Artificial Environment Films
I have a thing for films that take place in contrived environments. Like the Wizard of Oz. All the Oz exteriors were shot in sound stages.
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- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.The most compelling thing about this film for me is the surreal and impressionistic sets. In a time when so much money is put into every aspect of film making, with results that are sometimes as poor as they are expensive. It is fascinating to see a film like this, with sets not that far removed from cardboard cutouts, tell a story that is so absorbing.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.I love the sets of Oz. Their ability to somehow take you out of your reality, I think is a result of their stage like appearance. There are scenes that end with Dorothy and her companions heading down the yellow brick road right towards the wall of the sound stage, painted with a mural that contains the continuation of the road they are walking on. All the fakery is clearly visible, but you are no less transported into the reality of the film.
- DirectorJim HensonStarsJerry NelsonFrank OzMarilyn SokolA poor otter family risks everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSam WorthingtonZoe SaldanaSigourney WeaverA paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.There is a feeling I get from films that take place in contrived environments such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the Wizard of Oz. I got this feeling watching Rear Window. After the film, I watched the retrospective featurette and learned that the apartment complexes, courtyard, alleyway and street beyond were built completely on a sound stage. Even the sky was an effect of lighting a screen in the background.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGary OldmanWinona RyderAnthony HopkinsThe centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppChristina RicciMiranda RichardsonIchabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.
- DirectorJim HensonStarsDavid BowieJennifer ConnellyToby FroudSixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.
- DirectorFrank MillerQuentin TarantinoRobert RodriguezStarsMickey RourkeClive OwenBruce WillisAn exploration of the dark and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in violent corruption.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMia WasikowskaJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterNineteen-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsMarlon BrandoJean SimmonsFrank SinatraIn New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.
- DirectorKerry ConranStarsGwyneth PaltrowJude LawAngelina JolieAfter New York City receives a series of attacks from giant flying robots, a reporter teams up with a pilot in search of their origin, as well as the reason for the disappearances of famous scientists around the world.
- DirectorBrad SilberlingStarsJim CarreyJude LawMeryl StreepWhen a massive fire kills their parents, three children are delivered to the custody of cousin and stage actor Count Olaf, who is secretly plotting to steal their parents' vast fortune.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsEmily BrowningVanessa HudgensAbbie CornishA young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape.
- DirectorVincent WardStarsRobin WilliamsCuba Gooding Jr.Annabella SciorraChris Nielsen dies in an accident, and enters Heaven. But when he discovers that his beloved wife Annie has killed herself out of grief over the loss, he embarks on an afterlife adventure to reunite with her.
- DirectorPrinceStarsPrinceMorris DayIngrid ChavezThe unofficial sequel to 'Purple Rain' (1984). The Kid is now club owner and rival to Morris (Morris Day), with whom he gets into a fight for the Glam Slam Nightclub.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsIsabella RosselliniMark McKinneyMaria de MedeirosA musical of sorts set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, where a beer baroness organizes a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Musicians from around the world descend on the city to try and win the $25,000 prize.
- DirectorRick JacobsonStarsJulia VothErin CummingsAmerica OlivoThree bad girls travel to a remote desert hideaway to steal $200 million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin.