25th Hall of Fame

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American Movie (1999)


Life isn't about the destination sometimes it's about the journey. American Movie tells the story of an independent filmmaker, newspaper boy, funeral janitor named Mark the the 30 minute film that took him 3 years to make. But naturally it's really about making the movie but more about the people in this quiet little Wisconsin town.



One of the things that I love about this film is it's constant juxtaposition between the horror film about Satan, Witches, Zombies...but then you've got this family hanging around in the background. You have this great scene where a group of I guess druids drags away a victim and Mark is filming and following Mark is this little 8 year old girl. These are the scenes that really sell the film and build on a different sense of Americana.


You also have a sad themes that run through the film, divorces, poverty, an elderly uncle is clearly getting close to the end. But this is America and life in a flyover state. And while Mark has this energy about him, his friend in the movie is Mike who is just a good dude. Maybe it's his love of RUSH or the drugs but Mike is just great. And while Mark tries to become this great filmmaker and has learned all the jargon it's Mike who demonstrates his talent with music.


This was a nice little break from all the heavy I've been watching lately. Good nom.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ


American Movie (1999)


Life isn't about the destination sometimes it's about the journey. American Movie tells the story of an independent filmmaker, newspaper boy, funeral janitor named Mark the the 30 minute film that took him 3 years to make. But naturally it's really about making the movie but more about the people in this quiet little Wisconsin town.



One of the things that I love about this film is it's constant juxtaposition between the horror film about Satan, Witches, Zombies...but then you've got this family hanging around in the background. You have this great scene where a group of I guess druids drags away a victim and Mark is filming and following Mark is this little 8 year old girl. These are the scenes that really sell the film and build on a different sense of Americana.


You also have a sad themes that run through the film, divorces, poverty, an elderly uncle is clearly getting close to the end. But this is America and life in a flyover state. And while Mark has this energy about him, his friend in the movie is Mike who is just a good dude. Maybe it's his love of RUSH or the drugs but Mike is just great. And while Mark tries to become this great filmmaker and has learned all the jargon it's Mike who demonstrates his talent with music.


This was a nice little break from all the heavy I've been watching lately. Good nom.
Now watch Coven!



Sundays and Cybele



I first watched this a few months ago when Allaby picked it for me to watch in MoFo Roulette. If he didn't nominate it for a HoF, I would have at some point. It won the Academy Award for best foreign film.

I thought it was brilliant the first time and I thought even more highly of it this time. The very beginning became even more haunting knowing what was to come. The movie makes a very strong first and last impression, something every movie should strive to do. The acting and filming are both outstanding. I do not see any pedophilia or sexualization of the girl. The relationship is meant to confuse us along with the other adults in the movie. Pierre is looking for innocence after having not only lost his but also taken someone else's through the war. The girl probably looks at him as a combination of a father/friend/boyfriend, although she really has no understanding of what those things are. They are both deeply sympathetic figures. If the relationship were to continue as the girl got older, it could become more complicated as she comes to have more womanly feelings. These feelings could be directed towards Pierre or someone else, but then Pierre would most likely start to look at her in a similar fashion as he does towards his girlfriend, which is not sexual. He is like a child and has no interest in that type of relationship. It is hard for the viewer to wrap their head around this dynamic because it's not normal, but it's not abnormal in the typical way. I'd say this is the most challenging nomination, the best nomination, and perhaps the best movie in this HoF.




Sundays and Cybele



I first watched this a few months ago when Allaby picked it for me to watch in MoFo Roulette. If he didn't nominate it for a HoF, I would have at some point. It won the Academy Award for best foreign film.

I thought it was brilliant the first time and I thought even more highly of it this time. The very beginning became even more haunting knowing what was to come. The movie makes a very strong first and last impression, something every movie should strive to do. The acting and filming are both outstanding. I do not see any pedophilia or sexualization of the girl. The relationship is meant to confuse us along with the other adults in the movie. Pierre is looking for innocence after having not only lost his but also taken someone else's through the war. The girl probably looks at him as a combination of a father/friend/boyfriend, although she really has no understanding of what those things are. They are both deeply sympathetic figures. If the relationship were to continue as the girl got older, it could become more complicated as she comes to have more womanly feelings. These feelings could be directed towards Pierre or someone else, but then Pierre would most likely start to look at her in a similar fashion as he does towards his girlfriend, which is not sexual. He is like a child and has no interest in that type of relationship. It is hard for the viewer to wrap their head around this dynamic because it's not normal, but it's not abnormal in the typical way. I'd say this is the most challenging nomination, the best nomination, and perhaps the best movie in this HoF.

Great review, Cricket! Well said and it sums up how I feel too.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Chimes at Midnight (1965)

If you add Orson Welles to the greatest writer of all time the result can never be less than brilliant.

Chimes at Midnight is a delightful film around one of the most famous Shakesperian characters, Falstaff. The style of acting and direction is very close to a play, which for someone who loves theatre, like me, is a huge bonus!
The acting is very good from almost everyone involved, with the exception of Welles. And I say that he's an exception because he's not just very good, he is absolutely dazzling. This might be my favourite performance out of everything I've seen by him.
The first half of the film has extremely frantic pacing and is immensely funny. It's also easily the best part of the film. The dialogues are really well delivered as the Shakesperian metric is the main propulsor of the timing of each action.
Then there's the centerpiece, the long battle sequence which is an incredible technical feat, and finally, the film slows down and gains gravitas, as every character starts to realize their actions have consequences. It's here we see the big beautiful Shakespearian monologues, charged with drama and intention. The ending comes a bit abruptly and it's perhaps what I disliked the most (besides the annoying voice of Justice Shallow). I feel I needed a long monologue from Falstaff but Shakespeare doesn't exactly prepare his deaths too often.
Great nom and a seriously underrated Welles' gem!

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Trouble with a capital "T"
Chimes at Midnight (1965)

If you add Orson Welles to the greatest writer of all time the result can never be less than brilliant.

Chimes at Midnight is a delightful film around one of the most famous Shakesperian characters, Falstaff. The style of acting and direction is very close to a play, which for someone who loves theatre, like me, is a huge bonus!
The acting is very good from almost everyone involved, with the exception of Welles. And I say that he's an exception because he's not just very good, he is absolutely dazzling. This might be my favourite performance out of everything I've seen by him.
The first half of the film has extremely frantic pacing and is immensely funny. It's also easily the best part of the film. The dialogues are really well delivered as the Shakesperian metric is the main propulsor of the timing of each action.
Then there's the centerpiece, the long battle sequence which is an incredible technical feat, and finally, the film slows down and gains gravitas, as every character starts to realize their actions have consequences. It's here we see the big beautiful Shakespearian monologues, charged with drama and intention. The ending comes a bit abruptly and it's perhaps what I disliked the most (besides the annoying voice of Justice Shallow). I feel I needed a long monologue from Falstaff but Shakespeare doesn't exactly prepare his deaths too often.
Great nom and a seriously underrated Welles' gem!

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Glad you liked it. Could you hear the dialogue OK? Did you use subs?



The acting is very good from almost everyone involved, with the exception of Welles. And I say that he's an exception because he's not just very good, he is absolutely dazzling.
You really had me in the first half there. I legit gasped with my hand on my chest, like this was some period drama and I had just witnessed something scandalous. Then I read the rest and all was right in the world haha.



Chimes at Midnight (1965)

If you add Orson Welles to the greatest writer of all time the result can never be less than brilliant.

Chimes at Midnight is a delightful film around one of the most famous Shakesperian characters, Falstaff. The style of acting and direction is very close to a play, which for someone who loves theatre, like me, is a huge bonus!
The acting is very good from almost everyone involved, with the exception of Welles. And I say that he's an exception because he's not just very good, he is absolutely dazzling. This might be my favourite performance out of everything I've seen by him.
The first half of the film has extremely frantic pacing and is immensely funny. It's also easily the best part of the film. The dialogues are really well delivered as the Shakesperian metric is the main propulsor of the timing of each action.
Then there's the centerpiece, the long battle sequence which is an incredible technical feat, and finally, the film slows down and gains gravitas, as every character starts to realize their actions have consequences. It's here we see the big beautiful Shakespearian monologues, charged with drama and intention. The ending comes a bit abruptly and it's perhaps what I disliked the most (besides the annoying voice of Justice Shallow). I feel I needed a long monologue from Falstaff but Shakespeare doesn't exactly prepare his deaths too often.
Great nom and a seriously underrated Welles' gem!

+
Glad you enjoyed it! I'm pretty much in agreement with you about the best things in it like that battle scene.* As for the ending,
WARNING: spoilers below
Prince Hal's betrayal is devastating, but I agree that the movie should have lingered on the moment a bit so that it had more resonance.* Something akin to Kane walking down his mirrored hallway, for instance.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Glad you liked it. Could you hear the dialogue OK? Did you use subs?
Yes, I ended up using Stremio, which is a cool platform and the sound was ok. As for the subs, I always use subtitles if it's Shakespeare. The text is so rich that even if English is your native language (which is not my case) many things would be missed.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
American Movie (1999)

So... This will be a pretty unpopular write-up, I guess.

I watched American Movie for the first time for the Doc HoF some years ago. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. I was expecting this time to have a similar reaction to it, but the fact is, I liked it a lot less.
The whole idea of the movie, I guess, is to show a guy who has an infinite passion for film but none of the tools to succeed in the film industry and to provoke some kind of empathy in the viewer. And I totally missed that.
Mark just looks like a total loser, who's not willing to commit to the boring part of becoming good. He quits high school because "he's not learning" and just goes out on his own, just armed with his passion for film (which, I admit, is pretty impressive). And then he has this monologue where he says that he doesn't know why some people have success and others don't... Like, no sh*t genius, if you knew it you wouldn't be doing what you're doing. It may seem cold, but I have no sympathy whatsoever for this type of character. Passion is important but it's not even 5% to become an artist (or anything else for that matter).
And then you have the old uncle who always feels like he's being somewhat manipulated, Silent Bob's slower cousin Mike, the girlfriend who has a really weird vibe, and the mother who feels a bit lost... Almost none of the persons here seem to know what they're doing and the few who do, just look at the guy in a similar way I do, which sucks because I know I'm supposed to be empathetic.
Of course, you could explain Mark's lack of success to his upbringing. The home environment isn't obviously the best and he took many wrong decisions in the past, probably due to bad orientation, which eventually led him to the point he's in when this film was shot, but it gets to a point where I can't excuse him anymore.
And, coming from this perspective, is pretty hard for me to find value in what the movie is showing. The few funny scenes feel like I'm laughing at the characters and not with them which just doesn't feel right, and for the rest of it, I was either feeling bored or just annoyed.

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2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
The Truth

A nice little courtroom drama gem here. It doesn't necessarily do anything brilliantly but I think it looks the viewer from beginning to end. I really like Bardot here. Think she did a real good job. I was a bit irritated by the back and forth transition between the courtroom and the flashbacks but after awhile it didn't bother me as much. Maybe perhaps it would have been better if there was a little more build up, but I can't really complain about that too much as it was still directed pretty well. A decent nomination here.

+



About Elly



My third movie from a very gifted director and I knew nothing about it beforehand. He has a gift for sucking the viewer in. Not much happens for the first 30+ minutes, or is there? I thought there were clues being laid for later but then it didn't end up how I expected. Props for fooling me I suppose. It doesn't really matter because I enjoyed the movie from start to finish. Very good acting and filming. The characters think and act a little differently than they would in America, a dynamic that was an added bonus. I could do some minor nitpicking but not of anything important. A great nomination that will surely rank high on my ballot.




The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Vertigo (1958)

Damn, this film is just marvelous.
It's one of those films that gets better with each viewing because the amount of detail that goes into it is only noticeable after you know of the twist and don't need to be as focused on the story.
The soundtrack is simply brilliant, one of the best ever I would even say, creating an atmosphere that mixes mystery, tension, and the supernatural. Then there's the brilliant use of color. It's like red, green, blue, and yellow became characters of their own. For someone who started using color relatively late in his career, Hitchcock surely applied it better than most directors, even of today.
One thing I noticed more this time was how much this film is about obsession and how well it's constructed to create that feeling! I also liked how he chose to reveal the crime. A lesser director would wait for the end, but by that time it would have been pretty obvious for the viewer. Hitchcock decided to reveal earlier and still be in command of the narrative, which I just thought about while watching this now.
I cared less about the dream sequence this time though, and the finale didn't hit me as much although the final crescendo is incredibly well done.
Hitchock's ultimate masterpiece, in my opinion, and one of the greatest of all time!

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The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
I think I prefer slacking Neiba to speedy Neiba that makes ME look like a slacker
Ahahah! It's safer to watch everything while I feel like watching movies and have time for it than to have to watch them with the pressure of the deadline, as it happened in the last few HoFs.
I don't know if I'd be able to tackle these many movies a week later, cause I don't really trust my mental health too much atm.



Trouble with a capital "T"
I got to finish off the PRIII and then I can jump full speed into this. There are so many cool noms that I'm looking forward checking them out.