Media Psychos Psycho Challenge! NEW: CHALLENGE 38 IS NOW LIVE!

[DParadigm]

Challenge #12 Directors

 

1. Peter Jackson: Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Hobbit Trilogy, King Kong and Mortal Engine.

My favorite: Return of the King

 

2. Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight, Prestige and Tenet.

My favorite: The Dark Knight

 

3. Russo Brothers: Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and End Game.

My favorite: Infinity War 

 

 

 

[Scary Hair]

 

WEEK 12  Here we go and my reasons  for the 3 Directors I have chosen are they make a BLOODY GOOD FILM THAT YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO AGAIN AND AGAIN .

 

 

First and foremost first row top to bottom  owwww hell you know it had to be John Carpenter. 

 

Out of them all these are my go too 3 .

 

Escape From New York the whole movie start to finish has you in the edge of your seat and each time you watch you find something new .

 

In The Mouth Of Madness

Where does fantasy start and realty end . Just a sublime watch that I managed to see opening weekend. 

 

 

Along with The Prince Of Darkness  and They Live . 

Why Carpenter well he has I feel the most connected to . Those haunting electro ssoundtracks nailed the feel of the time and his films. His best Is THE THING .

 

John Mctiernan

 

Die Hard IS a Christmas film and one of the best .

 

Predator saw it at the Cinema opening weekend and loved it ever since .

 

MY favourite of his THE Hunt For Red October his best by a mile it should be as boaring as watching pain dry OR a game of cricket  yet the tension has you yelling at the screen.  One stand out is moment is when Remius meets Putin in his cabin and the spoken  Russian  turns to English on one word Armegeddon utter genius. 

 

Mel Gibson

Braveheart Quite right the Best Director going to him for this movie masterpiece.  Anyone arguing about the historical accuracy can stop using inappropriate language off and do one .

 

Apocalypto All filmed in the original  Yucatec Maya language the whole way through. A delight yet gruesome in places watch .

 

My Favourite Hacksaw Ridge no 9ne else could have filmed this with such grace and attention to detail in the battle scenes.  Visceral and uncompromising with the amount of inner and outer body parts being thrown at the actors re creating the horrendous battle experiences that gave us today our freedoms.

 

Now YES I can name other great directors as my choices a special  shout out to Richard Donner , Bong Joon Ho  and John Badham .   

 

as for Ridley Scott and James Cameron they where on the list however the pair of them just love to milk the cash cows ( US ) with Directors cuts of just about every movie they make . ALSO CAMERON GIVE US THE 4K SPECIAL EDITION OF THE ABYSS. 

 

 

 

 

 

[HeightOfFolly]

Challenge #12

 

First up is Christopher Nolan. Say what you will about his dialogue mixing but the man knows how to make an entertaining film. I'm gonna have to pick Inception as my favorite.

 

 

Next up is Spielberg. It's tough to pick one over the others due to the sheer amount of gems he's made over the years. I'm picking the first Jurassic Park. That kitchen scene is about as perfect as it gets.

 

 

Lastly, the Wachowskis. I know that the Matrix sequels get a lot of hate and their more recent stuff hasn't been as popular but I've always loved the Matrix trilogy and think Cloud Atlas is a masterpiece.

 

 

 

[Rambo]

thank you @bossjon and @extantsrevenge for this weeks challenge. (Challenge 12: the Directors) 

 

I have many favorite directors, too hard to put an order to it, so my picks aren't necessarily my top 3. Stanley Kubrick , Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, James Wan, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Dennis Villeneuve, are also some of the best but not shown here in my submission.

 

Up first is Kim Jee-woon, the 3 films posted here, I could rewatch them countless times, and they are all so different. The Good the Bad the Weird is just plan cool, and very funny. My favorite of his though is, I Saw the Devil.

 

Next up is John Carpenter, the legend. Favorites, so many, but They Live, the Thing, and og Halloween,  are the stand outs for me. 

 

Last is Quentin Tarantino, all of his films are amazing, but after many repeat viewings, I can safely say Inglourious Basterds is my favorite. I find it to be very nuanced, and perfectly paced. Melanie Laurent puts on, what I consider to be one of the best performances, by any actor/actress, ever. 

 

 

 

[MoneySniper]

I’ve been busy for the past few weeks so never got a chance to take part in any of the previous week challenges. Had some free time so I thought I’d take part in week 12.

 

1: Christopher Nolan

My top 3 films by him are Inception, Interstellar & Memento. 

 

2: David Fincher

My top 3 films by him are Fight Club, Se7en & Gone Girl

 

3: The Russo Brothers

My top 3 films by the Russo’s is kind of tough and I would probably keep rearrange them but as of right now I guess it is Infinity War, Endgame & Civil War

 

I’d also like to mention directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Makoto Shinkai & Quentin Tarantino just to name a few who I’m huge fans of and have made some incredible pieces of art. 

 

[Neil21Harris]

I want an “actors” challenge because I want to show you my Tom Cruise collection 

[Fortis93]

2 hours ago, Neil21Harris said:

I want an “actors” challenge because I want to show you my Tom Cruise collection 

 

My ideal action-movie team up:

 

Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise. Directed by James Cameron.

 

Think about it.

[extantsrevenge]

Thanks for the new submissions, love to see all the different editions and directors shown, nice to see that also some others than the usual suspects are highlighted.

 

Point for @Martyn @Catgirl @Noir21 @DParadigm @Scary Hair @HeightOfFolly @Rambo @MoneySniper

 

And the award for @Gentleman

 

The next challenge will be from a cat

 

You can still submit for challenge 12 until the end of sunday.

 

[raylight]

Here is my selection für Challenge #012 "directors". Thanks to @bossjon for this idea ! 👍😎

 

If I'm honest, I dont have a favorite director and I'm not especially interested in who made the movie, who was director or who made the script. A movie in the end is the result of so many people involved. What helps the best script if the actors dont fit or what if the special effects look fake etc.

 

But I have some movies and also genres which I like more than others. So for this challenge I decided to think about the directors of my more/most favorite movies. And in the end, I found 5 directors.

 

#1 George Lucas

Star Wars. I like, no I adore Star Wars.

 

#2 Steven Spielberg

Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and also James Ryan are milestones in movie history for me.

 

#3 Ridley Scott

Alien is THE science fiction/alien movie for me. Not to beat anymore. I also like historic movies with all these costumes, scenes and also big battles. So no wonder that I like "Gladiator" and "Königreich der Himmel".

 

#4 James Cameron

When we talk about action and science fiction...this is "Terminator". He also did "Aliens 2". And...one of the best science fiction movies of the last years..."Avatar".

 

#5 Quentin Tarantino

Sometimes I need...no I think everyone needs that kind of "popcorn cinema". Just switch your brain of, enjoy some nasty scenes, dialogs, action or whatever without thinking of logic etc.

For me there can be only one: Tarantino ! Milestones for me: Kill Bill 1+2, Hateful Eight and of course Inglourious Basterds. 😎

 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by raylight

[Hecko]

Challenge 12

 

Michael Bay

1. The Rock

2. Armageddon

3. Pearl Harbour

Quentin tarantino

1. Kill Bill 1 & 2

2. Reservoir Dogs

3. Pulp Fiction

 

John Carpenter

1. Big Trouble In Little China

2. Escape From L.A

3. The Thing

 

I don’t really have a favourite director but if I had to choose probably Wes craven.

[Fortis93]

11 minutes ago, Hecko said:

but if I had to choose probably Wes craven

 

I was rewatching "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" yesterday.

 

I think it might be my favourite of the series.

[Gary K]

1 minute ago, Fortis93 said:

 

I was rewatching "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" yesterday.

 

I think it might be my favourite of the series.

Mine as well, though the original is still fantastic as well. 

[Hecko]

13 minutes ago, Fortis93 said:

 

I was rewatching "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" yesterday.

 

I think it might be my favourite of the series.

 

11 minutes ago, Gary K said:

Mine as well, though the original is still fantastic as well. 

Number 1 and 3 are very close but dream warriors has always been a personal favourite. All the best ones for me are directed by him.

[BreakBeatDJ]

TRIGGER WARNING - This post contains unnecessary pontificating, gratuitous name dropping, sexual content

 

CHALLENGE 12 : THE DIRECTOR'S (thanks @bossjon)

 

 

_____________________

JOHN CASSAVETES  (probably not a surprise to those of you who looked closely at my vague avatar)

 

The beginning of the end of old Hollywood began with one director and one film: John Cassavetes' 1959 Shadows.  Scorsese noted -  after Shadows there were no more excuses.  Cassavetes inspired a landslide of filmmakers to challenge studio system control and fight for creative freedom, both in style and content.  

 

We take it for granted that studios want to hear what Fincher, Lynch, Nolan, and others mentioned here, have to say.  When Cassavetes made Shadows, a movie about the adventures of three black siblings in New York, with his stolen shots and 16mm verite loose camera, no one was interested.  He made it anyway.  And he kept making them.

 

Over the next two decades Cassavetes funded his independent films (Husbands, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, etc.) by appearing as an actor in movies like The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby.  Cassavetes took great joy in using Hollywood money to undermine Hollywood itself.

 

His avant garde filmmaking style is disarming to many.  His camera is never judgmental.  It doesn't guide the eye to where you should look, it forces you to open your eyes. He doesn't tell you what you should think, the action plays out in front of you and you are forced to participate.  It's the cinema of embracing the complexity of being authentically human, not by pointing it out, but by experiencing it.

 

My favorite Cassavetes' film is Husbands.  But, I love his wife and collaborator Gena Rowland's brave and shocking performance in A Woman Under the Influence.

 

By the time Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde becomes a counter culture darling of individualism and self-expression in 1967, old Hollywood was diminished.  And the independent film wave of the 90s (Soderbergh, PTA, Linklater, Ferrara, Egoyan, Haynes, Leigh, Jarmusch, Sofia C., Tarantino) blew up what was left.

 

John Cassavetes lit the fuse for all of them.

 

 

 

 

__________

SPIKE LEE

 

When Spike Lee arrived, it was a gift from the gods.  He came along at the right time, with the right passion, the right drive, the right pedigree, and the right filmmaking talent and skill.  He put the black experience on the screen in a way that made it impossible to turn away, and . . .  it was brilliant filmmaking, entertaining, and unapologetically black.

 

He titled my favorite Lee film, Do the Right Thing - an imperative sentence structure.  It's a call to action, "Do".  But there is no subject, only an object, "the Right Thing".  Who was he talking to, and what was the "right thing" to do?  This movie lays out the confusing options and consequences, who should do what, when, how, the way we fail, the way we succeed, the hope and hopelessness, the joy and fear, the tragedy and response.  Do the Right Thing for Lee seems to be a mode, and the genius of this film is that the Right Thing can shift.

 

While we don't see Lee's signature double dolly shot in Do the Right Thing, the filmmaking here is still a tour de force .  Lee uses a massive arsenal of technique and creativity to support the content of his film.  

 

- Shifting Perspective: we watch Mookie, then we are Mookie, we're in the fire, then we're holding a fire hose.  Lee wants us to feel like spirits watching, then inhabiting, his characters

- Dutch Tilt: high and low camera angles create this amazing feel, are these playful comic book frames, or is he destabilizing us with uneven ground under our feet?  

- Art Direction:  There is very little urban "grit" here, the color palette is bright, joyful, charismatic, even DA Mayor is wearing pastels, communicating clearly that this is not about decay, but optimism.

 

In 2022, Spike Lee became the first black filmmaker to receive the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award.  There would never be a second, or third, or fourth, if someone wasn't brave enough to do what it took to be the first.  Thank god for Spike Lee.

 

 

 

 

_____________________

STEVEN SPIELBERG

 

As a boy, I learned the English language organically by listening to my parents speak English.

As a child, I learned cinematic language organically by watching Steven Spielberg movies.

 

While Cassavetes wanted nothing to do with creating drama by using traditional shot selection and editing, Spielberg is the pinnacle of flexing the power of the camera to tell story.  For Spielberg, the camera is you, the viewer, and his transcendent genius is to put you right where you need to be to see what you need to see, to experience what he wants you to experience.  He is your tour guide through his adventures.  And his efficiency of shot selection to take you on the journey is absolutely staggering.

 

In the mid-90s, when I was starting my photography/directing career in New York, I was lucky enough to attend many events at the Director's Guild.  When Spielberg came to talk,  my good friend, then Columbia film student, now Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, and I almost didn't go.  We were in the midst of our Dogme 95 Lars Van Trier, indy-rules-all phase.  And Spielberg was not cool.

 

The vast majority of filmmakers at the DG, spoke about content, what was in front of the camera.  Spielberg talked about the meaning of the camera itself.  His understanding of how to use a camera was like Mozart's command of musical notes, or Shakespeare's command of words.  A movie is not a play, it is not a novel, it has the ultimate advantage over those forms . . . an editable, moveable image created by the camera, and Spielberg was 100% dedicated to using that advantage fully.

 

We left that talk shocked at his unapologetic genius, and the force of his will to promote cinema as cinema.  If you want to write a play, Woody Allen, then go produce a play, but don't waste my time putting the camera in the corner for 20 minutes while I watch your actors talk:  Spielberg makes movies, he doesn't film plays.

 

Is his content too sentimental, too obvious?  Maybe.  But I don't care.  His movies have grossed 10.6 billion dollars.  4 billion more than the nearest filmmakers.  And it's not because he gratuitously blows stuff up, or has unnecessarily provocative scenes, or is an obsessive crowd pleaser.

 

It's because his command of cinematic language is so great, that his viewers can't help themselves, you're going to go where Steven Spielberg takes you, you have no choice. . . . and you're going to love it.

 

 

 

There's no sexual content in this post, I just wanted you to read it all.  😆

[Blu Magic Ray]

@extantsrevenge Challenge 12

 

In the last 100 years of film history, there have been many good and very good directors. To meet the challenge, one would need to have many films in the collection.

 

I can't really say whether I can talk about my favorite director or not. For me it is the end product that counts! Of course, the focus is often on the director, but camera, editing, music, screenplay are also important!

 

Paul Feig:

 

 

Steven Spielberg:

 

 

Christopher Nolan:

 

 

Clint Eastwood:

 

 

I would also like to honor Billy Wilder here, unfortunately I don't have 3 films of him on Blu-ray or 4K UHD (I hope this will change in the future)

- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

- Some Like it Hot (1959)

- The Apartment (1960)

- Irma la Douce (1963)

- The Fortune Cookie (1966)

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Blu Magic Ray

[Veum]

New challenge, new challenge, new challenge!!! 😛 

 

[Gary K]

16 minutes ago, BreakBeatDJ said:

TRIGGER WARNING - This post contains unnecessary pontificating, gratuitous name dropping, sexual content

 

CHALLENGE 12 : THE DIRECTOR'S (thanks @bossjon)

 

 

_____________________

JOHN CASSAVETES  (probably not a surprise to those of you who looked closely at my vague avatar)

 

The beginning of the end of old Hollywood began with one director and one film: John Cassavetes' 1959 Shadows.  Scorsese noted -  after Shadows there were no more excuses.  Cassavetes inspired a landslide of filmmakers to challenge studio system control and fight for creative freedom, both in style and content.  

 

We take it for granted that studios want to hear what Fincher, Lynch, Nolan, and others mentioned here, have to say.  When Cassavetes made Shadows, a movie about the adventures of three black siblings in New York, with his stolen shots and 16mm verite loose camera, no one was interested.  He made it anyway.  And he kept making them.

 

Over the next two decades Cassavetes funded his independent films (Husbands, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, etc.) by appearing as an actor in movies like The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby.  Cassavetes took great joy in using Hollywood money to undermine Hollywood itself.

 

His avant garde filmmaking style is disarming to many.  His camera is never judgmental.  It doesn't guide the eye to where you should look, it forces you to open your eyes. He doesn't tell you what you should think, the action plays out in front of you and you are forced to participate.  It's the cinema of embracing the complexity of being authentically human, not by pointing it out, but by experiencing it.

 

My favorite Cassavetes' film is Husbands.  But, I love his wife and collaborator Gena Rowland's brave and shocking performance in A Woman Under the Influence.

 

By the time Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde becomes a counter culture darling of individualism and self-expression in 1967, old Hollywood was diminished.  And the independent film wave of the 90s (Soderbergh, PTA, Linklater, Ferrara, Egoyan, Haynes, Leigh, Jarmusch, Sofia C., Tarantino) blew up what was left.

 

John Cassavetes lit the fuse for all of them.

 

 

 

 

__________

SPIKE LEE

 

When Spike Lee arrived, it was a gift from the gods.  He came along at the right time, with the right passion, the right drive, the right pedigree, and the right filmmaking talent and skill.  He put the black experience on the screen in a way that made it impossible to turn away, and . . .  it was brilliant filmmaking, entertaining, and unapologetically black.

 

He titled my favorite Lee film, Do the Right Thing - an imperative sentence structure.  It's a call to action, "Do".  But there is no subject, only an object, "the Right Thing".  Who was he talking to, and what was the "right thing" to do?  This movie lays out the confusing options and consequences, who should do what, when, how, the way we fail, the way we succeed, the hope and hopelessness, the joy and fear, the tragedy and response.  Do the Right Thing for Lee seems to be a mode, and the genius of this film is that the Right Thing can shift.

 

While we don't see Lee's signature double dolly shot in Do the Right Thing, the filmmaking here is still a tour de force .  Lee uses a massive arsenal of technique and creativity to support the content of his film.  

 

- Shifting Perspective: we watch Mookie, then we are Mookie, we're in the fire, then we're holding a fire hose.  Lee wants us to feel like spirits watching, then inhabiting, his characters

- Dutch Tilt: high and low camera angles create this amazing feel, are these playful comic book frames, or is he destabilizing us with uneven ground under our feet?  

- Art Direction:  There is very little urban "grit" here, the color palette is bright, joyful, charismatic, even DA Mayor is wearing pastels, communicating clearly that this is not about decay, but optimism.

 

In 2022, Spike Lee became the first black filmmaker to receive the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award.  There would never be a second, or third, or fourth, if someone wasn't brave enough to do what it took to be the first.  Thank god for Spike Lee.

 

 

 

 

_____________________

STEVEN SPIELBERG

 

As a boy, I learned the English language organically by listening to my parents speak English.

As a child, I learned cinematic language organically by watching Steven Spielberg movies.

 

While Cassavetes wanted nothing to do with creating drama by using traditional shot selection and editing, Spielberg is the pinnacle of flexing the power of the camera to tell story.  For Spielberg, the camera is you, the viewer, and his transcendent genius is to put you right where you need to be to see what you need to see, to experience what he wants you to experience.  He is your tour guide through his adventures.  And his efficiency of shot selection to take you on the journey is absolutely staggering.

 

In the mid-90s, when I was starting my photography/directing career in New York, I was lucky enough to attend many events at the Director's Guild.  When Spielberg came to talk,  my good friend, then Columbia film student, now Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, and I almost didn't go.  We were in the midst of our Dogme 95 Lars Van Trier, indy-rules-all phase.  And Spielberg was not cool.

 

The vast majority of filmmakers at the DG, spoke about content, what was in front of the camera.  Spielberg talked about the meaning of the camera itself.  His understanding of how to use a camera was like Mozart's command of musical notes, or Shakespeare's command of words.  A movie is not a play, it is not a novel, it has the ultimate advantage over those forms . . . an editable, moveable image created by the camera, and Spielberg was 100% dedicated to using that advantage fully.

 

We left that talk shocked at his unapologetic genius, and the force of his will to promote cinema as cinema.  If you want to write a play, Woody Allen, then go produce a play, but don't waste my time putting the camera in the corner for 20 minutes while I watch your actors talk:  Spielberg makes movies, he doesn't film plays.

 

Is his content too sentimental, too obvious?  Maybe.  But I don't care.  His movies have grossed 10.6 billion dollars.  4 billion more than the nearest filmmakers.  And it's not because he gratuitously blows stuff up, or has unnecessarily provocative scenes, or is an obsessive crowd pleaser.

 

It's because his command of cinematic language is so great, that his viewers can't help themselves, you're going to go where Steven Spielberg takes you, you have no choice. . . . and you're going to love it.

 

 

 

There's no sexual content in this post, I just wanted you to read it all.  😆

I knew cassavetes would end up on your list!   Thanks for the well written thoughtful post on three genius filmmakers. 
 

well done. 

[Fortis93]

1 hour ago, BreakBeatDJ said:

TRIGGER WARNING - This post contains unnecessary pontificating, gratuitous name dropping, sexual content

 

CHALLENGE 12 : THE DIRECTOR'S (thanks @bossjon)

 

 

_____________________

JOHN CASSAVETES  (probably not a surprise to those of you who looked closely at my vague avatar)

 

The beginning of the end of old Hollywood began with one director and one film: John Cassavetes' 1959 Shadows.  Scorsese noted -  after Shadows there were no more excuses.  Cassavetes inspired a landslide of filmmakers to challenge studio system control and fight for creative freedom, both in style and content.  

 

We take it for granted that studios want to hear what Fincher, Lynch, Nolan, and others mentioned here, have to say.  When Cassavetes made Shadows, a movie about the adventures of three black siblings in New York, with his stolen shots and 16mm verite loose camera, no one was interested.  He made it anyway.  And he kept making them.

 

Over the next two decades Cassavetes funded his independent films (Husbands, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, etc.) by appearing as an actor in movies like The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby.  Cassavetes took great joy in using Hollywood money to undermine Hollywood itself.

 

His avant garde filmmaking style is disarming to many.  His camera is never judgmental.  It doesn't guide the eye to where you should look, it forces you to open your eyes. He doesn't tell you what you should think, the action plays out in front of you and you are forced to participate.  It's the cinema of embracing the complexity of being authentically human, not by pointing it out, but by experiencing it.

 

My favorite Cassavetes' film is Husbands.  But, I love his wife and collaborator Gena Rowland's brave and shocking performance in A Woman Under the Influence.

 

By the time Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde becomes a counter culture darling of individualism and self-expression in 1967, old Hollywood was diminished.  And the independent film wave of the 90s (Soderbergh, PTA, Linklater, Ferrara, Egoyan, Haynes, Leigh, Jarmusch, Sofia C., Tarantino) blew up what was left.

 

John Cassavetes lit the fuse for all of them.

 

 

 

 

__________

SPIKE LEE

 

When Spike Lee arrived, it was a gift from the gods.  He came along at the right time, with the right passion, the right drive, the right pedigree, and the right filmmaking talent and skill.  He put the black experience on the screen in a way that made it impossible to turn away, and . . .  it was brilliant filmmaking, entertaining, and unapologetically black.

 

He titled my favorite Lee film, Do the Right Thing - an imperative sentence structure.  It's a call to action, "Do".  But there is no subject, only an object, "the Right Thing".  Who was he talking to, and what was the "right thing" to do?  This movie lays out the confusing options and consequences, who should do what, when, how, the way we fail, the way we succeed, the hope and hopelessness, the joy and fear, the tragedy and response.  Do the Right Thing for Lee seems to be a mode, and the genius of this film is that the Right Thing can shift.

 

While we don't see Lee's signature double dolly shot in Do the Right Thing, the filmmaking here is still a tour de force .  Lee uses a massive arsenal of technique and creativity to support the content of his film.  

 

- Shifting Perspective: we watch Mookie, then we are Mookie, we're in the fire, then we're holding a fire hose.  Lee wants us to feel like spirits watching, then inhabiting, his characters

- Dutch Tilt: high and low camera angles create this amazing feel, are these playful comic book frames, or is he destabilizing us with uneven ground under our feet?  

- Art Direction:  There is very little urban "grit" here, the color palette is bright, joyful, charismatic, even DA Mayor is wearing pastels, communicating clearly that this is not about decay, but optimism.

 

In 2022, Spike Lee became the first black filmmaker to receive the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award.  There would never be a second, or third, or fourth, if someone wasn't brave enough to do what it took to be the first.  Thank god for Spike Lee.

 

 

 

 

_____________________

STEVEN SPIELBERG

 

As a boy, I learned the English language organically by listening to my parents speak English.

As a child, I learned cinematic language organically by watching Steven Spielberg movies.

 

While Cassavetes wanted nothing to do with creating drama by using traditional shot selection and editing, Spielberg is the pinnacle of flexing the power of the camera to tell story.  For Spielberg, the camera is you, the viewer, and his transcendent genius is to put you right where you need to be to see what you need to see, to experience what he wants you to experience.  He is your tour guide through his adventures.  And his efficiency of shot selection to take you on the journey is absolutely staggering.

 

In the mid-90s, when I was starting my photography/directing career in New York, I was lucky enough to attend many events at the Director's Guild.  When Spielberg came to talk,  my good friend, then Columbia film student, now Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, and I almost didn't go.  We were in the midst of our Dogme 95 Lars Van Trier, indy-rules-all phase.  And Spielberg was not cool.

 

The vast majority of filmmakers at the DG, spoke about content, what was in front of the camera.  Spielberg talked about the meaning of the camera itself.  His understanding of how to use a camera was like Mozart's command of musical notes, or Shakespeare's command of words.  A movie is not a play, it is not a novel, it has the ultimate advantage over those forms . . . an editable, moveable image created by the camera, and Spielberg was 100% dedicated to using that advantage fully.

 

We left that talk shocked at his unapologetic genius, and the force of his will to promote cinema as cinema.  If you want to write a play, Woody Allen, then go produce a play, but don't waste my time putting the camera in the corner for 20 minutes while I watch your actors talk:  Spielberg makes movies, he doesn't film plays.

 

Is his content too sentimental, too obvious?  Maybe.  But I don't care.  His movies have grossed 10.6 billion dollars.  4 billion more than the nearest filmmakers.  And it's not because he gratuitously blows stuff up, or has unnecessarily provocative scenes, or is an obsessive crowd pleaser.

 

It's because his command of cinematic language is so great, that his viewers can't help themselves, you're going to go where Steven Spielberg takes you, you have no choice. . . . and you're going to love it.

 

 

 

There's no sexual content in this post, I just wanted you to read it all.  😆

 

I don't know if you've seen this before, but I thought you might like it.

 

 

[extantsrevenge]

 Our next Challenge is an idea from our resident cat @Catgirl. And since she is a little shy

when it comes to introducing the challenge I will do it, as we're such good pals 😃

 

Challenge 13: What's good on TV?

 

Since we focused on the movies a lot already, this week the medium that has grown the most in recent years will become our focus. TV SERIES.

 

Show us 5 of your favorite TV Series. It is enough to show a season per Series but you can also show the complete series. Add a short comment what you like about the Series you picked.

 

This Challenge is about live action Series, so Anime and Cartoon have to stay out this time.

 

Since most of the Series are now on different Streaming platforms, we also would like to know the 3 Series that you want most as a physical release.

 

Enjoy the show.

[extantsrevenge]

Thanks a lot for the new challenge @Catgirl, I was surprised that I did not get a Series challenge before.

 

When I thought about which Series I want to show I quickly realized that I will be unable to show all the great shows I want to show as it would be much more then 5 😅.

 

First I want to highlight the show I have most likely seen the most. The original Star Trek Series. When I was young I always watched the Series together with my brother and parents. It has made me into a Star Trek Fan for life. The Series is simply great.

Also especially love The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

 

Next is

For me a modern Masterpiece, no other series has used violence in such an epic and visual stunning way. The cast was terrific, especially the great Andy Whitfield (who sadly died after S1). Also special mention for the Music, absolutely awesome. This Series delivers such an amazing experience from beginning to end.

I always wished the creators of the show would have created another historic show in the same style.

 

Then I want to mention the fantastic Babylon 5. I want a Blu-ray release so much. The show is so good (especially S2-4), kinda sad that it has been forgotten by many. J. Michael Straczynski is an absolute master storyteller, together with the 3 Star Trek Series I mentioned above the best TV live action Sci-Fi ever made.

 

Can't have this challenge without another Television Masterpiece. The Soparnos. The great James Gandolfini (also already dead 😥) delivers here one of the most mesmerizing performances ever. Add to that the terrific writing, awesome cast and super high production value and you get a perfect Series. Only small regret for me is that some of the later parts (S6 2nd half) show a little weakness, compared to what has come before.

 

Next I have to include Breaking Bad with the amazing Bryan Cranston as Walter White. What a performance. Amazing Series that is pure greatness from the first Episode until the Last.

 

And with that I already showed 5 Series and I could not even show Game of Thrones (maybe it has to do with the last Season 🤬), Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Mad Men, Twin Peaks, Vikings, Monk or Battlestar Galactica.

 

Anyway as Bonus I include 2 Comedy Series I really love Friends and Full House (you might have noticed how often I use gifs from these 😃), together with Seinfeld and The Office (US) my favorite when it comes to Comedy.

 

And now to answer which Streaming Series I would love to have as Discs.

 

Wihout a questions Stanger Things, hopefully some day we get the other Seasons, or a complete Set

 

Next would be Obi-Wan Kenobi and then The Boys.

[Catgirl]

Thank you Nils 😘

 

As a big series fan, I find it difficult to choose just 5 series from my pool. 

 

These are now representative of everyone, because they are incredible exciting Die Brücke Crime or because of the actor and exciting James Spader/Anson Mount The Blacklist /Hell on Wheels. Whis the Outlander I think the idea of the story and I since I have all the books.... 

With Boston Legal I couldn't stop laughing that the two actors James Spader /William Shatner fit together so well I never thought. 

 

I would like the series The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Reacher as Steel. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Catgirl

[Chief_lookout]

@BreakBeatDJ What an unbelievably well written and illustrative post! I have been in the sciences all my life, and while I love movies, you have given me a new perspective on the art form! I would have read the whole thing sexual content or no! Thanks for the awesome breakdown!

[R1s1ngs0n]

@Catgirl @extantsrevenge 

Great challenge but one I’ll have to skip since I only own two series: Fawlty Towers and the original Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy miniseries starring Alec Guinness.

Sadly I had to part with my two favorite ever series, The Sopranos and Deadwood, since both boxsets occupied a large portion of the shelf, which I need for future film purchases.

Besides, I hardly have the time to rewatch whole series and prefer watching clips of my favorite scenes on YT.

At some point I also had Seinfeld’s complete series, The Office UK and Fargo’s first season.

My favorite series of the last few years is Mindhunter, which was sadly cancelled after only two seasons. Brilliant on every level which is a given since David Fincher produced it.

I’m also eagerly awaiting Plain Archive’s Little Drummer Girl which I haven’t seen yet.

 

[BreakBeatDJ]

15 minutes ago, Chief_lookout said:

@BreakBeatDJ What an unbelievably well written and illustrative post! I have been in the sciences all my life, and while I love movies, you have given me a new perspective on the art form! I would have read the whole thing sexual content or no! Thanks for the awesome breakdown!

 

Very nice to say!  Thank you @Chief_lookout.   I occasionally teach classes on screenwriting, cinematography, directing and film history at non-profits, and I pulled a lot of this post from material I wrote for those classes.   

Edited December 4, 2022 by BreakBeatDJ

[R1s1ngs0n]

2 minutes ago, BreakBeatDJ said:

 

Very nice to say!  Thank you @Chief_lookout.   I occasionally teach classes on screenwriting, cinematography, directing and film history at non-profits, and I pulled a lot of this post from material I wrote for those classes.   

I enjoyed reading it as well.

Very well written 👍