Another Year (Mike Leigh) – 6/10
Santa Sangre (Alejandro Jodorowsky) – 9/10
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese) – 10/10
The Commitments (Alan Parker) – 6/10
The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky) – 7/10 re-rating
Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry) – 9/10
Henry and June (Phillip Kaufman) – 8/10
Lost Highway (David Lynch) – 9/10 re-rating
Martyrs (Pascal Laugier) – 9/10
Martin (George A. Romero) – 4/10
Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer) – 5/10
Departures (Yojiro Takita) – 8/10
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (Werner Herzog) – 9/10
M. Butterfly (David Cronenberg) – 7/10
Amerikana (James Merendino) – 5/10 (the director of SLC Punk doing Dogme 95? gross!)
Catfish (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman) – 8/10
Kiss Me, Stupid (Billy Wilder) – 3/10
Business is Business (Paul Verhoeven) – 2/10
Suspect Zero (E. Elias Merhage) – 7/10
Freaks (Tod Browning) – 8/10
Szamanka (Andzrej Zulawski) – 5/10
Dinner For Schmucks (Jay Roach) – 5/10
O Brother, Where Art Thou (Coen Brothers) – 10/10
Carrie (Dir. Brian DePalma, 1976) – 10/10 (Repeat viewing)
Gleefully overwrought, cheezy, and dated…yet somehow touching. Modern horror directors, take note.
The Red Balloon (Dir. Albert Lamorisse, 1956) – 10/10
Paris has never looked more beautiful.
5404 posts by 1000 people created by Nessa L. about 2 years ago
Last night I dreamt Nessa cancelled her account at theAuteurs and took this thread with her.
Tarkovsky and Zulawski less than Billy Elliot and an Odyssey rendition?
Uummm…OK…
Match Point 10/10.
Match Point 10/10.
Match Point – 1/10
Edna always said Zelig was Woody’s worst film. Edna was wrong. Compared to Match Point (on TV the other night), Zelig is a work of genius and funnier than cholera. Match Point was (and is and always will be) truly a dog of the doggiest type. Wooden dialogue, wooden plot, woodier than woody. Is it supposed to be funny or is it supposed to be taken seriously or is it just a load of shite from someone who has totally run out of ideas? The odd thing is that it is very well filmed and edited. It’s just the unrealistic and stilted dialogue and the dreary and unrealistic plot. Oh yes, and the totally wooden acting – clearly Woody didn’t know how to direct English actors. They appear like English actors pretending to be American actors pretending to be the sort of English characters Americans who have never met an English person imagine they must be. And reading from autocue as well.
^^i’d give it more than one Edna, but i do agree that it’s quite overrated. I preferred it to Vicky Christina Barcelona though.
AMERICAN PIMP: revisiting this after several years. I’ve probably seen it 4-5 times over the last 12 or so years and keep walking about with different impressions. The biggest criticism of the film was that the Hughes seem to be in awe of their subjects, and fail to criticise or question their lifestyles as a direct result of this, and it’s true that the misogyny is often left wide open, perhaps too open, and never really challenged. However, offering pimps the chance to pimp’s to ‘speak for themselves’, in the absence of any real critical inquiry, is quite a nifty strategy on part of the Hughes Brothers; by giving them rope, the directors allow the subjects to hang themselves, right before our very eyes. The opinions of feminists and ex-hookers would have greatly undermined the effectiveness of this very deliberate approach.
There is a missed opportunity here though, but it has more to do with race than gender: why are street pimps mostly black? And why is it that the only legal pimp shown in this film—Dennis Hof, owner of the infamous Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada—come off worse than the street pimps, despite the fact that he pays his employees well and offers a whole variety of additional financial, legal and health benefits? Sure, it’s partially due to editing, and perhaps partially due to Hughes Brothers identifying more with them than him, but there is more to it. He just isn’t charming in the way street pimps are, and that, i believe, is part of the Hughes Brothers point(it’s interesting, and perhaps telling, that Hughes Brothers claim their mother, who is apparently a ‘feminist, was more repelled by the owner of the Bunny Ranch than the street pimps). But the racial subtext ought have been explored more thoroughly i think. In an earlier scene, one of the pimps actually claims that pimpin’ became a problem in America because the black man was making a lot of money without paying taxes. He even traces the emergence of the ‘pimp’ in American history back to reconstruction times. I’m not suggesting that the black pimp-white girl relationship is necessarily an inversion of the old master-slave plantation one, but there are too many avenues left unexplored imo. It’s an effective documentary though, regardless of flaws. 7.5/10
AMERICAN PIE: Always had mixed feelings about this one, even after a decade. In many ways that characters aren’t nearly as well developed here, and given less interesting things to do, as they are in the sequels—particularly Stifler and Finch—but on the other hand, this film has at least 2-3 of the genuine standout moments in the franchise as well as modern comedy(e.g the infamous pie scene, the scene with Jim and Nadia etc). Also, for a teen comedy that was meant to be a throwback to the bawdy comedies of the 80’s, it feels awfully conventional and structured, lacking the anarchic, rambling feel of Porky’s and Screwballs, and it’s too goddamn sentimental. 80’s sex comedies thrived on an objectification that was never questioned; this feels more like a P.C rewrite with a few token gross outs. The acting is also pretty shitty across the board too, with the exception of S.William Scott and the pie guy. It has its moments, but a comedy classic it ain’t! 5/10.
Edna always said Zelig was Woody’s worst film.
So may I safely assume Zelig is your second worst Woody? Are you joking?
Keaton & Bruckman’s THE GENERAL — 10/10
A joy forever.
So may I safely assume Zelig is your second worst Woody?
Yup.
Are you joking?
Nope. Edna loves many Woodys, but anyone who sees anything amusing or interesting in Zelig is verging on twatdom. Easily made its way onto my Most Overrated Films list.
“…but anyone who sees anything amusing or interesting in Zelig is verging on twatdom.”
I think, at the very least, you could argue that come of Allen’s special effects work on Zelig is of interest. Personally, I could barely make my way through Celebrity, but…
Until The Light Takes US (2008) Dir. Aaron Aites, Audrey Ewel 2/5
A Black Metal mess and for some reason it doesn’t have a kick ass Black Metal soundtrack WTF.
Agree with Dim, there are far worse Allen pictures than Zelig. e.g September, Another Woman, Celebrity, Cassandra’s Dream, Shadow’s and Fog…………..the list goes on!!
I haven’t seen Zelig in a long time, but I liked it quite a bit. I also think it’s far from Allen’s worst.
I thought only Ricky Henderson spoke in the third person.
@Joks
You didn’t like Another Woman and September, huh? I saw in many years ago in college, and I really enjoyed those films. (Did not care for Shadows and Fog, though.)
Jimmy likes Elaine.
but anyone who sees anything amusing or interesting in Zelig is verging on twatdom.
You can’t possibly think Zelig and Last Tango in Paris are on the same level as Forrest Gump and Moulin Rouge? Have you seen Melinda and Melinda or Mighty Aphrodite? Hell, Cassandra’s Dream was barely watchable.
But what am I saying, you think Cruising is underrated….sheesh….
is verging on twatdom.
Quite an articulate and impressive usage of the English language. Is this how tasteful English speak?
The Illusionist (2010)
8,1/10
I would say Whatever Works, Cassandra’s Dream and Bananas are his worst. His most overrated would be Crimes and Misdemeanors (Match Point was actually a less messy version of that film)
DESNOES: the soundtrack featured Burzum, Darkthrone, Mayhem etc. all the important bands. what were you looking for? Wolves In The Throne? ;-)
JAZZ: I thought ‘September’ was a real bore.
Melinda and Melinda is major sucky Allen too. The whole ‘is it a comedy or a drama?’ gimmick may have been fresh in 1975, but in 2005 it was just torturous, at least for me anyway.
His most overrated would be Crimes and Misdemeanors
Sorry Den, the fact you think Curse of the Jade Scorpion, possibly one of the top 10 mediocre to pathetic Woody Allen films (with a horrendous female lead MODEL on top of that) is something masterful doesn’t make your Crimes and Misdemeanors criticism valid. If anything, I expected you to mention his Manhattan or Annie Hall successes as being overrated due to all this publicity they’ve been getting till our days.
Taxi Driver 9.2/10
Saw VII 3/10
Panic Room 7.5/10
Trash Humpers
hahaha – this is really impossible to rate. the ästhetik in this movie is beautiful, the light, the lamps, the locations and the perpetual freeway noise in the background – very poetic in its own way. so for me it was worth watching.
the rest is forgettable and/or annoying, superficial jackass stuff. or maybe superficial is the new improved artsy black? at least it is a movie that will stick with me and thats more than i can say about many others.
Ludwig (Dir. Luchino Visconti, 1972) – 6/10
This movie is very beautiful to look at and the story is halfway interesting, but Visconti’s operatic sensibilities actually get in the way on this one. It drags a lot. Opulence isn’t enough to carry this film, and there are times when Visconti seemed to be drooling over all the castles and scenery. This is the first time I’ve found it difficult to get through a Visconti film. Maybe a second viewing somewhere down the road will help, but for now I’m pretty disappointed.
superficial jackass stuff
What is Korine saying there? isn’t that part of what the film is about?
Robert W Peabody III
Cat People 1942
DIR Jacques Tourneur
PROD Val Lewton
SCR DeWitt Bodeen
CAST Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph
73 Min
A classic meow…
8.5/10