The Second mrbasehart Film Challenge!

[DogKnob]

Didn't see Putney Swope or In the Realm of the Senses on your list.

[mrbasehart]

Didn't see Putney Swope or In the Realm of the Senses on your list.

Huh.  I guess I didn't rate it.  Thanks for catching it!   Realm of the Senses is under Ai No Corrida, as imdb usually uses the native language titles for films.

[mrbasehart]

Oh, and a minor update: I've started acquiring the films and seeing what's easily available and what's not.  This might take a while, but I'll start watching before I get them all.  I'm also "very happy" to announce that I have all of the Left Behind movies.  Again.

I'll still take suggestions until the end of the month, if any of you guys can think of some more titles. 

[Relaxing Dragon]

Just a heads up, Pontypool is a Blockbuster Exclusive Rental thing. In case you were having trouble tracking a copy down.

[mrbasehart]

Just a heads up, Pontypool is a Blockbuster Exclusive Rental thing. In case you were having trouble tracking a copy down.

It just came out in the cinemas over here, so that'll be a little whilie before I get it.  I can see this challenge running a little longer than the other one though, what with Christmas and New Year getting in the way this time.

[THE QUEEN!!!]

More movies not on your "seen" list already:
Miracle on 34th Street (original--only the remake is on your list)
Teahouse of the August Moon (with Glenn Ford)
Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation (with James Stewart)
Dear Brigitte (also James Stewart)
Remains of the Day (with Anthony Hopkins)

Might as well give you a bad movie:
Chipmunk Adventure.  (It's so '80s-licious. I loved this as a kid. What was I thinking? I still love it, but for nostalgia.)

[mrbasehart]

Gah! What is wrong with me? I saw Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation not too long ago (maybe last year) and I didn't rate it.  I've also certainly seen bits of Miracle on 34th Street, but I don't remember if I've seen the whole thing.  I'll add it, along with the rest of the list, anyways. 

[THE QUEEN!!!]

And now that I know you haven't seen it, and I'm shocked, I'll recommend

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (about the Titanic, not with Loretta Young.)

[Rattrap007]

You probably already watched it, but...

The Pirate Movie (1980 {or 81}) with Christie McNichols and Chris Atkins from The Blue Lagoon

Also White Dog with Christie McNichols too..

(E! or A&E had a Biography on her the other day. Saw it for about 10 minutes)

[dignan]

Midnight Madness.

Just checking, but is that the 1980 version of Midnight Madness? There are a wholoe bunch of titles listed under that name.

Yup, with David Naughton, Stephen Furst, and Michael J. Fox

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

Midnight Madness.

Just checking, but is that the 1980 version of Midnight Madness? There are a wholoe bunch of titles listed under that name.

Yup, with David Naughton, Stephen Furst, and Michael J. Fox

And Eddie Deezen, Hoss Cartwright's son and Pee Wee Herman.   

[mrbasehart]

All right then!  I've got most of the films and I'm ready to begin.  Now where to start... 

Oh, right here:

F for Fake is Orson Welles last completed movie (for now, at least) and is possibly the most playful and light offering of his directorial career.  An odd hybrid of fact and fiction, it interweaves the true story of an art forger being outed by the man who would go on to write the Howard Hughes fake-interviews - with entirely real interviews with all the participants - and narration and interjection by Welles with insights into his own life and career, making the whole thing surprisingly personal.  It's a bit of a magic trick of a movie, and though it promises to "tell you the truth for an hour", you're always left with the feeling that Welles is pulling something over on you.  I really liked it, and I wish I would've seen it after...

Martyrs.  Jeez.  Where to start with this one? I'd virtually no idea what the movie was about beforehand, only that the British film critic Mark Kermode described it as "incredibly hard to sit through."  I also knew it was a horror movie and was basically about torture.  The basics: two French women exact revenge on a seemingly ordinary family for the ordeal one of them went through as a child, leaving her deranged and with visions of a horrifically scarred woman who may or may not be a figment of her imagination.  It's well presented, with a matter-of-factness that lessens the distance between the audience and the movie, but what really takes the movie to the next level is the second half, which, while I won't go much into, is just as Kermode said, "incredibly hard to sit through."  What I will say though, is that the violence is never gratuitous.  While it's viscerally shocking, it always has a point and is never dwelled upon in the leering way that movies like Hostel seem to revel in and it never even tries to approach the "gory fun" of those movies either.  It's commendably sober and all the more affecting for it.  What's unclear to me is the movie's underlying message, is it some meditation on suffering or is it an allegory for something else? I suppose that could be talked about in some detail, but what I'll say finally is that though this is not a film to enjoy, it's certainly one to take a lot from.

[Relaxing Dragon]

Oh good, I was wondering when you'd start with this.

And I still need to see Martyrs myself. As a gorehound I am intrigued at its premise.

[mrbasehart]

Oh good, I was wondering when you'd start with this.

And I still need to see Martyrs myself. As a gorehound I am intrigued at its premise.

Seriously, if you're looking for "fun" from this movie, there's none to be found. 

[Relaxing Dragon]

Oh good, I was wondering when you'd start with this.

And I still need to see Martyrs myself. As a gorehound I am intrigued at its premise.

Seriously, if you're looking for "fun" from this movie, there's none to be found. 

I'll be fine. I like to think I've seen enough exploitation flicks and mindless gorefests to have a high tolerance for that sort of thing.