Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008)

Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008)
Rating: 4.7

I watched this to bond with my new roommates, and it was pretty much exactly what I expected it would be. The build up was too long, the plot points were all too familiar and predictable, overdone score, over written dialogue, pretty dull climax, cliché after cliché...yada yada yada...

Trafic (1971, Jacques Tati)

Trafic (1971, Jacques Tati)
Rating: 7.5

Mr. Hulot seems even more out of place in the increasingly mechanical surroundings of the modern world. My biggest problem with Trafic is that we seem more disconnected from our protagonist than usual as he just seems to be wandering around haphazardly. The gags aren't really as clever or elaborate here either. MY favorite parts were the montages of people in their cars pikcing their noses or yawning, ect.

Mon oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)

Mon oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)
Rating: 9.2

Tati's second adventure of M. Hulot is a lot more satirical and a little less charming as he tackles modernity, superficiality, and consumerism as a status symbol. Mon Oncle is another comedic masterpiece, however I didn't quite like it as much as Playime or M. Hulot's Holiday due to the repetition and predictability of a lot of the gags. The opening credits might be the best I've seen though and once again sound design plays an enormous role.

Nora-neko rokku: Onna banchô (Yasuharu Hasebe, 1970) aka Stray Cat Rock: Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader

Stray Cat Rock: Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader (Yasuharu Hasebe, 1970)
Rating: 7.4

This was my first foray into the Pinky Violence subgenre and I must give the filmmakers credit for their creativity with the cinematography and editing. The story wasn't anything special, but it was fun and kept me interested enough throughout and you can't expect too much from an exploitation film anyways.

Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati, 1953) aka M. Hullot's Holiday

Rating: 9.2

I have often seen Tati be compared to the films of Chaplin and Keaton most likely because he directed and starred in them and due to the fact that they are comedies reliant on a lot of visual gags. Many have said Tati's films are almost like a silent comedy, but this is where I disagree. Although there is very little dialogue in his films, and what dialogue there is is hardly relevant to the story, I would say the sound design is one of the greatest aspects of his films, especially considering the period in which he was working in. M. Hulot's Holiday is a film that relies heavily on sound gags and motifs such as the creaking door, the bouncing ping pong ball, and the sputtering car. Sound is an important psychological element in film as well. The constant walla on the beach and in the resort just adds so much. My favorite gag in this film has to be where he accidentally pulls into the cemetery during a funeral and presents his spare tire covered with leaves as a wreath and then shakes the hands of the family while laughing because of an elderly woman's feathered hat tickling his face.

Lakeview Terrace (Neil LaBute, 2008)

Lakeview Terrace (Neil LaBute, 2008)
Rating: 1.0



So I was thinking it would be a lot of fun to see a terrible mainstream film in theaters, and got myself really hyped up to see just how absurd Lakeview Terrace actually could be, and I certainly was not disappointed. Rather than point out just how bad the film really was I think it will be more fun to use Paul Scheer of Human Giant's "By the numbers" approach. Most of these numbers are fabricated rough estimates.

Likable protagonists: 0

Profound racial commentary: 0

Shaq references: 1

Intense rake vs. electric saw scenes: 1

Tension induced vomiting: 1

Kills: 2

Acts of violence against women: 3

Scenes with white people listening to rap music: 5

Samuel L. Jackson's stern glares: 17

Unnecessarily annoying and over dramatic music cues: 22

Times I told myself this might be the worst film I've ever seen: 32

Metacritic Score: 45

Minutes Patrick Wilson spends shirtless: at least 55

Minutes of My life wasted: 110

The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003)

The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003)
Rating: 8.0

This was my second time seeing The Dreamers, since originally seeing it in theaters about 5 years ago and I seemed to enjoy it even more this time around. Before I was pretty unfamiliar with a lot of the classic film references, and oblivious to how wonderful the cinematography and production design in the film is. The soundtrack is pretty great too.

A Londoni férfi (Béla Tarr, 2007) aka The Man From London

The Man From London (Béla Tarr, 2007)
Rating: 8.5

Chalk up another visually and aurally stunning mood piece from Tarr...very cool to see Tilda Swinton in this despite the Hungarian voice dub.

Burn After Reading (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2008)

Burn After Reading (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2008)
Rating: 8.0


I loved the absurdly misanthropic comedy script and the cast was fantastic too. The tone and pacing was a little strange, but at the same time it seemed fitting. The whole movie was like a long build up with an almost anti-payoff. Somewhat dull visually though, despite the cinematographer's repuatation, but the film relies more on the clever dialog than aesthetic stylization.

Control (Anton Corbijn, 2007)

Control (Anton Corbijn, 2007)
Rating: 7.5
Gorgeously photographed, well cast, and perfectly dedramatized, Corbijn's impressive feature debut captures Ian Curtis's struggle with epilepsy, fame, marriage, and depression, and although I'm sure many people will disagree, I found the final sequence to be absolutely brilliant.

Jag är nyfiken - en film i blått (Vilgot Sjöman, 1968) aka I Am Curious (Blue)

I Am Curious - (Blue)(Vilgot Sjöman, 1968)
Rating: 8.0

Jag är nyfiken - en film i gult (Vilgot Sjöman, 1967) aka I Am Curious

I Am Curious (Yellow)(Vilgot Sjöman, 1967)
Rating: 8.0

Death Promise (Robert Warmflash, 1977)

Death Promise (Robert Warmflash, 1977)
Rating: best movie ever made!

For Labor day I went to The Silent Theater for what was easily the greatest movie going experience of all time. For $6 we got free beer, grilled hamburgers and sausage and essentially watched 4 hours worth of hilariously bad cinema. We played the 5 minute game which consisted of us watching the first 5 minutes of 15 obscure b-movies not availabe on DVD that were accumulating dust on the shelves at cinephile video, then the audience would vote on which one we wanted to watch in entirety. The films ranged from blaxploitation, psychedelic sci-fi films involving the planet Spermula, a disco dancing female vampire, a movie where the crew consisted entirely of member of the Koz family and looked like it had been shot on a consumer grade video camera, a schizophrenic Hollywood camera operator played by Mickey Rooney, and other ridiculous/glorious crap, but the winner took the cake.

Death Promise has it all, a nonsensical plot, hilarious music and sound fx, crazy brilliant kung fu fighting and death scenes, ridiculous twists, and a whole lot of oddly homoerotic hugging. Unlike other awful movies and exploitation films, Death Promise never ceases to bore and the laughs just keep coming. Seriously this is a must see. Watch the video for just a small taste:

Beautiful Losers (Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard2008)

Beautiful Losers (Aaron Rose andJoshua Leonard. 2008)
Rating: 3.4
Beautiful Losers is a collection of interviews from various artists and creative minds influenced by DYI , graffiti, skateboard and punk rock, including Mike Mills, Harmony Korine, Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge and others. It is meant to inspire as well as celebrate their work. Aside from the really faddy stuff that all looks the same, that you see on every graphic t-shirt these days, I do enjoy a lot of the work these artist's have done, however this format makes for a very uninteresting cinematic experience. It pretty much encapsulates everything I hate about documentaries. It mostly consists of stock footage, interviews with stuttering awkward responses and collages of artwork, but not much information in return. I'd much rather see their art for myself in person or read up on these artists on my own than see it presented in such a format, and anyone into their work should already be inspired by them. The film only briefly touches on a worthwhile subject when it addresses the "controversial" subject of the value of pop art, commercial art, community service signs, corporate advertising, and how each can be used as a medium to perpetuate underground art. I definitely wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone, unless they were really into this group of creative people.