mpghoul1973
http://www.flixster.com/user/mpghoul1973
| Name | mike pfarner |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| I'm From | pittsterd pa |
| Member For | 623 days |
| Last Login | Fri. Jul 25 |
| Profile Views | 1360 |
| Age | 34 |
| MCT Score | |
| Status | Online Now |
| Movie: | DAwn of the Dead 78, She Killed In Ecstasy, What Have you Done to Solange, Eugine...the story of her journey into perversion, The French Connection 1&2, Mullholand Drive, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia, The Wild Bunch, Were Eagles Dare, Profondo Rosso, Hitch-Hike. your best bet is to read "my favorites" its ever growing! |
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| Actor: | Soledade Miranda, Christophere Lee, Peter Cushing, Gene Hackman, Michael Caine, William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oats |
| Director: | Sam Peckinpah, Sergio Leone, David Lynch (the greatest american filmmaker alive!), Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Jess Franco, George Romero, Martin Scorsese, DePalma, Terrence Fisher, Lucio Fulci, Bob Clark, Cronenberg, William Freidkin, John Booreman, Sergio Martino, |
| Quote: | "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum of the streets!" -Travis Bickle ~~~~~~ "One well dressed fucking man knows were your fucking cute little butt is hiding..huh! Stupid fuck!" -Frank Boothe |
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I have an immense love for European Sleaze, 70's action films, Trash films, Grindhouse horror, Italian Giallos, Film Noir, stupid comedies and a good drama! My favorite films are in no paticular order. I tend to re-reveiw films that i might happen to of watched recently as to give a fresher and more valid reveiw.
i get freind requests from people who seem to want to play the numbers game. I am not into that! Iam hear to share movies with people who have similar tastes. I want to meet people who are going to recommend films to me and vice versa! Not give them the most freinds on their profile. So keep your Top Gun lovin asses away! And keep your filthy widgets off my board! I dont exept freind request from people who have been members for 148 day and have not even bothered to add any films to their profile. You suck and i dont want to talk with your pathetic asses. |
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mike's Recent Reviews
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Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore (Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man)
Unrated
The only Polizieschi film Ruggerio Deodato ever directed is definalty not one of his better films. Live Like A Cop Die Like A Man is a brutaly violent and rough watch. That should be a good thing when one watches a Italian crime film!? Live Like A Cop Die Like A Man is an uncomfortable film experience. The film fails in allowing us to identify with the protaginists. There is no difference between the two lead cop and the vilolent and brutal thugs they are after, exept they have police badges. There is no real character development. And they story meanders around from unrelated scene to unrelated scene. There is a small plot that rears its head from time to time about a crime boss, but its never fully developed as a major plot in the film.
Though not a total piece of shit. The viloence is hard and brutal. There are much better Polizieschi films out there. So this one is more for the forgiving veiwer. Me, iam forgiving but not that forgiving.
The Dark Knight
PG-13
The talk is that this film is doing incredibly well and breaking all records because it has the 'Ledger Death Hype'. Iam not going to say thats completely untrue, but this film is so fucking awsome that it would of done just as well with out all the controversy. This is by far the best Batman film ever! Its so incredibly well done that i dont know if a third one could be as good. Nolan juggles all the material better than anybody else could have done. There are several stories going on and not once does any of them become muddled and confusing. There are basicaly two films that could of been made from the material and Nolan combines the two flawlessly for one perfect picture.
Ledgers Joker makes Nicholsons look about as threatening as Ceaser Romero's in the old 60's t.v. show. Ledger is the ultimate Joker. He's scary, unpredictable and completely out of his mind. Never will this Joker be topped! And Eckharts Harvey 'Two-Face ' is pretty damn good too. A major-major improvment on Tommy Lee Jones's awful Two-face in Batman Forever. Of course Bale, Caine, Freeman and Oldman do their finest too. The Dark Knight is a very hard PG-13. Its very violent, alot of people die and its scary at times. Iam suprised it got away with as much as it did and got such a rating.
Hancock
PG-13
Its not often we get to see what it realy looks like when a guy has his head shoved up another guys ass. Hancock is decent. I wasnt blown away by it. But i wasnt expecting to be. Its no were near as bad as some make it out to be. In fact i enjoyed it for the most part. But its so fucking predictable. I guess theres supposed to be a big twist? I dont know were it was because everything seemed obvious to me. If your a comic book fan and have read Miracle Man by Alan Moore, youll see alot of insparation was drawn from it.
Better than i though it would be but nothing great.
Cloverfield
PG-13
Heres the deal...this could of been the greatest giant monster film ever!! But its not. This isnt even mildly enjoyable. The only thing this film will EVER be remembered for is the nausea inducing shakey cam work. Its such a fucking lazy way to make a film. Anyone who thinks this is a great film is completely full of shit! There is no possible way any human being can sit through that much blur with out being driven to the point of at least wanting to vomit. I tried as hard as i possibly could to focus on something, anything to get through this film. I even tried to stare at the ceiling and listen to it. When that didnt work i closed my eyes, but was engulfed in loud obnoxious noises. I finally made the decision. Stay for the whole length of this film and feel like Malcolm McDowells Alex character in a Clockwork Orange and subject myself to a torturous hour and a half of vomit inducing cinematography. OR just leave. Go outside and wait for my friends. And thats what i did. For the first time in my film obssessed life I WALKED THE FUCK OUT of the theatre. Feeling cheated and pissed off that someone actually thinks this shakey cam shit is art. BULLSHIT!!!!
UPDATED: i watched the whole thing tonight on my nice 32 in t.v. It worked better for me on the small sized screen. Not once did i feel the need to vomit. There were some great moment in the film. But the characters are as annoying as hemeroids. I would of told the stupid fuck "good luck hope you find her" as i ran away to saftey. But then we wouldnt of had drama and excitment...now would we. The monster looked cool when the camera actually focused on it. And the 'lice parasites' were cool. I still feel the way i did before. Its a shit film that alienates veiwers. But i also liked it slighty more this time around. I give it a full star and 1/2 raise to 2 . Which still equels shit. Seriously the best thing about Cloverfiel is the music over the end credits. Its goddamn fucking incredible!!
Kwaidan (Kaidan)
Unrated
A highly stylized and beautiful art film thats also a erie horror anthology. The sets are jaw dropping most of the time. The colors are fucking amazing. The sets in The Woman In The Snow and Houichi the Earless especially are incredible. I never found the film to be too slow, as it has a reputation as being a slow one. With gorgeous scenery as Kwaidan has its easy to pass the time chewing up the visual scenery. The storys themselves are pretty well told and each segment really lets the story unfold at a nice pace. This is high class art and one of the best Japanese horror films ive ever seen.
Mississippi Burning
R
Thought provoking and powerful. Mississippi Burning is a film that leaves you exhausted. Not because its boring, but because of the strong subject matter. Parker handles it like a pro. Never once becoming preachy. He just delivers this story as is. Defaoe and Hackman together are fucking incredible. Hackman even goes 'Popeye Doyle' on a couple klansman. Highly recommended.
mike's Favorite Movies
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1.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
R
Warren Oats takes the front in Peckinpahs modern day western. Possibly my fav. Peckinpah film.
2.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Unrated
Herzog and Kinski's masterpeice. Dreamy and unsettling. Kinski is so intense to watch. One of my all time favorite films. Geurilla filmmaking at its best. Herzog risks his life and the life of his crew to bring about this beautiful film.
3.
Venus in Furs
R
Venus in Furs could easily be considered Franco's best film. It is breath takingly beautiful. The film has a surreal quality to it, that it evokes a haunting emotion that stays with you. There are some shots that may be the best in any Franco film. The Manfred Mann ultra cool jazz score is incredible. Maria Rohm is so freaking gorgous here. She's been in alot of Franco films but the impression she leaves you with in Venus in Furs is part of that haunting feeling you take away. She's fantastic here. And so is James Darren. Klaus Kinski has a small important role. I would like to say he was under used here, he's only in a couple scenes, but hes not. The story sticks with the characters its supposed to stick with. This is as good as any of Francos best. And it is now a struggle for me to choose an absolute favorite Franco film. But this is a leading candidate!
4.
The Great Silence
Unrated
Possibly the best spaghetti western outside of the Leone bunch. Sergio Corbucci injects this film full of dread and unpredictable resolutions. The setting is so unique to the spaghetti western climate. It all takes place in a blizzard ravaged mountain village. The snow cover territory adds a touch of surreal beauty. The ever reliable Klaus Kinski is as intense in the role of the bounty hunter, Loco, as he is with his roles in Herzog films. Jean-Louis Tritignant has to carry his role as the great mercenary known as Silence without ever speaking a single word or cry. Amazing on his part, for he brings alot to the character of Silence. I love how he shoots peoples thumbs off. Great concept. The Great Silence also benifits from having the talents of Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicholi score the film. The score is perfect. The main theme is so freakin cool. I have to get my filthy paws on a copy of it A.S.A.P!!! With an ending that left my jaw dropping to the floor, The Great Silence has fast become one of my all time favorite films. Highly recommended!!!!!
5.
There Will Be Blood
R
If i had to think of one word to describe this film it would probably be 'sinister'. Even the score has a sinister sound. But one thing is for sure! There Will Be Blood is P.T. Andersons masterpeice! His directing ability has jumped many leaps above were he was before..and he was definatly no slouch before. In Fact i have pretty much loved all of his past films from Hard 8 to Punch Drunk Love. (Although the latter is a love hate relationship.) But it seems like the long time he took off between Punch Drunk and this was spent mentally honing his directing skills. This film is sure to give P.T. all the creative freedom he needs for future projects. This film is fucking amazing! Daniel Day-Lewis owns the best actor Oscar in my opinion. If he doesnt win.. there will be blood! Iam pretty sure this film will have haters of the ending. But Like No Country For Old Men, i think the ending is fucking perfect. And there couldnt be two better films to duke it out at this years big Hollywood political event..the Oscars. Films dont get much more perfect than this. I think i can honestly say this is the best movie ive seen in a year! And ive seen alot of great films.
6.
Le Doulos
Unrated
Le Doulos is fucking amazing. It may be my favorite Noir yet. Its a 1962 French film but wears its allegiance to American Film Noir proudly on its sleeve. The b&w photography is gorgeous. Its new wave Euro flair gives this one an edge in comparison to most of the American Film Noir's that i have seen. Le Doulos is full of some of France's more unique looking actors. Serge Reggiani is almost the spitting image of Rowan Atkinson. It was hard to not think it everytime i saw him. The violence is almost shocking at times. Theres a great scene were a car is driven off a rocky cliff...in one take we see it plummet over the ledge, smash against the rocks below and as it impacts a body flies out of it 35 feet into the air. Unbelievable. I was cheering loudly in the theatre i saw it in. Great dialogue, action, twists and turns and double crosses.
mike's Movie Scrapbook
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I recommend you see...
Dementia 13 (The Haunted and the Hunted)
by Stellaposted 1 day ago -
I recommend you see...
The Good Earth
by Veronique"the good earth" is the earliest massive hollywood productions for oriental epic in exclusion of fu manchu series. it has great ambition to interpret the national spirit of china, its farming business under a bunch of stagy performances from caucasion yellow-face. and the issue has no relevance of its chinese authenticness but how old america views china.
it is a story about wang lung the farmer(paul muni), who marries a slavegirl in the big house named o-lan. and together they strive for their rocky future with mettle with their conventional chinese virtues. they've been thru harvest prosperity, drought, famine and the revolution of republic china as well as wang's illict affair with courtesan lotus.
mostly it depicts the condescending perspect of man's derogatory viewpoint on women which is actually true in ancient china, and women are merely usable products who help men to plow the rice fields and bring them extensions. without that, a woman could be considered worthless, and the dichotomy of benevolent saint and malevolent siren reflects on the two major female characters: o-lan, the slavegirl turning to the farmer's wife; lotus, the insidious temptress who drains men's wealth. eventually the conclusion would be good woman is like earth which provides everything with endless flourishments.
the earliest chinese star then anna may wong was keen to obtain the role of virtuous o-lan to alter her dreary image of malicious sirens in a bunch of negative orient-themed movies where she has to die "a thousand times" in the end. but the studio refuses to grant her that becuz of the racial segregation principle then: a caucasion male cannot make love or pair licitly with a oriental female on screen (so asian women are neither mistresses or villainy on screen), even as roles of yellow face. even the temptress lotus goes down to another actress with approved ethnicity despite the role lotus is literarily inspired by the oriental femme fatale image in wong's early silent pictures.
the point of making "the good earth" itself is a campy articce, so why bother to use a real chinese or not since the story won't present the real china anyway? as for anna may wong, she is thorough america-nourished american except her ethnicity, and she doesn't even conform to the corny chinese virtues of obediency or dependency on man anyway, further more she has never been with a chinese man for all her life at all. so in exclusion of her chinese outlook, there's not really any that much of traditional chineseness in her. so it won't be really a shame or a pity for her abscence as o-lan in this piece, but she would probably make an adequate lotus.
the title song for "the good earth" would be "the jasmine song" which has nothing to do with farming but a common folk song praising the beauty of jasmine flower in spite of its melodius smoothness. and in the scene of new infant birth, it's accompanied with the song celebrating the feng-yang drum which is my father's regional folk song in old china. so it would be highly phony to deem "the good earth" as a chinese epic, and even pearl s. buck who writes the original novel might have some bias for china. but it does bare some worthwhile process of collecting crops from the rice fields which i have never paid attention before. and the photography has its contived oriental aesthetism under the helm of four directors, including victor fleming from "gone with the wind".
so allow me to put it this way, the pleasure of "good earth" would be the brass flatulency of vintage caucasion hollywood's eccentric perception on "the inscrutable orient". ABSOLUTE CAMP!for me, watching "good earth" might be like watching charlie chen, sometimes you just have a deviant curiosity to watch how others perceive chinese as if you were an outsider without relevance. perhaps this outsider spirit is totally against zen which is to view things from the inward toward the outward, but i'm doing the opposite as an escapic fun.
in a nutshell, worth watching for its apparent FAKENESS. a A CAMP.posted 2 days ago -
I recommend you see...
The Dark Knight
by AmandaBatman has always been my favourite superhero ever since the first time I heard about him because he his human with no powers, also he is much more questionable than any other superhero. The story of the film is about Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent beginning to succeed in rounding up the criminals that plague Gotham City. They are unexpectedly challenged when a mysterious criminal mastermind known as the Joker appears in Gotham. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and to improve his technology (which introduces the recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod and the Batsuit was redesigned) to stop the madman's campaign of destruction. During the course of the film, a love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.
There are now six Batman films and I must say that The Dark Knight is the best out of all of them. The title is good because that is what Batman actually is. It has been 3 years for the adventure to continue from Batman Begins but that entire wait was worth it. Gotham city is very Gothic looking and is very haunting and visionary. The whole movie is charged with pulse-pounding suspense, ingenious special effects and riveting performances from a first-rate cast especially from Heath Ledger who gave an Oscar nomination performance for best supporting-actor. It is a shame that he can't see his terrific work on-screen, he Joker was the best beaten up Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson ones, pit that Heath Ledger dies too soon. The cinematography is excellent which is made so dark & sinister that really did suit the mood for the film. Usually sequels don't turn out to be better than the original but The Dark Knight is one of those rare sequels that surpasses the original like The Godfather 2. I also really liked the poster where the building is on fire in a Bat symbol & Batman is standing in front of it. Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director and his film Memento is one of my most favourite films. He hasn't made 10 movies yet and 3 of them are already on the IMDb top 250. Overall The Dark Knight is the kind of movie that will make the audience cheer in the end instead of throwing fruit & vegetables on the screen.Hey, you should really see this!
posted 2 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Batman Gotham Knight
by CrisAn amazing americanized anime and a welcome addition to the Batman franchise.
Hey guys, do me two things:
- watch this fantastic movie!
- and visit this blog: http://movyes.blogspot.com/
Appreciated ;)posted 3 days ago -
I recommend you see...Guess what, Heath Ledger fans? We've got one more new movie to look forward to with Ledger in it!
posted 4 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Diabolique (Les Diaboliques)
by *Among the best thrillers I've seen, "Les Diaboliques" is an excellent guilt-filled mystery bound to satisfy all with its clever, heart-pounding conclusion. I adored every suspenseful minute it offered and I'm confident that you will too.
From the writers of "Vertigo"!
posted 6 days ago -
I recommend you see...
The Fugitive Kind
by Veronique"thr fugitive kind" is another terrific piece scripted by tennesse williams, and it is adequately casted with marlon brando and ann magnani as williams' two archetyped characters in his plays: sexually dissatisfied female with great willpower vs luscious male with stormy sex antagonism. the harsher extreme exemplification would "streatcar named desire" as brando's stanley is the central object of desire, perhaps williams' personal inclination does contribute to his various creations of "homme fatale" which is men who are the seductors casting or catalyzing doom to women.
by this time, brando is the alluring drifter with snakeskin jacket and guitar by his side, a symbol of his uninhibited nature, an aloof poise which fascinates women with masochistic tendency. and two women become the prey under his charm: one lewd exhibitionist and one shrew with tangled past. somehow he's employed by the latter whom he also falls in love with. but the malice of the woman's invalid spouse brings forth catastrophe to everyone, nothing left but a snakeskin jacket remained from a fire disaster, another symbol of williams' poetric tragedy, and one fugitive kind seeks another to compensate.
brando's male beauty has not been in the prime blossom as he was in 1951 "streetcar named desire", by 1959, he starts to bare some rugged ripeness. anna magnani, who makes her fame in "the rose tattoo", is perfect casting choice as the elder woman whose vigor of life is mighty enough to lure brando without being perished into pieces by him.
"the fugitive kind" is one good example of the significance of the scriptor, and the movie's functionality all relies upon the pearly lines of tennesse williams and his metaphoric usage of lust and death which are frequent themes in his plays as well as the occasional dialogues of existential futility which are too lengthy to be mentioned here. "fugitive kind" requires your thorough attention to chew over the clever words of pessismistic wisdom, far from a mindless pleasure you could squander over.as one of the great rebel/method actors in the beat generation, brando showcases another charm due to sexual antagonism in "fugutive kind", also scripted by tennesse williams, and this time he meets his female counterpart, anna magnani whose individuality is sharp enough to emulate his. if you like great plays as you enjoy "streetcar name desire" as well as "rose tattoo"..."fugitive kind" is also a great choice for your food of thoughts.
posted 6 days ago -
I recommend you see...
In This Our Life
by Veronique"in this our life" is bette davis' cooperation with director john huston, backsetted in the old south reputed for its insolent southern belle while racial bigotry still exists then. olivia de havilland's casted as davis' virtuous sister with the capacity and benevolence to make the best of everything, even the men disposed by davis. it might be a reminder of de havilland's miss goody goody image in "gone with the wind" but this time her counterpart devoids the glamourous polish and de havilland herself begins to show some hardened edge rather than her sweet pie lad image alongside errol flynn in swashbuckler pieces.
davis is the wildly arbitrary sister of the reputed timberlake family with an uncle who has a drolling incestuous crush on her. with the uncle's financial backup,davis struts around, stealing her sister's beau then destroys him willfully, eventually her irresponsiblity deteriorates into framing a diligent black janitor after she accidentally runs over a woman. davis plays that kind of malicious bitch who could only be gratified by someone else's unhappiness, and once she obtains and devours something, she tramps it and tosses aside, absolutely guiltless and unwilling to take the blame with a pretentious victimized facade.
unevitably "in this our life" is melodramatic with the archetypes of selfless gentle woman like de havilland and bitch-perfect bette davis, but at least it has enough relish to make a watchable picture, and john huston's noirish strokes add gritty seasoning to it.
like "jezebel" and "little foxes", davis gets into the skin of another abrasive southern stereotype, malevolent egoist who is vain enough to disregard the welfare of others. "gone with the wind" glamour star vivien leigh also thrives in such southern belle role, such as her scarlet o'hara and "streetcar named desire", but the main difference between leigh's and davis' interpretations would be the relentless brass and spunk. leigh's performing style is more feminine and laid-back in the niche of shakespian thespian while miss davis shamelessly smirks and growls. maybe that's what defines davis' feminist poise, watching a woman who doesn't hesitate to galope full throttle being a bitch even she appears in a light of coquettish wardrobe by orry-kelly.is the notion of feminity defined by the subtlety of your emotional expressiveness? would any unbashful expressionism be tagged as feminist poise? observe bette davis and vivien leigh.
posted 7 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Quarantine (2008)
by DuncanI've seen enough horror remakes to recognize a bad one from a good one at first glance.
The trailer that played before Hellboy II makes this look like a bad one.Any of you guys see [Rec]? If so, what'd you think of it?
posted 9 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Boogie Nights
by Veronique"boogie nights" is mark walhberg's breakthru into the caliber of a actors, and it might be paul thomas anderson's best work by far as well as a good enclosure among the 90s. walhberg used to be the calvin klein model for underwear so the size of his private thing has been nicely anchored before,and his "marky marky" white rapper image is highly helpful for the audience to lead into the imaginary ground of dirk diggler.
walhberg palys eddie, an astray teenager who gets one special talent, his 13 inches phallis, then he gets spoted by the porn director, john horner(burt reynolds), so he re-incarnates into the legendary stud in porn cinema, dirk diggler. but the movie centers not merely on dirk but also the people around this pornography circle, such as roller girl (heather gramham) and the maternal porn actress(julianne moore) as well as various sub-cast like philip hoffman and don cheadle..etc. you may view these people frivolously wasted as social scums, but they do sincerely deem porn flicks as a form of cinema with sincere enthusiasm.
even in the degenerated role like that, mark walhberg does emite some lovable boyish innocence in this character, for example, dirk often inquires his co-woman-star's feelings in the sex scenes, for instance, he askes julianne moore in the firse scene of their intercourse, "where you want me to shoot? are you all right?" and she also shows some affectionate encouragements back in return. there's no misogynism in its female characters, and men do show some respect of equality to women even in a seemingly rotten bussiness like porn cinema. they consider lovemaking an exhibitionistic enjoyment, and they do care about the works they've done. and also, there's some strange ethics among this group of people, burt reynold's like a proper paternal figure, in the scene he kisses moore on the shoulder then remark "i stare at the foxiest bitch in the world". vice versa, julianne moore is the maternal figure who is a gentle nuturer while joanna gleason is the opposite as dirk's judgementally harsh mother who deems him as forever loser and dirk's father is a meek quiet man without opinions. and dirk's life is like an elongated adolescence while he's eternally obsessed with oriental kung-fu, various subcultural items and flashy roadsters. but i must say, walhberg really gets the poise and the moves!
the course of american dream would be the earnest naivete of its dreamers, and even sex workers also have their american dream in spite of the outrageous notoriety they receive from drug abuse and promiscuity. "boogie nights" has the capacity of humanity and pathos for its characters, but it also bares the price these people have to pay for such self-abandoned lifestyle. they're bittersweet tales of porn industry's idealistic narcissism and its sour mistreatment from social prejudices. it's like an obscene american dream awaken in the end with corrosive disillusion while walhberg demonstrates kung-fu to his 13 inches dildo."boogie nights" is the pornogrphic version of american dream, and dirk diggler is a dazed youth who builds his self-assurance upon his 13 inches thing, but who's wrong with that? ha. everyone has his one specialty. "boogie nights" is gleefully obscene but also sardonically humanistic with its deep sympathy to the characters. everyone gives a good performance and the music is tasteful, same as the wardrobe, jullian moore and heather gramham never look sexier than this, the porn sirens. i feel comfortable watching it becuz it shows no misogynism even in an erotic material like that.
maybe the harshest part would be the photographer with a sex-addict wife who could get laid on literarily everywhere. but it's some sort of profane humor.posted 9 days ago -
I recommend you see...
All This, and Heaven Too
by Veroniqueall this, and heaven too" is a tear-jerking over sentimentalized vehicle of miss bette davis, intended to showcase miss davis' caliber of benevolent characters instead of her trademarked roles as malevolent shrews like "little foxes", "jazebel" and "whatever happened to baby jane."..except the acting, everything about "all this, and heaven too" flops into a hygienized version of "jane eyre" without a bit of gothic allure, a tale of a prim governess' suppressed crush on her empolyer.
davis plays an idealistic young woman who comes to france serving an aristocratic family led by charles boyer, and she spreads warmth of love to his children that draws the bitter jealousy of the loveless wife(babara o'nell) who goes insane at any moment when the aristocrat endears the governess. then the fanatic wife gets rid of the governess then revenges her by not granting a letter of reference. eventually the aristocrat slaughters his wife in a fit of enormous rage.
the simmering romance between boyer and davis is like a smoldered stewed dish without emanation so it just stales with exceeding melodramaticity. the best moment in the flick would probably be the second charles boyer strikes barbara o'nell. and the children seem unpleasant with their galling sweetness, escpecially their pretentious french accent."
"all this, and heaven too" is a so-called woman's movie(or chic flick), but it all depends on whether you term womanhood as oppressive passion sealed under the conduction of puritanical virtues. perhaps an explosion would be more aggreeable than masochistic feminity.maybe n this gendre, jan eyre would be a better choice with its gothic allure, and orson welles' abrasive master with a dark secret is far more interesting. joan fountain seems to be more adequate to timid roles like this in her early collaborations with hitchcock like "rebecca" and "suspicion".
posted 9 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Chosen Survivors
by guya group of "chosen survivors" are brought to an underground bomb shelter after a nuclear war, only to find it's infested with vampire bats. really well done and worth checking out.
Hey, you should really see this!
posted 11 days ago -
I recommend you see...
The Dark Knight
by Duncan
Surpassed all of my expectations, and expectations were high. This is the only film I've seen worthy of both it's hype and it's praise.
It exceeds Batman Begins, and every other film based on a comic book, by leaps and bounds. This film knocks it out of the park in almost every aspect, from the jaw-dropping cinematography to Hans Zimmer's beautiful score to the richly written and developed characters.
And what a cast there is to fully realize these characters on screen! The best actors from Begins return for another round, and all were brilliant for the most part. Christian Bale's "Bat-voice" gets grating after a while, but that's a minor quibble.
The best performances in this film, however, were by the three newbies to the franchise. Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance as Rachel Dawes, the love interest of our protagonist, made us care for her even if she was more of a cardboard cutout than the male characters the film focuses more on. Aaron Eckhart was fantastic as Harvey Dent. He switched between charismatic and charming to tortured and menacing flawlessly. Sadly, but understandably, it's a brilliant performance that's overshadowed by another one in the same movie.
Heath Ledger immerses himself in the role of the Joker to the point where he's completely unrecognizable. His handsome face is hidden by hastily and violently applied clown makeup, and his deep voice and Aussie accent are transformed into a nasally, sleazy drawl. The Joker is a madman with nothing to lose or gain, and a terrifying one at that. It's a tour-de-force performance, and thankfully, for now, not the last performance from the late Ledger that we'll have the pleasure to see.
A comic book film that takes the source material seriously is a rare and beautiful thing. Even the best of them tend to either try and keep it fun and campy as well as insightful (the first two X-Men films, for instance) or greatly deviate from the source material's tone and/or plot (A History of Violence comes to mind).
Thankfully, The Dark Knight was handled very seriously by director Christopher Nolan, much more so than Burton and Schumacher, and it winds up being a powerful tale of what makes a hero a hero.
I'm going to see it in the cinema a second time, and the last time I did that was for the first Spider-Man film. This is the best movie of the summer, and it's going to be hard for another film like this to top it.This isn't a recommendation. This is a request.
I'm asking everyone on flixster to resist the urge to send me a recommendation for this when it comes out. I don't care how good it winds up being, or if (by some miraculous happenstance) it didn't live up to expectations and you wanted to warn me.
I'm as equally anticipating this movie as much as the great majority of you. I don't need any extra motivation to see it, nor will the most convincing argument against it prevent me from checking it out.
I assure you, my ass (or "arse", take your pick) WILL be in a cinema seat, but NOT on opening day. There are two simple reasons for that: I'm involved in a play that's requiring most of my time for the next three weeks, and I won't be able to afford a movie ticket until next week.
So please, don't flood the "My Talk" section of my profile with Dark Knight recommendations. I want to see it, and I'm going to see it.posted 11 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2)
by DuncanGuillermo Del Toro makes magic with Mike Mignola's cult comic yet again!
Full review coming soon...Hey, you should really see this! Don't let this fantastic sequel get lost in The Dark Knight's hype!
posted 14 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Sexy Beast
by mayathis one was kind of uneven for me even though i ultimately really enjoyed it. here are the pros: ben kingsley is by far one of the most conscientious, impeccable actors i have ever seen. his performance is one of the most chilling and expertly executed portrayals of a professional criminal. i almost pissed myself i was so scared of him. the film is beautifully shot, and the bunny is fucking awesome.
the cons: the plot and the way the story was told was kind of unbalanced and there were a couple choice shots that kind of confused me.
the dialog was hard to follow.
ultimately kingsley made up for all of the little faults i had by being so bad ass and so absolutely terrifying.Hey, you should really see this!
posted 15 days ago -
thank you. "the bride of frankenstein" is probably the only homocentric flick without the mainstream ban since it's coated so well with insinuative decorations.
i forgot to mention that the monster is bizarrely associated with the imgery of crucification which has been brought out by someone else before so i omitted it.posted 15 days ago -
I recommend you see...
The Bride of Frankenstein
by Veronique"bride of frankenstein" is one of the rare cases in cinema that the sequel indisputedly surpasses the original. naturally lots have been remarked upon the brilliance of james whale.
unawared by most, "bride of frankenstein" also extends the homoeroticism from its precessor on the character dr. pretorius who utters the legendary line "to the new world of gods and monsters" while he flaunts his little men in the jars (strangely it provoked the japanese ban then due to its mockery toward the royalty.) the mostly apparent scene would be dr. pretorius intrudes dr. frankenstein's bedroom in spite of the maid's warning in his fiancee's presence, discussing the course of "creating life" with insistence on excluding her. (an "intercourse" with discrimination toward the woman) it's a impudent poise on the caricature of elder anemic homosexual, admitted by whale himself.
and the most heterosexual character with masculinity would probably be the monster who is eager to have a female mate (compared with the deviant pretorius and the wimpish frankenstein), demonstrating his enormous interests toward the creature called "woman". but the monster's friendly lovemaking is rebuffed abruptly as whale's ruthless disdain for heterosexuality as well as the pride of his own orientation. but wouldn't be it another suggestive tone of homosexual identification with woman since frankenstein and pretorius are ardent to create a female being (a pursuit of feminity?). they might be my crude speculations.
un-noticed by most, the actress who plays frankenstein's fiancee is substituted with valerie hobson instead of mae clarke in the original since mae clarke is forgotten or dismissed as the grapefruit lady in "public enemy". and it is wonderful opportunity for una o'connor to showcase her comic flair as the screaming maid whose neurotic nerves borders on annoyance.another devotion to its fan fare, pardon my "crude" associations on its homoeroticism.
posted 16 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Frankenstein
by Veronique"frankeinstein" along with "dracula" have been listed as the legendary horror phenonmenon in the 1930s, and they saved lots of theaters from going bankrupt then, and they're the saviors of box office as long as they're double-featured together. it shall be the myth of 1930s.
lots have been said about frankenstein, even its dismissed scriptor robert fortley who got fired becuz of his support for bela lugosi has been mentioned. mae clarke, the woman who gets hit by james cagney with grapefruits in "public enemy", plays the finacee of dr. frankenstein after her copperation with james whale in the original "waterloo bridge"
ignored by some, frankenstein does have something deeply profane within its ideology. "frankenstein" daringly suggests the possibility of creating life without natural course that is the best target bombarded by puritanical american society then, and the fragmented outlook of frankenstein is the symptom of modernism, a half-baked state of man-machine stumbling along to demonstrate the contaminating sin of industrialization. homoeroticism as well as autoeroticism is also suggested in it since dr. frankeinstein chooses to create life in the abscence of female, and dr. frankestein exclaims "it's alive" when the monster arises to life, his excitement seems to border on sexual ecstacy, and then he marvels "with my own hands!!!!" the masturbatory insinauation is reeking everywhere. besides the course of "making life" with his hunchback assistant seems to appeal dr. frankestein more than endearing his finacee's bedroom.
and the subliminal purpose for the existence of deformed monsters like frankenstein is the phobia toward disfiguration after wwi. audience needs some surrogates to suffer from their suppressed subconscious fear so flicks like "frankestein", "dracula" even tod browning's "freaks" could occupy a space in this decade.devoted to its fan fare.
posted 17 days ago -
I recommend you see...
John Adams
by KenGuaranteed to make you see the American Revolution and it's founding fathers in a whole new light.
HBO continues to amaze me with the quality of there productions.
All of the acting and story telling here is top notch.
Tak Fujimoto might have gone off the deep end with the dutch angles, but it's forgivable.Guaranteed to make you see the American Revolution and it's founding fathers in a whole new light
posted 19 days ago
by Duncan
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