Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame VI

Oh damn, I didn't want to know who picked what for me.

I was looking at Man Push Cart in the past. Might have to take another look.

Sorry Cricket. I assumed you knew all your choices. My bad.

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Letterboxd

I was looking at Man Push Cart some time back as it came up in a list of 'slow cinema' but my library didn't have it at the time so I have yet to see it.

Haha I was kidding

Oh yea because you rely on the library lol No excuses!

Joking? If not how would you have worked that out so as not to know what was picked for you? I just assumed you already knew the choices we made for you.

Edit: Never mind

That was sometime back right after watching and liking Wanda (1970).

Obviously cricket knows who nominated which film for him, but a future Personal Recs HoF could be designed such that the host doesn't actually know, if they wanted in on the mystery as well. Everyone could send all their other nominations to the host, but a different person would be selected to take only the host's films. After receiving all the recommendations, this co-host would relay the titles to the main host.

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solid write-up, cricket. Haven't seen or heard of Chop Shop, but it does sound like a General Hall nom possibility.

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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

Yeah, I thought maybe he reeled his wife into doing the compiling after his comment

Two For The Road:

I was excited this one showed up because I had it in my Criterion watchlist as I have been trying to watch some more Hepburn as of late. It’s a good choice for me. I like marriage strife dramas. That time in our life when the things we used to adore about our spouses now drives us crazy. Bergman is the king of writing these scripts. This one isn’t quite as acidic as Bergman, but it scratches that itch. Hepburn and Finney are terrific together, this could be my favorite performance of hers. I really like the device of switching between different periods but the film could have used a couple more run throughs on editing, it’s a little wonky in spots. Overall, really enjoyed this one. Interested who picked it for me and why.

That would be me...I chose that for you as I remembered your nom in the Women Directors HoF...Take This Waltz (2011)...I remember you talked about your own personal experience & thoughts on marriage and relationships...so I thought this might be of interest to you...and of course Audrey is a cutey, which might also be of an interest

I remember liking Two for the Road but wishing it were more than it was.

I was not aware that Wages of Fear was The Sorcerer story. I've seen The Sorcerer and wasn't impressed but this... I loved this. Even the beginning half hour, which was a bunch of character setting was good and just flew by but once they start moving product it went next level fun.

I'm not going to say a lot about the plot except that four guys are to transport two truckloads of nitro glycerin through mountainous dirt roads for two thousand dollars apiece. It's a suicide mission. Thee company doesn't expect them all to survive. Three of the guys, Bimba, Luigi and Mario are solid dudes, they are well aware of what they're up against and are very resourceful. Jo, the gun toting, BMOC, former gangster, is a little bitch and I wish Mario had left him on the side of the road a few times. However, if Mario had done that we wouldn't have had one of the best moments of the film when Mario, also sick of Jo's crap, beats Jo down pretty good, then, when it's all over, Mario just slaps him one more time for good measure. Just completely demoralizes Jo. It was great. Gave a little tee-hee at that. Bimba and especially Luigi are two guys you'd love to have a beer with. Just lighting cigars and transporting explosives.

So the beginning was really interesting but once they hit the road the pacing of this movie is perfect. This is really one of the fastest two hours I can remember thanks in part to three great, high tension, scenes. The switchback scene was fantastic. Loved the close up shots of the wheels working, watching the ass end of the truck start sliding out towards the edge of a bridge, then, later, meeting a gigantic rock blocking the road and figuring out how to get through that and finally, finding a way to navigate an oil pit. All three scenes were top notch.

The acting is fine, I really enjoyed the cinematography and the ending sucks. Hard! The movie is five minutes too long. But I could watch this again and just turn it off at the 2:05 so I'm not gonna knock it any points for that because for just over two hours I was thoroughly enjoying this movie. Thanks to whomever selected this one. Easily one of the more entertaining movies I've seen from the 50's.

The Wages of Fear is a brilliant movie - I haven't seen Sorcerer yet, but I've seen the great original and it's a tension-filled gritty edge-of-your-seat kind of film that's put together extremely well. Superb, excellent, incredible - I could just copy and paste from a thesaurus for this film. I've got the Criterion and love it. It's incredibly patient with itself, spending a good 40 minutes or so setting the scene, introducing it's characters and explaining their motivation.

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Sorcerer is a solid remake which I've seen a few times. It packs more of the memorable suspense set pieces in Clouzot's film and the rope bridge scenes are terrific, in particular. However, the characters were definitely far less memorable than the ones in The Wages of Fear as, after their respective backstory sequences in the first act, they left me cold and I wasn't able to get invested in them again, especially in the second half where they become props in the face of all the suspense set pieces. The Wages of Fear shines in both the suspense and the characters, so I think it's the better film. Still though, I do enjoy Sorcerer quite a bit and would definitely recommend it.

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I was impressed with Sorcerer, really a solid movie. I haven't seen The Wages of Fear and I guess I won't be this PR as no one chose it for me. One of the days I'll see it.

I like The Wages of Fear but I do prefer Sorcerer.

The Innocents:

Horror is always a risky choice for me, but if you are going to go that route pick a mood poem with some spiritual elements. The Innocents delivers on that front. Certainly put me in mind of something like Rebecca. I enjoyed Kerr here, she portrays the innocent but world wise nanny very well. The child actors aren’t bad either. The movie looks stellar. I’m always hesitant when I have to watch things on you tube, but this looked good. I guess my issues probably stem from not enough character development, really of all the characters. I like ambiguity in movies but I also need something to latch on to. Otherwise my mind wanders a bit and I’m not super invested in outcomes. That was the case here. Pretty good flick, but isn’t going to compete with some really stellar ones I have seen so far.