Viewing Log: 2015
An on-going list of films I watched for the first time in 2015, arranged in the order in which I saw them.
List activity
542 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
145 titles
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsRomy SchneiderFabio TestiJacques DutroncServais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from the loan sharks to finance the theatrical production of 'Richard III' and gives Nadine a part. Nadine is torn apart between Servais, for whom she is falling in love, and her husband Jacques, to whom she has moral obligations.
- 8/10
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.A film of three acts, in which each act becomes progressively weaker. The atmospheric, darkly comic last man on earth fantasy of the first is great; the Adam & Eve in the new Eden frolic of the second is fun if insignificant; the mystical love triangle finale is just frustrating. A film that always seems on the cusp of something (a clue, a revelation, a feeling), but continually denies the audience anything concrete.
- 7/10
- DirectorEdward D. Wood Jr.StarsEdward D. Wood Jr.Bela LugosiLyle TalbotA psychiatrist tells the stories of a transvestite (Glen or Glenda) and a pseudohermaphrodite (Alan or Anne).Although elements of the film are as incompetent as one might expect given Wood's reputation & the quality of his later "Plan 9", there is nonetheless a fearlessness & originality that makes the experience of the film entirely unique. The astounding nightmarish sequence is not only an expression of genuine surrealism analogous to Cocteau, it manages to predict the entire career of David Lynch decades before Lynch was even a name.
- 7/10
- DirectorMatthew HolnessStarsMatthew HolnessRoger Ashton-GriffithsEdward HalstedAn author of a book series called "The Reprisaliser", lives a lonely life which he can't seem to seperate from from his fiction. At the end of his tether, he comes into the possession of a gun.Continues the nostalgic appropriation of Marenghi's Darkplace; this time rejecting the influences of Hammer Horror and the Italian B-movie for the kind of grim vigilante drama that defined the 1970s. Although framed as a comedy the tone is aggressively depressing; the character's escape into his own violent fiction providing a release from a landscape as bleak and soulless as the vast urban structures that define it.
- 7/10
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsHenry FondaVera MilesAnthony QuayleIn 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.A typical Hitchcockian motif delivered in an atypical style. Here the filmmaker pares back his stylisations to deliver a story "ripped from the headlines." There's a grittiness & almost procedural-like actuality to the way the thing develops, but this only seems to make the (real life) story feel all the more preposterous & far-fetched. I prefer Hitchcock when he's pushing the Freudian analysis & dreamlike abstraction.
- 7/10
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsAlicia SilverstoneStacey DashBrittany MurphyShallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
- 7/10
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsUdo KierKirsten OlesenHenning JensenMedea is in Corinth with Jason and their two young sons. King Kreon wants to reward Jason for his exploits: he gives the hand of his daughter, Glauce, to Jason as well as the promise of the throne. In exchange, Medea and the boys are to be banished. Jason explains that his actions ensure a rich future for Medea and her sons. She asks that she be allowed to stay; Kreon refuses. She asks for one more day, and begs Jason to seek the king's permission to allow their sons to stay in Corinth. Jason agrees and Medea prepares a gift for her sons to give to Glauce. Will Medea leave peacefully?Nowhere near Pasolini's extraordinary, hallucinatory & sympathetic take on the same legend. Nonetheless, Trier's typically arduous appropriation of Medea as another condemnation of hypocrisy & the subjugation of women plays like the superior version of the filmmaker's own Breaking the Waves. Once again, wilful suffering leads to spiritual transcendence, but without the overt manipulation/provocation of his later film.
- 8/10
- DirectorClive BarkerStarsCraig ShefferDavid CronenbergAnne BobbyA troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
- 7/10
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsLili TaylorChristopher WalkenAnnabella SciorraA New York philosophy grad student turns into a vampire after getting bitten by one, and then tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood.Ferrara beats the audience over the head with his vampirism as drug addiction analogy until it no longer seems intelligent and instead becomes rather dull. The difficulty here is this; after establishing the central metaphor, Ferrara & writer Nicholas St. John have no idea where to take it. While beautifully filmed & performed, the end result feels academic; its philosophical musings obvious to the point of cliché.
- 6/10
- DirectorThom AndersenStarsEncke KingBen AlexanderJim BackusA documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.
- 10/10
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsMichael J. FoxGena RowlandsJoan JettA pair of siblings must choose whether to pursue their dream of touring with their rock band or support their family and stay in Cleveland, Ohio.A dizzying retreat from the amazing & imaginative stylisations of Schrader's previous work. While the performances are great and the film is emotionally engaging, it just feels like a TV movie; the direction is bland & unadventurous, erring on the side of soap-opera. You'd hardly guess this was the work of the same filmmaker that had just directed such visually sophisticated masterpieces as American Gigolo & Mishima.
- 7/10
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsMel SmithGriff Rhys JonesJoanne PearceA trio of moronic aliens crash-land on Earth and become celebrities, while a fourth alien, who arrives separately, finds himself ignored.Mike Hodges directed some powerful and provocative films; this isn't one of them. Although the cheap and cheerful production design and approach to sci-fi iconography is initially quite amusing, the film itself is more annoying than funny, while the efforts to satirise celebrity (or the cult of celebrity) are obvious and weak. At the end you have to ask, is it a film about moronic characters, or just a moronic film?
- 3/10
- DirectorPrinceMichael BallhausStarsPrinceJerome BentonKristin Scott ThomasTwo con artist brothers attempt to swindle a soon-to-be wealthy heiress, but things get complicated when one falls in love with her.
- 7/10
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsSteve McQueenAli MacGrawBen JohnsonA recently-released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.Peckinpah injecting some of his trademark style (and trademark violence) into a routine genre assignment. The results aren't as powerful or as memorable as many of the director's more personal projects, but nonetheless there are some amazing sequences, moments & supporting characters littered throughout, with the natural screen presence/chemistry between McQueen & McGraw giving the action a much needed human element.
- 7/10
- DirectorJean-Claude BrisseauStarsBruno CremerEmmanuelle DebeverMaría Luisa GarcíaA strict father imposes impossible guidelines on his disabled daughter which reflect his secret, tortured life.
- 8/10
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsAudrey HepburnBen GazzaraPatti HansenA madcap private-eye caper about a team of detectives who are following, and are being followed by, a group of beautiful women.
- 10/10
- DirectorJean-Claude BrisseauStarsVincent GasperitschMaría Luisa GarcíaFrançois NégretBruno is 14. When his grandmother dies, he returns to Bagnolet with his mother who is rarely there. At school he meets Jean-Roger, who introduces him to a group of delinquents.
- 10/10
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsBradley CooperSienna MillerKyle GallnerNavy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.Eastwood's filmmaking has become as dull, reactionary & conservative as his personal politics. His monotonous colour scheme of desert storm beige, archaic approach to coverage & generally unadventurous editing seem only to reinforce the idea that this is a "serious" film. The jingoism, bible thumping & tasteless celebration of a killer for Oscar-bait credibility stinks of the worst kind of propaganda. A hateful film.
- 3/10
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJames CoburnKris KristoffersonRichard JaeckelPat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.The usual superlatives hold true; this is Peckinpah's final statement on the end of the "west", on violence, on masculinity, on the passing of tradition. When Garrett shoots out his own reflection following the death of the Kid, it communicates so much about this loss of identity, the self-hated & the disillusionment felt by those who saw their country slowly slip away from them as one generation gave in to the next.
- 10/10
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandSimone SignoretGabriele FerzettiA high-ranking official is forced to confess to high treason.
- 9/10
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
- 5/10
- DirectorJean-Claude BrisseauStarsCoralie RevelSabrina SeyvecouRoger MiremontNathalie teaches Sandrine that sexual transgression can cause violent pleasure and give those who use it a powerful weapon to climb the social hierarchy. They decide to get a job in a bank, a place where victims abound.The least of Brisseau's erotic cycle is at its best when showcasing the playful sexuality of its central characters & their attempts to exploit the male-dominated world of office politics. Later shifts towards post-Eyes Wide Shut level psychodrama & proto-Fifty Shades style S&M horror plunge the movie towards a level of self-parody, with none of the deeper existentialism that elevated the filmmaker's subsequent work.
- 6/10
- DirectorJean-Claude BrisseauStarsVanessa ParadisBruno CremerLudmila MikaëlFrancois, 49, is a happily married teacher. Concerned that rebellious student Mathilde is going to be expelled he sets out to help her but is soon drawn into a passionate relationship with her which has devastating consequences.Another Brisseau personal fantasy; here elevated by interesting theoretical discussions on human behaviour, nature and the cosmos. The standard "teacher seduced by student" wish-fulfilment is very French and not so interesting, but the vague (if undeveloped) hints at the metaphysical (if not actually "supernatural") push the interpretation of the characters' relationship into a more exciting and provocative sphere.
- 8/10
- DirectorDonald PetrieStarsSandra BullockMichael CaineBenjamin BrattAn F.B.I. Agent must go undercover in the Miss United States beauty pageant to prevent a group from bombing the event.Harmless enough light entertainment, but with too great a reliance on jokes about Bullock's "plain" tomboy masculinity in contrast to the airhead empowerment of the beauty pageant, as social spectacle; still not enough emphasis on the mystery/procedural aspects of the plot. Could have been approached as a giallo take on Pygmalion (with potential terrorist replacing black-gloved killer), but instead it's just fluff.
- 5/10
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsPierce BrosnanHalle BerryRosamund PikeJames Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, who is funding the development of an international space weapon.A Bond film that embraces the illogical nature of the character and runs wild with it. The entertainment value is through the roof; the imaginative plot involving face-swopping villains, ice fortresses, a laser shooting satellite and cars that turn invisible. Bad CGI action sequences unfortunately break up the party; bending cinematic credibility beyond breaking point and pushing the franchise towards DTV oblivion.
- 6/10
- DirectorPeter R. HuntStarsGeorge LazenbyDiana RiggTelly SavalasBritish agent James Bond goes undercover to pursue the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who is planning to hold the world to ransom.Elevated by the emotional heft of its out-of-the-blue final scene, the soundtrack contribution from Armstrong and a few stylistic quirks that the director seemingly borrowed from Boorman's Point Blank. Otherwise this is an oddly plotted Bond full of choppy action sequences and a story featuring the wooden Lazenby seducing a chalet full of multinational nymphomaniacs and little else? May require further examination.
- 6/10
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsViggo MortensenCharlize TheronKodi Smit-McPheeIn a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea.Reminded me of Road to Perdition. Another desolate father/son story that does everything right, but still comes up short. As beautifully executed as the film is - in particular the way Hillcoat and his editors weave full colour memories of happier times into the rust-tinged ruin of the central post-apocalyptic drama - the plodding narrative and unchanging landscape eventually becomes numbing.
- 7/10
- DirectorJoseph KahnStarsKatee SackhoffJames Van Der BeekRuss BainA dark and gritty re-imagining of the classic franchise.This has "vulgar auteurism" written all over it. It's loud, garish & dumb; it turns corny dialogue & wooden performances into a necessity and makes a virtue out of its horrible, soulless, sleek, commercial look & bludgeoning sensationalism. It uses the lure of childhood nostalgia as an excuse to view violence & objectification through a prism of detached irony. Like most viral trash it managed to become a huge event.
- 3/10
- DirectorJonathan GlazerStarsScarlett JohanssonJeremy McWilliamsLynsey Taylor MackayA mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.If Birth was Glazer's ode to stately Kubrickian detachment, then the film in question finds him augmenting that approach with an Antonioni-like emphasis on landscapes as psychological projections against the spatial alienation of Nic Roeg, circa The Man Who Fell to Earth. The third act decent into shock spectacle negated the more interesting examination into human behaviour, but the atmosphere and imagery is intense.
- 6/10
- DirectorBruce RobinsonStarsRichard E. GrantPaul McGannRichard GriffithsIn 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.There's a great Rivette film here just struggling to get out. The idea of two actors denied work, who cast themselves in an extended performance, each playing the role that the other expects them to play, could have gone the way of Céline & Julie. It needed more space to trail off, to break from reality, to challenge the characters preconceptions, before coming back down to earth for its crushing final scenes.
- 7/10
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreCarole BouquetTopolSecret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.The standard nonsensical Bond "folly", elevated by a sense of genuine spectacle. From the helicopter hi-jack of the pre-title sequence to the Olympic pursuit, underwater exploration and literal mountain top cliff-hanger, the film doesn't just provide the usual action and suspense, it's genuinely jaw-dropping. Maybe just a nostalgia for pre-CGI extravagance, but some of the images here are astounding.
- 9/10
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsColin FirthEmma StoneMarcia Gay HardenA romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue.Relaxed, conversational; full of discussions on life and the cosmos; like a Brisseau film sans softcore lesbian sex. Overflowing with subtext. The nature of illusion, performance, identity; characters posing as someone else. Cinema itself is an illusion, full of performances, deceptions, sleight of hand. Lost love drifts in and out as a leitmotif; love as the ultimate magic, conquering cynicism. A little masterpiece.
- 9/10
- DirectorJoão César MonteiroStarsFabienne BabeCanto e CastroFrancesca PrandiEloi, a paunchy middle-aged man, finds Samuel, a young sad sack, about to kill himself by plunging into the sea. Eloi takes Samuel under his wing, giving him a hot meal and bringing him to a seedy night club to introduce him to Esperança, who is said to be the most beautiful sex worker in Lisbon - and is also Eloi's daughter.
- 8/10
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreMaud AdamsLouis JourdanA fake Fabergé egg recovered from the body of a fellow agent leads James Bond to uncover a jewel smuggling operation led by the mysterious Octopussy, and a plot to blow up a NATO air base.Big fan of Glen's muscular action sequences + injection of gritty violence. Pre-title sequence is great (introducing ideas of performance/identity/Bond as chameleon that will continue throughout); post-title sequence of 009 dressed as clown and hunted by two knife-throwing twins through a fairy tale wood is almost Rollin-like in its surrealism; also the train + plane pursuits of the third provide amazing set-pieces.
More to the point, the film has a pertinent political subtext that still remains relevant. The idea of a militant leader threatening nuclear annihilation for business purposes as opposed to political ones is still something of a worrying concern. Most Bond films are not political, but Octopussy at least attempts to weave some superficial politics into a plot full of deceptions and MacGuffins.- 7/10
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreChristopher WalkenTanya RobertsThe recovery of a microchip from the body of a fellow British secret agent leads James Bond to a mad industrialist scheming to cause massive destruction.Not as bad as some would argue, but still very weak. The Parisian half is classic Bond; outlandish action, great villains, locations, a sense of intrigue and danger; Bond actually having to work to stay alive! Second half in San-Fran takes a turn for the mundane and becomes a dull conspiracy thriller. One great and surprisingly surreal sequence in an unfurnished house offers a brief glimmer, but the rest is plodding.
- 6/10
- DirectorVictor SalvaStarsNathan Forrest WintersBrian McHughSam RockwellJust before Halloween, three young brothers alone in a big house are menaced by three escaped mental patients who have murdered some traveling circus clowns and taken their identities.Salva's history necessitates an ugly thematic obsession with adolescent males terrorised by predatory figures (see also Jeepers Creepers). Here the focus on his young cast becomes uncomfortable & voyeuristic, but the subject of challenging personal fears + the power of imagination is smart & well developed. Set-pieces show a level of stylistic control well beyond the realm of contemporary directors, e.g. James Wan.
- 7/10
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.Interesting in its presentation of a dystopia as 'utopia', but the sexual politics were repellent. Women are made to look cold and villainous because they don't appreciate the film's "puppy-dog" hero; in short, an emotionally-stunted perv who wants his women fawning and subservient! One major subplot struck me as little more than a prolonged and rather nasty attack on Jonze's evidently "ungrateful" ex Sofia Coppola.
- 4/10
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsShigeru ChibaTomoko IshimuraFumihiko TachikiA revered director with an obscure style, Rei Maruwa, has gone missing during the production of his latest animated feature, Talking Head. With the deadline approaching and next to no progress made, the producer calls in a "shadow director" with the ability to mimic any director's style. Arriving at the studio, he begins meeting with the eccentric crew members in order to understand the project, but soon they begin dying in the same order that he met up with them.Most directors have tackled a semi-autobiographical work on the pitfalls of filmmaking, but only Oshii approached the subject as a bizarre murder-mystery with added elements of slapstick comedy, "bad" special effects and the genuine influence of Brecht! The result is one of the great works of auteur cinema; as playful, baffling and self-deprecating as von Trier's less abstract but no less "meta" The Boss of it All.
- 9/10
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsShigeru ChibaMachiko WashioHideyuki TanakaA surreal science fiction noir involving a man trapped in a future where seemingly everyone is a government spy and all-night noodle stands are outlawed.Oshii managing to corral the influences of '60s Godard post-modernism and '80s Godard poetic ennui alongside elements of Seijun Suzuki and Jerry Lewis. For those that find his later films humourless, The Red Spectacles is bursting with laughs, both deadpan and slapstick, while also working as a fairly successful stylistic experiment/deconstruction analogous to what von Trier was attempting with Europa and Epidemic.
- 9/10
N.B. I watched this last year, but forgot to add it to the 2014 list at the time. Adding it to this one because I'll be watching the companion film, Stray Dog, in the next couple of days so it helps with continuity. - DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsYoshikazu FujikiEaching SueTakashi MatsuyamaThe Metropolitan Police's ultimate crime-fighting unit was an elite squad of men and women known as the Kerberos. Refusing an order from the government officials to disarm led to a riot known as the Kerberos Uprising. At the centre of this riot was Koichi Todome, leader of the Kerberos squad. However, unlike his troops, when the riot was over, Koichi escaped. Now, three years later, Inui is released from prison. A member of the Kerberos squad who served jail time for his participation in the riot, he wants nothing more than to find his former master. However, the trail to Koichi is a twisted one involving a strange woman and a new and unimagined lifestyle. But when he finally finds him, he realizes that, instead of following his own path, he was following the orders of another.Oshii's Godard fetish leads him down a path towards Kitano country; static compositions, a languid tone, scenes of seaside silliness punctuated by brutal violence. Supposedly a continuation of Red Spectacles, the connection seems superficial. It does at least make explicit the themes of sadness & regret that hung over the more aggressively abstract & enigmatic predecessor, but it lacks the same metaphysical depth.
- 6/10
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsYoshikazu FujikiRinko KikuchiMeisa KurokiIn the aftermath of a global thermonuclear war three battle tested women wage war in a virtual video game against giant mutant sand whales.The least of Oshii. Essentially a short segment of an abandoned omnibus film that has been padded out with a documentary-style intro, it works only as a cinematic "digestif" to the director's masterpiece Avalon, or as a further example of the filmmaker's continual stylistic blurring of live-action and animation effect. Standard Oshii themes reinvestigated, but without the greater philosophical weight found elsewhere.
- 5/10
- DirectorRichard GlatzerWash WestmorelandStarsJulianne MooreAlec BaldwinKristen StewartA linguistics professor and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.There's a shot here where the family sit at a dinner table discussing Alice's worsening condition. The directors frame a close up on the back of Moore's head; her long red hair in perfect focus as the family in the background are shown as an indistinct smear; vague, unrecognisable. It's one of my favourite shots in any recent film. Unfortunately it's the only bit of cinema in the entire thing; the rest is television.
N.B. Having read a little bit more into the filmmakers' back-story, I'm tempted to give this an extra star. It's obvious that the film is very much about their relationship; Glatzer was dying during the production of the movie and passed away earlier this year. That final scene - the monologue and the repeated emphasis that it's "about love" - are really very moving in the context of this, even if the film itself is still superficially a made for TV "lifetime movie" in presentation and theme.- 6/10
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsSandrine BattistellaPierre OudreyAlexandre RignaultAn analysis of the power relations in an ordinary family."There was a landscape, we put a factory in it. There was a factory, we put a landscape around it." JLG returns to this quotation to examine the circumstances of the modern family. No longer human, but a commodity; their routines & relationships more an industrialised process; domesticity as final product. The disconnection between the two suggested through jarring, dissociative juxtapositions between sound & image.
- 9/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsSilvana ManganoTerence StampMassimo GirottiA mysterious young man seduces each member of a bourgeois family. When he suddenly leaves, how will their lives change?Baiting the bourgeoisie. Pasolini extends on Buñuelian themes of class destruction, the hypocrisy of institutions (the family, religion, industry) and the release, through social transgression, of a force more primal and elemental; his own exterminating angel becoming an embodiment of pansexual objectification; seduction as both an awakening and a death. A ferocious political commentary disguised as a mystical fable.
- 8/10
- DirectorFrank CoraciStarsAdam SandlerDrew BarrymoreWendi McLendon-CoveyAfter a bad blind date, a man and woman find themselves stuck together at a resort for families, where their attraction grows as their respective kids benefit from the burgeoning relationship.Sandler doesn't need the low-brow affectations that once made him famous. Here he's able to step beyond the emotionally crippled man-child persona and play a genuine character. His conviction as a middle-aged dad, struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife (while trying to do the best for his family), is well developed and keenly observed. It's not a work of greatness, but the heart's in the right place.
- 6/10
- DirectorRandal KleiserStarsPaul ReubensPenelope Ann MillerKris KristoffersonPee-wee Herman is now a small-town farmer with a fiancée, but when a traveling circus comes to town, he finds himself falling for the trapeze artist.The decision to make Pee-wee sexually aware was both strange and ill-conceived. It doesn't work. That said, the broader commentary on small town persecution/xenophobia/the marginalisation of the outsider is more successful, while the circus setting and its notion of community is perfect. If it fails due to the lack of a satisfying conclusion, it should still score points for Steven Poster's beautiful cinematography.
- 7/10
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsSadie FrostJude LawSean PertweeYou've run out of options, no school, no job. Steal a car, smash a shop with a heavy car and reap the proceeds! This movie is about underground England. The causes, the benefits, and the result of a life of 'crash and carry.'Feels more like something made to exemplify Anderson's future credentials as a director for hire as opposed to something made out of a genuine concern. The vaguely post-apocalyptic setting is interesting but not fully developed, while the satirical swipes at consumerism and desensitised youth culture are obvious and second-hand. Nonetheless, Anderson turns in a great Ridley Scott impression and the action is salient.
- 7/10
- DirectorMichael BayStarsMark WahlbergNicola Peltz BeckhamJack ReynorWhen humanity allies with a bounty hunter in pursuit of Optimus Prime, the Autobots turn to a mechanic and his family for help.Some of Bay's most impressive, near-audacious filmmaking, here hampered by a dull, repetitive narrative. Although more disciplined/less vulgar than previous instalments, the human interest story is absent, the conspiracies are convoluted & the mythology is half-baked. Bay tries to make scenes dynamic through the use of 360º spins (or by having the camera pass seamlessly through the action) but it's all so monotonous.
- 5/10
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsJean-Marc BarrJean RenoRosanna ArquetteThe rivalry between Enzo and Jacques, two childhood friends and now world-renowned free divers, becomes a beautiful and perilous journey into oneself and the unknown.Embraced as modern classic at the time, Besson's passion project now seems like folly. While his imagery is characteristically impeccable, from black & white evocations of childhood loss, to peerless underwater sequences & dreamlike ambience, the scattershot narrative is disruptive. It flits without connection between serious psychological study, tale of professional rivalry & goofy romance. All surface, no depth.
- 5/10
- DirectorJohn TurturroStarsJohn TurturroWoody AllenSharon StoneFioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his "manager", the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money.Sensitive Jewish subplot seems at odds with main theme of male prostitution; nonetheless, film is well acted, beautifully shot, charming & bittersweet. Allen & Turturro have a great rapport together and if the film occasionally feels like the pilot to an unaired TV series, it's no bad thing; these are characters with room to grow. On a side note, Allen should go back to appearing in his own movies; he's still got it.
- 7/10
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsCate BlanchettAlec BaldwinPeter SarsgaardA New York socialite, deeply troubled and in denial, arrives in San Francisco to impose upon her sister. She looks like a million dollars but isn't bringing money, peace or love.Typical of late-period Allen. Relaxed, almost incidental; serious subjects passed over with a lightness of touch; the effect intensely subtle and as such more affecting. Filmmaking that is leisurely and naturalistic. If it wasn't for the occasional moralising, he's almost the American Rohmer. Needless to say, impeccable performances. Only the scene with the dentist strikes an off-key note.
- 8/10
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsYoshitaka ZushiKin SugaiToshiyuki TonomuraVarious tales in the lives of Tokyo slum dwellers, including a mentally deficient young man obsessed with driving his own commuter trolley.Plays like an odd collaboration between Walt Disney & Samuel Beckett. On one level, light comedy, fantasy & childish sentiment; on the other, the brutal reality expressed through abstract imagery & bizarre, theatrical scenes. The effect can be odd & disengaging, but entirely unique. The only thing more dazzling than Kurosawa's experiments with colour, light & composition is the sensitivity he shows to his characters.
- 9/10
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsJean-Louis TrintignantFrançoise FabianMarie-Christine BarraultA devout Catholic man's rigid principles are challenged during a one-night stay with Maud, a divorced woman with an outsize personality.Effortless & engaging meditation by Rohmer on the hypocrisies of morality. Can morality exist without hypocrisy, or should one be content to simply enjoy life for what it is without trying to bend existence to fit a series of abstract principles? The film is at its best during the night in question; dialogues on Pascal, religion, sex, death, love & marriage; aching truths revealed in the most natural & affecting way.
- 8/10
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsKirsten DunstJason SchwartzmanRip TornThe retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 14 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen, and ultimately the fall of Versailles.Coppola transposes her own story to that of the title character; a little rich girl thrust into a position of public notoriety that she cannot comprehend. In doing so, exaggerates the naiveté & creates a more piercing feminist commentary on the way the character is destroyed, not through her own inherently childish decadence, but through the poor decisions of her husband & the loveless circumstances she's to endure.
Dunst gives one of THE performances of the last decade; maybe even of this century; perhaps of all time! She's charming, natural and beautiful; her interpretation subtle and multifaceted. The implications of the final scenes are haunting and emotionally devastating. The filmmaking is infused with the influences of Derek Jarman and Sally Potter - anarchic, post-modern, but also romantic and painterly - seeing the past through a reflection of the present (and vice-versa) in order to humanise the central character and to create a satirical connection to the modern world.- 10/10
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTsutomu YamazakiKen'ichi HagiwaraA petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.The political implications are enthralling; themes of power, corruption, leadership, the suppression of the self, all carefully woven into the fabric of the film. However, so much of the subtext can be seen as an extension on the idea of performance; the character compelled to put on a costume, to adopt a persona, to play a part. As such, it's not only Kurosawa's definitive political statement, but his most self-reflexive.
- 9/10
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsRoger MooreBarbara BachCurd JürgensJames Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads, with the help of a K.G.B. agent whose lover he killed.With the incidental killing of a rival during pre-credit action, film introduces a theme of morality that few other Bond movies engage. Bond must come to terms with the reality that he killed an opposing agent & as such created a rift in the life of his lover, a spy for the KGB. Beyond this, it's an old-fashioned romp, full of big action, bad puns & chicanery, but the rare gesture toward real emotion is appreciated.
- 7/10
- DirectorSaul DibbStarsMichelle WilliamsKristin Scott ThomasMargot RobbieDuring the early years of German occupation of France in World War II, romance blooms between Lucile Angellier (Michelle Williams), a French villager, and Lieutenant Bruno von Falk (Matthias Schoenaerts), a German soldier.There's no faulting the credentials; the film is beautifully shot, well acted, sensitive & moving. But it's a story that's been told so often that the thing seems over familiar. Plot-points could have been opened up & extended upon, but instead feel like obligations to convention; "beats" to be hit. At least it challenges the ethical complexities of its characters, not falling into the trap of black & white morality.
- 7/10
- DirectorJean CocteauStarsJean MaraisFrançois PérierMaría CasaresA poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.
- 8/10
- DirectorJoey FigueroaZak KnutsonStarsJohn MiliusEthan MiliusAmanda MiliusA look at the life of filmmaker John Milius.
- 6/10
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsCaitlyn FolleyIan DuncanDiana GarcíaJill's an artist. Adam's a filmmaker. And their love life is off the chain. There's no experience too wild, no dare too dangerous -- not even when Jill lets Adam strap her to a gurney in the abandoned hospital they're scoping out for their next art show. But he shouldn't have left her alone. Not even as a joke. Now, Jill's hookup with horror has awakened something in that place. Something with a lust for more than flesh.With Paperhouse, Candyman & Snuff-Movie, Rose created one classic deconstruction of the horror genre for each decade of his career. Unfortunately Sx_Tape brings that legacy to an end. Although the themes of male/female objectification, out of the blue homage to Performance & bizarre final scenes are intriguing, this cheap & largely derivative slasher seems an obvious nadir for the already exhausted found-footage trend.
- 3/10
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsFumi HiranoToshio FurukawaSaeko ShimazuA mysterious and powerful alien girl Elle sends invitations to all of Ataru's friends to attend her wedding ceremony to non other than Ataru himself, to the surprise of everyone, and to the rage of Lum, Ataru's obsessed alien lover.If the Wachowski's freely admit pillaging ideas from Ghost in the Shell for The Matrix, then it's not too difficult to see elements of the recent Jupiter Ascending in this earlier Oshii directed romp. While the storytelling is pure teen soap opera, the world that Oshii creates is bold & vivid. The mixture of slushy romance, pop fantasy & slapstick comedy once again shows another side to the multi-faceted filmmaker.
- 7/10
- DirectorDamián SzifronStarsDarío GrandinettiMaría MarullMónica VillaSix short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress.The film delivers on the promise of its title; several bizarre tales of revenge that work to comment on issues of class & exploitation, and the machinations of such. As ever, some stories work better than others. Regardless, the filmmaker succeeds in getting his point across sufficiently & is able to create, in fragments, a darkly comic & incisive portrait of modern life in all of its insane & contradictory malaise.
- 7/10
- DirectorVictor SalvaStarsLuke KleintankAlex McKennaAnthony Rey PerezWhen Nick Di Santo learns that his father is not only alive but can possibly reveal the origin of his son's dark gift, he sets out on a trip that takes him to an abandoned mansion he thought only existed in his childhood imagination.Salva is a monster, but I find his Jeepers Creepers fascinating, precisely because they dare to tackle (consciously or not) his own twisted urges through the metaphor of a literal "monster" that preys on underage men. Though there's an element of that to this tale of good & evil forces vying for an innocent's soul, the poor direction, lethargic pace & lack of genuine chills are incapable of justifying the indulgence.
- 3/10
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsGeorge SegalElliott GouldAnn PrentissWhen a casual gambler (George Segal as Bill) befriends a professional one (Elliott Gould as Charlie), he begins to mirror his life, sending both deeper into the sleazy gambling world where the stakes keep getting bigger.A great film about friendship, addiction & co-dependency, which typical of Altman's ability to tackle BIG themes & emotions without ever seeming to break a sweat, is nothing less than delightful. Though a minor work in comparison to his others 70s masterworks (Nashville, Thieves, McCabe, etc) this is a masterclass in naturalistic film acting & a further touchstone of Altman's characteristic "observational" technique.
- 8/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsMaria CallasMassimo GirottiLaurent TerzieffAfter his quest to retrieve the fabled Golden Fleece, Jason returns to Greece with powerful sorceress Medea. However, when the king banishes her, it's only human that Medea plots her furious revenge. Can they escape her wrath?Callas is like a full force gale; ably demonstrating a level of passion & pain far beyond the capacity of others. Standing in the flames, she defies "it's useless; nothing is possible now", capturing both the sadness of a woman broken & betrayed and the disappointment of the filmmaker confronted by a corruption of the modern world closed off to the magic of myth & legend; no longer able to exist simply, without shame.
- 10/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiNinetto DavoliJovan JovanovicAn adaptation of nine stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron".As ever with Pasolini, the juxtaposition between ancient & modern is an effort to comment on the present by way of the past; to show that the nature of life is unchanging (people are always motivated by greed, lust & fear of death) while also creating a point of contrast. The films hymn to the joyous vulgarities of life is intended to show how far our society has progressed, but also how greatly it's been corrupted.
- 8/10
- DirectorLouise OsmondStarsJan VokesHoward DaviesBrian 'Daisy' VokesAn inspirational true story of a group of friends from a working men's club who decide to take on the elite 'sport of kings' and breed themselves a racehorseA lovely little story, beautifully filmed and presented, but put together in such a formulaic way that you can almost begin to imagine what a Weinstein produced Hollywood biopic would look like (hint: it would probably star Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins as the working class couple, with Pierce Brosnan as the money man, and with Jude Law and Kate Winslet playing the horse club trainers; Welsh heritage be damned!).
- 7/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsPierre ClémentiJean-Pierre LéaudAlberto LionelloA man wandering in a volcanic desert forms a band of murderous cannibals. A post-war German industrialist learns that his son is unable to make decisions or form relationships.Pasolini's most impenetrable film is also his most beguiling; the work of a visionary, which blends hallucinatory scenes of pre-historic violence with the extended monologues of the bourgeoisie. Difficult to know the intentions of the filmmaker, but the suggestion "a story about pigs to tell a story about Jews", combined with the overlapping of the two tales, hints at the same anti-fascist polemic of the later Salo.
- 10/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsTotòNinetto DavoliFemi BenussiTotò and his son Ninetto are drifting on a road in Italy when they meet a speaking crow.
- 9/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiFranca PasutSilvana CorsiniA pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiraling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.
- 10/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsEnrique IrazoquiMargherita CarusoSusanna PasoliniThe life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a Marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.
- 9/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsSilvana ManganoFranco CittiAlida ValliRescued from abandonment and raised by the King and Queen, Oedipus is still haunted by a prophecy--he'll murder his father and marry his mother.
- 10/10
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsChloë Grace MoretzJames CaanMary SteenburgenKaguya is a beautiful young woman coveted by five nobles. To try to avoid marrying a stranger she doesn't love, she sends her suitors on seemingly impossible tasks. But she will have to face her fate and punishment for her choices.For the first time since Mann's Public Enemies, it felt as if I was seeing a reinvention of the very language of cinema. Although the fantasy plotline is nothing remarkable, the actual presentation of the image is beyond words. The moments where the film breaks from reality, becomes entwined with the emotions of its character and seems to soar or disintegrate before our very eyes, is completely astounding and unique.
- 9/10
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsKirsten DunstJosh HartnettJames WoodsA group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents in suburban Detroit in the mid 1970s.A strong debut, but an imperfect one. The young Coppola has mastered the techniques but doesn't always know when or how to apply them. As such there's an over indulgence, where 'form' overwhelms 'content.' At its best, the dreamy & ethereal scenes of the girls against the landscape evoke the influence of Picnic at Hanging Rock, but also become a precursor to the director's subsequent masterpiece, Marie Antoinette.
- 7/10
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsNina HossRonald ZehrfeldNina KunzendorfAfter surviving Auschwitz, a former cabaret singer has her disfigured face reconstructed and returns to her war-ravaged hometown to seek out her gentile husband, who may or may not have betrayed her to the Nazis.At first it seems far-fetched, contrived; full of loose ends & elements that don't seem to add up; but on reflection, manages to grapple with some devastating themes. The experience of the protagonist mirrors that of the country itself; she loses her identity, is rebuilt but forced back into the same routines. She's made to suppress the experience of the holocaust, to pretend everything's okay, but she can't.
- 8/10
- DirectorBrett MorgenStarsKurt CobainWendy O'ConnorDon CobainAn authorized documentary on the late musician Kurt Cobain, from his early days in Aberdeen, Washington to his success and downfall with the grunge band Nirvana.Cobain wanted to be remembered for the music. Okay; so here's a work of commercial product that glosses over all of his musical accomplishments, his influences & aspirations, his methodology, and instead presents a voyeuristic two and a half hour car crash that works to expose the songwriter as little more than a violent, narcissistic, habitual drug abusing deadbeat bully. Blatant exploitation at its most cynical.
- 3/10
- DirectorJohn PogueStarsJared HarrisSam ClaflinOlivia CookeA university professor and a team of students conduct an experiment on a young woman, uncovering terrifyingly dark, unexpected forces in the process.Tired repeat of the 'research scientists gathered together to expose the paranormal' motif that's been around for decades but seems to have flourished since the recent found-footage renaissance. Pogue's film can't seem to decide if it even wants to be found-footage or something more conventional; but it also can't decide if it wants to be a serious study on obsession/delusion or a garish bit of effects-laden schlock.
- 5/10
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsAlicia VikanderDomhnall GleesonOscar IsaacA young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.Part throwback to a mad-scientist monster movie, part Bergmanesque psychodrama, part Soderberghian meditation on style & mood. As contemplation of the line between man and machine, between consciousness and unconsciousness, Garland's film is up there with the best of Mamoru Oshii or Spielberg's A.I.; a work connected to the concerns of the modern world, but propelled by themes that are timeless & emotionally engaged.
- 9/10
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJulianne MooreMia WasikowskaRobert PattinsonA tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.Begins like Theorem by way of The Player; a strange visitor infiltrating a network of Hollywood caricatures with the intention of destroying them from within. Blunt tinsel town satire (à la The Canyons) soon mutates into a hysterical Mommie Dearest-style psychodrama full of ghosts, vulgarity, ugliness and ultra-violence. I'm not sure how succinctly the entire thing is supposed to connect, but it's powerful, in parts.
- 7/10
- DirectorTony MontanaMark Brian SmithStarsTroy DuffyJeffrey BaxterChris BrinkerA documentary on the rise and stumble of Troy Duffy, the bartender-cum-filmmaker who was swept up by Miramax's Harvey Weinstein to turn his script for The Boondock Saints into a feature film.A fascinating car-crash. Duffy is the kind of deluded narcissist oft seen in British sitcoms; a monstrous amalgam of Alan Partridge & David Brent played entirely straight-faced. His self-belief is only matched by his ability to treat everyone around him like dirt on the bottom of his shoes. It should be a guilty pleasure, but it ends up offering an eye-opening look into the backroom politics of the Hollywood machine.
- 6/10
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsJuliette BinocheKristen StewartChloë Grace MoretzA film star comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself while starring in a revival of the play that launched her career.Several layers intertwined; a deconstruction of Fassbinder's Petra von Kant, a Persona-like meta-drama about the difficult relationship between women, a reiteration of Irma Vep's playful "anti-Hollywood" rhetoric (replete with a faux comic book style blockbuster), a film about the "old wave" replaced by the new, a film about filmmaking (with several personifications of the director) and finally a documentation of a natural phenomenon analogous to Rohmer's The Green Ray. A masterpiece.
- 10/10
- DirectorRuben ÖstlundStarsJohannes KuhnkeLisa Loven KongsliClara WettergrenA family vacationing in the French Alps is confronted with a devastating avalanche.Östlund directs like a genial, less hectoring Haneke. His style is studied & controlled. Color, composition, editing & sound are impeccable, establishing a feeling of antiseptic middle-class anxiety; an empty going-through-the-motions depiction of modern life comparable to Archipelago by J. Hogg. Here the popular "comedy of embarrassment" trope merges with the spirit of Buñuel without becoming nasty or mean-spirited.
- 8/10
- DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsJohnny DeppArmie HammerWilliam FichtnerNative American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.Pitched somewhere between the spectacle of The General and the cynicism of Once Upon a Time in the West, Verbinski & Co. wrestle with complex themes, from genocide & corruption, to betrayal & unrequited love. Placing their escapism within a context of American history, here brought to life for a child who knows only of "heroes" when the reality is something far more cruel, the results are both thrilling & affecting.
-9/10 - DirectorJohn BoormanStarsCallum TurnerCaleb Landry JonesPat ShorttIn this sequel to Hope and Glory (1987), Bill Rohan has grown up and is drafted into the army, where he and his eccentric best mate, Percy, battle their snooty superiors on the base and look for love in town.Less a story of a boy becoming soldier than a soldier becoming director. While it's great to have Boorman back (his vibrant palette, classical framing & burning romanticism seem ever more dear), the film lacks the "mythical" quality of his greatest work. It's essentially a tasteful cine-memoir told "straight", with little of the surrealism, biting satire & bursts of action that define & dominate his landmark films.
-7/10 - DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsMartin FreemanEmily HolmesEva BirthistleAn extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting 'The Night Watch'.Seen in relation to the subsequent Rembrandt's J'Accuse, it seems a masterwork of critical suggestion. Apart, it feels incomplete. While essentially a remake of The Draughtsman's Contract, the film succeeds as both an investigation into the artistic process & as deconstruction of the Dutch master's style. The cinematic reproduction of van Rijn's work is of course exciting, but the human element is no less compelling.
-8/10 - DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsRamsey NasrF. Murray AbrahamHendrik AertsHendrik Goltzius, a late-16th-century Dutch printer and engraver of erotic prints, seduces the Margrave of Alsace into paying for a printing press to make and publish illustrated books.This dizzying mix of "Prospero's" multi-media phantasmagoria & "Mâcon's" Brechtian dissertation on voyeurism is also Greenaway's clearest statement on the nature of cinema & its roots in picture-making & performance. In this conception, Goltzius becomes a prototypical-moviemaker struggling against financiers, critics & censorship to achieve a vision every bit as daring, creative & revelatory as the film itself.
-9/10 - DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsJJ FeildRaymond J. BarryMichèle BernierThe first of three parts, we follow Tulse Luper in three distinct episodes: as a child during the first World War, as an explorer in Mormon Utah, and as a writer in Belgium during the rise of fascism. Packed with stylistic flourishes, it's a dense, comic study of 20th century history, revolving around the contents of one man's suitcases.Every sound & image is presented as a series of layered reflections, depicting the surface (the conventional narrative, which is enthralling) but also the subtext & a deconstruction of subtext. Actual history is interwoven with fact & fiction, fantasy & autobiography, as well as Greenaway's continual obsession with lists & numerical miscellanea. This is nothing less than a total reinvention of the language of cinema.
- 9/10
- DirectorGeorge ButlerRobert FioreStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLou FerrignoMatty FerrignoArnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno face off in a no-holds-barred competition for the title of Mr. Olympia in this critically-acclaimed film that made Schwarzenegger a household name.Today, this kind of material would be a candidate for reality TV; a documentary that takes its audience into a particular world & survives solely through the personalities of its central characters. Attempts to create drama by engineering rivalries between contestants appear phony since these guys look to be having fun together & very little seems at stake. At best an interesting insight into a particular subculture.
- 5/10
- DirectorWarwick ThorntonStarsRowan McNamaraMarissa GibsonMitjili Napanangka GibsonA glue-sniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the government-controlled no-hope Aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, Alice Springs, looking for a better life.A powerful if inert look at a familiar country through unfamiliar eyes. While the filmmaking is not especially refined, there are nonetheless potent similarities to the films of Roeg & Herzog; primarily in Thornton's blurring of fiction & documentary, but also in the way the city becomes like an alien landscape when viewed by two people marginalised by the prejudices of contemporary society. Bleak but fascinating.
- 7/10
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsJulie ChristiePeter FinchAlan BatesBathsheba Everdene, a willful, flirtatious young woman, unexpectedly inherits a large farm and is romantically pursued by three very different men.Much of what makes the film astounding is not its translation of Hardy's text into cinematic narrative, but the depiction of a rural lifestyle that hums with pastoral, primal beauty. Scenes on the farm & interactions between characters eating, drinking, enjoying life's simple pleasures, anticipates something of Pasolini & his trilogy of life. A hymn to the splendour of nature, colour, the drama of the changing light.
- 9/10
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsCharlotte GainsbourgStellan SkarsgårdStacy MartinA self-diagnosed nymphomaniac recounts her erotic experiences to the man who saved her after a beating.Joe fashions a story from the ephemera of Seligman's room. Why? Is she telling her own story or something else? The framing device gives credence to the more preposterous moments; creates a context for Joe to indulge in fantasy but also for Seligman to interject; to deconstruct the material. In this sense the film is not just a thesis on the themes herein, but a self-reflexive study on von Trier's own methodology.
A pornographic variant on The Princess Bride with all of the same self-reflexive dialogues about the relationship between author (Joe as surrogate for von Trier) & spectator (Seligman as surrogate for the audience). However the film is also the clearest, most penetrating iteration of the filmmaker's recent themes; depression, self-destruction, gender identity, the cruelties of nature, etc. A masterwork for von Trier.- 9/10
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsCharlotte GainsbourgStellan SkarsgårdWillem DafoeThe continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adulthood, obsessions and what led to her being in Seligman's care.Joe's story about the paedophile suggests hidden implications at the end. Why is she telling these stories to Seligman? What response is she looking for & does she get it? Is the film a chronicle of one woman's self-destruction/transfiguration through sexual experience or a cruel game of deception & entrapment? I would say both. The subtleties of the ending introduce a profound degree of potential reinterpretations.
A pornographic variant on The Princess Bride with all of the same self-reflexive dialogues about the relationship between author (Joe as surrogate for von Trier) & spectator (Seligman as surrogate for the audience). However the film is also the clearest, most penetrating iteration of the filmmaker's recent themes; depression, self-destruction, gender identity, the cruelties of nature, etc. A masterwork for von Trier.- 9/10
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsHugh GriffithLaura BettiNinetto DavoliPasolini's artistic, sometimes violent, always vividly cinematic retelling of some of Chaucer's most erotic tales.Pasolini as Chaucer gives the film a more tangible through line than his earlier The Decameron. Here the same medley of stories, which run the gamut from satirical swipes at politics & religion to bawdy sexcapades & Chaplin pastiche, are tied together by the presence of Chaucer as self-reflexive surrogate for Pasolini, casting his critical eye not just over a medieval burlesque but its reflection of the modern world.
The films third act depiction of Hell as a surreal Hieronymus Bosch-like fantasia elevates the work above the level of the "merely great" to the realms of absolute genius! One of the most bizarre and inventive sequences Pasolini ever filmed. Funny and frightening in equal measure.- 10/10
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsPerdita WeeksBen FeldmanEdwin HodgeWhen a team of explorers venture into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.Every found-footage cliché in the book. The film does deserve praise for creating & sustaining a palpable feeling of claustrophobia & for a scattering of powerful images (the burning car at the heart of the catacombs, the literally dizzying final shot) but the emphasis on disposable stock characters, lack of subtext & "create it as you go along" supernatural hokum makes engaging with the narrative largely pointless.
- 6/10
- StarsTimothy SpallEleanor Worthington-CoxJuliet StevensonAn 11 year-old Janet terrorized by the paranormal activity permeating every room - or so she'd like everyone to believe; especially Mr. Grosse, the doting researcher who goes to great lengths to protect her from the strange, dark forces.
- 7/10
- CreatorChad HodgeStarsSiobhan Fallon HoganToby JonesShannyn SossamonA Secret Service agent goes to Wayward Pines, Idaho in search of two federal agents who have gone missing in the bucolic town. He soon learns that he might never get out of Wayward Pines alive.NOTE ON THE PILOT EP: Proves there's life in the old dog yet. Shyamalan engages with classic film noir traditions & delivers moments of concise exposition without the need to confuse. Dillon succeeds where Wahlberg in The Happening failed, providing a deadpan foil to the insanity of the rest of the town; creating a perspective of identification for the viewer. However the director is really in his element when creating moments of suspense & paranoia.
This was a good start to the series, but far from the best episode. Wayward Pines turned out to be one of the most interesting TV shows of the year for me, but I'm surprised the American critics praised it after they'd so viciously pilloried Shyamalan's own masterpiece The Village; anyone who has seen both will know why this reeks of contradiction.- 8/10 (overall series rating)
- DirectorBrian YuznaStarsJ. Trevor EdmondMelinda ClarkeKent McCordHaving recently witnessed the horrific results of a top secret project to bring the dead back to life, a distraught youth performs the operation on his girlfriend after she's killed in a motorcycle accident.Interesting that this is essentially a Romeo & Juliet style love-story between a living boy & his undead girlfriend, years before such conventions would become the mainstream (the internal dilemmas of recent films Life After Beth & Burying the Ex are clear descendants). Beyond the novelty of this, there's little to recommend. The first Return of the Living Dead is one of the great comedy-horrors; this is neither.
- 4/10
- DirectorJennifer LynchStarsVincent D'OnofrioEamon FarrenEvan BirdA young man held prisoner by a cab-driving serial killer must make a life or death choice between following in his captor's footsteps or breaking free.An interesting, thought-provoking film, though not something to highly recommend. As psychological study on the nature of evil it's fascinating but doesn't offer enough depth to be genuinely insightful. As bizarre lampoon of domestic father/son relationships it's perhaps more engaging, but the director would need to channel her father's warped sense of humor & post-modernist sensibility to make such a notion work.
- 6/10
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert MitchumKen TakakuraEiji OkadaAmerican private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend's kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.Unlike Scorsese, Pollack doesn't get Schrader's violent existentialism & instead attempts to romanticise the relationship between characters; to give them a relatable sympathetic edge. The result is a stylish, often quite beautiful action movie in the tradition of Point Blank; however it's clear from the progression of the narrative that this, like Taxi Driver, would've played better as a nihilistic revenge fantasy.
- 7/10
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsShelley DuvallSissy SpacekJanice RuleTwo roommates/physical therapists, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship.Altman's strangest film. A pre-Lynch take on Lynchian themes of dissociation, identity, alienation, the blurring of perspectives. Nods to Persona escape the curse of empty imitation by being delivered in Altman's unique & characteristic style; the camera drifting nomadically across complex scenes; picking out startling shots, strange objects, moments that seems inconsequential but make sense on reflection. Haunting.
- 9/10