Recently Watched Films

[Yii]

the darjeeling limited (wes anderson, 2007)

[Yii]

just finished.. .

ゆけゆけ二度目の処女(koji wakamatsu, 1969)

i think wakamatsu-san has a good taste in music. ouch

[Dan Warburton]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Faustrecht der Freiheit, 1975

Another caustic melodrama masterpiece, with great performances from RWF himself as Fox (you know he's doomed from the start), Peter Chatel as his lover Eugen (though how anyone could love this creep is really beyond me) and, in the background, Karlheinz Böhm (remember Michael Powell's Peeping Tom?) as the sinister Max.

[jon abbey]

that's a good one, that's the first one of his I saw. that's the one that ends in the subway station, right?

[fearandpanic]

that's a good one, that's the first one of his I saw.

One of my favourites too, incredible film.

that's the one that ends in the subway station, right?

Yep.

[O'Grady]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Faustrecht der Freiheit, 1975

Another caustic melodrama masterpiece, with great performances from RWF himself as Fox (you know he's doomed from the start), Peter Chatel as his lover Eugen (though how anyone could love this creep is really beyond me) and, in the background, Karlheinz Böhm (remember Michael Powell's Peeping Tom?) as the sinister Max.

Best film.

[sound plague]

Jean Vigo, L'Atalante, 1934

Finally saw this for the first time, and totally blown away. There's a splendid BFI 2DVD set with all 4 Vigo films + a whole disc of bonus documentary material going dirt cheap at Amazon. Well worth checking out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Vigo-Colle ... 919&sr=1-1

That's a great set for sure. If you hold off a little longer you may even be able to get it cheaper. I think I payed about half that price. But yeah, L'Atalante is mesmerising from start to finish.

[Dan Warburton]

Lewis Gilbert, Alfie, 1966

Virtuoso performance from Michael Caine - the scene in the doctor's surgery with Eleanor Bron is priceless. Nice snappy editing, splendid Sonny Rollins soundtrack (the old Bacharach chestnut sung by Cher ain't bad either). Vivien Merchant (Harold Pinter's partner for many years) is superb as Lily.

[O'Grady]

Philippe Garrel - J'entends plus la guitare (1991)

Ugly and numbing and all the more powerful for it. Sad.

[Dan Warburton]

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel, 2006

After being thoroughly underwhelmed by the two that preceded it, wasn't prepared to pay more than a fiver for this. Found it for that price on Saturday, so couldn't resist. And that's about how much it's worth.. great location shooting (was delighted to see that it was filmed in a Moroccan village I'd actually been to, Tazarine in the Anti Atlas, wiiiiild place), nice snappy montage.. but left at the end with a monumental "so what?" The only people I actually care about in the film are the Moroccan kids and the Japanese girl (though I was disappointed she didn't chuck herself off the balcony at the end). Competent - as you'd expect - performances from Pitt and Blanchett, though she doesn't have much to do. Nor does Bernal. Better than the mawkishly horrible 21 Grams, but not all that spectacular. There's more magic in the last five minutes of Profession Reporter than in all of Babel.

[surfer]

The Piano Teacher (Haneke, 2001) - Huppert is appropriately severe, but I was wishing for more depth in her relationship with her shrill, one-note, witch of a mother. The best scene in the movie is the one with Huppert and her mother in bed where Huppert jumps on her and starts kissing her while her mother tells her she's gone mad. Without more development of their history and relationship, the movie is pretty 2-dimensional. Walter is very good as well. The ending made my eyes roll. I'm going to give Code Unknown a shot and then give up on Haneke. Cache is head and shoulders above the other three I've seen, though this is much better than either Funny Games or Seventh Continent.


Man Push Cart (Bahrani, 2005) - I liked this one quite a bit. Its kind of like a modern day version of Bicycle Thief. Bahrani, Kelly Reichardt, Lance Hammer, are all similar young American directors exploring the lives of people (often young people) who are in danger of falling through the economic and social cracks of our society. THey also share some sylistic similarities as well. I wanted to see Chop Shop, but missed it and have to wait til it comes out on DVD.

[eraritjaritjaka]

found footage festival vol. 1 - joe pickett, nick prueher
found footage festival vol. 2 - joe pickett, nick prueher
yogen - norio tsuruta
uzumaki - higuchinsky
rinne - takashi shimizu
strange circus - sion sono
rampo noir - anthology
kairo - kiyoshi kurosawa
chakushin ari - takashi miike
slumdog millionaire - danny boyle, loveleen tandan
the longest nite - tat-chi yau
the good, the bad, and the weird - kim ji-woon
bi-mong - kim ki-duk


really enjoyed strange circus, despite its flaws. rinne and chakushin ari were both better than
i expected. though not 'bad', i was a bit disappointed by the good, the bad, and the weird. bi-mong
was good, but....i was hoping for a masterpiece. rampo noir was a pretty neat collection; loved
the consistency of it, lots of great imagery too.

some screens:

rampo noir


kairo


strange circus


bi-mong
lots of visual obstructions used in this, illustrating the relationships between the main characters.




this next scene takes the cake though; earlier in the film someone had compared their relationship
to being 'at opposite sides of a spectrum'. during this scene, at certain points they are framed by
the appropriately colored fabric hanging in her workshop.

[eraritjaritjaka]

the sodomites - gaspar noe
tintarella di luna - gaspar noe
eva - gaspar noe
kyanq - artavazd peleshian
verj - artavazd peleshian
mardkants yerkire - artavazd peleshian
loud visual noises - stan brakhage
thigh line lyre triangular - stan brakhage
water for maya - stan brakhage
aether - harry kümel, herman wuyts
black and white - leonid amalrik, ivan ivanov-vano
visual training - frans zwartjes
hansel and gretel - lotte reiniger

watching lots of short films lately.

[fearandpanic]

Adam's Rib (1949)

Loud and shouty comedy about the battle of the sexes, fought out in public (in a courtroom) and in private (in the bedroom.) Husband and wife end up on opposite sides, prosecuting and defending, in a murder trial. Excellent, naturalistic acting from the leads (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) and from the supporting cast, who provide the only genuinely funny bits. But the film's obviousness and preachiness quickly get the better of it. No doubt more powerful at the time, it comes across as tedious now.

[Dan Warburton]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel, 1975

Anyone know the story about the ending of this movie? One version is unfilmed - there's a freeze frame on Brigitte Mira and a quick résumé of what happens next (which I won't describe for those who haven't seen the film, but let's just say things get bloody) - the other a hilarious but mawkish copout (for the US market?) where the anarchist sit in fizzles out and Mother Kusters meets a worthy widower and it all ends happily ever after..
Both seem impossible endings - one impossibly dramatic, the other impossibly melodramatic - after such a caustic adventure. Nobody's spared in a Fassbinder movie. That said, not as tight as the last two I mentioned above, but fabulous performances from Mira, Karlheinz Bohm and Ingrid Caven. (Shame about the lousy lipsync in the cabaret scene.. deliberate?)

[MRS]

Adam's Rib (1949)

Loud and shouty comedy about the battle of the sexes, fought out in public (in a courtroom) and in private (in the bedroom.) Husband and wife end up on opposite sides, prosecuting and defending, in a murder trial. Excellent, naturalistic acting from the leads (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) and from the supporting cast, who provide the only genuinely funny bits. But the film's obviousness and preachiness quickly get the better of it. No doubt more powerful at the time, it comes across as tedious now.

Agreed generally on this appraisal, I love all the Tracy/Hepburn vehicles, Without Love (also starring Lucille Ball) would take the cake if I were forced.

[sound plague]

Adam's Rib (1949)

Loud and shouty comedy about the battle of the sexes, fought out in public (in a courtroom) and in private (in the bedroom.) Husband and wife end up on opposite sides, prosecuting and defending, in a murder trial. Excellent, naturalistic acting from the leads (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) and from the supporting cast, who provide the only genuinely funny bits. But the film's obviousness and preachiness quickly get the better of it. No doubt more powerful at the time, it comes across as tedious now.

I've been wanting to chew on a licorice gun ever since I first saw this film.

[fearandpanic]

I've been wanting to chew on a licorice gun ever since I first saw this film.

Not to give anything away, but definitely one of the best bits in it.

[mudd]

i saw that scene somehow when i was 5 or 6 years old, and carried the image with me for decades. had no idea what film it was from.

so i guess thanks!

m

[walto]

Adam's Rib (1949)

Loud and shouty comedy about the battle of the sexes, fought out in public (in a courtroom) and in private (in the bedroom.) Husband and wife end up on opposite sides, prosecuting and defending, in a murder trial. Excellent, naturalistic acting from the leads (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) and from the supporting cast, who provide the only genuinely funny bits. But the film's obviousness and preachiness quickly get the better of it. No doubt more powerful at the time, it comes across as tedious now.

But it's got Judy Holliday's voice in it, and that makes up for a lot.