The 19th Hall of Fame

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I would be shocked if one of the big 3 don't take this.

Just a Godfather rewatch left for me. I'll try to tackle it relatively soon.
I'll be shocked if Pulp Fiction doesn't win.
Nah, I bet The Godfather will take it... looking at the reviews, more people slightly favor The Godfather over Pulp Fiction.



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The Godfather



My third watch here. It's definitely a film that probably deserves a rightful Hall of Fame induction. Coppola put a ton of time into this and you can tell. The sets he uses are fantastic I specifically like the setting where the Corleone family does business.

For me if I were to truly badger at an issue, it would be the second half pacing. Seems like there are some scenes they could cut out in my opinion. I most prefer the first half to the second half, not that the second half is bad just that it seems like more of the interesting action and dialogue takes place earlier.

But this is certainly a film that has a lot of acting talent. All the right choices were made. Brando, Pacino, and Can are fantastic (really thought Caan was great this time around. I liked Keaton and I thought Duval did a fairly decent job too. It's a true introduction to a proper gangster flick and although not the first it definitely set a ceiling that has been pretty difficult to reach.

I do respect the film slightly more than I enjoy it so that makes it pretty hard to rank. But I think it has improved with every rewatch as well so even tougher.

Now I need to stop rewatching this and finally get to part 2 (and 3).




Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Cinema Paradiso

For me, this was a delightful love letter to the joy of the movie theater and all that occurs when we get together as a crowd to enjoy any given movie. As expressed by the citizens of this small town and how enamored they are with the local movie house.
From its beginnings with the local priest censoring films (any time anyone kissed) to the fire and rebuilding to the end of the film and the funeral of its original projectionist, Alfredo. Along with its own demolition. Signifying a sad changing of how the collective enjoyment of such things is very much becoming the past.
Even though we follow Toto as a child and teenager and finally as a middle-aged man, it is still the citizens of the town and their involvement in the nightly viewing of so many different movies and all that transpires within, and at times, without the movie house that kept me so very much involved.
And yes, that finale as Salvatore (Toto) watches the film that Alfredo left for him was just all kinds of beautiful.
Another gem found only through my participation of HoFs. YAY
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Cinema Paradiso
*spoilers*
To me this movie is about the magic of movies. More specific the theater (Cinema Paradiso) the building, film reels / containers, the celluloid, the projector, the projectionist, the censorship, the town, it's viewers, their lives. And a boy who falls in love with all of it. Everything in the film revolves around the 'Cinema Paradiso'. Making the theater a central character in the movie, showing it's adventures as well as it's ups and downs. The building eventually gets torn down. But Alfredo has contained all of this 'movie magic' (the censored and often best parts of the golden age of cinema) in one reel, making it a highly concentrated movie magic containing bomb which explodes in the final scene of the movie. This explosion was so intense to me that I felt the magic through the screen.
Hard to review because it's more a feeling you get and there aren't really concrete / explainable factors to mention or dissect. It's just magic.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



The Virgin Spring

Beggar: Flying birds find something, sitting birds only find death. I have found both women and churches.

My experience with Bergman is nearly non-existent. In fact, after perusing his list of films it was even more so than I had initially believed. (My only other Bergman film is Through a Glass Darkly.)
Something I may reconsider if not just to see more of a young Max Von Sydow whom I've always enjoyed in later films and, of course, within this film with such presence as the loving, trauma-ridden father of the young Karin who is raped, killed and her clothes stolen.

In fact, I did enjoy the ensemble within this film. The mother and the farmhands, though not so much the daughter. Though that may be a subconscious thing knowing what was to befall her.
The thieves/rapists/murderers did an excellent job as desperate, hungry, cruel individuals who covet and steal with brutality.
I especially like the performance of Gunnel Lindblom who played Ingeri. The jealous bitterness was displayed very well in the opening parts of the film. Her calling out to Odin in particular created a strong promise of the "mood" of this film.

Something I didn't realize until meandering through IMDb as I do, but the one-eyed Bridge Keeper is actually supposed to be Odin with a number of hints to express this. A nice touch, that. And an amusing irony since the family is ardently Catholic and it is a "pagan" god that answers the prayers of the servant girl, Ingeri while the catholic God allows the rape/murder to occur. Sydow's character lamenting over that fact at the end of the film while with the same breath promises to build a church for Him.

While I am someone who does struggle through most arthouse films throughout the years, I found myself involved and intrigued as this played out.
I also watched the interview with director Ang Lee with the DVD I rented from my library. He had an excellent remark about how this film was so serene even with so much violence. He also noted on the intriguing use of filming Sydow's lamenting figure from behind instead of, as is more common, from in front to capture his emotions and how he would find himself doing the same thing when filming a character deeply lost in similar circumstances.
Intriguing stuff.

And an intriguing film to finish this Hall of Fame with.



Let the night air cool you off
Some spoilers

The Virgin Spring

The most obvious thing that comes from Bergman films is that they are going to be beautiful and they are also going to be intense. They are going to be deep and they are going to be the type of films that you will probably have to return to gather all the things you need to really understand what you've seen. I don't know what everything I see means in his films, but they always make me think about various aspects of them film. In this one, we get a lot of fire and water. In Christianity both fire and water play a huge role. From the fires of hell or cloven tongues like as of fire. And water, the obvious one is the baptisms. Paganism is a large part of this film too, but I honestly know nothing about paganism in any form, so I anything that has to do with comparing and contrasting the two will be totally lost on me. But if this film is an attack on Christianity or religion in general, it is way more thought out than the typical militant atheist spouting whatever artless nonsense they have to say on the philosophies of the world. We see the little girl's father fighting with what God has allowed to be done and his own actions. I've seen a whole bunch of revenge films, but this might be the best one because man does that revenge not feel cathartic at all. I probably need to see this film 30 more times to really grasp everything Mr. Bergman had for me.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
@Citizen Rules, @ahwell @KeyserCorleone, @Miss Vicky @Siddon, @John-Conner, @neiba, @rauldc14, @jiraffejustin


IT IS OFFICIAL
ALL VOTES ARE NOW IN!!

With one day left on our extended deadline we have everyone's vote in!


As I've stated before this has been the EASIET Hall of Fame that I've run so far. Everyone stayed in, no serious disturbances or issues and just a small group of us slackers (which of course I do include myself in). Thank you ALL for your participation and assistance in making it such a breeze to host.

While we do have neiba's reviews for Cinema Paradiso and Return To Paradise left to post, I will be doing the reveal on:

Thursday August 15 around 9 O'Clock pm Eastern Time

should there be a wish to move it to Friday or Saturday, I can do either of those days as well, while keeping it around 9 pm on whatever night we all go for.
On the day of the reveal, somewhere around 8pm or a little after, I'll post a mention with a more accurate reveal time, along with a 10 min HEADS UP before the Reveal begins.
Let me know which (if any of the 3 days) work best for everyone.



Oof, I don't think I can make the Thursday and Friday, but looking forward to see what wins!
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This one was great. I am really pumped for the 20th as well. One of the best generals in a long time.
I'll hold off on starting the 20th until most of the regulars have caught their breath and are ready for it. You guys just let me know when you want it to start.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Wrong Conner Ed, i'm John-Connor..
Won't make 9 PM eastern (that's 3 AM over here) but will check it out first thing in the morning.
I am SUCH a putz!
Sorry about that John.