The 10th Mofo Movie Hall of Fame

I believe Cricket could have had adventures like in The Lucky Ones....Me, I would have had the boring road trip, where the big event was finding a restroom after drinking too much soda pop.

We could have traveled together. Watching Citizen Kane at the Motel 6.

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Everyone has at least somewhat liked The Lucky Ones. Except that Sean guy. Hes a prick.

I am actually wondering that, too, because I don't think I have ever been on a road trip (and road trips are basically what I do when I go out of town) where I haven't had weird things happen. In some cases, the situations have been downright crazy.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

My Man Godfrey

During my days of going crazy with old movie-watching when I was about 12 -14, I saw this film for the first time. I was instantly in love with it. As I have gotten older, I have grown to not only love it more, but to appreciate the script even more than when I was younger.

I have always loved “My Man Godfrey” for its charm, wit, crazy array of characters and the display of the absurd contrast of the social classes. I enjoy all of the characters. Even the minor ones. Everyone does such a fantastic job. Each actor seemed to be tailor-made for their roles.

Speaking of the actors, how about mentioning Carole Lombard and William Powell? She is so kooky but still so adorable in this movie. I’m always so impressed with how fast she can deliver her lines. She just lets those lines flow without any hesitation and is believable while doing so. Although I sometimes feel very bad for her whenever I watch her in a film knowing how she died. It really was a tragic death. As for William Powell, he is one of my all-time favorites. So natural. And so very good in any picture that he is in. In this film, he doesn’t show much emotion while he is the butler. Yet, he does give his feelings away every now and then while he ever so slightly gets a certain look in his eye at a particular thing that is said or done. And he does it while still maintaining a straight face in that situation. The man doesn’t even have to say one word to know how he feels. Just look him in the eye and you can tell. To be able to accomplish that is what helps to make him a great actor, in my opinion.

But I just want to mention a bit of nonsense quickly. Just a silly observation. For the first time ever I had a thought go through my mind while watching it. William Powell is different from Clark Gable. Yet, when he smiled, I saw a bit of Clark in him and all I thought was “Carole Lombard definitely had a ‘type’!”. For anyone who didn’t know, Carole was married to Powell and then married to Clark Gable (he is her widower).

The script itself is great. The story is enjoyable and the dialogue is fantastic. There are so many lines in there that I think are so clever and funny that I couldn’t single out just one. Although I am partial to this little bit:
Godfrey: May I be frank?
Molly: Is that your name?
Godfrey: My name is Godfrey.
Molly: All right. Be ‘Frank’.
It is the simple, yet clever, humor like that that makes this film stand out so much for me. And it is something that the 1930’s is very good for providing in their films. It is just that I think it is done the best in this one.

I also really enjoy the development of Godfrey’s story. I think that was a smart thing for them to do with this film. It left a bit of mystery to Godfrey, and then it all leads to a satisfying conclusion. I am very happy with the outcome of it all.

This is another one that I nominated because I hadn’t seen it for so long and I wanted an excuse to watch it. Also, whenever I can “show off” a film that I love, I want others to experience it, too. So I am satisfied that I decided to choose this Hall of Fame for this particular film.

Amour



Going into this i was pretty nervous, i really needed to find the right time to sit down and watch this because i thought it would be a tough watch and that there would be a chance that i'd dislike it because i was in a particular mood. I mean the subject matter is quite daunting, a film about an elderly couple dealing with one of them having a stroke doesn't sound like the most pleasant watch. The scene that Anne just stops moving or reacting would have been terrifying, i can't imagine what would be running through my mind. Was she messing with me? Is she going mad? Am i going mad? Can't imagine the haunting uncertainty a moment like that particularly at that age knowing you are at a greater risk of developing dementia, etc. And that's not even mentioning the confusion Anne would've been feeling when he was explaining it to her. I think that was a good way to introduce the health problems. It was difficult watching her slowly get worse throughout the film as she seemed mostly ok at least as much as you could after something like this at first. She was struggling with some physical things but still seemed to largely be of mind, it wasn't until the scene with her daughter when she was clearly deterioating that it started to hit me. I don't even know how to approach what George did, i mean i completely understand the reasons why he did it but i just don't think i'm qualified in any way to discuss the rights and wrongs of it. I mean it is wrong of course but, ugh there shouldn't be a but, i think everyone should know what i'm meaning here because i'm just not getting into it. To quote Jesus in South Park when asked if Euthanasia is right or wrong "i'm not touching that one with a 40 foot pole." Both leads were just glorious here, i really felt both characters pain come through here, both physically and emotionally. In the end while not the easiest watch i still found Amour a very powerful and heartbreaking portrayal of both the struggles and the dedication to dealing with something of immense difficulty as this, with amazing performances and a solid script. Still i'd say it was successful more than enjoyable.

Very good film but not one i could see myself watching again. Glad you nominated this Neiba as i've been meaning to watch this and just more Haneke in general for a while.

Just East of Eden left for me.

The Empire Strikes Back

As I’d just watched this a few months ago, I debated with myself whether or not I would watch it so soon again. But, of course, I did watch it again. I’ve seen it so many times that I don’t think I could even begin to take a guess at the total number. This review definitely could’ve been written without having viewed it again, but I’d recently read something that helped me to decide in favor of watching it now. But I will get to what I read after everything else that I want to say first.

It is no secret how I feel about this film. Anytime I have ever been asked to list my 10 favorite films of all-time, the bottom 5 will vary and that top 5 will always remain the same. And “The Empire Strikes Back” has held its position at #3 for as long as I can remember now. This is the first movie that I ever saw in a movie theater. And I was very young when I went to see it. So there is no clear memory about how I felt about it then. I just know I grew up with it, and the other films, always in my life. As I got older, however, I grew to appreciate it for the incredibly fine film that it is.

“Star Wars” is a very good movie, and it always will be. It is there to take you on a fun adventure. Whereas, “Empire” does something completely different. This is a much darker film (and I’ve never denied the fact that I love it when Star Wars gets “dark”). While there still is this adventure that you go on, it now has a completely different feel to it. For me, there is this constant darkness that hangs over the entire picture. Nothing – no matter what the scene or event – seems like it could possibly be leaning towards the positive. Not even the ending. And that is what takes this film to a completely different level than the first one for me.

I’ve always liked the characters, but in this one, we see how much stronger they are. It seems as if we are finally seeing each character as a whole. And there really isn’t a single character to dislike (Lando is great and I really wish he would make an appearance – even just a cameo – in the new series).

I love how this movie looks. It is dark, it is gloomy, and it is, in its own way, somewhat depressing. Of course that may be due to that darkness that I said hangs over it. Even Hoth isn’t the whitest of white to me. But where the perfection of the absolute beauty of the combination of darkness and light is shown is in the carbon-freezing chamber scene. The cinematography, setting, lights and direction all work together so perfectly that I think it is one of the most beautiful scenes ever to be filmed. And then they just accelerate it with that little added touch of light from the lightsabers later on. I just love it so much.

The story itself is fantastic. If you really think about it, 1/3 of this film could be claustrophobic. If you aren’t hanging out on Dagobah, you’re hanging out in the Millennium Falcon. There really is nowhere for you to go in either situation. But the events that take place during that portion of the film are so good that it keeps you focused the entire time without even realizing that you really don’t have that much happening beyond the Dagobah system or outside the Falcon. That is brilliant storytelling right there.

I could go on about the obvious twists to the story, but I won’t. I just want to say that THE twist is one of the most fantastic moments in film history. Genius, as far as I am concerned.

With that twist in mind, I just want to mention that I have said for years now that the Star Wars saga is very Shakespearian in tone. Just so you know, I am a huge Shakespeare fan. Along with “Revenge of the Sith”, I feel that “Empire” is the other story (and maybe the one that I would want most of all) that I would’ve loved for Shakespeare to have written. When I feel that a story is of the caliber of one of Shakespeare’s stories, then you know I think it is incredible.

The music. Oh, how I LOVE the music!! It is by far my favorite Star Wars score, and it is probably my favorite film score of all-time. There is just too much to love in this one. From “The Imperial March” to the music that accompanies the Cloud City scene. The score is a masterpiece all by itself. The only one that could top it all for me is “Yoda’s Theme”. This is something that is both light and haunting at the same time. It is a piece of music that kind of fascinates me. I am not going to go on about the dynamics of music, but this piece just makes me want to weep – yes, I said weep – whenever I hear it. When I heard the symphony perform this – when John Williams was here conducting it – I just wanted to die. Perfection.

Anyway, I don’t know what else to really say about this movie. I really could go on and on and on about it. But if I did that, then I would start to go on about all of the little details. And I don’t think any of you want to read that any more than I really feel like writing it out.



Three extra things:
1. SEAN!! Do you happen to remember me mentioning at the start of this HoF that there was a movie that I considered nominating – at some point in time - but decided in the end to NOT ever nominate? Well, THIS is the movie. I didn’t know if people would really want to watch a film from the middle of a series. And then if they did, I didn’t know if anyone would want to watch the first one – if they felt they had to – because they’d never seen it before. So I thought it was better to never nominate it. I guess you had more courage than I did to take the chance and get this in one of these.

2. After all these years, I have come to the conclusion that there should only be ONE kiss in that movie. And it is the one that occurs in the carbon chamber. I think it would’ve been much better had that been done that way. Save any kissing for that moment. I think it would've made for a much more powerful moment.

3. The reason I decided to re-watch this. We all know how I just mentioned that I thought the Star Wars saga was like Shakespeare, right? Well, lo and behold, I just discovered a set of books based on each film. And each film was written as if Shakespeare had written them himself but in the form of a play. Naturally I had to read them. And the best, by far, was, as it was called, “The Empire Striketh Back”. It was ridiculously good. It may have been my favorite as it is my favorite film. But this just proved my point that Shakespeare could’ve written these stories!
Anyway, that is the thing that put me in the mood to watch it again. And so I did.

Blade Runner

I was pretty sure i had seen this before,and I had-but Im glad it was nominated here so i would watch it again because i liked it so much more this time around.I didnt dislike it the first time,i just dont really remember watching it.But its rather weird to me now that it didnt stick with me more.
i LOVE the staging and look of it,like CR said i also loved the music.
I loved the eyes! Brilliant.simple way to do it.
i loved the love affair (thought i thought the kissing scene between them was rather akward) i loved the scenes with JF sebastian,Pris and roy. Also the part where she puts the black spray over her eyes and backflips into the room-seemed very asian cinema inspired.
I`ll say the only part that really annoyed me was
spoiler
pris had Rick,erm,between her legs and suffocating him yet lets him go to....? backflip over him so that he could shot her?
that really annoyed me,and there usually a scene like that in every suspense movie- the bad guy has the good guy in his/her controll but lingers long enough for the good guy to get the upper hand.Id rather he somehow hit her or bit or whatever but it didnt make sense that way.
other than that i really loved it!

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You noticed that too! She's fast and that was kind of the style at the start of the talkie period. Carole's fast but not as fast as Glenda Farrell.....Glenda Farrell is best remembered as a hard-boiled, fast-talking (she was able to speak 390 words in a minute) reporter Torchy Blaine in the film series of the same name.
He's not as well known today as he should be but the more I see of him the more I think of his acting talents. He's really good as the straight man in comedies, and...equally good as the zany character.


I'm glad you nominated it!

Some people think that's a rape scene, I disagree. If you remember replicants have underdeveloped emotions and that was the second time that Rachel had 'ran away' from her emotions as she didn't know how to handle them.

Camo, that was a very honest and self aware review, I like reviews like that. I enjoyed reading it!...And even though I didn't enjoy watching Amour, I'm glad it was nominated because it was a bold movie.

yeah i noticed that aswell-but i put the same thought you did into it- i just meant the actual kiss they have this way of just rubbing their faces together,which is evident by the way they so "easily" pull apart lol

Thanks mate . I think Amour is a difficult film for anyone to enjoy because assuming we reach that age it is a very real possibility that we'll have to go through this sort of thing . I know you just straight forward didn't like it which is completely understandable, but i like how you call it a bold movie because that is exactly what it is. Thankfully (or unthankfully actually) i've never went through something like this with an elderly relative since both of my grans and grandads died before i was born, so more than most people my age or especially older MoFo's this was untreaded territory for me.

I told quite a some here in PM's on this site that my mum fell and broke her ribs a few months back. She isn't an old woman or anything it was just an accident when she was coming out of a taxi. I went really paranoid and basically forcefully (not really) moved back in with my mum for a few weeks to help her out with stuff. She is a strong, proud, woman so i could tell throughout her rehabilitation she was more annoyed with me than anything without her saying so as she did appreciate me being willing to help. The thing is i know and even did at the time that this was a massive overreaction on my part but i had never faced anything like this before and it was just how i took to it. I think this being fairly recent made me especially connect with Amour. And it is one of the few examples of a film that i'd never want to connect with.

I remember last time I watched it thinking that scene was awkward. I think your assessment is correct. I definitely don't think it is a 'rape scene', but I think if they filmed it today they would film it differently to make it clearer that it is consensual.

I always saw that interaction as one of the many things in the film that is a bit of a throwback or callback to 1940s film noir type films.

Awesome write up, Silent Vamp. I forgot to mention the music when I wrote about it, it is great.

Haha, snap. I thought about nominating it and decided against it, yet here it is.

I don't know how I feel about this idea. Yes, in some ways it would have been more powerful, and you could have maintained that whole tension between the two of them that dissipates a little in the middle of the film. But on the other hand I really, really like that first kiss.

Oh, the actual kiss...I'm just a guy and I missed noticing things like that You have sharp eyes

Good call, yup that scene is a throwback to 40s film noir. I just watched The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart and I'm sure the screen writer of Blade Runner was familiar with that movie. After Deckard (Harrison Ford) gets the crap beat out of him by the replicant Leon...Deckard goes back to his apartment and washes the blood off his face in the bathroom sink....Bogie does just about the same scene in Maltese Falcon.

Your a good son for caring so much to move back in and help your mom out. I hope she's doing well

Difficult is a good word for Amour... that subject matter scares me to be honest, hence the extreme negative reaction to it. I can't even talk about it, it's just too hard.

I'd say the director was aiming for a very up-close and hard look at a very unpleasant subject matter, and he succeeded as I had a strong reaction to it, albeit a negative one.

At first the word "rape" went through my mind with that scene - when he stops her from leaving, but that was just an easy word to describe it. I really just thought he was just taking advantage of the situation with her. That is really how I felt about that scene. But as the film went on - and how it ended - I felt differently in regards to that moment. I understood it better then.

Well, they aren't devouring each other, but I thought their kissing was a bit more than just pressing the lips together - or rubbing their faces together, as you described it. Especially the second one in that scene (I think it is the second - I don't recall if there is more than that) when he tells her to tell him to kiss her. With that kiss she seems more involved. I think it was a deliberate thing to have them kiss that way. I don't know. Maybe I am remembering it wrong or maybe I wasn't paying as much attention during that scene.

I really, really like that first kiss, too, though. I don't really know why that thought went through my mind when I watched that carbon freezing scene, but it did and I now really kind of wish it would've just happened that way. But when I think about it, I think both the first kiss and that one would've worked if they didn't have those little kisses in between. I think those are what I don't care for. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and the forehead and he kisses her forehead. Yes, I have seen it enough times to know the number of kisses in the film. And, yes, it is pathetic. The more I think about those, the more I just don't think they fit into the film. I know they are small parts of the film overall, but I just would rather not have those in there.


Re-reading this before I posted it made me realize that it is nothing else but a post about kissing. That just looks funny to me.

I think it's perfectly acceptable for the HoF to get into a discussion of Harrison Ford's kissing technique in various movies...

That's very interesting! We probably had the exact same reaction to Amour and while you hate it, I love it! xD To me, any film that creates the kind of reaction Amour did, has to be a masterpiece! But I get why there are so extreme opinion on this film, it's a difficult one indeed!

Oh well, I'm tired of winning these things anyway... hehehe!