If I'm on this shorts kick, I thought, what better short to include on a movie-themed website than Precious Images. Originally created by Chuck Workman for the Directors Guild of America in 1982, this awe-inspiring montage of the greatest moments in cinema history is downright riveting, especially for film junkies who will inevitably try and name all the movies sampled here. Give it up, guys--it can't be done. Over 8 minutes, we see flashes of over 500 movies. If you can name 'em all as they come up, you'd be in Guinness as the world's fastest talker, among other things.
This is obviously an updated version of Precious Images, since it includes post-1982 movies like Do The Right Thing, Philadelphia, Driving Miss Daisy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Since winning his Oscar for this film, Workman has gone on to working for the Academy Awards show as their resident montage-builder (that's why his cutting style seems so familiar--we've all seen his work on the Oscars before). He's also directed The Source, the fine documentary about the Beat Generation. Anyway, check out his dazzling display of editorial chops!
2 comments:
Of course those things always remind you how much you love movies. I think it might be funny to do a spoof of these montages featuring clips from a bunch of the most ephemeral movies made - give us the flip side of Hollywood with some classic scenes from Tomcats, Mac and Me, Superdad, I'll Take Sweden, and so forth.
Did that montage have a shot from Jaws 2???
It did indeed have a Jaws 2 reference. They tried to make it look like Jaws, but we know better. I noticed it and i have to say it's a bit of a weak choice. But it's the only movie included, i believe, that is not worthy. I'm curious to know if Workman plans another update of the piece, including films from the mid-90s to the present.
Hudson Hawk, Raise the Titanic, the 1973 Lost Horizon, I Sailed to Tahiti with An All-Girl Crew, The Great Gatsby, Airport 79: The Concorde, Beverly Hills Ninja,
Curucu Beast of the Amazon....yeah, this is a funny idea. No question. Perhaps this is something worth working on.
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