1940's Hall Of Fame Part I

Halfway through now, with 3 new watches and 3 rewatches left. I'm thinking of watching Shadow of a Doubt next.

Pursued: Sorry I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. There isn't anything particularly wrong with it, I just don't think I liked the structure very much. The mystery was very unsatisfying and the narration didn't add anything. This really would have worked better if told straight forward. This may not be fair but if I think actors are doing a poor job who I usually like it makes me feel the script is poor. That was the case with Mitchum and Wright here. Not a horrible film but one I think I will forget pretty quickly.

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Letterboxd

Arsenic And Old Lace Objectively I understand why this movie is well regarded. It is well done, and accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. However, comedy is probably the most subjective genre in a very subjective medium. On that level I really didn't like this at all. Maybe I am using this term wrong but in sitcoms I call this type of comedy situational comedy and it is very irritating for me to watch. It is chaos for chaos sake. Every situation could be resolved by clear communication but instead everyone just runs around trying to hide things from each other. It frazzles my nerves and I nearly never find any of it funny.

Some examples of things I really dislike in this movie: The sisters who are smart enough to know murder must be hidden but whenever someone finds out act like it is how things should be. Grant breaking the fourth wall with raised eyebrows a million times. Grant pushing his new bride away every ten minutes instead of explaining to her what is going on. The brother who is neither comical or horrific, I think he is supposed to be both. Half of Grant's time in the film is spent trying to get signatures to institutionalize his brother, not even sure what problem is this is supposed to solve.

That's enough for now, don't want to pile on.

Like I said you are never allowed to watch It Happened One Night. It frightens me to think about how you would react to it.

All Fixed Up Again

Laura info added back in thanks to Camo for chasing it down. Let me know if I missed something you have watched.

Great flick!

Don't ever nominate it then. The only screwball I can remember liking was You Can't Take It With You. I think that is the Capra movie with Stewart and the big family. That movie was fun. I think because the chaos seemed a part of the aesthetic and not fabricated.

Oh....and I was thinking of nominating a comedy next time too (I really was)...

I usually like old comedies...but I do understand what Sean is saying about Arsenic and Old Lace, it's not my favorite Cary Grant film.

I kind of had the same response he did...some of the characters grated on my nerves and the movie actually made me feel more tense than humorous at times. Though it was well done and I did laugh out loud a few times too.

I don't believe that it's considered a situation comedy, I think it's more of a slapstick crossed with screwball (I could easily be wrong about that).

Sean I can't remember what your opinion of Bringing Up Baby and My Man Godfrey was?

I don't believe Sean has seen Bringing Up Baby. He hadn't seen it while he was in the 11th anyway and he dropped out remember? He may have seen it since though.

Haven't seen Bringing Up Baby. I gave Godfrey 3/5, which means I liked it pretty well. I don't remember it much. I can picture the house and I think I liked the characters a good bit. I remember a goofy neighbor and a bit of a love triangle. Not sticking with me very well, I think that HOF was in 2016.

I think comedies are maybe the second riskiest movies to nominate in an Hof. Every time I think I'll do one, I chicken out! Though I'm very glad that others have nominated them. My Man Godfrey=Carol Lombard That's how I remember it. I loved that one and watched it twice for that Hof. I'm luke warm on Arsenic and Old Lace and on Bringing Up Baby.

I don't have a ton of luck with pure comedy old or new. I think the movies I laugh at the most are by ditectors who aren't known as comedy directors but bring a ton of comedic elements to their films: Coens, Tarantino, Wes Anderson.

Ahh... you like more subtle types of humor. Me too and I'm not a fan of slapstick unless it's done just right.
Yup there's a lot of natural comic moments in Moonrise Kindgom, Hail Caesar! and Pulp Fiction.

Is Hail Ceasar any good? I saw the promotions and were very sceptical. Thought it looked a bit over the top.

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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?

I'm not a fan of the Coen's, but I did for the most part really like Hail Caesar...except yes, it does go over the top at the end.

It's been reviewed 5 times here at Mofo
http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/s...her/270487/any

Most of us reviewers seemed to like it pretty well. Check out my review, it's short and to the point.

I have watched it twice, I like it but don't love it. Low end Coen for me. They certainly reward multiple viewings though, maybe more than any other directors.

The film has its moments.

The Suspect

Sorry for how short this is, it has nothing to do with the quality of the film it just happens to be one that i don't have much to say about.

I quite liked it, don't think it will become a new favourite but there's alot to like and i can see why Sean liked it so much. Loved Laughton, the first time the film got my attention was his "It might frighten you." line, it was delivered equal parts sinister and campy: awesome. He was naturally likable and charming here and i thought his character was very well handled with the major turn in events. That part was particularly well written it wasn't easy to keep Laughton likable with what happens but it worked. Something i didn't like was how they skipped over Phillip and Marys relationship; it was here's them at dinner, now a circus, look they are laughing and having a good time. I think it is a cheap way of avoiding having to put the effort into actually developing a relationship between them. I mean three minutes after they've met they are according to Mary best friends. It really spoiled any chance of me caring much about them, like the attempted emotional scene of Phillip telling her he can't see her anymore didn't work for me at all. Also Ella Raines acting during those clips was horrible especially when she had to look shocked at the circus. Actually in all honesty i don't really think Raines was very good in this overall.

One thing that unintentionally cracked me up was Mary being told "We don't sell cigarettes to ladies". I mean was that a real thing? That is hilarious to me and i'm not sure why. I know that is a really random thing to bring up but it just stuck with me for some reason haha. Overall i quite liked it; Laughton was great and i liked the story paricularly the mystery which i never really felt i had figured out, but i didn't really like any of the other performances.

That ended up longer than i expected haha. Solid nomination Ed. Just How Green Was My Valley left for me, should get to it before the new year.

You guys are whizzing through this! And then there is me, who still hasn't finished watching the last two animation nominees. But I own one and Filmstruck has the other, so it will be a breeze.

Yea that scene stood out for me too, I liked it as it really spoke to the way things were back in 1902. Yup it was a real thing, not that I was around back then but I've heard about it many times. It was a social constraint thing, and at that time the values were very Victorian. After WWI things changed rapidly in America/Europe and we basically moved into the modern era when the Flapper era occurred.