MOFO Movie Tournament 2012 Bracket 1

That's funny. Even if it's winning so far, Shivers is the biggest pile in this bracket. This whole bracket is sick and twisted though. I've seen all the movies and I'll post a modest discussion when my bod allows me.

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I recently saw Vampyr, but I still cant make up my mind if its better than Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the rings. One is about the use of tension and mise-en-scene with the "minimalistic" sets and the inherent limitations of black&white, while the other is CGI loaded, though employed in such a majestic way that its a treat for the eyes. As of now, I'm leaning towards Lord of the rings. I need more time to think about it...

Vampyr is a good film from a Master, should be seen by any serious film buff and far superior to Lugosi's Dracula, but it's not even in his top three films, I believe. TLotR series is one of the few films I can think of which enables CGI to shine (at least more than usual) in a live-action film. That film basically reinvented how to make good popular entertainment which utilizes intense effects and fantasy for a mass audience which shows some taste.

Explanations...

5. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
12. Escape from New York

All Westerns should be like McCabe & Mrs. Miller - without the pretentious Man-with-no-name outcasts, without silly cowboy hats, just European settlers trying to set up shop in the new lands of America. A great deal of effort is spared by Altman to highlight the whore-houses and the lucrative trade of prostitutes, which is something you dont get to see in conventional Westerns that focused more on staged gunfights than substance.

6. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
11. Seven


Apparently I'm among the minority who prefer Se7en to Sympathy for mr. Vengeance. No doubt, Sympathy for mr. Vengeance is a great revenge flick by a great Korean director that questions our preconceived notions of good & evil. It's a thinking man's movie, but somehow it got carried away with its over the top brutality and its dark comedy was not to my liking. Se7en, while equally brutal in showing the death scenes, maintained a sense of dread which tightened to the point of suffocation towards the end. It's rare to see a great serial killer movie and Se7en is one of them.

7. The Graduate
10. Kind Hearts and Coronets

I agree with wintertriangles on this one. The Graduate is boring. Kind Hearts and Coronets is one insanely imaginative film based on a completely original premise. Perhaps I should be taking up acting classes.

Looking forward towards your views when you're up to it, mark. What do you think of Rabid? Those were the two films I picked between for that choice.

Until I see it again, I think that Rabid is probably even more amateurish (maybe I shouldn't use that word in this post) than Shivers. Of course, the way this world has gone topsy-turvy that means it's undoubtedly better now.

An aside considering The Graduate and Kind Hearts: the latter is in my top 100 and Alec Guinness is one of my two fave actors of all-time. I won't be bitchin' much about it winning, but I'm shocked to hear that such young, astute cinematic minds find The Graduate amateurish and boring. It's easily one of the best-directed films ever, with each of the scenes in the first half meticulously conceived, shot and edited and holding up as bravura mini movies. I'll admit that the middle goes a bit overboard with too many Simon and Garfunkel songs, but it certainly rights itself with one of the greatest final five minutes of all-time. I prefer The Graduate but only by a half-popcorn box.

i gotta say, it's pretty neat to read through this thread while i'm watching these films. though i wish some of you guys would use spoiler tags!

__________________
letterboxd

I saw The Graduate this weekend, loved it. Probably the best coming-of-age movie I've seen

__________________
"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

1. Vampyr
16. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

I'd be quite happy to see Vampyr win this, since there are some very clever, creepy visual effects that rival those in movies made seventy years later on massive budgets. However, my vote is going to Fellowship, my favourite of the Rings films in this round.


8. Cemetery Man
9. Vertigo

Thank you to whoever nominated Dellamorte Dellamore, I'd never even heard of it before, but it was a lot of fun. There were a couple of bits I didn't like, but all in all I enjoyed the deliciously dark humour; it seemed to fall somewhere in between Brazil and Buffy. And Vertigo is not one of my favourite Hitchcocks.

i watched it this weekend too, but i felt somewhat differently.

What didn't you like?

i think my copy of Vampyrs i received from Netflix is possessed. i put it in my lap top and it, like, made a bunch of booping noises and then my computer froze. so i put it in my DVD player and after i sat down to start playing, my DVD player slipped and nearly fell off the TV. o.O

I'm confused. The tourney doesn't have a movie called Vampyrs. It does have the 1932 Vampyr, so is that the one possessing your home?

So Most of these films I have not seen but I'm working on it and once I have watched most of them I will post what I think. I just wanna mention I love movie tournament time because I watch films that I wouldn't pick out my self so I am looking forward to watching alot of these films.

No. Nope. You've lost me.

yes. THE MOVIE MADE ME TYPE IT LIKE THAT

Ha ha I think I am lost myself Its been a long day.

holy cats I will be able to vote on a couple matchups soon.

i'm so not even close to being done, but i'm going to sort of do this in phases. so here's the first phase with a few personal tidbits. and i think i'll have the rest of these films watched by the weekend.

1. Vampyr
16. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

this one was super easy, probably the easiest. i mean, i knew i was going to vote for Vampry anyway because in my opinion, it should be called Fellowship of the Meh. ok i'm exaggerating a bit; i actually kinda sorta like Fellowship, but i wish i could unsee the other two.

but enough about that. Vampyr made it so easy because it was absolutely phenomenal. really amazing use of music/sound mixing. creeps were had several times, sometimes in just a facial expression or the turn of someone's head. the atmosphere was also wonderful, incredibly sticky and maleficent, and i thoroughly enjoyed the use of title cards throughout.

8. Cemetary Man [need to see]
9. Vertigo [need to see]

5. McCabe and Mrs. Miller [need to see; probably not gonna]
12. Escape from New York [see above]

4. The Rules of the Game
13. Fantasia

i quite liked The Rules of the Game, actually - it was funny, clever, the characters were actually quite adorable, and the satire was well received. i kept watching it not really knowing whether it was supposed to be a drama or a comedy or a tragedy because it really encompasses all of those things which seems intentional.

anyway, my vote goes to Fantasia. i LOVED this film. it seems so bold by today's standards because the idea of a 2-hour celebration of beautiful, transient animation set to some of the best classical numbers almost sounds suicidal, unfortunately - but there seems no other word more suitable than 'celebration'. if you have any appreciation at all for classical music, you're doing yourself a disservice by not seeing Fantasia. i realize that this is not a Disney film for everyone, but honestly, if you're a Disney fan you have no reason not to see this film - for after seeing it, i honestly feel i have a better understanding of Walt Disney the man, and his ultimate vision.

3. Shivers
14. The Truman Show

yeah, i.... couldn't get into Shivers very much. i don't know why. it had its funny moments brought on by sheer ridiculousness, but i was pretty over it by the time everything was zeroed in on the condo/apartment place. i probably need to watch it again but i don't really have time right now, because there's way too many movies in this tournament to watch. anyway, for now i'm going with The Truman Show which is fun in a lighthearted, fluff way. plus i enjoy watching the fantasy world that Truman lived in; pretending it could be possible to do, even though i don't see how it could be.

6. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance [need to see]
11. Seven

7. The Graduate
10. Kind Hearts and Coronets

don't get me wrong, The Graduate is enjoyable enough, but i dunno maybe i was expecting more than i got. it sort of seemed to be... missing something. the best thing about it was the mixture of the soundtrack and the beautiful, long shots. i wasn't as enamoured about Dustin Hoffman as so many seem to be, though. anyway, it wasn't a patch on Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was so much fun to watch. it was original and had a real timeless feel to it. the characters were absolutely horrible people but i reveled in their horribleness for sure.

2. I am Love [need to see]
15. Belle de Jour (1967) [need to see]

Just finished watching Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and I think I'm going to have to sleep on this one. In some ways I think it's superior to Seven but there were a lot of things that annoyed me about it as well. I think the title must be a deliberately provocative choice, since I felt little sympathy for any of the characters by the end.