The Best Film of 2005 Tournament - Page 8

SteveGon · 06-11-2006, 12:23 AM

Abstain - No SOTTP.
Nobody Knows
Abstain - No Domino.
Dear Wendy - Kinda tough.

Elizabeth S · 06-11-2006, 12:45 AM

abstain - no pants
abstain - no Howl, but Nobody Knows is terrific.
abstain - no Saraband, but liked Domino a lot
abstain - no Dear Wendy yet; Melquiades was one of the best of the year

Brook K · 06-11-2006, 10:58 PM

Since a couple of our regulars haven't voted and because I'm leaving for a sales conference tomorrow and won't have time to post new matches, I'm going to leave the current match open.

Rich Malloy · 06-12-2006, 12:27 PM

There's only one round I can vote in... SARABAND. Not an ounce of old man's sentimentality here, no fuzzy nostalghia and no pat feel-good aphorisms reducing life to a kitty poster ("hang in there!"). "Saraband" proves not only that Bergman remains the most potent dramatist of human relations in cinema, but that hi-def video in the hands of a master is every bit as luminous and captivating as film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnRice

I will say this though, I know people love to bash Domino, but I think there is a mob mentality regarding it. It's definitely not a "great" movie, but I found it to be weirdly fun and definitely plan to watch it again. Unlike so many conventional biopics (this is more like a comic book adaptation of a biopic), I came away from it with a sense of actually understanding Domino Harvey.

I won't do it here, but I am definitely one of those people who not only bashes "Domino", but just about everything Tony Scott has ever done. It started with "The Hunger", continued through "Top Gun", "Beverly Hills Cop 2", that Tom Cruise "look at me, I'm a race-car driver!" flick, all the way through "Domino". I'm shocked he was allowed anywhere near the putative sequel to "The Conversation". If this were Germany '39, I suspect he'd want to make films for Hitler.

JohnRice · 06-12-2006, 12:35 PM

Quote:

If this were Germany '39, I suspect he'd want to make films for Hitler.

You are clearly a good person to go to for an open-minded opinion.

Rich Malloy · 06-12-2006, 01:06 PM

And all that I after I said I wasn't going to bash Scott!

A strange matchup this one. I can't imagine a fan of Scott caring at all for Bergman, or vice-versa (could I be the only person on this forum to have seen both films?).

I think one interesting matchup for "Saraband" from last year might be Francois Ozon's "5x2", though I'm not sure if that one made the cut for this tourney.

george kaplan · 06-12-2006, 05:05 PM

I can't imagine a fan of Scott caring at all for Bergman, or vice-versa

I've seen neither Saraband nor Domino, but I can sure as hell shoot a hole in your Scott/Bergman dichotomy. Both have films I love (Crimson Tide, The Seventh Seal), and both films I hate (The Hunger, Cries & Whispers).

Rich Malloy · 06-13-2006, 11:01 AM

I didn't mention "Crimson Tide" in my hate-post for Scott, and it's truly not a terrible film. If I never see it again, I certainly won't miss it, but it's a rare semi-success from one of Hollywood's reigning hacks. Pity it came out so close to "The Hunt for Red October" and seemed to have suffered by comparison, but IMO it's at least as good a film. Not that that's saying a whole lot, but credit where it's (arguably) due.

I'm glad to see someone stick up for "The Seventh Seal" (and perhaps you also like other films from this period by Bergman). Bergman's preoccupations in these films may seem a bit 19th century, if not entirely medieval, but I agree that this is brilliant cinema. And Gunnar Bjornstrand's post-Christian wise-acre knave gives me enough of a modern perspective to get past the stilted anguish of Max von Sydow's stick-up-his-ass "O God, why can't you hear me?" crusader. What a frickin' Block-head!

Brook K · 06-13-2006, 11:17 PM

I won't defend the filmmaking but Scott has managed to attach himself to solid scripts that aren't undone by his "style". They aren't special films, but I've been entertained by True Romance, Man on Fire, and Domino.

From my perspective, Domino had 3 things going for it:

1. A more than passing resemblance to A&E's hilarious Dog the Bounty Hunter

2. Keira

3. I'm an unashamed Beverly Hills 90210 fan.

Hey, Sydow was suffering from post-traumatic stress over what he saw in the Crusade. Pardon him for showing his disturbance rather than by erecting a wall of cynical humor to avoid dealing with his own issues. A stick-up-his ass isn't unwarranted after realizing that the world you thought you knew was a lie.

Rich Malloy · 06-14-2006, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brook K

Hey, Sydow was suffering from post-traumatic stress over what he saw in the Crusade. Pardon him for showing his disturbance rather than by erecting a wall of cynical humor to avoid dealing with his own issues. A stick-up-his ass isn't unwarranted after realizing that the world you thought you knew was a lie.

Yes, but Jons - though only an uneducated and lowly knave - had a sophisticated understanding of the corruption of the socio-political order (that is, the Church) and none of the false delusions that clouded Block's vision. And I don't think Jons avoided dealing with the "issues" - whether thru cynical humor or otherwise - as he would quickly shed his easy-going wiseacre nature when faced with the evil he saw around him. For ex, the mural painter in the church whom Jons engages in conversation to reveal that it is through fear (not love, not faith) that the Church maintains power. Or his threat to kill the very cleric who inspired Block to fight in the Crusades (when he encounters him apparently about to rape a girl in a barn).

I think Jon's worldview can be summed up in his exhortation to "Feel, to the end, the triumph of being alive!". He doesn't denigrate life, and nor is he willing to trade it for the illusion of an afterlife. He sees the martyrs of the Crusades as fools only ("This Crusade was such madness that only an idealist could have thought it up"), and treats Block with the care one would treat a naive innocent, a child. His view edges toward the enlightenment to come.

Block on the other hand, never seems to internalize his observation that "we men make an idol of our fears, and call it God". Though we are to understand that he is somehow redeemed by his final act of goodness and that he gains some understanding that had previously eluded him, most of the time he just seems to dawdle in despair, and it's this naval-gazing paralysis that I'd think might give George fits -- honestly, I was very surprised to hear that George liked this flick! I, of course, love it too, but I can't watch it without wanting to reach thru the screen and slap Block upside the noggin', knock some sense into that big bony skull!

Yes, give me Jons over Block anyday. For me, he is the lead, and without him, I don't think the film would speak to me at all.

tyler payne · 06-14-2006, 05:01 PM

abstain x4