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

[Nopros]

Uh oh, this is getting exciting again.

[Mario Gaborović]

19 hours left. USA is leading by just two points.

[Armoreska]

It still needs at least 2 #1s
One more vote for USA will seal the victory.

[Fergenaprido]

1. USA - The Last Command - 7.5-8ish
2. TWN - Dao cao ren [Strawman] - 7ish
3. FRA - Alexandre le bienheureux [Alexander the Blessed] - 6-6.5ish

The Russians come again to aid a country to victory. Good silent drama with a notable leading performance from Jannings. Didn't realize Powell got his start in silents; seems he's developing his smirk already.

A lot in the first half of Strawman got lost in translation, but it started to pull together. Let's laugh at poor stupid people suffering from war. Yay. Some nice moments, though.

You can hardly call your film a critique of work culture when every single character is unlikeable, has questionable motivation, and the best thing about the film is a well-trained dog. Everyone in this just irritated me immensely. Plus, the "let's create a woman who is a shrew and has no other purpose in life than to annoy a man and then kill her off and replace her with a dog" thing disagrees with my stomach. There's nothing wrong with idleness, but this film doesn't depict that, it depicts sloth.

[Lilarcor]

A lot in the first half of Strawman got lost in translation, but it started to pull together. Let's laugh at poor stupid people suffering from war. Yay. Some nice moments, though.

You can hardly call your film a critique of work culture when every single character is unlikeable, has questionable motivation, and the best thing about the film is a well-trained dog. Everyone in this just irritated me immensely. Plus, the "let's create a woman who is a shrew and has no other purpose in life than to annoy a man and then kill her off and replace her with a dog" thing disagrees with my stomach. There's nothing wrong with idleness, but this film doesn't depict that, it depicts sloth.

I felt like the farmers were not only victims in Strawman - they are shown as resilient and bold. For this reading I think the first scene with the song "loudness war" is essential, were they are shown as resisting Japanese influence in an arena where this is possible. To me, the film is more of a satire on Japan and their occupation of the country, a taboo subject very shortly before this film was released.

I fully agree with your comments on Alexander, well said.

[Mochard]

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

[RBG]

w00t there it is

[filmbantha]

This has been an intense round so far, even more so than usual being one of the managers jostling for the top position. I enjoyed Alexandre and Strawman but neither film resonated with me as much as The Last Command.

1. The Last Command
2. Alexandre le bienheureux
3. Dao Cao Ren

[joachimt]

The Last Command: 1.765 (42-26)
Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.971 (35-33)
Dao cao ren: 2.265 (25-43)

It seems the gap is getting to big now to be closed by France. 34 voters now. The last four matches of round 1 we had less than 40 votes (37, 37, 39, 36), so I wonder how many votes there are still to come.

[Nopros]

I didn't vote the last four, so at least 37 one would hope.

[Gershwin]

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

Allez les bleus!

[sebby]

1 the last command
2 alexander
3 strawman

tlc far and away the best of the lot.

[klaus78]

1. The Last Command (USA) 8/10
2. Alexandre le bienheureux (France) 8/10
3. Dao cao ren (Taiwan) 8/10

[funkybusiness]

1. The Last Command (USA)
2. Alexandre le bienheureux (France)
3. Dao cao ren (Taiwan)

awfully close tho.

(thanks klaus for the copypaste)

[mjf314]

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

[joachimt]

Deadline over. USA wins. I'll post more later.....

[joachimt]

The Last Command: 1.769 (48-30)
Alexandre le bienheureux: 1.949 (41-37)
Dao cao ren: 2.282 (28-50)

Congratulations to filmbantha for proceeding to the quarter finals. Also thanks to klaus78 and mjf314 for playing and to the 39 people who voted this match.

[Armoreska]

1A always has most participation regardless of how bad and numerous the movies are compared to the rest. Now there's one less movie, match A again, all 3 are pretty great, official and still only managing to beat the last 4 matchups.
And did I mention it seemed close so your vote could have mattered.

[joachimt]

1A always has most participation regardless of how bad and numerous the movies are compared to the rest. Now there's one less movie, match A again, all 3 are pretty great, official and still only managing to beat the last 4 matchups.
And did I mention it seemed close so your vote could have mattered.

1A didn't have most participation in season 2. That was the final. After that 1E, then 1D and 1N. I don't think we'll get a drop after 2A. There are 31 people with perfect participation (13) so far. Also 5 people with 11 or 12 votes. So that 36 (almost) sure voters. Add some extra votes and I think we'll stick to this level.

[joachimt]

1. The Last Command (USA) 8/10
2. Alexandre le bienheureux (France) 8/10
3. Dao cao ren (Taiwan) 8/10

This is good sportmanship, btw. Rating them all so close and still not voting for your own pick.

[Armoreska]

1. The Last Command (USA) 8/10
2. Alexandre le bienheureux (France) 8/10
3. Dao cao ren (Taiwan) 8/10

This is good sportmanship, btw. Rating them all so close and still not voting for your own pick.

Nothing doing when you've already lost. Now try and do that in the first week.

[Gershwin]

1A always has most participation regardless of how bad and numerous the movies are compared to the rest. Now there's one less movie, match A again, all 3 are pretty great, official and still only managing to beat the last 4 matchups.
And did I mention it seemed close so your vote could have mattered.

1A didn't have most participation in season 2. That was the final. After that 1E, then 1D and 1N. I don't think we'll get a drop after 2A. There are 31 people with perfect participation (13) so far. Also 5 people with 11 or 12 votes. So that 36 (almost) sure voters. Add some extra votes and I think we'll stick to this level.

I'm getting quite bored with the WC though, because it lasts way too long and prevents me from watching the films I'd normally have watched. I really hope we'll reduce the number of participating countries in future versions.

[weirdboy]

Very good match, with two of the selections already being on my favorites list before the voting started, it was a joy to re-watch and re-evaluate.