The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame II

Tools    





Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo


I had not watched this before, because I was going to read the book first. Then I tried reading the book, and didn’t get very far. Then I wasn’t going to watch it until I had watched the Swedish version, being suspicious about pointless American remakes. But then it was nominated for me here, and I thought it would be unfair to watch the two versions so close together, so watching this was my first experience with any version.

The first thing to say about it is that although there are some ugly things that happen in this film, it is beautifully shot. There is a lovely shot of a snowy, tree lined drive quite early on in the film and a pervading tinge of green throughout. It’s most definitely a David Fincher film. Different moments and moods reminded me very much of Zodiac, Gone Girl and Alien3.

I loved the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Not as much as their Gone Girl score, but it’s good. And there was even a character wearing a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt, which made me smile. Did you know Fincher directed a NIN video? I only found that out today.

The acting was all very good. Rooney Mara is a pretty fearless actress. And she doesn't even eat any pie in this one.
WARNING: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" spoilers below
Stellan Skarsgaard is probably too good – he’s too noticeable to think he’s anything other than the villain from the off.
It was sometimes a bit mumbly but aren't a lot of films. I think we had this discussion earlier in the thread.

The story is a typical unsolved murder mystery complete with lots of dead, brutalised women who are just faces on police files. I guess the differences here are the setting (more on that in a moment) and that it is not just about a crime being solved by a detective/journalist, but about Lizbeth Salander as a relentless, tech-savvy, motorbike riding avenging angel.
WARNING: "More spoilers" spoilers below
I’m still not sure if the implication is supposed to be that she killed that guy or that the gangland killing actually happened as a result of her taking his money.


The setting was interesting because of the effort that was taken to make it seem Swedish. I think the setting is intrinsic to the story, the mood and the politics of it, so it was good that they didn’t transplant it to the US. It was interesting that they had Swedish shopping bags, but a little strange that they all spoke English, often with Swedish accents, while reading books and newspapers clearly printed in Swedish. It didn’t really bother me, it was just interesting.

There were some quite brutal scenes in here for a mainstream movie, so I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. I had a couple of reservations about it, but overall it was very good. I had to watch it in two installments, and found it definitely got into my head and under my skin in between and after watching it.

Glad to have watched it and happy to have now completed the Millennium top 100. Hopefully, just in time for us to do a new 2000s list. Which this won't be on, because it's 2011.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
And that's my last film for this hall of fame. Now for the hard part: ordering the films. I know for sure what's first and what's last but pretty much everything in the middle is much less certain. There are at least seven films which definitely need to be in the top 5 So I hope nobody's offended if their film finishes in the lower half of my list, there were a lot of good films.

I really think this has been the best hall of fame I have taken part in so far - no trolls, no drama, all good films and some really good discussion - even though we're all watching different films! It's good to read different reviews as well, and there are a few films nominated for other people I might put on my watchlist.

Looking forward to the personal rec hall of fame part 3, whenever everyone's ready for it!



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Arsenic and Old Lace


There was a lot to like about this but I didn’t completely love it, which disappointed me a bit as I had high hopes - maybe too high!

First off, it reminded me quite a lot of You Can’t Take It With You with the whole eccentric family angle.

The poisoning old ladies are great, as is Cary Grant’s initial reaction to discovering their crimes (he has some great facial expressions), and later on the brother discovering the same. Also the bit where he’s talking about how stupid people are in plays waiting around to be murdered…although I wonder why they didn’t change ‘plays’ to ‘movies’. The whole climax was pretty great, actually.

On the downside, it gets a bit frenetic and farcical, and there was a bit too much shouting and people pushing and pulling each other about. There was also a lot of onstage-offstage which probably would have worked better on the stage than on the screen. I didn’t find the way Mortimer treated his wife very funny either, the film would have worked almost as well without that sub-plot, although I suppose it was necessary for
WARNING: "Arsenic and Old Lace" spoilers below
the revelation that he isn’t actually related to all these crazy people
to work. They could have given her more to do than shriek and get shoved out of doors, though.
That was my pick for you Thursday. It's funny you mention that this would have worked better on stage because the first time I saw this story was in a german puppet theater piece and I found it amazing.

About the frenetic side of it, I had no problems with it because I kind of expect it on a slapstick comedy but I get your point




All Quiet on the Western Front

Paul Bäumer: War isn't the way it looks back here.
or
Paul Bäumer: You still think it's beautiful to die for your country. The first bombardment taught us better. When it comes to dying for country, it's better not to die at all.

I've heard those quotes (same meaning - different words, of course) in almost every war film I've ever seen. I had to let this one soak in a little before trying to say anything. It's quite the movie and there's about 15 quotes I wanted to pull out of it. It's also the movie I was most interested in seeing because of all the movies recommended this time around this is the one I have wanted to see for the longest time but never have.

The story is basically following Paul from recruitment to war vet. He starts off all gung ho for The Motherland thanks to some proper propaganda but quickly makes an about face as soon as he lands on the front. War is not at all what he was led to believe. Yep, hard to believe but the govt. lied. There's no glory. It's all a gigantic mess.

The more I think about this the more I'm liking it. There are a bunch of real hard hitting scenes in it but two really stand out. The first is the overnight in the hole with the stabbed French soldier scene. I thought the acting in that scene was a little dated but the power of that scene still comes through. The second was when Paul goes on leave and sits in on a bunch of older gentleman discussing the war. They have no idea what they're talking about yet have all the answers. In a movie filled with good scenes these were my two favorite.

I'm having a hard time with this because there are movies out there that take a single aspect of this film and make an entire movie based off that one aspect. From basic training, the war, coming home, dealing with the boredom of down times, this really touches all the bases, getting deep enough into each to get it's point across then moving on to the next. It's not seamless but it's well done.

AQotWF is a slow elevator ride going down right up to the last scene. It's influence can't be overstated. Almost every scene you start thinking "oh that reminds me of (name any war movie since 1930)." I'm starting to wish I hadn't sent it back already or I may have given it another watch. Needless to say, I enjoyed it very much.



Congratulations Thursday Next, you are the 3rd member to finish!

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo looked like a good pick for you. I remember it being long but worth it.

I watched All Quiet on the Western Front for another HoF and it's up there with the best war movies I've seen.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
All Quiet on the Western Front is the one book I would recommend to everyone to read. The film version is pretty darn good.




Paris, Texas

Walt: I thought you were afraid of heights.
Travis: I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of fallin'.

This is one I started watching over last summer, made it about 40 minutes in and fell asleep. Anyway, I was glad to see it was nominated because who knows if I ever would have made it back to it.

This is going to be one of them movies that I really liked but have a hard time explaining why. At it's most basic, I guess I would say this is about a man reconciling with his past. Everything in Paris, Texas moves so deliberately that it almost feels as if it isn't moving at all, yet it's never boring. It's a character driven movie, for sure, and the performances are all very good to great. Harry Dean Stanton, love this guy, is really good as the lost brother of Dean Stockwell with mysterious past. It was nice to see him get a starring role and the role is perfect for him. He's one of them actors who can tell you so much of what a character is thinking just by altering the lines on his face or drooping his eyes a bit. That come in handy especially near the beginning of the film. I've had my issue with kid actors in the past but the little tyke in this one is pretty good. Mature beyond his years and never annoying. Finally, Nastassja Kinski has never been what I thought of as a great actress but in the final couple of scenes she's outstanding. Okay, she looks great too (her dad is who?!?) but I already knew that. The movie lands on a pretty heavy emotional scene and her and Harry really deliver. That's the thing with Paris, Texas. There's a sadness about it but it's not a sad film. But it kind of is. Eh, maybe I read it wrong the entire time. I don't know. Really good nomination from Cricket, I think.

And with that, I'm done. Gonna be a logjam at the top of my rankings. Nice job everyone and thank you!



Congratulations Fredrick, you are the 4th member to finish!

I wanted to see Paris, Texas for a long time and finally did when it was nominated for me in the first Personal Recommendation HoF. Good flick!



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
finished Almost Famous two days ago and gonna get a write up tonight and the send out my vote. This is NOT gonna be 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



MAJOR apologies for the long absence.



The story of a man who learns to take full advantage of life once he learns he's about to die. I really enjoyed this one. Thematically it has a lot to say about life and modern society: About how difficult it is to break your monotonous routine unless you have a life-changing event, or how government officials rarely care about the concerns of the people. Takashi Shimura is an amazing actor; he so effectively portrays Watanabes feelings of guilt, sadness and fear. I also like Kurosawa's direction, how he constantly uses close-ups to show character's expressions.

WARNING: spoilers below
I do have to say thought, I wasn't a big fan of the approach that the second half of the film took: Just as Watanabe is about to turn his life about, the film changes perspective to his workers who discuss his last few months of life. I do understand this was done so the film could make a point about bureaucracy, but I feel the film would've been much more effective if the focus was kept on Watanabe in the second half.


Thanks to whoever picked this one.



gonna try to devote more time to this by the end of this month, hopefully finishing some time in february
__________________
Most Biblical movies were long If I Recall.
seen A Clockwork Orange. In all honesty, the movie was weird and silly
letterboxd
criticker



gonna try to devote more time to this by the end of this month, hopefully finishing some time in february
That timetable sounds good and I have full faith in you!




Great job Hash, and of course Ikiru is now also on the new mofo top 100!



The trick is not minding
I’ll return to this in the next week. About 5 left to go, so probably about 1 a week should be good. Maybe even fit 2 in one week. I’ve barely watched anything the past week due to work



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Very curious about your thoughts on this one.
well, I started writing my review but there seems to continually be bullsh#t going on at work, so this'll have to wait till tomorrow.



well, I started writing my review but there seems to continually be bullsh#t going on at work, so this'll have to wait till tomorrow.
BS at work...bad, sorry to hear that. BTW I watched your nom tonight and will review tomorrow.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
BS at work...bad, sorry to hear that. BTW I watched your nom tonight and will review tomorrow.
Thanks CR. Much appreciated and VERY curious to hear what you have to say about my nom
I'll be writing up (finally) Almost Famous this afternoon