Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame VI

Yeah, I got that...I mean it's pretty clear that the parents screwed up the kids who then grew up to be screwed up adults. As far as Aimee Mann's music, I don't know it, so has no impact on me.

How about that list of epic films? If you post them I'll give the ones I've seen quicky critiques.

So I did it. I finally watched Once Upon a Time in America (1984). This is a film I had been meaning to watch for a long time. Out of the imdb top 250, I had seen 235 of them and Once Upon a Time in America was the highest rated (at #81) that I had not seen. I even bought the 2 disc blu ray with both the theatrical and director's cut on it a while back. So I'm glad someone nominated it so I could finally force myself to watch it. This is a very well made film. Performances are great from the cast and the film looks really good. Cinematography was excellent and so were the costumes. I liked the score too. I do feel that the film didn't need to be so long. I watched the theatrical cut, which was 3 hours and 49 minutes. They could have actually trimmed it down a little here and there. I don't think it is the best gangster film ever, as it doesn't quite reach the level of The Godfather trilogy or Goodfellas, but definitely a top 10 gangster film. Glad I finally saw Once Upon a Time in America.

I've never hated a movie more than I hated Once Upon a Time in America the 1 time I watched it.

Glad you enjoyed Allaby. Looking through your favorites on Letterboxd, I had a feeling it was an easy win. I love it as well but the length has kept that love to one viewing. Maybe I will go for the directors cut next time. I wasn’t sure which I watched but I should have looked at the runtimes yesterday before I answered. I would have known based off that.

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Letterboxd

“Except for markf, you’re all a disgrace to cinema.”

Can I ask why you hated it? Was it certain content, the length, the subject matter, or something else?

It's been a while, but I actually felt offended by it and I watch the worst kind of crap. And not to sound too simple, but I thought it was flat out stupid and silly. And there's nothing I like more than a good gangster film.

Classic replacement up on 1st page

I feel like when a film is at or near three hours it's an epic. Zodiac is a crime epic, Magnolia is a musical epic, and Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a war-epic. I can't think of too many films that have runtimes as long as those films that I wouldn't classify as an epic.

People might have their own definitions, but I don't think runtime really has much to do with what an epic is. Most are long because of the scope of the story though.

I haven't seen that, maybe someone will take a gamble in PR7. You never know I might like it

I loved Magnolia the first time I saw it and I still think it's one of the top films of the 90's but I rarely watch it anymore. It's not exactly an uplifting 3 hours. The performances from everybody are insanely good and PT Anderson does a fantastic job balancing all story lines. Not a terribly religious person but I did love the "And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs" ending. That crazy, out of left field stuff is always fun for me. Would never have considered this for CR, however.

12 Monkeys is maybe my favorite Gilliam. That or The Fisher King but that's not saying too much as I'm not a huge fan of Gilliam films. I think they're both good but I don't connect with Gilliam very well. His films always feel longer than they are so...pacing issues. Brad Pitt and Madeline Stowe are really good, the story is very interesting and Bruce, well he actually kind of gets on my nerves a bit in this. Still, I own it and watch it every once in awhile.

I HIGHLY doubt it

I would say there is only a 10-15% chance that you would like it.

Got ya

So far it's either Fisher King or Tideland. But they were both 3/5

I've seen an abundance of love for Magnolia here on MoFo - always love and praise, but I've never seen the dark side before - the side of seething finger-pointing detestation, but now I have. I should always figure on there being another side. How do I feel about Magnolia? It's a film I really loved a lot the first time I saw it - and although I've cooled on it a little, I think I watched it one too many times in a short space of time and my familiarity with it made it less enjoyable. Regardless, I still get a lot from the performances, which are special. Philip Seymour Hoffman (miss him) - William H. Macy - Philip Baker Hall - even Tom Cruise, who I'm not a fan of, but can't deny how well he does here. The soundtrack as well, songs from Aimee Mann, is exceptional. Strangely, I've never really connected any religious implication to the connected events - at least not organised religion. The universe is full of patterns, and bizarre happenstance, and is unfathomable. Anyway, did I make the big mistake and nominate Magnolia for Citizen Rules? Maybe. (Ahh, but maybe not!)

I've been meaning to see Once Upon a Time in America for a long time now, and it's actually on my schedule (229 minute version) - I hope I love it, because that's a pretty long movie to hate!

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Is that a reference to my review of Magnolia? I image it is. If it is a reference to me, what do you mean by finger-pointing?...that sounds somewhat ominous. I thought I should ask for clarification.

This is exactly what I don't like about all the PT Anderson movies I don't like.

Feels a bit late to still be doing "first impressions" of my films, but since I've got a replacement, I figure I'd might as well write one so it's not the only one left out:

All About Eve (1950)
I've seen a few people mention this film in passing elsewhere on the forum, and I think it came up when The Asphalt Jungle was nominated in another HoF, since Marilyn Monroe is in both. That's about all I know about it, other than the quick basic summary and the stills I just looked at. I'm confident I haven't seen this one before. Then again, nothing about The Player seemed familiar at first glance either haha.

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I had absolutely no problems with your review - I was just searching around for colourful language and unusual phraseology to dress up my comments and make them sound eccentric. If I made it sound like I was accusing you of some impropriety I apologize - I enjoy reading your stuff on MoFo. (The comment wasn't even directly aimed at your review - but at an imagined "dark, other side of the coin" ala Magnolia viewpoints on the boards as a whole.)