Sunday, July 4, 2010

The Sunday Question: Watching Classics

Every Sunday LiE invites you to join in the debate, as we look at various film, and film related, topics!

This Week's Prompt: When going back and watching the films of a now gone actor/actress/director/etc. what is the best order to do it in? By the year released? Personal appeal? Perhaps, widely accepted quality? Or another way entirely.

Considerations: There's a lot to this one if you really think about. By watching films based on the year of release you can see the building of technique, style, and you have the security of a strict format. Then again it may take you a while to see the quality works, depending on whom you're referring too. If you attack the films based on generally accepted quality you have the upside of great films early, with the downside of possibly encountering weaker films late, or failed to reach expectations. Personal appeal is perhaps the most even, but without much knowledge you'd basically be guessing based off of IMDB summary's, and that's risky at best. Of course I'm sure there's plenty of other ways to go about it! Let me know yours.

LET THE DEBATE BEGIN!

6 better thoughts:

Simon said...

I watch in whatever order they come in at the library, which is based off of how much Farley Granger is involved.

SugaryCynic said...

I generally go for whichever one I hear is better, or whichever seems more interesting to me. I've actually never really thought of taking a chronological approach to it.

MovieNut14 said...

I dunno. Usually I go for the ones that appeal to me more.

Anonymous said...

If I'm going into something completely new, I always try to go chronological so I can chart some sort of progress. If not, I'll try and hit what's interesting to me and/or popular. I do the same thing with musical artists.

Alfindeol said...

It's pretty rare I tackle some sort of filmography, but when I do, it's always by year. The big reasons for that is it provides a clear order and it's really interesting to watch actors and directors mature over time.

Andrew K. said...

By year release is always good, if you can manage it. Why? Because it really does pay off to see how an actor grows (or sometimes, unfortunately regresses) with time. I haven't seen ALL her films but it's nice watching Elizabeth Taylor move from a child star to an adult heartthrob to a "serious" actress (though she is not dead).

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