The MoFo 1990s Countdown pt II - Preliminary Thread

Impossible to beat the number of ballots that Holden Pike got for the 1970s countdown, I'm sure he put maximum effort into getting those ballots in. Impressive.

With 2010 having 98 ballots and only needed 2 more ballots to beat the 70's, I can say it's not impossible, you just never know will have to see .

Nobody on movie forums should have to be to told to watch a Kore-eda film before making a list. Hopeful Maborosi makes it, but not overly optimistic.

I think the host of the 70s and 2010s sent out PM reminders to vote, I haven't gotten a PM reminder this time around and I think that will be the deciding factor in the total number of ballots received. I guess we'll see though

He does praise Ozu, and you can see it (inspiration) in Still Walking, but Naruse man, it's (blinding obvious?) he was primarily inspired by Naruse and Ken Loach.

There are similarities in the two directors (Ozu and Naruse) so it's easy to see why folks would gravitate to the more well know and wider seen Ozu when reaching for comparisons.

Akira Kurosawa is oft quoted for described Naruse’s films as being like "a deep river with a quiet surface disguising a fast-raging current underneath". That's present in Kore-eda as well, whereas Ozu is a bit gentler, even in conflict - there's a lot boiling under the surface in Maborosi, a lot of that Naruse fast-raging under current.

...Oh, okay, I did send out reminders, but you've been pretty actively involved so you and others like you, who've recently posted about their lists, didn't get one...

To be clear, I wasn't "reaching for comparisons".
I was pointing out that the film I had just watched was a carbon copy of an Ozu.

In particular:

-the static camera, as pioneered by Ozu
-the 3d like depth on the shots as pioneered by Ozu
-most notably the composition of the shots which could not be more of a copy of Ozu without having everyone sitting at the dinner table in Kimonos and Yukutas
-the harbour scene is a carbon copy of the harbour scene in Floating Weeds
-the lone bicycle is a reference to the two bicycles in Late Spring
-strongly featuring trains
-focus on family

Good to hear! You'll probably get a rush of ballots on the last couple of days. I'll be sending mine in soon.

i'd have had my ballet submitted by now if i wasn't seeing a movie that has a good chance of making my list on the big screen on the 1st lol.

Granted Ozu's in there, and a lot of people zero in on that (Ebert's review) to the extent that this is ALL they focus on. Let's not forget that Ozu was himself influenced by Hollywood - his early films are peppered with nods to other people's features, movies posters show up on the walls and such - he even drew from "Make Way for Tomorrow" for "Tokyo Story". So, inspiration is drawing from inspiration and so on and so on. There's a long thread connection one source to the others which finds its way into Maborosi.

Mizo's in there (static camera, long angle camera shots), Hou's in there too.

The lone bicycle comes from "El Sur", as does the dark lighting, and the frame within a frame bits (specifically having a character look through a window), but he's not just doing shot by shot mimicry - inspiration - a favorite moment, yes, but with differences (I just watched the harbor scenes on both films, and saw similarities, but not a carbon copy)

That said, it is, in his words, a collection of scenes inspired by others. He's gathering favorite moments from a variety of sources.



And focus on family? Who hasn't done that, remember, the screenplay is an adaptation of a novel, the story elements come from that - the ubiquitous train that both foreshadows and calls back (brings back to memory) a key plot point, comes from Miyamoto, not Ozu.

I'll concede that Ozu is there - but it's wrong to deny what Naruse meant to him, you can feel it in interviews when he speaks of the man's pictures and how important they were to him and his own work.



Looking forward to seeing it, you've mentioned several titles, but I wonder which ones will make the final cut?

As host I should have done a better job of understanding that and posted rules reminders and such more frequently than I have. My only defense is that I'm new and had my own set of ideas on what I wanted this to be, primarily a theatrical features countdown (the no shorts rule for one, seems to be a sticky point, were shorts allowed in past threads? I don't know, but to me shorts and miniseries have their own identities, so I excluded them - I think a shorts Top 100 would be great, BTW)

I originally had this as one post, but let's break them in two

Just wanted to get it out there again, to make sure y'all go over the rules, refresh your memories of what's eligible or not, etc.

One thing I've learned, and I probably should have understood this long before, is that doing a prelim with a 2-week window is a lot different than a prelim month's in the making. Members might be coming into the thread only towards the end, and I certainly understand not wanting to plow through pages and pages of conversation.

As host I should have done a better job of understanding that and posted rules reminders and such more frequently than I have. My only defense is that I'm new and had my own set of ideas on what I wanted this to be, primarily a theatrical features countdown (the no shorts rule for one, seems to be a sticky point, were shorts allowed in past threads? I don't know, but to me shorts and miniseries have their own identities, so I excluded them - I think a shorts Top 100 would be great, BTW)

But I'm picking it up - I noted the tradition of posting 1-pointers near the start of a countdown and posting reveals 2 at a time, once a day (in previous experiences elsewhere, I've done 2 in the morn, 2 at night, for example). The PM reminders, etc.

You've been patient with me by not acting like gatekeepers (as some fandoms and social media sites can), letting me find my way, and gently making suggestions. I appreciate that.

So, thumbs up to y'all.

But I can't wait to get past the prelim and start the countdown and see what that's all about, what kind of discussions are had.

I thought we were in in a forum where the purpose is to discuss film? Weird, I was having an enjoyable debate, an exchange of ideas, I guess I didn't read the temperature of the conversation very well. Sorry I upset you.

Let's steer this back to the ballots and such, fair?

I'll PM you.

I for one never liked the idea of short films being allowed as in some of the decades countdowns we ended up with a number of Lonney Tunes cartoons which by no stretch of the imagination are movies.

59 ballots, covering 501 movies! Keep 'em coming in!