31st Hall of Fame

3 from Wylde left and 3 from Siddon if I'm not missing anything

I’ll have my review of Interiors up tonight. Watched it last night, and still feel (it was rewatch) it’s among Allen’s best. Maybe even top 5

I just realized that I have no idea who nominated what. Was it disclosed at any point?

Someone just asked. The answer is no, and that will be part of the unveil. Wylde and Siddon, like I said if you need a little more time it's no rush. I'll be out of state Sat-Friday next week anyways

Herods Law (1999)

I had never heard of this filmmaker before which is a surprise because 97-99 is the period of time when I thought I saw everything of note, This is the story of a man who is selected to run a small out of the way town in Mexico. When he gets there he slowly becomes more corrupt and the bodies start piling up.

I enjoyed the look of the film, the town feels large and isolated. The rooms feel lived in and it's amazing to see animals running around all over the place. Gloria and Juan are a solid couple of characters and performers and anchor the film. It feels like their story for the majority of the film. I don't think I actually liked this film though. A lot of the humor got lost in translation for me and it felt very repetitive. The violence just kinda felt like it had to exist to move onto the next scene. Almost like a Cohen's brothers film with very little momentum.

I think my biggest issue with the film is that I don't think anything is really going to stick with me and I'm going to forget most of it in a week. I understand why it was nominated....Spanish films are a blindspot in this Hall and I appreciate the accessibility of this nom but in the end this just felt average

C

Days of Heaven (1977)

Fun fact I watched Heaven's Gate first thinking that was the nomination(and I was able to record it). Sadly my library refused to pick up this film and I had to watch in on a computer screen. And it's a shame because visually this film is amazing, each shot feels like a painting come to life which for a man who nomad Barry Lyndon is always a huge plus and pretty much guarantees the film atleast a B score. Mallick is a fascinating auteur l\over the course of five decades Mallick made 5 different films that are basically five different genres and yet they all look and feel like Mallick films.

Of his oeuvre this was my least favorite of his work. And it all falls on the head of one really bad casting of Richard Gere. Gere as a hot headed turn of the century farm worker never worked...his accent was terrible he looked way to clean for the time period. It's weird because everybody looks like they should look but Gere just feels like this movie star in the middle of the film. It kinda took me out of the picture.

And really it can't be said enough how the visuals in this film are incredible. The barns and tractors feel like these giant elephants showing the signs of the industrial revolution starting. A plane shows up and it's one of the most thrilling scenes in the film. And the last twenty minutes Mallick's use of shadow on the riverboat are dazzling.

However the film still has a number of narrative flaws. The voiceover is rough at times, I'm not sure how the ending actually came about we don't get much exposition. Sam Shepperd is supposed to be dying but he looks really healthy throughout the film. It's the little things combined with the big things that keep this film from being a classic. But still solid nom.

B-

Interiors

Woody Allen’s attempt at being Bergman, he sown what succeeds here. Being his first serious film, and his first (I think) to not star him, it focuses on a deeply wounded family, with each member trying to come to terms with not only their own neuroses and perceived disappointments, but their fathers recent decision to leave their rather emotionally frail mother.

It’s a lot to pack in, but it’s very rewarding. Wonderfully acted, and scripted, Allen was wise to keep himself out of this rather serious film. Aptly named Interiors, we not only see how their mothers job as an interior decorator, but also their interior thoughts and fears and self doubt.

If there is a minor quibble, it is the lack of screen time for the third sister, an actress, who barely registers in this film. Otherwise, a great film and probably among his top 5 films.

Gone baby Gone (2007)

You don't realize how much films have changed in the last ten years until you watch this film. especially after watching Affleck's latest film AIR. Gone baby Gone tells the story of a PI who is hited to help find a young girl that's gone missing. Her mother played by Amy Ryan is a drug mule who gets into some trouble with her boss. This film touches on the lives of surrogate families in Boston.

The first thing Affleck did that Terrence Mallick should have done is cast a non-star in the lead. Casey Affleck fits the role of the PI perfectly a babyfaced fringe character in a world of drug addicts and old men. The casting in this film is top notch, they weren't picked because they matched a specific skin tone, it wasn't so on press photos the group of actors would look diverse. Everybody was cast because they were age and physically appropriate for the story. The accents lined up the character actors easily blended in with the stars it's perfect.


The film also does something that a lot of films don't do very well is it bounces all over different locations. It doesn't feel like you are watching a film shot within a single block or location. The film gets out of its way and allows for the story to breathe without adding long padded scenes (like Herod's Law). The film has a good amount of violence but it's never gratuitous and it doesn't build to a climax. Really the last act of the film has no violence at all which is a nice change of pace.

Great nom I think fairly highly of this one

A-

I’ll have a review up for Gone, Baby Gone soon

I don’t think Gere was a star when he did Days Of Heaven?

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Letterboxd

I'd say that's probably correct. I just looked up Gere at IMDB and read about him at Wiki too. Days of Heaven (1978) was his first starring role and his breakout role was American Gigolo (1980). Before Days of Heaven the only notably exposure he had was in a 'memorable small role' in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).

Gone Baby Gone


Ben Affleck isn’t exactly a great director. His films never really vibe all that well with me. However, that isn’t denying that they aren’t good. The story for instance, goes a long way.

GBG is set, like most of his films, in Boston. It deals with the disappearance of a child and the resulting search for her. The films works not so much because of its performances, although Freeman and Monaghan are both quite good in this among others, but because of how this film takes us in an unexpected direction.

Of it was a mere mystery about the search of the missing girl, it would be mostly forgotten. But this films begins to portray the mother are negligent. She’s caught up in the shady side of Boston. The underbelly, if you will. She doesn’t even seem to know much about her daughter at all, let alone if she actually cares for her.

As we go through the search alongside the main actors, there are several scenes where moral questions come to bear. Should a child molester be ex outed for his crimes without a trial? Should a police officer plant evidence if he knows it will protect someone?
And finally, the final question posed, and the most important, should the child be returned to her mother? A mother who is an admitted drug addict. The questions provide no easy answers, and it’s executed decent enough that we ask ourselves the same thing….right up until the end when we are told the name of the doll that belongs to the daughter, and realize that maybe Angie was right…..And the look of doubt that creeps over Patrick’s face (played by a little too young looking Casey Affleck who I didn’t find that terribly convincing in his role) leaves us with little doubt about the right choice.

He sticks out as a movie star in this it was like everyone else was wearing clothes and he was wearing a costume

I said this about Gere in my review.

I get you. Days is the most I have ever liked Gere so I probably defend that performance a little too much. He is undeniably a commanding screen presence though.

Personally I can't stand the guy I think he's done four American remakes of foreign classics. He's always been the lowest tier of leading actors from his generation. Like if you can't get William Hurt, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Jeff Bridges...you settle for Richard Gere.

So even though he's terrible this film might be one of the ten best films I've seen him in.

I’m definitely not a Gere fan, but I do like him in the right role. This is far and away my favorite of his. Not going out on too far of a limb in guessing that Malick has more to do with that than the actual performance.

I can't say I've seen Gere in much of anything, not even his more well known films. I did see him in Time Out of Mind (2017) and thought he was excellent in that. I liked that film too but just noticed it's a dismal 5.7 on IMDB. Not sure why people are hating on it. Has anybody seen that?

I really haven’t seen much for how long he has been around. Just watched American Gigolo recently, he was good for that role too. That one fits more of his persona, which is what Siddon was getting at. Pretty Woman fits that too, been a long time for me seeing that one but I saw it a few times as a teen. Didn’t even like romantic comedies back then, buy that one always seemed to transcend the genre a bit. I was a big First Knight fan way back when. I seriously doubt it would hold up for me, but I should give it a shot sometime. The other one I remember liking is Officer And A Gentleman. Only seen that once, so really don’t remember it but I would definitely watch it again at some point.

Believe it or not I've never seen any of those film you mentioned. I know, I missed all the biggies!

The only thing I've seen him in (besides Time Out of Mind & Days of Heaven) was Amelia (2009) and Chicago (2002) and I don't even remember him in those movies.