Pick 6

Calvary



Brendan Gleeson is a priest in rural Ireland? Directed by McDonagh you say? Oh, not that one, it's his brother.

sounds like it's not going to be thrilling right? except it is thrilling.

The film opens with a confessional booth and someone telling Gleeson that because he was abused by a priest as a child he will murder him on the beach next Sunday. He knows that Gleeson is a good priest and so his murder will impact the church more than the murder of an abusive priest.

It sounds intriguing and a lot of film makers would stretch this one idea to the length of a movie but there's so much more in here. Not just great acting, great cinematography and that story line.

There's a load of little tangents that the movie takes. Is it important to the main plot or is it just a non sequitur? Some are and some aren't. But the ones that are not important to the plot are not just red herrings, they add to the depth of the film. They make the characters and situation seem more real. Gleeson's character is very three dimensional too, he's not just the "good priest" that he's described to be at the start. There's much more to him that that.

There's great dark humor and the tangents are so captivating that you occasionally forget about the main plot conceit.

It's a great movie and perhaps lesser known across the pond, so it gets a big recommendation from me.

Owning Mahowney
The Royal Tennenbaums
Dancer in the Dark
Primer
Dead Man's Shoes
Calvary

JC PMd

Drafted movies that I've not yet seen:

In the Mood for Love
United 93
Certified Copy
The Master
Who Killed Captain Alex?
Paprika
Seabiscuit
Mad Detective
Chocolate
Sexy Beast
Upstream Color
Toni Eardman
Kung Fu Hustle
Jersey Boys

As sad as it sounds I don't really have the time, energy or concentration to watch a really good subtitled movie at the current point in my life.

Never heard of Certified Copy, Who Killed Captain Alex? and Mad Detective.

Jersey Boys doesn't really sound appealing to me, but I might bump it up the list given the recommendation.

I've not got any good reason as to why I haven't seen the others. Just haven't got round to it yet. There are a lot of movies out there.

D1iab's picks so far:

Zodiac
The Departed
Black Hawk Down
Mystic River
127 Hours
Anchorman

no pretension, not even a hint of hipster, just great mainstream movies.
His is the only list that you could rattle off when down the pub and not be instantly labelled "a douche"

what movie on my list would get me labeled a douche or hipster?

sideways?

the majority of things on your list are just every so slightly outside of mainstream. Just a little bit alternative.

Without doing any research I just imagine when each of your movies was at the movie theatre it was not the most popular movie

If you aren't a fan of the Four Seasons music already there is really no reason to see Jersey Boys since that is a big part of the experience.

For Round Six I will take Denis Villeneuve's Arrival. Writeup to come.

Calvary is an amazing film, and I’m ashamed I had forgotten to put it on my list!

My 6th round pick is Force Majeure.

Write up later!

Kiosk on the clock and has been pm’d.

Everyone make sure you list your films in the spreadsheet, dammit!

Not watching foreign films because of subtitles is sad. You are missing so many amazing films.

6th round pick:

Force Majeure, Ruben Ostlund, 2014



Gorgeously shot and framed in a controlled way that belies the undercurrent of panic the films' characters are going through. This is as biting a satire on gender roles and masculinity as I've ever seen.

An upper class Swedish family goes on vacation in the Alps, and a seemingly dangerous situation sheds light on the husband's ability and willingness to protect his wife and kids. Is he a coward? Was it a natural reaction to danger? Or is he just an azzhole?

This is one of my favorite movies of the last few years, and it just grows in stature every time I see it. It's exciting, brilliant, and damn funny.



*************************

Dom's List:

Mulholland Drive
Before Sunset
Punch Drunk Love
Mad Max: Fury Road
Upstream Color
Force Majeure

and I'm thinking of expanding the draft to 15 rounds....what do you guys think?

I could go 15+ but like I said earlier that I was sure you would extend since you always do There are never enough rounds in these drafts. Although I plan to go with my "original" 10 first even though there is little risk of snipes.

I've watched loads of them in the past but with 2 kids under 2 a new job and house I've got my hands full. My brain needs a break sometimes.

Subtitled films will have their day again...

15 rounds is fine by me

Round Six: Arrival

I hope as my write-ups indicate, I'm picking films, mostly, that speak to me personally. Arrival certainly does for a few reasons. I'm not a linguist, but I'm familiar with linguistics on a base level, so I knew about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (mostly discredited) that posits speakers of a language think in that language. So English speakers think about the world differently than Russian speakers. The film is about a linguist attempting to speak and learn an alien language. The great Amy Adams plays the linguist, and the film, with its hints of tragedy from the very beginning, reveals that learning this alien language allows the speaker knowledge of the past, present, and future simultaneously.

There's also a subplot of impending war with the aliens and between other countries as others around the world attempt to communicate with the aliens who "speak" with ink blobs. But this isn't the real point of the film. It's really Amy Adams' story. She learns the language, sees what her life will be like--a marriage, a divorce, the death of her daughter--and still chooses that life.

Imagine the choices we would make if we had access to time in that way. What would you do? Would you choose the life you have? What would you change?

In a way, I did have that kind of knowledge. I knew for years my wife would die long before me. In our 40s we talked about my relationship with the children, her funeral plans, her desires, and my life without her. I did not know, of course, the moment or time, but I did know too much. And as I watched this film I knew the questions it was asking. I would change so much of my life with perfect knowledge. I would not change a thing, though, about the people, my wife and children, who gave me more than I could have ever given them.

I can imagine why that film speaks to you so much, John.

I vote yes 15 times so that should cover any naysayers.

n **** if anyone doesn't want to they can just drop out no?

but I really hope everyone is down as the quality of the entire draft has been outstanding and would love to see where everyone goes in the later rounds.

did you just try to say what I think you tried to say?

I am stopping at 10 movies, I'm a cranky old man and I'm tired.

My round 6 pick is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, directed by the artist Julian Schabel, based on the memoir by the French writer Jean-Dominique Bauby about his experiences after being paralyzed. This movie is stunningly beautiful and full of profound ideas. It made a huge impact on me when I watched it, like a great movie can do sometimes. Great to be reminded how precious and strange this life we've been given can be, even in the very worst of circumstances.

nice pick

Phat Mac on the clock!

I'm up for a few more revolutions on the Wheel of Dharma.

Arrival sounds interesting and unique. It reminds me of what I personally call "inflection points" in my own life. I review then from time to time. Enough said.