Monday 22 January 2007

Monday

Great news. The Evening Standard have begun again their free cinema ticket week. I saw someone reading the paper on the train home, and managed to get myself a copy before my newsagent ran out. In fact, for some reason I thought it was Tuesday today, and so was quite angry that I'd missed the first day of tokens. Now, however, I am well on target to collect every token and see a film everyday next week. It really is quite an extraordinary thing. The cheapest ticket I can get is £6. So, 5 times 6 is £30. Minus five copies of the paper at 50p each, £2.50, and I'm left with a £27.50 bonus, plus the actual enjoyment of seeing a film, which is unquantifiable. Can't say fairer than that.

After Christmas I bought the Phantasm box-set, and last night I saw the first film in the series. It's really pretty weird.

So, have I decided what film to show the detractor? Not yet. I had also been thinking about The Thin Red Line, as Alex suggests in his comment. Perhaps that is the perfect film. Other thoughts so far are: Goodfellas, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Pulp Fiction. All of them, though, fail in some areas, I think. Check out this for an interesting compilation list of the best 50 movies: http://cinepad.com/awards/awards_1-50.htm

2 comments:

Alex Andronov said...

Other suggestions include Adaptation a story which could not be told without the film layer, and also has the fast action at the end. And because two characters are being played by the same man it contains special effects which mean it could never be a play.

Another could be 2001, although slow, it really uses film to create a lyrical beauty. If ever there was a purer example of the film didactic "Don't tell, show" 2001 is it.

Nick Ollivère said...

A few more that I've thought of: The Matrix, Schindler's List, Lord of the Rings, Full Metal Jacket, Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner, Nightwatch.

But I also thought, if we can't think of the perfect movie, maybe that's because it hasn't been made yet? And maybe we're supposed to make it?

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