14th Hall of Fame

Registered User

09-11-17

Originally Posted by cricket

Night on Earth

this director/// I really don't understand the appeal of the guy.

I feel the same about Dead Man and a some portion of this film from what I remember.

. I recommend Ghost Dog, Stranger Than Paradise, Broken Flowers, and especially Mystery Train and Down by Law, two of his best, imo.

Last edited by Joel; 09-11-17 at 11:15 PM.

SilentVamp

Msg

Save the Texas Prairie Chicken

09-11-17

I know I said I would watch it a couple of weeks ago, but I finally got to it last night. I watched The Hurricane.

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Same with the evil detective that frames him, why? We never really get a strong motivation for the detective to do what he did. The detective is a mere shadow and that's too bad as we need him to be fully fleshed out in order to feel Hurricane's pain.

I am OK with the way the detective was portrayed because I like the idea of us not really knowing why he had such a strong dislike for him since he was a boy. Sometimes I don't need anything explained at all. The mystery is sometimes so much better. I think that actually helped to make Carter's pain and frustration stronger. For me, it did, at least.

Originally Posted by Nestorio_Miklos

Well now, I finally know what is Bob Dilan�s song about.

I thought the same thing.

I liked this movie. It is the sort of thing that I enjoy watching. The ONLY problem I had with it was the actor that played Lesra. I found him to be so terribly annoying. I HATED the way he spoke. I couldn't stand the way he'd say his words or his tone of voice. It was almost like he was trying too hard to act - if that makes any sense at all. Otherwise, I really did like this one. And this is one that I thought my mother would enjoy (which she did). I asked her if she remembered when that happened to him (again, which she did). I then asked if she thought he did it. She said "No. I didn't think he did it. I thought the great majority of people didn't think he did it". Interesting.

I say that because isn't it something how someone could end up in the situation he was in if so many people may have thought differently?

View Spoilers

WARNING: spoilers below

One thing that I can't understand is that they say that he was convicted twice. OK. But he was convicted based on false evidence. And not only that, a person can't really say that the white jury convicted him as a reason for why he ended up in prison. If you think about it, if the prosecution is presenting this evidence that the police have gathered together that makes him look guilty, then they will most likely say he is guilty (it isn't like they knew it was false evidence). But, perhaps, the jury would've said differently had they seen the evidence that would've proven that he wasn't there at the time of the shootings.

And I have to say that I really felt bad for the other guy! Glad that he was automatically released, too.

If I were to rate this, I could easily give it

I still need to watch Mommy. I will pick that up from the library again next week.

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cricket

Msg

Registered User

09-11-17

Originally Posted by Joel

I recommend Ghost Dog, Stranger Than Paradise, Broken Flowers, and especially Mystery Train and Down by Law, two of his best, imo.

Those are all movies I know of and ones I think I'd have better luck with.

Joel

Registered User

09-11-17

Originally Posted by cricket

Those are all movies I know of and ones I think I'd have better luck with.

Yeah, and no offense to Dead Man but it really stinks to high hell. Night on Earth had moments but I gotta rewatch...I can't guarantee you'll like any of them, Cricket, but comparitavely...

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

09-11-17

I loved Dead Man, one of the most unique films I've seen. I've really liked everything I've seen from Jim Jarmuche. Though I've only seen 3 of his films.

My short review of Dead Man

Originally Posted by Joel

I'm going to buy a chromecast device to snap onto my HDTV so I dont have to fudge around with a clunky laptop/VGA set up..

Let me know how that goes? I need one of those too as I'm having a hard time with watching some movies on my TV.

cricket

Msg

Registered User

09-11-17

Dead Man is one of my most disliked movies.

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

09-12-17

haven't seen Dead Man since it came out at the theaters, so can't really weigh in on it.

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Joel

Registered User

09-12-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

I loved Dead Man, one of the most unique films I've seen. I've really liked everything I've seen from Jim Jarmuche. Though I've only seen 3 of his films.

My short review of Dead Man

Let me know how that goes? I need one of those too as I'm having a hard time with watching some movies on my TV.

I always give a movie another shot some years after I initially dislike it. Dead Man may be due within a few years, who knows? And the chromecast, yes. I'm anxious to get one and hoping my chinsy HDTV will support it properly. I'm sure it will. I'll let you know. If my TV can work it, then anyone's can.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

09-12-17

Originally Posted by Joel

You know, we're all different and so like different type of movies. Dead Man is very different so it's either a love or hate thing. I like Johnny Depp especially back in the day before he started doing so many of the Caribbean movies.

Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

09-12-17

Despite having seen Dead Man multiple times and owning the DVD, I can't decide if I like it or not.

Which probably means I don't.

Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

09-12-17

Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2014)
Imdb

Date Watched: 9/10/17
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 14th Hall of Fame, cricket's nomination
Rewatch: No

I really wanted to like this film. I'm usually quite the sucker for emotional dramas, but unfortunately I found myself quite detached from it. From the start, I found the two main characters, Steve and Die, to be quite unlikable. He is violent, unstable, and unpredictable. She is immature and irresponsible.

I did have a tiny bit of sympathy for Die, because she was thrown into the situation of being a single mother to a child this troubled. However, I found that sympathy dissolving more later as she let her motherly love cloud her judgement as Steve became more and more out of control and dangerous.

As to the film itself, I thought the performances were mostly strong and the cinematography looked good. However, I really hated the soundtrack. The segment that featured "Wonderwall" in particular only increased my detachment from the film. I found it distracting and it didn't enhance the film for me at all. Though admittedly part of that is my own personal distaste for the song itself, but I think something less well known might've fit the mood of the scene better. A lower volume would've helped too.

Overall the film is well crafted, but my own personal prejudices left me unable to connect with its characters and therefore unable to overcome my apathy.

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Joel

Registered User

09-12-17

Night on Earth (1988)
Director: Jim Jarmusch

Jarmusch is one director I usually enjoy. His meditative style often leaves itself wide open for great comedy moments, and his craftmanship as this kind of fimmaker is very clever because it seems as if he is literally doing nothing, but he is, in fact, doing a lot to control his set and scene, and that's why you get what you get.

Night on Earth has never been at the top of the list for JJ movies for me. On a 2nd watch last night, I did find myself appreciating the Winona Ryder/Gena Rowlands segment more, which I used to think was such a waste of Rowlands talent. I mean, it kind of is, but just watching her react and carry on, she has such a cool and breezy, and wise way about her. She is not only hip, but she is kind, and materializes a very classy, intelligent and attractive woman. Winona Ryder, well...no.

The only real highlight of the film, or highlights, were story number 2 with Giancarlo Esposito and story number 4 with Beninni. Very funny stuff. The locations were great, the comedy was good, I should have liked this more. I think to me it just felt uneven and maybe a bit forced, like "Coffee and Cigarettes" was. Maybe a little too in on its own joke, you know?

If I had to pick one segment I liked best, that's easy. Segment 2. I loved the shot of Giancarlos's character shuffling his feet when he's hustling for a cab. Hilarious. And when he refers to Helmut's dual flute as a "horn".

"Yo, play dat horn you was doin' "

Not much else to say, really. Not among his best for me but was OK and like I said, had moments that gave me a good, healthy laugh.

Joel

Registered User

09-12-17

Dom za Ve�anje (1988)
Director: Emir Kusturica

I pulled a bit of a dysfunctional all nighter last night and got this one watched. Time of the Gypsies is not a film I could ever revisit and did not connect with me on many levels. In fact, I found myself more than an arm's length away due to such a cultural conditioning. And it is what it is. I thought some of the scenes were funny, like when the mother yells and gets gets animated with her husband. I did like the visual style. It's pretty rad. I liked how the camera craned up the lime rock, doing a sort of sleight of hand, while the boy and girl went up top and came back down just in time for the camera to find them sitting again delivering their next line. I mean, yeah, some of the tricks were intriguing, but I just didn't feel any of the story or the characters, and I felt bad about that at first because I wanted to transcend my western sensibility and really embrace this movie, but I couldn't. This is not usually typical of me. Time of the Gypsies just felt grimy to me, and I don't mean grimy like I thought the characters were dirty, and I don't mean I thought the film transfer was dirty, I just felt like I was seeing something that was alien to my upbringing, maybe the way another culture would view my life if it were portrayed in a film. Hell, I'd be scratching my head at that!
I have to add that I definitely understand closeness of family, sleeping in the same room, and being uninhibited in some ways, like when grandma, child and husband were trying to sleep amidst firecracker playtime. Good stuff. Strange, but funny. Like any film, I won't ever write something off unless I'm 100% sure that it's a pile dog poop. This movie is not that at all. Maybe time will tell if I brave another watch. I've done it before, I'm not above it, it's educational and even maybe a little healthy.

To recap, the movie looked good, loved the inventiveness of the staging, but did not like the characters that much and couldn't relate to the movie. Seemed maybe even a bit too artsy for its own good. I don't mind some pretension, but while certain films work that like a charm, it didn't work for me here. I do appreciate the nom, regardless of my own thoughts about the film itself.

Last edited by Joel; 09-12-17 at 08:29 AM.

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

09-12-17

Originally Posted by Yam12

This was my first film from Fritz Lang, whose direction of the movie was great. Another aspect of the film I thought was fantastic was the cinematography which looked great for the 1930s.

You should definitely put Lang's Metropolis (1927) on your watchlist if you liked the cinematography in M.

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rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

09-12-17

I only saw M and Scarlet Street (which I really like). Still need to watch Metropolis.

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

09-12-17

Metropolis is my favourite German Expressionist film, easily beating out The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The set pieces and cinematography are absolutely beautiful. I do however find the runtime to be a bit long, but I frequently have issues with the length of silent films anyway.

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

09-12-17

The Hurricane

This was my nomination, a film that admittedly I wasn't sure many would like but it's a movie that is great to me. It's greatness centers around one of the strongest performances ever by an actor who happens to be my favorite, Denzel Washington. He gives us a performance that makes a man named Reuben Carter, who on the surface isn't very likeable and in reality, probably isn't either, to a man with feelings and a heart. He truly makes you feel as if he was innocent. I don't think the guy is as racist as he's made out to be, rather a hate for the injustice that has been given to him. If anyone is a racist, it's detective Pesca. But with Washington, this is certainly one of the greatest performances that I have seen on the screen.

A lot of people seemed to not like Lesra, but I thought he did fairly decent. It's a hard job to match up to Washington, but I think he did what he needed to do. The three foster parents could have certainly been better, but their roles were rather limited

The story told here probably doesn't match up with what really happened but I think it's still great storytelling by Jewison. He made me want to root for Carter a lot.

It was a small role but I also liked Rod Stieger as the judge and I really liked the uplifting ending that the film had. And of course the score was magnificent as well as the use of the song "The Hurricane". Definitely a personal favorite.

Yam12