16th Hall of Fame

So what?? Should we do a Hollywood HoF and ban Hollywood films from the general HoFs?

Not sounding like a true cinephile speaking, honestly... There is a lenght limit in these HoFs for a reason, everything under that limit is acceptable. And the separation between foreign and non-foreign is quite ridiculous, frankly. I should have nominated Rocky for the foreign HoF cause I'm portuguese...

You aren't supposed to binge them, you can if you want but there's a week per film which i wouldn't call binging.

I'm surprised you've still got an issue with foreign films after seeing so many films Siddon, but i guess everyone is different. At some point i think most just get used to them if they watch them often enough. Think i watched more foreign films last month than is in that five month long HoF.

I just requested Call Me By Your Name from my library (as well as several other noms) and I am 147th in line to borrow it.

Good thing I'd planned to watch it last anyway. If my turn doesn't come up by the time I've watched everything else, I may end up renting it from Amazon again. Oh well, I'm sure they'll screw up a few more orders between now and then and I'll have more than enough in courtesy credit to cover the rental fee.

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147 That sounds like a lot.

I'll set the deadline for August 5th. That's almost 12 weeks from now.

watched They Shoot Horses, Don't They? last night and will most likely post about it this evening. And there will be SERIOUS Spoiler Alerts since I can't figure out any way to write about it without giving anything away.

VERY good film. Very depressing, but VERY good. (which is the gist of what I would write WITHOUT spoilers) lol

Wow, 147th! I thought my library was bad when I tried to request it and it said I would be number 42. I think I'll just find it some other place, though my library has a thing called Lucky Day where they have brand new releases that can't be requested, it's first come is first to get the movie. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Raul can you update the reveal with the movie posters, so when we look at it we can see who nominated what?

Wait Until Dark

First of all this was based on a play and it really showed. I don't usually like when plays are just filmed without bothering to adapt them properly for different media. I can see how this could work on stage but for the screen it would have needed more extensive rewriting.

Story didn't seem to make much sense. First of all the amount of heroin in the doll is way too small for the massive operation to reclaim it. Second why does Roat even involve the duo? He's already killed one person and could easily force what ever information he needs from Susy but instead brings in two more people he doesn't trust.

Hepburn is great as Susy. Her portrayal of blindness feels rather convincing. The evil trio is a bit too theatrical to my tastes. Husband is fine but Oscar nomination for supporting actor seems exaggeration. Gloria was OK (but whoever chose her glasses deserves a beating - no wonder she was picked up at school with those).

I liked the beginning and how the airport scene flowed without dialogue. After that the film became just filmed theater. It bothered my how at times Susy couldn't sense three men in the apartment and a moment later she notices how two visitors were wearing the same shoes (there were few other similar issues). That horroresque leap at the end didn't fit the tone of the film, otherwise the ending was rather good.

Not my type of film but could perhaps enjoy it on stage.

I don't mind this really. If I can be entertained by a play set in one location, the film can do the same. I actually tend to search out films set in one location, I like to see what they can accomplish.

I ended up being quite busy these past few days and ultimately wasn't able to join. I'll try to pre-emptively come up with a nomination for the next general HoF so I don't miss out on two in a row haha.

Out of the nominations, I've only seen Perfume and Call Me By Your Name, but there looks to be an interesting mix of films here. I might have to watch Waterloo Bridge to see how it compares to the version from 1940, which I ended up enjoying when it was nominated for the first 1940s HoF. It didn't place high on my list, but that's because I really liked the other films as well haha.

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I knew I wanted a 1930s movie to help support the 1930s Countdown. But which one? I went with Waterloo Bridge as I had nominated it before...but this version is different enough as it's an early precode film, so it feels totally different, at least to me. I think people who didn't care for the 40s version might like this one better. I'll guess we'll see.

Arsenic & Old Lace is an excellent example of this where the single location film from a stage play truly does work wonders.

And very happy to hear that Call Me By Your Name doesn't bother with the soapbox and simply creates a romantic tale for us to enjoy. Very cool.

I was really hoping you were going to make it.
Would have been very curious to read your thoughts on Perfume and hopefully you'll see Waterloo and remark on it.
Pretty glad you did nominate this since I remember the conversations about this and potential comparisons there would be between the two films.
Hell, I may have to revisit the 40's version so that I may be able to add that to my eventual review.

They Shoot Horses Don't They?

SPOILERS!!
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THIS

PS Do NOT read the elongated description of this film on IMDb because they really spoil it for you. I was able to have the distinct pleasure of going completely and utterly blind into this film and for anyone who has not seen this, it really is way to go.


One of the really amazing aspects of seeing this blind is truly discovering the full context of the title to this film. Which I had foolishly thought was a Westerns reference, not knowing the actual story and, with the opening of the movie I was unsure of where it was going to take me.
Along with the moments that we step out of the story to Robert dealing with a judicial system, there seemed to be a kind of dreamscape aspect to it. Especially the sentencing scene that was in a dark room.
Which, made the final moments of this film a truly excellent jaw-dropping experience that really hit home and completely blew me away.
So. Yeah, going in blind REALLY paid off in spades. Which is why I make that opening plea for those who haven't seen this.

For those who have, which is why you're probably reading this now, silly me I can express my appreciation for the metaphor of a Dance Marathon shown at its most grueling. Along with the final understanding that "It's all rigged and stacked against you" and the pointlessness of it all.
The brilliance of it is, with any movie set during The Depression, they always include the barren landscape as an emotional device, and with this movie, we never see any of it. Instead, the hopelessness is presented to us by those in the Marathon (which symbolizes Life and the Rat Race) and it's callous indifference to the brutality inflicted and how The Show is created to momentarily help others forget their own desperation while making someone else a buck.
In retrospect, I find myself thinking back to countless scenes and interactions that signify on a greater degree of The Rat Race at every turn. And that amazement hits me again and again.

This has been a terrific opening film to start this Hall of Fame and brilliantly sets the bar for some exciting film watching to come.

Glad you liked it. It's pretty unique and I think it'll do well.

I suspect I'll like it too. I mean a young Jane Fonda, woohoo!

Waterloo Bridge



I really liked this version of the film and I find it superior to the 40s film. I think a big part is I like the way the story is told better to me. It focuses in on the relationship of the two main characters very well in my opinion. The chemistry developed between Myra and Roy seems more sudden and realistic in this film. The acting is superb as well. I specifically find Douglass Montgomery a major upgrade over Robert Taylor. Mae Clarke was also great and I need to seek her out in more films. The ending felt a bit more genuine this time around, and so did their feelings for each other. I also give it big props for it's supporting acting, which was solid all around. The setting of Mae's apartment just seemed like a good one to have in the film, tough to say why but it felt like a nice hangout spot for the two of them. The pacing of the film is much better than the 40s version as well. Overall a success and something that could certainly find its way on my 30s list so a good pick by Citizen here. I'm not sure how others will feel about it though but I liked it.

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@rauldc14

Glad you liked it. And I kind of thought that people who didn't care for the 40s version with Vivian Leigh might warm up to the original version. IMO this is Mae Clarke's finest performance. She's an actress you don't hear much about anymore. If you remember the first time I joined a main Hof, I nominated Lady Killer because it had Mae Clarke. Hopefully people will like this film enough to include it on their list for the 1930s Countdown.