When We Were Young: Part 4 Polanski Vs Polanski

Mosquito, Trelkovsky, Alfred or simply the man with knife, Polanski has given himself some great parts in his films. He had a run of some of the greatest films ever made which started in 1962 with Knife In Water and ended in 1976 with The Tenant, 9 great films and I am including What? (1972) which is beyond bizarre. A surreal porn film with no sex. It feels very Terry Southern. Its hard to pick a favorite film but I can't help having a soft spot for The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). I find it very hard to understand how the man responsible for Rosemary's baby (1968) or Chinatown (1974) could be responsible for The Ninth Gate ( 1999).  Carnage (2012) has a fantastic cast Kate Winslet, John C Reilly, Jodie Foster and Christoph Waltz. Polanski is great with actors so my fingers are crossed.
Let battle commence...

Young Polanski:

1:Cul-de-sac (1966)

2: Rosemary's Baby (1968)

3:Chinatown (1974)

Old Polanski:

1:The Ninth Gate (1999)

2:Oliver Twist (2005)

3:The Ghost (2010)

Exception to the rule:

I have a confession. I found it hard to think badly about Polanski. 

Although they aren't great films I'd gladly watch Frantic (1988) and Death And The Maiden (1994). 

Winner ? 

God he's had such a fucked up life

Posterski

We all love Polish film posters and there "artistic" interpretation of the films they are selling. Just stumbled across these 2 from this amazing website http://www.polishposter.com/ (Thanks Rich).
I wish  these films were half as good as these posters look, its been a long time since I dared to watch either of them but they were never this amazing.

                                                                   The Golden Child

Weekend at Bernie's

When We Were Young: Part 3 LUCAS VS LUCAS

Jesus Christ. This is too easy. Far too easy. Sorry George, lets look at the evidence. 

Young Lucas

1:THX 1138 (1971)

2:American Graffitti (1973)

3:Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977)

Old Lucas

1:Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999)

2:Star Wars: Episode II-Attack Of The Clones (2002)

3:Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

Winner. Ha, well maybe its I.L.M for there excellent effects work they've done on George Jabba Lucas's chin? I wish he'd stop reinventing the past like Big Brother. I was destroyed when I watched the THX1138 DVD...Why George? Why?

Young George

Exceptions To The Rule: .....Errrrrrrrrmmmmmm????

When We Were Young: Part 2 SCOTT VS SCOTT

Great Scott or Not So Great Scott?

Worried about Sir Scott's Prometheus? Is it an Alien prequel?
"This Is Not An Alien Prequel" Ridley has revealed...Its confusing, its also 3-D.
Worrying...There is only one scientific way to find out the truth of how disappointing the new film (will) may be.

Young Scott VS Old Scott

Young Scott:

1:Alien (1979)

2:Blade Runner (1982)

3:Legend (1985)

Old Scott:

1:Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)

2:Hannibal (2001)

3:A Good Year (2006)

Mmmmm...When was the last great Scott film? Black Rain? (1989) I really like but its not a masterpiece, if I'm honest it may be Blade Runner. I still get shivers when I think about Hannibal, a truly terrible film.

Winner:

Young Scott.

Exception to the rule: Prometheus?  (2012) (The whole world crosses their fingers)

SPIELBERG VS SPIELBERG

I can remember seeing a drawing of Steven Spielberg in a comic when I was young, he was sitting on a directors chair and hand his arms around E.T and had Jaws and Indiana Jones stood behind him (Can sharks stand?). I couldn't believe that one man had made so many of my favorite films. I grew up with his films such as E.T, Empire Of The Sun and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, I even have fond memories of 1941! I think I started to fall out of love with Spielberg after going to see Jurassic Park, I don't think it was to do with growing up because Duel, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Jaws are very adult, maybe Spielberg had lost something on the way?

When We Were Young will look at directors and compare there early work with there current work.

Young Spielberg:

1:Jaws (1975)

2:Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

3:Close encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

Old Spielberg: 

1:Indian Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)

2:War Of The Worlds (2005)

3:A.I  Artificial Intelligence  (2001)

Will I be disappointed by The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn? Probably. I'm hoping that Peter Jackson is steering the film in the right direction. I think that Spielberg struggles to end a film in a satisfying way, A.I, Saving Private Ryan, Crystal Skull, War Of The Worlds all have horrible tacked on endings where the film should have finished at least 10 mins before they actually do. 

Winner: Young Steven Spielberg.

Exception to the rule: Munich (2005) 

"THE PARALLAX VIEW" TEST FILM IN ITS ENTIRETY

And here is the amazing psychological test film used by the shadowy Parallex Corporation to recruit political assassins.

LOVE
MOTHER
FATHER
ME
HOME
COUNTRY
GOD
ENEMY
HAPPINESS

Parallax View

Alex Cox and his JFK Conspiracy theory intro for the Parallax View.