The 11th Hall of Fame

I really made you go from happy to sad real fast when you realised I wouldn't be able to boost your nomination to the number one spot, huh?

I didn't join because I didn't think I could finish it. I joined the 9th HoF which became the first HoF I ever dropped out of... I then said in the thread for the 10th HoF that I would participate as a joker, but I didn't watch a single movie for that one.

So, my plan was/is to join this HoF as a joker and see if I can complete it and if all goes well and it seems like I can commit to movie watching on a proper level again, I'll join the 12th for real.

__________________
/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

Samurai Rebellion



I didn't have huge expectations going into this one, namely because I saw that Kobayashi was the same person who directed Harakiri, a movie that I liked but did not love. With this one, I felt there was more heart behind it and a bigger story to tell. Here we see a story about a husband and wife through the eyes of the husband's father, interesting enough because at the ending of the film he says nobody will ever know the story of the two to their own son. I really thought that was a pretty neat twist to the movie.

The film looked phenomenal. From everything to the cinematography and the design of the sets, it was a film that brought forth a really great atmosphere. I will echo was I believe Miss Vicky said in the sense that I thought it was great that there wasn't too many samurai scenes, instead we got to go in depth and learn about the characters in the film more. When there were sword scenes at the end, they were really well done and they weren't drawn on for too long.

The movie started rather slow for me but it gained steam real quick. I was fully invested in the story and the characters and this was a real good start to kicking off the 11th Hall of Fame for me. Glad Cricket nominated it because I wouldn't have had this film on my radar.

Wish MM joined this thing, could have cemented a Her win.

Well, I'm all for joining.

Camo. Hey Camo.

Camo.

Hint hint.

No, I still have some hope that your opinion will matter. The first HOF I joined, gbg watched all of the movies and was given a vote even though she hadn't officially joined and didn't nominate a film.

I was none too pleased about that because she HATED my nomination, but I'll be quite happy if you end up getting a vote.

Go watch my movie! If you give it a ++, I'll let you join!

Indeed.

Of course, but its true that in a couple of previous HoF I did not discuss all the movies nominated (I didn't talk about one of two movies in the sci fi HoF and in the war HoF). That applies to most people though, since I always notice that many people do not discuss the movies I nominate. For example, only 3-4 people out of 8 said anything at all about Gunbuster in the sci-fi HoF.

Indeed. Their behavior is extremely ignorant but it was my mistake to give attention to them in the first place.

So how much do I have to post to count as someone contributing?

Is this enough or not?

Indeed. I already did better than him in this one.

Glad you liked Samurai Rebellion Raul The title is misleading and isn't the original title intended by the director, but rather the American title intended to draw action fans.

The discussion is done, Guap. Let it be.

How about proving yourself in the future instead of proving yourself in the past. The latter is impossible while the former is definitely plausible. We are going in circles by now.

Sorry for adding to that argument earlier, wasn't my place as I didn't have all the info. I'd rather just leave it up to Guap and Camo to figure out, so I won't get involved with it anymore.

Anyway.. I'm gonna try another one of these tonight, unless I decide to do one for the Silent HoF instead. I'm thinking Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang or Samurai Rebellion is in order.

These questions were already answered. You're required to do a write up of at least a single paragraph where you talk about the nominated movie specifically.

Not necessarily. If he's planning to rewatch the film before the deadline, then he is under no obligation to say much if anything until he sees it again.

__________________

I saw this before and didn't think much of it. I didn't think much of it this time either, but I wanted to try it again so I'm glad it was nominated. I hate the narration at the beginning and end, especially with the little tricks that go with it. Downey plays what seems to be the same character he always plays, and that is fine. I like Val Kilmer even though I find him to be a very enigmatic actor, and he does a pretty nice job. I did not care for Michelle Monaghan in this movie, even though I usually like her in everything. I just feel like she was miscast. Overall, I think the movie is a basic, average action/comedy. Some of it is entertaining, and some of it feels forced and falls flat. I think the best part of the movie is the fact that Kilmer's character is gay, and the jokes that result from it. To me, one of the film's main goals is to be witty. That's what I see from the delivery, but the results are hit or miss. This seems to be a very popular movie, but I don't see the appeal.

Behold, Aguirre the Wrath of God 3 (you should know which movie is supposed to be the Aguirre 2 if you are a serious cinephile).

When I began watching this film I had conflicting thoughts in the sense that I felt like this was one of those leftwing style movies depicting how bad "white men" is to the native populations of Latin America. Also, it's a movie in black and white made in 2015 which means it's certainly something with artistic pretensions. That can be a good or a bad thing. Anyway, when I embarked on this movie at first it felt boring and arid but slowly but surely it won over me.

As a South American myself, the vegetation depicted in the movie felt quite familiar, although I am from the south of Brazil, thousands of kilometers from where the amazon forest is, the "style" of the vegetation still is familiar. Also, among the films' multitude of characters there was one Brazilian guy (or at least Portuguese speaker), you know, the one pretending to be the messiah? That's a fellow Brazilian there, almost had an orgasm from hearing good'ol portuguese there.

Also, this movie represents the fascination the west has with primitive indigenous peoples. This fascination is very old and present for instance in Rousseau, who regarded native tribes as something uncorrupted by civilization. Still it feels a bit hypocritical to be advocating for the superiority and purity of uncivilized tribes and complaining about its violation by "white men", while being a westerner living in the center of western civilization.

Anyway, this film is an experience. It's value is not as a story but it's atmosphere, in a way it's similar to great movies like Tarkovsky's and represents the bright side of art films. As well as being something that looks like a thing that is just the type of stuff that Swan would like.

Anyway, it's ending even takes a bite of 2001. A great movie for serious film fans and right now my 2nd favorite for this HoF, after Bashu.

I though Her was very good but I wouldn't think it's "won" this HoF because there are several other excellent movies in there (like Bashu , perhaps the best Central Asian film ever dude).

I'm sorry about that, but I didn't ask to submit a list for that HoF. After I watched all the movies, they asked me to submit a list. I wouldn't have done it if I knew there were objections to my submitting a list. (But somebody's nom had to be last on my list. It just happened to be yours in that HoF.)

If it makes you feel any better, I've seen the movie Her and I liked it a lot. I think it has a good chance to do very well in this HoF.

__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Clearly no film has won this HOF, it just got started and some people haven't watched any films for it yet. Her is just an early front-runner. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays in the lead, but I'm not holding my breath since my noms usually end up somewhere in the middle of the final voting.

Anyway, I just finished Good Bye Lenin!, need to collect my thoughts and then I'll post a write-up. I also was actually able to make it over to the library to pick up Bringing Up Baby so I'll get to it soon. I might even watch another film tonight.

Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2003)
Imdb

Date Watched: 9/21/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: The 11th MoFo Hall of Fame
Rewatch: No

Going into this film, I knew virtually nothing about this period in Germany's history. I think the only other film I've seen that addresses it all is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which doesn't exactly focus on it. I also did exactly zero research on the film and didn't actually read Cosmic's write-up on it so I could watch it without prejudice.

Good Bye Lenin! is a very funny and heartfelt film about a young man's struggle to protect his ill mother from the drastic changes that occurred in East German culture while she had been in coma. Though the comedy is bittersweet, it feels a little wrong to laugh at the lengths the young man goes to conceal the truth and to build a fictional world for his mother, but his methods are both ingenious and absurd.

The two key performances - Daniel Brühl as Alex and Katrin Saß as his mother - are both excellent and I really enjoyed seeing Brühl in this sort of role. My previous experiences with him (Inglourious Basterds and Rush) had been with emotionally cold characters, but here there was none of that. Alex's unabashed love of his mother, his family, and his girlfriend actually warmed my cold, bitchy heart - just a little. Both actors also really seemed to capture and convey the conflicting emotions of their characters - particularly as each had to confront the other's lies - not just in their words but in their expressions and mannerisms.

Ultimately, there's nothing truly revelatory in this tale of familial love but it's effective and highly engaging just the same. This is a film I likely would never have seen if left to my own devices and I'm really glad I had this opportunity to give it a try.