|
STAC Goat posted:11 hours or so left to vote (depending on my bedtime). We had 18 votes last week and we have 16 so far this week. If you've been holding out make sure to get your vote in. With 3 ways and single digit divides of votes every vote counts. I've been holding out because I've been so busy and stressed this week, I haven't watched a single movie, except to treat for myself with Promising Young Woman, which I can't vote for. I was hoping I'd be able to watch them tonight or tomorrow, but that's not gonna happen. With my written defenses, I'm obviously going with Under The Skin, but I really wanted to watch the giallo competing against it, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. I wanted to watch Noe's Carne and I Stand Alone, but with as stressed and tired as I've been, and not really knowing if it'd be as abrasive as other Noe films, I tried BB instead. I watched 20 minutes of Bloodstained Butterfly and had to turn it off because I just couldn't pay attention to it at all. It's not fair, but knowing Noe as a filmmaker from three other films, I feel confident voting for him for that reason. So, my votes'll be Under The Skin and I Stand Alone, which I still plan to watch tomorrow, along with The Red Queen and The Happening and maybe BB.
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2021 22:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 05:36 |
|
|
Real life is more important than movies, and I'm sorry you're feeling so much stress right now. If there's anything I can do to help, or if you need someone to talk to, I'm just a DM away.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 01:29
|
|
|
I've definitely been too busy to watch stuff, and thus will be defaulting to Under the Skin and I Stand Alone. Unless there's a silent majority seems like that's the trend. I wish Shyamalan had gotten a better shot.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 05:02
|
|
|
I’m still awake so voting is closed! And oh boy it was a close one! Well one of them was close. This one was never really ever in doubt. Night had one fan and the giallo had a couple but in the end Under The Skin dominated and advances Tarnop’s Predation into the tournament to face off with… well Tarnop’s other team the Agents Provocateur (Brian DePalma & Paul Verhoeven). That’s what happens when I randomly draw the field. So how did the other race go?  Nah, just kidding.  I was sooooo close to being free. Despite the vocal support for Noe’s I Stand Alone it proved polarizing as silently the votes kept rolling in for Bloodstained Butterfly until finally, just about 24 hours ago, it was winning by exactly one vote. Then I had to be fair and remind people to vote and suddenly we were tied. A perfect tie with 1 Charlie Band voter making all the difference in the world. And then the late rush came in and my spirit was crushed for a second time this week by Gasper Noe as he and Lars Von Tier advanced into the Field of 64. God damnit. In their path next is last year’s runner up Takashi Miike. I will spend the next two months dreading that week. Ok, last week of Play Ins! Next week we get into the Field of 64 but we have two more slots to fill. That also means this is the last week of 6 films and we move to 4 next week. Matchup presentation remains a work in progress. I’m getting there. Italy #16 Seed: (TrixRabbi's Andrzej Żuławski & Other Poles) Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s Mother Joan of the Angels vs. (Debbie Does Dagon's Silent Scream) Teinosuke Kinugasa’s A Page of Madness vs. (STAC Goat's In Russia Doodle Spook You) Svyatoslav Podgaevsky’s The Bride  Ken Russell’s Devils ran this thing last year so can the similarly themed Mother Joan of the Angels pull Poland into the Field of 64? Or does a legendary “lost” increase the representation of silent films in the field to 2 whole teams? Or does… actually that Russian movie sounds like a bomb and that was a totally random team I put together. But hey, maybe it will be a fun group watch? One of them gets the chance to go try and play spoiler against Dario Argento. I’m sure there’s some historical geography joke I’m leaving on the table here but I’m tired and dumb. A Page of Madness does appear to be on Youtube. Its a "lost" film from pre WWII Japan so is a crapshoot as to what actually is an "official" version. The Bride is on Amazon Prime, but its dubbed. I did find a russian version... out there. Mother Joan of Angels doesn't even seem available to rent, unfortunately. American Slasher #16 Seed: (STAC Goat's Block Party) Ernest R. Dickerson’s Bones vs. (Tarnop's Lost & Found) Erik Kristopher Myers’s Butterfly Kisses vs. Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds  Ok, Bones wasn’t my ideal draw in here but its a fun film that has some fans here. But so does Butterfly Kisses. That’s two low key Spook-A-Doodle favorites but both of them have to get past Spielberg. But no Jaws or Jurassic Park here so can he make it in with the back end of his pool and create that epic clash against John Carpenter? I think this on might have something to do with 9/11? Or will it be up to one of the teams to try and knock off the Master? Bones is on Tubitv for free. Butterfly Kisses is on TubiTV for free and Prime and Epix for not free. War of the Worlds is on Sling. Vote’s open until the 22nd. We get our first ranked matchups next Friday. Streams tonight, Monday, this weekend with other important charitable things. Have fun with it! Vote Bracket & Noms Spreadsheet Letterboxd List STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Jan 17, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 09:03
|
|
|
Sweet, the first set is all new to me.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 09:09
|
|
|
5/6 are new but it's been an age since I saw War of the Worlds so I think I'll rewatch that this week anyway. Luckily my last uni assignment is due at 5pm and I'm free as a bird the next few weeks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 11:53
|
|
|
Bones is a better draw than you think. It's a crowd pleaser and this is a great chance for some people to see it for the first time.
Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 15:07 on Jan 15, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:01
|
|
|
Bones owns
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:06
|
|
|
I haven’t seen Mother Joan of the Angels, though gotta admit its a little annoying that the point of that team was to get Zuwalski in the tournament and now he’s riding on the one add-on. Fingers crossed.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:23
|
|
|
It appears that The Bride and Butterfly Kisses are on Prime, so that's convenient.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:29
|
|
|
Maaaan, both my giallo teams voted out? Argento isn't gonna survive his first round either, maybe we at least get to draw some more gialloesque Fulci's. A dark day for Italy. Not seen any of the Italy #16 seeds, this is going to be interesting. Shrecknet posted:Bones owns Bones owns
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:33
|
|
|
married but discreet posted:Maaaan, both my giallo teams voted out? Argento isn't gonna survive his first round either, maybe we at least get to draw some more gialloesque Fulci's. A dark day for Italy. I've still got Bava in there as a #2 seed so I'm hopeful that he gets to have a nice little run. Although giallo seems to be a divisive subgenre, like even if Bava drew Blood and Black Lace I feel like there would be people who would vote against it. If Southbound beats Mario Bava I'm gonna flip out. You will see a meltdown.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:36
|
|
|
My dark secret is that I don't like Mario Bava that much. I'm definitely not going to vote for some of his movies on there. Both he and Argento are sitting on a minefield.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:43
|
|
|
married but discreet posted:My dark secret is that I don't like Mario Bava that much. I'm definitely not going to vote for some of his movies on there. Both he and Argento are sitting on a minefield. Yea I mean that's kinda the issue. People around here are really split on Italian horror in general. Some like Argento but don't like Bava. Some like more traditional giallo and some prefer Argento's more fantastical surreal films. Some don't like Italian horror altogether. So it's hard to get enough people behind one film to win a vote.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 15:51
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:If Southbound beats Mario Bava I'm gonna flip out. You will see a meltdown. As the person who put Southbound in the tourney I agree. Butterfly drat near pulled out a win. 12 hours earlier and it would still be alive and Noe/Von Trier might be gone. And it was the weaker of the two. The popular thing from the first tourney and this just seems to be the arthouse films that wallow in misery and pain and they both drew up against them. And I think Argento's got enough still in the tank to make a run if he gets the right draws. Basebf555 posted:It appears that The Bride and Butterfly Kisses are on Prime, so that's convenient. Ack, I forgot to do that. A Page of Madness does appear to be on Youtube. Its a "lost" film from pre WWII Japan so is a crapshoot as to what actually is an "official" version. The Bride is on Amazon Prime, but its dubbed. I did find a russian version... out there. Mother Joan of Angels doesn't even seem available to rent, unfortunately. Bones is on Tubitv for free. Butterfly Kisses is on TubiTV for free and Prime and Epix for not free. War of the Worlds is on Sling. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Jan 15, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 16:10
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:Ack, I forgot to do that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 16:29
|
|
|
Sound advice.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 16:33
|
|
|
 Week 3 Bracketology Streams!  Only on the CineD Discord All times are in EST and may not reflect reality.  Friday, January 15th 1900 Mother Joan of the Angels 2100 A Page of Madness 2220 The Bride  Monday, January 18th 1900 Butterfly Kisses 2040 Bones 2225 War of the Worlds And if anyone needs anything re-streamed next week, feel free to let me know. I'm always happy to help.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2021 18:48
|
|
|
Bones is loving awesome.
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2021 04:40
|
|
|
 For Your Consideration: Bones This isn't the first time I've praised Bones here, and my sense is that a decent number of folks have re-discovered it in the past few years. Hard to believe that the film will be 20 years old soon, but unfortunately as time has gone by it's been mostly remembered as the "Snoop Dogg horror movie". There's a certain connotation to that, as if Snoop's presence is a gimmick, or that the film itself is nothing more than a vehicle for his music career. Nothing could be further from the truth, and all it takes to realize that is a quick glance at the credits. People tend to forget that Bones is directed by Ernest Dickerson, who really is an important artist in the history of black filmmakers. Also the director of Demon Knight, a film that, aside from just being a great movie, is celebrated for it's choice of Jada Pinkett-Smith as the main protagonist. Dickerson's debut film, Juice, is an important piece of cinema for it's time that too often gets overlooked today. His career goes way beyond just directing though; Dickerson shot several of Spike Lee's essential films including Do The Right Thing and Malcom X. So when you look at the choice of Dickerson as director, and for his part, the choice that Dickerson made in deciding to work on this project with Snoop Dogg, you know immediately that this is no joke. This is a legit piece of horror that is affecting, stylish, thought provoking, and a hell of a lot of fun all at the same time. Looking at some of the negative reviews of the film at the time of it's release, a common criticism was that it's not original, it's too derivative. But 20 years on, the love for the genre on display is obvious to anyone who sees the film. Is it a bit of a mish-mash of things you've probably seen in other movies? Sure, but when you combine those things with the unique presence of Snoop Dogg, a well-rounded supporting cast including Pam Grier, and the vision of Dickerson, you've got something that has to be one of the more underrated horrors of the 21st century. The themes are audacious for 2001, and the lack of subtlety actually works very well because obviously these issues have only become more and more relevant as time went on. Jimmy Bones is a beloved figure in his community, and death comes at the hands of corrupt cops who are helping to poison that community with drugs. Years later, there is an attempt to rehabilitate the neighborhood by renovating Jimmy Bone's house and turning it into a thriving business. But the betrayal of Bones can't be buried forever and for the neighborhood to move on his spirit has to be reckoned with once and for all. It's a story about trying to move forward without reconciling with the past, and the problems that can arise from that. It's something that seems to be a never-ending conflict in our country; that we want so badly to leave the past behind but without having to properly face up to it. And that will never work, the wounds continue to fester and create new horrors. But like I said before, the movie is also a lot of fun. Snoop as a horror icon(I hesitate to call him a villain) is every bit as fun as you might imagine, and every scene has some sort of weird happening that makes it memorable. This isn't a slasher where people just get cut up, there's a ton of imagination in this film and I can't see how anyone would be bored watching it. If there's one criticism, it's that Bones was made in 2001, and so it has some of the flaws you might expect for a film with special effects in 2001. But I think it's great just as it is, I wouldn't want a version of Bones with more restraint, or less imagination. Full Disclosure: I haven't yet seen Butterfly Kisses. But I would ask everyone to at least give Bones strong consideration because it represents everything that's good and important about the horror genre.   
Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jan 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2021 17:18
|
|
|
I love the spooky house/mansion in Bones.
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2021 18:47
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:Dickerson's debut film, Juiced, is an important piece of cinema for it's time that too often gets overlooked today. His career goes way beyond just directing though; Dickerson shot several of Spike Lee's essential films including Do The Right Thing and Malcom X. And yeah, I kind of downplayed Bones and set the wrong pace because its never fully clicked for me. But part of that is probably expectations and just the era of horror. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jan 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2021 21:20
|
|
|
So far I've watched Bones and Butterfly Kisses. I haven't seen War of the Worlds, so maybe that'll secretly be a movie I like despite the criticisms against it, but so far Bones is taking it on that bracket. Spoilers follow because it's too much information to hide behind black bars, and we're all supposed to be watching these and discussing them. Bones A haunted house film where the vengeful ghost is Snoop Dogg. I saw the box art for this film at the video rental store all the time. It's an evocative cover! But "a horror movie with Snoop Dogg can't be good", a reputation this movie will always be hard-pressed to shake. But it's good! I really don't have much to add that Basebf555 hasn't already said. There's a lot of interesting themes in Bones. A black vengeful ghost story rules, especially when it deals with the old school gangster that is wiped out by the next generation that ushered in crack. There's a pointed line where Snoop Dogg--er, Bones--says that what he does is illegal, but it also protects the community and helps the community in ways, whereas the younger gangsters want to turn the community into parasites for drugs and profit off of the damages, while a white cop oversees it. There's also an interesting through-line about the dangers of older generations not teaching younger generations, because they are ashamed of their struggles and mistakes. An interesting theme, since the two timeframes are Nixon's America and Bush's America. I will say, the film's flaws are even charming! The soundtrack, the clothes and the CGI are a little dated, but it feels more like a timecapsule of a bygone era than an embarrassment of choices. Butterfly Kisses I wrote, with both sarcasm and sincerity, that this is the F For Fake of found footage films about a cryptid. Usually these suck, like Incident at Loch Ness, or the interesting-but-never-needs-to-be-revisited Willow Creek. Well, sometimes they're good, like Grave Encounters! There's nothing wrong with "found footage movie about found footage movies" if you've got a compelling cast of characters and you deliver the goods on spooky moments without relying on jump scares. I think this film's greatest strengths are when it's poking holes into it's own premise, and questioning the credulity of all of the characters involved. It all kinda falls flat by the end, where we get pretty objective information that everything's real. This also falls victimhood to an issue with a lot of Found Footage films. Filmmakers, if you want to made a FF movie, watch some actual documentaries first. The reason Christopher Guest movies work so well is because he understands that documentaries are very often character studies of insane/ridiculous/interesting people with strong personalities. Grey Gardens, American Movie, all of Errol Morris's films, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Cropsey, The Act of Killing...The list goes on an on! Low budget FF films cast unknown actors to help sell the film, but this film doesn't deliver on the unique personalities that are inherent to the documentary genre. Which is a bit of a problem with Butterfly Kisses, because it is so directly related to one of the plots that the characters even discuss it. Gavin York, the main character for the majority of the focus, a wedding videographer who wants to be a filmmaker and is Finding the Footage, is a boring guy. I specifically mean the character and not the actor, who I think did fine. The final act of the film really tries to dig into how his passion for the project has ruined his life without providing a compelling end for himself, his project, or the filmmakers making the movie about him. They even ask the filmmaker, Erik Myers, the actual actual filmmaker who plays himself, "Why are you doing this?" And he answers "Because he's an interesting guy." Where is that characterization in the film? Here's an example for those who have seen American Movie, which is a documentary about a loveable loser defying common sense and the odds stacked against him to make a horror movie. Mark of American movie is, to put it rather bluntly, not the best father. His kids aren't his priority, but he loves them, and when he remembers he's a father, he does an okay job at it. There is a scene where Mark reads through his bills, explaining his massive debts, only to find out he's been approved for a new credit card, which he considers a triumph. He talks to his kids and plays with them, and then leaves them, explaining how their mom would like to be with him, but he can't be with her or his kids because he has to make his movie. This plays out completely naturally, fly-on-the-wall. There is a scene later where Mark decides he can spend time with his kids while editing his film. They sit in an editing booth and he has them help him a little, he talks them through the process of editing a movie, he shows them film reels and the splicing machine. When they get tired, they get in their sleeping bags and all sleep on the floor together in the editing booth. It's like a sleepover with dad at work. In Butterfly Kisses, Gavin is supposed to be characterized like Mark, as a deadbeat dad. There is a scene where he tries to talk to his son, but his son is too afraid to talk in front of the camera. Gavin insists the cameras have to be there because it's documenting such an important project. We never see his son again. Gavin's wife calls him into the kitchen and she cajoles him for bringing the camera crew to the house. Again he defends his narcissism. The scene ends abruptly. Later we find out that Gavin's wife left him over the project and terrible financial risks Gavin has inflicted on the family for his failed project. There is a scene where he cries and the filmmaker, Erik, gives him a hug. It is the most problematic scene in the film, because absolutely none of it rings true. Again, not because of the acting (which, admittedly, isn't great; Gavin's crying doesn't feel sincere), but because Gavin isn't real. Not in the context of a person who is "interesting" enough to have a documentary about him. If you say, well, maybe it's an issue with run-time? Butterfly Kisses is a tight 91 minute film with three separate plots about three separate filmmakers: Sophia & Feldman, Gavin, and then Erik Myers. American Movie, about Mark and the various people trying to help him make his movie, is 107 minutes. It's an incredibly tight movie, despite being 15 minutes longer, because that 15 minutes is characterization about Mark and his friends and his family. I know nothing about Sophia & Feldman other than they want to be successful filmmakers enough that they would compromise the truth. Gavin is the most fleshed out, and his inability to be taken seriously and called a fake despite truly believing that the legend of Peeping Tom is real is genuinely good and interesting, but Gavin himself doesn't feel fleshed out. Erik Myers is the worst of it, because he only really becomes a character near the end of the film, in the final act. My fix for this? Erik needs to break the 4th wall earlier in Act 1, and his plot of trying to get a good movie out of Gavin's project needs to be emphasized more. The ending feels flat because Erik is flat. If you don't have budget, you gotta give your actors room to grow the characters. You gotta have characters! That's what we're here for! I do think the central mystery of Peeping Tom is good and spooky. It could be a little better, a little scarier, not as spelled out. Weirder, maybe. I think that this is a perfectly fine FF movie, but it's got so much potential and so little substance to give it life outside of it's premises.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 00:02
|
|
|
Man, Bones DOES rock. I dunno why I doubted it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 04:21
|
|
|
We told you dawg, we told you about the BONES
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 04:24
|
|
|
American Slasher #16 Seed: (STAC Goat's Block Party) Ernest R. Dickerson’s Bones vs. (Tarnop's Lost & Found) Erik Kristopher Myers’s Butterfly Kisses vs. Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds I like parts of Butterfly Kisses. I like the found footage horror at its core and I like some of the meta stuff about the pushy no talent trying to make something of it while everyone dismisses it as derivative. The problem is I don't think the film really knows where to go from there. It wants its cake and to eat it to. It wants to dump on found footage a bit, but its also making a found footage film. And its making a pretty solid one. But there's this 3rd level of documentarians who exist to make all of this make sense and offer the criticism of the genre but then when you get to the end of the film and they're debating the moral implications of the film (inexplicably on camera because congrats, you've become what you hate) they literally shrug. This feels a bit like Blair Witch 2 to me and the sort of praise I've seen put on that or other films that take shots at found footage (although its MUCH better than that film). I think if you don't like found footage or if you have some of the same problems with it that this movie voices then this might click a little more with you. But I just think they wanted to play both sides and it didn't really work. Its a solid and enjoyable enough film, it just doesn't come together for me in the end. Bones was WAY better than I remembered. I expected it to be a lot cheesier and badly aged but its really one of the better looking and feeling films of that era. I think there's an authenticity to its settings, both the early 2000s one and the 70s one, and that makes them hold firm. Snoop isn't a good actor by any means but he's asked to deliver one liners and look cool and he can do that no problem. There's lots of crazy and funky stuff and Dickerson basically just made a Fulci film and did it well. And there's that whole social undercurrent about responsibility to your community and generations, gentrification, crack, etc. Its no surprise from the director of Juice and I don't think he hits it TOO hard. But I think it gives the film a little substance under a;; that style. And its got a LOT of style. Its funny, its charming, its cool as hell, and its got all the bright red blood, maggots, and crazy rear end supernatural developments you could ask for from Fulci, Argento, or whoever. War of the Worlds left me cold. The first act is very good. Great even. Its Steven Spielberg. Of course h can make a great alien invasion film. But where it works I think is as a loose collection of big action/devastation scenes. As a story it was a big wet fart to me. The characters suck and the emotional link I had ith the film was only salvaged by Dakota Fanning who is absolutely remarkable. The themes and (not at all sub)text of the film is boring and derivative stuff about boys running off to war and people losing perspective in the face of an enemy. That's not a 9/11 thing, that's an entirety of human history thing. If I've seen one caravan of human refugees fleeing an alien invasion I've seen like every single alien invasion film and tv show. And man I hated that ending. I just hated that ending. I really hated that ending. As a special effects and stunt show, you can't beat Spielberg. If that stuff does more for you than it does for me, I can see this really working for you. I need story and charactrs and satisfying resolution and this gave me none of that. I would have probably hated it if not for Fanning. Or at least dozed off and forgotten what happened. So I'm voting for Bones. Which is my team. But I really did start this night thinking Bones was the worst film and that either of the other two could win me over. Now I feel like it should win. It felt like the most complete film that accomplished what it set out o do and worked on more than one level. There's plenty I like about the other two films, but I think they're both pretty clearly flawed in key ways. Maybe that doesn't overwhelm the good for you and I respect that, but for me it makes this vote easy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 07:38
|
|
|
Is Grave Encounters on any team? Cuz Butterfly Kisses just made me really want to watch Grave Encounters again.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 14:54
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:
My favorite story about Bones was that Snoop got all bashful about his kiss with Pam Grier since she was an early crush of his. Sorry I missed out on the showings. I'm in that waiting forever on the results of my Covid test and my head's not in the proper place. I do agree that Butterfly Kisses did have it's moments, but it just doesn't get a vote from me. With War of the Worlds, it was too big budget in feel for me if that makes sense. The George Pal one's more to my tastes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 17:28
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:Is Grave Encounters on any team? Cuz Butterfly Kisses just made me really want to watch Grave Encounters again. It was on my Digital Interference team but they didn't make the cut.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 20:48
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:It was on my Digital Interference team but they didn't make the cut. drat. At least my favorite FF movie is still in play, with Harmony Korine's "Trash Humpers" on Team Rule Breaker.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 20:51
|
|
|
The Bride - Incredibly mediocre. Typical modern ghost story. A couple interesting things and a decent spooky house though. Mother Joan of Angels - A good movie about struggling with faith with some astounding photography. A Page of Madness - This knocked my socks off. Admittedly, I went to read its wiki to fully understand the story, but the visuals delightful from start to finish. I also thought it was amazing how it didn't feel like a film from the 1920s, the editing and creative visuals felt much newer than a film that old. It works really well even though it felt like they didnt have much to work with. second group War of the Worlds - Spielberg sci-fi based on the classic. Good film, on a technical level it's the best of the lot this round. Bones - Snoop Dogg killin it. One of my favorite spooky mansions, tons of ambition, great direction. Everything you'd want from a spooky movie. The last scene feels a bit extraneous imo, but I wouldn't knock it much for that. The cast is fun and Snoop makes a great antagonist in this. Butterfly Kisses - A top tier FF movie. Multiple levels of fake documentary and found footage creating a fun meta feel without winking to the audience about its meta level. I think all 3 parts work, and unlike some of my fellow posters I found Gavin to be incredibly sad. He's definitely a frustrating figure, with opportunities to correct course, but you can feel his obsession growing as more and more people refuse to believe what he's presenting. It's not quite on the level of a tragedy, but his struggle to be taken seriously and to get out of a unfulfilling career is far too relatable. I am voting for A Page of Madness and Butterfly Kisses. Please do the same. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2021 21:06
|
|
|
Mother Joan of the Angels As I find the theme of crises of faith endlessly fascinating, I was really primed to enjoy this haunting, atmospheric film dripping with repressed sexuality and the exalting high of giving in to temptation. The first half, in particular, was faultless, amazing even. However, the film does not quite manage to sustain the slow-creeping menace and simmering lust it established at the beginning. A Page of Madness Beautiful, captivating and hypnotic. I really have to echo whoever said this felt impressively modern. It's probably the most well constructed silent film of the era that I've seen. However, it did not have the emotional impact that I was hoping it would have, and the ending felt a little unsatisfying. The Bride There is nothing particularly noteworthy about it at all. Vote: It was a tough choice between MJofA and APoM, but my vote goes to Mother Joan of the Angels since it gave me chills. It is also a spite vote against Deb for spamming the spit girl in Discord so much. ------ Butterfly Kisses I suppose I'm not the biggest fan of found-footage/urban legend flicks. I can't even think of one that I thought was more than just serviceable (maybe REC?). This is one falls within that category as well. It does some clever things with the genre, I'll give it that. Bones This was entertaining beyond my wildest expectations. And, while shallow, I appreciated the little socioeconomic nods in the storyline. War of the Worlds At some point, this kind of started to feel like I was watching a playthrough of an extended quick-time event. By the last act, I was kind of already bored. The ending just amplified it. Vote: It's gotta be Bones, baby!
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2021 04:47
|
|
|
Italy #16 Seed: (TrixRabbi's Andrzej Żuławski & Other Poles) Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s Mother Joan of the Angels vs. (Debbie Does Dagon's Silent Scream) Teinosuke Kinugasa’s A Page of Madness vs. (STAC Goat's In Russia Doodle Spook You) Svyatoslav Podgaevsky’s The Bride I feel an unjustifiable defensiveness for The Bride. Maybe because its my team. Maybe because I just don't have the same problem with these modern polished films that so many others have and kind of just see a mediocre modern film the same way I see a mediocre giallo or Hammer or whatever. But whatever it is this film is still at best "mediocre". There's some good visuals in there and I stayed engaged the entire way despite the fairly incoherent story and comical subtitles. And certainly the subtitles helped the experience a bit. I was hoping to watch the dubbed version just to contrast and compare but its been 4 days and time crunch. Either way it probably wasn't gonna save this thing or anything. It was better than I expected going in, but it still wasn't good. I think Mother Joan of the Angels might suffer unfairly by the obvious comparison to The Devils upstaging it but I also think I might enjoy Mother more. Joan is a much more sympathetic focus than Oliver Reed's corrupt, arrogant narcissist. Devils attacks the the Church's flaws and oppressions but it does so from the perspective of one of those abusers who's basically just mad the other abusers are stepping on his tails. So I don't care. Lucyna Winnicka is a much more compelling lead for me. Someone who might have lost it or might really think she's possessed but probably just reached the natural breaking point of what happens when a system of people tell you you're wrong and sinful and evil for feeling something outside their parameters of what was right. When you believe them truly then what choice do you have but to see yourself as a sinner? And if you can't shake that then it must truly be the work of the devil. So I think the key part of it is when she asks the priest to make her a saint or leave her to possession. Salvation or damnation. Those are the options. If he can't purify her than just leave her alone to just embrace the damnation of what is basically just truth to self. Where the film missteps is in ending with the priest. I get it. He suffers the same basic path on FF but he's less interesting and the final snap isn't show so doesn't really resonate. But the ending place works for me. He's damned himself, the other nun has betrayed her vows and has no idea where to go, and Mother Joan's still trapped in the same prison she's been in the whole time, whether its made with bars or vows. I'll echo whatever everyone else has said about A Page of Madness. Its incredibly well made and very modern in its approach. Many of those films feel like stage plays put to film but this feels like a film. And its a visually distinctive film (and the Eastman/TCM score is very distinctive as well, although I have no idea if that's original). But its kind of an incoherent film to me, even with a reading of the plot on Wikipedia. I mean, I can sorta follow it it. Its like a picture you can't identify but then someone tells you what its supposed to be and yeah... ok... I can kinda see it. But I wasn't engaged with it and it didn't leave a lot of impact on me. I appreciate it on an intellectual/artistical level but I don't feel it. So I think I'm voting Mother Joan. In the end substance will get me over style 4 out of 5 times. Only 2 more days to vote and we've only got about half the field as the last two weeks. Vote's open until Jan 22nd. Either 3 AM EST or whenever I wake up, depending on sleep schedule.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2021 06:00
|
|
|
I wish I had something new or interesting to say about these films but I can't add much to the posts made already. Just read Machete Zombie's post again, my feelings are basically the same
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2021 14:50
|
|
|
Less than a day to vote. We've had a lower turnout this week which is a shame since this has easily been the most well received field of movies we've had so far. But hey, life takes time. But you've got another 16 hours or so. I'll put up the first set of actual Field of 64 matchups sometime after 3 AM EST. Until then voting is open and with no clear favorites emerging this week every votes surely counts.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2021 15:42
|
|
|
I still gotta watch A Page of Madness tonight, then I'll make my decisions. Here's what I got written up so far: Butterfly Kisses Very solid found footage with a neat gimmick and nice spookadoodle design. I enjoyed the increasingly less subtle appearances of the spook and honestly I have nothing bad to say about it whatsoever. It just doesn’t compare to the other two movies. War of the Worlds I loved it when it came out, and it’s still an excellent movie about 911 and the early 2000s. There’s so many absolutely memorable and haunting scenes packed into that movie, Tom Cruise is an excellent terrible dad, his conflict with Goku is well portrayed, and Dakota Fanning is absolutely impressive. The scene with her in the car slowly panicking is amazing. The ending doesn’t bother me and neither does Goku running off to die in a stupid war – that’s literally what the movie is about, that’s not even subtext. The movie suffers a bit from being too good in the first half, so once they end up in the basement it just doesn’t compare so it leaves one a bit disappointed in the film overall. Still, really liked it. Bones Bones owns. An unashamed homage to Italian horror that still does its own thing in the much maligned subgenre of ‘hood horror. It’s soooo refreshing to see a movie like that lean into craziness without turning to the audience and winking. So what if the sets for the freaking city of the dead or the props for the demonic flesh mass look a bit fake? gently caress you if you mind. They’re going for broke. It’s really great how the movie starts absolutely generic but just keeps going and going. I was gonna say 2001 was an abysmal year for American movie horror and the fact that this flopped proves something, but turns out this was also the year of Dagon and Mulholland Drive so I got nothing. Either way, I’m almost certainly going to vote for Bones, but it’s a tight one. The Bride Well, that’s not the one I’ll vote for. Quite sad when you’re watching a horror movie and can’t even tell if what you just saw was supposed to be a jump scare or not. Also I wish I’d seen it with wonky subs, because those dubs are just absolutely awful. To mention something that I liked: My brief impression at the beginning that the movie would be about a husband trying to resurrect his dead wife with painted on eyes, getting into wacky Evil Dead style hijinks as a demon possesses her corpse. Unfortunately it was not that. Mother Joan of the Angels: Honestly, not the slam dunk I was hoping it would be. There are a lot of scenes that are fantastic individually, but they don’t come together for me to make a fantastic whole. The last act has several scenes that would have been perfect to end the movie with, but it keeps going and going and then the actual ending scene falls flat. The middle part just drags on for me. There’s some interesting stuff in the beginning, and Mother Joan does a lot of really good acting overall. What I really like is that the movie has many scenes of the actors blatantly looking into the camera/audience, and then later in the movie the camera sometimes whips around and the audience is seeing through the eyes of the actor/camera, which I found absolutely brilliant. I think that alone could make me vote for Mother Joan. married but discreet fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jan 26, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2021 16:37
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:Less than a day to vote. We've had a lower turnout this week which is a shame since this has easily been the most well received field of movies we've had so far. But hey, life takes time. But you've got another 16 hours or so. I'll put up the first set of actual Field of 64 matchups sometime after 3 AM EST. Until then voting is open and with no clear favorites emerging this week every votes surely counts. I wouldn't worry about it, turnout is gonna naturally fluctuate. There's been a LOT of poo poo going on in the past 10 days or so. And not just the obvious political stuff, the NFL had it's playoffs and it was multiple games each day on Saturday and Sunday. It's gonna be much easier for me to fit movies in on the weekends now that that's mostly over with.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2021 16:44
|
|
|
And I still haven't voted. I'm probably always going to wait until Thursday evening to put in my votes, unless I know for sure I've seen every move in contention.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2021 16:49
|
|
|
I'm probably just gonna nervously remind people every Thursday. I figure that's useful. People get busy and it takes away to establish a routine. But yeah, I didn't mean to make that seem nervous or pushy. People should engage with this however they're capable or comfortable with it. I'll keep it going either way.married but discreet posted:The Bride Well, that’s not the one I’ll vote for. Quite sad when you’re watching a horror movie and can’t even tell if what you just saw was supposed to be a jump scare or not. Also I wish I’d seen it with wonky subs, because those dubs are just absolutely awful. To mention something that I liked: My brief impression at the beginning that the movie would be about a husband trying to resurrect his dead wife with painted on eyes, getting into wacky Evil Dead style hijinks as a demon possesses her corpse. Unfortunately it was not that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2021 17:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 05:36 |
|
|
A Page Of Madness - This was neat to see and I'm glad I did see it. However, having to look up the plot on wikipedia to follow along hurt it a little bit. But leaving plot aside, for such an early movie the way the camera was used was fantastic and they came up with some really artistic and beautiful and jarring images. I'll probably see this again at some point, maybe a double feature with Cabinet Of Dr Caligari might be a fun rainy afternoon. The Bride - Fairly ho-hum. Some fun stuff but I felt like the goals of the mother were not well understood - she seemed to be whatever menace was necessary for the current scene to happen. Mother Joan Of Angels - This was extremely my jam. Gorgeous, intense. I haven't seen The Devils yet (!) so I can't compare it to that, but if such a comparison is being made then I really need to fix that right away. But this was great. Mother Joan gets my vote for this set. -- Butterfly Kisses - It was neat to see a found footage movie taking shots at found footage movies. The shift in motivation at the end was maybe too abrupt, but as a meta-bit it seemed appropriate for the movie-within-a-movie to go completely up it's own rear end like that. I may foist this on some Friday night viewers one week, they'll like the guessing. War Of The Worlds - Outside of the very dumb hoo-rah last scenes, this actually was more entertaining than I remember. It gets into the invasion way quicker than I remembered and never really lets up. It's also fun to see Tom Cruise be a dick. With this much distance, the 9/11 theme was also distant, and we're left with a decent popcorn flick. Bones - What else is there to say? This rocks and packs a hell of a lot more fun into the movie than maybe it should. Bones gets my vote from this set, easily.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2021 06:19
|
|
