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Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami,2010)


Once again, Kiarostami proves he is one of the most interesting directors working today.

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson,1959)


Feels more like a minor work of Bresson's when compared to his other films. Nevertheless, a good film.



In the Beginning...


Steam of Life (Berghäll/Hotakainen, 2010)

The gf and I caught this powerful documentary last night on PBS. Apparently, there's a very prominent sauna culture in Finland, where people gather in makeshift steam rooms to converse and bond. Told entirely through vignettes and devoid of any exterior narration, the film captures several groups of Finnish men as they sit "in sauna" and talk about highly emotional moments in their lives.

It's easy to see that the film's real goal is to get to the heart of Finnish men and expose the dichotomy between their tough, hardy nature (the staple of Finnish masculinity) and the emotional twists and turns of life that cause that nature to crumble. The men tearfully speak about their greatest joys or deepest sorrows, and although they're less apt to really embrace and comfort each other, the silent but genuine camaraderie is there.

I probably related to this better than my gf did, being of the male variety, but there's a fascinating culture and internal human pulse here that is perfectly set against the cold, rugged backdrop of Finland. Highly recommended.



planet news's Avatar
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I just want to warn people. The live-action Death Note film is simply awful. 5/10
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How about fu*kin' sh!tty?
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



Boogie Nights (P.T. Anderson, 1997)

M (F. Lang, 1931)

Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987)

The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
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The Lincoln Lawyer - 4/5
You gotta love Matthew Mconnaughy. Well, I guess you dont, but I dont mind the guy. Anyway, I thought that they might have chosen him for this role because of the stint he did for the John Grisham movie - and good choice! I normally cannot STAND legal films or tv shows because most of them overly glamourize the profession. Conversely, I always love the ones that show the gritty, sloppy, disheveled underside ..... and this one does. And how! If you liked My Cousin Vinny (which I loved even before I went to law school - but I like Joe Pesci and as far as Marisa Tomei goes, she can do no wrong imo), you'll adore this film. I'd say this is
WARNING: "spoiler?" spoilers below
a primer on how to put your client in jail, despite attorney-client privilege.
For you, the viewer, there needs to be a 'lil suspension of disbelief, but .... plausible.
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Macbeth (Roman Polanski, 1971)
+

I may be underrating this because the disc I had skipped pretty badly in several areas and it kind of turned down my enjoyment, but this is a really great film. Polanski's version (which was executive-produced by Hugh Hefner!) is really cruel and bloody, and it has a clever and original take on the Witches, and Macbeth's hallucinatory episode in their lair is fantastic, as is the lighting and frame composition throughout. It also made Ross out to be much less of a sympathetic person than I thought he was when I re-read the play last month.

If you want Shakespeare you have to have access to the words, and to get the words, nothing beats the intimacy of reading the plays on your own, without visual distractors. But this film/play is so cinematic that it's pretty easy to follow just visually (unlike, say the film versions of The Tempest or Hamlet), so it gets a high recommendation on those counts alone.



I'm not old, you're just 12.
Dragnet - I haven't seen this in ages. It's a good example of two comedic talents rising above the mediocre material handed them. Dan Aykroyd is great as straight arrow cop Joe Friday, and Tom Hanks is really funny as his free-wheeling partner. I prefer funny Tom Hanks to serious actor Tom Hanks.
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I watched each of the following films on August 5, 2011:

The Unknown Woman. An amazing Italian suspense drama. Great acting, great filmmaking. A+.

Mon Oncle Antoine. I was quite bored until the last half hour, at which time it began to pick up the pace (if you can even call fifteen minutes with barely any dialogue spent in a horse-drawn carriage "pace"). B-.

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. I was hoping, during the first ten minutes, that this movie might even be better than the original! Such a great death that was! The opening animated sequence was also pretty good, even though I am usually no fan of those. Unfortunately, after than animated sequence, the film went from enjoyable to stupid. All too common for this genre. B-.

A Home at the End of the World. I had no idea that this was a gay movie until the gay scenes. Needless to say, I was taken by surprise when the two boys start masturbating each other! Despite that, the movie wasn't very bad, and I think it deserves what I shall rate it. B+.

Somewhere. Oh, the family Coppola. How I loathe them! Only Nicolas has any skill whatsoever, and that skill isn't even anything to boast over. Francis has, as far as I am concerned, never made a good film, and his daughter has only made one good movie: The Virgin Suicides. It would seem, unfortunately, that each Sofia Coppola movie is worse than the last. Hopefully she either gives up filmmaking or starts working for Troma, in the latter case her lack of skill will be put to good use. This movie goes nowhere. It would seem that she was trying to make you see life through his eyes. Too bad nobody ever told her that that saying wasn't meant literally. But I digress. . . C+.

Breathless. An interesting French film. B.

Bachelor Mother. A hilarious David Niven-starring comedy from the late '30s. A-.

Northville Cemetery Massacre. I really enjoyed the beginning, latter half of the middle, and the ending to this one. I can overlook the maybe half hour that I didn't like so much and give this a B.

The Last Starfighter. Oh, how I miss the '80s. I tell you this, the second a "holodeck" comes on the market, I am going to learn and relearn everything there is to know about programming and construct a replica of the '80s. All I want is a suburban neighborhood and a movie house with two screens: one to play the new movies (Terminator, Stand By Me), and the other to play cult and B movies. I can think of nothing I wouldn't sacrifice for such a Heaven! A.

The Raven. Bela Lugosi was awesome, as one can expect. From today's standards, it seems kinda clichéd a movie, but it probably wasn't back when it was released. A.

Mothra vs. Godzilla. I saved the worst for last. Such an intolerably, mind-numbingly stupid movie! The worst of the Godzilla series I've seen yet. Perhaps I'm just not cut out for these movies? Gamera was far, far more enjoyable that this stupid Godzilla BS. D-.



Hi there, if you want to watch something different i would recommend this movie. It's something like Balkan version of Trainspoting in short. Best thing about movie is that is 100% real and authentic, this is just how things are, allthough it may not look like that to those who not share this part of world.

This movie follows 4 guys without job, without future, perspective. They spend their time on drinking, fighting, fanatically cheering for their football club, lift shopping, stealing, drug smuggling etc. But movie is not really about them, movie is about lost generation being raised and part of war, and transition into modern society. People are looking them with disgust now, but I think the author wants to say that life never offered them a single chance, and it's pretty sad.

Not sure weather most of You can fully understand the depth of movie, but maybe it would be interesting to see how You would probably end up if you were unlucky to be born in Zagreb in 70-80.
youtube.com/watch?v=HnZqPQ31tD4