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Kyûketsuki hantâ D (1985)
A classic
What sets this movie apart is its imaginativeness and attention to detail. There are countless different types of evil characters , most supernatural but also a few human ones and every one of them is totally unique and exciting. Some of the main characters , like D and Magnus Lee , also have a lot of special abilities up their sleeves , but these abilities are only very gradually revealed over a long course of time and they come as great surprises. Likewise , there are many subtle hints along the way that there is far , far more to certain characters than meets the eye - basically allusions to past history that raise questions which are never answered. The animation is rendered in intricate detail, like a fine artwork, and there is loads of action, gore and plot twists along the way. It's a timeless classic of anime.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Worth seeing again and again
If there is a message to this film it is to beware of judging people by surface appearances and that is perfectly borne out by the exploration of Benny's character. When we first meet Benny he seems like an amiable sort but slightly awkward and goofy- a gringo and , if not a loser , at least not particularly successful. Over and over again he gets pushed around. But as the story unfolds , Benny increasingly demonstrates that he is not someone to be trifled with and when he gets really angry he is scary. Also, regardless of his flaws , he has tremendous integrity and resolve. Principles are principles with him. It may seem like he goes through a metamorphosis, but really he discovers and acts on profound depths in his character provoked by external events. He shows himself to be much stromger than anyone would have guessed. It's like everyone was ready to laugh at him dismissively in the beginning but not anymore now. To say that this is just a movie full of bleakness and violence totally overlooks all its attributes, starting with the acting. Warren Oates and, especially, Isela Vega put their heart and soul into their acting. They do a superb job. The settings give us a rare glimpse into rural Mexico. It's a beautiful and quiet but also very strange , different and impoverished kind of land , a place we can observe but not fully understand as we are outsiders, not locals. There's plenty of violent action and it often comes very unexpectedly. Many of the deaths occur in a sort of slow motion ballet. This movie is worth seeing repeatedly: with every viewing you'll notice something new and interesting.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Overrated but still compelling
Reservoir Dogs gets off to a rocky start with a lot of silly, inane chatter, much of it coming from Quentin Tarantino himself. Tarantino really needs to understand that no, the whole world is not fascinated by everything that he has to say and , even more important, that he is not an actor and he should stay firmly behind the camera.
However, once the action kicks in everything changes. The pace is always brisk , never boring. It's like there's a constant sense of urgency and even impatience to move forward. Tarantino has taken an obviously low budget and made it work hugely to his advantage- it's a stroke of genius. There aren't a lot of pure action scenes but they are all riveting. Harvey Keitel puts in a great performance and Steve Buscemi does too, though marginally less so , but Lawrence Tierney blows them both out of the water. Tierney comes across as a genuine tough guy, he hardly even seems to be acting, he is so much at ease , and occaaionally he has the faintest ghost of a smile on his face , as if he were having fun in his role. His performance alone easily makes this movie worth seeing. Tim Roth is simply adequate , though in some scenes he's quite good. Michael Madsen is just barely adequate. His performance seems sort of lazy and indifferent. Chris Penn starts out severely overacting but somehow his performance slowly but steadily improves over the course of the movie. He seems to gain dignity and gravity plus genuine menace. There are lots of twists and surprises along the way and the ending ties things up neatly. Aside from the opening sequence there is no filler in this movie- not a single moment is wasted.
The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
More than just a movie
This film , like Greenaway's 'Drowning by Numbers', is more than just a film: it is also a sort of game or, more precisely, a puzzle which irresistibly draws viewers in and makes them not just spectators but also participants. The pacing is extremely slow and formal , sometimes almost frozen , as if we are expected to stop and concentrate on the views that the draughstman is observing and recording , sort of like gazing at a painting. But there is a point to this : strange, incongruous and sometimes mundane items and events keep cropping up in the pictures and they gradually develop into an ever evolving mystery. There are many strange juxtapositions in this movie: extreme, rigid, emotionless formality and etiquette alongside some shocking sex, nudity and violence. There are two major twists, one of them at the end and the very final scene is hugely ironic and hilarious. This is one of Greenaway's best films, an excellent introduction to his work of which roughly half is absolutely brilliant and the other half is pretentious, revolting and unwatchable.
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
Not as good as the original
This series is a sort of trip down memory lane, catching up with old characters and a tying up of loose ends, especially in the story of how Agent Cooper finally manages to escape the other dimension he had become trapped in. Some of the scenes are incoherent and pointless - simply weirdness for the sake of weirdness- and the humor is often heavy handed and awkward. For the most part the series plods along , only just barely interesting enough to keep one watching. However, there are some rewards along the way. Some of the more or less still images are absolutely brilliant- masterpieces of surrealism , sort of paintings within a film. There are also some extremely intense shocks. Lynch shines as an innovator , as someone who does things with film that no one else has done before.
Leviafan (2014)
Profound
Leviathan excels on many levels. First and foremost , it's an exploration of what it means to be Russian. It presents a brutally honest , unflinching glimpse into a savage, dangerous world where no one , not even one's family and closest friends- can ultimately be trusted, where nice guys finish last and bullies prevail and where one is expected to submissively bow down to and endure one's fate even if it seems totally unjust. The acting is full of very raw, intense emotion and the scenes where the men are drunk are by far the most realistic I have ever seen. The settings are superb- very well selected to convey certain feelings, such as a sense of being dwarfed and overwhelmed by nature , the claustrophobia and helplessness in the bureaucratic environments, the shabbiness and sense of just barely hanging in there in the work place, the home and the grocery store. Leviathan is simultaneously a very close up look at people's lives and a deep dive into equally deep philisophical questions. There are some flashes of humor earlier on but mostly this movie is very downbeat.
Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015)
A triumphant return to form for Peter Greenaway
Going in to watch Eisenstein in
Guanajuato , I was expecting the worst. I've long been a big fan of SOME of Peter Greenaway's works. The Baby of Macon, The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover, Drowning by
Numbers , The Draughstsman's Contract are some of my favourite films of all time- exciting, provocative,daring,original, innovative, thought provoking and - surprisingly - fun. And his early shorts like 26 Bathrooms,Death on the Seine and A TV Dante are also very well worth seeking out and rewarding. But on the flip side, Greenaway has made a lot of disappointing blunders, culminating in the totally unwatchable Eight and a Half Women. The Pillow Book and Goltzius and the Pelican Company I would rate 5 out of 10 simply for the cinemetagrophay. Nightwatching merits a 6 out of 10 because it had at least a tiny bit of a plot.
Now as for as Eisenstein , Greenaway has finally resolved to exert some self discipline and to remind us that he is a director to be reckoned with. Eisenstein is an extremely profound emotional journey. At one level , it directly transplants you into the main character: it makes you see through the eyes of an innocent , abroad in a completely foreign, exotic land, i e. Through the eyes of Eisenstein. There are Day of the Dead
parades, sun drenched , hugely coloufrul landscapes and , constantly hovering on the horizon , a vaguely ( and sometimes not so vaguely ) threatening atmosphere. Long story short, this is a historical/ psychoanalytical story that, despite all the odds, Peter Greenaway somehow turns into a riveting and entertaining picture.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
One of the worst movies I have ever seen
Although this movie does have some humorous and touching moments and some good action scenes they are drowned in an interminable morass of frenetic randomness. Nothing really connects with anything or means anything and the plot , such as it is , never really progresses. It's ultimately a huge and tedious mess, a sort of failed experiment.
In all fairness, the actors all give good performances, especially considering that they have to portray nany different characters. The sets and special effects are imaginative and evocative , creating an extremely multifaceted universe, some of it anchored in the past , some very mundane and some very futuristic. There is lots of fast and unoredictable action. Unfortunately, all the good qualities of this movie are completely sunk by the abysmal script , which totally fails to hold one's attention. You could walk out at any time during the running time and not miss out on anything.
I racconti di Canterbury (1972)
The bad outweighs the good
Pasolini mostly does a good job of evoking the atmosphere of the Middle Ages with the crowd scenes, the music and dance, and , above all, with some very striking and memorable settings that transport the viewer into a different world. Overall, though, the film is a mess. It's basically a collection of random scenes of life in the Middle Ages with a few very loose references to the original text and only one intact tale ( the Miller's , probably chosen because it is so ribald ). Pasolini tries to inject a lot of humor into the movie, some of it gentle ( Pasolini portraying himself as
Chaucer), much of it crude and vulgar , and a bit of it completely out of place ( a character dressed like and acting like Charlie Chaplin with a dash of Benny Hill). The film meanders along from one scenario to another with no common thread. There is a great deal of full frontal
nudity- mostly male- and almost all of it is completely pointless. Ultimately, the movie comes across as an exercise in self indulgence by Pasolini and it is tiring and distasteful.
Mr. Wrong (1996)
Not all that bad
The main failing in Mr. Wrong is how outrageously absurd and implausible some of the characters and events are. It's as if almost everyone is ready to turn on poor Martha( Ellen de Generes) for little or no cause. As for Whitman ( Bill Pullman)his transformation from a seemingly decent , considerate and normal person into a huge time Mr. Wrong seemsabrupt and forced. Otherwise this is actually quite an entertaining movie. There are lots of funny scenes , especially owing to Ellen de Generes's gift for deadpan sarcasm. The pace never flags. There is no filler- the story constantly moves forward plus the opening scene cleverly creates a sense of intrigue. You know something really major is going to happen in the end so you're hooked into watching till the end. Mr. Wrong may not be a great movie, but it's still well worth checking out.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Blah, blah,blah
To be fair, there are some good moments in 'The Hateful Eight': some quirky touches with costuming, some beautiful, panoramic landscape shots, some corny but hilarious humor, some sudden and unexpected outbursts of brutal violence, some shocking twists.The problem is that these good moments ultimately come few and far between amidst this extremely slow and long winded movie with a running time that turns it into an endurance test.Tarantino seems to believe here that audiences will be utterly captivated by anything and everything he has to say.The scattered moments of brilliance - very unique and very memorable -salvage this movie just slightly.
The Missouri Breaks (1976)
Underrated
This movie may initially seem slow and meandering.But it rewards the patient viewer.The scenery is spectacular.And the plot gradually,ever so gradually, veers from seemingly simplistic, corny humor into suddenly shocking, brutal horrific viokence.Lots of memorable plot twists and a very weird but exuberant performance by Markon Brando.
nce.First off, the
Les diaboliques (1955)
A film noir that goes for the throat
There are three particularly striking things about ' Diaboique '.First, it is a masterpiece of black and white cinematography.I have never seen another film that made such good use of luminescence, reflections and shadows and which dared so much to use such dim lighting in some scenes but very effectively.Secondly, the acting is superb all round. Everyone plays their role so convincingly it is as if they were born to play these particular roles.Simone Signouret does an especially good job.She exudes brazenness simply with subtle facial expressions and the way she moves.Finally, the plot never bogs down.The tension is kept up at all times and you keep wanting to see what happens next. A great thriller and an intriguing time capsule of 1950's France.
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
Innovative and fun
This is more than just a movie,it is also a series of games and puzzles that we can play along with.Along the way things- and occasionally people- are constantly catalogued and numbered in clever and subtle ways.These numbers serve as signposts, indicating how far along we are, and sometimes they also have underlying meanings and echo.For example, note the number the skipping girl in the opening scene stops at.Her explanation for stopping at that particular number neatly ties in with the very last scene.
The cinematography is superb.Many of the scenes look like oil paintings - both still lives and landscapes- by the old masters which, sort of startlingly,contain movement and life.There are also lots of scenes shot with colour filters or very intensely focused lighting, which makes for surreal but vivid and striking effects.
All the actors do an excellent job, but two- Bernard Hill and Joan Plowright especially stand out for their superb elocution and deadpan wit.
Finally, Michael Nyman's musical scoring is a treat.
Ultimately, Drowning by Numbers is a black comedy but somehow a very lighthearted and engaging one.
Il fiore delle mille e una notte (1974)
Strange, beautiful and exotic
This movie has two main flaws.First, there is far more male nudity than appropriate or necessary for many of the scenes.Generally,no sooner does a male character appear than in the next frame he is either naked or there is a closeup of his genitals, not for any readily discernible reason.Secondly, the Italian dubbing is generally quite bad; the actors often sound like they are talking too fast and too loud.But ultimately these are minor quibbles.This film is totally unique and spellbinding.The settings are authentic , sometimes almost bizarre, and stunningly beautiful.We are afforded a glimpse into a completely new and different kind of world.The actors, too, are all very unique-looking, like a huge collection of character actors.The music sort of drifts in and out to great effect: when we do hear it it is often very muted , almost haunting snd other times there is complete silence, which somehow makes the scene especially striking.The cinematography is suoerb: the colours are very rich and the lighting ranges from brilliantly lit outdoors to shadowy and murky indoors, but it always looks natural.Special mention is deserving of some of the very striking images in the film like the crucifixions and the dismemberement.They are almost like paintings.Finally, the stories all flow and blend into one another very smoothly.Sometimes it is difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends.The plots of these stories are always interesting.They never get bogged down but keep moving forward and are full of twists that will make yoz gasp. Arabian Nights is a one of a kind masterpiece.
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975)
Some redeeming qualities, but ultimately boring.
There are some good qualities about Salo:the opening (outdoor) scenes contained quite a bit of action and tension; the costumes were original and unique; the cinematography and music were excellent and set a sort of elegant tone, which contrasted starkly with all the cruel, perverse and disgusting proceedings.But ultimately, on a technical level, there is far more bad than good in this film.The adult antagonists ( the judge,the president,the bishop and the duke plus the madams and the pianist did a reasonably good acting job but the victims did a terrible job.It was as if, even when they were being yelled at and menaced they were indifferent or even laughing.The plot barely moves forward.It's basically a constant succession of scenes of torture and humiliation, and it quickly becomes monotonous and repetitive.There is some variation in that, at one point,several of the victims betray one another to try to save their own skins and occasionally the 4 men humiliate themselves.The scenes of torture near the end - in the circle of blood segment- are extremely grisly and hard to watch.Overall, I found this movie to be a somewhat interesting curio- very unique and unusual- but excessively vulgar, often sloppily executed and ultimately tedious and boring.The ending was one of the worst I have ever seen- abrupt and inconclusive.