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Good suspicion.
But wrong suspicion.
But wrong suspicion.
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Rashomon is a very good movie yet I'm not sure it's even one of my 10 favorites from the great Kurosawa.
Miss Vicky retakes the lead with 7 movies watched with another very good movie that didn't quite work for her.
Great to see Suspect on the board with a big time classic that I personally need to revisit.
Miss Vicky retakes the lead with 7 movies watched with another very good movie that didn't quite work for her.
Great to see Suspect on the board with a big time classic that I personally need to revisit.
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The Sound of Music
(Robert Wise, 1965)
My appreciation of the musical genre has risen drastically in recent years, but I much prefer dance-driven musicals where I can marvel at the choreography over musicals that feature characters spontaneously bursting into song to express every thought or emotion. The Sound of Music is very much the latter. And it's three-hours long. I always try to keep an open mind, no matter how far a film falls outside my comfort zone, but I was bracing myself for an arduous journey within the first five minutes, as I watched Julie Andrews sway in hills that are alive with music, thinking to myself that it's a good thing those hills don't have ears or there'd be some Hills Have Eyes-style carnage about to ensue. My skepticism was unfounded. I wished murder on neither the characters nor the person who nominated this musical epic. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed The Sound of Music, although it's not likely a film I'll be in a rush to watch again.
"My Favorite Things" and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" are the only songs I found tolerable, as lilting voices singing songs of exaggerated sentiment isn't exactly the type of music to be found on my playlist. I longed for one of those nuns in the abbey to retrieve an electric guitar from beneath her habit like Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act. Lackluster songs should sink a musical, but the sensory strengths of The Sound of Music lie more in its visuals than its sound. I've never seen grass as green as the knolls on which Andrews leads a sing-a-long of "Do-Re-Mi," an audience of majestic mountains in the background, the sky an impossible blue. Interior shots are just as striking, with regal cathedrals and stately mansions often filmed in impressive wide-shots. Drab costumes made of drapes and boring browns make the eye-popping backgrounds appear even more resplendent in comparison. The locations in which the songs are staged are often more memorable than the songs themselves.
The Sound of Music is not a Walt Disney production, but it possesses the studio's family-friendly wholesomeness. I got strong vibes of Mary Poppins when Julie Andrews was hired to care for children. We know how this story is going to play out. Of course the unruly, mistrustful children are going to fall in love with their new governess. Of course their father, the retired navel officer and strict disciplinarian, who treats his seven children more like subordinates than family, is going to soften his rigid demeanor and adopt a newfound tenderness. Of course the widowed captain and the lovely governess are going to fall in love. This is a warm, safe, familiar blanket of celluloid, indulging broad audiences with crowd-pleasing wish-fulfillment. Perhaps that's partly why The Sound of Music was such a box-office smash. When adjusted for inflation, this is the sixth highest-grossing film of all-time, which is stunning to me.
Julie Andrews is radiant in the lead role. The children are cute and precocious without being annoying (except for the youngest boy, who shares the same fascination with slimy creatures as seemingly every other young boy in every other old film). I'm embarrassed to admit that I watched this entire movie without recognizing Christopher Plummer. He's significantly younger and handsomer than I've ever seen him. Plummer has obviously proven to be a great actor during his lengthy career, but I didn't think much of his performance as Captain von Trapp. I also disliked his character and rooted against his relationship with Julie Andrews's Maria. The three-hour runtime wasn't much of an issue. The first half passed relatively fast. The second half suffered from a lack of conflict until a strong sprint to the credits. With the film's setting, time period, and the Captain's military past, it seems inevitable that WWII and Nazis will cause complications for our characters. Those issues come to the forefront in an emotional, tension-filled last act, which sees the sound of music assume much greater importance and meaning.
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My ballot for the 1930's Countdown, which @Citizen Rules hosted, included several musicals, so he was my first guess for The Sound of Music when nominations were posted. However, there's another movie chosen for me that I feel more confident is his nomination. When logging The Sound of Music on Letterboxd, I saw a review from @ahwell in which he expressed his nostalgic love for the film. I also figure this is one of the few films on the lists that he had already seen that I haven't, so ahwell is my guess.
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The Thing (1982)
Casablanca (1942)
Like a few of the others in this HoF, I'm pretty envious of your list. I could spend a snowed in weekend watching all of them again.
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Hmm.. CapS already said it wasn't him either so that leaves Siddon as prime suspect.
What movie are we talking about....
You haven't picked my nom yet, remember when I made my picks I tried to spread them out through different genres and decades
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The Sound of Music
(Robert Wise, 1965)
I'm watching The Silent Partner 78 right now, and so far Christopher Plummer is playing excellent as the villain. Haven't finished it yet but I recommend the first half.
Last edited by John-Connor; 03-24-20 at 11:36 AM.
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God bless Captain Spaulding because after sitting through that god damned thing I couldn't spend more than 5 second writing about it.
Now everyone is on the board!
Now everyone is on the board!
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Rashamon
A murder. 4 stories. 4 different versions. Which is the truth?...
A murder. 4 stories. 4 different versions. Which is the truth?...
Pickup On South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953)
Imdb
Pickup On South Street has a lot going for it - it looks good, it has decent acting, and an interesting premise.
Imdb
Pickup On South Street has a lot going for it - it looks good, it has decent acting, and an interesting premise.
The French Connection
My guess: Citizen Rules.
My guess: Citizen Rules.
Well I did just post about seeing this first run at the theater with my parents, but I haven't seen it since. So nope not me.
My ballot for the 1930's Countdown, which @Citizen Rules hosted, included several musicals, so he was my first guess for The Sound of Music when nominations were posted. However, there's another movie chosen for me that I feel more confident is his nomination.
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God bless Captain Spaulding because after sitting through that god damned thing I couldn't spend more than 5 second writing about it.
Now everyone is on the board!
Now everyone is on the board!
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Samuel Fuller is a Director I’ve known about for many years and yet I have not watched a single film of his yet. He and Anthony Mann are two that I need to start catching up on.
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Not seen Tombstone-Rashomon but If any of you want to watch Rashomon as a western I suggest watching The Outrage from 1964.
Going back to Casablanca, there are so many lines that stick out. We’re all familiar with the classics, but one conversation that always makes me laugh is the following between Rick Blaine and Capt Renault:
Captain Renault:
What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick:
My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault:
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick:
I was misinformed.
Captain Renault:
What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick:
My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault:
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick:
I was misinformed.
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My ballot for the 1930's Countdown, which @Citizen Rules hosted, included several musicals, so he was my first guess for The Sound of Music when nominations were posted. However, there's another movie chosen for me that I feel more confident is his nomination. When logging The Sound of Music on Letterboxd, I saw a review from @ahwell in which he expressed his nostalgic love for the film. I also figure this is one of the few films on the lists that he had already seen that I haven't, so ahwell is my guess.
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aw, too bad a lot of you don't love Sound of Music. As Spaulding mentioned, it's very nostalgic for me as it was a childhood favorite, but I also think it did hold up well when I watched it a couple weeks back.
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Pickup On South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953)
Imdb
Date Watched: 03/23/2020
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame, no clue who picked it.
Rewatch: No.
Pickup On South Street has a lot going for it - it looks good, it has decent acting, and an interesting premise.
Unfortunately it also has two major things working against it - annoying characters (Mo and Candy in particular) and a love story that I simply didn't buy. (She meets this dude a couple of times - during which he treats her like crap - and I'm supposed to believe that she's in love and would risk her life for him? Yeah, no.) As a result, I was not at all invested in these characters or their fates and struggled to get through this despite its short runtime.
That would've seemed like my choice for you as it's my #1 film in my Top 10, but of course I didn't choose it. Curious as to who did. I'm glad you liked the acting in general, I always thought that was the strong point.
The French Connection
My guess: Citizen Rules.
My guess: Citizen Rules.
I've owned this movie for a long time and its always kind of just sat on my shelf collecting dust. I own a few "classics" that I would like to see, but I end up just watching Deep Blue Sea or some other shlock. So this was the perfect excuse to finally get these films in my dvd player. So I start with a 3 and a half hour movie? No, I go with The French Connection.
The French Connection is a slow burn of a cop/crime/thriller. I didn't know what to expect because I had no idea what the film was about, other than it starred Gene Hackman and was famous for a car chase. While that car chase was indeed thrilling and had me on the edge of my seat, I found myself engaged in the tailing sections of the film. Seeing Charnier always be one step ahead of Doyle; such as getting on and off the subway was not only comical, but well choreographed. I kept thinking to myself, how the hell does Doyle think he's getting away with this? Friedkin filmed these scenes as if we were another undercover detective on the sidelines, watching as a voyeur. While these sequences are slow, they are still somehow engaging and take up a good portion of the runtime.
Hackman delivers a raw performance and plays a somewhat unlikable character. He has next to no remorse to a horrible action he does towards the end of the film, all for the sake of "getting his man". We learn in the title cards at the end that it was all for nothing. Schneider is his partner and has the "cooler" role, he's more professional and just as willing to put his life on the line for the sake of the job.
Back to the chase sequence, this man does not give up. He's on top of a rooftop looking at a weapon that was just used to try and kill him and he sees the man running on the streets below. He actually goes to chase after him instead of calling it a day or for more back up. The result is indeed, one of the best car chase sequences put to film. It's a little dangerous and irresponsible, but that adds to the heightened tension.
It took my a while to understand what was happening as we seem to be thrust into the lives of these two detectives in the heat of their cases, but by the end of it I was invested in seeing how everything was going to come to an end.
Good nomination, glad I finally get to check it off.
A bit of trivia: this is actually based on an actual NY police officer, "Popeye" Doyle.
The Sound of Music
(Robert Wise, 1965)
My appreciation of the musical genre has risen drastically in recent years, but I much prefer dance-driven musicals where I can marvel at the choreography over musicals that feature characters spontaneously bursting into song to express every thought or emotion. The Sound of Music is very much the latter. And it's three-hours long. I always try to keep an open mind, no matter how far a film falls outside my comfort zone, but I was bracing myself for an arduous journey within the first five minutes, as I watched Julie Andrews sway in hills that are alive with music, thinking to myself that it's a good thing those hills don't have ears or there'd be some Hills Have Eyes-style carnage about to ensue. My skepticism was unfounded. I wished murder on neither the characters nor the person who nominated this musical epic. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed The Sound of Music, although it's not likely a film I'll be in a rush to watch again.
"My Favorite Things" and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" are the only songs I found tolerable, as lilting voices singing songs of exaggerated sentiment isn't exactly the type of music to be found on my playlist. I longed for one of those nuns in the abbey to retrieve an electric guitar from beneath her habit like Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act. Lackluster songs should sink a musical, but the sensory strengths of The Sound of Music lie more in its visuals than its sound. I've never seen grass as green as the knolls on which Andrews leads a sing-a-long of "Do-Re-Mi," an audience of majestic mountains in the background, the sky an impossible blue. Interior shots are just as striking, with regal cathedrals and stately mansions often filmed in impressive wide-shots. Drab costumes made of drapes and boring browns make the eye-popping backgrounds appear even more resplendent in comparison. The locations in which the songs are staged are often more memorable than the songs themselves.
The Sound of Music is not a Walt Disney production, but it possesses the studio's family-friendly wholesomeness. I got strong vibes of Mary Poppins when Julie Andrews was hired to care for children. We know how this story is going to play out. Of course the unruly, mistrustful children are going to fall in love with their new governess. Of course their father, the retired navel officer and strict disciplinarian, who treats his seven children more like subordinates than family, is going to soften his rigid demeanor and adopt a newfound tenderness. Of course the widowed captain and the lovely governess are going to fall in love. This is a warm, safe, familiar blanket of celluloid, indulging broad audiences with crowd-pleasing wish-fulfillment. Perhaps that's partly why The Sound of Music was such a box-office smash. When adjusted for inflation, this is the sixth highest-grossing film of all-time, which is stunning to me.
Julie Andrews is radiant in the lead role. The children are cute and precocious without being annoying (except for the youngest boy, who shares the same fascination with slimy creatures as seemingly every other young boy in every other old film). I'm embarrassed to admit that I watched this entire movie without recognizing Christopher Plummer. He's significantly younger and handsomer than I've ever seen him. Plummer has obviously proven to be a great actor during his lengthy career, but I didn't think much of his performance as Captain von Trapp. I also disliked his character and rooted against his relationship with Julie Andrews's Maria. The three-hour runtime wasn't much of an issue. The first half passed relatively fast. The second half suffered from a lack of conflict until a strong sprint to the credits. With the film's setting, time period, and the Captain's military past, it seems inevitable that WWII and Nazis will cause complications for our characters. Those issues come to the forefront in an emotional, tension-filled last act, which sees the sound of music assume much greater importance and meaning.
I snuck into a back room and the woman, Marie, well into her eighties or so was sitting having coffee. She smiled at me and chuckled at me for being where I wasn't supposed to be. I was too frozen to speak and ran back out.
Nice review. I credit this with being the movie that allows me to give other classics that I may have avoided a chance. Really wasn't interested in seeing Casablanca at all. It's a love story. ACH! Tried watching it a few times and always gave up on it within the first 15 minutes. Then one day I just decided I'm watching it. Hunkered down, got through it and I'm glad I did. It's so good and it's now one of my favorites. It was the first Bogart or Bergman movie I had ever seen and made me a bit of a fan of both. As you mentioned, it's so quotable with my favorite being "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!"
Like a few of the others in this HoF, I'm pretty envious of your list. I could spend a snowed in weekend watching all of them again.
Like a few of the others in this HoF, I'm pretty envious of your list. I could spend a snowed in weekend watching all of them again.
Though we don't see it in the gif, but the look exchanged between the dealer and Rick afterward is hilarious.
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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio
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Going back to Casablanca, there are so many lines that stick out. We’re all familiar with the classics, but one conversation that always makes me laugh is the following between Rick Blaine and Capt Renault:
Captain Renault:
What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick:
My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault:
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick:
I was misinformed.
Captain Renault:
What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick:
My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault:
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick:
I was misinformed.
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That'll be me. This was a HUGE roll of the dice to - per chance, hit the exception bracket with Miss Vicky.
I just hope that the trend stays true with my nominations for you. Whereas I'm very difficult to please, you seem to like most things, so I should be pretty safe. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of the movie I picked for you.
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Vertigo (1958)
My guess: edarsenal
As I've already mentioned to some people, I honestly don't feel worthy to talk about this movie. It is me and my stupid first world/pretentious/old-movie-fetishizing problem but I was floored by Vertigo.
The two other Hitchcock's I've seen have been Rear Window and Psycho. Both are excellent, and both are in my top 100 movies. Particularly Psycho, which was in my top 20 until Vertigo bumped it out. Maybe I need to chill and let Vertigo sink in but right now it's gonna sit pretty high in my favorites.
Vertigo just completely wipes out any shred of a complaint I might have had about Hitchcock from his two other films. Rear Window has a fantastic story, but the characters could be more fleshed out. Psycho has thrills and great characters, but... um, actually, guess I don't have "complaints" for that one either. Anyways, all I'm trying to say is that Vertigo perfectly balanced suspense/thrills, fantastic characters that you could believe and sympathize with, and a hell of a good story.
The twists and turns of this one outdo even modern classics such as Parasite or the Empire Strikes Back. You don't see them coming - or at least my dumb ass didn't - and they hit you right in the face. I had to process every event, terrified and fascinated at what would happen next. I was getting my own sort of vertigo at the end, falling dizzily into the plot and the characters. In the end it's a tragic tale, one frustrating and disappointing, yet that doesn't make it any worse.
Many critics have brought up the fact that this is basically Hitchcock coping with his own treatment of women in the movies. That is utterly true... he is coming to terms with his verging-on-abuse usage of female actors and even characters. Yet, unlike a lot of people - who are completely valid - I find that doesn't affect my enjoyment. Hitchcock was indeed a sort of monster in real life. Vertigo is the closest we'll get to experiencing that monstrosity as Judy herself is practically abused on screen.
But of course Hitchcock makes it more complex than that. No character gets off easy here, except for maybe the bloody murderer in the first place. Scottie is perhaps the most fascinating Hitchcock protagonist - ok, I guess Marion in Psycho exists, but is she a protagonist? - in that he's a character we sympathize with at first, and slowly begin to question and distrust. How does this happen? Well, I'd say for the first half of this, when Scottie is getting to know "Madeline," he's very likable. Someone trying to cope with a past tragedy, by helping a friend and solving this case.
That's the genius of this first half. Like Psycho, it totally leads you into the wrong direction, and - much like Scottie is being set up - the viewer them self is being set up to think it's about a completely different topic! Imagine watching this for the first time, with no knowledge of the genre/director/any plot points. You might think this was going to turn into supernatural horror! Or at least some sort of possession/Exorcist style thriller. Instead, that's only a ploy so that Scottie's eventual obsession can take hold.
Yet of course that was only a side effect - that's what Scottie's and "Madeline"'s falling in love has done. When Scottie thinks that Madeline herself jumped of the church and died, he begins to see her everywhere. He is truly obssessed, goes into a depressive state, cannot live without her presence. It's a desire beyond love, it's a passion. And when he finally asks Judy - the very same that he did in fact love - about herself, he begins to do a very strange, and ultimately disturbing thing. He tries to change Judy's entire being to model his image of Madeline. It has to be one of the most disturbing parts of any Hitchcock, seeing him transform her, shape her as he pleases. And then kiss not Judy, but Madeline. It's terrifying, and that swinging camera shot proves that she is one and the same to him.
And this whole time, Judy's character has been developing until she is almost as much of a protagonist as him. That final confrontation, on top the church, is so tragic. Both characters are wrought with pain, whether it is guilt, betrayal, terror. Both have done wrong things, and who knows if they yet want to forgive each other. Then, ****ing ****, the nun walking up the stairs scared the CRAP out of me! No wonder Judy slipped and fell to her death. It may seem just like a chance thing that Hitchcock threw in there, but thinking about it more and more, it's a brilliant ending.
I know that's a pretty basic analysis, one that's been done a lot. But it was my first viewing, and I have a LOT to digest. Bernard Herman's score was wonderful as usual. I understand the common complaint that it's overused, sappy, ruins the true suspense. However, I think it works beautifully for - first, helping to subvert our expectations in the first half - and then, in the second half, beautifully setting to music the burning passion both characters have. Possibly Herman's best score??
The script was never what Hitchcock movies was known for, but obviously it's good, nothing "Casablanca" or "Godfather" level. The cinematography is sooo good, those dream/vertigo scenes!!! Amazing!! I wonder what people would have thought back in 1958. It boggles my mind that this got mixed reviews when it was released. But I guess time told who was right, and now it sits proudly at - or near - the top of many, many, great movie lists. Now I can understand why.
ALTERNATE REVIEW:
It's fun fodder, and if I'd been alive in 1958, I'm sure I would've found it to be an ~enjoyable time at the cinema.~ It's really no different than a boring, problematic rom-com from the early '90s.
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