Recently Watched Films

[hatta]

This pretty much is why I don't see so many movies in the theater anymore.

I saw somewhere this week film prices are up to $12 in Manhattan now. I haven't seen a movie in the theater since Borat, I don't think.

I caught the "cheap" matinee - US$8. At least there wasn't any explicit commercials before the trailers.

[eraritjaritjaka]

Affair In The Snow - Yoshida Yoshishige (1968)

Looks neat.

it was. many evocative or interesting shots, and a great use of setting. the story grows a bit tired during the second half, but the visuals and mood carry it along rather effortlessly.



recently watched:


Castle Of Sand - Yoshitaro Nomura (1974)



Graveyard Of Honor - Kinji Fukasaku (1975)



The Yellow Handkerchief - Yôji Yamada (1977)




Vengeance Is Mine - Shohei Imamura (1979)


these were all pretty great in their own ways. tho 'vengeance is mine' is the one that truly stands out. epic, brutal flick, superbly acted and filmed. recommended.

[leroysghost]

Shohei Imamura (1979)
'vengeance is mine' is the one that truly stands out. epic, brutal flick, superbly acted and filmed. recommended.

indeed! plus it's the greatest serial killer movie ever made to boot (unless there is something i'm forgetting, all that's coming to mind is shit like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)


Jean-Pierre Melville - Les Enfants Terribles (1950)

i love this. an absolutely gorgeous film. Nicole Stéphane is amazing, and Edouard Dermithe, despite Melville's correct assessment that he was the wrong type for the part (Cocteau insisted in the contract that he be cast) goes the extra mile to make it work and delivers an excellent performance.

[Dan Warburton]

Rene Clement, Jeux Interdits, 1952

[walto]

Jean-Pierre Melville - Les Enfants Terribles (1950)

i love this. an absolutely gorgeous film. Nicole Stéphane is amazing, and Edouard Dermithe, despite Melville's correct assessment that he was the wrong type for the part (Cocteau insisted in the contract that he be cast) goes the extra mile to make it work and delivers an excellent performance.

I went through a Cocteau phase maybe 15 years ago, but that play never did too much for me.

[Dan Warburton]

You should check out the film if you don't know it Walt - it's magic

[leroysghost]

Jean-Pierre Melville - Les Enfants Terribles (1950)

i love this. an absolutely gorgeous film. Nicole Stéphane is amazing, and Edouard Dermithe, despite Melville's correct assessment that he was the wrong type for the part (Cocteau insisted in the contract that he be cast) goes the extra mile to make it work and delivers an excellent performance.

I went through a Cocteau phase maybe 15 years ago, but that play never did too much for me.

you really should see the film. it is based on a book, not a play, by Cocteau from 1929 that is considered his best literary work--and Cocteau himself said afterwards that he could no longer think of the book without seeing it trough the prism of the film. it is a masterpiece, with Melville and Cocteau canceling out each others worst tendencies and coming up with a superior work as a result.


Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man (2009)

finally got off my ass to see this one at hatta's prompting. a very interesting take on the coming of age tale. skewed so as to focus on the experience of the father, the film winds up being more of an apology for childhood innocence then a eulogy over loss of it. the use of the book of job, while certainly a reference point, is overstated in the press and is not really the spine of the film. overall, a perfectly timed and executed film colored by seasoned stage and character actors. i second hatta's recommendation wholeheartedly.

[leroysghost]

Jean-Pierre Melville - Le Deuxième Souffle (1966)

mock it all you want, i love the mirror cliche.


Jean-Pierre Melville - Le Samouraï (1967)


Jean-Pierre Melville - Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

in appreciation of Henri Decaë: Les Enfants Terribles, Bob le Flambeur, Les 400 Coups, Plein Soleil, Le Samouraï, Le Cercle Rouge...that is a career to be proud of.

[Dan Warburton]

Nearly done 'em all there, LG (did you enjoy Montand's DTs in Cercle Rouge? And the stunning jewel robbery (hommage à Jules Dassin's Rififi, also shot on Place Vendôme) - look forward to your thoughts on L'Armée des Ombres..

Meanwhile, saw this last night for the first time and thought it was fuckin' great:



Martin Scorsese, New York New York, 1977

I love the (intentional on Scorsese's part) juxtaposition / conflict between the deliberately glitzy artificial sets (painted backdrops, fake snow, zoot suits and two-tone shoes) and the rough, part improvised method acting of the dialogue. Coppola had a go at this too in One From The Heart, but I think Scorsese does it better. For my money, de Niro is just as good here as he is in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull: the timing, the delivery, all spot on. You just want to jump into the screen and shove the tenor sax up his nose. And Minnelli is the perfect foil - that fight in the back of the car which sends her into labour is terrifying - plus she can sing. Not sure if I didn't enjoy her voice more in this than in Cabaret. All the musical numbers are carefully staged, and - with the exception of the bop quintet in the Harlem club - the synching is impressively done. Georgie Auld's tenor is a bit too R&B honk'n'scream to be bebop, but its arrogant bleat is perfect for the Jimmy Doyle character. The Minnelli set piece "Happy Endings" is a brilliantly executed homage to the Hollywood big production numbers (shots out too numerous to mention, from Doris Day to Judy Garland - of course - to Busby Berkeley to the "Broadway Melody" sequence in Singin' in The Rain).. and check out "Aces High", the film within a film within a film!

[leroysghost]

Nearly done 'em all there, LG (did you enjoy Montand's DTs in Cercle Rouge? And the stunning jewel robbery (hommage à Jules Dassin's Rififi, also shot on Place Vendôme)

i believe Melville was originally supposed to direct Rififi, so it is doubly nice to see that he was finally able to make the heist film a la The Asphalt Jungle that he always wanted. Montant's DT's are nice, as are Melville's establishing shots (closet door/Yves close up/creepy spider/Yves close up/creepy spiders crawling on floor/close up of creepy spiders on Yves/Yves alone in a bed with a pile of empty bottles next to him), but it's the combination of the music and the decor of the room that really sell that scene for me. all the acting is great (i like Perier a lot, in both this and Samouraï) but Bourvil impresses me the most here. i was very surprised to find out afterwards that he was best known as a singing comedian (and that he died suddenly so soon after Cercle Rouge was filmed). also, three cheers for bogus eastern philosophy quotes!

Martin Scorsese, New York New York, 1977

i've more or less sworn off Scorsese, but i may check out New York New York now, seeing at it is one of the few i haven't seen.

tonight i watched:

Jacques Becker - Casque d'or (1952)

excellent. reminiscent of Renoir (which makes sense, Becker was the AD for a number of Renoir films such as Boudu and A Day in the Country) but with a beauty all it's own.

[Dan Warburton]

Ah, I see you're about to get on a Simone Signoret kick, there! She's terrific in L'Armée des Ombres too, of course. Reggiani is cool in this film too. The street in front of the Santé prison where he ends up still looks just the same, btw, if you ever come over to Paris for a sightseeing trip.

[walto]

Jean-Pierre Melville - Les Enfants Terribles (1950)

i love this. an absolutely gorgeous film. Nicole Stéphane is amazing, and Edouard Dermithe, despite Melville's correct assessment that he was the wrong type for the part (Cocteau insisted in the contract that he be cast) goes the extra mile to make it work and delivers an excellent performance.

I went through a Cocteau phase maybe 15 years ago, but that play never did too much for me.

you really should see the film. it is based on a book, not a play, by Cocteau from 1929 that is considered his best literary work--and Cocteau himself said afterwards that he could no longer think of the book without seeing it trough the prism of the film. it is a masterpiece, with Melville and Cocteau canceling out each others worst tendencies and coming up with a superior work as a result.

Ah, I was thinking of the play, "Les Parents Terrible", which I found really pedestrian. I have seen the movie made of "Les Enfants": it has a nice dreamy quality as I remember. But I guess my fave film of his stuff is "La Belle et La Bete."

[leroysghost]

Ah, I see you're about to get on a Simone Signoret kick, there!

more of a side step diversion into Jacques Becker/Jose Giovanni while i await the last couple Melville films (the public library is a wondrous thing ).

The street in front of the Santé prison where he ends up still looks just the same, btw, if you ever come over to Paris for a sightseeing trip.

wow, cool. my surprise reminds me of an Eddie Izzard joke about how Americans find any building still standing after 50 years to be a miracle!

[img]http://auteurs_production.s3.amazonaws.com/stills/6653/Film_271w_TouchezPas.jpg[/img]
Jacques Becker - Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954)

certainly one of the great film noirs, but perhaps also the greatest gangster film of all time. my favorite Becker moment is when the fence's secretary/lover (a very fetching Delia Scala) tries to play a kissing game with Gabin and he is having absolutely none of it. he just stares blankly ahead, keeping his eyes on the loot

[Jesse]

Come and See
D: Elem Klimov








The last 45 minutes are nearly unbearable, the horrors of war without sensationalism nor consolation. I waited a long while to see this, such was the advance word on its power. I cannot think of a greater war film off-hand.

[anastasia vronski]

Come and see Elem Klimov .I'm happy to see this in this thread . This is CINEMA not entertainment.
I've understand you like Schnittke . Klimov had Schnittke compose music for his films Adventures of a Dentist , Sport Sport Sport and The Agony .

[leroysghost]

John Sturges - Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan are both pretty good here, but they can't come close to overcoming the simplistic story, the terrible script and the awful music.

[Shivering Manatee]

Come and see Elem Klimov .I'm happy to see this in this thread . This is CINEMA not entertainment.
I've understand you like Schnittke . Klimov had Schnittke compose music for his films Adventures of a Dentist , Sport Sport Sport and The Agony .

Thanks for that info. I shall have to track those down. I've never seen a film soundtracked by Alfred Schnittke before.

[leroysghost]

Jacques Becker - Le Trou (1960)

superb. the whole idea of people recreating the roles they played in life always seemed a little hokey to me, but Jean Keraudy pulls it off brilliantly. he leaves such an impression that by the end it's only natural (sorry..) that he get the honor of delivering the perfect final line of the film.

[leroysghost]

a bit of halloween programing recorded off the tv:

Alberto Cavalcanti - Dead of Night (1945)

Wolf Rilla - Village of the Damned (1960)

unfortunately, as with some of the other storied brit horror flicks (Night of the Demon, The Wicker Man) i find myself very underwhelmed by both of these. Dead of Night is very disappointing indeed, even the ventriloquist dummy bit had only a few choice moments of enjoyment. i'm perplexed as to what people see in that one. Damned doesn't fare much better and strikes me as little more then a one trick pony. it's not a bad trick, but glowing eyes can only work so many times in a row before it loses it's effectiveness, and there isn't much in the way of writing behind it to prop it up.

ah well, The Haunting (dir. Robert Wise 1963) is on now and that one is always good fun.

[leroysghost]

damn, all i did today was sleep and watch horror movies (six in total ). unlike the first couple i watched however, i rather liked all of these:


James Whale - The Old Dark House (1932)

it says a lot when Charles Laughton's northern accent is probably the least odd thing about a film!


William Castle - The Old Dark House (1963)

i like Castle a lot. he is such a genial sadist.


André De Toth - House of Wax (1953)

i really need to see more De Toth, Nick Ray's mirror image .



De Toth recommendations anyone?