18th Mofo Hall of Fame

I read about that, too. It's unfortunate because just the fact that they had a falling out seems kind of tragic. I like both of them a lot.

It did OK. It was perfectly at home in that particular tournament. However I chose my current nom as if I was still in the B Movie HoF, and just kind of realized it too late, after I submitted it.

Whaaaat

You keep surprising me with the stuff you've never seen, CR.

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/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

I haven't seen Snow White in so long. Very much look forward to it.

I did like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in either of the 30s HoFs (at least I remember that was your nom) and I ranked Cherry 2000 quite high in B-movie HoF. So while I admit that our tastes are quite far from each other I still think you're exaggerating.

And I do like films that aren't horror or have young girls in them (as a matter fact majority of good films I've seen this year are neither)

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SPLIT (1989)
Director: Chris Shaw


Once upon a time a mathematician made a low budget sci-fi comedy that went virtually unnoticed direct to video. The effects used were rendered frame by frame with live models, and were also representative of some early, and very hand made use of CGI-like wizardry.

These effects have an analogous feel to them and lend themselves to a certain texture, visually. Though dated and silly by today's standards, those into the tech side of film making may benefit from this in some way.


Split did get some press at the time, it has since been forgotten and ushered out of public eye by weak distribution and a seemingly reclusive director Chris Shaw.

Picture George Orwell at a dinner party with Alex Cox. That is "Split".

There is a keen sense of awareness on display from Director Shaw much like that of Alex Cox's "Repo Man". Shaw's characters aren't stupid, and if they appear stupid, they are only pretending to be really stupid.



A man uses multiple disguises to harbor the secret god particle from the mad man government.

Our protagonist dodges dangerous operatives, spy plants and waitresses. His sugar addiction has him manic, but his panic runs much deeper. He is seen eluding art snobs, extremists and even veterinarians.

Scenes weave from exotic location to picturesque America. Camera movements are particular and elaborate.

Transitions are acid trip inspired. On screen personalities waver from anchored to completely fried within a minute at a time. Dialog is clever and concise, shrouded in an obnoxious tone.

The dialog is recorded and edited very poorly. This was a novice mistake on Shaw's part, but the frantic energy almost forces those even mildly invested into Split to pay closer attention to the genesis of what this thing is about, and what it doesn't even try to be about. It is not cohesive. It flirts the edges of the subconscious and absurd.



The viewer has to look past the budgetary limitations and surrender to the complete weirdness. If one does this as they should, one will be rewarded with a thought provoking comedy.

This is a film not to miss for cerebral types with a healthy and twisted sense of humor.

I also haven't seen it.

The King of Comedy (1982)
Dir:Martin Scorsese

I've seen this movie before. Just recently I watched it again so it's fresh enough to talk about.

I don't know what to say. It's put together so well. The performances are all great. It's a zany movie with a dark underbelly dealing with fanaticism, obsession, and delusions of grandeur coming into a possible threat of violence.

This is definitely a dark comedy. It seems more a continuation on Taxi Driver's tone, but with this super uncommon element of having Jerry Lewis play what seems to be not much of a stretch for a jaded showman who is steadfast into his elder years as a tv personality and american funnyman.

The movie is rated PG but has the soul of an R rated film if that makes any sense. That's how movies were done back in the day it seems. The tonalities were everything. This is a very against-type sort of Scorsese picture and I think it stands the test of time as an item of interest.

Perfect Blue(1997) is the story of Mima a popstar who aging out of her girl group decides to move onto film. When she takes a significantly more adult role she begins to be stalked and her crew members end up murdered.

One of the advantages of a film like this was that it was supposed to be live action but with budget cuts it became animated. By doing this by doing this the film actually managed to become creepier in several key areas. It's hard to describe how unsettling simple changes in characters appearances look and walk are but it's very effective.

The film also has quite a bit to say about feminism, celebrity culture, and identity so you have this fantastic Gaillo style animated film but you've also got quite a bit of substance to it. The main character Mima is very well flushed out which unfortunately leads to my two knocks I have on the film.

One is technical with the other one structural. The film is somewhat of a mystery film and the films biggest weakness is that the supporting cast is filled with fairly shallow and one dimensional figures. It could have used 30 minutes or so to fill everyone out so that the reveals and the murders are more rewarding. Ghost in the Shell and Akira both managed to have a large supporting cast but Perfect Blue really is just Mima's show.

The other issue I had with the film was the animation was TV quality not film quality, Akira came out almost ten years before this yet comparing the two films you'd think Akira came 10 years afterwards. Much like It it manages to overcome budgetary limit's with unsettling visuals and scenes but I do wonder if we're ready for a non-animated remake here.

Abandon Ship



Have no fear guys I am finally on the board and started with this seafaring adventure! I liked Tyrone Power and specifically remember his strong performance in Witness for the Prosecution. And he was pretty solid here as the next Captain in command. He had to be, as the rest of the cast to me seemed to range from pitiful to below mediocre. I thought the two females in particular just weren't very good at all.

Like Miss Vicky I liked the premise of the film but I felt that the dangers of the waters should have been showcased a bit more to be entertaining. Maybe a nice big shark attack or something to liven it up. I will give the film props for even making me feel seasick with the continuous sound of the ocean waves even irritating me a bit. So it certainly did it's job there.

I liked how the film ended, making us ultimately decide if Powers character was a hero or a villain. A nice way to end that you don't usually see. Overall, this is a film though that I will honestly probably forget about in the future as it just didn't have enough zing for me. Still, it's cool to give these films I've never heard of a shot. Never know when I could find my next Red Dust.

Finally, someone liked it!

Continued with the first animated feature of this HoF.

Wait, you guys don't hear the voices of the dead?

I mean, yeah, no, me neither.

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Anything more than from @pahaK is a win so I'll take it.

It's easy to be a winner if you set your bar low enough

Somehow that makes me feel better, I don't know why but it does.

BTW do you guys know this is based on a true story where people were melodramatically ordered out of a life boat into the water to die.

I know! When it comes to classic Disney films I've seen like next to none. When I was a kid, back in the dinosaur days, we didn't have DVDs or even VCRs, so the only way I could see a Disney movie was on TV and we had only the one TV and my dad would always end up watching Gunsmoke or something like that.

After I watched it I did do a little reading about the story. Some interesting stuff.

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Letterboxd

I originally planned on starting this today but I had to prioritize Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix, because I promised to review it for the site I write for. The prioritizing wasn’t worth it unfortunately...

Anyways, I probably can’t start Sunday either because of Super Bowl but do expect Monday to be a lazy day because of exactly that, so I might get one or two in by then!

Who are you rooting for?