a different metric for rating great movies

[user4]

Great cinematography is to be measured against the apex movies of all time : Wizard of Oz, Gone with wind, Ben Hur, and Rambo !!

[jeremyp]

Cinematography is like focusing on how food looks rather than how it tastes. That's the only way Days Of Heaven, one of the most panned big movies of all time, made the list.

[jeremyp]

Ditto, but no surprise there, as it was an Italian 'art-film' and made hardly a blip on the US Box Office!

Ah,yes.Atticus' rule: If it don't make money it ain't a good movie.

[jeremyp]

I did not count the number of American films on the list, but the bias toward the U.S. is obvious. Italy, France, Japan, and Sweden were largely ignored. Abel Gance's Napoleon triptych predated Cinemascope by three decades. I do not consider any of the ASC peers. Name one who will ever have an entry remotely like
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film...Akira_Kurosawa
or his cinematographer
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asakazu_Nakai

What would you expect from an American society. We as a country always think we're the best at everything.

[gh]

Cinematography is like focusing on how food looks rather than how it tastes. That's the only way Days Of Heaven, one of the most panned big movies of all time, made the list.

Are you confusing Days of Heaven with Heaven's Gate? (color me one of the few who considers the latter a masterpiece, by the way)

[Atticus]

Ah,yes.Atticus' rule: If it don't make money it ain't a good movie.

Well, then Mr. Snob, explain why no one wants to see it. Not all big-$ movies are good, but no no-$ are.

[Conor Dary]

Are you confusing Days of Heaven with Heaven's Gate? (color me one of the few who considers the latter a masterpiece, by the way)

Probably....the latter got wrongfully panned for various reasons..and the first was considered at the time an outstanding film.

[mcgato]

I for one found Days of Heaven to be a boring movie with a pointless plot. It looked very good though.

[Adam$]

I happen to read Billy Friedkin's book a few weeks ago. He made clear he thought the stunt drivers were giving him garbage and he told them so (to their consternation).
Yes French Connection is a unique film. Friedkin said their first choice for "Popeye" was Jimmy Breslin (ha). He couldn't take the part because he didn't have a drivers license.
Hackman's car was actually driven by "Mulderig."

[Atticus]

Hackman's car was actually driven by "Mulderig."

Then there's Steve McQueen, who DID do some of the driving in Bullitt. The chase scenes are only fun because of the way they were shot, i.e, catching air and looking extremely reckless, when in actuality the driving was closely conforming to safety standards.

One of the few plusses of the Fast & Furious franchise is the driving 'choreography', which is meticulously planned and executed and shot from multiple camera angles.