14th Hall of Fame

I'm glad this is already on and looking forward to watch all the noms:

M (1931, Lang) - I've heard a lot about this but never seen it. I hope I'm gonna get a copy
La Grande Illusion (1937, Renoir) - seen it some 10 years ago
Empire of Passion (1978, Oshima) - seen it but don't remember much of it
Dom Za Vesanje (1988, Kusturica) - seen it
Barton Fink (1991, Coen) - seen it, don't remember
Night on Earth (1991, Jarmusch) - seen it a week ago and many times before
Lone Star (1996, Sayles) - never seen, never heard
The Hurricane (1999, Jewison) - ditto
Black Snake Moan (2006, Brewer) - ditto
Mommy (Dolan, 2014) - i meant to see it but never got to it
Contratiempo (2016, Paulo) - never seen, never heard
Passengers (2016, Tyldum) - seen it just recently but I gladly rewatch it

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Five taxi drivers in Los Angeles, New York, Rome, Paris and Helsinki all driving at the same time in different time zones. Just the idea is very unique. I like this film very much and have seen it numerous times.

Los Angeles – we see Corky character played by Winona Ryder. I’m not going into the story, just meant to say Winona Ryder didn’t strike me as a taxi driver type or even auto-mechanic. But I respect Jarmusch’s choice of cast.

New York – now this was really funny and I enjoyed every second of it. Two fools with the same hats although Yo Yo stipulates many times it is not the same because his hat is fresh. Who wouldn’t like Helmut Krokenberger playing those stupid whistles. Yo Yo thinks his name his not Helmut but Helmet (Lampshade come here!). And Helmut thinks Yo Yo is a spielzeug (toy). And then Angela comes to scene and only after half an hour she notices her brother in law is actually driving his own fare. Now I wonder how Helmut got his job as a taxi driver?

Rome – my favourite one of the stories. Now let me tell you, Roberto Benigni was at his best there and 70 % of it was a pure improvisation (I think). That was just amazing. I speak fluent Italian so I enjoyed it thoroughly. OMG that crazy confession and poor priest trying to take his pills. That was hilarious.

Paris - driver in Paris was pissed and tired and a blind woman could read him very well. She knew more about him even though could not see him. I like also the scene 2 ambassadors laughing like crazy and ridiculing the taxi driver.

Helsinki – the saddest and most serious one. Just when you think you lost everything and there is no hope there is always someone with a worse story.

I like to watch this movie because it’s cool to travel all over the globe and see the small stories of the small people. It makes you wonder about their stories before and after the fare. How Helmut lived his life before in East Germany as a clown? What was Yo Yo doing in town? Why the priest needed to go to Tiburtina at 4 am? What was a blind woman doing to get a fare to Sienna and then just walking there? What plane those 2 drunk musicians were catching? Etc. I think I’m gonna rewatch this movie many times and always wonder what those people are doing. Jarmush, as always, focuses and transcends the characters and cares little about the story. You can make up your own story in this one

I finished rewatching Empire of Passion. I only saw it once ages ago, and had forgotten everything but the basic plot. I don't have much time left tonight, so I probably won't get around to writing my review until after work tomorrow.

I'm not sure what I want to watch next. Maybe Black Snake Moan or Night on Earth since a few people have brought that one up already. I plan to watch a few this week since I only have a couple shifts at work.

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Night on Earth



After 3 films, it's hard to get a read on how I feel about Jarmusch. I can certainly see the talent from a directors standpoint but he hasn't officially wowed me either. Dead Man isn't one I enjoyed all too much but I did like Stranger than Paradise. This one seemed like a tale of two halves. The first half seemed much stronger.

I really loved the L.A. scene between Rowlands and Winona Ryder. They both fit the role perfectly, especially Ryder for me. When cast right, I really enjoy her performances and this one was no different. We get to see the two of them have a bit of a bonding moment, even though Ryder decides to pursue her mechanic career.

Next was New York and I liked this one a fair amount too. I think the only thing iffy for me was YoYo going behind the wheel. That kind of seemed a little silly to me, but I loved the interactions and this was the funniest part of the film for me. I especially liked it when Yoyo dragged his sister in law in the cab.

Paris was pretty decent too. I'd probably place it third best. I laughed at the scene with the two men in the car with the driver, and I thought it was classic that "the blind man" crashed the taxi car when looking at the blind lady walking away.

But now, I hated Rome. Thought Benigni (sp) was pretty weak actually. And I didn't really care for the plot of the man having a heart attack while Roberto was telling his story. The wheels fell off a bit.

Helsinki was a little better than Rome for me but not much. It was a bit too tedious and boring though.

Overall, it sits in the middle as a tale of two halves. But really liked the first 3 segments so I'm glad it was nominated. I also enjoyed the moment and the format of the film. I usually dig films with multiple story layers and this was no different.

+

when I watched the trailer for Night on Earth I was curious if this was gonna be broken up in vignettes, and it looks like it has.
Looking forward to seeing this.

I watched my nom, Le Grande Illusion last night, but unable to post my review for it.

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Barton Fink (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1991)
Imdb

Date Watched: 8/26/17
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 14th Hall of Fame, Yam12's nomination
Rewatch: No

I had pretty mixed feelings about this one. I thought the performances were all pretty strong - John Turturro's facial expressions were quite amusing - and the cinematography and costume design were on point. However the comedic elements were much more subtle than I'd hoped for from the guys that brought us The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading. I did find myself chuckling quite a few times, but I also found myself checking my watch almost as often.

A good movie overall, but not something I'm likely to revisit.

-

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Please @rauldc14, could you replace London with Rome?

The visuals were amazing, the story very interesting. I mean thousands of pioneers travel across the universe to start a new life on a new planet. Earth is overpopulated and people need space. The spaceship travels through a meteorite storm and one gets inside and damages the nuclear reactor. Then the hibernation pod malfunctions and and … “Good morning Jim Preston!” He is trying to figure out what happened only to find out he’s still got 90 years to go. Now, it is hard to imagine this situation but I’m not sure myself whether or not I would do the same as Jim did. I might say I would never do that but after 1 year of loneliness, talking only to machine … I don’t know. And Aurora arrives even if she doesn’t want to. Then we go through the series of the relationship building between the two, both falling in love and doing everything together, just like any couple in love would do. Besides there was no one else. I wonder what would happened if there is no chemistry? Would they adjust to the given situation? And then android Arthur changes everything. The bitter truth is revealed and hate and anger come to scene. In the end, Jim realizing his egoism, makes a right decision. Oh sorry I forgot about Gus. If nothing, he at least gave the access to the bridge and the machine room.

It was a good movie but not perfect. Sometimes I had feeling Chris Pratt was disengaged from the character as if not immersed enough. Same with Jennifer Lawrence, I think she sometimes overdid it with emotions screaming like a street cat. As if to make it up to Pratt’s indifference. Also, the thought of fully automated spaceship traveling 100 years without anybody to check it out? Or some emergency mechanics crew in case of malfunction? Where were they? Or why that rock got inside? There must be some presumption to have bigger and heavier rocks in space. And the most important, why there was no possibility to re-hibernate? Makes me wonder. I know, there wouldn't be the story without these plot holes. Or maybe I'm just looking for too much logic. Other than that it was very enjoyable and good (scifi? or more like a blend of drama and adventure, not sure...) movie.

I just wanted to inquire if everyone are satisfied with the version of Time of the Gypsies they're currently presented with. If necessary, I could try to upload hq version of it on Vimeo or DailyMotion or forward it to someone via WeTransfer in a week or so. Let me know if there's any need for that.

I probably enjoyed this more than you, but you've raised some good points about the subdued comedy and run time, which it is a stretched out movie.

Now this movie was something else. It was full of controversy and yet it was beautiful. We see this self appointed exorcist Lazarus. Throwing a bible quotes around, regularly attending the church services, playing blues and yet his marriage goes awry, his brother sleeps with his wife.. simply mess. And then we have this white trash gal Rae, going around spreading her legs, heavy drinking, taking drugs. She’s been abused by her step father and by whoever else was around. Both, Lazarus and Rae, are trying to wash down their troubles in their own way. Lazarus destroys everything that reminds him of his wife Rose. Rae parties hard only to end up beaten by her boyfriend’s best friend. … again, quite a mess.

Both messed up, Lazarus finds half dead Rae near his farm and takes her home to heal not only her wounds but also her soul. And he does that his own way chaining her up to the radiator. He cannot let her go until he casts out all the demons that are in Rae. She tries to seduce him, then she’s angry. Reverend R.L. and Lincoln joins for this bizarre dinner with Rae chained. Nice prayer and nice steaks, even Rae cooked. That dinner was hilarious! Rae is let free and go with Lazarus on Blues concert to a local joint. Meantime Ronnie is discharged from the army for his anxiety attacks. He’s messed up too. Taking up on a mission to save Rae challenges Lazarus but he reads him right away and overpowers him psychologically. That scene was great too. And all goes right for everybody. They all got better.

I like this movie, however weird it might be. Samuel L. Jackson was excellent in this as well as Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake. Music was awesome and story very engaging. I like this nom very much and I will revisit some time.

yes, Black Snake Moan really has a lot to offer beyond its basic premise. So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Nestorio

Nice review Nestorio! I had no idea what reaction you'd have to it and I'm really pleased to see you enjoyed it.

It definitely has a lot more to it than what its unfortunate marketing and basic premise would have you believe.

Yeah, the marketing on Black Snake Moan is terrible. I only watched the movie because it was on one of the cable channels, but I almost didn't watch it at all because I thought I was going to hate it. It's not a movie that would ever become one of my favorites, but it was a lot better than I expected it to be, and I would even go so far as to say that I liked it.

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OPEN FLOOR.

I see, we still didn't reveal the nominators. Perhaps it's better this way however I would like to be able to thank to a given fellow MOFO for their nom.

They were revealed. Here's a link to the post if you wanted to see.

raul hasn't posted who nominated what on the first page, but he did post here
or, to keep it simple:

M- Cosmic Runaway
La Grand Illusion- Edarsenal
Mommy- Cricket
Passengers- Citizen Rules
Black Snake Moan- Miss Vicky
Contratiempo- Sarge
The Hurricane- Rauldc
Barton Fink- Yam12
Lonestar- Joel
Dom Za Vesanje- Jeff Costello
Empire of Passion- Jiraffe
Night on Earth- Nestorio

We only started 1 week ago and we already have 8 films reviewed. Whoohooo!!!!

i need to catch up. ive been distracted with a couple no hof titles as well as work stuff...but this isnt too bad. not overwhelming.

lol, like cosmic says. . .