Monday, August 2, 2010

A Cinema Gallery: 200 Images, Part 6

It took me a while to arrive at the last 30 screen caps for my CINEMA GALLERY series. I've been quite impressed with the other film bloggers that have joined in on this notion, and wish I could've lighted on as specific a set of themes as they did (their choices, linked to here at the end of MovieMan's piece, all look so swell together). However, in the end, I just had to go with "images that have moved me" as through-line. And I know I promised to tag some fellow bloggers at around this moment, but I think I'll ride with that old cop-out and wish that, if you're a reader and a writer, too, then come on and join in. This way, I save myself from being disappointed if those I tag decide they're too busy or somethin'. Anyway, after a week of deliberation, these are the 30 images that I've settled on as climax to a promised 200. I chose these frames simply because every one of them are dear to my heart. Click on the images for blow-ups, and feast away:

A mother says a special goodnight to her son in Kramer Vs. Kramer. (Robert Benton, 79; PHOTOG: Nestor Almendros)

A family and a frame is being torn apart in Bigger Than Life. (Nicolas Ray, 56; PHOTOG: Joe MacDonald)

The tribesmen dot the horizon, ready for attack in Zulu. (Cy Endfield, 64; PHOTOG: Stephen Dade)

A man fades into the landscape in Electra Glide in Blue. (James William Guercio, 73; PHOTOG: Conrad Hall)

Only one way to go for The Long Riders. (Walter Hill, 80; PHOTOG: Ric Waite) 

Recording the night in Blow Out. (Brian De Palma, 81; PHOTOG: Vilmos Zsigmond)

Try to get the title tune out of your head once you've heard it. I Love to Singa. (Tex Avery, 36)

The miraculous Claire. (Milford Thomas, 2001; PHOTOG: Jonathan Mellinger)

"And I was saved..." Men Don’t Leave. (Paul Brickman, 90; PHOTOG: Bruce Surtees)

"My cat can eat a whooolle watermelon!" Rubin and Ed. (Trent Harris, 91; PHOTOG: Bryan Duggan)

An impossible fall over Chicago. The Blues Brothers. (John Landis, 80; PHOTOG: Stephen M. Katz)

A big stunt, done in one take. The Poseidon Adventure (Ronald Neame, 72; PHOTOG: Harold E. Stine)

Christopher Walken misbehaves in Pennies From Heaven. (Herbert Ross, 81; PHOTOG: Gordon Willis) 

Cary Grant at his most incredulous in Arsenic and Old Lace. (Frank Capra, 44; PHOTOG: Sol Polito)

A charming Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Nathan Juran, 58; PHOTOG: Wilkie Cooper; SFX: Ray Harryhausen)

The director wastes some time in Schitzopolis. (Steven Soderburgh, 96; PHOTOG: Steven Soderburgh)

I could watch this shot a thousand times and still chuckle: Aubrey shows off his restaurant's decor in Life is Sweet. (Mike Leigh, 90; PHOTOG: Dick Pope)

8mm home movies recount a family odyssey. Disneyland Dream. (Robbins Barstow, 56)

I laughed so hard I thought my head would explode: John Candy in a Devil suit. Planes, Trains & Automobiles. (John Hughes, 87; PHOTOG: Donald Peterman) 

Visions from another species' apocalypse in Quatermass and the Pit/Five Million Years To Earth. (Roy Ward Baker, 67; PHOTOG: Arthur Grant)

An overachieving student's voice invades a teacher's obsessed mind in Election. (Alexander Payne, 99; PHOTOG: James Glennon)

Love amongst the junk. Sid and Nancy. (Alex Cox, 86; PHOTOG: Roger Deakins)

Rose wonders what horrors Birdlace has seen in Dogfight. (Nancy Savoca, 91; PHOTOG: Bobby Bukowski) 

Barnett Newman's studio walls. Painters Painting. (Emile De Antonio, 73; PHOTOG: Ed Emschwiller)

Confession. The Thin Blue Line. (Errol Morris, 88; PHOTOG: Robert Chappell, Stefan Czapsky)

My favorite bit player of all time: Karen Montgomery as a dreamy Vegas hooker, tempting Art Carney with her gorgeous eyes and smile alone in Going in Style. (Martin Brest, 79; PHOTOG: Billy Williams)

A girl is bathed in nature while reading John Keats' first love letter to her in Bright Star. (Jane Campion, 2009; PHOTOG: Grieg Fraser)

A dancer's open skull is used to make a milkshake in Why Man Creates. (Saul Bass, 68)

Come and see what's inside. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 27; PHOTOG: Charles Rosher and Karl Strauss)

The joy of seeing. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 59; PHOTOG: Henri Dacae)

If you wanna make any comments, click on the comments rundown in red. And if you want to see what's been noted so far:

Part One of this six-part series is right here,
Part Two is here,
Part Three is here.
Part Four is here.
And Part Five is here.

Whew. Okay, now back to writing for a while...

2 comments:

Joel Bocko said...

The themes are fun, but I like your picks just the way they are. Your theme is the joy of cinema in all its diversity. As such, the closing image is perfect.

By the way, what's Disneyland Dream?

Dean Treadway said...

Disneyland Dream was entered into the National Film Registry in 2004 or something like that. It's an 8mm home movie by Robbins Barstow, and it lasts about 30 min. You can see it here at the incredible internet archives site at http://www.archive.org/details/barstow_disneyland_dream_1956

Trivia note: there's a little kid handing out flyers on the bottom right hand corner as the Barstow Family first pass under the train tracks at Disneyland. Steve Martin says that he's positive that was him. So debut performance!