The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame III: Foreign Language Edition

Started up Show Me Love and I’m 20 mins in but I just wanted to jump on and say that this is perhaps the most 90’s movie I have seen yet.

Ok waiting for 1 from Ed, Thief, and Wylde, and 2 from Siddon.

Don't worry about midnight, just try to get them to me sometime tomorrow. I'm off Monday so I'd like to have some time to tally them up and post the results Monday evening.

Monday evening would be a cool time for the "unveil"

The Conformist (1970)

The Conformist tells the sweeping story of Marcello a man navigating Europe during the rise of fascism. It was shot by Bernardo Bertolucci in one of his earlier works. I adored this film, I'm glad I saved it for near last. I found all the characters to be well written and engaging, and with a film like this the lead is almost the dullest person in the story. Sometimes the idea behind that doesn't work but it really worked here.


Visually it's stunning, it feels like a true period piece even though you really only get interior shots it still works. It reminded me a bit of Fanny and Alexander with how the rooms and settings have their own life. Now a days you get those CGI helicopter tracking shots and everything looks clean and unlived in...this film looks actually lived in. This is also the most restrained I've seen from Bertolucci sexually, especially for a film where sexuality is a major driving plot point.

Also the plotting of the story is just great...the film starts off using flashbacks and slowly does away with them once the story is established. It's a cool effect to give context to most of the scenes. This might not be my favorite of his work but it was very good and I enjoyed and feel the need to revisit it.

I watched The Conformist for the 70's countdown and thought highly of it. Good going Siddon!

Show Me Love


There’s something about the Swedish language that sounds sounds so beautiful when spoken. I don’t know what it is exactly.

This films centers around two young girls who couldn’t be more different. Agnes is turning 16. She’s withdrawn, ha son friends, is a vegetarian and harbors a crush on Elin. Elin is wild, outgoing, provocative, and likes to party. A bit of a brat to be honest.

Agnes is understood by her parents too well. Her mother seems to think her vegetarian diet is a phase of sorts, seen when she cooks roast beef for her birthday party. One where she made Agnes give our invitations that only a few attend. One of whom was Elin, and that was only because she was bored. Once she discovers Agnes is gay, she kisses her on a date and there her whole world changes.

Moodyson obviously watched Kids before making this, as it has a similar feel, but far more light hearted, even though it has a serious tone. I was surprised to find myself invested in Agnes and Elin, even if I thought they were a bit bratty. Still, this was a surprisingly good pick.

Congratulations Wyldesyde, you are the 9th member to finish!

I watched that about a month ago and was pleasantly surprised. I loved the ending.

I’ll have my ballot sent it shortly.

Ballot sent. 1-7 were incredibly hard to order, as they were all great films. 8&9 were easier as they were good, but not quite great. 10&11 were easy, and may surprise some people considering they’re rep. *
Sorry.

My movie choice for you was probably your # 10 or 11

Yeah man, I’m sorry. I’m guessing L’Avventura was your choice. I’m glad to have watched it, so no worries.

Cool.

I had an utter sh#te work week, Friday night being the worse, so tonight, there is a Freedom Festival with a beer tent, food, music, and fireworks a few blocks from me. In fact, I'll be watching the fireworks from my driveway, just off the main street. A parking lot in front of me that'll have a bit of a crowd watching as well.
So, tonight: I relax. Recharge.

and then,
Tomorrow night:



Let's just say; it's gonna be d@mn near Closing Time, but my associates have reassured me of both their Delivery Services' efficiency - AND, may I add, Award-Winning promptness.
So,





Have a Wonderful, Relaxing, Satisfying night, Everyone!!

__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

Have you seen many of his films?

I really love Lilya-4-Ever (though it is brutal to watch) and We Are the Best! (which is more lighthearted).

I haven’t yet, although I have heard oh Liya-4-Ever. After being surprised with Show Me love, I’m definitely eager to watch more of his films in the future.

I am very drawn to his work because he seems to approach his characters with such empathy. The way that he filmed Lilya-4-Ever made me completely rethink the way that sexual violence is presented in film. And, more broadly, his portrayal of teenagers (and especially teenage girls) feels very respectful of them as people.

According to Crumbsroom, A Hole in My Heart is a pretty bad departure from his usual approach, so I haven't sought out that one.

You know how there are certain people that deep down you just really hope aren't secretly creeps or rapists or whatever? He is on the shortlist for me in that regard. Please don't break my heart, Lukas Moodysson!!!

It's 7:30pm here and I'm still stuck at work; been here since morning, and I don't know when I'll get out or how tired I'm going to be. If I can, I'll finish Woman in the Dunes tonight, but if not today, I'll try to make it early tomorrow.

__________________

Agreed, his approach to the teen girls was well done, it left an impression with me because they were real.
As much as I loved The Edge of Seventeen and Lady Bird, and liked Juno, I had slight issues with their dialogue, especially in the case of Juno. Hmm, I’m finding myself at a loss for an accurate description for their dialogue.

Well, I really liked Lady Bird.

But I think maybe what you're talking about is dialogue that is very clearly an adult writing for a teenage character. Something about the rhythm and quirk feels too contrived and it makes the characters feel ungrounded.

It's actually something that I really liked about We Are the Best--the interactions and dialogue felt very real, and in a much deeper way than just the vocabulary of the kids.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Lady Bird as well.
contrived is absolutely the best word for it, thank you. Although I’m not so sure Lady Bird felt contrived as much as Juno did.
I haven’t seen We are the Best either. Same director, and also looks interesting

Story of a Love Affair (1950)

This film gave me a headache, I actually became physically ill watching a film from these countdowns. Funny thing is this is a good movie, it's a seedy noir tale about a murderous trio. But the film is unwatchable because of the score. I mean how do I explain how bad the sound is for this film...try and imagine a goose and then slowly killing that goose and then playing the sound of that dying goose for an hour and half.

Lucia Bose plays the femme fatale lead in this and she's fantastic...I loved her performance and that's through the bleeding of my ears. Michelangelo Antonio does a great job with the visuals and this is his most restrained work. You have several moments of great intimacy...that's ruined by the sound.

It kinda sucks to make a list because I'm in a bad mood over this and I'm not going to hold the score that much against it but..yeah not pleased.