Amph 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc. "Heat" (1995)

I haven't seen this in years but I used to own it. I absolutely loved it. Definitely belongs on the list.

 

If you're not talking about films with the words "Jester," "Court," and "The" in them, then The Naked Gun is probably the most enjoyable parody film ever. It's certainly my favourite. I like it a lot more than Airplane and the Mel Brooks rubbish.

 

Okay, look... I LOVE The Court Jester (and was just talking about it last night), but to call a lot of Mel Brooks' films rubbish -- or to suggest that Airplane! isn't possibly one of the best parodies of all time -- is simply silly.

 

Good lord, this movie is just hilarious. Favorites are Nordberg's ridiculous maiming, Drebin and Jane's body condoms, the highlights reel at the ball game (especially the tiger), and the shootout at the slaughterhouse.

And it's "Look! It's Enrico Pallazo!"

 

Well, Airplane! is probably on par, and some of the early Brooks stuff is almost as good (The Producers in particular is wonderful), but a lot of the later stuff, namely stuff like Spaceballs and Men in Tights, is so lazy, that it's not hard to see why the parody subgenre is in as dire a state as it is. Edgar Wright is holding the fort, though, so there's some glimmer of hope.

 

Airplane is a great parody flick. But The Court Jester is, you're correct, miles ahead of it.

 

The finale at the stadium has to be the funniest sequence in film. The image of the dog and mailman kissing and making-up sends me into hysterics.

Those ZAZ fellas were gods.

 

Young Frankenstein is right up there with The Court Jester. Consistently inspired. Airplane is a cut below those two and The Naked Gun a cut below Airplane. But still, all among the best parody films ever made.

 

Next: "Big" (1988)

USA 8104 mins. Colour

Director: Penny Marshall

Producer: James L. Brooks, Robert Greenhut

Screenplay: Gary Ross, Anne Spielberg

Photography: Barry Sonnenfeld

Music: Howard Shore

Cast: Tom Hanks, Elixabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jon Lovitz, Mercedes Ruehl.

A little boy wishes to be big, and his wish is granted.

 

One of my absolute favorite movies. Tom Hanks is brilliant.

 

The fact that this was filmed around the corner from where I live means nothing! It's still awesome...

 

"You mean like sleep over? Well, OK. But I get to be on top!"

 

Good movie, but I could have done without the kid's sexual initiation late into the film. As Perkins watches Hanks transform back into a child, all I could think was, "Yup, you banged a twelve year old."

 

It's a witty and charming movie and, yes, Hanks is wonderful.

 

Next: "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988)

USA/UK 119 mins. Colour

Director: Stephen Frears

Producer: Norma Heyman, Hank Moonjean

Screenplay: Christopher Hampton

Photography: Philippe Rousselot

Music: George Fenton

Cast: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoosie Kurtz, Keanu Reeves, Mildred Natwick, Uma Thurman

Some rather odd casting (cf. Keanu Reeves), but the three principals are all good, and there's a lingering look a Uma Thurman nude. (Worth seeing the film for)

 

Next: "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988)

Japan 93 mins. Colour

Director: Isao Takahata

Producer: Tohru Hara

Screenplay: Isao Takahata

Photography: Not Listed

Music: Yoshio Mamiya

Cast: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi

This came very high on the list of best animated films.

Beware: it's not light entertainment

 

If you got a little choked up at the opening montage of "Up" then you are nowhere near ready to handle the emotions from this film. Writer Akiyuki Nosaka's feelings of guilt over what happened to his sister during WWII serve as the inspiration for this tale. It is a tough film to watch & despite its brilliance I don't know how you can watch the film again. I remember when it was over how surprised I was that an animated film could be so touching and disturbing.

 

Next: "Landscape in the Mist" (1988)

France/Greece/Italy 127 mins. Colour

Director: Theo Angelopoulos

Producer: Theo Angelopoulos et al.

Screenplay: Theo Angelopoulos et al.

Photography: Yorgos Arvanitis

Music: Eleni Karaindrou

Cast: Tania Palaiologou, Dimitris Kaberidis

A Greece-set movie, which I haven't seen.

 

Next: "The Decalogue" (1988)

Poland 10 53 mins. episodes Colour

Director: Krysztof Kieslowski

Producer: Ryszard Chutkowski

Screenplay: Krysztof Kieslowski et al.

Photography: W. Zdort

Music: Z. Preisner

Cast: A great many people with long Polish names.

Haven't seen this one.

 

It's great, as is most of Kieslowski's stuff, but it's not 53 minutes, it's 10 53-minute episodes. Do miniseries count as movies? Is there a difference between a miniseries and a series/season on an ongoing program anymore? At what point does a TV season with one long story-arc become a long film?

 

I have only seen the first episode of Dekalog, but it was fantastic and heartbreaking. I will never forget and plan on eventually watching the other episodes in the series.

 

Thanks, I thought the time listed in the book could not be right, as the description seemed to be much longer. I will correct it.

 

This sounds really fascinating to me. I haven't seen it, but I definitely want too.

And the question Mastadge raises is a good one; the lines are so blurred now that I prefer to think of 'film' as a large genre encompassing any kind of moving image, even television shows, music videos, etc.

 

The issue isn't really canvassed in the book, they just include it. But if they do, there are dozens of brilliant miniseries from all over the world that should be included, too.