The Criterion Collection

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Occasionally, though, simply enjoying a second viewing of a particular film can drastically change one's overall impression.

Oddly enough, one of my favorite movies started down this same trajectory. I'm a huge Marty Scorsese fan (/yells out "Kundun!" Christoper Moltisanti-style), but for some reason that escapes me to this day (perhaps it was an external factor of some sort clouding my mind at the time), I was left fairly cold watching Casino the first time, which is odd, because I think Bobby DeNiro and Joe Pesci could get together and fart in a kid's pool, and I'd be absolutely glued to the screen. I thought after Raging Bull and Goodfellas, I'd never see them on screen together again. After all, no-brainer dream pairings are often just a pipe dream, ie Al Pacino and Bobby D in Heat. They only appeared on screen together for a few short minutes, but I will forever be grateful to Michael Mann et all for making that dream a reality!

But, I digress!

Perhaps a second go-round of The Manchurian Candidate will change his opinion.

I'm definitely one of those people for whom a second viewing is often when I truly decide if I like a movie or not. Once my head is wrapped around the entire story and there are no surprises, a second time viewing allows me to properly soak everything in and there's no weight of expectation colouring my viewing.

[theater dreamer]

I'm absolutely with you, there. Speaking personally, the minutiae that can often be the difference between a great film and a classic don't properly reveal themselves until I've had a chance to watch a film a second time. The devil is in the details, and a second viewing is where things like plot holes, or timeline inconsistencies, will show up. Also, it's in a second viewing where I'll catch a lot of the character mannerisms that make me really appreciate an actor's performance all the more.

Originally Posted by baheidstu

I'm definitely one of those people for whom a second viewing is often when I truly decide if I like a movie or not. Once my head is wrapped around the entire story and there are no surprises, a second time viewing allows me to properly soak everything in and there's no weight of expectation colouring my viewing.

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I'm a huge Marty Scorsese fan (/yells out "Kundun!" Christoper Moltisanti-style)

I love that you said this.

A great Sopranos moment, even if it was a fake Scorsese.

[the sordid sentinel]

Enjoyed a Rififi and Night and the City double feature recently. Always a big fan of street level crime/hustle movies. Desperate people doing whatever it takes to try and get ahead. That stuff is always compelling. Dassin really knocked these out of the park.

[Al_The_Strange]

Had 90 minutes to kill. Good as time as any to keep plowing through some blind-buys. So I cracked open my fresh new World Cinema Project Volume 2 box set to see what's up. Another six random films I've never heard of before--going through these is like a weird box of chocolates (but I do value Vol. 1 for The Housemaid, Redes, Trances, and Touki Bouki).

First flick in Vol. 2: Insaing. I could tell going in it's not my kind of movie--a very slow-paced drama where very little physically happens. I got to admit though, there is a fair amount of tension every time the mother character opens her mouth, and the 4K remaster really brings out the grunge. This is one grimy-looking movie and I do appreciate the look and locales of it. Chances are I might warm up to it on a rewatch--it is a slow-burner that builds up to a pretty hard-hitting finale. Need to be in the right mood for it though.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Marlow27

Anyway, what are our favourite detective movies from the 60s and 70s?

Chinatown
The Conversation
Night Moves
Experiment in Terror
High and Low
Blow-Up
In the Heat of the Night
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Bullitt
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
The Andromeda Strain
The French Connection
Get Carter
Shaft
Dirty Harry
Hickey & Boggs
The Long Goodbye
Serpico
The Town that Dreaded Sundown
Two-Minute Warning
Hardcore
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Some potential favorites that are stagnating in my still-unwatched Blu-ray stack...

The Girl Hunters
The Detective
A Black Veil for Lisa
Death Walks on High Heels
Death Walks at Midnight
The Laughing Policeman

Yes, I know that my definition of "detective movie" is pretty shoddy, but I decided to list all of my films that follow an investigative vibe, so to speak.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Enjoyed a Rififi and Night and the City double feature recently. Always a big fan of street level crime/hustle movies. Desperate people doing whatever it takes to try and get ahead. That stuff is always compelling. Dassin really knocked these out of the park.

I'm still hoping that Brute Force and The Naked City are on Criterion's to-do list.

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Chinatown
The Conversation
Night Moves
Experiment in Terror
High and Low
Blow-Up
In the Heat of the Night
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Bullitt
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
The Andromeda Strain
The French Connection
Get Carter
Shaft
Dirty Harry
Hickey & Boggs
The Long Goodbye
Serpico
The Town that Dreaded Sundown
Two-Minute Warning
Hardcore
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Some potential favorites that are stagnating in my still-unwatched Blu-ray stack...

The Girl Hunters
The Detective
A Black Veil for Lisa
Death Walks on High Heels
Death Walks at Midnight
The Laughing Policeman

Yes, I know that my definition of "detective movie" is pretty shoddy, but I decided to list all of my films that follow an investigative vibe, so to speak.

Although it's a good '70s era Sci-Fi film the Andromeda Strain is hardly a detective movie.

[senseabove]

Saw a pretty beat-up print of Le Samourai tonight, imported from the Institut Français but with rights from Janus. I suspect that means Janus hasn't done their own restoration and hasn't licensed the existing HD scan, as I doubt the Pacific Film Archive would show so rough a print if they had a cleaner alternative?

For those who have seen it elsewhere, is the

[Show spoiler]gunshot when Jef shoots the boss supposed to be intentionally, noticeably curtailed or do I suspect correctly that we lost some frames due to a splice?

But anyway, what a GREAT movie. That's my first Melville, and I'm really looking forward to what I can catch from the rest of the series. It was much calmer than I was expecting, given the way Melville is so frequently described as a forerunner of the New Wave. Everything about it was so precise, so elegant...

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

I'm definitely one of those people for whom a second viewing is often when I truly decide if I like a movie or not. Once my head is wrapped around the entire story and there are no surprises, a second time viewing allows me to properly soak everything in and there's no weight of expectation colouring my viewing.

It can also be the time for the reverse to happen - this is especially true of blockbusters - where the plot points, the direction or even the music can become an irritation. For example, I particularly dislike the way music is used in the Hobbit films and this irritates me more on every watch (not that there have been many - I can't even bring myself to watch the third and I've had it since release ).

[malakaheso]

Re: detective films. Here is the 'truth' as I see it: after Chinatown and The Long Goodbye, no truly great films in the genre were made, and directors/writers probably should have given up after the 70's. Unless The Big Lebowski counts

[octagon]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Re: detective films. Here is the 'truth' as I see it: after Chinatown and The Long Goodbye, no truly great films in the genre were made, and directors/writers probably should have given up after the 70's. Unless The Big Lebowski counts

Both versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo were pretty great. So was Gone Baby Gone. Angel Heart, Blood Simple and Against All Odds were solid to very good.

Stretch private investigator to include lawyers or reporters doing their own investigations and things like The Jagged Edge and Zodiac come into play.

And while I've only seen it once and am reluctant to say it's great or on a par with something like The Thin Man, The Nice Guys was actually a pretty damn fun comedy about private eyes.

[malakaheso]

None of those films are in the same league in my view, but a few of them are at least very good.

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

None of those films are in the same league in my view, but a few of them are at least very good.

In the same league as what?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

None of those films are in the same league in my view, but a few of them are at least very good.

I think Gone Baby Gone is seriously underrated. Is it as good as The Maltese Falcon or Chinatown? No but it's actually pretty close. I would definitely put it in that second-tier of great with things like Kiss Me Deadly or Murder My Sweet.

I'd be tempted to put the Dragon Tattoos in there too but that I'm a little less strong on.

[mande2013]

I have a confession to make. I've never actually seen The Maltese Falcon, although I have seen Kiss Me Deadly, and of course Chinatown.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by mande2013

In the same league as what?

Chinatown and The Long Goodbye.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by mande2013

I have a confession to make. I've never actually seen The Maltese Falcon, although I have seen Kiss Me Deadly, and of course Chinatown.

The Maltese Falcon is one of a handful of films I think are absolutely perfect. I can' think of a single thing somebody could do to improve it.

And lest it sound like I'm overselling it, it's perfection doesn't assault with some in your face OMG AW#SUM. It sort of builds to great and then to the point where you start thinking of how much better it could have been if only they'd...they'd...and then you're there.

Forgive the florid prose and the typos, I just took an ambien and all the icons in the icon area are moving, not just the ones that actually movie.

It's a weird effect.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Re: detective films. Here is the 'truth' as I see it: after Chinatown and The Long Goodbye, no truly great films in the genre were made, and directors/writers probably should have given up after the 70's. Unless The Big Lebowski counts

LA Confidential doesn't work for you? That is really the main one I can think of, although Night Moves too to an extent.

[Keymaster]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Re: detective films. Here is the 'truth' as I see it: after Chinatown and The Long Goodbye, no truly great films in the genre were made, and directors/writers probably should have given up after the 70's. Unless The Big Lebowski counts

Off the top of my head, two 1990's films stood out to me:

The Usual Suspects
L.A. Confidential

Also, "detective stories" could be interpreted to include a very wide array of films such as Memento and 1995's Dark City. Although the protagonists in those films aren't literally police detectives, they are carrying out their own investigations.