24th Hall of Fame

Based on her activity in this thread in the past couple days, I take it she isn't with us. How sad. Seven reviews in two days? That's nothing.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

I finally finished La Dolce Vita. It's going to be very difficult to review and rate. There's even a chance I'll end up watching it again closer to the deadline. I'll try to write some sort of review soonish.

__________________

I saw it for the first time last year and was happy to see it again. I consider myself a vampire enthusiast, so I'm surprised that I didn't have a "been there, done that" reaction to it since it probably has the most fundamental vampire story I've seen in a movie. I guess that's just a testament to how visually inventive it is and like you said how well it's directed.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) -

This is my first rewatch of this Hall of Fame.

Though the last time I saw this film was several years ago, I remember thoroughly enjoying my time with it. I was impressed with Wallis's performance and Hushpuppy's character arc, though I felt the film's magical realism flew over my head and wasn't sure what to make of that aspect. I had been meaning to rewatch the film for a while, so I was happy to revisit it for this thread.

When it was released back in 2012, it garnered a lot of praise, but since then, it has received a fair share of backlash. Given this, I wasn't sure how well it would hold up. Fortunately though, it held up pretty well, except my initial opinion of the film is pretty much the same as it was last time.

As has been noted by many people in the past, Quvenzhane Wallis gives a strong performance. Nowadays, it's hard to find good child actors, but Wallis did a phenomenal job in this film, sounding like someone much older who's had many years of acting experience. Her narration brimmed with all kinds of emotion, causing her to disappear into her role. While Dwight Henry was good, Wallis definitely stole the film.

Hushpuppy's and Wink's relationship was also compelling, just like I thought it was last time. Hushpuppy's mother has left them and has caused a rift in their family. Hushpuppy has her own house and her father requires for her to take care of herself, hence toughening her up for the real world. With his health declining and the ability to thrive in the Bathtub growing harder, accomplishing this becomes especially important. While there are some scenes of Wink teaching her various skills (fishing and preparing food), I liked how her arc didn't have a "checking off the boxes" feel in terms of him teaching her a single skill at a time, one after another. Instead, this theme was largely handled by the way Wink spoke to her. He often referred to her with masculine pronouns and having her act "manly" with telling her to break open a lobster with her bare hands instead of a knife or pretending that she beat him in an arm wrestle. I thought their dynamic was pretty solid, overall.



I found the film's magical realism to be a mixed bag. I enjoyed some aspects to it, like Hushpuppy imagining her mother as the playfulness of these scenes were contrasted with a strong sense of longing. They also highlighted Hushpuppy's dependency on her parents. As with my first viewing though, I wasn't sure what to make of the Aurochs. Were they supposed to be reflections of how Hushpuppy has to toughen up? Are they supposed to represent a form of violence which Hushpuppy has to avoid adopting? No clue. As they stood, I appreciated their scenes as a curiosity, but I felt they were underdeveloped and would've liked for them to be fleshed out more.

Overall, I think this film holds up pretty well. Though I think only one scene in it reaches greatness, it still has plenty to offer, both in the way of Wallis's performance and Hushpuppy's character arc. I don't know if I'll watch it again, but I'm glad I got to revisit it.

Next up: The Day of the Jackal

Definitely not with us

__________________

Finally getting to In a Glass Cage

I too believe that Takoma has already won the 24th Hall of Fame.
That's how this works, right?

No, after we watch all the films, we rank them from most to least favorite. After everyone submits their ballot, they add up the points to determine which film got the highest number of points. It's like the top 100 here.

Haha, I know, I'm just saying we'd know who would win if we were voting on ourselves rather than the movies.

Aye, gotcha.

The story of a victim who became a victimizer.

I first saw In A Glass Cage about 10+ years ago with a friend of mine from Argentina. It may have been a Saturday or Sunday morning at about 2 am when we watched it. It was a film that I thought was very different and intense back then and I still feel the same way about it now. I liked that pahak picked this picture because I know we don't have many in the Hall of Fames like this. Is it extreme? Not so much. There are other films of similar themes but one rarely chooses them to be viewed.

Im not going to give away the story because its one that I want others to see on their own. I know that other participants gave more spoilers and the story line but I will keep mine simple.





(plus I currently have an eye infection so its a bit difficult right now)

I think winning this HoF is based on word count in our write-ups Right? RIGHT?!?!?!?!

Well, we did.
Took FOR EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVEEEERRRRRRRR to read all that sh#t.

So.
No.

--ya just missed it. Honest.
But, yeah, you'd rock that category - with style! Easy.

__________________
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

LOVE that!

The Sea Inside, 2004

Ramon (Javier Bardem) has been paralyzed from the neck down for over 25 years, ever since breaking his neck after an ill-fated dive into the ocean. Feeling that he no longer wants this life, Ramon begins to advocate for the right to die by assisted suicide, as he cannot take his own life without help. In this journey he connects strongly with two different women: Julia (Belen Rueda) is a lawyer who helps fight Ramon's legal battle, and Rosa (Lola Duenas), a local factory worker who becomes friendly--and maybe more than that--with Ramon after seeing his story on TV. Ramon also struggles with the feelings of his family, especially his brother, Jose (Celso Bugallo), who believes it is wrong for Ramon to take his own life.

This is a very powerful film and I appreciated that it handled a very sensitive topic with nuance and clarity.

Ramon's position is this: life is a right, but should not be an obligation. He is of sound mind, and he does not wish to live any longer under his conditions. Something that the film does a good job of portraying is that Ramon is not living in some sort of perpetual, obvious funk--he is capable of joking around, sharing a cigarette with Julia, turning his mind to writing, and engaging in a debate with a priest who tries to talk him out of his determination. But as Ramon explains, the world is cut off from him in a way that he cannot bear. He cannot reach out to touch a hand that is mere inches from his. It is, as he says, an impossibility and thus not even really part of his reality. Ramon elegantly explains the way that his confinement is unbearable, while at the same time conceding that he can't judge people in his condition who would choose to live. There can be a very cruel rhetoric around people with severe mental or physical disabilities, along the line that it would be better if they were dead. The film has to tread carefully to make it clear that it is a question of choice, not a judgement on who should or should not live.

Javier Bardem is very talented as a performer, and he does a great job of portraying a man who is very intelligent and witty, but who deals with a constant undercurrent of despair. Even in scenes where he might joke around, there is an anger and a frustration that bubbles to the surface in a facial expression or a sharp remark. I'm a huge fan of Belen Rueda, and I was thrilled to see her in this film. Ramon chooses Julia as his lawyer in part because she also suffers from a degenerative condition--a series of seizures that are slowly diminishing her mental capabilities--and in her performance you see someone who is working through her own demons as she helps another person. Lola Duenas is also very solid as Rosa, who begins with the intention to help "fix" Ramon, but eventually comes to understand that it's not a matter of just cheering Ramon up.

It could be very easy for a film to go overboard trying to show Ramon's condition. But there is a more subtle approach here. Simply by allowing us to see that Ramon does not move from his bed, and the stillness with which Bardem plays the character, we can understand the unbearable sense of being imprisoned. This contrasts by sequences which show us Ramon's inner fantasies--dreams in which he rises from bed, sometimes literally flying over the landscape, reaching out to touch Julia. Te memories and the beauty that Ramon has inside is not freeing for him. Instead, the difference between his dreams and his reality becomes a kind of extra hardship.

While the movie is clearly on Ramon's side, it is very sympathetic to those who oppose Ramon's plans. Jose does not want to lose his brother. He cannot bear the thought of playing a part in his brother being gone forever. He sees the idea of euthenasia as akin to putting down an animal. It's true that this is a way of trying to exert control over Ramon, but it comes from a place tat is understandable.

This movie was intense to watch. When I was younger someone very close to me was very, very sick. And I will never forget a conversation as a teenager when they confided to me that they had joined the Hemlock Society ("I got a lifetime membership--seemed appropriate") and had made some plans to die if their illness reached a certain stage. This conversation shook me deeply. I was too young and inexperienced to understand the process of living with or fighting painful or uncurable illnesses or conditions, and the idea of choosing to die seemed to me like a "wrong" choice. Then there's the pain of knowing that someone you love might chose to leave life (and you) before they have to. In all I thought that many of the aspects of this film touched on the emotional complications of such a debate and situation.

While the visuals of the film are not the main thing I focused on, I do want to say that the sequence in which Ramon breaks his neck (a brutal impact with the sea floor) is both beautiful and nightmarish.

I did feel a bit unresolved in terms of where the film left some of the characters. I know that the focus of the film was on Ramon and his journey, but in the final moments I wanted to see and know more about how the conclusion of the film impacted his friends and loved ones. And considering the way that we see how Ramon's story is publicized, I wanted a bit more "big picture" in the wrap up. But these are relatively minor quibbles. I really enjoyed this film and, shocker, cried several times.

I liked this film as a choice because I think that it is outside of the norm, but it's not so extreme as to be inaccessible for people who do not like the more intense/violent/unsettling genres of film. Most of the upsetting stuff is implied or spoken, so no one has to force themselves to watch fingers getting cut off or graphic sexual assaults or anything.

I'm sure this will be right on the edge (or a little over the line) for some people. But it's not WAY over the line.

In a Glass Cage


Veangence has a way of consuming a person. The lines blur, and sometimes you find yourself becoming as bad as the person you’re after and staring into the proverbial abyss.
This film isn’t just about veangence, though it is the engine that drives it.

We begin with a Nazi war criminal who is paralyzed from an accident and dependent on an iron lung and 24 hour care from his wife. Right away, we notice they both are stuck in prisons. He literally, her figuratively. She seeks freedom from such a burden.

One day, a stranger (Angelo) appears and, feigning an occupation as a nurse, offers to care for her husband. She’s immediately suspicious, but her husband (Klaus) insists the young man stays after a private conversation between them.

I will stop with the plot there, as to continue would give away much of the suspense. I will say the film is well directed, with intense scenes but I must confess that I don’t know what he was trying to say here. That if consumed by vengeance we are destined to become the very thing we despise? Certainly that’s what happens with Angelo, given the ending and scenes throughout the film.

In the end I was left numb, which may have been the point I suppose. It isn’t a film for the faint of heart, filled with shocking and intense scenes. A jaded person might disagree.

All of that aside, I enjoyed this film. It’s better then I expected, and a lot of that has to do with the direction, cinematography and the symbolism. I want to especially highlight the cinematography here, as they help set up a sense of dread.

Good pick Pahak.

In a Glass Cage was a risky choice, good to see it's doing well.

It's probably the one that intrigues me most from the bunch.

Sorry. I was geeked thinking about everything you'd love: the practical aspects - the clever use of gadgets.
The gadgets CR.

Also, this "ominous reminder" is, disgustingly, common throughout our history ever since, we, as a living organism, took a shat. So, TRULY, my friend, please forgive me my callous, thick skin about it being any form of: Spoiler Alert! that, such sh#t, is goin down in our backyard.
Yet again
We got our own long list of - - just successful ones alone, nevermind the bloopers.
Which, yeah, has been our country's decent run of X Amount Years Without an Accident.
Hell, the real tragedy is: that we always, ALWAYS take out the truly good ones! And flub up on the crap ones? Seriously. How f@cked up are we??

Now, subsequentially, shall we say, such a situation could be considered as an occasionally-used plot point in a film, that it could be its own sub, sub, a good friend of a sub, genre when discussing - oh, maybe action/drama/etc. etc. etc.




So, um,
Again, forgive me, but,

you know. . . the, um, ya know,
the um, about the. . . gadgets. . . there.
That whole thing. Clever, right? Cool sh#t, that.

Just saying,
To paraphrase from the flick we are discussing in the Personal Rec HoF: