Paul's Talk

Meres tou '36 (Days of 36)

Part I of A Trilogy of History by Theo Angelopoulos:

The particles of 20th century Greece being here,in an attempt to observe,spy and subsequently organize the scattered hopes of the ancient legends.Suffice to say Angelopoulos re-defines history as we know it,it's hilarious to find out underground schemes and corrupt authorities damaged a (non-existent) state of union!!!
That is,regardless of the politicians,ignorant of the prosperity of the state nor of the rebellious inmates,struggling for their voice to be heard against a totalitarian nation (Metaxas the "prime minister" was ready to rule with the 4th of August Regime),not even the main protagonist of the drama exaggerates.

Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo) (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea)

Best Movie of 2009 so far, You have never seen anything quite like Ponyo. Not as dark as Spirited Away but definately a comparable Miazaky Masterpeice! See it now.

Jian guo da ye (The Founding of a Republic)

Gone Baby Gone

The aunt of a young girl who goes missing hires two local private detectives to find her amidst the usual accompanying media frenzy. Gone Baby Gone was directed and co-written by Ben Affleck on his debut behind the camera but please don't let that put you off! It's actually one of the most refreshingly adult and well-written cop thrillers in recent memory. The story felt to me almost like L.A. Confidential done in the style of TV series The Wire, in that there is very little in the way of moralistic black and whites, all set in a ghetto-like environment with the associated colourful yet believable language and characters. It's a film that actually has something to say, examining questions of the personal sense of right and wrong and the cynical media hype machine milking such incidents for all their worth for its own gain. Of course having such superb acting talent involved certainly doesn't hurt, Affleck, Freeman and in particular Ed Harris are are excellent and Casey's brother shows an excellent eye in his surprisingly mature direction. It's not perfect; the story is perhaps a little too convoluted, I myself feeling that there was one too many endings for its own good, but aside from that there is very little to find fault with. One of the most accomplished directorial debuts I have seen in years, and all this from the star of Gigli! Who would've dared to think...?

Gone Baby Gone

The aunt of a young girl who goes missing hires two local private detectives to find her amidst the usual accompanying media frenzy. Gone Baby Gone was directed and co-written by Ben Affleck on his debut behind the camera but please don't let that put you off! It's actually one of the most refreshingly adult and well-written cop thrillers in recent memory. The story felt to me almost like L.A. Confidential done in the style of TV series The Wire, in that there is very little in the way of moralistic black and whites, all set in a ghetto-like environment with the associated colourful yet believable language and characters. It's a film that actually has something to say, examining questions of the personal sense of right and wrong and the cynical media hype machine milking such incidents for all their worth for its own gain. Of course having such superb acting talent involved certainly doesn't hurt, Affleck, Freeman and in particular Ed Harris are are excellent and Casey's brother shows an excellent eye in his surprisingly mature direction. It's not perfect; the story is perhaps a little too convoluted, I myself feeling that there was one too many endings for its own good, but aside from that there is very little to find fault with. One of the most accomplished directorial debuts I have seen in years, and all this from the star of Gigli! Who would've dared to think...?

Gone Baby Gone

The aunt of a young girl who goes missing hires two local private detectives to find her amidst the usual accompanying media frenzy. Gone Baby Gone was directed and co-written by Ben Affleck on his debut behind the camera but please don't let that put you off! It's actually one of the most refreshingly adult and well-written cop thrillers in recent memory. The story felt to me almost like L.A. Confidential done in the style of TV series The Wire, in that there is very little in the way of moralistic black and whites, all set in a ghetto-like environment with the associated colourful yet believable language and characters. It's a film that actually has something to say, examining questions of the personal sense of right and wrong and the cynical media hype machine milking such incidents for all their worth for its own gain. Of course having such superb acting talent involved certainly doesn't hurt, Affleck, Freeman and in particular Ed Harris are are excellent and Casey's brother shows an excellent eye in his surprisingly mature direction. It's not perfect; the story is perhaps a little too convoluted, I myself feeling that there was one too many endings for its own good, but aside from that there is very little to find fault with. One of the most accomplished directorial debuts I have seen in years, and all this from the star of Gigli! Who would've dared to think...?

The Saragossa Manuscript

By the Elysian Fields and Hades,the photographic proportions of this film were highly jubilant!The farcical approach helps to create a Dionysian environment and at times,a zany comprehension of non-linear events,in which the ending is unimportant...Wojciech Has prefers to entice us,and sometimes lure us in the trap of hypnosis of a manuscript so enchanting,you'd think it was made for the pleasure of confusion and only...

City of Life and Death

One might raise the hand and question the authenticity of the director's responsibility for executing a precise account of horrifying events,or the sympathy he showed towards Hideo Nakaizumi's role of the Japanese private or maybe giving Gao Yuanyuan her most mature performance to date.Maybe nothing will happen at all and the film will exhume under the roaring blockbusters.Whatever the result will be,Lu Chuan's crescendo is here to stay.
Jancso's The Red and the White in pre-WWII Nanking.

Mister Lonely

Diego Luna..

It was odd. And nice.
But it never really grips you.. you know what I mean?

I'm starting to rellay like Samantha Morton.

Walled In

"It will probably suck."

That's what I wrote some time ago.
Now I've seen it and I was once again right on the money.
My fuck was it ridicules and plain. There was only one real scare in it, and that was Deborah Kara Unger. Does anyone know if she is on heroin?
And that Mischa Barton is a boring fuck, ain't she?
Blablabla, look pretty, blablabla, almost show a nipple, blablabla..
And finally. Cameron Bright.
I hope you pull a Brad Renfro on us.

Thank You and Good Night!

Destry Rides Again

When the sheriff of a corrupt frontier town is murdered and replaced with the town drunk, the man calls on the services of the son of a legendary law man, only to find that he is a pacifist. James Stewart is at his very best for this, one of his defining roles. His easy going charm and integrity are a perfect foil for Marlene Dietrich's feisty music hall girl (so brilliantly parodied by Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles) and they have fantastic chemistry together; the cat-fight scene is pure comedy gold. Essentially a story about standing by your principles no matter what the provocation, all the characters are impossible to dislike, with some great comic relief provided by a quality supporting cast. Consistently funny with a timeless story of a hero who refuses to resort to violence in the face of adversity, this is one of my all time favourites and a true classic from the golden age.

Slumdog Millionaire

Finally I get to see it! I love watching this type of film, way after all the hype settles down.

Despite everyone ranting and raving about this film (which can sometimes lead to disappointment) I was blissfully unaware of how the storyline would unfold and really enjoyed that aspect of the film.

Dev Patel is a very natural Actor and gave a very enjoyable performance.

Whilst from a British point of view, this seemed to give us some sort of insight of the people on the poverty line in India, I was still able to watch with my Flixster Friend?s (Prith) comment about this not necessarily being portrayed correctly, in mind.

Either way this was fascinating, entertaining and dispite the hype ? nothing like I?d thought it be, in fact better.

The Killing

Fresh out of prison, a career criminal cooks up an ingenious scheme to rob a racetrack. An early film from Stanley Kubrick, and yet another masterclass. He takes to the visual trappings of Film Noir and creates one of the most efficiently told and tautly directed heist films ever made. Sterling Hayden is perfect as the straight-talking, street-wise mastermind, as is Marie Windsor's Machiavellian femme fatale who twists doomed sap Elisha Cook Jr round her little finger. So much of this film has influenced some of the best directing talent working today that it still feels remarkably contemporary; Tarantino owes much to the over-lapping timeline in particular, and the mix of off beat characters, violent crime and cruel twists of fate is straight out of a Cohen brothers movie (Vince Edwards actually looks the spit of Peter Stormare in this film!) In fact the only element that dates it is the newsreel style voice over, although it does help fit the pieces of puzzle together quite well. Johnny Clay was a brilliant character whom I would have liked to have learned more about, to the point where you are almost sorry to see him caught. But wishing the film was longer is hardly the most damning criticism! Is there any genre Kubrick couldn't do?

Calendar

The optical purposes of a study on architecture and the historical treatise of a long-forsaken land.We come full circle the moment all seasons approach their climax,Egoyan's static camera focuses in the buildings and their caressing stature instead of the human beings.A contrast which fits Egoyan's overtones and the oozing atmosphere that encompasses this exceptional film.

Drag Me to Hell

If the "Evil Dead" films were Sam Raimi's ultraviolent loveletter to the brand of slapstick comedy popularized by the Three Stooges then "Drag Me to Hell" is his loving tribute to the classic Universal monster films of the 1940's and Chuck Jones cartoons of the same period. If the combination strikes you as odd then you are probably not very familiar with the man.

Following a gorgeous credit sequence for Raimi's own "Ghost House Pictures" production company that would not at all have felt out of place in a William Castle movie, we are treated to the Universa Studios logo. The old one. If that doesn't get your blood pumping then this is probably not the film for you. When the film opens the footage is washed out, bordering on black and white. The setting appears to be early 1950's Los Angeles where those nefarious gypsies, ever the villains in monster films of the era, have cursed a little boy. His parents, desperate, enlist the help of Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza. Her ultimate failure reveals two things:

1. Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza, swearing vengeance upon the demon that took the child, will return to the film at some point.

2. Sam Raimi may have been cajoled into a PG-13 rating but the studio can go fuck itself if it thinks that means he isn't going to open his movie with a young child falling 15 feet feet from a balcony and subsequently being dragged to hell by demons as he screams in pain.

The film then picks up about 50 years later where we meet our lead, the almost impossibly looking Alison Lohman. That she will be cursed by gypsies is no spoiler (look at the fucking poster) and her attempts to maintain her health and sanity make up the bulk of the running time. The movie, of course, moves like greased lightning hurtling from one set piece to the next combining shocks and laughs so abundantly, as is his style, that the one becomes undistinguishable from the other.

As in other Raimi genre films it falls to the cast to anchor the sheer anarchy of what we are witnessing. David Paymer, Justin Long and Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza do solid, if thankless, work but it all falls squarely on the shoulders of Alison Lohman who will be harrassed, tortured, abused and thrown about almost nonstop for an hour and thirty minutes. How does she do in the role once played to such perfection by one God Bruce Campbell? Quite well, actually. She is no Bruce as she has trouble with some of the more farcical elements of the performance but she is quite the trooper herself: smashing into furniture, screaming her lungs out, getting drenched in water and all sorts of very icky fluids. She manages to remain grounded and, most importantly, entirely likeable throughout the entire film which is a huge part of why it manages to mostly work well.

Unfortunately, the PG-13 rating does show. Raimi is unable to get away with his typical slapstick splatter. He certainly brings the ick factor in the form of dripping pus and saliva but you can feel him holding back from, say, removing someone's arm and beating them over the head with it. Even worse, the CGI, while not terrible (but certainly low budget) is incredibly distracting. Raimi's horror films always used practical effects, for better or worse, and relying on computer animation both breaks the Raimi aesthetic and the classic Universal feel. Neither of these elements is enough to completely derail the film but they do make me long for a balls out, R rated no CGI, 16 mm Sam Raimi flick.

Needless to say, this movie is not for everyone. It takes place in a heighthened universe and is little more than a series of self contained set pieces structured around a typical horror plot. Fans of the genre, however, and especially fans of the director will most likely not be disappointed. References to "The Wolf Man", "The Fly", "Braindead" and many others abound. Ted Raimi makes his requisite (and hard to spot) appearance. An anvil makes its presence felt. Overall, "Drag Me to Hell" was one Ashley J. Williams cameo away from 5 stars,






.

Caravaggio

Recently watched this film again AFTER TWENTY YEARS and as shown by the amazing Amadeus, A Beautiful Mind and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, not all the biographical (or fashionable) details need to be tediously in place for it to be a great biopic.

Rent (or download) this tale from Derek Jarman, starring a young Dexter Fletcher. Lighting, cinematography, acting, direction - all superb.

Sátántangó (Satan's Tango)

I can't describe it.It's an opus equivalent to what philosophy and opera really mean to anyone who's a fervent supporter of all types of arts.No mental delights,no gloominess,this is an attack to the senses by a long shot!
Whoever is against natural formations,better stay away...the hours and the times,literally.

Stalag 17

When a self-serving operator in a WWII prison camp is suspected of collaboration with the enemy, he is forced to uncover the true culprit. Another of Billy Wilder's cynical classics, there is a lot more humour in the material than you would think. In fact it is often so broad it can resemble an extended episode of Sgt. Bilko, full of fast paced wise-cracking and army camaraderie. It is Holden's character of course that provides the real drama, and he plays it pitch perfectly. Unlike most prisoner of war films that are full of stiff upper lipped heroics, his cynical attitude never wavers and the sharp, witty dialogue makes for some fine black comedy. Easily one of the best examples of the genre.

The Obama Deception

yup, this certainly exposes the Globalist Agenda and the Left/Right Paradigm ... look out for the follow-up FALL OF THE REPUBLIC, coming end October 2009

I psyhi sto stoma (Soul Kicking)

What is it about modern transgressions?Are there any loopholes so that personal property alters to forbidden environments?Litsis as the commentator of his privacy!
Which there isn't any,it's all a fake human interaction,or the urban solitude...or the compelling oral exchanges of his everyday routine...