31st Hall of Fame

Citizen Rules is the 7th to finish! Only 12 reviews from Siddon and Wylde remain!

I need Links to A Hero, The Duellists, and Sons of the Desert please.

I sent one for The Duellists.

Sons of the Desert is on YouTube.

I sent the link for Sons of the Desert (from Youtube). I couldn't find A Hero with English subtitles anywhere.

I have a link for A Hero, I'll PM Wylde.

Thanks for the links guys. I’ll finish this up this coming week

Sons of the Desert

Thsi was my first L&H film, and I can say I was hoping for something more like the Marx Bros. Maybe it’s an unfair comparison. To start, I think the Marx Bros had better wit, and better scripts. However, maybe I should hold off such claims until I’ve seen more L&H films.
The fact is, I didn’t find this film funny until the last 20 minutes. In fact, I can say this film wasn’t even that entertaining until those last 20 minutes.

But those last 20 minutes? Worth it after waiting patiently through the first 40 minutes. The scenes with the Sons of the Desert just wasn’t funny, and could have been shortened perhaps. Maybe more focus on L&H trying to con it some plan to convince their wives that they were indeed In Honolulu? I don’t know.

Ok movie, doesn’t quite work for me.

Sunset Blvd (1950)

The irony of just finishing the Idol the maligned HBO miniseries about the sexual debauchery in Los Angeles today vs this story from 75 years ago. It had been a while since I watched the film so I had missed all the little touches of implied sexual deviancy in this classic noir. I actually think some of the best noirs revolve things that end up not being a crime but were a social crime back then.

William Holden plays a screenwriter who for the first act is deeply emasculated by most of the people in his life. His script is torn apart by the reader Beatty, with the producer suggesting changing the story to a ladies softball player(with music!). He's trying to keep his car when he ends up in the lair of Norma Desmond a wealthy divorcee who was once a big screen star but now lives a life of luxury and madness in Hollywood. She is only served by her german butler who is more than he appears to be.

Billy Wilder does a fantastic job shooting this film. You only have a handfull of settings but it still has this grand scope. Holden's cynical relationship with Norma is given another layer because we're not quite sure if Norma is being manipulative or if she's crazy. Gloria Swanson walks a fine line going over the top at moments while also showing her vulnerability at other points. Most of her terrible behavior feels like it's right under the surface ready to come out but it's balanced with her sense of desperation and loneliness.

I also got a lot more of the references this time around...still didn't get them all yet. still great nom...a favorite noir of mine

A

Starting The Duelists

Deadline is Friday if doable. Willing to extend a week though.

Sons of the Desert (1933)

Sons of the Desert tells the story of a pair of buffoons who con their wives into a boys trip to Chicago. Though really this is a loose selection of Vaudevillian acts retrofitted into a light comedy. Now as someone who actually watches comedies from this era my take is Laurel and Hardy are low brow. WC Fields understood wit and build with his films, Chaplin had imagination and whimsy, the Marx Brothers could tell a compelling story. Laurel and Hardy focused on excess and noise.

Now some of the wordplay worked but is it really worth it when you have unlikable obnoxious characters screaming and yelling throughout each bit. This is the sort of thing that plays in a theater to the cheap seats but on the screen it's a flop. The empathy for Norma Desmond and the lowbrow nature of the Talkies is in full effect with this one.

D

The Duellists

The story goes that that men participated in duels against each other over a decade over a petty squabble, which is based off a short story, which itself is based on an actual series of duels that persisted for decades. Here we have Scott’s setting, his film debut.

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, we are introduced to the primary characters who would become entangled in a long stbsing rivalry that spanned, Faroud and d’Hubert. They couldn’t be more opposites. Faroud (played by Keitel) is loud and boastful, while d’Hubert (played by Carrdine), is quiet, eloquent and much more even tempered. Faroud is driven to a need to duel for the smallest of perceived insults. He makes up lies to justify his actions.

D’Hubert, on the other hand, is much more well respected and restrained. He chooses his words carefully, and would rather avoid the nonsense of dueling. His honor, however, demands he accept each duel. It is a clash of ego (Faroud) and pride (d’Hubert).

D’Hubert would rather settle down, but Faroud has a single minded goal of crushing the man, so much so that one wonders if that is all he ever enjoys? We never see him with family. And so, we except the army and duels are all he has to fulfill his life.

The ending is clever, and one based on fact I have read. It is also fitting.

Can’t stress how much I enjoyed this film. Good pick.

Yup the ending was very satisfying, made sense and yet I didn't see it coming. The Duellist was a good pick for an HoF.

Yep. It’s been high on my watch list for ages. Gad to have finally watched it.
I thought for sure the film would end in one way, and when it didn’t, it was the absolute right choice. Keeping in step with the actual story/legend.

Was this Siddon’s pick?

I don't think Raul ever said, which I kinda like. I'm not really sure who picked what. Hopefully during the reveal we will find out...Raul...hint hint

That's correct I never really did say. Most are obvious at this point but I will put who nominated what with the results.

The Verdict (1982)

One of my favorite films, often considered a courtroom case I would argue that it's a different sort film. That's it's really about the existential crisis we all have in life and the crime/trial is merely allegorical it doesn't really matter. Lument, Mamet and Newman are a masterful team. Lument shoots the film like it's a lived in world, the classes are defined without being overbearing. Mamets script is a constant state of taking away the big moments for the viewer and replacing it with visuals but giving us the scenes of the mundane. Newman himself gives a restrained and powerful performance as a man has to lose everything just to win a case. And at the end of the day we have to decide if it was all worth it.

One of the things that makes this film so good is that you always get hit with these moments of sadness when normal people are facing this giant bureaucracy . So many great scenes are left unsaid, Newman figures out the price of the settlement the cost for him to go away is a touching one. The moment of clarity you get at so many points in the story. Rampling on the other hand plays her role to perfection a woman who at first seems like a romantic lead but you see things about her that are just a little off.

The main players in the film are in the background, the doctor, the victim are almost inconsequential to the story. We see the other people who are tangentially involved and how they treat this crime/accident is what's touching about the story. This isn't a movie for everyone but I feel like it gets better everytime I watch it.

A

The Duelists (1977)

The Duelists is a based on a true story which the folklore has made it impossible to verify what was true and what wasn't true. But in essence the film is an allegory for the Napoleonic Wars and the battles between the French from the revolution to the rise and fall of Napoleon. The irony of course is that it's a war film where you only have a single death, you never see any battles, the rules are never spelled out for you, characters come and go with little to no consequence and it's all on a gorgeous backdrop which lifts from paintings of the era.

Someone said this wasn't a War film...I think this is the perfect War film because this is the story of two men who are rivals and would like to just kill each other but can't. Scott's focus on the film is to demonstrate not the goriness of war but the politics of the army. He wants to show you how these two men are basically entertainment for their friends, the notion of well the story needs to keep going so they can't kill each other yet.

In reality these soldiers likely engaged in these duels(20 of them in real life) to get out battles and for social status. But Scott chooses to only give us 6 of them...each one escalating like Fast and Furious sequels. I didn't really care for any of the performances this isn't really that type of film, the star is the message, the look, the sound and the work. I don't need to empathize with anyone in this film because that's not what the film is about.

This was Ridley Scott's first film....and frankly it might be his best. It's definitely in the conversation.

A