The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

Count me in as another member of the "death of who now?" group. I might have to add that one to my watchlist.

I saw Battle Royale about 15 years ago, and was not particularly impressed. However, I had been hearing from friends that it was absolutely amazing, so I think my expectations were set too high. Whenever we get a copy of the book in at work I consider giving the film another chance, but it hasn't exactly been a high priority.

Seen: 10/24

My List:
08. Mother (2009) - #96
10. Iron Man (2008) - #83
25. Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) - 1-pointer

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Damn.

Haven't seen the first but fully enjoyed @SpelingError's review of it.
Battle Royale has bounced around from loving it to simply enjoying teenagers killing teenagers because Kitano says so.
Is it wrong to say that? Of course, it is! Hence the reason FOR saying it




Films Watched 13 out of 24 (54.17%)
17. Mother (#96)
25. A Bittersweet Life (One Pointer)


One Pointers: 10 out of 38 (26.31%)

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

• I heard about Battle Royale for the first time about six months ago and saw it soon after that. Initially, I was very sceptical and the cheap production doesn't help much but... wow, what a brave filmmakers.
In a way, the film is somewhat positive that people exist who at least filmed an illusion that the good guys took control and try to clean the world of the Orcs. Naturally, the end was poor (the good guy must be dead) - this is a must otherwise filmmakers risk to be banned by the regime.
By the way, this year we have another work by these kind of alarming creative groups, this time in a form of a TV series - one of the most popular works world wide of the last years (guess which).
I briefly considered Battle Royale for my ballot. It would be my #30, I guess.

▷ This movie is ranked #21 in MoFo 2000 Film Chart.

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• One more here never heard The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.

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Seen 10/24.
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My list:
#9. Amores perros [#81.]
#14. The Man Who Wasn't There [#84.]

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(seen one pointers 3/38)

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Battle Royale is decent enough and figured it would make this list. As for that "other film no one has heard of" it's awesome that it made it and definitely curious to see some reviews here if you decide to give it a chance.

4. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
6. Caché (2005)
9. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
25. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

I've been meaning to try Battle Royale again since I didn't think much of it the first time, even though it seems to be right in my wheelhouse.

I'm another who hasn't heard of the other movie. I want to see it, just like I want to see every movie that pops up on these countdowns.

I voted for American Psycho and am glad to see it make the list. As an adaptation, it doesn't match the transgression of the source novel (which is not at all for the faint of heart), but makes up for it with a god tier Christian Bale performance.


I remember mostly enjoying The Descent (aside from one character), but didn't vote for it.


I think Battle Royale is conceptually clever, but also found it at times a chore to watch. Mad respect however to Takeshi Kitano, who spends most of his screentime yelling and eating snacks in the same room. I need to dig further into Fukasaku's work (loved Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, was lukewarm on The Yakuza Papers).

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Nothing wrong with the concept, I just think it's awfully made in every aspect.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

Another great movie starring Kitano is Hana-bi. I love Kayoko Kishimoto in it as well.

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This just doesn't feel like the 2000s best to me. Of course when you haven't seen most of the films that would be the reason.

I'm going to protest the clues until something awesome shows up.

I'll give my own clues to tomorrow's films:

Raul has not seen it
And neither have you
One is a horror
And one will make you feel blue

But not a horror like The Ring
Something much worse than that
Think you have any idea?
Maybe the movie features a rat

78. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu : This is the second film from my list to show up - I had The Death of Mr. Lazarescu at #13 and recommend it to everyone here - all you need is a heart and soul to feel empathy with, and you'll understand how painful it is for people to deal with bureaucracy and a complex machine-like medical monster that many health systems have become. A man needs help. He's beset by snowballing and painful failures in his body, and he starts to die as he's shuttled from hospital to hospital as health care workers bicker, argue, make mistakes and at times honestly try to help him. Throughout he'll lose his dignity, suffer tremendously and become - for a time - something of a cause for one lone ambulance driver trying to help him. It's an angry scream of a film regarding Romania's health system - but it's the kind of system that develops all over the world, where the humanity has been squeezed from our hospitals, making them seem almost alien and their doctors exhausted automatons who barely notice the people they're treating anymore. A superb film.

77. Battle Royale : I haven't seen Battle Royale since it came out, but I still have vivid memories of it - when the Hunger Games books and movies came out I was reminded straight away of this, because it's basically the same thing, except in this Japanese society it's schoolkids who must kill each other to be crowned champions. I don't know how this society got to that stage - and how many people thought "Yeah, that's a great idea!" It's as dark and violent as you'd expect - with a sombre moment or two that I won't describe in case you haven't seen it. I guess I'll watch it again one day - this is the second time it's showed up in a countdown, the last being the foreign language one, so people obviously have a high regard for it. If I'd absolutely loved it I'd have it - but I simply thought it was okay and moved on. I might read up on it a little before I seek it out for a rewatch.

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Films I've seen : 15
Films that have been on my radar : 5
Films I've never even heard of : 4

Films from my list : 3

#78 - My #13 - The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - (2005)
#84 - My #21 - The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
One pointer - World's Greatest Dad (2009)

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Been without Internet all night, even on the phone until a while ago, but hopefully tomorrow is another day. If I can, I'll post some hints early morning.


Sleep tight

I've never heard of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.

The first time I heard of Battle Royale was when it made the Foreign Language Movies Countdown, but it didn't sound like my type of movie, so I haven't seen it.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Already got that covered for you.

Like quite a few here, haven't even heard of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, but definitely have heard of and watched Battle Royale and really liked it. But it has been a while since I've watched it so it wasn't under any serious consideration for my list.

#20.Iron Man 83
#23.The Descent 80

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Awards

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Now to the awards received by The Death of Mr. Lazarescu...

• Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Award (Cristi Puiu)
• Bratislava International Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Special Jury Prize and Special Mention (Puiu)
• BBC Four World Cinema Award Winner
• Indiewire Critics' Poll Award for Best Film
• Trieste Film Festival Winner

Among many, many others.

As for Battle Royale, it won...

• Japanese Academy Award for Film Editing (Hirohide Abe)
• Japanese Academy Award for Popularity
• Japanese Academy Award for Newcomer of the Year (Tatsuya Fujiwara and Aki Maeda)
• Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film and Best New Actor (Fujiwara)
• Yokohama Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress (Kou Shibasaki)

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Trivia

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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu



Did you know that...

• director Cristi Puiu was inspired by the bureaucratic troubles he went through while trying to get grants from the Romanian public institution that finances filmmaking?
• between 2001 and 2003, Puiu was suffering from stress, and frequently sought medical help as a result of hypochondria? He became convinced that he had a terminal illness and spent a lot of time in doctors' offices and ERs, which he translated into the film.
• filming was completed over 39 nights and was shot in real hospitals?
• the names of the main character, Dante Remus Lazarescu, could be references to Dante Alighieri (who wrote about the circles of Hell) and Lazarus, who was raised from the dead in the Bible?

Trivia

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Battle Royale



Did you know that...

• director Kinji Fukasaku subjected about 800 potential cast members to a 6-month period of physical fitness training before narrowing the cast to 42?
• Fukasaku was driven to direct the film after the novel reminded him of his time working at a munitions factory during World War II? Fukasaku was 15 years old and in July 1945, the factory came under fire, forcing the children to dive under each other and then dispose of the corpses of the dead. He has said he developed a distrust of the government and adults in general.
• none of the cast members had stunt doubles?
• Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan of the film, which is why he cast Chiaki Kuriyama as GoGo Yubari in Kill Bill Vol. 1?

Refreshing yesterday's hint...