I’ve been reading César Vidal’s El Camino Hacia la Cultura, which might translate roughly as "The Path Toward Culture." Imagine a Spanish Harold Bloom, yet trying to be more representative than idiosyncratic in his canonical picks. Overall his choices are what you would expect, albeit with a strong emphasis on modernism and in fiction he stresses the Continental novel of ideas. The very useful poetry list is full of Spaniards. Here is his list of the best movies (worldwide) since the 1990s:
Jacob’s Ladder (TC: I love this movie), Dances with Wolves, Dreams (Kurosawa), JFK, Glengarry Glen Ross, Malcolm X, Groundhog Day, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump (ugh), The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, Fargo, The English Patient, Titanic, The Apostle, Saving Private Ryan, Matrix, Magnolia, The Sixth Sense, Nueva Reinas, El hijo de la novia, Gladiator, Return of the King, De-Lovely, Apocalypto (TC: !…another winner).
The absence of traditional indie cinema and most European cinema is striking. Sadly Asian movies are missing altogether, except for Kurosawa. Overall I am struck by a) the gutsiness of this list, and b) the author doesn’t seem to see it as gutsy at all.
Tyler, what is your opinion on the imdb’s top 250 list? I’m sure you’ve seen it, but the link is at http://imdb.com/chart/top. I’m fairly curious, given your background. Thanks.
Gutsy? Or just someone with bad taste? Some of the films on that list make you wonder if the author has any taste at all.
DANCES WITH WOLVES?????????????
“Gutsy”? (Thanks for theaching me a new word; thankfully, ti was in my dictionary.)
I would say the list is simply crap. Of the 25 films on the list, I’ve seen 14. Of these, only one (Magnolia) should unambiguously make such a list, and at least two are disgraceful. (Dances with Wolves; Gladiator). The Man should not be allowed to write about this topic.
(hits desk with fist very hard)
Also, I should add you can take a given movie from his list and argue is something other/more than a Leftish conspiracy movie (& I know there are clear exceptions to this category, like Magnolia). One can read Apolcalypto as commentary on Christianity & Islam or as a peaceful naturalist oppressed by fascist overlords; you can enjoy The Matrix as funpark rebellion or phenomenology. However, the way he has brought many of these movies together in forming his list seems to indicate he is picking out the Leftish themes & not the formal elements of the filmmaking.
And if you’re gonna go with Kurosawa (as you should) then ‘Dreams’ is most definitely not the one to pick.
What’s wrong with Dreams? Kurosawa only made 3 films that quality for the post-1990 cutoff being used. You really thought Mada da yo or Hachigatsu no kyoushikyoku were better?
César Vidal, no more, no less. TC: since you provided the wikipedia link then I guess you sort of knew who you were talking about. Then no wonder about the gutsiness.
I can’t believe you are taking César Vidal seriously.
徵信
å’–å•¡
徵信社
減肥
Comments on this entry are closed.