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What would you rate The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)?

You know, every Fassbinder movie (in color) look much newer than they actually are, considering 95% of the movies he made were in the 70s. Anyone else notice that?
Good question Matt...when I get around to doing a full review of The Marriage of Maria Braun for my review thread, I will most likely give it a
or perhaps a
. It just depends on how the review comes out, sometimes the reviews I write actually changes my mind about a movie. The power of my own words, I guess, ha! Usually when I talk myself into a different viewpoint of a movie, the rating goes up and not down.

In this Hof, I list the movies in order of preference from 1-16 and I will place Maria Braun according to how much I enjoyed it, versus my review thread where I also take into account if the director achieved what I believe he was trying to achieve.

OK, I know none of that really answers your question! I should have been a politician!...That was the only Rainer Fassbinder movie I've ever seen. I have no complaints about how he made it and it was an interesting subject matter and POV too....so I liked all that, but I did lose interest in the second half of the movie...and wasn't totally on board on how the film ended which seemed a little tacked on.





Forbidden Games (Rene Clement, 1952)

I'm very impressed with this film!....great nomination Jeff....Forbidden Games is a very engrossing story that's both sentimental, while being a bit disturbing too. I mean that in a good way, as this was a very unique perspective on the psychological damages of WWII on the people and especially the children of rural southern France.

I thought this was well done and both child actors were excellent. It's actually amazing that the little girl could get so much emotions on the screen, if only some adult actors could do that. I don't know if she was acting or perhaps the director was telling her frightening stories for a reaction from her. Either way it was amazing the way the shattered world of the children came alive on the screen, I would never have thought of the subject matter, very creative idea for a movie and put together nicely. I enjoyed it.



Legend in my own mind
The three Musketeers (1973)



Sigh

I love the story of 'The three Musketeers'. I used to read the book a lot when I was a child. I loved the history, the suspense, the revenge, the swordplay the notion of 'One for all and all for one'.

As a child I saw films that had been made of the story of the Musketeers and I remember that I was always left feeling underwhelmed.

When this was nominated in this HoF, I thought "Maybe I was wrong, I am older now, maybe I will see things differently now".
I didn't.



What I liked
I love the story. Alexandre Dumas told a tale of a young man who has aspirations and dreams of being a musketeer and making his fortune in Paris. I loved the story as a kid and still do now. The themes of love, rebellion and justice is something that I have always found it easy to immerse myself in.
As for the film, I found the costumes good and the set believable.
It did also stick close to the original story in many parts where other versions have chosen not to.
The film was shot well and I also liked most of the music.



What I didn't like
Most of it.
My biggest issue is that it is more comedy than drama.
When I read the story as a kid it was always tense and dramatic, but this film (and most other musketeer films) are not.
Tapping people on the backside with swords and slapping them on the head etc just totally undermines the story in my opinion.
The playing of chess with monkeys on dogs backs
A lot of the characters were comedic too and not in a 'people are eccentric' believable way but a comedy exaggerated way.
I appreciate that this was made in the 70s and that really violent films were not the norm. I also appreciate that the story of the musketeers does lend itself to being accessible for all ages, but it really should be a drama rather than a comedy.
I also concede that some situations in the original story are almost farcical in nature, such as the way D'artagnan manages to arrange successive duels with Athos, Porthos and Aramis not long after arriving in the city, but plenty of the film should be represented in a serious manner in my opinion. This criticism is not limited to this version. I would have the same issues with many of the adaptations of the story, which is probably why 'Dogtantian and the Muskehounds' is still my favourite, as I can appreciate a cartoon with dogs bringing comedy to the story.



Summary
In summary, I just can't get over myself and get beyond the same issues I have had with every screen adaptation of the story of 'The three Musketeers' that I have ever seen.
I love the story but get angry at the way it is portrayed on the screen. As I say, it is the same with every version that I have seen so maybe it is me that it is interpreting it all wrong. With that said, this is all about my opinion, and that is an opinion that I respect

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Good question Matt...when I get around to doing a full review of The Marriage of Maria Braun for my review thread, I will most likely give it a
or perhaps a
. It just depends on how the review comes out, sometimes the reviews I write actually changes my mind about a movie. The power of my own words, I guess, ha! Usually when I talk myself into a different viewpoint of a movie, the rating goes up and not down.

In this Hof, I list the movies in order of preference from 1-16 and I will place Maria Braun according to how much I enjoyed it, versus my review thread where I also take into account if the director achieved what I believe he was trying to achieve.

OK, I know none of that really answers your question! I should have been a politician!...That was the only Rainer Fassbinder movie I've ever seen. I have no complaints about how he made it and it was an interesting subject matter and POV too....so I liked all that, but I did lose interest in the second half of the movie...and wasn't totally on board on how the film ended which seemed a little tacked on.
This movie is in the middle of Fassbinder... It's stretched out too long. I highly recommend "Whity" --it's a Western.



The Great Dictator


This was actually my first introduction to Chaplin. Never have I previously seen a film of his at full length, so naturally I was very excited for this nomination, considering the man's role in cinema's history. Initially I wasn't sure, what to expect out of this; whether it will be a classic goofball comedy or excecuted in a more conservative manner. It turned out to be a great goofball fun with lots of physical comedy, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but also a film of great historical and cultural importance. I find it remarkable, that Chaplin had enough grit to openly ridicule National Socialist Party in the middle of a bulging ww2. I like the universal message he carried out in his final speech. It might have been corny, but I think a straight-forward message like that, was needed at time to warn the humanity of an increasing decadence and to plead for peace and unity. To conclude this is a very powerful and poignant satirical piece, which definitely stood the test of time.




Women will be your undoing, Pépé
@Sarge, it's always that way, isn't it? You love a book and the movie renditions, somehow, always seem to fall short.
Thank you for an honest review.
It does sway quite a bit to the comedic, and for me, there lies its charm for me. I would suggest the sequel; The Four Musketeers, since it is a bit more serious, but in the end, there are still very many similarities and therefore, most likely, not to your likely.

I continue to enjoy your reviews and look forward to more. Thanks, Sarge.
@Jeff Costello, wonderful to hear your first visit with Charlie Chaplin was an enjoyable one. VERY cool!
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé



The Great Dictator

"This is a story of a period between two World Wars -- an interim where Insanity cut loose, Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat."

And such reads the opening placard and begins a personal message from Charlie Chaplin's heart to a world delving deeper and deeper into global war.

Has stated previously, I'm very much a great fan of The Tramp and all of Chaplin's shorts and movies. The Great Dictator is a growing stage, creatively, as he seeks to further express a wish for kindness, not hate.
While we still see much of the fantastic physical humor of his silent era, we enjoy much of that lyrical acrobatics in, for that time, something new for his audience, an equally quick banter. All of this drawing the audience in to a more somber and very important warning about was happening during that time.

With him is an excellent cast displaying both seriousness and wonderful comedy. My favorite is Jack Oakie as the leader of Lapalonia. It's not easy to shine equally in comedic style beside Chaplin and Jack pulls it off brilliantly.

I've always admired and considered Chaplin to be a man with a beautiful, child-like soul. And with this movie, that soul cries out with child-like urgency: Stop! PLEASE, stop!

Thank you @SilentVamp for nominating it!!

EDIT= Thaks @Citizen Rules for the spelling help!!




The Broken Circle Breakdown
(2012)

I'm sure this is a well made movie, but it's not to my liking. I really don't like films that deal with dying in hospitals, so the scenes with the little girl dying was very unpleasant for me to watch. The other aspect of the film, the romance and break down of the relationship of the parents, didn't work for me as I didn't care for Elsie and Didier. They both had this sleaze factor to them that for me worked counterproductive to the romance part of the movie. On top of that I don't care for Bluegrass music.

It was interesting how the film had a soft diffused look, similar to what was done in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) in that movie they partially exposed the film negative to light, causing a slight overexposure that then made the final print look frosted. As this move was made in 2012, I'm pretty sure the effect was done digitally. It's not a bad effect, it kind of looks nostalgic/romanticized. On the other the weird red highlighting was just distracting as I didn't care about the people in the film, it didn't work for me.



Legend in my own mind
@Sarge, it's always that way, isn't it? You love a book and the movie renditions, somehow, always seem to fall short.
Thank you for an honest review.
It does sway quite a bit to the comedic, and for me, there lies its charm for me. I would suggest the sequel; The Four Musketeers, since it is a bit more serious, but in the end, there are still very many similarities and therefore, most likely, not to your likely.

I continue to enjoy your reviews and look forward to more. Thanks, Sarge.
@Jeff Costello, wonderful to hear your first visit with Charlie Chaplin was an enjoyable one. VERY cool!
Thanks Ed.



They both had this sleaze factor to them that for me worked counterproductive to the romance part of the movie.
I'm curious as to what you mean by that. They both seemed like pretty good people to me.


I'm also trying to figure out why Broken Circle Breakdown devastated me, while Manchester By The Sea hardly affected me emotionally. After all, the two stories are extremely similar. I would think that I'd relate to Manchester more. This is where I work and live so there's a huge familiarity factor with the location and the types of people. With the other movie, I don't even know the language.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I'm also trying to figure out why Broken Circle Breakdown devastated me, while Manchester By The Sea hardly affected me emotionally. After all, the two stories are extremely similar. I would think that I'd relate to Manchester more. This is where I work and live so there's a huge familiarity factor with the location and the types of people. With the other movie, I don't even know the language.
Oddball, wild shot in the dark: could be your emotional wall was a little more firmly in place with Manchester BECAUSE of your connection and since there wasn't any familiarity with Broken Down, it wasn't? Thereby, it hit harder than Manchester.
Just a guess.
Ed is the newest to have finished a quarter and Sarge recently joined the three quarters crew
SWEET!
Feel like singing "Movin On Up" from The Jeffersons TV Show. . .


But quietly, to myself



I'm curious as to what you mean by that. They both seemed like pretty good people to me.
Yeah they were written as good people, so yes they were good people and not sleezy in their actions, but they both kind of looked sleezy to me, I thought of them as druggy types. I guess it's the same reaction you had to Gallo in Buffalo 66, only I didn't despise them, but I didn't feel any connection.



I'll be watching Buffalo 66 hopefully soon. I know nothing about it. I'm guessing it's set in 1966. Nah don't tell me I want to be surprised. I should be able to watch Dead Poets Society tonight. I've never seen it so it should be interesting. And Netflix should have Dances With Wolves to me (in widescreen I hope!) by Friday. And that's it for me, 3 films to go. So far lots of neat movies in this Hof



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Broken Circle Breakdown



This movie conveys the same emotion as my own nomination, but it is brilliantly made. I like the nonlinear structure of the story and I also like the performances of the two main leads. I found their raw emotions to be very believable given the circumstances. I also disagree with Citizen in him calling them sleazy. Thought they were pretty normal folks. I didn't know much going in about the film, and it certainly didn't play out in a way that I thought it would. Also, not being a big fan of country music, I still thought the music was really well done. It's hard to really think of much flaws for the film, other than it being a straight depressing movie. I would say this has a very good shot to win the whole thing. I don't think the movie will stick with me like Manchester but I can't deny it's solid execution.




Oddball, wild shot in the dark: could be your emotional wall was a little more firmly in place with Manchester BECAUSE of your connection and since there wasn't any familiarity with Broken Down, it wasn't? Thereby, it hit harder than Manchester.
Just a guess.
There could be a little something to that. I was very excited to see Manchester By The Sea, but since I wait for DVD release, I had to read for months how emotional and great it was. My expectations were very high. While I very much enjoyed it, I didn't feel tremendous power. On the other hand, I knew zippo about Broken Circle Breakdown when I put it on, not even that it was a sad movie.