Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder) – 10/10
The American (Anton Corbijn) – 9/10
Greaser’s Palace (Robert Downey Sr.) – 4/10
Miral (Julian Schnabel) – 6/10
Zift (Javor Gardev) – 8/10
Adelheid (Frantisek Vlacil) – 8/10
Even The Rain (Iciar Bolain) – 7/10
Songs From The Second Floor (Roy Andersson) – 9/10
Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne) – 10/10
Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine) – 9/10
Rubber (Quentin Dupieux) – 2/10
Tropic of Cancer (Joseph Strick) – 5/10
Into the Night (John Landis) – 6/10
The Passion of Anna (Ingmar Bergman) – 8/10
Mona Lisa (Neil Jordan) – 8/10
Restrepo 3/5
Prefer the Danish Armadillo to this one.
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988)
DIR Charlotte Zwerin
90 min
Form the perspective of a personal manager – in this case Harry Colomby, Monk’s personal manager.
So Monk was a pain in the ass ? a nutter? Can we get Monk Jr to confirm that?
Got to see Tommy Flanagan play, but this was surprisingly bad.
Rating: Avoid
Le Quattro Volte 8/10
Very unique film. The sort of film that tells a story with images instead of dialog. I can’t believe it was actually playing in a theater. The film is sort of a chronicle of the passage to modernity through four stages and its effect on animals and nature. There’s also some not so subtle synergy between the behavior of the goats and the humans. I thought some of the random crucifix shapes lying around were a little cheesy, but otherwise a beautiful movie, that I appreciate more the more I reflect on it.
@Robert
I’m pretty sure Monk was eccentric at the very least. I don’t remember the documentary, but I actually own it on vhs. How do you like Monk’s music?
@Robert
I’m pretty sure Monk was eccentric at the very least. I don’t remember the documentary, but I actually own it on vhs. How do you like Monk’s music?
Aparajito Satyajit Ray 8.5/10
Probably the weakest of the trilogy. So what does that tell you?
Was glad to find a copy in a used DVD store. Hadn’t seen it for some time.
As Apu pursues his ambitions his mother’s suffering is palpable and deeply moving. Well, one film on Apu has a thing or two to learn about family.
The cinematography around Benares especially is terrific.
A world treasure.
Dust Devil 1/10
The lowest rating I’ve given to any other cup film so far is a 4.
Everything about it was cheesy. None of the suspenseful moments were possible to take seriously. Every murder scene had close up shots of an owl, and this movie came out right after Twin Peaks. Nothing in the film wasn’t a ripoff of something or other. Sub-Hollywood. The one point I gave it is being charitable.
Monsieur Verdoux 9/10
I need to see more post-silent Chaplin.
futureworld 7/10
futureworld 7/10
futureworld 7/10
futureworld 7/10
note to self: no need to press “post reply” multiple times.
Jirin read my Dust Devil thread it might shed some light
also the film was planned and filmed in a short version long before Twin Peaks, this is like Lynch but with meaning
@ Jazz I’m pretty sure Monk was eccentric at the very least. I don’t remember the documentary, but I actually own it on vhs. How do you like Monk’s music?
Sure, but that is all the doc goes for – it is really a put down of the man, which i guess is supposed to say that his music overcomes his mental illness. Half the doc went on about his dependence Nelli. Then the crazy french socialite who flew bombers in WWII does a VO that says 1972 was the year he moved in with me.
That is a fact, but the way it was set up was as vulgar as possible.
Charlotte Zwerin is listed as a director on several Maysles bros films.
Monk’s music is iconic.
@Den
I read your introduction thread. It sheds more light on the symbolism, sure. It doesn’t change that the dialog is incompetent and the characterization forced and awkward. I don’t know what you mean by ‘A Lynch film with meaning’. Lynch films are more about exploring the theme and the atmosphere than giving a specific thesis. Maybe there’s a good idea for a film behind Dust Devil, but the execution is terrible. You’re saying it was a deliberate choice to copy iconography from other films — then it was a bad choice. There’s a fine line between influence and derivation.
The Class (Dir. Laurent Cantet, 2008) – 7/10
I like the slice-of-life approach, especially in the early sections of the film. But once Cantet moves away from scenes of regular classroom interaction and into the central conflict between the teacher and one of his students, I’m not sure what to take away from it. I sense that Cantet wants us to sympathize with the teacher, but he’s quite honestly not good at classroom management. Much of what transpires is a direct result of the lack of structure and disciplinary measures. This is a teacher who wants too much to be friends with his students, and it comes back to bite him in the ass.
Tokyo! (Dir. Omnibus, 2008) – rating assigned to each short film
Interior Design (Dir. Michel Gondry) – 8/10
Gondry’s film is about a couple hunting for a new apartment in Tokyo. Of the three films, this one might be the best at capturing what it’s actually like to live in a city like Tokyo. (I’ve never been to Japan, so I can’t speak to the authenticity elements). It does fall apart in the last few minutes, but otherwise It’s pretty good.
Merde (Dir. Leos Carax) – 4/10
This has nothing to do with Tokyo in particular, and it seemed weird for the sake of being weird. Feel free to skip this part of the film.
Shaking Tokyo (Dir. Bong Joon-ho) 9/10
The best of the three films, imo. Bong’s piece deals with a man who’s been living inside his house without ever going out for ten years. He’s forced into the outside world when he finally looks the pizza delivery girl in the face. It’s a little silly in some respects, but I think it holds together better than any of the others.
Last Train Home 2009
DIR Lixin Fan
DP Lixin Fan
CAST Suqin Chen, Changhua Zhan, Qin Zhang
85 Min
The Chinese believe the world we live in is not black and white. As the Tao’s yin and yang argument explains: every action creates a counter-action as a natural, unavoidable moment – Lixin Fan
10/10
@Jirin I guess we will just have to disagree.One reason I love Dust Devil is its uniqueness, I have never seen anything like it at all really
@Jirin I guess we will just have to disagree. One reason I love Dust Devil is its uniqueness, I have never seen anything like it at all really
After.Life
dir. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, justin Long
Mindblowingly bad. I was embarrassed for everyone involved especially Neeson. A film that strove to be too ambiguous for it’s own good and just ended up being obvious and irritating.
1/10
Stranger than Paradise — 7/10
Fargo (Dir. Joel Coen, 1996) – 10/10
(repeat view)
Noir is at the heart of Fargo. It remains bizarrely funny and beautifully constructed.
The Royal Tenenbaums (Dir. Wes Anderson, 2001) – 10/10
(repeat view)
Despite (or perhaps because of) all the affectations in Wes Anderson’s best film, it’s a very emotionally effective movie for me. It might be too cute for some, but part of the pleasure of seeing it over and over is noticing the small details.
Freakonomics 2010
DIR Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki, Morgan Spurlock
85 Min
People cheat? Names don’t matter? Things are more than their surface?
Moronic.
Rating: avoid
A Great Day in Harlem (1994)
Director: Jean Bach
60 min
Two disk set: Disk #2 ids each individual and gives some background chatter
Art Kane, now deceased, coordinated a group photograph of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine. Just about every jazz musician at the time showed up for the photo shoot which took place in front of a brownstone near the 125th street station. The documentary compiles interviews of many of the musicians in the photograph to talk about the day of the photograph, and it shows film footage taken that day by Milt Hinton and his wife.
I actually enjoyed this and for what it is, it was well done.
8/10
Not in MUBI data base btw.
Indendies (2010): 9.5/10. Fantastic flick. Watch it.
Indendies (2010): 9.5/10. Fantastic flick. Watch it.
@Nathan
Re: The Class
I think the film was one of the more realistic portrayals of inner city students and classrooms, but, for me, the film didn’t do more than just give the viewer a taste of this as well as illustrate the challenges schools face (which is valuable, but it’s something that I was pretty familiar with). I also disagree that the teacher had terrible classroom management. Maybe he could have been better, but I’ve seen a lot worse. Actually, the French students in his class were a lot more respectful than most of the American ones I’ve seen from a similar background.
@Jirin and Den
I didn’t really care for Dust Devil myself, but I wonder it’s fair to say that one has to like B-movies to appreciate the film (as well as other films by the director)? In a way, he reminds me of John Carpenter. One has to be open to B-movies to appreciate both I think.
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (Video 2006)
Director: Gary Leva
68 min
Sydney Pollack and Christopher Nolan call noir a genre. Noire is actually a style within which there are found genres, such as sci-fi, western, mystery, and crime. I think referring to noir as a genre, means a crime noir.
One can get as much from listening to William Friedkin’s commentary on The Narrow Margin.
7/10
Nathan M.
The Blob (Dir. Irvin S. Yeaworth, 1958) – 6/10
The best thing about this movie was the intro song. Mildly entertaining, mostly valuable as a historical artifact.