General Discussion : MOM September 2010

[Hopscotch]

Here's another one you could add to the list. I've heard nothing about it but it's unknown and seems promising.

Alright, the ratings look good. I used it to replace Poil de Carotte as I doubt anyone was going to vote for it.


Art/Acclaimed: you can vote for up to five
Street Angel (1928) 3
Gentleman Jim (1942) 1
Went the Day Well? (1942) 2
Angels One Five (1952)
Night Train (1959) 2
The Joke (1969) 1
Rembetiko (1983) 1
A Very British Coup (1988) 1
Man of the Century (1999)
Streetsweeper (2007) 3

B-Movie/Niche Genre: you can vote for up to five
The Return of Dr. X (1939) 2
Caged (1950) 2
A Blueprint for Murder (1953) 2
Man in the Attic (1953) 1
Mesa of Lost Women (1953) 2
Madhumati (1958) 1
Day of the Outlaw (1959) 3
Grand Slam (1967) 3
100 Monsters (1968) 4
Goyokin (1969) 2

Short Film: you can vote for up to five
Rainbow Dance (1936)
The Philips Broadcast of 1938 (1938) 2
Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940) 3
Jammin the Blues (1944) 3
The Caught the Ferry (1948) 1
Sirene (1968) 3
Barres (1984) 2
Copy Shop (2001) 1
Two Cars, One Night (2003)
Over Time (2005) 1

[Gregzilla]

I'll throw in for:

The Return of Dr. X (1939)
Caged (1950)

And also Recommed/Vote for:
Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
100 Monsters (1968) - Good Stuff, Still gotta see the other Yokais

And also:

Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940)


I know I don't partipate in this in a very significant way, But I have enjoyed the movies so far. Looking over the MoM collection, There has only been 1 or 2 real stinkers in the bunch.


Now if I could only see the redacted spoilers I can find out what the crow means!

[paulofilmo]

About the crow in My Childhood:

[spoiler]I figured it was the perfect representation of all of the movies themes, which I took to be prison, death, and freedom. Birds generally represent a freedom of spirit, but a morbid bird like the crow evokes more of a bleakness. When Jamie's brother took the crow from the grandmother I assumed it to be sort of a symbol of how she saw and held onto the tragedy of Jamie's mother, her daughter, and the madness she and everyone else was stuck in. Really, the three themes are all over the place throughout the movie (there's war, POW, animal murder or whatever, mental institutions), and the ending really seemed to capture it all beautifully with Jamie's "suicide" (I fell for it). He was breaking free from his prison like existence.[/spoiler]

I should definitely ask more questions.
Didn't you edit out a previous response? It's interesting to see how your ideas have developed.

Again, very helpful. Together, I think you've grokked it.

[Hopscotch]

About the crow in My Childhood:

[spoiler]I figured it was the perfect representation of all of the movies themes, which I took to be prison, death, and freedom. Birds generally represent a freedom of spirit, but a morbid bird like the crow evokes more of a bleakness. When Jamie's brother took the crow from the grandmother I assumed it to be sort of a symbol of how she saw and held onto the tragedy of Jamie's mother, her daughter, and the madness she and everyone else was stuck in. Really, the three themes are all over the place throughout the movie (there's war, POW, animal murder or whatever, mental institutions), and the ending really seemed to capture it all beautifully with Jamie's "suicide" (I fell for it). He was breaking free from his prison like existence.[/spoiler]

I should definitely ask more questions.
Didn't you edit out a previous response? It's interesting to see how your ideas have developed.

Again, very helpful. Together, I think you've grokked it.

Yeah, I deleted my first response to the question . I thought it was stupid.

[TheDenizen]

I'm going to watch those Yokai movies whether they get voted for or not Apparently there's 3 in the series.

[Hopscotch]

Just finished Jana Aranya, and there's just no words. I'm completely blown away! Anyways, last call for votes; actually it will be like 18 hours until it's finalized, but whatever... it's less than a day.

MOM Update: 16 participants (paulofilmo is the sixteenth), 25 ratings

My Childhood: avg MOM tier 6.75
Risselada - 35 (T1)
Gregzilla - 60 (T6)
The Denizen - 70 (T6)
mini-review: Some beautiful photography and a handful of wonderful visual moments, but the tone is so relentlessly bleak and spare that it's hard to recommend as entertainment. Plus that German guy Helmut was really creepy.
astrakhan - 77 (T6)
mini-review: Minimalistic, naturalistic, well-made, insightful, a little poignant. It's length is awkward and the story doesn't feel completely rounded. Still, an impressive piece of film-making.
KGB - 76 (T7)
mini-review: A heartbreaking little film (barely 45-minutes long); Bill Douglas' directorial debut is a semi-autobiographic, competent film that should be better known. This reminded me a lot of Ken Loach, and although Loach did it before, the amount of dedication and sacrifice put into this film is just amazing. It is, though, a little lifeless (though it probably has been intended to be so), but an overall haunting experience.
Hopscotch - 87 (T8)
mini-review: Frustration, anger, and despair with a beautiful finale. "Smile Jamie."
MadcapLaughs - 95 (T10)
mini-review: A comment a friend said that I rather like; "A kind of painful love surrounds even some of the most unlikeable of characters."
JerryJ - 100 (T10)

Jana Aranya: avg MOM tier 9.17
JooJoo - 7 (T7)
Gregzilla - 70 (T9)
TheDenizen - 85 (T9)
mini-review: Beautifully filmed drama about what a man is willing to do for success. The scenes of everyday life in Calcutta are fascinating and the performance of the lead actor is engaging. The ending peters out a little bit, though.
PerryStroika - 83 (T10)
KGB - 91 (T10)
mini-review: The way Ray masters the narrative here could easily put to shame all the western cinema elitists; it's a perfectly well crafted film, a wonderful story about the loss of traditions and honesty in the everchanging, fast-growing modern world. It's incredible how Ray's stories are always well rooted in the indian culture and society where they take place, and yet manage to be so universal. It has a comic tone despite being quite bleak, but it is a marevelous film full of colorful characters.
Hopscotch - 100 (T10)
mini-review: Left devastated by Ray's carefully crafted beauty and forlorn brilliance, like an elegy to virtue, the reality displayed is both remarkable and upsetting.

Drunken Wutang: avg MOM tier 4
KGB - 10 (T1)
mini-review: I do not know why this film involves a giant, Shaolin Watermelon Monster; nevertheless I have no doubt in my mind that it will haunt and torment me to the very day I die.
TheDenizen - 55 (T4)
mini-review: Wacky Yuen clan kung fu comedy (though I use the word comedy in the loosest sense possible) about a mischievous drunken Taoist monk who teams up with a young fighter to defeat the evil Old Devil and his priestess accomplice. Nonstop ridiculous hijnx and undercranked fights with novelty weapons, including a few battles against what can only be described as a giant cock-eating bowling ball with legs and antennae. Pretty stupid and weird, but it has a few decent fights.
edrak - 60 (T5)
mini-review: First 20 minutes are great - it's inventive and ridiculous at the same time. And tit-fondling dick-eating monster is one the weirdest things ever put on celuloid. But then it runs out of steam and recycles the same jokes and action scenes over and over again.
ShogunRua - 62 (T6)
mini-review: An absolutely insane, perverted, sometimes distasteful low budget kung fu comedy. Certain jokes are great, especially during the first 20 minutes, as edkrak noted, while others are duds. For instance, the funeral ritual scene was plain awful. The fights themselves are quite good, so overall, it's moderately entertaining.

Tyger: avg MOM tier 5.125
sengir - 75 (T3)
ShogunRua - 52 (T5)
mini-review: Really liked the final image, but the shadowed humans holding up the tyger killed my suspension of disbelief, and that's vital in an experimental animation short like this. Not bad, but not mindblowing either.
KGB - 61 (T5)
mini-review: An interesting experience that used different animation techniques to create a vivid, colorful atmosphere, but the result is not as good as it could have been. It's a nice short to waste the few minutes it lasts, but it's easily forgettable.
monclivie - 70 (T5)
Hopscotch - 74 (T5)
mini-review: The mixture of techniques was very interesting, but the shadow puppeteers seemed a lot cooler in my head than they actually were on screen. Despite that, it's still a pretty picture.
OMGFridge - 60 (T6)
mini-review: I agree with ShogunRua, the shadows are distracting and this short would of been MUCH better without them. Still its a visually creative piece that holds your attention.
Rufam - 62 (T6)
TheDenizen - 70 (T6)
mini-review: Wow, that huge tiger puppet was pretty sweet. I think it's cool to see people still using the techniques of Japanese bunraku, the shadowed figures manipulating the Tiger didn't detract from the experience at all for me. The football fans rising out of the stadium as a cloud of insects was an awesome moment.

[KGB]

Here's my votes:

Art/Acclaimed:
Gentleman Jim (1942)
Night Train (1959)
A Very British Coup (1988)
Streetsweeper (2007)

B-Movie/Niche Genre:
Day of the Outlaw (1959)
Grand Slam (1967)
100 Monsters (1968)

Short Film:
The Philips Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
Jammin the Blues (1944)
Barres (1984)
Copy Shop (2001)
Over Time (2005)

[Hopscotch]

Though there are multiple ties, I'm going to go ahead and add them all once again because of the great variety it represents and the fact that it's mostly shorts. For self-limiting purposes though I'm going to set a limit of two on each of the feature categories and a make the max of short films three to keep from getting out of hand.

Art/Acclaimed: Street Angel and Streetsweeper
B-Movie/Niche Genre: 100 Monsters
Short Films: Experiments in the Revival of Organisms, Jammin' the Blues, and Sirene

[ShogunRua]

I swear people are masochists for choosing a sentimental silent film from the 20s over something like the 50's classic "Day of the Outlaw".

[Hopscotch]

I swear people are masochists for choosing a sentimental silent film from the 20s over something like the 50's classic "Day of the Outlaw".

The two films you mentioned weren't even in the same category, and if they had been in it actually would've been a tie. In response to your "masochist" statement, some people happen to enjoy sentimental old movies (me), just as there are those who dislike and avoid westerns (not me).