Howard picked the Road at 4:58pm PST. I PMd you more than 4 hours after that. Whether or not Howard PMd you that it was your turn, I have no idea, however.

Kioshk has been skipped!

I'm on the clock! I'll be right back after I PM myself.

My 9th pick is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a very strange movie from David Fincher about a guy who ages backwards. This conceit allows the film to put the strangeness of this human life of ours into stark relief, just how weird it all really is. And BB has some amazing adventures, that's for sure. I think the literary term may be picaresque but I'd have to look that up. This is quite a yarn, a true epic journey and all that entails. This film is very underrated these days when recent great movies get talked about. Time will prove that it's a classic.

My team of killer movies from the 2000s!

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Master
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Bad Santa
Django Unchained
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
High Fidelity
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

My 9th round pick:

Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve, 2017



I wrote up a pretty decent thread on this movie when it came out: here it is.

It's hard to make a sequel decades later that lives up to the original, but 2049 amazingly succeeds in doing so. Great film, gorgeous cinematography, and astounding sound. The original Blade Runner is my favorite film ever, and for 2049 to be as good as it is a kind of miracle. I was completely thrilled with it.

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

Dom's List:

Mulholland Drive
Before Sunset
Punch Drunk Love
Mad Max: Fury Road
Upstream Color
Force Majeure
Once
Her
Blade Runner 2049

John Cole on the clock!

I'm going to take a recent film by one of my favorite filmmakers, Claire Denis, who should and could have a number of films selected in this draft.

Let the Sunshine In stars the always entrancing Juliette Binoche, and if you think I've selected another film with Juliette Binoche because I am infatuated with her, you're right. Binoche plays Isabelle, a divorced mother with a young son. Curiously, the son barely appears in the film. Denis's film may be about middle-aged female desire (one of the best treatments of the theme since The Graduate). The film opens with a very intimate sex scene between Isabelle and her lover, a repugnant beast of a man, one who will never leave his wife, one who orders "gluten-free olives" for his martini, and one who announces to Isabelle that she cannot compare with his wife. What the hell is she doing with this guy? For that matter, what the hell is she doing with all these guys?

The great moment in this film occurs in its astonishing closing. Isabelle seeks out the help of a psychic, played brilliantly by Gerard Depardieu. He tells her the future. Don't give up hope. Your life can still be extraordinary. He tells her there is a beautiful sun within her, and, damn it, we believe him. Switching from French to English, the film ends with one word of advice: "Open."

Denis's film is where romantic comedy has been heading all along. Be open.

I really need to go on a Denis kick and just watch a bunch of her films

xander on the clock!

Phat should be penalized for sniveling. His next "on the clock" should be limited to 666 nano-seconds; then he is skipped. He has implied his picks are so rarefied that being skipped should not matter anyway.

I'm gonna pick The Raid 2 and will do the write up later

Pick # 9-

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a film directed by Ang Lee and written by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus and Tsai Kuo Jung, based on the Chinese novel by Wang Dulu. The film features Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen.

Gorgeously filmed this martial arts/detective thriller is finely done. I consider the film more a great story/myth than something rooted in realism (implied in the movie itself). But it is also about deception (some very subtle, some less so), sacrifice, a famous sword, and love. Some really fantastic martial art fights/sequences. And as long as you can suspend the immutable laws of Newtonian physics the bamboo forest sequence (and other fight scenes) is wonderfully filmed. Probably too much for some viewers but I have enjoyed this film a number of times. I have the DVD.

Fight scene - Two Bitches go at it:




Picks so far:

The Dark Knight
No Country for Old Men
In Bruges
Pan’s Labyrinth
Kung Fu Hustle
Amélie
Open Range
Shoot’em Up
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Diabolical PM'ed

Crouching Tiger on my list!

Hello? Did Zeno just refer to Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi as bitches?

With relish!

Jesus wept.

Yes, you should. Haven't seen her newest yet.

Lol this cracked me up

This Is England

Another Shane Meadows movie, but I like this one a considerable amount more than Dead Man's Shoes. This is a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy growing up in 1980s England who gets taken in by a group of skinheads after losing his father in the Falklands War. When Combo is released from prison, he causes division within the group due to his racist views, and everyone is forced to pick a side.

This is a fantastic film and stars the great Stephen Graham, who I always thought deserved to be a bigger star than he is. The guy is a phenomenal actor.

Round 9
A Mighty Wind (2003)
Christopher Guest



I am a big fan of Guests mockumentaries. In this one he and his Spinal Tap mates (McKean and Shearer) put down their electric guitars and amps that go to 11 and pick up their acoustics, banjos and mandolins. They are The Folksmen. There is a big folk music concert going down and they will take part. The rest of Guests usual crew are along for the ride as well since most of these mockumentaries are the same cast. Especially hilarious in this one is co-writer Eugene Levy who I always find hilarious. He is Mitch of Mitch and Mickey fame with Catherine O'Hara who is also always great.

I love Guests sense of humor and the ay he puts these things together which I find extremely entertaining and rewatchable. It was a close call between this and (undrafted) but both are equally great.

so far:
United 93
Catch Me if You Can
Almost Famous
Seabiscuit
Jersey Boys
Love & Mercy
Cell 211
Pitch Perfect
A Mighty Wind

Round 10
Road Trip (2000)
Todd Phillips



I love this movie. It is a neglected genre here at the Lounge but one of my favorite genres. What I call teenage/high school/college hijinx genre. They don't win awards and they don't get good reviews and film dorks turn up their noses to them but screw that! They are fun to watch. This one is great and checks off all of the boxes.

[x] Stupid
[x] Sophmoric
[x] Raunchy
[x] Gratuitous nudity
[x] Political Incorrectness
[x] DJ Qualls!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah it even has DJ Qualls! I don't know what it is about that skinny goofy looking bastard but everything he is in is better because he is in it. Here is a small sample of the classy, high brow humor you can expect in this fine production.



If you haven't seen Road Trip you should and soon!

so far:
United 93
Catch Me if You Can
Almost Famous
Seabiscuit
Jersey Boys
Love & Mercy
Cell 211
Pitch Perfect
A Mighty Wind
Road Trip

haha great picks

Continuing with the juvenile comedy theme, I'll take Team America: World Police.

I was bummed when I realized south park bigger longer uncut wasn't eligible but team america is a damn good alternative.

AMERICA! FU*K YEAH!