I wouldn’t recommend to pick a trendy Malaysian, since it could easily happen that one of his most popular films gets beaten by a Chilean underdog.
I love that Dim ignores his own match results to argue that there is some sort of canon dominance going on.
Since Vlacil and Nikolaidis have limited choices in their filmography anyhow and I hope to see a wonderful attendance with a 3 vs 3 film-watching experience, I’ll announce my picks right now for…the sake of film-watching, hehehe.
¿Qué hacer?
Trois vies & une seule mort
Combat d’amour en songe
I love that nobody else seems to ignore Dim as I do.
Interesting choices, I’m glad that we finally get to see one of his Chilean films. Hopefully there will be more participation than in the ongoing Vláčil vs. Nikolaidis match.
I love Dim, so I do not want to ignore him.
One of the flaws of the 3v3 format is that you can have a different match result based on different pairings of the films. Will there be anything done to make the pairings in the final as sensible as possible?
I’ll announce my picks right now for…the sake of film-watching
Thank God!
^ A: God doesn’t belong in this. God is trash anyway.
B: why the sigh? others have been more late than I was…I won’t assume anything though….
I should have figured, even if we end up having a Ruiz/Nikolaidis final Dim will still find something wrong with it.
Still, I’d take both his positive contributions to the forum and his complaining over neither of them.
Considering the original seeds of the four semifinalists are something like 14, 18, 24, 28, it’s hard to argue any kind of canon dominance. It’s much easier to argue the opposite, that Bresson made the semifinals because he was the only one to escape canon resentment.
I think we should have the managers decide the order of the films watched, so they’re free to sequence them to their strategic benefit.
^ A: God doesn’t belong in this. God is trash anyway.
I disagree.
B: why the sigh? others have been more late than I was…I won’t assume anything though….
Oh like I said earlier, I am about to leave for several days on vaction, so I was hoping you’d announce them soon so I might at least be able to fit in one or maybe two before I leave. I wasn’t insinuating you were late. I was actually thanking God (and you) for being so early in you announcements! :)
THANK YOU!
I’ve got questions.
When is the final? Where are the Nikolaidis picks? What are the Ruiz-Nikos matchups? Is there a 3rd place match?
Presumably no longer this year, which is a shame. Although I suppose you could guess the Nikolaidis films. I’d rather just pit the Ruiz movies against each other for my own conclusion to the 2010 cup. :)
I was thinking of using 2 films I ‘ve already used in the cup and 1 new for the finals.
let me know if it’s okay regarding Nikolaidis’ filmography and then I will let you know my picks.
merry Xmas to all!
I think it’s actually a good idea given that almost nobody has previously seen the three Ruiz picks, and it would probably assure that voting participation won’t be again close to zero.
It’s fine for you to do it that way akujin :)
Interesting…perhaps then I should be choosing one “used” Ruiz as well? Considering it might be “safer” this way but in order to establish a larger mass of votes coming…I don’t know, let me know as well, I picked 3 all-new films preserving the “discovery” mentality.
The problem with this whole thing is the specific choices.
“La Vocation Suspendue” is very good but it’s not Ruiz’s best film, neither is “Lancelot du Lac” Bresson’s.
^ Ha. David, but it’s not about “best films”. It’s about a variety of choices from a director’s career. Do you honestly think it helped that the one who was managing Resnais showed his most popular films instead of promoting Smoking / No Smoking or something more provocative?
Moreover, as I’ve already stated to you, best is relative. I personally think Time Regained is one of Ruiz’s most SIMPLISTIC AND UNINSPIRED films, you think it’s your favorite from Ruiz. Tomato tomahto I SAY!!!
For what it’s worth, perhaps the majority of the public around here MAY agree with you and consider a frivolous Proust adaption as their favorite from Ruiz whilst I will have shown all kinds of superior films by the time the competition has ended than that recent indifference.
Discovery is an ambivalent term since it also relates to participation, and I think there are more serious issues regarding people not being interested to watch films by Nikolaidis than by Ruiz, as the matches of the past rounds have shown. It would be rather disappointing to see a similiar outcome for the finals as in the Vlacil/Nikolaidis match. Since the Ruiz choices have been announced quite some time ago I assume that some participants have already watched them, and one pick even got uploaded. As we’ve discussed before people should be allowed to repeat if they got serious concerns about the quality of any of their picks which seems to be akujin’s case, so I suggest that if you feel the same about one of your Ruiz choices you should also change it.
“and one pick even got uploaded.”
Yes, in that case, I’ll respect my own choices, hahaha ;)
But I will agree that I mainly considered it due to this quote as well “It would be rather disappointing to see a similiar outcome for the finals as in the Vlacil/Nikolaidis match.”
I’m afraid that even with two previous Nikolaidis films, it won’t change much. Remember last year’s final between you and Myra? Even without Tie Xi Qu, we’d still be having a dreadful participation precisely because it was and it currently is…Christmastime.
With “The zero years” Nikos Nikolaidis completes a trilogy that he unwrapped in 1975 with “Eurydice BA 2037” and continued with “Morning Patrol” in 1987. These 3 films are my picks for the finals. enjoy!
It’s not frivolous to anyone who has actually read and understood Proust.
As for Ruiz as a whole there are several exceptionally great ones including “Memoires de Apparances,” “Berenice,” and “The Territory.”
Going by the logic that the Ruiz/Nikolaidis films face each other in the order they were mentioned in Dimitris’/akujin’s posts the finals are:
¡Qué hacer! vs The Zero Years
Trois vies & une seule mort vs Eurydice BA 2037
Combat d’amour en songe vs Morning Patrol
The match for third place will be announced very shortly…
“It’s not frivolous to anyone who has actually read and understood Proust.”
I’ve read Proust and I understand it perfectly well, it’s not just for academics like yourself. I’ve already stated I much prefer Akerman’s version with a superb performance by Testud. Ruiz’s performances in Time Regained are wooden at best.
Yeah, sorry, I wanted to show Ruiz from all periods and now that I’ve reached the final, I’ll get to show 90’s and 2000’s as well. I have the feeling Ehrenstein you always want some Americana in your dish. Well, pardon me but The Territory is NOT one of Ruiz’s jewels and the Corman “inspiration” is precisely the reason why it’s NOT!
Nice final flow for Nikolaidis, I wonder what will the reaction be to Zero Years, it may not be kiwi but this time…we have drooping eggs, yuummm. The only pity is that people won’t be able to watch during the DC Giannis Aggelakas, one of the most significant Greek rock singers playing the lead role in The Loser Takes All, hehehe.
P.S.: I haven’t seen Berenice mainly because it doesn’t exist with English subtitles and some of us Ehrenstein don’t know shit about French. I’ve picked 3 magnificent pearls anyhow and I’m expecting some twists and shouts in the last match.
I don’t really mind but I would prefer it if my picks were shown
in chronological order, just to be aligned with the trilogy term!
eurydice BA 2037, then morning patrol, then closing with zero years.
(or backwards! if you prefer to see first smt new from Nikos)
Dim, Cecil? I don’t know, what do you say?
also, Dim, is that your preffered order for the Ruiz’s films?
merry Xmas
Oh,I haven’t seen Zero Years yet,but Eurudice and Morning Patrol are my two favorites Nikolaidis’ films.This is going to be tough for Ruiz,at least for me.Great choises Akujin.
By the way,what’s the date of the final??
I don’t mind either Akujin, anything that suits you is fine. I just wanted to show some Ruiz MASTERPIECES and honestly, I don’t give a f*** about the result, I only wished for more excitement like with MANY directors so far. I may not give a shit about statistics but the respect shown for both legends has been as “dry” as last year’s final. Funny because the one who gained from all this exposition last year was…..Bing Wang, yet another “contemplation” boy.
You’re weird, Dimitris.
Merry Christmas! xoxoxo
“Hm…I got my perfect final. How can I complain about this?” ;)
Anyways, you yourself mention that last year’s finals were dry, so, maybe…that has something…to do with the finals…? I mean, there’s no more discovering to be done. If they hadn’t been discovered, these directors are now discovered.
Anyways, everyone enjoy your day off. Happy whatever!
Rich Uncle Skeleton
“Not really, maybe I should manage a French or an American or maybe a trendy Malaysian so that appreciation of this (the selected) director will come off as a positive enlightenment and not as an indifferent curiosity.”
Of for fuck’s sake…
Dimitris, no one here is thinking along those lines. We’ve been over how many canon directors have been taken down by lesser known ones, surely Ruiz beating one of the most beloved Bergman’s is more than enough proof that the people here are willing to be open-minded? And if someone here dislikes a director’s work, like how Risselada doesn’t like Nikolaidis, it isn’t because those directors are Greek or whatever and isn’t because they’re lesser known directors, it is simply because that director’s work doesn’t appeal to them. Different people have different tastes, what matters here is that most of the voters are intelligent, open-minded and have a love of cinema, not that we have some silly homogenisation of tastes according to what you dictate everyone should and shouldn’t like.
One of the great things about this event is that people are approaching the films of both lesser and more well known directors open-mindedly and that if the voting totals show anything it is that both the canonised and unheard of can stand side by side in the opinions of many people here. I would love for you to introduce us to another great director next year, whether it be Sembene or some other director you think is extremely deserving of our attention, and I’m sure everyone here would be happy to approach with an open mind whatever director you love and put forward, but if all you’re going to do is mope and whine rather than enjoying the great time people are having with many great films then can you please take said moping and whining elsewhere as not only is it frustrating and tiring but also has no justification as the results so far show a willingness to explore and to approach films, no matter where they’re from or when they were made, in an fair and open-minded manner.