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Having a little trouble finding The Hidden. Not available from NF on dvd/blu and none of my streaming services have it.
The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame
Mary and Max
Directed by Adam Elliot
I fell instantly in love with it when I first watched it. It's a top ten movie for me now.
I'll be interested to see what Siddon thinks of it when he gets around to it.
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Mary and Max
Directed by Adam Elliot
Mary and Max are two lonesome souls looking for a friend. Boy did I have this one pegged wrong. While I wouldn't hesitate to show it to the right kid it's not a film directed at kids. Mary is young girl in Australia who develops a pen pal relationship with the middle aged Max, who lives in New York City. Their relationship evolves over years of writing to each other and is like any relationship: sometimes it's up and sometimes it's down.
Mary and Max is less about plot and more about the characters. Most of the plot is delivered by an unknown narrator. The characters are developed through their letters to each other where they bare everything - warts and all. Mary is a quiet little girl dealing with a less than ideal homelife and school bullies. Max is an fortysomething, overweight Jewish man dealing with mental and social issues. Their letters are our only insights into how they feel and they're sometimes hilarious but often very sad. These are not happy people. The only joy in their lives is seeing a new letter/package in the mailbox. By the time the movie ends you really feel like you know Mary and Max.
The animation is good and is where a lot of the laughs come from. Watching a few old guys take a dip in some freezing water, nothing really funny about that in and of itself but because of the animation, it was hilarious. Also, the animation lightens the blow for some of what Mary and Max are telling us. If this was a live action film it could have been Requiem for a Dream level depressing. You laugh, at times, at things that shouldn't be funny. It's a credit to the director because that's a tough balancing act and they pull it off really well. As for the pallette, it's all shades of grey. You aren't going to get any "Ooooooohhhh, it's so colorful!" The colors match the characters.
About the only other thing I can say is if you haven't seen it, see it. It'll make you laugh, it may even make you cry. It's so good I've already recommended it to a couple of people and I think I know who nominated it.
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My Left Foot (1989)
This was a nomination that caught me off guard. I knew it was a highly acclaimed movie but didn't know anything about it other than it starred Daniel Day-Lewis. I was wondering if the guy had lost his left foot, lost his right foot, or had some kind of special magical foot. I really had no idea.
Right off the bat I thought it'd be a tough watch. I generally don't care for movies about people with some sort of disability. I start feeling very anxious if a character has trouble talking, hearing, or whatever else. I don't even like it when Iron Man loses his power. It just makes me feel frustrated.
Fortunately, Christy (Day-Lewis) has an attitude and I quickly got over it as the characters and story completely won me over. I was surprised at how entertaining the movie was, with even some effective humor, and of course it was moving and inspiring. Day-Lewis was excellent as expected, but it wasn't just him as everybody in the cast played to his standard. There was a scene in a bar with about 25 minutes left that started out very promising. All of a sudden it got silly for about 10 seconds and those 10 seconds might have cost this movie a half popcorn in rating from me. It really put me off. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin everything that came before and after. Great movie and nomination!
This was a nomination that caught me off guard. I knew it was a highly acclaimed movie but didn't know anything about it other than it starred Daniel Day-Lewis. I was wondering if the guy had lost his left foot, lost his right foot, or had some kind of special magical foot. I really had no idea.
Right off the bat I thought it'd be a tough watch. I generally don't care for movies about people with some sort of disability. I start feeling very anxious if a character has trouble talking, hearing, or whatever else. I don't even like it when Iron Man loses his power. It just makes me feel frustrated.
Fortunately, Christy (Day-Lewis) has an attitude and I quickly got over it as the characters and story completely won me over. I was surprised at how entertaining the movie was, with even some effective humor, and of course it was moving and inspiring. Day-Lewis was excellent as expected, but it wasn't just him as everybody in the cast played to his standard. There was a scene in a bar with about 25 minutes left that started out very promising. All of a sudden it got silly for about 10 seconds and those 10 seconds might have cost this movie a half popcorn in rating from me. It really put me off. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin everything that came before and after. Great movie and nomination!
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My Left Foot (1989)
Love this film.
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"With speech therapy, I could teach you how to say "f1ck off" more clearly."
Love this film.
Love this film.
Thanks!
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Some ketchup for the movies I've seen. And there's been a bunch reviewed I've never seen, so many movies I need more TVs!
This could easily be in my top 100, maybe even top 25. It's one of the films I've considered for an HoF before, I think it's near perfect and suits my taste.
Absolutely!
Cool that you liked that so much. I seen it only once like 20 years ago. I can't remember anything about it, so I'm not sure if it should or shouldn't be crossed off my list?
Judgment at Nuremberg (Stanley Kramer, 1961)
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Strangers on a Train 1951 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
★★★★
Rock solid movie and another favorite of mine.
Agreed! Robert Walker as Bruno Anthony was a great and very charismatic psycho/bad guy.
My Left Foot (1989)
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This could easily be in my top 100, maybe even top 25. It's one of the films I've considered for an HoF before, I think it's near perfect and suits my taste.
Judgement at Nuremberg won the WW II HoF a while ago. Even with some quits on that HoF it almost got a perfect score with 1st places in all lists but one.
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I'd scratch the near on that sentence!
Judgement at Nuremberg won the WW II HoF a while ago. Even with some quits on that HoF it almost got a perfect score with 1st places in all lists but one.
Judgement at Nuremberg won the WW II HoF a while ago. Even with some quits on that HoF it almost got a perfect score with 1st places in all lists but one.
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My Left Foot is really good. That was DDL's breakout performance for me and Judgement at Nuremberg is one of my top ten of the 60's. As good as both are I don't think I've seen either one of them twice. After watching Nuremberg I was so impressed with Spencer Tracy that I started to look him up a bit and found out we attended the same high school. Doesn't do me any good but thought it was interesting.
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Just saw that Daniel Day-Lewis had a tiny role in Gandhi which I watched last week. If I watched it 50 times I wouldn't have recognized him.
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Fight Club (1999)
My guess: Hey Fredrick
I've always wanted to hate this movie. I don't know why. I just hated that ugly/cheap/lame poster sooooo much (and still do). Every time I start one of those 90s cheap high budget low everything else thrillers with big actors, a "grimy" "dark green" look, I don't even know! - but I just get this wary feeling and don't want to like them.
My feelings about Fight Club turned around in just about the first fifteen minutes. I was expecting a stupid, dark, poorly aged film with men just pounding each other to pieces... instead I got a smart, SATIRICAL, thriller with stellar acting and a script - and concept - that I was simply not ready for.
1999 is seen as one of the all time best years for movies (there's even a BOOK on 1999 in film!) and I'm slowly beginning to see why. On the animation front you had South Park, Toy Story 2, and the Iron Giant. And then you have sci-fi thrillers like The Matrix, and my personal favorite of the year, the Best Picture winning American Beauty.
Fight Club didn't reach the heights of some of the other films I've seen from 1999, but wow is it an achievement! Those two hours fly by, with some honestly hilarious lines/scenes, but overall this moody, almost comically toxic vibe, everything drenched in this stupid masculinity that makes Fight Club not a fun movie so males can watch males do stuff to males. It actually has important things to say, and I was opening my ears wide open!
The twist was perfect... I went into this film blind, so honestly had no idea! Maybe it was kind of easy to see coming, especially when he talks to Bellatrix-lady (sorry!) about it. But it was still thrilling, and subversive. I loved it. I loved all of Fight Club actually! The gritty score, the flashy cinematography. And of course the acting.
Brad Pitt, STOP being good!! Honestly loved him so much in this, he was my favorite character and he was the villain!! Fincher cast him perfectly here, he's honestly never been cooler.
I guess you could see "what do you expect from a Fincher film?" Well, this was my first Fincher film, so I didn't know if his style would be for me! I'm not sure he'll be a director that becomes an all-time favorite, but after this I'm even more excited for Se7en, Zodiac, and the Social Network among others.
While I can't say I agree with sites like IMDB who's rating has this at one of the greatest films of all time, I think I get the hype for this! Certainly a mind**** experience, and loved every minute.
Still: THE POSTER SUCKS!!
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Fight Club (1999)
My guess: Hey Fredrick
+My guess: Hey Fredrick
Glad to see you enjoyed Fight Club. That's one of my favorite movies!
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I didn't care for Fight Club much the first time but I like it more and more every time I see it. I never thought about the poster but you're right.
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Snowpiercer (2013)
I thought this was a strange choice for me in the first place and then a second person tried to pick it. This would be my 5th movie from director Bong Joon-Ho and the first 4 were all excellent.
Although I have Sci-Fi movies that I count as favorites, it's not one of my preferred genres in general. I need action or horror to go with it and Snowpiercer certainly brings the action. So I've got a great director and cast, and plenty of action. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.
I didn't dislike it but I just thought it was ok. I thought it got goofy at times especially with the character of Mason. I needed it to be more consistently dark and gritty with no comic book feel to really enjoy it. The talented cast has all seen better moments, especially the veterans. While the action and violence were strong, the special effects were poor. The concept was fine and the setting on the train was cool. It was a mixed bag for me, but since I want to see anything and everything on the MoFo lists, there are at least no bad nominations that are a waste of time for me. The movie wasn't a waste of time even if it weren't on a list. While it certainly wasn't bad, I can't imagine remembering or revisiting it.
I thought this was a strange choice for me in the first place and then a second person tried to pick it. This would be my 5th movie from director Bong Joon-Ho and the first 4 were all excellent.
Although I have Sci-Fi movies that I count as favorites, it's not one of my preferred genres in general. I need action or horror to go with it and Snowpiercer certainly brings the action. So I've got a great director and cast, and plenty of action. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.
I didn't dislike it but I just thought it was ok. I thought it got goofy at times especially with the character of Mason. I needed it to be more consistently dark and gritty with no comic book feel to really enjoy it. The talented cast has all seen better moments, especially the veterans. While the action and violence were strong, the special effects were poor. The concept was fine and the setting on the train was cool. It was a mixed bag for me, but since I want to see anything and everything on the MoFo lists, there are at least no bad nominations that are a waste of time for me. The movie wasn't a waste of time even if it weren't on a list. While it certainly wasn't bad, I can't imagine remembering or revisiting it.
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Fight Club is overrated, and I still like it. Certainly not worth the praise it gets, but not terrible.
Social Network and Seven are amazing however and I recommend them, Ed.
Social Network and Seven are amazing however and I recommend them, Ed.
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I didn't care for Fight Club much the first time but I like it more and more every time I see it. I never thought about the poster but you're right.
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I thought this was a strange choice for me in the first place and then a second person tried to pick it. This would be my 5th movie from director Bong Joon-Ho and the first 4 were all excellent.
Although I have Sci-Fi movies that I count as favorites, it's not one of my preferred genres in general. I need action or horror to go with it and Snowpiercer certainly brings the action. So I've got a great director and cast, and plenty of action. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.
I didn't dislike it but I just thought it was ok. I thought it got goofy at times especially with the character of Mason. I needed it to be more consistently dark and gritty with no comic book feel to really enjoy it. The talented cast has all seen better moments, especially the veterans. While the action and violence were strong, the special effects were poor. The concept was fine and the setting on the train was cool. It was a mixed bag for me, but since I want to see anything and everything on the MoFo lists, there are at least no bad nominations that are a waste of time for me. The movie wasn't a waste of time even if it weren't on a list. While it certainly wasn't bad, I can't imagine remembering or revisiting it.
As the second person that tried to pick it I'm glad my choice of the documentary scored higher. Funny how you don't consider the film to be horror because to me it's a horror film it's like an episode of the Twilight Zone extended into a feature length story where you end up with these moments of horror scattered throughout the story.
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As the second person that tried to pick it I'm glad my choice of the documentary scored higher. Funny how you don't consider the film to be horror because to me it's a horror film it's like an episode of the Twilight Zone extended into a feature length story where you end up with these moments of horror scattered throughout the story.
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