24th Hall of Fame

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The trick is not minding
Also, Wylde and I should have a contest over who finishes first.
I would normally accept but I know how that would end. 😆
*spoilers*: I’d lose.

Was supposed to watch Barry Lyndon today, but opted to hang out with my brother today instead. Will start it up tomorrow.



I would normally accept but I know how that would end. 😆
*spoilers*: I’d lose.

Was supposed to watch Barry Lyndon today, but opted to hang out with my brother today instead. Will start it up tomorrow.
I'll win the contest right now:

Vampyr: I liked it.

The Whisperers: I liked it.



All kidding aside, good luck to you with the rest of the films. Barry Lyndon is one of my favorites of this HoF.



The trick is not minding
I'll win the contest right now:

Vampyr: I liked it.

The Whisperers: I liked it.



All kidding aside, good luck to you with the rest of the films. Barry Lyndon is one of my favorites of this HoF.
I’m glad you liked The Whisperers 😎

Vampyr was so visually stunning with its shadow work.

Barry Lyndon I own and have seen it twice over the years. A third viewing is most welcome. It’s, to me, Kubrick's most underrated film, and I rate it higher then The Shining. I’d watch it more often if it wasn’t for that 3 hour run time haha.



I’m glad you liked The Whisperers 😎

Vampyr was so visually stunning with its shadow work.

Barry Lyndon I own and have seen it twice over the years. A third viewing is most welcome. It’s, to me, Kubrick's most underrated film, and I rate it higher then The Shining. I’d watch it more often if it wasn’t for that 3 hour run time haha.
I actually haven't gotten to The Whisperers yet. I'm looking forward to it though. Vampyr was my rec. I've seen it a few times already and it has impressed me more with each viewing.



No word from @neiba yet? I'm gonna push Beasts of the Southern Wild for last, just in case.

I'm recording a podcast episode tonight, but if I have time, I might start La Dolce Vita or Barry Lyndon. We'll see.
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The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
No word from @neiba yet? I'm gonna push Beasts of the Southern Wild for last, just in case.

I'm recording a podcast episode tonight, but if I have time, I might start La Dolce Vita or Barry Lyndon. We'll see.
I've been watching stuff, I'll review what I have later today



I've been watching stuff, I'll review what I have later today


Good to see you're still around!



Just for the record, I will NOT be accepting ballots if all reviews aren't in. Everything due next Tuesday at 11:59:05 CT PM
I'm going to use the extra five seconds at the very end.



The trick is not minding
Barry Lyndon

Kubrick films have always been a great for me. When I first delved into films waaaaay back in 1996, A Clockwork Orange was his first film I watched. It captivated me. And after seeking our almost all of his films over the preceding years, only his very early films have escaped me. So far.

Barry Lyndon was a much later film of his I watched. This would be around sometime in 2006 or 2007. I had bought this box set off of a friend, it gave me the chance to watch this and Lolita. BL surprised me at how effortlessly it flows, even if other people have knocked it for its pace. (Crazy talk!)

It tells the life of a scoundrel, a man who seeks to become something he hasn’t earned rightly. He wants to be a lord. Somehow, he thinks that will bring him the respect he so desperately craves. But when he finally does achieve his goal, via a marriage with a wealthy widow, he finds it is itself not without its own pitfalls.

For one thing, he doesn’t behave like a gentleman, according to their society, should. He lack the required skills to be considered as such, no doubt due to his being an adulterer, his callous treatment of his step son, and his handling of his family’s finances that he has come into.
Ryan O’Neal is a strange choice for the role, but he accomplishes his task by not trying to overact. He remains steady enough to deliver his role as directed by Kubrick. He mostly succeeds.

But this is completely Kubrick’s film. His camera work is evident throughout, as he alternated between loathing and pitying Barry, a man who isn’t so much as evil as opportunistic, regardless who he hurts in the process. I don’t particularly think he cares for anyone, other then his mother, and of course his own son. And here we see a tender side to him that we wouldn’t have thought possible. And we think that perhaps maybe he isn’t so bad afterall. His tragedy is felt al the more. Even up until the final duel, where he takes pity on his step son, we too feel some pity for his circumstances.

And that’s where this films succeeds. It draws us in on Barry, a character full of contradictions. A person who isn’t really all that bad, but just didn’t have a proper role model to teach him how to behave like a gentleman. His father dying in a duel while Barry was at a young age. Really, his only father figure was a officer in the Royal Army, perhaps the only real one who treated him with any real kindness whose death is felt even by me, and a fellow rogue who teaches him the life of a gambler. Circumstances determined Barry’s lot longer ago, even if he could have made better decisions.



The trick is not minding
That leaves me with just Neiba’s film, Beast of the Southern Wild right?

I’ll wait until this weekend to watch it, to see if he can finish it out or not, but until then, I’m basically done



Starting Day of the Jackal right now...
If they had Internet back then, the film would be an hour shorter



If they had Internet back then, the film would be an hour shorter
Internet, mobile phones, and technology, in general, are such huge obstacles to storytelling. Maybe that's why we have so many 80s retro films these days.
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