'Best Shot' Returns in One Month
Sunday, February 7, 2016 at 8:19PM Break out the bubbly because "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", a ton of fun all spring and summer, returns in early March for its sixth and final season. Films TBA but maybe you have suggestions...
If you're new to the blog or haven't yet experimented with actually participating, I guarantee a good time.
HOW TO PLAY?
- Watch the assigned movie over the weekend
- Post your single favorite shot from that movie any time on Tuesday (i.e. what you deem "best" for whatever reason) on your blog/tumblr/youtube/instagram/twitter/pinterest whatever and tell us why you chose it!
- Let us know you've done so and we link up
Just a three step process. Easy-peasy ANY SUGGESTIONS? The list of movies we've already covered after the jump...
1920s
Sherlock Jr (24), The Circus (28), Pandora's Box (29)
1930s
Tarzan the Ape Man (32), Snow White (37), Wizard of Oz (39), Gone With the Wind (39)
1940s
The Letter (40), Fantasia (41), How Green Was My Valley (41), Shadow of a Doubt (43), The Woman in the Window (44), Double Indemnity (44), Black Narcissus (47), Possessed (47), Easter Parade (48), The Red Shoes (48)
1950s
Sunset Blvd (50), A Streetcar Named Desire (51), The Quiet Man (52), Singin' in the Rain (52), The Bad and the Beautiful (52), Forbidden Games (52), How to Marry a Millionaire (53), Johnny Guitar (54), Night of the Hunter (55), Rebel Without a Cause (55), Picnic (55), Summertime (55), A Face in the Crowd (57), Suddenly Last Summer (59)
1960s
Rocco and His Brothers (60), Psycho (60), La Dolce Vita (60), Yesterday Today and Tomorrow (63), Hud (63), Mary Poppins (64), Goldfinger (64), Zorba the Greek (64), The Sound of Music (65), Repulsion (65), Blow Up (66), Bonnie & Clyde (67), Barbarbella (68), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (69)
1970s
Pink Narcisuss (71), The Exorcist (73), Cries and Whispers (73), American Graffiti (73), Dog Day Afternoon (75), Story of Adele H (75), Taxi Driver (76), Eraserhead (77), Three Women (77)
1980s
Can't Stop the Music (80), Nine to Five (80), Mommie Dearest (81), Amadeus (84), Ladyhawke (85), The Color Purple (85), A Room With a View (86), Aliens (86), Law of Desire and/or Matador (86/87), Peggy Sue Got Married (86), Dead Ringers (88)
1990s
Paris is Burning (90), Edward Scissorhands (90), Dick Tracy (90), Beauty & the Beast (91), Raise the Red Lantern (91), Jurassic Park (93), Heavenly Creatures (94), Pocahontas (95), Se7en (95), Showgirls (95), [safe] (95), Jackie Brown (97), LA Confidential (97), The Talented Mr Ripley (99), The Matrix (99)
2000s
Bring it On (00), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (00), Requiem for a Dream (00), X-Men (00), Chicken Run (00), Moulin Rouge! (01), Memento (01), The Royal Tenenbaums (01), Road to Perdition (02), Angels in America (03), Mean Girls (04), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04), Serenity (05), Bright Star (09),
2010s
Pariah (11), Magic Mike (12), Under the Skin (14), Mad Max Fury Road (15)
Experimental Episodes
Orson Welles Centennial (41-48), Any Batman Film (franchise 66-12), The Saddest Children in the World Trilogy (shorts 03-09), Orange is the New Black S2 (TV 2014), Eagleman Stag & Death to Tim Man (shorts 07-11), VMA Best Music Video Nominees (14-15)
Reader Comments (55)
Derek Jarman's Blue!
Can I get a YAAAAAAASSS? in here
28 Days Later. No, seriously. It's beautiful and the MiniDV filming presents a unique aesthetic.
Suggestions:
Grey Gardens
Apocalypse Now
Mulholland Drive
Young Adult
and Wall-E (natch)
I rewatched MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE recently and decided that Jody Lee Lipes is one of my favorite up and coming DP's. His work in that is so subtle. I don't think the camera moves once in that film?
(According to IMDB, Lipes has also done Tiny Furniture, most of Girls, Trainwreck (?!), and Kenneth Lonergan's next film Manchester by the Sea, which hopefully we don't have to wait 11 years to see.)
I still think a "Video Game Cutscenes" week would be an interesting experiment. Most, but not all, are around the length of a movie. Three Suggestions:
Hitman: Silent Assassin
Bayonetta 2
The Last of Us
Will miss this as a feature, regardless.
The Silence of the Lambs
Bringing Up Baby
Beetlejuice
Clueless
Ex Machina
The Star Wars movies
Titanic
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (for April Fools)
Intolerance (100th anniversary!)
Sunrise
Dodsworth
A Matter of Life and Death aka Stairway to Heaven
In A Lonely Place
La Dolce Vita
World on a Wire
Fanny and Alexander
The English Patient
Beau Travail
TCM just concluded a series looking at the work of William Cameron Menzies who did just about everything behind the camera but was probably best known as the production designer of Gone with the Wind.
He worked on many other films and all had amazing visuals so any of those would be a worthy addition. The two that I found the most striking were a 1933 version of Alice in Wonderland that included Cary Grant and Gary Cooper in the cast and most of all the 1947 Joan Fontaine starrer Ivy, it had scenes that looked like black & white paintings but I don't think the availability of either is very good. Probably his most accessible film aside from GWTW is the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad which is a stunner in look if not in story.
The Conversation, because it would be fascinating to focus on visuals for a movie all about sound.
James & Arkaan:
The Silence of the Lambs: 8/10
Bringing Up Baby: 7/10
Beetlejuice: 9/10
Clueless: 5/10 (Even if you like it (I'm "meh" on it), the visuals are generally BORING.)
Ex Machina: 10/10
Star Wars: 7/10
Titanic: 6/10
Rocky Horror Picture Show: 7/10
Intolerance: 7/10
Sunrise: 10/10
Dodsworth: 6/10
A Matter of Life and Death: 10/10
In A Lonely Place: Unseen
La Dolce Vita: 8/10
World On a Wire: Unseen
Fanny and Alexander: Unseen
The English Patient: 7/10
Beau Travail: 8/10
Can Metropolis be in here? It may be one of the few films from the 1920's that is accessible. And there is a whole lot to choose from.
also I vote for Now Voyager, because I love watching that movie. For something a little more modern, why not "The New World" since Chivo is going to win and was better in that movie?
cash: Oooh. That's a GOOD one. Much stronger visually then the gimmick would necessarily mandate. 9/10.
Tom: Even though it's technically accessible, not a lot of people would participate. Metropolis is a boring slog to most modern eyes, even if they acknowledge the influence of it.
I chose Metropolis partly because I recently watched the complete version and thought it was very modern. It was clearly one of the most influential movies. However, I feel like everyone would chose that stripper dance as the best shot! hehe
Birdman, Anna Karenina, Brokeback Mountain, Shakespeare in Love, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Finding Nemo,
Yayyyyy! You know I'll be there.
Velvet Goldmine d. Todd Haynes - with Bowie's death and Haynes' genius being celebrated thanks to Carol, I think this exploration of desire seen through the lens of pop mythology would be an amazing choice.
One of Tarkovsky's films - this year we'll have the 30th anniversay of his death, and I believe it would be a shame to end this series without a single one of his works, which are some of the most visually astounding films ever created IMO.
Kurosawa's Shakespeare Adaptations (Throne of Blood, The Bad Sleep Well, Ran) - akira kurosawa is another master of the moving picture never to have been examined in this series and after the recent macbeth I believe it could be interesting to explore these incredibly distinct visions of some of Shakepeare's most indelible tragedies.
Batman Returns d. Tim Burton - If we're going to have to endure Batman vs Superman, we might as well remember one of the best iterations of the character on the big screen. Plus, la Pfeiffer can't be denied.
Frankenstein or The Bride of Frankenstein d. James Whale - The birth of expressionism as a stapple of Hollywood horror films and also, in the case of the sequel, one the first camp films ever created.
La Belle et la Bete d. Jean Cocteau - The film will be 80 years old this year, and with all the live action fairy tales getting released lately, I think it would be wonderful to remember the best fairy tale adaptation ever captured on film.
Titanic d. James Cameron - I rewatched it the other day and its epic romanticism is still impossible to resist. Plus, with Leo's oncoming Oscar win, it would be nice to remember a time when he wasn't such a tragically SERIOUS actor.
Ah so excited you're doing another season! Sadly school eats most of my time now, but I'll try to do as many as possible this final round, and I can't wait to read everyone's selections!
Forget about my suggestion of batman returns. I just realized it was already an option in a previous episode of the series.
I'll definitely play along. Bittersweet to know this will be the last year. We better go out with a bang!
As for suggestions, I fully support "The Conversation" (one of my all-time faves), but why not also:
"Imitation of Life:" Douglas Sirk's gorgeous visuals practically demand a post, plus great actressing (Lana Turner! Juanita Moore! Sandra Dee! Susan Kohner!)
"Dog Star Man" or any Stan Brakhage, really. An avant-garde filmmaker in the purest sense who relies solely on visuals. It would make for fascinating responses at the very least.
"Umberto D." or "The Rules of the Game" or "Late Spring:" De Sica's, Renoir's, and Ozu's respective masterpieces.
"The Mirror:" if we're going to watch Tarkovsky, this one is the most visually compelling in my mind.
Just a few thoughts.
arkaan -- we did La Dolce Vita already
everyone -- Re: Metropolis. I think i saw that movie too much over the years. I have definitely felt burnt out on it. so that one is probably off the table. i was hoping to get a lot of participants for Pandora's Box which is AMAZING but that episode didn't have a lot of takers.
i love the idea of doing a Sirk but it's so irritating that they're never streaming anywhere (i mean i don't care because I rent DVDs but most people only watch streaming.
I want to vote for The Little Foxes, starring Bette Davis and directed by William Wyler, which turns 75 this year, but I don't think it's streaming anywhere.
So how about Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet instead? It's beautiful, and it's fairly inexpensive to rent on Amazon right now.
Oh, I definitely support doing Rules of the Game!
"returns in early March"
OH MY GOD YAY
"sixth and final season"
...you're killing me, Nathaniel.
I second ca's suggestion of VELVET GOLDMINE.
Celebrating its 25th birthday is THE ADDAMS FAMILY. But that might be better later in the year (like around Halloween).
And with GREASE: LIVE making a splash, why not GREASE and/or GREASE 2?
And a few more random suggestions:
- A SINGLE MAN
- SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
- WEEKEND
- BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
- PRIDE & PREJUDICE (Joe Wright's)
A few suggestions: Any film by Joe Wright - Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, and Anna Karenina, would be visually interesting.
The Italian Job - all those audi's
Tootsie - great comedies shouldn't be forgotten.
Chinatown - has this already been done? because if it hasn't ...
Anything by Robert Altman - seriously anything.
Why is this the last season? It's such a fun thing to read.
Gaslight (1944)
Vertigo
Days of Heaven
Dressed to Kill
Far from Heaven
Definitely In a Lonely Place; Vertigo; Chinatown; The Little Foxes; Now, Voyager...
...and Gilda; A Place in the Sun; New York, New York; The Man Who Fell to Earth; Stardust Memories; Beetlejuice; She's Gotta Have It; Blue Velvet; The New World.
Here are 12 movies that we could probably mine for some stunning, memorable and beautiful shots.
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
The Babadook (2014)
Badlands (1973)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
It Follows (2015)
Jammin' the Blues (1944)
Le Bonheur (1965)
Nightcrawler (2014)
Persona (1966)
Room (2015)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Oh Odin, I'm not ready! I'M NOT READY!!!
My One Suggestion From The Last 10 Decades:
2010s: Beasts of the Southern Wild
2000s: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
1990s: Quiz Show
1980s: Ordinary People
1970s: American Graffiti
1960s: The Sound of Music
1950s: The Hustler
1940s: Shadow of a Doubt
1930s: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1920s: The General
Something Japanese, something Russian (they're the best).
I love the idea of the Kurosawa shakesperean adaptations. Of course we think about the colors of Ran, but his black and white Macbeth (Throne of Blood) is just as striking - and is less than two hours long.
Russia: I'd like the world to see the best movie directed by a woman ever, Larisa Shepitko's The Ascent. You can even stream at Amazon.
Body Heat
Thelma & Louise
Volver
Oh my god, Body Heat, please!
My suggestions:
Death Becomes Her
Dangerous Liaisons
All About My Mother (or any other Almodovar film).
Oh, and Interview With The Vampire please.
How about a fun wrinkle of all five 2008 Best Picture nominees. Atonement, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Juno and Michael Clayton. Those are five very well shot films.
The Age of Innocence
Black Swan
Linklater's Before Trilogy
Inside Out - or any of the great Pixar films
The Black Dahlia (which turns 10 this year) for April Fool's Day!!!
The Descent is also turning 10. We haven't done much horror for this series. The Prestige, too, which would allow us to pay tribute to David Bowie's great Nikola Tesla. OOOOOOOOH what about The Man Who Fell to Earth?
Thelma & Louise is turning 25, as is My Own Private Idaho. And Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is turning 50. THIS MUST HAPPEN!
...WAIT. The last season?!?!?! DEAR GOD WHY?
The Third Man, please: the last time I saw that film I couldn't pick a favorite shot, there were so many. Probably my favorite black-and-white film, if not my favorite film, period.
denny: Thelma & Louise, TMWFtE already "in the queue" (see above).
YES!!!
Few ideas; Days of Heaven, Talk to Her, Irma Vep and High & Low.
I would also support "Throne of Blood" since it is probably my second-favorite B&W film of all time, and my favorite Kurosawa.
I'll suggest my three favorite movies: 'Nashville,' Victor/Victoria,' and 'Spirited Away.'
I'll also suggest 'Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,' because everyone needs more Karen Black in their life. And it just got released on blu-ray last year!!
How about Labyrinth as a tribute to David Bowie. Great visuals.
Suggestions:
Klute
The Best Years of Our Lives
Ratatouille
The King and I
Cabaret
Agent Carter (does TV count??)
I always say I'm gonna participate, but then I never get around to it. I really do love the series, though.
The first movie that popped into my head was Crimson Peak. That might be fun/interesting.