20th Hall of Fame

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I feel like I'm pretty sure I never saw Elmer Gantry. I may have and forgotten about it though.
I sort of remember you saying you hadn't seen it when it showed up on the 60's countdown.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
like, raul, I hadn't seen Gantry yet, either.
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Yup, definitely know I haven't seen it but it'll be the movie I'm watching next.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

Elmer Gantry (1960)

I still have that damn Ghostbusters song stuck in my head, I should've not watched that music video. Luckily, there's no catchy tunes sung by Mr Teeth, Burt Lancaster. Does that guy have a mouth full of teeth or what? Seems to me there was an actress who really had lots of teeth too, but I can't remember her name right now. Oh well, I know it wasn't Shirley Jones who not only played a doe eyed song bird but also plays a hell bent for revenge prostitute with gusto! I thought I'd find a pic of Lulu, because a little beauty in my review never hurts! But as soon as I seen that pic of Lancaster it just screamed, 'this is what the movie is all about!'

I love this movie and so it's going to be hard deciding my voting list. Lancaster is uber mega personality, larger than life and LOUD, with a laugh that draws them into those canvas tents and makes them drop to their knees in repention. Is repention a word? I guess not because Firefox is underlining it, oh well if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for Elmer Gantry.

This film does so much, so great, that I'd have to write on and on, and well I don't even know if you guys read what I write, or do you just rep and say, damn Citizen wrote a lot this time...In a nut shell I love how the film never says that Elmer Gantry is just preaching the word to get a shot at bedding Sister Sharon behind the podium. I think Elmer really believed what he preached, but mostly he believed in the power of the spoken word, and that my friends is a good place to end this on.



"Mr Teeth"

Did Sister Sharon remind you of Edith Keeler from "The City on the Edge of Forever" a little bit, especially at the end of the movie?

BTW, I always read what you write, and "damn Citizen wrote a lot this time".
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"Mr Teeth"

Did Sister Sharon remind you of Edith Keeler from "The City on the Edge of Forever" a little bit, especially at the end of the movie?

BTW, I always read what you write, and "damn Citizen wrote a lot this time".
Ha Yup as I watched the movie I thought about Edith Keeler, she really did remind me of Sister Sharon. More than that there was a couple of camera shots of her preaching that seemed like it was later done the same way in The City on the Edge of Forever. I wouldn't be surprised if the director of that episode had watched Elmer Gantry and was inspired by it.

Oh I remembered the actress with lots of teeth, Mary Tyler Moore! I think Lou Grant commented on her toothy smile one time.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Ha Yup as I watched the movie I thought about Edith Keeler, she really did remind me of Sister Sharon. More than that there was a couple of camera shots of her preaching that seemed like it was later done the same way in The City on the Edge of Forever. I wouldn't be surprised if the director of that episode had watched Elmer Gantry and was inspired by it.

Oh I remembered the actress with lots of teeth, Mary Tyler Moore! I think Lou Grant commented on her toothy smile one time.

I never thought of Mary Tyler Moore as having a toothy smile. I probably would have guessed someone like Shelley Duvall.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Ha Oh I remembered the actress with lots of teeth, Mary Tyler Moore! I think Lou Grant commented on her toothy smile one time.
I think I remember seeing him complaining about her always smiling and remarking on what it looked like to him.
It upset her.

I never thought of Mary Tyler Moore as having a toothy smile. I probably would have guessed someone like Shelley Duvall.
Or Sandy Duncan



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Ghostbusters



It was cool to see something like this nominated. A not as serious nomination but yet still a good movie in its own right. It's nice to see the Hall of Famer for the generals flash a little bit of fresh air. I've thought recently about doing something like this myself, although my picks could get torn to shreds.

Anyways, Ghostbusters is entertaining from point A to point B. The characters bring a lot of life to the film, and the best thing about it is some of the undertones humor, especially from Bill Murray. Sure, maybe the third act or so could have been a tad better (although I loved the appearance of the Stay Pufted Marshmallow man) but overall I was never bored with it at all. And I too love that opening library scene. A cool way to be introduced to what is to come for the film itself. And I loved the scene where Weavers character was possessed. It was a real funny scene for me.

And yes, that theme song and the music really just kicks ass. Takes me back to just how cool the 80s were. The 90s were the king of coolness, but the 80s films just seem to have their own vibe. My second time seeing this and it definitely held up.






Ghostbusters (1984)

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis open a ghost exterminator business in NYC and they couldn't have done it at a better time. NYC is being overrun with free roaming, vaporous, full torso apparitions, slimers, Mesopotamian demi-gods and other assorted ghouls.

Of all the movies in this HoF this is the one I've seen the most which actually makes writing a review more difficult for me. Go figure..When it comes to comedies only one thing really matters to me and that's does it make me laugh. The plot, characters and everything else is icing on the cake and Ghostbusters makes me laugh....a lot. Not to say that there isn't any icing as well. The story is good, it moves along at a decent pace and the acting/characters are solid (everybody knows their role and stays within it). If I have a gripe it's the scene with Ray and Winston talking end of the earth. It feels out of place with the rest of the movie. Other than that Ghostbusters is a top notch comedy - one of the best of the 80's.




Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Cool Hand Luke nobody does defiantly cool like Paul Newman! I've only seen this once and loved it.
Cool Hand Luke was my #6 choice for the 1960s Countdown.
I rewatched this last night and then realized I didn't really remember it at all. It didn't really work for me this time. I have to say I was bored in the first half and there were only a few scenes that had any emotional impact on me. The most potent was the forced punishment of digging and then refilling a ditch by a very weary Luke. In that moment the film was great, especially after he returns to the bunkhouse a beaten man, crawling on the floor and the other prisoners are in disbelief.

The opening scene too was powerful, with the cigar chomping boss man telling the new prisoners the rules...and every broken infraction resulted in a 'night in the box'. The way the men had to address the guards as 'boss' and ask permission for the simplest things was also powerful.

But what didn't work for me was the very jovial nature of the first hour with the men in their bunk house having way too good of a time for what the film had set up. Especially the egg eating contest was a bit hard to swallow Those light scenes that the director focused on in the first hour caused me to lose my suspension of disbelief, which then took me out of the moment and made me acutely aware I was watching a movie. Actually I kept thinking of TV's Hogan Heros during that first hour.

The story line is good, but the director IMO made poor choices by focusing a lot of the film on light, nearly comical elements. While we got only a few brief moments of what it was like to be put into the box. The film needed more time in that box! The last 40 minutes or so were by far the best, but if 30 minutes were cut from the first half then this would have been to my liking.

Cool Hand Luke reminded me of Jack Nicholson's Five Easy Pieces, as both films are about baby boomers who are rebelling against the system. It doesn't help that I don't find that particular theme appealing, as I kept thinking Luke wasn't cool, but a big dumb ass...who seemed to have a death wish.

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It's been ages since I saw the film but that's how I remember it too.
It's weird, I would have considered that easily a top 100 film. But not now. I don't hate it and I can see for it's time it was probably near perfect. There's just something about those type of movies made between 1967-1969, I can't put it into words but I know the feeling that some films made during that period impart on the viewer.



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Blood Simple



A very good directiorial debut from the Corn Brothers! My second watch and this film really lost no steam at all. The Coen Brothers deserve to be nominated in at some point in a Hall of Fame so it was cool to see this be nominated although it drew a short straw being in a crowded Hall of Fame.

Love the way the film was shot and I love how tense they make the scenes. Specifically that ending has viewers on the edge of their seats, it's really good. This was also a great role for Frances McDormand. Maybe not her best role, I'd say Fargo on that, but it truly showcases the fact that she is a capable actress. The other guys do pretty well too.

But like I said it's the atmosphere itself that makes the film a big big for me and the fact that there really never is a full moment. It's a thought provoking, attention grabbing ride from start to finish, with well thought out characters to keep us glued into the story. Very well directed and it's easy to see why the Coens have become such a popular director combo.




Elmer Gantry

Really, really, solid movie. Until the ending. Seriously, I was considering giving this movie a
or maybe even a
, but the ending just killed it. So let's start with the good stuff. First of all, amazing acting across the board. I believed every performance, especially Elmer himself. I think Lancaster won the Academy Award this year, and he deserved it! I also loved the character of Elmer. They didn't give us all the details, they make us search for it and try to find out about him and the other characters. That's good. I liked that. But I expected the ending of the movie to somewhat wrap up what had happened before. Instead we are left with a bizarre sequence where a deaf man gets his hearing back... and then the church burns down, a certain someone dies, and Elmer... just basically acts like it never happened, moves on with life after reciting a nasty Bible quote to the old man. It's like he did all as a trick, right when we were believing him as a character. Just left me confused. Overall, though, I loved this movie... it'll for sure rank high on my ballot and thanks @cricket for nominating.




The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Elmer Gantry (1960)

First of all I have to say that, as an atheist, I respect the personal conections that one might have with divinity (in a way, I wish I had it) but that I tend to despise religion, especially when it gains power over governments and the decision making process, as it happens with the evangelic church in Brazil right now.

That being said, I liked how he could show religious dogma and practice in very different lights. That's what I probably liked the most about this film. The scene with Elmer singing with the black congregation is superb and the music got stuck in my mind since I finished the film and I can't seem to be able to get rid of it.

The film follows the classical rise and fall story structure. It reminds me a lot of Ace in the Hole and especially A Face in the Crowd.
Burt Lancaster delivers a kind of performance only a few could ever deliver, with an impressive array of emotions and a presence truly magnetic. The man knows how to establish control over a scene in a way that I've very rarely seen. Jean Simmons is also very good on this, portraying the angel to Lancaster's Devil in a very convincing way.
There's some bits of cinematography I liked and I also like all the time took to present Gantry and to really build his persona so we could relate to him somehow by the end.

I also liked the feeling I kept having that the director keeps his intentions clear all the time and nothing is done by chance, every action having a consequence and every plot decision made having a very specific goal and function.

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