AlexChristianLovendahl

I am not sure I can vote "Yes!" more firmly than for Pather Panchali. I may put six or seven films ahead of it, but almost all have been more commonly accepted as movies to know, either due to recency or mainstream acceptance. Pather Panchali is the movie which defines the role of reevaluating the canon, and I think it should be its crown jewel. The most yes I can vote.

I'm ready to vote! Ultimately, what it comes down to is this. I think The Lost Weekend does capture some serious pathos and catharsis, both for alcoholism and for depression. It does that with some good dialogue and some good performance work by Milland. But it's just lacking in breadth; in many ways, this movie is over six minutes in, and it so underserves the other interesting themes (family, relationships, honesty, avoidance, reality vs. fiction) in favor of making all serve to the God of dependence that it ends up making the thing feel flat. But it's still a soft no for me. I've never been as dependent as The Lost Weekend's addiction portrays, and I respect that several people in this thread have opened up and discussed their own histories with dependence. If the film has the power to help these lives, then I hope to be pleasantly overruled.

First time COMMENTING before listening. Upon watching just now, I found it uneven, but ultimately good. Remarkable? Not so much. As a Billy Wilder film, I'd put it far above Sunset Boulevard (that movie and I really don't get along) but far below Ace in the Hole; it'd be in the lower end of the mix with Double Indemnity for me. As a paranoia/depression apartment film, I love it far less than Repulsion, Pi, or Eraserhead. As an addiction film? I'm struggling to come up with examples off of the top of my head; it's more serious but maybe less expansive than Don Jon, and I like it a hell of a lot more than Requiem for a Dream. It's losing to movies like Nosferatu or Only Lovers Left Alive which displace addiction and the monstrous into the supernatural. First instinct? I give it a pass on the canon. It's an interesting precursor to how Italian neorealism and Yasujiro Ozu would impact "social cinema" and realistic drama, an alternate timeline that ultimately gets supplanted. Now to listen and finalize my verdict.

Looking forward to watching this one before listening to the episode; I may have just stumbled out of the closest thing I hope to call my own Lost Weekend, and I expect to find it a useful tonic.

After seeing the restoration this past December, Pather Panchali might be locked into my top 20 permanently. It's astounding stuff. If you've only seen the pre-Criterion DVD, you owe it to yourself to see the restoration; that DVD was muddily transferred, and the clarity of detail in the film has unbelievable power. Find a way to watch the restoration when you can.

My simple answer for yes; even if The Adventures of Robin Hood doesn't stand out as one of your favorites (it's not one of mine based on my first viewing this morning,) it's a clear mark that 30s action movies can totally hold up to a modern watch. i got so frustrated when trying to talk with some of my fellow students programming a summer movie series and talking about "classic action." They kept trying to say that it would be hard to find classic action movies; the two or three of us who know about Buster, Douglas, and Errol quickly found ourselves getting a little red in the face repeating that there are totally great action movies long before 007 picks up that pistol.

Favorite in: Alien Least Favorite In: E.T. Favorite Out: Manhattan

I'm inclined to be a tolerant "no" vote. I like Slacker well enough; it sits around the 60% mark on my Flickchart. But the meandering tone and amateur acting don't quite give as powerful a sense of place or purpose as Before Sunrise or Dazed and Confused. I won't mind its entry, but it's an incomplete experiment in my book.