25th Hall of Fame

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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
WOO HOO
That IS quite diverse!
I have seen six, including mine. Since I'm on my phone I'll be back later to post my initial thoughts about them all.
This is gonna be GOOD
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The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Oh, wow! I have watched a few of these, some of them quite recently:

Themroc: never heard of it.
Bicycle Thieves: watched it a few months ago for the Pers Rec Hof! Great film!
Sundays and Cybele: never heard of it.
Vertigo: one of the few movies I consider to be worthy of best of all time. It's an absolute landmark and absolutely essential to every cinephile. I watched it so many times. Part of my Top 100 and quite high on there, for that matter.
American Movie: oh... I hate this film! I'll rewatch it because it's been years since the last watch, but I don't expect that to change because I remember it quite well and the reasons that made me dislike it didn't change.
Les Miserables: Hoping this is better than the most recent one. Being a cricket nom, I'm optimistic.
Chimes at Midnight: Looking forward to this one!
The Long Goodbye: another very recent watch for the Pers Rec HoF! Cool film!
Whiplash: one of the best films coming out in recent years. Part of my Top 100.
About Elly: never heard of it.
Blackkklansman: watched it last year, didn't care that much for it. I'll give it another try.
The Truth: never heard of it.
The Green Years: by far, my most risky nom to date. I've been thinking about picking a Portuguese film for one of these, but I'm not into Portuguese cinema that much, apart from the documentary scene which is frankly quite good. However, most of our docs are context dependant and people here wouldn't get it because they don't know Portuguese culture. This one is generally considered to be the most important Portuguese film ever made because it started the country's New Wave, and it is also one I enjoy very much, so it had to be this. Maybe it has a shot at the Foreign Countdown, that would be nice.



I've only seen two of these movies...So I have a lot of movie watching to do this time We don't have any really long movies, most are at 2 hours, some only 90 minutes, so easy watching!

Perhaps some of these foreign language films will end up on the upcoming Foreign Language Top 100 Countdown I hope everyone of us is sending in a voting ballot for that.

My brief thoughts:

Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica 1948) 1h 29min...My nom, I seen this in the Personal Recommendation III and was blown away by it.

The Long Goodbye
(Robert Altman 1973) 1h 52min...Have always wanted to see this and have seen other movies based on the literary character Phillip Marlowe.

American Movie (Chris Smith 1999) 1h 47min....Our only documentary. This was once nominated for the Documentary HoF but the person dropped out and so the movie was removed.

Whiplash (Damien Chazelle 2014) 1h 46min...This movie gets high praise, so I'll be curious to see what it's all about.

About Elly (Asghar Farhadi 2009) 1h 59min...A film from Iran, which makes it pretty interesting to me.

Themroc (Claude Faraldo 1973) 1h 40min..."Made without proper language, just gibberish and grunts" Very intriguing sounding.

BlacKkKlansman
(Spike Lee 2018) 2h 15min...I recently seen Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and was amazed at his directorial skill...so I'll be watching to see if he's sharpened his talents since then.

Les Misérables
(Richard Boleslawski 1935) (1h 48min) are only 'old' film, old being relative of course as some would consider anything 20th century old. I'm looking forward to this classic.

Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles 1965) 1h 55min...ahh good ole Orson! I just seen him the other night on an old What's My Line from 1956. Orson was one of the guest panelist and was hilarious! Here's a link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bZL2cNR9ovM (if you're in a hurry skip to the end with the celebrity mystery guest, Greer Garson, and the panelist are all blindfolded.)

Sundays and Cybèle (Serge Bourguignon 1962) 1h 51min...The synopsis sounds promising, sounds like another good one.

The Truth (Henri-Georges Clouzot 1960) (2h 7min)....Brigitte Bardot need I say more!

The Green Years (Paulo Rocha 1963) 1h 31min...I've not heard of it but like the other films it looks promising too.

Vertigo (Hitchcock 1958) 2h 8min...bound to be a favorite here among the members. I've seen it only once and thought it was good but didn't love it like so many others seem to. Maybe a second watch will help?



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Themroc (1973) Dir: Claude Faraldo (ueno_station54) Have not heard of this but with the descriptive "an absurdist comedy" I am happily equal parts hesitant and intrigued.

Bicycle Thieves (1948) Ladri di biciclette (original title) Dir: Vittorio De Sica (Citizen Rules) Well, looks like I'll be finding out what's all the hubbub about this. NICE.

Sundays and Cybèle (1962) Les dimanches de Ville d'Avray (original title) Dir: Serge Bourguignon (Allaby) Sounds like quite the enchanting film.

Vertigo (1958) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock (rbrayer) One of the iconic Hitchcock films I HAVEN'T seen. SWEET.

American Movie (1999) Dir: Chris Smith (SpelingError) Seen this when it came out. Got a few chuckles out of this and looking forward to a revisit.

Les Misérables (1935) Dir: Richard Boleslawski (Cricket) HUGE fan of this version and glad to see cricket thought highly enough of it to nominate it.

Chimes at Midnight (1965) Dir: Orson Welles (Torgo) I actually started watching this some months ago but didn't have time to finish - and now I can!!

The Long Goodbye (1973) Dir: Robert Altman (Siddon) Seen this quite a few times throughout the years including at the drive-in when I was in third grade with three other brothers - to the initial nervousness of my eldest brother who took us to it and was unaware of Marlowe's neighbors and the other situations he didn't think kids should be watching but got too caught up in it to do drive off. I rewatched this last month so I'll be posting a review about it soon.

Whiplash (2014) Dir: Damien Chazelle (Seanc) Been wanting to revisit this since I first saw this a year or so after its release.

About Elly (2009) Darbareye Elly (original title Dir: Asghar Farhadi (Rauldc14) Quite unknown to me but could very well be quite a compelling watch.

BlacKkKlansman (2018) Dir: Spike Lee (CosmicRunaway) Another one I've wanted to revisit and now I get to.

The Truth (1960) La Vérité (original title) Dir: Henri-Georges Clouzot (Edarsenal) I almost went with Rome, Open City but opted for something that may be under a lot of folks' radar.

The Green Years (1963) Os Verdes Anos (original title) Dir: Paulo Rocha (Neiba) Unknown to me but looking forward to rectifying that.

With my recent change in jobs, I was hesitant about my lowered amount of time for viewing films to be able to join in, but I am SO FRICKIN GLAD I did!!
Great List of Noms, EVERYONE!! LOVE the diversity!!



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Os Verdes Anos a.k.a. The Green Years (1963)

I've watched this film in a theatre session some time ago and liked it very much.

For anyone who's into the French new wave and the Italian neo-realism, especially Truffaut, you'll find this is not that different, and that's because during this time, Portugal had a lot of immigrants in France escaping from the dictatorship that ruled over the country and the colonial war we were in against Angola and Mozambique. For that reason, there were obviously some underground influences arriving from France which had a huge influence on what would be called: Novo Cinema Português (New Portuguese Cinema). The Green Years was the film that started that movement.

For starters, the name. "Verdes Anos" is perhaps the most well-known of all Portuguese songs. It was composed and first performed by one of our most brilliant musicians, the great Carlos Paredes, who played an instrument called Portuguese Guitar. Here's Paredes himself playing it:



The rest of the soundtrack is also played and composed by Paredes, with an interesting variation to the Verdes Anos song: lyrics were written to the purpose of this film, creating a Fado song, which is the national musical style.
(a little curiosity about the instrument: Jimmy Page once said about it: "I have one, but I will never be able to play it. It only obeys the Portuguese soul).

Now, the film. It's mostly shot in Lisbon in beautiful black and white cinematography, and it captures exactly what the city was in the 60s. It deals mostly with the shock young people suffered when moving from the innocent life of the countryside to the big and corrupt city. And that is the main drive to the actions that lead to the dramatic close of this film. There are a few images from Porto, the city where I'm from, which is always nice to see.

It's not a fast film, quite on the contrary, but it's short and quite well directed so the pacing is well held, in my opinion. It's great to see how the characters evolve and how architecture and night/day play a part in it. The acting is not brilliant but quite good for Portuguese standards of this time.




Hmmm, I've seen three of these...

Bicycle Thieves for the current PR HOF3 and I loved it.

Vertigo is my #1 Hitchcock film and I've seen it a bunch of times.

BlacKkKlansman back when it came out. Thought it was pretty good for the most part, but as unsubtle as it is (subtle is not a word that suits Spike Lee), I thought the ending was a powerful way to cap the message. Wouldn't mind a rewatch...

...If I decide to jump in. Considering I've seen these, I might squeak by. I'll see how the others match up with my personal challenge for May and decide if I'll join.
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It appears as though we have an interesting selection of nominations! I've only seen a couple of them, and there's a handful that I've never even heard of. Looking forward to getting started!

Les Misérables (1935) - Though I'm vaguely familiar with the story through pop culture references, I have not watched any of the adaptations (musical or otherwise).

Bicycle Thieves (1948) - I know for a fact that I have seen this, but I don't remember very much about it, so it is long overdue for a rewatch.

Vertigo (1958) - It's also been awhile since I've seen this one. I think the last time was on cable tv with far too many commercial breaks. Looking forward to watching it in full again!

The Truth (1960) - I may or may not have seen this. There was a French film I saw for a class a decade or so ago that I have not been able to remember the name of. This looks like it could be that film. Place your bets now folks!

Sundays and Cybèle (1962) - I don't think I've heard of this film before.

The Green Years (1963) - I've never heard of this one either.

Chimes at Midnight (1965) - Though I was aware of this film's existence, I haven't actually seen it. Looks very intriguing though.

Themroc (1973) - Another one I've never heard of. Based on it's "gimmick", this could be very interesting, or painful to sit through haha.

The Long Goodbye (1973) - Here's another "I may or may not have seen this" film. There are so many noir films I saw clustered together that I can't keep them all straight.

American Movie (1999) - I am not into documentaries, but his one is apparently about trying to make a horror film, so it might actually be up my ally.

About Elly (2009) - It's nice to see an Iranian film nominated!

Whiplash (2014) - I've honestly been meaning to watch this since it came out. Looks like I can finally cross it off my backlog haha.

BlacKkKlansman (2018) - This is my nomination. I rewatched it last weekend and wrote something about it yesterday, so I'll just post that once I get my coffee and reread it.



I have 5 of these on blu ray: Bicycle Thieves, Sundays and Cybèle, Chimes at Midnight, Vertigo, and Whiplash. I have Blackklansman on digital. I've seen The Long Goodbye and used to have it on blu ray, but I think I sold it, because I can't find it anymore. I've seen Les Misérables recently. I have not seen the other films nominated, but they all sound good.





BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Directed By: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier

BlacKkKlansman is a strange mix of dark comedy, propaganda, and a heavily dramatized true story that's not quite as slick as it could be, but it's still a very worthwhile viewing experience. When I first saw the film, given the ridiculous nature of the plot, I was expecting it to lean more on its humour, so I was a bit surprised at how serious the overall tone was. The runtime had also felt a little long, but when I watched it again last week, it almost seemed to fly by.

As with any film that's based on a real event, there are a lot of liberties taken with Stallworth's story. This never particularly bothers me, and in this case I actually appreciated the changes to his partner's heritage, since it allows for additional commentary on the privileges granted to those who don't obviously look like an ethnic minority. Having never previously been forced to feel ashamed of his ancestry, his perspective is much different than that of the student union members who don't have that luxury.

BlacKkKlansman is rather heavy handed with its themes, but I can't fault the film for that because they are as painfully relevant now as they were when Stallworth first went undercover with the Ku Klux Klan. It's been decades, yet the message still hasn't been getting through to people. Racial tensions across the US have not improved, and it doesn't look like this fight is going to be over any time soon. While I don't love this film, I do actually find it quite entertaining, and think it deserves more attention than something like Peter Farrelly's Green Book.

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BlacKkKlansman back when it came out. Thought it was pretty good for the most part, but as unsubtle as it is (subtle is not a word that suits Spike Lee), I thought the ending was a powerful way to cap the message.
I agree with this. It made quite an impact on my room mate (a man in his 30s), who wept in the theatre when those clips were shown.



I've never heard of The Green Years or Themroc.

I was planning on watching The Truth and About Elly for the countdown already so glad they're here.

I've seen the rest and will comment when I watch again.



Looking forward to it! It's a nice blend of haven't heard of, want to watch and seen it already, but would watch again.

I've never heard of The Green Years or Themroc.
Same. Also, it looks like they're not on DVD or VOD in the U.S. If anyone has an English-subtitled means of viewing either of them (well, looks like Themroc has its own language), please share!



Streaming guide for anyone interested...

Themroc (1973) - None
Bicycle Thieves (1948) - HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Kanopy
Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Vertigo (1958) - Watch TCM
American Movie (1999) - Amazon and VUDU (rent)
Les Misérables (1935) - IndieFlix, Flix Fling
Chimes at Midnight (1965) - HBO Max, Criterion Channel
The Long Goodbye (1973) - Tubi, Pluto TV
Whiplash (2014) - Starz, DirecTV
About Elly (2009) - Kanopy, Topic
BlacKkKlansman (2018) - Spectrum on Demand
The Truth (1960) - None
The Green Years (1963) - None

Those are the free options, except for the American Movie one. Many others also have options to rent, though.



I watched American Movie (1999) for the first time today. Directed by Chris Smith, this documentary tells the story of Mark Borchardt, an aspiring independent filmmaker working on a low budget horror film. The film focuses on the challenges he faces and his determination, along with his family and friends. For better or worse, the director allows his subjects to be themselves and this leads to some humorous moments. Mark is an enthusiastic and passionate individual and some of his friends and family are colourful characters too. I didn't feel that the documentary was exploiting or mocking Mark or his family. I was rooting for them and could feel empathy towards Mark on his journey. The film rambles and meanders a little though and goes on too long. Not everything we see was necessary to include and they could have cut out a little here and there. I think American Movie is an interesting and engaging documentary and I'm glad I watched it. My rating is a
.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Streaming guide for anyone interested...

Themroc (1973) - None
Bicycle Thieves (1948) - HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Kanopy
Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Vertigo (1958) - Watch TCM
American Movie (1999) - Amazon and VUDU (rent)
Les Misérables (1935) - IndieFlix, Flix Fling
Chimes at Midnight (1965) - HBO Max, Criterion Channel
The Long Goodbye (1973) - Tubi, Pluto TV
Whiplash (2014) - Starz, DirecTV
About Elly (2009) - Kanopy, Topic
BlacKkKlansman (2018) - Spectrum on Demand
The Truth (1960) - None
The Green Years (1963) - None

Those are the free options, except for the American Movie one. Many others also have options to rent, though.
THANKS Thief!!
I actually have a link for my film and will do a group message for everyone for it.
If the message doesn't show up in anyone's inbox, let me know and I'll resend it



rbrayer's Avatar
Registered User
Excited about this list! Besides my
own, I have already seen 4 of these (Chimes, Bicycle Thieves, Black KKKlansman, and The Long Goodbye), but only one recently (KKK). It looks like a varied, intriguing mix of movies! Awesome!