Attention VOTE: Battle of the Films

[ie]

Late Spring


Not just for conflict's sake, but as I recall, we can vote if we've only seen part of a movie, and I didn't care for the half hour or whatever I've seen of Andrei Rublev.

[drone]

Nov 18, 2008 16:37:57 GMT -5 captainofbeef said:

Andrei Rublev

[ie]

Nov 21, 2008 19:27:46 GMT -5 drone said:

Nov 18, 2008 16:37:57 GMT -5 captainofbeef said:

You're no fun.

[captainofbeef]

Rublev wins 3-1. Next one up soon...

[captainofbeef]

Round 2
Battle 85
Southeast region (Bracket 1)
3 seed
L'Avventura (Antonioni)

A group of rich Italians head out on a yachting trip to a deserted volcanic island in the Mediterranean. When they are about to leave the island, they find Anna, the main character up to this point, has gone missing. Sandro, Anna's boyfriend, and Claudia, Anna's friend, try without success to find her. While looking for the missing friend, Claudia and Sandro develop an attraction for each other. When they get back to land, they continue the search with no success. Sandro and Claudia proceed to become lovers, and all but forget about the missing Anna.

vs.
6 seed
Rififi (Dassin)

Tony Stephanois, just out of prison and angry at his girl Mado's infidelity, decides to join his pals Jo and Mario in an ambitious crime. With Italian safe expert Cesar, they meticulously plan the burglary of a large jewelry establishment. Not a word is spoken as the crime is carried out. And then things begin to go wrong...

[captainofbeef]

Rififi, but I haven't seen L'Avventura...

[dontdigonswine]

Close one. I'm going with L'Avventura. Because Antonioni must go on to the next round.

[captainofbeef]

Tiebreaker?

[ie]

I've seen an Antonioni movie once and didn't like it, so could I vote for Rififi?

Gotta help my man doubled on swine out.

[captainofbeef]

Have you seen Rififi?

[ie]

Dec 2, 2008 15:41:12 GMT -5 captainofbeef said:

Have you seen Rififi?

Yes...

...

...

No...

Yeah, I haven't seen it. Where's wkw or someone who's probably seen at least one of these movies? Why do I always gotta be the tie-breaker?

[wkw]

L'Avventura, Antonioni is da man.

[ie]

Dec 4, 2008 17:58:17 GMT -5 wkw said:

L'Avventura, Antonioni is da man.

Damn, you were suppose to vote for Jaws 3D.

[captainofbeef]

L'Avventura wins 2-1. Next one up soon...

[captainofbeef]

Round 2
Battle 86
Northwest region (Bracket 2)
14 seed
Pan's Labyrinth (Del Toro)

In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

vs.
6 seed
El Topo (Jodorowsky)

The gunfighter El Topo ("The Mole") and his young son ride through a desert to a village, whose inhabitants have been massacred. Bandits are nearby, torturing and killing the survivors. El Topo rescues a woman (Mara), who leads him on a mission to find and defeat the four master gunmen of the desert. Leaving his son with a group of monks, El Topo and Mara complete the mission, accompanied by a mysterious woman in black. The women leave El Topo wounded in the desert, where he is found by a clan of deformed people who take him to the remote cavern where they live. Awakening years later, he goes with a dwarf woman to a nearby town, promising to dig a tunnel through which the cave-dwellers can escape. They find the town run by a vicious sheriff and home to a bizarre religious cult. El Topo's son, now a man, is a monk in the town. The completion of the tunnel leads El Topo, the townspeople, and the cave-dwellers to a bloody and tragic end.

[captainofbeef]

El Topo, but I rewatched Pan's Labyrinth last night and it's very close...

[dontdigonswine]

I didn't like Pan's Labyrinth, but I despise El Topo. So, Pan's Labyrinth.

[captainofbeef]

Why must there always be ties??

[ie]

Well, I can break that for ya. Ties are stupid anyways.

El Topo ;D

[captainofbeef]

El Topo wins 2-1. Next one up soon...

[ie]

Dec 10, 2008 12:17:20 GMT -5 dontdigonswine said:

_

You're welcome, double d.

Actually, I would have voted that way even without you.

[captainofbeef]

Round 2
Battle 87
Southwest region (Bracket 2)
3 seed
Ran (Kurosawa)

A story of Greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge. The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood of his three sons, Taro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu). The Lord's only wish now being to live out his years as an honored guest in the castle of each of his sons in turn. While the older two sons flatter their father, the youngest son attempts to warn him of the folly of expecting the three sons to remain united, enraged at the younger sons' attempt to point out the danger, the father banishes him. True to the younger sons' warning however, the Oldest Son soon conspires with the Second Son to strip The Great Lord of everything, even his title. The story follows the decent of the old man into madness, the machinations of treachery and deceit by the two older sons and their downfall, and the loyalty of the youngest who ultimately rescues his father. But in the end it is the past deeds of The Great Lord that bring on the final battle and end the era of the Lord Hidetora and his clan.

vs.
11 seed
City of God (Meirelles)

Brazil, 1960's, City of God. The Tender Trio robs motels and gas trucks. Younger kids watch and learn well...too well. 1970's: Li'l Zé has prospered very well and owns the city. He causes violence and fear as he wipes out rival gangs without mercy. His best friend Bené is the only one to keep him on the good side of sanity. Rocket has watched these two gain power for years, and he wants no part of it. Yet he keeps getting swept up in the madness. All he wants to do is take pictures. 1980's: Things are out of control between the last two remaining gangs...will it ever end? Welcome to the City of God

[captainofbeef]

Ran...

[drone]

Ran

[dontdigonswine]

Ran

[ie]

Fuck, karma.


City of God, cuz Ran sux.

[drone]

City of God blows even more penis than Ran. I just prefer Akira K.

[dontdigonswine]

City of God is simply an exercise in style. Nothing about it interested me.

Ran is a great movie by a great director. You should see it sometime, drone.

[ie]

Dec 12, 2008 0:29:45 GMT -5 dontdigonswine said:

City of God is simply an exercise in style. Nothing about it interested me.

I haven't done this in a while: Let's go, son.


Ran isn't an exercise in style? What do you call the millions of dollars spent on the movie? The excessive shots of color, whose only purpose is to give you and other half-assed critics something to masturbate about?

Really now, even if you did like Ran, how much do you remember about it? Could you actually keep every character's name straight?

The answers you'd give still wouldn't interest me, because really, all you would give me is the answers to your Filmy Film 101 class about how "important" the movie is in a historical context and how much other people like it.

Besides, I doubt you've actually "received" anything from Ran. What did you learn from the movie? Did it make you a better person?

I really doubt you have, so it's no better than watching a three hour music video, if you completely ignore the substance of a movie. The only difference is, you can hide behind its reputation.

You can say you've seen it, you could even have watched it, saw all the pretty colors, and read up about it later, but I doubt Ran actually made any bit of impact on you. And just supporting the movie is enough: no one would double check you. They'd just congratulate you for liking the movie.

[captainofbeef]

Ran wins 3-1. Next one up soon...