Best Picture Hall of Fame

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Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
120/169, 49 reviews left!
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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



12 Years a Slave

I was rather reluctant to see this. Not out of any dislike or disinterest for the genre or premise. I just knew it was going to be a brutal watch due to the subject matter. And with that, I had the only reservation about seeing this.
Now, having seen this, it was a pretty incredible film and I'll be repeating a lot of things already stated.
The actor playing Northrup was incredible and brought such gravitas and heart-breaking sorrow to his role that you had to be hardhearted NOT to care for him and his plight.
For a chunk of the film it bugged me that I KNEW the actor and couldn't place him then realized WHERE I knew him from:

The Operative from Serenity which I loved him in and was truly impressed with what he did in this movie.

Along with him, at the top of the bill was Fassbender who played the evil plantation owner on every level imaginable. It was equally deplorable and fascinating to behold.
And of course the lady who played Patsy and always a pleasure to see Giamatti appear in a film.

The set pieces and the natural scenes were truly gorgeous and yes, some of the set ups, like Thursday mentioned when Solomon is in the cell and cries out for help as the camera pans upward to the show Capitol Hill was an excellent statement in itself like so many others.

As for the passage of time, being a Southern state it would be rather hard to show the passing of time without the passing of the seasons, so I do see the difficulty of it and with regards to him looking older, I've known far too many black men who just don't age at all, well into their fifties, to see how, like the passage of time, this would be a hard thing to pull off besides the graying of the hair. Though, in the end when reuniting with his family you DO see all that he went through embedded into his face. Quite heartbreaking.

Can't answer about the win for this, I do truly love Her and haven't seen the others but I'll give it it's win.



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
Gladiator (2000)

To begin with; The music.

This was one of the first scores I ever bought, and since buying it I don't think it's ever been absent from any portable media device I've ever owned. It's my favourite score from one of my favourite movie composers. The frantic, almost overwhelming cacophony of "The Battle", coming so close on after the slow and soothing tones of "The Wheat". It's a frantic jump between extremes in a way that I love.

And then there's the movie itself. From a relatively simple story, Scott spins a 2 1/2 hour epic that goes by in the blink of an eye. I don't know how many times I've watched this (I never got to see it on the big screen, damn 15 rating) but it never gets any less entertaining or powerful. The fight scenes (while hihgly coregraphed) flows with a smoothness of motion that's rarely seen outside martial arts movies, while the opening set piece of the battle is a chaos of moveing men, machines and animals all bent on utter distruction.

Among the actors, I do believe my favourite to be Oliver Reed. It takes some real gravitas to speak the lines about the giraffes and still come off as threatening. Most of the cast is putting in a great performance, beginning with both Richard Harris and Derek Jacobi and ending with a highly entertaining performance from Joaquin Phoenix. His portrayal of Commodus is a big part of the movies appeal, and with a more reserved actor I don't think the movie would've been as good. I've been thinking on who could even do an aproximation of Commodus, and what comes up is Malcolm McDowell's performance as Caligula from 1979. Whlie still acting mad, I don't think McDowell had the same frenetic energy and intense precence that Phoenix has, so it would sill be a lesser role. No one can match Phoenix for intensity, eh Vicky?

Not to disparage our hero, this is one of my favourite performances from Russell Crowe. Mind you, I said favourite, not best. He is stoic in this, I'll grant that (except in the scene where he finds his wife and son, he goes all to ***** there), but he still has scenes throughout where he emotes more than showing a blank face. He laughs with the other gladiators, he's gentle with Lucilla and he's friendly with Lucien, so stoic at times, but not as to be the defining characteristic of the role.

A genuinely thrilling and entertaining epic that I'm still waiting to have re-released in the cinema so that I can acctually experience it on the big screen (come on, Universal, DO IT!!!).

As far as the Oscars is concerned, of the nominated movies, Gladiator is the clear winner for me, but there were movies during 2000 that weren't nominated that could've beaten it. Still, it earned it.



Mutiny On The Bounty




I thought this was pretty great. Very compelling story and executed very well. There are definitely moments that feel dated but the best films make you forget those moments and this one did for me.

The strength for me is Laughton. I absolutely love him, and every time I see him I love him a bit more. Gable is good as well, an imposing presence. This is Laughton's film for me though.

Not really much else to say. Hard to say where it will rank because this HOF is full of great films but I think it will be upper half for sure. If you watch this on DVD check out the extra about Pitcairn island. Pretty interesting and only 9 minutes.
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46 reviews left, with 23 of the reviews (half) from 2 people yet. Just 23 reviews for the other 11 people, with 5 of them already being finished!



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I sent in my list.

Of all of the Hall of Fames that I've joined, this was one of the hardest lists to rank, even after rewatching several of the movies. I think the reason that it was so hard is because there are several movies in this HoF that I respect more than I like, so it was difficult to figure out where to place them on my list.



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
On the Waterfront (1954)

A power-house performance from Brando and an all-out well cast movie.

Well acted and well told is what comes first to mind after the credits rolls. The stories simple, to the point and as with most such stories, well crafted and executed. Brando's the out and out star, but I have to give props to both Malden, playing the toughest priest I've ever seen, and Hamilton, the hard working father of both the murdered Joey and the sole female role in the movie, feels like, Edie. Both are mostly subdued, strong roles that explodes with fervor when pushed to far. The priest's speach after the death of Kayo was very well done, nicely balancing honest outrage and indignity without going over the top.

Johnny Friendly, there we can talk over the top. The actor allways seemed to go for broke, coming off as overly bolsterous and just too much. He's almost a caricature of a 30's mobster, I'm expecting to see Mugsy pop up behind him at every turn. Same with the other guys on his payroll, with the exception of Terry's brother Charley when the brother's are in the cab. Here we acctually get a genuine emotional moment as Charley tries to convince Terry not to rat the gang out. Very well done, even if it ends a bit unfortunately.

It's not a favourite, I probably won't see it again, but it's a good movie. Haven't seen any of the other best picture nominees, but I think it did well and probably beserved the fame it got.



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
Argo (2012)

Sometimes, truth indeed is stranger than fiction, as we experience with this movie (even if this truth is a bit fictionalized).

1979, Iran. The Shah has been overthrown, Ayatollah Khomeini now holds sway and outside the U.S. embassy a mob has formed. As they breach the gates, orders are given to destroy all classified materials. In the chaos, six embassy staff slips out a side door and seeks refuge in the home of the Canadian embassador. As time passes, the situation proves unattenable, and the CIA is brought in to cook up an extraction plan. Enter Tony Mendez, played by Ben Affleck.

What I like about this movie, the reason I picked it, really is three fold. First, I liked the plot, the story being told. I didn't really put any stock into how much was accurate and what they changed, though I do know they messed with the ending to make it more thrilling and fit the standard story progression and I think I've red somewhere that the Canadians had a much bigger part than just acting as safe haven. However much actually happened, it's a great story.

Second, the actors. The hostages for sure, even if they could be a bit flat. Don't get me wrong, they did great work, I felt for them and they sold their roles. They provided a natural reaction to what I imagine they went through, and that natural acting might be why they, for me, anticlimacticly, fell more in the shade than some of the other actors who were allowed to act...bigger (with the exception of the Bazaar scene, which was amazingly well done and where everyone of the hostages gets to shine for at least a few moments). And that leads me into the third reason I like this movie.

Third...just...everything going on state side. Specifically on the Hollywood side.

I love John Goodman's and Alan Arkin's characters and all the utter BS that goes into launching and upholding the facadé of making a movie. Everything that is actually thrilling and important to the story and the overall plot happens nearly exclusively in Iran, but all the best parts for me takes place there. I seem to be drawn to movies that can mix dark, dark stuff with a dose of comedy that creats contrast. It's why I like Forrest Gump, that's why I fell in love with Trumbo (Brian Cranston aside) and that is why I really enjoyed Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri and hoping it gets the Oscar this year.

Goodman and Arkin does a great job as two cynical people thrity years into a buisness that seems to live off utter and complete lies. When contacted about the operation they more or less shrug and say: "Fake movie? Eh, just another day in tinsel town." Add to that some genuinely funny lines, some frank talk about the buisness that they still put up with decpite (or because of) all this BS, and you have a duo that's more or less perfect for these two roles.

Not to dissparage our main character, but I do think Afflecks character is a bit...grey. He gives it a good effort, and it's a good performance, but he, like the hostages, comes off as the natural people they're portraying. Which, I realize, sounds like I think they're bad, which they're not. It's just that the stand-out roles do just that. They stand out. In the end, there's alot more that I like about this movie than I find a little bland, so it's a hard recommend from me.

As far as the Oscars go, there was some hard competition this year. For me, it stood between Silver lining playbook, Zero dark thirty, Django Unchained and Argo. Would've been fun if Django won, and playbook was really good, but I can't complain about Argo winning.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Silence of the Lambs




“People will say we’re in love.”

I’d forgotten more than I remembered about this movie, which is odd since there are so many memorable bits, but good because I had such a good experience of rewatching it.

Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling is the best thing about this movie. I like the way it starts with her on the assault course. The way it is shot, often from her pov with lots of close-ups, really emphasises her experiences with the way the men around her react to her. Dr Chiltern and his creepy coming on to Clarice is unsettling to begin with - then the crazy Miggs and what he says to her,like an echo. The way the local cops all stare at her at the funeral. And how she has to ask them to leave.

I like all he bits with Jodie Foster but don’t really enjoy the serial killer stalking his victims thriller aspects quite as much. It’s all a bit voyeuristic. (But maybe that’s the idea.) I’ve just never really understood the fascination with serial killers and of course it’s all horrible so difficult to watch.

Some of it is a bit over the top and might have been tenser if it had been a little subtler - but the grim humour actually adds something, it could have gone into grim and dreary territory which wouldn’t have been so good. Hannibal’s escape scene is done well. The last part with Starling in the killer’s house is almost unbearably tense.

The psychology explanations and profiling are a bit dated, though - which reminded me of Psycho.

Music was good.

Jodie deserved her Oscar. Although both the women in Thelma and Louise are good too. Not so sure about Hopkins, it’s a bit over the top, but looking at the competition, yeah. It’s certainly memorable. But it’s the interactions between them that are really riveting.

Director Demme deserved the Oscar too, I think. I read that he died last year, sadly.

Did it deserve Best Picture? I would have given it to Beauty and the Beast, personally. And Thelma and Louise wasn’t even nominated in that particular category, although it was in others. But there’s no denying it’s a really good film, and one of my favourite rewatches so far in this hall of fame.



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@neiba @donniedarko @Sarge

Haven't heard from you guys in awhile, how you doing?
Sorry. Had a shock death in the family a couple of weeks ago, so haven't been on. Will try and catch up.
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Argo, this is one of the smaller best picture winners that I've seen over the years. Not to say it's a bad movie it just doesn't have the feel of a best picture, which is a good thing. The story is fairly straight forward the embassy falls and a CIA operative has to come up with a plan to get some US workers out of Iran. It's extremely well cast which I think helps give it that boost from an average movie to a great one.

Though I have to confess on second viewing I feel like the film had some flaws. The Iranians are portrayed as being fairly one dimensional, and I do wonder if the stakes could have been higher by showing what was happening to the hostages. Their is a caper quality to the film...which is once again fine. And the phone call scene near the end is top notch, I just wish that we had more of those scenes.

Looking at the line up from this year I don't know if the film would have even made my personal nomination cut. This speaks more towards the level of competition of the unusually strong year.




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Just A Beautiful Mind left, gonna post all the reviews from the other ones tomorrow!

When is the deadline?
Let's just make it March 18th, that good with everyone remaining. 4th was the target but I don't foresee that.



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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Rocky



I find I don’t have a lot to say about this movie.

I don’t really like sports movies. I think they have a bad rep for a reason. I know this film was equally about Rocky getting his life together, just about Rocky himself as a character, there is genuine drama here but the training and the climatic fight are still very sports movie. I quite liked that it was mostly quite a quiet, indie looking film, not a glossy big budget thing.

It’s all about Rocky the character. He’s not completely a good person. He’s wasted his talent working for a loan shark threatening to break people’s fingers. He doesn’t always say the right thing. The character of Paulie seems to exist just to make Rocky look like more of a decent guy. He doesn’t earn his shot at the title, he may not even deserve it.I like that he turns down the fight with Apollo Creed when it is first offered to him. The film does quite a good job of getting under Rocky’s skin though - a few times he says he doesn’t care, when its clear he does - like the way he practices the line about the turtle food, just for something to talk to Adrian about.

I did laugh at the bit where Adrian says her brother might be worried about her and Rocky says he’ll call her brother and just lifts up the window and shouts. I also liked the scene where Mike comes to visit Rocky to convince him to let him be his manager.

I don’t think this has much to offer visually. Except the running up the steps scene.

Sylvester Stallone is Rocky. It’s a very personal performance, but I don’t think he had a shot at winning best actor against the competition. I was surprised to see that Talia Shire was nominated for best actress; it seemed very much a supporting role to me.

Did it deserve to win best picture? Nah, Taxi Driver for me.