CHUD List: WELL MET - DIscussion Thread

This is great and a perfect encapsulation of why I still adore Casino. That scene is just a perfect mesh of Scorcese brilliant direction and Sharon Stone's really quite amazing acting. Really looking forward to further entries in this list, especially if they're as academic and stirringly written as this.

It's too bad that Stone's character is reduced to a shrieking harpy by the end of the film. 

I guess it's because you covered it pretty thoroughly that it's a little hard to discuss anything.  Especially since I don't think anyone would argue with your choice of first on the list.  Hahahah.  You did your job too well.  Off to Sanford with you!

EDIT: But if there's anyone who hasn't seen the film for a while (like me) and need a bit of a refresher:

Holy shit.

Never for a moment do you forget the genius level of technique in this clip.  Never for a moment does it get in the way of what's going on.  I think I get a semi whenever Scorcese whip-pans, freeze-frames, flies his camera into a close-up, or starts another one of his perfect musical cues.

I remember on, I think the Boogie Nights director's commentary, PT Anderson saying how important it was for certain characters to have a memorable intro, so the first time they are on screen they make an immediate impression as to who they are.  I would say almost every major character in Magnolia is given this treatement....though Tom Cruise's Frank TJ Mackey stands out in my mind as one of the best character intros ever(wether you count the infomercial or when he first appears at the seminar).

Well I'll be ... only yesterday I set my DVR to record Casino in a couple of days from now. Funnily enough I don't think I've seen it for seven or eight years and the reason I don't own it or watch it as regularly as other Scorceses is because of how shrill Ginger is. Stone I like, but I can't stand that character.

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Originally Posted by Renn Brown 

Remember, try not to be the butthole who just names off shit that should be on the list. We want to hear what you think about what's actually on it! Discussing other things in any movie that's covered is fair game though.

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Originally Posted by RCA 

I would say almost every major character in Magnolia is given this treatement....though Tom Cruise's Frank TJ Mackey stands out in my mind ...

Duuuuuuuuude. I expect this from some peeps, but not you.

I'm with Bucho.  Stone isn't really to blame, so much as her character becomes truly nails-on-chalkboard for me.  I'd like to see Casino again, because I haven't seen it since its initial release, but I feel like it's probably an amazing 2-hour stretched over 3.  

Great idea for a list, can't comment to much on this entry as I have not seen Casino (don't kill me) but looking forward to seeing where it goes.

I have to say that's a great start. By far the best use of Stone ever. And I say use because from how things turned out I'm guessing the difference between this and her other films was all Scorcese. But if there's one character in Casino whom I wholeheartedly hate is Pesci's Nicky. Truly a repugnant, sociopathic piece of shit. One of my most hated characters in the history of cinema. He effectively monopolized all the negativity I could produce. I was smiling ear to ear at his death scene. Ginger is a damn Disney princess next to him.

Didn't stop me from watching Casino multiple times, though.

A fantastic idea for a list, and one I eagerly anticipate continuing. So many possible choices, both obvious and obscure.

Great work David. I've always loved the full introduction to the Alien, the way it unfurls from the ceiling and sort of dwarfs Harry Dean-Stanton for a second before killing him. It's a kind of nightmare sequence, a piece of shock you don't get in the rest of the film and I think you sum up perfectly why that sequence works. And yeah, the Alien totally rape-murdered Lambert.

Together with the entrance of a character in another older movie that I'm not going to mention since I'm sure it will come up, the chestburster scene is in my opinion the best and most effective character introduction in the history of the medium. Good pick.

Nice start to a very promising series, gents. I've not seen Casino in years, but you really sold me on a return viewing with that glowing inaugural entry, Renn. Your description of Ace accepting the futile path really put me in mind of De Niro's other work and how great the man is at selling difficult decisions/people.

As for Alien, it's very hard to write about a film that's had so much written about it, but I thought you did a great job of not making your entry feel like just another piece, David. Very funny, too.

This is a great idea for a regular column! Both entries have been great reads!

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Originally Posted by Bobby Bear 

Nice start to a very promising series, gents. I've not seen Casino in years, but you really sold me on a return viewing with that glowing inaugural entry, Renn. Your description of Ace accepting the futile path really put me in mind of De Niro's other work and how great the man is at selling difficult decisions/people.

 

As for Alien, it's very hard to write about a film that's had so much written about it, but I thought you did a great job of not making your entry feel like just another piece, David. Very funny, too.

Thanks Bobby. 
 

It's funny that I never thought about the fact that the Xenomorph in Alien gets a grand introduction for all 3 of its developmental stages.  It's obvious now that you pointed it out, David... but I'd just never thought of it that way.  Hahahaha, great stuff.

I don't rememeber much about Lamberts death but I must be missing something...   Great entry though and very well written.

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Originally Posted by stelios 

Together with the entrance of a character in another older movie that I'm not going to mention since I'm sure it will come up

I wonder if we're thinking the same thing here.

So far two great entries in what's bound to be a fun list. Maybe I missed it, but how long is this list gonna be?

Again a great pick.  Of course I'm prejudiced since I consider Groucho Marx to be the finest comedian to ever exist in any form of comedy. The only other piece of comedy that I'd put as equal to his stuff is Abbot and Costello doing "Who's On First" live onstage.

So good to have a CHUDlist back.

While I don't think the Xenomorph will be topped (I look forward to being proved wrong), Groucho's is a classic.

It always astounds me how well Duck Soup ages. It's an utterly timeless comedy.

Great call Alex. And nicely told.

I bet that the expression "Walking in like he owns the place" was partly created to properly describe Gleason's entrance.

And I agree about watching this and The Color Of money back to back.

stelios and I: proven right. The best possible choice for such a list. Welles at his most charismatic.

Nice to see the closing shot mentioned, too. I wasn't that cinematically educated the first time I watched The Third Man (I have to thank the state run TV for showing all sorts of excellent older films when I was very young) and I remember having exactly the reaction Jeremy described. As Anna passed Holly by and the film ended, my jaw literally dropped.

http://www.chud.com/60276/chud-list-well-met-day-6-a-fistful-of-dollars/

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Originally Posted by Elisabeth Rappe 

http://www.chud.com/60276/chud-list-well-met-day-6-a-fistful-of-dollars/

Leone's oeuvre is filled with this sort of memorable brilliance. Ennio M hitting cleanup helps as well. I recently revisited this trilogy (and GOOD/BAD/UGLY on blu) and it captivates every time. He's not just intruducing a character, but (as you hinted at), he's building suspense in the moment. You're hooked and want to know what will happen and how this/these characters will act/react. And because of the genre's poetic brutality. tropes, and simple conflict, it's so mythic and iconic. These character beats (which are often wordless) linger with you. Love it.

Daywalker!: http://www.chud.com/60324/chud-list-well-met-day-7-blade/

Great list, guys.  Not as flashy as some of the others, but quite well thought out. 

That intro for Blade is very "fuck yeah!"  It's the movie I pop in whenever I've just had to experience some schmaltzy bullshit and I need the healing power of violence to cleanse my system.

An entrance made even better by the awesome soundtrack. Fuck yeah at that Confusion remix. As soon as the music started playing and the blood flowing I was in that movie up to my neck. And personally, I don't think any of the Blade films had another scene that felt so satisfying.

Lem can't catch a break...

Good pick. This one vies for the best action scene in the history of superhero movies.

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Originally Posted by stelios 

An entrance made even better by the awesome soundtrack. Fuck yeah at that Confusion remix. As soon as the music started playing and the blood flowing I was in that movie up to my neck. And personally, I don't think any of the Blade films had another scene that felt so satisfying.

Yeah, I think Blade II is better than the original Blade in almost every way. However the action sequences feel positively anemic compared to the sequences in Blade. There's a weight and impact to the fights in Blade that none of the other films have, in Blade II it's partially due to Del Toro's overuse of CGI and in Blade: Trinity it's because Goyer sucks. Hell there's a scene in Blade 1 which is almost as badass as the finale of Tom Yum Goong.

If you made me choose between watching Blade or Blade 2 I'll almost always pick 2. 90% of the time I'll pick 2. But then I'll sneak in this scene to watch too.

Overuse of CG or no, I'll stand by that final Blade/Nomak fight in 2 till my dying day. That's just a goddamned vampire street fight right there.

I appreciate what Del Toro was doing, but I still pick the original over his every time. Truth is, I don't think a single one of his English films can be classified as "good".

When I saw BLADE in the theater, that opening sequence completely blew me away. I remember turning to my buddy and saying, "Price of admission: PAID FOR." It's too bad horrid CGI takes something away from the climactic battle, but BLADE still works and has aged remarkably well. Love Snipes' cool-as-shit-mofo take on Blade, love the icy blue cinematography, and love the music (the score's an underrated, terrific set of mood pieces). I hated Del Toro's sequel the first time I saw it, but have come to really dig it. In some ways it's better than the original, but I think the first film has a power to it lacking in the sequel(s).

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Originally Posted by Evi 

I appreciate what Del Toro was doing, but I still pick the original over his every time. Truth is, I don't think a single one of his English films can be classified as "good".

I don't think his Hollywood stuff stands up to his Spanish movies, but that's pushing it.

Did this as a Blade companion piece over at GUY: http://guy.com/2011/07/20/guys-top-ten-blades-dispatchings/

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Originally Posted by Justin Clark 

Overuse of CG or no, I'll stand by that final Blade/Nomak fight in 2 till my dying day. That's just a goddamned vampire street fight right there.

I love it for that reason as well. Honestly, the only CGI I didn't like was the stuff in the ninja fight that del Toro hates as well, as hilariously shown on the commentary track: "I love the CGI in this... except for TWO SHOTS! Which I will point out, because I fucking hate them!"

I'd rank the first two films about equal to be honest, as they both have strengths and weaknesses that end up balancing pretty well.

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Originally Posted by Renn Brown 

Yes.  Oh hell yes.  Patton giving that speech *almost* makes most of the rest of the film superflous.  Just a career defining scene.

That was an easy one. I believe that it is impossible for a human to watch Rear Window and not fall in love with Grace Kelly. I don't care if you're straight or gay, male or female. How could Hitchcock not get obsessed?