Eyes Above The Waves

Robert O'Callahan. Christian. Repatriate Kiwi. Hacker.

Saturday 26 April 2008

The Ozymandias Ultimatum

I watched Enter The Dragon last night. I have to put it on the list of "classic moves that have not stood the test of time", with Citizen Kane and Star Wars.



Comments

Steve Laniel
Oh, them's fightin' words!
I will not take the bait, though, no matter how tempting it might be.
Manu
What do you find dated about Citizen Kane?
Lars Gunther
So, what is your full list of such movies?
Robert O'Callahan
Nothing about "Citizen Kane" feels particularly dated --- I just didn't like the movie. Welles did some great acting but I just found the whole thing tedious. When I've heard other people rave about it, they've focused on "non-linear storytelling" or novel aspects of the camerawork, which no doubt made it stunning at the time but are nothing special now.
It's not that I dislike old movies --- I adore "Casablanca", which definitely *has* stood the test of time. In fact I think most old classics still hold up well.
So in fact my "full list" of such movies would be pretty short if I were to work it out. Looking at the AFI's "top 10" ( http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx ), I haven't seen "On The Waterfront" but of the others, only "Citizen Kane" I found disappointing.
Manu
Hrm...well, my guess is you would have found "Citizen Kane" boring in 1941 as well :). The film certainly wasn't popular with the public when it was first released, and I don't think that the non-linear narrative and camera work alone were radical enough to blow people's minds back then (part of the coolness of those things in the movie is how they actually don't draw attention to themselves but instead fit in pretty seamlessly). Anyway, finding "Citizen Kane" tedious is one thing (I know many people that feel that way), but I think saying it hasn't stood the test of time goes a bit far, since it's not like it was ever an extremely popular film. Totally with you on "Casablanca", though :-)