The Lamb’s January 2019 MOTM – My Rankings

As a frequent and steady contributor to The Large Ass Movie Blog, (The LAMB), I always try to get more people involved with the site.

Every Month, the site runs a poll based on the list of films submitted by LAMB members for the prestigious ability of being named as the Movie of the Month that will be discussed on the LAMBCAST podcast during that given month.

I decided that each month I will watch each of the films chosen and give my rankings of those films in order to decide which film I should vote for and in doing so, maybe help some of you also decide which film to vote for.

The voting is open until this coming Sunday, the 23 Dec, so make sure to get your vote in soon.

This month, there were 7 Contenders suggested, so here they are:

• Boiler Room (2000) – by Damien Riley, Riley on Film
• Dumbo (1941) – by Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
• Misery (1991) – by Chris Tanski, The Title Pending Movie Podcast
• Stand By Me (1986) – by me
• Snowpiercer (2013) – Tony Cogan, Coogs Review
• Talk to Her (2002) – by Rebecca Sharp, Almost Ginger
• Winter Kills (1979) – by Troy Anderson, AndersonVision

 

Here are my rankings along with brief thoughts on each film (click on the film title if you want to read my full review

7. Snowpiercer – Great concept and execution. Interesting analogy of how the class system works in any society.

6. Dumbo – Enjoyable Disney animated movie that is light on plot, but strong on teaching a lesson.

5. Boiler Room – Great idea that came out at the right time to be highly successful. The cast is superb and helped strengthen the careers of Diesel, Ribisi, Long and Kaat. The pacing is super fast and that helps get the viewer in the mood for the kind of story being told which is a mixture of numerous genres. The financial terminology is kept to the minimum and they do their best to explain things as well as possible so that things move smoothly throughout.

4. Winter Kills – Great conspiracy theory film that manages to give us a really interesting scenario of what might have happened in the JFK assassination. The story is paced really well and they manage to give us some excellent surprises along the way. The supporting cast is perfect and they help keep the magic of the plot feel quite realistic. Bridges is superb in the lead and allows us to believe such a person could be so intelligent yet clueless as he picks up the clues along the way. This is based on a novel of the same name and I’m quite interested in reading it in order to see what other elements are present that failed to make the final cut here.

3. Talk to Her – Great film that takes us on a journey of unexplained occurrences in life that take people places where they never expect. The story revolves around two caregivers as we slowly learn how each of them got to where they are. The story deals with the way life takes us to places and events that we never would have expected to reach while also having us meet and re-meet people along these journeys sometimes without even realizing. The story can be seen on numerous levels about friendship and love and how things can evolve in life. Almodovar was deservingly nominated for Best Director at the Oscars for this film.

2. Misery – Great performances by Bates and Caan as they try to outwit each other. More powerful during it’s first viewing, but still a taut thriller perfectly constructed by Goldman’s expert adaptation of King’s novel.

1. Stand By Me – Amazing film that is among the best adaptations to screen from the page. King wrote a great story that translate so well to the screen and through both, we can become so familiar with these kids because they are developed so well along their journey. The cast is superb with Phoenix, Wheaton, Feldman and O’Connell having such amazing chemistry throughout their quest. Gives off a very nostalgic feel that makes one reminisce about the days of innocence because they are captured so amazingly here. One of the best films ever made.

 

So who should I vote for? – Basically, this is a month with a strong list of films and I actually like all of them, so ranking them isn’t so easy, but a necessity.  I’m a bit biased this month due to the fact that I also submitted a film.  Of the choices, I do honestly believe that Stand By Me is the most powerful and enjoyable of the 7, but I can understand if others would rather vote for Misery or Talk to Her since both of them are also great films that tackle some very deep issues.

To vote, click here

 

Good luck to one and all!!!