Movie Tab II

Monthly Movies Diary:

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

Thor: Ragnarok (Taika Waititi, 2017) -

Review may or may not be forthcoming, but I'll say this for now - regardless of whether or not it is the "best" MCU movie, it certainly feels like the "most" MCU movie. I'm still trying to suss out how much of that statement can be construed as either compliment or condemnation.

Sans soleil (Chris Marker, 1983) -

Watching Level Five first definitely served as a primer for Marker's much more renowned Asia-centric documentary, which covers all sorts of historical and cultural ground in the course of a brisk and often confrontational hundred minutes.

My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991) -

I'll have to watch and re-watch a few other Van Sant works to confirm this, but right now I'm ready to call this my favourite film of his. A charming little exercise in melding Shakespeare with '90s-indie eccentricity that still covers a remarkably broad emotional spectrum in its exploration of queer identity.

Three Cheers for the Whale (Chris Marker and Mario Ruspoli, 1972) -

Eh, another so-so Marker short, this time about whaling being a bad thing.

Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman, 1968) -

Bergman's foray into psychological horror barely seems distinguishable from many of his non-horror films, but considering the quality of the average Bergman film that's an acceptable trade-off. There's a real complexity to its tale of Max von Sydow's anguished artist being forced to confront his demons during an island retreat that may not necessarily translate into shocks or even slow-burning dread, but it's still a solid experience that can't wholly be processed on a single viewing and is arguably all the better for it.

Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) -

As I noted in my TCSM review, to me the mark of a good horror is that it has something worth returning to even after it stops being scary. Sadly, after all these years I have to admit that Halloween really doesn't offer quite so much in that regard to make me like it the way I used to. It's still appreciable on a technical level (that gliding Dean Cundey cinematography, the iconic score), but the word I keep thinking of is "antiseptic" (or maybe just the ice to TCSM's fire). I don't think I can bring myself to hate it, though - that being said, I'm definitely not in a hurry to revisit it.

Lilya 4-Ever (Lukas Moodysson, 2002) -

This story about a Russian teenager encountering all sorts of hardships and adversity is a fairly functional cautionary tale about reckless youth and how easily it can be preyed upon by adults, but too often it feels monotonous as it visits trauma after trauma after trauma on its protagonist.

Holidays (various, 2016) -

This is an anthology that takes the horror genre's well-worn connection to public holidays and...well, churns out a handful of shorts of varying (but generally not very high) levels of quality. Most of the segments are extremely messy and prone to a lot of the same flaws such as incredibly abrupt conclusions, emphasis on grossness at the expense of actual terror, and ill-advised attempts at black humour. The stand-out by some distance is the "Father's Day" segment, which works precisely because it avoids all the aforementioned flaws and delivers a genuinely decent tale of dramatically potent dread. However, one good segment is not nearly enough to make up for seven bad ones.

13 Ghosts (William Castle, 1960) -

This quaint little ghost story about an all-American family moving into a deceased relative's very haunted house isn't helped by the ghost-viewer gimmick that obviously isn't trying to accommodate people who would try to watch the movie at home without 3-D glasses - is it fair to hold that against the film since that's clearly the main draw? Sure, why not - the film can't really hold up beyond its gimmickry anyway and its aw-shucks plotting only maintains so much interest even with such a brief running time.

Halloween II (Rick Rosenthal, 1981) -

All the flaws of the original with a few new ones thrown in for good measure. The fact that I reckon the Rob Zombie version might stand a sporting chance of at least matching this one (without having seen it and having generally disliked the man's work anyway) says enough about this incredibly dull excuse for a sequel.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)



Rewatching L'Avventura takes me back in many ways. When I first watched this film, I loathed it. Maybe I was under the influence of a plot-driven Devil, but nevertheless, I had a difficult time even enjoying the photography and sound effects, one of my fave actresses (Monica Vitti), the maturity of the mystery, or the way the film actually fit into Italian cinema in 1960 (the year which also produced La Dolce Vita, Rocco and His Brothers, Two Women, etc.) Nowadays, I can see that the film isn't really experimental, and even though many still find it boring, it's certainly not that either. However, I still find it unsatisfactory. So, although 30 years ago I would have advised you to stay away from this film, now I recommend it as part of a well-rounded film education, especially one involving B&W photography and unique sound effects.



Something else which I've noticed recently concerning Antonioni is that he is David Lynch long before there was a film personality identified as David Lynch. All of Antonioni's films are mysteries open to interpretation. None of them are easy to understand, even with multiple viewings. They all contain visual, aural and acting motifs which enable some people to believe that they actually do make more sense to them than mere mortals, especially when put into a thematic context amongst ALL of Antonioni's films. To give you an example, in L'Avventura, one of the lead characters disappears at exactly the same time that the characters and the audience hear an outboard motorboat go by the island all the characters are vacationing at. However, after one or two characters mention the sound of the engine, everybody goes off looking for the missing woman and no one ever again mentions the "boat" motor again. Later on, what sounds like a helicopter to me, but sounds like another boat to a character, is heard, but once again no craft is ever seen and the comment about an engine never makes another appearance. However, the woman's lover and best friend become lovers, and it becomes clear immediately that it's a major mistake and maybe somebody is being possessed by a missing somebody. Then again, maybe a horned-dog man is just trying to score at every opportunity possible.



Ultimately, I find this film better than the third part of the "Loneliness" Trilogy. I have La Notte in my queue, but it's supposed to be a "Very Long Wait'. I earlier wrote a review of L'Eclisse which I gave , and that was also an improvement over the first time I saw that film. Antonioni is definitely a filmmaker who doesn't make simple films and most of his films improve (if only slightly) with repeated viewings. However, I won't swear that that's the case with Zabriskie Point!!

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

The Small Back Room (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1949)

This lesser Powell/Pressburger film still contains many set-pieces of world-class filmmaking. The actual plot involves a bomb expert, working in the back room of a bureaucratic government organization in 1943, but, needless to say, England is constantly being attacked by "silent" bombs. These aren't the buzzbombs so wonderfully depicted in Green For Danger, but small thermos-sized bombs dropped which kill one or two soldiers or children at a time when they find them and move them without thinking. What makes this film more complex than usual is that the lead character (David Farrar) has already lost a foot from a bomb during WWII and he has a strong affinity to drink whiskey to help him forget about his infirmity and situation. However, he has a loving fiancee (Kathleen Byron) who works in his office and provides him with enough support to get him through his "average" weaknesses.



This film DOES seem very low-key and almost disappointing as a piece of "just" storytelling, but as a piece of CINEMATIC storytelling, it has almost as many awesome set pieces as the duo's usual films. For example, there's an almost throwaway scene at Stonehenge involving the testing of an important gun for the Army. It's truly inspiring. Then, there's a visit by the "Minister" (Robert Morley) to the shop of the "Boys in the Back Room" which is definitely on the hilarious side. Another scene which is very funny is the bureaucratic discussion of the advantages/disadvatages of the gun tested at Stonehenge. Jack Hawkins especially gets to shine in that scene, along with Farrar. Ultimately, the best scenes are probably the scene where Farrar freaks out, not due to his drinking, but due to his lack of drinking. The way Powell is able to include the clock, the booze bottle, the curtains and David Farrar, all alone in his living room, is spectacular. Probably the other most-spectacular scene is the bomb-defusing conclusion on the rocky beach at the end. Nail-biting suspense right there.



This is another film where things might seem slow or boring, but if you actually pay attention to all the craft (the photography, sound, editing, sets, costumes and acting), you will notice many things which you may have missed the first time through.

While We're Young



I don't know what to say about most Baumbach. Either you enjoy the characters and dialogue or you don't, and I always do. Very fun watch, this was my second.

Hell Or High Water



Been meaning to rewatch this for a while now. I thought it might go up on a rewatch but it will have to settle on being something I love, find immensely entertaining, and one of my favorites of 2016.

Thor:Ragnarok



Very funny and entertaining. Inconsequential villain and action but that's just broken record talk from us that aren't fan boys. That stuff was never really supposed to matter.

How To Build A Time Machine



This is by the director of Beauty Day which is a doc that went over pretty well here at Mofo. I like championing his docs as he has been someone I have listened to every week the past few years on the Film Junk podcast. Very talented guy with an amazing eye for cinematography and maybe even a better eye for what cinephiles find interesting in characters. His characters are real life characters which makes that talent all the more amazing. On HULU, check it out.

The Color Wheel



I was expecting to like this as Alex Ross Perry has become a director I am interested in. This is a truly unpleasant film. There are a couple of scenes that make it feel like a wasted opportunity. Obviously I am in the minority though as he has gone on to much better things. That second to last sequence, ugh, if you have a sibling of the opposite gender it has to make you want to puke.

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Letterboxd

“Except for markf, you’re all a disgrace to cinema.”

The Ghost Comes Home (William Thiele, 1940)

The Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan, 2010)

Duck and Cover (Anthony Rizzo, 1952)

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The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann, 1955)

Widow Anna Magnani shuts down from life and denies that her late husband was anything but perfect, but eventually reawakens to the affection of new man Burt Lancaster.
Gold Diggers of 1937 (Lloyd Bacon, 1937)

Truth Be Told aka Final Breakdown aka Turnaround (Jeffrey W. Byrd, 2002)

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The MacKintosh Man (John Huston, 1973)

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Brigsby Bear (Dave McCary, 2017)

A young man (Kyle Mooney) who learned life lessons from the non-existent “Brigsby Bear” TV videos [this makes sense] gets others interested in the show and makes a movie about Brigsby’s ultimate adventure.
Keeping Company (S. Sylvan Simon, 1940)

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Swamp Thing (Wes Craven, 1982)

Breaking the Sound Barrier (David Lean, 1952)

Manifesto (Julian Rosefeldt, 2017)

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Four of the 12 characters Cate Blanchett plays who espouse various forms of 20th-century manifestos in mostly offbeat settings.
T-Men (Anthony Mann, 1947)

Deadly Friend (Wes Craven, 1986)

The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937)

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Piranha 3D (Alejandro Aja, 2010)

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After a fisherman whistles “Show Me the Way to Go Home” on an Arizona lake, an underwater earthquake strikes and the release of piranhas claims its first victim.
Raw Deal (Anthony Mann, 1948)

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The Small Back Room aka Hour of Glory (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1949)

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Swallowed (Lily Baldwin, 2016)

Dumb and Dumber To (Farrelly Bros., 2014)

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Lloyd (Jeff Daniels) and Harry (Jim Carrey) battle it out over who’s the best [grossest] at using condiments.

Bachelorette

Recent Watches:
Get Out (Peele, 2017)-

Bachelorette (Hedland, 2012)-

Long Shot (LaMendola, 2017)-

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Split (Shyamalan, 2016)-

Fifty Shades Darker (Foley 2017)-

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Actually liked all these movies more than I expected, all except Long Shot had some pretty stupid moments, but they were all enjoyable watches

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The Villainess (2017)
(Jung Byung-gil)

The biggest disappointment of 2017 so far.
So bad that I used this as an excuse to rewatch great movies again!

Casino (1995)
(Martin Scorsese)


One of my favorites Scorsese movies. 3 hours of pure cinematic pleasure.


Taxi Driver (1976)
(Martin Scorsese)


'New Hollywood' masterpiece! Everything in this film is great. Bernard Herrmann soundtrack will play in my wedding! I love this strange world of Travis and you know, the city feels so alive. The dark corners, the hookers, all that scum and trash. Scorsese's best work imo.


Schindler's List (1993)
(S. Spielberg)


Ttwo parallel character studies!
Oskar Schindler was brilliant played by Liam Neeson as a man who never admits to anyone what he is doing. Not for everyone, not even for himself and Amon (Ralph Fiennes) was a lost and evil man that used the war to fulfil his own sense of loneliness. I've seen a lot of negative reviews about this movie for using such a horrible event as the "Holocaust" and turning it into a good movie, calling it an "opportunistic product," if that's the case, these people should admit that art itself is an opportunist and hypocritical, since absurd events are present not only in the beginning of the Seventh Art, (The Birth of a Nation/1915 by D.W. Griffith for example) as well as in literature and painting. Calling an movie for portraying a horrible theme like this "opportunist" is like calling the art itself hypocrite! Maybe you just don't like the movie, but calling it opportunistic? I can't understant that.


Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
(S. Kubrick)


It gets better at every view. An in deep look to a marriage life! Great atmosphere. The only problem of this film is Nicole Kidman, she sucks!


Sword of Desperation (2010) [Hideyuki Hirayama] -
The last great Jidaigeki.

Hunter in the Dark (1979) [Hideo Gosha] -

Not as good as Bandits vs Samurai S.

Pi (1979) [Darren Aronofsky] -


A Single Rider (2017) [Lee Zoo Young] -


The Big Heat (1988) [Andrew Kam+Johnnie To] -

Violent and solid chinese Crime/Drama.

The Host (2006) [Bong Joon-Hong] -

Great monster movie! Bong Joon-Hong, one of the best directors out there!
That 'Grave of the Fireflies' reference was awesome!

Tokyo Drifter (1966) [Seijun Suzuki] -


Absurd and Beautiful!

[REC] (2007) [ Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza ] -


Volver (2006) [ Pedro Almodóvar ] -


El orfanato (2007) [ J.A. Bayona ] -

The only good thing is the presence of Edgar Vivar!!

Darah AKA MACABRE (2009) [The MO Brothers] -


Very good if you are in the mood for some ultraviolent horror B-movie from Indonesia!
I wanted to see some gore and it didn't disappoint me.
Obs.: Julie Estelle and Arifin Putra (both from The Raid 2) are in this movie.

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"This Would Sharpen You Up And Make You Ready For A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence."

I watched several American avant-garde shorts last night on TCM from the seven disc Unseen Cinema. I rated them all and have posted a good bit of what I consider the best ones I saw. Hope you folks enjoy them.

7 Annabelle Dances and Dances (William K.L. Dickson, 1894-1897)

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Hands: The Life and Loves of the Gentler Sex (Stella F. Simon & Miklos Bandy, 1928)

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Mechanical Principles (Ralph Steiner, 1931)

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Suspense (Lois Weber & Philips Smalley, 1913)

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Lois Weber was the first significant female director whose films still survive.
Tarantella (Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth, 1940)

In Youth, Beside the Lonely Sea (Director Unknown, 1925)

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Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (Frederick S. Armitage, 1901)

Twenty-Four-Dollar Island (Robert J. Flaherty, 1927)

A depiction of Manhattan and its people.
Haiti (Rudy Burckhardt, 1938)

Carousel – Animal Opera (Joseph Cornell, 1938)

Sandow, No. 1 (William K.L. Dickson, 1894)

Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy, 1924)

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Surrealistic kaleidosdope co-directed by an American in Europe.
The Soul of the Cypress (Dudley Murphy, 1921)

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The Bridge (Charles Vidor, 1929)

Oil: A Symphony in Motion (Artkino, 1933)

Moods of the Sea (Slavko Vorkapich & John Hoffman, 1940-1942)

Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Lake" set to imagery edited to reinforce it, co-directed by probably the greatest user of montage in American movies (Vorkapich).
Skyscraper Symphony (Robert Florey, 1929)

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Abstract Experiment in Kodachrome (Slavko Vorkapich, 1940)

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Thimble Theatre (Joseph Cornell, 1938)

Spook Sport (Mary Ellen Bute Ted Nemeth & Norman McLaren, 1940)

Colorful musicsl animation set in the boneyard.
Palace of Electricity (James H. White, 1900)

Eiffel Tower from Trocadero Palace (James H. White, 1900)

Champs de Mars (James H. White, 1900)

Manhattan Medley (Bonney Powell, 1931)

Another experimental documentary of Manhattan - this time with the recently-completed Empire State Building.
Panorama of Eiffel Tower (James H. White, 1900)

Scene from the Elevator Ascending Eiffel Tower (James H. White, 1900)

Looney Lens: Tenth Avenue, NYC (Al Brick, 1924)

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The Thieving Hand (J. Stuart Blackton, 1908)

An early fantasy/black comedy.
Looney Lens: Split Skyscrapers (Al Brick, 1924)

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Skyline Dance (Slavko Vorkapich, 1928)

Anémic cinéma (Marcel Duchamp, 1926)

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The Hearts of Age (William Vance & Orson Welles, 1934)

The first screen role of teenager Orson Welles.
Prohibition (Slavko Vorkapich, 1929)

Money Machine (Slavko Vorkapich, 1929)

The Falcon in Hollywood (Gordon Douglas, 1944)

Hollywood On Trial (David Halpern Jr., 1976)

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In-depth doc about the HUAC and the Hollywood 10, with film committee hearings of the time and later interviews

Street Scene (1931) –
Some crudely written caricatures bicker about in front of a gritty New York set piece. The characters can get really annoying by design, but the movie is engaging enough, and it captures a cool street vibe in the 30s.

1922 (2017) –
By Jove, TJ’s accent is thicker than a bowl of oatmeal, which sounds odd compared to the rest of the cast hardly even trying. The movie goes by quick enough to hold attention; slow enough to foster the eeriness.

The Maltese Falcon (1931) –
More sensually uninhibited, with a charming overuse of 1930s idiolects and cadences. This Sam Spade is a dick though.

Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (2013) –
A really fun, OTT, bullet-paced horror comedy w/ a nice visual flair (). Witches have seldom been so violent.

Wind River (2017) –
It has that modern, uber-naturalistic feel in spades. The drama does drag a tad, but that’s kind of apt given the heavy subject matter. It’s easy to get immersed.

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The Falcon in San Francisco (Joseph H. Lewis, 1946)

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The Falcon in Danger (William Clemens, 1943)

The Falcon and the Co-Eds (William Clemens, 1943)

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Tender Comrade (Edward Dmytryk, 1943)

During WWII, airplane plant worker Ginger Rogers bids her husband Robert Ryan farewell as he leaves for action. Afterwards, she agrees to move in with some of her female co-workers to share expenses, but as always, problems arise. And boy did they ever when HUAC used this movie as “evidence” against Hollywood 10 “members” screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director Edward Dmytryk.
Crossfire (Edward Dmytryk, 1947)

Frontier Days (Jack Scholl, 1945)

Picturesque Udaipur (James A. FitzPatrick, 1939)

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Under the Sun (Vitaliy Manskiy, 2016)

Eight-year-old Zin-mi breaks down at what it means to be indoctrinated in North Korea in this documentary where the government tried to arrange and rehearse all the incidents in the film but were unsuccessful.
One Man's Journey (John Robertson, 1933)

Men Are Not Gods (Walter Reisch, 1936)

The Lady with Red Hair (Kurt [Curtis] Bernhardt, 1940)

The Old Maid (Edmund Goulding, 1939)

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Due to social convention of the time, Bette Davis hides the fact that she is the mother of a girl and turns herself into an “old maid” to keep up the ruse.
Virginia City (Michael Curtiz, 1940)

Ye Olde Minstrels (Edward Cahn, 1941)

The Master Race (Herbert J. Biberman, 1944)

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David Lynch: The Art Life (Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes & Olivia Neergaard-Holm, 2017)

Unique documentary which shows Lynch remembering his family and early life through Eraserhead with loads of photos and early artwork. It also shows him recently painting but includes no interviews with others and no voices other than Lynch’s.
Jon Nguyen on 'The Art Life' (No Director Listed, 2017)

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Counter-Attack (Zoltan Korda, 1945)

Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)

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I Won’t Come Back (Ilmar Raag, 2014)

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Wanted by the police, Russian graduate student Polina Pushkaruk) meets orphan Victoria Lobacheva and reluctantly agrees to take her to her grandmother’s home in Kazakhstan, but it’s a long, difficult journey to get there.

Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017) -

Went to see it in theatres a second time and yep, definitely thinking that I'll break the four-star ceiling for this one since this might well top Baby Driver as my current film of the year. Still unsure if I'll get around to a review at this rate, though.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972) -

Fassbinder Does Lesbian Melodrama. The incredibly deliberate and theatrical staging of the proceedings works a little better a second time around, plus they do serve the deliberately constrained narrative and its handful of characters becoming more and more tightly wound as the film progresses.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Tommy Lee Wallace, 1982) -

Probably the best Halloween sequel and maybe the only one that really challenges the original. The ersatz Carpenter feel of it all (he does the score, Cundey does the cinematography, etc.), works in its favour and the premise involves a lot of tropes I like so it's far from the worst way to spend 90 minutes. Also features what may be my favourite sarcastic clap in any work of fiction.

Security (Alain Desrochers, 2017) -

Extremely serviceable DTV siege movie where Antonio Banderas is an ex-Army security guard going up against Ben Kingsley and his army of goons. Not all that impressive on the action front but the story itself is decent enough to make it far from the worst way to burn 90 minutes.

Whity (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971) -

Fassbinder Does A Western. His tale of a black servant dealing with the obstacles presented by the white family who "employs" him sees him working through his, shall we say, complicated approach to the intersection of race and sexuality in a way that would arguably be refined in his later works.

Beware of a Holy Whore (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971) -

Fassbinder Does 8½ - unfortunately, his take on the story of a troubled film production proves especially monotonous as it tries to juggle many different but uninteresting characters with his rather dull attempts at self-effacing dramatisation. If I've got to see Fassbinder try to contextualise his glaring character flaws through his films, I'd rather they had an interesting degree of abstraction (as is the case with Petra von Kant).

World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973) -

Fassbinder Does Science Fiction, resulting in what might be my favourite film of his yet. Sure, the concept of artificial reality has been picked pretty clean in the ensuing decades and one might well question how much this film needs to flirt with the four-hour mark, but it still moves rather smoothly and its hybrid of '70s aesthetics with various genres makes it a curious beast indeed.

Au hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966) -

Bresson delivers an outwardly uncomplicated but emotionally potent tale of a small French village and the mule who alternately suffers under various humans or bears witness to human suffering. The third film of his I've seen and I'm still impressed at how he can do so much with so little.

V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005) -

The anti-fascist sentiments are appreciable and the spirit of the solid source material occasionally manifests through a well-done sequence (with the obvious highlight being the Valerie montage), but for the most part this is just an incredibly clumsy piece that zig-zags between dull procedural, poor attempts at style, and pedestrian moments of action.

Savage Dog (Jesse V. Johnson, 2017) -

More DTV action goodness where the haphazard quality of the non-action scenes is sufficiently buoyed by seeing the always-dependable Scott Adkins kick and slash his way through whatever goons stand in his way.

Britannia Hospital (1982) -



Worst in the trilogy, but still a good film and what a tragic ending of Mick Travis' life. Again, the satire is right in your face.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) -



Kinda annoying in its blockbusterness. We are literally told what to feel and how to react. Worse than part one, but has its moments.

My Childhood (1972) -
My Ain Folk (1973) -
My Way Home (1978) -



What a great piece of art My Childhood is! A totally outstanding work of art and one of the best films about sad childhood. Pather Panchali-inspired and maybe even superior to it in its hopelessness. The following part is great, too. The last in the trilogy is a worthy ending of the story, but felt kind of underwhelming.

शोले [Sholay] (1975) -



Masala western! Director's cut! Almost three hours of Sergio Leone mindless worhship, filmi songs and dances. Me gusta!

やくざ刑罰史 私刑! [Yakuza's Law] (1969) -



Teruo Ishii Mon Amour. Brutal! Anthology format not unknown to the director and again successful! Three stories, two set in the past, featuring samurai, and the last, longest one, set in then-present with yakuza. Feels very trashy, disjointed and downright cheap. That's what I love!

無残画 ＡＶギャル殺人ビデオは存在した！ [Celluloid Nightmares] (1999) -



I loved the cheesy reportage style of the film as it reminded me of similar programs on Polish TV when I was a kid. All this sensationalism and a specific way of talking to draw the viewer. Sure, it's got some hardcore sequences, but I also found some of them really funny. The porn schedule depending on the pornstar's period (dirty period blood fetish shoot there!) etc. My kind of humour. The ending is some meta sh*t and what not. Underrated!

Drancy avenir [Drancy Future] (1997) -



Starts like a Godard film, but then changes its style. It can't be Godard - after all, it's a film about Holocaust, something Godard claims is not possible to successfully portray in cinema.

Jestem mordercą [I'm a Killer] (2016) -



Solid! A crime flick from Poland. The case portrayed here is widely known to almost everyone in the country, so the film doesn't come off as anything surprising, but I enjoyed the comedy bits and the very last shot with that face - oh my god, that face is so sad. :3

Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit: aus dem Leben der taubblinden Fini Straubinger [Land of Silence and Darkness] (1971) -



A documentary about people who can't see and hear. Herzog succeeds in drawing a portrait of their world. A completely different world we will never learn how it feels to live in (hopefully).

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey (2016) -



Worst malick since The New World. Meant to rate it 3.5, because it's a really simple documentary with yes, beautiful pictures, but nothing more to it, but watching it was a very pleasurable experience and I found the voiceover quite poetic (it's always on that thin border between graphomania and poetry, here more than ever, but Malick never crosses it in my opinion). Enjoyed cavemans' butts as well.

Sorcerer (1977) -



Outstanding! But still not as good as Clouzot. The bridge scene everybody's raving about is really incredible, but the French film had many moments like this. Interesting bits about indigenous people.

Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart (1918) -



At the end of the film Poland regains independence! Some sources say it's 1916, some that it's 1918. Didn't read into details, so don't really know, but who cares. It's a great film, even though I felt it needed some punch to be the real deal.

Pax æterna [Eternal Peace] (1917) -



A disappointment! The movie's notable for its anti-war message and it was made when WWI was still going! Some bits are impressive (former brothers, now - enemies killing each other off on the battlefield), but the overall message is super naive, or rather its portrayal is. Left me wanting much more!

Onirica - Psie pole [Onirica - Field of Dogs] (2014) -



A lot of shots here (get that reference?). Some missed. Some hit the spot. Generally, a mish-mash portrayal of 2010 Poland. Death's everywhere! Protagonist listening to Dante's Divine Comedy was a nice touch!

Michael Kohlhaas [Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas] (2013) -



From the director of Drancy avenir (look a couple of films up) comes this historical film. Calculated and super-solid! Nothing's left to chance. Mad's great. It's been awhile since I've seen so deliberately non-exploitative film.

Manson (2009) -



Nothing much here. A mediocre film I caught on TV the other night. But, man, wasn't Manson and his band a bunch of f*ckin' psychos.

The Disco Exorcist (2010) -



Love Witch done right! Boobies, homage to 70s porn, occultism, exorcisms, Anton LaVey-like guy, disco and funk music and a ingeniously funny protagonist.

Underground (1928) -



More Asquith. Amazing! What an incredible chase at the end of the film! They couldn't do it better today! And a brawl! The audience gets hit in the face!

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios" [Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown] (1988) -



Best Almodovar! So stylish and funny (not laugh-out-loud, but still) and Banderas' hairstyle is the sheet, man. Obvious Hitchcock references. That's the kind of films I wanna watch!

¡Átame! [Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!] (1989) -



Not enough kinbaku! Seriously, though, This film is Almodovar coming up with a new subgenre: Stockholm Syndrome romantic comedy. Post-modernist ending.

A Raisin in the Sun (1961) -



I find it more hilarious than melancholy and I don't know what to make of this. One of the funniest films I've seen lately. "We all got acute ghetto-itis.", tribal dancing and Poitier's impulsiveness were all super-funny to me. Sure, it's an important film, but who cares when it's so enjoyable.

The Flying Luna Clipper (1987) -



The whole movie above. What are you waiting for? Watch it! I could go on and try describing it, but nothing can prepare you for what you will see there. The title at the beginning of the film states: "Everything is true in your dream". This should be enough. A one-of-its-kind 8-bit journey, for sure. As a side note, this made me discover MSX magazine. A late 80s to early 90s geek magazine with software, hardware and even some naked ladies. You can find the scans on the Internet! Me likes!

Shallow Grave (1994) -



Better than Trainspotting!

Razorback (1984) -



Ozploitation classic! A giant wild pig, two crazy rednecks and nice atmosphere. Still, there's something missing here. I can't put my finger on it, though!

Danza macabra [Castle of Blood] (1964) -



Classic gothic horror haunted castle story at its best! A truly ghastly, thick atmosphere and super-babe Barbara Steele!

ヌードの夜/愛は惜しみなく奪う [A Night in Nude: Salvation] (2010) -



After rewatching Carpenter Brut's music video for Obituary made of various fragments of Takashi Ishii's films (the video is NSFW, so can't post it here, but google it, it's on Vimeo and its editing is outstanding!) I concluded I haven't seen enough Ishii (seen 4 of his prior to this) and got this one. It's a "sequel" (not really connected to the first part, though) and a much greater film (the first one being a decent watch, if you like this kind of cinema and a bad one if you don't). It starts like many Japanese flicks, not afraid of showing gruesome deaths, gore, killers etc., then turns into trademark Ishii exploitation with erotica (full-frontals FTW) and somewhere at the end it even turns into a Dostoevskian tale only to finish almost like a festival films - with a couple of slow scenes of time passing. Love Ishii's style in this just as I loved it in Sweet Whip. The finale (before the time-passing scenes) is so grandiose it took my breath away! Can't wait to see more of him.

Püha Tõnu kiusamine [The Temptation of St. Tony] (2009) -



Estonian black comedy with outstanding cinematography. To this day I don't know why I rated it 4.5 instead of 4.0. The bottle scene was one of the best things I've seen lately, though.

初恋・地獄篇 [Nanami: The Inferno of First Love] (1968) -



My first Susumu Hani! Screenplay by Shuji Terayama! I fell in love with Kuniko Ishii! Best cinematography ever! Also the best sound design ever! The film-within-film almost made me cry! The deus ex machina ending made me frown, though. This film has some pedo-freaking-philia in it! Also some BDSM! First scenes are some of the most intimate I've seen in all cinema! The only reason I'm not giving it a full 5 star rating is that if I did, I'd also have to give it to some other Japanese New Wave films (same goes for some anti-war films).

心中天網島 [Double Suicide] (1969) -



Bunraku dolls turn into people! Kurogo are everywhere! Best Shinoda! Beautiful cinematography! That's the Japanese New Wave I didn't do anything for!

彼女と彼 [She and He] (1963) -



Another Susumu Hani. A critique of the society (and the viewer!), which finds kindness, love to your neighbor and goodness insane. Of course, these are not unfounded, but the protagonist is just different (insane, good, or maybe trying to fight her own demons?). Also, she's very cute, but for me every other Japanese girl is cute, so I don't know if I'm credible at all.

Bloody hell! It will be a double-post I guess!

__________________
San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice [Othello] (1952) -



Decided to watch more Welles (I have The Stranger ready to watch as well) and I'm quite impressed how well he managed with such low budget. The camerawork is exceptional, but you'd expect that from him. Some collective scenes (especially at the beginning) reminded me of Eisenstien (Nevsky, Ivan). Never read this Shakespeare and as always with adaptations of his work found the language challenging, but the experience rewarding.

愛の渇き [The Thirst for Love] (1966) -



May not be my favourite Kurahara, but wowzers, what a cinematography with a strong story (being a Mishima adaptation after all) to back it up (or should it be the other way around?). Love and hate united and more destructive than ever! The erotic tension gradually builded throughout the film explodes at the end! And when you think it will finally turn into a melodrama, it hits you over the head! What a treat! I want to read the book now!

Nightsatan and the Loops of Doom (2013) -



Full film above. Horror Synth in movie form! Turbo Kid-core, but even better! Yes, it's a short, and this fact is probably the only downside of this otherwise outstanding work of ART!

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) -



Meta-satire, buddy, horror, splatter, black comedy and even Deliverance-fueled hixploitation! So feel good in the end as well! And, I mean, it's not every day you see @Swan star in a film!

Attack the Block (2011) -



Criminally underrated! Real gangstas ride 'cycles, fam. Almost a Assault on Precinct 13, but with aliens that look like "monkey wolf motherf*ckers". Brits can do it, too! Wooh!

Planet Terror (2007) -



Tarantino's rotting/melting dick and a machine gun attached to leg stump is something I will remember for a long time. The rest of it not so much.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (Ronald F. Maxwell, 1981)

Mental Hospital (Layton Mabrey, 1953)

Mune: Guardian of the Moon (Alexandre Heboyan & Benoît Philippon, 2015)

The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller, 1951)

+

During the Korean War, medic James Edwards, boy William Chun [nicknamed “Short Round”], and wounded sergeant Gene Evans are among a small group of American troops who take refuge in a Buddhist temple.
Washingtonia (Konstantina Kotzamani, 2014)

Diabolically Yours (Julien Duvivier, 1967)

She’s Lost Control (Anja Marquardt, 2015)

+
The Burmese Harp (Kon Ichikawa, 1956)

-

After he unsuccessfully convinces Japanese troops to surrender at the end of WWII, a musically-inclined soldier (Shôji Yasui) becomes a Buddhist monk after witnessing their horrifying remains.
Barbary Coast (Howard Hawks, 1935)

Spotlight No. 5 (Gordon Sparling, 1954)

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (Steve Miner, 1998)

Under Electric Clouds (Aleksey German Jr., 2015)

+

In a slightly-futuristic Russia, a man’s art and architecture affect many people in different ways.
Cop or Hood (Georges Lautner, 1979)

Hannibal Rising (Peter Webber, 2007)

-
This Property Is Condemned (Sydney Pollack, 1966)

Two Men in Town (José Giovanni, 1973)

Criminal Alain Delon faces the death penalty, but can cop-turned-counselor Jean Gabin save him?
I Cannot Tell You How I Feel (Su Friedrich, 2017)

The Day Mars Invaded Earth (Maury Dexter, 1963)

Free and Easy (George Sidney, 1941)

The Four Feathers (Zoltan Korda, 1939)

-

Disguised as an Arab, disgraced Englishman John Clemens rescues his blinded friend (Ralph Richardson) and takes him down the Nile during the Sudan Campaign of the late 19th-century.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933)

Exotic, unique, one-of-a-kind film by Capra still deserves to be seen, enjoyed and debated. Although Capra had already made 20 feature films in the seven years prior to this film, this is the the greatest example of his filmmaking technique up to this point. On display are his expert use of montage, special effects, crowd scenes, florid cinematography, musical score and sound design, handling of actors, humor, cinematic storytelling, and yes, sentimentality. This film contains more actual "action" scenes that any other Capra flick, but when you come right down to it, it may also contain more "sex" scenes, even though the story is one of a "taboo" love.

The film shows an Americanized version of the events occuring in China in the early 1930s. The film says that there is a Civil War going on in the middle of the West trying to indoctrinate the land with Christian missionaries. The suggestion of a war with Japan is never mentioned. Additionally, General Yen (a terrific character) is portrayed by Danish actor Nils Asther (in easily his greatest performance), but nowadays some people have a problem with a White portraying an Asian. Before you jump on the racist bandwagon, make sure to watch the film and compare all the performances to what you might expect if a Chinese actor were cast in the title role. Hawaiian-born Chinese actor Richard Loo does have a prominent role in the film, but he plays the general's military second-in-command.

Even with all of Capra's cinematic talent and Asther's super performance, the film belongs to Barbara Stanwyck as the American missionary who's forced to undergo a transformation due to her experiences in China, and she's extremely sexy. Capra's longtime co-star Walter Connelly also turns in a wonderfully-jaded performance as General Yen's American Secretary of the Treasury. I think I've already spent too much time discussing this underseen film, so my recommendation is to seek it out. No matter what you think of it, it should be incomparable to anything else you've ever seen, and it has historical and cinematic significance.

Targets (Peter Bogdanovich, 1968)



This is first and foremost a solid low-budget flick which attempts to discuss the connection between cinematic and true-life horrors, but even more importantly, it's a love poem to cinema in general and Boris Karloff specifically. Bogdanovich's legit debut tells two stories which intersect at the beginning and the ending. What initially appears to be the more important one involves aging B-movie star Byron Orlok (Karloff, basically playing himself in a wonderful performance) who feels outdated and doesn't want to make any more schlock, even though his current director (Bogdanovich) has fashioned an artistic script for him to work on next. The other story involves a young married man named Bobby (Tim O'Kelly) who lives with his wife at his parents' home. He and his father are gun aficionados, but Bobby seems to be undergoing some changes within himself which he's unable to communicate with his loved ones.



Budgeted at $130,000 and apparently featuring an assist to Bogdanovich's good screenplay from none other than Samuel Fuller (I've never seen it on DVD, but I've gleaned this info), Targets is often an arresting film, especially due to cinematographer László Kovács' Hitchcockian technique (lots of spooky subjective camerawork) and a super bit of sound editing by Verna Fields. The scenes where Bobby goes psycho (all three of them) are handled chillingly and easily compensate for any amateurish performances along the way. The use of Roger Corman's borderline camp classic The Terror (which stars Karloff, but also Jack Nicholson and Dick Miller) is also a great way to get those of us who love Karloff, oldtime horror and Roger Corman to totally buy into the film. I would love to hear what others think of Targets, a film which really attempts to do something unique and mostly accomplishes it. It also seems to make even more sense today than it did 50 years ago

@Sexy Celebrity - Since I don't know any other way to contact you (and I'm not even sure this will work), why don't you have the Targets DVD anymore?

Seen in October, Pt.3/3



Great. A very faithful adaption to the novel. While my interpretation of the novel was very symbolic (Big Brother is an omnipotent God, Room 101 is an infinite void etc.), the film took a very literal approach. Hurt’s performance was brilliant, he feels just right for the role.The colour pallet is brilliant, not a single bright colour is to be seen (except in Winston’s hopeful fantasies). In the book the idea of everyone submitting to the government sounded like total bullsht, but the film describes and shows it in a way that makes you think this could totally happen. The industrial and desolate landscapes are very well done and certainly fit the tone of the film.



Good 'ol silly Mel Brooks fun. Cary Elwes plays a hilarious performance, perfect for the role. The highlight of the film is certainly the 4th wall jokes Brooks is well known for.



A nice little film. I liked the second half better than the first. My favourite character is the one played by Auriol Lee, an old woman who is a bit too passionate about murder stories. The ending kinda sucked though, the ending Hitchcock originally wanted was a lot better sounding (Google it).



The one thing that holds this film back is the present day story. The characters are extremely hard to care for, making it very uninteresting. The past and future story's though are absolutely beautiful works of art. The effects, the visuals, the music, the symbolism, the lighting, you couldn’t get anything better from the Louvre. The present day story is the only thing keeping back this gorgeous film from being a typical Aronofsky classic.


Muh review: https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/...the-witch.html



Very funny, Gosling squealing like a little girl REALLY made my night. The colour pallet and sets were very ascetically pleasing. The script was pretty damn great.


I can’t give a proper opinion of this film as I’m fairly mixed. The last act was very enjoyable, though the characters throughout the film were very unlikable. The only character I like was Bale’s, and I’m not even sure if I was supposed to be rooting for him.



Fantastic. Some very beautiful scenes. The film gives an unflinching view of prison life, with some very disgusting and brutal scenes. You may be familiar of this film as it has a 17 minute long take with a still camera. This scene is certainly the highlight of the film, the cigarette smoke and the lighting makes it very beautiful. The best Irish film I have ever seen.



This film succeeds at everything If.. failed at. Every scene has something going on that advances the plot. The characters are very interesting and you root for them throughout the entire film.


Muholland Drive

A Lynch classic. Some great looking imagery. The music and song choices are certainly the highlight, the Crying scene was gorgeous. I like how Betty was mostly shown in bright scenes and Rita in dark scenes to show their characters. You are constantly kept on your toes throughout the entire movie. It’s hard to review a Lynch film, as they are more of an experience if anything.

Awesome! I F*ckin' Shot That! (MCA, 2006) -

Aw, I really wanted to like the Beastie Boys' attempt at doing an "official bootleg" concert film by giving cameras to fifty different attendees and splicing together a film from the resulting footage. As it stands, I just found it okay, though not without its moments because these dudes are entertaining as hell and the film does a decent job of reflecting that through its audience.

Resident Evil: Damnation (Makoto Kamiya, 2012) -

As much as I like to defend the live-action Resident Evil films, I can't muster that much enthusiasm for these all-CGI creations (I did remember liking 2008's Degeneration but I think I'd be a lot harsher on it now). This isn't going to sound like a terribly inspired criticism, but it really does feel like watching 90-ish minutes of cutscenes that barely delivers anything in terms of either story or action.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003) -

In some ways, this doesn't do too bad a job of replicating the murk and filth of the iconic original (plus it takes the same route as the NOTLD remake and tries to beef up its final girl), but it's still a decidedly inessential piece of work.

Pearl Harbor (Michael Bay, 2001) -

I've watched almost every Michael Bay movie (only one left now is The Last Knight) and I'm still not sure why. Maybe I just live in hope. In any case, this attempt at wrapping a creaky romantic drama around a bunch of wartime skirmishes doesn't prove to be the best use of three hours, but I should've known that going in. The Last Knight, here I come.

Ingrid Goes West (Matt Spicer, 2017) -

I'm still in two minds about this movie. On the one hand, it feels a bit too familiar underneath its millennial-based exterior. On the other hand, that suits its focus on the importance of the superficial in a way that is buoyed by solid performances and decent writing that definitely make it stick. Still thinking about bumping it up half a point.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (Jonathan Liebesman, 2006) -

Suddenly, Rob Zombie's Halloween remake being half-prequel makes a lot more sense. I will give this a slight edge over the 2003 remake for not being compelled to follow too many of the original's beats, though the fact that it's a prequel to said remake also functions as a double-edged sword by cutting out a lot of tension and effectively forcing the film to depend on gore and grime for its entertainment value.

Frank (Lenny Abrahamson, 2014) -

This tale of an earnest young man joining an obscure indie band led by a mask-wearing weirdo seems like my kind of film but I was ultimately let down by it - though I later figured that I hadn't got it at first, the negative feeling still persists. It doesn't help that, with the exception of the eponymous frontman, the characters become too unsympathetic in their own ways and it really undercuts the moments where it does go for genuine emotional catharsis. At least the music's not too bad either way.

Martha (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974) -

Fassbinder does a film about a spinster ending up in an abusive marriage, delivering a cruel twist on Sirk-style melodrama in the process. The kind of film where you catch onto what it's doing fairly quickly and are left to observe the quietly devastating fallout, which is effective up to a point.

Junkopia (Frank Simeone/John Chapman/Chris Marker, 1981) -

A few minutes of footage of junk sculptures. It's okay for what it is, I guess.

Jennifer's Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009) -

When factoring in the passage of time and subsequently altered expectations, this is ultimately a functional (if not too impressive) horror-comedy that doesn't deliver anything too scary or funny but proves to be largely inoffensive and has a surprisingly decent subtext given its trashy exterior.