25th Hall of Fame

@Citizen Rules, I watched and posted my review of Sundays and Cybele yesterday. I think you might not have seen my review, as it isn't linked under my name on the first page.

Thank for the heads up, I'll get it now

About Elly (2009)

Holy ****!!!! What the hell did I just watch?
Damn... I wanna cry! This has to be one of the most nerve-wracking and emotional things I've ever seen!
Everything about this is so damn good! The acting is so naturalistic, the cinematography is beautiful without ever seeming detached or too artistic. The camera puts you there, with those people, feeling what they're feeling. Even those first 30 minutes, just presenting the group's dynamic and dealing with subtle emotions and announced secrets. If it was any shorter or any longer, it would have made less sense.
And then there's the drowning scene, with an amazing camera and sound work, the tension of not knowing what happened until the very end, the tension about what crimes could have been committed and how the group reacted to every new information they had...
And then there's the final reveal... After so much tension, I got to a point where I just went kind of numb, absorbing what I was seeing but barely reacting to it. And then the movie ends, and 15 seconds later everything hit me at once!
Uffff... That's Top 100 material for me! I hope that this wins this HoF!

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Today, I rewatched Chimes at Midnight on Criterion blu ray. I thought this was very well directed by Orson Welles, who also stars in it and gives a wonderful performance. I felt that the entire cast were quite good and I really liked the look of the film. The screenplay was excellent and I liked the dialogue. Out of the seven films I have seen directed by Orson Welles, I would rank this one second (after Citizen Kane). My rating is a .

Glad you liked it. It's probably my third favorite behind Citizen Kane and F for Fake. I still haven't seen The Magnificent Ambersons, Othello or The Trial. Oh, or Too Much Johnson (what a title).

Wowzers! Awesome that you dig it!

Wow! you guys are fast. Two weeks and most of you are like 2/3rds done. I'm thinking we could've had a 1 month deadline and everyone could make it.

I do think 3 months deadline is too long and not really needed. BUT I won't change the deadline now and so it stays at August 1st. But I'm sure 5 days per movie nom is more than enough time.

***I forget to mention: When you are done, hang onto your voting list and don't send it to me until after I've posted that I'm done and my voting list is finalized.

Nah, I personally wouldn't cram it. There's definitely no way that I'll finish in June, it will surely take me into July.

I rewatched Whiplash on blu ray today. Brilliantly directed by Damien Chazelle, Whiplash is about the battle of wills between a young drummer at a music conservatory and his ruthless instructor. The film is restlessly entertaining, fast paced, and an enthralling experience. Mile Teller is very good as the determined young drummer and J.K. Simmons is absolutely ferocious and fantastic as the abusive conductor. The story is told in a very engaging way and the film is never boring. The only flaw I might bring up is that at times it seems a little far fetched and not very realistic. Fletcher is extremely abusive multiple times to his students and would have most likely been reprimanded or fired years ago. It seems unlikely that he would be able to get away with his behaviour. I liked the climax, but there are elements of it that seem questionable and both main characters make decisions that don't completely fit their characters. This doesn't minimize my enjoyment of the film though and I get why it was necessary for the story. The film raises some interesting and worthwhile questions about the pursuit of greatness and what sacrifices are worth it. I appreciate that Whiplash didn't give easy or spoon fed answers one way or another, but lets the viewer decide. Regardless of how you feel about the characters or their actions, Whiplash is a great film. My rating is a .

I could use a link for The Green Years...planning on finishing this one tonight.

I got one with subs, I'll PM you.

I don't think I could make a month. I'm transitioning between this HoF and the Russian HoF.

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No need someone else got me

Yeah I was only saying some members are so fast that they will be done in a month, but no way would I make 13 movies deadline in 30 days. That would only be 2.3 days per movie. We've done 5 days per movie a couple of times and it worked out fine. But like I said the deadline isn't changing, it's still the same date.

Whiplash (2014)


Everyone who ever watched Oz and Law and Order understands JK Simmons range. The man goes from supportive to monstrous in a blink of an eye. Also looking at this film years later one has to think that Whiplash should have been the BP winner over Birdman. The film just has a cultural timeless aspect to it.


Whiplash tells the story of a teacher and student both narcissists both self-destructive. While Terrence is a monster on second watch you realize Andrew is also pretty bad in his own right and will likely go down the same route. Some scenes in this film just trigger anxiety that Hitchcock would be proud of.



The story has a dream like quality to it, I never got how time passed with this one. The film ends with the notion that we don't know if Terrence was right for his abuse or wrong. We see the manipulations of him and question if he's a good man or a parasite towards more talented people. We don't know if Andrew doesn't end up killing himself or ending up spiraling out of control with drugs. We have to be okay with the not knowing and that's all-right.

The Green Years (1963)


I don't get why people nominate films when all that's available is a crappy print. I really don't know if I even watched the complete film it felt like it was edited fairly harshly. And how do you properly judge a performance when you can't see the actor's faces. But with those two complaints out of the way looking at the film with what I got here's my take on it.


It's a solid little indie film about a young man going to a city and becoming disillusioned with life. Several of the scenes were well done and it was nice to see the differences in class between the rich and poor. I think my favorite scene was the modeling part.


With that said I don't think I'm going to score something like this highly sorry @neiba.

Well I have 3 halls to finish so once I finish this one you can elect to not open my PM. I'm not going to try and keep three ballots with a bunch of foreign films straight.

OK, that's fine, you can send it when done.