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Senso 1954 Luchino Visconti







The Cranes Are Flying 1957 ‘Летят журавли’ Mikhail Kalatozov



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A Separation 2011 ‘جدایی نادر از سیمین’ Asghar Farhadi



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BARRY LYNDON
(1975, Kubrick)
A drama film



"I shall not rest until I see you as Lord Lyndon. You have important friends. They can tell you how these things are done. For money, well-timed and properly applied, can accomplish anything."

Barry Lyndon follows the exploits of the titular Irishman, an opportunist that comes from humble means but sets himself to become an aristocrat at any cost during the 18th Century. The above quote is the vow that his mother declares as she joins and instigates many of the dubious dealings to elevate his son's social status.

This is the second time I watch this, and although I was a bit lukewarm on my first viewing, I ended up appreciating it a lot more this time. Present in it is Kubrick's perennial theme of dehumanization, as we see Lyndon dehumanized by his desire to climb the social ladder, which he briefly achieves, but to the expense of everyone around him.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot and the HOF24.
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Five Easy Pieces - 1970 Bob Rafaelson drama starring Jack Nicholson in full on iconoclast mode. It won him his second Oscar nomination following Easy Rider the previous year. He plays Robert Eroica Dupea, a progeny from a musically gifted, upper crust family. For unspecified reasons he has turned his back on his privileged upbringing and makes his living picking up work however he can. When the film opens he's toiling away on a California oil rig and living with his waitress girlfriend Rayette (Oscar winner Karen Black). He spends his nights drinking and carousing with his friend Elton (Billy Green Bush) while systematically denigrating Rayette by either neglecting her, cheating on her or chiding her for what he feels are her shortcomings. Despite his apparent animosity towards his cultivated background and a general disdain for intellectuals he doesn't really fit in with the blue collar milieu either. In short he's not a genuine person which in turn leads to a self loathing that ultimately defines him. When he finds out Rayette is pregnant and then Elton is arrested he quits his job and drives to Los Angeles to see his sister Partita (Lois Smith) who's also a classically trained pianist and in town to make a recording. She's the only person that Bobby seems to have any genuine feelings for but when she tells him their father is ill and may not have long to live it throws him into a bit of a tailspin. He eventually decides to drive up to Washington state to see his family with Rayette in tow. This of course leads to the well-known diner scene.

It's a masterful performance from Nicholson and his Robert Dupea gave an indication as to what audiences could expect from him in the future.




Blow Out (1981) - 6/10 - in my opinion, I know better movies of Brian de Palma
I really enjoyed the movie-- even Travolta's performance. But IMO Antonioni's Blow Up (1966), which the 1981 film was based on, was far superior. Fascinating story and wonderful mood.





Love is Colder Than Death, 1969

A small time crook named Franz (Fassbinder) ends up in a strange love triangle when he befriends a gangster named Bruno (Ulli Lommel) who was sent to threaten him. The two find Franz's girlfriend, Johanna (Hanna Schygulla) coming between them and tensions mount.

This is Fassbinder's first film, and while it is certainly not his most polished and is even a bit slow in stretches, it has so many of his signatures and enough brilliant moments that you have to give it its due.

The downside of the film, for me, was simply the pacing. From what I have seen of his films thus far, Fassbinder is really good at using intentionally slow passages to align us with the boredom or ennui the character are experiencing. In this film, though, at times it just didn't feel quite right.

Maybe the most pleasant surprise of the film is how film-referential it is. It is so dangerous for films to reference other films, and yet two of my favorite aspects of the film involved just this. To begin with, the character of Bruno is styled, costumed, and shot so much like the main character of Le Samurai that I had to laugh (and double check the release date of both films).



Then there's the scene that most stuck out to me, in which Franz, Bruno, and Johanna systematically rob a hapless department store employee. As Franz asks for glasses "like the cop wore in Psycho", she turns to talk to him and Johanna pockets some shoes. The scene is both controlled and a bit dizzying, as the employee spins and spins trying to keep up with the questions they are asking her.

Fassbinder's willingness to put up-front gay sexuality on display is seen here, though it is expressed through the charged friendship between Franz and Bruno. Both characters ostensibly lust after Johanna, but, um . . .


Personally speaking, I really like it when films have that strange stage-movie hybrid feeling. And the numerous shots against stark white backgrounds or in settings with minimal furniture give this film that vibe.

Not a film I'd revisit, but a heck of a debut.




BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
(2012, Zeitlin)
A drama film



"Sometimes you can break something so bad, that it can't get put back together."

Set in an isolated fictional community called "The Bathtub", Beasts of the Southern Wild follows the lives of 6-year old Hushpuppy (Quvanzhané Wallis) and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry). The two live in extreme poverty as they struggle to take care of each other. Their lives, essentially broken by past events: be it the abandonment of Hushpuppy's mother or Wink's deteriorating health. To make matters worse, a huge storm lashes the community, leaving its residents to fend for themselves.

I watched this film for the first time in 2013, and I really didn't feel a lot of change in how I felt now in 2021 from what I felt then. Maybe the melodrama was a bit more off-putting now than it was then. However, I felt a stronger connection and more of a "punch" from both Hushpuppy and Wink than I felt then. Perhaps it's called "parenting".

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot and the HOF24.



'County Lines' (2020)


Very promising debut feature from writer director Henry Blake. The film focuses on the grooming of youngsters to be drug runners that try and muscle in on territories typically already controlled by other dealers.

This has become a real problem in the UK due to the poverty gap increasing and huge austerity measures put in place (****ing tories) meaning poorer families will do anything for extra income and there are some quite realistic brutal scenes. Blake pulls no punches at times, which is great to see. Look forward to what he does next as this is a film that wouldn't seem out of place on an established Director's resume. Smashing performance from young Conrad Khan too.

7.7/10



Godzilla vs Kong 5/10

It was bad. I expected a lot more from the movie.



The Bib-iest of Nickels

... Yeah.

I had seen Cannibal Holocaust prior as a young lad, but I knew I needed to watch it again for a review. After seeing it this time, I had a mixed reaction. I liked certain ideas about it, really. I liked what "became" of the main-protagonists, and, for moments, thought there was some semblance of a real emotional significance. Otherwise, it is a decent film. Admirable in its experimentation and no doubt influential. Had a great score. The special-effects were excellent as well. Not a fan of the animal cruelty.

A Serbian Film is one I've been meaning to check off my bucket list for about a decade, and I finally went ahead and got on with it. The film itself wasn't "that" scarring or anything, and, in fact, was tamer than I anticipated. There's only one aspect I am offended by with this film. The main-character gawks at the child pornography and other insinuations because he realizes, "Hey, that's awful!" and he's right. He realizes it's a terrible, terrible thing, and, at no point, does the film advocate it. Milo is firmly the protagonist and is firmly against such abhorrent behavior, and, to me, I think that allows it some leeway to tackle the subject matter. The aspect that offended me was how the small boy was featured in the film. I understand art is art, and I understand it's not real and the parents signed off on it. But, really, I feel like this might be one of those things that a parent, perhaps, shouldn't be able to sign off on? Haha. I feel like a small child shouldn't be able to consent being in this type of a film and they'd have a legitimate gripe if they were mad as an adult. Otherwise, as a film, I felt is was par for the course. The cinematography was average, the acting was, at best, average, and what it had to say felt fairly surface level.

The Golden Glove is the film most of you are least likely to have heard of, and yet, I feel comfortably it is the best of the films in the heap by a sizeable margin. The film offers a perspective of a serial killer that "de-glamorizes" him in most respects. It goes against the trope of the deep-thinking, master of disguise, and manipulative murderer, and offers something I think is likely more appropriate to the real world. The character (who is based on a real murderer) is portrayed as a Quasimodo-esque, socially inept individual, whose alcoholism and sheer enigmatic eccentricities lead him down an unspeakable, disgusting road.





Godzilla - not bad. Enjoyed all the miniature destruction but it felt a little longer than an hour and a half.




Okay, this was pretty funny. An alien (Psycho Goreman), who is pure evil, is brought back to life on Earth however, is under control of a snotty, annoying little girl because she has the "orb" thing that her and her brother dug up in the back yard. It could have been better but it made me laugh often enough to recommend. Not as gory as expected and what there is is played for comedy.



Rewatched 10 Things I Hate About You - 8/10

Probably should be a 6 or 7 from an objective perspective but idk, something about it just makes me happy



Rewatched 10 Things I Hate About You - 8/10

Probably should be a 6 or 7 from an objective perspective but idk, something about it just makes me happy
gosh loved 10 things i hate about you one of my favorite 90s movie lol



'County Lines' (2020)


Very promising debut feature from writer director Henry Blake. The film focuses on the grooming of youngsters to be drug runners that try and muscle in on territories typically already controlled by other dealers.
Never heard of this, but I can stream it on BFI Player or buy the dvd from the UK. Def want to see this.
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Victim of The Night
I was making a joke...

... I enjoyed my experience with this film too...
... but I don't see need to take it too seriously as the film itself doesn't take itself too seriously...

... we could have a serious discussion on the merits of Friday the 13th Part II and try to come to some objective aesthetic grounds of worth...
... but again I don't think it's worth my time... or yours...
... I think it's better left at "It's a 'campy' movie. Enjoyed myself for what it was, but moving beside that I'm moving on..."
Sorry, didn't pick up on the joke, ya know how it is on forums.
We can discuss it seriously or not, we've picked this movie apart of past forums because there are a number of us who think it is High Slasher and above the camp (though your joke is not lost on me this time) and amateurishness of a lot of the genre, while there are others who don't.
If I wasn't comfortable spending my time discussing movies, I wouldn't be here.



Victim of The Night
Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - 8/10

This was one of my favorite movies for years but I haven't seen it since about 1998.
Actually been meaning, recently, to get back to it.
But it's been quite beyond my control.