ICM Forum

I'll have to be the defender then:

Masterpieces

3 Women (1977)
Nashville (1975)

Favourites

The Player (1992)
Short Cuts (1993)
California Split (1974)
Brewster McCloud (1970)
Images (1972)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

Other Great Films:

The Long Goodbye (1973)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
The Company (2003)
Secret Honor (1984)
Quintet (1979)
MASH (1970)
Gosford Park (2001)

Very Good

Streamers (1983)
Thieves Like Us (1974)
Kansas City (1996)
A Wedding (1978)

Good Enough:

The Gingerbread Man (1998)
Popeye (1980)

Altman: #85 in my directors list. One of those directors that has a consistent good output, with some outliers above to excellent and few below.

Masterpiece
-

Excellent
1. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971): 9.2
2. Short Cuts (1993): 9.0

Good
3. Nashville (1975): 8.2
4. The Long Goodbye (1973): 8.0
5. Images (1972): 8.0
6. Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982): 8.0
7. 3 Women (1977): 7.8
8. That Cold Day in the Park (1969): 7.8
9. Gosford Park (2001): 7.8

Fine
10. MASH (1970): 7.0
11. Kansas City (1996): 7.0

Okay
12. The Player (1992): 6.5 (but could use a rewatch)

Mediocre
-

Poor
-

Bad
-

Terrible
-

Robert Altman

One of 33 directors I've seen at least 26 films from.
https://letterboxd.com/jeff_v/list/robe ... an-ranked/

★★★★★
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Long Goodbye

★★★★½
Gosford Park
The Player

★★★★
California Split
Nashville
3 Women

★★★½
Short Cuts
Tanner '88
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
M*A*S*H
Vincent & Theo
The Company

★★★
A Wedding
Cookie's Fortune
Thieves Like Us
Brewster McCloud
Secret Honor
Countdown
Dr. T and the Women

★★½
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson

★★
A Prairie Home Companion
Quintet

★½

★
Popeye
Images

½
Prêt-à-Porter

Altman:

1. Gosford Park 9
2. 3 Women 7
3. The Long Goodbye 6
4. Nashville 6
5. McCabe & Mrs. Miller 6
6. Prêt-à-Porter 5
7. Short Cuts 5
8. Fool for Love 5
9. MASH 4
10. A Wedding 4
11. Dr. T & the Women 2

Since no one has proposed them yet, I'll suggest our two recently deceased directors:

Carlos Saura
Hugh Hudson

Unfortunately, I haven't seen a Saura movie, and I barely remember the only Hudson movie I've seen, so I can't provide my own rankings.

My God, I couldn't bare Chariots of Fire

Saura

1. 7.4 - La caza [The Hunt] (1966)
2. 7.2 - La prima Angélica [Cousin Angelica] (1974)

3. 6.0 - Elisa, vida mía [Elisa, My Love] (1977)

Not a big fan so far, but I'll keep trying, and at least give Cría cuervos a go since it's a forum fave. Mama Turns 100 and Taxi also look a tad interesting.

Hudson

1. 7.0 - Chariots of Fire (1981)

Wasn't that impressed with this one, aside from Vangelis's iconic score. I think the only other Hudson I'm aware of is Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, which looks like silly fun.

The only Hudson film I've seen is Chariots of Fire, which, sorry to say, is for me one of the worst Best Picture winners since the 1930s: overly long, excruciatingly boring, and strong contender for the most unbearable film score of all time.

Most of my Saura viewings, on the other hand, have been both quite recent and quite enjoyable. He was my top priority early last month, with the fortuitous combination of his prominence in the 1000 < 400 list, a Spain poll, and a robust selection of his films on Criterion Channel. I'm looking forward to exploring more when time permits.

Great

Very Good

1. Peppermint Frappé (1967) ... apparently heavily influenced by Vertigo, this film also struck me as a likely influence on That Obscure Object of Desire, which for me is perhaps Bunuel's best film (and that's saying a lot)

Good

2. La caza (1966)

Above Average

3. Deprisa, deprisa (1981)
4. Cría cuervos (1976) - provisional ranking, saw it a while ago

Okay

Not Good

Can't rank Hudson, but I think it is better to do rankings one at a time anyway

1. 8,5 - Elisa, vida mía (1977) Elisa, My Life
2. 8 - Cría cuervos (1976)
3. 8 - La prima Angélica (1974) Cousin Angelica
4. 7,5 - Peppermint Frappé (1967)
5. 7,5 - Bodas de sangre (1981) Blood Wedding
6. 7,5 - La caza (1966) The Hunt
7. 7,5 - Carmen (1983)
8. 7 - Deprisa, deprisa (1981) Faster, Faster
9. 7 - El jardín de las delicias (1970) The Garden of Delights
10. 7 - Buñuel y la mesa del rey Salomón (2001) Bunuel and King Solomon's Table
11. 6 - Los golfos (1960) The Crooks

Some others have been on my watchlist for a long while now. Interesting director for sure... maybe the chunk of movies that fall into an 'it's alright' category for me is too large to call him a favorite, but he has an original voice.

Still a fair number I need to see, but I can't say I'm Saura to have seen the ones I have:

★★★★½
Cria cuervos

★★★★

★★★½
Peppermint Frappe
La Caza / The Hunt
La Prima Angelica / Cousin Angelica
Elisa, Vida Mia / Elisa, My Life
El Amor Brujo
Carmen
Tango

★★★
Dulces horas / Sweet Hours
Deprisa, deprisa / Fast, Fast

Fergenaprido wrote: ↑February 16th, 2023, 11:50 pm I think the only other Hudson I'm aware of is Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, which looks like silly fun.

Oddly enough, it's really not. It's a very realistic, not-fun version of Tarzan that feels like it was designed as Oscar bait.

So, like, every post-2005 "reimagining" of old original IP?

flavo5000 wrote: ↑February 17th, 2023, 11:14 pm

Fergenaprido wrote: ↑February 16th, 2023, 11:50 pm I think the only other Hudson I'm aware of is Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, which looks like silly fun.

Oddly enough, it's really not. It's a very realistic, not-fun version of Tarzan that feels like it was designed as Oscar bait.

Ah, okay. I knew it was "serious" but I thought it was one of those films that took itself so serious that it ended up being farcical. I might check it out then.

Carlos Saura

★★★¾ | 8.0
El Amor Brujo

★★★¼ | 7.2
El Jardín de las Delicias

★★¾ | 6.4
Carmen

★★¼ | 5.5
Bodas de Sangre

★★ | 5.0
Cría Cuervos


Some others are on my watchlist, but no priority

Spoiler

Hugh Hudson

★★★½ | 7.6
Greystoke – The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes

★★ | 5.0
Chariots of Fire

☆ | 1.0
The Road Home


If the times comes when I want to complete Al Pacino's filmography Revolution will be added to my watchlist...

Saura

1. Carmen 7
2. Cria Cuervos 6
3. Salome 5

Hudson

1. Chariots of Fire 7
2. My Life So Far 6

I havent seen enough Saura to really garner a proper impression of him yet with the only ones I've seen being Cria Cuervos which I thought was pretty good but not mind blowing and his Olympic documentary Marathon which is actually pretty nicely done in a more poetic style.

As for Hugh Hudson, I'm in the "Chariots of Fire was extremely dull" camp, and Greystroke: Tarzan wasn't much better.

Carlos Saura

8
Cría Cuervos (1976)

7
El Dorado (1988)
Anna and the Wolves (1973)
Goya in Bordeaux (1999)
The Hunt (1966)
Peppermint Frappé (1967)

*****************************************************************************************

Hugh Hudson

7
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)

6
Chariots of Fire (1981)

5
Revolution (1985)

In honour of DTC's founder Lee: Frédéric Back (since he's mentioned a few times in the recent podcast)

1. 9.2 - L'homme qui plantait des arbres [The Man Who Planted Trees] (1987)
2. 8.6 - Le fleuve aux grandes eaux [The Might River] (1993)
3. 8.4 - Crac (1980)
4. 8.2 - Tout rien [All Nothing] (1978)
4. 8.2 - Inon ou la conqûete du feu [The Conquest of Fire] (1972)
6. 8.0 - La création des oiseaux [The Creation of Birds] (1972)
7. 7.8 - Illusion? (1975)
8. 7.6 - Abracadabra (1970)
9. 7.4 - Taratata [Taratata: The Parade] (1977)

The only downside to his filmography is that he didn't make more films.

Sorry, Fergen, haven't seen any of Back's work myself, although some of his best known films are clearly blind spots for me.

The Man Who Planted Trees (1987) - 8/10
Crac (1980) - 8/10
All Nothing (1978) - 8/10
The Mighty River (1993) - 7.5/10

I've seen his two official checks. I adored L'homme qui plantait des arbres, but Crac didn't make the same impression for me.

L'homme qui plantait des arbres (1987) - 5/5

Crac (1980) - 3/5

Not to backtrack too hard, but here be my updated Robert Altman rankings. I've become curiously enamored with his prolific and extensive filmography since my re-watch of Images, so I spent most of February and early March re-watching and filling in some blind spots. A few did rise in my estimation, though I haven't gotten around to revisiting everything I wanted to, mainly the first three I have in my 8 column.

10

Images

9

Kansas City
Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Streamers
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
3 Women
The Player

8

Nashville (the one I wanted most to re-watch but didn't get around to)
Gosford Park
M*A*S*H
The Long Goodbye
A Prairie Home Companion
A Perfect Couple

7

Short Cuts
Secret Honor
California Split
Quintet
HealtH
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson

6

Prêt-à-Porter
Popeye

5

Dr T. & the Women

It's been a while since I submitted a director, and I see we haven't yet done my favourite director who emerged during the French New Wave: François Truffaut. Interestingly, some of Truffaut's traditionally most acclaimed films don't do a whole lot for me, but I've greatly enjoyed my sporadic and incomplete journey through his consistently strong filmography, and have found he's a director whose deep catalogue rewards the effort to seek out the films. Still a few more to go, and looking forward to those when the time comes. It's impossible to know what we missed out on due to his sudden and early passing, he may well have joined some of his contemporaries (e.g. Alain Resnais) in continuing to make good films well into the 21st century.

Great

Very Good

1. La peau douce - The Soft Skin (1964)
2. La sirène du Mississipi - Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

Good

3. La mariée était en noir - The Bride Wore Black (1968)
4. Les deux Anglaises et le continent - Two English Girls (1971)
5. Baisers volés - Stolen Kisses (1968)
6. Tirez sur le pianiste - Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
7. La femme d'à côté - The Woman Next Door (1981)
8. Vivement dimanche! - Confidentially Yours (1983)
9. Domicile conjugal - Bed & Board (1970)

Above Average

10. L'histoire d'Adèle H. - The Story of Adele H. (1975)
11. Jules et Jim (1962)
12. Les quatre cents coups - The 400 Blows (1959)
13. La nuit américaine - Day for Night (1973)
14. Antoine et Colette (1962) - short
15. Les mistons (1957) - short

Okay

16. La chambre verte - The Green Room (1978)
17. L'amour en fuite - Love on the Run (1979)

Not Good

Don't Remember Enough to Rate

Le dernier métro - The Last Metro (1980)

1. 8.0 - Le dernier métro [The Last Metro] (1980)
2. 7.6 - Tirez sur la pianiste [Shoot the Piano Player] (1960)
3. 7.6 - Les quatre cents coups [The 400 Blows] (1959)

4. 7.0 - Vivement dimanche! [Confidentially Yours] (1983)
4. 7.0 - La femme d'à côté [The Woman Next Door] (1981)

Shorts
1. 7.6 - Les mistons [The Brats / The Mischief Makers] (1957)

I wasn't taken by The 400 Blows as much as I had expected, so I've never really bother with the rest of that series. I saw the 3 '80s films cuz they were on Mubi, and finally got around to Tirez last fall for the noir poll. I have 8 of his films laying around available to me, but only Jules & Jim seems like to be seen in the near future. Maybe I'll rewatch his debut and see what I think of it now.

OK
1. La nuit américaine
2. Vivement dimanche!

Underwhelming
3. Les 400 coups
4. Jules et Jim

Terrible
5. Fahrenheit 451
6. La chambre verte

I've finally caught up with Fahrenheit 451 not too long ago and it was a fully underwhelming experience

Small Change (1976) - 8/10
Day for Night (1973) - 8/10
The Last Metro (1980) - 8/10

Stolen Kisses (1968) - 7.5/10
The Story of Adele H. (1975) - 7.5/10

Shoot the Piano Player (1960) - 7/10
Jules and Jim (1962) - 7/10
The 400 Blows (1959) - 7/10 (due for a rewatch since I saw it 30+ years ago)
Fahrenheit 451 (1966) - 7/10 (due for a rewatch since I saw it 30+ years ago)

I've never understood the big fuss over Truffaut.

Superlative

Very Good

Good
The 400 Blows
Small Change

OK
Shoot the Piano Player
Fahrenheit 451
The Last Metro

Misfires
Jules and Jim

Altman: #79 in my directors list. I'm generally more a fan of his early nouvelle vague stuff than later works.

Masterpiece
1. Jules and Jim (1962): 10!
2. The 400 Blows (1959): 9.5

Excellent
3. Shoot the Piano Player (1960): 9.0

Good
4. Stolen Kisses (1968): 8.0
5. Les Mistons (1957) - Short Film: 8.0
6. Antoine et Colette (1962) - Short Film: 8.0
7. The Soft Skin (1964): 7.8
8. Bed & Board (1970): 7.8

Fine
9. Day for Night (1973): 7.5
10. The Last Metro (1980): 7.2
11. The Wild Child (1970): 7.0
12. Fahrenheit 451 (1966): 7.0
13. Confidentially Yours (1983): 6.8

Okay
14. The Bride Wore Black (1968): 6.5
15. Two English Girls (1971): 6.2
16. Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me (1972): 6.0
17. The Woman Next Door (1981): 6.0

Mediocre
-

Poor
-

Bad
-

Terrible
-

Only seen three of his works as I'm not the biggest fan of French New Wave cinema.

1. Fahrenheit 451 (1966) - 7/10
2. The 400 Blows (1959) - 7/10
3. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) - 6/10

I'm gonna watch more of his work down the line, but right now, it's not a priority.

AB537 wrote: ↑March 12th, 2023, 5:30 pm It's been a while since I submitted a director, and I see we haven't yet done my favourite director who emerged during the French New Wave: François Truffaut. Interestingly, some of Truffaut's traditionally most acclaimed films don't do a whole lot for me, but I've greatly enjoyed my sporadic and incomplete journey through his consistently strong filmography, and have found he's a director whose deep catalogue rewards the effort to seek out the films. Still a few more to go, and looking forward to those when the time comes. It's impossible to know what we missed out on due to his sudden and early passing, he may well have joined some of his contemporaries (e.g. Alain Resnais) in continuing to make good films well into the 21st century.

Great

Very Good

1. La peau douce - The Soft Skin (1964)
2. La sirène du Mississipi - Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

Your favourite director from the French New Wave but he doesn't even have two films you'd consider great and just 2 you think are very good. Bleak for the rest.

Lonewolf2003 wrote: ↑March 13th, 2023, 11:36 am Altman: #79 in my directors list. I'm generally more a fan of his early nouvelle vague stuff than later works.

La Réalisateur américaine

I think Truffaut is the least consistent of the 5 big cahiers directors. At his best his films are asbolute spectacles but he also made a lot of films I don't find all that remarkable (they are serviceable but in the company of giants like Rohmer, Rivette, Godard, Chabrol that does you dirty). Top 4 are great.

1. Stolen Kisses
2. Two English Girls
3. Jules et Jim
4. The Wild Child
5. Shoot the Piano Player
6. Day For Night
7. The Last Metro
8. Fahrenheit 451
9. The Bride Wore Black
10. Bed and Board
11. 400 Blows
12. Mississippi Mermaid
13. The Woman Next Door
14. The Mischief Makers
15. Antoine and Colette
16. A Story of Water

St. Gloede wrote: ↑March 13th, 2023, 1:16 pm

AB537 wrote: ↑March 12th, 2023, 5:30 pm It's been a while since I submitted a director, and I see we haven't yet done my favourite director who emerged during the French New Wave: François Truffaut. Interestingly, some of Truffaut's traditionally most acclaimed films don't do a whole lot for me, but I've greatly enjoyed my sporadic and incomplete journey through his consistently strong filmography, and have found he's a director whose deep catalogue rewards the effort to seek out the films. Still a few more to go, and looking forward to those when the time comes. It's impossible to know what we missed out on due to his sudden and early passing, he may well have joined some of his contemporaries (e.g. Alain Resnais) in continuing to make good films well into the 21st century.

Great

Very Good

1. La peau douce - The Soft Skin (1964)
2. La sirène du Mississipi - Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

Your favourite director from the French New Wave but he doesn't even have two films you'd consider great and just 2 you think are very good. Bleak for the rest.

Fair enough, although I'd note my thresholds for those two categories are categories are very high - "Great" probably covers about 80-100 films in total, and "Very Good" gets me to maybe 200-250. Truffaut's appeal for me derives in part from pretty consistent quality, including lesser known films that make it worthwhile for me to explore the relatively obscure corners of his filmography. The peaks are higher from Godard (especially Contempt, but also Breathless and Alphaville), but after about 1965-66 his quality completely falls off a cliff for my taste. At this point Chabrol seems the most likely to have a chance of overtaking Truffaut, but I haven't seen enough from him to make that determination.

Outside New Wave but somewhat overlapping chronologically, I also rate Clouzot and Melville similarly to if not higher than Truffaut.

1. Day For Night
2. The 400 Blows
3. Stolen Kisses
4. Antoine and Colette
5. Jules and Jim
6. Bed and Board
7. The Story of Adele H.
8. Love on the Run
9. Mississippi Mermaid
10. The Man Who Loved Women
11. Les Mistons
12. Fahrenheit 451
13. The Soft Skin
14. Small Change
15. The Bride Wore Black
16. Two English Girls
17. Confidentially Yours
18. The Last Metro
19. The Wild Child
20. The Woman Next Door
21. Shoot the Piano Player

1. 8 - 4 - Jules et Jim (1962) Jules and Jim
2. 8 - 4 - La femme d'à côté (1981) The Woman Next Door
3. 8 - 4 - Tirez sur le pianiste (1960) Shoot the Piano Player
4. 7,5 - 4 - La chambre verte (1978) The Green Room
5. 7,5 - 3,5 - La nuit américaine (1973) Day for Night
6. 7,5 - 3,5 - Les quatre cents coups (1959) The 400 Blows
7. 7,5 - 3,5 - Fahrenheit 451 (1966) Fahrenheit 451
8. 7,5 - 3,5 - Vivement dimanche! (1983) Finally, Sunday!
9. 7 - 3,5 - La mariée était en noir (1968) The Bride Wore Black
10. 7 - 3,5 - Une belle fille comme moi (1972) A Gorgeous Girl Like Me
11. 7 - 3,5 - Baisers volés (1968) Stolen Kisses
12. 7 - 3,5 - L'amour à vingt ans (1962) Love at Twenty
13. 7 - 3,5 - Le dernier métro (1980) The Last Metro
14. 7 - 3,5 - La peau douce (1964) The Soft Skin

this is my list so far, with rankings out of 10 and out of 5... too much in the 3,5 area to think of him as a great director, but he is an important critic and still made some very strong movies too. When all is said and done maybe the most conventional one from the Cahiers bunch? which might be unexpected as he also seems to be a bit of a leader

Truffaut

1. La Nuit américaine 10
2. Le Dernier Métro 9
3. La Mariée était en noir 8
4. L'Histoire d'Adèle H. 7
5. Les Quatre Cents Coups 7
6. Tirez sur le pianiste 7
7. Jules et Jim 6
8. L'Enfant sauvage 6
9. La Chambre verte 6
10. L'Argent de poche 6
11. Vivement dimanche! 6
12. La Sirène du Mississipi 5
13. La Femme d'à côté 5
14. Les Deux Anglaises et le continent 5
15. L'Homme qui aimait les femmes 5

François Truffaut


This very weekend I'm as old as Truffaut ever got... 52 years, 8 months and a handful of days: I hope I will make it till tomorrow...

★★★★¾ | 9.6
01. Jules et Jim (1961)*

★★★★¼ | 8.8
02. Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)*

★★★★ | 8.4
03. Baisers volés (1968)*
04. La Peau Douce (1964)

★★★¾ | 8.0
05. Vivement Dimanche! (1983)*

★★★½ | 7.6
06. La Nuit Américaine (1973)*
07. L'Enfant Sauvage (1969)
08. L'Argent de Poche (1976)
09. Le Dernier Métro (1980)

★★★¼ | 7.2
10. Tirez sur le Pianiste (1960)*
11. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)*

★★★ | 6.8
12. L'Homme qui Aimait les Femmes (1977)
13. Domicile Conjugal (1970)

★★¾ | 6.4
14. L'Amour en Fuite (1978)
15. La Mariée Était en Noir (1967)*
16. Deux Anglaises et le Continent (1971)
17. L'Histoire d'Adèle H. (1975)

★★½ | 6.0
18. La Sirène du Mississippi (1969)

★★¼ | 5.5
19. La Femme d'à Côté (1981)*

★★ | 5.0
20. La Chambre Verte (1978)*

★½ | 4.0
21. Une Belle Fille comme Moi (1972)


N/R
Antoine et Colette (1962), segment from "L'Amour à Vingt Ans" (the Truffaut episode is the only one I saw from this anthology)
Les Mistons (1957), short

Y U M E wrote: ↑March 19th, 2023, 4:34 pm François Truffaut


This very weekend I'm as old as Truffaut ever was... 52 years, 8 months and a handful of days: I hope I will make it till tomorrow...

Happy birtday YUME . Keep us updated if when you do