Head to Head tourney - SteveGon and Vickie_M (1 Viewer)

[ChuckDeLa]

Maybe someday there will be a bracket I can vote on! Only seen The Vanishing and parts of At Close Range and Tucker.

 

[Bill McA]

abstain - no Green Ants, but At Close Range is very good
The Vanishing - but I also liked Goldmine on 2nd viewing
Elmer Gantry
T-Men

 

[JohnRice]

I know you put the year, and I expect Bill is thinking of the right one, but if memory serves, the version of The Vanishing you are talking about is not the one with Kiefer Sutherland but the one from, was it Sweden? I just thought you might want to point that out.

 

[Ric Bagoly]

Uhhh....

 

[SteveGon]

What's the matter, Ric?
John's correct, it's the original version of The Vanishing.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Elmer Gantry

I'd vote for The Vanishing in an instant, but must abstain.

 

[george kaplan]

Bullitt

 

[Lew Crippen]

I may set a record for abstentions in this tourney. Once again, films which I have seen are up against ones that I’ve not seen. :frowning:
abstain X 4

 

[Jim_K]

T-Men
abstain on the rest

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I'm damning the automatic matchups, because while I really like Mystery Train, Little Big Man is one of my very favorite films. I hate to see it go down, even to a Jarmusch.

I must say that I really don't understand why people let this happen in these "head to head" tournaments. Isn't the goal to basically have each person list some of their favorite movies against anothers favorites that are mutually exclusive?

In other words, Vickie, if you really love Little Big Man that much, and so does Steve, it shouldn't be in the tournament.

Of course, now that I have written all that, I just realize that that really wasn't so much the purpose of this tourney! :b

You guys are trying to introduce some less well known movies, so I guess selecting movies you both like makes sense.

 

[Bill J]

The Vanishing

 

[Brook K]

Again, only seen 3 of the 8 - Bullit, Elmer Gantry, and Velvet Goldmine. That's the order I'd rank them.

 

[Elizabeth S]

Velvet Goldmine (I love this film with a passion, though I really admire "The Vanishing".)

 

[Vickie_M]

You guys are trying to introduce some less well known movies, so I guess selecting movies you both like makes sense.

Yes, I think every movie is both our lists is worth watching. I wish I had time to do write-ups on all of them, but I suppose that would be giving away who picked what (though I'm still not sure why it's important to keep that secret). I'm glad that people like them and comment about them every now and then. (someone else besides me likes Velvet Goldmine, cool!)

 

[Rob Tomlin]

doubt there's a person on HTF that I could go against if I had to hate or even actively dislike (or even mildly dislike) every movie they picked.

That's a valid point.
And that is why when George and I did our head to head tourney, we basically would not include movies that we each had on our top 75 favorite movies list. Therefore, it was still possible to have a movie in the tournament that we both actually liked, but not nearly as much as the other person, which still meant there was a big difference of opinion.
I like this tournament. I hope people keep giving commentary when they vote, as I need to find some more "sleepers" to rent from Netflix!
In fact, I think it would be a good idea if you and Steve both gave comments on each film, letting us all know what you like about them, and why they are in this tournament. This would be helpful to me, and interesting for others, especially since it looks like you will be getting a lot of people abstaining each round.
Just an idea!

 

[SteveGon]

In fact, I think it would be a good idea if you and Steve both gave comments on each film, letting us all know what you like about them, and why they are in this tournament.

Sure!
Where the Green Ants Dream
An underrated effort from Werner Herzog, one of my favorite directors. Bruce Spence (the Gyro Captain from The Road Warrior) plays a geologist working for a mining company in Australia. He comes into conflict with a tribe of aborigines who believe that the land he's exploring is where their fabled green ants are sleeping and dreaming. They believe that disturbing the ants will bring about the end of the world. The film explores a typical Herzog theme: that of man and his place in nature, but it's well-done. I'll never forget the courtroom scene where a lone aborigine is watching the proceedings in complete silence. It is explained that each tribe of aborigines has their own language. This man is the last of his tribe and thus has no one to speak to. Very sad, to be the last of your kind.
Unfortunately, this isn't available on DVD. Anchor Bay has issued all of the other major Herzog films, I don't know if they have the rights to WTGAD.
The Vanishing
I'm sure everyone is familiar with this film. The best non-Hitchcock Hitchcock film, IMO. A terrific thriller, at any rate.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
I've never been into cars so I knew nothing about Preston Tucker prior to seeing this fine film, one of Coppola's best later efforts. While I'm sure the movie makes Tucker out to be more of a saint than he actually was, it's still obvious that he could have contributed quite a bit to the automotive industry. What a shame that he was driven to ruin by corporate greed and stupidity. Bastards.
T-Men
This solid film noir from 1947 was directed by Anthony Mann and features outstanding photography by John Alton. Treasury agents go undercover to bust a counterfeiting ring. The DVD features a pretty decent transfer and can be had fairly cheap.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Thanks Steve!
I will definitely have to check out T-Men!
BTW, did you know of all the great movies that Coppola directed, his favorite is Tucker!

 

[SteveGon]

BTW, did you know of all the great movies that Coppola directed, his favorite is Tucker!

Yep!


If you're gonna check out T-Men, you'll also want to see Raw Deal; another Mann/Alton film noir. You can get both from DeepDiscountDVD for under ten bucks apiece. A great buy!

 

[JohnRice]

Hell, I want to see it just for the title. Is it in English?

 

[SteveGon]

Yes, it was filmed in English.