Visual Index ~ Hud's Best Shot(s)
Friday, May 31, 2013 at 1:36PM 
I know it's my own fault since I failed to post on Fantasia last week but I was a bit sad that we had a lower than usual turnout for Hud for this week's "Best Shot" selection (the last of our weekly viewing assignments until the series returns in July for the second half of Season 4). If only so we could all enthuse together about one of the all time great taglines...
the man with the barbed wire soul
...and how it's not false advertising.
I wish this fine western drama from Martin Ritt had a reputation as humongous as, oh, the one enjoyed by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which I reference primarily because it's also a electric quartet-powered black and white masterpiece from the 1960s and just as worthy of obsessing over.
The following shots, chosen by our wee club this week [more...] only scratch the surface of all the amazing things that James Wong Howe is doing behind the camera. (If his name sounds familiar look him up -- so many beautiful movies under his belt from the silents through Fantasia and Picnic all the way through to Funny Lady in the 1970s. I mean no one chose the firefly sequence, or the cattle horror, or any of the nighttime driving scenes or even Paul Newman playing with a flower with the horniest smile you ever saw on a leading man.
Interestingly enough no one chose anything from the first half of the movie. The selections begin at the halfway mark with a Paul Newman closeup. THAT FACE. Click on the images to go to the accompanying article.
The Film Experience
We Recycle Movies
Antagony & Ecstasy
Film Actually
A Fistful of Film
The Film's The Thing
Entertainment Junkie
Hit Me With Your Best Shot will be back on July 3rd (film tba). What films should we watch for the final run of the season?
Reader Comments (12)
Something Japanese? Have you ever seen Tokyo Story, the best movie ever according to directors in that Sight & Sound Poll?
Something Russian? I'd suggest Larisa Shepitko's The Ascent, the best movie ever directed by a woman, IMO. Stunning black & white. The Criterion edition is superb.
Something Latin American? Something Middle Eastern? Something geographically unexpected?
And of course, something Gena Rowlands (I'm sorry, I had to).
Written on the Wind
Strangers on a Train
Notorious
Once Upon a Time in the West
Chinatown
Dark Passage or The Lady in the Lake-Both shot from the main character's POV
The Searchers
The Hudsucker Proxy
Lenny
Blowout
The Last of the Mohicans-The DDL version
Pride & Prejudice-2005
"The Hud" is on my list, but haven't gotten to it yet. Great shots, though!
I HIGHLY recommend THE THIRD MAN for one of your future installments. Rewatched it recently and there was almost no shot in that film that wouldn't have merited an essay.
I'm not even a huge fan of the genre, but we still haven't done a Western.
Ooo I'd second @joel6 on Last Of The Mohicans. So epic. Maybe something Cinemascope or Technicolor would be nice too. East Of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Farewell My Concubine, The Adventures Of Robin Hood...
Or maybe something with Nicole Kidman to honor her fabulosity on the red carpet last week? Birth?
Barry Lyndon, The Go-Between, Murder On the Orient Express, Doctor Zhivago (can you tell I like costumes!)
Thanks, Nathan, for reminding me how much I love Hud...heading to the video store now!
I love that even series on TFE go on hiatus!
I second Cal's Tokyo Story suggestion. Fantastic idea, especially for those who haven't seen it.
I saw Hud on TCM in the weeks following Newman's death and was so grateful to have tuned in at the right time. Such a lovely, simple, well-acted movie, the kind we're lucky to have around.
Wish I had had enough time to do this - I haven't seen Hud and have been wanting to for a long time. LOVE Paul Newman. Great articles, everyone!
Might I suggest Finding Nemo for an upcoming installment? Just celebrated its 10th Anniversary and it's still the most beautifully animated Pixar feature.
Thought of a couple more: A River Runs Through It & How the West Was Won.
Having just seen Once Upon a Time in Anatolia with its AMAZING cinematography, I'd like to do a Hit Me With Your Best Shot with a film that either won or was nominated for an Oscar for cinematography.
Perhaps:
The Rose Tattoo
To Catch a Thief
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Lost Weekend
Reds
Fanny and Alexander
I suggested this earlier in the season, but "Tales of the Night" is GORGEOUS and would make for some great shots.
Maybe "Ocean's Eleven"? That one has some interesting possibilities too.