18th Mofo Hall of Fame

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Friendo.
03-11-19
@edarsenal, @rauldc14 I mean, I gave it 3.5 same as you Raul and I definitely enjoyed it, but I could also see the problems it had and the critique it got did make sense to me. Y’all don’t see those things reflecting more negatively with some people?



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
03-11-19



Perfect Blue

A mind teaser of a movie, this has been around the fourth or fifth time I have seen this movie and while I am not as utterly confused as I was on my very first watch I am, like Mima, unsure of what it is, and what is imagined; what is filmed on set, and what is real, or some relation thereof.
I was talking with my brother yesterday and found myself unable to explain this film beyond that it is a psychological thriller. Which, perhaps is the highest recommendation I can give for it.

What happened?
No idea.
Cool!

We are not simply witnesses to our leading lady's mental spiral, but we plummet within the twirling Rabbit's Hole from behind her eyes and inside her unstable mind. Unable to decipher reality, imagination, or gauge our perceptions of . . . well, everything.

Which is Perfect Blue's both Strong point, and on varying levels, it's weakness.
Depending on your own personal appreciation/apprehension for riding full tilt sans seat belt, safety net, or pondering if even there is a vehicle of any kind propelling you, and if not, what or who.

Of course, the animation and imagery is beautiful and compelling and is a must when speaking of this film.

Will there be more revisits to this film?
Of course.
Whether they are imagined or not, I don't know, but there will be revisits to this film.
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Last edited by edarsenal; 03-11-19 at 08:41 PM.



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
03-11-19



Bubba Ho-Tep

As previously stated, this film didn't fare so well for me the first time I saw it. Which, at the time sort of pissed me off, enjoying Cambell as I do in the Evil Dead films and so forth.

So, how'd it go this time?

Actually, a lot better.
I didn't laugh out loud, but I did smirk, grin, and on occasion, chuckle at what occurred, and what was said.
While his Presley impersonation isn't great, I don't really think it's meant to. Being a more "real" persona and not the theatrical, stage persona of the King. He's old, he uses a walker and his pecker don't work. Of course he ain't himself. Or his imagined self.
The same goes for the paranoid ex-president John F, Kennedy with sand in his brain.
Together, they take on the mummy that's sucking out old folks' souls through whatever hole it wraps it's mouth around.

With the occasional deliberation regarding mortality and lifelong regrets, this low budget film does move along at a geriatric high speed and, at times, I found it entertaining. And, in the end, while I may not go searching it out to rewatch again, if I trip and stumble and come across it again, I will, most likely, sit back and watch it again.

Thank you. Thank you very much.



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
03-11-19
Originally Posted by MovieMeditation
@edarsenal, @rauldc14 I mean, I gave it 3.5 same as you Raul and I definitely enjoyed it, but I could also see the problems it had and the critique it got did make sense to me. Y’all don’t see those things reflecting more negatively with some people?
I did see the reasons behind the negativity and understood them. I just thought them a bit harsh and saw the positives a little more strongly.



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2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
03-11-19
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs



I do know this was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater.
What year it was I'm not sure but I was pretty darn young. And it was a fairly big favorite through my childhood. But I literally haven't seen this movie since the nineties.

Fast forward a good twenty years and I still highly appreciate the film. Obviously it set the standard at a tall distance for Disney and all animation. There's no denying the movie is completely gorgeous. All the animators and artists that worked on this movie should be applauded. In fact it may be Disney's most beautiful, though I do like a few others a tad better.

My favorite things about this film that struck me this time? I love the opening scene with the wicked stepmother and the mirror. Love how creepy it is that she is pretty much isolated at her palace other than with that Huntsman scene.

I really like the character of Grumpy too. Just reminds me of people I know. And I love how he isn't completely heartless and in the end still cares for Snow White.

Also love seeing lightning strike that cliff and seeing the wicked witch go down. Serves her right.

All in all, a film that is great and set the standard for those to come after it. Hard to keep it off of Disney's ten best. It would stay on mine (for the classic animations, not including Disney Pixar films)

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The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
03-12-19
Bubba Ho-tep

Didn't know anything about this when I started so things were getting weirder along the way, which is actually the reason why this is kind of funny. We have a washed up Elvis Presley and a black President Kennedy in a rest home fighting a egyptian mummy dressed like a cowboy who eats and ****s souls.
Unfortunately the randomness of the plot is pretty much the only fun thing about it. There's a couple of ncie oneliners but that's pretty much it.
While the acting is not amazing, I really enjoyed Elvis' voice. Seemed really him at times.
I was hoping in the end, he would die and somehow people would realize is the true Elvis.

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Mantis Toboggan, MD
03-13-19
Originally Posted by Miss Vicky
Damn. I knew Bubba Ho-Tep wouldn't do well, but I was hoping for a better reaction than this. Oh well, at least I know for sure it won't come in last.

I quite liked it
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03-16-19
Finished Brimstone and will be watching The Square soon, so write ups close.



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Anti-Woke
03-16-19
Been busy playing the new Path of Exile league but watched The King of Comedy today. Review should be up tomorrow (for those who can't wait I didn't hate it but it's definitely not good either - hovering somewhere between 2 and 2.5).
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Mugen Impersonator
03-16-19
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)


Bubba Ho-Tep is about an Egyptian Mummy who terrorizes a retirement home in Texas that is inhabited by a not dead Elvis and a black man who insists he's JFK. Yep. Can I end my thoughts there? I have a strong feeling that multiple films in this Hall of Fame could be described as bonkers but yeah. One of my close friends loves this movie so I have seen it before but I'm not feeling it the same way.

The film turns out ok with the budget and script involved. The action sequences are bad but there's definitely comedic value to that. For the main, the humour and the mix of tone didn't work for me. You're hit with sexual comedy and goofiness then you get reminiscence style sequences with hokey emotional background music. They just don't mix well. It's a shame because there a few things I liked about Bubba Ho-Tep but I'd have liked it more if it swayed towards something rather than trying to encapsulate too much.

When it comes down to it, I probably would have enjoyed a gloomy depressing film that solely fixates on Elvis wasting away in a retirement home lamenting old age and the value of fame. Instead it's overridden by a concept that I didn't fully engage with.



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Mugen Impersonator
03-16-19
Finalised my horror list last night so I should pick up the pace this weekend.



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Anti-Woke
03-17-19
Hard hard time rating this. Ended up "rounding" up this time. Only two more to go.

Originally Posted by pahaK
The King of Comedy (1982) N

Mentally unstable man has dreams of greatness about being a famous comedian. When the world doesn't adhere to his fantasies he tries to force the matter.


Why am I feeling like I've just watched a remake of Taxi Driver? Sure de Niro has slightly different neuroses in both films but they're still essentially about the same conflict of fantasy and reality (or of want vs. have). And it really doesn't help that de Niro plays both roles pretty much the same (I admit that I feel that way from majority of his roles). I honestly don't know why Scorsese felt this needed to be done.

In a way The King of Comedy feels plausible in its portrayal of obsession and escaping into fantasy (I mean I do dialogues like Pupkin in my head every now then and it's tempting to blame the world for your own shortcomings). While such fixation to public figure seems alien to me and Pupkin is very annoying (I generally hate people who have to talk all the time) he's still relatable. Maybe it would have been better with different actor though - de Niro feels too dangerous and threatening somehow.

There's quite a bit of drag in the film (while Pupkin doesn't mind waiting I'm not too enthusiastic about watching him do so). Masha doesn't feel necessary character at all and her only function is to make the actual kidnapping feel little more realistic. Scenes of Pupkin living his fantasies are pretty good (not sure the "Mom!" stuff was needed though) but the actual stalking is rather dull.

Not a bad film but somewhat pointless. I don't think it's too sharp in its satire either and much prefer something like Network.




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Mugen Impersonator
03-17-19
The Little Stranger (2018)


Maybe the most marmite film of last year. Or just mostly hate and boredom. I enjoyed it. It's not as good as Frank or Room but it's another really solid film from Lenny Abrahamson. Atmospheric and chilling at times.

It was starting to feel like a typical British period drama series with a bit of mystery and a lame drawn out build. Which is beyond an overdone genre here at this stage but the way it develops pushes it ahead of those dramas. Domhnall Gleeson gives this moody and subtle performance that is very good. His reverence when discussing the house or any threat to it pushes him out of his relatively measured demeanour and it's completely on point. A bit surprised we didn't get more of Will Poulter but he also shines when on screen. The house itself feels like a character by the end. Credit goes to how they present it within the context of the story and the lighting of it in particular builds the atmosphere of the film nicely.

The public reception is disappointing but it's never a good sign when you're coming off your biggest success and your next project is marketed so horribly. It's unlikely that this sort of film would have pulled in a large audience anyway but I can't help but feel they definitely got this one wrong. Unfortunate for Lenny because he's one of the better Irish directors working today.



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03-17-19
Brimstone
For me, this movie felt a bit too much like a Quentin Tarantino movie with everything except the excessive violence missing - that "everything" being interesting characters, script, and storytelling. I just didn't understand what the movie was trying to say- was it a metaphor for modern day sexual abuse? Or perhaps a criticism of Christianity and Christians for taking the Bible too seriously? Either way, it was too vague of a movie that I didn't really like it very much. Also, I couldn't stand the ending. We have a huge epic journey, with the preacher at the center of it... and when she finally defeats him then she just dies because of some random thing that was mostly not even part of the story? Didn't make much sense to me, and it almost seemed like the filmmakers were trying for a reason to kill off Joanna/Liz. That said, there is some beautiful cinematography and technical aspects of the film, especially in Chapters 1 and 4. So, not a completely awful movie, but I didn't really like it.




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03-17-19
The Square

I didn't exactly enjoy watching The Square. It wasn't too interesting of a story, way too long, and there wasn't any satisfactory climax. But ever since I watched it (about a day ago), it has slowly been growing on me, as I replay it's events in my head. There are some beautifully haunting scenes, and the movie really makes you think, which is a good thing - a movie should do that. There are some ingenious movies in the film, for example the repetition of the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria with Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin was super effective in my opinion, and it added a depth to the film (Well, using Bach always adds emotional depth). I think it sums up the paradoxes the film poses, about human nature and art. There is something so serene yet fascinatingly strange in this version of the piece. I think some of the more abstract scenes in the film might have been cut to make it more enjoyable... but in the end, this is a film much along the lines of 2001: A Space Odyssey or Apocalypse Now... it's not necessarily fun to watch, but after it's over it haunts your dreams and really makes you think about the world... that's a very good thing for a film, and I applaud it for this.




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Friendo.
03-17-19
Awesome you likes The Square, @ahwell and also responded along the lines of how I hoped it would for people here. And seeing you, Citizen etc. respond exactly like that’s is so pleasing to me. Even if you had hated it, but that it makes you think about the movie itself, the world, maybe even yourself. It’s a stimulating and unique experience and I’m glad you got something out of it.

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