Rafiq's Recent Reviews
Salo (Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma)
NC-17
What a crazy film. It's a hard film to review, because I did indeed find some scenes I couldn't help but laugh at (specifically the stories and the requests of the libertines) and other parts are gross, but overall it's really really well done, which was shocking. Many of the shots are very well composed and the film definitely has great pacing. Sure, there's like depravity and stuff, but it really wasn't THAT bad. For the time sure, but I can open my mind and find both entertainment and philosophical value in it. That's the reason there's a difference between crap like "Cannibal Holocaust" and this!
American Graffiti
PG
Actually fairly good for a "teen" movie, because it breaks a lot of the norms and can stand in it's own right as a fairly good comedy. There are some really great parts, there are some really predictable parts. The beginning and end are kind of weak, but the rest holds up. I was entertained and there are some great shots in it and who can resist Harrison Ford?
Rafiq's Favorite Movies
Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring)
Unrated
Without a doubt, the most powerful film I have seen in my film. The acting is phenomenal, the cinematography and editing is second to none, and the story and writing is just unbelievable. The end monologue with Max von Sydow is gripping, sad, and outstanding. I've never said "Holy Shit" so many times in my life, but then when you get to the last ten minutes, everything is silenced in the room and you are experiencing the most intense, moving, tragic, heartbreaking, remorseful, and powerful scenes ever filmed. I couldn't talk and still can't talk, because this film is just that fucking good. The rape scene is horrifying and unbearable to watch, while the revealing of the murder will make your jaw drop. Then the revenge with Max von Sydow is uncompromising, intense, and chilling. A brilliant film and one film that I'd play all over again right after watching if there wasn't a possibility of me dying from exactly how tragic it is, which is no doubt because of all the aforementioned things.
8 1/2
Unrated
One of the best films I've ever seen, seriously in my top 5 or 10. Just brilliant, a film ahead of it's time, the story is told so well with great cinematography and directing from Federico Fellini, it just makes every shot like a work of art. Then Marcello Mastroianni's acting is perfect and this film shows his acting capabilities really well. Seriously, one of the greatest movies ever made.
