re: Best cinematography you've seen?

Good call. I remember Herzog commenting that Treadwell had managed to capture more beauty than any director with a budget could. Probably my favorite documentary.

There's one movie that will never be replicated and that's Lawrence of Arabia.

You can see the heat shimmering and see those weird desert optical effects through the camera.

You feel like you are in the desert being haunted by the vast and the heat.

There's no other movie that puts you in time and place.

Cgi is crap....there will never be another LOA.

The famous shot in Badlands of Sheen standing with the rifle in the harvest moon was a complete accident.

The crew had all packed up and left for the day and Malick and Sheen the last ones on site and were walking back to the car to leave… they saw the moon and the sky… both looked at each other with amazement and Sheen said,

"I'll get the rifle"

and Malick said

"I'll get the camera"

and one of the most beautiful shots ever was filmed.


CGI has largely ruined movies. Nothing can replace natural beauty and "accidental" shots. It's quite telling that most of the movies everyone has listed are 20-50 yrs old.

Attack of the Block. Just do it.

The Fall is tGOAT for me

Definitely thought of the tree of life when I saw this

Herzog is the goat.

Lawrence of Arabia probably has to be #1.

They will never go on location like that with cgi.

And cgi can't replicate nature.

The shimmering of the desert heat messing with the camera...and replicating the beauty of reality.

And not fake reality like cgi and fake nature...that dissolves the reality of nature and light.

Cinema is supposed to be the nature of light...not the nature of computers or green screens.

I still want to see awesome real beauty in reality...and photography skill level shots, with a real artists discerning eye and craft, taking into account natural light...you can never replicate that with phony directors in cgi because they can do anything and it never looks like real life or real art.