So, I’ve been meaning to start Second Chance Tuesdays for a while now. Second Chance Tuesdays would be a very occasional feature where I give a well-beloved movie that I didn’t particularly care for (or at least wasn’t fully impressed by) a second go and write a review on the experience. I’ve been talking about doing this off and on for, oh, maybe three years now, and I figured the best way to actually make myself start was to have you guys pick a movie for me.
By April 1st, 2015, I will try one of these five movies again. It’s up to you to determine which one I see.
Fargo
The Descent
Lost in Translation
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Halloween (1978)
The poll will be up for one week and will close on January 19th at 11:59 PST. Please comment below to vote, although I’ll begrudgingly accept votes via Facebook and Twitter as well. No explanation for your choice is required, though feel free to do so if you wish or rant about how could I not like so-and-so. Be warned, though, the more vitriolic your rant, the more I’m likely to just ignore it. Also, I’m planning to give the winning film a fair shake — that’s kind of the whole point in doing this — but please keep in mind I’m not actually promising to like your movie any more than I did the last time I watched it.
And if you’re wondering why, specifically, Second Chance Tuesdays? Well, I don’t have a particularly good reason behind that. It just sounded better than Second Chance Wednesdays, or any of the other weekdays available.
My Geek Blasphemy 
Since I’m most likely going to be watching one of these as well, my vote is for Fargo 🙂
Shockingly, I pick The Descent, which I’ve already written about my love of twice. I’ve met one of the guys who played the crawlers, by the way. A friend who did some location scouting for a project of his introduced us, and he signed my Descent and Dog Soldiers DVDs, told me which crawlers he played, (he played half a dozen different ones, IIRC) and we had a nice conversation about the works of Peter Jackson and James Gunn.
Honestly, I didn’t care that much for Lost In Translation, Dawn Of The Dead, or Halloween either. Wasn’t very emotionally invested in the relationship at the centre of Lost In Translation, and while I like the set-up and themes of Dawn Of The Dead, I wasn’t too interested in the characters, and it never evoked much of a response from me. I think I might be a bit too young to “get” Halloween, because I know it pioneered the genre and all, but by the time I saw it, it just seemed like a fairly stock, predictable slasher film. Which isn’t a subgenre I’m that interested in in the first place.
So I guess Fargo would’ve been my second choice, since at least I liked it.
That’s awesome. I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon than meeting a guy who played a genuinely creepy movie monster (well, several, I suppose) and talking about movies. Since you bring up Peter Jackson, here’s a question: did you like Dead Alive? Or, rather, Braindead? Everyone seems to love that movie, but save one admittedly hilarious segment, I actually found it fairly boring. I might have added it to this poll, in fact, but I completely forgot about it till now.
I thought it was pretty dull too. Which is kind of odd, because an absurdly violent B-movie horror comedy by Peter Jackson sounds like it should be right up my alley – or it would if I hadn’t seen Bad Taste, which was maybe very slightly better? (I can never remember which is which. I always have to look it up, or ask whether the person means the zombie one or the alien one.) At least I wouldn’t say I was bored during it – but, uh, a girl I liked kept stroking my hair while we watched, so that might’ve had more to do with my lack of active boredom than the actual movie.
I’ve got to go with the movie which I’d actually like to watch most myself, so that’ll be “The Descent”.
While I actually really like “Fargo”, I don’t think it’s the Coens at their best like some people do.
I think “Halloween” is horribly overrated.
“Dawn of the Dead” was the least fun of Romero’s first four Of The Dead movies (since it seemed to ask “isn’t it boring being stuck in a mall?” only for me to reply “YES! YES IT IS!”). I might need to give that second chance watch myself some time.
And “Lost In Translation”? I have never liked it. (It pretended it was going to be a Bill Murray comedy briefly at the beginning and then pretended it was going to give a decent role to Anna Farris around the half way mark. But it mostly just bored the living shite out of me.)
So yeah, “The Decent” is my vote too. I’ve been watching his tv series “Black Sails” recently. I’m two episodes in so far and it’s awesome. Apparently it’s a prequel to the novel “Treasure Island”, but unfortunately I remember very little of that since having it read to me as a child.
Out of curiosity, what IS your favorite movie by the Coen brothers? (You may have said before, but I can’t remember.)
It’s totally “A Serious Man”. A lot of people seem to find that one tough to get along with, but I found it absolutely hilarious from start to finish. (In a seriously dark way of course, but I’m inclined to say that ALL the Coens’ work is black comedy. Sy Ableman is so deliciously monstrous.)
I actually know very little about that one. I’ll look into it, thanks. 🙂
Fargo. No question. It’s a modern American classic.
Halloween a close second just because of how it established the tropes of every single slasher that came after it and is quite a study in cinematography. Extremely well-shot and Carpenter is at his suspense-directing best here.
I’d say Fargo as well. Of those on the list, it’s the only one I actually enjoyed (don’t even get me started on Lost in Translation — ugh).
I’m piling on the Fargo train. Halloween and Dead may be important films in the development of their genres, but for me they haven’t held up as well over time. Didn’t see Descent so I have no opinion there, but Translation was my least favorite of the list.
I have seen Descent, and have to say for me it is one of those ‘Well, that’s an hour and a half I will never see again’. It went on the pile with Battlefield Earth and Plan 9 from Outer Space. I am going to join in and say Fargo though, if only to see if you are going to review the TV Series as well and do a comparison. (And maybe the same with From Disk till Dawn Film & TV)
Wow. I had my issues with The Descent, but never would I have put it anywhere NEAR Battlefield Earth territory.
I might watch the Fargo TV series at some point and compare, but I don’t have any immediate plans to. I’m actually even less likely to do so with From Dusk Till Dawn. While I enjoyed that movie quite a bit, I just never had much interest in seeing it as a TV show.
: ) What I meant was it is ‘literally’ on the pile, as in the stack of DVD’s that will be leaving once I get around to it, agreed it is nowhere near as bad as Battlefield, no argument there, but it was just, well, bland. Some good performances but the plot was just too predictable for me, and the ending just kinda went nowhere for me. It didn’t push the interest button.
Oh, got it! I was like, dude. That’s bold. 🙂
Lost in Translation
Halloween. You’ve already shown an affinity for the slasher genre and this is THE film that best embodies it. Plus it was co-written by a woman, the wonderfully and woefully late Debra Hill.
It’s funny. You rarely hear about Debra Hill when Halloween comes up. It’s always all about John Carpenter. (Not that he isn’t, obviously, super important. But it’s exciting to women having big creative roles in the horror genre.) I mostly know her name because she was a producer of Clue, and I’ve seen that movie so often that I even remember the names in the credits. 🙂
Fargo
I don’t think that movie fully sinks in, or even makes sense as a cinematic experience, until you’ve seen it two or three times. I wasn’t terribly impressed with it on the first round either, and definitely liked it a lot more the second time through, once I didn’t have to care about the plot and could just appreciate the weirdness of each scene.
fargo! Then you can compare it to the new tv series
You are not the first person to suggest this. I make absolutely no promises of any kind.