All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone) – 8/10
The Informer (John Ford) – 8/10
My Life As A Dog (Lasse Hallstrom) – 10/10
Detective Story (Takashi Miike) – 5/10
Fearless (Peter Weir) – 10/10
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Hector Babenco) – 8/10
The Commitments (Alan Parker) – 6/10
God’s Country (Louis Malle) – 7/10
The Last Days of Disco (Whit Stillman) – 8/10
The American Friend (Wim Wenders) – 7/10
Missing (Costa-Gavras) – 8/10
Senso (Luchino Visconti) – 8/10
@ BRIAN EVANS
Is MISSING worth a view? I see it on Criterion DVD at my local library all the time and I never get it even though I really like Sissy Spacek
i found it to be a very alarming political thriller. if you can disregard some of the poor choice in musical score to the film, Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek give very noteworthy performances. i definitely recommend it, as well as watching some of the documentary featurettes that come with the Criterion package – it gives outstanding background info on international government policies and how the US government increasingly disposes of its objective to protect its citizens.
Sult (1966) … Cinema can’t get any better than this. If Liv Ullmen’s performance in Bergman’s ‘Face to Face’ is best acting performance by an actress IMO, then Per Oscarsson’s performance in this film is probably the BEST acting perfoamce by an actor in the history of cinema. Pure Nirvana!
It is based upon the novel ‘Hunger’ by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Very Bergmanesque movie, brilliant study of an artist’s pride/ego, dying for a meal but too proud & pretentious to accept it via charity or dishonesty. Visually, this movie is breathtaking, those beautiful shots are going to stay with me forever, excellent black and white photography, brilliant camera work, remarkable acting. What a movie! WATCH IT … 9.5/10
Valhalla Rising (Dir. Nicholas Winding Refn, 2009) – 1/10
This was dumb almost beyond belief. Art movie cliche paired with action movie cliche. Two cliches don’t make an original. My time would’ve been better spent watching Agguire: The Wrath of God or The New World. Bleech.
Torment (1944) – Another masterpiece of Swedish cinema. Watched this movie because Ingmar Bergman wrote its script. Revolves around the educational system, role of teachers and importantly emotional turmoil & psychological conflicts, primarily between the generations. Sjoberg’s direction was top-notch, he used his actors quite well & successfully created the atmosphere that was important for this movie. Recommended! 8/10
@Robert W Peabody III
Well, no, it’s Bulgarian, it received some awards at Moscow Film Festival, as far as I can recall for best director. I am really not sure how it works as a statement about contemporary society (historically, the movie is set in the 1940s) the main character speaks how he went to prison before 9th and came out of prison after 9th, 9th referring to the date 09.09.1944 when Soviet troops crossed Bulgarian border and afterwards communist party went into running the country for the next 45 years. So, in a way he went to a literal prison and when released he finds he is ‘free’ in a bigger prison… Otherwise, yes, I guess it’s kind of clever and entertaining, the majority of the audience here accepted as a Bulgarian version of a Tarantino or a Guy Ritchie film, at least that is how it was marketed and maybe that is why it was so successful in the so called local box office…
I haven’t seen ’’4’’, but it sounds really intriguing, scriptwriter is Vladimir Sorokin who as far as I know is one of the best contemporary Russian writers along with Pelevin
The Kids Are All Right: 8.00
Goodfellas: 9.00
@janitor_of_lunacy it sounds really intriguing, scriptwriter is Vladimir Sorokin who as far as I know is one of the best contemporary Russian writers along with Pelevin.
It is completely whacked, which is what I liked about it – let us know what you think after you see it.
Maybe Bulgaria is the same way.
Bulgaria’s cinema is not the Tarantino-school junk you’ve watched. The trailer alone is evidence enough for me to stay away from garbages like these. That’s how my Balkan area is becoming cinematically popular worldwide? Thanks to films like Zift and A Serbian Film? Goes to show when people curse Makavejev or Angelopoulos….
The Fighter (Dir. David O. Russle, 2010) – 8/10
This is a damn entertaining movie. It’s probably too close to Rocky to be rated any higher, but I enjoyed myself all the way through. What sets this apart from most feel-good sports movies is the performances. Whalberg is is usual (good) self, but everyone else just hits it out of the ballpark here. I have no idea how accurate this is in terms of Lowell, MA culture, but it sure was fun to watch.
Take note, Hollywood. This is how sports movies should be done.
Oh, and let me just say that Led Zepplin’s music suits the big screen.
Children Of Men 7.5/10
Wendy and Lucy 8/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
Apocalypse Now 8.5/10
My first two films of 2011.
Battle: Los Angeles – 3/5
Decent. At it’s best, it conjures emotions similar to those in Cloverfield and War of the Worlds (though as a whole it’s nowhere near either of those films). At worst, it’s a hammy recruitment video. The action is typical shaky business, but with some visceral punch. Aaron Eckhart is a reliable actor, everyone else is just a face. Some strong images scattered amongst some more typical Tony Scott-ripoff visuals.
Unknown – 2/5
The film: meh. Liam Neeson as an action star: meh.
Exiles 2004
Exils
DIR Tony Gatlif
PROD Tony Gatlif
SCR Tony Gatlif
104 Min
Not much love for this road movie at MUBI.
I think it was well written, directed, and acted.
8/10
The Gospel According To St. Matthew (Italy-1964) 3/5
Anger Management 5/10
I think this is an underrated Sandler comedy with a great supporting cast that includes Jack Nicholson, John C. Reily, Luis Guzman, John Turtoro, Woody Harrelson and Marissa Tomeii. No one can say that Sandler doesn’t have pull or really good actors as friends.
@Jack
But how’d you like Bruno Ganz’s character? I really liked him, and I wished they made a movie about him.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch 6.5/10
House of Games (Dir. David Mamet, 1987) – 10/10
(repeat view)
The things we think, the things we want. We could do them or not do them, but we can’t hide them.
This was initially called “The Tell”. They should’ve left it that way. Mamet’s style doesn’t always work, but when it does it sings.
Great wasn’t it Nathan, I could easily watch it again. Well, it demands it really! 10/10 also
Yes, I’ll have to agree as well. Mamet is not much of a film director but this is his biggest “score” to date. By entertainment values alone, this gets 5/5 from me…
Control (2007) – 3.5/5 Good performances but a bit slow. The band’s music was well integrated into the film, not too little, not too much.
yroc
Bronson 8/10
and…
Baghead 6/10
I thought Bronson was a good movie with style but it’s all about Tom Hardy’s performance. Also, Baghead was a well paced take on film, friendship and the effect the two have on us and the choices we make but it sagged in the middle a bit. Overall, it was a good night of film watching.