Directors The Best Film of 2005 Tournament (2 Viewers)

[JohnRice]

Pride & Prejudice

 

[SteveGon]

Abstain
The White Countess
Pride and Prejudice
Abstain


Heh, heh, heh...

 

[Rich Malloy]

Not me. Cute flick, but hardly a great one. And certainly nothing that I can see to compare with "Grizzly Man".



R1: No Direction Home - an interesting match-up. I concede that the subject matter of "NDH" is nearly as important to me as Scorsese's treatment, but it's a phenomenally well-made doc.

R2: abstain (no White Countess) - I really liked "The New World", but I'm sorta withholding final judgment as Malick has apparently always envisioned a longer cut as being definitive. Look forward to seeing it.

R3: abstain again. I've seen both, but don't feel I can fairly judge. I didn't get the appeal of "Batman Begins", and feel I need to see it again to give it a fair shake given all the overwhelming plaudits it received. It seemed a really conventional flick to me on that first viewing, though I understand why people were pleased that it eschewed the more campy elements of the Batman franchise). As for P&P, I have an even more obscure criticism - despite the assertions of some critics, it's not a faithful adaptation and strikes me as running largely counter to Austin's intentions (and I'm actually not referring to the so-called "American ending" that was tacked on after the UK premier). Not as horribly awry as Adrian Lynne's ridiculously somber misreading of "Lolita" (also proclaimed as being true to the source by certain critics, revealing only that they've either never read Nabokov or didn't get the first thing about his most famous novel). On the other hand, P&P is not a half-bad flick for what it is, a costume drama/period piece that plays nice with audience expectations. But it ain't Austin, and maybe I'm just too enamored with her novel to allow it to be anything but.

R4: abstain yet one more time. As much as I'd like to vote for "The Best of Youth", I haven't even the inclination to Netflix "In Her Shoes", which without actually seeing it (which apparently isn't stopping me from getting all presumptious in my dismissal) strikes me as being an interesting match-up with the chick-lit reduction that is the film "Pride & Prejudice" (at least that odd ampersand lets us easily distinguish it from the original).

 

[Bill McA]

abstain - won't see Good Night till next week

abstain - no White Countess

Batman Begins - I guess

The Best of Youth

 

[Adam_S]

Batman Begins
tri abstain

 

[Elizabeth S]

As expected, but :frowning: (Why is there no crying smiley?)

abstain - seen neither
abstain - no White Countess
abstain - no P&P yet
abstain - BoY is still in my "to watch" pile

 

[tyler payne]

Good Night, and Good Luck
abstain
abstain
abstain

 

[BruZZi]

Three crying smilies for you:








Just copy and save the URLs.

BTW: The smilies used on HTF are very ugly. :frowning:



Back to the topic...

Can't vote as I only watched Batman.

 

[Elizabeth S]

Thanks, BruZZi!

 

[Brook K]

Advancing

Good Night, and Good Luck over No Direction Home - 1-1/coinflip

The New World over The White Countess - 1-1/coinflip (the coin is working today, thank you Mr. Jefferson ....Seriously, from here on I am generally abstaining to avoid ties, but since it appears Steve and I are the only one's who've seen The White Countess, I went ahead and tied the vote and flipped a coin to avoid each future matchup coming down to whether Steve liked TWC more than the film it was paired with)

Pride & Prejudice over Batman Begins - 3-2 (I'll break the tie for P&P)

The Best of Youth over In Her Shoes - 2-0 (includes my vote)

Round #4


vs.




vs.

 

[JohnRice]

A History of Violence - Moderately easy

Proof - Extremely easy, though Brokeback is nicely done.

 

[Elizabeth S]

abstain - no Devil's Rejects
abstain - no Proof

 

[tyler payne]

A History of Violence
Brokeback Mountain

 

[BruZZi]

A History of Violence

Proof

 

[Rich Malloy]

History of Violence

Brokeback

So, I've been Netflixing alot of films in this tournament, and "Proof" has been the only real disappointment so far. I had high hopes going in, even as I feared a typically hammy performance from Hopkins. It seems like I'm forever defending the (IMO) greatness of Madden's "Shakespeare in Love" (and dismissing "Capt. Corelli's Violin" as a minor misstep), as well as Paltrow's fine performances in "Shakespeare" and elsewhere. Maybe someone will be willing to defend it, but "Proof" struck me as bogus from top to bottom. Everything and everyone seemed hopelessly out-of-tune, and not a single true moment was to be found. It's purportedly a melodrama, but with a synthetic, clinical feel that came off not as clear-eyed and uncompromised, but rather utterly flat and lifeless. Hope Davis' character was wholly contrived, and I didn't buy Paltrow's emotional descent for a second. Hopkins seems to have downshifted into his subtler "Human Stain" gear, which you'd think I'd be thankful for given my aversion to his more histrionic, actory performances, but he just seemed distracted... and as uncommitted as every other aspect of this film. In fact, the only thing I took away from my viewing - adding that experience into the calculus with "Correlli" - is whether I should reassess my admiration for "Shakespeare in Love".

 

[Bill McA]

A History of Violence

Brokeback Mountain


Exactly, but special mention must go to Paltrow's horrible and completely unconvincing performance.

 

[Justin_S]

A History of Violence - with Munich gone, these are my two favorite films still in the running. Too bad they're up against each other.

Abstain

 

[JohnRice]

I for one will take Proof's lack of the great and elusive "truth" over a world populated with nothing but venemous, malicious people and dysfunctional relationships any day of the week. However, Brokeback was nicely made, as I said, even if it lacks any semblance of "Truth".

And that is the first (and most likely the last) time I have used the term "truth" regarding a movie, or anything else for that matter.


Edit: Sheesh, my posts occasionally come off as more confrontational than I intend. I guess everyone can take this one however they choose.

 

[Adam_S]

dual abstain

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Brokeback Mountain