Movie Tab II

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher, 2011)

Young Adult (Reitman, 2011)

Full reviews in my review thread here.

Some movies Ive seen over the past week.

Memories Of Underdevelopment (1968)
All About My Mother (1999)
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972)
Hour Of The Furnaces (Part 1) (1968)
Yeelen (1987)

We have guests over this weekend so no time for any reviews. I've left four films out of this post which I'll try and write up in full over the next couple of weeks...

Recent newbies and re-watches include...



And Soon The Darkness (Robert Fuest, 1970)



Death Line aka Raw Meat (Gary Sherman, 1973)



Performance (Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg, 1970)



Ip Man 2 (Wilson Yip, 2010)



Will Penny (Tom Gries, 1968)



Schizo (Pete Walker, 1976) +



Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt, 2011)



(Andy Warhol Presents) Flesh For Frankenstein (Paul Morrissey, Antonio Margheriti, 1973) Cult Rating



(Andy Warhol Presents) Blood For Dracula (Paul Morrissey, 1974) Cult Rating



See No Evil aka Blind Terror (Richard Fleischer, 1971)

Thank you Mark for giving me the inspired idea of a 'cult rating', and thank you for letting me steal it...even though you knew nothing about it until now

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100 Favourites From The Future: REWIRED

Even in his darkest and most suspenseful films Alfred Hitchcock frequently had a little streak of dark, mischievous comedy running through them. Here he allows that streak to have free reign and run wild. Although while the dark, farcical comedy takes centre stage Hitchcock still creates touches of suspense throughout.

The cast all seem to be having good fun with their distinctive characters. In her debut role Shirley MacLaine is a delight, and has nice chemistry with John Forsythe's silver tongued artist. There is also a quite touching and humorous little romance between the characters of the excellent Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick.

Some of the humour is actually quite 'cheeky', with numerous examples of innuendo scattered throughout. I can just picture Hitchcock behind the camera with a schoolboy grin on his face. Add in a cracking, at times mischievous and playful score from Bernard Herrmann, and a smart, witty script and you have something which is always enjoyable, and at stages a delight.

The film also looks absolutely lovely, though here the Master of Suspense has a good deal of help from Mother Nature. The countryside setting of the film is just beautiful to look at with all the autumnal colours about, and the way it's shot in glorious colour just brings all the golden and orange leaves on the trees to life.

In a way this actually reminded me of the films of Frank Capra, or some of the Coen's comedic efforts (Raising Arizona, Hudsucker Proxy) in that it seems to exist in it's very own, slightly fantastical world; a dimension just slightly off-centre from ours. It feels a bit cartoonish in terms of the constant burial/digging up scenario, and then it has the quirky, unique attitude that everyone seems to have to death in the community which isn't natural.

Having made so many innovative and influential films over his career it would be easy to see this as a somewhat frivolous and throwaway effort from Hitchcock, easy just to dismiss it. But I think it's too much fun for that. Perhaps not an outrageously funny film, but certainly a very entertaining one.




Set at the dawn of the Second World War this is an entertaining espionage thriller from Hitchcock. The plot may be quite convoluted, and at times nonsensical, but by keeping the film moving at a fair old pace we don't really have time to focus on it all that much.

On the whole I didn't find it as gripping or engrossing as Hithcock's best work. However it is punctuated with a series of very impressive set-pieces; of particular note are the assassination scene and the use of umbrellas (makes sense if you've seen it), the windmill sequence and the tense waiting game atop Westminster Cathedral. However special mention must go to the stunningly realised plane crash toward the film's climax. It truly captures the chaos and terror of the situation.

I felt the film was let down a touch by the acting. It's not that it was particularly bad, just a tad bland and unengaging in my eyes, especially from the female lead. It just felt like it was lacking the kind of iconic performance that is frequently found in a Hitchcock film from the likes of a James Stewart, or a Cary Grant or a Farley Granger. And while I understand why it was done at the time, the blatantly propagandist ending feels a bit overwrought and cringeworthy now.




I'm still trying to find a great love of film noir as a genre. There have been a few I've loved (Sunset Boulevard, Laura, Double Indemnity), but those are definitely outnumbered by the amount I've seen that just haven't really done much for me.

This is a very dark, dirty and nihilistic film which features many staples of the film noir genre – a murder mystery, a femme fatale, twists and turns, double crosses galore. However it breaks from the norm and takes an unusual veer off into an apocalyptic, somewhat sci-fi zone.

The whole film is littered with a series of unlikeable, reprehensible characters. This includes a classic example of an anti-hero in Mike Hammer, as to be honest he's a bit of an a**hole! The only way we know he's the good guy of the piece is that everyone else around him just happens to be a little bit worse! Place him in just about any other film and he'd almost certainly be the villain of the piece.

I know it's a film loved by a number of people, including a few on here I believe, and while I could appreciate some of its qualities it just wasn't a film I particularly enjoyed or liked.

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Quickies... should have some more reviews up in my thread soon-ish.

Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969)
Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992)
Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)

Just finished Take Shelter.

WOW.

Is Super Lent over? I thought you gave up movies, Amish guy?

I gave up going to the movies. This was a Netflix rental.

I'm even more eager to see Take Shelter now. Been a Shannon fan for a long time. I've read up some on the film and there seems to be a consensus that his performance in TS is brilliant, possibly his best.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola, 1999)

Full review right 'ere in mah thread.

Movies of the past week or so.

What's Your Number (2011) - - This movie did exactly what it was supposed to do and made me laugh, that's all there is to it.

Cowboys and Aliens (2011) - - I was very sceptical going into this because I had heard both good and bad things about this movie. I thought Harrison Fords character was just right on and Daniel Craig did an amazing job also, plus throw in a little Olivia Wilde and a odd but good Sci-Fi Western and it all worked, I don't know how but it did.

Dark City (1998) - = - I watched this movie in the theatres when it first came out and to be honest could not remember anything except a few scenes from it so I decided to watch it again. The movie is awesome, crazy Sci-Fi with a really cool story about experiments being done on the humans. Kiefer Sutherland's character is really awesome playing a torn down doctor that is forced to do the bidding of the aliens or whatever they were. If for some reason you have not watched this movie then do so now.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - - This is my third favorite Star Trek movie, all the characters did a great job in refrence to the TV show. I think the only thing that bugged me about this movie and all the Star Trek: The Next Gen movies is that they always have to have Data throw some Terminator like line.

The Thirteenth Floor (1999) - - This is another movie that I saw in theaters and just rewatched the other night, I think this is an amazing movie and funny how it came out around the same year as the Matrix, so much in common. This was I thought a really great movie with lots of great twists and turns throughout.

The Night of the Hunted (1980) - - This movie is bizzare, almsot to the point where it does not make any sense. But the oddites of this movie is what makes it worth watching, seriously if anyone can help me understand this movie then please let me know.

Izo (2004) - - I was really underwhelmed when I watched this movie.

Powder (1995) - - This is another movie I watched at the Theater and have not really given a second thought about, this came on TV (one of the unedited channels) and I jumped at a chance to watch it. I was not dissapointed, this movie is really awesome and has almost a tear jerker ending to it, really good movie.

Babel (2006) - - This is a movie that I did not know anything about before I watched it, and I really loved it. The way it shows how speaking different languages can have such a huge impact on everything, plus the way the movie is done with a few different story lines is great.

Pink: Live from Europe (2004) - I have always had a crush on Pink (and yes this is still considered a DVD) and this video just shows why, up until I watched this the only concert footage I had seen was the MTV aproved footage. This concert is raw and I mean really raw, dry humping blow up dolls etc. She does some cool covers of Guns N Roses and other bands, but the main reason I watched this was that I heard about the nipple piercing scene, and yes on the extras after one of her shows she has a professional piercer waiting and get's her other nipple pierced and it's completely unedited,,,,, yeah.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) - I was really hesitant about watching this just because the first Burton film was IMO such crap. They really did something different with this one and made it really awesome, the CGI was amazing, actually being able to see the emotion in the Apes eyes made this much more of a personal feeling movie. All around in all aspects this is a great movie except for Malfroy saying that line "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape", maybe it's just me but that was a little to corney for the movie.

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Was thinking about watching Dark City this week, actually.

Why the lowish rating? Hall-of-fame-worthy dialogue, terrific performances. Jack Lemmon is magnificent

Yeah, I totally vibe on all the snub talk now. He's fantastic, and I was literally sitting forward as the film went on.

We don't have a dvd player set up in our new apartment yet so I've mostly been watching movies Rebecca and I have on vhs (or what we could find at goodwill). I've also just been keeping myself extra-busy with other non-movie-related activities (school and reading mostly)... all of which is a roundabout excuse for why I don't have much to say in here right now.

Clay Pigeons (David Dobkin, 1998)
Girl on a Motorcycle (Jack Cardiff, 1968)
Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)
Under Siege (Andrew Davis, 1992)
Harmagedon (Rin Taro, 1983) -
The Fast and the Furious (Rob Cohen, 2001) +
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
Charlotte Gray (Gillian Armstrong, 2001)
Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo, 1995) +
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Nicholas Meyer, 1982)
Blade Runner (original theatrical cut) (Ridley Scott, 1982)
High Tide (Gillian Armstrong, 1987) -
Withnail & I (Bruce Robinson, 1987)
Island of Fire (Yen-ping Chu, 1990)

The performances and dialogue are basically what the 3 is for. I can see the appeal, I guess it just didn't really click with me.

Yeah, I can see why. Myself, I'm a guy who likes extremely dialogue-loaded films, especially if it's razor-sharp, poisonous dialogue. I usually find it in film noirs, but Glengarry Glen Ross has it too. To me, that films is material for the ages. Jack Lemmon's portrayal of 'The Machine' Levene is top, top drawer, some of the best work he's ever done. I may be biased, because I think very high of Lemmon, but there's no denying the brilliance of his performance. All the guys in it are good, but he's just a notch above the others.

There's something mesmerizing about Glengarry Glen Ross. It's like those guys, real-estate salesmen, are bullsh!tting us too, because in essence, this film has very little plot to keep going. It's purely dialogue driven, backed by great performances and a moody jazz score to accompany the tone of the film.

Yes, it is quite excellent, and to be honest there's nothing you've said that I can really disagree with. The cast is unbelievable really, I mean, where can you possibly go wrong with Pacino, Lemmon, Spacey, Harris and Arkin? Like I said, sometimes however much you can appreciate a film's appeal, it doesn't really hit you on that gut level. Maybe I'll give it some time and try again.

In other news, I have a short review of Network up in my thread.

Nowhere Boy B
Killing Bono B+
Easy A C+
Quiz Show A-
Fort Apache A-

Quick jabs:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008, Fincher):
Drive (2011, Winding Refn): +

Hmm, I've got mixed feelings over this one. I think the story is simple, but well-told and well-paced. There's nothing to 'just' happens here and I like the logical progression of the entire plot and the way it finally plays out in a more or less realistic fashion. The action scenes are fast and raw, fitting in nicely with the tone of the film, so no complaints there. The acting is good, but nothing to write home about. My gripe lies in the fact that there isn't enough going on on an emotional level. I couldn't connect with the characters. Yes, Gosling's character is a cool guy, but in some scenes where he remains silent, he came off as slightly retarded to me or someone who's extremely timid. I know that Nicolas Winding Refn has invested time in building up the relationship between Gosling and Mulligan, but for some reason, it didn't draw me in. As a result, I find this to be a slick, quick flick that feels a little empty...

Margin Call (2011, Chandor):
Win Win (2011, McCarthy): +
12:08 East of Bucharest (2006, Poromboiu):

And I went on a minor Anthony Mann binge:



The Glenn Miller Story (1954): +
The Tin Star (1957):
The Naked Spur (1953): +
Man of the West (1958):
Men in War (1957):