The 27th General Hall of Fame

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I've been meaning to watch Cure for awhile now, so if I'm able to join that'll be quite convenient for me haha.

I've definitely seen Safety Last!, Raiders of the Lost Ark (one of my all-time favourites), Apocalypse Now, Jaws, and Midnight Cowboy. I'm pretty sure I've seen Baby Face and True Romance as well, but I could be mistaken.

Never heard of Magical Girl, or L'amour braque. The other films I know of, but I'm fairly positive I haven't seen them. Seems like a really solid HoF.



If you've never seen Apocalypse Now, I advise against watching the Redux version. It mostly just adds bloat, particularly with the interminable French plantation segment, which brings the pace to a screeching halt. As for the sacrificial water buffalo, those images amount to probably less than five seconds of a 2.5-hour movie.
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I like the good film more than the good film, but the good film is also worthy of praise.
I hear ya. The good film is pretty good but I prefer the good film a little more but that's just me
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My Dog Skip (2000)

Ebert and Roper in their review of My Dog Skip talked about how much they dreaded having to sit down and watch a Disney boy and his dog film. They were both surprised how the film really was made for adults but told with a veneer of a childrens/family movie. The writer of the book is Willie Morris the youngest editor of Harpers in New York and Morris's skill as a writer is in full display. Each time I watch the film I pick up a different humorous or thought provoking idea.

So the plot of the film is fairly simple, on Willie's ninth birthday in 1942 he is alone. Nobody bothers to show up for his birthday party except for his grandparents, his father is a survivor from the Spanish war, and his mother. Ellen (the mother) against the father (Jack's) wishes gives Willie a puppy. Jack is afraid that Willie can not handle an emotional issues that might arise from having a dog, Ellen feels like it's necessary for Willie he's alone and the puppy fills that loneliness.

Morris is always subverting the narrative in this film. Skip and Willie go on adventures but they are never out of the world crazy things but realistic ones for a nine year old to have. The first big twist of the film is that Skip...isn't really anything special. If Skip was special than this would be a very different film instead Skip is a mediation of what a dog brings to our lives. We see the effects of unconditional love has on Willie as the character is able to grow and gain confidence and friendship with the dog.

Some people might think their is a capped on subplot with Dirk Jenkins, the neighbor that goes off to war. Remember this is a film that takes place during WWII, Jenkins is at first a hero who indulges Willie. As we see in the year something happens with Jenkins but it touches on a major theme of the film..innocence lost. Morris has a lot to say about small stakes things and how they affect our childhood and the nostalgia that we have for it. I really admire the films restraint, segregation and racism is touched on in a very clever way.

In the climax of the film....
WARNING: spoilers below
Skip runs onto the field, humiliates Willie and Willie beats Skip. Skip runs away from Willie and goes missing for several days. It's a powerful scene because Willie is exposed as the villain of the story...because he's nine and that's what nine year olds do. Skip ends up trapped in a bootleggers crypt...which to be frank...I don't think the bootleggers were real rather they are the workings of the imagination of a nine year old.


Finally the last five minutes of the film are absolutely crushing, if you don't choke up you likely are just heartless. But I think that why the ending works here is because many of us have had dogs and Skip is so realistic that it makes us reflect on our own animals. Willie actually died before the film came out...which is as ironic as it is powerful.




The Secret of Roan Inish (John Sayles, 1994)
I had recently watched The NeverEnding Story and was still in that vibe so I decided to start with the seemingly only family film of the nominations. To be honest I don't even really know what to say about this other than that its nice. It's a nice time, I like that its nice, but I don't really know what its offering other than that. There's a couple moments where the magical elements really feel like something (the boat in the fog and the ending scene in particular) but I don't know, I guess I wanted more magic and whimsy. Was also hoping the atmosphere would have swept me up a little more than it did. Never quite "felt it" like that, y'know? Yeah idk its nice and i liked it. Also I'm jealous of the girl's hair.
Ueno liked my movie!



I picked this because I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking it's been a rough year so far. I figured we could all use something heartwarming.

I say this even though the first movie I watched was...



Dolores Claiborne -


I watched this first because I haven't seen it yet, I love Stephen King and I've been meaning to read the book for a while. A-list thriller movies for adults sure seem like an endangered species, don't they? It's as if almost all material like this has been relegated to streaming services and is broken up into miniseries these days. Granted, there are some good ones like Mare of Easttown, but I believe this is one thing the '90s has over this young decade and the last one. I wouldn't say this movie is the best of its kind, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

What did I get out of it? Well, it's right there in the repeated line, "sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman has to hang onto." I like how the movie shows what drives Dolores to adopt this philosophy from the very direct abuse she receives from her husband to her more subtle but no less disheartening mistreatment from the bank manager as well as how they’re all seamlessly interwoven into the story. Speaking of seamless, the flashbacks and their transitions are never jarring and the use of different color schemes for each timeline is a nice touch. As for the performances, they’re as strong as you'd expect from this all-star cast, my favorite besides Bates (I can't believe I haven't seen Misery yet) being Strathairn's, mostly because it’s a welcome change of pace to see him play a bastard after years of seeing him play nice guys. The movie has its fair share of cheese, especially in how it spells out its themes. While I do love the "bitch" line, others like "it's because I'm a woman" seem a little too on the nose. Also, I may not be one to judge since I've only been to Maine once, but some of the New England accents are a bit cartoonish. I still think this is a very strong non-horror Stephen King adaptation and '90s adult thriller. One has to wonder, though - and I hope this isn't too much of a spoiler - but is the eclipse the same one in Gerald's Game?

Oh, and while proofreading this writeup, Word warned me that “bastard” may be offensive to the reader, but I didn’t get the same warning for “bitch.” It may have thought I was referring to a female dog, but doesn’t that just say it all?



Hey, glad you liked it! Can't comment on most of your specifics cause, like I've said, I haven't seen it in a loooong time, but I'm looking forward to that rewatch.
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Apocalypse Now



Was supposed to watch Roan Inish but got in a fight with my wife so I took off to the theater room in my building to see what was on Netflix. I found Redux and thought great, I've never seen that version before so I put it on. I've seen the original cut many times but it's been many years. My opinion was always that it was an absolutely brilliant movie until it bogs down in the last third. I was very interested to see what I thought after so much time had passed.

Redux adds about 45 minutes and it's not to the film's benefit. There are two major scenes added. The first one is completely pointless and quite frankly not good. The second one does have merit, but not enough to need to add to an already long runtime. Since it's been so long since I last watched it I was unsure of what else was added. There were little moments scattered throughout where I thought, hmmm, I don't remember that, but nothing that stood out to me as an issue or big difference either way. I will pretty much ignore Redux in my assessment of the movie.

I enjoyed the last part of the movie more than I had at any time in the past. Unfortunately there were moments and scenes prior that I didn't care for as much. There were multiple times when I thought what I was seeing was a little bit much or a little bit silly, not bad in a vacuum, but more with how these times fit into the film as a whole. Most notably was the entire segment with Robert Duvall. He was fantastic and it is entertaining throughout his time on screen. I just felt this time that it was out of place as far as the overall tone. It's just a personal preference. The film is not as consistently dark as I remembered. The thought that I was watching a consistently imperfect film stuck with me throughout. The good thing is that when I woke up this morning, all I could think about was what the film did right and damn it does a lot right. With certain scenes, moments, and shots, this film reaches highs that rival those of any film ever made. There is some incredible stuff here, and that's why I will mostly overlook what I perceive as flaws when I think back about it. Even though my opinion of it has gone down to some extent, I will always think of it as a great film. At least until the next time.

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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I love that a lot of people have not seen my nomination.

Gonna get started on this on the weekend.
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Suspect's Reviews



It doesn't appear that anyone has seen my nomination. It's not an extremely well known film but I expected that someone would have. Maybe JJ.



Good. I was actually thinking of nominating that one word title movie that you recommended to me not long ago. I'm going to save it for a HoF in the future that you're not in.



Let the night air cool you off
Good. I was actually thinking of nominating that one word title movie that you recommended to me not long ago. I'm going to save it for a HoF in the future that you're not in.
Not if I beat you to it



i'm not surprised no one had seen my pick but seeing a few people say they'd never seen any Zulawski films has me worried lmao. his style can take a minute to get used to is all i'll say.



i'm not surprised no one had seen my pick but seeing a few people say they'd never seen any Zulawski films has me worried lmao. his style can take a minute to get used to is all i'll say.
I didn't recognize the name but I see he directed Possession, which I love and quite a few here have seen. I recognize a couple of other titles in his filmography but I don't think I've seen them. Now I'm pretty hyped to watch Mad Love.