Thursday, March 7, 2013

12 Angry Movies I Really Need to See


So, I have discovered an old movie blog meme going on from Lost in the Movies. The rules are that you name 12 movies that you are making an effort to actually see in the world... and then you tag 5 people... I don't know that many blogs. In addition, the movies in question must not be available over Netflix, but I don't own a Netflix account (never found myself needing one) and so I don't know whether or not they are available on it.

So, here's my list...



Ping Pong (2002, directed by Fumihiko Sori) - Obscure? Check. Quirky? Check. We have enough of those types of movies as it is. But about ping pong? A movie that can be more than a simple Enter the Dragon-parody? (*cough*BallsofFury*cough* - granted i liked that movie). Sign me up at least for one viewing.
Except that the movie's been extremely elusive... I can't find it on DVD, in a library, anywhere...

The Samurai trilogy (1954-1956, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune) - I've found myself becoming more and more accustomed to samurai films over the years. I've been enjoying the culture more so and the discipline of the samurai, but I've also taken to letting this transition to the movies I watch, but in the literal and the atmospheric vein of a samurai picture.
This is the one movie I have not yet tapped. I feel everything other movie I've seen doesn't matter to this, with the esteem and pedestal it has been held at.

Lady and the Tramp (1955, produced by Walt Disney) - I had embarrassingly discovered that out of one of my college classes I was the only one who had not seen this movie. It doesn't help that I have been relatively unknowing in my Disney classics, having not seen many of the olden Disney animations like Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid and The Jungle Book until intensely recent. So, yea, a Disney animation spree is in effect.

F for Fake (1974, directed by Orson Welles) - I understand Chimes at Midnight is the harder of Welles' efforts to locate as it's rights are completely obscure in their ownership. But I'm more interested in the concept of a video essay, it sounds not so avant-garde and not so documentarian. Is it a narrative based on a thesis? The idea excites me.

Song of the South (1946, produced by Walt Disney) - This is more or less a movie I want to say just because I want to have said I've seen it. It's racial connotations add to its reputation and the story of Briar Rabbit is one that I had read many times in an old children's book I had as a child based on all the Disney stories. It was a great read when I was little and it would be great to see it finally on a screen... as told by a racial outrage lightning pole.
Also, why would you make a theme park ride based on a movie you don't want people to see? Can we expect an Escape from Tomorrow ride sometime soon?

Viy (1967) - Without having seen this movie, the premise alone has inspired me enough to write my own horror movie script in a manner of family drama and requiem. Now, I want to see how this plot came off on a strictly religious standpoint. It's one of those tales of heroes with backs against the wall.

A Chinese Ghost Story (1987, produced by Tsui Hark, directed by Ching Siu-tung and starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong and Wu Ma) - Ever since I even took my film ambitions this seriously, I had always been in search of the perfect blend of fantasy, horror, mythology, emotion, romance, humor and color that leave the experience feeling like something else. I think the closest film I found to match my appetite for this perfection is John Carpenter's cult classic Big Trouble in Little China, but you'd be hard-pressed to find that to be a great movie, let alone perfect. It's only good enough.
I've long decided that there's never going to be such thing as the perfect movie. Every movie must have its human flaws and the best of these films have the slightest flaws. This may be the closest to that perfect movie, though.
Now, I sound biased.

The Vanishing (1988, directed by George Sluzier) - As a self-proclaimed buff of the horror genre in all its output (cinema, fine art, literature, music, even video games... which I usually find myself straying from), I find it the biggest disappointment that I have not seen this true shocker classic. Part of it is just that I cannot find a copy of the film, everytime I try, I end up with that offputting remake. I WILL NOT watch that remake, not even after I finally see the original. That sort of fate to me when I've pursued this film for so long is incredibly insulting to me...

La Vieja Memoria (1979, directed by Jaime Camino) - I found it on youtube, but without English subtitles. I don't speak Spanish. I am taking to learning Spanish now for three things... 1) I enjoy the idea of being multilingual in any aspect, especially since I already have been since childhood, 2) it had been kickstarted by a previous relationship and I'm not going to stop just because we did; this shit fun and 3) so I can finally see this movie and feel at peace.

The Tales of Hoffmann (Written, produced and directed by Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell) - Remember what I said about A Chinese Ghost Story? Well, here we have two artists who have shown time and time again that they have the ability to provide such a film that is strictly made of wonder and nothing else, the masters Powell and Pressburger. If A Chinese Ghost Story fails, The Tales of Hoffmann will certainly pick up its slack.
It's also the movie that influenced George A. Romero, so I'm certainly in for that.

Planet of the Apes (1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner) - I think a major factor was that, in my childhood, the idea of a planet of the apes was silly to me, the idea of a post apocalyptic world was unappealing and boring to me, and I had already been spoiled the ending. I never had true incentive to see the movie. I still don't, but I think I've gone long enough being a movie buff without having seen it.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, directed by Steven Spielberg) - I know, I know... hate me later...


I also find myself really pursuant for Spirit of the Beehive, but I don't need to elaborate. If you know the film and what it is, you know why I gotta see it.

In addition, movies available to me but I haven't taken to viewing yet (due to time and work) include Memories of Murder, Satantango, Risky BusinessThe Turin Horse, La Regle de Jeu, Harlan County U.S.A., Out 1, Laura, Gilda and Koyaniqaatsi.

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