Can anybody name me movies that they "grew" into?

I think I hit most movies about the right time. When they were a bit beyond my grasp, the movies themselves tended to change me and pull me up to to a new plateau. I'm thinking specifically of Vertigo and Fanny & Alexander and Children of Paradise.

I did like Godard the first time I saw him. (Admittedly, I watched Breathless at age 19 primarily for Jean Seberg's haircut.) But I definitely get more out of him as I get older.

Godard's funny - he's got such an air of spinach about him now, that you watch his movies dutifully. But his first five or six films are just amazingly alive and charming. People don't talk about how charming Godard is.

You can totally see why Godard was so influential to other filmmakers. It wasn't just that he was creating a radically new film language, but his talent was dazzling. Again and again and again he does something completely unprecedented in film and pulls it off.

I liked it, but I definitely missed something major, going by Corwood's reaction, but mos def, that scene with Pike was quite brilliant. movies I grew into
I'm not sure if there is a specific film, so much as that my tolerance for ambiguity and less-than-perfect heroes has expanded a lot, even over the last few years.(chuckles because this conversation makes my tag funnier) Now, maybe I've gone too far to enjoy most of network TV.

Huh. I was just looking at IMdb and my husband's grandfather was one of the AD's on The Wild Bunch. He was an AD on Finian's Rainbow too. Man, I love that movie - it's so cheesy but so good.

PC you'll probably like The Godfather

At least I don't think any of them are really bad, I just don't get why they're so great.

I think that one problem in film-viewing today is that it's hard to put yourself into the context of the film in the time it was made. That is to say, a lot of movies called "great" are so because they were radical for the time in which they were made, and without that context they're merely good -- or even not-so-good -- movies. But, like, it's very hard to re-wire the brain so that it has never seen a dolly-out/zoom-in shot (which Hitchcock invented for Vertigo ), because you have seen it, it's effective, and its currency is less now because it's used so often. The first time that shot was used, it probably seemed like the movie theatre was changing shape, which effect I personally would find terrifying.

I think that, a lot of the time, it's worth it to read crit about a "great" film before you see it, so that you know what that context is, and can attempt to appreciate it as film history appreciates it. If the movie bowls you over above and beyond the crit, that's great, but if it doesn't, you won't walk away with the question-marks circling your head.

I saw Citizen Kane when I was 16, and didn't care about it. The very next day, a guy raved about how it was his favorite movie evar, and explained why (i.e., it was a critique of the American Dream, formal elements, blah blah blah). A couple years later, I rewatched the movie, and got it. Didn't love it; I never will; and it wasn't the years that helped me get it, but the explanation from somebody who did love it why it was lovable.

If you don't, don't tell me. I once wrote a whole fic just for the purpose of quoting "Don't ask me about my business, Kay...this one time, I will allow you to ask about my affairs." I'm not rational about the Godfather.

...whereas I saw The Godfather as a beautiful potboiler. It's pulp all dolled up, and I dig it on that level, but it makes me crazy that so many people don't see it as pulp. I mean, hello! It is gangsters being melodramatically tragic! REal gangster watched that movie and started aping it, because they thought their lives needed more "artistic" drama.

I think this means that visuals -- the artistry -- cannot distract me away from story the way they can a lot of people.

I know...Paulie Walnuts' horn plays the theme song, too.

PC you'll probably like The Godfather

I hope so! And I'm supposed to like The Godfather II and loathe The Godfather III.

I think that one problem in film-viewing today is that it's hard to put yourself into the context of the film in the time it was made. That is to say, a lot of movies called "great" are so because they were radical for the time in which they were made, and without that context they're merely good -- or even not-so-good -- movies.

Very, very true.

I saw Citizen Kane when I was 16, and didn't care about it.

That's about how old I was when I saw it, and what I loved about it was the narrative style. I hadn't seen a lot of classics until my film class senior year of high school, so I didn't know what to expect. I didn't expect, I don't think, something so non-linear. Piecing together a man's life through the tales of the most important figures in it. All the revolutionary technical aspects of the filmmaking were just icing, but it had a story that grabbed me.

I think this means that visuals -- the artistry -- cannot distract me away from story the way they can a lot of people.

So it's entirely possible that we agree on this, which is, you know, weird. There are so many movies where people rave about how bloody gorgeous it is (e.g. The Thin Red Line, Hero, Lost in Translation etc.), but I couldn't get into the story, so whatever. If you're not going to tell me a fucking story, at least give me a ride, like Run Lola Run. I don't think I have patience for pretty pictures if there isn't enough meat behind them. Kinetic action, however, will carry me through.

This is all interesting, because I think story, as such, is the least important part of a film to me. I want it to be pretty, and I want it to have characters. Often, characters and story are entertwined, part and parcel of the same thing, but that's not always true.

This is why I adore Lost in Translation while many don't, because I love the characters. Nothing happens in the movie. But it's pretty, and there are characters I can get into. That's what I need.

A lot of people think Godfather 2 is actually the superior film...I've not actually seen three for myself figuring, if it sucks, that's a sad way to spend two + hours.(But I shouldn't skip any mafia movies and I fucking survived "Casino", no?) I think that the Godfather makes some significant points about family bonds, but I will admit to not finding them Significant with a capital s...I'm just saying I don't think it is without story.