The 13TH Hall of Fame

Heartless!

Dances With Wolves



Let me be the first to say that I think this is a movie that is hard to judge on a first watch. Technically speaking, the film is very sound. Costner gives a really good lead performance, the sound and the music are good, the cinematography is beautiful and the narration gives it a very important feel. Unfortunately for me, it's epicness is not really near the level of say a Gladiator or a Braveheart for me.

The most important part of an epic for me is it's story and this isn't one that made me completely lose interest but it isn't one that really had me captivated either. Like I said I enjoyed Costner as Dances with Wolves but there were some Sioux members acting that I really didn't care for. I also wasn't all that impressed with Mary McDonnell and I didn't find their love story all that engaging or gripping either. It's runtime felt a little real, it felt like a very long movie. There's many 3+ hour films that seem to go by at a far better pace, so I wasn't a big fan of the films pace either.

I absolutely loved her the scenes with Costner and Two Socks though. Beautiful segments of film there.

I would certainly like to give the film another watch at some point though and see how I feel about it again.

For now, I'll just consider it something fairly average for me. Put me on Team Goodfellas.

I agree with you on Mary McDonnell; I didn't care for her either. I loved the rest of it though.

Oh look, raul didn't care for a movie that I love. That's a surprise...

Oh well. At least you didn't hate it. Here's hoping it grows on you in the future.

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7/10

The best way to watch Columbo is just to keep an eye on Peter Falk's facial expressions anyway. No context is necessary to be entertained haha.

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Buffalo ‘66

You know what? It was a good thing that I watched this before I read cricket’s review because I don’t know if I could’ve taken the film seriously after that. I think I would’ve spent the entire time thinking about all of the things that he said about Vincent Gallo every time I looked at him, and I just would’ve laughed.

I don’t really know anything about him. I’ve heard the name and I have seen the face, but I don’t think I ever would’ve been able to put the two together. I really didn’t even have an inking as to what I would be in for with this film.

When it started, I thought it started kind of slow. OK. He needs to find a restroom. Did it really have to take that long to get to one and begin the story? But once he got her involved in everything, the film picked up for me.

I felt sorry for his character. Despite what his purpose was after he got out of prison, I felt sorry for him. I thought he was very pathetic. I kind of think that is what made Christina Ricci be drawn to him. She seemed like an unhappy person herself. And I think she felt that there was something there that would bond them together. That is how I looked at it.

I can say that the ending was extremely satisfying. I was very happy to have it end in a way that I really wanted it to. After all, as the film went on, I ended up really liking him, and I didn’t want it to end in a way where he would’ve disappointed me. So this was a good ending.

I thought he was very good in the movie. Very good. I liked him a lot. I don’t know what he is like in real life, but judging from what others know about him, he wouldn’t be a person I would care too much for, but I do have to give him respect for a very good performance.

The same for Christina Ricci. I am not a fan of hers (I’ve got my reasons), but I will show respect when it is deserved, and her performance deserves it, too. I liked her in here.

Complaints? Minor. I have never been to a single adult dance class where people dress the way that she was dressed in hers. Also, how come we only hear the taps on her shoes when she has her little dance moment in the bowling alley (including when she is just walking in them before she dances)? Anyone who has ever worn tap shoes knows that unless you are on carpet, they make noise when you walk. So, a couple of nit-picking things, but I just wanted to mention them, anyway.

I don’t honestly have much more to say about this movie except that I really liked it. It is that simple.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Wings of Desire

When I say that I saw this movie before, I am talking about when I was a kid. My brother was really into this one. I actually remembered some of it pretty well (that was mainly some of the imagery and the fact that Peter Falk was in it).

If I were to criticize anything, it would be her speech at the end. I think that went on a little too long. After awhile, I actually had to try to keep myself from zoning out. It just got to sounding like babble. I didn’t think it should’ve gone on that long. It got to be annoying for me.

Otherwise…..

I thought this was a pretty good movie. I loved the look of it. Beautifully shot in black and white. And while I know they felt the color scenes were necessary, I think I would’ve preferred it to have just remained in black and white.

I liked the idea of being able to hear people’s thoughts. I do think if we could hear what someone else was thinking, it would be just as varied as what was said in the film. I just wish they wouldn’t have focused so much on that. I think it overdid that a little bit, but I still liked it.

I didn’t really see where the love interest part came in. I think I would’ve liked a little more attention to that. I didn’t really see anything that gave me this strong idea that he definitely wanted to be mortal for her. It just seemed to happen. Yes, he noticed her, but I wish more time would’ve been spent on his admiring her from a far, so to speak. Then I maybe would’ve been more into the idea that he was actually in love with her.

I would’ve liked a little more Peter Falk. But then again, I always want more Peter Falk with anything that he is in.

I thought that was a nice touch to the story. I know the best line involved those guys that walked past him, and the one guy asked if that was Columbo, and I think the other guy said that he wouldn’t wear a coat that bad-looking, or something like that. That got a chuckle out of me.

I have never seen the Meg Ryan-Nicolas Cage version. So you will get no comparisons from me regarding that film.

All-in-all, I thought it was a good movie.

Dances With Wolves

I saw this more than once years ago. I watched it a few times. Then, all of a sudden, it was like it was out of my life. It was no longer on TV. I didn’t own it. So I never watched it again. Then the DVD was bought for me a few years ago, but I just never got around to watching it until now.

Because I had seen it a few times, there was a lot that I remembered to this very day when I saw it again. But there was something that I’d forgotten. Something I didn’t like in the film, and maybe that was because I didn’t care for anything regarding it and it was just blocked from my mind because I didn’t think it was necessary. But I will save the negative for later.

I love Kevin Costner. I love everything about the man. I am a big fan of his. He is one of those few people that I say are on a list of people that I genuinely like. He is one of my big favorites. So I am probably going to be a bit biased when it comes to a film of his or one of his performances. But there it is. It can’t be controlled on my part. I just love the man. Plus, it doesn’t hurt him any that he looks quite fine in Yankee Blue.

Anyway, I enjoy the story in this film, and I am in love with the scenery, cinematography and the score. I have always felt that this was a beautiful film, and I think this was quite an achievement for a man who had never directed a film before.

I do have a tendency to feel as Dunbar did. I can understand his desire to get out west and, as he says, “To see the frontier before it is gone”. There is something incredibly sad about the disappearance of it all (not necessarily just out west but everywhere). I understand others will think it is progress and maybe even evolution, but I just see it as greed and cruelty. Now, I am not going to go on a big rant about anything in particular, but I was horribly disappointed to not see any buffalo anywhere (outside of a state park, which I didn’t go to – I seriously did not know that I wouldn’t even see one somewhere until I got out there - yet, I had to see Bison burgers sold at various places), and I am very anti-Reservations for people to live on. And I will leave it at that.

A couple of things that I always got a kick out of was how Two Socks (the wolf) seemed like such a busybody to me. He was always around being nosey. I thought it was cute. And I love to see Dunbar’s interactions with the Indians in the beginning and how his relationship evolved with them. I also always found it so interesting how his character adapted to that way of living.

Now, I liked all of the actors in the film, actually, except for one. And I forgot how I felt until I watched this movie again. Like I said, maybe I just chose to block it from my mind. I absolutely abhor Mary McDonnell in here and I see no point whatsoever to her character except to have someone there to translate the languages. She had been with them since she was a child. Why did she not look more like someone who had grown up in that environment? Why wouldn’t her hair be longer after all those years? She looked so unattractive. Her hair was unkempt. She looked like a slob, actually. I have never been able to understand how/why/when they actually fell in love with each other. I don’t believe Dunbar would’ve been attracted to her at all, looks wise, when there were some women that were so much better that happened to be Sioux. Of course, that is right. As Kicking Bird’s wife said, it was like it was natural that they would be together because they were both white. Really???? She was horrible. Nobody could be that desperate! Besides, Stands With A Fist had her Sioux husband. I know that was all she knew then, but, still, why couldn’t Dunbar be attracted to a Sioux instead of a white woman? The whole romance that was supposed to be there was just silly for me. I didn’t see anything blossom and I saw no reason for it. If they wanted this character so there would be a translator, fine. They could’ve had the character be a man and it would’ve worked, too. I just thought the fact that it had to end up where they had a romantic relationship was silly. I am sure there are many men out there that don’t mind random (and sometimes pointless romances) in a story, but I once heard that they are thrown in for the women in the audience. I find that to be so interesting because one of the worst things to me are the random (and sometimes pointless) romances in a story. I really kind of hate them. And I knew that this occurred in this film, but I forgot how it played out (or didn’t really play out, as far as I am concerned – it was like it just suddenly happened). I honestly think that part was so ridiculous that it spoils the film.

Now, I am tempted to take my rating down a little bit because I really hate that aspect of the story. I really do want to do that. But you know what? The rest of the film is so damn good that I think I will just block Mary McDonnell and her unpleasantness from my mind again and rate this based on the rest of the film. I really can’t allow myself to hurt the rest of a very good film because of a silly part that doesn’t really contribute too terribly much to the story, anyway.

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You can call it the art of fighting without fighting.

I can't say I ever daydreamed about anything like that as a kid, but a few times over the last couple of years I've thought "You know, if everyone else in the world died or just disappeared, I'd be okay with that as long as the power stayed on". I think maybe I'm just becoming anti-social in my old age* though.

*-I'm only turning 30 this year but I honestly feel 80 sometimes haha.

haha i was just kind of verifying if there's more of you guys daydreaming like that from the childhood.

The Hunt.



This was a rewatch for me but it remains a truly terrifying proposition really. The genius behind it stems from the fact that its a very simple concept. Wrongly accused of something so heinous - that's hardly a mindbending plot. But to tell the tale like this, and get Mikkelsen to nail it over 2 hours takes some doing. That means the script was the real winner here. It's a hugely entertaining film, yet there was this feeling of dread and woe throughout. The mass hysteria and (somewhat faux) outrage in today's society is noted on a smaller scale here, and it's a huge credit to director Thomas Vinterberg that the film is so engaging throughout.

One of the movies of 2012. Excellent.

I prefer to fantasize that everyone is frozen in time and I can just chill out without having to interact with them.

I wouldn't do anything perverted... I swear!

that's kind of advanced daydreaming where did you get inspired to? I read this children's book about a boy waking up alone in the world and was daydreaming about it ever since. Hell if i could remember the name and author of that book.

Obviously her main purpose in the film is to serve as an interpreter, but I didn't have a problem at all with their relationship. I actually found it totally believable that they would fall in love, not because they were both white but because they spent so much time together and could actually have conversations.

Besides that, I think McDonnell is pretty, though not strikingly so. Regardless, there's a lot more to attraction than just physical beauty.

@silent vamp; You find it hard to believe that two extremely isolated people with similar cultural backgrounds would fall in love when thrown together in this situation? I would find it hard to believe if they didn't relate intimately.

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Letterboxd

I'd agree with this more if I thought there was something that would make her character appealing, but I didn't see anything that stood out except for the fact that she could speak English with him.

I wouldn't find it so hard to believe if she hadn't been so young when she began to live with the Sioux. As far as I am concerned, any similar cultural background to Dunbar that she may have had is gone for her by that time. Of course, he just adapts to her way of living. So, in a way, their similar backgrounds aren't going to matter to either one, anyway.

This is one of my favorite movies ever. I know it's a bit on the bland side and doesn't have "this" or 'that" going for it to be a perfectly calibrated end of the world film but it doesn't matter to me. They took the premise and really nailed the atmosphere and included a house shopping spree (in much edited form). That is one of my fantasies. The despair alone would kill me but then they introduced the redhead..and then...uh oh..someone more physically enticing. I thought the movie worked in a twisted sort of way. I think it's a bit of a masterpiece. Wish more ppl felt the same.

I just finished watching Dances with Wolves, so that's all the films completed now. I went ahead and watched the Extended Edition, so it basically took all day. It didn't really drag at all, so despite having an hour added it didn't feel bloated, which was good.

I'd like to do something not at all related to that film for the rest of the evening though, so my write-up is going to have to wait until tomorrow haha.