Best Picture Hall of Fame Part 2

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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I almost went blind nom with Mrs. Miniver. But I didn't want to be the only old nommer.

Braveheart is just so damn good IMO.
I was considering Mrs. Miniver as a blind grab as well lol
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I was considering Mrs. Miniver as a blind grab as well lol
Wow, so was I!!!

Just kidding. But what I was considering was a blind grab, Gone With the Wind. It technically was under the usual time limit, but I just wasn't sure if everyone would hate me for nominating it
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Wow, so was I!!!

Just kidding. But what I was considering was a blind grab, Gone With the Wind. It technically was under the usual time limit, but I just wasn't sure if everyone would hate me for nominating it
ya know, I haven't seen that since I was a pup. I'd be curious to see how I felt about it now. Pretty sure I'd still enjoy Clark Gable being his roguish self.



Unforgiven

Unforgiven blew me away with it's fascinating characters, dark and gritty tone, and morally complex plot. The story is twisted and often disturbing, and we often switch between which characters we're rooting for.

Violence plays such a huge role in this movie, and Clint Eastwood handles it beautifully. Violence of all types is shown, often brutal, and Eastwood's messages about the dangerous cycle of it all are only too prevalent.

Because that is exactly what this movie is about. A cycle of never-ending violence in the Old West, and in our modern culture too. Not just violence, but toxicity. One prostitute's face is cut up, so the rest of the prostitutes offer a reward for killing the cowboys that did it. That sets off a whole new turn of bloodshed, ending in the loss of many innocent lives.

That ending scene is tragic and powerful. I don't think we're supposed to sympathize with any character in the movie, other than perhaps some of the prostitutes. Most of the male characters are toxic and evil, and Clint's character - while quiet and often contemplative - did kill many in his youth and in the end he goes on one last spree. What was it? Did he not feel redeemed for giving up violence? Had he had enough and just decided to shoot away, angry at the loss of his friend? His brutal murders at the end bring this epic tale to a close with more melancholy than I've ever seen in a Western.

And, yes this is totally "The Irishman" for Eastwood. Remember, this was the last Western he ever acted in. It brings an end to an era, and Clint knew his time as an actor was waning.

This movie I just think is way more relevant and important today than people give it credit for. Pretty much by and far the best Western I've ever seen.

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American Beauty



This was my second watch of the film and I'm pretty positive my first viewing was about 10 years ago when I first joined Mofo, or perhaps just a tad bit before that.

It's one of those films that I wish I loved, but yet I strangely do like it. There are so many ways to interpret the film and there is a lot of strange things going on but that makes it to be a bit of an adventure.

Kevin Spacey was very good as Lester Burnham and I won't let what he's become cloud my judgement on that. Actually all of the performances are quite good. It's weird that Thora Birch didn't become a big deal after Hocus Pocus and this. Perhaps Annette Bennings best performance too and got to like Chris Cooper. On a side note, I never knew Allison Janney was in this either!

I'm divided on that ending sequence and how I feel about it and whether it was the right way to end the film, but I think it was meant to make the viewer feel a bit uneasy and it succeeded with that. Also love the overall subtle humor in some of the scenes, usually with Spacey.

The plastic bag scene seems to strangely connect with me. I've often found beauty in this world with the strangest things.

The best thing is that Thomas Newman score. Simply beautiful and among the best in film history certainly!

Feel like I'm underrating it a bit but...




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The plastic bag scene is perhaps the most talked about in the movie. Yet for me, it's the only scene in the movie that's a dead spot.
What scenes hit you then?



What scenes hit you then?
Well most of all I feel that I can identify with Lester, except with how he lusts after a young girl. Besides that, he might be my favorite character ever. I think much of the movie is hysterical and I find it very relatable.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Well most of all I feel that I can identify with Lester, except with how he lusts after a young girl. Besides that, he might be my favorite character ever. I think much of the movie is hysterical and I find it very relatable.
I know exactly what you mean about being relatable. Especially when it came to Lester. Those vulnerable moments. That need to breakout of the "norm" and just be your own person. Most of us stay stuck. Ya know.
And like you said, there is some hysterical bits in that film.



The trick is not minding
Unforgiven

Will Munny: It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away everything he’s got...and everything he’s ever gonna have.
The Schofield Kid: yeah, well I guess they had it comin’.
Munny: we all have it coming’, kid.

Never has a sentence managed to catch the essence of a film so deeply.
Unforgiven is a tale of a former gunman, William Munny, played amazingly by Eastwood, who h see tired and cleaned up in his old age. He’s convinced to take one last job by his old partner, also played magnificently by Morgan Freeman.
Munny’s struggle with his past, both internally and externally, makes him wonder if he has indeed reformed, and wonders if his last sins will catch up to him.
Waiting for him is the town sheriff, Little Bill Dagget, played with icy contempt in yet another brilliant performance by Gene Hackman, in a role that netted him his second Oscar. In many ways, Munny and Little Bill are much alike, except Munny is aware of his actions. Little Bill believes the ends justify the means.
In the end, they meet in a climax that amazes me with its simplicity.
Munny is all too aware of his shortcomings, and eventually comes to accept who he is, and his nature. There is a great exchange between the two of them that highlights their differences in how they see each themselves.
Dagget: I don’t deserve this. I was building a house.
Munny: Deserves got nothing to do with it.
Dagget: I’ll see you in hell.
Munny: Yeah......

Munny has accepted who he is, who he was, and who he will always be. Little Bill continues to deny any wrong doing. Even at the end of the film.

A true classic. Thank you Siddon for the nomination. Seeing it for the likely 20th time, it never ages for me. Even after having first watched this back during a typical day after HS over 20 years ago on a VHS tape. My, how time flies. And much like the film was for Eastwood, nostalgia sets in.



The trick is not minding
nice write up, Wylde. Been a while since I've seen The Unforgiven AND it'll double as a rewatch for my Western List. Gotta like that!
I almost nominated it for this, but then I figured I might for the Western HOF 3 if it wasn’t by anyone else.



Pity we didn't get the Mrs Miniver/American Beauty double feature.

Anyways the films on my shortlist

Sunrise(1927)
Cavalcade (1932)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
You Can't Take it With You (1938)
Mrs Miniver (1942)
Going my Way (1944)
The Godfather Part II (1974) (I nom'd Godfather I last time)
The Last Emperor (1987) (I considered Citizen Rules might have picked this one)
The Silence of the Lambs (which was tracking to win the last one)
Braveheart


I decided to go with Unforgiven as it's a film I've been meaning to revisit and I wanted to figure out where it will line up on my Western list.



Pity we didn't get the Mrs Miniver/American Beauty double feature.

Anyways the films on my shortlist

Sunrise(1927)
Cavalcade (1932)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
You Can't Take it With You (1938)
Mrs Miniver (1942)
Going my Way (1944)
The Godfather Part II (1974) (I nom'd Godfather I last time)
The Last Emperor (1987) (I considered Citizen Rules might have picked this one)
The Silence of the Lambs (which was tracking to win the last one)
Braveheart


I decided to go with Unforgiven as it's a film I've been meaning to revisit and I wanted to figure out where it will line up on my Western list.
Good guessing, yes I had seriously considered The Last Emperor. It's not crossed off my MoFo list, but I have seen it...but so long ago that I do want to rewatch it.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Unforgiven

Unforgiven is a tale of a former gunman, William Munny, played amazingly by Eastwood, who h see tired and cleaned up in his old age. He’s convinced to take one last job by his old partner, also played magnificently by Morgan Freeman.
Munny’s struggle with his past, both internally and externally, makes him wonder if he has indeed reformed, and wonders if his last sins will catch up to him.
.

Great review, but I have one question. You mentioned that Eastwood's character is convinced by Freeman's character to take one last job. Am I remembering wrong, or is that backwards? Didn't Eastwood character take the job first, and then ask Freeman's character to join him?

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The trick is not minding
Unforgiven

Unforgiven is a tale of a former gunman, William Munny, played amazingly by Eastwood, who h see tired and cleaned up in his old age. He’s convinced to take one last job by his old partner, also played magnificently by Morgan Freeman.
Munny’s struggle with his past, both internally and externally, makes him wonder if he has indeed reformed, and wonders if his last sins will catch up to him.
.

Great review, but I have one question. You mentioned that Eastwood's character is convinced by Freeman's character to take one last job. Am I remembering wrong, or is that backwards? Didn't Eastwood character take the job first, and then ask Freeman's character to join him?

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You’re right, it was the Schofield Kid who convinced him, and he convinced Freeman in return. Thank you for the catch



My possible other nominations:

Rain Man
Mrs. Miniver (blind nom)
The Artist (only seen once)
From Here to Eternity
Those would've all been great to see. My other possible noms were:
The Life of Émile Zola
Hamlet
Terms of Endearment
The Last Emperor


Midnight Cowboy