23rd MoFo Hall of Fame

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Schindler's List (1993)

Spielberg's depiction of the holocaust is surprisingly uneven and too manipulative. It's like he didn't trust his viewers to have correct feelings and went overboard with melodrama. A film can rarely move from greatness to awkwardness with such fluidity as Schindler's List.


This unevenness affects everything. At times the black and white cinematography is stunning (mostly during the outdoor shots), but many scenes look overexposed and grainy and poorly lit. Horrifying moments of infernal beauty (like the arrival of the women's train to Auschwitz) mixed with too much underlining (like the endless litanies of names to emphasize that the jews were actual people) is another pair. And that girl in a red dress just didn't fit.

Perhaps the biggest issue for me was the language. It was a total mess of proper English and weirdly accented English with German nouns mixed in (this reminds me of something like the old Commando comics, not a highly esteemed movie like this). In addition to that, most of the extras spoke German or Polish or Hebrew in the background. I can't understand why the whole film wasn't done in correct languages (with other actors, if necessary) or at least in proper English throughout. The annoyance was further amplified by the inconsistency due to no subs for the non-English parts.

Regardless of the issues, Schindler's List is a good movie (albeit barely). The melodrama doesn't hamper its effectiveness too much, and in general, the positives outweigh the negatives. The language issue is the only one without any redeeming factors. I still think it's overvalued film, but perhaps the topic makes it hard for people to be critical.
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Legend in my own mind

Film The reflecting skin
Year of release: 1990
Directed by: Philip Ridley
Run time: 1hr 36
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Cooper

Watching this was a bit like viewing modern art, I know what I see, but I am not sure whether that is what the creator intended or indeed what others see.
The things that I interpreted from it helped me to not simply see it as indulgent nonsense, but rather a carefully crafted metaphor for much bigger things.

It is weird, slightly disturbing, raw, brutal and a bit messy all wrapped in stylish film making.
2 days later and I am still not fully able to articulate how I feel about it.

One of those films (like a few others in this HOF) that is hard to say you 'enjoyed' but it certainly impacted me.
The acting was really excellent even if the characters were all hard to like.

I hope that by the time it comes to voting that I have a more coherent opinion
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"I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me" (Frank Costello)



Yellow Submarine (1968)

I don't know if Yellow Submarine is aimed solely at Beatles fans or was there enough children doing LSD in the 60s to consider as a target audience. Unfortunately, I don't belong to either group, so my pleasure was limited to a few decent songs and general inept weirdness.


Even calling Yellow Submarine a movie feels wrong. It's a music video with a rudimentary narrative linking the songs (like an episode of a children's show stretched to movie length by musical padding). The characters are as empty and meaningless as the so-called story (unless you're flabbergasted by the fact that they're Beatles, of course). Even the voice-acting is flat and boring.

Visually Yellow Submarine isn't awful, but I don't think its style fits a feature-length movie. It's like Monty Python's animated breaks that work wonders in short bursts of wit and innovation but would most likely lose their steam in longer form. There are occasional good moments, but they're too few and far between. Rest is just a fan service for the Beatles enthusiasts.

I didn't exactly hate Yellow Submarine, but it's balancing right at the edge of badness. I hope this review doesn't make me a blue meanie.



We are now at the halfway point in this Hall of Fame.

You have had 7 weeks to watch movies (8 if you count the week between the initial reveal and the sign-up deadline). This HOF is a watch-at-your-own-pace arrangement, but if you have not watched and reviewed at least 7 movies by now, you need to think about speeding up your pace.

Also, please take a moment to check the first and second posts of this thread to make sure that your number of reviews is correct and that all of your reviews are properly linked.

As a reminder, the deadline to finish write-ups and voting is November 21st.


@ahwell @edarsenal @HashtagBrownies @jiraffejustin @MovieGal @neiba @pahaK @rauldc14 @Sarge @Siddon



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Yellow Submarine

Ringo: Hey, I wonder what'll happen if I pull this lever.
Old Fred: Oh, you mustn't do that now.
Ringo: Can't help it. I'm a born "Liver-pooler."

Packed with a vaudevillian styled play on words for dialogue that refenced other Beatles songs and themselves, the Fab Four originally didn't want anything to do with it. Having a general dislike for the TV cartoon that the same folks made until they saw some of the finished work and then agreed to do the quick finale.
The acid trip, pop art of the film was done by a German artist who actually never did drugs and simply went by hearsay; is really just a trippy way to enjoy old Beatles songs via crazy imagery. Even the voicing talent sorta falls short of the charismatic timing that John, Paul, George and Ringo had that won them over to, at first, the press interviewing them, and then, to the ever growing fandom who bought their albums, went to their concerts and enjoyed the two previous films that actually featured them, A Hard Day's Night and Help! Both of which are Guilty Pleasures of mine.
Haven not seen this since I was, literally, a little kid, I did, very often, during this thought I really should have smoked beforehand and, perhaps, even during. Still, I did get enjoyment of the maniacal Blue Meanies. The Boss of, in particular, and listening along to the playlist of Beatles songs is always a pleasure. "Eleanor Rigby" was my favorite of the bunch.
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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



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
That puts me at the halfway mark of films viewed/reviewed at this halfway mark of the HoF.
Just to let everyone know I will be vacant this next week since I'll be out of state and away from my computer. Going down to the pan handle of Florida for the week to visit with my room mate's Aunt and Uncle.
See you all when I get back next week
Take care!!



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
That puts me at the halfway mark of films viewed/reviewed at this halfway mark of the HoF.
Just to let everyone know I will be vacant this next week since I'll be out of state and away from my computer. Going down to the pan handle of Florida for the week to visit with my room mate's Aunt and Uncle.
See you all when I get back next week
Take care!!

@edarsenal, Have fun in Florida, and stay safe.
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



The trick is not minding
That puts me at the halfway mark of films viewed/reviewed at this halfway mark of the HoF.
Just to let everyone know I will be vacant this next week since I'll be out of state and away from my computer. Going down to the pan handle of Florida for the week to visit with my room mate's Aunt and Uncle.
See you all when I get back next week
Take care!!
Enjoy! I miss Florida, and hope you have a enjoyable time there



The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Ah, the 80s when even Disney animations had drinking, smoking, sexual innuendo and deaths. I miss those decadent times.


Poor Olivia, that plug is gonna hurt.

I found The Great Mouse Detective an easy watch. In a way, it loans too much from Sherlock Holmes to properly stand on its own feet, but I suppose the primary target audience is children who haven't yet read Doyle. As an introduction to detective stories, it's entertaining and gives a little taste of the suspense the big-boy stories offer.

I like the visual style of the film (I guess I'd prefer a bit grimier and spookier Victorian London, but it was along the right tracks). Characters and animation are good as well (memorable, lively, competent voice acting). Even the early use of CGI looks OK, but it's probably because of the hand-drawn characters are stealing the spotlight.

I don't usually watch animation (even less the ones aimed at children), but The Great Mouse Detective was a pleasant surprise. Not my type of film, but I didn't mind watching it.

Weird how some reviews sound so negative and others so positive while I rate the films exactly the same



I Need A Vote

You may have noticed that ahwell has been absent from this thread for over a month, despite initially racing through the majority of the nominated films. I noticed this too and sent him a private message.

Here's the situation: ahwell will not be returning to this HOF, but has watched all 14 films and has written up the two remaining films elsewhere on this site:

Late Spring

Stand By Me

He has also given me his ballot.

Here's where I have a problem: I had to contact him publicly on another site to find out WTF was going on, since he didn't have the decency to contact me himself and basically just ditched this whole thing, then gave me his ballot after I contacted him - again on a completely separate site. I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little pissed off and a bit tempted to give him the boot since I don't think I would've found this out had I not gone off site to contact him.

As a reminder, the rules of participation state this:

However, you will still be expected to write up your thoughts on the film in this thread.
So what say you, MoFos? Do we cut the kid a break and count his vote or do we disqualify him and Late Spring?

ETA: Vote no longer needed. The issue has been resolved. ahwell posted here.





I don't understand why he can't finish since he's watching like 5 films a day still.
It's not that he can't do it, it's that he won't. This is a choice he has made.



That's weird. Did something make him leave the site? Maybe he'll be back after whatever cools down. He's been a good reliable member so I say count it.