How do you pick movies to watch? I might imagine it would be a combination of some of the following:
1. Choose from whatever Hollywood has hitting the theaters this week.
2. Choose from whatever higher profile Blu-rays or DVDs are being released this week.
3. Choose from some new offerings on Netflix, Hulu, etc.
3. Go on a friend's recommendation.
4. Watch one of those movies you've been hearing about forever but haven't yet watched.
5. Watch something that sort of randomly showed up through various browsing, etc.
There's nothing inherently wrong with the above methods - it's just that they're inadequate. Here's an analogy: it's exactly akin to only selecting books to read that are on bookstore endcaps, in bookstore promotions, and whatever Costco or Walmart are selling, and whatever your friend loans to you.
Almost every movie anyone else in these forums has mentioned is available inside a Best Buy store as a DVD or Blu-ray.
Almost every movie I have mentioned in these forums is not available inside a Best Buy store.
However, here's the kicker: almost every movie I have mentioned cannot be said to be some obscure film dredged from the bottom of the barrel. Instead, just about every film I have mentioned has a distinct place in the history of cinema, is highly praised, features a director of some repute, has a fan following, etc.
What are the search criteria? What makes these films trickle to the top out of perhaps 100,000's of films out there? Here are some reasons:
1. They are by a director who is universally acknowledged as a great director.
- An example would the British Film Institute's feature on Yasujiro Ozu:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/ozu-yasujiro-master-time2. The films, or other films by the director have shown up in Sight & Sound's Directors Poll, or Sight & Sound's Criticss Poll.
- See Sight & Sound's Directors Poll:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/sight-sound-2012-directors-top-ten- See Sight & Sound's Critics Poll:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time3. Cinephiles (avid film watchers who take film watching seriously) have given excellent ratings to the films, typically 4 out of 5 stars.
See a forum thread populated by cinephiles. What you'll find is mention of the greats. On the first page we see people mentioning Mizoguchi, Ozu, Yang, etc.:
http://mubi.com/topics/if-you-had-to-choose-five-directors-oeuvres-to-bring-to-a-desert-island 4. Cinephiles have created special artwork, trailers, montages, etc. to promote the films, and received praise from other fans.
- As an example, see a Three Reasons fan made video for
Pastorale: To Die in the Country:
https://vimeo.com/30090257- Or Three Reasons for
The Man Without a Map:
https://vimeo.com/26575321- Or
Yuka on Mondays:
https://vimeo.com/198703115. There are whole blogs dedicated to the various genres which heap high praise and critical acclaim on the films.
- See Criterion Cast as an example:
http://criterioncast.com/- See Midnight Eye as an example:
http://www.midnighteye.com/6. Well known critics, such as the late Roger Ebert, have included the films on special lists, such as Roger Ebert's list of 'Great Films'.
See Roger Ebert's list of Great Films here. Right from the start, we see films by Keisuke Kinoshita, Kenji Mizoguchi, etc:
http://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies7. The actors and actresses in the films are well known and respected by critics and fans alike for their work.
- See an appreciation of Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O6tdZucyVc8. The films or other films by the directors are often dissected and analyzed for their unique and/or groundbreaking film grammars.
9. The films, or other films by the same directors are commonly studied in film school for their powerful themes, historical precedents, etc.
10. Well known film scholars, academics, directors, etc. have provided commentary and analysis on the films, or other films by the directors in film journals, on DVDs, etc.
- Roger Ebert provides commentary on Floating Weeds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPjHBhWm4MU- See Tony Rayns:
http://cinema-scope.com/author/tony-rayns/- See David Bordwell:
http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/11. Many of the films, or other films by the same directors have received very expensive restorations and are currently on tour in film festivals. An example would be
The Housemaid and Edward Yang's
A Brighter Summer Day, which have both been restored by Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation.
- See the World Cinema Foundation here:
http://worldcinemafoundation.org/ - The Housemaid:
http://worldcinemafoundation.org/films/the-housemaid- A Brighter Summer Day:
http://worldcinemafoundation.org/films/summer12. An appreciation of director/actor collaborations can lead one to a whole set of films beyond the one film which enabled you to discover the director and actor. A great example are the many films directed by Mikio Naruse and featuring the star Hideko Takamine.
- See a fan made tribute to Hideko Takamine here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSLKCLv-7bI- See a blogger's appreciation of Hideko Takamine here:
http://selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-memoriam-hideko-takamine-1924-2010.html- A study of Mikio Naruse's work:
http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/naruse-2/- A book on Mikio Naruse:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Cinema-Naruse-Mikio-Modernity/dp/0822343126Now let's talk about pure enjoyment. When one first starts to explore these various film canons, one typically isn't familiar with the director, the actors, or necessarily the genre. Thus, the initial enjoyment of these films is less than what can ultimately be realized. But if one pushes further into the catalog, one gets a more intimate feel for the various traits of each director, a more familiar intimacy with the actors, and finer nuanced appreciation of the respective genres. Enjoyment goes way up.
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