Phoenix and Okay are competing over who writes the longest reviews.
The 29th Hall of Fame
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If anyone else is interested in the Dardennes filmography, and you have Tubi, The Child and Lorna’s Silence are both available there.
I plan to watch both along with The Promise to compare.
Eventually I’ll get to their other films.
I plan to watch both along with The Promise to compare.
Eventually I’ll get to their other films.
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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."
"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."
- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke
Last edited by Okay; 07-27-22 at 10:04 PM.
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I know one you and your wife would enjoy of Mads..its called After The Wedding. Watch the Danish not the American remake.
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@Okay , I think your feelings of the other ATJ may have influenced you or maybe it's just not your type of comedy.
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I wish I could write like that. But honestly I'm pretty crappy at writing
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That's some writeup, Okay! I didn't know that about Lakme and I like the idea that Kaufman is criticizing how ordinary and interchangable the typical movie is these days.
So that this thread doesn't exceed the Hall of Fame word count, I'll write the rest of my reviews with just emojis.
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I think there have been some great discussions and reviews by everyone in this Hall of Fame. Loved your review @Okay
Voting for films on this one will be particularly tough.
Voting for films on this one will be particularly tough.
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Remember - everything has an ending except hope, and sausages - they have two.
We miss you Takoma
We miss you Takoma
Latest Review : There Will Be Blood (2007)
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I still have a lot of catching up to do in this thread, since I'd like to add my two cents into some of the discussions I missed. I'll leave that until tomorrow I guess.
Last edited by Okay; 07-29-22 at 09:58 AM.
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...Voting for films on this one will be particularly tough.
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I found the main character to be fairly uninteresting and not that likeable. I would have preferred if he was a minor character and if the movie focused on the girl instead. She was a much more interesting and more likeable character.
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Adam's Apples (Anders Thomas Jensen, 2005)
I think it's trying to do the terrible characters get redeemed by the end thing but I don't really think that happens and the characters aren't really developed enough for that anyway. Like, am I supposed to be happy for the guy who ten minutes before the end of the film was trying to rape someone? and this certainly didn't do enough to make empathize with a nazi. I think the film is maybe a bit morally dubious but its also just kind of boring and why on earth does the score have bits that sound like Danny Elfman??
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A Moment of Innocence
I can't get over my feeling that the two most interesting aspects of the story were practically ignored. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but the real act of violence committed by one party onto another doesn't seem to be given any type of resolution. It's as if the ex-cop simply accepts it as something that just happened. He's more concerned with the girl he loved, which strangely I was also more concerned with.
I can't get over my feeling that the two most interesting aspects of the story were practically ignored. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but the real act of violence committed by one party onto another doesn't seem to be given any type of resolution. It's as if the ex-cop simply accepts it as something that just happened. He's more concerned with the girl he loved, which strangely I was also more concerned with.
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I love the fact that the policeman and Makhmalbaf never interact throughout the film, and rather speak and resolve their issues through the film and the art. I imagine their love for cinema was what facilitated their reconciliation in the first place. I talked about this more in my review.
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And in A Moment of Innocence, there were a lot of times when I wondered if characters were acting or were not.
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Except the final shot was between people who had nothing to do with the real incident. Unless of course it's just meant as representation.
It simultaneously wraps up the character arcs for both the younger actors, and the older participants.
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The ending works on multiple levels, the most basic one being that the two younger actors reject violence, both refusing to use their weapons despite being instructed to do so. Then you add the fact that they're recreating a scene from the director's past, who has obviously written this movie in of itself, and decided to end it with an altered conclusion to the incident in question, that to me is a confession of his true feelings towards that whole situation.
It simultaneously wraps up the character arcs for both the younger actors, and the older participants.
It simultaneously wraps up the character arcs for both the younger actors, and the older participants.
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Vengeance is Mine
It starts with the main antagonist in police custody. As they drive him towards his destination, they remark on his killing spree, and he meets their questioning with barely any interest, instead muttering about how cold the prison will be.
That disinterest is unfortunately reflected in the film, as we barely get to know the killer. The structure doesn’t help much either. The films starts with his capture, back tracks to two of his murders, then hops back to his life as a child on through adolescence. We suddenly see him jailed for fraud, with no set up. We see his marriage crumble, with an odd side story involving his wife and his father who have a mutual attraction to each other.
Yet the movie never quite takes off, for me, as the entire time we’re still kept at arms length in understanding the killer. Maybe the aloofness was intentional? I consider it likely, but the film suffers somewhat for it.
The last scene were also a head scratcher. What is It trying to say here? I found myself at a loss for explanations, but perhaps that just further magnified the issues I had.
It’s not all bad. There some really good acting, the sound was decent, and the beginning scene was actually shot well. But the rest of the film doesn’t quite live up to its reputation.
It’s a near miss for me, but I’m still intrigued by the Director's other films.
It starts with the main antagonist in police custody. As they drive him towards his destination, they remark on his killing spree, and he meets their questioning with barely any interest, instead muttering about how cold the prison will be.
That disinterest is unfortunately reflected in the film, as we barely get to know the killer. The structure doesn’t help much either. The films starts with his capture, back tracks to two of his murders, then hops back to his life as a child on through adolescence. We suddenly see him jailed for fraud, with no set up. We see his marriage crumble, with an odd side story involving his wife and his father who have a mutual attraction to each other.
Yet the movie never quite takes off, for me, as the entire time we’re still kept at arms length in understanding the killer. Maybe the aloofness was intentional? I consider it likely, but the film suffers somewhat for it.
The last scene were also a head scratcher. What is It trying to say here? I found myself at a loss for explanations, but perhaps that just further magnified the issues I had.
It’s not all bad. There some really good acting, the sound was decent, and the beginning scene was actually shot well. But the rest of the film doesn’t quite live up to its reputation.
It’s a near miss for me, but I’m still intrigued by the Director's other films.
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I’ve been Rethinking Vengeance is Mine over and over and trying to get a firm grip on it. I think the aloofness portrayed by the killer throughout the film is intentional, obviously, as is the films aloofness itself.
It’s not meant to give us “answers”, and we’re not meant to understand the killers motivation. Greed paid a part of it, obviously.
Maybe I was a little too harsh in my assessment of it.
And the ending…it vexes me.
It’s a movie I definitely need to watch a second time.
It’s not meant to give us “answers”, and we’re not meant to understand the killers motivation. Greed paid a part of it, obviously.
Maybe I was a little too harsh in my assessment of it.
And the ending…it vexes me.
It’s a movie I definitely need to watch a second time.
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