BS: Inspirational Films

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 02 May 11 - 06:31 AM

I was inspired by John Carpenter's remake of The Thing and that classic stottie-cake western Get Carter. Anyone for Saturday Night Fever? Great film; great soundtrack - likewise Eminem's 8 Mile. And whilst we're on great hip-hop films, how about the truly inspirational Lep in the Hood?

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 May 11 - 05:48 PM

I am puzzled by the way the word "inspirational" is being used in this thread. Doesn't calling a film "inspirational" mean something more than just that it was a very good film? Doesn't it have to inspire you to do something?

If, say, watching "Lawrence of Arabia" made you want to ride a camel, or if "Babette's Feast" made you want to cook a fancy meal, then even if the desire was only fleeting, you would have some justification for calling the film "inspirational."

I can't imagine what some of these films would inspire you to do, and the messages in this thread do not enlighten me.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Joe_F
Date: 02 May 11 - 06:23 PM

Ace in the Hole
Mr Smith Goes to Washington
Ikiru
The Lost Weekend
A Man for All Seasons
Miracle on 34th Street
Paths of Glory
A Taste of Honey
Yidl Mitn Fidl

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 May 11 - 12:08 PM

Did someone metion 'Inn of the sixth happiness'? Found out something about that yesterday that amazed me - A Bhudda figure from the film features promimently in Portmerion - Wales. Why , you may ask - as I did - because the 'Inn' was filmed in Beddgellert - Wales, and Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion's designer, talked the film people into giving it to him! Amazing,

Wonder if the figure is now a Bhitha? :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 08 May 11 - 01:18 PM

Hoosiers

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: alanabit
Date: 08 May 11 - 01:32 PM

I love those old James Stewart films, like "Mr.Smith Goes To Washington", "Harvey" and "It's a Wonderful Life", all of which are moral fables too. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is another James Stewart film, which takes on complex moral dilelmnas. I found the sacrifice of Tom Doniphon (played by John Wayne) pretty inspiring too. He surrenders his integrity and self-respect by committing a cold blooded murder of a man whom he neither fears nor is threatened by. The sacrifice promptly destroys him and he dies as a forgotten pauper.
A more modern film, which really inspired me, because it is about the power of love as a healing force, was the sentimental, but beautifilly acted John Thaw piece, "Good Night Mr. Tom".
Charlie Chaplin's epic speech at the end of "The Great Dictator" never fails to choke me up either!

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 09 May 11 - 04:33 AM

I wouldn't say The Full Monty was inspirational but it was very uplifting at a time when the news of Princess Diana filtered through. That weekend was grey stormy and miserable but I had already made plans to go to the cinema with the intention of watching that particuar film. Travelling on the bus into town the mood was very quiet and somber and I was starting to go off of the idea but it really was the best therapy. I enjoyed it so much I would have been happy to have gone around again and see it a second time. Anyway coming out of the cinema the storms had gone and sun was shining brightly and it made the day end so much better.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Stu
Date: 09 May 11 - 07:06 AM

"I can't imagine what some of these films would inspire you to do, and the messages in this thread do not enlighten me."

These things wrk in mysterious ways, and simply not being able to see something as inspirations yourself doesn't mean it's not for another. The wonder of life. As someone whose day job is motion graphics and animation then I get inspiration from lots of films that might not be deemed inspirational, and it's easy to pick those that have had an effect over the years, even though they may simplistic in terms of storyline:

300
Jurassic Park
Every Star Wars film
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Wall-E
2001 A Space Odyssey
German Expressionist Cinema (although I'm a bit of a newcomer to this outside of the usual suspects)
Toy Story
Blair Witch Project (and Cannibal Holocaust of course)
Inception
Herzog
Lynch
Se7en (for the titles as well as the production)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
Blade Runner
Early Universal horror flicks
etc etc

Forgot about 8 Mile - I agree it's an excellent film. But then if it comes to musicals then to me it has to be Grease, which I've loved since I was a boy.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 09 May 11 - 07:13 AM

I agree with Jim Dixon's point a week ago, which nobody posting in between seems to have acknowledged. Remember that a film can be good without being inspirational [of anything in particular]; & can be inspirational without necessarily being good. This distinction has been in danger of being blurred thruout this thread IMO.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 10 May 11 - 03:55 AM

In the Charlton heston version of A Man for all Seasons - they keep the Common man character in. I don't think its as good a film as the paul Scofield.

i think the play is a good read, but i'm not crazy about it as a play. I've seen it a few times, with different actors. i think the Zinneman/Scofield/John Hurt/ Corine Redgrave/Wendy Hiller thing is about as good as it was ever going to get.

I think Wyatt Earp is inspirational. i love the Gene Hackman speech to kevin Costner - Life is a about loss. Do you think you're the only man who ever lost something...

I think Amadeus is inspirational for all unsuccessful muso's. The music sings out at you throughout the film, as the main character sinks further and further into failure and degradation.

The three godfather films make a powerful and ultimately uplifting statement about how our actions in life are quite irrevocable and defining, for ourselves and those around us.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 10 May 11 - 05:12 AM

Remember that a film can be good without being inspirational

Great art inspires with respect of life & the business of living, it's what it's there for - to be inspirational, to lift our souls above the mundane. I'm happy with a story - film as ballad rather than film as singer-songwriter heart-on-sleeve message-board; as Harry Partch said no message; too many messages. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is epic in this respect, but, as I say, I love the best of Shane Meadows' stuff too; Beat Takeshi likewise, even at his most ultra-violent (he's in Battle Royale which screens on Film 4 this week). We watch films in a state of visionary reverie anyway; it's passive enchantment of the highest order, so it works best at its most surreal, however so close that might run to reality - at least a version of it, like Funny Bones which honours the timeless essence of Blackpool without lapsing into the sort of prescriptive mawkishness that mires things like Brassed Off and the Full Monty.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,lively
Date: 10 May 11 - 06:03 AM

Watching the substantially lesser quality but nonetheless entertaining Kull the Conquerer last night reminded me of one of the greatest films I know - Conan the Barbarian. A dark sweeping mythic vision, grim, doom-laden, potent. An easy film for the cynical to relegate to mere sword and sorcery pap.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082198/usercomments

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Allen in Oz
Date: 10 May 11 - 06:16 AM

All Quiet on the Western Front
Zorba the Greek


AD

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 10 May 11 - 11:31 AM

All Quiet on the Western Front

We do appear to be in the doldrums rather, do we not? But I didn't really get The Unforgiven; and in any case one film does not a genre make, much less revive. Give me a good old Spag-West any day - like Django, in which the eponymous hero (Franco Nero) drags his unlikely Gatling gun through the mud in a coffin... Thrills & spills you see, just like the best of the Ballads. Hell, in that context even the flashbacks of Duck You Sucker (AKA Fistful of Dynamite) become justified - not forgetting Morricone's sublime soundtrack, which more than makes up for the ending about which the less said the better. Less message, more story!

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 May 11 - 02:16 PM

Thanks, MtheGM, for reiterating my point.

And Sugarfoot Jack: "not being able to see something as inspiration[al] yourself doesn't mean it's not for another"—yes, I agree with that 100%. That's why I wish people would not merely list titles of movies but also say something about why they consider each film inspirational instead of merely good.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 11 May 11 - 02:58 AM

Good point, Jim. And I don't think that 'inspirational necessarily has to have a 'feel good' factor either. More often than not it is possitive feelings that inspire people but there are plenty of inspirational films that are not about happy endings! Mind you, does that then lead us on to films that inspire us to leave the cinema or be sick in a bucket? :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: Stu
Date: 11 May 11 - 05:33 AM

"That's why I wish people would not merely list titles of movies but also say something about why they consider each film inspirational instead of merely good."

Fair point. I really should be working, but here's why I find the following film inspirational (as an artist/animator).

300 - A stylistic triumph, if not the greatest piece of screenwriting. The influence of this adaption of a Frank Miller graphic novel is everywhere; HBO even created an entire series by nicking the idea (Spartacus). It picked up the baton from another Miller adaption, the excellent Sin City, and ran with it. And how it ran! Personally, the composition of the individual shots (sticking close to the graphic novel) are some of the best ever seen on the big screen. The grading of the film is something I have been inspired by too; a truly fantastic piece of work.


Jurassic Park - What to say? The second the brachiosaur strides onto the screen my world changed forever: Firstly, I'm a dinosaur nut, secondly I work with 3D animation. A moment up there with Charlton Heston screaming his dismay at the Statue of Liberty.

Every Star Wars film - Ask any mograph/animation pro of a certain age why they do what they do and chances are Star Wars will be citied as an initial inspiration. The opening sequence changed everything and every film since, even the direly-scripted and vapid prequels have brought something to the party. Lucasarts are the boys.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy - From a purely technical inspiration point of view this could be summed up in one word: Gollum. However the fact the films are engaging, exciting and true to the spirit of the book (if not the actual detail) makes all three of these inspiration fodder for myself. Weta are the new LucasArts, and the software they developed for the crowd scenes called Massive was revolutionary.

Wall-E - Just brilliant animation. The actual visualisation of a future earth suffocating under the weight of it's own waste was superbly realised; the fact you actually care about the characters so much is a testament to the animator's art. And it looks sooooooo good.


2001 A Space Odyssey - Firstly: waltzing spaceships (wow). Secondly: it's intelligent. Thirdly: It's Kubrick at his enigmatic best. Fourthly - the score and sound design is incredible. Fifthly; ideas - the film is packed with them and many are subtle, meaning this is a film that rewards multiple views. The sequence on the space station is worth the price of admission alone and it has Leonard Rossiter.


German Expressionist Cinema (although I'm a bit of a newcomer to this outside of the usual suspects) - Proof that movies can be art. I used to watch these films endlessly on Saturday mornings as a kind when they were shown on BBC2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Golem and the peerless Nosferatu and awsome Metropolis were all favourites and the fact the atmosphere they conjured was mainly due to lighting and some incredible set design proves we don't need no CGI to make a great movie. They continue to inspire thousands of mograph artists, not just yours truly.

Toy Story - All the genuis of Chuck Jones et al in modern format. For any 3D artist/animator these films are worth their weight in gold. Direct descendants of Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and Merrie Melodies they take all the subtleties of those and create three works of brilliant, a musty for any aspiring animator. Inspiration? These films go way beyond that.


Blair Witch Project (and Cannibal Holocaust of course) - Camera work. Sound. Plain and simple. Proof the old adage Keep it Simple Stupid works for films on tiny budgets and still these films can break new ground. The first-person camerawork of the 'Green Inferno' sequence of Cannibal Holocaust inspired the Blair Witch makers, who did it so well 3D applications now have tools enabling animators to re-create the hand-held feel.


Inception - Simply a good idea, and good script and some rather natty use of CGI. I find this film inspiring for technical reasons really as I love the grading of the film, although unlike all the other films on this list I don't have great affection for it.


Herzog - A visionary, a flawed genius who understands the power of film and uses it to incredible effect. It's difficult to pinpoint why I love Herzog films so much, and why they inspire me so. To watch a Herzog film is to be; to exist in a state whereby the film maker communicates directly to you as an individual rather than communication to an audience.

Lynch - Ah, where to start? My favourite film maker. Inspiration distilled into the pure, bright essence of communication via celluloid. A chronicler of the human condition whose stylistic isms and frequently disturbing visions are presented via the almost painterly cinematography, incredible sound design, design of the film which is beyond the capabilities of virtually all of us. Auteur doesn't come close to describing this man; perhaps genius visionary of the modern age is more like it.


Se7en - Grading, design, etc etc, but mainly the title sequence which is the greatest ever since Saul Bass and revitalised this undervalued cinematic artform. Also, the design of the film itself is brilliant. They wrote all those notebooks you know.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) - A work of utter brilliance. Once more, the sound design is truly inspirational and the whole film feels . . . off-kilter. Everything is designed to give you the impression something indefinable is haunting your peripheral vision.

Blade Runner - If you can't understand why this film is inspiration, then I give up. The brilliance of the movie, apart from the incredible visualisation of LA in the not-to-distant- future (apparently Phillip K. Dick was given a private screening of an early cut of the film and afterwards turned to Ridley Scott and said "How did you do this?" He was awed) the reason this is so complete and excellent can be summed up with the line "I have seen things you people wouldn't believe . . . attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. . ."


Early Universal horror flicks - More Saturday morning fare, the early horror movies Universal produced were, and still are, hugely influential on me. From Frankenstein to Lugosi's hammy Dracula, The Man Who Laughs and The Phantom of the Opera these films contain moments of brilliance that in many ways have never been equalled. Big plusses for the set design and the films look fantastic in that wonderful smooth black and white film stock they were shot on (the poster design for these films is superb too, although often the European posters were quite different).

Now I have to work.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 11 May 11 - 05:46 AM

Can I {along with my late first wife} be the only ever to find The Blair Witch Project a pointless, anti-climactic, disappointment?

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 11 May 11 - 06:17 AM

Lynch - Ah, where to start?

Erazerhead! First time I saw that I was asked to leave the cinema for laughing. Brilliant, surreal & hilarious. I enjoyed the quaint Victoriana of The Elephant Man, but felt it pulled its punches rather, right up to the Adagio for Strings ending which wasn't quite the cliche then as it is now, but even so I've always found it a bit syrupy.

Subject: RE: BS: Inspirational Films
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 11 May 11 - 08:40 AM

The Blair Witch Project was disappointing I expected it to have a stronger story rather than it did. I notice that the same tecnique is used time and time again now when 'nightvision' has to be used not just for programmes like 'Most Haunted' and the occasional nature program too. Obviously it is necessary to observe animals in the wild like this but I find it so irritating now to see just the whites of people's eyes in waiting for a sighting of a hyena or a lion pride etc.

The most inspirational films that I have seen in my time apart from Kes has to be Bonnie and Clyde, Cabaret with Liza Minnelli at her best, the first Jurrassic Park, Shrek, Sixth Sense, Jaws I, The Godfather I, the Exorcist and Ghostbusters (despite now dated effects). Lady Sings the Blues was a good strong film but I believe that the facts and story of Billie Holliday was distorted slightly for the film. There are so many others it would take far too long to mention.