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Reviews
Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You (1993)
An incredible music video
Imagine a music video with the sets of a Carl Th. Dreyer film, animation that goes from dolls to pixalated humans, set to the Lynchian pop of His Name Is Alive.
If your confused, just find a copy of Kino Video's _Brothers Quay Collection_. I was in New Orleans and staying at a friend's. I still hadn't caught on to DVD, but he had a player in his apartment. So I went to the Virgin mega-store down the street and found this DVD in their special interests section. I was quite disturbed at first, but years later this (and many other Quay works) has become a major influence on my own music videos.
If you are a fan of early cinema and His Name Is Alive (or anything else on the 4AD label (This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, Pixies) then you should really check this piece out. The DVD contains 11 films and is usually priced at around $20.
Julie Taymor's _Frida_ features the animation of the Quay Brothers in the dream that Frida has in the hospital after her accident. Their animation was disgustedly trimmed and edited for the film, but if you've seen it, you at least have an idea of the brilliance these twin brothers are capable of.
And while your out buying stuff, see if you can find a copy of _Mouth to Mouth_ by His Name Is Alive. It contains the song _Can't Go Wrong Without You_ and the rest of the album is great as well. I found an unopened copy of it on eBay for a fair price. It seems that all the really good music, videos, and film go out of print.
Reveille (2001)
a film to raise debate
i was teaching at a film workshop when this film was shown to the students to illustrate what a short film is. this film is exactly that. it's short, heh, and despite what many people think it _does_ tell a story. when the film had ended the screen-writing teacher stood up and declared that _reveile_ did not tell a story. well, everyone has an opinion. i thought it was great that a short, simple film could raise such debate over how a filmmaker can tell a story.
_reveile_ is directed by bruce bennett and shot beautifully by peter agliata. if you see it on IFC stop and watch it. but watchout!...you might get inspired.
that's the director doing pushups on the sidewalk towards the beginning of the film....i think.
Shirtsleeves (1998)
the child inside dies and man is born from anger...
a strong debut from NYC filmmaker bruce bennett. as the summary above explains, it's a film about an unending cycle of adolescent cruelty. but it's also about those last years of teenhood when you bury the kid you once were and try to forget the days of childhood innocence. like bennett's second film, _reveile_, the camera tells the story as the characters go about their lonely lives only to be interrupted by another character's disturbing actions. the film also features a beautiful string score. i love how short films can just burn themselves into your brain even when you only see them once at film festival years ago. ahh, the magic of cinema.
i feel the message of this film even clearer now, being 18 and all. i hope bennett continues making films of such striking simplicity and moving pain.
Here Comes Santa Claus (2003)
best movie of 2003
i saw this movie at a film festival and i have to say it is one of the most brilliant short films i've ever seen. the humor is very sophisticated rivaling that of the great marx brothers. the movie is shot in a minimalist style that greatly enhances the transending imagery. i love it the way a french man loves andy kaufman.
Buffalo Common (2002)
On The Road....
Bill Brown's personal, observant film, "Buffalo Common" is witty and filled with philisophical statements. Traveling to North Dakota researching the psyches of the townsfolk who lived among armed missile silos for thirty-five years. In '99 half of them were decommisioned. The colorful black and white cinematography is excellent and Bill's stream of consciousness narration is thoughtful and provoking. Something different and definitely worth a look.
Une femme est une femme (1961)
Godard knows what cinema is and this is cinema.
This movie is often advertised as a musical. It's not. It's Jean-Luc Godard's world, filled with vibrant blues and reds, bogaurd cigarettes, and cinema fantasies, shown through the eyes of Anna Karina. Karina plays a stripper, but unlike the other girls, she dances and sings as if she were in a musical choreographed by Bob Fosse. Raoul Cotard's cinerama camera follows her through Paris as we expiriance her flirtation's with her lover's best friend (played by Jean Paul Belamondo who also costars with Karina in 'Pierette le Fou' and starred in Godard's first film, A bout de scoffule) and argues with her lover about whether they should have a child and how awful the opposite sex is. They love eachother deeply, but can't stand eachother. In my experiance this IS love...or the closest thing humans can get to love. Godard keeps us completley out of the film by constantly reminding us that THIS IS A FILM. Anna Karina winks at the camera, breaks into song, the actors are staged unrealistically. This is what makes Jean-Luc Godard great. No matter how hard he tried to obtain realism in his first film, it was still a film and this is one of Godard's subliminal messages to the audience. Fun, charming, cinematic, and beautiful--a woman is a woman is a fine piece of cinema.
Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)
What we take for granted...
Wim Wenders shows us how the things in life we take for granted are the most important things we have. Using the story of an angel who falls in love with a circus performer to make this point, the film gradually goes to color. The opening scenes of the camera moving through apartment windows and through rooms and out windows again is breathtaking.
Viskningar och rop (1972)
Bergman looks into our souls...
The first film that Ingmar Bergman chose, of his own will, to do in color. The story of three women, two sisters and a maid, who are caring after the third sister who is dying. Anyone who has ever been bedridden can relate to the images that Bergman creates. Red is everywhere in this film. Walls, beds, clothes. Red is the color of the soul and the soul is what this film is about. The film goes into the subconcious of our characters: self mutilation, promiscuous sex, God. Definetly a film to open your eyes.