The 29th Hall of Fame

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Click here to see where you can Anomalisa in the U.S.
It's stop motion animated, but I'll just say that you shouldn't watch it with children.

Yeah, if you do, they'll all want that damn toy as a gift, and then you'll have to go track it down, yaddy, yaddy, yaddy.



I forgot the opening line.
Just a note from your friendly neighbourhood host about :

That Darn Cat! - Adams æbler and MovieGal's Nomination

I'm a cat lover, and I once downrated one of Roman Polanski's short films to 1/10 for needlessly including scenes where a cat is tortured. Also, I find a scene from Bad Boy Bubby that incudes harm to a cat unendurable. So I don't wave cat abuse in film away willy nilly. When I heard that there was a cat murder in Adams æbler I was a little concerned about this thread descending into chaos, so I watched the scene and it's absurdist comedy. I don't know how many of you have seen The Grand Budapest Hotel, but a cat bites the bullet in that film and it's just so silly that it's no bother. It's Pythonesque.

I've deemed the scene as not really being genuinely offensive for that reason. I thought the scene was absolutely hilarious actually, which aided me in my decision to give it the okay. The cat in the scene doesn't suffer - it would be silly to get upset over something that's akin to the dog scenes in A Fish Called Wanda. So I declare an A Fish Called Wanda Precedent.
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I've seen Adam's Apples, but it's been so long ago, I don't remember the cat. I also don't care about simulated animal pain. I am sure if there was animal torture in it, since it's European (err... but not "Italian") and made after the year 2000, I'm pretty sure I would have assumed it was simulated. Thus I have taken a post to say, I have nothing to contribute for people who have issues seeing simulated animal pain and are trying to decide if this will be okay for them.



Just a note from your friendly neighbourhood host about :

That Darn Cat! - Adams æbler and MovieGal's Nomination

I'm a cat lover, and I once downrated one of Roman Polanski's short films to 1/10 for needlessly including scenes where a cat is tortured. Also, I find a scene from Bad Boy Bubby that incudes harm to a cat unendurable. So I don't wave cat abuse in film away willy nilly. When I heard that there was a cat murder in Adams æbler I was a little concerned about this thread descending into chaos, so I watched the scene and it's absurdist comedy. I don't know how many of you have seen The Grand Budapest Hotel, but a cat bites the bullet in that film and it's just so silly that it's no bother. It's Pythonesque.

I've deemed the scene as not really being genuinely offensive for that reason. I thought the scene was absolutely hilarious actually, which aided me in my decision to give it the okay. The cat in the scene doesn't suffer - it would be silly to get upset over something that's akin to the dog scenes in A Fish Called Wanda. So I declare an A Fish Called Wanda Precedent.
The reason I haven't nominated Bad Boy Bubby for a HoF.



Speaking of the movies you lot have chosen, I've seen:
Adams æbler (2005)
Stroszek (1977)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Anomalisa (2015)
and presumably Goldfinger (1964) (honestly, except for the fact in one of them blonde Christopher Walken and Grace Jones show up, they all blur together in my mind.)

Haven't seen, but own a digital copy of, Vengeance is Mine (1979).

And Das Boot and Tomboy are both rather well known in terms of hearing the title and knowing they exist. (The latter more-so because of Portrait of a Lady on Fire becoming so big).

The rest I don't think I've heard mentioned before.
Interesting bunch you lot chose. For the four different body snatcher movies, I grew up on the original, caught up with the remake about 10 years ago and was blown away. So the last minute of the Abel Ferrera one in high school, when I didn't know who Abel Ferrera was, and didn't pay it much mind, because remakes really didn't have a good reputation in general then. I did pick it up some odd years ago after actually seeing some Abel Ferrera movies (and hearing his version is good, but general consensus seems to think the first two are the best), but have been holding off on watching it so I can blind-watch it with friends (checks watch, in a little more than two years from now).
I've heard the fourth one with Kidman is terrible and have no interest in it.

I've yet to warm up fully to Stroszek, but I like it more than The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (aka, Every Man for Himself and God Against All).
Adam's Apples is fun and fine dark comedy. It didn't stick out in my mind compared all the other dark comedies I've seen in my life, but it's like noir, sure I'll watch a dark comedy. Though I don't think this one was that dark.



I forgot the opening line.
So now, on to my thoughts about the nominations :

The Year My Voice Broke - I've been on the lookout for something that's a really good movie that people haven't seen that's Australian, for every 3 or 4 Hall of Fames that's where I want to go. My cycle is thus Australian/Anything Goes (Probably a big film that's never been nominated before that deserves to be on the wall)/The best movie of any nationality I can find that I think people haven't seen/personal favourite. I think this movie is great, but I won't be offended if it's criticized harshly by anyone.

Das Boot - I love Das Boot - Somewhere I have the German mini-series version which runs 293 minutes and that's the only version I've never seen, so it might be time to give that one a viewing (over several nights, like a participant in this thread has already alluded to - because that would simply be akin to how it's meant to be watched.)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers - When Siddon PMed me his nomination I'd just bought this on DVD 2 days previously. I love those Hall of Fame coincidences (there's been a couple so far). Admittedly though, I do buy several thousand DVDs a year. I've never seen this 1956 version, so I'm very glad it was nominated - excited to see it.

Adams æbler - As I've mentioned a few times already, I already love this film after seeing just one scene. I can't wait to watch Adams æbler as it's my sense of humour down to a tee. I think I'm going to have trouble voting in this Hall, because I sense there are a few films I'm going to love.

Robot - It wouldn't be a Hall of Fame without a very left-field nomination from ueno_station54. They challenge me in a good way, and have got me interested in filmmakers I ordinarily wouldn't have come across yet. I have absolutely no idea how this is going to go down with me.

Stroszek - I was excited to see this nominated and I'm looking forward to seeing it. It was already on my watchlist.

Vengeance is Mine - If Criterion have released a film, chances are I'll love it. Another one that looks great.

A Moment of Innocence - Ever since watching Kiarostami's Close-up I've been wanting to see a film by Makhmalbaf. Now's the time. A revered film which just adds so much to this Hall of Fame.

Tomboy - Never heard of it, but I trust Allaby's sense of what makes a great film so I'm happy.

Goldfinger - Huzzah! I love the James Bond films, and it's about time I watched a Sean Connery one, for I haven't in a while. I'll probably review all of them eventually in a thread of my own. My first one will be right here. Goldfinger was one of the best, if not the best.

Anomalisa - If it's scripted by Charlie Kaufman then I'm on board.

The Promise - A very highly rated film. I'm gonna love this Hall of Fame.



I forgot the opening line.
Where do you physically store them?
The ones I deem important are shelved, and I have many shelves. A rough estimate on shelved is 7000. There's an intricate system - and obviously a place of honor for the Criterion collection. There are many others stacked, and I do have a separate room for storage which contains many more than those shelved.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Admittedly though, I do buy several thousand DVDs a year.

How do you keep track of your DVDs? Do you have an app or a database to catalog them? (I had a good free app a while back, but the guy changed it to a paid app for $15 per month, so I deleted it.)
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I forgot the opening line.
How do you keep track of your DVDs? Do you have an app or a database to catalog them? (I had a good free app a while back, but the guy changed it to a paid app for $15 per month, so I deleted it.)
I really should catalogue them, because I've completely lost track of what I have and don't have. It's the size of that job that keeps putting me off starting.

I wish I could afford to buy several thousand DVDs a year.
Like gbgoodies says, since the dawn of the streaming age, DVDs have become so cheap. Most of those I pick up are $1 - and there's one place I go to where I've picked up some wonderful editions of films for that price. I've even managed to grab Criterions for a couple of bucks. Every week brings in another 30, 40 or 50 DVDs.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I really should catalogue them, because I've completely lost track of what I have and don't have. It's the size of that job that keeps putting me off starting.

That's my problem too, and my system for putting them on a shelf is usually based on when I bought them, and where I can find a place for them. I'm sure I have a bunch of movies that I've bought twice, but no system to catalog them.

I've been buying a lot of boxes of DVDs at garage sales recently, so my most recent system has been to leave them in the boxes and take pictures of them so I can find them when I want to watch a specific movie or TV show.



Vengeance is Mine (1979) - I watched this 10 years ago...I'm not a huge fan of Shohei Imamura, I actually just watched Eijainaka on TCM. I'll try and spend more time with this one...but most of his films have the same flaws.

Adams æbler (2005) - Never saw it or heard of it...

Stroszek (1977) - Dissapointed the first time I watched it but mostly because of the hype won't mind giving it a second shot.

A Moment of Innocence (1996) - never heard of it...

Das Boot (1981) - Director's Cut - This was recommended to me in another Hall and it finished 10th so I'm going to pick a different cut.

Tomboy (2011) - didn't see it...haven't dived into this filmmakers work before by optimistic

Goldfinger (1964) - good nom...solid Bond pick I think it's in my top ten for the series but I still enjoyed it.

Robot(2010) - This looks like it's going to be a slough

Anomalisa (2015) - this is a classic and the likely winner

La Promise (1996) - Another film I'm going to have to sit down and really watch again...first time left no impression on me.

The Year My Voice Broke - never heard of it or the filmmaker



movies can be okay...
Seen 4 before, including my own nomination.

Vengeance is Mine - Almost watched this a couple of times before, and I've had an eye out on this director for quite a while too but I've yet to actually dip my toe into his catalogue. I'm very happy it's nominated though so I can finally get to that. Other films of his that I'm curious about are Black Rain and The Ballad of Narayama.

Adams æbler - I've previously seen Flickering Lights, which is from the same director, and I could not stand it, so much so that I stopped watching halfway through. Mind you, I rarely quit a movie once I actually start it, and if I do it must've been genuinely painful to sit through, and not in a good way. I also know about his most recent film, Riders of Justice, and I actually had an opportunity to see it, saw the name of the director and immediately decided not to. Adams æbler should be this director's second chance, and who knows, if I like it enough I might just not be so closed off to his filmography anymore. He better not screw this up.

Stroszek - Another one I've almost seen before, except this time it's from a director I'm familiar with and quite like. Happy to finally scratch it off my watchlist.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers - A classic I've yet to check out.

A Moment of Innocence - Seen this before, liked it, don't mind watching it again. In fact, I'm kinda curious if I'll like it more, I just need to find a better copy this time.

Das Boot - Another classic I've yet to check out (this is considered a classic...right?). I still need to figure out if it's better to watch the director's cut or the miniseries version. I know enough to not check out the theatrical cut, but it seems there's a split in opinions when it comes to which of the other two versions is better.

Tomboy - The only movie out of this HoF that I'm kinda not excited about, only because I've already seen it before, didn't think much of it, and don't think my opinion is gonna change after another viewing. It kinda suffers from first feature issues, and that's even more apparent when you set it side by side with Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the comparison in quality is literally night and day.

Goldfinger - Never seen a Bond movie from this era, so this could be fun. Actually kinda excited to finally check out how Connery plays this.

Enthiran - The only movie thus far I've never heard of. I actually grew up passively watching Bollywood films as my older sister always had them on our TV, this doesn't look like a musical though...anyways, I expect this to be either a fun watch or an absolute cringe-fest. Maybe and hopefully both.

Anomalisa - One of my favourite movies of all time. An easy 10/10 for me, and I would be totally shocked if it's not at the top of my list by the end of this. Always happy and ready to watch and talk about this again.

La Promesse - Clearly, I'm a fan of the Dardennes, I think their filmography is pretty strong overall despite their more recent hiccups. Their older age must be starting to affect them or something, or maybe it was just me overrating them as directors thinking that they can properly tackle such a subject of Islamic radicalism (Young Ahmed), they were way over their heads with that one and it just ending up coming off as ignorant and slightly offensive. Anyways lol, their older films remain unaffected, some of my favourites are Two Days, One Night and Rosetta. I honestly only nominated this film of theirs specifically only because I was already planning on re-watching it in the days to come, but I still think it's a pretty good pick anyways so it works out.

The Year My Voice Broke - Never heard of this.
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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."
- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke



movies can be okay...
Not even heard of these, are they more obscure titles or am I just living under a rock!

Vengeance is Mine (1979)

Adams æbler (2005)

Stroszek (1977)

A Moment of Innocence (1996)

Tomboy (2011)

Robot (Enthiran) - (2010)

Anomalisa (2015)

The Promise (La promesse) - (1996)

The Year My Voice Broke (1987)
Since you only gave us two options, then you must be living under a rock haha, because these are definitely not obscure titles (maybe The Year My Voice Broke, but that's about it). It's okay though, nothing to be ashamed of, there's just too many movies in this world, which is a great thing the more the better.



movies can be okay...
By the way, I'll take links if people have them. Or let me know if they are on prime, Netflix, or criterion.
I'm pretty sure La Promesse is on criterion.