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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

[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....