Personal Top Lists Challenge (Official, July 2022)

[maxwelldeux]

1. Nobody (2021) samoans's - 7/10
The new IMDB 2020's list landed with me barely cracking the top 5000, so I tried this one out, and it was pretty fun. A twist on the lone-wolf superhuman MAN'S man - this time a dumpy middle-aged Nobody who just happens to have the skills of Rambo and Chuck Norris. Fun and over the top.

[AB537]

1. Badkonake sefid - The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi, 1995) 7/10 ... from Sebby's favourites
2. Nobody (Ilya Naishuller, 2021) 7.5/10 ... from Samoan's list

[DudeLanez]

#Joachim's Favorite <400
05. Armourless Knight (1966, Sharaliev) 6,5/10

Spoiler

#Joachim's Favorite <400
01. A Fugitive from the Past (1965, Uchida) 7,5/10
02. Une femme a passé (1928, Jayet) 7/10
03. The Sin (1965, Barakat) 7/10
04. Goto, Island of Love (1969, Borowczyk) 7/10
05. Armourless Knight (1966, Sharaliev) 6,5/10

[ororama]

I nominate 1000<400 by lampadatriste: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/1000 ... adatriste/. Some interesting titles, hopefully a fair number that don't overlap with other lists already chosen.

[zzzorf]

1. Örökbefogadás (1975) - 7/10 - Mothravka #604 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/orokbefogadas/


My second Márta Mészáros movie in as many months and I'm quickly becoming a fan of her work. While this wasn't as fantastical as Bye Bye Chaperon Rouge instead being a more solid drama showing that she is able to handle different styles with ease.


2. Pet (2016) - 7/10 - filmbantha #123 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/pet-2016/


Getting into about halfway through this movie I was thinking this was just your basic stock-standard captive movie but the twist brought the second half around. Yeah there is better of the genre around but this was a fun watch.


3. The Mortuary Collection (2019) - 6/10 - filmbantha #383 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the ... ollection/


An interesting little anthology film but was a little inconsistent, still a fun way to kill some time.

[sol]

I nominate 1000<400 by lampadatriste: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/1000 ... adatriste/. Some interesting titles, hopefully a fair number that don't overlap with other lists already chosen.

That's a forum list, not a personal list of films chosen by lampa. It is the full 1000<400 from 2017.

[ororama]

I nominate 1000<400 by lampadatriste: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/1000 ... adatriste/. Some interesting titles, hopefully a fair number that don't overlap with other lists already chosen.

That's a forum list, not a personal list of films chosen by lampa. It is the full 1000<400 from 2017.

Sorry. Hopefully i'll get it right the next time.

[vortexsurfer]

I'm going to nominate TraverseTown's Favorite Films on 0 Official Lists - https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/trav ... versetown/

1. Miami Connection (Y.K. Kim & Woo-sang Park, 1987) - 7/10

[flavo5000]

I'm going to nominate TraverseTown's Favorite Films on 0 Official Lists - https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/trav ... versetown/

Oh nice! I'll probably dip into this one quite a bit this month. Lots of Vinegar Syndrome!

[ororama]

I think I got my nomination right this time: 500<400 Nominations (2021) by Czarniak.

[sortile9io]

I think I got my nomination right this time: 500<400 Nominations (2021) by Czarniak.

Yes, that one is right. Now I'll just have to decide which nickname to use: Czarniak (on iCM) or ckfilm88 (on iCM-F).

[maxwelldeux]

Lists are listless

1. Nobody (2021) samoans's

2. Free Guy (2021) samoans's
Fun, interesting, and clever for anyone really into video games. Which I'm not - So the whole premise was interesting enough for a few minutes for me, but stayed a little too fantastical for my tastes. Ryan Reynolds was great in this.

3. The Raid (2011) samoans's
They spent about 10 minutes on plot, and 90 minutes on violent action, which I really appreciated. Very simple plot to get you right into it and it ended up being a ton of fun for it.

[beavis]

1. Gambling, Gods and LSD (2002) 7
2. Dieu sait quoi (1994) 6
3. Älskande par (1964) 7.5
4. a selection of shorts

Second update, all from Mothravka's 500<400 2020 list

5. Die große Stille (2005) 8.5
This is beautiful, both in content and form as they very much enhance each other, in order to capture not time exactly, more the negation of time. Both time-lapse and slow motion are used at times, and both techniques enhance the beauty of either the surroundings or of details, but the experience of time remains the same. This is about life lived as a ritual, as a symbol, totally internal, in order to get close to some essence. which for me was all about time. And the movie tries to SHOW this through its form, the repetitions, the silence... wonderfully conceived and executed.

6. Les hautes solitudes (1974) 7
At first I think this is just Garrel emulating Warhol, so maybe a bit of a long sit. And without any narrative or any sound, it is in a way. But I got into it gradually, and I was hit by the sadness and intensity that Jean Seberg (so close before her suicide), who is the main "protagonist" here, brings to the movie. In a way this experiment tries to get to some pure form of cinema, and at times it might even have reached it.

7. De grote vakantie (2000) 7.5
A very personal doc that is both a great insight into the life of a filmmaker and a few specific cultures around the globe that he decides to visit for what could be both his final movie and his final voyages with his family, after getting the news that his cancer might have gone into an incurable phase. It's long but never a hard watch... sadly for me also never a great watch. Even the exotic places feel like the familiar images seen so many times before

8. Uwasa no onna (1954) 8
A very convincing look behind the scenes of a gheisha house with a great understanding of the plights of the women. There is a melodramatic element with the daughter of the madam returning home in order to show these things and that story is mostly ok (at the end it goes a bit overboard for my taste) and then there is a lovely attention to Noh theatre that is shown in extended sequences. All in all a beautiful movie.

Spoiler

https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/die+grosse+stille/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/les ... solitudes/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/de+grote+vakantie/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/uwasa+no+onna/

9. a selection of shorts
10. a selection of shorts:
Bleu (1994) 32 min
In Order Not to Be Here (2002) 33 min
Night Noon (2014) 12 min
Private Imaginings and Narrative Facts (1966) 6 min
Song and Solitude (2006) 21 min
Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification (1985) 4 min
La femme qui se poudre (1972) 18 min

Spoiler

https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/bleu/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/in+ ... o+be+here/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/night+noon/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/pri ... ive+facts/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/song+and+solitude/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/wat ... ification/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/la+ ... se+poudre/

126 min + 60 min carry over = 186 min = 2 points and 26 min to carry over
This second batch of shorts had some great horror vibes going on in both "In order not to be here" and "Le femme qui se poudre", but the best thing here is Bleu by the Hurtado brothers. Colorfull, psychedelic at points do to multiple overlay (I think double exposure is a more accurate description here, but I'm not sure) and a magnificent soundtrack. I've seen it described as magic and as alchemy in places, and I kinda get what is meant by that.

[zzzorf]

Just wondering if we can get a tally of how many movies have been watched from each list in the OP? I'm thinking later in the month if any of the lists haven't been tackled much I may pull some movies from them once I'm through with my original choices.

[DudeLanez]

#Joachim's Favorite <400
06. A Well for the Thirsty (1965, Ilyenko) 7/10
07. This Transient Life (1970, Jissoji) 8/10


This Transient Life (1970)

Spoiler

#Joachim's Favorite <400
01. A Fugitive from the Past (1965, Uchida) 7,5/10
02. Une femme a passé (1928, Jayet) 7/10
03. The Sin (1965, Barakat) 7/10
04. Goto, Island of Love (1969, Borowczyk) 7/10
05. Armourless Knight (1966, Sharaliev) 6,5/10
06. A Well for the Thirsty (1965, Ilyenko) 7/10
07. This Transient Life (1970, Jissoji) 8/10

[jdidaco]

Thank you for hosting, sortile9io!

I'll be using one of the lists that were under consideration by beavis earlier, thoughtrepellent's "Memory Mash" -https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/memo ... repellent/ -; I believe this list of "nebulous" favorites was created by (once active) forum member fori. I will focus on a small part of it though, just some Japanese titles I've been wanting to see for a long while, which hopefully won't exclude some instant favorites that weren't under my radar (like Makino's 'Lady Sen and Hideyori' from this batch).

(Screenshots from 'Sen-hime to Hideyori' & (under NSFW) 'Ukiyoe zankoku monogatari'),



1. Nihonbashi (Bridge of Japan, Kon Ichikawa, 1956) 9.5/10
2. Arashi o yobu otoko (Man Who Causes a Storm, Umetsugu Inoue, 1957) 8/10
3. Kaidan chibusa enoki (The Mother Tree, Gorô Kadono, 1958) 7.5/10
4. Sen-hime to Hideyori (Lady Sen and Hideyori, Masahiro Makino, 1962) 9.5/10
5. Chi to suna no kettô (Duel of Blood and Sand, Sadatsugu Matsuda, 1963) 8/10
6. Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji, Tetsuji Takechi, 1966) 8.5/10
7. Ukiyoe zankoku monogatari (Ukiyo-e Cruel Story, Tetsuji Takechi, 1968) 9/10
8. Yadonashi (The Homeless, Kôichi Saitô, 1974) 7.5/10
9. Aoi numa no onna (Blue Lake Woman, Akio Jissôji, 1986) 8/10
10. Teito monogatari (Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, Akio Jissôji, 1988) 7/10

NSFW

[shugs]

1. The Walking Dead (Michael Curtiz, 1936, ) - 7/10 #72aicm<400
2. Morgiana (Juraj Herz, 1972, ) - 7/10 #sol<400
3. House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977, ) - 6/10 #zzzorfCinephile

[Minkin]

I'm still trying to pick out what list I want to work on (I promise I'll eventually start working on the challenge itself once I have one picked). But was wondering if this list would be ok? We didn't end up watching anything queer for June, so I thought we could make up for that in July, after the world has decided queer folks don't matter anymore.

Erik's Recommended GLBT Films ?

[AB537]

3. Un long dimanche de fiançailles - A Very Long Engagement (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) 7.5/10 ... from Sebby's favourites

[ororama]

1. Blonde Crazy (1931) * 79 min. 500<400 Nominations (2021)-ckfilm88
2. Baby Face (1933) * 76 min. Bad List of Romance-mathiasa
Two first rate pre-code movies, James Cagney and Joan Blondell are terrific in the first, Barbara Stanwyck is even better in the second (George Brent is very good, too).

3. Not One Less (1999) * 106 min. zzzorf’s 1000 Movie Recommendations For All Cinephiles-zzzorf
Rural poverty versus stubborn determination. A thirteen year old girl hired as a substitute teacher for a month is instructed that she cannot lose one student, so when her oldest student (age 11) goes to the city to try to get work to support his family, she enlists the other students to help her get the means to follow him and bring him back, in the process becoming the teacher that she never could have been at the start. An inspirational story of determination and comradeship and an implicit condemnation of the society that has written off these children.

*First time viewing

[sortile9io]

I'm still trying to pick out what list I want to work on (I promise I'll eventually start working on the challenge itself once I have one picked). But was wondering if this list would be ok? We didn't end up watching anything queer for June, so I thought we could make up for that in July, after the world has decided queer folks don't matter anymore.

Erik's Recommended GLBT Films ?

That would be OK.

[vortexsurfer]

2. Blood Beat (Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos, 1983) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list
3. Trancers (Charles Band, 1984) - 8/10 samoan's list

Spoiler

1. Miami Connection (Y.K. Kim & Woo-sang Park, 1987) - 7/10 TraverseTown's list
2. Blood Beat (Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos, 1983) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list
3. Trancers (Charles Band, 1984) - 8/10 samoan's list

[zzzorf]

Spoiler

1. Örökbefogadás (1975) - 7/10 - Mothravka #604 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/orokbefogadas/
2. Pet (2016) - 7/10 - filmbantha #123 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/pet-2016/
3. The Mortuary Collection (2019) - 6/10 - filmbantha #383 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the ... ollection/

4. Shura (1971) - 7/10 - filmbantha #288 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/shura/


I really could have choosed nearly every list for this it is such a forum favourite but it makes more sense to take it from the one I nominated. I can see why it is such a favourite around here. I didn't enjoy it as much as most but was still a great watch.


5. Friends (1971) - 10/10 (Rewatch) - sol #500 https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/friends-1971/


I absolutely adore this film. Anicée Alvina is gorgeous in it, especially her adorable accent. It is just a great first love story. I watched this again to motivate me to finally watch the sequel Paul and Michelle (1974). It's funny, I stalk Sol's list all the time and this always sits at the bottom even though other movies may come and go, do you happen just to keep this there for me or something so I'm not the only person to vote for it in the annual poll, lol.

[DudeLanez]

#Joachim's Favorite <400
08. The Pearl (1947, Fernández) 6,5/10
09. Banditi a Orgosolo (1961, De Seta) 7/10
10. The Stranger Within a Woman (1966, Naruse) 6,5/10

Spoiler

#Joachim's Favorite <400
01. A Fugitive from the Past (1965, Uchida) 7,5/10
02. Une femme a passé (1928, Jayet) 7/10
03. The Sin (1965, Barakat) 7/10
04. Goto, Island of Love (1969, Borowczyk) 7/10
05. Armourless Knight (1966, Sharaliev) 6,5/10
06. A Well for the Thirsty (1965, Ilyenko) 7/10
07. This Transient Life (1970, Jissoji) 8/10
08. The Pearl (1947, Fernández) 6,5/10
09. Banditi a Orgosolo (1961, De Seta) 7/10
10. The Stranger Within a Woman (1966, Naruse) 6,5/10

[sol]

It's funny, I stalk Sol's list all the time and this always sits at the bottom even though other movies may come and go, do you happen just to keep this there for me or something so I'm not the only person to vote for it in the annual poll, lol.

When I replace films in my list, I actually don't replace them from the bottom. I usually take out films that have crossed (or are about to cross) the 400-check threshold, and then beyond that I have begun weeding out films that are already on permanent Official Lists. There's other factors that I take into account also, e.g. whether the film also appears on other 500<400 lists. As long as one of my picks remains high on somebody else's ballot, I am unlikely to remove it, so it seems safe there for now. But yeah, anything that increases my affinity with you can't be a bad thing either.

[blocho]

1. Operation Avalanche (2016, sol)
Comments in the Canadian challenge.

2. The World's End (2013, samoan)
A movie about friends from childhood who have become middle-aged, and the one man in their group who refuses to grow up. The banter among them is funny enough until there’s an unexpected swerve into sci-fi about a third of the way through. The title has a double meaning, you see. While there’s some humor in how suddenly that shift occurs, the rest of the movie is less amusing. It’s also narratively and thematically muddled.

3. Call Me by Your Name (2017, beasterne sebby)
Languid, listless, and kind of simplistic. This romantic drama is only a few steps removed from bodice ripper. It’s studiously averse to engaging queerness as a sociocultural topic or complicating the perfection of its protagonists, who are good-looking, rich, and absurdly brilliant. But hey, Sufjan Stevens wrote some songs for the score. So that’s cool.

[zzzorf]

It's funny, I stalk Sol's list all the time and this always sits at the bottom even though other movies may come and go, do you happen just to keep this there for me or something so I'm not the only person to vote for it in the annual poll, lol.

When I replace films in my list, I actually don't replace them from the bottom. I usually take out films that have crossed (or are about to cross) the 400-check threshold, and then beyond that I have begun weeding out films that are already on permanent Official Lists. There's other factors that I take into account also, e.g. whether the film also appears on other 500<400 lists. As long as one of my picks remains high on somebody else's ballot, I am unlikely to remove it, so it seems safe there for now. But yeah, anything that increases my affinity with you can't be a bad thing either.

You are second on my affinity list from last years 500<400 as we do seem to overlap slightly in tastes, I think you more than anyone else here. I think the only reason filmbantha beat you is due to our involvement in the iCMFFF and the last World Cup which are most of the movies we have in our lists the same.

[sortile9io]

3. Call Me by Your Name (2017, beasterne)

Do you mean sebby's list? There is none created by beasterne among the nominated.

[beasterne]

2. Pandora's Box (1929) - mathiasa

This was really not what I was expecting. Based on just the single screenshot from ICM I expected it to be a fantasy-driven film, similar to Orphee or La Belle et la Bete. But this is a crime drama. Can't say I was a big fan. The plot was pretty thin. Louise Brooks does cast a spell, but even that seemed to lessen as the film went on.

3. Say Anything... (1989) - mathiasa

Maybe this is an example of the trope "Seinfeld Isn't Funny". Maybe the film was more groundbreaking and original for its time, but it felt pretty cliche watching it from 2022. Lloyd is a manic pixie dream boy who falls hard for the class valedictorian Diane in the summer after they graduate high school. The film observes their summer romance before Diane is set to leave for England on a fellowship, under the watchful eye of Diane's father. The one facet that was handled well was the inevitable breakup. It felt real and earned, not like most romcoms that take a simple misunderstanding and escalate it past the point of credulity. Other than this, the best part of the film was the soundtrack, which is always on point in a Cameron Crowe movie.

the list so far

1. Stranger by the Lake (2013) - mathiasa

[blocho]

3. Call Me by Your Name (2017, beasterne)

Do you mean sebby's list? There is none created by beasterne among the nominated.

Yes, my mistake. It's sebby's list, but beasterne did me the favor of transferring it to ICM.

[flavo5000]

5. Landmine Goes Click (Levan Bakhia, 2015) sol
Very tense and stressful to watch. Reminded me of Michael Haneke. I understand what it was doing with its third act, but I honestly thought it went a little too extreme.


6. No Time for Sergeants (Mervyn LeRoy, 1958) sol
I thought this version of the stage show, fleshed out with extra scenes and characters, was pretty good and suitably amusing. But honestly I thought the original play was minute-for-minute much funnier and punchier.


7. Nomads (John McTiernan, 1985) TraverseTown
Directed well but really isn't that good. Lame ending too.


8. The Errand Boy (Jerry Lewis, 1961) sol
I'm not the biggest fan of Jerry Lewis' mugging, and this film is almost nothing but that and little else. Very little actual plot. Some of the set pieces are pretty funny bits of physical comedy but are undermined with Lewis making goofy faces.


9. Wild Tigers I Have Known (Cam Archer, 2006) TraverseTown
This is a pretty decent coming-of-age drama with some magical realism elements to it (a trademark of Altered Innocence releases). Faruiza Balk is actually quite good as the mother but the film is let down by some weak child acting and some annoyingly twee sections that feel too consciously outre.


10. Singapore sling: O anthropos pou agapise ena ptoma (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1990) sol
I mean, I love face pissing and S&M as much as the next black & white art film fan, but frankly the hyper-emotionalism of the acting felt a little off-putting and the plotting a little too oblique for my tastes. I honestly thought Nikolaidis' Euridice BA 2037 was a better film.

Spoiler

1. King & Country (1964) sol
2. Fort Apache the Bronx (1981) sol
3. Bobby (1973) mathiasa
4. The Man From Colorado (1948) sol
5. Landmine Goes Click (Levan Bakhia, 2015) sol
6. No Time for Sergeants (Mervyn LeRoy, 1958) sol
7. Nomads (John McTiernan, 1985) TraverseTown
8. The Errand Boy (Jerry Lewis, 1961) sol
9. Wild Tigers I Have Known (Cam Archer, 2006) TraverseTown
10. Singapore sling: O anthropos pou agapise ena ptoma (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1990) sol

[sol]

10. Singapore sling: O anthropos pou agapise ena ptoma (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1990) sol
I mean, I love face pissing and S&M as much as the next black & white art film fan, but frankly the hyper-emotionalism of the acting felt a little off-putting and the plotting a little too oblique for my tastes. I honestly thought Nikolaidis' Euridice BA 2037 was a better film.

Nice to have comments this time. Always interesting to hear what others think of the films that I like. Hopefully this crop wasn't too disappointing.

And agreed that Euridice BA 2037 is the superior of the two films, but that's merely the difference between a 9/10 and 7.5/10 film for me.

[DudeLanez]

#Joachim's Favorite <400
11. Metro Manila (2013, Ellis) 6,5/10

Spoiler

#Joachim's Favorite <400
01. A Fugitive from the Past (1965, Uchida) 7,5/10
02. Une femme a passé (1928, Jayet) 7/10
03. The Sin (1965, Barakat) 7/10
04. Goto, Island of Love (1969, Borowczyk) 7/10
05. Armourless Knight (1966, Sharaliev) 6,5/10
06. A Well for the Thirsty (1965, Ilyenko) 7/10
07. This Transient Life (1970, Jissoji) 8/10
08. The Pearl (1947, Fernández) 6,5/10
09. Banditi a Orgosolo (1961, De Seta) 7/10
10. The Stranger Within a Woman (1966, Naruse) 6,5/10
11. Metro Manila (2013, Ellis) 6,5/10

[vortexsurfer]

4. Rats - Notte di terrore/Rats: Night of Terror (Bruno Mattei, 1984) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list
5. Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miru ka? Yoko kara miru ka?/Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (Shunji Iwai, 1995) - 7/10 (rewatch) TraverseTown's list
6. Undo (Shunji Iwai, 1994) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list

Spoiler

1. Miami Connection (Y.K. Kim & Woo-sang Park, 1987) - 7/10 TraverseTown's list
2. Blood Beat (Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos, 1983) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list
3. Trancers (Charles Band, 1984) - 8/10 samoan's list
4. Rats - Notte di terrore/Rats: Night of Terror (Bruno Mattei, 1984) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list
5. Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miru ka? Yoko kara miru ka?/Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (Shunji Iwai, 1995) - 7/10 (rewatch) TraverseTown's list
6. Undo (Shunji Iwai, 1994) - 8/10 TraverseTown's list

[ororama]

4. Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967) * 84 min. sebby’s Favorite Movies
Good weird fun.

Spoiler

1. Blonde Crazy (1931) * 79 min.  500<400 Nominations (2021)-ckfilm88
2. Baby Face (1933) * 76 min.  Bad List of Romance-mathiasa
3. Not One Less (1999) * 106 min.  zzzorf’s 1000 Movie Recommendations For All Cinephiles-zzzorf

*First time viewing

[beavis]

1. Gambling, Gods and LSD (2002) 7
2. Dieu sait quoi (1994) 6
3. Älskande par (1964) 7.5
4. a selection of shorts
5. Die große Stille (2005) 8.5
6. Les hautes solitudes (1974) 7
7. De grote vakantie (2000) 7.5
8. Uwasa no onna (1954) 8
9. a selection of shorts
10. a selection of shorts

Third update, all from Mothravka's 500<400 2020 list

11. Terra Franca (2018) 7.5
A lovely view of a Portugese family. There is nothing special (or overly hyped up during the movie) about this family, and that makes the film all the better. I liked the Portuguese vibes, reminded me of my holliday in Lisboa. The flipside of this is of course that the movie has not much on offer besides...

12. Aapothkalin Trikalika (2016) 8.0
Ashish Avikunthak is always experimental and interested in religious expression, in this one he explicitly examines the relationship between the worship of Kali and sexuality. The music is mostly hypnotic chanting and the spoken texts are repeated often, in different settings, that you could also see them as a form of incantation. It seems to adress much more as there is a clash(?) with modernity going on (sounds of airplanes, trains, helicopters passing by) and talk about domestic violence, that is hard to place exactly for the uninitated in this culture, but the gist of it remains clear. And the whole package is just beautiful.

13. Genshiryoku sensô (1978) 7.0
The English title is Lost Love but the litteral translation, Nucleair War, seems somehow far more fittting as this one is a paranoia thriller around a nucleair power plant (the Fukushima plant in fact, which gives this movie another layer in retrospect). Some of the storytelling and characters come across as a bit clunky, so I did not found this the most effective or surprising thriller, but as an ATG production it still brings something artistic to it... the two modes just don't gel very much for me in this case.

Spoiler

https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/terra+franca/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/aap ... trikalika/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/genshiryoku+senso/

14. a final selection of shorts:
Isolation (1974) 5 min
Senis ir zeme (1965) 18 min
Le soleil, la mer, le coeur et les étoiles (1984) 35 min

Spoiler

https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/isolation-1974/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/senis+ir+zeme/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/le+ ... s+etoiles/

58 min + 26 min carry over = 84 min = 1 point
Snuck in a few more shorts for another point. Another Hurtado one and another Lithuanian doc, all of them very fine again, nothing to recommend especially this time.

[flavo5000]

11. Shimaizaka a.k.a. Four Sisters (Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, 1985) TraverseTown
This melodrama about four half-sisters and the men in their lives finds Ôbayashi at his most restrained, still with that tint of nostalgia and some excellent shot composition. The story is pretty sappy and predictable, but Ôbayashi's skill as a director still shines through in places.


12. Dodookdeul a.k.a. The Thieves (Dong-Hoon Choi, 2012) samoan
This was a fun, twisty Korean/Chinese collaboration about a gang of criminals pulling a major diamond heist and double- and triple-crossing each other in the process. The pacing felt a little off in places and it was at least 15 to 20 minutes too long with about one to two too many subplots, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.


13. Don't Panic (Rubén Galindo Jr., 1988) TraverseTown
Oh boy, this Nightmare on Elm Street ripoff was amazingly terrible. Super fun, super stupid. Also, hey! I've got those dino PJs too!


14. Akeelah and the Bee (Doug Atchison, 2006) zzzorf
Yes, this is sentimental and predictable, but Keke Palmer is great as Akeelah, a black girl at an underprivileged school who is coaxed into trying to win the National Spelling Bee.


15. The Glass House (Tom Gries, 1972) FilmBantha
This was a really good made-for-TV prison drama that, while missing some of the really intense grit one would expect from this kind of film due to its TV origins, still packs quite a punch at times. Alan Alda and Clu Gallagher are both very good as the prisoner and prison guard respectively who are new to and try to fight against the corrupt prison system they finds themselves in.


16. Dom durakov a.k.a. House of Fools (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 2002) sol
I really liked this one. Well-made with very well fleshed out characters. Yuliya Vysotskaya is absolutely wonderful in a performance both incredibly fragile and absolutely adorable. The film's biggest fault really is with the low production values which really harms a couple of scenes that should've played out in a more devastating fashion than they did.


17. Blood Hook (Jim Mallon, 1986) TraverseTown
Cranky, crazy fisherman goes about using a souped up lure to hook teens and use them as bait to land big fish in a local fishing tourney. It's as stupid and hilarious as it sounds. Also, it's directed by veteran MST3K director Jim Mallon!


18. California Crisis (Mizuho Nishikubo, 1986) fori
This is a decently entertaining anime OVA that plays out mostly as an extended action chase sequence. The art style is interesting and some of the action scenes are really well done. The problem is that the animation quality is inconsistent from scene to scene (which is not uncommon with anime in general). Not a masterpiece but still a fun bit of fluff.

Spoiler

1. King & Country (1964) sol
2. Fort Apache the Bronx (1981) sol
3. Bobby (1973) mathiasa
4. The Man From Colorado (1948) sol
5. Landmine Goes Click (Levan Bakhia, 2015) sol
6. No Time for Sergeants (Mervyn LeRoy, 1958) sol
7. Nomads (John McTiernan, 1985) TraverseTown
8. The Errand Boy (Jerry Lewis, 1961) sol
9. Wild Tigers I Have Known (Cam Archer, 2006) TraverseTown
10. Singapore sling: O anthropos pou agapise ena ptoma (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1990) sol
11. Shimaizaka a.k.a. Four Sisters (Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, 1985) TraverseTown
12. Dodookdeul a.k.a. The Thieves (Dong-Hoon Choi, 2012) samoan
13. Don't Panic (Rubén Galindo Jr., 1988) TraverseTown
14. Akeelah and the Bee (Doug Atchison, 2006) zzzorf
15. The Glass House (Tom Gries, 1972) FilmBantha
16. Dom durakov a.k.a. House of Fools (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 2002) sol
17. Blood Hook (Jim Mallon, 1986) TraverseTown
18. California Crisis (Mizuho Nishikubo, 1986) fori

[maxwelldeux]

Lists are listless

1. Nobody (2021) samoans's
2. Free Guy (2021) samoans's
3. The Raid (2011) samoans's

4. Cop Out (2010) samoan's - 4/10
This was garbage. All that talent, and it all fell flat.

5. The Mission (1999) samoans' - 6/10
I didn't really connect with this, aside from the 80s-esque synth soundtrack. I don't know why, but I really dug that part of it. Action was fine, but it didn't stand out for me.

[ororama]

5. Contempt (1963) * 103 min. Bad List of Romance-mathiasa

Spoiler

1. Blonde Crazy (1931) * 79 min.  500<400 Nominations (2021)-ckfilm88
2. Baby Face (1933) * 76 min.  Bad List of Romance-mathiasa
3. Not One Less (1999) * 106 min.  zzzorf’s 1000 Movie Recommendations For All Cinephiles-zzzorf
4. Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967) * 84 min.  sebby’s Favorite Movies

*First time viewing

[Melvelet]

Not sure if I will stick around until the end of the month as I'm not really in the "hunting for obscure hidden gems" mode that I hoped to be in for this challenge
But I will nominate/work on ArthurYanthar's Favourite Movies. Unfortunately he seems to have deleted his ICM account. A pity because that would have made cross-referencing much easier...