OWFILM WORLD CUP Round 1: Italy vs. Taiwan
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, our Editor-In-Chief Matt Holmes' favourite movie of all time - goes up against Ang Lee's 2008 critically acclaimed drama Lust, Caution.
Voting has now ended on the Brazil vs. Canada contest, and I hope the fact it was the lowest outcome of the tournament so far is because of the adjustment to the new OWF design (pretty cool, no?) and not out of disinterest for the competition. Brazil (City of God) 76% beat Canada (Cube) 24%.First Round of OWFilm World Cup Italy were surprisingly dumped out of the Football World Cup today in South Africa, but I'm pinning my hopes on their OWFilm World Cup entry going all the way to the final. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, our Editor-In-Chief Matt Holmes' favourite movie of all time - goes up against Ang Lee's 2008 critically acclaimed drama Lust, Caution. Vote now for which film you want to see advance to the next round. Remember you are voting for YOUR OPINION on which film you prefer. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
OSCAR COUNT (0) IMDB ( 9, #4) ROTTEN TOMATOES (98%) EMPIRE TOP 500 (#25th)
The Good, the Bad and the Uglyis pure cinema wonderfully described by Time Outs Tom Huddlestone as a masterclass in movie storytelling, and a dynamic testament to the sheer invigorating uniqueness of cinema. A large part of the films charm is its ability to maximise the drama within every given scenario through use of the fast, snappy close ups to the pounding of the audacious theme tune and then the sudden, heart-racing bursts of rapid action. Throughout Sergio Leone masters the fine art of keeping an audience on tenterhooks for an extended amount of time by building up and suspending the anticipation to an absolute breaking point before finally releasing all the intensity in a series of highly satisfying set-pieces. The director is helped along the way by a string of great performances led by the silently charismatic star Clint Eastwood and also by the iconic Morricone soundtrack and stunning visuals which help to build up a rollercoaster of an atmosphere as the story progresses. The film is an exhilarating ride and whilst not as emotionally satisfying as Leones true masterpiece Once Upon a time in the West, it is still without doubt one of the most exciting and rewatchable films within the western genre. INTERESTING FACT: Charles Bronson was initially offered the role of Ugly but despite wanting to star in the film he had already signed up for The Dirty Dozen. Bronson would get his chance to work with Leone two years later on the aforementioned classic Once upon a time in the West.
Lust, Caution (2007)
OSCAR COUNT ( 0 ) IMDB (7.7) ROTTEN TOMATOES (71%) EMPIRE TOP 500 (Not listed)
I have not been fortunate enough to yet see this critically acclaimed film from director Ang Lee (represented twice in this tournament the lucky man) so I thought Id leave it up to the critics to try to paint an effective picture of Taiwans representative. SYNOPSIS LIFTED FROM IMDB: An espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai, in which a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee. Some critics were particularly enarmoured by the films dramatic storytelling and the arena and characters which Ang Lee convincingly brings to life on screen. Empire reviewer Damon Wise for example praises the film as a beautifully rendered, long, drawn-out but ultimately very satisfying story of betrayal and revenge in an uneasy setting of wartime paranoia. For other critics however long appears to be the operative word in some of the more negative write-ups. Jonathan Rosenbaum writing for The Chicago Tribune describes the film as a surprisingly monotone and overextended period drama and goes on to state that the films well crafted love scenes are the only thing that manage to break the monotony. All in all, the film has a very mixed opinion amongst critics. Some admire the picture for its patience and emotional restraint and feel that it is a well paced drama whilst others feel that it could have done with a far less cautious approach to telling its story. Your opinion of the film could well decide its fate within this tournament. INTERESTING FACT: Author Eileen Chang initially began working on the source novel in the nineteen fifties despite the fact that the book wasnt published until 1979. And people thought that James Joyce was a mad perfectionist..