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entropykid
08-07-2003, 05:18 AM
Once in awhile films come around, that visually, they are remarkable...nothing short of a work of art.
Here's my list of the most astonishingly filmed movies I've seen:

1. The Cell(2000) I have never seen a film quite like this...rich in textures, ornate, yet so full of imagination.

2. Toys(1992) Not many folks remember this one, but I feel it is Robin William's best film he's done. The set pieces alone are something else, with so much innovation and creativity...you'd think this was an 80's film.

3. Cremaster 3(2003) I swear, I dont know how artist Matthew Barney got the finances to do this film...from enchanted mythical isles in Scotland, to renting out the Chrysler building and Guggenheim museum...Cremaster 3 is quite a feat of modern filmaking.

4. Koyaanisqatsi(1982) the infamous Reggio/Phillip Glass teamup, still to this day is a monument. The precursor to those IMAX films, the first of the 'qatsi' trilogy is simply breathtaking.

5. Belly(1998) One would think a film about gangstas and drug trafficking wouldnt be much in the way of high art, but Hype William's Belly trancends itself from urban filmaking into visionary film making. The cinematic style used here, and the emotions evoked, shoul dhave given this film at least an Oscar nod.

6. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams(1990) From the master himself, this collection of short stories to this day is quite a site to behold. Like the Cell, or Frida, its kind of like wandering around an ornate museum.

7. Fight Club(1999) Fight Club you say? This was one of many films that came out in that great cinema film year known as 1999, that challenged us with visuals and thought(as did Being John Malkovich, The Matrix, Eyes Wide Shut, Three Kings, etc)
David Fincher employs some rather interesting lighting and scope techniques to really bring about a unique style all his own.

8. The Straight Story(1999) While I love Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive...I consider Lynch's G rated Disney film The Straight Story his most remarkable film. With a very 'grainfields in the midwest' feel(Godspeed You Black Emperor should have done the soundtrack) this story of an 80 year old going scross the state in a lawnmower is truly a modern classic.

9. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon(2000)
who knew how much of an impact Ang Lee's film would have on the cinematic landscape? Sweeping, beautiful, and resonating...CTHD has to not only be one of the best martial arts films ever, but one of the best asian films Ive seen.

10. What Dreams May Come(1998) Count on Robin Williams to star in visually imaginative films. While this one flopped at the box office, its visuals still linger on as some really imaginative stuff...like a painting.

Fanible
08-07-2003, 06:18 AM
Moulin Rouge
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
O' Brother, Where Art Thou?
Fight Club
Snatch
Road to Perdition
Dances with Wolves
Braveheart
Saving Private Ryan
Panic Room
Gladiator
The Pianist
Sleepy Hollow
Blade Runner
Original Star Wars trilogy
North by Northwest
Minority Report
A.I.

redman
08-07-2003, 06:21 AM
Out of Africa.

The Insider
08-07-2003, 07:56 AM
The Insider and Black Hawk Down. I can't believe that BHD lost to LOTR.

CrackDown
08-07-2003, 08:42 AM
Terminator 2 has some amazing cinematography. Who can forget the scene where the T1000 breaks up covered in liquid nitrogen. The blue tones in that scene are gorgeous. It can be instantly recognized.

Riddle
08-07-2003, 09:09 AM
Hero, with Jet Li, is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.

The Insider
08-07-2003, 09:39 AM
Originally posted by Riddle
Hero, with Jet Li, is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.

Agreed.

equipe
08-07-2003, 09:42 AM
I think the cinematography in The Ring is way under-rated. Its a beautiful film.

clrb15
08-07-2003, 09:52 AM
Originally posted by equipe
I think the cinematography in The Ring is way under-rated. Its a beautiful film. I agree

Tuco
08-07-2003, 09:59 AM
Tricky one, this... got to make a list. can't just have one!

jordan cronenweth for 'bladerunner'. totally stunning. definately
visionary... i think ridley scott's 'legend' is highly under-rated. dunno who photographed it.

john toll for 'the thin red line'. epic, epic stuff.

russian cinema pioneer sergei eisenstein. his photography and editing is the basis for formal film composition today.

'the haunting' (old version). precusor to the evil dead. by 30 years. amazing b&w photography and production design.

stanley kubrick. anything.

akira kurosawa. same.

michelangelo antonioni. same. 'zabriskie point' may be the best looking film ever- if a little dated. but it has no plot. he may be the first 'style over substance' director.

luc besson. style over substance personified. i like 'nikita' a lot.

LadyFireFly
08-07-2003, 10:01 AM
Conrad L. Hall was a great cinematographer. May he rest in peace.

Ronin
08-07-2003, 10:15 AM
A few off the top of my head:

Start with Anything by Kubrick, Kurosawa, Hitchccock, Fellini, Goddard etc

then-

BARAKA

Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER/THE DUELLISTS

Francis Ford Coppola's THE GODFATHER/APOCALYPSE NOW

Milos Foreman's AMADEUS

John Ford's THE SEARCHERS

John Huston's THE BIG SLEEP

Micheal Mann's HEAT

Steven Soderburgh's THE UNDERNEATH

Julie Taymor's TITUS

Coen Brother's MILLERS CROSSING/MAN WHO WASNT THERE

Tom Twyker's THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR

Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL/12 MONKEYS

Alex Proyas' DARK CITY

Andrew Nichols GATTACA

Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA/GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY

William Friedkin's FRENCH CONNECTION/EXCORCIST

John Sturges THE GREAT ESCAPE/THE MAGNIFICENT 7

David lean's LAWRENCE OF ARABIA/BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

Oliver Stone NATURAL BORN KILLERS/JFK

John Boreman's EXCALIBUR

S**T, Sorry for going overboard there, so many beautiful looking movies, picturesque and loaded with color and information. These are a few that inspire me whenever I watch them.

Heavenllee
08-07-2003, 10:22 AM
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- The Cell
- What Dreams May Come
- AI
- Titanic

Dracula
08-07-2003, 11:24 AM
Barry Lyndon
Schindlers List
Road To Perdition
almost anything from Jan De Bont

QUINNtheESKIMO
08-07-2003, 12:26 PM
CK

QUINNtheESKIMO
08-07-2003, 12:28 PM
2001

Halofan1
08-07-2003, 01:57 PM
Road to Perdition
Equilibrium
Saving Private Ryan
Unforgiven

entropykid
08-07-2003, 02:13 PM
Ack, how could I forget...

The Matrix Reloaded(this film left me in complete awe, I dont think I felt that since I saw Return of the Jedi in 83)

AI(theres a certain part I would have trimmed down, most notably the carnival scene and some slower parts...but the cinematography alone here was most visionary)

2001 of course

...lets see, honorable mentions for
SE7EN(I think is one of Finher's best, especially visually),
Restoration(1995), Cremaster 5(1997), Moulin Rouge,
Dark Crystal(1982), 5th Element(1997), The Pianist(2002),
Lawrence of Arabia, and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

Mat
08-07-2003, 02:35 PM
2001: A Space Oddysey
A.I.
Blade Runner
Lawrence of Arabia
The Shining
The Fellowship of the Ring
Apocalypse Now
Citizen Kane
Dark City
Batman

Hitman
08-07-2003, 02:40 PM
The Matrix
Panic Room
Equilibrium

Se7en the movie
08-07-2003, 04:41 PM
i cant definately name two scene that are truly great in this regard, raging bull, the start with deNiro doing a shuffle in slow motion is beautiful
The Untouchables, the scene when *SPOILER* malone is killed, its probably the best scene in the movie

IceGambit
08-07-2003, 05:32 PM
Lawrence of Arabia
The Last Emperor
The Lord of the Rings
Road to Perdition
Minority Report
Braveheart
Black Hawk Down

necronon99
08-07-2003, 06:02 PM
way to many to name


recent-the thin red line, bound, matrix, road to perdition, AI,etc

classic-kubrick films, days of heaven, law o arabia, and of course vertigo

Boods
08-07-2003, 08:55 PM
moulin rouge
romeo and juliet (baz lurhmann)
black hawk down
the matrix
the matrix reloaded
pirates of the caribbean
the lord of the rings : fotr and ttt
the fast and the furious
saving private ryan
panic room
die hard
harry potter PS and CoS
gladiator
die another day (the car chase on ice)
goldeneye

Rizor
08-07-2003, 10:29 PM
Amelie was nicely shot. There's a beautiful shot with Amelie skipping rocks. There's also a great, long shot with Amelie running after the guy on a motorbike and he drops his photo album and yet another one .

Took me a while before I learned to appreciate camera choreography in movies like the Abyss where the camera would have to follow several actions and characters in shot.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid looks great too.

ILOVEKATIE
08-08-2003, 02:22 AM
Gladiator
Titanic
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
LOTR
Panic Room
Saving Private Ryan
Black Hawk Down
Road To Perdition
The Cell
What Dreams May Come
A.I.

mrorangefl
08-08-2003, 08:26 PM
Amelie
City of Lost Children
Delicatessen

MonteCristo
08-10-2003, 11:00 AM
Time Machine (The New One)
Pearl Harbor
Windtalkers
Total Recall
Toys
Dark City
X2 (Nightcrawler's attack on the White House)
Batman (1989)
Batman Returns
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Forever Young
Gladiator
Armageddon
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Fifth Element

As for animated films:
Spirited Away
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Finding Nemo
Sinbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas (The Animation on the goddess and the sirens)
Blue Submarine No. 6 (I count this because its only 4 episodes, totaling 200 minutes, like an actual movie)
Princess Mononoke
Treasure Planet
Shrek
Ice Age
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

evenstar
08-10-2003, 12:31 PM
Citizen Kane, dont know if anyones mentioned this but I remember the first time I saw it, propably one of the best films ever made.

clrb15
08-10-2003, 04:55 PM
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
American Beauty
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
The Matrix
The Cell
Equilibrium
Moulin Rouge
Titus
LOTR: FOTR & TTT
Dinosaur
What Dreams May Come
Amelie
The Royal Tenenbaums
One Hour Photo
Fight Club
The Ring
Minority Report
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Road To Perdition
Requiem For A Dream
Black Hawk Down
Magnolia
Forrest Gump