The 27th General Hall of Fame

Cure (1997)

My second favorite Kurosawa after Pulse (possibly counting both directors bearing the name, I'd need to rewatch a couple from the more famous one). I liked this a tiny bit more on a rewatch (the rating remains the same, though), as the odd main antagonist didn't draw so much of my attention. He's a kind of annoying interpretation of the abyss staring back at you.

What Cure does the best is evoking a feeling that something is terribly wrong with the world. It has this cold, Lovecraftian feel to it. To understand is to go insane. The whole film seems to be about projecting this unsettling emptiness beyond human understanding, and I assume the film only gets better the more you can ignore the police procedural as a conventional story and embrace the cosmic horror beyond.

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Also, sent my ballot and I'm officially done.

I watched this yesterday and I was searching for a good description and this nails it for me.
Nicely done.

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I've got a few things left to watch, but the plan is to binge them tonight and tomorrow. I watched True Romance, just need to write about it.

I'm with ya on that, got My Dog Skip and Cure, (enjoyed that one) and if anyone has it I need a link for Mad Love, I am very much in the mood to see that today.

Oh, and One Cut of the Dead, please - THANKS

Sent!

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THANKS Speling!

Not sure if you still need a link for this or not, but I'll send one just in case!

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EDIT -- I meant yes, I do, so THANK YOU!

Oops, sorry. Forgot to send you a link for One Cut of the Dead as well.

no worries but thanks

Also, my apologies, but the link for Mad Love continually lags every few minutes and I'm only twenty minutes in, so, if there is another link for it, please and thank you.
And BTW, I am enjoying the insanity of this one so I'd rather continue to do so sans, lagging

Sadly, that's the only solid link I'm aware of. If you go to the #F player below the video though, it gives you an option to save the video to your computer (I've done this before and I can confirm it's safe). You might have to download subtitles separately, but there's some sites you can do for that, too. Let me know if you need help with it.

Or, if you don't want to go through all that convoluted stuff, there's a Dailymotion link to the film. Only thing to note about it though is that it's divided up into two parts and has a couple ad breaks throughout, but if you're cool with that, check it out (I'll send the Dailymotion link to you in a minute).

The #F player rocks, but the #M player blows I'm guessing we're talking about the same movie site? If so I've been watching Batman the 1960s TV series there and it's always the #F player that I choose.

Thanks for everything. I'll try daily first and if it becomes a hassle I will try the #F.

Yeah, it's the link you sent me at the start of this Hall, I believe.

Switching it to #F made a HUGE difference and finished it off this afternoon along with Thunder Road.
So, again, THANKS

L'amour Braque aka Mad Love (1985)


Director Andrzej Zulawski exhibits and expresses just that with L'amour Braque.
Features two French actors I love and have scarcely skimmed the surface of their films, Sophie Marceau and Tchéky Karyo, we traverse the full extremes of madness. From the nonsensical foolishness to tormented anguish. Every gesture, dialogue, and facial tick runs the exaggerated gambit to the point that insanity IS normality for everyone in this film.

I am unsure if I am "primed" by previous nominations or if my appreciation for the two previously mentioned actors allowed me to immerse myself into the poetic gibberish and emotional outbursts interspersed with sex and violence. Still, while, at times, I sat scowling, I did remain engaged and curious about how this rabbit hole would collapse upon itself and its residents.

I could easily see myself viewing this again to catch every character's "craziness" on exhibit.
A dark, volatile, sexually driven themed excursion with moments of exuberant folly, L'amour Braque is shot well, performed exceedingly well, and could either be an enigma to examine or merely an absurdity to appreciate and experience. Either way, I am glad to have it nominated.

Set in 1946, The Secret of Roan Inish follows Fiona (Jeni Courtney), a young girl who, after the death of her mother, is sent to live with her grandparents near the coast. It is there that she learns about the island of Roan Inish, where the family used to live before the war, as well as the mysterious disappearance of her little brother, Jamie.

This is a film I hadn't heard of before; my experience with John Sayles is limited to Eight Men Out. But I thought it was a pretty solid and charming family film. Most of the performances were good, but I gotta give it to Courtney, who I think did a pretty good job of carrying most of the film on her own.

Still, there are some things as far as the mythology goes that are brushed over or not addressed at all, and the way the plot unfolds feels a bit scattered or meandering. There's a simplicity to how the film operates that can be seen as a strength or a weakness. Sayles' direction is not flashy, but it gets the job done.

I saw the film about a week or two ago, and already there are things that have vanished from my mind. But there's such a gentleness and a charm to its innocence that kinda stays with you. If there's something to it is that I can see myself showing this to my kids when they get a little older.

Grade:

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