Recently Watched Films

[Dan Warburton]

[i've never read any Bruce Chatwin. Herzog say's he was the greatest storyteller he ever met, and that's coming from probably the greatest storyteller i've ever heard! is The Viceroy of Ouidah a good place to start?

I'd start with one of his travel books, either In Patagonia or The Songlines.

anyone read Dahomey as It is, the book that Chatwin based all the "authentic" african parts on?

No! Must check that out, thx for the info.



Carl Reiner, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, 1982

Much more fun this time round, having seen (nearly all) the film noir originals Reiner intercuts - great spoof, terrific editing

[Dan Warburton]

Richard Fleischer, Bodyguard, 1948

Nowhere near as stunning as The Narrow Margin or Armored Car Robbery, but another incredibly tight - 62 minutes - B thriller. The cinematic equivalent of the Blue Note hard bop catalogue, with Dick Fleischer the Johnny Griffin of noir: excellently crafted professionalism. Screenplay here by a young Robert Altman, and tough guy detective played by Lawrence Tierney (44 years before Reservoir Dogs). Priscilla "Saboteur" Lane is a bit wooden as the girlfriend, sort of a cross between Ginger Rogers and Barbara Bel Geddes, and it's a shame the final showdown in the abbatoir doesn't end with someone being sliced up by the circular saw (though you're certainly expecting it), but if you find it in the $10 bin at your local emporium, don't pass it by.

[Wombatz]

So who's the Hank Mobley of noir? (as in: takes him a while to get his thing together): Dana Andrews?

[Dan Warburton]

Good call!

[walto]

Verbinski, The Ring (2002)

[Dan Warburton]

Masahiro Shinoda, Kawaita hana (Pale Flower), 1964

Splendid existentialist Yakuza noir, great cast, outstanding camerawork & lighting and killer soundtrack courtesy Toru Takemitsu and.. another composer (you may spot the link with Keith Rowe's Erstlive 007 heh heh)..
If anyone knows what card game they're playing, let me know. Looks fascinating.

[Jesse]

I really like Pale Flower, like Double Suicide (made several years after Pale Flower) even more.

[jrip]

If anyone knows what card game they're playing, let me know. Looks fascinating.

hanafuda (flower cards)

http://www.hanafubuki.org/

[eraritjaritjaka]

Let's Scare Jessica to Death - John D. Hancock (1971)



Communion - Alfred Sole (1976)



Dolls - Stuart Gordon (1981)



12:01 PM - Jonathan Heap (1990)


of these, enjoyed 'communion' and '12:01 PM' most.

[Jason Brogan]

Scott Hicks, Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007)

For the most part, it kept my interest. It is always great to see footage from the 60s and 70s.

[leroysghost]

Samuel Fuller - Fixed Bayonets! (1951)

comes off as a studio attempt to cash in on The Steel Helmet. the climactic "accidental" shooting, as played by Richard Basehart, doesn't really give off the impression of an accident at all. i suppose it could be argued that the point was just very subtle, but in a movie filled with such otherwise brash cliche, such a move is so subversive that it becomes virtually invisible.

[Dan Warburton]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Chinesisches Roulette, 1976

Virtuoso direction, as always (watch out for the famous circling shots - amazing use of mirrors and perspex showcases for multiple reflections), and some intense moments in this Feydeau farce from Bergen Belsen (Brigitte Mira and her "writer" son Gabriel are scaaaary), but the who-am-I-referring-to guessing game scene seems to drag a little (maybe five questions would have sufficed instead of nine) and Anna Karina doesn't have much to do either, unfortunately, except roll those great big eyes.

[leroysghost]

Samuel Fuller - The Naked Kiss (1964)

gotta love the first scene, where instead of an easily created prop device a man suddenly just appears on-screen and rips the hair right off the the head of the lead actress!

[surfer]

Une Femme Mariee (Godard, 1964) - I like the formalism of the cinematography in this one, each shot looks like it was composed by Edward Weston. The truncated dialogue. Really extensive use of text too, which iirc was a first for Godard film so far. In the upper half of 60s Godard's, definitely better than Une Femme Est Une Femme, and Contempt.

[cheerios]

Confidentially Yours (Vivement Dimanche) - Truffaut





It was ok, there were some nice shots of Nice in the rain. It was kind of confusing, and the characters, I think, had an incestuous relationship. Nice twist in the end with much left to be debated about (it was sort of a murder mystery whodunnit in a weird fashion).

[cheerios]

Sleepy Heads (Yoshifumi Hosoya) 1997



It was pretty annoying at first, but then I grew to like it immensely. There were some genuinely funny moments that I found myself laughing like crazy at. The way the jokes were prolonged in some of the scenes was great. It's about two Japanese ex pats in New York, and their day of "adventure".

[leroysghost]

Samuel Fuller - White Dog (1982)

some really great touches here: the dog mauling a black man under a stained glass portrait of st. francis the animal lover. a zoom onto the trigger finger of the black trainer instead of straight down the barrel of his pistol, mirroring the fingers of the other trainer reaching out to the growling dog. to top it all off it ends with what might be the greatest final shot/end credit sequence i have ever seen!

[cheerios]

OHM the early gurus of electronic music

Thought it was pretty good, so stoned when I saw it. I liked the interviews better than the actual music pieces though.

Manhattan Murder Mystery (Woody Allen)
Only seen a couple of other Woody Allen films, but thought this one was pretty good compared to the others.

[snailed]

Scott Hicks, Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007)

For the most part, it kept my interest. It is always great to see footage from the 60s and 70s.

Sweet, this is on Netflix instant play. I do have a soft spot for Glass' early stuff, esp. Music with Changing Parts, stuff like that.

[snailed]

OHM the early gurus of electronic music

Thought it was pretty good, so stoned when I saw it. I liked the interviews better than the actual music pieces though.

Manhattan Murder Mystery (Woody Allen)
Only seen a couple of other Woody Allen films, but thought this one was pretty good compared to the others.

The problem with the OHM disc is that it's just a bunch of random footage. It would be really nice if there was something to put it all into context, link the pieces together, etc.