1957 Movies
OSCARS Won/Nominated
IMDB Top 250
IMDB Top 250
OSCARS
Best Picture
Best Director Best Adapted Screenplay |
12 Angry Men
Dir: Sidney Lumet Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #5 When I think of technically brilliant cinema...this is one of the classics I always go to. The story is as simple as you can imagine. 12 jurors for a murder trial, 11 think the kid is guilty, Henry Fonda doesn't. How Lumet films the proceedings is nothing short of genius. The walls close in, the sweat drips from brows and pools in armpits, the angles are menacing...and it all make a film about 12 men talking in a room into a riveting experience. These are 12 characters, and each and every one of them are given their due respect as individuals...each with different perspectives and attitudes toward the trial. Basically a perfect film...and one that should be required watching in film school. A |
OSCARS
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The Bridge on the River Kwai
Dir: David Lean Stars: Alec Guinness, William Holden, Richard Benjamin 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #59 They just don't make movies like this anymore. This is a grandiose epic whereby there are clear sides, but one has a rough time choosing who to root for. On one hand, a BRILLIANT Guinness decides that if his Japanese POW captors are going to make his men build a bridge, he is going to build the best bridge possible as a testament to British ingenuity and stamina. On another hand, there is Sessue Hayakawa, the Japanese General who is ruthless at first but comes to respect Colonel Nicholson's idealism. then theire is Holden's Shears. an American who escaped the camp, only to be charged with returning and blowing up the bridge. These three stories converge in a finale that is as perfect as one could hope for. However, TBOTRK does have two slight weaknesses. First, the gravitas sits with Guinness's story arc, and it feels like it is put on the back burner to Holden's. Two...the "What have I done?" moment felt forced and unearned. If the film had the courage to avoid that, it would have been amazing. A- |
Paths of Glory
Dir: Stanley Kubrick Stars: Kirk Douglas 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #59 Paths of Glory is early Kubrick, and it is equal parts Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket, and no less brilliant. It involves a French regiment in WWI who are sent on a suicidal mission. When many soldiers fall back because of its obvious futility, 3 are arrested and charged with "Cowardice in the Face of the Enemy". Their Colonel (Kirk Douglas) defends them at their court martial. This movie made me verbally angry, and Kubrick's classic cynicism at humanity's possibility really shines through. This is a wonderful movie, but at under 90 minutes long, I felt like I got shortchanged. The battle seemed truncated and the court martial seemed rushed, but overall...it is fantastic stuff. A |
The Seventh Seal
Dir: Ingmar Bergman Stars: Max Von Sydow 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDB #143 I now understand why Woody Allen is always talking about how he is inspired by Ingmar Bergman. The Seventh Seal is the first film I have seen of Bergman's, and it certainly has a kind of Woody Allen feel to it (of which I am VERY well versed). In Allen films, people sit around talking about life, death, and god...and comically absurd things happen to them. In The Seventh Seal, people sit around talking about Life, Death, and God...and dramatically intense things happen to them. Watching Max Von Sydow (did this guy ever NOT look 70 years old?) play Chess with Death is a pretty iconic image, and the setting of a plague torn Sweden post-crusades is quite a environment for people to start believing that the Apocalypse is nigh. Well done, if a bit uneven and rambling at times. B |
Throne of Blood
Dir: Akira Kurosawa 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I am ashamed to say that as of now, this is the only Kurosawa film that I have seen...and that is because it is an adaptation of a Shakespeare play. MacBeth is a story of ambition, duty, and manipulation. To transplant that old play into medieval Japan was a masterstroke. To watch Washizu receive prophecy, grasp the throne, and be manipulated by his wife is truly a pleasure because the themes and scenes from MacBeth really work in this setting. Kurosawa really had a wonderful eye, and those shots in the Spider's Web forest are spooky and exciting. It's amazing I've yet to get around to more of his more famous works...but I'm working on it. B+ |