14th Hall of Fame

My family are all Frenchies from Canada and I totally agree about the over the top swearing. My aunt, in particular, and even my uncle. He once told me cousin that if he didn't pick his wet swim trunks up off of his bedroom floor after the pool, then a giant cockroach was going to bite his dick off. The way he said it. He made pierogies soon afterwards. He was Polish, too.

I didn't even notice when the kid opened up the thin ratio to widescreen. I'm so dense, sometimes. Duh! But it's a cool idea. An idea I'd like to steal

Sounds a lot like my family, hell, myself! lol

Just finished Time of Gypsies - incredibly full spectrum of scenarios and of life and death.
Will do a write up in the next day or so.

Passengers



This one is like a mix of 2001 and Gravity. And while it doesn't hit the impact of either of those two, I still found it quite an enjoyable film! The themes really worked for me, the feeling of isolation as a subject really made me think of how important time and people and companionship can be. It also made me think of the quality over quantity factor. It was cool that the two main actors found out that they could still potentially live a rather enjoyable life on the ship because they had each other. Pratt is an ok actor for me and Lawrence is great but I thought their chemistry was pretty believable. I also thought the cinematography and the score we're both really good. I really loved the look of the ship as well, and yes, that bar did remind me of The Shining.

It's hard to think of why I don't give it a higher rating but that probably is due to it being in part nothing that I thought it would be. Whether thats a good or bad thing will be determined in the future, but I'd like to think it will be a good thing.

+

Lone Star

Sorry, but just not a lot of what I look for in a good movie for me. The acting ranges from good to mediocre, but there's certainly no standouts. Chris Cooper was probably my favorite, but even then he's just good. The story as a whole is one that works, but it's style of delivery and execution isn't something that really kept me engaged. I felt likes there were lulls to the film and watching time was a common point of exercise for me. It got a little more entertaining at the end, but by then it was too late to change my overall opinion of the film. Just felt like a chore more than entertainment.

+

That's it for me. And I've submitted my ballot.

106/144 now. A little less than a month to go. I'll extend if need be but would be really cool to see everyone finish on Halloween.

This so far has certainly been one of the most successful HOFs.

I quite enjoyed the majority I saw, and there are a couple that I would consider certainly watching again.

Well at least you mostly liked it, that's about the best review I got

I kind of thought of Passengers as a mix of Titanic and Cast Away, myself.

My week's been busier than usual so unfortunately haven't been able to watch anything. However I have the next few days free so I'll try to get finished then

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Letterboxd

Definitely liked it, Citizen! Thanks for getting me to finally see it.

I might need an extension on this, but I a not sure yet. We bury my mother tomorrow, and we have a lot of post-funeral plans. I still intend to finish this though.

I just have to finish La Grande Illusion (about halfway through, it's not going well) and then watch Contratiempo. My work schedule is about to get really insane here really soon, but I think I'll finish before the deadline.

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I'm an truly sorry to hear that, my condolences on the loss of your mother! That is a very heartbreaking scenario.
Do take care, JJ!

It has been a running record of nominating films that you've had to struggle through -- god bless you sweety for putting up with, and struggling through them.

If u can't finish I understand. Sorry for the loss J.

Dom Za Vesanje aka Time of the Gypsies

SPOILER ALERTS ABOUND

"A Gypsy without a dream is like a church without a roof."

No idea why, but there was something wonderful about that statement made by Perhan in the third act of this movie. Though I'm sure the correct translation has a more eloquent statement since, like a lot of translating subtitles, there is a bit of confusion and some things will get lost in translation.
Though, of course, this did not hamper my enjoyment of this movie. And yes, I did enjoy it.

At 2 1/2 hrs it was a bit of an epic watch but it didn't drag for me and the fact that the spectrum of Perhan's life, and eventual death (which was quite the surprise and a little sad) and while the travels and hardship were on the severe side, it really gave a lot of substance to this film.
We begin, as most life changing stories do, in what storytellers refer to: simpler times - of innocence and so forth. We see the lives of the gypsies and how they interact and their connection to mysticism. Which I actually thought was apropos delving into such and giving Perhan and his grandmother powers. Since there had always been something mythological and mystical when it comes to gypsies; such thing just fit for me and I simply accepted them into the realm of the story being told.
I enjoyed the chaos, the haggling, and how music and dancing meant so much.

I also appreciated watching things go terribly wrong as we see our lead character's road goes tumbling down the criminal road. And it wasn't glamorized or romantic. Much like the harsh life of poverty and scraping by, so was the cruelty, the treachery and the violence was not held back. And, again, we saw it through their eyes and not from outsiders or some stranger who's path stumbles over theirs. We see the realities, not the sleight of hand and I reward the movie for doing that.
So, for me, the grittiness and the mystical/dream aspects worked quite well for me.

While I did find it sad to see Perhan leave his son an orphan I did get a chuckle out his son actually stealing the coins from his eyes.

Thank you, @Jeff Costello for nominating this film!!

The Hurricane finally shipped. It had been on the top of my Netflix queue since a couple weeks before this HoF started.

Are the wait times usually that absurdly long?

We only have Netflix streaming here, not the DVD service, so I don't know anything about it.

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Not usually. Some movies I guess depending on how many copies they have could have a short or long wait. There were times when it was available but it never jived with the timing of my returns before.

Could be wrong, but I think you will like it.

I think I will I don't see why not

Meanwhile I have finished Contratiempo and Passenger. Still have to see only Empire of Passion, Mommy and Black Snake Moan. I will write it all up in one big mega post.