34th Hall of Fame

Indeed, a hearty thanks to @Citizen Rules for all your work in herding us goslings (pun there?) across the finish line. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience and reading the wide range of opinions on these diverse films. I enjoyed them all and it was satisfying to write up my reviews, though I apologize for the occasional tedious length. So much to admire! Nine of these were new watches for me and certainly improved the quality of the reviews I was able to also write up for my own movie blog.

I wasn't totally off in left field. My 1 through 6 overlapped with the final 1 through 6, though with some titles swapping places. Leila was completely new to me and my No. 1, followed by Past Lives. A close call! Leila was a terrific pairing with Rocco, worthy of a comparison essay that I never got around to writing. While these could be read as dramas of dysfunctional families, I feel the filmmakers primarily intended them as warnings for countries at a crossroads. This, to me, explained some of the behavior, which was hard to understand from a purely story-telling perspective, but which fit as representative of cultural and social movements that were colliding.

Thanks for the opportunity to participate!

__________________
Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain ... only straw. Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they? Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

Glad you liked my nomination of The Good, The Bad, the Weird. Such great adventure, great entertainment. I saw it first w/o subtitles and was able to follow the action while understanding virtually nothing of the dialog. I will admit, though, when it came decision time, I ranked it at No. 8. Tried to choose a midpoint: a compromise between films that had thoughtful premises and pure enjoyment.

Leila's Brothers was my #1 for a long while I thought that it might actually win. I think you're on to something with Leila Brothers and Rocco and His Brothers ultimately being about 'countries at a crossroad', I think that's apt and describes the films even more precisely than being about dysfunctional families, which of course they were. Both films were favorites of mine.

It use to be traditional that the members would post their voting list at the end of the HoF. Not a requirement, just something we use to do. This is my voting list:

CR
1 Gone With the Wind
2 At Play in the Fields of the Lord
3 Leila's Brothers
4 Inside Moves
5 Rocco and his Brothers
6 Before the Rain
7 Goldeneye
8 The Good the Bad the Weird
9 Past Lives
10 Persona
11 Pariah
12 Blue
13 The Peoples Joker

The top 5 I really liked. For the rest I can still say that they were excellent in doing what the film maker's set out to achieve.

oh right forgot we did this afterwards here's how my ballot went:

1. the people's joker
2. blue
3. leila's beothers
4. persona
5. past lives
6. pariah
7. at play in the fields of the lord
8. rocco and his brothers
9. goldeneye
10. the good, the bad and the weird
11. inside moves
12. before the rain
13. gone with the wind

OK ... here we go ...

1 Leila's Brothers
2 Past Lives
3 Before the Rain
4 Pariah
5 Persona
6 Rocco and his Brothers
7 At Play in the Fields of the Lord
8 Gone with the Wind
9 The Good the Bad the Weird
10 The People's Joker
11 Inside Moves
12 Blue
13 Goldeneye

I've always felt it gauged how good a HoF is when at least five noms are above yours when you vote. Nice treasure trove, that
And yes, LOOOVE Good/Bad/Weird.


And of course,

1. Leila's Brothers (2022)
2. The Good, The Bad, and The Weird (2008)
3. Past Lives(2023)
4. Inside Moves (1980)
5. Before the Rain (1994)
6. Persona (1966)
7. Pariah (2011)
8. At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)
9. Rocco & His Brothers (1960)
10. Gone With The Wind (1939)
11. GoldenEye (1995)
12. The People's Joker (2022)
13. Blue (1993)

Definitely a case where I fully believed I gave a disservice to the end of the list. Any of them could have gone higher in another HoF.

Past Lives
Blue
Rocco and His Brothers
The People's Joker
Persona
Leila's Brothers
Pariah
Inside Moves
Before the Rain
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
The Good, the Bad, and the Weird
Goldeneye
Gone with the Wind

The top six were all very close for me.

1. Gone with the Wind
2. Persona
3. Before the Rain
4. Past Lives
5. The Good, the Bad, the Weird
6. Leila’s Brothers
7. Pariah
8. At Play in the Fields of the Lord
9. Rocco & His Brothers
10. Inside Moves
11. The People’s Joker
12. GoldenEye
13. Blue

I haven't been watching much so I needed this to keep me in the game. Thank you CR and congrats Raul!

1. Leila's Brothers
2. Rocco and His Brothers
3. Past Lives
4. Pariah
5. Before the Rain
6. Inside Moves
7. Gone with the Wind
8. Persona
9. At Play in the Fields of the Lord
10. Blue
11. The People's Joker
12. The Good, the Bad, the Weird
13. Goldeneye

...and with this I slide my Hall of Fame 34 folder into the MoFo folder on my computer.

1 - Leila's Brothers
2 - Past Lives
3 - Persona
4 - Pariah
5 - Before the Rain
6 - Rocco and His Brothers
7 - Blue
8 - Goldeneye
9 - Gone With the Wind
10 - Inside Moves
11 - The Good, the Bad, and the Weird
12 - The People's Joker
13 - At Play in the Fields of the Lord

__________________

Thanks, Citizen. I think I've placed in the middle more than any other placement. Not sure if that's a sign of being controversial or mediocre.

1. Before the Rain
2. Past Lives
3. Rocco and his Brothers
4. Inside Moves
5. Leila's Brothers
6. Gone With the Wind
7. Blue
8. Persona
9. Pariah
10. The Good, The Bad, The Weird
11. At Play in the Fields of the Lord
12. Goldeneye
13. The People's Joker

Here's mine:
1. Past Lives
2. Goldeneye
3. Persona
4. Pariah
5. Gone With the Wind
6. Rocco and His Brothers
7. Inside Moves
8. Leilas Brothers
9. Before the Rain
10. The Good The Bad and the Weird
11. At Play in the Fields of the Lord
12. Peoples Joker
13. Blue

I'm glad Leila and her brothers took second place! Excellent movie that I don't mind my pick, Persona, losing to.


I kinda had a feeling after watching Past Lives that it was going to win the whole thing. I preferred Persona, but I have to admit that I was more emotionally moved by Past Lives. An A+ movie, no question.


I'm sad that People's Joker didn't place better, but I definitely understand it not being everyone's cup of tea.

My list:


1. Persona
2. Past Lives
3. Leila's Brothers
4. Pariah
5. People's Joker
6. Before the Rain
7. Inside Moves
8. Goldeneye
9. Good, the Bad, the Weird
10. Rocco and His Brothers
11. At Play in the Fields of the Lord
12. Blue

Even as the host I had no idea what movies were favored to win and which would come in towards the bottom of the pack. My only input was the reviews people wrote and I could tell from the responses that Past Lives, Persona and Leila and Her Brothers, were all front runners. I expected The People's Joker to do better than it did and I though it might place in the middle of the pack. I expected my own nom At Play in the Fields of the Lord to come in last place after I read the member's reviews.

Thank you so much for running the event!

Thanks I appreciate that