The Fifth Hall of Fame

Relieved to see you still love it, TN. Fingers crossed those who haven't yet watched it see at least some of what you and I see in it.

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Bullets over Broadway: It was pretty good, I love Woody Allen so I had high expectationas and it didn't disappoint. However, I wouldn't say it's one of Woody's best movie.
The most interesting character was the one played by Chazz Palminteri, very original idea the uneducated criminal who has a touch for the theater. Overall very enjoyable, but nothing as good as Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters or Crimes and Misdemeanors


Quills: Better than I expected, I loved it. Sade is a very important figure of french litterature and I didn't know anything about him other than he wrote some sexually explicit novels in a very prude time. Joaquim Phoenix gives a fantastic performance, a good religious man, but who gradually discovers that he has the ''flaws'' that all men has. Great film.


I'd write a little more about each of them, but I'm tired. I'd say I liked Quills better, but both were very good!

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I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages

I re-watched The Wizard of Oz, (for the umpteenth time), and I love it just as much now as I did the first time I saw it. The flying monkeys don't scare me as much as they did when I was a kid, but they're still kind of creepy, (but in a good way).

I love the visuals. The contrast of Kansas in b&w vs. Oz in full color is a great concept. The boring grays for Kansas, vs. the exciting rainbow of colors for Oz.

I love the acting. I can't think of anyone who would have been better for the role of Dorothy than Judy Garland. Margaret Hamilton is perfect as the Wicked Witch. And Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow is my favorite character.

I love the songs. "If I Only Had a Brain", "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", "Ding, Dong, The Witch is Dead", etc. are catchy songs. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

I love the message, ("There's no place like home.")

I can't think of anything bad to say about this movie. It's always been one of my favorite movies, and that didn't change with another viewing.

I sent my list.

Who's all crossed the finish line now? Everyone going to make it?

My list is in.

Over the past few weeks i've watched five more but have been unable to comment. I'll post my writeups for them either in the next few days or after the New Year. I only have, Clairs Knee, Quills, Divorce Italian Style and Bullets Over Broadway left. Should be finished in the next two weeks or so.

I too need to comment on a LOT. January will be more promising...

I need to comment on The Separation but I'm going to wait until I watch a couple more movies. My company leaves in the next couple of days and I am going to finish up.

When is the sixth one starting again by the by? I got my nominations whittled down to four. Tough choice,

Now that the holidays are over, I am buckling down and watching the last few movies I have left. I should be done in the next two weeks.

If you plan on joining the 6th HoF, you should shoot for finishing this one by Jan 30th when the next one starts.

I'm not sure if I am joining that one or taking a break. Seanc is running it so I could possibly sit one out if I wanted. I think it depends on how many join.

Divorce Italian Style by Pietro Germi (1961)

When I first started watching this film I felt a very strong disconnect. To me it felt claustrophobic and I felt no sympathy for any of the characters. It felt dated and since the underlying idea was based on Italian law at the time that divorce was illegal, I also thought it could only be appreciated by Italians and would not translate well to viewers in other countries. I felt it was divorced (pun intended) from the reality of modern 21st century viewers. I watched about 30 mins. of it and couldn’t take it any more and turned it off.

However I did have to watch it and report on it because I am participating in the current 5th HOF and am committed to watch all the nominees and have been falling behind on my viewing.

So I started it again with same result and thinking that the rating would be a lowly

.

I got to the same point as I had before with the same feelings and then something happened. Everything suddenly ‘clicked’ and I began to laugh. The situation which I had found silly turned into one of the funniest comedies I have ever seen. A well-made and well directed comedy that crosses both time and cultures.

The underlying story is of a somewhat down-at-his-heels Sicilian aristocrat who is unhappily married to his wife, who is affectionate and overly passionate for his love. His life is further complicated by the fact that he has fallen love with his young and beautiful cousin and he begins to fantasize about murdering his wife since divorce is illegal and he lusts after his cousin.

The director is Pietro Germi and this film is his true masterpiece. It is in its form an example of commedia all'italiana, which is akin to Hollywood’s screwball comedies as exemplified by Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randal flicks.

Germi’s cinematography is rooted in Italian Neo-Realism that appeared after WWII. Instead of unknown actors, the ones in this film are all professionals and have a great sense of comic timing and conveying their feelings with facial gestures, especially Marcello Mastroianni. The film is narrated by him and thus we realize the entire film is told in flashback.

The comedic scenes are so well done and surprising that I’ll pass on any discussion of them so to avoid any spoilers. The entire film is set in a small village in Sicily and is integral to the story line. (Some scenes reminded me of similar ones in the Sicilian scenes in The Godfather II). There is a scene where the villagers are watching a showing of Fellini’s La Dolche Vita, a film that is the polar opposite to this one.

Another thing I would like to mention is the music. It very well fits the pacing and mood of the film and greatly enhanced my enjoyment.

In my initial viewing of this film I thought this entire comedy of love too provincial and only locally understandable. Then I remembered another comedy/tragedy of a doomed love set in Italy called - Romeo and Juliet.

Highly recommended.

There is one other thing that I would like to mention that is purely accidental and coincidental. Mastroianni’s character is a Sicilian by the name of Ferdinando Cefalù. Quite independent of this film I was doing google search on who was the current head of the Gambino crime family in New York City. It turns out that it is an old school gangster from Sicily whose last name is Cefalù. In the background of the village’s setting is the hint of the Sicilian Mafia. Go figure.

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You have to think like a hero merely to behave like a decent human being.

Still haven't watched Divorce, Italian Style yet buut i will in the next few days. Still when i noticed Cefalu come up i had to read the paragraph to see if it was related to it. Italian-American Organized Crime has always been a random/weird interest of mine, so much so that i ended up in a weird phase of being interested in US Demographics; particularly NYC and Philadelphia and almost entirely focusing on the Italian population of areas throughout the 20th Century.

You are correct Domenico Cefalu is at least reported as the boss of the Gambinos, and his brother Dominick (yes their mother actually did that to them) is a Capo and they are related to the current Gambinos in the family John and Rosario (distant relations of the founder name-wise Carlo).

Great write-up, E Folly. After a few minutes, I did not think I would like that movie, but it won me over. It's an excellent movie.

Yeah, I just watched Divorce Italian Style and had the same initial reaction. At first I felt I hated all the characters so much that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the movie. Then I started to laugh. Then I laughed some more and forgot that I was ever annoyed in the first place.

It's really funny and reminds me just ever so slightly of an Almodovar comedy. I became completely engaged in how Ferdinando was going to accomplish his mission and rooting for him to get by with it.

I'm not always as receptive to comedies as I am other movies, but the humor here is smart.

Ooh, I just looked and I'm almost done. Claire's Knee and Bullets Over Broadway next.

One month and 3 days left guys. I'm going to be hard on the deadline this time, folks. I gave a month extra already because of the holidays, so there has been a lot of time.

Also Seanc is starting the sixth one at the end of January, so I need this one to be over relatively soon after that as the new SHoF (special hall of fame) will also be starting soon as well.

I watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time and I'm sorry, but I just hated it. I thought the songs were lame, the set seemed to be made of plastic (I know it's from the 30's, but I don't really care if a movie doesn't hold up I should not like it just because it's old) The message is allright and could be summarize with the following slogan ''home sweet home''. The movie was 100 minutes and it felt like 3 hours, not funny, not entertaining, not intelligent and not even a funny escapism movie because it was not believable so I basically hated that film.


I only have Wajda to Watch!

I won't start an argument but you totally missed what the film was about.

I'd like you to enlighten me about the real point of the film.


What I can see is that it was made in the 30's which was not a very good period in the history of the US, its colorful imaginative so it was kind of a way for the people to escape the harsh reality and the final message that Kansas represents home, reconfort even if we imagine some kind of idylic world. I see that and I'm not saying it's a bad movie, just to me it was not believable at all.

I'd like you to enlighten me about the real point of the film.


What I can see is that it was made in the 30's which was not a very good period in the history of the US, its colorful imaginative so it was kind of a way for the people to escape the harsh reality and the final message that Kansas represents home, reconfort even if we imagine some kind of idylic world. I see that and I'm not saying it's a bad movie, just to me it was not believable at all.