Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame VI

I watched A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, but won't be writing anything about it until tomorrow. This has been a great start so far, so I hope the trend continues throughout the HoF.

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Could be, I've liked other PTA movies.

For me what I liked about Wendy and Lucy and other of Reichardt movies was the moments in between. I don't need big endings in movies but the ending in W&L was perfect.

I was never a big fan of Kathleen Turner though she was perfect for the role. I guess I don't find her attractive or sexy though she is, does that makes sense?

As a young teen I was totally into her. Then I got into classier and more sophisticated women, like Pam Anderson and Carmen Electra.

Carmen Electra was hot back in the day.

Pretty much agree with everything you said. The date scene is silly, so I get ya on that and the movie overall is pretty standard 80's fluff but it's a rom-com that actually works for me. I do think it's one of Martin's best performances even if it isn't one of his best movies.

Not sure if it's next but I'll be watching Tank Girl within the next few days while it's on Prime.

I hated Naked but Life is Sweet sounds like it might be my cup of tea. I do like movies that aren't about much and just sorta shows us people's lives.

Yes and I also think you'd enjoy Secrets & Lies.

As I hinted at yesterday I watched The Red Shoes and I have to admit it may be the best movie about ballet I have ever seen. I don't know if this is cheating or not but before the movie was over I looked up the fairy tale on which the ballet was based and that may have been a bit spoilerish for the movie but then again the movie wasn't a retelling of that tale directly so eh. It was about Victoria, her composer lover Julian, their disapproving boss, Boris and red shoes.

Basic plot is Victoria is a relatively unknown dancer, with boatloads of talent and, if given the opportunity, will be one of best ever. With a little help from her friends she finds herself in a very well respected ballet company run by Boris. Boris is all about the company. He has a little of Fletcher from Whiplash in him (a little), he's a demanding SOB and he's worried that any kind of romance/distraction will ruin Vicky's chance at being the best, in turn costing him some money. I don't think it's a jealousy thing with Boris, it's a money thing. That's my take anyway. While at the company Victoria hooks up with the new composer, Julian, falls in love much to the Boss' chagrin, he boots them, more stuff happens, she comes back for one more performance of the Red Shoes, which had been retired from production since she and Julian left and finis. That's the condensed, Cliff Notes version if you want to fail your high scool report on The Red Shoes.

Okay, so the highlights:

1. the 15 minute ballet of The Red Shoes, in the middle of the movie.That was soo good. The cinematography and fx were very impressive for a 1940's film.
2. The music all the way through was good.
3. The movie doesn't follow the fairy tale but the fairy tale inspires much of what happens. It's neat how it ties together
4. The ending.

I thought it started a little slow but by the time the Red Shoes was performed I was in. Of the actors, never heard of any of them so I gotta look them up, the guy who portrayed Boris - Anton Walbrook- was great. I didn't like him at all, so well done. Moira Shearer plays Vicky and she was solid. Her dancing is pretty outstanding and finally Marius Goring played Julian. I thought he did well but for me Vicky and Boris kind of overshadowed him a little.

I would never have picked this for me but good job to whoever did. You know me better than I know me. I'd watch this again. Not saying this is going to win, only Pandora's Box went wire to wire for me in one of these HoF's, but it's a helluva start.

I'd like to see The Red Shoes again. I've only seen it once and I think I can get more out of it.

Definitely need to see Life Is Sweet again. Think it was just my second Leigh, and I have become a big fan since going through quite a bit of his filmography.

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Letterboxd

I got myself In the Heat of the Night on Criterion and watched it recently - I already loved it though. I haven't seen a Mike Leigh film I haven't liked, and that includes, of course, Life is Sweet. When I saw The Red Shoes for the first time, around a year ago, it completely blew my mind and automatically qualified as one of the best films I'd ever seen. None of my nominations have come up yet, I don't think.

I'll probably get started with Dances With Wolves sometime soon.

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I'm usually hit or miss with Steve Martin movies because sometimes he's just too "over the top" for my taste, but I think Roxanne is one of his better movies. I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember liking it a lot.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

For Steve Martin movies, in addition to Roxanne, I'd also recommend All of Me (1984). It's one of his funniest movies.

I loved Predestination the first time I saw it, and it was even better when I rewatched it a few months ago.

On a different note, did anyone else think that in the bar scenes, Sarah Snook looked like a young Leonardo DiCaprio?

It's been a while since I watched Wendy and Lucy, but I remember it being a great movie that was so heartbreaking to watch that I haven't had a desire to rewatch it.

I was trying to figure out who Snook reminded me of in those scenes, and you're spot on. A young Leonardo DiCaprio wearing make-up to make himself look older is exactly what I was thinking.

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Blow Out:

I don't have much of a history with DePalma at this point. I have seen a few of his movies, but none of them have left a big impression with me one way or the other. That may seem kind of surprising considering one of the movies I have watched is Scarface. That movie really seems to divide people. I just found it to be a decent crime flick, elevated a bit by Pacino. Probably knocked down a notch or two in mind because it feels a little try hard in its bigger moments. Certainly a mixed bag.

Anyhow, not here to talk about Scarface. I had heard that Hitch influenced DePalma greatly and Blow Out brings that diagnosis firmly into the light. As Hitch moved into the 70's late in his life, and directed things like Frenzy, you could tell that he had a smutty side that had been just waiting to come out. DePalma takes that baton and runs with it, although Blow Out always feels just trashy enough. I like that about it. It's a seedy movie and isn't afraid to lean into that. Exhibit one is the opening, which I found to be an absolutely brilliant entrance into this world, even if I would never actually want to sit down and watch that movie.

DePalma is an expert with the camera. When he decides for it to be very active, when he goes for close-ups, when he keeps us at a distance. This is really an art and, often, what separates the great directors form the decent ones in my opinion. I love everything about the way this movies looks. The studio where Travolta works is perfect. Another brilliant decision is the length of time DePalma chooses to spend with the processes Travolta is using for editing his sounds and visuals. A lesser film would certainly spend less time with this since it doesn't propel the plot quickly enough. These are some of the cooler moments in the film for me.

Two things keep this from being a perfect film for me. I would have cast someone other than Allen. It may be mean to say, but I just flat out didn't find her very good or compelling. Especially when most of her scenes are matched up with Travolta, who I always find compelling even when he chooses bad roles. She also has a couple great scenes with Dennis Franz, who frankly, just out acts her big time.

My other issues is a subplot involving Lithgow that I won't spoil, because anyone who has seen the movie knows exactly what I'm talking about. It just felt totally unnecessary. Lithgow is great though, and super creepy.

Even though I could tell where the final scene was going to end up. I still enjoyed that immensely. Everything tied in very nicely, and it felt very appropriate for Travolta's character. Glad I finally got to see Blow Out. Probably going to be hard to beat for my top spot.

I have no clue who nominated it. I would guess Cricket because it seems like his kind of movie, but I can also see him not thinking it' not quite right for me. I will guess Siddon.