8/26/11

Isn't She Great (Official Trailer) Bette Midler



A funny film I watched on Jacqueline Susann's publication of Valley of the Dolls. The film is tongue and cheek--and it accepts the fact that her book is trash. It also pokes fun at the fact that you don't need to have talent to be famous. This is on NF streaming.

The Steel Helmet

8/22/11

Nobody Knows



I was finally able to stream this other film by Kore-Eda Hirozaku. A very sad film about 4 kids who are abandoned by their mother in a Tokyo apartment, and they're left to fend for themselves.

THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD TRAILER 1951 HOWARD HAWKS

8/21/11

The Fly (1958) - Theatrical Trailer



Watched this classic and it was ok. The thing I don't get is how calmly the woman reacts to the hubby using their cat (and causing it to disappear) in the experiment. For animal lovers that would be grounds for divorce. I guess to them it was "just a cat."

Jean Cocteau

8/17/11

Love and Honor: Trailer



This is the 3rd film I've seen in the Yamada samurai trilogy and this one was good, too. I'd just love to live in a Yamada film, where the good guys always win. He focuses more on characters and their emotions--and you view them more as people. Yet I would rank them as The Twilight Samurai as the best, Love and Honor 2nd and The Hidden Blade 3rd.

His films are tough not to enjoy.

Blue Valentine - Trailer



Overrated but still good film.

8/15/11

Nijushi no hitomi - Twenty-Four Eyes Trailer (1954)



A mediocre tearjerker that beat out Seven Samurai in some film festivals in Japan. Bad screenplay, but otherwise well made; just no story nor realistic character development.

8/14/11

The Hidden Blade (trailer)



This is the 2nd Yoji Yamada film in his Samurai Trilogy, following The Twilight Samurai. Overall, this is a good film but not as good as The Twilight Samurai. It's very entertaining but follows conventional formula, so for that I can't rank it as highly. But it's still worth the watch and a film I enjoyed. His films have humor in them and a warmth but ultimately this is a more likeable film than great film.

Pickpocket, 1959, by Robert Bresson

8/12/11

Gandhi (Richard Attenborough, 1982)


Watched this earlier tonight with my father, as it's one of his favorite movies. I thought it was a good movie, if a bit dry and lacking insight into the man himself, outside of his historical identity. However, as a portrayal OF Gandhi the public figure, it works well and is effective, especially since it avoids beating you over the head with a loud soundtrack or overt melodrama.

8/11/11

8/6/11

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (excerpt)



Met this kid in the mid-1080s a few times. Total poseur with no talent. Thankfully, he killed himself with drugs, saving the world from decades of art pollution.

8/5/11

Kabei - Official Trailer



This is the 2nd film by Yoji Yamada I streamed and it's another great one. Great characters that have their little quirks and by the end you care for them. Reminded me a lot of 24 Eyes. A must watch! I hope to see more of his films in the future because both this and The Twilight Samurai are great!

Willem de Kooning: abstract expressionist



Not a great painter, but a step above Pollock and Rothko.

8/4/11

The Twilight Samurai Trailer



A terrific film by Yoji Yamada. It's on streaming, along with one other film of his, that I plan to watch this weekend. It has humor, pathos, depth. A Great Japanese Film Master is among us.

Andrew Wyeth

8/3/11