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The Horse Thief (1986) by Zhuangzhuang Tian
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The Lost Weekend (1945) by Billy Wilder


News from Home (1977) by Chantal Akerman


Hatari! (1962) by Howard Hawks
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En Kärlekshistoria (1970) by Roy Andersson
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Neighbors (2014) by Nicholas Stoller


Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) by Leo McCarey
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Taipei Story (1985) by Edward Yang
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Stolen Kisses (1968) by François Truffaut
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Pandora's Box (1929) by Georg Wilhelm Pabst


Umut (1970) by Yilmaz Güney and Serif Gören
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Play (2011) by Ruben Östlund




I Don't Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman (2016) by Marianne Lambert


The Color Wheel (2011) by Alex Ross Perry


Angel's Egg (1985)
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Eden (2014) by Mia Hansen-Løve




Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003) by Bing Wang


Serial Mom (1994) by John Waters


Thief (1981) by Michael Mann


The Green Fog (2017) by Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson
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My Dinner with Andre (1981) by Louis Malle
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Elevator to the Gallows (1958) by Louis Malle


Foreign Parts (2010) by Verena Paravel and J.P. Sniadecki
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Ludwig (1972) by Luchino Visconte
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Reassemblage (1983) by T. Minh-ha Trinh
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Drifting Clouds (1996) by Aki Kaurismäki
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Wild (2016) by Nicolette Krebitz


Out 1, noli me tangere (1971) by Jacques Rivette and Suzanne Schiffman
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March views.


To Die For (1995) - Van Sant
These characters here are too witless to even merit satire.


½
The Voices (2014) - Satrapi
I think the filmmakers failed to establish a lead character, so when Anna Kendrick steps up as someone genuinely wonderful and caring, she becomes the main character in the film. Unfortunately they kill her off almost immediately--- which sinks their own film. Plus the tonal shifts between delightful talking heads in the fridge next to the mustard jar, and the vicious misogyny of stabbing someone 20 or 30 times (accidently) requires mad story telling skills the filmmakers clearly don’t possess.

★★
Never so Few (1959) - Sturges
Just how brutal is jungle warfare? Sinatra is forced to wear a goatee. Just how inhumane is jungle warfare? There is no extra money for incidentals---when someone gets a major wound, Sinatra just shoots them in the head to end their suffering---then out of the jungle for a little R&R! Suffice to say the non sequiturs begin to overwhelm the film. The bit parts include Charlie Bronson as a Navajo wind talker. George Takei has one line complaining about hospital food. And very kinetic Steve McQueen crackles on screen even when he just stands there.

Insight (2011) - Gabai
The unreliable narrator is only thing going for this murder mystery.

The Kid ( *= rewatch) (1921) - Chaplin
The mechanics of the story were too evident, getting the kid out into the street, getting him abandoned correctly with no way to find him then the tramp saving the only scrap of evidence. The poor unwed girl becomes rich and famous, her kid is magically returned and as a reward, the tramp takes up residence with them.

Tilly’s fractured Romance (1914) - Chaplin
Chaplin plays a supporting character, a cad who tries to steal a big wad of cash from a big country girl. If you think falling down in funny, this one’s for you.

An American in Paris (1951) - Vinnelli
A poor starving artist finds himself adopted by a sugar mamma, who is going to promote the hell out of his career in exchange for some bed-time canoodling. A lot of product placement here: the Gershwin songs.

★★½

The Forest for the trees (2003) - Ade
A newly graduated school teacher with big dreams moves to the big city, despite the best of intentions, she seems to dig herself deeper into failure with each hapless move, becoming increasing bewildered and alienated in the process. This was Maren Ade’s graduate film---she also directed Toni Erdmann.

Summertime (1955) - Lean
Katherine Hepburn is a spinster who splurges for a vacation of a lifetime in Venice. The ultimate value of her adventure is symbolized by white gardenias and a red goblet she finds in an antique shop: one of a kind valuable or a worthless fodder sold to the clueless American tourists?

Aragami (2003) - Kitamura
This was film dare from a producer to two young directors: can you make a film with a fight to the death in a single location? The answer is yes for this film. An immortal war god is tired of slicing and dicing over the centuries and sees a possible heir to the crown when a wounded samurai knocks on his temple door.

Caught (1949) - Ophuls
The young woman dedicates herself to the art and craft of bagging a rich man and when her all dreams comes true, she learns, without love a 50 room mansion is a pretty empty place to live. Apparently the director, Max Ophuls must have really enjoyed his time working with Howard Hughes. The multi-millionaire here is a complete nut-cake---who marries the girl just to spite an observation his shrink made about him.

Side street (1950) - Mann
A part-time letter carrier he can steal 200 bucks, but accidently stealing 30,000 puts him into the big leagues where just to staying alive another hour is his only concern.

Thoroughbreds (2017) - Finley
A black comedy that kind of works in one or two scenes---but fails to go for the jugular. The film opens big: Amanda has self -diagnosed herself as a well- adjusted sociopath and spots the same latent tendencies in her new tutor; the film then waits 40 minutes before adding anything to the mix. This is one film that could actually benefit from CGI; the last sequence of Amanda’s new home should end with her turning to a mirror and smiling. The final reveal would be Honeymooner’s black eyes staring back at her.

Seconds (1966) - Frankenheimer
Very oppressive paranoid story about a guy who did everything that was required of him every day of his life, but forgot live it. He is given a brand new “rocking” exterior but he is still the same clueless dolt he always was.

Cry of the City (1948) - Siodmak
Two kids from the same neighbourhood cross paths later as adults as a decent Detective hunting an escaped Mad dog killer on his final spree. Lots of great bits of the director drawing out the tension in the story.

Kiss me Deadly (1955) - Aldrich
There is almost an open antagonism at work here. The film repeatedly mocks and ridicules the hard boiled investigator who is completely amoral and sadistic. There is also a deliberate hostility where they kill off every single character in the franchise.

★★★

Running Scared * (2017) - Kramer
An over the top action film about the kid next door who borrows a Mafioso’s gun to take a pop shot at his abusive stepfather then escapes into the night, putting our man through a desperate odyssey to find the kid and the gun . His wife (Vera Farmiga) kicks some serious butt when she stumbles upon a secret ginger bread house hidden within an apartment building.

People will Talk (1951) - Mankiewicz
Cary Grant plays a kind hearted doctor who is just too good to be true. A jealous colleague begins a witch hunt to bring him down and get him disbarred from the medical profession---there has be some dirt, somewhere in his past, even if he has attack his friends to find it.

The Taste of Tea (2004) - Ishi
A tender portrait of a slightly eccentric family; the father is a hypnotist; the wife thought she had to give up her animation interests for marriage but now spends her days working on a film project. The Grand father is a delightful loon. The son tends to fall in love with girls he never talks to. The small daughter is followed around by a 50 foot giant of doppleganger who watches over her from a safe distance.

Common Wealth (2000) - Alex de la Iglesia
A black comedy about an old man wins the lottery. At first everyone in the building is happy until he refuses to treat everyone to free swag. So they plot to steal his fortune hidden somewhere within his apartment the moment he kicks the bucket. This death watch of a few weeks has lasted 20 years, and everyone has become driven insane with greed when the day finally arrives.

Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) - Assayas
The ravages of time are brought into high relief, when a movie star is offered a chance to reprise a role that 20 years ago brought her onto the world’s stage. But this time, the ingénue role goes to a Hollywood wild child and she is being offered the role of the older woman who is driven to despair because of her.

Sleeping Beauty (2011) - Leigh
The bedtime story gets re-imagined as a character study of a young student struggling to makes ends meet through various part-time jobs. When offering her the high paying gig, the CEO of Noki Inc. purrs: Your vagina is a temple. Sleeping beauty: Lady, my hoo- hoo is not a temple.

The Master (2012) - Anderson
Definitely, not the feel good movie of the year. Props to the costume design: Freddy Quell never looks comfortable or at ease in his own skin, a single moment in the film.

The Immigrant (2016) - Gray
A vicious mack has a whole operation in place where he spots vulnerable women arriving at Ellis Island then orchestrates their doom and their (lucrative) descent into prostitution. Marion Cotillard knocks off another waif performance, with her entire being is dedicated to amassing enough money to buy her sister’s freedom.

A Girl in Black (1956) - Cacoyannis
Marina is already living a tragic life before two big city guys decide to kill some vacation time in her small fishing village. They spot Marina in the village square, and flip a coin to see who gets her. The locals are even worse.

Surveillance (2008) - Lynch
I assumed I was going to watch a crime procedural and this is how read it … with things just slightly off here and there at first then later on, completely off the rails. All this is explained when the film switches genres near the end.

Frozen Land (2005) - Louhimies
A symphony of sadness and despair. The film is kind of daisy chain, where each character passes along their anger at their misfortune, ending with tragic consequences---which jump starts the whole cycle over again.

A cottage on Dartmoor (1929) - Asquith
A hairdresser falls tragically in love with a manicurist who---of course falls for someone else. One of the last British silent films to be made.

Hedwig and the angry inch (2001) - Mitchel
The cover art to this film just doesn’t do any justice to the hysterical humor in the film.

As Life goes by (2003) - Meunier
A gentle documentary about a small French village and its inhabitants, who still live within nature and the natural cycles of the seasons and life. The 105 year old doyenne of the village still sings fight songs. A farmer plants the sapling that in 30 years will provide the wood for his coffin.


★★★½

The Unbearable Lightness of Being * (1988) - Kaufman
I forgot about all the great performances and moments in this thing; Juliette Binoche as the small town girl; Lena Olin as the restless free spirit and Daniel Day-Lewis as the inveterate womanizer.

They Live by Night (1948) - Ray
A fantastic romantic coda of two young lovers opens … a Film Noir? At their very first meeting, he is seen through a veil of kisses (a lattice screen of X’s) the same pattern repeats across the shadows on her hat pulled down tightly over her head. If this was a romance, this would be a truly remarkable introduction, however this is a Film Noir and these strike-outs show they are doomed from the outset.

Coup de grâce (1976) - Schlöndorff
A group of aristocrats return to the place during World War one where they grew up as children. The fighting around them matches the escalating, take no prisoners battle between an officier and the heiress when he coldly refuses her marriage request.

Let Joy Reign Supreme(1974) - Tavernier
This is filled with delightful tit for tat dialogue, and wonderfully absurd situations. Like the future 10 year king is practising war games with a actual cannon and he has a hissy fit when they won’t let him put real condemned prisoners in the play fort he is aiming at. This drama almost seems one step removed from a Monty Python film.

Cape Fear (1962) - Thompson
What’s great here is the imposed censorship; so you have these weird extended avoidance scenes where they weren’t allowed to express or even suggest what is happening on screen. A shirtless Robert Mitchum apparently was a code violation they got away with. A dazzling ending, where one character drops his mask to reveal they are in fact twins, although one is a harmless garden variety criminal and the other one is major league predator, willing to bait the hook with his own wife and daughter and sacrifice the life of an innocent cop, then uses the law to indulge his own sadistic appetites at a safe distance.

Double Indemnity * (1946) - Wilder
Wow, this is just chock-full of great little details. Walter Neff"s tragic flaw is fully revealed and visible through-out the film in the form of a slutty blonde wig. Like a moth to a flame, he is helpless against its gravitational pull, and goes with a big dumb grin on his face to the gas chamber.

★★★★

Predestination (2014) - Spierig
This starts off rather conventionally with a bit of action, then veers off into strange territory when a cross-dresser walks into a bar and bets a barkeep, she has the best story he will ever hear in his life. There is a great cascading finish where they start throwing out all these questions and images. Interestingly in “Seconds”, the five inch height difference between the two characters didn’t bother me, however I’ll fight to the death to defend the five inch difference in height between the two characters in this film. A nice moment: the stunned look on the guy’s face when he meets her for the first time: “ Wow, you’re beautiful, someone should have told you that”



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
A weird mix of very new and very old this time.

Нелюбовь [Loveless] (2017) -




A little bit too straightforward, but hard-hitting. Too bad no metaphysics again. Searchers.

Loving Vincent (2017) -




Nice visuals, but sadly, a movie without a soul. The story is a typical A to B, B to C. One would like a more experimental approach given such form.

Within Our Gates (1920) -




A "Race film" (don't confuse with racing!). Every time the preacher appeared I couldn't hold my laughter. That mug of his! Apart from this, a mediocre film.

Häidenvietto Karjalan runomailla [Wedding in Poetic Karjala] (1921) -




An ethnographic film on Karelian wedding. A much more tedious and static compared to Nanook, but made a year before. Obviously, it was staged.

Stavitel chrámu [The Cathedral Builder] (1920) -




Envious people summon the devil.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) -




Most characters here are highly questionable, but the way it was written, acted and crafted... Wonderful!

The Shape of Water (2017) -




Typical post-modernism - a misch-masch of everything. A fairy tale for adults, a painfully Hollywoodish mix of Creature from the Black Lagoon and Pan's Labyrinth. Obviously, romantic love is conditioned culturally, not biologically. The creature just wanted to tap that ass, and succeeded. But I mean, an aquatic monster without tentacles is a worthless aquatic monster. Okay, enough. The film was highly watchable, but greatly perfectible.

Elle (2016) -




I hoped for more degeneration (the son). Huppert makes this movie. What an actress! The Piano Teacher this ain't, but a solid film. Loved how it played with genre conventions.

Running on Empty (1988) -




A very touching story. So much truth, beauty and heart here. Every hug and kiss wields so much sincerity, that I could truly believe in their love. Lumet masterfully guides his actors, and Phoenix gives an outstanding performance.

Annihilation (2018) -




A Stalker for our times. A watered down, safe version, with an all-female multiracial team, obligatory action sequences (in fear the spectator will get bored if there are no monsters), wacky CGI, too bright and kitschy computer-game-like environment, and mind-boggling last 15 minutes. Actually, I really liked the last 15 minutes. I wish the entire film was like that. Apart from all badmouthing, the movie was enjoyable enough.

Lady Bird (2017) -




There is absolutely NOTHING for me here. The life of American teenagers is my least favourite topic in cinema, only second to the life of American teenagers in a college.

Sette note in nero [The Psychic] (1977) -




What a gem! Fulci delivers once again! His gore films are a hit or miss for me, but I absolutely love his gialli! Loved the ending when Chekhov's gun finally fired!

Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee [Secret of the Red Orchid] (1962) -




A quaint little Krimi. Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee don't save it from being only okayish, though.

+

BONUS:

My top 10 seen in March:

1. Repeated Absences (1972) dir. Guy Gilles
2. Sitting on a Branch, Enjoying Myself (1989) dir. Juraj Jakubisko
3. The Millennial Bee (1983) dir. Juraj Jakubisko
4. Poem (1972) dir. Akio Jissoji
5. Affair in the Snow (1968) dir. Yoshishige Yoshida
6. Earth Light (1970) dir. Guy Gilles
7. A Treatise on Japanese Bawdy Songs (1967) dir. Nagisa Oshima
8. Man Follows Birds (1975) dir. Ali Khamrayev
9. The Deserter and the Nomads (1968) dir. Juraj Jakubisko
10. Pleasures of the Flesh (1965) dir. Nagisa Oshima

What a month. What a month!
__________________
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.



Weird is relative.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) -




Most characters here are highly questionable, but the way it was written, acted and crafted... Wonderful!
You liked something "mainstream"!
I was wondering if I should watch this, and now your high rating has convinced me that I should.
Lots of other interesting stuff you've mentioned which I'll add (the ones I hadn't seen) to my watchlist if I haven't already.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Lots of other interesting stuff you've mentioned which I'll add (the ones I hadn't seen) to my watchlist if I haven't already.
Look up my previous posts in this thread, bro. A lot of goodness to choose from. Or just browse through my enormous list.



Weird is relative.
Look up my previous posts in this thread, bro. A lot of goodness to choose from. Or just browse through my enormous list.
I checked out the list. Nice. Many there I've been planning to watch.
I need more free time.
And yeah, I read your film list posts here when I see them.



Weird is relative.
March Views, Pt. I:

1. The Legend (1994) - ★★★★

I was expecting less, but this film surprised me. The "modern" details like the subtle promotion of transgenderism and lesbianism, the satire (showing how a woman could consent to abuse from her husband because he wooed her with his romantic side), the fact that women were some of the best "warriors" with awesome fight sequences (which is what I like to see in martial arts films), and the humor - which seemed tongue-in-cheek at the same time as it was over-the-top. This got a lot more smiles out of me than Jackie Chan's Drunken Master from 1978 (which I didn't find very funny despite it being sold as a "comedy").

2. Only Yesterday (1991) - ★★ 1/2

A 27-year-old woman visits people in the countryside and spends her entire trip obsessing over and rambling about her experiences when she was 10-years-old. There's nothing wrong with being nostalgic sometimes, but if I met somebody new and all they did was talk about their childhood memories, I would think they had definite issues. She hardly even spends the time to listen to the stories of the people she meets, while expecting them to care about what *she* tells them.
The animation was nice, and I like seeing "the busy but quiet country life," but I wasn't very entertained by this self-absorbed 20-something.

3. Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) - ★★★

This movie was effing nuts! After causing one to be slackjawed in amazement at the sheer insanity of the current scene, it would leap into a new scene that was even more wild and unbelievable than the first. Long live the creativity of 1980's Hong Kong wuxia!
The plot was the opposite of linear, and so it was too much of a mess to award a higher rating, but I still enjoyed it. Directed by Tsui Hark.

4. Kamikaze Girls (2004) - ★★★ 1/2

A distant, reclusive teenage girl who loves Lolita dresses becomes friends with her total opposite - a young female gangster, and they go on adventures together. A quirky Japanese treat.

5. What Did the Lady Forget? (1937) - ★★★

A young woman just wants to have fun while visiting her uncle and uptight aunt, but the aunt is constantly on her case. Her uncle is more sympathetic, and he also jumps at the chance to escape his dominant wife for a while.
I didn't like how the aunt thought it was acceptable to speak so harshly to her niece - I would never put up with that from a relative. She was also disrespectful to her husband by not even caring about his wishes, and then the movie makes light of a moment of domestic violence which is supposed to "put her in her place." I suppose that Ozu was working with what he knew from his time period. He liked women who were a little modern, but not TOO modern. At the end of the day, he wanted to see the women listen to a man and follow his directives.

6. Annihilation (2018) - ★★★ 1/2

I appreciated how this went in a very different direction than the typical "alien invaders" tale. I thought it was creative, especially the ending, but it left quite a bit of unexplored potential. Ambiguity is a popular choice for directors, but it might also just be equivalent to not knowing where to take the story (i.e., a cop out).

7. 3-Iron (2004) - ★★★ 1/2

This film was great, but I have the same criticisms as that for Annihilation, regarding the last part of the film. Was it supposed to be taken literally, or was it a figurative representation of a mental breakdown? Was the director being lazy for failing to establish this, or simply enjoying his artistic license? From what I've seen of Ki-duk Kim so far, he does seem to have a partiality towards leaving the audience to discern their own interpretations.

8. Little Forest: Summer & Autumn (2014) - ★★★ 1/2

This plays like a lovely little documentary about a young girl's countryside experience of nature and food. It's as if the main character from Only Yesterday was more mature, less focused on herself, and instead wanted to share the joys, triumphs, and struggles of her quiet life with the world. There is also an "imaginary" scene where a plant grows on her body... like in Annihilation (but filmed several years before).

9. Dream (1967) - ★★★

From the director Sang-ok Shin, who was later captured by Kim Jong-il and forced to make movies in North Korea, comes a story of a Buddhist monk who falls into lust with a noblewoman and chooses to run away with her. A theme of many films about Buddhist monks is avoiding temptation and the lure of the world outside the monastery, and the consequences of what happens when they follow the path away from the Buddha. This movie was more melodramatic than others I've seen, and the monk didn't have a very strong character, so it was hard to feel sympathetic towards him.

10. Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) - ★★★ 1/2

Another film about the consequences of succumbing to the desires of passions and greed, except that it's about regular family men rather than monks. I want to re-watch it sometime to see if I missed any hidden meanings or symbolism the first time.

11. Top Lady of the Sword (1993) - ★★★

This wuxia movie was promising (it reminded me of Dragon Inn from 1967), but the ending was very disappointing. It leaves you wondering what was the point of the entire film.

12. Iron Monkey (1993) - ★★★ 1/2

I would have given this 3 stars, but I thought the kid deserved that half-star. It wasn't bad, but I preferred The Legend.



Don’t Draft Me, I Watch Anime!
I'll probably have more fleshed out thoughts but:

Annihilation (2018, Alex Garland)


The Death of Stalin (2018, Armando Iannucci)


Arrival (2016, Denis Villeneuve)


The Isle of Dogs (2018, Wes Anderson)



“I was cured, all right!”
March Views, Pt. I:

1. The Legend (1994) - ★★★★

I was expecting less, but this film surprised me. The "modern" details like the subtle promotion of transgenderism and lesbianism, the satire (showing how a woman could consent to abuse from her husband because he wooed her with his romantic side), the fact that women were some of the best "warriors" with awesome fight sequences (which is what I like to see in martial arts films), and the humor - which seemed tongue-in-cheek at the same time as it was over-the-top. This got a lot more smiles out of me than Jackie Chan's Drunken Master from 1978 (which I didn't find very funny despite it being sold as a "comedy").

2. Only Yesterday (1991) - ★★ 1/2

A 27-year-old woman visits people in the countryside and spends her entire trip obsessing over and rambling about her experiences when she was 10-years-old. There's nothing wrong with being nostalgic sometimes, but if I met somebody new and all they did was talk about their childhood memories, I would think they had definite issues. She hardly even spends the time to listen to the stories of the people she meets, while expecting them to care about what *she* tells them.
The animation was nice, and I like seeing "the busy but quiet country life," but I wasn't very entertained by this self-absorbed 20-something.

3. Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) - ★★★

This movie was effing nuts! After causing one to be slackjawed in amazement at the sheer insanity of the current scene, it would leap into a new scene that was even more wild and unbelievable than the first. Long live the creativity of 1980's Hong Kong wuxia!
The plot was the opposite of linear, and so it was too much of a mess to award a higher rating, but I still enjoyed it. Directed by Tsui Hark.

4. Kamikaze Girls (2004) - ★★★ 1/2

A distant, reclusive teenage girl who loves Lolita dresses becomes friends with her total opposite - a young female gangster, and they go on adventures together. A quirky Japanese treat.

5. What Did the Lady Forget? (1937) - ★★★

A young woman just wants to have fun while visiting her uncle and uptight aunt, but the aunt is constantly on her case. Her uncle is more sympathetic, and he also jumps at the chance to escape his dominant wife for a while.
I didn't like how the aunt thought it was acceptable to speak so harshly to her niece - I would never put up with that from a relative. She was also disrespectful to her husband by not even caring about his wishes, and then the movie makes light of a moment of domestic violence which is supposed to "put her in her place." I suppose that Ozu was working with what he knew from his time period. He liked women who were a little modern, but not TOO modern. At the end of the day, he wanted to see the women listen to a man and follow his directives.

6. Annihilation (2018) - ★★★ 1/2

I appreciated how this went in a very different direction than the typical "alien invaders" tale. I thought it was creative, especially the ending, but it left quite a bit of unexplored potential. Ambiguity is a popular choice for directors, but it might also just be equivalent to not knowing where to take the story (i.e., a cop out).

7. 3-Iron (2004) - ★★★ 1/2

This film was great, but I have the same criticisms as that for Annihilation, regarding the last part of the film. Was it supposed to be taken literally, or was it a figurative representation of a mental breakdown? Was the director being lazy for failing to establish this, or simply enjoying his artistic license? From what I've seen of Ki-duk Kim so far, he does seem to have a partiality towards leaving the audience to discern their own interpretations.

8. Little Forest: Summer & Autumn (2014) - ★★★ 1/2

This plays like a lovely little documentary about a young girl's countryside experience of nature and food. It's as if the main character from Only Yesterday was more mature, less focused on herself, and instead wanted to share the joys, triumphs, and struggles of her quiet life with the world. There is also an "imaginary" scene where a plant grows on her body... like in Annihilation (but filmed several years before).

9. Dream (1967) - ★★★

From the director Sang-ok Shin, who was later captured by Kim Jong-il and forced to make movies in North Korea, comes a story of a Buddhist monk who falls into lust with a noblewoman and chooses to run away with her. A theme of many films about Buddhist monks is avoiding temptation and the lure of the world outside the monastery, and the consequences of what happens when they follow the path away from the Buddha. This movie was more melodramatic than others I've seen, and the monk didn't have a very strong character, so it was hard to feel sympathetic towards him.

10. Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) - ★★★ 1/2

Another film about the consequences of succumbing to the desires of passions and greed, except that it's about regular family men rather than monks. I want to re-watch it sometime to see if I missed any hidden meanings or symbolism the first time.

11. Top Lady of the Sword (1993) - ★★★

This wuxia movie was promising (it reminded me of Dragon Inn from 1967), but the ending was very disappointing. It leaves you wondering what was the point of the entire film.

12. Iron Monkey (1993) - ★★★ 1/2

I would have given this 3 stars, but I thought the kid deserved that half-star. It wasn't bad, but I preferred The Legend.
This was a great reading! Keep it up!!!



“I was cured, all right!”
Part 1


Face/Off
(1997) [John Woo]

★★★★★
Some might call me crazy but in 1997, John Woo created an action masterpiece in Hollywood when he released Face/Off. Frenetic, phenomenal camera work and the best of all: One of the best stunts I've ever seen in an American movie. The film does not waste time on the dramas, it is more concerned about the action. The film has absurd moments, totally absurd moments and other moments even more absurd. That's the proposition! Read the synopsis, the idea itself is already crazy. Not so crazy nowadays, since we already have registered cases of face transplant. I do not mind the exaggerations, in fact that's what I want to see when I go to see a fanciful action movie. Face/Off knows what he is from the first minute. Adrenaline from start to finish, an exaggeration! Nic Crazy vs Vincent Vega (he finally gives a foot massage). "Five stars? Absurd!"

A Most Violent Year (2014) [J.C. Chandor]

★★½
Lots of anticipation around this movie. It took me a long time to finally watch it. The bitter taste of disappointment was strong in this one. Oscar Isaac was really good, by far the best aspect of this film. Jessica Chastain... I don't know what happened to her. She was really bad! The errors of continuity (goofs) are something that I always emphasize in productions of low budget. But in this case it was difficult, since many sequences lost all impact or logic, thanks to terrible jump cuts! For example: Man 1 stops the car in front of a truck, forcing him (the truck driver) to stop the truck, soon after, the man 1 points a gun to the truck driver, man 1 assumes the direction of the truck and drives in the same direction where the car he'd used to make the truck stop, except that... where's the ****ing car? He does not exist anymore. it's things like that that annoys me, there were too many. But okay, I would have relieved all this if the drama of the characters were plausible.

It is in the moments that they try to create tension that the movie fails miserably, the decisions are so stupid that it reminds me of the slashers of the 80s, with dumb characters. "They are under a lot of pressure!" Yes, in times of tension, people tend to make hasty/stupid decisions, but in this movie, decisions are ALWAYS stupid, and resolutions are even more moronic. The death of a certain character in the end could mean something if he had not previously done all he could to be a stupid character. Without empathy his death is a relief. Oscar went really well in his role as gangster businessman, and as I said, Jessica, in my point of view, was very bad as the hysterical wife who turns out to be a strong character. In the midst of all this, there are still elements that save A Most Violent Year from being a total atrocity, with at least interesting dialogues and some minor characters that looks decent for a movie like this.


Baraka (1992) [Ron Fricke]

★★★★½
An experimental documentary directed by Ron Fricke, cinematographer of Koyaanisqatsi, the first of the trilogy Qatsi, by Godfrey Reggio. Often compared to Koyaanisqatsi, the main subject of Baraka is in fact similar, including footage from various landscapes, churches, ruins, religious ceremonies and cities, mixing with life, in a quest for each painting to capture the great pulsation of humanity in the daily activities. Wonderful, scary and very sad. A remarkable experience!

------Films------
Antiporno (2016) ‘アンチポルノ’ [Sion Sono] ★★★½
Chasing the Dragon (2017) ‘追龍’ [Wong Jing, Jason Kwan] ★★
Wild Strawberries (1957) [Ingmar Bergman] ★★★★★
Loving Vincent (2017) [Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman] ★★★★
Breathless (1960) ‘À bout de souffle’ [Jean-Luc Godard] ★★★★
The Famous Sword Bijomaru (AKA The Sword)(1945) ‘Meitô bijomaru’ [Kenji Mizoguchi] ★★★½
RoboCop Director's Cut (1987) [Paul Verhoeven] ★★★
Requiem for a Dream (2000) [Darren Aronofsky] ★★★★
Julieta (2016) [Pedro Almodóvar] ★★★½
Elle (2016) [Paul Verhoeven] ★★
The Outsider ★★★★
Annihilation ★★
The Piano (1993) [Jane Campion] ★½
28 Days Later (2002) [Danny Boyle] ★
In Our Time (1982) ‘光陰的故事’ [Chang Yi Ko I-Chen Jim Tao Edward Yang] ★★★★
Melancholia (2011) [Lars von Trier] ★★★½
In the Realm of the Senses (1976) ‘愛のコリーダ’ [Nagisa Ōshima] ★½
The Hidden Fortress (1958) ‘隠し砦の三悪人’ [Akira Kurosawa] ★★★★½
Blade Runner 2049 [Denis Villeneuve] ★★★★½
Old Stone (2016) [Johnny Ma] ★★★★★


------Animation------
Hellsing Ultimate I (2006) ‘ヘルシング I’ [Tomokazu Tokoro] ★★★★
Hellsing Ultimate II (2006) ‘ヘルシング II’ [Tomokazu Tokoro] ★★★★½
A.D. Police Files (1990) [Nishimori Akira, Hidehito Ueda] ★★★½
Murder Princess: Birth (2007) [Tomoyuki Kurokawa] ★★★★
Murder Princess: Coronation (2007) [Tomoyuki Kurokawa, Shinya Kawamo] ★★★½
Murder Princess: Return (2007) [Tomoyuki Kurokawa, Tomoaki Ohta] ★★★
M.D. Geist (1986) ‘装鬼兵MDガイスト’ [Hayato Ikeda, Koichi Ohata] ★★★
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I - Blue-Eyed Casval (2015) ‘機動戦士ガンダム THE ORIGIN I 青い瞳のキャスバル’ [Yoshikazu Yasuhiko] ★★★★
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin II – Artesia’s Sorrow (2015) ‘機動戦士ガンダム THE ORIGIN II 哀しみのアルテイシア’ ★★★
Dragon Ball Z: Bardock, the father of Goku ★★★★
Devilman: The Birth (1987) [Umanosuke Iida] ★★★


------Concerts------
Paradise Lost: Live Death (1989) ★★★½
Morbid Angel: Live Madness (1989 ★★★½
Katatonia - Live Consternation (2007) ★★★★
Katatonia - The Black Sessions Live (2005) ★★★★★
Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Night (2013) ★★★★½
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1972) [Adrian Maben] ★★★★★


------Shorts------
Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 (2017) ‘ブレードランナー ブラックアウト 2022’ [Shinichiro Watanabe] ★★★★
2036: Nexus Dawn (2017) [Luke Scott] ★★½
2048: Nowhere to Run (2017) [Luke Scott] ★★★
Dear Basketball (2017) [Glen Keane] ★★★

------Documentaries------
Face to Face: Visconti vs Fellini ★★★★
Faces Places (2017) ‘Visages, villages’ [Agnès Varda, JR] ★★½
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016) [Steve James] ★★★★
78/52 (2017) [Alexandre O. Philippe] ★★★


------TV------
Dragon Ball Super - Season 5: The Tournament of Power ★★
Samurai Jack - Season 5: The Last Season ★★★★
The Sinner (2017) ½



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos [Santo and Blue Demon Against the Monsters] (1970) -




My first Lucha libre. Very campy and terrible in the best worst film ever made way.

Colloque de chiens [Dog's Dialogue] (1977) -








Ruiz tries La Jetée-core. The result is a superb circular melodramatic story! Took some neat screenshots.

CONFESSION=遥かなるあこがれギロチン恋の旅 [Confession] (1968) -










Obayashi does it once again. Pure fun. Pure beauty! Almost as great as Emotion! This is the kind of cinema I want to watch! So much better than a bunch of other 4s I gave, but kind of inferior to director's other masterpieces I saw, so I'm really torn with this one. Anyway, I took some screenshot just for fun. The film is so much better when you see it moving, though. And the sentimental music is to die for.




Sette note in nero [The Psychic] (1977) -




What a gem! Fulci delivers once again! His gore films are a hit or miss for me, but I absolutely love his gialli! Loved the ending when Chekhov's gun finally fired!
When someone rates Fulci highly:



__________________
You're an enigma, cat_sidhe.



Welcome to the human race...
Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond (Chris Smith, 2017) -


Not sure if watching this so soon after Man in the Moon itself was a good idea or not because I think I'd had just about enough of this kind of disruptive performance-art kind of thing already, which is a shame because the bits that actually revolve around Jim Carrey himself and his own inner turmoil are actually kinda good.

Hook (Steven Spielberg, 1991) -


I'm amused more than anything that this gets considered a contender for Spielberg's worst film when it doesn't really strike me as being that far removed in quality from E.T (though I suppose I'm probably more likely to re-watch that than this). In any case, this definitely has an appreciable mix of craftsmanship, weirdness, and heart that makes it easier to like than expected.

Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995) -


Ehhh, maybe I could go half a point higher but man this is much more of an overlong and clunky chore of an epic than I remember where everything it sets out to do as a movie seems like it's been done considerably better before and since.

Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018) -


I appreciate that Garland's follow-up to the tautly-constructed Ex Machina takes a considerably looser approach with its abstract tale of a team of scientists investigating an alien phenomenom that keeps hitting them with surprises. In many ways a blend of many movies I like. the only issue I really take with it is that it never quite manages to distinguish itself that much in the process.

BPM (Robin Campillo, 2017) -


A drama loosely based around the exploits of a real-life collective of AIDS activists that has some issues with its length, structuring, and focus but nevertheless stays on-point and emphasises how the personal becomes political and vice versa.

I Know Who Killed Me (Chris Siverston, 2007) -


Another one of those worst movies ever made that I personally can't exactly bring myself to hate (though it's not for a lack of trying on this movie's part). While it is a frequently absurd mishmash of genres and tones that fails at virtually everything it attempts to do, there's enough mind-boggling weirdness here that I practically consider it outsider art.

Tomb Raider (Roar Uthaug, 2018) -


While this may technically improve on the Jolie movies in certain regards, I do wonder whether or not it's really that much better in the long run. At its heart a very by-the-numbers blend of high-stakes adventure and icon origin story, it gets by on having semi-competent set-pieces and talented performers making the most of some rather under-developed roles. I wonder if it's too much to hope that this actually gets an improved follow-up that actually manages to do something useful with this film's incredibly egregious sequel hook.

Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) -


Of all the Best Picture winners I've seen, this one might very well inspire the most ambivalence. It's very easy to criticise its gormless hero and the journey he takes through American history (especially considering its prevalence of trite cultural references, uncanny celebrity encounters, and heavy-handed needledrops), but it still works at its core and that does carry it past any abrasive surface-level details.

Pacific Rim (Guillermo Del Toro, 2013) -


I think I'm due to revisit various Del Toro projects (and this one seemed timely considering the sequel's release, even though I still haven't gotten around to it). This one certainly isn't bad as it leans into its superficially absurd premise of giant robots fighting giant monsters and actually embeds some decent character arcs and elaborate art direction in the process.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005) -


This reminded of Tarnation a bit with its deep focus on Texas culture and how it can embrace and/or damage the individuals within it, namely by tracing the eponymous eccentric as his burgeoning musical career becomes affected by his mental illness. It's certainly not as harrowing as Tarnation - this one certainly has moments of levity amidst the darkness - but it's a decent little rockumentary that does attempt something a little deeper than chronicling a standard rise-and-fall.
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Although I remember literally nothing about it, I do remember liking 'I Know Who Killed Me'. Not that it was great or anything, but liking it nonetheless.
__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.



Welcome to the human race...
I noticed that it was airing on TV around the same time that We Hate Movies was going to do an episode on it so that played into the decision to actually watch it. It certainly feels like it should've been cranked out by some Argento wannabe circa 1986 - if that had been the case, I might well have given it a higher rating.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Le silence de la mer [The Silence of the Sea] (1949) -




Right here we have a debutant using cinema's tools like a professional. A prodigy who will astound the world with Le Samourai, Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge. The story is set in France in 1941. There is a rather talkative German officer, and an old man and his niece who answer with silence. The Silence of the Sea is a film about peace amongst nations, a platonic romance and willful ignorance that can only keep you ignorant for so long. Finally, it's a film about disillusionment when you realize the machine of death can't be stopped by beautiful poems and orations on brotherly love. It's also a film on individuality. The love of an individual, and the goodness of an individual. But it was made too early. The wounds were too fresh.

くちづけ [Kisses] (1957) -




A kiss as a sign of love. A kiss as a sign of understanding. A kiss is given a great significance in this debut feature of prolific Yasuzo Masumura. This is a teen movie, a film on the first love, a film on hardships and similar existences that connect people. A film on the ability of saying "Yes. I love you" instead of "Yes. I want you", a film on the unloved finding love. And all this told in a modern, jazzy, breezy way. Hitomi Nozoe is the perfect girl for this role. She's perfect. And that's exactly the point.

Phantom Thread (2017) -




My favourite Anderson film since Magnolia is a film of details. Little gestures rise to the level of epic spectacles, Day-Lewis' performance, full of sparky nuances, draws a not-so-obvious portrait of a man who gives everything to his profession. Anderson's direction (he was also the DP) extracts the essential from well-lit interiors of post-war London mansion, and enforces his Fabian tactics, while also reinforcing subcutaneous Freudian eroticism so abundant in the relations between the lovers.

Safe (1995) -




Haynes' skill in portraying the dark side of the twentieth century paranoia, hinging on, if not Lynchian, then at least Eyes Wide Shut era Kubrickian, dense atmosphere masterfully exemplified in the first third of the film is wasted on the exploitation of the activites of a non-enigmatic ecologist cult in a deeply Americanized, unravishing way.

Les amants réguliers [Regular Lovers] (2005) -




A film as a time capsule. Garrel manages to kidnap the viewer and throw him in the midst of the events of May 1968 with such vigor and conviction, one has to reassure himself the film was indeed made in 2005, and is not a documentary reel from the events it portrays, but only a skillful recreation. But that's only the beginning of this 3 hours long film. Garrel wonderfully catches the zeitgeist of late 60s Paris, and draws a portrait of uncertain youth. First disappointed with revolution, then with love, in the fumes of opium and weed, the sad face of Garrel's son. Perhaps one of the very last films on the children of Marx and Coca-Cola. I have to watch this movie's twin brother now. Bertolucci's The Dreamers.

乳房よ永遠なれ [The Eternal Breasts] (1955) -




Contrary to what many people say, Kinuyo Tanaka was not the first Japanese female director (that would be Tatsuko Sakane), but this fact does not, of course, take away her brilliance. There is no doubt that The Eternal Breasts is special, although I'm not going to lie - I have a hard time articulating why I loved it so much. The story is extremely daring and tackles many themes, and the framing is extremely beautiful, even attempting Mizoguchian frame-within-a-frame technique. I guess it's just the combination of the two and a certain poetry of the film won my heart. Also, it's the earliest Japanese film I saw that had an image of female breasts, although in a non-erotic context.

Le moindre geste [The Slightest Gesture] (1971) -




Although not pointless, the film is completely aimless. It's about two guys who escaped an asylum and now roam free mumbling some incoherent bullsheet. I imagine the idea was to make the viewer experience the world the way they do for 90 minutes, or at least to experience how it feels to be near such handicapped people.

Home Movie, autour du 'Lit de la vierge' [Home Movie: On the Set of Philippe Garrel's 'Le lit de la vierge'] (1968) -





Tina Aumont is everything. The way this film was shot and edited is similar to the works of Pierre Clémenti. There is a shot of daylight sky, and then an almost invisible cut to the twilight sky. Countless close-ups of Aumont's face and naked body (!!!) mixed with the exploding fireworks, reverie-like colorful neon-like... ugh, it's simply an eye-candy made the right way.

Hospital Brut [Dirty Hospital] (1999) -




Talk about mind-boggling. Totally out there, but it's so focused on being as weird as possible, that it kind of loses on all other fronts.

The River (1951) -




The flow of the river is just like the flow of life. Every person we meet makes us either die a little bit, or live a little bit. But in reality nothing dies. The death of a child means another is on his way to be born. A surprisingly rich film thematically given its Technicolor postcard from India premise.

Salomé (1976) -




Salomé is a kind of film alchemy very close to Kenneth Anger, but apart from the beginning, a much slower and mysterious one. It's a film that rather focuses on the texture of light than anything that has to do with a story. An intertitle card in 1922 silent film Salome says: "The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death". In this version of Salomé, the mystery itself is great.



March Watches:


67. Strange Days (Katheryn Bigelow, 1995)
-
68. Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, 2011)
-
69. Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932)
+
70. The Breadwinner (Nora Twomey, 2017)
-
71. Phoenix (Christian Petzold, 2014)
+
72. Dodsworth (William Wyler, 1936)
-
73. Death and the Maiden (Roman Polanski, 1994)

74. Wild Tales (Damián Szifron, 2014)
-
75. Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, 2012)

76. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939)

77. Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)
+
78. In A Year With 13 Moons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978)

79. Silverlake Life: The View from Here (Peter Friedman, 1993)

80. Ravenous (Antonia Bird, 1999)
-
81. Fried Green Tomatoes (John Avnet, 1991)

82. Victoria (Sebastian Schipper, 2015)
+
83. Lola (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1981)
-
84. BPM (Beats per Minute) (Robin Campillo, 2017)
+
85. A Star Is Born (George Cukor, 1954)

86. Nocturama (Bertrand Bonello, 2016)

87. The Quiet Man (John Ford, 1952)
+
88. My Life As A Zucchini (Claude Barras, 2016)

89. The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955)

90. Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014)
+
91. Wagon Master (John Ford, 1950)

92. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, 2012)

93. Equinox Flower (Yasujiro Ozu, 1958)
-
94. Poetry (Lee Chang-dong, 2010)
+
95. Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu, 1951)
+
96. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)

97. Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)

98. Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018)

99. Night and the City (Jules Dassin, 1950)
-
100. Wolf Children (Mamoru Hosoda, 2012)

101. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)
+
102. Why Don't You Play In Hell? (Sion Sono, 2013)
-

March Watches: 36
2018 Watches: 102



Seen in April Pt.1


[REWATCH]
+
Haven’t seen this since I was a little boy, didn’t really like it when I was younger so it was in desperate need of a re-watch. This was one worthy re-watch. The soundtrack is utterly brilliant, one of the best; Don’t think I can elaborate further since everyone knows what I’m talking about. I thought the film had a very nice atmosphere of the beach town and being on the sea with sea as far as the horizon. The tension in this film is brilliant, you’re on the edge of your seat even when you know what’s going to happen. I feel like it could have had less dialogue scenes though.

And oh my f*cking God, if you find me a film with a more badass ending than Jaws, you are lying.



I get goosebumps just thinking about it!



Leonardo DiCaprio is so awesome and cool in this, I utterly loved the ways he tricked people and the police. The performances from Hanks and Leo were great. The relationship between Leo and Hanks so so emotional, it’s really sad seeing Hanks slowly getting to like Leo but having to arrest him. The lighting is very realistic.



One of the better movies of this decade. Romance movies back then were very cheap and manipulative, having sad music whenever the main characters do anything. This film is completely different though. The relationship between the main characters is very realistic and not exaggerated. Music is used very sparsely yet I felt more heartbroken by the end of the film than I probably have with any other romance film. I loved the inner monologues of the main character, they’re very dark and deep, kinda reminds me of Shakespeare.



Watched the Disney dub. Just such a nice and happy movie. I loved the feeling of the beautiful, green rural area and most of the animation (The bus stop scene is totally gorgeous). Lots of cute moments where you just want to give Totoro and great, big hug. My only criticism is that the ending is VERY anticlimactic.


+
My review. PLEASE READ! https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/...iet-place.html


[REWATCH]
+
Slow movies are usually better on a re-watch as you are prepared for the slowness. The tension is utterly horrific, nothing much happens but all the implications, static shots and disturbing imagery allows it to be. The static shots never felt boring. They are used fairly uniquely, at the start of the film the static shots are kinda associated with the ‘camera’, but as the film goes on and it blurs the line, you're eventually biting your nails near the end needing to know if the scene is a scene or a ‘tape’. That final shot is pretty genius, it’s so simple yet depending how you look at it your interpretation of the film could be totally different from someone else.

WARNING: spoilers below
Also Jesus Christ the suicide scene is still the most shocking scene in all of cinema, I'm lucky I didn't have an anxiety attack!




One of the better Pixar films imo. The animation is fantastic, it’s made over 10 years ago yet it still looks perfect. The main characters are not sentient, but ironically their relationship is one of the most entertaining and heartwarming out there. It’s one of the best satires on consumerism (I know that wasn’t the director’s intention). One thing I liked though was that all the fat consumers are portrayed as overall friendly and kind people, and not angry idiots like most satires of consumerism do. The comedy was pretty nice. The use of classic musical songs was lovely. WALL-E is very cute!


+
What the hell the audio is HORRIBLE! I thought the was restored, well it wasn’t restored enough! The first 40 minutes are super boring, the plot just meanders with a garbage romance that no one cares about. The ‘freaks’ were all very interesting and unique (that legless guy must have the strongest arms ever!). The last 10 minutes were awesome, the ‘bird lady’ was really disturbing. I would’ve loved to have seen the lost uncut version, I read about it and it sounds REALLY f*cked!



Lots of fun. I haven’t seen much (or any!) Hammer films so this was a unique experience. The Hammer colour pallet is very appealing, the gore looks pretty awesome. I loved all the scary scenes with gore or blood etc. Christopher Lee is a brilliant Dracula.

Also this made my grandmother kinda nostalgic and got her to tell me stories about when she saw it 50 years ago, I’m very happy I got her to experience this again.



Look guys, I really can’t put this into words. This movie made me so damn happy I wanted to cry to release it as it was so overwhelming. The plot is fantastic, it’s pretty inspiring to upcoming filmmakers. The humour was pretty funny and the main character was super adorable. Those VHS episodes of Brigsby Bear look like a legit kids show from the 80's, it's so cool! If you watched any old kids shows with puppets when you were younger, this will be quite the nostalgic experience.

This film made me feel more happy and empathetic to characters than most movies I’ve seen have. I’d even argue it’s a more happy movie than Totoro.



Gentleman Jim (1942)

Notably dated, but the rugged & silly old boxing is a blast (esp. the wild fight on the docks). The acting is rowdy and almost purely comic, despite IMDB’s misleading drama label.

Experiment in Terror (1962)

Bold lighting, offbeat wide angles, some unusual settings, influence on Twin Peaks, and another smooooth Mancini score. This feels almost satirical of noir, but still cool and taken seriously enough. It seems very ahead of its time. Also, Glenn Ford nails it, despite playing a pretty straightforward FBI agent, and the villain is eeexcellent.

Day for Night (1973)

Very entertaining dramedy about a mostly pretentious film crew making a simple production unreasonably troubled.

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Not saying much, but I think it’s much better than the first. The comedy is just a little less garden variety, and there’s no phony Malkovich accent to power through. Rowan is fun as usual.