Russian WWII art film from the seventies by a Russian filmmaker. Visually stunning, powerful performances, an incredible story, this movie was outstanding.
The Russian filmmaker is Larisa Shepitko. FTI, she was the wife of Elem Klimov (director of Come And See - another masterpiece). Died relatively young in a car crash - terrible loss for cinema.
Typical fragment of biography. I didn't know that Turing commited suicide. Being genius don't imply being happy.
Even Keira Knightely wasn't as annoying as usual.
And Matthew Godd was as handsome as usual.
Visitor Q is kinda bad. The mike pops into the shot a couple of times and the acting isn't great.
The Happiness of the Katakuris is pretty bad too. But it's that kind of film that is so bad that it's good. I almost died laughing watching Visitor Q for the first time. I would love to see Miike watching this film, I believe he will get even more crazy.
Despite only making two movies, Duke Mitchell is my new favorite trashy cinema auteur. Massacre Mafia Style (1974) (Also released as Like Father, Like Son and The Executioner) is one of the most trashy, racist, sexist, poorly taste movies I have ever seen, and I love it. "The Godfather is a piece of ****" is what Mitchell used to say, and if that wasn't on the nose enough for you, just wait to hear the 5 minute monologue of him ripping apart The Godfather towards the end of the movie. Out of all the reading I've done connected with this movie, I never really understood Mitchell's beef with The Godfather. The article linked above suggests that Mitchell saw The Godfather as inauthentic, but from the start, Mitchell's Massacre Mafia Style is obviously not grounded in reality. The characters kill in broad daylight with reckless abandon and with zero consequence. Though the most wacky parts of the movie are allegedly based on true events. In one scene, Mitchell electrocutes a wheelchair bound man in a urinal, something Mitchell (a former lounge crooner) did to a stage manager he didn't like. The other, a pimp that Mitchell's character crucifies on Easter Sunday, is also based off a true incident that happened in Vegas in the 60s.
But for a movie that hates The Godfather, there's alot of Godfather-esque stuff in it. Complicated father/son relationships, a (now obligatory) baptismal scene, and montage after montage of bloody gangland assassinations. But Massacre Mafia Style does one thing The Godfather didn't: it used the term "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra". The Godfather was famously barred from using those two terms by the Mafia, with producers receiving threatening messages from founder of the Italian-American Civil Rights League and Colombo Crime Family boss Joe Colombo (Massacre Mafia Style also features a Colombo-esque character, who similar to Colombo, was assassinated during an Italian Civil Rights speech in 1971).
Mitchell, who starred, wrote, and directed Massacre, obviously didn't have any permits to film, so it's humorous to see the ways he steals some of his shots (especially a kidnapping during a church mass). What saves the movie for me is the low budget, 70s sleeze. I think if this film was set than anytime during that decade, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. I can't wait to see Mitchell's follow up, Gone With the Pope(1976/2010), which was finished filming in 1976, but wasn't released to anyone until film editor Bob Murawski (Army of Darkness, Spider-Man) found the film in (the now deceased) Mitchell's garage and was able put together a cut in 2010. The movie stars Mitchell again and is about kidnapping the Pope, and holding him hostage until every Catholic in the world pays a $1 ransom for him.
Rick James said cocaine is a helluva drug. Look up Jim Carrey on fame. I never really disliked Carrey, but wiping your @$$ on people and saying "method acting" doesn't fly. This really got me stirred up for some reason.
A Neu-Giallo movie shot in 2015 trying desperately to be a movie of the mid to late 70's...beautiful Cinematography and lighting and one of the best soundtracks i've heard in recent times. Let down horribly by a script that requires you to not so much suspend your disbelief but more relocate it to a different planet. "Nice video; Shame about the song" if ever there was one.
I liked this quite a bit. Love Aubrey Plaza, think Elizabeth Olsen is a very good actress, and it was both funny and disturbing. My biggest problem with Bad Genius today was how unlikeable the characters were, it wasn't just because of their actions as Plaza does much worse and much more concerning things here and it didn't hurt my enjoyment. Solid.
Rick James said cocaine is a helluva drug. Look up Jim Carrey on fame. I never really disliked Carrey, but wiping your @$$ on people and saying "method acting" doesn't fly. This really got me stirred up for some reason.
I've watched part of it and noticed the Carrey quote "they didn't want to release the footage because they thought it would paint me in a bad light".
It feels like to me that the movie was designed on purpose to make Carrey look really bad, and by the way he presents it, he wanted it that way. For example, there were moments that indicated that he loosened up, or entertained people on the set, but it feels like instead of extending those scenes they cut away from them.
I could be mistaken, but that is what it felt like.
Visitor Q is kinda bad. The mike pops into the shot a couple of times and the acting isn't great.
The Happiness of the Katakuris is pretty bad too. But it's that kind of film that is so bad that it's good. I almost died laughing watching Visitor Q for the first time. I would love to see Miike watching this film, I believe he will get even more crazy.
But Shinjuku Triad Society, Ichi the Killer, and The Audition are not like that. They are legit solid movies.
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