or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
June 03, 2005
Incredibly Enough, Attack of the Clones Didn't Make The List
Mike Gerber's wife Kate is starting the USC film school screenwriting program this fall. They've sent her a list of 100+ movies they expect students to have seen on arrival. Anyone who watches moviesâ€â€ie, everyone on earthâ€â€will probably be interested in it.
Posted at June 3, 2005 12:10 PM | TrackBackHey! I saw Repo Man. I'm glad it's on the list.
Posted by: Darryl Pearce at June 3, 2005 03:25 PMWhere's Scarface? Facking classic!!
Posted by: hoohah at June 3, 2005 10:41 PMIt is kinda scary when you have seen a good portion of the films on the list...and you haven't gone to film school.
Posted by: jillian at June 3, 2005 11:27 PMSo, the only Spielberg film they expect you to have seen is Jaws? But they do expect you to have seen The Matrix. I see... "Ah, screw all that post-Jaws Speilberg crap. Schindler's List? Bah! Speilberg's only real contribution to cinema was the concept of the summer blockbuster! After Jaws it was all down hill. Oh, and speaking of blockbusters, have you seen the Matrix? Awesome!"
And don't get me started on the Coens--yes to Barton Fink, no to Fargo? WTF?
Well, I thought it was weird that they included Dr. Strangelove and not A Clockwork Orange. I am glad Repo Man was on there. That was a favorite of mine in my teens. Clueless belongs on there too. Not all "film major" movies need to be highbrow.
Posted by: Anna in Cairo at June 5, 2005 06:36 AMOkay, I'll play too:
First and Most Important, Monsieur JLG: I thought it was odd that they included 'Band of Outsiders' but not 'My Life to Live.' Surely ‘Vivre sa Vie’ is the more innovative of the two. And if you’re just including it for Raoul Coutard’s brilliant run and gun cinematography, you already have 'Breathless' as the ultimate example of that. Plus, Anna Karina is much more beautiful in ‘Vivre sa Vie.’ Right boys!
Now to the real movies:
'The Empire Strikes Back' is missing (in my sad opinion).
'The Bicycle Thief' and no 'Umberto D' also seems like a dreadful miscalculation. You could make the case that 'Umberto D' is one of the greatest 'Neorealist' movies ever made considering it contains very few if any professional actors.
'The Long Goodbye' could also be on the list as Altman's attempt to remake the detective genre with a very traditional and familiar protagonist.
Also, the reason they included Jaws is because of it changed the way movies were released (from the 'rollout' to the 'wide release'). I'm not saying I agree with it, but that's probably the reason.
Okay, I’m starting to bore myself.
No Lord of the Rings, either. It's a course in itself. No Guy Madden, or silent films on the list, either. A little week in my estimate.
Posted by: Keith at June 7, 2005 04:19 PM
