The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame IV

Neiba's pick, How Green Was My Valley, was top 5 for me in this HoF and was one of the better movies I watched this past year.

I watched it semi-recently and was also pleasantly surprised by it.

I also enjoyed How Green Was My Valley quite a bit. It definitely doesn't deserve its status of "a fine film which shouldn't have beaten Citizen Kane".

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I liked it a little bit better than Citizen Kane, to be perfectly honest with you.

I'd give the edge to Citizen Kane, personally, but I think both are really good.

Citizen Kane is much better, to me.
How green was my Valley is middle of the pack for me, concerning Ford’s films. I rate The Grapes if Wrath as better, and perhaps his best film overall.

Grapes is his best, I would agree

Black Orpheus (1959)

What has been a rather enjoyable streak for final films in these Personal Rec HoFs and on occasion in other HoFs where I had the privilege of going out with something astounding it, unfortunately, did not.
Which is a true shame considering the bright pageantry of color, song, and almost possession-like dancing all used for the background of an age-old love story; I honestly should have enjoyed this at some level or at least appreciated it.
Again, unfortunately, I could not. I instead grew impatient, waiting for it all to end. The dismal acting/overacting continually pulled me out of this surrealistic film to the point that even the music and dancing could not engage and entrance but instead added a cacophony to the slow ticking of the run time.

Where I would typically thank someone for their choice most profusely, I must instead beg their forgiveness that I could not find anything beyond the beautiful colors. Even the love story for which I do enjoy a beautiful romance seemed as frantic as the crazed dancing of Rio's Carnivale.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

I had you pegged for liking this one, then again I thought you'd like Daises too. Black Orpheus was chose for me at one time and I believe I had it ranked as my #2. For me the visuals and the free style of film making captured a fleeting moment in a time & place that is now long changed...that then made the film special for me. Nope, not my choice for you.

I remember you enjoying this very much and at times I kept hoping that I would finally slip under the spell of Carnivale and it never came and most likely won't on another viewing.
I've seen several films just in this year alone with people picked from the street that I've truly loved but it seemed these folks did the opposite for me, sadly.

That's what makes us all individuals, we can share common interest but have such diversified taste. I've been thinking about that as I try to chose my nom for the 27th HoF...and what I figured out is: I can't please everyone

Rules of the Game (1939)

It's very difficult to watch a film like this and not instantly compare it to Lubitsch's work. An ensemble piece of individuals living in the period of time between WWI and WWII this is I suppose an expose and parody of the bourgeois lifestyle. And while I'm sure the film had an impact in 1939 I just came away from it with a sense of coldness and disinterest.

Renoir's use of blocking and shot selection is top notch and many of the apartments are filled with style. The issue is while the world is fascinating the characters are not. A story like this you really need to latch onto the characters and for me it was just a series of vanillaness.

The other problem I had with the film was the humor...at points it gets kinda slapsticky. A film like this should have a drier sense of wit or a sense of whimsy but pratfalls it just didn't work for me. I did enjoy the commentary track and watched it again to try and see what I missed it helped at points but still it just didn't work for me.

Rules of the Game is on my Watchlist and curious to see how it plays out for me. I have enjoyed the couple of Renoir films I've seen so far.

Oh, D@MN YOU for finishing last. I thought I had it wrapped up and you stole it.

I have tried and failed miserably and have done better just going with something I wanted to showcase. lol

Yeah bro, I hear ya!

So we done!??

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I watched Rules of the Game twice. It's not my kind of film.

I have no idea which way to go with the 27th HOF. The film I was going to nominate I rewatched somewhat recently and while I love it still I didn't think it would have a big reaction in the 27th. I'll go with something else.

I watched Rules of the Game for an HoF some years ago. I didn't care for it but that's because there's so many characters with overlapping dialogue that I couldn't keep up with who was saying what. So once I lost 'my place' in the movie I had zero connection to what was going on.

I know what you mean.
The majority of my noms have landed around the lower-middle end of the final voting. It could easily feel that I simply suck at choosing films on that broad scale. BUT I have bounced from last to first on rare occasions, AND nearly all of my noms have had a vast spectrum of reactions, even for lower positions where there was an exception of someone who really loved it.
So, really, for me, it's finding something worthwhile and possibly lesser-known and hoping at least thoroughly enjoyed it as much as I did.

I could go with something iconic or what I feel is the more popular, but I've enjoyed the hidden gems that have become the majority of the films in these, so I try to stay in that area as a preference.