| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Forty-First - Unrated | December 21, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe (Microcosmos) - Unrated | i've had this on the shelf staying there for years and haven't seen it yet... i should! | December 11, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Opening Night - PG-13 | I had the luck to watch this years ago on the silver screen,during a retrospective of Cassavetes work. I watched this again on dvd and I would watch it again countless times. Far more than just a star's guilt trip or raging madness, this film was made for the love of the theatre. Painful, at times, very personal, seriously life-altering, and honest, with all the best qualities of John Cassavetes' work. Simply marvellous, beyond words. | December 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| A Streetcar Named Desire - PG | Classical praise put aside, this is a film of tremendous value and personality. Elia Kazan's talent is 100% evident here (too bad he wasn't as inventive during his McCarthian examination). I feel that I should point out the things we usually leave out of our first reading: the portrayal of the mentally unstable Blanche, and how Vivian Leigh lived up to the expectations of the role walking on a very thin red line, on one hand, and the fetishizing of Marlon Brando's body and masculinity in general as a derivative, on the other. From a feminist point of view, the film is too close to supressing the issue of rape and the celebration of the rule of the Man over the Woman ("Every man is a King" in Stanley's words), and also the rule of the sane as contrary to the insane (respectively attributed to the masculine and the feminine here). This clasp of the absolute opposites and the way the conflict plays out realistically to the very end is at the heart of the film and it's also what makes it forever memorable. | December 9, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Unrated | Original Family Drama- long before all the screens, big and small, were swamped by it. This is a watered-down version of Tennessee Williams' exceptional play. Even though the gay theme was supressed (imagine how much trickier and spicier and deeper the relationship between Brick, his wife and his best friend would be, if only), it still scores on the performance front. The whole cast and not only Taylor (as Maggie) and Newman (as Brick) build up the suffocating atmosphere of "mendacity" but Burl Ives (as Big Daddy) most of all, is the towering element of the ensemble; the emotional growth in the film is as much his as it is Brick's. | December 9, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Boys in the Band - R | December 7, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Wages of Fear - Unrated | A story of epic proportions, executed with style until its very last frame. A journey into Hell and back.A very interesting, very coloful cast of characters. A director whose work remains classic. All of the above are reasons enough for you to watch this film and discover Henri-Georges Clouzot. It's not only Yves Montand that fills the screen... Unfortunately such cinematic gems don't always have the treatment they deserve. Someone should step in and preserve the film- the audience deserves to watch a restored version. | December 6, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - PG-13 | The best Terry Gilliam in years... Forget the sore, dragging feet of "Tideland" or the average "Brothers Grimm". Terry Gilliam is back. Maybe not as inspired as Brazil, or as chaotic as "Fear and Loathing", but definitely well written, well directed and well performed. The absence of Heath Ledger really does not have an effect on the story. Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, they all chip in happily with their own version of "Tony". All in all I came out of the room quite happy that Gilliam managed to pull this one off. | December 6, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Deconstructing Harry - R |
Woody Allen's proof that he is repeating himself can be found in the ironic (and iconic) "Deconstruction" of himself here. At least he's repeating himself by using some philosophical, albeit honest humor. What is amazing in this film is how the whole cast tries so much to live up to the director's expectations, while he is obviously indifferent on how his on screen persona tears everything up. Woody Allen enjoys deconcstructing himself, when everyone around him doesn't, and this is so obvious that you want to scream to him: "get ouf of the fucking film, already- aren't there actors out there who would be so much better in playing you?". I can't really, for the life of me, understand why he hasn't stuck to writing scripts, which is his actual talent. |
December 4, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Flickan som lekte med elden (The Girl Who Played with Fire) - Unrated | Not as good as its predecessor, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Here the Girl who Played with Fire executes the script and simply follows the story without any of the suspense and the dark charm of the first installment- minus probably, the lesbian love scene that's quite a worthy cinematic achievement. Let's hope this is just a temporary setback and the series will come to a wholesome conclusion and live up to the myth. | December 2, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Diabolique (Les Diaboliques) - Unrated | Almost perfect, but for the presence of Vera Clouzot towards the end. Simone Signoret is amazing, unforgettable, and gives such a compelling and persuading performance that it's impossible to guess what's really going on, until things no longer make sense and you have to deduce the truth. The comparison to Alfred Hitchcock's films, even though I suppose it's meant to be a compliment, is rather unfair. Les Diaboliques has a totally different charm and an air of its own. More about Henri-Georges Clouzot soon... | December 2, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Unloved - Unrated | I watched this yesterday night at the opening in TIFF (Thessaloniki International Film Festival). It's a beautiful, sensitive film that deals with a very controversial subject. Samantha Morton keeps the balance, by being realistic, but at the same time she lets the emotion flow without exploiting her audience. Most scenes are slow and they take their time to grow on you. The framing is always accounted for, with rare economy and attention to detail. Molly Windsor, as Lucy, remains with you long after you've left the room. I must say I admired the way the director and the screenwriter (Tony Grisoni) handled her relationship with her father. One of the scenes I will never forget, is how she enters the pub where he hangs out, how she sits on the corner of the sofa, just waiting for him to get near her. The conflict of love versus abuse has stricken a very powerful chord, here. I unreservedly give this a 4 out of 5. Good luck with the film, Samantha. | December 2, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (Padenie dinastii Romanovykh) - Unrated | December 2, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Dirty Dozen - Unrated | December 2, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| When Night Is Falling - R | November 30, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Marlene - Unrated | November 30, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Saving Face - R | November 30, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Killer's Kiss - Unrated | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Inglourious Basterds - R | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| But I'm A Cheerleader - R | November 28, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Les Chansons d'Amour (Love Songs) - Unrated | November 28, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Desert Hearts - R | One of the most sensitive stories for what it feels like to be a woman who loves women, "Desert Hearts" made quite a difference when it was released. Produced in 1985, it has been one of the most groundbreaking films of its time for the American audience- one of the many forward steps that the movie industry had to take in depicting homosexuals as beautiful and as intelligent beings as any person out there ('Making Love" [1982] also comes to mind), and one of the very few stories that had a happy ending for a lesbian couple at the time. Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau make a wonderful couple on the screen, and the love scenes among them feel tender, real and not contrived at all, just like their romance. | November 28, 2009 | N/A | |||
| La Cité des Enfants Perdus (The City of Lost Children) - R | November 28, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Children's Hour - Unrated |
There was a time when even the allusion of homosexuality would drive a whole society to punish and marginalize people until they were irrevocably stripped of their self-respect. This film presents a painful reminder of these times of cruelty. William Wyler's stellar direction forces Hepburn and MacLaine to give us some of their best dramatic performances. Karen Balkin (who never pursued a career in film) is perfect in the role of the child villain. The movie received 5 Oscar performances in its time and won two Laurel Awards for McLaine and Fay Bainter, an already acclaimed actress, who had a long and important career in early film and won an Oscar for her supporting performance in Jezebel (1938). |
November 28, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Noises Off... - PG-13 | 'Noises off' echoes the phenomenological concern: "theatre is a live event, so anything can go wrong!" And it does! There are extreme moments of comedic brilliance in this film, particularly the "silent" battle backstage. The actors and actresses give us a frenetic performance while props and costumes fly all over the place. The only problem is how "staged" the whole effort seems- even Michael Caine's voice over. Peter Bogdanovich, who has done his best directorial work in the 70's does not fully live up to the expectations of the amazing material he has in his hands in the form of Michael Frayn's play. | November 28, 2009 | N/A |
1140 ratings
288 reviews
