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Ok, catchup. 2. Terrence Fisher’s The Horror of it All vs. 6. George Romero’s The Crazies I didn't mind The Horror of It All but I didn't think it was terribly good either. I didn't think Crazies was great but I actually really enjoyed it. Sucks for Fisher. I would have loved to vote for him to win the Hammer Division. And I voted for Romero the last time around too. But I'm voting for Crazies a second time. 9. William Castle’s Shanks vs. 13. (Deb’s Silent Scream) Robert Wiene’s Genuine I finally watched Genuine after failing last week. I had planned to watch Friday night when I discovered my mistake. The dumb idea I had was that because it was a silent film and the 88 minute version on Youtube had no score I was gonna watch it while listening to Ginuwine. And with that my 100% Ginuwine Genuine playlist was born. And it was pretty solid. Not only does listening to music make it easier to stay watching a silent film but it turns out 90s R&B kinda goes well with a movie about a seductress. The good songs came in right as stuff starting picking up and there were some really cool synching up moments of songs about devotion and heartbreak and the stuff happening on screen. It was cool. But like the movie probably wouldn't have been watcheable without it. I can see why a 44 minute version has become the popular version. There's a lot of downtime here and what is there isn't much. There's some good design and stuff but not enough for 88 minutes. Shanks didn't do a lot for me either. I didn't like it the way others did and didn't engage with it all. But I think its probably a better version of what it wants to be than Genuine is. So I dunno. It might have my vote but I might abstain. Not sure. I really didn't like either. 8. (Tarnop’s Agents Provocateur) Brian De Palma’s Raising Cane vs. 13. Takashi Miike One Missed Call I didn't like Raising Cane at all and I think I'm starting to really dislike De Palma. My problem with him besides the sleaziness and edgelordiness is that he seems like he really, really wants to be Hitchcock and its kind of embarrassing. This gets compared to Split a lot and rightfully so since M. Night also really wants to be Hitchcock and also can't seem to control his camp sensibility enough to pull it off. But Split at least has a really great performances from McAvoy and Taylor carrying it through. Lithgow is so over the top here and I don't know if that was by design or just what Lithgow brings to the table but it felt so at odds with the Hitchcockian thriller tone of the film and everyone else seeming to play this straight. I guess people like that but for me it just made everything feel silly and not worth taking seriously. And I guess I was supposed to be more surprised and wowed by the twists but I really wasn't. The whole thing was just kind of a fail for me. All the Miike fans hated One Missed Call so I thought I might end up loving it since I generally like basic ghost stories made for basic American audiences like my basic rear end. But it was just fine. Its too long and doesn't really do anything terribly original or interesting. I did like that the spooky music in it is basically a kid's creepy ringtone. That was kind of clever. I think the ending is a bit of a mess. Its convoluted and I'm not sure I entirely followed it. The ghost had a lot going on. And that big twistiness also kind of drags out the ending and is the first time I really felt the time and was like "wow, this is long." Its no surprise I don't like Miike's sensibility or find him clever but I don't know if that's him injecting his stuff into a basic horror film or just era of films it came from. Maybe a bit of both. But I still think it was mostly fine. So in a surprise for me I'm voting Miike. It wasn't great and it had its flaws but Cane was just kind of a dull mess to me.
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Aug 17, 2022 06:30
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Screamers vs. Beauty and the Beast I was excited to rewatch Screamers because "this movie deserves the same re-evaluation as Event Horizon" rhetoric was very exciting, but I regret to say that it's an absolutely delusional hot take. It's better than the 27% Rotten Tomatoes score would indicate, but that still puts it sub-50. It would have been much, much better if it had ended before the terminally-90s "tough girl" fight, where ultra strong hydraulic androids did graceful spin kicks instead of ripping limbs off. The fundamentally genderless robots still needed to be ladylike because they had boobs and long hair. Peter Weller is always fun to watch and I see why he went back to academia: dude's an obvious nerd. Beauty and the Beast was honestly boring but the set and monster designs were great and it seemed like a complete vision, albeit a vision I wasn't interested in. I'm voting for it. Samfucius fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Aug 18, 2022 |
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Aug 17, 2022 23:47
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I really enjoyed Beauty and the Beast overall, mostly due to the production design and just the whole aesthetic was excellent. Unfortunately, there was one particular scene involving cruelty to an animal that made me extremely uncomfortable and basically soured the whole experience. I totally get why some might vote for it, I'm not really making an ethical judgement here so much as just voting based on the fact that my enjoyment of the film was severely effected by that scene. If Screamers was complete poo poo it might be a tough call but I like Screamers quite a bit. It's overly ambitious for sure, they definitely did not have the budget to pull of some of the huge ideas that are in the movie. So there are times when it feels cheap and not as immersive as you'd like for this kind of science fiction but all in all I think it's still a solid, good time. So it gets my vote.
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Aug 18, 2022 14:30
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Thursday. 46 hours. Don't forget to vote. Elite Eight starts next week. That's all I got the strength for. Vote or change your vote until 12 noon EST August 20th (or when I get to the computer)
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Aug 18, 2022 19:16
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8. (Tarnop’s Agents Provocateur) Brian De Palma’s Raising Cane vs. 13. Takashi Miike One Missed Call I was actually not crazy about either of these, even though they were both shot and directed well. My least favorite part of Raising Cain was actually John Lithgow. I know that it's regarded as a good performance, but his voice grates on me when he gets really emotive and I can't take him seriously at all. The story was interesting though, even if it's the kind of pop psychology thriller stuff that's been done to death at this point. One Missed Call was a very competent retread of other Japanese horror movies. I really enjoyed the TV show scene but it was never really able to recapture the absurdity and tension of that part. I'm not sure which way I'll vote here. Edit: I ended up voting for One Missed Call. twernt fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Aug 19, 2022 |
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Aug 18, 2022 22:29
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10. (mbd’s Czech This Out) Juraj Herz’s Beauty and the Beast vs. 11. (Kangra’s Weird Tales of Dan O'Bannon) Christian Duguay’s Screamers Beauty and the Beast is definitely better, from a technical perspective, but Screamers is a lot more fun. Voted for Screamers here.
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Aug 19, 2022 14:58
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I think Beauty & The Beast has a great production design, and I like that it gives us at least some insight into the principal characters. It's an otherwise rather lackluster adaptation and has little to recommend it unless you just like to look at it (and some of the other entries from this team are better for that). Screamers has fairly obvious flaws, and clearly needed a refinement of the script, yet it has enough going for it that I'll give it a win. I have to say I had fonder memories of it, probably because I blocked out the less necessary portions of it. I'm surprised Duguay's best entry is Screamers 3 of all things. The extra time did let me get in The Crazies, and while I really like elements of it, it's not that enjoyable taken as a whole. Somehow The Horror of it All was good enough to get my vote, although it does indeed feel like a failed pilot or one of those movie-length episodes of a TV show, and that's not meant to be a compliment. Sticking with Shanks on the other side because it's just too disturbing to not earn my vote.
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Aug 20, 2022 08:10
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Raising Cain is a delight, John Lithgow chewing scenery with everyone else playing it straight while De Palma does his thing – yes please! I think my favourite scene (everyone’s favourite scene?) is of course the tracking shot through the police station, especially where for a brief moment everyone walks down the stairs in lockstep. Why is it so funny? There are so many other times where I just had to cackle, like the reveal of the corpse’s face, or the weird rear end child that confronts Lithgow in front of the toilet. One Missed Call, not so good. Miike is of course a director that can easily match DePalma in skill and outrageousness, but he just does not do it here. A badly thought out (what happens if you just take the call?) Ring ripoff could still be fun, and there are a few brief scenes where Miike makes it work: The TV show in itself was a really good piece of filmmaking both in terms of creating tension and just plain looking good. But overall the thing drags and the only category that it beats Cain in is goop (important but not all encompassing) Voting Cain. The Beauty and the Beast is beautiful but also one scene is absolutely beastly and it wouldn’t even be the first time one of my teams loses because of animal cruelty. Forgetting about that scene (I’m trying) leaves you with a gorgeously costumed, somewhat shallow fairy tale with fantastic sets – there could be more to it, but I also just really enjoyed the vibes. It felt like it was actually fulfilling the promises that Hammer movies keep making. Screamers is ambitious to a fault and clearly suffers from its limited resources. I had a lot of fun watching it and I would actually rewatch it over B&B, but is it the better movie? No. Is it even a good movie? Somewhat, yes. Voting B&B to support my own team.
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Aug 20, 2022 16:27
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I’m late and there’s twice as many results this week so I’ll try and talk half as much as usual.  Fisher’s The Horror of it All was on track for a shutout win over Genuine last week in the wrong matchup but its Castle’s Shanks that ends up with the shutout. Maybe that says more about Genuine than either other movie? For Shanks it was headed to a victory anyway so the only thing that changes is the numbers. Fisher is less lucky as the draw takes him from a winner to a lose to The Crazies. You can call it a second chance for Romero but really this was supposed to be the matchup all along. Either way while Romero’s guerrilla pandemic prophecy had a tough time against the weird rear end puppet nightmare it pretty easily beats the Pat Boone comedy. So how does it all shape out? Deb’s Silent Scream is done and Robert Wiene takes his first Bracketology loss. Terrence Fisher becomes the latest top seed to fall and his reclamation run ends at the Sweet Sixteen dropping him to a 2-3 record overall. Romero returns to the Elite Eight after falling in the Sweet Sixteen last year and climbs into 4th place overall with his 6th Bracketology victory. And William Castle picks up his 5th win as he continues his best Bracketology run in three years. So now its Romero vs Castle in a big name matchup and big spreadsheet numbers matchup. Should be fun.   This was a close one right down to the wire but its once again Brian De Palma who comes out ahead. Raising Cane just barely beats out Miike’s One Missed Call. Two favorites around here clearly things were split, but maybe it was De Palma doing a bit more of his weird thing that people here love that pulled him ahead with a tamer more mainstream film from Miike. That ends Miike’s return run and leaves him at 7-5 over the three years while De Palma picks up his 3rd win of this tournament to improve to 4-1. On the other side of the bracket it was a much clearer victory as Screamers rolled over Beauty and the Beast. There were a lot of fans of BatB’s design and general atmosphere but there were also people brought down by some of its content. And while Duguay’s Screamers is clearly a lesser made film a lot of people seemed to just have more fun with it. And that’s actually Duquay’s second victory of this tournament so he’s now 2-0! But Herz falls to 1-1 and mbd’s Czech This Out team is eliminated. And that means it will be Tarnop’s Agents of Provocateur vs Kangra’s Weird Tales of Dan O'Bannon next week to fill the last of the Final Four spots. Ok, with all of that dealt with lets get the Elite Eight started! 3. (twernt’s Spooky Swinging Sixties) Ingmar Bergman’s Persona vs. 8. (Goat’s Ladies Night XX) Mitzi Peirone’s Braid  Bergman’s back. twernt’s Spooky Swinging Sixties is actually the last automatic bye of 11 left in this tourney and its pulling no punches as Bergman is back for a second round to continue to confuse and confound our Bracketology audience. That worked last time and its loving Bergman, so its hard not to give him an edge again this round. On the flip side Ladies Night XX is the last of 13 of my teams standing so… that’s kind of the same. Its really a legacy of losing for me but for Ladies Night this is their second time to the Sweet Sixteen and first time in the Elite Eight. This team deserves more than to have me as a creator and it probably deserves a creator who actually saw the films he put on the team instead of panic adding films when others were lost. But its sounds like Braid is gonna fight weird with weird and with comparisons to something like Singapore Sling that seems like it makes it a huge wildcard here. My Ladies have been knocking off big names of horror all tourney with Hitchcock, Hooper, and Fulci all on the list. Can they now add Bergman to that impressive resume? Or is Bergman gonna clean up the last of my films and drive into the Final Four as a pretty fitting Boomer Division Champion? Persona is available for streaming on HBO Max and Criterion. Braid is available for streaming on Peacock, TubiTV, Redbox, Screambox, and Freevee. 5. (Tarnop’s Revenge of Predation) Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs vs. 14. (Deb’s Team Quite Good Directors That I Enjoy) Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000  Drawing Silence of the Lamb just seems unfair in a way. I mean what stands a chance, really? Its Silence of the Lambs? But this is the Elite Eight and we might have a fight because if something can counter an Oscar winner it might be one of the ultimate exploitation cult classics Death Race 2000. Both pretty legendary in their own ways in almost polar opposite ways. Silence of the Lambs has been followed by numerous sequels, a TV show, and really helped create a whole wave of horror films posing as thrillers for mainstream legitimacy. Death Race 2000 has its own share of sequels and remakes and really did as much to create kind of a whole sub genre of the “death race” sci fi and horror thing. This feels like a real matchup. Tarnop’s Predation has been rolling through this tournament and looks to make the Final Four for the second year in a row. But Deb’s Team Quite Good Directors That I Enjoy has had its own killer run and could arguably be seen as the spiritual successor to Deb’s Queer as gently caress You team that made it to the Championships last year. Either way this is two of our top teams from two of our top contributors and its two top films. I’m not sure how this is gonna play out but it feels like an absolutely marquee way to kick the Championship rounds off. Silence of the Lambs is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Showtime, and Fubo. Death Race 2000 is available for streaming on TubiTV, Popcornflix, and Fandor. Its Elite Eight time! And we’ve got a matchup of two massively famous films on two very opposite ends of the scale, and two films on very opposite ends that are deep cuts that might deliver something equally weird. It feels like a good matchup worthy of the place we’re at. Its crunch time. Before you know it we’ll be done and I’ll be staying up all night to do something else I procrastinated on all year. Treasure these times. As always the goal is to just have fun and watch what you want. We try and make sure every film is reasonably available, some are a little harder to find than others and not everyone has the right streaming services so if you need help ask and help might be right around the corner. Vote or change your vote until 12 noon EST August 27th (or when I get to the computer) Next Week! - 6. George Romero vs 9. William Castle - 8. Tarnop’s Agents Provocateur vs. 11. Kangra’s Weird Tales of Dan O’Bannon Spreadsheet Letterboxd List
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Aug 20, 2022 19:29
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The only movie I need to watch this week is Braid. Persona is very good but it isn't perfect, who knows. I absolutely adore Death Race, so I'm gonna think about this matchup for a few days. Silence is, well, what it is but it isn't an automatic victory.
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Aug 20, 2022 20:50
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I've never seen Death Race so I'm looking forward to that and I'll try my best to stay open-minded about the vote.
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Aug 20, 2022 20:57
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Basebf555 posted:I've never seen Death Race so I'm looking forward to that and I'll try my best to stay open-minded about the vote. Death Race 2000 is a lot of fun, and my friends and I were quoting "Mr. President Frankenstein!" to each for weeks after first seeing it. But, I mean... Silence of the Lambs is pretty much a perfectly constructed film, and even if I can honestly say I have more fun with DR 2K, I can't pretend it's a better film, or more worthy of a vote here.
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Aug 20, 2022 21:19
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I wasn't a huge fan of Death Race 2000 but its the kind of thing I'm sure you'll love. Its the sort of trashy, goofy thing that goes over big here. And like part of me was just trying to be fair and not treat it like a foregone conclusion but its a different vibe than Silence and I think definitely could resonate on a different level. Plus like toss in Silence's problematic transphobic elements. Its horror/thriller status. Maybe people just aren't in the mood for a cop movie? I dunno. Its a long shot but even if Silence won 9 out of 10 times with the right crowd and the right moment I feel like Death Race could get the upset. If nothing else it should be a crowdpleasing chaser.
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Aug 20, 2022 21:39
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I was looking up the director of Braid, Mitzi Peirone, and ran across this:quote:Born and raised in Turin, Italy. In 2016 Peirone partnered up with entrepreneur Joseph Lubin to create a new business model to finance her film, Braid, which became the first one ever to be fully financed through a cryptocurrency equity crowdsale. Samfucius fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Aug 21, 2022 |
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Aug 21, 2022 17:21
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I figure if you can scam some idiots out of their money to make a spookadoodle thats alright with me.
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Aug 21, 2022 18:13
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God, I hope so, but this interview makes her seem like a true Blockchain believer: https://www.mirrorboxfilms.com/blog...ed-feature-film
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Aug 21, 2022 19:21
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I guess I could see how if you financed a movie through crypto you’d (a) see it as legitimate as like Zombie crowdfunding a movie and (b) feel confident that it actually works because it works for you. I dunno. I don’t know anything about her so don’t mean to defend. But my vague understanding of the issue has left me feeling like there’s a difference between the people trying to make money off it vs the people just using it to make money off them. It’s like you don’t hate the people caught up in a pyramid scheme. But my understanding of Crypto is limited. I mean assume Bergman’s gonna run over my team. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Aug 21, 2022 |
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Aug 21, 2022 20:15
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I feel like my posts come off harsher than meant them. There's nothing really to defend, crypto is just an automatic eye roll. Luckily it doesn't matter anyways because I just finished Braid and completely regardless of anything else, it just isn't that good, and Persona is. The cinematographer really needs to get over the upside down camera shot. My wife says it's like Daisies but lesser in every way, and I think she has a point.
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Aug 21, 2022 20:31
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Death Race 2000 was indeed a really fun midnight drive-in type movie. Just packed with funny characters and extremely blunt(but entertaining) political satire. Not sure why it just hadn't really showed up on my radar before now, but Bracketology has always been great at exposing me to new stuff like this. Anyway though Silence of the Lambs is still just too good, too effective for me to vote for Death Race. The total package of Silence, the amount of dread and tension it creates with Demme's intimate directing style and the haunting score and the performances, it's nearly unbeatable.
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Aug 24, 2022 15:09
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Is anyone else having issues with watching Persona through HBO Max? I cancelled my Criterion Channel subscription because I was rarely using it and a lot of the stuff I was interested in was on Max anyway, but for whatever reason, that one film keeps getting stuck when I try to watch it. (Other movies/episodes play out fine.)
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Aug 24, 2022 16:18
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I watched it last night on HBO Max and it was fine. HBO Max is very janky for me sometimes though. As for the matchup Persona is very pretty and well made and all but I dunno. I just don't go for that arty "I have an idea of what this movie is about but I don't want to tell the audience because I want them to make up what they want" kind of film. Braid had a touch of that but felt like it had a clearer core. Its actually kind of an appropriate matchup since they're both kind of esoteric pieces on women and their relationships. RNG did it again. I think Braid just hit with me more. Maybe that's just the language barrier because most of what I can criticize Persona for is there in Braid too. I don't know. I feel like Braid was a little more narratively grounded and Persona was a little more artfully loose and ultimately I lean towards narrative. So its gonna lose but it won't be shut out. And I haven't rewatched Silence/Death Race yet but I'm voting for Silence. I didn't like Death Race that much. I do kind of want to rewatch it but I'm not gonna force myself. Silence beats it easily for me. But its Thursday so there's still some time for me to change my mind. Just under 43 hours! That's also the clock for me to start next week's writeups and get going on that drat video all ready. gently caress, I'm running out of time. Vote or change your vote until 12 noon EST August 27th (or when I get to the computer)
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Aug 25, 2022 21:52
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I liked Persona a lot, however I'm not sure I can count it as horror. It's mostly a character drama, meanwhile Braid taps more into the horror vein but isn't as good. Decisions decisions. The other one is a slam drunk for Silence of the Lambs.
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Aug 26, 2022 23:11
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I have no problem calling Persona a psychological horror. I’m just not personally a fan of that “little bit of everything, interpet as you will” film.
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Aug 27, 2022 00:41
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Braid vs Persona is a fun one for me: even though I've made it clear that I like Persona better as a film, I like the Ladies Night team as a whole more, so I kinda hope it wins.
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Aug 27, 2022 13:01
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Tonight's stream will be preceeded by Battle Heater at 5pm EST 
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Aug 27, 2022 13:36
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STAC Goat posted:I have no problem calling Persona a psychological horror. I’m just not personally a fan of that “little bit of everything, interpet as you will” film. I wouldn't say you're wrong, but for me it just fell harder into the drama category. It was still a great film! I went with Braid. The knee check with the meat hammer is still sticking with me lol
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Aug 27, 2022 16:13
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I only actually managed to watch one movie this week, and it was Death Race 2000. The rest I’ve seen or missed ☹ Silence of the Lambs is an all time great, no question. Death Race 2000 is a total hoot, satire of the bluntest kind, just like I enjoy it the most. The budget is minimal but they still manage to get a whole lot out of it. A perfect candidate for a remake, which ended up removing any sort of politics from it so what’s the point again? Voting politically this time, Team Predation is too much of a superteam for my tastes, and DR2k is just fun enough to justify a contrarian decision.
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Aug 27, 2022 16:19
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I slept through my alarm this morning and my whole day has been late. My bad. Bergman wins to no real surprise. Braid does avoid the shutout and I avoid the embarrassment of being the only vote for my team, but in the end Ladies Night is comfortably beaten and thus ends the last of my teams. But Bergman picks up his second straight win and twernt’s Spooky Swinging Sixties advances into the Final Four!  And we have a massive upset! I said it could happen but I wasn’t sure I believed it. But whether it was a question of people’s moods, people’s ideas on horror or teams, or what Silence of the Lamb loses to Death Race 2000! Wow. Tarnop’s Predation falls short of the Final Four for the second year in a row but Deb’s Team Quite Good Directors I Enjoy advances and Paul Bartel picks up his second win of the tourney. I’m rushed, sorry. Here’s this week. 8. (Tarnop’s Agents Provocateur) Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill vs. 11. (Kangra’s Weird Tales of Dan O'Bannon) Gerald Potterton’s Heavy Metal  Man the RNG loves De Palma. For the fourth straight round it draws him over his teammates and so far he’s been carrying the team all on his own. In fact of Agents Provocateur make the finals its entirely possible it will be the first time we see a non-De Palma film/director from them since he’s only got Carrie left after this one. But as successful as he’s been so far he still has to win this round. And he brings another Criterion Hitchcockian erotic thriller to the table so he may very well. Its worked for him so far. On the other side of the battle we don’t have a Criterion film but we do have a cult classic and something we really haven’t seen out of this tournament in 140 films. Maybe an inspiration for or a reflection of a time and style of art and music and sensibility that carries on to this day for many. Maybe even a whole genre of music that is reflected in or inspired by this film. A style of fiction and art. And probably more than a few van murals. Dan O’Bannon only wrote one of the stories in this animated anthology as far as I can see but that’s ok. Kangra’s Weird Tales team has had a weird path here getting a fair bit of well timed matchups and this looks like the toughest matchup to date. And for all of the accolades on Dressed to Kill its hard to ignore the constant word that comes in reviews for it is “problematic.” Truthfully that seems a little built in to De Palma and he’s gotten this far so maybe it won’t hurt him here but with reported gender and sex issues maybe that’s the opening Heavy Metal needs for another upset. Then again the 80s boob metal fantasy era isn’t exactly what I’d call progressive or feminist. So I don’t know how this one will play out. It feels somewhat similar to last week’s Silence of the Lambs vs Death Race 2000 matchup and we know how that played out. Dressed to Kill is available for streaming on HBO Max, Hoopla, Pluto, and TubiTV. Heavy Metal is available for streaming on Crackle, Fubo, Plex, and TubiTV. 6. George Romero’s The Dark Half vs. 9. William Castle’s Homicidal  Hey, Stephen King snuck in here late after all! And he joins what is likely our last real clash of legendary horror names of this tournament. Romero and Castle are not only the last two solo directors standing but they’re also two of the most successful directors in this tournament as they rank 1st and 2nd in ballot percentage in this tourney. They haven’t skated by to this point, they’ve won their battles decisively. But something has to give and someone’s gonna fall. For Romero he brings a King adaption and a rare entry of his in this tourney that isn’t an indy guerrilla production Its not the first King film this tourney and not really the first self insert but it is Romero at the wheel and he’s been burning his way through this thing. But so is Castle and he brings what is oddly enough the second Psycho “knockoff” of this week and what feels like the 4th or 5th of the tourney. Its generally well reviewed although it carries its own problematic gender elements as well. The erotic thriller/slasher style that seems to be the place Homicidal fits in is clearly the more popular brand of horror for Bracketology than King’s more slow, character pieces. But every movie is different and every matchup is a new draw of cards. This is the end of the line for both of these guys as solo directors. Neither will have enough films next year to be nominated without a team. And this is the furthest either has ever gotten. One of these two legendary names will have a 1 in 4 chance of being the new Bracketology Champion. But this is where the chances of that ever happening ends for one of them. The Dark Half is available for streaming on HBO Max and DirectTV. Homicidal is out there and available upon request. That’s our matchup. The RNG keeps drawing problematic Psycho knockoffs and keeps drawing De Palma. It also keeps drawing unconventional matchups that are tough to call. Its not long left for this. Final Four next week and then the Championships. We’re gonna have to say goodbye very soon. But there’s a little time left in our journey this year and four more films. I hope everyone enjoys them. As always the goal is to just have fun and watch what you want. We try and make sure every film is reasonably available, some are a little harder to find than others and not everyone has the right streaming services so if you need help ask and help might be right around the corner. Vote or change your vote until 12 noon EST September 3rd (or when I get to the computer) Next Week! The Final Four! Spreadsheet Letterboxd List
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Aug 27, 2022 20:24
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Woo, loving the upset! Didn't Team Predation actually win last year?
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Aug 28, 2022 16:28
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No. It made it to the Final Four but lost to the eventual champion MZ’s One and Done.
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Aug 28, 2022 18:28
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Aug 28, 2022 18:40
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Dressed To Kill gives me really mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s an almost perfect giallo, with De Palma at the height of his powers, just outstandingly energetic and outrageous. The museum and subway station scenes are just all time greats. On the other hand, the movie is quite vile. When I first saw it I didn’t know better than to shrug it off and say it’s a product of its time, somehow excusing the shittiness. But nowadays transphobia specifically is a mainstream political program that even my sheltered rear end is aware of, and how can I defend that? I’d like to think that the movie more thoughtless than hateful, but I’d rather leave that judgement to those affected by it – and they’re rightfully not kind to it. Still I can’t help to really really like the movie, so it’s basically the epitome of a very guilty pleasure for me. Heavy Metal on the other hand is a piece of poo poo, and just as vile. I guess you can get some enjoyment out of making fun of the dumb rear end everything, but it would be insulting to cavemen to call it troglodyte entertainment. Voting for the movie with not actually redeeming qualities, but at least qualities.
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Aug 28, 2022 21:09
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Having slept on the The Dark Half and Homicidal matchup, it's a tougher call than it could've been only because The Dark Half has the big standout moment of the two films. There's no denying that a dude being picked apart by a swarm of bloodthirsty spirit-birds until the birds are literally making a birdhouse out of his ribcage is something that can leave an impression and kinda lift a movie to a higher level in my mind when I think back on it. Homicidal was more consistently entertaining throughout it's runtime though. It has several excellent characters, some pretty intense scenes, and that classic Castle charm that I always appreciate. There's no doubt that the plot is problematic by today's standards but I didn't find it to be egregious, maybe partially because the lead performance was fantastic. I was surprised to find out that Jean Arliss/Joan Marshall didn't really have much of a long-term career, because I found her to be a very compelling presence in this film. Voting Homicidal.
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Aug 29, 2022 15:31
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8. (Tarnop’s Agents Provocateur) Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill vs. 11. (Kangra’s Weird Tales of Dan O'Bannon) Gerald Potterton’s Heavy Metal I may just abstain from this matchup because I thought both of these were pretty bad, but for different reasons. The only reason I'm posting is to share this unintentionally hilarious moment from Dressed to Kill. 
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Aug 31, 2022 21:22
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I spent the weekend in the wilderness so I've only been able to get in one match-up this week, and it's Dressed to Kill vs. Heavy Metal, two rather flawed films. I do feel Heavy Metal's flaws are a bit more understandable, although no less excusable. One has to question the idea of pandering to teen male comic book readers to the extent of acknowledging their libido so much. Yet I feel the intentions are clearer so maybe that's why I somehow don't despise it as much as some do. Dressed To Kill annoyed me more, probably because I kind of expected something a bit better, certainly less racist at the very least. I'm not trying to make it a contest of which is less problematic, I'm just trying to explain how my reaction was formed. As for the positive aspects, Dressed to Kill is at least mostly competently put together. The first 30 minutes or so is a decent Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode (complete with the latent misogyny) and yes that's a snarky way to put it, but I actually did like it well enough. The rest is just a real let-down outside of a few mildly interesting scenes. The best part of Heavy Metal, maybe even the only really good part, is B-17, which is also the best, and again maybe the only, horror in it. It does a good job being creepy, it avoids the troublesome aspects of the other stories, and the animation fits the story. I think it also feels decently complete for such a short length. Is it enough to redeem the whole film? Maybe not. Yes, it is the only reason this film made it on my team, and I do not intend to separate it out from the rest of the film. Personally, I find the film as a whole sort of fascinating if ultimately mediocre. The animation is about as good or bad as anything contemporary with it. If nothing else, I think it has value as a time capsule of what people (or at least some set of Canadian men) though they could make and present as a film in its time; it is in some way an antidote to some more rose-tinted 80's nostalgia to examine something like this. I kind of want to abstain here, although if pressed I'd probably pick Heavy Metal. Not actually because it's my team; in a way I kind of would be happy to see the team end its run here as it has mostly shown off what I wanted from it.
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Sep 1, 2022 04:46
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I hated both Heavy Metal and Dressed to Kill. Heavy Metal is obviously more sophomorically gross. It can be kind of easy to overlook or excuse that. It feels like the creation of a sexually inexperienced 12 year old boy who doesn't really understand anything about sex or women. But its not. Its made by grown ups. Its just a bunch of incoherent fantasies of naked women throwing themselves at losers and being fetishized. Even the on heroic character is little more than cheesecake without agency. And then there's the weirdness of the wrap around of the evil orb telling all these random rear end sex stories to a little girl who grows up into the next fetish. Its gross and I don't want to think too much about it. Plus I think its just poorly made. The stories barely constitute stories, the whole thing is nonsense barely strung together, and I don't really understand what rotoscoping is but I know I find it ugly. I just hated that movie and never would have gotten through it without others watching with me. I watched Dressed to Kill mostly alone and sadly I hated that too. Its like every bad thing about De Palma and that era of thrillers ramped to 11. The transphobia angle is well discussed and it pops up so commonly in thrillers but it feels deliberate and malicious here. Like its not just a trope the film falls back on, its really the explanation dug into for why our killer is psycho. It feels extra icky. And so does all the gratuitous sex. I'm not a prude but there's no reason to open the film with a drawn out Angie Dickenson erotic rape fantasy except for sleaze appeal. And there's nothing else there, really. The characters aren't developed. The story is stupid. Its blatantly ripping off Psycho's twist but bumbling it. Psycho's protagonist is Norman Bates. This film just doesn't have a protagonist. And hour in I didn't know Nancy Allen's character's name. De Palma's technically proficient obviously and can and has made good movies. And he's made movies I hate that I understand why others enjoy. But I just hate this film and think its badly made at nearly every level. And even beyond the big topics it really hits a bingo of problematic elements from racist cliches to a freakshow handling of mental illness to a really weird relationship between Nancy Allen and a teenager. I just hated this, a lot. And I watched Klute the day before and its such a better and more mature version of this kind of thing that I think I hated this for what it is even more. So yeah. I'm just abstaining. I hated both of these.
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Sep 1, 2022 11:01
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Man. I didn't love Heavy Metal but I found a few things to like about it: the Crumb influence in the style, the aforementioned rotoscoping, the spaceman in a sports car (shame Elon ruined that image), and a few more. It was dumb, but unlike Dressed to Kill I didn't find it deeply uncomfortable to watch. I shook my head but I didn't avert my eyes. It was dumb, silly, and very horny and that's honestly fine. I found the trans stuff in DtK way worse.
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Sep 1, 2022 12:26
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Everyone can't abstain!
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Sep 1, 2022 13:58
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I am totally willing to sell my vote.
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Sep 1, 2022 14:46
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| # ? May 31, 2024 22:54 |
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Filling out my police report "then the sparrows carried his rib cage off into an aurora borealis"
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Sep 1, 2022 19:40
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