Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

August, 1962, was a stormy time for France. Many people felt that President Charles de Gaulle had betrayed the country by giving independence to Algeria. Extremists, mostly from the army swore to kill him in revenge. They banded together in an underground movement and called themselves the OAS.
[From the opening scene of The Day of the Jackal]

Those words that are spoken in the beginning of the film struck me with a blanket of despair. I viewed the message of this film as an ominous reminder of the specter of fascism in the world. Men of good faith don't change politics at the end of a gun barrel and yet as this fictional film pointed out, it has happened all too often throughout human history.

Especially hard for me to watch was the last scene of the President of France at the national parade, while a loan gunman seeks to change politics with a bullet. I wish events like this were limited only to fictional movies, at least I can wish that.

Not a film I'd love but a film I can respect. OMG the huge last scene with all those people in the national event, wow talk about staging a spectacular scene. The actor who played the Jackal was really good too. The custom made sniper's rifle was cool and I read that they made two for the movie AND they're working models. One's in a museum. But I really want is that white Alfa Romeo roadster!

Rudderless is a bitlike a Lifetime TV movie. And yes some of the acting wasn't the greatest. And yes Selena Gomez blew in this, not to mention that she looked 12 years old. So yeah there's alot of problems with this...BUT I still liked it.

Actually it did something many movies can't: It captured my imagination and attention right from the get go. I can't say I've seen another movie that told a narrative from the viewpoint of a parent of a school shooter. I image being a parent of someone who does murderous horrible things must be a certain type of hell. But does their story get told? Not often but in Rudderless it does. We see the damage effects it has on the parent of a school shooter, we see how such a horrible event has ruined his life as well as so many other peoples.

The other aspect I liked was the simple story of a struggling band trying to make a go of it. I've seen movies like that before and it's rewarding as it allowed me to live vicariously through the characters. I'm not over analyzing it just want to say I liked it and that's enough.

Aniara (Pella Kågerman 2018)

Swedish sci-fi with a different feel than most big budget, glossy CG Hollywood stuff. I prefer my sci-fi to be varied and I do have a fondness for indie sci fi. I don't know the budget of Aniara but it felt like a smaller budget indie film to me. So I didn't have a problem with the spaceship even though it looked more like a modern shopping mall than a spaceship. We often rank on the overuse of CG and so I can't complain that the real sets didn't look sci-fi enough. I was fine with them.

The first 30 minutes held my attention. In fact I was never bored during the movie and that's a good thing. But once the space accident happened the story then went a half dozen different ways. These story mini arcs were never fully realized or gelled into the main story and so I was constantly disappointed in what never was brought to fruition.

I read that this was based on a 1956 Swedish poem. I'm guessing the film makers felt obligated to be true to the poem. But I never read the poem so I ended up feeling unconnected from the story.

There were cool story aspects that I wanted explored like: The probe they recover, that supposedly contains needed fuel and yet they can't access the hull of the probe. That seemed to be key to the story and yet just when the probe arc got interesting, the film moved onto another chapter. I think those chapter stories are the main weakness of the film. Maybe if this had another hour we could've learned more about the food shortages, the loss of moral, the religious cult group and the authoritative captain of the ship.

Sorry to say this one didn't do anything for me. I didn't hate it or object to it, I just found it dry and flawed. The writing for the spoken dialogue was banal and sounded all the same regardless of the character speaking it. I didn't believe these people talked this way, hell I don't believe anyone talks that way. It seemed like a case of a poorly written film as far as the dialogue goes. The plot too was half backed and hard to buy into.

The film looked like it was all shot in three or four different rooms and at no time did I feel like I was in Argentina...And for the flash back scenes I certainly didn't feel like it was 1974. The romance part was a wash and the notion that 'love is in the eyes', pfft! I mean the husband of the murdered woman had revenge in his eyes. The twist ending was daft like something out of Tales from the Crypt. And the whole idea that the killer was found by an old photograph were he was glaring at the murdered woman years earlier seemed like a plot point from Murder She Wrote.

The only time the film got interesting was at the 1 hour 20 minute mark when it was revealed that the corrupt officials had employed the murderer as an anti-leftist rebel buster, or whatever he was called. But we never really see any of this, were just told about it.

About that, did you like 12 Angry Men? If so, you'll get a kick out of it.

I loved the cinematography, the scene staging, the way it looked but I need another watch before I fully make up my mind.

The beauty of 12 Angry Men and The Guilty is that all the action happens in an enclosed area, and there's still a lot to absorb.

I like films that take place in one confined area, like submarine films. I don't know why I just do.

I love Sundays and Cybele, one of my all time favourite films.

Totally enjoyable documentary!...and that's thanks to the extremely interesting subjects...especially the tall guy on the left, Mark Borchardt who's the would-be film maker and focus of the story. If this was a Documentary HoF then American Movie might very well be my #1 choice...It's so good that I feel like watching it again!

Now objectively I don't know how to stack up a fun doc against classic cinema? I can't even say this is superb film making, because what drives the story is the completely off-the-wall people who's lives we look at.

So when I finished watching it I was thinking it was perfect but one thing: We never learn what happens to Mark Borchardt the would-be film maker? Did he complete his film Northwestern? Did he ever make any movies that were seen outside of his small community? What's he doing today? The doc didn't tell us any of that, I wish it would've told us that as an epilogue. I guess I'll have to go read on my own. Still I loved this

I could've guessed that Sundays and Cybele is one of my all time favorite HoF finds...Thanks for nominating it!

Yes, this was such a fun movie!

For some reason I thought this was a foreign language film. Nope it's English lanuage...though it is based of course on a classic French novel written in the mid 19th century by Victor Hugo.

Les Misérableshooked me right from the start and I was involved in the story all the way through the film. I've of course heard of Les Miserables, not that I can pronounce it, but I do know that this has been made into films many times. But I didn't know the story, so this truly was a first watch for me.

Fredrick March and Charles Laughton talk about stellar acting! March is both noble and theatrical, he reminds me of John Barrymore but more accessible for the audience. I like March every time I see him on the screen. Charles Laughton is always a highlight of any movie he's in. Here he's downright threatening and on par with his Captain Bligh in Mutiny of the Bounty which was made the same year as Les Miserables.

There's some amazing sets and the cinematography is real advanced especially for the time period. Who says film was static and stuffy back in the 1930s...not me! The scenes in the sewer tunnels were exceptional both in their lighting and framing. Was that the real Parisian sewers or a set? They look that good that it's hard to tell if it was on stage or in a sewer!

Yup it was a blast. I worked with a guy who I swear was his clone, he looked like him, came from a small town and had the same personality.

Both Sundays and Cybeles and American Movie are personal favorites. Both perfect in their own ways

Yup I'd agree that they are both perfect in their own ways. I have Allaby to thank for Sundays and Cybeles and Thief to thank for American Movie.

The artistic claustrophobia, maybe? It really does help.

Actually, that was my nomination.

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