Since my first films update, I’ve only watched three more films on the IMDB list. First, I’ll waffle about the films, then explain why there’s only been three.
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
The back cover of the DVD case said this movie was supposed to be like the last few breaths before dying, or something similar, so we thought it was going to be fast-paced, unlike the previous few films which had been very slow. We stopped the DVD after maybe 30 to 45 minutes, sure that it would be another boring, long waste of time. The sets, lighting, costumes, makeup and acting were fine, but the plot was too slow.
Compared to the past few movies I’ve watched from the list, and compared to the Godfather Part I, this movie was much faster-paced. Partly this was due to the frequent switching between the two stories of Vito and Michael Corleone. Also, the Vito story was quite fast, and I really enjoyed watching his progression. I founr the costumes and sets from that storyline interesting, while the same things from the Michael storyline seemed old and out of date. The information in the IMDB FAQ for the movie added extra interesting facts to the plot. I didn’t like the way Michael treated his wife, particularly towards the end of the movie.
After the Godfather: Part II was surprisingly interesting, I watched another mafia movie starring Robert de Niro. Again, I was interested in the rise of Henry in the beginning of the movie. I was also interested in the rise of Erik von Darkmoor and Roo Avery in The Serpentwar Saga books by Raymond E Feist, which may say something interesting about my interests if I think about it a bit more. Back to the movie: I didn’t like the drugs and the way Henry treated women.
Why so few watched?
Mostly my decreasing enthusiasm as each movie failed to meet my high expectations. Most of the reason for this list item was to find plots I was interested in, but most of the movies I’ve watched have had very slow plots, so my attention wanders and disengages.
However, all of these movies were very well received when first released, and stood out among the movies at the time. So, the problem is probably not the movies themselves.
After much deliberation, I’m now fairly certain that the IMDB list I originally chose is not the best basis for this list item. The 22 films left to watch are mostly from the later half of the IMDB list, so that’s something.
So between now and my next post on this list item, I will find a better list of top films, even if I have to put it together from recommendations by friends and family.
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