The 12th Hall of Fame

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At times this reminded me of John Wick, more so than it did Léon or Taken
I wouldn't say it reminded me of those exactly i only mentioned them because of the basic story similarities. Not seen John Wick.

Glad you liked it



Joe


I first watched this movie the very night I sent in my list for the 70's countdown. About halfway through, I took a smoke break and sent the list. If I had waited until the movie was over, it definitely would have made my list. I was a little bit pissed at myself. This is the third movie I have nominated for a Hall of Fame that I first found thanks to Mark, after The Big Country and The Crowd.

The movie probably would be more popular with a little tighter direction. This is one of the director's first movies, and he would go on to make huge hits like Rocky, The Karate Kid, and Lean on Me. This movie, at times, has a B movie feel to it, but that's something that suits my taste well.

Joe is an interesting character. He's an average guy that average guys can relate to in a lot of ways. He goes to work, comes home, has dinner and a coupons beers, has a family, and just tries to make the best out of life. He's very much a traditionalist, but he's also a bigot and a sexist, and that's what makes him stand out in all the wrong ways. This movie is very much about the differences between people, be it race, gender, age, or income. I think, especially with the controversy surrounding our new president, that this movie is quite relevant today.

My wife watched this with me and it turned out that she enjoyed it as well. The ending is easily one of my all time favorites, and it shook me up even though I knew what was coming. Great theme song too.






MAN FROM NOWHERE
I didnt know anything about this going in,but i could see it was going to be an action movie by the poster. At first I got some Leon feels from it with the little girl,and I got a bit worried it would be a rip off,mostly because I didnt really like Leon all that much.Luckily apart from that the movies didnt have all that much in common.
I loved the main character,how at first he was so dark -also he reminded me of masanobu ando.The transformation he had during the movie was amazing because he looked soooooo far from what i was expecting.Like,really mind blowing Though the movie is centered around the relationship between him and the girl,i loved the sidestory of him and his wife-they didnt overdo it or overkill it,just enough pieces here and there for us to put together.
The villians were easy to hate,from their nasty attitudes,and weird behaviour..and dress sense I would have liked crazy eyes to be the main villiain though insted of the "american" one,i found him a bit cheesy.
Still,solid performances all around,especially from the main actor,great plot-its been done before obviously but as long as its done right it still feels fresh- and great action scenes.Im suprised I havent seen this before



__________________
Britney is my favorite




. About halfway through, I took a smoke break and sent the list. If I had waited until the movie was over, it definitely would have made my list. I was a little bit pissed at myself.

smoking ruins lifes!







At first I got some Leon feels from it with the little girl,and I got a bit worried it would be a rip off,mostly because I didnt really like Leon all that much.
I'm not a big fan of Leon either so thank god.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. A lot of people seem to really like that film.

I remember getting a snide comment for not really liking Léon that much when I watched it for the Chain Challenge (I thought I hadn't seen it, but it turns out I had and just didn't remember the name).



Tyler isn't here! Tyler went away! Tyler's gone!
The plant was definitely my favorite actor as well and Won Bin (the main character in the man from nowhere) was my favorite in my noms film. Maybe I like them because they both have the same amount of lines in their films. They both knew when to shut up...



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Some great reviews for man from nowhere.

Cosmic, by all means look into other Korean movies, I've seen quite a number of great ones from period pieces to action to drama - great stuff.


Enjoyed your Joe review, Cricket. Started watching it the other day.

Finished City of Lost Children last night will write a review tomorrow -- good movie!
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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



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
I'm glad I'm not the only one. A lot of people seem to really like that film.

I remember getting a snide comment for not really liking Léon that much when I watched it for the Chain Challenge (I thought I hadn't seen it, but it turns out I had and just didn't remember the name).
I believe I gave you Leon to watch for the chain challenge, but I don't remember giving any snide remarks. Even so, If I did, I don't think I ment it to be a put down. A possible I'm sorry if it in fact was me and if it was taken as such.
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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
U Turn (Oliver Stone, 1997)

A very interesting neo noir with Stone's twisted and unique touch!
I liked the perfomances of everyone involved and how the story kept twisting and turning, especially with Lopez' character. She was, in fact, the best character of the film in my opinion and the element that made all the story advance! I liked Jon Voight's blind man, acting like the colective consciousness or a greek tragedy's choir. I just wished I had seen more of him!
There are some pacing issues and unnecessary characters, I couldn't see any utility for Joaquin Phoenix, for example, other than just to show how much bad luck the main character was suffering! After a while you just foresee a bad thing coming and that's the point I think Stone went too far! I know that this was meant to work like a dark comedy too but it wouldn't have hurted the movie if it had 30 minutes less!

+



I believe I gave you Leon to watch for the chain challenge, but I don't remember giving any snide remarks. Even so, If I did, I don't think I ment it to be a put down. A possible I'm sorry if it in fact was me and if it was taken as such.
No, I remember who it was, and it wasn't you. So no worries.



I couldn't see any utility for Joaquin Phoenix, for example, other than just to show how much bad luck the main character was suffering!
Does every character in a movie need to serve a specific "utility"?

Besides adding some humor to the film and making Bobby's situation more stressful, Toby did serve the purpose of preventing Bobby from escaping to Mexico on the bus by eating his ticket (which Bobby had paid for using literally his last cent).



So, I decided to watch Grand Budapest Hotel again (write-up coming tonight or tomorrow after work), and my room mate kept walking by and quoting lines from the SNL Wes Anderson skit Edward Norton was in (which we both thought was pretty funny). In case I end up mentioning it in my review (or in case anyone was curious), here it is:






The Grand Budapest Hotel
(2014)
Dir. Wes Anderson
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Edward Norton


One thing I do like about Wes Anderson's films is that they're always really pretty looking. The Grand Budapest Hotel is no exception to that; there are plenty of great landscape shots, beautiful colours, and interesting framing (I particularly liked any shots showing the depth of a long and narrow corridor or roadway). The man clearly has talent behind the camera. Unfortunately I just cannot get into his particular brand of quirky writing, and as a result I always find myself completely uninterested in his characters and their stories. Once again, this film is no exception to that.

The characters in this were more believable and life-like to me than the ones in
Moonrise Kingdom, but the film still never managed to make me care about any of them. The only one I actually liked was Willem Dafoe, partly because of his naturally menacing looking face and how perfect it was for this role, but also because I was secretly hoping he'd systematically and unsympathetically murder everyone else. I did like trying to piece together where the various locations were shot, as a few of them (particularly the outside view of the monastery) look incredibly familiar to me and I wonder if I visited there when I was in Germany.

I think I said this at some point during the 11
th HoF, but I'd love to see Anderson direct a film that someone completely different had written. If one of his films had characters I actually found engaging, I could stop thinking that The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders the best thing Wes Anderson's name has been attached to.
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