The 12th Hall of Fame

Noir Time

02-21-17

Impressive post Thursday!...You've been gone for a long time and yet still managed to read the entire thread and write your thoughts about the movies. That's why you're a good Hof member! And I do hope to see you in the 13th Hof and in the Twin Musical Hofs too. You've been missed as a member in these Hofs, glad to see you back

...Now a few comments on what you wrote

Withnail & I...I didn't like the movie,...I don't think the producers/director were trying to deliberately make a negative stereo type out of the gay uncle. As all the characters were written as over the top self absorbed, indulgent types, with unlikable personalities. It was like Absolutely Fabulous on Quaaludes and cheap booze!

Casablanca...The singing of the French anthem louder than the Nazis singing the Nazi anthem might seem cheesy today, but it was very important for a world where France and other countries were occupied by Fascist. At that time the outcome of WWII was not clear so the message of hope would have resonated with the audience. Today that scene does seem a bit forced, but I still liked it.

Never Let Me Go...not about clones, it's about humanity. We can fall in love, we can produce art, we can do everything we're supposed to do, but none of it will prolong our lives in the end. Life is shorter than you think. There are things others have that you will never have. It's depressing, but in a beautifully filmed, reflective sort of way.

I like what you wrote. That's exactly how I viewed it. The sci fi clone stuff held no importance to me.

Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

02-21-17

Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
Imdb

Date Watched: 02/21/17
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 12th HOF, Pussy Galore's nomination
Rewatch: No

There are a lot of things to praise about Hiroshima Mon Amour. The performances and writing are solid. It's a really beautiful film. The cinematography is gorgeous and many of the images, particularly of Hiroshima's survivors, are quite haunting. I really respect the artistry that went into its creation.

The trouble is, even with all its strengths, I didn't enjoy it at all and I really struggled to finish it. The problem is that I simply did not care about either of its central characters. I found her emotional instability annoying and his bizarre fascination with her equally so. I was not at all engaged in the story of her German lover in Nevers and her time in the cellar. And, while I found the sound of the main actress's voice soothing, the excruciating pace and endless and repetitive talking made it hard for me to maintain my focus and I was quite bored throughout.

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Citizen Rules

Noir Time

02-21-17

Sounds like me and you and Vamp had the same reaction to Hiroshima Mon Amour. Though it has it's fans too.

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

02-21-17

some serious power hitting of reviews by both Thursday and Silent!! VERY IMPRESSIVE
thoroughly enjoyed all of them and both your thoughts on all of them

Kinda makes me feel a bit guilty for limping along as I've been lol

And with Miss Vicky's, who's reviews I always enjoy, it definitely seems to be a strong pattern with this movie. It's one of the ones I still need to watch and I'm curious to see if I follow suit or discover something more. We shall see. . .

EDIT: ya beat me to the punch, CR lol
along with you I seem to remember one or two others mentioning similar reactions

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Citizen Rules

Noir Time

02-21-17

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

I went with that photo of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Sam Dooley Wilson) as to me, it encapsulates the movie's emotions. This is a film about bitterness and what it can do to a man. Rick is jaded, he's turned his back on humanity...as he puts it, "I stick my neck out for nobody!" And he means it. People come to this nowhere place in the North African desert, seeking escape from the Nazis...but Rick and the movers and shakers of Casablanca don't care who lives or dies, to them it's all about profit.

But we know Rick wasn't always this way. He had previously risked his neck to help supply guns to Ethiopia and to keep if from slipping into the hands of Fascist. And he did the same thing in Spain, fighting on the Loyalist side. But the loss of a woman's love who jilted him in Paris, turned a teary eyed man, bitter cold.

That's why I love this movie so much it deals with deep emotions, and it deals with redemption. Rick needs redemption and that's why his old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman)shows up at his gin joint.

Casablanca is not only a classic, it's a fine movie, that does world building, multi story layering and complex characters extremely well. I'm glad it was nominated...after all this is a Hall of Fame and certainly Casablanca is a worthy candidate for induction.

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edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

02-21-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Casablanca is not only a classic, it's a fine movie, that does world building, multi story layering and complex characters extremely well. I'm glad it was nominated...after all this is a Hall of Fame and certainly Casablanca is a worthy candidate for induction.

I could not agree more!!

So many times with so many subplots and secondary characters things easily get muddled up but here it is does with such skillful ease it truly is a pleasure to behold.

BRAVO CR

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

02-22-17

Thanks Ed, I could have wrote a ton more! I didn't even mention how great all the actors were! Or how memorable the dialogue was. Who can forget.... 'play it again, Sam'

neiba

The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible

02-22-17

Originally Posted by Thursday Next

Withnail & I

This is an old favourite of mine. I remember being disappointed that it didn't make the 80s list but it apparently isn't either as well known or well-liked as I'd always thought. Perhaps there's a certain amount of British humour that doesn't always translate well. I also think it's a film that improves on repeated viewings, it's the cult quotability (and potential for drinking along) that make it a favourite of some people. The main characters are awful people, of course they are, but that's all part of the charm as it is for many sitcoms - I think of the similarity with the guys in Peep Show, more sober but no less idiotic. I just wanted to address Miss Vicky's dislike of the character of Uncle Monty - I've seen that said before (iirc adidasss had the same problem with the film), and while I respect your view, I don't agree that there shouldn't ever be gay characters who are unpleasant/villainous/predatory. It's the lecherousness not the homosexuality that's the repulsive thing. Or that's how I saw it anyway. Anyway, I find this film amusing. That's the thing about comedies, though, you either find them funny or you don't.

Pussy Galore

I'm one happy bird !

02-23-17

Originally Posted by SilentVamp

Hiroshima Mon Amour

I've known about this film and heard good things about it for years. This was the opportunity to finally see it.

I didn�t like it.

For one thing, while I understand why a filmmaker would want to show the effects of what happened in Hiroshima, I don�t think it was necessary to show that much of it. I don�t want to come across cold-hearted, but I don�t want to see that kind of stuff. And seeing just a little bit of it goes a long way. It didn�t have to go on and on. I feel like this with anything where there is footage of something so terrible that happened to people (i.e. concentration camps). I�ve seen footage. I know what it looks like. I never have to see it again, nor do I want to. And it isn�t because I am trying to �ignore� what happened. It is because I know very well what did, I know what the aftermath looks like, and it is stored into my brain. I just don�t care to see it ever again. It isn�t a pleasant thing to see and I don�t want to see it again. And especially not that much of it.

The beginning dragged on until they got to the characters and I was happy that they finally did. And then I wasn�t. I had NO interest in either one. I just found her to be crazy and I found him to be weird for being so into this crazy woman that he just wouldn�t leave alone. The semi-stalking was ridiculous. She wasn�t that intriguing to keep following her. And then when she went on and on about the German soldier, it felt a little like torture. I kind of wanted to scream at the TV �Just SHUT UP!!!�.

I will give them credit and say that the actors were good. It was just the film itself. No, maybe I shouldn�t say the film itself. It was the story, which plays a big part in whether a movie itself is good or not, but I did like the look of the film. So I won�t say that the entire film wasn�t for me.

I just thought it was a boring movie. I appreciate the fact that it is a film that others will love. I respect that. Everyone likes what they like and they have their reasons for liking them. Just the same, though, everyone dislikes what they dislike and they have their reasons for it. Unfortunately, this was one that I disliked.

I feel like I should answer since it's my nom, I know that taste differs from people to people, but I'll still try modestly to defend one of my favorite films.

The images of brutality, Resnais was known for making the great documentary Night and Fog which was a 30 minutes about the brutality of war un 1955, it was a very important film because he was the first (or at least one of the first) to show it in a time where it was still taboo. In Hiroshima mon Amour I think he wanted to incorporate the horror with people who live around it, by showing the horror the spectator is in a place where we get the state of mind of the 2 protagonists, they lived that, that's why the japanese guy says to her that she doesn't know anything about Hiroshima.

Also, I find that it blended together beautifully with the story that is about memory, nostalgia, how the past affects the present and there is clearly a parallel between how what happened at Nevers in the youth of Emmanuel Rivas affected her personally and how Hiroshima affected the entire japanese nation, how in different ways the past makes the present, either if it's on a more personnal level (Nevers) or sociological level (Hiroshima).

Also, I find the editing, the music, the way the film is being put together so beautiful, it's dream like (I agree with Tuesday about that) and I found the story to be intelligent and well put together, as you say to each his own.

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Pussy Galore

I'm one happy bird !

02-23-17

I have rented from the library: Joe and Mignight Run

I own Y tu mama Tambien and The Grand Budapest Hotel, I'll give them a rewatch.

As for U-Turn and Romper Stomper someone sent me links a couple weeks ago.

I'll watch them all this week, I am on a well deserved school break :P

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

02-24-17

Sugata Sanshiro

I had always wondered what a condensed Kurosawa movie would be like, and pleasantly, now I know.

For me, along with the mastery of a shot and the depth of characters' psyche, Akira Kurosawa had this way of elongating a shot's time. An excellent example is the opening of Throne of Blood where the entrance of them riding through fog appears to gon almost endlessly.
Making me wonder, at times, what if he just got to it. My answer is here in Sugata Sanshiro.
The budding director still delves within his characters and pauses to soak in the beauty within the shot but he does not dwell forever and a day bringing forth a solid movie.
It's inner conflict may not resonate as, say, Stray Dogs, but the potential and the testing of the water is undeniably there.

Having gone back and re-read all the reviews of this I saw that someone had mentioned that Nope believed this to be an underrated film and I can definitely see how that could be.

Regardless, this was quite enjoyable and engaging. Thanks Nope!

Camo

Msg

BANNED

02-24-17

Counted everyone's reviews in Cricket's first post at least. This isn't counting your own nom (unless you've written it up then it is) or any you've decide not to rewach, also may have missed a few so correct me if i'm wrong:

Camo - Finished
Cosmic - Finished
JJ - 11/14
Ed - 11/14 (includes Sanshiro Sugata which he just posted)
Citizen - (has seen them all but hasn't sent his list yet unless Cricket hasn't updated it)
Miss Vicky - 13/14
Nope - 3/14
PussyGalore - 5/14 (Counted his response to me about his own nom which isn't in the review index)
Clazor - 9/14
SilentVamp - 6/14
Topsy - 9/14
Neiba - 6/14
RoyaleWitCheese - 7/14
Cricket - 12/14

SilentVamp

Msg

Save the Texas Prairie Chicken

02-24-17

Originally Posted by Camo

SilentVamp - 6/14

I thought I wrote more than that. I guess I wasn't counting.

I will get the rest posted next week. I also plan on watching Joe then. So I will just post the rest of the lot at the same time, I suppose, as when I review that one.

Although that would be 8 reviews at one time. Maybe I will divide them up somehow so I don't flood this thread with all of those at once.

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Camo

Msg

BANNED

02-24-17

Originally Posted by SilentVamp

I thought I wrote more than that. I guess I wasn't counting.

You might have written more. there's only 6 in this post though so if any are missing tell Cricket and he'll add them - http://www.movieforums.com/community...30#post1621630

I like all of your reviews at once personally, it's like a big avalanche of your personality since they are all at once and you usually deliver a few personal touches. Really refreshing.

Miss Vicky