list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Cabinet_of_Dr_Caligari/4938/default.aspx Title: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Year: 1919
Director: Robert Wiene
Plot: In one of the most influential films of the silent era, Werner Krauss plays the title character, a sinister hypnotist who travels the carnival circuit displaying a somnambulist named Cesare (Conrad Veidt). In one tiny German town, a series of murders coincides with Caligari's visit. When the best friend of hero Francis (Friedrich Feher) is killed, the deed seems to be the outgrowth of a romantic rivalry over the hand of the lovely Jane (Lil Dagover). Francis suspects Caligari, but he is ignored by the police. Investigating on his own, Francis seemingly discovers that Caligari has been ordering the somnambulist to commit the murders, but the story eventually takes a more surprising direction. Caligari's Expressionist style ultimately led to the dark shadows and sharp angles of the film noir urban crime dramas of the 1940s, many of which were directed by such German émigrés as Billy Wilder and Robert Siodmak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 34
Number of Lists: 30
Number of blog posts: 7
Number of discussion threads: 16
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:30:28 GMTThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari1919Robert WieneIn one of the most influential films of the silent era, <a href="/players/P____39338/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Werner Krauss</a> plays the title character, a sinister hypnotist who travels the carnival circuit displaying a somnambulist named Cesare (<a href="/players/P____73208/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Conrad Veidt</a>). In one tiny German town, a series of murders coincides with Caligari's visit. When the best friend of hero Francis (Friedrich Feher) is killed, the deed seems to be the outgrowth of a romantic rivalry over the hand of the lovely Jane (<a href="/players/P____16562/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Lil Dagover</a>). Francis suspects Caligari, but he is ignored by the police. Investigating on his own, Francis seemingly discovers that Caligari has been ordering the somnambulist to commit the murders, but the story eventually takes a more surprising direction. <a href=/films/5001/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Caligari</a>'s Expressionist style ultimately led to the dark shadows and sharp angles of the <I>film noir</I> urban crime dramas of the 1940s, many of which were directed by such German émigrés as <a href="/players/P___116768/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Billy Wilder</a> and <a href="/players/P___111677/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Robert Siodmak</a>. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide34Tag Target (>10)307163http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t41860p2w18.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Cabinet_of_Dr_Caligari/4938/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Weekly_Theme_for_May_4_Express_Yourself/625/42028/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 5/4/2009 10:05:53 PM
Body: Yet another theme that I've been wanting to do for a while now. I'd like to talk this week about expressionistic film. I think maybe we should try to define it first. I'm probably not the best person for this, I think you could pretty accurately call expressionism an art movement, started in Germany in the early 20th century in which reality (the world) is distorted in order to reflect emotion..... Still with me? Its pretty easy to understand once examples are used so let's start that. As I said earlier, this art form was started in Germany so naturally, early German films are great examples. Think of the buildings and backdrops of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis. In the former, the buildings were all standing twisted and sideways to display a chaotic and unnerving feel. While in the ladder, the city was very much larger than life and completely oppressive. Later, many German directors like Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang moved to the states and continued their expressionistic style in the film noir vein with films like Double Indemnity and The Big Heat respectively. Film noir is really defined as an expressionistic film movement as a whole. Filmmakers used smoke and fog in the shots to lend more of an unsettling and suspicious feel to the films. ** from Double Indemnity - notice venetian blind shadow give the "behind bars" look ** Director Tim Burton has somewhat rehashed and revamped expressionism in modern films. His sets for Gotham in Batman and Batman Returns are throwbacks to the earlier looks of the German films. Edward Scissorhands' costume and set are both very exaggerated in their look to add a stark contrast to the character backdrop relationship. There is one more film I'd like to mention that fits this catagory to a T. But, I will wait until later in the hopes that someone else mentions it first. I will only say that its a film that came out within the past 15 years and its an obvious homage to one of the early German films. I really would like to see someone else mention it before I do. So there you have it. I absolutely love this theme and I hope I've given y'all something at least to think about.
]]>Tue, 05 May 2009 02:05:53 GMTleeroy711Weekly Theme5/4/2009 10:05:53 PMYet another theme that I've been wanting to do for a while now. I'd like to talk this week about expressionistic film. I think maybe we should try to define it first. I'm probably not the best person for this, I think you could pretty accurately call expressionism an art movement, started in Germany in the early 20th century in which reality (the world) is distorted in order to reflect emotion..... Still with me? Its pretty easy to understand once examples are used so let's start that. As I said earlier, this art form was started in Germany so naturally, early German films are great examples. Think of the buildings and backdrops of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis. In the former, the buildings were all standing twisted and sideways to display a chaotic and unnerving feel. While in the ladder, the city was very much larger than life and completely oppressive. Later, many German directors like Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang moved to the states and continued their expressionistic style in the film noir vein with films like Double Indemnity and The Big Heat respectively. Film noir is really defined as an expressionistic film movement as a whole. Filmmakers used smoke and fog in the shots to lend more of an unsettling and suspicious feel to the films. ** from Double Indemnity - notice venetian blind shadow give the "behind bars" look ** Director Tim Burton has somewhat rehashed and revamped expressionism in modern films. His sets for Gotham in Batman and Batman Returns are throwbacks to the earlier looks of the German films. Edward Scissorhands' costume and set are both very exaggerated in their look to add a stark contrast to the character backdrop relationship. There is one more film I'd like to mention that fits this catagory to a T. But, I will wait until later in the hopes that someone else mentions it first. I will only say that its a film that came out within the past 15 years and its an obvious homage to one of the early German films. I really would like to see someone else mention it before I do. So there you have it. I absolutely love this theme and I hope I've given y'all something at least to think about. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_Which_of_these_film_movments_have_produced_film/657/40557/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 2/19/2009 3:15:26 PM
Body: [quote user="pippin06"] This is out of my league too. I consider myself an average to above average filmgoer/viewer but am not sure if I've seen anything in any category (maybe I have and I didn't know it...but maybe not). Like I said, I saw a lot of French films in college, but who knows if they fall under New Wave or something like that... ...but maybe we could somehow start a discussion somewhere where people schooled in these film schools could make recommendations for beginners. That would be cool, right? Or, maybe it's already somewhere...anyone know? [/quote] Ok, well I'll try to give some insight on what I know about them and any recommendations I may have. Czechoslovakian New Wave may be one of the lesser movements listed here. It kind of started in the 60s. A discription from wikipedia says "Trademarks of the movement contain long unscripted dialogues, dark and absurd humour, and the casting of nonactors." I don't know if I've actually seen any, but some of the more popular ones are available from the Criterion Collection like The Shop on Main Street (which people have mentioned on Spout before), Closely Watched Trains, and lots of Milos Forman's (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Man on the Moon, Amadeus) early work like Loves of a Blonde and The Fireman's Ball. Dogme 95 was an official movement started by Lars Von Trier and a few other Danish filmmakers that had specific rules about it. You could actually submit your film to them to be labeled as an official Dogma 95 film. You can probably find the rules online somewhere, but it involved using only digital film and found locations, props, and costumes. You aren't supposed to add any special effects. The full rules are of course available at good old wikipedia. The most famous of the films would probably The Celebration, The Idiots, and my favorite, Julien Donkey-Boy. The French New Wave is a pretty broad movement usually referring to the iconoclastic filmmakers from France. I think the tail end of the 50s is really when this started to get into full swing. Like Tennenbaums mentioned earlier, Jean Luc-Godard and François Truffaut are often the most identifiable filmmakers with the movement, although there are probably dozens if not more who have been lumped into this movement. SkyPilot mentioned Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur. I have seen that one and was disappointed. I've also seen Godard's Breathless and Truffaut's Jules and Jim both of which I did not enjoy. Truffaut's The 400 Blows I appreciated a bit more, but still not a favorite. Some people throw Éric Rohmer into this category as well, although some argue his style is considerably different and stems from somewhere other than many other of the French New Wave filmmakers. I have enjoyed what little I've seen of his work. Expressionism was a movement in Europe in the early 20th century. It stressed intense emotion conveyed through exaggerated and distorted style and forms. The Germans took this movement and put it in film. I'm sure you recognize famous directors like F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. Some of these films had extremely expressionistic and highly unrealistic visuals like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Some like The Last Laugh were just more more distorted versions of reality. With all the Dracula talk that has happend on Spout at times I'm guessing you've also heard of Nosferatu. Some of Lang's works that came a bit later that are well known might also count like M and Metropolis. When I looked into it, I can't really define Iranian New Wave any better than just saying it's basically films that were made in Iran. I guess the most popular filmmaker is Abbas Kiarostami. Look him up and you may recognize a lot of his films. Maybe not. I have seen two films from Majid Majidi and would recommend The Color of Paradise. It's kind of recent though so I don't really know if it's a good representation of the first wave of the Iranian New Wave. Italian neorealism is what it probably sounds like. Italian films that stressed trying to give a realistic depiction of every day working class people. They did this by shootings things on location and often with non-actors. And a lot of the the "boring" action of normal life that might not find it's way into other films is here. Although I sure don't find it boring. The time frame we are looking at is the later forties. The most famous example is Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief which I would highly recommend, although De Sica's Shoeshine and Umberto D are also amazing. Other big name directors are Luchino Visconti and Roberto Rossellini. The Japanese New Wave like the French New Wave were a bunch of iconoclastic filmmakers that started with works being released around the end of the 50s through the 70s. You could put Seijun Suzuki in this category who is one of my favorite directors. Tokyo Drifter, Fighting Elegy, Branded to Kill, and Youth of the Beast are all fims of his that I love and are available on the Criterion Collection. Hiroshi Teshigahara also has some of his movies released through Criterion, one of which, Woman in the Dunes, I just saw recently and is amazing. Shohei Imamura also has some of his movies available through Criterion (this is basically just a big Criterion ad). Nagisa Oshima is probably the biggest name from this moment in my mind and I'm rather embarassed to say I still haven't seen any of his films. Mumblecore core is the newest term on this list and has gotten a lot of press on Spout, so maybe you've heard of it. I don't know if I've really seen any movies that would fit this category hardcore, but you probably recognize the trend in independent cinema. I think it has a lot to do with young adults living in big cities. Very low budget. Lots of slang and hip music and culture references with a realistic style. Correct me if I'm wrong on this. Joe Swanberg had a short film series on Spout for a while I think. New French Extremity is the other really new term here. I just came across the name recently to refer to a recent wave of confrontational French films ove the past decade or so. You know how we had a group here on spout called "extreme films"? Well a lot of these would probably fit in nice there. They show you the extreme fifth, cruelty, and violence of humanity often in graphic detail. You may recognize a lot of these names. Gaspar Noé's Irreversible is one of the most well known state side I think. It's the one that runs backwards. I've seen his I Stand Alone and let me say it's pretty striking and depression, very confrontational to the dark and depressing side of the human condition. Other examples are some of Claire Denis' and Leos Carax's recent work, Bruno Dumont (The Life of Jesus, Humanité), Catherine Breillat (Fat Girl). Maybe you have also heard of the infamous Baise-moi (Fuck Me). If you listen to a lot of the horror fans we have on the site too you may hear them rave about many of the violent horror films comming out of France recently. These could probably fit in well too. The most well known now being High Tension. As for New German Cinema, you've heard of Werner Herzog right?? He's one of my favorites (check out The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Stroszek, Fitzcarraldo). Well he and some other German folks such as R. W. Fassbinder (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, The Marriage of Maria Braun, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (the guy made well over fourty films in a span of sixteen years including the fifteen hour long Berlin Alexanderplatz)), Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, Paris, Texas), Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum) and several others started making the first original movies starting in the late 60s since before the rise of the Nazis (Werner Herzog even made a remake of the classic German film Nosferatu). Finally Germany was a force in the world of Cinema making original and revolutionary films again. Anyone have anything to add?
]]>Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:15:26 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls2/19/2009 3:15:26 PM[quote user="pippin06"] This is out of my league too. I consider myself an average to above average filmgoer/viewer but am not sure if I've seen anything in any category (maybe I have and I didn't know it...but maybe not). Like I said, I saw a lot of French films in college, but who knows if they fall under New Wave or something like that... ...but maybe we could somehow start a discussion somewhere where people schooled in these film schools could make recommendations for beginners. That would be cool, right? Or, maybe it's already somewhere...anyone know? [/quote] Ok, well I'll try to give some insight on what I know about them and any recommendations I may have. Czechoslovakian New Wave may be one of the lesser movements listed here. It kind of started in the 60s. A discription from wikipedia says "Trademarks of the movement contain long unscripted dialogues, dark and absurd humour, and the casting of nonactors." I don't know if I've actually seen any, but some of the more popular ones are available from the Criterion Collection like The Shop on Main Street (which people have mentioned on Spout before), Closely Watched Trains, and lots of Milos Forman's (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Man on the Moon, Amadeus) early work like Loves of a Blonde and The Fireman's Ball. Dogme 95 was an official movement started by Lars Von Trier and a few other Danish filmmakers that had specific rules about it. You could actually submit your film to them to be labeled as an official Dogma 95 film. You can probably find the rules online somewhere, but it involved using only digital film and found locations, props, and costumes. You aren't supposed to add any special effects. The full rules are of course available at good old wikipedia. The most famous of the films would probably The Celebration, The Idiots, and my favorite, Julien Donkey-Boy. The French New Wave is a pretty broad movement usually referring to the iconoclastic filmmakers from France. I think the tail end of the 50s is really when this started to get into full swing. Like Tennenbaums mentioned earlier, Jean Luc-Godard and Fran&ccedil;ois Truffaut are often the most identifiable filmmakers with the movement, although there are probably dozens if not more who have been lumped into this movement. SkyPilot mentioned Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur. I have seen that one and was disappointed. I've also seen Godard's Breathless and Truffaut's Jules and Jim both of which I did not enjoy. Truffaut's The 400 Blows I appreciated a bit more, but still not a favorite. Some people throw &Eacute;ric Rohmer into this category as well, although some argue his style is considerably different and stems from somewhere other than many other of the French New Wave filmmakers. I have enjoyed what little I've seen of his work. Expressionism was a movement in Europe in the early 20th century. It stressed intense emotion conveyed through exaggerated and distorted style and forms. The Germans took this movement and put it in film. I'm sure you recognize famous directors like F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. Some of these films had extremely expressionistic and highly unrealistic visuals like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Some like The Last Laugh were just more more distorted versions of reality. With all the Dracula talk that has happend on Spout at times I'm guessing you've also heard of Nosferatu. Some of Lang's works that came a bit later that are well known might also count like M and Metropolis. When I looked into it, I can't really define Iranian New Wave any better than just saying it's basically films that were made in Iran. I guess the most popular filmmaker is Abbas Kiarostami. Look him up and you may recognize a lot of his films. Maybe not. I have seen two films from Majid Majidi and would recommend The Color of Paradise. It's kind of recent though so I don't really know if it's a good representation of the first wave of the Iranian New Wave. Italian neorealism is what it probably sounds like. Italian films that stressed trying to give a realistic depiction of every day working class people. They did this by shootings things on location and often with non-actors. And a lot of the the "boring" action of normal life that might not find it's way into other films is here. Although I sure don't find it boring. The time frame we are looking at is the later forties. The most famous example is Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief which I would highly recommend, although De Sica's Shoeshine and Umberto D are also amazing. Other big name directors are Luchino Visconti and Roberto Rossellini. The Japanese New Wave like the French New Wave were a bunch of iconoclastic filmmakers that started with works being released around the end of the 50s through the 70s. You could put Seijun Suzuki in this category who is one of my favorite directors. Tokyo Drifter, Fighting Elegy, Branded to Kill, and Youth of the Beast are all fims of his that I love and are available on the Criterion Collection. Hiroshi Teshigahara also has some of his movies released through Criterion, one of which, Woman in the Dunes, I just saw recently and is amazing. Shohei Imamura also has some of his movies available through Criterion (this is basically just a big Criterion ad). Nagisa Oshima is probably the biggest name from this moment in my mind and I'm rather embarassed to say I still haven't seen any of his films. Mumblecore core is the newest term on this list and has gotten a lot of press on Spout, so maybe you've heard of it. I don't know if I've really seen any movies that would fit this category hardcore, but you probably recognize the trend in independent cinema. I think it has a lot to do with young adults living in big cities. Very low budget. Lots of slang and hip music and culture references with a realistic style. Correct me if I'm wrong on this. Joe Swanberg had a short film series on Spout for a while I think. New French Extremity is the other really new term here. I just came across the name recently to refer to a recent wave of confrontational French films ove the past decade or so. You know how we had a group here on spout called "extreme films"? Well a lot of these would probably fit in nice there. They show you the extreme fifth, cruelty, and violence of humanity often in graphic detail. You may recognize a lot of these names. Gaspar No&eacute;'s Irreversible is one of the most well known state side I think. It's the one that runs backwards. I've seen his I Stand Alone and let me say it's pretty striking and depression, very confrontational to the dark and depressing side of the human condition. Other examples are some of Claire Denis' and Leos Carax's recent work, Bruno Dumont (The Life of Jesus, Humanit&eacute;), Catherine Breillat (Fat Girl). Maybe you have also heard of the infamous Baise-moi (Fuck Me). If you listen to a lot of the horror fans we have on the site too you may hear them rave about many of the violent horror films comming out of France recently. These could probably fit in well too. The most well known now being High Tension. As for New German Cinema, you've heard of Werner Herzog right?? He's one of my favorites (check out The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Stroszek, Fitzcarraldo). Well he and some other German folks such as R. W. Fassbinder (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, The Marriage of Maria Braun, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (the guy made well over fourty films in a span of sixteen years including the fifteen hour long Berlin Alexanderplatz)), Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, Paris, Texas), Volker Schl&ouml;ndorff (The Tin Drum) and several others started making the first original movies starting in the late 60s since before the rise of the Nazis (Werner Herzog even made a remake of the classic German film Nosferatu). Finally Germany was a force in the world of Cinema making original and revolutionary films again. Anyone have anything to add? http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_Which_of_these_film_movments_have_produced_film/657/40532/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 2/18/2009 5:02:23 PM
Body: [quote user="SkyPilot"] I'm out of my league here, but once EGonzalez talked a little about German Expressionism, it's hard for me to imagine other movements impressing me more. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari looks like something coaxed from the darkest dreams of Neil Gaiman...or like EGonzalez says, Tim Burton. I think I've only seen one French New Wave film, Bob le Flambeur. I liked it, but not as much as American noir of the same period. [/quote] This is out of my league too. I consider myself an average to above average filmgoer/viewer but am not sure if I've seen anything in any category (maybe I have and I didn't know it...but maybe not). Like I said, I saw a lot of French films in college, but who knows if they fall under New Wave or something like that... ...but maybe we could somehow start a discussion somewhere where people schooled in these film schools could make recommendations for beginners. That would be cool, right? Or, maybe it's already somewhere...anyone know?
]]>Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:02:23 GMTpippin06Movie Polls2/18/2009 5:02:23 PM[quote user="SkyPilot"] I'm out of my league here, but once EGonzalez talked a little about German Expressionism, it's hard for me to imagine other movements impressing me more. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari looks like something coaxed from the darkest dreams of Neil Gaiman...or like EGonzalez says, Tim Burton. I think I've only seen one French New Wave film, Bob le Flambeur. I liked it, but not as much as American noir of the same period. [/quote] This is out of my league too. I consider myself an average to above average filmgoer/viewer but am not sure if I've seen anything in any category (maybe I have and I didn't know it...but maybe not). Like I said, I saw a lot of French films in college, but who knows if they fall under New Wave or something like that... ...but maybe we could somehow start a discussion somewhere where people schooled in these film schools could make recommendations for beginners. That would be cool, right? Or, maybe it's already somewhere...anyone know? http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_Which_of_these_film_movments_have_produced_film/657/40528/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: rjsprague
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 2/18/2009 4:30:45 PM
Body: [quote user="EGonzalez"] Definitely German Expressionism. Most Tim Burton is reminiscient of this era, and quite a bit of Steampunk. They really utilized the mise-en-scene of film and explored so many possibilities. Metropolis (1927) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is still one of the best suspense movies I've ever seen, even considerin the technological advancements. [/quote] Yeah Steampunk! woot
]]>Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:30:45 GMTrjspragueMovie Polls2/18/2009 4:30:45 PM[quote user="EGonzalez"] Definitely German Expressionism. Most Tim Burton is reminiscient of this era, and quite a bit of Steampunk. They really utilized the mise-en-scene of film and explored so many possibilities. Metropolis (1927) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is still one of the best suspense movies I've ever seen, even considerin the technological advancements. [/quote] Yeah Steampunk! woot http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_Which_of_these_film_movments_have_produced_film/657/40514/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 2/18/2009 9:58:23 AM
Body: I'm out of my league here, but once EGonzalez talked a little about German Expressionism, it's hard for me to imagine other movements impressing me more. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari looks like something coaxed from the darkest dreams of Neil Gaiman...or like EGonzalez says, Tim Burton. I think I've only seen one French New Wave film, Bob le Flambeur. I liked it, but not as much as American noir of the same period.
]]>Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:58:23 GMTSkyPilotMovie Polls2/18/2009 9:58:23 AMI'm out of my league here, but once EGonzalez talked a little about German Expressionism, it's hard for me to imagine other movements impressing me more. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari looks like something coaxed from the darkest dreams of Neil Gaiman...or like EGonzalez says, Tim Burton. I think I've only seen one French New Wave film, Bob le Flambeur. I liked it, but not as much as American noir of the same period. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_Which_of_these_film_movments_have_produced_film/657/40505/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: EGonzalez
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 2/17/2009 4:22:20 PM
Body: Definitely German Expressionism. Most Tim Burton is reminiscient of this era, and quite a bit of Steampunk. They really utilized the mise-en-scene of film and explored so many possibilities. Metropolis (1927) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is still one of the best suspense movies I've ever seen, even considerin the technological advancements.
]]>Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:22:20 GMTEGonzalezMovie Polls2/17/2009 4:22:20 PMDefinitely German Expressionism. Most Tim Burton is reminiscient of this era, and quite a bit of Steampunk. They really utilized the mise-en-scene of film and explored so many possibilities. Metropolis (1927) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is still one of the best suspense movies I've ever seen, even considerin the technological advancements. http://www.spout.com/blogs/mconrad3/archive/2009/2/10/40389.aspx Post By: mconrad3
Post To: mconrad3 Blog
Post Date: 2/10/2009 7:33:31 PM
Body: The silent film is, for all intents and purposes, a dead art form. Its only evolutionary descendants being music videos and silent shorts. The ability to add dialogue and sound to the moving picture negated the need for a film to be so visual with only a musical score to accompany it. Of all the silent films made, there are not many that have survived into the modern day; but the ones that have were well enough made to stand the test of time. Robert Wiene's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is no exception. It would be untrue to say that there are not parts of it that aren't dated, however it is still very much watchable. Conrad Veidt stars in this film, what would be the parent of all horror films to follow. Theatrical acting aside, the talent perform well and the set design seems to come from a place I would never have expected from this film's time period. It is one of the most blatant examples of German Expressionism and it is easy to see where Tim Burton and the like got their inspiration from. Everything was shot on a soundstage, yet if you allow yourself the amount of imagination, you can lose yourself in the nightmarish world being thrown in front of you. Storywise, this film has one of the most original horror plots I've seen. Yes there are the standard staples of the genre, but one must remember it was films like this that *set* those standards. I thought the concept of "the somnambulist" was quite intriguing, but wasn't used to its full potential. I think more time should have been spent on Cesare than the plot revolving the young couple. I'm also not sure how I feel about the twist ending. I was told it may not be the originally intended ending, so it is difficult to see what the director's original intentions were. Part of me enjoys the absurdist ending, but I think leaving it out would have been just as effective. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the greatest examples not only of German Expressionsim but of early horror films. The fact that it is still watched today is a testament to it's longevity. It's definitely up there with Nosferatu and Metropolis. I don't know if it can be compared on the same level to modern film; it can, however, be referenced as a benchmark in the timeline of horror cinema and visual art in general.
]]>Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:33:31 GMTmconrad3mconrad3 Blog2/10/2009 7:33:31 PMThe silent film is, for all intents and purposes, a dead art form. Its only evolutionary descendants being music videos and silent shorts. The ability to add dialogue and sound to the moving picture negated the need for a film to be so visual with only a musical score to accompany it. Of all the silent films made, there are not many that have survived into the modern day; but the ones that have were well enough made to stand the test of time. Robert Wiene's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is no exception. It would be untrue to say that there are not parts of it that aren't dated, however it is still very much watchable. Conrad Veidt stars in this film, what would be the parent of all horror films to follow. Theatrical acting aside, the talent perform well and the set design seems to come from a place I would never have expected from this film's time period. It is one of the most blatant examples of German Expressionism and it is easy to see where Tim Burton and the like got their inspiration from. Everything was shot on a soundstage, yet if you allow yourself the amount of imagination, you can lose yourself in the nightmarish world being thrown in front of you. Storywise, this film has one of the most original horror plots I've seen. Yes there are the standard staples of the genre, but one must remember it was films like this that *set* those standards. I thought the concept of "the somnambulist" was quite intriguing, but wasn't used to its full potential. I think more time should have been spent on Cesare than the plot revolving the young couple. I'm also not sure how I feel about the twist ending. I was told it may not be the originally intended ending, so it is difficult to see what the director's original intentions were. Part of me enjoys the absurdist ending, but I think leaving it out would have been just as effective. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the greatest examples not only of German Expressionsim but of early horror films. The fact that it is still watched today is a testament to it's longevity. It's definitely up there with Nosferatu and Metropolis. I don't know if it can be compared on the same level to modern film; it can, however, be referenced as a benchmark in the timeline of horror cinema and visual art in general. http://www.spout.com/groups/HORROR_MOVIES_101/Re_What_are_your_favorite_horror_movie_series/222/39909/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: seely
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 1/26/2009 11:15:25 AM
Body: Wow, those are going back a bit! I've always found the oldest horror films to be the creepiest. Nosferatu and The Cabinent of Dr. Caligari are two of my favorites, particularly the latter for its creepy surrealism. Be sure to let us know how you like Der Golem! [quote user="Risselada"] I just received The Golem from Netflix (although the DVD was cracked so I'm still waiting for a replacement). One of the phrases on the sleeve says this: The three films make up what is widely credited as the first horror series ever created, with Wegener's original film, The Golem, premiering in 1914 and its sequel, The Golem and the Dancing Girl, released in 1917. Anyone seen any of these? [/quote]
]]>Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:15:25 GMTseelyHORROR MOVIES 1011/26/2009 11:15:25 AMWow, those are going back a bit! I've always found the oldest horror films to be the creepiest. Nosferatu and The Cabinent of Dr. Caligari are two of my favorites, particularly the latter for its creepy surrealism. Be sure to let us know how you like Der Golem! [quote user="Risselada"] I just received The Golem from Netflix (although the DVD was cracked so I'm still waiting for a replacement). One of the phrases on the sleeve says this: The three films make up what is widely credited as the first horror series ever created, with Wegener's original film, The Golem, premiering in 1914 and its sequel, The Golem and the Dancing Girl, released in 1917. Anyone seen any of these? [/quote] http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_November_3_The_Movies_in_the/625/37013/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Ravie13
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 11/6/2008 1:39:59 AM
Body: OH I thought this discussion was going to be about FICTIONAL movies within movies ... like the one they're making within In Bruges, etc. Meta reference it is then... how about when Joanna Barnes who played "Vicky" in Disney's THE PARENT TRAP (the money--grubbing fiancee that the twins are trying to knock out of the picture) showed up as "Vicki," the mother of Meredith (the money-grubbing fiancee that the twins are trying to knock out of the picture) in the 1998 remake of The PARENT TRAP? (I hated that part of Oceans 12 ... I just thought that was so dumb. Julia Roberts pretending to be Julia Roberts... all so they could explain her pregnant belly?? Dumb.) Here's one - THE FRESHMAN. It's sort of a spoof of mobster movies and Marlon Brando plays the Godfather-esqe character ... though he's not really mafia. SON OF RAMBOW? That's the point of the whole movie. Doris Day played "Jan Morrow" in PILLOW TALK which was a referenct to Jeanne Moreau, the french actress. They were making a reference to Jeanne playing sexy roles while "Jan Morrow" was a straight-laced woman (with maybe a little something sexy hiding underneath.) Then we go to the Ewan McGregor/Renee Zelwegger flick - DOWN WITH LOVE. Which was an homage to Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies. (Some of the split scene comedy seemed to be funny to only me in the theater.) In QUEEN of the DAMNED some of Lestat's music videos are based on old horror movies like THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. And I can't be positive on this one but I think the name Gillian in PRACTICAL MAGIC was a reference to Kim Novak's Gillian in BELL, BOOK and CANDLE.
]]>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:39:59 GMTRavie13Weekly Theme11/6/2008 1:39:59 AMOH I thought this discussion was going to be about FICTIONAL movies within movies ... like the one they're making within In Bruges, etc. Meta reference it is then... how about when Joanna Barnes who played "Vicky" in Disney's THE PARENT TRAP (the money--grubbing fiancee that the twins are trying to knock out of the picture) showed up as "Vicki," the mother of Meredith (the money-grubbing fiancee that the twins are trying to knock out of the picture) in the 1998 remake of The PARENT TRAP? (I hated that part of Oceans 12 ... I just thought that was so dumb. Julia Roberts pretending to be Julia Roberts... all so they could explain her pregnant belly?? Dumb.) Here's one - THE FRESHMAN. It's sort of a spoof of mobster movies and Marlon Brando plays the Godfather-esqe character ... though he's not really mafia. SON OF RAMBOW? That's the point of the whole movie. Doris Day played "Jan Morrow" in PILLOW TALK which was a referenct to Jeanne Moreau, the french actress. They were making a reference to Jeanne playing sexy roles while "Jan Morrow" was a straight-laced woman (with maybe a little something sexy hiding underneath.) Then we go to the Ewan McGregor/Renee Zelwegger flick - DOWN WITH LOVE. Which was an homage to Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies. (Some of the split scene comedy seemed to be funny to only me in the theater.) In QUEEN of the DAMNED some of Lestat's music videos are based on old horror movies like THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. And I can't be positive on this one but I think the name Gillian in PRACTICAL MAGIC was a reference to Kim Novak's Gillian in BELL, BOOK and CANDLE. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/31/36853.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/31/2008 5:00:30 PM
Body: It’s Halloween, a time when sales of candy and rentals of horror movies spike off the charts. Candy has been around since the time of the ancient Egyptians, but the horror film is barely 100 years old. The genre is enjoying a resurgence in popularity over the past several years: right now you’ve got Saw V in wide release, Let The Right One In in limited theaters, the vampy teen Twilight coming up in a few weeks and True Blood making waves on HBO. Studios can’t seem to go more than a few months without releasing some sort of a zombie flick, and vampires are coming back into their own. But what was the first real horror film? Before movies existed, people had to get their scares from books and the local newspaper, but now you can just switch on cable and tune into NBC’s Chiller channel for instant scares. Check out a brief history of the horror movie after the break, and look just how far we’ve come. Georges Méliès is best known for his short film A Trip To The Moon, with the iconic image of the Man in the Moon with spaceship embedded in his eye like a bullet. He was born in France in 1861 and eventually became a successful stage magician, although he found more fame (but no fortune) as a filmmaker in the then newfangled art of cinema after seeing a demonstration by the Lumiere brothers in 1895. For the next several years he created some of the first films to feature special effects, especially using the “stop-trick” of stopping the camera and substituing something into the frame before resuming filming. Just watch any episode of Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie to see this used ad infinitum. One of Méliès’ first films was Le Manoir du Diable, or The House of the Devil, which is considered to be the world’s first horror film. It’s two minutes long, extremely grainy, and not scary at all by today’s standards. It premiered on Christmas Eve in 1896, and was the first in a string of many short horror films, including Le Diable Noir, Le Monstre (check out the dancing skeletons!), and Le Chaudron Infernal. By the early 1900s, Germany was producing full-length feature horror films with Der Golem in 1913 (remade in 1920), as one of the first Frankenstein-esque films, Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari in 1919, which influenced the look and feel of the classic horror films of the 1930s, and Nosferatu in 1922, which was one of the first enduring vampire stories. These movies eventually made their way to Hollywood, and by the 1930s Universal was making many of the horror films which are considered the “Universal Classic Horror” movies. Films like Dracula, The Mummy, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were just some of the films that terrified audiences and launch the careers of actors like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff. These movies persisted through the 1950s, although by then the fear of the atomic bomb had given rise to movies about irradiated creatures terrorizing mankind, like Them! and Tarantula. The possibility of aliens invading the Earth and having their way with humans was also a common theme in horror films, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to It Came From Outer Space. The late 1950s also featured often gorier films, a trend that continued heavily through the 1960s. Hammer Films seized on the new obsession with gore and churned out low budget bloodfests often starring Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. This period was also when Vincent Price rose to popularity, having starred in the very popular House of Wax in 1953, he went on to star in a series of low budger horror flicks for Roger Corman, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Although films that were based in gore continued to be made through the 1960s and 70s, they were considered camp and didn’t break into the top ten. In 1960 Alfred Hitchcock turned the tables to show that it was often unhinged people who were more terrifying than ever with Psycho. Gone were the supernatural creatures, the irradiated monsters, and so on. But by now horror had become splintered and fractured with many different subgenres and categories. The late 1960s through the 1970s saw popular horror movies like Rosemary’s Baby, Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. By the 1980s, Jason, Freddy, and Michael were the top trio of movie monsters, who spawned multiple sequels that were all extremely formulaic and repetitive, and by the 1990s the fervor for horror movies had died down. Although in the early 2000s, horror movies became extremely popular again with supernatural movies like 1999’s The Blair Witch Project jumpstarting the craze that went on to movies like and The Grudge and The Ring, and “torture-porn” began filling seats with people begging to be grossed-out in movies like Saw and Hostel. We’ve come a long way since Georges Méliès flickering short films entertained audiences, and he could probably have never imagined the kind of horror movies people would be watch today. But he’d probably be fascinated by the special effects, and making inventive scary movies of his own. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:00:30 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/31/2008 5:00:30 PM It’s Halloween, a time when sales of candy and rentals of horror movies spike off the charts. Candy has been around since the time of the ancient Egyptians, but the horror film is barely 100 years old. The genre is enjoying a resurgence in popularity over the past several years: right now you’ve got Saw V in wide release, Let The Right One In in limited theaters, the vampy teen Twilight coming up in a few weeks and True Blood making waves on HBO. Studios can’t seem to go more than a few months without releasing some sort of a zombie flick, and vampires are coming back into their own. But what was the first real horror film? Before movies existed, people had to get their scares from books and the local newspaper, but now you can just switch on cable and tune into NBC’s Chiller channel for instant scares. Check out a brief history of the horror movie after the break, and look just how far we’ve come. Georges Méliès is best known for his short film A Trip To The Moon, with the iconic image of the Man in the Moon with spaceship embedded in his eye like a bullet. He was born in France in 1861 and eventually became a successful stage magician, although he found more fame (but no fortune) as a filmmaker in the then newfangled art of cinema after seeing a demonstration by the Lumiere brothers in 1895. For the next several years he created some of the first films to feature special effects, especially using the “stop-trick” of stopping the camera and substituing something into the frame before resuming filming. Just watch any episode of Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie to see this used ad infinitum. One of Méliès’ first films was Le Manoir du Diable, or The House of the Devil, which is considered to be the world’s first horror film. It’s two minutes long, extremely grainy, and not scary at all by today’s standards. It premiered on Christmas Eve in 1896, and was the first in a string of many short horror films, including Le Diable Noir, Le Monstre (check out the dancing skeletons!), and Le Chaudron Infernal. By the early 1900s, Germany was producing full-length feature horror films with Der Golem in 1913 (remade in 1920), as one of the first Frankenstein-esque films, Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari in 1919, which influenced the look and feel of the classic horror films of the 1930s, and Nosferatu in 1922, which was one of the first enduring vampire stories. These movies eventually made their way to Hollywood, and by the 1930s Universal was making many of the horror films which are considered the “Universal Classic Horror” movies. Films like Dracula, The Mummy, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were just some of the films that terrified audiences and launch the careers of actors like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff. These movies persisted through the 1950s, although by then the fear of the atomic bomb had given rise to movies about irradiated creatures terrorizing mankind, like Them! and Tarantula. The possibility of aliens invading the Earth and having their way with humans was also a common theme in horror films, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to It Came From Outer Space. The late 1950s also featured often gorier films, a trend that continued heavily through the 1960s. Hammer Films seized on the new obsession with gore and churned out low budget bloodfests often starring Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. This period was also when Vincent Price rose to popularity, having starred in the very popular House of Wax in 1953, he went on to star in a series of low budger horror flicks for Roger Corman, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Although films that were based in gore continued to be made through the 1960s and 70s, they were considered camp and didn’t break into the top ten. In 1960 Alfred Hitchcock turned the tables to show that it was often unhinged people who were more terrifying than ever with Psycho. Gone were the supernatural creatures, the irradiated monsters, and so on. But by now horror had become splintered and fractured with many different subgenres and categories. The late 1960s through the 1970s saw popular horror movies like Rosemary’s Baby, Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. By the 1980s, Jason, Freddy, and Michael were the top trio of movie monsters, who spawned multiple sequels that were all extremely formulaic and repetitive, and by the 1990s the fervor for horror movies had died down. Although in the early 2000s, horror movies became extremely popular again with supernatural movies like 1999’s The Blair Witch Project jumpstarting the craze that went on to movies like and The Grudge and The Ring, and “torture-porn” began filling seats with people begging to be grossed-out in movies like Saw and Hostel. We’ve come a long way since Georges Méliès flickering short films entertained audiences, and he could probably have never imagined the kind of horror movies people would be watch today. But he’d probably be fascinated by the special effects, and making inventive scary movies of his own. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Classic/MemberTagFilms.aspxClassic
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