The 11th Hall of Fame

It sounds like you kind of misunderstood parts of Her,CR. I don't have time to discuss it now though.

Anyways, I think I'm going for Samurai Rebellion in a few minutes.

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Shame you didn't like Her more, Citizen.

I found Samantha completely believable. I'm not sure what sort of visual reference you were expecting/hoping for though? In any case, I can completely buy that someone would fall in love with an OS as advanced as Samantha. People gain strong emotional attachments to people on forums and chatrooms, even though the person on the other side of the conversation is really nothing to them but text and there's no way to really know how much of what is being said is truth.

I think giving the voice a mechanical sound would've been distracting and taken away from the believability since it would have made her feel less real and more artificial. Also, Samantha's voice was recorded in post production, but Phoenix was in the studio with her reading his lines to give her a frame of reference. I thought the tone matched quite well.

As to the double date, eh, I didn't think it was too far fetched. Pratt's character admires Theodore and seems to have an open, accepting personality type as well. It should also be noted that while Theodore and Samantha's relationship wasn't necessarily the norm, it wasn't unheard of either. Samantha herself had multiple relationships with humans, Amy had befriended an OS and knew someone who was dating somebody else's OS. And (unlike something like Lars and the Real Girl) it's not like everyone in Theodore's life was accepting of it. His ex had a pretty nasty reaction to it so it had that balance.

Anyway, just my two cents.

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Flowers of War

A very powerful film. The most standout point of the film is its imagery. The film is simply stunning to look at and the costume design was superb. The story itself is quite depressing but it is really touching at the same time. It was great to see the chemistry that Bale had with the girls, initially I thought it would be a problem of the film but as the film went on over time it was really magnificent. It's hard to judge a film like this as it isn't something I would rush to see again, but it was really well done and the story feels really important. I felt like for an event that happened in the thirties it almost felt too modern. Just a minor negative to the film but I don't have anything to really bash it. The acting and the direction of the film were great as well. Films like this are always appreciated by me in a Hall of Fane format, even if I would say they likely won't gain enough of a fan base to win it.

On Her, in short, @CR's points

Samantha is supposed to be artificial intelligence, as in software developed to evolve and work on its own. It's not like Siri with pre-programmed answers and whatnot. Also, look at voice response then and now. Siri is actually pretty fluent compared to a few years ago, just imagine how it would be in the future. And her natural way of speaking also made us relate to her easier and that is also the reason for falling in love with "an operating system" and why it IS believable in the future. Theodore fell in love with the voice, personality etc and I think Miss Vicky was spot on about all that.

I mean, Just imagine the love of your dream becoming a reality. A person who is just like you want them to be; say the right things; help you with no complains. Imagine that for a second and put yourself in Theodore's place and the setting of the movie; a lonely introvert looking to overcome a past relationship in an advanced technological world - and also with a job that is focused on love as a language and not as a person per say.

About the tonal differences in their voices, I saw it as how Theodore had this little earpiece where he would hear Samantha speak, so as an audience, we also receive the sound crystal clear like she is talking directly to us;that's why her voice fills the room like that and seems more upfront and dominate. I think it was a very effective and wise choice, so we could also be spellbound by the operating system ourselves.

Glad you mentioned that because I was just doing some work and thinking about that. In the movie Joaquin has a computer game that creates a talking hologram. So if I was the director (well I can dream can't I...) I would have used the same semi-transparent hologram technique with Scarlet Johansson. That way we would have a more visual road into Samantha. Her, was on my watch list, so I'm glad it was nominated BTW.

I've seen that happen on discussion boards too. I actually know of two sets of people who met, fell in love and got married from a discussion board. One of my old boards actually. And NO not me!

I don't mean mechanical sounding per say, but something like the difference between your speaking voice being recorded in a room vs your speaking voice being recorded and played back by a speaker. It has a different pitch.

I liked Lars and the Real Girl, I thought it was well done and it worked for me as I started viewing his doll girl friend as a real character in the movie.

I liked the part in Her with his ex wife and her objections to his relationship with a computer, as his ex was saying what I thought of his relationship. When watching the film I had intended to put that into my review, but forget so yeah good scene.

Just to let you guys know, I'll be starting a 56 hour shift tomorrow with breaks around 9pm (gmt +1), so tomorrow somewhere around there I'll post my review of Samurai Rebllion, but then I won't have time to watch anything until the weekend. With that, I'll say good night and finish off the movie.

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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?

You have a 56 hour work shift? Ouch! I hope you drink lots of coffee.

@Citizen

It seems odd to me that you have an easier time accepting a doll -which is a body without a voice or movement - than a voice without a body that is capable of expressing actual emotions.

In any case, I hated Lars and absolutely could not buy the widespread acceptance of his relationship.

MM, I'm not as outdated as you think! I know about A.I
I'm a huge sci fan fan.....I got that part. Samantha was a sentient OS, self aware with emotions.

Question for you and Miss Vicky and everyone who's seen Her....Would you enter into a relationship with a female Samantha OS or a male Sam OS?

Never touched the stuff. 'Night.

I don't know if I can answer that, CR. You never know how you're going to react to any unusual situation until it happens. So I'm going to say maybe. I could definitely see a friendship happening with an OS. I think it's not too big of a stretch to see that evolving into more.

That's an unfair question in your favor.

I would want to say most likely not. But I'm not living in the future, you know...

Her works not because I neccessarily see myself in Theodore's place, but because the film does a good enough job for me to have the thought cross my mind - even if it's in absurdity - and at the least the movie convinces me really well with the relationship between Samantha and Theodore and that's enough for me to think it to be possible. Maybe not now but definitely in the future. That said, for some people it's probably closer than you think...

Man, I'm really looking forward to rewatching Her and Bringing Up Baby for this.

I haven't seen it yet, but I can safely say I can't imagine doing that. However, I never thought I'd be so deep into a forum like this either.

Thanks, that's a fair answer and I'm sure not an easy question for everyone to respond to...But I do hope some of you reply.

So, it's only fair I try to answer... and for me, no. I had this emotional response to 'Samantha' that made me mistrust it, fear it and not bond to it, in anyway. Notice I said it and not her, because personally I can't feel like an A.I. will ever be anything like human. I was hoping in the end of the movie Joaquin's character would realize what he was doing was escapist and delusional and 'pull the plug' on Samantha and send her to AI oblivion.

Yeah i wouldn't date Samantha but i'd take MovieForums out to dinner.

Also just want to point out how someone just bumped this thread - Avatars - Are you tied to yours?

I'll attempt to tackle Kiss Kiss Bang Bang tomorrow probably

Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998)
Imdb

Date Watched: 9/27/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: The 11th MoFo Hall of Fame
Rewatch: No

I don't have any real complaints about this film - the acting was solid (and featured quite a few familiar faces including a Game of Thrones alum or two), the story was interesting, and the cinematography matched the film's gritty tone - but I definitely didn't love it. It has some exciting car chases, car crashes, explosions, and cool shoot-outs and for that I could enjoy it on a superficial level. However, I never established any emotional investment in its characters, so when one was betrayed or killed I felt nothing for them. This is not necessarily the fault of the film and I'm not sure that this type of story truly requires an emotional investment from its audience for the average viewer to like it, but it is something that I require.

I have nothing but respect for what the film does well and for that I'll give it a good rating, however it's just not my cup of tea.

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Samurai Rebellion
It wasn’t easy finding a decent copy of this film, but thanks to cricket I did at least find one that was more or less watchable. But being the cinephile I am, with a tendency to track down the best quality possible for a film in order to get the best possible viewing experience and not miss a single detail, it really is a shame that ‘Samurai Rebellion’ has yet to hit any type of HD format.

Anyways, ‘Samurai Rebellion’ is a film I’m very happy to have finally watched, but I kind of wish it wasn’t nominated for a Hall of Fame to be honest (and that's purely a personal thing). It clearly stands as a competent piece of cinema, but because of the combination of a lot of things, I feel like I didn’t get everything I could out of this film. I won’t strike down on one singular reason, but I feel like everything from the sub-par quality, to the classic status, to the ambiguous nature of the movie were all partners in crime to make this a viewing experience instead of an experience viewing. There was a lot of things wrong with my viewing of it and it also feels like, most of all, it was one of those films where you have to be completely invested and immersed to enjoy the film to the fullest. It is one of those films that I can already call great but won’t certify as such until a second viewing.

It is really hard to explain, but the viewing and the viewer has to be connected for a film to fully work and with my viewing only the film worked. I was a little to distanced and it really is a shame… The best I can do is to revisit the film right before the deadline and hopefully that will give me enough time between the two viewings to award this film with the rating and ranking it deserves… For now, I’ll not comment further on the film out of respect for the film and because I won’t lower myself to a point where I will discuss something without being able to stand behind what I say.