World Cup, Season 3, Match 2A: France vs USA vs Taiwan (Sep 9th)

[RBG]

Is anyone going to rate Alexandre last?

yes

[Nathan Treadway]

Is anyone going to rate Alexandre last?

yes

Contrarian

[RBG]

[burneyfan]

1. The Last Command (US)
2. Alexandre le bienheureux (France)
3. Strawman (Taiwan)

All great films, but the other two didn't have much of a chance against one of my biggest favorites. Thanks to klaus, filmbantha, and mjf for three great watches!

[Armoreska]

USA has eliminated over half of its deficit!

[monty]

Why the dislike? It should be right up your alley - after all it's a strongly feminist work.

[jvv]

Why the dislike? It should be right up your alley - after all it's a strongly feminist work.

I really shouldn't react to this, but I can't help myself.

A strongly feminist work, where every woman is a monster. I don't think so.

[joachimt]

USA has eliminated over half of its deficit!

Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.588 (24-10)
The Last Command: 1.941 (18-16)
Dao cao ren: 2.471 (9-25)

[72aicm]

Why the dislike? It should be right up your alley - after all it's a strongly feminist work.

I really shouldn't react to this, but I can't help myself.

A strongly feminist work, where every woman is a monster. I don't think so.

And every man is portrayed as lazy, pushovers with no will of their own.

[RBG]

oh sorry, yeah i just found it dumb, caricatures, very 60s, not believable at all. and badly directed

pretty sure monty is trolling but this is far from a feminist work. he replaced his wife with a dog and was soooo much happier. a laugh riot

philipe noiret is sometimes amusing and doggie is cute. 5/10 is being generous

[weirdboy]

I was piddling around the internet and saw this promo pic from The Last Command

[Smoover]

1. Alexandre le bienheureux 7.0
2. Dao cao ren 6.5
3. The Last Command 6.5

[Mate_cosido]

1. The Last Command
2. Dao cao ren
3. Alexandre le bienheureux

[joachimt]

Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.632 (26-12)
The Last Command: 1.947 (20-18)
Dao cao ren: 2.421 (11-27)

[perceval]

oh sorry, yeah i just found it dumb, caricatures, very 60s, not believable at all. and badly directed

pretty sure monty is trolling but this is far from a feminist work. he replaced his wife with a dog and was soooo much happier. a laugh riot

philipe noiret is sometimes amusing and doggie is cute. 5/10 is being generous

Finally someone said it.

[Armoreska]

The 2B thread is past due...

France is the pot 1 country right? USA was pot 2.
Dao cao ren (Strawman) 8-
Alexandre le bienheureux (Alexander The Blessed) 8-
The Last Command 7

[joachimt]

The 2B thread is past due...

France is the pot 1 country right? USA was pot 2.

2B should start today. It's still today.....

The countries are mentioned in the OP in the order of the pots, so yes, France was pot 1, USA pot 2 and Taiwan pot 3.

[jdidaco]

1. The Last Command
2. Dao cao ren
3. Alexandre le bienheureux

[Renegade]

1. The Last Command
2. Alexandre le bienheureux
3. Dao cao ren

[joachimt]

Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.727 (28-16)
The Last Command: 1.909 (24-20)
Dao cao ren: 2.364 (14-30)

Gap is getting closer.

[metaller]

Close stuff for me. Good selections overall.

1. Dao cao ren - Liked its dramedy approach a lot. 7.5/10
2. The Last Command - Expertly made, well acted silent 7.5/10
3. Alexandre le bienheureux - Fun romp, with some questionable morals. 7/10

[Nopros]

Ok, i'm back. And I agree with Metaller.

1. Dao cao ren
2. The Last Command
3. Alexandre le bienheureux

[Nathan Treadway]

Can Alexandre hold off Last Command? It closed really fast!

[RBG]

go jannings go!!

you know he won the first best actor oscar award for this which he carried with him when the americans entered berlin but it didn't save him

[joachimt]

Can Alexandre hold off Last Command? It closed really fast!

Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.833 (28-20)
The Last Command: 1.917 (26-22)
Dao cao ren: 2.25 (18-30)

[tommy_leazaq]

1. Strawman
2. The Last Command
3. Alexandre le bienheureux

Strawman was already my favorite even before this match. Emil Jannings was fantastic in Last Command. While I'd love to be in the position of Alexander and the film is indeed funny, it didn't resonate with me like the other two.

[Lilarcor]

1. Last Command
2. Dao cao ren
3. Alexandre le bienheureux

[Armoreska]

USA completes its epic catchup!

[joachimt]

3 days left

The Last Command: 1.885 (29-23)
Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.923 (28-24)
Dao cao ren: 2.192 (21-31)

[Armoreska]

Next up: 6 consecutive votes for Taiwan.

[Nathan Treadway]

Who's winning the tiebreaker, now that it looks like it can come into play?

[joachimt]

At the moment it's this:
Alexandre le bienheureux - The Last Command: 12 - 14

[clemmetarey]

1. The Last Command 6/10
2. Alexandre le bienheureux 5/10
3. Dao cao ren 5/10

[zhangalan]

1. 稻草人 [Strawman] (1987)
2. Alexandre le bienheureux [Alexander] (1968)
3. The Last Command (1928)

Copied from hurluberlu's post. Thanks.

Extremely strong round!
The Last Command is my favorite (it can easily beat 90% of the films in Round 1), but the opponents are too nice, and I am a fan of comedy.
I know Joachimt made the draw randomly, but it is interesting to see the similarities between Strawman and Alexander. Both feature a farmer/farmers as the lead, with a group of villagers being the supporting characters.
However, there is more content in Strawman, though I agree that some of them might be lost due to the poorly translated English subtitles (and I who made the subs is the one to blame, sorry for my poor English. Still, I hope Strawman can end up like Back to Back, Face to Face.) Strawman is actually a black comedy and satire on the mindset and value of Taiwanese people during the Japanese occupation period, and in fact it is the film inspiring Jiang Wen's Devils on the Doorstep.

ps. Alexander will be an addition on my 500<400 list. Luckily the match starts before the deadline of the list submission.

Allow me to change my rankings.
1. 稻草人 [Strawman] (1987)
2. The Last Command (1928)
3. Alexandre le bienheureux [Alexander] (1968)

Thinking twice I decide to rank The Last Command over Alexander.
Actually these two are pretty close in my mind. But now I confirm that I like The Last Command more.

[joachimt]

The Last Command: 1.815 (32-22)
Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.963 (28-26)
Dao cao ren: 2.222 (21-33)

[Angel Glez]

1. The Last Command
2. Strawman
3. Very Happy Alexander

[weirdboy]

Whoops! I almost forgot to vote!

1. Very Happy Alexander
2. The Last Command
3. Strawman

[sortile9io]

1. Alexandre le bienheureux - 8/10
2. The Last Command - 6/10
3. Dao cao ren - 5/10

I wonder if some of those voters who ranked the French film in the last position are devout workers that find subversive such a praise of (rural) idleness. If that's the case I recommend reading Bertrand Russell's "In praise of idleness" short essay.

[joachimt]

The Last Command: 1.8 (36-24)
Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.933 (32-28)
Dao cao ren: 2.267 (22-38)

[tarr]

1. Alexandre le bienheureux 8
2. Dao cao ren 7.5
3. The Last Command 7.5