16th Hall of Fame

Poison for the Fairies (1984) ***SPOILERS***

Poison for the Fairies a psychological suspense film that worked for me. I liked it. It was simple and effective story telling, which made it seem a personal story. I liked that the story was told from the girl's viewpoint and that adults are almost never shown, unless it's their hands or legs. The only time we see an adult's face is in a frightening (to the girls) extreme close up of an adult, when one of the adults surprises them. Even the cinematography (the camera height and angle) is at their level, so that we get a personal tale from their POV, which then matches the style of the story line.

I thought both actresses did a good job and mostly they kept it low keyed which made the film seem realer and more plausible. I liked the story elements how the blonde girl Veronica, comes from a home where her parents both died when she was young, she's raised by the house keeper who's superstitious and the girl latches unto that make believe world of witches. Meanwhile the rich girl with dark hair, Flavia doesn't pray as her mom tells her she's not scared like other little girls so doesn't need to pray. Then as the story proceeds it builds on those differences, until the pay off at the end.

I thought the end worked out well, even though I knew Flavia would end up burning Veronica in a fire at the 16 minute mark in the movie. Which is fine, as getting what I expected is often a plus for me.

I loved the outdoor scenery and sets. The houses were really dressed nicely, with lots of detail. And the old ruins of the church and the lake setting, wow...I want to visit there!

@pahaK Thanks for nominating this.

Three Monkeys Üç Maymun (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2008)
Imdb

Date Watched: 6/3/18
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 16th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by @Okay
Rewatch: No

Three Monkeys offers up a fascinating premise with a series of situations that are not all crystal clear in terms of their ethics and morality. It's a brooding, contemplative movie that follows the excrutiating disintegration of a family. The idea of it is excellent.

Unfortunately the reality of it didn't work very well for me, but this is less the film's fault than it is mine. I often struggle with keeping focus in slow-paced films (and OMG is this film slow!) and this problem was exacerbated by the summer heat, the foreign language, and my lack of sleep. But I was watching the film via a free trial subscription that was about to run out so putting it off wasn't really an option.

However, the pacing wasn't my only problem. There were other issues that I had with the film that kept me from engaging - like scenes that contained dialogue despite the actors not moving their mouths and the depiction of the younger brother just felt awkward and unnecessary.

Still, I felt a good amount of respect for what the film was striving to achieve and I can definitely see why it would work well for others.

+

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Glad you enjoyed it Vicky

As you said, the film does have a few dubbed scenes, and I can totally see why one would feel that the depiction of the younger brother's mystery was sloppily done (even though I don't share this sentiment). I personally love the slow pace though, as it totally adds to the tense and miserable atmosphere. I can't wait to watch it again, since all these write-ups are making me more and more excited.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

I was glad to see this nominated because I quite enjoyed the 1940 version, and I found that I liked it even more in retrospect. This was also very good and I'm not sure which one I like more.

One tiny nitpick and one thing that kept me from completely loving it. The nitpick is that when Roy said he was 19, it kind of made me feel like she was supposed to be an older woman type. I didn't buy that he was 19 or that she was older in any meaningful way. However, I think this was just a personal feeling I got. The one thing that held me back was Myra. I had a very hard time warming up to her character, and I think it completely had to do with how she acted towards her landlady. She owed money and should have had some humility about it. It may be a small thing but it left a bad taste in my mouth, and I think the whole movie would have been that much more powerful if I had more empathy for her character. It certainly wasn't the fault of Mae Clarke because she was great. On the other hand, Roy was extremely likable, and Douglass Montgomery was also very good, as was the entire cast. It was cool seeing Bette Davis before she became a big star. This is a story I like quite a bit and it was an easy an engaging watch.

@cricket

Glad to hear you liked Waterloo Bridge. I thought it might be interesting for those who seen the other version in the 40s Hof, to contrast and compare. I was surprised at how different the story lines are very from one another.

I took it that she was suppose to be a bit older than him at least that's the impression I got. He felt like a young, naive soldier and her a wordily shop-worn woman.

I didn't find her likable either or very empathetic which is 180 degres from the Vivian Leigh version.....And I think that's because Mae Clarke is suppose to be self-loathing or at least jaded and hardened from being a prostitute. Which makes her negative about life, other people and herself. That's the vibe I got anyway.

Yea I thought she would have been older but not enough to make a difference, so why even mention it. Not an issue though.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?



It may have been a decent film, but it was one that didn't resonate with me and it didn't leave a memorable impression either. The characters weren't introduced properly for me and thus I really didn't take any interest to what happened to them. What is probably a great scene for all with them racing around the dance track I found to be rather vanilla and honestly didn't care what happened.

The filmmaking itself I had no problem with. But the story it told was rather dull for me as well as the characters being dull. I may be with Citizen in that I haven't been impressed with Jane Fonda in any of her roles yet. Its a movie that I don't have a ton to say about due to all of this as well unfortunately.

Sorry you didn't think higher of it. We seem to agree often enough on the forum but I have trouble picking HoF noms you like.

One role you and CR praised Fonda's acting in was in Coming Home.

Yeah I was just thinking that. We often agree on film but I've had trouble connecting with your HOF noms. Strange.

Waterloo Bridge

Having enjoyed the 40's version in a previous HoF, I was pretty curious to see how this one compared. Only to find this movie, (pleasantly) an almost different movie to be enjoyed on it's own. The variances being so strong in the way the main characters are portrayed, and the changes to some of the content, and, of course, the very ending, actually sets them apart enough to make them whole on their very own. And the differences make each a very worthwhile experience.
The 40s version has a more sugary, sentimental aspect that is quite endearing.
The 30s has a more frantic, fragile aspect that causes you be very concerned for the two of them.
Both I found enjoyable, and both had an ending that befitted their story lines and the overall vibe of the experience of either film and caught at the heart strings quite nicely for each rendition.
VERY hard to decide which is the better of the two when they both have so much that separates them from simply being a repeat performance.

So, enough of that.

As for this rendition of Waterloo Bridge I found the polar existence of Roy, who is the very poster child of naive (and that is a compliment to the innocence of his character and how well he performs) to the doomed cynicism of Myra, whom, at times, her moments of impotent rage had a tinge of authenticity to that I rather enjoyed.
Keeping it mainly in Myra's room also gave it a rather nice intimacy about it. A kind of cocoon that harbored them while they tried, the best they could, to take a chance in love. It kept us focused on them and nothing else.
Which, kind of brought the visit to Roy's home a kind of sunlit vacation from the harshness of the city. Especially with Roy's family, who were pretty d@mn delightful across the board.

While there may have been a few moments of dragged pacing interspersed, this was still a great movie experience. THANKS CR!!

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

46/121 guys and gals. We are killing it.

I've been wanting to nominating a film with Jane Fonda that I think would show her in a good light. Well maybe one of these days.

That's very true. And I think if I was to watch They Shoot Horses, Don't They? again, I might find nuggets of genius embedded in the movie's dialogue. Some movies are like that, once you know what's going to happen you can watch it again and find all sorts of little details that you didn't notice before. Have you only seen this once? And did Mark suggest this by any chance?

I've only seen it once and I watched it for the 60's countdown. I know it has it's fans here, but I don't recall watching it based off anyone's recommendation.

My favorite Fonda is Barbarella

Yeah Barbarella is good wacky fun. But I liked her better in Cat Ballou, but that's not a movie I was thinking of as a nom.

I haven't seen Cat Ballou

It's a fun film, nothing deep, but likeable...at least I liked it.

Cat Ballou is great fun. It does break out into song featuring two gentlemen that act as troubadours. So if that bothers you, you may not enjoy it.
It does have this iconic image with Lee Marvin:

Both him and his horse VERY drunk.

I haven't seen it for a few decades but I remember On Golden Pond as worthwhile. Would have to revisit to see if I feel the same.

I liked Cat Ballou and On Golden Pond, but not Barbarella.