Rashomon was the first of Kurosawa's classics and introduced Japanese cinema to the world at large. It style of storytelling from four different points of view was very unique and has since been copied countless times ever since. It's my favorite movie of all time.
It was picked by Ro in the movie draft with a wonderful review
In the Best Picture category, I'm selecting No Country For Old Men. There's something about Cormac McCarthy's work that really captures the zeitgeist of our culture today, and the other upcoming film adaptations of his work (at least three of them at last count) will have a hard time matching the impact of No Country. There's so many scenes that just stick with you: the dog chasing Llewelyn down the river, the visit between Sheriff Tom and Uncle Ellis, and just about every moment with Anton Chiguhr, including the iconic coin flip. The pacing of the movie is brilliantly done, and I love how the closing scenes are done, from the events at the hotel, to Uncle Ellis, to Chiguhr and Carla Jean, to Tom Bell and his wife. The acting is top notch by everyone, especially Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolen.
Holy good god... The commitment she took on to go from the hottest woman in Holywood, to the above. The movie was disturbing, and Charlize went to a different place to become Aileen Wournos, a sick, deranged serial killer.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
OK.. I'll ready a spreadsheet to keep everything straight. In the meantime, I guess I am up?
Hummm.... This is a tough one. Conventional wisdom says pick one of the less sexy categories that have fewer viable picks.... Yeah... That is what I will do.
In the Best Fgn Language Film category, I'll select: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) (Germany)
A somewhat shocking winner in 2006, as most pundits had Pan's Labyrinth taking the oscar in a cakewalk. However this slow-burning exploration of surveillance, voyeurism, human relationships under immense pressure, and the problematic issues identity and sense of history for those who lived in and after the GDR. A great, great film.
Last edited by liamenator; 03-02-2009 at 08:10 PM.
Hey y'all. I'm gonna drop out of this draft. I always told myself that if I ever let myself get asskicked, I don't deserve to be in the draft.
Godfather 2 goes back in the pool.
Have fun!
Booooooooo! A movie draft without Windom??? Blasphemy!
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
OK, to keep the 70s theme going (might have been a crappy decade in many respects, but there were some damned good movies made in the 70s) with my third pick:
Best Director - 1971 - William Friedkin – The French Connection
Where would Hollywood be without the inventor of the car chase scene? There were car chases before this film, but Friedkin was the first to jump-cut POV, in-car, street-level, just about every camera angle you can think of, all together to form what we now come to expect in every action film. The only better car chase scene I can think of was in Ronin, also a very fine, under-appreciated film. The French Connection is a fine buddy-cop film even without the car chase, but Friedkin put it all together in a way that was innovative at the time, and has become rote in just about every blockbuster in the last 38 years.
