26th Hall of Fame

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Last Year In Marienbad: Lots of movies have a dream like quality, but very few straight up give me the same feeling as being in a dream. Marienbad does that for me. It’s such a simple premise, man trying to convince a woman they were to meet again and resume an affair, but it’s confounding throughout. Everything feels within our grasp of understanding, but remains just far enough away that we can’t quite grasp it. Just like the simple but confounding matchstick game. Just like the women in the statue who is reaching out but being held back. I can see why it’s frustrating for some people, but I love it.

Formally the movie is perfect. The cinematography is next level. I think the organ score is a perfect choice as well.
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Mad Dog Morgan has a interesting performance from Dennis Hopper.

Patrick may be worthwhile for horror buffs. I wasn’t a fan, however.

Ditto for Razorback, essentially a Jaws rip off set in the outback.

Turkey Shoot is just bonkers, not very good, but really full of wtf moments.

Wake In Fright is decent, and probably deserves a rewatch. Probably the best of the bunch that I have seen sans the Mad Max films
The horror films mentioned in the documentary piqued my interest the most.

Razorback has been on my watchlist for a while.

Patrick looked pretty interesting in the documentary, though its nearly 2-hour long runtime is a bit intimidating.

I've already seen Howling III. It's not the best, but it has a few WTF moments which make it worth watching.



The trick is not minding
The horror films mentioned in the documentary piqued my interest the most.

Razorback has been on my watchlist for a while.

Patrick looked pretty interesting in the documentary, though it's nearly 2-hour long runtime is a bit intimidating.

I've already seen Howling III. It's not the best, but it has a few WTF moments which make it worth watching.
Yeah, the horror films stand out to me as well, followed by the action films.

Patrick is….interesting to say the least. It’s definitely worth seeking out sometime when you have the time. Just to see how bonkers the Aussies were during that time.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
Mad Dog Morgan has a interesting performance from Dennis Hopper.

Patrick may be worthwhile for horror buffs. I wasn’t a fan, however.

Ditto for Razorback, essentially a Jaws rip off set in the outback.

Turkey Shoot is just bonkers, not very good, but really full of wtf moments.

Wake In Fright is decent, and probably deserves a rewatch. Probably the best of the bunch that I have seen sans the Mad Max films
Think it would be cool to see some of these. I did see Wake in Fright though and didn't care for it.



I forgot the opening line.


Tower - 2016

Directed by Keith Maitland

Based on an article by Pamela Colloff

In November 1966, a young woman named Claire Wilson, suffering from a gunshot wound, was released from hospital after a lengthy stay. She had been in intensive care for seven weeks, and about as long on a ward afterwards. She'd had to learn to walk again. She had lost her baby after being eight months pregnant. She'd lost her partner - killed. In January, she returned to university for the first time since she'd been shot. Nobody talked to her about what had happened - despite the fact that many had shared her ordeal. There were no meetings. Nobody asked how she was, or declared that they felt for her. When it did happen to be mentioned, it was called "the accident." These were different times.

On August 1st, 1966, a nondescript young man took various rifles and ammunition to the top of the Main Building tower at the University of Texas at Austin and opened fire, killing 16 and wounding 31. Keith Maitland's 2016 documentary Tower sets a great standard for telling a story about something absolutely tragic and horrifying, for the purpose of healing and coming to terms with these events. It's a film that helps to restore a bit of faith in humanity, for this is a movie about the victims and how they feel, felt and acted - not a gunman and what he did. It's a shared experience that makes you want to embrace the people who have had their lives unalterably changed forever - focusing on words and actions about the best of us.

The documentary is based on an article in the Texas Monthly by Pamela Colloff called "96 Minutes" which was published 40 years after the events at Texas University. This article combined the recollection of dozens of witnesses, survivors, newspeople and other people who tried to help the best they could under the sniper's deadly fire. Many of the recollections had never been shared before, and it proved to be a real impetus to put together this film. Unlike the article, the film eschews mentioning the gunman or talking about who he was. It focuses mainly on the events as they were happening, and people's psychological reactions in the moment, and also how the events affected their wellbeing. Many of the people interviewed and quoted in the film were also quoted in Pamela Colloff's article.

Tower is constructed in an interesting manner. Reenactions from that day have been filmed and then animated in Rotoscoping - a process where frames of motion picture photography are replicated, originally by manual tracing but now by computer software. Rotoscoped footage is easily transferred onto different backgrounds. It allows for a lot of freedom. This animation has a dream-like quality, but I'd hesitate to call it 'stylish' in a film such as this. It's not style that's sought after, but a kind of transference of time and place. Actors and actresses can depict real characters, but remain anonymous enough to have their footage more easily assimilate with footage of the real people at later stages of their lives. A transference of eras is more easily accomplished, as backgrounds can easily be created or copied from other sources. It also very much looks like imagination. If someone is recalling events from the distant past, a rotoscoped set of images is something like what you'd imagine the recollection to be like. After all, we hardly fill in every small detail when we remember.

At times, reality (brutal reality) assumes control when real footage is shown. Puffs of gun smoke drift from the deadly tower. News anchors interrupt people's daily lives to report on the unimaginable. This is all very well sewn together by editor and frequent Keith Maitland collaborator Austin Reedy. In the background, either the real people or actors using the real people's words narrate various different stories from survivors. Aleck Hernandez, a kid delivering papers on his paper route. Allen Crum, who raced over to Aleck to help him and eventually ended up inside the tower, helping the police put an end to the shooting. Brenda Bell, watching on from her class window and walking amongst pools of blood afterwards - she'd go on to write about what happened. Houston McCoy and Ramiro Martinez, who would reach the top of the tower and confront and kill the gunman. John Fox, who would put himself in harms way while rescuing Claire and helping carry her to safety. Neal Spelce, a newscaster who would learn of the unfolding drama and drive off to the scene, reporting what was happening as it happened. This all adds together to give a real sense of what happened that day - the scale and impact of events on a personal level.

The era is brought to mind from the radios of the re-enactments as we hear Monday Monday performed by The Mamas and the Papas, Waterloo by Stonewall Jackson and Daydream by The Lovin' Spoonful. It creates an atmosphere of happiness and normality that is smashed by events. Then, late, there's Debussy's Clair De Lune in the documentary's most striking use of music, which prompts all kinds of emotions from the the listener, from sadness to painful reminiscence, to an almost calm acceptance of humanity's enduring beauty in the face of our most ugly of crimes. We learn about Claire's forgiveness towards the sniper that took away her boyfriend and baby. We learn about John's guilt for not coming to Claire's rescue earlier. We get to live the experience of a young woman called Rita Starpattern, who joined Claire on the hot concrete in full view of the gunman, just to keep her going and make sure she wasn't alone. Rita could immediately feel an empathy that we share by learning about what Claire went through on that day.

Tower, overall, is an excellent documentary that tells a fascinating narrative tale and also explores emotion, memory and coming to terms with past traumas. It takes the momentum of our desire to look at tragedy, and uses that momentum to show us what is really important about looking back at those tragedies. It takes what we've learned about the need to talk about past traumas to help heal them, and uses it to inform average people who have never experienced the enormity of what happened during this event. What could have been sheer exploitation becomes something really worthwhile - and in doing this it takes all of the power that gunman wanted for himself and gives it back to those he stole that power from. Released 50 years after the events it talks about, it finally brings some comfort to Claire - once completely alone amongst the very people she'd actually shared this event with, and brings that same comfort to all of those other people living their lives in the shadow of the tower at the University of Texas.

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Latest Review : Le Circle Rouge (1970)




Women will be your undoing, Pépé




The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dorothy:
Weren't you frightened?
The Wizard of Oz: You are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe. I was petrified.

There is not a year in my early life that did not involve seeing this film. As early as a small toddler, amongst brothers sprawled on the floor, sisters grouped from one side of the extended couch along two walls, my parents at one end or the other. Along with nearly every rendition, cartoon, TV show, and remakes since including the Stoner Dark Side of Oz with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon synced up as the Audio and, of course, the soulful The Wiz. However, I have not seen the recent Wicked. And with it being over a decade since I last followed the Yellow Brick Road, I have been aching to do just that. So, THANK YOU @Allaby!
I was actually kinda giddy as I searched online. The adventure began with a fun discovery of a Spanish copy with the voices being so f@ckin awesome I watched the witch warning Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man from atop a shack and them meeting Cowardly Lion. Along with a bass-toned Narration of the opening placard that I just loved.
Before moving on, and Off To See the Wizard. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
He is, kids. Well, okay, look - listen, just ignore the man behind the curtain because he really is. It's because of all the Wonderful Things he does.

Because of the Wonderful Things that this film does, there is Magic in this film of amazingly lush and beautiful colors of Oz and sepia-toned Kansas. The child inside danced about in my chair throughout this. I didn't sing along. I was too busy smiling.
Came d@mn close during the Lollipop Kids. D@mn close. lol
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2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
Great nomination @rauldc14, I'd never even heard of Tower before, and it's something that's right up my alley so to speak.
It was nominated in an animation HOF by @Siddon and I really liked it, figured it needed to be seen by those who haven't seen it!



The Celebration

WARNING: "Celebrate Good Times, Come On" spoilers below
First thirty minutes I was wondering why I gave this a 3.5 first watch. Then Christian’s first speech comes. Not only does that inform what came before, but it propels us forward into what comes almost thriller like ride. It’s an interesting way to write a movie because this party becomes a microcosm of how society handles these reveals. Most handle it with uncomfortable silence. Many close to it deny. A few support, but from a distance that does the victim no good. Only one really offers support in the moment, and it’s someone Christian doesn’t even know yet. Anyway, this movie is obviously very heightened reality so the harsh tone will definitely put off a lot of viewers. I settled into it quite nicely.


I won’t say anything about the cinematography because this film needs a new transfer badly. This was more than likely a link pulled from a DVD. I don’t think playing that on my phone and mirroring it to my tv is doing the movie any favors. I would watch this again if I can ever get a Blu-ray or 4K cheap.



Just got an email that Criterion is releasing The Celebration in January. Guess I have to put my money where my mouth is about the transfer now.



Seems like every movie will be a criterion movie someday lol.
God willing. I won’t have to watch pirate links that look like they have been transferred twenty times for halls anymore.