Movie Tab II

Great reviews, bluedeed!

I haven't seen any of those Hou Hsiao-Hsien films but I will have to check them out. He's a great director

Thanks T_L_P! Hou Hsiao-Hsien is definitely a great director, I've been heavy into him and Eric Rohmer these days.

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Mubi

Rush-. Rush is one of the best films of 2013. It's a finely tuned film that's entertaining,rather engrossing,exciting and overall just a good film. It's about the rivalry between two racers, Hunt and Lauda.Their relationship develops over the course of the film and their feud/rivalry is interesting to watch. Hemsworth and Bruhl give fine performances as the two centers of this film, and the rest of the cast are solid as well although not as memorable. The racing sections of the film are very well captured and shot. They're fast,dangerous, and disorientating. It's thrilling. The script is solid, but it is filled with some cliches and whatnot. It's nothing major but if you're familiar with sports biopics you kind of know how everything will turn out.Nonetheless Ron Howard crafted one fine film I think everyone could enjoy to at least to some extent. It's not perfect, but its certainly one of the better films to come out this year. I award it a .



Before Sunset. This being the 2nd chapter in the series, I was unsure of how it will turn out. The first one was such a fresh,warm and interesting take on the romance genre. It was sweet,innocent and memorable. For the most part this part is damn good as well although not as good as the first one. Well this film takes place 8 years after the first one, and Celine and Jesse end up meeting once again.At first the conversations are sweet and I guess small-talk, but then once the film progresses you end up seeing how much these characters have changed and their inner thoughts and whatnot.It's nice to see these two again, and by the end I was more than excited to see the 3rd entry in this series. I did have a few issues with this film, notably some parts did kind of drag a little. It's not a big deal, but at a few points I was rather bored.Other than that this is a great romance film.



The Sacrifice. Tarkovsky's final film The Sacrifice is a good film, and some scenes are eerily poignant and haunting but I wasn't as impacted by it as I was with The Mirror or Stalker. Tarkovsky is not a conventional filmmaker(far from it), and his films are damn difficult to get into. As a film The Sacrifice is as high-quality as you can expect. The performances are great, and the cinematography is visually haunting as always. It's just that I simple didn't connect with this one as much. I felt it was a little too long personally, and I feel it could have been a bit more focused. It's a good film from a very talented director,I just don't love it. I still award it a if not for the quality alone. It is a very well-made film.

After Hours. Martin Scorsese's black comedy After Hours is basically a depiction of how one night can go wrong in so many different ways. It plays upon our suburban fears of ending up in a place we can't get out from, and the type of weird stuff that ends up happening late at night.The film is very well-made, and the brilliant cinematography perfectly captures the look and feel of a dark city during night-time. The main protagonist is relatable, he's basically us:the audience. Someone who just ends up getting alot more than what they bargained for. The film takes place during the course of one night, and it's entertaining to say the least.It's a good film certainly but I wouldn't say its Scorsese's best. Nonetheless I enjoyed After Hours, its a good film from the good ol' 80's.



Blood Simple. Blood Simple is a brilliant piece of film from the extremely talented Coen Brothers. It's very tense,dark,unpredictable and even hilarious at times. It's such a tight film, and it moves quick and fast. It's relentless with it's suspense, and you will be holding your breath alot of the time. In a way you can see parts of this film in latter Coen Brother films notable No country for old men and even Fargo.It's a triumphant directorial debut, a great suspense thriller, and a great film in general. If you love thrillers, I guarantee you will love this film. +

Day of Wrath (1943) by Carl Theodor Dreyer

Police, Adjective (2009) by Corneliu Porumboiu

The Free Will (2006) by Matthias Glasner

Walkabout (1971) by Nicolas Roeg +

Tôkyô sonata (2008) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Paranoid Park (2008) by Gus Van Sant +



Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000) by Edward Yang

L'avventura (1960) by Michelangelo Antonioni

Spirit of the Beehive (1973) by Victor Erice +

Happiness (1965) by Agnès Varda +

Three Monkeys (2008) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Sherlock Jr. (1924) by Buster Keaton



Sombre (1998) by Philippe Grandrieux

My Only Sunshine (2008) by Reha Erdem

Gomorra (2008) by Matteo Garrone

Still Walking (2008) by Hirokazu Koreeda

The Song of Sparrows (2008) by Majid Majidi +



Bastards (2013) by Claire Denis

Mean Streets (1973) by Martin Scorsese +

The Wages of Fear (1953) by Henri-Georges Clouzot

The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) by Jacques Demy +

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TokeZa's Top 100 Movies through Space and Time

TokeZa's inane ramblings about film

Letterboxd profile

Wow HK that's two positive impressions of a contemporary film in a row! Are you feeling alright? It's most unlike you! Or is this just an example of you being in the Christmas spirit?

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His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940) -
A Serious Man (Coen(s), 2009) *
Con Air (West, 1997) *
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (McKay, 2013 -
Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988) *
Mud (Nichols, 2013)
Marketa Lazarova (Vláčil, 1967)
The Big Heat (Lang, 1953)
Lone Star (Sayles, 1996)
Lethal Weapon 2 (Donner, 1989) *
Compliance (Zobel, 2012)
Fargo (Coen, 1996) *
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (Lowney, 2013)

*-rw

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I heard mixed things about Bastards, I'm glad you liked it, I was hoping I could look forward to it. Lola Creton seems to be a growing star, I first saw her in Bluebeard, but she's now worked with Assayas and Denis, two of France's top auteurs.

I think you can, though its not a movie for everyone. It has a rather fragmented narrative. For me it had a dark and eerie atmosphere, which was supported by the camerawork. One of my top choices for 2013.

I tend not to watch movies made "for everyone," and I like Denis' style very much.

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

A film (and director) that seems to divide opinions around here, I thought this film was brilliant. The film's style is very minimalistic and would not have cost much to make, but Tarkovsky makes the most of the locations/buildings to create a haunting but beautiful world - the zone. The film is much like The Wizard of Oz in how it deals with a journey of characters each with their contrasting personalities and problems, each wanting to complete the journey for different reasons, then there's the questions of faith, much like the Wizard of Oz turned out to be a opportunistic hoax, you ponder similar possibilities here. A film that stays with you after its fascinating final scene.



Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)

Despite being almost half the length of Stalker, Mirror is far less accessible and straightforward than it. The film puts together various different pieces of various characters lives, each connected through a single man who appears to be reflecting (as the title suggests) on his past mistakes. In style, the film is built like a collage, sticking together very different pieces (black and white, colour, video footage, photographs) in a dreamlike style that makes the questions poised in Stalker seem fairly straightforward.



Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

Another three hour (longer) artistic film that I award five stars, but a very different one from Stalker. Far more conventional, Lawrence of Arabia is storytelling and film making at its very best, an absolute joy to behold. There is just so much to be admired here, just the scope of the whole thing takes your breath away, how on earth they filmed most of it I don't know, in terms of cinematography and set design, the film is flawless, and then there is Peter O'Toole as an incredibly likeable character that ensures that films content is interesting enough to make you wish the film was even longer. The film also seems quite relevant in a political context these days, with Western activities in the Middle East. Without a doubt one of the very best films I have ever seen, and I can not wait to revisit it.



The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967) -

An at times odd, but a delightful little film that I found myself smiling at throughout, mainly because of Hoffman's titular character. Ben Braddock is a character who you can connect with in how he is lost, at a crossroads in his life, unsure what to do, ensuring that the film works as a sort of 'coming of age' tale. There is a lot to love about the film, although the issues it deals with are serious, the films story a lot of the time feels unrealistic, but it is always aware. The music is delightful, there are a lot of funny moments, and the at times artistic directorial style ensures that the film always feels full of energy. A film I would recommend to everyone.

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Fantastic movie.


Have you seen Majidi's other films? I'm a bit of a fan but he hasn't reached the level of some other Iranian directors yet ... but I live in hope

No its my first one. I would be interested in seeing some more films by him. Im quite unfamiliar with his filmography so if you can recommend me a movie, i would be happy! The Song of Sparrows has some good tendencies but its not on par with for instance Kiarostamis films.

Yellow Earth (1984) - Chen Kaige
The earliest example of what I think of as modern Chinese cinema - that I have seen. Cinematography by Zhang Yimou. Interesting and mostly enjoyable.

Diner (1982) - Barry Levinson
Meh. Mostly good but the last 20 minutes aren't - let's quickly tie up every loose end ... and have Steve Guttenberg dance for 5 minutes.

Vacation (1983) - Harold Ramis
Chevy Chase is a pretty poor actor but he's funny when a director takes advantage of what he's good at.

Castaway on the Moon (2009) - Lee Hae Jun
A guy jumps off a bridge on the Han River and lands on a deserted island - where he starts a friendship with a girl who hasn't left her bedroom for three years. No-one does offbeat like the Koreans.

Hour of the Wolf (1968) - Ingmar Bergman
Even for Bergman this is pretty werid. Not his best but I liked it.

Robocop 3 (1993) - Fred Dekker
Has a pretty decent cast ... but that doesn't save it.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) - Joe Chappelle
A slight departure from other films in this (or the Friday the 13th) series - a couple of people could act (including Paul Rudd). Still not good though.

Peppermint Candy (2000) - Lee Chang Dong
A man recalls events in his life moments before his suicide. Lee is a quality director.

Oasis (2002) - Lee Chang Dong
So close to giving this 5/5 but it suffers slightly from an issue that Lee's Secret Sunshine also had - just seems to get a bit bogged down through the middle. Great performances from the two leads.

European Vacation (1985) - Amy Heckerling
Not as good as the first ... or the third ... or most other movies actually.

I've seen six of his movies and rated them all about the same. The Color of Paradise is possibly the best and Children of Heaven is a good example of that very simple Iranian style - about a brother and sister having to share a pair of shoes

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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.

Well, the first one is a documentary and I usually like documentaries. Secondly, it's not that I don't like contemporary cinema as much as it is contemporary Hollywood and/or award bait cinema. Tamara Drewe's just a nice film with proper acting and a decent script. Two things which are usually missing from the stuff I hate. Well, that and stupid space stuff or goblins or something.

You're not wrong there.

And you've lost me.

That'd be a first.

Only worth watching for Beverly D'Angelo.




I would say something along the lines of "and this is why you should ask HK", but then you say Blade Runner is a masterpiece, so you're probably lost anyway.


Young Victoria - It felt a bit lightweight to me. However, I can't tell if that's because it is or because it doesn't need it and, therefore, doesn't have the gravitas most historical dramas go for. Whatever the case, I enjoyed it and it took me in and held me, pretty much, to the end. If you don't get into it, it's probably a popcorn less.

Barney's Version 40 or so years of Barney's life, as told by Barney. Crossing decades and continents, it's a film of scope which requires, and thankfully has, a superb central performance from Paul Giamatti. He's aided by some cracking dialogue, some great support from, but not restricted to, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike and Minnie Driver and some good make-up to cover up/accentuate the years.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Amadeus (1984) It's a really good movie, but the long opera scenes kind of bored me not being a fan of it at all. Also I didn't understand the reason why Mozart died. But it's still a very good film and a fantastic job by F Murray Abraham.
American Hustle (2013) I really loved it, Christian Bale's transformation from TDKR is incredible. None only is it a pretty good crime movie, but it's absolutely hilarious. Just watching Bradley Cooper's haircut made me laugh the whole film. I'll definitely buy that one on Blu Ray !
Kagemusha (1980) I have to admit that it's the first Kurosawa I've seen that has less than a 8/10. (I've seen 7 Samurai, Rashomon, Ikiru and The Hidden Fortress) It was too long and I got bored in the middle of the film, It's still a very beautiful film to look at.
The Mission (1986) A really impressive historical film about colonisation. It gave me an other perspective of what the missions were and how the Jesuits were not necessarily sharing the same views of the native than the europeen governments. The landscape and the jungle were magnificiently shot and it was a pleasure to look at. It will definitely be on my top 25 from the 80's
Mississipi Burning (1988) Another really good 80's movie. It's the first movie that I see that really talks avout the KKK and the way they were organising. I really learned about Mississipi I didn't know that in the 1960's which is not that far there were a state that was that much disconnected from the others. Great film !
The Mummy (1999) it was entertaining, but it's a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'd rather rewatch Raiders for the 4th time than rewatch this one for the 2nd time.

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I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages

Bolt (Howard and Williams, 2008) +
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Chechik, 1989)
Fred Claus (Dobkin, 2007)
Love Actually (Curtis, 2003) +
Blackfish (Cowperthwaite, 2013)
Reel Injun (Diamond, Bainbridge and Hayes, 2009)
Despicable Me 2 (Coffin and Renaud, 2013) +
Cloud Atlas (Tykwer, Wachowski and Wachowski)
American Hustle (Russell, 2013) +
The Hand (Trnka, 1965) +

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