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The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) -

A blind swordsman with abnormally heightened senses gets mixed up in a clan rivalry.

If Zatoichi were alive today, I think he would have a youtube channel full of clickbait titles. BLIND JAPANESE MAN WITH AMAZING SWORDSMANSHIP SHOCKS PASSERSBY

The Eel (1997) -

Years after murdering his adulterous wife, an emotionally detached man attempts to start a new life post-improsonment. There's a great cast of eccentrics, and a tone that ranges from dismal and sad to dryly funny.

Parasite (2019) -

A smart, desperate poor family cons their way into the employ of an extremely gullible rich family. Very entertaining and unpredictable story with a lot of clever comedy and Hitchcockian tension.

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003)
-

Very unorthodox storytelling. It feels clunky, but in a good way; unusual and largely unpredictable. It's far from perfect, but I doubt something this free-spirited was at all interested in being a cohesive tale. It seems more about flexing the creative personality behind the tale, and telling its story in a way that no others would. I was expecting a dry and serious attempt to be 'badass,' but ended up laughing more than I have at a movie in a long time. The rhythmic stick fighting instructional killed me. A new favorite.

Black Rain (1989) -

Two NYPD cops botch transporting a wanted Yakuza member back to Japan, and must treat every member of the Japanese police like they're stuck-up bureaucrats that just don't understand real bloody-knuckled policework. The Japanese-New York cop dichotomy is embarrassing to watch at first (especially when Andy Garcia partakes in nightclub karaoke to loosen up his new partner), but it has a great dark & steamy late-80s vibe with exactly the kind of airy percussion & Eastern plucky score you'd expect.




First time viewings + Re-watches March


_
Tom Horn 1980 Directed by William Wiard
Clue 1985 Directed by Jonathan Lynn

_
Johnny Guitar 1954 Directed by Nicholas Ray
Day of Anger 1967 ‘I giorni dell'ira’ Directed by Tonino Valerii
Shane 1953 Directed by George Stevens

_
Viva Zapata! 1952 Directed by Elia Kazan
Seven Men from Now 1956 Directed by Budd Boetticher
The Tall T 1957 Directed by Budd Boetticher
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 1957 Directed by John Sturges
The Professionals 1966 Directed by Richard Brooks
Face to Face 1967 ‘Faccia a faccia’ Directed by Sergio Sollima
They Call Me Trinity 1970 ‘Lo chiamavano Trinità...’ Directed by Enzo Barboni
The Missouri Breaks 1976 Directed by Arthur Penn
The Shootist 1976 Directed by Don Siegel
Miracle Mile 1988 Directed by Steve De Jarnatt
Unedited Footage of a Bear 2014 Directed by Alan Resnick, Ben O’Brien
Triple Frontier 2019 Directed by J.C. Chandor
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019 Directed by J.J. Abrams
Rambo: Last Blood 2019 Directed by Adrian Grunberg
Bad Boys for Life 2020 Directed by Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah

_
+ The 39 Steps 1935 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
+ Ride Lonesome 1959 Directed by Budd Boetticher

_
Kiss Me Deadly 1955 Directed by Robert Aldrich
Little Big Man 1970 Directed by Arthur Penn
The Good, The Bad, The Weird 2008 ‘좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈’ Directed by Kim Jee-woon

_
+ The Roaring Twenties 1939 Directed by Raoul Walsh
+ My Name Is Nobody 1973 ‘Il mio nome è Nessuno’ Directed by Tonino Valerii
+ Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 1973 Directed by Sam Peckinpah
+ The Gentlemen 2019 Directed by Guy Ritchie
_
The Straight Story 1999 Directed by David Lynch



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
April 2020


Je vous salue, Sarajevo (1993)

World of Tomorrow (2015)
+
A Knight's Tale (2001) rewatch
-
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
-
Talking Funny (2011)

Django (1966) rewatch
-
Un uomo, un cavallo, una pistola (1967)

E Dio disse a Caino (1970)
-
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

The Conjuring (2013)
-
Meek's Cutoff (2010)

The Grey Fox (1982)
-
Dirty Little Billy (1972)
-
Errementari (2017)

Murder, my sweet (1944)
+

Month Count: 15
Year Count: 62



April, 2020 movies watched-

Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Too much that's average to make it a great movie but it's an incredible true story.

Winchester '73 (1950) Repeat
I don't know how I couldn't see how good this was the first time.

The Searchers (1956) Repeat
All these years I went around saying I didn't like this movie. Unbelievable.

Dirty Little Billy (1972)
+ A grungy look at the early life of Billy the Kid.

Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Very funny and I loved the characters.

The Furies (1950)
+ Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston kill it in this melodramatic western.

Vera Cruz (1954)
- Entertaining as Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster work well together.

Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
2 1/2 hours worth of killing and explosions.

High Plains Drifter (1973) Repeat
Good, but not as good as I remembered.

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Repeat
Great action, characters, and one-liners.

The Dark Valley (2014)
- Grim and violent western.

Run of the Arrow (1957)
Dated but not a bad watch.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
Doesn't even suit my taste but it's still a lot of fun.

The Hangman (1959)
No action, no bad guys, all good.

Stagecoach (1939) Repeat
Better for me the 2nd time around but it looks like I'll need a 3rd.

Voyage to Agatis (2010)
An extreme film that I thought was good for it's intended audience only.

April viewings-16
2020 viewings-49



The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) -

A blind swordsman with abnormally heightened senses gets mixed up in a clan rivalry.

If Zatoichi were alive today, I think he would have a youtube channel full of clickbait titles. BLIND JAPANESE MAN WITH AMAZING SWORDSMANSHIP SHOCKS PASSERSBY
Any plans to continue with the series?

I've seen the first twelve Zatoichi movies, and yet I'm not even halfway through the series. It's remarkable that they were able to churn out multiple films a year for a decade plus and yet maintain such a consistent level of quality. Only problem for me is that the basic template is the same for nearly every film, so at this point they've all blurred together in my memory. I keep returning to the series just for Shintaro Katsu's portrayal of the blind swordsman/masseuse -- charming and self-deprecating one moment, then in a flash he's stabbed six Yakuza to death with his cane. I'm surprised his eyes didn't end up permanently stuck in the back of his head from all the times he played the character.
__________________



Any plans to continue with the series?

I've seen the first twelve Zatoichi movies, and yet I'm not even halfway through the series. It's remarkable that they were able to churn out multiple films a year for a decade plus and yet maintain such a consistent level of quality. Only problem for me is that the basic template is the same for nearly every film, so at this point they've all blurred together in my memory. I keep returning to the series just for Shintaro Katsu's portrayal of the blind swordsman/masseuse -- charming and self-deprecating one moment, then in a flash he's stabbed six Yakuza to death with his cane. I'm surprised his eyes didn't end up permanently stuck in the back of his head from all the times he played the character.

I'll probably watch more eventually. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo peaks my interest, as well as the '89 one. I did like Katsu in the role. Do you have any particular recommendations, despite them blurring together?



I'll probably watch more eventually. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo peaks my interest, as well as the '89 one. I did like Katsu in the role. Do you have any particular recommendations, despite them blurring together?
Fight, Zatoichi, Fight -- #8 in the series -- is my favorite so far. The blind swordsman finds himself responsible for the well-being of a newborn. Sounds like it'd be very comical (and there's certainly some humor, like Zatoichi offering his nipple for the child to nurse), but overall it's quite poignant and melancholic. More than any other entry I've seen to this point, I feel like #8 provides the most depth for the titular character.





Recent Viewings:
(Rewatch) A Serious Man ( Coen, 2009)-
+
Uncut Gems (Safdie, 2019)-
-
Truman Show (Weir, 1998)-
__________________
Yeah, there's no body mutilation in it



Been a while since I did this

This isn't everything I've seen, just a selection.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Tarantino, 2019)
+
La Grande Illusion (Renoir, 1937)

Senna (Kapadia, 2010)
+
Lady Bird (Gerwig, 2017)
+
Green Book (Farrelly, 2018)
-
The Hustle (Addison, 2019)

The Fugitive (Davis, 1993)

Jojo Rabbit (Waititi, 2019)

Avengers: Endgame (Russos, 2019)
+
Men in Black: International (Gray, 2019)
-
Mary Poppins Returns (Marshall, 2018)
-
Zootropolis (Howard, Moore & Bush, 2016)
+
Captain Marvel (Boden & Fleck, 2019)
-
Knives Out (Johnson, 2019)

A Quiet Place (Krasinski, 2018)

Doctor Strange (Derrickson, 2016)

The Theory of Everything (Marsh, 2014)

Moana (Clements, Musker, Hall & Williams, 2016)

Rocketman (Fletcher, 2019)
+
Justice League (Snyder, 2017)

Dunkirk (Nolan, 2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (Waititi, 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (Gunn, 2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (Watts, 2017)
-
Spider-Man: Far from Home (Watts, 2019)

Black Panther (Coogler, 2018)

21 Bridges (Kirk, 2019)

Aquaman (Wan, 2018)
-
Ready Player One (Spielberg, 2018)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Kasdan, 2017)

Jumanji: The Next Level (Kasdan, 2019)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Dougherty, 2019)



May, 2020 movies watched-

Devil's Doorway (1950)
+ A good western that was more sad than anything else.

The Player (1992)
Was never even interested in seeing this and I thought it was brilliant.

Hannie Caulder (1971)
- Not sure how good it really is but I liked it a lot.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) Repeat
+ Hard to believe I thought it was average the 1st time when it suits me so well.

Tears of the Black Tiger (2000)
Thai film from the westerns list that's very different.

There Was a Crooked Man (1970)
Uneven, but very entertaining with a great cast.

The Spanish Chainsaw Massacre (2017)
Plenty sick but too amateurish to be effective.

The Wild Bunch (1969) Repeat
I don't know if it's the best western but to me it's the baddest.

Les Miserables (1935)
Not too shabby for a blind watch. I watched it twice.

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
+ Hard not to like even though it's not my style.

Predestination (2014)
The best mind blower I've seen since Kill List.

Debris Documentar (2003)
Something must be wrong with me for even watching this.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
+ In a way, it's the most impressed I've been with director Sam Peckinpah.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
The best women in prison film I've seen.

My Name is Nobody (1973)
Occasionally the quirk is too much for me but it's a good movie.

May viewings-15
2020-64



Kiss of the Dragon (2001) -

Jet Li beats everyone at rock paper scissors by always choosing paper.

Fight Zatoichi Fight (1964) -

Zatoichi attempts to keep a baby away from sharp objects. Rural Japan is much more photogenic than in the first movie, and sword waving takes a backseat to a stronger dramatic story (save for some unfortunate potty humor).




The Art of Self Defense (2019) -

A dark comedy about an insecure young man seeking empowerment at a karate dojo after being mugged. It's Kaurismaki-level deadpan; little to no music, asperger dialogue, and unemotive characters. That may alienate many expecting something more quirky going by the trailer. It's full of silly, relatable martial arts gym cliches and in it's odd way, points out problems with some martial arts schools (such as cult-like gym loyalty, abusive instructors, and over-emphasizing ranks).



Images (1972) -

A married woman travels to the countryside to unwind, but is met with worsening hallucinations that prey on guilt and fear. It's a well-made descent into madness that tries to blur the line between reality and the lead's delirium.

Virus (1999) -

Several caricatures with questionable accents board a big boat infested with the contents of Shinya Tsukamoto's dumpster. It's a high-budget b-movie. Aliens on a ship. An hour and a half cliche. Every character needs to be described in one brief sentence or less. It's silly, but not altogether boring.


God Told Me To (1976) -

Random well-to-do citizens start going on murder-sprees claiming that God told them to. The story starts as a sort of crime drama, and progressively gets more unusual. I'm glad it took outlandish risks, and didn't stay in safe pedestrian thriller territory.


Hrafninn flygur / When the Raven Flies (1984)
-

Viking Yojimbo seeks retribution for his murdered family via cunning plan. The setting feels very authentic with grimy costumes & dwellings, beautiful establishing shots, and less than beautiful humans. Then there's a cool but repetitive prog rock soundtrack.








Thank you to @Captain Spaulding and @Wine cellar Joe for the recommendations!



June, 2020 movies watched-

Queen & Slim (2019)
+ A good movie though not particularly memorable.

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
- Much better than expected.

Uncut Gems (2019)
+ Me loving this movie was very predictable.

The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)
Doggie bring tears.

Slow West (2015)
Nice tight western with an ending that made a difference.

Paris, Texas (1984)
A great movie but I didn't take it as the masterpiece I had hoped for.

Mid90's (2018)
Authentic and funny coming of age film.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
Good but not as good as the first.

North to Alaska (1960)
Lighthearted and likable John Wayne movie.

Adam's Apples (2005)
One of the best dark comedies I've ever seen.

Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
Disappointing given the director and cast.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)
On par with the 1st of the series.

Vigilante (1982) Repeat
Decent trashy fun.

Ran (1985)
Amazing spectacle.

Crawl (2019)
Cheap thrills.

June viewings-15
2020-79



The Relic (1997) -

Police investigate murders in a giant museum loaded with expendable security guards, tacky red herrings, Jurassic Park's security grid, and a monster. It feels like a long X-Files episode with a cinematographer who does his job after just waking up. Cleaning lady with asthma is one of the greatest red herrings I've ever seen. I have nothing sarcastic left to say. It's simple and silly, but actually really fun.


Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up (2006) -

A bus breaks down in the countryside, and two unassociated serial killers take notice. Every character seems to be mentally impaired, but it has very pretty Pacific Northwest scenery and a good premise.


Madhouse (1974) -

As an older horror star returns to his seminal role, people start dying in cinematic fashion. Price and Cushing are always fun to watch, but it's not really comedic or dumb enough to forgive some stretches of logic. It just feels like a quickly pieced together genre cash in.



The Nanny (1965) -

A 10 year old boy returns home after spending two years in a reform facility, but is wary of the family's trusted houshold nanny. It seems like an evil nanny movie at face value, but turns into something more complex. The dialogue-driven screenplay has some overly-nonchalant reactions to near-death experiences, but is great at building tension out of a frustrating 'boy who cried wolf' scenario. A very good, slow burning thriller and easy rec for anyone.


Brother (2000) -

A Yakuza member is sent away to Los Angeles and quickly gets involved in a turf war. Another sort of violent ambient crime movie from Takeshi Kitano. Beautiful, pervasive film-noir-ish music, little to no environmental noise, a disturbingly calm reaction to death, and a meditative lead.


American Perfekt (1997) -

An idiosyncratic movie about perilous hitchhiking. Characters are borderline Lynchian with oft unnatural dialogue and eccentricities. Not for everyone, but I love this kind of offbeat thriller, and there's plenty of pretty desert scenery to chew on.

White of the Eye (1987) -

A killer in Tucson is preying on women, and a family man working nearby is questioned by the police. It takes a while to get going. The first half mostly deals with familial development, which may make the second half better, but is a bit of a chore to get through. The two lead performances are outstanding, and unusual in that they're very naturalistic when everything else seems a bit surreal. The visuals are colorful, gritty, and glowing. The music is an odd genre mashing of 80s keyboards, opera music, and western guitars. The first kill scene is so overwhelmingly strange, sensorial, and artistic that it set an unfortunately high bar that the rest of the movie didn't quite live up to, but this is still a very unique killer thriller/familial drama that would appeal to oddball cult-ish tastes. I regret only now exploring Donald Cammell's stuff.



Seen in June

Double Indemnity:
I don’t like Billy Wilder as much as everyone else does, but I still enjoy his stuff and this was also good. It's been awhile since I saw a noir.

Ocean’s Eleven:
A fast-paced heist film with no deaths or much violence, a unique take that makes for a easy and fun film to watch with the family.

Inside Llewyn Davis:
- A great drama from the Coen’s about the desire for your art to get noticed in this massive world. I liked that ‘Clancy Brothers’ cameo.

The curious Case of Benjamin Button:
I really have no insightful commentary into this other than that I liked it.

Shiraz: A Romance of India:
Saw this as part of the We Are One Film Festival. Nice to see a part of cinema history I haven’t heard much about. Not much more comment other than the scene of them trying to execute the main character with an elephant’s foot was unintentionally funny.

A Chump at Oxford:
Even if some jokes drag on for too long, it’s still another hilarious escapade from possibly my favourite comedy duo.

Friday:
- This film could legitimately be a stage play considering most of the action takes place on the main characters front yard. One of those comedies that may not be laugh-out-loud but its lightheartedness and characters make for a worthwhile viewing.

Bunny Lake is Missing:
+ For the most part I just saw this as an average thriller with great lighting. The last 20 minutes however are so unexpected though and make the characters we thought we knew so much more interesting that it immediately improved the film for me. Once again Preminger is telling taboo stories that challenged Hollywood when they were released.

Parasite:
RE-WATCH I think a lot of the appeal of Parasite was the unexpected and shocking moments. On a second watch I can then have a more nuanced look at it. Even if it gets a bit over the top in the second half it’s a very well written thriller with great characters.

Popstar, Never Stop Never stopping:
A humorous take on musicians and the music industry.

Carefree:
The dancing and some of the comedy is all great and dandy, apart from that it didn’t leave much of an impression on me (Loved the Hattie McDaniel cameo however). I’ll have to check out more old Hollywood musicals.

Click:
Felt like something light to watch and this did the trick. The way it takes a more dark tone than other Sandler comedies is pretty interesting, even if the fart and sex jokes get boring after awhile.

The Hangover:
+ First time watching what some consider a modern day classic. In comparison to Click you can see just how well written the story, the characters and the jokes are. The sense of adventure and tension adds a lot of fun.

Sleepaway Camp:
Find it funny how old slasher films are always depicted in media as over the top gore and sex all over the place, when in reality a lot of them are fairly boring and nobody dies until like halfway through the film. The effects range from great to terrible and the tone shifts from horrifically gruesome to incredibly silly very quickly.

WARNING: spoilers below
I can see why people talk about the ending so much. It's so much better than the rest of the film I’m almost disappointed it wasn’t in a different film; it adds so much more nuance and empathy to the villain of the film.


We’re The Millers:
RE-WATCH I saw it with my extended family a long time ago but they really wanted to watch it again so why not? I forgot a lot of the plot points and jokes so it was almost a new experience. Thematically and story-wise it doesn’t leave much of an impact after you see it, but interactions between the (perfectly casted imo) main characters are a giggle a minute.

Highlander:
- Cool fantasy tale. I enjoyed the fight scenes and the romance scenes set in the past.

Sophie's Choice:
- I know everyone likes to make fun of Meryl Streep these days, but we shouldn’t forget she’s a legitimately great performer. I don’t feel like I got much out of the story of the writer trying to hook up with Sophie, as the flashbacks are so much more interesting by comparison (If it wasn’t for Meryl’s brilliant performance the present day scenes would be fairly mediocre). If the director and writer instead focused on the past scenes I would possibly love the film.

Night of the Living Dead:
? RE-WATCH This is kind a weird film for me. Despite me finding the film kinda boring, I still love it? A 6/10 that I probably like more than most of my 7/10’s if that contradictory statement shows what I mean. The score is haunting and the the character of Ben is almost iconic. These and the classic status of the film make up for some bland performances and the human drama (which personally I didn’t find too interesting after they open the basement).

Dawn of the dead:
RE-WATCH Was worried I wouldn’t like this much on a second watch. Nope. Tom Savini is such a great artist and his gore is so gross but colourful; Personally I thought the grey and blue zombies was a good approach to take in presenting the zombies in this film. Goblin’s score is possibly one of my favourite film scores; It works just fine as an album without the film but it fits perfectly into the film.

(I also watched lots of short films as part of the We Are One film festival, but I’ll post those in a different thread)



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
May 2020


The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

The Rite (2011)
+
Angel Heart (1987)
+
The Stranger (1946)

Bobby Robson: More than a Manager (2018)

The Third Man (1949) rewatch
+
Red Dragon (2002)
-
Anastasia (1997)
-
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) rewatch
+
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) rewatch
+
Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban (2004) rewatch
-
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) rewatch

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) rewatch

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) rewatch

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) rewatch
+
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) rewatch
+

Month Count: 16
Year Count: 78



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
June 2020

The Big Short (2015)

Crossfire (1947)
-
Double Indemnity (1944) rewatch
+
L.A. Confidential (1997) rewatch

Le Corbeau (1943)
-
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
-
Watchmen (2009)
-
Ready Player One (2018)
-
Vice (2018)
+
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Trance (2013)
+
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) rewatch
-
The Big Heat (1953) rewatch

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Harold and Maude (1971)
+
Carrie (1976)

Lucy (2014)
-
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) rewatch

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers rewatch (2002)
-
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King rewatch (2003)
+

Month Count: 20
Year Count: 98



July, 2020 movies watched-

The Hunt (2020)
An underachiever of a movie but still a very good watch for the right viewer.

Cure (1997)
Very good Japanese crime/mystery/psychological horror mix.

Ready or Not (2019)
A reasonably entertaining 90 minutes.

A Bell From Hell (1973)
An unsettling European horror that I'm surprised I hadn't heard of before.

Bliss (2019)
- A good movie to watch if you're f***ed up.

Knives Out (2019)
+ Extremely entertaining.

Images (1972)
Susannah York is a mental mess, making her even more attractive.

Cash Calls Hell (1966)
+ Japanese crime film that's probably better than my rating would indicate.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Really good for the right audience.

Christiane F. (1981)
A complete soul shaker and a big new favorite.

The Golden Glove (2019)
- A sick movie that's worth it if you have a sick sense of humor.

Richard Jewell (2019)
+ A fairly standard film yet I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Battle of Britain (1969)
Pretty epic and has a great cast, but I thought too much of it was dull.

The Invisible Man (2020)
Way better than expected.

The Burning Moon (1992)
- Ok German low budget splatter film.

July viewings-15
2020 viewings-94



Malpertuis (1971)

The owner of a fantastical manor is expecting to die soon, and all tenants worry about their inheritance. It’s a dark, semi-surrealistic movie with quite a few odd, incestuous sexual overtones and an attractive antique-fantasy aesthetic. Orson Welles gets the role of a lifetime as Cassavius. Top billing for about 10 minutes of lying in a bed & mumbling.





Performance (1970)

A strong-armed gangster seeks refuge in an eccentric artist’s home. Therein we see his traditionalist standards confronted by sexual ambiguity & psychedelia. It’s entertaining enough, but some greatness lies within the unusually cut hippie-powered sociological critique that’s both easy to follow, and open for interpretation.


Photographing Fairies (1997)

An early 20th century photographer travels to a small English village to investigate an anomalous photograph. Intriguing, pretty, very well-made, and darker than any classical ‘fairy tale.’ I’m surprised it isn’t held in higher regard. The only real gripe I have is with some questionable character actions/reactions, such as
WARNING: "PF" spoilers below
the little girls showing zero grief after tragically losing their mother. What the f*ck?




Demon Seed (1977)

A woman is trapped in her house with an amoral supercomputer that wants to impregnate her. After seeing White of the Eye, this wasn’t as original or bizarre as I was hoping, but it’s a passable sci-fi thriller.

Mandy (2018) -

A man goes after a deranged cult that kidnapped his wife. Radical kaleidoscopic cinematography, extreme schlocky violence, and a very dark minimal plot. It'd be hard to find a better model for a love it or hate it movie. The psychedelia doesn't even come close to relenting enough to appeal to more ordinary tastes, but for those that like schlock, arthouse pacing, and a very dark trippy style, this is a gem.



Timescape (1991) -

A man opening up a hotel is visited by several mysterious tenants. It’s hard to say much without spoiling anything. A very entertaining sci-fi movie that feels very of-its-time.

City of the Living Dead (1980)

A Lucio Fulci homage to Lovecraft… with zombies. Very good murky, gory, maggoty, slowly-pushing-someone-towards-a-pointy-thing horror with a cool soundtrack, and laughably bad everything else. Unfortunately, the good elements aren’t able to overshadow the bad until the final act.







Malpertuis (1971)

The owner of a fantastical manor is expecting to die soon, and all tenants worry about their inheritance. It’s a dark, semi-surrealistic movie with quite a few odd, incestuous sexual overtones and an attractive antique-fantasy aesthetic. Orson Welles gets the role of a lifetime as Cassavius. Top billing for about 10 minutes of lying in a bed & mumbling.





Performance (1970)

A strong-armed gangster seeks refuge in an eccentric artist’s home. Therein we see his traditionalist standards confronted by sexual ambiguity & psychedelia. It’s entertaining enough, but some greatness lies within the unusually cut hippie-powered sociological critique that’s both easy to follow, and open for interpretation.


Photographing Fairies (1997)

An early 20th century photographer travels to a small English village to investigate an anomalous photograph. Intriguing, pretty, very well-made, and darker than any classical ‘fairy tale.’ I’m surprised it isn’t held in higher regard. The only real gripe I have is with some questionable character actions/reactions, such as
WARNING: "PF" spoilers below
the little girls showing zero grief after tragically losing their mother. What the f*ck?




Demon Seed (1977)

A woman is trapped in her house with an amoral supercomputer that wants to impregnate her. After seeing White of the Eye, this wasn’t as original or bizarre as I was hoping, but it’s a passable sci-fi thriller.

Mandy (2018) -

A man goes after a deranged cult that kidnapped his wife. Radical kaleidoscopic cinematography, extreme schlocky violence, and a very dark minimal plot. It'd be hard to find a better model for a love it or hate it movie. The psychedelia doesn't even come close to relenting enough to appeal to more ordinary tastes, but for those that like schlock, arthouse pacing, and a very dark trippy style, this is a gem.



Timescape (1991) -

A man opening up a hotel is visited by several mysterious tenants. It’s hard to say much without spoiling anything. A very entertaining sci-fi movie that feels very of-its-time.

City of the Living Dead (1980)

A Lucio Fulci homage to Lovecraft… with zombies. Very good murky, gory, maggoty, slowly-pushing-someone-towards-a-pointy-thing horror with a cool soundtrack, and laughably bad everything else. Unfortunately, the good elements aren’t able to overshadow the bad until the final act.




Is it bad I want to watch Malpertuis solely based on that gif?

I tried watching PF years ago and couldn't finish it because I thought it was unbearably boring. I might give it another shot. Maybe. Probably not, though.

Mandy turned out to be more enjoyable than I was expecting. I really dug the trippy, kaleidoscopic look. I wish more movies implemented it.

City of the Living Dead looks interesting solely from a practical effects perspective...and kittens never disappoint.