Top 10 of the Decade: The 1960's

[Lancemc]

Of all the "great directors", I think Antonioni might be the only one I haven't seen a single film of.

Not to be condescending at all, but I'm sure he's not the only one. Of course it also matters who the "great directors" are.

 

[gump]

I agree that Antonioni is more visually interesting than perhaps anything Truffaut ever put on film. At the same time, I think that the vast majority of Truffaut's films are much more emotionally gripping (especially compared to Antonioni's more detached style) and therefore they resonate much more. This is basically the same issue I have with the Truffaut vs Godard comparison.

 

[Lancemc]

I find Antonioni's films to be remarkably emotional, more in a pure cinema context perhaps, less reliant on narrative means. A simple (but far from simplistic) compositional choice or cut in an Antonioni film carries more emotional resonance to me than an entire film by one of any lesser directors.

 

[lazarus]

I'm not sure if it's fair to put Antonioni in the same category as Godard. A lot of what the latter did was simply trying to get a reaction or to be cool, and I get the feeling that Antonioni was following a purer muse.

Truffaut was certainly the greatest humanist of his contemporaries, but that doesn't automatically make him the best. He was a better screenwriter than a director, and I consider myself a fan.

 

[Lancemc]

I wouldn't compare the two for a second either. Antonioni was always striving for something elevated with his work, and created new cinematic forms to attain it. Something intellectual, but also quite human and personal in his own unique way. I hesitate to dismiss Godard purely as a provocateur, however. He really explored cinema as a formal design medium, and did plenty of interesting things with genre. To what end is debatable, and he frequently fails to engage me on any higher level as well. But sometimes his art works for me in all the right ways, namely with my listed Alphaville. Also with Masculin-Feminin, Band of Outsiders and probably A Woman is a Woman.

 

[lazarus]

Well I tried not to make an absolute statement, which is why I said "a lot of what (he) did" as opposed to most, or everything. There is no denying that he had the best eye of anyone on either bank of the New Wave river. I just think that it was often to not very interesting ends.

Masculin-Feminine and Week-End are my big blind spots. Unfortunately not in the (very cheap) Region 2 boxed set that I bought. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her is also supposed to be a standout.

Band of Outsiders would have been on a longer list for the 60's, FWIW.

 

[Lancemc]

2 or 3 Things I Know About Her is also supposed to be a standout.

That seems to be a favorite of a lot of the connoisseurs. I haven't seen it either, but it's next on my Godard list.

 

[gump]

The Godard analogy was misplaced - didn't mean to compare him to Antonioni (and I admire the latter much more), just that sometimes I have a similar reaction to some of their work.

Truffaut was certainly the greatest humanist of his contemporaries, but that doesn't automatically make him the best. He was a better screenwriter than a director, and I consider myself a fan.

I can get behind this.


On the Godard discussion, apart from Breathless, I also like Vivre Sa Vie a great deal. The rest is a bit hit and miss for me, mostly miss. I don't care much for Pierrot Le Fou or Contempt, for instance.

 

[Lancemc]

I don't care much for Pierrot Le Fou or Contempt, for instance.

Two of his most visually inventive... and also empty. I really haven't seen much of anything of his from the 70s onward. I hear there are a few gems though. I'm particularly interested in his recent digital work, even though I hear most of it isn't very good.

 

[lazarus]

I thought Passion, from the early 80's, was very good.

 

[the tourist]

Without really thinking about it:

1. Rosemary's Baby (Polanski, 1968)
2. Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
3. The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963)
4. The Sound Of Music (Wise, 1965)
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
6. The Graduate (Nichols, 1967)
7. The Time Machine (Pal, 1960)
8. Support Your Local Sheriff (Kennedy, 1969)
9. Planet Of The Apes (Schaffner, 1968)
10. Yours Mine And Ours (Shavelson, 1968)

I have not seen many of the titles on the lists, though (including any of the Leone's). Also, I couldn't pick a singular Bond flick that I've seen that stood out above the rest.

 

[bono_212]

Not to be condescending at all, but I'm sure he's not the only one. Of course it also matters who the "great directors" are.

Thus the quotation marks. The names you always see on the list of the greatest directors, etc.

Though, already I see I'm wrong, as I'd forgotten about Godard.

 

[lazarus]

Thus the quotation marks.

Damn, someone just got 212'ed.

 

[bono_212]

Damn, someone just got 212'ed.

Not my intention

 

[LemonMelon]

Well, I watched a few movies tonight to help solidify my list. I still feel it's awful and front-loaded, and because of my distinct lack of interest in the genre up until recently, there are no Westerns to be seen here. The one thing I like about this list is the amount of variety present, but that's about it. I'm going to look back on this list and laugh, a la Peef in the top 50 albums thread:

1. The Graduate (dir. Mike Nichols, 1967)
2. Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
3. The Great Escape (dir. John Sturges, 1963)
4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Atomic Bomb (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
5. A Charlie Brown Christmas (dir. Bill Melendez, 1965)
6. What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1962)
7. Midnight Cowboy (dir. John Schlesinger, 1969)*
8. The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder, 1960)
9. 8 1/2 (dir. Frederico Fellini, 1963)
10. Easy Rider (dir. Dennis Hopper, 1969)

*Enjoy, deep.

 

[If you shout...]

All hail Antonioni.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

10. The Young Girls of Rochefort (Demy, 67)

This just got bumped to the top of my Netflix queue.

 

[bono_212]

Lulz.

 

[Screwtape2]

And I guess I'll have to be the one to say it but... West Side Story is awwwwwful.

Yeah I thought the compositions were pretty interesting but I didn't care for the songs very much, and going in I thought I would feel the opposite. There are far better musicals for me, even from that decade of decline.

In West Side Story's defense it is probably one of the most accessible musicals for those who are not fans of the genre. It strikes the right balance for a lot of people. The songs are timeless and part of pop culture. There is merit in that even if fans of musicals would not rank it that highly.

 

[purpleoscar]

1. Lawrence of Arabia - Lean
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey – Kubrick
3. Psycho - Hitchcock
4. The Good, the bad and the ugly – Leone
5. A Man for all Seasons - Zinnemann
6. Bonnie and Clyde – Penn
7. The Great Escape – Sturges
8. Goldfinger – Hamilton
9. The Battle of Algiers – Pontecorvo
10. The Manchurian Candidate - Frankenheimer

 

[Lancemc]

Happy to see Psycho getting a bunch of mentions. Damn close to my own list.

 

[bono_212]

That movie has always kind of blown my mind. It may make me sound stupid, but, when I first saw it, knowing (as anyone alive knows) how the film ends, I was still shocked when it happened. I thought I maybe misunderstood how it worked or something, so, I still got a great bit of enjoyment out of the twist ending.

 

[INDY500]

In no particular but nevertheless groovy order:

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (66) Leone
Planet Of The Apes (68) Schaffner
The Party (68) Edwards
Grand Prix (66) Frankenheimer
Point Blank (67) Boorman
The Great Escape (63) Sturges
The Fearless Vampire Killers (67) Polanski
Cool Hand Luke (67) Rosenberg
The Wild Bunch (69) Peckinpah
The Masque of the Red Death (64) Corman

 

[Lancemc]

Point Blank is excellent.

 

[lazarus]

I own the Corman on laserdisc with one other Price collaboration. Good shit.

And I recently watched Grand Prix for the first time, an HD-DVD copy. I'm curious to see Steve McQueen's pet project Le Mans to compare, but I really liked Frankenheimer's film.

 

[INDY500]

I own the Corman on laserdisc with one other Price collaboration. Good shit.

And I recently watched Grand Prix for the first time, an HD-DVD copy. I'm curious to see Steve McQueen's pet project Le Mans to compare, but I really liked Frankenheimer's film.

The racing footage is so stylistic and well edited it captures the excitement of the sport perfectly. I really wanted to like Le Mans but it falls well short IMO. Same with Winning (68), the film that started Paul Newman's love of auto sport.

I loved those Poe/Corman double laser discs. It was the only way to see the films in their proper ratio back then.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm curious. Did anyone ever make a good film version of "The Fall of the House of Usher"

That's easily my favorite Poe story.

 

[INDY500]

6. Bonnie and Clyde – Penn

A groundbreaking film to be sure.

FYM isn't going to be a pretty place in 2 weeks, so look out.

 

[Lancemc]

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm curious. Did anyone ever make a good film version of "The Fall of the House of Usher"

That's easily my favorite Poe story.

There's a good short experimental film from the silent era. I don't remember who made it. Striking stuff though. But probably not what you're looking for.

 

[deep]

I won't be able to make a top 10
but there are films from the 60s that I think are exceptionally good
some that come to mind are:

Doctor Zhivago
The Producers
Rosemary's Baby
Lawrence of Arabia
2001 A Space Oddity
Midnight Cowboy