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[silversolitaire]

The movie list for my intermediate exams... yay?

Silent Film:
D.W. Griffith - The Birth of a Nation, 1915
Charles Chaplin - The Gold Rush, 1925
King Vidor - The Crowd, 1928

Comedy:
Frank Capra - It Happened One Night, 1934
Charles Chaplin - Modern Times, 1936
Billy Wilder - Some Like It Hot, 1959

Western:
John Ford - Stagecoach, 1939
Fred Zinnemann - High Noon, 1952
John Ford - The Searchers, 1956

Drama / Thriller:
William Wyler - Dead End, 1937
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane, 1941
Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window, 1954
Martin Scorcese - Taxi Driver, 1976

War / Gangster:
Howard Hawks - Scarface: The Shame of the Nation, 1932
Michael Curtiz - Casablanca, 1942
Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather, 1972
Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalyse Now, 1979

New / Off Hollywood:
Dennis Hopper - Easy Rider, 1969
George Lucas - American Graffiti, 1973
David Lynch - Blue Velvet, 1986
Quentin Tarantino - Pulp Fiction, 1994

Comments

[krss.livejournal.com]

You have to watch them and then you take an exam about them?

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yes, that, plus the very extensive reading list on the two other sections x_x;. And it's not like they ask me stuff like "In which city does Scarface live?" and "What's the name of Joe's mom?". It's a bit more complex than that. Like, "Which conclusions do you draw on the portrayal of the mafia in the American film? Give examples." Stuff like that.

[krss.livejournal.com]

Eep. Sounds like a lot of work and attention. I guess even movie watching can become a chore when it's done for school.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

LOL yeah... it's not really like it takes less time, you know? You have to sit through it for 2 hours and then it's not even done with. You usually have to rewatch at least once or twice and it's a lot hard to get back to things you wanted to mark specifically. Can't just paint it yellow! LOL... so yeah, it's a chore, but on the other hand I enjoy doing it a lot so it's not that bad ^.^.

[glenraven.livejournal.com]

ugh I had to do that kinda stuff to when I took a film class my freshman year of college. only add to that journal entries for each movie we watched and 3 papers, one of which was 12-15 pages.


Ick, Birth of a Nation, I'm from the South and I ABHOR this movie. My teacher praised it, but then again we all thought he was a Neo-Nazi :) I had the wonderful luck of being forced to watch it twice in my college career, for 2 different classes. I was not a happy camper. Although I will say it sux you gotta watch 3 westerns. that is one film genre I just cannot stand. Thankfully we were only subjected to one of them, and it was Unforgiven. uck, I wound up sitting in the back of the classroom that day and studying for exams unstead.

Though I loved Modern Times and Citizen Kane. Casablanca and Blue Velvet are also awesome greats. If you haven't already seen it, check out the original Manchurian Candidate, with Angela Landsbury and all. Not the new mockery that is coming out with Denzel Washington (already from the previews it is NOTHING like the original).

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Well these are the intermediate exams. I have a couple of weeks to prepare for this and then I have to go through a 4 hours written exam. And this is just one section. I have several other extensive reading lists. And this isn't a class, but an exam. In our usual movie classes we have similar requirements, only our papers are generally 25 pages.

I've read a lot about Birth of a Nation in secondary literature. So I'm somewhat curious as to the technical aspects. But I do dread it, having heard of its pathos and all. And I'm not a big fan of silent movies. I'm lame like that.

I don't really mind Westerns. It's part of an inclusive academic approach to movies, isn't it? Especially in regard to the historical periods of American film. Plus, movie classes aren't really about liking and enjoying movies. Heck, I don't enjoy most of the stuff I read in my lit classes. But the technical and historical aspects are what's interesting. How characters are built up and how they work to achieve a certain affect. Lighting usage, sound, score, mis-en-scene, all that stuff. It's not really about enjoying it that much... and dude, I could never allow myself to sit in the back of the class not paying attention. I'd so get booted from the class o.o.

Right now I'm trying to stick to my field which is Film Noir. And I think I've seen the movie you've mentioned already. I don't generally oppose remakes. I'm rather interested in the different approach directors take. For example "The Postman Always Rings Twice" or "Scarface". Very interesting....

[liliyomy.livejournal.com]

i'd love that, sounds fun :)
i want to study too!

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yes it is fun!

Well you can always study on your own! ^.~

[liliyomy.livejournal.com]

yes i do it on my own :D luckily we have this one small theather here where they show older movies and many interesting new ones, it's weird we get so little movies on the big screen.
usually they show every movie twice, but it costs only half of the other places' prices. and of course i can watch many movies from tv :)

[no-ron.livejournal.com]

'Blue Velvet'? *puke*
no-one would force me to analyze that movie!

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Well I haven't seen it yet. But I've read a lot about it x_x;. But there's now way around it. I have to watch it, no matter what. In all honesty, the movie I'm dreading more is Birth of a Nation! x_x;

[kribban.livejournal.com]

You are definitely in the in-crowd (= those who study Cinema with capital C) Enjoy it while it lasts.