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The End Directed by: Christopher Maclaine Starring: No one of consequence Country: U.S.A. Year: 1953 Genre: Short, Experimental The Plot: A series of short stories about the end of life with beat poet narration. Why You'll Love It: In a way this film is dated by the circumstances of the time it was made, namely the fear of nuclear war. Even so, it's still manages to be an effective meditation on humanity and death and the disjointed narrative structure works well. While the whole is dated, the individual vignettes used to convey the film's message are still as relevant as they would have been back then, which makes it possible to still be drawn into the film and feel its message while recontextualizing it to modern times. The beat narration has a certain dark humour to it that makes pleasing and the reasonably shor length keeps it from overplaying its hand. IMDB, Criticker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78v9v9ZaYHI This is only the first part, I can't find the rest online, but it's on this DVD.
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| # ? Sep 2, 2010 19:05 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 07:14 |
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Three On A Match Directed by Mervyn LeRoy Starring Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, Ann Dvorak, Warren William, Humphrey Bogart Country of Origin USA Year of Release 1932 Genre Crime Drama Why You'll Love It Well, here's gist of it: three young adults, fresh to the world, one married, meet up again at a pivotal moment in one of their lives - falling into a paramorous relationship with a member of the mob. The catch? They're all women. Mary (Blondell), Ruth (Davis) and Vivian (Dvorak) all went to the same public school as children, and grew up in very different ways: Mary, the bad girl, ended up going to reform school, only to sort out her life and become a show girl. Ruth led an uninteresting life, going to a vocational school and becoming a stenographer. And Vivian won the lottery of life: after a quiet life at boarding school, she met herself a famous lawyer: Robert Kirkwood (William). They got married, had a kid. But, when Mary, loudly talking about running into Ruth again for the first time since elementary school to her salon stylist, finds out that Vivian is in the booth beside her, the trio make plans for lunch. It's there that the three use one match to light their cigarettes - three on a match, a superstition that suggests that if three people use one match to light their cigarettes, one will be killed. It's also there Vivian reveals the truth: she's never really felt the thrill of living the entire time she's been with Robert. It's all felt so empty, being taken care of as completely as she has. Admitting this sends Vivian even further into a funk, and eventually, Robert notices, takes care to ask, and Vivian ends up taking a cruise and vacation by herself with the couple's son to clear her head. Waiting for the disembarking of the ship, she once again runs into Mary, who has come to see the ship off with a party - and with her is a handsome, romantic young gambler named Michael (Lyle Talbot), who sweeps her off her feet, promising adventure and a life truly lived. Vivian, of course, falls head over heels. She and her son go with Michael, who introduces Vivian to drugs. From there, the destinies of these three girls are intertwined in unlikely and frequently more complicated ways. In 1932, the year in which movies went to the extremes of intensity - this was one of the more lurid, the more electric. The movie implies that our main female, Vivian, becomes addicted to cocaine. Scenes constantly seem to be just before or after sexual encounters. And the ending? Well, I'll leave that for you to find out about, but let's just say that you really don't see it coming. But, suffice to say, this, alongside another film that I will mention later, were exactly what Will H. Hays was taking aim at with the Production Code. One of the little extra joys of Three On A Match?  Bogey! Young and handsome, but having already figured out the persona that would eventually be his calling card - the entrance of his character, Harve, is so Bogey in the way he walks that it's like watching an old friend come through the door - this was one of Humphrey Bogart's first more major roles. Here he's one of a mobster's heavies. One of the other great joys of the movie is in the shots. An intense, very modernistic take in editing and cinematography, it feels just as recent as a movie today. Have a look see:      The performances are also deceptively modern, too: the stagey sort of drama associated with the early sound era (remember that these movies were only five years after The Jazz Singer) is nowhere to be found here. Dvorak's perfomance as Vivian is soul-crushing, convincing you that the girl who had everything and throws it away is a creature worthy of pity, not malice. A young Bette Davis, although shunted to the background (I believe even Bogart has more lines than she does), shows the same screen presence that would make her (and her eyes) so etched into cinema history. And Joan Blondell is a forgotten star; her turn here as the ne'er-do-well turned reluctant heroine of the piece is the sort of thing that, today, would create a remarkable buzz. As it is, this, among hundreds of other spectacular roles, have all faded into the dust of history and at best she'll be remembered for a featured bit role in 1978's Grease. It's enough to make your shoulders slouch. As it is with most brilliant little movies, Three On A Match was overshadowed by the blockbuster of the moment - in this case, another Dvorak starrer, Howard Hawks' Scarface, having been released six months prior, eliminated the chance for this movie to make an imprint. It's only recently - as part of Warners' "TCM Forbidden Hollywood" DVD series - that it finally has a chance to breathe as the brilliant little gem of cinema it is. This is a movie, almost 80 years old now, that still shocks me when I get to the end with the stakes it plays with and the frankness of depiction it has. Three On A Match is more thrilling than most modern thrillers. And yet, it sits, abandoned, waiting to be rediscovered. Find it. You won't be disappointed. The Cameo fucked around with this message at Sep 3, 2010 around 04:33 |
| # ? Sep 3, 2010 04:29 |
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Hard Candy Directed by David Slade Starring Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson Country of Origin USA Year of Release 2005 (Sundance Premiere) Genre Revenge Drama Thriller Why You'll Love It "Hey, guys, let's drop Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson into a movie and have it quite literally be just a battle of wills between the two of them." Hayley Stark (Page) is 14, a student. Jeff Kohlver (Wilson) is 32, a photographer. They talk online. Met through a chatroom. They decide to meet up at the mall. She gets invited back to Jeff's house. And that's when things begin to change, and where tormentor and victim flip. The heart of Hard Candy is the performances. Thankfully, the performances come from two of the better actors in the business, period. Hayley and Jeff each have their own secrets they're hiding - some melancholy, some rolled up with rage. Page has to go from little girl to monster to little girl again over the course of the film, while keeping the character singular in her focus and in her demands and goals. Hayley has a good reason for doing this (as far as we hope), but at the same time, she's eliminating her humanity in order to try to exact what she wants from Jeff. On the other hand, Wilson starts to us as a monster - a pedophile, who uses his position as a photographer to lure the young, naive and innocent into his home for subversive reasons. And at the heart of it, the film is trying to create a situation in which this does not become the immediate identifier - an audience will hate a pedophile. It's a given. It goes across practically all races, all faiths, all civilizations here and now, in the cinematic age. Wilson has to make someone who's going to be viewed through the harshest view from the audience and make him more a human being. He makes Jeff reserved, internal, not outright sketchy or slimy, saving it for precise, small moments where you're forced to re-register on who and what he is and remind yourself of what he's done. He, you could say, separates himself from his surroundings. Director Slade makes the absolute most of a few changes of scenery - the movie literally takes place (slightly) in a mall and (mostly) in a house, save for a few select exterior scenes. So how do we define where they are every moment? The house itself becomes color coded. Red for the living room, fleshy pink for the bedroom, dark slate grey in the kitchen, etc. The colors pop out of every shot. It almost feels natural, given the look of modern housing, but at the same time belies this strange, Argento's Suspiria stylish touch (remember that Suspiria was originally written with pre-teens intended as the main roles, and in fact, they never changed the script from that intent even when they recasted with older women). The photography that lines Jeff's walls is itself reading into him. The shots are compositionally perfect. But as you learn about his relationship with the subjects in the photos, depth can be read into the control over those captured moments, which, as the movie goes on and on, becomes more and more a taunt to Jeff as Hayley takes more and more control of the situation and digs deeper. And who is Hayley? What is her relationship to Donna Mauer, a missing girl whose picture is amongst the photographs Jeff has taken? The movie plays coy with the answers to these questions. She may be a friend of Donna's. She may just be a darkly obsessed third party. She's on a vigilante mission to destroy this man's life, digging through his entire past, both the sordid and the mundane. But the film makes sure to keep her an enigma to Jeff and to us, the audience, all the way to the end, where things finally cut decisively between who is the monster and who is not. The way things build in the movie is very sure handed; long takes, an awareness of geography, just letting a performance play and the sound design work - down to there being a total of nine minutes of actual music, mostly ambient, in the picture, the rest of the soundtrack being nothing more than breathing and screaming and other guttural noises. The further and further we go into the modern age of the thriller, the more and more it becomes dependent on ending twists (the worst kind, because it so rarely can be pulled off well) and spectacle to play to audiences. Here - in Hard Candy - it gets pulled back to an era where you could just put two people in a room together and watch as things go to hell and be thrilled by that alone. It is at once both timely and timeless. The Cameo fucked around with this message at Sep 4, 2010 around 22:47 |
| # ? Sep 4, 2010 20:37 |
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Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles  Directed by: Chantal Akerman Starring: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte Country: Belgium Year: 1975 Genre: Drama The Plot: Jeanne is a woman, going through her methodical daily routine. As the film progresses, we see small cracks begin to appear in the routine. Why You'll Love It:  If you don't think watching Delphine Seyrig for 3 hours is an enticing proposition then I don't know what to tell you, but I'll try. This film is slow, but once you adjust to the fixed camera long shots it develops a rhythm all its own. There are so many little details in both Jeanne's daily life and the background of her house and the city that there's always something to think about and observe even if the narrative action is rather thin. Set over the course of 3 days every moment is a small revelation that builds up Jeanne's character through her routines and her family. The sparseness of the dialogue makes what there is incredibly revelatory and by the end I found myself identifying with a life I superficially have nothing in common with. IMDB, Criticker
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| # ? Sep 8, 2010 01:03 |
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THE LAST WALTZ Directed by: Martin Scorcese Starring: Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Van Morrison, The Staple Singers, Paul Butterfield, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Allen Toussaunt, Ronnie Hawkins, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood Country: USA Year: filmed 1976, released 1978 Genre: Concert, Documentary  The Plot: In 1968, a group of musicians who got their start backing up Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan put out this album called Music from Big Pink. It was a country-tinged, southern rock/folk/soul masterpiece, so good that it broke up Cream. They released six more albums (and a cover album), and then in 1976 they broke up. And they figured they'd go out with a bang. So they got a bunch of buddies together - some like Dylan had been there from the beginning, while others like Neil Diamond they just sorta picked up along the way. And they got Martin Scorcese to film the whole thing.  Why You'll Love It: Because they had to rotoscope a crackrock out of Neil Young's nose. Because Muddy Waters reminds us that he "can make love to a girl in five minutes time." Because it was Such a Night. The line up was amazing and the guest stars kill. Joni doing back-up on "Helpless" gives me chills, and Van Morrison rips it up with "Caravan"; but - and this is fitting - the most amazing part is The Band themselves. At the top of their game, they were unparalleled. There's just no better version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" or "Stage Fright". Trust me, I've looked. Check out Levon Helm trapped in a sea of horns. And that's all to say nothing of "The Weight", which might be the greatest southern rock performance caught on film. Play it loud. TRAILER
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| # ? Sep 18, 2010 22:10 |
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THE SHORT FILMS OF CHARLEY BOWERS Directed by: Charley Bowers and others Starring: Charley Bowers and a bunch of stop-motion cats and poo poo Country: USA Year: 1918 - 1941 Genre: Animation, Comedy, Surrealism  The Plot: Nobody know much about Charley Bowers except that he claimed to have been kidnapped by the circus and that he made some of the most impressive, insane films anyone's ever seen. Like There It Is, in which a cockroach detective tried to foil the "Fuzz-Faced Phantom." Or It's a Bird, where an egg hatches a car. Or the half-lost Say Ah-h!, featuring a scrap heap ostrich. Or Now You Tell One, a series of tall tales that may be Bowers' masterwork.  Why You'll Love It:He's been forgotten for the most part, but Bowers developed the jerky, ghoulishly absurdist stop-motion aesthetic that informed the films of Svankmeyer, The Quay Brothers, Michel Gondry, and early Tim Burton. His movies were apparently children's pictures, but they've aged in that magic sort of way where they're more entertaining than ever because they're completely loving terrifying. It's the type of relentless, unpredictable creativity that's a complete joy to watch. Three of his shorts are available online: A Sleepless Night Believe It Or Don't Wild Oysters Also his two "for-hire" shorts, which are more dated but no less impressive: AWOL Pete-Roleum And His Cousins
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| # ? Sep 24, 2010 22:18 |
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...of SCIENCE! fucked around with this message at Jan 19, 2013 around 20:08 |
| # ? Sep 24, 2010 23:27 |
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The People Under the Stairs Directed by: Wes Craven Starring: Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A. J. Langer, Ving Rhames, Sean Whalen Country: USA Year: 1991 Genre: Horror The Plot: A young boy nicknamed fool is living in the ghetto. Not only is his mother sick and needs an operation but his family is about to be thrown out on the streets by an uncaring landlord. Fortunately an acquaintance of Fool's Sister has a plan: rob the landlord. He has the address and needs Fool's help. When they get there though, things don't go according to plan... Why You'll Love It: Before I go into this I would like to say it's better knowing almost nothing about what going to happen, so unless you really need convincing, I suggest you just watch it. It's available on Netflix streaming so you have no excuse. Even if you end up hating it...it's an experience. If you want to go on, this will contain mild spoilers. When I finished watching this film for the first time, I turned to a friend and asked "Did Wes Craven just out John Carpenter John Carpenter?" This pretty much is the major reason you need to see this film. It is ridiculous. It goes so much further then you'd imagine it'd go from the way it begins and it keeps ramping thing up. Just when you think it's not going to get any stranger, it pushes it a little further. It's the rare horror film that is not only creepy as hell but has a sense of fun and adventure to it. It manages to create it's own world that you accept even though it's all so very silly. The villains have a surreal quality to them. Something about them seems inhuman even though nothing in the script suggests that. Craven just manages them to portray them in way that makes them seem slightly out of sync with the real world. The movie opens in a harsh ghetto, which makes the shift to the surreal world of the house all the more jarring. In general, the movie has an almost fairy tale tone to it in general, with a story that involves fortune telling, a boy journeying out to help his mother and a girl being held captive by her cruel parents. Also, while it can be ignored, the movie is pretty political. I don't want to spoil too much but the villains look an awfully lot like Ronald and Nancy Reagan. They also are cruel land lords that are destroying the ghetto and oppressing it's people to put in housing that will get them more money and they also preach family values without preaching them. They even call each other Mommy and Daddy. Hmmmm...maybe I'm just imaging things. This is just a slick and fun movie. The acting is strong all around. Their are too child leads but both of them manage to carry their weight against the likes of Ving Rhames and two Twin Peak veterans. The camera work creates the feeling of tight spaces and in general the set design makes a impossible house full of secret passages seem plausible. I feel Wes Craven is under rated. Yes he makes schlock but he's really good at it. He always manages to take a genre as tired as horror and of new and interesting things with it. This just might be his masterpiece http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYr1WMEfbk
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| # ? Sep 25, 2010 04:40 |
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THE QUIET FAMILY Choyonghan kajok  Directed by: Kim Ji-woon Starring: Park In-hwan, Na Mun-hee, Go Ho-kyung, Song Kang-ho, Lee Yun-seong, Choi Min-sik Country: South Korea Year: 1998 Genre: Black comedy The Plot: A dysfunctional family buys a lodge at the foot of a mountain, but start experiencing some problems when their guests start killing themselves in their rooms. Why You'll Love It: Kim Ji-woon's cinema debut, and the film that Takashi Miike's insane Happiness of the Katakuris is based on, is really, really funny. Kim's script builds the humour out of every character, up to and including the smallest of supporting characters, but the majority of it comes from the six clashing personalities of the Kang family - the idealistic and ineffectual patriarch (Park), his pragmatic, no-nonsense wife (Na), their delinquent son (Song), their two polar opposite daughters (Lee and Go), and a doughy, layabout uncle (Choi). They're all incredibly well-written characters, constantly setting each other off and really getting the absurd humour of trivial family quarrels and tensions. It's a slow burn of a story for a 98 minute film - a lot is made of the lodge not getting any guests at the start - but once the first customer arrives, a moribund man who just wants to be left alone - the film begins gradually picks up pace before barreling into a bizarre, frantic climax involving an assassination plot, a nosy police officer, a fire in a garage and some inconvenient rain. Kim nails the pace and the morbidly hilarious tone, and his fluid direction gives the film a low-key madcap energy that's hard to resist. It's also great seeing Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) and Song Kang-ho (The Host, JSA) pre-stardom, the two (along with Na Mun-hee, who is really something else) the highlights of a pretty-much perfect cast.
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| # ? Sep 25, 2010 05:34 |
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The Hot Rock Directed by: Peter Yates Starring: Robert Redford, George Segal, Zero Mostel Country: USA Year: 1972 Genre: Crime/Comedy  The Plot: Master thief John Dortmunder is just out of prison and has a new job: to steal a priceless diamond from a New York museum. The caper doesn't go off exactly as planned, and Dortmunder finds he has to steal the diamond again...and again...and again.  Why You'll Love It: It's based on the novel of the same name by Donald Westlake, the first in a long series featuring the Dortmunder character. Most of the novels feature some overly elaborate crime scheme developed by Dortmunder and his crew, which usually goes wrong in hilarious fashion. Think Ocean's Eleven meets the Marx Brothers. Several of the Dortmunder novels made it to the big screen in one form or another. That character (under various names) has been played by people as diverse as Martin Lawrence, Christopher Lambert, George C. Scott, and (here) Robert Redford. None of them really match the character in the book, but Redford's portrayal is the best and this film is certainly far superior to the other ones. The movie is basically a lighthearted caper film. The performances are fun, including George Segal as Dortmunder's right-hand man, and a scenery-chewing Zero Mostel as a slippery lawyer. The story is nothing too deep but works fine, and the humour is more deadpan than wacky. The whole thing has a wonderful 1970's feel to it. The movie makes good use of its New York locations, and you get a great helicopter tour of the city at one point on the way to one of the heists (including a fly-by of the World Trade Center, still under construction). The score, by Quincy Jones, is definitely a highlight. The director, Peter Yates, has not done a whole lot of great films since this one (Krull?!) but does a fine job here. Edit: Oh yeah, the screenplay is by William Goldman. Yes, that William Goldman.  "Not me. I've got no choice. I'm not superstitious. And I don't believe in jinxes, but that stone's jinxed me and it won't let go. I've been damned near bitten, shot at, peed on and robbed. And worse is gonna happen before it's done. So I'm takin' my stand. I'm going all the way. Either I get it, or it gets me." A rather crappy and very dated trailer for the film (best to ignore): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoMs7Wby36M DentArthurDent fucked around with this message at Sep 26, 2010 around 00:03 |
| # ? Sep 25, 2010 23:14 |
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SHATTERED GLASS Directed by: Billy Ray Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Melanie Lynskey, Steve Zahn, Hank Azaria, Rosario Dawson Country: USA Year: 2003 Genre: Drama The Plot: Based on the true story of Stephen Glass, a writer for The New Republic who made up a whole shitload of stories. Why You'll Love It: People give Hayden Christensen poo poo for Star Wars, but when he's got a part that suits him, that fucker can ACT. He's pathetic in Shattered Glass. Painfully pathetic, but he knows it and uses it to manipulate people. He'll pitch a great story (that he made up wholecloth) and while everyone applauds, he'll shrug and look at his shoes and mumble about how it's not much. Peter Sarsgaard plays his editor, a man with no real friends to speak of, but integrity up the loving wazoo. It's a great performance. The AV Club put it on their list of the best roles of the decade, and I can't disagree. The story's endlessly fascinating. It's well shot, crisply edited, and very well acted. It's uses that turn-of-the-millenium white office-and-a-white shirt look (like Office Space or Fight Club) to great effect. There's no false drama here; it's all office politics and turning a blind eye to your friends. It's a good looking little movie, and refreshingly intelligent. Oh! It's also the first time I ever saw Rosario Dawson in a movie. Thus began a wonderful relationship that can only end with me in prison. trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA4N9ex56jA
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| # ? Sep 26, 2010 14:39 |
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Near Dark "Director of Point Break," right at the top of the resume. Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) Starring: Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton Country: USA Year: 1987 Genre: Vampire/Romance The Plot: Small town kid makes out with a hot vampire, who reluctantly bites him. Soon, her "family" of vampires is after his family, and he has to choose: destroy his family, or destroy his fellow vampires. Why You'll Love It: It's at 90% on RT. Ultimately, it's about belonging and identity. There is a sexually frustrated "child" vampire who, from spending centuries in the body of a child, feels alone and alienated. Paxton plays a lunatic villain. It never gets too Twilight, or too Point Break, if you know what I mean. Terrible trailer, but maybe check out the related videos for more.
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| # ? Sep 30, 2010 02:33 |
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Lili (1953)  Directed by: Charles Walters Starring: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Zsa Zsa Gabor Country: American movie set in France Year: 1953 Genre: Drama, some fantasy/romance/musical elements The Plot: Lili's parents have died and so she is sent to a far away town to live with a baker who is a friend of her father's. It turns out however that the baker is dead and so Lili is on her own and has to fend for herself. She ends up working in a circus and has to grow up fast. Why You'll Love It: This may appear to be an annoying kid's movie at first, but it actually has many adult and dark themes, making it geared more towards adults than kids. In fact, it could be considered unsuitable for small kids, although I'm sure they would enjoy it. Usually when you watch an obscure-ish movie, it becomes evident why the movie is obscure and you try to appreciate the elements of the movie that are good. Watching this though, my feeling is "Shouldn't this be a classic?". It has a good story, characters, performances, music and a decent cast. I could see this being a movie appearing in critics' top 100 lists. But it hasn't even been released on DVD. It is a very enjoyable, touching movie that at least should be more well known (and should be on DVD). Zsa Zsa Gabor also has a small role in this. So if you want to see her in a movie before she kicks the bucket, this is a perfect opportunity. As I said, this isn't available on DVD, so I think it's ok to post a link to the movie on Youtube. The colors aren't as crisp as you'd like but that's the only version that is available and you get used to it: Movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sxf...ex=0&playnext=1 Schweinhund fucked around with this message at Oct 2, 2010 around 02:21 |
| # ? Sep 30, 2010 13:08 |
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We Jam Econo Directed by: Tim Irwin Starring: D. Boon, Mike Watt, George Hurley Country: USA Year: 2005 Genre: Doc The Plot: Three weird friends form an unusual, deeply personal "punk" band in 1970s San Pedro. They influence hundreds of musicians and artists before their lead singer dies tragically in a car accident in 1985. Why You'll Love It:You may not know the Minutemen, but if you've ever watched the tv show Jackass, you've heard an instrumental version of their song Corona. And even if you don't know the Minutemen, one of your favorite bands knows the Minutemen. They were doing punk, not in the sense of fellow SST labelmates Black Flag. No, it was the kind of music played by true outsiders, the type of people who you'd sooner think work construction than have a band. Songs were melodic, thrashing, short, political, personal, meandering, unfocused, and diverse. They were never the best band, or the best-selling band. But somehow they were always shockingly good. And if you watch We Jam Econo, you'll feel that same sense: it's not the best doc, but you'll watch the whole thing and like it. A good trailer
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| # ? Sep 30, 2010 17:41 |
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Fresh Directed by: Boaz Yakin Starring: Samuel L. Jackson (briefly) Country: USA Year: 1994 Genre: Crime/Drama The Plot: 12-year-old drug mule and sometimes-dealer Fresh executes a strategic plan to save his sister -- and himself -- from a life of crime. Why You'll Love It: Fresh could best be described as a modern, urban take on Yojimbo. Armond White hates it, so it must be good. A scene
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| # ? Oct 4, 2010 05:10 |
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Overnight Directed by: Tony Montana, Mark Brian Smith Starring: Troy Duffy, many surprising cameos Country: USA Year: 2003 Genre: Doc The Plot: Troy Duffy works at a bar and is writing a screenplay in his spare time. In unprecedented style, Harvey Weinstein gives Duffy free reign to write, direct, and even score, his feature film debut: The Boondock Saints. The dream falls apart, and the friends he hired to shoot his ascent instead see something perhaps more interesting. Why You'll Love It: Did you like Boondock Saints? You'll be interested in the backstory. Did you hate Boondock Saints? You'll be interested to see exactly the type of blowhard rear end in a top hat that Troy Duffy becomes (or always was?). And whether you like it or hate it, you'll love to see exactly how a true Hollywood story plays out behind the scenes. Trailer
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| # ? Oct 5, 2010 01:41 |
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Cool World Directed by:Ralph Bakshi Starring: Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, Brad Pitt Country: Yo Mama Year:1992 Genre:Softcore Toon Porn The Plot: Readers Please Note: I am drunk right now Cool guy Frank Harris has just been relieved of doodie, and his mama is waiting to pick him up at El Aeropuerto. Now Bra...I mean "Frank" happens to have a severe drinking and gambling problem and is also an enabler. His mama falls off the wagon and joins him in his antics and they decide to hop on a motorcycle and ride off to the local saloon. A newly married couple on their honey moon mows them down and makes roadkill of Frankie's mommy. She dies, he spazzes out and get sent forward in time  Through an "Interdimensional Worm Hole" He fucks up some cartoon goons, gets a girlfriend that he won't bang because of his mommy issues and makes Gabriel Byrne his boy toy noid bitch. Gabriel doesn't take to kindly to being slapped about and expresses his disdain by banging Kim Basinger  (cartoon Kim Basinger at least  ). Anyways some cartoons do some poo poo and Frank dies and pulls a JC and rises from the dead as a cartoon. The end. Oh yeah and then he bangs his cartoon girly  .Why You'll Love It: You're high. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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| # ? Oct 10, 2010 02:36 |
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The Bed Sitting Room Directed by: Richard Lester Starring: Ralph Richardson, Arthur Lowe, Rita Tushingham, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, Marty Feldman Country: UK Year: 1969 Genre: Absurdist comedy The Plot: In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' (which lasted two minutes and twenty eight seconds, including the signing of the peace treaty) is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed-sitting room.  Why You'll Love It: A critic described the original play the film is based on as "like Samuel Beckett, but with better jokes" so if that sounds like your cup of tea you should enjoy this. Featuring some top names of British comedy such as Milligan and Secombe from The Goon Show (and based on a play co-written by the former) along with rising talents Pete & Dud and Marty Feldman it's a bizarre, amusing and frequently depressing satire of British tendency to keep calm and carry on. Every surreal episode flows into each other with an absurd logic that's never questioned. Also anything I post will be looked upon more favourably after a drunkrecommendation of Cool World.    For years it's been really hard to track down; I saw it about 15 years ago on TV and I don't think it ever had a DVD release until the BFI put it out recently. The whole thing's up on Youtube if you don't mind a slightly wonky, full-screen transfer. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AVBEwTIfDM
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| # ? Oct 11, 2010 20:37 |
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CLASS OF 1984 Directed by: Mark L. Lester Starring: Perry King, Timothy Van Patten, Michael J Fox, Roddy McDowall Country: USA Year: 1982 Genre: Sci-fi, Teen, Thriller, Occasional black comedy The Plot: A new teacher settles in at an inner-city school gone to hell. Why You'll Love It: Class of 1984 is a funny kind of a movie, which threatens to be another (though the genre hadn't really blossomed yet) "how do I reach these kids" routine, but slowly shifts into something approaching slasher territory. It's low-budget exploitation all the way - complete with Alice Cooper and Teenage Head soundtrack - but it's got some spark of wit and life to it. It's really tempting to write it off as another blast of '80s right wing paranoia masquerading as exploitation horror, but there's something really clever at work here. It's all about a vigilante who just exacerbates everything, for one. It's always doing something unexpected, and it grants its characters way more depth than you'd expect from what is on paper a teen movie directed by the guy who'd go on to make Commando. There's some scenes, like a totally flustered Roddy McDowall teaching his students at gunpoint and a staged teacher-on-student beating that have always stuck with me, far longer than you'd imagine. I'd link a trailer, but I think this scene is a better indicator of the film. It's silly and quite 80s, but sorta worms its way into your brain. Did the teacher do the right thing? Why did Stegman play that piece? Would he have joined the band? Would the violence have stopped if he was accepted, or would he just have goofed off and ruined it for the rest of them? It's full of surprisingly interesting questions about the responsibility of teachers and parents and students and all sorts of poo poo like that. Also, Alice Cooper.
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| # ? Oct 12, 2010 21:59 |
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Two-Lane Blacktop Directed by: Monte Hellman Starring: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Dennis Wilson Country: US Year: 1971 Genre: ...arthouse? The Plot: Two gearheads pick up a hitchhiker and "race" a driver cross-country, putting their only possession on the line: their car. Why You'll Love It: It's in the Criterion Collection, but don't let that scare you. The first time I saw it, I randomly caught the first few minutes on TV. I was riveted to the next scene, and the next, and it was over. I was blown away. But I was confused as to why; only Oates can act, nothing really happens, there's no real resolution. I can't describe what is so magnetic about this movie, other than perhaps its perfect pitch. Somehow I can't help but think that this is everything Repo Man aspired to be. Trailer
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| # ? Oct 15, 2010 05:52 |
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Paris, Texas Directed by: Wim Wenders Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell Country: Germany (filmed in English) Year: 1984 Genre: Mystery, Drama The Plot: A man disappears into the desert, leaving his wife and child behind. 4 years later, he wanders back out of the desert, and tries to recover his life. Why You'll Love It: It starts with a compelling mystery, and it takes a sudden turn in the second act. And the turn it takes is unexpected, unconventional, and utterly unHollywood. Co-written by Sam Shepard and directed by Wim Wenders and starring Harry Dean Stanton, this movie gave Roger Ebert multiple orgasms. Dated trailer
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| # ? Oct 16, 2010 23:20 |
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Help! Directed by Richard Lester Starring The Beatles (obviously), Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, Roy Kinnear, Patrick Cargill Country: United Kingdom Year: 1965 Genre: Musical Comedy The Plot: A religious cult is after Ringo Starr after he receives a sacred ring from a fan. They're out to either get the ring or kill him. Meanwhile, the Fab Four are chased across Salisbury Plain, the Swiss Alps, and the Bahamas.  Why You'll Love It: In a complete reversal of the semi-documentary A Hard Day's Night, Help! is a goofy comedy more reminiscent of the Marx Brothers, but anticipates Monty Python. The supporting actors are often hilarious, especially the bits with Spinetti and Kinnear as mad scientists. Most jokes result from groan-worthy sight gags and puns (at one point, tea bags are pulled out of a royal urn). There's some terrific songs and each one is given a unique visual style to go along with it. "Ticket to Ride" is set to the Beatles playing around in snow, "Help!" is made to look like an older promotional film, and "Another Girl" has Paul playing a woman like a bass guitar (literally). On top of the humor and songs, this has some absolutely stunning cinematography and editing. Original US trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M3skID44Gg
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| # ? Oct 20, 2010 04:03 |
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Late Marriage Directed by Dover Koshashvili Starring People you and I have probably never seen before Country: Israel Year: 2001 Genre: Drama The Plot: Zaza, a 31 year old PHD student of a very orthodox Jewish family keeps putting off getting married, he is dating a divorcee who has a child (not marriage material). His family is unaware and keeps trying to set him up with much young women (as per tradition), they find out about the girlfriend and conflict insues... Why You'll Love It: My favourite portrayal of a man who refuses to move in to adulthood (as culturaly prescribed), features the best/most realistically intimate sex scene and a heartbreaking ending. trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EHSUGZflw8
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| # ? Oct 20, 2010 05:10 |
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Robocop Directed by Paul Verhoeven Starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith Country: USA Year: 1987 Genre: Action The Plot: A Detroit cop is shot to pieces by a gang and reconstructed with robotics, and proceeds to become the most bad rear end cop Detroit has ever seen. Stuff blows up, people get shot in the genitals, and Robocop punches a man through a wall. Why You'll Love It: In terms of cinematic milestones, Robocop probably would probably never even receive a ranking, but that is completely besides the point. Robocop is ultra-violence and ham-fisted social commentary perfected, and Paul Verhoeven is a brilliant madman whose other films Total Recall and Starship Troopers make up a trifecta of genius schlock. If you come into the film ready for some of the silliest escapist fun you can ever have, you will never be disappointed. The fact that Robocop is so obviously supposed to be Jesus is the icing on the cake, because I think everyone would read the bible if Jesus was part robot and shot rapists in the dick. Samfucius fucked around with this message at Nov 16, 2010 around 01:15 |
| # ? Oct 26, 2010 22:44 |
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PULSE Kairo  Directed by: Kurosawa Kiyoshi Starring: Aso Kumiko, Kato Haruhiko, Koyuki, Arisaka Kurume, Matsuo Masatoshi, Yakusho Koji Country: Japan Year: 2001 Genre: Horror The Plot: Michi's colleague just hung himself in front of her, and the CD he made for her and her friends has some weird poo poo on it. Meanwhile, across the other side of Tokyo, Kawashima is trying to get the internet on his computer, but his computer keeps connecting him to weird webcams and a site with the slogan, "Do you want to meet a ghost?". Why You'll Love It: Much in the same way his (unrelated) namesake was the master of chambara films, Kurosawa Kiyoshi is an expert when it comes to horror cinema, and is probably the best horror director working in Japan today. Pulse is probably his most renowned work, and for good reason - Kurosawa's tale of ghosts coming through the internet places such a primacy on evoking a mood, a genuine sense of unease and hopelessness, that the film is profoundly effective in its delivery of scares. Every frame feel cold, like the life is being sapped out of it - characters rarely make eye contact, the camera maintains an arm's length from the action, the lighting is sterile and makes the large, sparse locations feel dry and inhospitable. It's probably the most skillful evocation of a particular mood I've ever seen in a horror film. It also backs up Kiyoshi's singularly bleak thesis - all of humanity is disconnected, this self-inflicted isolation exacerbated by modern media, and the only way out is by hitting the reboot button and getting back to square one. It's dark, certainly, but the optimistic tinge and the protagonists - friendly, outgoing Michi and clueless Kawashima - make it easy to swallow, and it never feels condescending or judgmental of the internet itself, more the shut-in mentality it breeds (which has particular application in Japan, what with the hikikomori phenomena and all). The film's also stunningly scary at points, with the sequences in the forbidden rooms that punctuate the film being as spine-chillingly terrifying as anything you've ever seen. A trailer that sells the film as some bus scare-loaded frightfest (you want that, go watch the terrible remake) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyDf4igNJ38
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| # ? Oct 27, 2010 01:46 |
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MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS  IMDB, Criticker Directed by: Paul Schrader (screenwriter for Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Last Temptation of Christ) Starring: Ken Ogata as Mishima, plus a supporting Japanese cast Country: USA (Mishima is from Japan but this is a US made film produced for English speaking people) Year: 1985 Genre: Loose Biography Soundtrack: Philip Glass The Plot: Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's most renowned authors from the last 100 years, was a man who was haunted throughout his life by the threat of beauty. Instead of wilting under it, however, he strove to train his body and mind, his artistic capacities, and his political impact in life to meet it head on, to challenge it. In Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Schrader has attempted paint an accurate portrait of such a man, inextricable from his works and bound forever into the fabric of Japanese history by his real-life failed coup attempt and resultant ritual suicide on November 25th of 1970. The movie alternates between biography in black and white and excerpts from portions of Mishima's novels in overblown color with stylized backdrops, sliding between the two when the ideas driving the person of Mishima begin to demand illustration, and transferring back to the author's life at those points where the influence of his own work coincided and propelled him in the direction in his waking life, culminating on the day he finished his final novel, which was the same day that he lead his coup. Why You'll Love It: The biographic portions in black and white lead you through the life of, in my opinion, one of the most interesting men of the 20th century -- sort of a Hemingway for Japan, if Hemingway hadn't turned into a fat old drunk. Mishima was also a relentless intellectual (and a 5th Dan Kendo master) and when his ideas and motivations beyond to get away from us Schrader rather handily brings us into an excerpt from one of his books, done in brilliant super-saturated color, to open these ideas back up. I've said before in Book Barn threads that Mishima's works are somehow active in their dealings with their readers where other books are not -- they are somehow aggressive in demonstrating their truths, almost proselytic without ever trying to be, and you end up inside of the conflict. Shrader's movie accomplishes much the same feat (though not quite as well as Mishima's best novels). Mishima's conflicts with beauty itself become your conflicts while his singularly well-led life unrolls before you -- accompanied the whole way by what I have come to consider one of the best film scores of all time, by Philip Glass. I would also like to add that the narrator has a fantastic voice and my recent rereadings of Mishima's works have really glowed when I've read them in that voice. The movie has a slight drawback if you're unfamiliar with Mishima in that once you are you're probably going to realize just how profoundly you've been wasting your life. Video sample (slight titty in here after the 9:50 mark): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPCDIYNdiqo The new, snazzy Criterion edition is available though Netflix (and elsewise). Sheep-Goats fucked around with this message at Nov 2, 2010 around 02:47 |
| # ? Nov 2, 2010 02:19 |
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Clockwork Orange is probably my favorite movie. I just bought the remastered dvd off of amazon and haven't watched it for probably 2 years. Still as awesome as I remember but is showing its age, which is sad. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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| # ? Nov 13, 2010 22:27 |
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The Thin Blue Line Directed by: Errol Morris Starring: Actual Murderers Country: US Year: 1988 Genre: Doc The Plot: Through the stories of the involved parties, we investigate a murder. Why You'll Love It:A watershed in documentary filmmaking, Errol Morris jumpstarted the modern obsession with true crime by producing a documentary that made audiences question the guilt of a convicted murderer. For those of us who are more familiar with the Michael Moore school of docs, this may be jarring: Morris doesn't insert himself into the narrative, doesn't provide a voice over, and doesn't appear in the film at all. But not only is it not necessary, you'll feel like a part of an impartial jury that should have been present in the courtroom. The last minute of film is a revelation. No trailer, let it surprise you.
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| # ? Nov 14, 2010 01:16 |
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Directed by: Samuel Fuller Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan and Dean Jagger Country: USA Year: 1957 Genre: Western   The Plot: An authoritarian rancher, Barbara Stanwyck, who rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new marshall arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling, brutally for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both have itchy-fingered brothers, a female gunman enters the picture, and things go desperately wrong. Why You'll Love It: Samuel Fuller is one of the greatest directors of his generation. He's a master of the "primitive style", his movies are incredible dark and gritty for the era they were made. This movie is as slow moving and somewhat campy as anything else made from the 50's, but it has an edge to it that only Sam Fuller can provide. For instance the numerous sexual double meanings dumped throughout the story, or the brutal final showdown, which had to be toned down for 1950's era sensibilities. (In the original version the hero shoots and kills the love interest so he can kill the bad guy.) It's genuinely entertaining if you don't peer too close and get overly picky about details. If you like Westerns, this is definitly one to check out.
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| # ? Dec 9, 2010 13:29 |
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What is Forty Guns? (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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| # ? Dec 9, 2010 13:47 |
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...of SCIENCE! fucked around with this message at Jan 19, 2013 around 20:07 |
| # ? Dec 12, 2010 19:08 |
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Gone In 60 Seconds   Directed by: Dominic Sena Starring: Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Giovanni Ribisi Country: USA Year: 2000 Genre: Action, crime. The Plot: Kip Raines (Ribisi), the brother of a well known car thief, gets in over his head and ends up owing a big time car-broker Calitri. The retired veteran of the car stealing business, Memphis Raines (Cage) comes out of retirement for one last job to square his brother's debt. They have three days to steal fifty cars and deliver them to Calitri. The police are breathing down everyones neck just to make things harder. Why You'll Love It: The formula has been done before, but its very polished and stylish and the writing is great. Think Oceans 11, except cars instead of money, and a few less people running around scheming. Theres lots of great cars and some genuinely hilarious moments and funny dialogue. Its mid-career Nick Cage before he became the sad-faced man in every movie, and Jolie plays a small role to add some sexual tension, but it really can be enjoyed by anyone and its really not at all about Jolie's character, shes just there so its not a total sausage fest. They could have made the mistake of making the movie all about cars and chase scenes, but it delves into their lives and history just enough that you care about them, but not to distract you from the real reason everyones there. If you love lots of action and shooting glocks from a moving car, look elsewhere as its not a true action movie. But the likeable characters and the atmosphere will keep you watching and by the end, the beautiful cars become a bonus. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc5XTR5Vrcs
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| # ? Dec 20, 2010 10:19 |
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Event Horizon Directed by: Paul W. S. Anderson Starring: Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill Country: U.K./U.S Year: 1997 Genre: Sci-Fi/Horror The Plot: A rescue vessel is dispatched to the edge of the solar system in response to a distress call from a ship that was thought destroyed years before while testing a prototype FTL propulsion system. The rescue team arrives to find the original crew-members dead or missing, and sets about trying to puzzle out just what the hell happened. Think of The Philadelphia Experiment in space. Why You'll Love It: It's a solid offering in a genre that, as all sci-fi fans know, tends to bounce between being forgotten by movie-makers and being capitalized on as cheesily as possible. The script is well written, the science doesn't require vast amounts of suspension of disbelief, the acting is solid, the visuals and sound work are two or three cuts above the average sci-fi offering, and it's one of the few films that manages to scare me on the second and third watching almost as much as on the first.
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| # ? Dec 20, 2010 21:15 |
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The Ninth Configuration Click here for the full 420x770 image.    "The man in the moon tried to gently caress my sister!" Written and Directed by: William Peter Blatty Starring: Stacey Keach, Scott Wilson, Robert Loggia, Ed Flanders, Jason Miller Country: USA Year: 1980 Genre: Somewhere between Psychological Thriller and Black Comedy The Plot: Colonel Kane, a stoic, somewhat intimidating Marine psychiatrist treats mentally ill soldiers from the Vietnam war at a castle in the American Pacific Northwest. Many of the patients have outlandish quirks, including one who is obsessed with putting on the plays of Shakespeare entirely performed by dogs. Kane's interest lies in Captain Cutshaw, an astronaut who seemingly went insane before a space flight. Why You'll Love It: What starts out as a very bizarre comedy slowly but surely turns into a complex character study about redemption. Blatty (yes, the same Blatty who wrote the novel 'The Exorcist'... and co-wrote 'A Shot in the Dark') delivers an unexpectedly moving and singularly weird drama with Keach giving a fantastic performance as Kane. There's plenty of memorably weird sequences including a crucified Christ on the lunar surface, Loggia performing Al Jolson songs in blackface, a brutal bar fight, and the patients and staff of the castle role-playing 'The Great Escape', complete with gestapo uniforms. Truly one of the strangest movies ever made with money behind it, and a fascinating watch for anyone willing to take the plunge. Here's Nick Moran introducing the movie for Channel Four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1jV8HP36S0
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| # ? Jan 1, 2011 19:36 |
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Trouble in Paradise   Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall Country: USA Year: 1932 Genre: Romantic Comedy The Plot: A high class European thief meets his soulmate with a young, beautiful pickpocket. The two join forces to infiltrate a perfume company and rob it's owner, but the secrets of their identities are catching up with them. Why You'll Love It: A light, good-natured romantic comedy with that 'Lubitsch touch' everyone goes crazy for. The leads are tremendously engaging, even though I'd never heard of the actors before. It's dynamically directed, rich in great character bits, with some fantastic production design to boot. And Edward Everett Horton is in it. A clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F_gqcsJ6Us
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| # ? Jan 2, 2011 20:08 |
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THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL  Directed by: John English & William Witney Starring: Tom Tyler, Frank Coghlan Jr., William Benedict, Louise Currie Country: USA Year: 1941 Genre: Action, superhero, punch-o-ramas The Plot: Teenaged Billy Batson gains the ability to turn into the invincible Captain Marvel and kick the hell out of some tomb robbers in Siam. Why You'll Love It: This is one of Republic Pictures' most successful serials. These serials were those little adventure shorts they played before features in movie theatres - ya know, you'd get one part a week for like 12 weeks. They're what the term cliffhanger was invented to describe. Raiders of the Lost Ark was a big ol' tribute to them. More importantly, Republic Picture serials invented the fight scene as we know it. Legend has it, their house director saw Busby Berkley directing a musical and bit his style of short choreographed segments. Captain Marvel has some of their best - not many two-fisted brawls like their crime serials (Manhunt on Mystery Island, for example), but feats of old-timey strength and huge punches are guaranteed at least once per chapter. It's a lot of fun to watch. Silly and glorious and should make you feel like a kid again. On top of that, it's a fine example of a really important chapter of film history that deserves to be remembered. Plus, it's all available for free online! It's pretty easy to binge on, but it gets a bit repetitive so I recommend spreading it out a bit. In the end, it's a hell of an adventure in a style and format that just does not exist any more. Here's a trailer, and here's the ENTIRE THING FOR FREE STREAMING
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| # ? Jan 4, 2011 08:13 |
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THE INVISIBLE MAN  Directed by: James Whale Starring: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart Country: USA Year: 1933 Genre: Horror/Comedy The Plot: A scientist turns invisible but can't revisible-ise. Why You'll Love It: James Whale is one of the unsung greats of cinema. He dropped a stone-cold classic with Frankenstein and pretty much had a free rein with his next couple of movies, so he squeezed in the hilarious The Old Dark House and this brisk, witty little HG Wells adaptation. The thing about The Invisible Man is that it's basically Claude Rains playing Bugs Bunny in a gothic horror village. If that sounds tempting, get on it. If not, get an MRI. Rains has a great grasp on the comic potential of the character, without ever breaking character. His gleeful, affected delivery turns a one-note character into some weirdly captivating monster of a man. Rains isn't the only reason to see this one. The effects and the sets are charming in the same way King Kong is charming - a unique, dreamlike look. The first time you see him disappear, you'll get chills for sure. The female lead went on to play old Rose in Titanic (my brain broke when I realized that). The local constabulary is hilarious. Oh! And it has one of my favorite shots ever: the camera follows the invisible man's footprints appearing in the snow and momentarily loses track of him when he turns. It's subtle and surprising and really modern. Check this one out, for sure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb3n0g2NenI
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| # ? Jan 6, 2011 20:56 |
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Electra Glide in Blue   Directed by: James William Guercio Starring: Robert Blake, Mitch Ryan, Billy Green Bush, Elisha Cook Jr., Jeannine Riley Country: USA Year: 1973 Genre: Drama The Plot: A short Arizona cop gets promoted to Homicide and is tasked with solving the mysterious murder of a hermit. Along the way he becomes very disillusioned both with his fellow Police Officers and the denizens he's trying to protect. Why You'll Love It: It's had a sordid history - it was booed off the screen during it's premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, labeled 'fascist' by film critics, dismissed as just another of the 9,541 movies trying to hitch a ride on the coattails of 'Easy Rider''s unprecedented success, and ended up being Guerico's first and only film. Somehow you're going to have to look past all that and give this one a shot. This is an outright deconstruction of 'Easy Rider' and it's ilk, from the perspective of Blake's motorcycle cop. He's caught in the middle of the aforementioned bizarre murder, which escalates into a cops vs. hippies conflict where neither side is terribly sympathetic, and every attempt at peacemaking just ends in more tragedy and violence. It has a look that echoes that of a John Ford western, and a mood that echoes early Sam Peckinpah. The performances are quite good, and the pacing is leisurely. The iconic opening scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOp55wh0gNw
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| # ? Jan 9, 2011 20:45 |
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Gił la Testa (A Fistful of Dynamite) Directed by: Sergio Leone Starring: Rod Steiger, James Coburn Country: Italy Year: 1971 Genre: Western The Plot: It's a mid-60s Spaghetti Western; there's money to be made somewhere by a couple of overdubbed, amiable scoundrels with guns. Why You'll Love It: Because it's Sergio Leone making a movie. For the film-intellectual, that should be reason enough -- even if you don't know who the man is at this point in your film-buff timeline. In order to come to my catch-all explanation of "why" you'll love it (feel free to skip down to the "BUT!" if you're bored), I need to side-step a bit. I must direct your attention to this movie's french title (kindly given to you by me on the stolen movie poster image above): Once Upon a Time...The Revolution. Take note of this while I inform you, within this sentence, of two other movies made by Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America. All three of these films concoct a "trilogy" -- not an unfamiliar concept I hope, given the Tarantinos and Action-Film drudgery nowadays. Personally, I treat this second entry as a transitory phase: Leone gives us a hint of the apathy and washed up dreams of modern life along with a final scrap of stubborn, imprecise humanism all the best Westerns exhibit. I would leave the cinematic particulars and specific thematic concerns of this second entry up to you, and I would highly suggest watching the two films before and after this one in order to gain a more...accurate and reliable opinion. BUT! REALLY NOW?! WHO CARES! Opinions and analysis don't really matter in the end! On to business: why even bother watching this movie and, perhaps, anything related to it? Because it has gimmicky punchlines (involving explosions). Also, lots of dated buddy film banter -- often before/during/after a firefight and explosive events. The most important thing though is the significant character development and emotional flashback scenes (especially the one near the end before that big explosion). Yeah, there's the typical Western posturing, but there's also a variety of invigorating scenes involving... - Explosives on trains. - Explosives on men. - Explosives in banks. - Explosives on bridges. - And a short quip detailing the science of explosives. I cannot stress enough that you SHOULDN'T watch a trailer for this movie (also, that this movie is best appreciated for everything outside of the explosions) ... (Or maybe you should appreciate it for just the explosions?) ... (Can I use parantheticals like this?) ... (No?) All you need in terms of "teaser" is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W3O5Ts0WN8 MoaM fucked around with this message at Jan 12, 2011 around 09:07 |
| # ? Jan 12, 2011 08:58 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 07:14 |
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THE GLASS HOUSE Directed by: Tom Gries Starring: Alan Alda, Vic Morrow, Billy Dee Williams, Clu Gulager Country: USA Year: 1972 Genre: Prison drama The Plot: A college professor is sent to prison and runs afoul of the kingpin. Truman Capote wrote it. Why You'll Love It: It's a pretty routine plot, but goddamn this is a great telling. The script is smart and harsh. Some scenes are still pretty shocking, and everything Vic Morrow does is terrifying. He's like the old man in A Prophet, cool and in control until he explodes in violence. They shot on location in a real prison - Alan Alda was held hostage with a shiv during filming! - and there's a wonderful economy to the direction (it's the same guy who did Will Penny and, hilariously, King Dinosaur) which allows the actors room to do their stuff. Take another look at that cast. Vic Morrow, who died in that horrible Twilight Zone crash, was a veteran TV actor with an intimidating sort of focus. Clu Gulager most of you will remember from Return of the Living Dead, in which he played Burt the hilariously annoyed boss. Alda shot this around the first season of MASH when he was still young and edgy. And Billy Dee Williams. Well. He's as smooth as ever. These guys are all pros and have real chemistry - Billy Dee and Alda in particular play off each other well. Yeah, that's right. Hawkeye and Lando hang out. Trailer Here's the whole movie streaming penismightier fucked around with this message at Jan 21, 2011 around 07:55 |
| # ? Jan 21, 2011 06:46 |
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