Bringing Out the Dead 8/10 Hadn’t sen this since it’s initial release. Better than I remembered it. Great use of music especially Van Morrisons haunting TB Sheets.
Eye in the Sky 7/10 Better than average Hong Kong action film.
The Wrestler – 9.5/10
Love And Honor – 9.5/10
Yoji Yamada makes Samurai films that have very little swordplay.
Almost none.
It’s fascinating to see the mundane side of Samurai life.
Really it is.
“if….”—10/10
Let the right one in: a sublime and rare horror film, the kind that gives the genre its lettres de noblesse. 9.5 out of 10
New Earth (Ivens, 1934) – not among his best works. 4/10
Ladies and Gentleman The Fabulous Stains: just watched it 9/10
Death Walks on High Heels- 8.5/10
Milk 7.5/10
Apocalypse Now – 10/10
The Big Heat. 9/10.
I love Lee Marvin.
Marvin was GOD.
Let The Right One In-9/10
Out of the Past
9 / 10
Thanks Steve. Yeah, Magnolia’s pretty great.
This weekend-
White Squall – 3 stars out of 5
It’s a tearjerker but not as sappy as it might have been. I like when Ridley Scott lends his directorial knack to intimate dramas rather than the big epic.
Small Time – 4 stars out of 5
More people should see this gritty little indie, a verite-style portrait of the urban ghetto that’s somewhere between Mean Street and A Clockwork Orange.
After Dark, My Sweet – 4 stars out of 5
Jason Patric is phenomenal in this. About once every decade or so, he gets to prove that he can act very well (see also “Your Friends and Neighbors”).
The Wounds – 5 out of 5
Very disturbing Croation (post-Yugoslavian) film by Sjerdan Dragojevich, in which war brings on not democracy but a thug culture, driven by the need for money, and fueled by some of the most over-the-top testosterone in the world. A big and crazy film.
Jules and Jim- 4 stars out of 5
A film in love with cinema. Dizzying, romantic, anti-romantic, literate, “beautiful.” And something of an influence on Contempt, I think.
Milk: 8/10 … extraordinary Sean Penn
Tony Manero: 3/10 …. I still don’t understand why this movie was so praised by our critics… really
Aruitemo aruitemo (Koreeda, 2008) – 8/10.
Elevator to the Gallows. LOVED IT! 9.5/10
Yay Jennifer! Elevator rocks. I could watch that one any time.
Yesterday – Slumdog Millionaire – 10/10
Day before – Notorious (the Biggie Smalls one not the Hitchcock one) – 7/10
Elevator to the Gallows RULES!
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days.-9/10
Hunger. Problematic movie for me in many ways, but well-filmed and worth 6/10.
if… 9/10
Slum dog Millionaire… 9/10
Zodiac, from David Fincher : 9.01, almost because the end is perfect, perfect for that movie.
Straw Dogs – 7.5/10, a pretty interesting movie with a long long build up, reminds me of Polanski’s Repulsion but more tame in some aspects.
Hara-Kiri (Kobayashi) 9/10
Aside from the camera-work and everything that makes it great, I thought the music was really cool too, like some punk kid playing a Japanese string instrument super aggressively. Dang, that bamboo sword seppuku scene was surprisingly gruesome.
‘Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’ — In was an informative and entertaining documentary. Johnny Depp was a good narrator. The archived footage of HST came from many different points in his career. Really nothing to complain about if you are a fan of Thompson’s work.
.827591033 out of 1
Nothing But the Truth (Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon) 8/10
Doubt 8.1/10
Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray) 5/10 What did I miss about this so-called classic? Nothing, I think. It hops from one cliche scene to another; thankfully, James Mason is around to have something to look at.
SOYBEAN
“A’l’interieur” (“Inside”- France 2007-horror) The first half of this film was really very good, well acted and very suspenseful, with one of the best female villains that I’ve ever seen (Beatrice Dalle), that is until the second half, which was just completely over the top. I can’t say that I remember seeing so much blood and gore packed into one film! First half 4/5———-Second half 2/5. coulda woulda shoulda been a really great horror film.