tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post6582500588968333859..comments2024-03-25T21:14:49.666-04:00Comments on Joel Swagman (Reviews / TESOL): My Top 10 Movies of All Time ListJoel Swagmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948746083822200906noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-72491018348471850202017-02-18T07:38:00.573-05:002017-02-18T07:38:00.573-05:00If Roald Dahl didn't write that in his script ...If Roald Dahl didn't write that in his script (plus the monorail, PLUS the mid-way stop for a "self-destruct" button) I say he still deserves the credit for it. What kid doesn't thrill to that?dpreimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09905531259256800022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-57818946085216699932017-02-15T00:09:11.571-05:002017-02-15T00:09:11.571-05:00I'd probably have to re-watch those movies bef...I'd probably have to re-watch those movies before I started to break down the 3rd act structure. I don't remember having a problem with them at the time though. "From Russia with Love" bored me when I was younger, but when I re-watched a few years back I found it slightly slow moving, but very good atmosphere.<br /><br />When I first saw "You Only Live Twice" at around 12, I loved the 3rd act. A huge fight scene with modern day ninjas storming a secret volcano lair? It was the coolest thing ever.Joel Swagmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14948746083822200906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-29355984648701907172017-02-14T18:52:40.714-05:002017-02-14T18:52:40.714-05:00Yeah, the "initiation Bond" is the big o...Yeah, the "initiation Bond" is the big one, usually. I have to say that for both these Bond films, the third act sucks. In fact, now that I'm on the subject I'm wracking my brains to think of a Bond flick with a third act that satisfies. Hmm...dpreimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09905531259256800022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-16778194080711504332017-02-14T10:20:03.710-05:002017-02-14T10:20:03.710-05:00I hope someday to go through this list and give ea...I hope someday to go through this list and give each choice the full justification it deserves. In long form.<br /><br />In the meantime, though, I'll try to be brief:<br /><br />The Ghandi movie was preachy, but I guess the fact that I largely agreed with what they were selling helped me to get on board with the movie.<br /><br />I also wonder (and I'm somewhat thinking aloud here) if the movie helped to make Ghandi's reputation for subsequent generations.<br />When I was in high school, this movie was presented to us as if it was the truth about Ghandi. I never even heard it's truth claims debated. But apparently it was in debate at the time it came out.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS7B92jFOMQ&t=456s<br /><br />A lot of the movies on my guilty pleasure list are there because of the nostalgia factor. You Only Lives Twice was the first James Bond movie I ever saw, so it made the biggest impression.<br />I remember From Russia with Love from your list. <br />I didn't really care much for From Russia with Love back when I first saw it (I was around 12 or 13, I think). It was much too slow paced for me. <br />I think even within the 1960s, the pacing of these movies changed a lot. The first couple James Bond movies, Dr. No and From Russia with Love were much slower paced. By the time of You Only Live Twice, they had gotten much crazier.<br />I re-watched From Russia with Love a few years back, and I had a brand new appreciation of it as a time piece--it was just so classic early 1960s classic cold war era kitsch. And it has a wonderful atmosphere to it.<br /><br />From my perspective nowadays, I'd say it's a close 2nd as my favorite Bond film.<br /><br />Alien versus Aliens is always a tough call. Both have a lot to recommend them. But I always thought the supporting cast in Aliens was much more interesting.<br />I thought it was particularly clever in Aliens that very few of the characters turn out to who you think they will be. Paul Reiser appears at first to be the person who rescues Ripley, but then he turns out to be the villain. Bishop appears as just another murderous robot at first, but then he risks his life for everyone. Bill Paxton appears to be the macho person at first, but then he turns out to be the coward. Etc.<br /><br />And the special effects. Amazing what they were able to do in Aliens without any CGI. Joel Swagmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14948746083822200906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-72385383674289531122017-02-14T07:33:29.553-05:002017-02-14T07:33:29.553-05:00Man, I am not a fan of Attenborough's Gandhi. ...Man, I am <i>not</i> a fan of Attenborough's <i>Gandhi</i>. This is partially due to being forced to watch it as a testosterone-charged youth when it came out -- Mennonites, pacifism, blah blah blah. <i>The REVENGE of The Jedi</i> was going to come out in a couple of months, and it would blow this turgid five-hour sermon OUT OF THE WATER, man!<br /><br />So many disappointments that year ('82). Thank God for Rambo. About whom, more later.<br /><br />Back to Gandhi, I saw it again some years later and my opinion hasn't changed. Gandhi is right, and everybody else is a clod rolled into the scene to prove it. It obviously worked for a lot of people, though: Attenborough tried the same stunt again with <i>Chaplin</i> in the 90s.<br /><br />I love your "guilty" list. <i>You Only Live Twice</i> is close to my heart as well (watched it again just the other night, actually), but I'd probably make <i>From Russia With Love</i> my go-to Connery Bond.<br /><br />You'd put <i>Aliens</i> above the original? I remember seeing it in theatres back in the day, and everybody pretty much agreed we'd never seen anything so unremittingly intense. A couple of years ago I ran through the cycle with the girls, and was surprised by how much lesser the film felt in contrast to the first one. It still held up, but ... I think there are aesthetic choices that date it in ways the earlier film managed to avoid.<br /><br />Hard to believe my list is nearly 11 years old. I don't think I'd take any titles out of it, but I'd add a few and shuffle them closer to the top. <i><a href="http://whiskyprajer.blogspot.ca/2013/05/im-real-wild-child-tragically-temporary.html" rel="nofollow">First Blood</a></i> should really be in that list, as should <i><a href="http://whiskyprajer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/fathers-and-daughter-gone-haywire.html" rel="nofollow">Haywire</a></i> and <i>Children of Men</i>. In fact, I'd probably give <i>Children</i> the top spot.Whisky Prajerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14076228013022881173noreply@blogger.com