The 13TH Hall of Fame

Thanks Ed for posting your thoughts, appreciate your candor.

You are, and always, welcome, my friend

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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

Finished updating the second post, great stuff . A quarter has finished and a bunch of you are just about to or are well on your way with two months+ left. The only members who haven't made a good start are Neiba and Clazor, i'm confident unless something big has came up they'll finish as Neiba usually leaves it late then finishes in a short period of time, Clazor has done the same and neither has not finished one yet. I'll wait a week and if i've not heard anything i'll message them as that will be the two month deadline.

Continuing to be shocked by the reception Buffalo '66 is getting, so glad you liked it that much Vamp

I agree about neiba and clazor and I'm looking forward to when I rewatch Buffalo 66. Haven't seen it since it came out in theaters, back in the day.

Flesh and Blood



I hate to rip a movie too bad in this Hall of Fame format but this was really awful for me. The acting was really bad. It came across as something that I thought maybe was trying to be comical or humorous, although I didn't chuckle once. I also don't think that was the true intention of the film, which made it even worse for me. Jennifer Jason Leigh was really bad and I thought the actor who was Martin was not much further behind. The sets and the costumes weren't bad, but they also weren't anything that really stood out to me to even consider it a highlight. My points for the film are solely based on Martin getting thrown into the well, which was my only real highlight in the film. I can't tell you how many times I looked at the clock on this tedious and tiresome watch. Sorry Blix, not for me. As an aside, I liked the other 2 Verhoeven films that I have seen.

Four have finished, four are at least 3/4 way through, two are at least half way through and another four are at least quarter way through. Then there's Neiba and Clazor

Also expecting Cosmics list any day now

Is it an imperative to have write-ups for all the listed films? I've watched both Manchester by the Sea and Jagten so I'm technically at half way through as well. I'd just have to review them.

Not necessarily. If you don't want to for a few or if you just want to write something short that's fine, as long as it isn't most of the films which it's not in this case. I was only counting what people have reviewed, i know Vamp has finished and Cricket and PG have watched more than they've reviewed too.

BTW, Nesto pointed out a review of his i missed. If anyone notices one of theirs i've left out please let me know, thanks.

Manchester by the Sea



First I will apologize if this all seems a little incohesive but I wanted to give my full thoughts on Manchester by the Sea and this was the best I could do with that. So here are my thoughts.

What struck me on my third watch was just how the story unfolds. We see Lee as a handyman, as a man who is broken and has pent up rage. We don't see why until later. For a film that plays at the heartstrings of its viewers, it's a bold beginning. Then he gets the call and we begin to figure out the pieces to the puzzle. Some of the music at the beginning is pretty poetic too. It helps to make us feel at ease with a very tense situation, if that makes any sense.

Manchester doesn't hold anything back. It's real life situations often feel super dramatic but these are things that can and often do take place in people's lives unfortunately. Hospitals aren't a fun place to be and the film shows the brutal reality of that. The flashback scene with Lee in the elevator shows us just how bad these experiences can be.

The cast is something that I really think is a strongpoint to the film. Obviously with the writing and screenplay being a major force it wasn't necessarily imperative to have completely stellar performances for the film to work, but it's strong performances are what in my opinion is able to take the film to the next level.

The main core of what makes the film so great is Casey Afflecks performance. He completely turns into his character, a trait not often seen in film. Every time he is brought into a flashback scenes, he transforms his character to have the perfect emotion of that particular timeframe. This may be the best film ever in terms of flashback scenes (Signs is another that comes to mind ).

Michelle Williams performance is also stellar in this film in my opinion, perhaps so much that I would have preferred her to win the Oscar for her very brief screen time. But she packs a punch with each and every scene she is in. As a couple the two once had everything someone would want in life and it is completely heartbreaking to see their world end up shattering. She played her role perfectly. The scene where she asks Lee to get some lunch is perhaps one of the better acted scenes that I have ever seen.

Lucas Hedges comes across as a very sterotypical late teen who is at a crossroads with his life. I love the humor that he brings, giving the film a little bit of lightness in a very heavy film. I compared the two in a previous review, but I think Hedges is very on par with the performance of Shailene Woodley in The Descendants. The two characters are comparable because of their age and what they have been through.

In previous watches I've always brought up how I enjoy Kara Hayward in general. She doesn't necessarily do anything spectacular in the film but she certainly has potential to be a future star. Kyle Chandler is real good in the flashback roles, and Gretchen Mol as Elise was very good in the few scenes that she had.

It's great to see the chemistry between Hedges and Afflecks characters. In the flashbacks we see that the two had a pretty big bond when Hedges was little and we can see that naturally before the tragic event the two had grown apart from each other. Lee being shell shocked as to being the guardian of Patrick comes off as real genuine. With a situation like this I would guess that perhaps a decision like this may have been made in the same timeframe when Patrick was little and they were fishing on the boat. The "I'm just a back up" scene was truly great acting which helped to symbolize just what feelings Lee had about the situation. Which leads into perhaps the best yet most devastating flashback scene of the entire film, "The Furnace scene", which absolutely tore me apart. It showed me the fragility of life and the reason to never take any moments of life for granted. Perhaps one of the saddest scenes in film history for me. Again, Affleck and Williams emotions were just completely on point and made the scene even that much more impactful. It made me think about how situations like this happen everyday unfortunately to all sorts of people.

Back to Hedges and Affleck, we see the two struggling with how to proceed with life. Both are affected completely tragic circumstances (for Affleck, two circumstances), but they both know deep down they have to lean on each other. I love how they banter back and forth and give each other crap. Lots of underrated dialogue like Affleck telling him to wear gloves with actual fingers on it and a real winter coat. Or Hedges telling him he can't obey his orders until he unlocks the door. Or when the two are talking about Patrick's girlfriends in the car. Funny when Patrick says they don't just play computer games. Another good one: Patrick "What happened to your hand?" Lee "I cut it". Patrick "Oh, for a minute there I didn't know what happened". It's great writing.

Speaking of the writing and the dialogue, the backbone of the films success for me still is the result of Lonergan's impeccable work. The screenplay and the weaving of the story and flashbacks is put into a perfect sequence which tugs at the heartstrings of its viewers. The direction and the attention to detail that Lonergan gives us is truly remarkable. He has a lot of beautiful scenery shots of the Manchester area and neighborhood as well, giving it a very homely feel to it.

I like how the films ending gives us a positive outlook on Patrick and Lee for the future. For a film that is rather bleak, the light at the end of the tunnel was the right way for the film to end. I'd like to think that the two grew even closer as time went on, and that the two were able to somewhat move on with each other's lives. Obviously Lee is forever haunted by the events that have transpired in his life, but his relationship with Patrick is something that can help him carry on.

Obviously the film has had a profound effect on me. I know its heavy substance is not something that would be for everyone, but as far as storytelling and the realistic preview of life tragedies, this one is perfection in my book.

+

Great review Raul.

The only thing i'm not as big on as you is Michelle Williams, she was good but it's Casey that completely makes the apology scene for me and the rest of her scenes were just okay for me personally. Agreed on the rest.

Great review Raul. I agree about Michelle Williams too. She was sublime. To be that good and have that little screen time takes some doing.

I'll be reading your review AFTER I see Manchester, @rauldc14 ; the first two paragraphs DEFINITELY held my interest. Should be a d@mn good read.

It's definitely one of my favourites so far. The only one off the top of my head i'd have above it was Cosmic's Wings of Desire one because it was so informative

I keep wanting to glance through it - it's almost like a "play by play" breakdown.
I always enjoy Cosmic's write ups, especially when it's about her nom FOR the information she supplies in them.
There's a few of yours I need to read after seeing the movies as well, Camo

[quote=edarsenal;1711848
There's a few of yours I need to read after seeing the movies as well, Camo[/QUOTE]

If we are being honest here, put mine dead last i don't write for *****. Didn't say can't because i probably can write better than i do: hope i'm readable at least.

I haven't forgotten.

I'm glad that some people actually like it when I go that route with my write-ups.

I'm always a little worried that what I write comes across as very inconsistent, because I might focus on the cinematography for one film, the characters for another, have one review that's just pure opinion, and then I'll have one that's perhaps overly analytical. It really depends on how I feel about the film and what I find easiest to write about at the time.

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I think following on from Citizens best performance thing in the 10th i did the best character thing in the 11th and i'd like to keep something going in the 13th. I have the 'how everything looked' gimmick; or i'm just keeping record of everything and only stats nerds will really find my end post with how everything looked at all times interesting.

Is there anything else i could realistically do to hook the rest of you idiots in?

Controversial:

Miss Vicky is the only reason i'm reading this hilarious ******** right now,

lol

I think seeing how the ranking for each film changes as more people get their votes in is pretty interesting, so you have at least one fan of that idea. Or are you looking for something else to add to the reveal that's closer to the best performances and best character awards that would be voted on? I'm not sure what other category would garner as much interest as those...perhaps best soundtrack or editing? Favourite write-up, or whichever film reviewed the best outside the HoF?

I can't really think of any good suggestions because I'm using all my mental capacity to rank my list before I forget again have to go do something else. It's taking so long because I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of films nominated this round.

I don't think anyone will read your post. And please make sure you know i wasn't talking about myself, abd uf u was i probably deserved it.