Tropical Island Video Vault Draft - ROUND 20 - FINAL ROUND

[uolj]

I've got some slower moving crime dramas and quirky comedies, but nothing in one genre that I actually like a lot. I don't know what you call that genre, but it's a fast paced and fun mix of comedy and criminality. And Guy Ritchie does it well. So my next pick is...


Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/

 

[Spike]

Plot? Meh, it was OK.
Bruce Lee kicking the crap out of everyone? Good stuff.

My pick is obviously:

Enter the Dragon (1973) R

 

[Larry89]

I'm all out of bubblegum.

They Live - 1988
With all due respect to The Thing and that movie with the guy in the William Shatner mask stabbing people, this is John Carpenter's masterwork.

 

[Warhawk]

For William Blake:

Clerks (1994)
92 minutes of two friends jerking around a store trying to work as little as they can. Might be a little too artsy and pretentious, but it's great comedy and I can't stop laughing every time I see it.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

It surprises me to look through my list and see that I don't have a foreign-language film yet. I'll fix that with my next pick: Trois Couleurs: Bleu (AKA "Blue", 1993 - R)

In Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's final films before his death, he made a trilogy based on the colors of the French flag in which he examined the concepts of the French national motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité. This film examines liberty, though in an unconventional sense - Juliette Binoche is a famous composer's wife who has just been "liberated" from her husband and young daughter through their deaths in a car accident. As the film shows, this liberation has cost her more than just her family. It's an incredibly beautiful film, and it does a more thorough job of integrating the original soundtrack into the film than any non-musical I can think of.

Below the spoiler, one of my favorite scenes in any film, ever.

Spoiler

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

For William Blake:

Clerks (1994)
92 minutes of two friends jerking around a store trying to work as little as they can. Might be a little too artsy and pretentious, but it's great comedy and I can't stop laughing every time I see it.

Darn there goes another one i planned to take. i thought that one would be safe because folks would think it was too "artsy and pretentious" and that doesn't seem to be a very popular kind of film with this crowd. Personally i never saw any Kevin Smith films as artsy or pretentious. There were just low budget and had a quirky indie vibe.

 

[Warhawk]

It surprises me to look through my list and see that I don't have a foreign-language film yet. I'll fix that with my next pick: Trois Couleurs: Bleu (AKA "Blue", 1993 - R)

In Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's final films before his death, he made a trilogy based on the colors of the French flag in which he examined the concepts of the French national motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité. This film examines liberty, though in an unconventional sense - Juliette Binoche is a famous composer's wife who has just been "liberated" from her husband and young daughter through their deaths in a car accident. As the film shows, this liberation has cost her more than just her family. It's an incredibly beautiful film, and it does a more thorough job of integrating the original soundtrack into the film than any non-musical I can think of.

Below the spoiler, one of my favorite scenes in any film, ever.

Spoiler

I have these on my Netflix list - haven't watched them yet though.

 

[Warhawk]

My next pick is:

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A quirky movie that whether it is the period music or the film, whenever I run across it in any media form I have to stop and take it in.

pm sent

 

[SacKings7]

For William Blake:

Clerks (1994)
92 minutes of two friends jerking around a store trying to work as little as they can. Might be a little too artsy and pretentious, but it's great comedy and I can't stop laughing every time I see it.

Am I the only one that preferred the sequel?

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Am I the only one that preferred the sequel?

I know a few people who prefer the sequel. (05 seems to prefer the first though. Personally, I though Clerks 2 was Smith's worst film.

 

[Löwenherz]

Barry Lyndon - 1975

One of Kubrick's lesser celebrated epics is nonetheless a brilliantly quirky rags-to-riches-to-rags period piece and an absolute cinemtographic masterpeice.

A bit on that last subject, Kubrick wanted to be as authentic as possible, and being set in the late 18th century, that meant (most) interior shots lit exclusively by candlelight. To pull that off, he had to employ the use of an ultrafast camera previously used by NASA - producing eerily intimate scenes.

The outdoor scenes meanwhile were almost all shot during what's known as "The Magic Hour" - a time of golden/orange, soft, warm light ideal for the "romantic and magical" - giving the whole movie the feel of an oil painting.

Ironically, this all plays with a droll, proper English narrator sardonically describing how Redmond Barry (aka Barry Lyndon) toiled and schemed his way into a fortune, only to lose it all thanks to the same vices and virtues that brought him there in the first place.

 

[Bricklayer]

Sigh. You guys are all a bunch of jerkheads. I was scheduled to finally begin working through some of my sleepers, but I simply refuse to let this one sit out there rotting any longer:

Batman Begins (2005) PG-13

Which I took in the 4th round last time, and which still remains my favorite superhero movie (perhaps precisely because he has no superpowers) -- I felt like its sequel benefitted from enormous hype and a timely (from a box office perspective) death to get people to turn their inner critics off and ignore the fact it was muddled, whatever its ambitions. I had a replacement superhero flick in mind that I thought I would pick up after this one was taken, but you arthouse loving poo brains just refused to take this, so finally I had to say, no more!, and grab it back up. I know this one is rewatchable because I have rewatched it numerous times. Given my general disdain for the whole comic book film fetish, that is remarkable in itself.

 

[Jespher]

Nice list there Brick. That's 4 of your 5 allowable re-picks, so eventually we will get to see those sleeper films you mentioned. I did enjoy Batman Begins for reinventing the superhero genre by making it acceptable for adults to like these films without feeling childish and shallow. The psychology associated with the Nolan Batman's is very interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the fact that they played up Mr. Wayne's fear of bats throughout the film and transformed that symbol into something of entirely different meaning. Good pick!

 

[Warhawk]

I did enjoy Batman Begins for reinventing the superhero genre by making it acceptable for adults to like these films without feeling childish and shallow. The psychology associated with the Nolan Batman's is very interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the fact that they played up Mr. Wayne's fear of bats throughout the film and transformed that symbol into something of entirely different meaning. Good pick!

Agreed. I liked Batman Begins in general, but the overly "Hollywood" ending annoyed me for an otherwise good film. Brick, I just thought The Dark Knight was a better movie overall and I really thought the Joker was excellent. I guess that is the reason we all have different lists!

 

[kingsnation]

FINALLY! Pick coming..

 

[kingsnation]

I have to admit, I am a sucker for romance and I don't really have too much romance on my island thus yet, so it's time to pick up one of, if not my favorite romantic film...

Pride and Prejudice

The newest version BTW. I'm a huge fan of all of Austen's books as well I must say.

 

[GoGoGadget]

Huh. Saw that one going with someone else.

Pick coming...

 

[Bricklayer]

I have to admit, I am a sucker for romance and I don't really have too much romance on my island thus yet, so it's time to pick up one of, if not my favorite romantic film...

Pride and Prejudice

The newest version BTW. I'm a huge fan of all of Austen's books as well I must say.

Heh, what do you know. That was on my list from the first time and the necessity of taking Batman Begins essentially eliminated it as a possibility this time. Beautifully done movie though, whatever the liberties it took, and I'm glad somebody took it this time.

 

[GoGoGadget]

Looked over my list and while I've got plenty of bloody and generally dark, I don't yet have anything that is truly bleak. Need that on my isle. So, to scratch that particular itch:

The Proposition (2005) -- Takes the bleakness of a traditional western and moves it to Victorian era Australia, a wholly inhospitable landscape filled with people who generally didn't want to be there. The outback itself is beautifully photographed, but everything and everyone that fills it is filthy, bloated, covered in flies, and viscerally unpleasant. Just a lot of ugly. And at the end, pretty much every character you've met along the way is either dead or royally ****ed. Fun! But, in case anyone wonders why I'd want that with me forever (in addition to my general fondness for the occasional bummer), just take a look at the first three names in the cast list. Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, and Danny Huston -- one terribly underrated should've-been leading man, and two great "oohhh, that guy!" character actors -- turn in great performances. This one very, VERY nearly made my list last time, so I'm happy to take it now.

 

[Jespher]

I have a couple picks left from NoBonus's PM, but he stated he would only be gone part of the weekend. I'll hold off a bit from selecting for him...just in case . If he's not back by around noon then I'll make his selections and we'll go from there.

 

[Superman]

Sigh. You guys are all a bunch of jerkheads. I was scheduled to finally begin working through some of my sleepers, but I simply refuse to let this one sit out there rotting any longer:

Batman Begins (2005) PG-13

Which I took in the 4th round last time, and which still remains my favorite superhero movie (perhaps precisely because he has no superpowers) -- I felt like its sequel benefitted from enormous hype and a timely (from a box office perspective) death to get people to turn their inner critics off and ignore the fact it was muddled, whatever its ambitions. I had a replacement superhero flick in mind that I thought I would pick up after this one was taken, but you arthouse loving poo brains just refused to take this, so finally I had to say, no more!, and grab it back up. I know this one is rewatchable because I have rewatched it numerous times. Given my general disdain for the whole comic book film fetish, that is remarkable in itself.

Only reason I didn't take it is because I already have two other Chris Nolan movies. But it was on my list.

 

[NoBonus]

My 13th round pick:


The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad(1958)

ENTER RAY HARRYHAUSEN

This movie has a cyclops, a dragon, a cobra-woman, a two-headed giant vulture, and, in my opinion, the best looking skeleton army ever assembled on the big screen... cgi never has and never will touch the magic of Ray Harryhausen's special effects...

 

[NoBonus]

My 14th Round pick:

The Karate Kid(1984)

Loved this movie growing up; still love it. HATE the Will Smith, Inc. remake... pure blasphemy. What can I say about this movie? No one dies, and in the end, the good guy not only defeats the uber-bully (seriously, when was the last time a bully round house kicked a kid in the face?), bad guy (Johnny) against cheating (how many of you felt for Bobby? Forced to help cheat by his coach?) and incredible odds, but wins the bad guy's respect. Loved it. Love it.

And here is the end sequence, in case you need some goosebumps

 

[Superman]

My 14th Round pick:

The Karate Kid(1984)

Loved this movie growing up; still love it. HATE the Will Smith, Inc. remake... pure blasphemy. What can I say about this movie? No one dies, and in the end, the good guy not only defeats the uber-bully (seriously, when was the last time a bully round house kicked a kid in the face?), bad guy (Johnny) against cheating (how many of you felt for Bobby? Forced to help cheat by his coach?) and incredible odds, but wins the bad guy's respect. Loved it. Love it.

And here is the end sequence, in case you need some goosebumps

Holy ****! What a great pick!

 

[GoGoGadget]

My next pick is pretty.

Hero (2002) -- Several of these came out in the states after a certain unmentioned Ang Lee film found an audience (thanks in large part to The Matrix creating a demand for Hong Kong wire work), and I own most of them. Needed to grab at least one for my island.

 

[Larry89]

Did I just start a snowball effect of grabbing all the kungfu movies available?

 

[kingsnation]

Next pick coming..

 

[kingsnation]

One of my favorites, not only because of how real the issue is but of the action, scenery and acting as well. Just well done.

Blood Diamond

This movie also opens your eyes and breaks your heart for a real issue here in our world.

 

[Dime Dropper]

One of my favorites, not only because of how real the issue is but of the action, scenery and acting as well. Just well done.

Blood Diamond



This movie also opens your eyes and breaks your heart for a real issue here in our world.

Very good pick. I came extremely close to taking that with my last pick but decided to take LA Confidential instead of using up one of my re-picks from the last draft. Would have taken it had it came back to me again.

 

[Bricklayer]

Okay...so we are onto Kung Fu movies huh? Alright...:

American Pie (1999) R

I am such a trend ignoring rebel.

So, I have a lot of comedy on my island, and am generally happy with the state of my island's laughs. But one style of comedy I did not have was the juveile sex farce/fart joke variety. And hey, I am not above it. And few have done it better than this one. You know what else I did not have a single example of on my island? A naked girl -- something which I will never see again on my island if I don't have one in a movie. R movies all over the place, but it was all a very American R -- you see in America we believe that the sight of one female boob will scar you for life far more than thousands of people dying in over the top mayhem. And if you were going to finally add a naked lady to your island, you could do a lot worse than a naked Shannon Elizabeth. So generally i am happy to welcome this one on board.