23rd MoFo Hall of Fame

It's not a negative rating. Just a neutral one.

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This is the biggest Hall of Fame since the 17th.

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything but my watching time will be extremely limited soon, so please let us know if you won't finish as soon as possible. I think we have a really solid group though and I know who is most dependable so will certainly watch those films first. No offense to the newer people.

Wish I could have joined, but the Mandatory Saturday's really cuts into my viewing time. There are so many films i would have liked to have seen here as well.
Hopefully the next one

THANKS Vicky!
WILL DO!!

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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

~Mr Minio

Jojo Rabbit, for being a World War II satire about a young Nazi, is actually a pretty safe movie. Of course there are edgier jokes (some of which aren't very funny), but it's also a really, really, heartwarming movie. A lot of this is Roman Griffin Davis being amazing, but a lot of it is also the wonderful script. If you're looking for a profound satire along the lines of Dr. Strangelove or Fight Club, you probably will be disappointed. If you're looking for a warm, lovely, film - here you have it.

And the second time around, I laughed harder at the funny jokes, and laughed less at the stupid ones. The good moments were separated from the bad ones, and same with the accents. There was more to take in, and more to enjoy. I had no idea if a film like this (which really relies heavily on one plot device) could hold up on a second viewing. But it truly does.

From the get-go, we are introduced to characters who feel real, but also absolutely bizarre. However, sometimes, Jojo Rabbit navigates its difficult politics by, well, not really navigating it at all. Take Klezendorf, a Nazi who clearly is not all that interested in the war. He even helps Jojo out later on in the film (twice!). I expected an interesting arc, but instead, the movie sort of pushes him out of the way. I think we can all safely say here that all Nazis can go ****ing die... because Klezendorf is a Nazi, but also does good in the film, does that make him a good character? Evil character? It makes me glad that Tarantino, in Inglourious Basterds, chose to just say "**** all of them" instead of trying to manipulate the audience into thinking some of them were good.

Damn, this is turning into a rather negative review for a movie I really liked! Maybe it's because for each rewatch, flaws become more and more apparent in a movie. For Jojo Rabbit, there are a lot of them. But they don't bother me that much. I don't think this movie is trying to be all that unique and quirky after all. It's just trying to tell a comforting story (as comforting as Nazi Germany can be), and let us know that good does exist in the world.

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Le Samouraï

[hitman enters the room of the bar owner]
Bar Owner: Qui êtes vous? Who are you?
Jeff Costello: Ça n'a pas d'importance. Doesn't matter.
Bar Owner: Qu'est-ce que vous voulez? What do you want?
Jeff Costello: Pour te tuer. To kill you.
[shoots him]

I am in FULL agreement with everyone so far: this IS the epitome of Cool. And while I usually wait til the very end to thank someone for the enjoyment I had, I will be doing so at the very beginning. THANK YOU @Siddon!

As I remarked previously, I was introduced to this film during the 60s Countdown. Opening the door to other like films such as Le Cercle Rouge (also by Melville). Another, Army of Shadows I have YET to see and truly need to.
I can very easily see the inspiration for the following generations of film makers. One in particular, for me, would be Luc Besson in his early films like La Femme Nikita and Léon. Specifically the secret knock Jeff uses for the card game. Three knocks, two knocks, one knock; I'm sure Besson used it as a salute in the pivotal hotel scene before the explosive confrontation with the entire police force.

I am overjoyed to have gotten to FINALLY rewatch this film and delve deeper into the nuances in the comfort of familiarity as opposed to the captivated first watch where I hungrily delved into every composition of procedures that Melville is very capable of expositioning WITHOUT slowing down any of the pacing or story line one iota. An incredible feat that few can truly pull off and definitely not at this caliber.
With Alain Delon as Jeff Costello, those subtle nuances are expressed far more than the minimalist dialogue and we see it in his eyes in so many scenes. Such as the first time he is stealing a car, using a large key ring of some outrageous amount of keys. We see the almost nervous concern as he stays utterly motionless above the sight of the windows, trying key after key. The tension is far more real then the bravado of most action heroes that act nonchalantly. Leaving nothing beneath the Hollywood facade.
That inner turmoil beneath the veneer is seen in many of the people of this film and, like the scenes themselves, express far more on a variety of levels.

A seriously top notch crime film as well as a very, very seriously top notch film altogether.
BRAVO, @Siddon! F@ckin BRAVO.

That was very much my perception as well. In fact I was wonderfully surprised how warm, how lovely it turned out to be.

I should be watching JoJo and The Skin I Live In within the next couple days. Then I'll be trying something new.

An Egyptian film that is ACTUALLY Egyptian (as in, it is Egyptian produced and in Arabic), The Night of Counting the Years takes time to get used to. It is incredibly unique, often quiet and melancholy, but also menacing and profound. It's not something that so much as entertained me, as it did open my eyes.

Taking place in 1881, the first thing that struck me was that this was a clear tale about the relationship between Egypt and Britain (who occupied Egypt at the time). These types of stories - often crime based - that still examine cultural divides, are really cool to watch. There are only a handful of really successful examples (The Farewell or Madame Butterfly come to mind), and The Night of Counting the Years certainly checks the box.

In fact, it's made all the more real when I saw this was based on a true story. An Egyptian clan was raiding and stealing artifacts from tombs of mummies, in order to illegally sell them later. We are confronted with interesting questions about the past, ancestry, and how our lives our impacted by the people before us. In this case, the ancestors of this Egyptian clan are quite literally helping them out as they try to stay on the surface financially.

Three civilizations. One lost in the sand, one the "greatest in the world", and one trying desperately to stay afloat, only to be crushed by the "greater" one. There is so much to examine below the surface here, and if you've noticed I haven't really done much to answer any of the questions I think the movie is asking. That's probably part of the point. It's tricky, and it's often mysterious; much like the hundreds of mummies will continue to rot under the hot sand for millenia.

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You, Sir, have me intrigued now.
Watching whilst performing a headstand?
Watching them via a strategically placed mirror whilst facing the other direction??
Underwater viewing???
G'wan, give us a clue....

I can't remember who said it originally, but I know my room mate and I repeated it a few times: "Who would've thought that the feel-good comedy of the year would be a film about a Nazi kid with Hitler as an imaginary friend?"

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I have some spare time over the next couple of weeks.. Im hoping to have it pretty much done, however the issue is.. not all of these are streaming free on the platforms I have.

If you can't find something just give me a PM, I got ya covered

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LOL I f@ckin LOVE that!!

I also knocked out Gangs of New York and will get a review up in the next few days.

This is one of those films where I have really no idea if I agree with what the movie is really saying. No idea if I understand what it's really saying. No idea if it's saying anything. There are certainly arcs and segments that seem not only bizarre, but quite honestly, just plain wrong. It's messed up, but not in the same way as most horror movies. It's disturbing, but more than that, it's a twisted reality and set of moral laws.

But, all of that said, god damn this was really well made. The music is a brilliant mix of softer piano themes, intense strings, and more. During an early scene with a certain tiger, the music is almost something you might hear out of a Marvel movie. Later on, it gets sadder and a bit more contemplative. The film itself never quite slows down.

At the heart of it is the relationship between Robert and Vera. After you realize what it really is, it's... odd, to say the least. It's part of the reason that the morality of the movie confuses me so much. I don't think anyone could justify a relationship like that, but I also don't think the movie wants us to.

My favorite parts of the movie, however, were the flashbacks in which we get to know each of the character's backstories. Sometimes flashbacks can distract from the main story, or add another unneeded subplot, but when done correctly they are some of the most effective techniques in movies. The Skin I Live in chops up its flashbacks in a really cool way, and seeing the story slowly thread together was fascinating.

In many ways, actually, I hate The Skin I Live in. However, it's a rare movie where I love so much of the content that I can kind of forget about the questionable elements. Besides, after one viewing, I'm not sure I could really point out what questionable elements were intentional and which ones weren't... either way, it's a unique experience. And that's why we come to the movies after all, isn't it?

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I watched Le Samouraï today. Full review in a few days, but it was okay. I have some issues with it but it's easy to see its impact on later films.

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Very happy to see review of The Skin I Live In! Glad you mostly liked it, ahwell. It’s a truly messed up movie and it really blew me away when I watched it. I hope the other reviews for it will be at least as positive as yours.