After reading the comments to my last posting, I realized yet again that lists are an evil thing. Basically, I am pretty positive that the anime I want to watch in my plan to watch list are everything that exists in the anime world that I want to watch. I have been browsing quite a few anime websites and other people’s MyAnimeList pages (yes, yours too, Martin! XD) to get recommendations and although 58 series looks like a lot, I get the feeling that it is a feasible to watch all of these in my life. Especially when most of them are just inspirations and you don’t feel like you absolutely have to watch them. The same goes for manga where I have the impression that I am still somewhat up-to-date despite the awful lot that gets released every day. Such a thing would never be possible with movies. Although I have no idea how many of them actually get produced and I feel that 100 years of movies sounds better than over 2000 years of books, I know that I am never going to watch all these films I wanted to watch before I die. I suppose I am a little bit in the kind of phase where I wonder what I want to do with my life, and by that I mean what I want to have accomplished. The experience of all these films that I find interesting are part of what I want to accomplish.
Another problem I have with the sheer endlessness of films is the fact that it’s somewhat difficult to talk to people about the films you watched. People’s tastes are different and especially when you don’t watch mainstream movies, there is only a slight possibility to find people to regularily talk to about your movies – there are too many films that people watch at different periods of times (except for the really recent ones). So unless you adapt to their watching schedules, films are much less, hm, social than anime perhaps? On the one hand, I love its individuality; on the other hand, it’s a little bit sad to watch a great film, but there is nothing interesting about it on the internet. It’s possible that I am searching at the wrong place, but compared to most anime, it’s less likely to find extensive discussion, fan sites or information on a film, except for Donnie Darko or Memento.
On a positive side note, of course I still think it is a great thing that so many good films exist in the world. If I compare the list of films that I have found mindblowing and influential with the list of anime, I would definitely say that the films have had a greater impact on me. And I think more than anything, it is this impact that I am pursuing.
PS. A propos series, I think I should consider watching some real life series. Like Six Feet Under. Or this one chinese series that my parents love so much. (It’s actually a harem series, albeit one that must be so sophisticated that my parents recommend it to me. XD)
I always used to frown when I discovered more obscure films that sound really interesting, but for which I was unable to find any DVD releases. There were so many surprising and awesome retrospectives (Complete: Buñuel, Fassbinder, Rossellini, Naruse, Benning; Partial: Godard, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang) held in Munich alone, within about 2 years, however, that I’ve accepted it all coming down to a matter of a little patience, before you get to see what you’ve put on your wishlist XD
(And then there are all the ways to get films over the internet…).
Haha, I’m sure that you’ll be able to see most of your films before you die!! ^^*
BTW, you asked me about that signature picture of a certain user at awardsdaily – it’s from a recent french film called “The Witnesses”.
That director made a film I’ve been DYING to see for a long time (Les roseaux sauvages) , and there will soon be an american 4-Disc release including that film. So the waiting has paid off, I guess XD (although it took, like, 2 years? LOL)
Oh, finding DVD releases can be a problem indeed, I believe it well. I would immediately have bought the DVD of Tampopo instead of downloading it, but there just were no means at that time O.o Luckily, there is an endless number of titles I want to see that actually are easily available and I suppose I just have to start with those first.
Retrospectives are stunning indeed. There was one for Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin (of course), and I was surprised how incredibly many movies he made. In the end, we went into “To be or not to be” because I wanted to experience how it is to watch it in a cinema. It seems as long as you live in a big german city, you do get ahold of all these obscure films rather easily. So… what is on your wishlist? XD
I definitely am not going to see most of my films before I die. Films are a little bit like mental capacity – as soon as you learn something, you discover new things you can and want to learn. When you watch 5 films, there are 20 others that you discover and want to watch afterwards. At least this is the case with me, haha.
Finally, thank you so much for finding out which films it was… how did you do that? Now this adds another film I want to see – it’s a vicious circle? Haha.
I’m looking forward to whether you liked the film, if you happen to get that 4-disc-box. :)
It _is_ a vicious circle indeed. I think you should sort your film backlog in “important films”, “somewhat important” and “hmmm, yeah, they sound interesting” films or something like that, so you could watch all the “important films” at least. XD At least that’s what I try to do recently.
And eeeeh, did you become interested in Six Feet Under, because it was on my list? It’s not that special at all. When I watched the first season, I liked some aspects (for example every episode starts with the death of a person whose funeral is held by the protagonists afterwards), but at a certain point the series develops into “another soap opera”, although it still handels issues like death or guilt.
@Sasa
um, i’ve gathered some lists on that very convenient “listofbests” page :)
http://www.listsofbests.com/list/56835
oh, the signature got mentioned in a thread opened for “the witnesses”
@Shii: What, you did not like the series? Everyone else I know is raving about it, saying how unusually smart it is and all. Well, it’s not like I’m going to watch a real life series anytime soon. I think I’ll stick with anime, manga and films ;)
I am going to sort this list (in fact, there is a certain system to it, but it’s not very clear XD). I actually haven’t seen any priorities in your backlog, how do you sort yours? Don’t tell me there is another file/version *hrr*
@Prog: Yeah, this page is so nice, isn’t it? As I have expected, I barely know any of the films in your backlog list! I want to watch Sunrise by Murnau though. First, I have never watched a Murnau before, not even Nosferatu; second, it’s the favourite film of a girl from our dorms in Paris; third, it’s on Jim Jarmusch’s top 10 list!
Aaah, I am so going to watch “The Witnesses” now, hahaha.
It’s funny how I like watching films and yet have no profound attachment to most of them, much less review them in-detail. Sure, I adore indie flicks and foreign films, but the odds of catching one on DVD is prety slim. (Damn censorship board!)
I don’t actively seek out obscure titles, so thank goodness for film festivals. Taking chances with random movies has actually been beneficial to me. However, my interests lie in South-East Asian and Middle Eastern Cinema, so I can’t quite share your enthusiasm of European films. But if you need any recommendations, I’ll be happy to oblige.
I think the most profound attachment I have had are actually manga, closely followed by films, closely followed by certain books, and anime actually only is the end of this list. I also don’t think you have to get attached to things to truly enjoy them, but if something is enjoyable and you get attached to them, it’s just even better.
Like I said, I have never been to film festivals – that’s a bit weird, I suppose. On the other hand, most films I have watched are really high quality, because I have been hand-picking them rather carefully. Interestingly, I have never watched anything from South-East Asia or the Middle East. What I definitely would be interested in is Close-up, because I have recently seen this shortfilm “Il giorno della prima di Close Up”. Besides that, I wonder if I would actually be able to appreciate those films. The views of most westerners on asian films already makes me cringe, and I suppose I am probably just as ignorant as them when it comes to films of cultures that I don’t know. It surely is a hole that I should try to fill. So… recommendations? XD
I did like Six Feet Under (well, yeah, at least some aspects), but I wouldn’t recommend it to somebody who wants to watch a sophisticated, smart live-action series. On the other hand not sophisticated, but truly worth the recommendation is Scrubs! Watch it! XD
The best South East Asian film I’ve seen is the Thai film “Last Life in the Universe” (it has Tadanobu Asano playing the protagonist though).
And Middle Eastern… I liked Children of Heaven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Heaven) and Paradise Now (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Now).
@Sasa: Yep. Enjoyment and attachment are the essentials of a great film. Personal experiences play an integral part in the overall rating.
@Shii~: Scrubs? Agreed. It manages the right amount of humour and life lessons.
As for the recommendations, Shii kicked it off with the well known ones. I can’t quite remember some titles, but here’s what I can remember. (It’s a bit biased)
Any comedy film from P. Ramlee (I grew up with ’em. I can recite passages of dialog and still laugh at the jokes, even though it keeps repeating on the TV every 6months. 1960s humour doesn’t get old. It’s funnier if you understand Malay, but slapstick comedy transcends language) :D
Films by Yasmin Ahmad, namely Sepet and its sequel, Gubra. (A touching tale of cross-cultural love)
As for Middle Eastern cinema, Iranian films take the cake, especially those by Majid Majidi, the director of Children of Heaven. (Where does he get those child actors/actresses?)
Brrr, Scrubs. I have never liked it actually XD Maybe I just… don’t have any humour? *hrr* I think sophisticated things are overrated anyways, tehehe. This reminds me that I was planning on writing a posting on this issue.
@Shii: I definitely will be looking into those films you have mentioned… one day? XD (By the way, you can normally use html code here. Like this XD On a side note, I rarely see you online again T_T
@MrMayat: Thank you! As expected, I don’t know any of them of course, and I will be more than happy to check them out. That iranian films are good was the only thing I knew before though.