Author Topic: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob  (Read 19554 times)

oldkid

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #40 on: November 09, 2018, 10:32:53 AM »
Double dipping in the movie club!

Daisies
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #41 on: November 09, 2018, 11:27:09 AM »
There is a bit of The Secret Garden in Pan's Labyrinth so that's a fitting quote.

Sandy

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #42 on: November 12, 2018, 09:00:23 AM »
I enjoyed your movies in October, Sam! There are still so many from your list I want to see. Looking forward to your next turn. :)


Pan's, much like Spirit of the Beehive, is about Franco's fascism.  It seems that they both indicate that you can't live casually in a fascist society, following your emotions.  You must live deliberately and carefully.  And always have a plan, or you will be a victim.

Yes, this! You sum it up well.

Teproc

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #43 on: November 16, 2018, 08:49:16 AM »
Better late than never, right ?

Sedmikrasky / Daisies (Vera Chytilova, 1966)

I generally have an approach to film (and art in general) where one can look at them on two axes: one of enjoyment (in the broadest possible definition of that word) and one of historical interest. Daisies is a typical example to me of a film that I find fascinating in what it represents about the time and place it was made in, but a complete failure in the first axis. I can see how this could be a fun, wacky time, but the girls' antics are more grating than endearing to me, and while I can appreciate a film that puts freedom at its core principle (and may or may not be questioning its value), the result was more irritating than anything else for me.

Now, as a piece of (film) history, it does hold great interest as it somewhat announces the desire for a more open society in Ceechoslovakia (or at least among Czechoslovakian elites) that would lead to the Prague Spring, while also seeming to anticipate how it will end. There's also the added interest of it being a story about women made by a woman, which is uncommon enough in the film canon to hold some value in and of itself... but again, I found it all rather insuferable, with the final straw being the patronizing "dedication" Chytilova uses as a send-off.

3/10
Legend: All-Time Favorite | Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Poor  |  Bad

Letterbox'd

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #44 on: November 16, 2018, 09:54:56 AM »
Yea, I can't argue with that. It's a film that you either find enjoyable because of how absurd and in your face it is or one you find off-putting. I found the whole thing delightfully playful and irreverent.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #45 on: January 29, 2019, 12:03:58 AM »
Three months late but I'm back and will catch up on these threads this week.

First up:

Silence (2016) 8.5/10
I must admit I was kind of dreading this. Sure it could be great, but it could also be a preachy slog and I got the sense its reception was mixed so, especially given how little I've been watching this past year, it was hard to work up the interest. I do have some reservations, but they aren't really about the quality of the movie. Despite it's length and subject matter it never felt nearly as slow as I expected. It mixes faith and humanity and doubt and perseverance quite well and finds a way to build everything steadily, the stakes, the mystery and the insight into Garfield's character. Most interestingly, while I expected, and the undercurrent plays as, a film about faith it feels like the film is more about torture. About the many and varied ways the Japanese inquisition tries to stamp out dissent, where Christianity just happens to be the medium of dissent in this specific film. The most dialogue heavy scenes of philosophical/religious back and forth leave one wanting, neither side seems willing to state the most obvious rejoinders, like there's a mix of respect for conviction and disdain for ignorance and you never get the sense which is the primary driving force. On the whole I do think it works better for the film this way, but in those specific scenes I was really left wanting. I found the depictions of the Japanese peasants to be an interesting contrast to the cloistered faith of Garfield's character, but Scorsese uses it more for imagery than for meaningful reflection. There are windows into so many subjects but, much like god, the film is conspicuously silent on them. Probably none more so than the never mentioned but always in my mind Spanish inquisition; The lingering hypocrisy that reminds you everything could easily be flipped by changing the context. In the end it's a film that made me think and appreciate, and I really enjoyed (I don't know if that's the right word here) the experience, and the films sticks to what it wants to do and does it very well, but I was reminded often of the slightly different film I would have liked even more.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #46 on: January 30, 2019, 01:26:42 PM »
Thanks for checking it out. It's one I certainly enjoy more from my own personal convictions. I saw the film in theaters and was surprised how I never got restless during the film, which is not something I could say for something like Avengers: Infinity War.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #47 on: July 30, 2019, 06:50:33 PM »
After some behind the scenes shuffling, I'm hosting the club for August 2019. I haven't made any changes since the last time so I've added a very shortlist of films I'm considering adding into the next version of my top 100 that you can select from as well. I've also added my Top 50 Animated Films list as an option.

My Top 100 (2017)
Top 50 Animated Films

Potential additions to next top 100: The Phantom Thread, The Witch, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Personal Shopper, The Master, In Bruges, Marie Antoinette, Lady Bird

I'll be out of town for work this first weekend, but I'll keep tabs on my phone for any reviews.

1SO

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #48 on: July 30, 2019, 10:35:46 PM »
I've also added my Top 50 Animated Films list as an option.
The 1SO Option. It gives me From Up on Poppy Hill. I may also rewatch Millennium Actress.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top 100 Club: Sam the Cinema Snob
« Reply #49 on: July 30, 2019, 10:46:09 PM »
Ooo, I'd love for you to check out From Up on Poppy Hill.

 

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