Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)


Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
Rating: 10

"We don't want to conquer space at all. We want to expand Earth endlessly. We don't want other worlds; we want a mirror. We seek contact and will never achieve it. We are in the foolish position of a man striving for a goal he fears and doesn't want. Man needs man!"

This is what Aronofsky's new film The Fountain was going for.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941)


Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941)
Rating: 9.0

"All right. You're walking along, not a nickel in your jeans, your free as the wind, nobody bothers ya. Hundreds of people pass you by in every line of buisness: shoes, hats, automobiles, radios, everything, and there all nice lovable people and they lets you alone, is that right? Then you get a hold of some dough and what happens, all those nice sweet lovable people become hee-lots, a lotta heels. They begin to creep up on ya, trying to sell ya something: they get long claws and they get a stranglehold on ya, and you squirm and you duck and you holler and you try to push them away but you haven't got the chance. They gots ya. First thing ya know you own things, a car for instance, now your whole life is messed up with alot more stuff: you get license fees and number plates and gas and oil and taxes and insurance and identification cards and letters and bills and flat tires and dents and traffic tickets and motorcycle cops and tickets and courtrooms and lawers and fines and... a million and one other things. What happens? You're not the free and happy guy you used to be. You need to have money to pay for all those things, so you go after what the other fellas got. There you are, you're a hee-lot yourself. "

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Friday, December 01, 2006

Bobby (Emilio Estevez, 2006)


Bobby (Emilio Estevez, 2006)
Rating: 3.0

I was shocked to find this to be one of the worst films I've seen in a while. Despite having twenty two character's lives to choose from (at least 18 of which are well known actors) I couldn't find one thing compelling about any of them. The only redeeming quality was the actual footage and audio of Robert Kennedy himself.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Heartbeeps (Allan Arkush, 1981)


Heartbeeps (Allan Arkush, 1981)
Rating: 4.3

This could have been a cute family film, or even a decent satire, instead it is just a debacle. The casting was good, as Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, and Randy Quaid were all perfect. Visually, the film had a nice look to it, and most notably the make-up work was great and was even nominated for an Oscar. Unfortunately, the writing was atrocious and the film has basically been forgotten. In some regards it may be considered a prototype for the more popular Short Circuit films in 1986 and 1988.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Hiroshima mon amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)


Hiroshima mon amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
Rating: 10

A beautiful glance at the horrors of forgetting fond memories and being forever tormented by the awful ones.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)


Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
Rating: 8.8

Contains some of the best cinematography, set and costume design I've seen as well as a myriad of gorgeous shots and compositions and a great score to match.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Forster, 2006)


Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Forster, 2006)
Rating: 3.2

Disappointing waste of a creative premise that just seemed to be a half-ass attempt at a Charlie Kaufmanesque story.

Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)


Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
Rating: 9.9

"Do you have any tobacco? "

Monday, November 06, 2006

Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006)


Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006)
Rating: 7.0

"We decided to not take airplane should the Jews repeat their attack of 9/11."

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones, 2005)


The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones, 2005)
Rating: 6.8

"You're good people. You need to go ahead and shoot me."

Bananas (Woody Allen, 1971)


Rating: 7.8

"I once stole a pornographic book that was printed in braille. I used to rub the dirty parts."

Allen's second film messily mixes amateurism with brilliance. Bananas, potentially could have been one of my all time favorites, but I just couldn't overlook the technical flaws and sloppy structure.

Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)



Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)
Rating: 8.9

Count Dracula: To die, to be "really" dead, that must be glorious!
Mina Seward: Why, Count Dracula!
Count Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.

The Puffy Chair (Jay Duplass, 2005)


The Puffy Chair (Jay Duplass, 2005)
Rating: 2.0

Another run of the mill indie film with excrutiatingly annoying characters. It felt like I was watching a student film.

Monday, October 30, 2006

La Science des rêves (Michel Gondry, 2006) aka The Science of Sleep



La Science des rêves (Michel Gondry, 2006)
Rating: 9.5

"I don't want to be spaghetti."

I found The Science of Sleep to achieve everything theorist's like Munsterberg and Arnheim want film to achieve. They differ from the realists in that they say film is art because of it's detachment from the real world and bring our fantasies to life. I found this to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing and surreal films I've seen. The narrative is messy, I agree, but we are meant to be seeing things through the eyes of a possible schizophrenic man who confuses his dreams and reality and I think Gondry was well aware of what he was doing. In the end the inability for life to live up to the expectations of the imagination is a heartbreaking reality that we can all relate to. The script truly is secondary and the visual style primary, but that is no reason to write it off. Abstract and experimental films as well as visual spectacles deserve to be championed just as narrative fiction films do, and The Science of Sleep gives us an enjoyable hybrid.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)



Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979)
Rating: 9.5

"Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Willie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face..."

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)


Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
Rating: 10

"I even heard that the demon living here in Rashômon fled in fear of the ferocity of man."

Thursday, October 19, 2006

H2O (Ralph Steiner, 1929)


H2O (Ralph Steiner, 1929)
Rating: 8.2

Films of Robert Breer:




Blazes (1961) - 6.4

Recreation (1956) - 6.5

A Man and His Dog Out for Air (1957) - 7.0

69 (1968) - 5.0

Gulls and Buoys (1972) - 7.3

Fuji (1974) - 7.9

Rubber Cement (1976) - 6.8

Films of Bruce Conner:





A Movie (1958)
Montage of found footage that gradually builds up from small accidents to greater acts of tragedy.
Rating: 9.8

Cosmic Ray (1962)
music video prototype
Rating: 9.4

Report (1967)
Chronicles events after the assassination of JFK.
Rating: 9.7

Breakaway (1966)
Gorgeous Tony Basil dances in and out of revealing outfits...interesting rapid cutting and different frame rate effects.
Rating: 9.3

Take the 5:10 to Dreamland (1976)
Rating: 7.0

Valse Triste (1977)
Rating: 8.0

Fragment of Seeking (Curtis Harrington, 1946)


Fragment of Seeking (Curtis Harrington, 1946)
Rating: 6.3

Early American Underground psychodrama dealing with homosexuality. Interesting, but more like a student film production.

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)


Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
Rating: 10




A memorable dream within a dream with countless meanings.

Komposition in Blau (Oskar Fischinger, 1935)


Komposition in Blau (Oskar Fischinger, 1935)
Rating: 9.7

Synesthetic abstract film in which every motion is synchronized with music.

Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, 1929)


Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, 1929)
Rating: 9.5

An amazing surrealist dream sequence that some consider to be the greatest surrealist film of all time.

The Seashell and the Clergyman (Dulac, 1928)


The Seashell and the Clergyman (Dulac, 1928)
Rating: 8.3

Early Surrealist film attempting to recreate oneiric state.

Regen/Rain (Joris Ivens, 1929)


Regen/Rain (Joris Ivens, 1929)
Rating: 10

A beautiful experimental/documentary hybrid.

Le Retour à la raison (Man Ray, 1923)



Le Retour à la raison (Man Ray, 1923)
Rating: 8.4

A classic dadaist masterpiece.

Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy,1924)


Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy,1924)
Rating: 8.4

Incorporates early use of prismatic lenses, and split screen as well as the 1st use of loop editing, to blend dadaism, surrealism, cubism, and futurism.

Symphonie diagonale (Viking, Eggeling, 1924)


Symphonie diagonale (Viking, Eggeling, 1924)
Rating: 8.2

Futurist painting in motion.

Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, 1921)



Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, 1921)
Rating: 7.4

An important early abstract film, although not the first, as Richter claimed.

Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)


Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
Rating: 8.2

Monday, October 16, 2006

Adaptation. (Spike Jonze, 2002)



Adaptation. (Spike Jonze, 2002)
Rating: 9.6

"To begin... To begin... How to start? I'm hungry. I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think. Maybe I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee. Coffee and a muffin. So I need to establish the themes. Maybe a banana nut. That's a good muffin."

The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996)



The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996)
Rating: 6.8

"Free cable is the ultimate aphrodisiac."

Shakhmatnaya goryachka (Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky, 1925) aka Chess Fever


Shakhmatnaya goryachka (Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky, 1925)
Rating: 7.7

Zemlya (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930) aka Earth



Zemlya (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930)
Rating: 8.5