Movie Tab II

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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (Steve Zacharias, 1994)
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The Gatekeepers (Dror Moreh, 2012)

Nine O'Clock Folks (Roy Mack, 1931)

Mifune: The Last Samurai (Steven Okazaki, 2016)


The one and only Toshiro Mifune is revealed ever so slightly, remaining a man of mystery.
Raffles (George Fitzmaurice, 1930)

The Devil to Pay! (George Fitzmaurice, 1930)

Cynara (King Vidor, 1932)

The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926)


Cowboy Gary Cooper and engineer Ronald Colman are romantic rivals over beautiful young Vilma Banky but eventually bond against a corrupt landowner.
The Bamboo Blonde (Anthony Mann, 1946)

Bandido (Richard Fleischer, 1956)
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Chato’s Land (Michael Winner, 1972)
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Scarred Hearts (Radu Jude, 2016)
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Shot in 35mm film and projected in a 1.37:1 ratio, the film tells a story of a 1930s Romanian sanitarium where the patients try to overcome their illnesses poetically.
Fame (Kevin Tancharoen, 2006)

Kamikaze 1989 (Wolf Gremm,1982)
+
Gymkata (Robert Clouse, 1985)

Symbol (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2009)
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Various objects appear in a room where an unknown Japanese man (Hitoshi Matsumoto) is trapped but keeps pressing what looks like mini penises.
Number Seventeen (Alfred Hitchcock, 1932)

The 42nd. Street Special (No Director Listed, 1933)
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Into the Blue 2: The Reef (Stephen Herek, 2009)
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Scabbard Samurai aka Saya-zamurai (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2011)


Masterless samurai Takaaki Nomi abandons his clan and is ordered to attempt to make a sick prince smile within 30 days with the help of his daughter (Sea Kumada) – if he fails, he must commit seppuku.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



Pirates Of The Caribbean 2



An incomprehensible mess of franchise building with some spectacular set design.



Kingdom of Dreams and Madness



Rambling documentary about Miyazaki and the hectic, worrying state of his Ghibli studio.



Baby Driver



I've always loved the trick of syncing the action on the screen to music and sound effects. Baby Driver goes nuts with this effect and delivers some of the most spectacular action scenes i've seen since Mad Max.



Snow White



Here's another flick that does the same trick for pretty much it's entire duration, except it pulled it off 80 years ago.



Mulan



In this movie Eddie Murphy prepares for his role as shrek donkey by being a little dragon.



Logan and Guardians of the Galaxy 2





I think there's a new comic book movie for every month of the year at this point. Somehow these two are still hugely entertaining.



Iron Giant



A slick movie, but kinda forgettable. I've seen this like 5 times and I never remember anything about it.



Pee Wee's Big Adventure



Spongebob's creepy uncle goes to a big dinosaur.



Batman



One of the all time weirdest movies. Most of it's goofy elements actually work to create some memorable scenes, but the finale is so devoid of energy that it becomes an endurance test to make it to the end credits.



Batman : The Killing Joke




Another lifeless, dimwitted Alan Moore adapation.



I Am Not Your Negro



An audio-book reading by Samuel Jackson set to images of the civil rights movement and footage from films depicting race relations. I think the book was unfinished which may explain it's splintered and confusing narrative. It feels more like a college lecture than a cinematic experience.



The Lion King



Frustratingly impatient with it's story, but still a landmark movie for it's incredible musical numbers.



Aladdin



Disney was just on fire with this one. Far as animated movies go, this is one of the most animated.

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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

An Eastern Westerner (Hal Roach, 1920)
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His Royal Slyness (Hal Roach, 1920)
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Among Those Present (Fred Newmeyer, 1921)
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Now or Never (Fred Newmeyer & Hal Roach, 1921)
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Harold Lloyd has been swindled out of his money but needs to escort young Anna May Bilson on a train but he has no ticket so tries to disguise himself.
The Show (Tod Browning, 1927)
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Way for a Sailor (Sam Wood, 1930)

Downstairs (Monta Bell, 1933)

Flesh and the Devil (Clarence Brown, 1926)


Near the beginning of their love affair, Greta Garbo and John Gilbert are happy before their passion corrupts everyone they come in contact with.
My Dream Is Yours (Michael Curtiz, 1949)

Grizzly (William Girdler, 1976)
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Tea for Two (David Butler, 1950)

Marjoe (Howard Smith & Sarah Kernochan, 1972)


Advertised by his parents when he started as the “World’s Youngest Ordained Minister”, four-year-old evangelist Marjoe Gortner makes a documentary exposé of himself and other fake faith healers 20 years later.
An Englishman in New York (Richard Laxton, 2009)
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Only the Strong (Sheldon Lettich, 1993)

La Gazza Ladra Overture (No Director Listed, 1954)

Score (Radley Metzger, 1974)


Two swingin’ couples pair off, but what’s unusual is how interested the husbands (Gerald Grant & Calvin Culver [Casey Donovan]) are with each other.
Newtown (Kim A. Snyder, 2016)

Ma mère (Christophe Honoré, 2004)

Flatliners (Joel Schumacher, 1990)
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The Moon Is Blue (Otto Preminger, 1953)


Playboy William Holden responds when perky Maggie McNamara asks him if he has a mistress. Later when she says she’ll remain a virgin till her wedding day, that also draws a reaction from him and another roué (David Niven).



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Samurai Cop (1991) -




Yet another one of them "worst movies ever made". Extremely enjoyable and as goofy as they get. The dialogue in the hospital is one of the best I've ever heard in film.

Les démoniaques [Demoniacs] (1974) -




Rollin in his element again. Sadly, this is one of the weaker entries in his filmography. It may not be as boring as The Iron Rose, but sadly it has no poetry of, say, Fascination or Lost in New York. It's not one of his bitchin' vampire features either. Still, quite enjoyable for what it is, but I expected more from a filmmaker like Rollin.

Electra Glide in Blue (1973) -




I'm back to lick some New Hollywood before I venture into Japanese goodness again. An all around great flick. Weirdly, I don't have much to say about this one.

Dance of the Vampires [The Fearless Vampire Killers] (1967) -




Decided to catch up on Polański. What a delightful spoof on vampire genre! Polański's jokes are a hit or miss and sadly here they mostly miss, but the entire film is such a joy to watch, it really doesn't matter. Lovely colours.

Cul-de-sac (1966) -




A great black comedy reimagination of Knife in the Water. Polański's sense of humour is one of its kind!

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) -




Well, it's nothing new. The plot is a little bit too straightforward, even, but Aldrich knows how to tell a story and the cinematography and great Bette Davis definitely help. Touching ending!

Bitter Moon (1992) -




Polański masters his narrative introducing us to something that starts like a charming romantic comedy to quickly twist and turn into a sinister and kinky thriller/drama, still maintaining movie's flawless flow. This is Bitter Moon's greatest strength. It's just so enjoyable to watch! Bonus points for all the kink and bitter commentary on human nature. A minor nitpick - Emmanuelle Seigner isn't that hot.

壁の中の秘事 [Affairs Within Walls] (1965) -




One of Wakamatsu's early movies. Not nearly as good as his best efforts. It's very critical and politically sound. The real stuff only comes at the end and the rest is just a build-up.

Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (2015) -




A follow-up to one of the worst movies ever is an even... worse movie. Wiseau saves the film from being a total disaster.

八月の狂詩曲 [Rhapsody in August] (1991) -




The final solution of Kurosawa question has ended. Kurosawa is no more. BUAHAHAHA! My last Kurosawa film. I've watched all films he's directed. All 30 of them. Rhapsody in August is perhaps his least Kurosawian out of the bunch. If you told me it was directed by somebody else, I would totally believe you. Yes, it tackles the theme of atomic bomb, which was present in some of his other films, but it's not like he was the only director making films on it. It's more about its style, though. A group of kids plays the primary part in this and we practically see the world through their eyes. The style screams late 80's/early 90's and the characteristic visual flavour of the time definitely is there. This is a film I'd expect from a director like, say, Shinji Sōmai, but not from Kurosawa. Also, Gere speaks Japanese in this!

El extraño caso del Doctor Fausto (1969) -




My first Barcelona School film. Experimental to its core with some sweet camera work. A peculiar sci-fi mood.

O Padre e a Moça [The Priest and the Girl] (1965) -




An interesting representative of Cinema Novo. A very simple story with striking visuals.

O pagador de promessas [The Keeper of Promises] (1962) -




What a blast! A modern story on how a village fool becomes a saint when big politics come into play. Mindblowing.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) -




A Tarantino-Rodriguez collaboration. The introduction is a typical Tarantino build-up, while the part directed by Rodriguez is just an entertainment of the highest (or lowest) order. I found myself really enjoying this film.

The Driller Killer (1979) -




Ferrara's debut and a widely hated film. In, on the other hand, loved it. That reoccuring bass riff is so good! E-0-0-3-0-2-0-5-3.

刺青 SI-SEI [Tattoo] (2006) -




Hisayasu Satō returns after years trying to make a more artsy film (?). Sadly, it's nowhere as good as his sleaze pinku masterpieces! For one, it's quite monotonous. You can see he tried to recreate the mood and style of his earlier flicks, but his success was only moderate. Still a decent watch, but I expected more. The water looks so hypnotizing in this, though.

にっぽん昆虫記 [The Insect Woman] (1963) -




Life reduced to the consciousness of an insect, which, in order not to be crushed by its country and other people, does anything just to survive. In a way it was a very unpleasant movie. It's hard to judge the main protagonist, because hardly anybody in this film is sinless. It's better to think what made her the way she was? Who or what is the culprit?

Veredas [Trails] (1978) -




Monteiro's debut feature is without a doubt an eye candy to watch, but compared to his later works it feels inferior.

The Browning Version (1951) -




A poignant story. I was sympathizing with the teacher more and more The titular scene as well as the final monologue almost made me cry!

幽霊屋敷の恐怖 血を吸う人形 [Vampire Doll] (1970) -




Think Japanese Hammer. Still don't get it? Think Roger Corman horror with Japanese touch. There you go.

From the Notebook of... (1971) -




That's the kind of experimental cinema I want to watch! Very impressive.

La deuxième nuit [The Second Night] (2016) -




"Only in cinema can you look at the sun and death in the face.". Eric Pauwels' newest essay film starts with these words. It is a movie dedicated to his late mother, just like one of the best films I saw this year, Lettre d'un cinéaste à sa fille, was a film dedicated to his daughter. Moving and thought-provoking. After finishing it, I realized that one day my mother will also die and that made me sad.

A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929) -




This late British silent may not be the best movie ever made, but there are two moments that are too beautiful to rate the movie any lower. The first one is an editing involving two shots, an intertitle and retrospection. So powerful. The second one is the final run, so to speak.

Wild River (1960) -




Kazan does it again!

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) -




Super-disgusting gross-out comedy topping even such masterpieces of scat metaphysics as Zombie Assu. At the beginning, almost insufferable, but then it got more gory and I got accustomed to it and kind of enjoyed it. Troma is the sh*t.

Zazie dans le métro [Zazie in the Subway] (1960) -




Truly outstanding cinematography! Tries to use quirky film techniques and well as the author of the book uses French as a language. A joy to watch.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) -




Yet another naive feel-good Capra film with a ridiculous lawsuit at the end, but every time Cooper punched somebody in the face I was laughing my ass off. Overall, had a great time.

Il Fauno (1917) -




Lately I was really neglecting silent cinema, so decided to watch something. Pretty cool.
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Welcome to the human race...
Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) -

All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999) -

Eddie Murphy Raw (Robert Townsend, 1987) -

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (Paris Barclay, 1996) -

From What Is Before (Lav Diaz, 2014) -

Ip Man 3 (Wilson Yip, 2015) -

The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992) -

Baby Driver (Edgar Wright, 2017) -

SPL (Wilson Yip, 2005) -

48 Hrs. (Walter Hill, 1982) -
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I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



This month so far:

Black hair - Geomeun meori (Lee Man-hui, 1964)

The bad sleep well - Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (Akira Kurosawa, 1960)

The silence - Tystnaden (Ingmar Bergman, 1963)

Mrs. B, a North Korean woman - Madame B., histoire d'une Nord-Coréenne (Jero Yun, 2016)

The star witness (William A. Wellman, 1931)

The shepherd - El pastor (Jonathan Cenzual Burley, 2016)

Night nurse (William A. Wellman, 1931)

Le révélateur (Philippe Garrel, 1968)

Fear and desire (Stanley Kubrick, 1953)

Dawn - Ausma (Laila Pakalnina, 2015)

9 songs (Michael Winterbottom, 2004)

Os lobos (Rino Lupo, 1923)

Tobacco Road (John Ford, 1941)



July (i):


Pinky (Elia Kazan & John Ford, 1949)
Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)


Slither (James Gunn, 2006)
That Uncertain Feeling (Ernst Lubitsch, 1941)
The Wanderers (Philip Kaufman, 1979)

+
Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000)
Gonin (Takashi Ishii, 1995)


Easy A (Will Gluck, 2010)
Island Of Doomed Men (Charles Barton, 1940)

+
A Million Ways To Die In The West (Seth MacFarlane 2014)
Kuro no tenshi Vol. 1 [Black Angel aka The Black Angel Vol 1] (Takashi Ishii, 1998)
Mea Culpa (Fred Cavayé, 2014)


Monsters: Dark Continent (Tom Green, 2014)
Sex, Lies, And Videotape (Steven Soderbergh, 1989)

+
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (Mat Whitecross, 2010)


Blended (Frank Coraci, 2014)



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (Joseph Cedar, 2017)

Public Hearing (James N. Kienitz Wilkins, 2013)

Warning Shot (Buzz Kulik, 1967)
+
The Detective aka Father Brown (Robert Hamer, 1954)


Noblewoman Joan Greenwood meets international art thief Peter Finch in front of amateur detective Father Brown (Alec Guinness) who still wants to save his soul.
Framed (Richard Wallace, 1947)

Concrete Night (Pirjo Honkasalo, 2013)

The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)

Alien: Covenant (Ridley Scott, 2017)
+

One of the aliens tries to get inside the ship to pilot Danny McBride in this well-made but mostly-by-the-numbers prequel/sequel.
The Plumber (Peter Weir, 1979)
+
The Terror (Roger Corman & Multiple Others, 1963)

Clive of India (Richard Boleslawski, 1935)

If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938)


Gentleman thief and poet François Villon (Ronald Colman) badmouths King Louis XI (Basil Rathbone) right in front of the disguised king and peasant girl Ellen Drew who loves Villon.
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (Stephen Roberts, 1935)

The Light That Failed (William A. Wellman, 1939)

Rumble in the Bronx (Stanley Tong, 1995)
+
The Bad News Bears (Michael Ritchie, 1976)


Pre-teen Tatum O’Neal doesn’t buy into coach Walter Matthau’s cons into trying to get her to play on his little league baseball team.
H.M.S. Bounty Sails Again! (No Director Listed, 1962)

Little Mister Jim (Fred Zinnemann, 1947)
+
La fille du 14 juillet aka The Rendez-vous of Déjà Vu (Antonin Peretjatko, 2013)

Bedazzled (Stanley Donen, 1967)
+

The Devil (Peter Cook) gets chummy with someone else (Dudley Moore) whose soul he wants.



I'm not old, you're just 12.
Phantasm - I love this movie. It's a shaggy little indie horror from the late 70's about a pair of brothers and their pal who's an ice cream man taking on a sinister character named the Tall Man and his army of murderous dwarves. It's creepy, sometimes hilarious, and makes zero sense. None at all. The sequels also are worth your time, even if they only confuse the story further.


Birdman - Michael Keaton plays an aging Hollywood actor looking for relevance again by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play in this black comedy. Keaton is amazing, and is aided wonderfully by Edward Norton as a "serious" actor who causes strife and discord on the set, and Emma Stone is good as Keaton's spiky, recovering addict daughter.
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"You, me, everyone...we are all made of star stuff." - Neil Degrasse Tyson

https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/



Already posted about these in my movie log but since i've done it for every other month.

June Watches * = rewatch


Odd Man Out (Carol Reed, 1947)
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There Will Be Blood* (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
+
The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
Paradise Lost: Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills* (Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky, 1996)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1947)
Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, 1946)
+
Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983)
Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone* (Chris Columbus, 2001)
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (Chris Columbus, 2002)
-
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* (Alfonso Cuaron, 2004)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* (Mike Newell, 2005)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates, 2005)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (David Yates, 2009)
Chungking Express* (Wong Kar Wai, 1994)
+
The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (David Yates, 2010)
+
The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (David Yates, 2011)
+
Incendies (Dennis Villeneuve, 2010)


2017 Watches - 114



Welcome to the human race...
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (Werner Herzog, 2009) -

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2010) -

The Junk Shop (Juraj Herz, 1965) -

The Cremator (Juraj Herz, 1969) -

Salt and Fire (Werner Herzog, 2016) -

Chaos on the Bridge (William Shatner, 2014) -

Milius (Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa, 2013) -

Oil Lamps (Juraj Herz, 1971) -

A Quiet Passion (Terence Davies, 2016) -

The Three Musketeers (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2011) -



A system of cells interlinked
Ghost in the Shell

Sanders, 2013





I had heard this was terrible. It's not. Yes, much of the existential philosophy that made the original interesting has been striped away, so it isn't as smart or thought provoking. Still visually, it's very impressive. If I want thought provoking, I will watch Blade Runner or Ex Machina, or I can pop in the original and clearly superior anime version. Regardless, I found this version to be fairly entertaining. The effects are slick and the art direction is pretty well done. I understand some folks hold the original film as some sort of sacred cornerstone of the modern anime movement, but that film is not without flaw; it borrows a lot from other material and I always found the rapid fire info dump at the beginning to be a little off-putting. The original is clearly the definitive version of Ghost in the Shell, but as a live action alternative, the 2017 version at least captures the over-saturated technology and corporate stranglehold concepts that were central to the anime. The main character is more shell than ghost, to be sure, but as a weekend afternoon diversion, I was entertained. A few bad-ass set pieces and action sequences definitely helped.
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



A couple of the films I saw recently, I briefly reviewed them on my computer, but in french and I don't feel like translating, so here are the ratings haha.


Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) Agnès Varda
Mr. Nobody (2009) Jacob Van Dormael
The Decalogue (1989) Krzysztof Kieslowski

+++
Black Book (2006) Paul Verhoeven
The Fault in Our Stars (2014) Josh Boone
Les Misérables (2012) Tom Hooper
49th Parallel (1941) Michael Powell
The Edge of Seventeen (2016) Kelly Fremon Craig
Wonder Woman (2017) Patty Jenkins
Tokyo Olympiad (1965) Kon Ichokawa


Okja (2017) Bong Joon Ho
La Boum (1980) Claude Pinoteau
Call Northside 777 (1948) Henry Hathaway
Happiness (1965) Agnès Varda
20th Century Women (2016) Mike Mills


Vagabond (1985) Agnès Varda
The Beguiled (2017) Sofia Coppola
Baby Driver (2017) Edgar Wright
__________________
I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages



A system of cells interlinked
Think The Decalogue is more surprising than Mr. Nobody especially knowing PG's tastes.
I demand an explanation! :P

EDIT: I fixed it. The post had an extra bracket in place that was gumming up the works.



In the Beginning...
War for the Planet of the Apes (Reeves, 2017)


Meh. It's a perfectly entertaining popcorn movie, if that's your thing. I guess I just expected more from a series that started out so fresh and interesting. I wanted to see how the apes developed, how they chose to live differently, how they learned from the mistakes of humans (or didn't). We got some of that in Dawn, but even that film started to lean heavily on predictable action/drama beats.

As it is, War feels like a not-as-good retread of the middle chapter: a revenge tale that goes full Hollywood and cheapens Caesar's journey in the process. Woody Harrelson's villain character is barbaric but not much else; Gary Oldman did it far better. And did this film really need a villain? It's sad to see the studio give in to the blockbuster formula. The finale could have delivered so much more.