I think I've finished all the movies. Here are some thoughts on the ones I haven't already written about
:
Boys Don't Cry
This surprised me a bit. I had seen it before but my memories weren't overly positive - however, watching it again it comes very close to being a "great" movie. Swank and Sevigny put in great performances and it is really well directed - in some ways it makes me a bit sad that Pierce has gone on to make things like the Carrie re-make. She had/has a big future as an "indie" director.
The only thing that stops me considering it a masterpiece is that I was confused by some of the decision making of the characters. I actually did a lot of reading after watching it to find what was true and what wasn't because obviously if what was depicted was real than I can't criticise it for the characters being stupid
Anyway, a lot of it probably was real but there were some things at the end that detracted from my overall enjoyment a little bit.
Overall I went into this HoF thinking this would be a bottom 5 film but it turned out to be top 5.
Bullets Over Broadway
My general feeling with Woody Allen is that he is great at directing and writing for Woody Allen. In the films where he plays more of a support role I always wish he was on screen more and the films where he isn't in the cast at all make me feel like something is missing. I felt that a bit here - I felt like Woody himself should have been delivering the lines.
Overall I liked it and found the story interesting but felt it could have been better. I'm also starting to realise I'm not a fan of John Cusack - in so many of his films his performances are a bit on the bland side. I think if Woody was in this it would be great - without him it was just good.
Claire's Knee
The first Rohmer film I've seen. Beautifully shot and well acted with some interesting ideas. I found Jerome to be a fascinating character - somewhat creepy at times but that was part of the point. He was a character with great depth who provided an interesting perspective on life at times.
The discussion earlier in the thread about the age of the girls was interesting and it's something I've thought about a bit in the past. It was a different time with different ideas of what was acceptable. Don't forget Priscilla was only 14 when Elvis fell for her
Overall, very good movie.
Divorce Italian Style
It was interesting seeing Mastroianni playing this sort of role because I'd only seen him play "cool" characters before. He handled it well.
Overall this was a good film but perhaps not one of my favourites from that time. I personally find comedies from other cultures the hardest to connect with (when I watch Chinese comedies with my wife she rolls around laughing and I just sit there shrugging thinking "what?") and that was a bit of a problem for me here.
Ordet
I have to admit that I didn't enjoy The Passion of Joan of Arc as much as many other people and whilst I've always intended to, I haven't seen any other Dreyer films. Therefore I was really glad this was nominated as it made me watch it.
I had a bit of trouble getting into it at the beginning because of it's style but by the end I loved it. I really enjoyed the themes presented and the characters that Dreyer crafted as the movie went along so it ended up being the best of both worlds - a movie that made me think and also made me feel something for the characters.
I often enjoy religious movies even though I'm an atheist because they sometimes present me with ideas that are somewhat challenging and that was the case here.
I didn't like this quite as much as my own nomination ... but it was close
Quills
Rush and Phoenix were great and overall it was a pretty good movie. Given the topic I would have liked to see it be a bit more unpleasant ... perhaps a Lars Von Trier re-make
I find myself becoming a bit more impressed with Phoenix every time I see him. In the past he has done a good job with some pretty one dimensional roles and he was the only thing I liked about Inherent Vice. Hopefully he will look to keep making more "brave" acting choices in the future
The Wages of Fear
Like some others I really enjoyed the first half and overall, even though it had some flaws, I thought it was a good film. What would have made the second half better was less action and more Vera Clouzot