The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame II

Tools    





The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible

Django (1966)



So I guess this was like another Yojimbo/Man with no Name type ripoff. It's tough for me to really dissect what I saw with this film as it is both incredibly violent (which I like) and also incredibly silly and unoriginal(which I don't). Django is the story of a Union officer carrying a coffin around the dessert in the west because...dehydration doesn't exist in Spaghetti westerns. We then go from action set piece to action set piece where the characters exist for the sole purpose of moving the plot along. Nothing really makes sense for the player involved in the story and it ends on a bittersweet note.


I liked it, it was fine, the production design and score were exceptional the performances where fairly terrible. Franco Nero does a bad Clint Eastwood impersonation throughout the film and that pretty much knocks the film down from a possible 4 stars to 2 stars for me.


You remember when I said I changed your nom? This was my original pick... Dodget a bullet there xD



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Charade (1963)

A nice little movie, quite entertaining and with two of the most carismatic leads of the classical era.

This was made in the early 60s when the noir genre was pretty much way too explored already and directors were trying to find ways to recreate it. This tries to go down a risky path in that regard, but with a few missteps.
My main problem with this is that it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a serious mystery thriller with some comic relief or a heavy slapstick comedy. The Bond franchise would solve this lack of balance a few years later, but here everything seems too experimental yet. The amount of twists and turns would be great if half of them weren't received with such lightness by Hepburn's character, ultimately taking the weight of all of them. And then when the climax comes, there's simply no gravitas because not enough tension was created before.

Also a result from this mixed energy is that Hepburn's character comes out as being incredibly stupid or way too naive to be believable. A guy lies to you about his own name 3 times in a row and you still enjoy a romantic dinner with him as if nothing happened and everything was quite natural?

The acting itself was as good as expected, showing a good range of emotions in both Grant and Hepburn, but their characters are hurt by the director's lack of competence.

i'm still glad I watched it, I was needing a light film today.






Whoever picked this for me understands my taste to a fine level. I love these types of 80's films, I mean I think I saw The Lost Boys a few dozen times when I was younger.

I had a good time with this film. At first I thought I was gonna get annoyed by our main character constantly bothering people in his crusade against his neighbors, but when it's made completely explicit that they are a threat, it didn't bother me. There's a really surprising number of enjoyable performances here: Chris Sarandon as the charismatic head vampire, Roddy McDowall as both a scared, old man and a Doctor Who-esque vampire hunter, Stephen Geoffreys as the insane friend. I guess a standout of the film is the special effects and makeup; it's all so good, that type of silly but extremely detailed body gore that you just don't see nowadays. The soundtrack was also good, even if the rock music didn't quite work for me in some of the scary scenes.

My thoughts are kinda disjointed since I just finished watching it and I can't think of any particular negatives, but thanks to whoever picked this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also apologies for my long absence, had lotsa stuff going on irl.



The trick is not minding


Whoever picked this for me understands my taste to a fine level. I love these types of 80's films, I mean I think I saw The Lost Boys a few dozen times when I was younger.

I had a good time with this film. At first I thought I was gonna get annoyed by our main character constantly bothering people in his crusade against his neighbors, but when it's made completely explicit that they are a threat, it didn't bother me. There's a really surprising number of enjoyable performances here: Chris Sarandon as the charismatic head vampire, Roddy McDowall as both a scared, old man and a Doctor Who-esque vampire hunter, Stephen Geoffreys as the insane friend. I guess a standout of the film is the special effects and makeup; it's all so good, that type of silly but extremely detailed body gore that you just don't see nowadays. The soundtrack was also good, even if the rock music didn't quite work for me in some of the scary scenes.

My thoughts are kinda disjointed since I just finished watching it and I can't think of any particular negatives, but thanks to whoever picked this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also apologies for my long absence, had lotsa stuff going on irl.
That’s me 😎
Glad you enjoyed it



Also a result from this mixed energy is that Hepburn's character comes out as being incredibly stupid or way too naive to be believable. A guy lies to you about his own name 3 times in a row and you still enjoy a romantic dinner with him as if nothing happened and everything was quite natural?


+










I don't find her stupid or naive I think in a number of ways she's fatalistic. Also that dinner was an interrogation, someplace public where he's trapped and has to answer her questions.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible





I don't find her stupid or naive I think in a number of ways she's fatalistic. Also that dinner was an interrogation, someplace public where he's trapped and has to answer her questions.
Yes, it was an interrogation, but her rection when she finds out the truth is everything but believable, IMO. Besides, she was in advantage so many times, knowing stuff about him without him being aware of that, and she blew it every time!



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Dial M for Murder

Margot Mary Wendice: Do you really believe in the perfect murder?
Mark Halliday: Mmm, yes, absolutely. On paper, that is. And I think I could, uh, plan one better than most people; but I doubt if I could carry it out.
Tony Wendice: Oh? Why not?
Mark Halliday: Well, because in stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don't... always.

Murder plots never work out the way one plans it. We’ve seen enough movies to know that.
Yet Tony (played superbly by Ray Milland) comes damn close.
He wants to hire an acquaintance to murder his wife for a an affair from a year ago. The murder doesn’t go right. Now he has to manipulate the investigation into his favor, while covering up his involvement
But that’s all dressing. It’s the script and dialogue that crackles here. The conversations that take place between Tony and his accomplice, the final reveal and discussion between Mark and the Chief Investigator (Robert Cummings and John Williams respectively, both giving great performances with what little screen time they have) on how it was accomplished. Grace Kelly looks marvelous here, as the wife caught between the two men, and who of course is great in what little there is written for her role. And of course all things Ray Milland.
Milland delivers his lines with a sadistic glee, secretly enjoying his wife’s torment and subsequent arrest and conviction. This is his movie, and he owns every minute he is on screen.
Especially the end, where he’s cornered, and rather then trying to make a run of it, or some final shootout to escape, he just calmly makes a drink for himself before offering one for everyone else before uttering “As you said, Mark, it might work on paper, but......”

This is such a great film. I want to see it again as soon as I finished it! It’s only one watch, but I would certainly rank it amongst Hitch’s top films!
Thank you....Cricket? Perhaps?
I believe this was me!!!

They did a remake with Michael Douglas called A Perfect Murder. Obviously...not as good.
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



The trick is not minding
I believe this was me!!!

They did a remake with Michael Douglas called A Perfect Murder. Obviously...not as good.
Great choice. So far it’s my leading #1.
I’ve heard of the remake, A Perfect Murder, but haven’t seen it as yet.



I liked Django but I liked a couple of other Franco Nero westerns more.

I was underwhelmed by Charade but I do feel the need to watch it again.


First saw Fright Night at the movies when I was 14 and it became an instant favorite. It's slipped a bit since then but I believe it made the tail end of my ballot for the horror countdown.



The trick is not minding
Fright Night holds up on each subsequent viewing for me. 😎
I haven’t seen Charade, but I have it saved on Amazon to watch eventually.
Nor have I seen Django, but I’ve watched a lot of spaghetti westerns lately (westerns were my genre choice for the 2020 challenge) and went through the first 4 Sartana films.
Those were....interesting.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Predestination (2014)

Can someone show this film to Nolan so he can see how a good time travel film should be made?

I don't really know what to say. This movie had me glued the whole time. It is complex, its twists and turns are extremely well prepared and come always by surprise but it never sounds presumptuos, and that's a huge advantage to almost all films of the type.
The perfomances are fine, though they are not what makes the film, the dialogue is kept simple and straight forward, the soundtrack is neutral in the sense that it doesn't distract from what's happening, and there are not a lot of special effects. The focus is directed only to the unravelling of the key concept as everything gets more and more complex and interesting.

The only part I am still struggling to undersand is why would John still have sex with Jane knowing all the pain that that will cause. He knew from the moment he saw her he was the bad guy, he could have just walked away. But that's a small leap of faith to give compared with the dimension of it all. Apart from that the film is very tight and I couldn't find any plothole which is a big accomplishment in itself.

I don't have a clue who picked this, but well done! Probably the best time travel film I've ever seen.




Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Predestination (2014)

Can someone show this film to Nolan so he can see how a good time travel film should be made?

I don't really know what to say. This movie had me glued the whole time. It is complex, its twists and turns are extremely well prepared and come always by surprise but it never sounds presumptuos, and that's a huge advantage to almost all films of the type.
The perfomances are fine, though they are not what makes the film, the dialogue is kept simple and straight forward, the soundtrack is neutral in the sense that it doesn't distract from what's happening, and there are not a lot of special effects. The focus is directed only to the unravelling of the key concept as everything gets more and more complex and interesting.

The only part I am still struggling to undersand is why would John still have sex with Jane knowing all the pain that that will cause. He knew from the moment he saw her he was the bad guy, he could have just walked away. But that's a small leap of faith to give compared with the dimension of it all. Apart from that the film is very tight and I couldn't find any plothole which is a big accomplishment in itself.

I don't have a clue who picked this, but well done! Probably the best time travel film I've ever seen.

I had a strong feeling this was going to be a film for you when I picked it. Glad to hear it was. The first time I saw it I had to rewatch it the next day and see the full puzzle from a distance and grew even more impressed by it.

Can't answer your question about the sex between John and Jane, sadly, since it's been a couple of years though I do remember the perception of "everyone" being caught in an inescapable spiraling loop.
__________________
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
When I finally got around to watching Charade a year or so ago it was due to someone posting the Funeral scene. It sealed the deal and gave me the exact expectation of what kind of film this was going be.
Quite enjoyed it.

Django is a spaghetti film I've wanted to see even more so after seeing one other of Corbucci films in the last few years. Same with Franco Nero beyond his recent cameos I've only seen him as Lancelot in the musical Camelot. So I'd like to rectify that by seeing this film at some point.

While @cricket was 14, I was 21 when Fright Night came out and it's been a couple decades since I've watched it. I do remember enjoying it for the most part, especially Roddy McDowall's character.



The trick is not minding
During the 2020 challenge, I was looking at Australia before deciding on South Korea as my country for its respective category and Predestination would have been one of the films I’d had watched if I had gone with it.
I’ve been curious about it for some time now



Some quick thoughts on the last movies:

Charade
, it's not noir, not even close. It's a romantic-comedy-caper film, thus its tone is non-serious. Audrey Hepburn is a dear in all of her films.. and was there ever anyone cooler than Cary Grant? I've only seen Charade once and that was 15 years ago. I didn't like it then, but I was expecting a Hitch type film, which it ain't.

Predestination
, one of the best sci fi films made! A really intelligent story and an interesting one too.

Django
, Haven't seen it and I don't like Spaghetti Westerns, they remind me of a hokey Tarantino movie.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



The Apartment

C.C. Baxter: The mirror... it's broken.
Fran Kubelik: Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.

First-wise; THANK YOU to whomever caught the hint in the first Personal Recommendation about hoping someone would pick this film for me.
I have been a fan of Jack Lemon since I was a wee pup of around 6 or so when I became enamored with The Great Race. And I'm not sure, but it was scarcely a couple years after that I saw my very first Billy Wilder film, Some Like it Hot BECAUSE Jack Lemon, along with Tony Curtis were in it. Or perhaps it was Stalag 17, both of which were pretty close to when I first saw them.
Regardless, as this pup became the old wolf that I am, I've enjoyed, not only Wilder as a Director but even more so as a Writer. Even more so after joining this forum and having the opportunity to visit some of his truly best that I had wanted to and never seemed to. So I was downright f@ckin tickled to add two more in this HoF. The first being Ace in the Hole and now, this.

CC Baxter is an aspiring numbers cruncher at a very large Insurance firm who works late. Not out of dedication to his work. It's because several executives from the upper floors use his apartment to cheat on their wives.
Now, what could be, with such a premise, a simple madcap comedy, Wilder is a genius at finding comedy within some rather tragic circumstances, and is brilliant at mixing them together, time and time again. While the comedy is in a larger dose here, it's target is something far more in depth. With Baxter falling in love with Shirley McLain's Fran Kubelik. The Elevator Operator with amazing wisdom and horrible luck when it comes choosing men.
Again, what would be a By The Numbers story of New York boy meets a New York girl, Wilder delves deeper into the flaws of his characters while still retaining the clever wit that is the lifeblood of a Billy Wilder film.


This film has been awarded the F@ckin YAY! Seal Of Approval.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
During the 2020 challenge, I was looking at Australia before deciding on South Korea as my country for its respective category and Predestination would have been one of the films I’d had watched if I had gone with it.
I’ve been curious about it for some time now
::quickly scribbles a Note to Self for the next Personal Rec HoF and what to nominate for Wylde::
Some quick thoughts on the last movies:

Charade
, it's not noir, not even close. It's a romantic-comedy-caper film, thus its tone is non-serious. Audrey Hepburn is a dear in all of her films.. and was there ever anyone cooler than Cary Grant? I've only seen Charade once and that was 15 years ago. I didn't like it then, but I was expecting a Hitch type film, which it ain't.
And that made all the difference in my mindset when I watched this and thereby, my overall enjoyment of it.
Predestination, one of the best sci fi films made! A really intelligent story and an interesting one too.
Amen brother! Amen!




The Apartment
I've enjoyed, not only Wilder as a Director but even more so as a Writer. Even more so after joining this forum and having the opportunity to visit some of his truly best that I had wanted to and never seemed to.
I'd say Billy Wilder is one of my top 10 directors AND writers. I haven't seen all of his filmography yet but what I've seen I've loved or at least liked pretty well. The Apartment was one of the films I first watched when I got into 'old' films I thought it was great...I'm past due for another watch.