Pair-Up Game [discussion]

[---]

We've done this before, and only four people joined, but I think it was fun

If you play, you will be randomly** matched up with another player. You will recommend them three movies (and they'll watch two of those at least), and they will recommend you three movies (and you'll watch two of those at least)

After watching a recommendation, players will write up a short response. This can be review, critique, thoughts, emotions, exposity, experimental, whatever you want

Players will recommend films to each other based on what they say in their Pair-Up Profile: some favourite movies and favourite anything explored in cinema, as well as their blind spots

Ideally we will use Letterboxd to see what someone has seen, but don't be disinclined to join just because you're Letterboxd is not up to date

**MIght work better to pair-up people based on, like inverse blind spots or something. Thoughts?

[---]

Who's in?

MOI IS

[MrCarmady]

Oh, this is fun. Not sure how much I'll be able to contribute if I get matched with someone who's seen like 10,000 movies, but happy to give it a go. My LB isn't up-to-date (or rather, isn't back-dated), but this should be more or less:
https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/mrcarmady/

As for things I like, I have a bunch of lists here:
https://letterboxd.com/MrCarmady/lists/

[flip]

yeah it was good last time, i think we had like a quick survey to fill in to tell our pairing what we're interested in?

i'd be in with the caveat that i don't have access to billions of movies, but if we can work around that, then i'll do it

[---]

since i want this to be a success, and i obtained enormous ratio in the last freeleech, i'm down to DL anything for this exercise, for other people

[mesnalty]

I'm in!

[Umbugbene]

Moi aussi. It was fun last time. My partner was Mesnalty, but I can't remember who the other pairs were.

[wba]

since i want this to be a success, and i obtained enormous ratio in the last freeleech, i'm down to DL anything for this exercise, for other people

If this is the case, I'm in but:

1. it might be under the condition that the film is a silent, since apart from work I rarely have time to watch anything that I choose
2. the rip provided is HD quality, cause I really don't enjoy watching films in shitty, pixelated versions

[nrh]

i'm really bad at following up on watching things for these but two movies seems doable so i'm in.

[MrCarmady]

What time frame are we talking about, BTW? I think I could commit to one movie a week for this so if we had a month I'd watch all three for sure, regardless of length, but could do two short ones in two weeks.

[MrCarmady]

So are we doing this or what?

[---]

Been busy, sorry.

Let's get this started!

bure
MrCarmady
flip
mesnalty
nrh
Umbugbene
wba - maybe? probably? that condition sounds fine i guess, if there's someone who doesn't mind or even likes that constraint, wanna speak up?

Can we get one more for an even 8?

[---]

in the meantime if everyone can post links to what they've seen, and what they like in films, and what their blindspots are, that would be dope

[---]

WHAT I'VE SEEN: https://letterboxd.com/bure/films/

WHAT I LIKE IN MOVIES: primary colours, symmetry, vigilantism, angst, driving, star-crossed lovers, landscapes, close-ups of faces, external space as a representation of internal experience, morality over legality, emotional baggage, ruminations on love and relationships, repartee/arguing as a means of courting/flirting, cigarettes, long takes during fight scenes, nomadism, quiet but thoughtful protagonists, market participation as an efficient agent of justice, unwavering adherence to an ethic, snow, romanticism over pragmatism, noirs, westerns, samurai films

BLINDSPOTS: 1910s, 1980s, africa, central asia, commedia all'italiana, anti-colonialism, sports movies

[wba]

What I've seen: https://letterboxd.com/WBA/

WHAT I LIKE IN MOVIES: silents (also experimental silent movies after the 1920s) - please NOT supposed "silents" that have a soundtrack, e.g. lots of experimental stuff or films like Don Juan (1926) or City Lights (1931) or hundreds of other films from 1927/28 onwards.

BLINDSPOTS: any silents I haven't seen.

PS: I always watch my silents silent (that is witout musical accompaniment or any such obstrusive stuff)

[Umbugbene]

WHAT I'VE SEEN: https://letterboxd.com/Umbugbene/films/

WHAT I LIKE IN MOVIES: enigmas, humanism, surprise endings, strong visuals, philosophical point of view, imagination, mixture of realism + artifice, challenge, structure, dreaminess, psychological insight, complex characters

WHAT I DON'T LIKE IN MOVIES: animal cruelty, juvenile content, strict adherence to genre, glorified mobsters, heroism

BLINDSPOTS: films unavailable through legitimate channels (this could make me a difficult partner; I hope someone will be patient enough to work with me on this... I just don't like to watch downloads or torrents for multiple reasons, including bad/incomplete copies & virus risk).

[MrCarmady]

Do we mean Blindspots as in themes we'd like to avoid or themes we don't have enough exposure to and would like to explore through this game?

[Umbugbene]

Pretty sure it's the latter, but I couldn't think of any entire class of films I haven't explored that I could access films from.

[---]

Yeah the latter

I'll download/upload anything someone can't access, for this exercise, that I can get a hold of

[MrCarmady]

What I've seen: https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/mrcarmady/

What I like: OTT genre movies, great dialogue, three-dimensional characters who don't have to be likeable.

What I dislike: drawn-out slogs, cheap pathos, musicals, misery porn.

Blindspots: have seen absurdly few silents so probably shouldn't be paired up with WBA. Also weak on horror films and the 1930s, plus Latin American cinema.

[flip]

WHAT I'VE SEEN: https://letterboxd.com/FlipTrotsky/

WHAT I LIKE: - genre films, esp westerns, noirs, legal/courtroom, and screwball comedies, and for something i'm working on now, i have an interest in romcoms that are a bit genre-bending in some way. for comedy i like fast-paced and intelligent dialogue, and it needs to be funny

- anything visually interesting, experimental, different, especially interested in films that orchestrate space right now, where directors are choreographing background and foreground (e.g. in later Alexei German, Jancso, or even Nolan's Dunkirk). and my background is in experimental music, so also interested in films that do unusual things with sound or music

- anything intelligent or clever is good

- don't have the attention span right now for anything really long (over 2 hrs or so) or really slow

WHAT I DON'T LIKE: political or philosophical didacticism, pointless cruelty or violence (but violence or cruelty that serves a purpose is fine, i just don't take any pleasure from watching it), films that are only 'appealing' because someone finds inventive ways to kill people, propaganda for a specific religious persuasion, overly serious melodrama

BLINDSPOTS: obviously lots, but if we're talking about ones i might care to address a bit in this game, it's probably recent (last five years or so) film. my biggest blindspots overall are probably cinema of mexico, south america, africa and india, but in general, i'm more interested in seeing films that i might find interesting but would otherwise be unaware of, than i am in filling in blind spots

[mesnalty]

WHAT I'VE SEEN: https://letterboxd.com/mesnalty/

WHAT I LIKE: I've got eclectic tastes, and for the purposes of this exercise I'm more interested in filling in my blindspots and/or trying out something that my partner likes than in listing my own likes

BLINDSPOTS: pre-60s Hollywood, African cinema, Bollywood, horror, Chinese-language cinema before the last few years

[---]

nrh you still in?

[---]

So since we have an odd number, I'll just randomize the order and figure everyone recommends to the person after them in the order. And the order issss [fires up random.org]:

mesnalty
nrh
flip
Umbugbene
bure
MrCarmady
wba