysing camera angles, lighting, score, editing and every other aspect and didn't have any chance to actually turn my brain off and watch for enjoyment!

It's been so long that I can analyse a film if I want to, but now spend my time watching for enjoyment than academic or critical purposes.