The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame IV

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That has never happened to me, movies just don't effect me like that.

The lake side killing scene in Zodiac was very uncomfortable to watch but 5 minutes after it was over I didn't feel any type of anxiety or anything like that. I just want to be clear in that I'm not saying I was traumatized or anything by the movie.
No, that's not what I meant. Just that certain content goes to a place that we aren't engaging with them in a positive way. (Though I'm glad you are able to shake off upsetting content).



No, that's not what I meant. Just that certain content goes to a place that we aren't engaging with them in a positive way. (Though I'm glad you are able to shake off upsetting content).
I'm not sure if I follow you? Or maybe you misunderstood me? So what 'didn't you mean'?



I'm not sure if I follow you? Or maybe you misunderstood me? So what 'didn't you mean'?
I didn't mean in my original post that I thought you were traumatized by the film.

I gave my example of how I sometimes have a negative reaction to certain content/violence (and I do tend to dwell on upsetting content after viewing) as an example just to illustrate that I think it's valid to have a negative response to a film because of such content.



I didn't mean in my original post that I thought you were traumatized by the film.

I gave my example of how I sometimes have a negative reaction to certain content/violence (and I do tend to dwell on upsetting content after viewing) as an example just to illustrate that I think it's valid to have a negative response to a film because of such content.
It's cool I didn't think that you were suggesting that I was traumatized by Zodiac. But I did want to put it out there that I wasn't traumatized just in case I sounded like I was saying that in an earlier post.

Zodiac did inspire me to watch Dirty Harry last night. Dirty Harry was mentioned in Zodiac and was clearly the first movie about the Zodiac killer. I've seen it before and it's OK, mostly Clint Eastwood and Andrew Robinson make the movie memorable. I might even watch the other Eastwood/Dirty Harry franchise movies...but I'm not a big fan of action-crime-thrillers.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Halfway through The Right Stuff.
Before the reveal, cricket had let me know that one of the noms went over the time restraint for me but was definitely worth it. So, before learning what it was, I agreed to go with it, having full confidence in cricket's belief.

Because it is, it really is.
It is also a film, unlike so many that I truly wish I had seen a long time ago; this is of a rare breed that I find is a more fitting place at this time in my life than previously, insofar as to appreciating their personas and relationships as an old fart as opposed to a young pup when this first came out in '83 when I was 19. So, timewise, this is an excellent first time for this specific film. Adding to the YAY of it all.
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But I do think that everyone has a right as a viewer to draw a line between themselves and certain topics or portrayals.
Agreed. And more to the point, descriptions of its technical or artistic brilliance are non-sequiturs in the face of this kind of response.



Agreed. And more to the point, descriptions of its technical or artistic brilliance are non-sequiturs in the face of this kind of response.
True, which can be frustrating, because I've definitely been in the position of someone giving a film a 1/10 or something for grounds that have nothing to do with the artistry or technicality of the film.

I think it's one of those things that really puts you at an impasse in terms of discussion, because you can't really argue with "It was too much for me."



Women will be your undoing, Pépé




The Right Stuff (1983)

Alan Shepard: Dear Lord, please don't let me f@ck up.
Gordon Cooper: [Smiling] I didn't quite copy that. Say again, please.
Alan Shepard: I said everything's A-OK.

Featuring the beginning years of the Space Program in the early sixties, including what is considering the opening of such possibilities by Test Pilot Chuck Yeager's (Sam Shepard) Breaking of the Sound Barrier.
At 3hr 13min, this was a very extensive, detailed learning experience of those early days and the men who participated both on the ground and in space.
What I really loved about this, beyond getting to know those men who, as a kid, were legends with only names and accomplishments and never of who they were as people, but seeing and discovering what occurred doing those early years and, of course, the unknown hero, Chuck Yeager who wasn't even acknowledged for Breaking the Sound Barrier til much, much later.

Along with Shepard are Barbara Hershey, Scott Glen, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, and many others, doing a splendid job displaying the everyday side of these extraordinary individuals. There is levity interspersed within some very tense and hazardous scenarios, and director Philip Kaufman displays all of it. Without the film ever dragging. Though I had to split watching due to my own time restraints, it was still an effortless and enjoyable watch. Not astounding or mesmerizing, but very engaging and, as I remarked previously, I do believe an ideal time in my life to appreciate the men, their relationships with one another, and their wives on a far more comprehensive level than if I had seen this in my late teens, early twenties.

As remarked several times in this film, "F@ckin' A Bubba,"



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
The Godfather 2



I think the fact it took me so damn long to see this, especially after seeing The Godfather three separate times, may have potentially hurt how I felt about the film overall. It's supposed to be one of the greatest of all time. And I can't argue with anybody feeling that way. For me, I feel it's a good but not great film and I still prefer number one, although a lot of that could be due to the fact that I enjoyed the hell out of Brando's performance. I really didn't get much out of De Niros performance here to be honest, it felt a bit wooden and I'd say pretty overrated. Pacino was real good though, and all the others did quite well too I'd say. The story was pretty interesting to follow, there were a couple lulls but nothing too bad. I felt the length a bit in parts but not too extreme. The end was really well done and I also thought the beginning was pretty interesting. I'll for sure see it again because I feel there was a lot of context I may have missed. Good film. Feel like I'm underrating but that's because I feel like the expectations were skyrocket high, and I honestly don't see it as high as the rest of the movie world, not trying to knock it down or anything.

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To me a film like The Godfather gets better each time you watch it because it's so dense. I don't know if you have access to AMC but they tend to run the Godfather in 7 hour chronological order every once and a while and that's a good second way to watch it with II playing the role of the bookends of the series.



movies can be okay...




Grave of the Fireflies aka Hotaru no haka (1988)

Setsuko: Why do fireflies die so soon?

This was everything I had expected it to be, including how beautifully sad it would end up being. I knew for a fact that I would have rather not viewed this for the emotional impact it would cause me. Knowing full well how incredibly beautiful this film would be and is.
Even a day later, as I write this, it still permeates and weighs me down. Its emotional impact was still powerful enough to circumvent the foreknowledge of what would occur, along with the opening scene. The inevitable sadness STILL affected me due to how masterfully poetic director Isao Takahata brings this story of orphaned Seito trying his very best to care for his little sister, Setsuko, amidst the ever-present air bombing. Its devastation was relentlessly visited by American aircraft continually bombing Japan at the end of WWII.

In fact, this year, I have watched several beautifully done, incredibly tragic Japanese films set during that time, and each has moved me. Two of which were anime. A couple I would venture back to, and while I am so very tempted to with GotF at this exact moment, the gripping sadness is too intense to override the utter beauty of both the animation as well as the very story itself to revisit. Though at some point, I feel that I will. Because of JUST how beautiful this tragic film is.
I remember not being as into the film in the beginning, but once that horrific image of the mother's state was shown, then it hit me that this animated Ghibli film is daring to go there and will go there, and that's something you usually don't see not just in animated films but movies in general. After that I was completely captivated and immersed by the relationship between the brother and sister, and that to me was the driving force and the beauty behind this film.

The common critique I usually read about Grave of the Fireflies is that it's manipulative in the way it tries to get emotions out of you, and personally that wasn't my experience at all because the most affective moments for me were ones that directly had to do with the genuineness of the main relationship, and not specifically the horror inflicted upon 'em. There's so much love between the two that that alone would drive you to heartbreak. She's a smart child who realises the situation and atmosphere they're in and therefore thrives to appear grown for her brother in order to not be as much of a weight on him...but she's still just a little girl. Meanwhile, he's obviously working hard to provide for her while being in an emotional crisis because of all the turmoil and anxiety that comes with the realisation of the fact that they're all alone from now on with absolutely no one to lean on. And in spite of all of that, their relationship blossoms so many beautiful moments, those are the true tear jerker moments for me.
__________________
"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



movies can be okay...
Taste of Cherry



Risky pick. I've had my fair share of sourness with Kiarastomi as it's been quite hard to connect with him. While it did continue to be hard to connect here, there was some sense of beauty and admiration in the filmmaking here. I loved that the third person he talked to about doing the job was once in his shoes and I loved that mulberries "saved" the guys life. I loved that guys positive tone. I loved the end where we were left to think of what had actually happened. There was a lot of beautiful imagery throughout the film.

But the film did lag a lot and was quite a slow burn for a 100 minute film. I feel as the minutes go by I appreciate the film more and more, yet strangely I didn't feel that a lot while I was actually watching it. That makes the rewatch potential of this pretty intriguing. For now, I'll just have to keep thinking about it.

I picked this film for you because I think you're a fan of Antonioni, and Taste of Cherry at least in terms of cinematography and the minimalism and the atmosphere established through them have always reminded of that director's films.

I also think Taste of Cherry is fantastic to watch when one's severely depressed, because for one it's not condescending in its preaching, and more importantly, especially when we get to the last man that the main character talks to, we get a lot of wisdom and encouraging words and ideas and thoughts, none of them being too philosophical or pretentious, all very simple, to the point, real, and very affective.

Although, the ending and that last shot still confuses me. It was just weird and unnecessary, and if anyone has more thoughts on it please share.



movies can be okay...
Monsieur Hire



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This is labeled a crime drama, but it's also a tale of loneliness, and perhaps of finding love in unexpected places. I say perhaps because there's potential ulterior motives in play. It's about a murder investigation and a sad middle aged man who spies on his young hot neighbor, until he doesn't have to spy no more. This is a superb 80 minute French film from the Ebert list. Make it American and take away the subtlety, and we have a movie similar to many in the 80's and early 90's.
I would love to re-watch Monsieur Hire sometime soon. It's an underseen gem that more people should check out, at least for the cinematography which still sticks out in my memory. It's also interesting to see how this came out the same year as The Decalogue, which has an episode extremely similar to the story behind this film, too similar I would say. What 80s or 90s films is this similar to by the way?