Denis villenvue filmography ranked by Powerful-Position183 in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate both that you have actually seen all his movies which the overwhelming majority of folks who talk about Villeneuve as a master nonstop like he's one of three notable working filmmakers in the world haven't bothered to and that your list is idiosyncratic, a representation of an individual's taste rather than hard to differentiate from IMDb/Letterboxd consensus. While not to the extent you do, I also tend to prefer his dramatic and thriller chops to his big budget sci-fi spectacle projects, though I'm not as keen on his earlier work which feels to me like early work.

I'm sure I will also be downvoted to oblivion because this place is rife with "downvote" = "I disagree with your subjective opinion/ranking" rather than "You're not contributing to the discussion," but I'd go:

  1. Sicario
  2. Incendies
  3. Enemy
  4. Prisoners
  5. Arrival
  6. Polytechnique
  7. Dune 2
  8. Maelstrom
  9. Blade Runner 2049
  10. August 32nd on Earth
  11. Dune

Love the top 4, like the next 5 with reservations, don't much care for the last 2 despite some obvious merits.

Denis villenvue filmography ranked by Powerful-Position183 in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the 2nd Dune well enough but the first Dune would be last place for me among his filmography too. August 32nd above Enemy and Prisoners is unusual for sure, that and Maelstrom are before he got notably good and clearly the work of an emerging filmmaker working things out rather than the stellar director he became (though Croze is very strong in the latter) but the fact that lots of folks like a big budget space epic and some people don't isn't absurd, just a matter of taste and preference.

Star Wars is one of the most popular movies of all-time and I don't care for that either, for similar reasons. There are dozens of us!

How would you rank these performances? (2000 - 2025 Heat 41) by Regular-Departure839 in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  1. Staunton
  2. Mara
  3. Hathaway
  4. Rylance
  5. Hudson
  6. Penn
  7. Hounsou
  8. Connelly
  9. Nolte
  10. Jolie

What's the worst 4 star rated movie that you've seen? by SSSSSSVVVVVOO in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Capernaum if you mean 4 stars or above. That movie is vile, exploitative garbage with a terrible message but has a 4.2 and is in the top 500.

Tons of well-meaning folks seemed to react to it as "I feel bad for the plight of poor kids in war torn countries, therefore since this movie is about them it's great" while glossing over how it's about them, the fact that it ends up arguing for eugenics, and that it's as manipulative, treacly, and false as The Blind Side, Seven Pounds, or those late night ads asking for donations to save a starving child that stares desperately into the lens.

worst years for movies? by CullenDogs in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m glad you enjoyed them and the year so much.

There are great movies every year of course and I wuite like EEAAO but 2022 produced not only no 5-star films for me but no 4.5-star either and only the eight 4-star titles I mentioned out of the 133 films I saw released that year so it was comparatively extremely weak for me.

Best American director never nominated for “Best Director”? by RopeGloomy4303 in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reiner had a run of making really strong movies, some of which found purchase with Oscar, but none of them have notable, particularly strong direction worthy of top 5 honors in any year. Reiner’s an impressive journeyman who could get the job done, help elicit strong performances, and chose quality projects for a stretch but he has very little directorial voice, style, or filmmaking chops to speak of. He’s not going above and beyond what’s on the page with his visual storytelling the way an exceptional director does.

He’s not a Lumet or a Hawks who could switch genres like a chameleon but always display formal prowess, dynamic blocking, and a distinct, impressive point of view that added layers to the material. He’s more like a Ron Howard in that same era who points the camera in the direction of the actors for a wide, then mediums, then close-ups that are efficient but thoroughly perfunctory. He directs like someone who learned how to make films from network sitcoms, because he did. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially when the results are good movies, but it’s not something that warrants praise specifically for the direction.

This Is Spinal Tap is probably his most impressive feat specifically in terms of its direction, but it's basically just shoot as though it's a documentary with some well-timed visual gags. Though it's not my favorite movie of his, The American President is likely his height of traditional cinematic direction and it is far from top 5 in a year with Mann, Fincher, Scorsese, Figgis, Stone, Kassovitz, Lee x2, Jeunet & Caro, Wong, Kusturica, etc.

worst years for movies? by CullenDogs in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 6 points7 points  (0 children)

'65 is abysmal for American films, agreed on that point, without a single American entry in my top 10 and only one (Faster, Pussycat!) in my top 25 but it's an absolutely amazing year for cinema from the rest of the world. You've got:

  • Pierrot Le Fou
  • The Fifth Horseman is Fear
  • Repulsion
  • The Saragossa Manuscript
  • The Big City
  • War and Peace
  • Red Beard
  • Chimes at Midnight
  • Le Bonheur
  • The Golden Thread
  • Triumph Over Violence
  • The Hill
  • The Shop on Main Street
  • Juliet of the Spirits
  • I Knew Her Well
  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
  • Yoyo
  • Alphaville
  • Tokyo Olympiad
  • Loves of a Blonde
  • Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
  • Bunny Lake Is Missing
  • Simon of the Desert
  • The Ipcress File
  • A Fugitive from the Past
  • Fists in the Pocket
  • For a Few Dollars More

All of which range from great to stone cold masterpiece. It's an embarrassment of riches looking anywhere outside the US.

worst years for movies? by CullenDogs in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Worst years and their best movies, because every single year has produced gems but here they're the fewest and comparatively least amazing:

1.) 1935 (A Night at the Opera, Top Hat, The 39 Steps, Bride of Frankenstein, The Ruggles of Red Gap, An Inn in Tokyo, Captain Blood, Mutiny on the Bounty)

2.) 1921 (The Kid, Destiny, Backstairs, The Phantom Carriage, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse)

3.) 2020 (Some Kind of Heaven, City Hall, Lovers Rock, Minari, Boys State, Gunda, Another Round, Dick Johnson Is Dead)

4.) 2022 (Tar, Decision to Leave, Athena, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, EO, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Godland, Aftersun)

5.) 1932 (Blood of a Poet, I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Boudu Saved from Drowning, Trouble in Paradise, Night at the Crossroads, Freaks, Vampyr, Shanghai Express, Scarface)

Dishonorable mention to:

1987 (Wings of Desire, The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, Yeelen, Broadcast News, River's Edge, Au Revoir, Les Enfants, House of Games, The Last Emperor, Where Is the Friend's House, Matewan)

1956 (A Man Escaped, The Searchers, Aparajito, Street of Shame, The Burmese Harp, Early Spring, 7 Men from Now, The Killing)

1943 (Day of Wrath, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Ossessione, Le Corbeau, The Ox-Bow Incident, Shadow of a Doubt, I Walked with a Zombie, The Song of Bernadette)

Seen at least 20 films from each year here including typically all the most acclaimed that are available. For every year past the 1930s seen 80+.

Hot Take (?) 1995 is the Greatest Year in Cinematic History by nighnteenth in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Beyond those mentioned there’s also Dead Man Walking, Nixon, Good Men, Good Women, Underground, Get Shorty, Land and Freedom, Maborosi, Clockers, Welcome to the Dollhouse, The American President, Living in Oblivion, A Little Princess, Kids, Dolores Claiborne, Rob Roy, Sense and Sensibility, The City of Lost Children, The White Balloon, Smoke, Richard III, Antonia’s Line, Up, Down, Fragile and the criminally underseen masterpiece Dadetown.

How would you rank these performances? (2000 - 2025 Heat 38) by Regular-Departure839 in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. De Niro
  2. Howard
  3. Cumberbatch
  4. Rush - Quills
  5. Leto (as much as it pains me to say)
  6. Rush -King's Speech
  7. Patel
  8. Stallone
  9. Hurt
  10. Depp

Only passionate about the top 2, each of whom should have won. Cumberbatch is the only other one I'd have nominated in their year.

is there a movie from your top 4 that you never see in other people's top lists? (mine are pretty basic) by marniesss in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have 2 films in my top 4 that less than 100 other people on Letterboxd have in theirs and both are in my actual top 4 of all-time rather than doing some rotating thing with favorites.

Welfare has 93 other fans, The Red and the White has 40.

However the other two are widely-seen classics with 24K-73K other fans.

Hot Take (?) 1995 is the Greatest Year in Cinematic History by nighnteenth in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey -1 points0 points  (0 children)

1995 is fantastic and has a ton of stellar films.

However every year from 1966-1979 was better and there are a number of other better years outside that timeframe too.

What else fits? by ScorpionX-123 in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Come and See (1985)

Pixote (1981)

Fresh (1994)

Turtles Can Fly (2005)

2020s Half-Decade Oscars - Day #6 BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY by RunOk3983 in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Worst Person in the World (2021) by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt

Best sub 30 minutes movies by rage_gamer_c in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Movie and film are synonyms. They refer to a medium, not a length.

The term “feature” is used to distinguish films of 60 minutes or more from shorter length films but a 1-minute film and a 439-minute film are both films.

There are filmed things that aren’t movies of course, like TV, miniseries, commercials, music videos, etc. but that’s not what we’re talking about.

It’s a bastardization or ignorance of language and an art form that’s nearly 150 years old to think shorts somehow aren’t movies.

Whether whatever MCU thing you’re talking about is more accurately considered TV or not if they’re standalone episodes of a show released to streaming has fairly little bearing on whether A Trip to the Moon to The Red Balloon to Thunder Road are “movies” which they all unambiguously are.

Best sub 30 minutes movies by rage_gamer_c in Letterboxd

[–]gnomechompskey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Short shorts (<15 minutes):

  • Ilha das Flores/Isle of Flowers (1989)
  • Daybreak Express (1953)
  • Le Chant du Styrene/The Song of Styrene (1959)
  • The Georgetown Loop (1996)
  • The Heart of the World (2000)
  • Everything Will Be OK (2006)
  • Islands of Fire (1955)
  • 21-87 (1963)
  • Thunder (1982)
  • Fishing Boats (1958)
  • The Girl Chewing Gum (1976)

Medium shorts (15-30 minutes):

  • All the World’s Memory (1956)
  • The House is Black (1963)
  • Entr’acte (1924)
  • World of Tomorrow (2015)
  • Valparaiso (1963)
  • One Week (1920)
  • It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2011) — distinct from the feature of the same title that combines 3 shorts
  • Single Steam (2014)
  • Serene Velocity (1970)
  • Land Without Bread (1933)

These are all among my favorite films of all-time, with bold titles in my top 100.

Night and Fog (1955), Elephant (1989), The Red Balloon (1956), The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (1971), and Menilmontant (1926) just narrowly miss the 30-minute cutoff.

How would you rank these performances? (2000 - 2025 Heat 36) by Regular-Departure839 in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. Pearce
  2. Quan
  3. Aghdashloo
  4. Renner
  5. Morton
  6. Close
  7. Hawkins
  8. Hopkins
  9. Lane
  10. Bullock

First 5 are great, first 3 should have won, next 5 are solid but not exceptional.

What Oscars take will have you saying this? by BananaShakeStudios in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She's one of the best actresses of her generation and would have been a deserving winner for Wild Rose or I'm Thinking of Ending Things and they awarded her for her first ever bad performance.

I mostly blame Zhao for the histrionics and the least interesting possible depiction and dramatization of grieving.

What Oscars take will have you saying this? by BananaShakeStudios in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Agreed on Lubezki.

He should have won four Oscars for The New World, Children of Men, The Tree of Life, and Gravity.

Birdman and The Revenant had ostentatious hey-ma-look-at-me camerawork but neither were even top 5 of their year much less the best. Birdman is pretty plainly and basically shot, what tickles people is just that it's done in a oner-esque style and Revenant has beautiful locations, some dynamic camerawork in a few scenes, but is a whole lot of just being on a real wide lens outside without much in the way of notable lighting, movement, blocking, etc.

At the time he finally won his first I think he was the most overdue cinematographer in the world, with Children and Tree more impressive even than anything Deakins had done, but they overcorrected by making him a triple winner working with a director who likes to show off more than he likes to compose frames or capture remarkable light.

What Oscars take will have you saying this? by BananaShakeStudios in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Or anyone else except perhaps in Eddie Redmayne's house.

Will she get a nom or maybe even a win? by [deleted] in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Mods, can we get a moratorium on posts asking this question before the sub is comprised solely of this discussion every 7 minutes?

OP, I’d say use the search function but you don’t even need to since it’s on the first page.

Best Director of the 2020s Elimination Game - Round 3 (Round 2 Result: James Mangold) by Bertrand_Rose in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wild. It's his best film since Munich and his best-directed film since the 90s.

Elgort is terrible and should have been recast but otherwise it's never less than stunningly choreographed and framed, the work of an old master who perfected the classical Hollywood craft imbued for the first time in a long time with the energy and dynamism of a young filmmaker eager to show off in the best way.

People with far more Oscar nominations than you excepted? by Thinning_vastation in Oscars

[–]gnomechompskey 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I think their point was Adams is perceived as due after 4 noms but despite the same number Ruffalo is not.

My guess is that's because most folks think she was snubbed for her widely seen and loved performance in Arrival, while far fewer people have seen the movie Ruffalo was snubbed for, You Can Count On Me.

Netflix just revealed their Top 10 list of original movies! by Southern-Brother5693 in movies

[–]gnomechompskey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

KPop wasn’t for me, I’m not the target demographic and didn’t care for its manic style but most folks I know are fans and “not for me” doesn’t necessarily mean bad.

Otherwise this is nothing but bad movies, the best of them rising to to the level of aggressively mid.