20th Hall of Fame

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Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001)
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Date Watched: 10/10/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 20th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by ahwell
Rewatch: Yes.


I was really glad when I saw this film listed among the nominations, especially after it failed to be given a spot in the Pixar Specialty Hall of Fame (though its lackluster prequel, Monsters University was nominated).

Monsters, Inc. features one[ of Pixar's most original concepts and - with its endearing characters, great voice cast, vibrant colors, and fantastic world-building - never fails to entertain me no matter how many times I watch it. It's also one of the few movies where I find a child character endearing rather than obnoxious.

That said though, I'd rank the film probably towards the middle of Pixar's offerings. It's a fun movie with some really touching moments, but it doesn't quite measure up to some of the studios other films. But I suppose that doesn't matter, since it isn't competing with Pixar's other films right now and it'll probably rank very high on my HOF ballot.




Ghostbusters 1984 Directed by Ivan Reitman
Haven't seen Ghostbusters in full for quite some time.
But whenever it's on somewhere, whatever part of the movies is showing, I can immediately get into it.
This of course can be credited to it's very high re-watch-ability factor.
Along with the re-watch-ability, the story, casting, logo (genius), font, score, and theme song are all 5/5 and the biggest factors that make this movie a certified classic.
Not only is Ghostsbusters classic family / all ages entertainment, it also serves perfectly as a time portal to the fabulous eighties.
Everything in it just takes you back, even the dated special FX have a nostalgic effect.
Great classic nomination which should do well in the HoF.

Alessi - Savin' the Day



Just picked up The Music Man, Blood Simple, and Cool Hand Luke from the library. Between those, my own collection, and Amazon Prime, I have all the remaining nominations in easy access. I'll try to get another 2-3 watched this weekend and will probably have them all done by the end of next weekend - provided I can somehow manage to endure all 2.5 hours of The Music Man.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Monsters Inc

Sulley: Boo?
Boo: Kitty!

Somewhere around the third of the Pixar films and one of the, now well loved, films that the start up animation company originally planned to create, Monsters Inc is, for me, in the upper middle of great Pixar films. Which is quite the achievement that a company that came out like gangbusters would take the high bar they had set in the beginning and continue to raise it.

Like Miss Vicky I was rather surprised NOT to have seen this in the recent Pixar Hall of Fame but very happy to see it here and hope it does very well.

Using, what would become, the Pixar formula of great voice casting, innovative twists to old stories, likable characters and a plethora of inside jokes and "Easter eggs", Monsters Inc enhanced and took Pixar's then growing reputation and continued to send it soaring.
While by today's standard, the 3D animation is a bit dated, but in no way derails the viewing enjoyment of this film.
And yes, it's one of the few movies for me where a child is a treasured addition to the cast instead of an annoyance.

This is one of a number of Pixar films I love returning to and at some point, since I've foolishly not added it to my DVD collection, it will be. Simply because it does what Pixar does with a golden charm; it entertains, amuses, and will bring a tear to your eye.
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The Music Man



Like Monsters Inc, this is a type of movie that's not my normal preference. Instead of an animation, this time it's a musical. Again, that doesn't mean I can't like it, love it, or simply appreciate it's quality.

The way this movie started out and with its length, I thought it was going to be a real tough watch. There are a lot of musical numbers and whenever I felt one coming on, I thought oh no. Most of them are pretty charming though, and the movie started to grow on me. I loved how it all looked, especially at night, and I loved how some scenes sort of went to blackout. The story is fine enough. I enjoyed Robert Preston, the always fun Buddy Hackett, and Shirley Jones. I suppose I liked Jones a little more in Elmer Gantry, but what would really be something would be if she could play a librarian and a prostitute in the same movie. Now that would be hot! It's astounding that she ended up as Mama Partridge. While my mind is in the gutter, I fell asleep about 50 minutes in and I dreamt that I was in the movie. While the other idiots were running around singing, I was walking around town with no pants. I woke up confused, but I just thought it was cool that it was incorporated into what I was watching. Anyway, another movie that's better than what I can get out of it, but I did like it.

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The Music Man
I fell asleep about 50 minutes in and I dreamt that I was in the movie. While the other idiots were running around singing, I was walking around town with no pants. I woke up confused, but I just thought it was cool that it was incorporated into what I was watching...
Ha I've done that too, sort of...I've fallen a sleep and while still listening to the movie I've 'dreamed' I was stil watching and there were scenes just like normal. Of course when I woke up I realized nothing I dreamed was real...but at least I had my pants on



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I'm surprised that there seems to be so much hate for the movie The Squid and The Whale. I don't think it's a great movie, but it's not bad either. The characters weren't very likable people, but I didn't think they were as horrible as they sound in some of the reviews posted here.

I'm not a child of divorce, but I thought it seemed to affect the kids in a pretty realistic way. They got angry and acted out more after they found out that their parents were separating, but those kids were already pretty screwed up at the beginning of the movie, even before they found out that their parents were getting divorced. The older son, Walt, was already planning to take credit for writing the song. (He told his parents that he wrote it before he found out they were separating.) And the younger son, Frank, was already doing disgusting things. (He put a cashew up his nose at the dinner table.)

We even see the family split from the very beginning of the movie. The father and the older son were on one side of the tennis court, and the mother and Frank were on the other side. Even with something as simple as parking the car, the Frank wants to get dropped off at the house while his father looks for a parking space, while Walt offers to stay in the car with his father to look for a space. These are the same sides that the kids take after their parents split up. Walt backs up his father, and Frank sides with his mother.

We see these sides throughout the movie, until Walt goes to therapy, and he finally realizes that his father was never there for him when he was a kid, and that's when things start to get clearer for him.

I thought the acting was terrific across the board, with the only exception being William Baldwin, who was very annoying. I'm not a fan of Jesse Eisenberg, but I thought he did a great job here. I was also impressed with Owen Kline, (who is the son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates).
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OPEN FLOOR.



Rear Window

What can I say? It's Hitchcock, so of course it's a masterpiece. It's not my ultimate favorite (Psycho's my favorite), but it's pretty close. There are only a couple things in this movie that I can really criticize. Some of the camerawork can get annoying (although most of it is masterful). I would have liked a little more character development between the two leads as the film went on. But those are minor, minor, complaints. The vast majority of this film is simply stunning to watch. Only 6 minutes short of two hours, it holds your attention the whole time, which is impressive. The acting is great, especially for an era when acting could often be stiff and wooden. Obviously direction is going to be amazing, can't really criticize there. The last 30 minutes were easily the best, we got some great payoff moments of action and suspense almost akin to a horror movie. The lighting when Thorwald and Jeff finally confront each other is nothing short of genius. We get a scene that surely must have inspired horror movies of the future. Should it have won Best Picture over On the Waterfront? Tough one, but I think so. There's something timeless about Hitch's movies, and it will make them universally loved for as long as people are watching and enjoying movies.

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I didn't get a chance to watch anything during the week, and I ended up having to go home this weekend for Thanksgiving. I don't typically go home for that holiday, but apparently my nan wanted everyone around this year.

I have to go to bed soon, since I have to work tomorrow on actual Thanksgiving (and we don't even get time and a half for it ) so it's pretty safe to say that at this point I won't be joining with a late nomination. I'll still be creeping on the thread as per usual though.

Almost weekend, pick a flick and join, as long as it's not Turbo Kid
Just picking something has been a problem lately. I'll have to start thinking of something for the 21st HoF now, so I've decided on a film by then haha.



...so it's pretty safe to say that at this point I won't be joining with a late nomination. I'll still be creeping on the thread as per usual though...
Bummer...But I do hope you'll join the 21st HoF. Start watching those potential noms for the 21st



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
completely agree with what CR says. . . um, about, you know. . . CR

ALWAYS a pleasure when you're about and sadness when you are not, @CosmicRunaway

And creeping works quite nicely as well, so creep away, my dear!



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I bought the DVD of Blood Diamond many years ago because I had heard a lot about Leonardo DiCaprio, but at the time, I had only seen him in the movies Titanic and Catch Me If You Can, and the TV show "Growing Pains", and I found the DVD cheap on Black Friday so it piqued my curiosity. Then it sat on my shelf unopened until last night when I saw that it was nominated in this HoF, so it gave me an excuse to finally watch it.

The beginning of the movie was brutal, and I almost turned it off, but I'm glad that I decided to stick it out because it turned out to be a very good movie. I liked the progression of the relationship between Vandy and Archer, as they went from just two people who needed each other to friends. Both Djimon Hounsou and Leonardo DiCaprio were great in the movie. It took me a while to get used to DiCaprio's accent, but once I did, he shined.

I wish they had spent a little bit more time with Vandy's family at the beginning of the movie before they were separated because when they were trying to find his son and they showed the children, I had no idea what his son looked like, so I didn't feel like I was looking with him. I just had to wait for their reactions to figure out if they found him, and that just lessened the impact of the moment.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ending of "Blood Diamond"!!!" spoilers below
While I agree with a couple of other people who said that the movie should have ended with the scene with Archer's conversation with Maddy, and the plane flying away, I think I'm glad I saw the scene after that, when Vandy finally gets reunited with his family. It felt like it gave the movie closure. However the final conference scene could have just been done with words on the screen.



Is it too late to join this?
Well it's not too late....but there's a late fee for joining. No PayPal please, I prefer Bitcoin, lots and lots of Bitcoins


Hell yeah! of course you can join, glad to have ya Just send me your nom and your in.





Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
Imdb

Date Watched: 10/13/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 20th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by John-Connor
Rewatch: Yes.


I probably own more Alfred Hitchcock movies than I do of any other director - and I've liked most of what I've seen - but I don't think I'd call myself a fan. As someone who is much more interested in character driven pieces, suspense just isn't really my thing. But there's no denying that Hitchcock was a truly a master of it. I definitely felt the tension as the events unfolded - especially when Lisa took matters into her own hands with their unofficial investigation.

That said, there were some things that kind of took me out of the film, though they're not really things that the film can be faulted for. For one, I really dislike James Stewart. His voice and mannerisms always bug me. The fact that I don't find L.B. Jeffries particularly likable doesn't help (all his BS reasons for why he shouldn't marry Lisa just had my eyes rolling). The obvious use of a soundstage and very dated effects (see Jeffries fall) also took me out, though of course I understand that they are merely a reflection of the technological limitations of the time.

Still, those few little annoyances do little to lessen my experience. Rear Window is not and probably never will be a personal favorite film, but it is definitely one worth watching and is a much deserving nomination.

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