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 Sunday the 27th of October, so make sure to get your vote in soon.
This month, there were 9 Contenders suggested so here they are:
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – [Howard Casner, Rantings & Ravings]
- Coherence (2013) – [Chris Staron, The Popcorn Auteur]
- Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) – [Daniel Lackey, Lackey Writes About Film]
- Eyes Wide Shut (1999) – [Nick Rehak, French Toast Sunday]
- Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971) – [Aaron Neuwirth, The Code is Zeek]
- M*A*S*H (1970) – [Todd Liebenow, Forgotten Films]
- The Rocketeer (1991) – [Chris “Tank” Tanski, The Title-Pending Movie Podcast]
- The Spectacular Now (2013) – [Cameron Kanachki, The Michigan Movie Guy]
- Zero Effect (1998) – [Courtney Small, Cinema Axis]
Here are my rankings along with brief thoughts on each film (click on the film title if you want to read my full review)
9. Eyes Wide Shut – Not sure what message this movie is trying to tell. Found the whole thing completely pointless. Stay away.
8. Dr. Who and the Daleks – Terribly silly film that has a very pathetic and simple minded plot. The film does no justice to the mythos of Dr. Who and even having Cushing play the iconic role doesn’t make it any more enjoyable. The story limps along really poorly and even taking into consideration the kind of special effects available at the time, this film’s plot just doesn’t work on any level. The Daleks don’t feel menacing enough for the kind of plans they wish to undertake and that also doesn’t help make this story feel suspenseful or thrilling at all.
7. Godzilla Vs Hedorah – Hilariously bad monster film that delivers exactly what one can expect from it. The special effects are terrible and it’s annoying seeing that Godzilla is just a man in a monster suit and that they don’t even try to disguise that fact. The story itself is meant to try and show an environmentalist view of this, but that gets lost in the way that the story limps along. The battles between the two monsters are fun from the perspective that this is what can be expected but it fails to offer very much beyond that.
6. The Rocketeer – Fun film that lacks something that feels unique or innovative. The action sequences are done really well which gives this film moments to cheer for, but overall, it just feels like a real superhero film doppelganger that doesn’t manage to stay interesting the entire time. Campbell is quite lackluster in the lead and Dalton’s Sinclair is the most interesting of the characters. I can understand how this film failed to be turned into a franchise when it just doesn’t manage to be as exciting as one would hope it could be.
5. The Spectacular Now – Very good (but not great) teenage love story which moves at a nice slow deliberate pace.
4. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – Interesting idea that is not as superficial as one might think. The cast is great and all three of the leads play their characters extremely well and realistically. Stamp is the best of the three since he is the most veteran of the actors and manages to pull off this kind of role which is so different than what he has played over the years. Weaving and Pearce were much lesser known at the time, but their performances in this film helped propel them to greater fame. The film does a great job dealing with the various aspects of the lifestyles of these characters due to the way they are all developed throughout the course of their journey. This, in turn, allows us to see them as much deeper people who we can truly care about what will happen to them.
3. Coherence – Very interesting premise that gets so confusing about halfway through that it’s quite easy to get completely lost. Really enjoyed how dialogue driven this film was.
2. Zero Effect – Pullman is great as the detective Daryl Zero and I loved how the narration explains his methods to us. He feels like a modern day Sherlock Holmes with Stiller playing his “Watson” so well. The story moves along at a great pace and they constantly reveal more and more clues as to what is truly going on. The plot may seem convoluted, but in the end, it all comes together really well in order for us to completely understand what is going on.
- M*A*S*H – Such a fun movie to rewatch because the characters and situations are spot on. Altman really knew how to create a carnival atmosphere and kept his characters seem so real despite everything going on around them. Amazing cast led by Sutherland, Skerritt, Gould, Kellerman and Duvall. The fact that they were able to tell a film about social issues related to a completely different war is truly an amazing accomplishment to achieve. A great (anti-) war film all around and it’s no surprise that it spawned a TV series that lasted 11 seasons plus.
So who should I vote for? – M*A*S*H is the most enjoyable of the films listed despite the fact that Zero Effect is also quite fresh and innovative the whole way through. M*A*S*H tho is much more iconic and has so many great characters to absorb and it is therefore my choice for this month’s MOTM.
So go on over to the LAMB site and let your voice be heard!
To vote, click here
Good luck to one and all!!!
MovieRob 