The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame II

Noir Time

11-05-20

Brighton Rock (1948)

I wasn't planning on watching these movies so fast, but I wanted to watch something the other night and I had this ready to go. Anyway thanks to whoever picked this. They must have known I liked noir, so it was a good choice...And I had planned on watching it someday anyway. With that said, I didn't care for it. I didn't hate it, it was as my wife described the movie: 'stilted'. To me it just felt staged and unbelievable, especially the 17 year old Pinkie played by a very young Richard Attenbourgh. I just didn't buy his hold over the older gangsters, nor did I buy the instant love the waitress felt for him.

I did enjoy watching the real location at Brighton Rock captured in 1948. For me those real life scenes were the best part.

I'm not Catholic and I'm not religious but didn't the ending show the waitress girl refusing Absolution so that she could spend eternity in Purgatory with Pinkie? And I read that was a happy ending? Did I miss something? Can anyone explain how that works?

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

11-05-20

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Peter Pan (1953)

Other than Tinker Bell I didn't care about any of the characters in Peter Pan and I had expected this to be my favorite classic Disney animated film. Not that I've seen many of them. It wasn't until after I joined MoFo that I watched my very first, Fantasia. Unlike Bambi where I actually cared about the animals and their forest home...with Peter Pan I could care less about Wendy or her brothers...one of who must've been the inspiration for the Harry Potter series of novels.

At a scant 1 hour 17 minutes, there wasn't enough time to include any needed back story as to who Wendy was and why she needed to believe so readily in a fairy tale, aka Peter Pan. I wonder what the original British stage play of 1903 was like? It must have been written for adults as stage plays for children in 1903 were unheard of. There's still a bit of adult musings in this G rated Disney film, mostly apparent in the antics of Tinker Bell. Tinker is a tiny hottie, who's concerned that her hips are too big and is jealous of Wendy to the point of trying to annihilate her. Tinker is quite impish and that was refreshing for what otherwise is a kids movie. I got a kick out of the many different means she took to keep Wendy apart from her crush, Peter.

Well that's four classic Disney animated films I've seen. So far I haven't loved any of them. I'm not a big fan of animated films, though they are a few animated films I've rated 5/5 Spirited Away being my favorite

I thought you liked Great Mouse Detective

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

11-05-20

Originally Posted by rauldc14

I thought you liked Great Mouse Detective

It was OK, it had it's moments. So far all the recent animated films I've seen are like a 3/5 for me.

HashtagBrownies

Bach

11-06-20

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

And I read that was a happy ending? Did I miss something? Can anyone explain how that works?

Where did you read that? I always considered it a sad ending.

Funnily enough the ending was changed to that due to censorship. i guess the producers considered this happy? Even though it's arguably even more tragic than the original ending.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

11-06-20

Originally Posted by HashtagBrownies

I read it at IMDB
SPOILERS

This movie was meant to end with Rose listening to the poisonous recording made by Pinkie, which contained the line, "You asked me to make a record of me voice; well, here it is. What you want me to say is 'I love you'. Here's the truth: I hate you, you little slut . . . " However, Writer Graham Greene felt the ending would be vetoed by the British Board of Film Censors, so he wrote a happy ending. In this version, the movie ends with the record needle getting stuck and repeating the phrase "I love you . . . " The camera then tilts up to a crucifix, suggesting Rose's salvation. Greene has been quoted as noting, "Anybody who had any sense would know that next time Rose would probably push the needle over the scratch and get the full message."

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

11-06-20

Well that's four classic Disney animated films I've seen. So far I haven't loved any of them. I'm not a big fan of animated films, though they are a few animated films I've rated 5/5 Spirited Away being my favorite.

Originally Posted by rauldc14

I thought you liked Great Mouse Detective

The four classics I referred to watching was: Snow White, Fantasia, Bambi, Peter Pan.

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

11-06-20

Ah. Thought u meant animated classics

cricket

Msg

Registered User

11-06-20

I can't remember Brighton Rock because I watched so much noir for the 40's and 50's countdowns. A lot of them blend together in my memory. I'm sure I liked it, especially since someone thought it was good enough to include here.

The Iron Giant made my Animation ballot-good pick there.

I've seen The Maltese Falcon 3 or 4 times. It's good, but I liked it more when I was younger.

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

11-06-20

Whenever we get to the Noir Countdown, I plan on viewing Brighton Rock among eventually.
Wasn�t there a remake of it a few years ago?

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

11-06-20

Originally Posted by Wyldesyde19

Whenever we get to the Noir Countdown, I plan on viewing Brighton Rock among eventually.
Wasn�t there a remake of it a few years ago?

There was a remake of it. Haven't seen it but it's rated fairly low on IMDB. Still it might be better than the original, at least according to my noir-ish taste

Thursday Next

I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

11-07-20

Brighton Rock was my pick for you Citizen, I'm sorry you didn't like it more, I was so sure that would be your kind of film! I don't think it's stilted at all, but it seems to be a common complaint about British films from the 40s (I seem to remember some people said the same about Brief Encounter in one of the previous halls of fame). I guess it's the accents!

There is a 2010 version with some good actors in it but it is a bit of a dud.

I'd recommend the book instead. Graham Greene also wrote the screenplay for The Third Man and there have been a few other good films based on his books like The End of the Affair and The Quiet American. He was also a film critic in the 30s.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

11-07-20

Originally Posted by Thursday Next

Brighton Rock was a good guess for me. I even thought it might be a favorite of mine. Sorry I didn't like it more, but I'm glad to have seen it.

I haven't liked the last few 40s British films I've seen, including A Matter of Life and Death (1946) which also was chose for me. And in the 1st PR someone chose The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and I didn't like that either. But I have loved British films too. I didn't like Brief Encounter when you nominated it, but in retrospect I think I was too harsh on the film, I would like to see that one again.

For me British (or Scottish or Irish or Australian) strong accents, makes it really hard for me to understand what's being said. In the opening scene of Brighton Rock I only caught about half the dialogue and didn't know what was going on, which makes getting into the film hard for me. I wish I had subtitles but I didn't. So yeah the language barrier is a factor.

Thursday Next

I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

11-07-20

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

For me British (or Scottish or Irish or Australian) strong accents, makes it really hard for me to understand what's being said. In the opening scene of Brighton Rock I only caught about half the dialogue and didn't know what was going on, which makes getting into the film hard for me. I wish I had subtitles but I didn't. So yeah the language barrier is a factor.

I often watch English language films with subtitles because I don't always hear what is being said - it's a combination of sound levels in the film, actors mumbling, my hearing and the accents! For me, it's certain American accents that are the hardest to understand. Films like No Country For Old Men have me reaching for the subtitle button on the remote.

I think for the next hall of fame I will have to nominate you Trainspotting and see how you get on with the accents in that

Thursday Next

I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

11-07-20

Working Girl

Sorry to whoever picked this for me, but it just wasn�t my sort of film.

For a start it was all very dated. The farcical nature of the �pretending to be someone else� and �sneaking into places you weren�t invited� plot elements just made me cringe (and the gender politics made me cringe even more). Melanie Griffiths as the lead character was just so incredibly annoying it made it hard to root for her. I guess romantic movies are quite subjective, and if it that element works for you, it works, and everything else is moot. Unfortunately, it didn�t really work for me in this film.

Sigourney Weaver was good though, and Harrison Ford is always watchable, even though his character in this was not always all that likable. The scene where he changes his shirt in his office without realising everyone was watching him was funny. There�s also a cameo from Kevin Spacey as a sleazebag.

I also thought it was quite an ugly film to look at, some scenes from the ferry moving into the New York skyline aside.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

11-07-20

Originally Posted by Thursday Next

Yeah, there are American films where I can't get the dialogue well either, and like you said, because of mumbling or low sound mix. I watch most movies from a video file so they don't have subs, unless I add a .srt file to them...which I think I should start doing for British films.

Wyldesyde19