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I'm looking forward to broadening my cinema pallet with a watch of Orson Welles Chimes at Midnight.
Cool, hope you have better luck.
Let me know if you or anyone else has the same issues with the audio and I'll choose another movie (if it's not too late, that is).



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Cool, hope you have better luck.
Let me know if you or anyone else has the same issues with the audio and I'll choose another movie (if it's not too late, that is).
I have no issues with the choice, was glad you chose it. Just wasn't for me. And I'm definitely minority as I know a bunch who like it.



Cool, hope you have better luck.
Let me know if you or anyone else has the same issues with the audio and I'll choose another movie (if it's not too late, that is).
I've watched a TON of movies with hard to hear sound, mostly new movies too. The last English language movie that I could not hear the dialogue was Greyhound (2020). And if it's a non American English language film they might as well be speaking Klingon...I often use subs for those kind of movies.



I have no issues with the choice, was glad you chose it. Just wasn't for me. And I'm definitely minority as I know a bunch who like it.
I'd say it was one of the most interesting noms in the bunch. Good choice. I hope I like it



I have no issues with the choice, was glad you chose it. Just wasn't for me. And I'm definitely minority as I know a bunch who like it.
No worries. I just don't want technical difficulties to be an issue.



For what it's worth, I'm a huge fan of Chimes at Midnight, and I'm looking forward to rewatching it for this thread. As for the dialogue, I ran into issues with not understanding what the characters were saying when I first watched it, but having subtitles definitely helped quite a lot in that regard.
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The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Les Misérables (1935)

Quite a solid adaptation of a book that remains painfully up-to-date.
The whole film is powered by the dynamic of the duo Laughton (God, what an actor) and March. Didn't care for the rest of the cast. The story works the way it is but maybe with a longer version, some of the psychological transformations of the characters could be better explored. On the other hand, the film is really on point when describing the sociological problems and effects of such an unfair justice system.
There's also some good cinematography, especially with shadow/light contrasts.




The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Themroc (1973)

So, it only took me one week to watch this...
It's basically a load of pretentious crap... I don't really know what else to say about it. It's ugly in every aspect, and not even the interesting type of ugly, just repulsive and boring as hell...




Themroc (1973)

So, it only took me one week to watch this...
It's basically a load of pretentious crap... I don't really know what else to say about it. It's ugly in every aspect, and not even the interesting type of ugly, just repulsive and boring as hell...

I can barely wait





Chimes at Midnight (1965)


Orson Welles is a very talented director, even with Shakespearian piecemeal dialogue and poor sound mixing I was still able to follow this powerful and flawed film. Welles is frantic in his filming which I believe is used to hide the budgetary limits of the story, still the movie looks like it was made for 100's of millions (I'm sure it wasn't). Welles indulgences help propel this clunker of a story.


I wonder what an 88 minute cut of this film would look like, having several scenes that drag on getting cut down the film's pacing would improve and it's reception amongst my fellow mofo's would increase. Welles love of Falstaff is clear, the giant Imp who has survived through cunning and a love of life is a great concept of a character. Sadly all the other characters fall to wayside...once again Welles vanity.


Margaret Rutherford and Jeanne Moreau are both great characters who are someone underused. The crone and the whore are such great parrells for the Falstaff character but they just felt so underwritten or underunderstood.


Though even though I hated the dialogue, and pacing and character usage the visuals were just so powerful. The black and white filming and use of shadow is exquisite, this film works so well in bits and pieces. Still though for me this Welles worst work



Lmao, like I get not liking it but I'm really baffled by people physically having a hard time watching Themroc. It's such a simple, straight-forward, easy-breezy watch.
Is there a chance easy-breezy may be subjective here?

According to IMDB the movie has a made up language the audience can’t understand, incest, and cannibalism



Themroc (1973)

So, it only took me one week to watch this...
It's basically a load of pretentious crap... I don't really know what else to say about it. It's ugly in every aspect, and not even the interesting type of ugly, just repulsive and boring as hell...


I watched it at 12X speed and got done in 15 minutes....





Themroc (1972)


When someone nominates something like this what are we supposed to do. It's an arthouse film...it's very on the nose it's a complete waste of time.It's not worth a review because what do you have to review. It's a gimmick and a terrible story.



I watched it at 12X speed and got done in 15 minutes....
1.25-1.5x speed would probably speed things up without changing the experience of the film too much, but I can't imagine 12x haha. Was it similar to fast forwarding a VHS tape while it's still playing on the tv?

When I watched Nosferatu (1922) for a film class I played it at 1.7x, but that's the only time I recall changing the playback speed of a film.

Also, is this like...allowed? It's not technically in the rules, but it does seem a little unfair to the intention of the film.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
I watched both of these quite recently for the Pers Rec HoF so no need for a rewatch. I have two other noms which are part of my Top 100 and that I watched multiple times but I might rewatch them just for the fun.

The Long Goodbye (1973)


The greatest thing about this film is its use of soundtrack. The song "The Long Goodbye" (a great song btw), takes up the vast majority of the sound treatment, with "Hooray for Hollywood" being the one other song used. This makes the whole atmosphere very homogenous, helping the immersion effect.
Elliot Gould and the great Sterling Hayden are obviously the strong actors here. Gould can be a little distracting sometimes because his style of acting isn't exactly conventional, but his coolness eventually convinced me. I didn't like Nina van Pallandt too much though, as I felt she lacked the femme fatale typical menace.

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Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Again, I start with the soundtrack. The main theme makes half of the movie. It's incredibly simple but so touching. It's like the feeling of despair of that man is enclosed in a few music bars, with a touch of childlike dreams. I miss this kind of soundtracks, tbh.
The simplicity I mentioned on the soundtrack is also the main characteristic of the movie. From the premise to its execution: just a man looking for his bicycle, without which he can't survive. The fact that Antonio is the only person who understands the true importance of such a trivial object makes him a very lonely but powerful character.
As for the acting, the kid is probably the best actor here, which is quite weird. Antonio has some great scenes too but he's not brilliant. I didn't care for Maria.
I do think the movie lost a bit of its atmosphere during the central part because everything becomes a bit messy and I kind of lost track of what I was supposed to be feeling. The final shot, however, it's like getting hit by a truck. Again, just a man walking with his son, but I felt everything, the anger, the despair, the lack of control over one's destiny.
It's truly a masterpiece, one I wish it does well here!

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