11/21/09
Sunset Boulevard
I recently got the DVD for this classic film. I first saw it in the mid or late 1970s, and have few memories of it, save for the cameo appearance by Buster Keaton in a single scene.
I probably saw it on a late night film series, like the Million Dollar Movie, and, in those days, had no real idea whether or not films were good or bad, just whether or not it held my interest. Other than the moment with the Great Stone Face, I recalled next to nothing of the film.
But, Billy Wilder films are always pretty good, if not particularly deep. My favorite film is the Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau film, The Fortune Cookie.
Gloria Swanson is a name I only recalled from a few dramatic silent films, but the truth is that most of the best silents were comedies. Thus, little of her earlier career sticks with me.
William Holden, as the male lead, of course, was one of the solid leading men of the 1950s. My favorite role of his was in The Bridge On The River Kwai.
Then there was Erich Von Stroheim, and I cannot recall seeing any of the silent films he directed, although he was interesting in Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion.
So, I look forward to rewatching this old film, and seeing how it stacks up to the film that beat it out for the Oscar in 1950, All About Eve. While Wilder was a pretty good screenwriter, Joe Mankiewicz was tops in that era.
11/19/09
The Upcoming Kiarostami's
"Certified Copy" is the upcoming brand new Kiarostami's. The first work he is doing outside Iran. This is by itself very interesting to observe, Kiarostami's movies were acted and done by amateurs and inexperienced techs under extreme Iranian restrictions. Now he is directing a few-million-dollar-budget movie with professional actors (like Juliette Binoche, one of Kieslowski's favorites) in Europe. The movie is supposed to be screened at Cannes.
The last movie of his that I watched and enjoyed was The Wind Will Carry Us, that approached a similar theme to his 1997's Taste of Cherry (Death). Both of them being very good (and near-great) works. The Wind will Carry Us follows a journalist (who looks like Kiarostami) visiting a distant village waiting for one of the oldest women in Iran who had fallen sick to die so he can have a scoop about it. Taste of Cherry is about a middle-aged man who -for no obvious reasons- decided to plan his suicide.
The last movie of his that I watched and enjoyed was The Wind Will Carry Us, that approached a similar theme to his 1997's Taste of Cherry (Death). Both of them being very good (and near-great) works. The Wind will Carry Us follows a journalist (who looks like Kiarostami) visiting a distant village waiting for one of the oldest women in Iran who had fallen sick to die so he can have a scoop about it. Taste of Cherry is about a middle-aged man who -for no obvious reasons- decided to plan his suicide.
Zeitgeist Films
For all of you guys who didn't have the chance to watch NB Ceylan's latest two works: the masterpiece Climates and the visually stunning Three Monkeys. They are both now being released as region-1 (US format) DVD by Zeitgeist Films. Climates was previously released by The New Yorker Video that went out of business around a year ago. The company was supposed to release Three Monkeys as well.
This is the Trailers for both movies:
I always enjoy reading Dan's review about these two works (see links above) but also the great review he wrote about Ceylan's Distant (I read it more than ten times and I enjoyed each reading).
This is the Trailers for both movies:
I always enjoy reading Dan's review about these two works (see links above) but also the great review he wrote about Ceylan's Distant (I read it more than ten times and I enjoyed each reading).
11/18/09
A Clockwork Orange.
Watched some features on A Clockwork Orange tonight. The book I remember enjoying quite a bit, esp. considering the book is written by an English author and is set in England. (I tend to dislike English lit personally--for their finger up the ass formalism but this one I enjoyed). Anthony Burgess' real name is actually John Burgess Wilson according to Wikipedia. But then again, it's only Wikipedia, and we know, given the editors there, how reliable a source that is.
Funny that he would prefer the name Anthony to John. Pen names are dumb, unless your name totally sucks, like if it were Jeb Butts or something, then I could see changing it.
Anyway, I always enjoyed the trailer:
And here is the great intro:
Funny that he would prefer the name Anthony to John. Pen names are dumb, unless your name totally sucks, like if it were Jeb Butts or something, then I could see changing it.
Anyway, I always enjoyed the trailer:
And here is the great intro:
Criterion's Repulsion
Got the Criterion release of Repulsion and will have to watch it soon. Here is the end of that film:
11/16/09
Current Mexican Cinema
I can't remember the last time I saw a good movie, for two reasons: I'm not watching movies that much (work and personal life), and the very few I'd watched are barely decent.
The last movie I saw was for a Mexican director: C. Reygadas. I became interested in Mexican cinema after seeing some works for young directors like Inarritu (Love's a Bitch, 21 grams, and Babel) and G. Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth). Both directors aren't superb but credit has to be given for they are miles ahead the current American blockbuster cinema. Between the two, Inarritu is the best... the last three works he did dance around one theme: absurdity of life (death) . Though this theme is over-consumed in European cinema (Kieslowski before, and recently Tykwer, Almodovar....) but the "Mexican" approach is worth checking.
The first, Amores Perros, lives of random people intersect around one car accident
The second, "21 grams": random lives change after a heart-transplant surgery...
The third, "Babel": four stories intersect after a tourist being accidentally shot by a kid
The three movies has a non-linear narrative that make them a bit more interesting, though the three works don't really go that high above a decent Hollywood movie (Babel and 21 g being better than his first work).
With Del Toro, though Pan's Labyrinth was a good movie, the rest of his work (like Hellboy) didn't go beyond video-games level.
Back to Reygadas, it's interesting how a lot of directors build a reputation by irritating audience, shocking people...etc yet with minimal (like M. Haneke) or absolutely nothing (like our Reygadas here) to say.
Battle in Heaven is the last movie I saw.... the movie was famous for its opening scene: an ugly fat middle-aged man being blown by a young naked pretty girl (no censure whatsoever), the camera pans around the couple (white background, no definite space or time) and then zooms in on the girl's teary eyes. The movie is a collection of scenes that almost don't move the narrative any where, with plenty of scenes contrasting fat ugly women and men with skinny beautiful ones (something the director seems to focus on). The movie is about a blue-collar couple trying to hide the fact that the kid they kidnapped died (with all the action occurring off-screen), the male after confessing to a young girl he knows, ends up killing her and escaping to a church.
Overall a major disappointing work, and the 43% on RT website seems too much.
The last movie I saw was for a Mexican director: C. Reygadas. I became interested in Mexican cinema after seeing some works for young directors like Inarritu (Love's a Bitch, 21 grams, and Babel) and G. Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth). Both directors aren't superb but credit has to be given for they are miles ahead the current American blockbuster cinema. Between the two, Inarritu is the best... the last three works he did dance around one theme: absurdity of life (death) . Though this theme is over-consumed in European cinema (Kieslowski before, and recently Tykwer, Almodovar....) but the "Mexican" approach is worth checking.
The first, Amores Perros, lives of random people intersect around one car accident
The second, "21 grams": random lives change after a heart-transplant surgery...
The third, "Babel": four stories intersect after a tourist being accidentally shot by a kid
The three movies has a non-linear narrative that make them a bit more interesting, though the three works don't really go that high above a decent Hollywood movie (Babel and 21 g being better than his first work).
With Del Toro, though Pan's Labyrinth was a good movie, the rest of his work (like Hellboy) didn't go beyond video-games level.
Back to Reygadas, it's interesting how a lot of directors build a reputation by irritating audience, shocking people...etc yet with minimal (like M. Haneke) or absolutely nothing (like our Reygadas here) to say.
Battle in Heaven is the last movie I saw.... the movie was famous for its opening scene: an ugly fat middle-aged man being blown by a young naked pretty girl (no censure whatsoever), the camera pans around the couple (white background, no definite space or time) and then zooms in on the girl's teary eyes. The movie is a collection of scenes that almost don't move the narrative any where, with plenty of scenes contrasting fat ugly women and men with skinny beautiful ones (something the director seems to focus on). The movie is about a blue-collar couple trying to hide the fact that the kid they kidnapped died (with all the action occurring off-screen), the male after confessing to a young girl he knows, ends up killing her and escaping to a church.
Overall a major disappointing work, and the 43% on RT website seems too much.
11/15/09
Faye Dunaway is the Better Looking Monica Vitti.
We were watching some special features about Faye Dunaway in the film Bonnie and Clyde and I was struck by how much Faye looks like Monica Vitti, only better looking. It's not that Monica is bad looking, but she has the Italian schnoz working against her, thus making her features very sharp. Faye has softer features and is a much better actress overall.
Bergman thought that Vitti had no talent as an actress, but I think she just didn't have a lot of range. All her characters are these dull, unemotive, passionless women and that's what she seemed to do best. I have a hard time imagining Monica Vitti shouting, "NO WIRE HANGERS...EVER!!!"
But they do look incredibly similar. Faye's face was more versatile, however, for she was able to pull off Joan Crawford and appear identical.
Faye:
Monica:
I like Monica, but Faye wins.
Bergman thought that Vitti had no talent as an actress, but I think she just didn't have a lot of range. All her characters are these dull, unemotive, passionless women and that's what she seemed to do best. I have a hard time imagining Monica Vitti shouting, "NO WIRE HANGERS...EVER!!!"
But they do look incredibly similar. Faye's face was more versatile, however, for she was able to pull off Joan Crawford and appear identical.
Faye:
Monica:I like Monica, but Faye wins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
