My Favorite Movies

I will call this my all-time favorite movie. I don't think I'll ever tire of watching it. Such a smartly written film.

Clergymen praised this film for it's theological value. This was the true beginning of Bill Murray's career as an actor.

An engaging movie that takes a bleak, but also beautifully hopeful look at the lives of four young women who live on the margins of life in contemporary Tokyo. Sex in the City it's not. The portraits of these women were, almost unnervingly, complete. Great great independent film.

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sitenoise at the movies: Strawberry Shortcakes

Absolutely beautiful! Brilliantly assembled simple story of a writer in search of his muse, told with rich colors and lots of black, dream logic, humor, inspired editing, and a soundtrack that matches it beat for beat. I wanted to applaud almost every scene. Arty without pretension and a poet's attention to detail.

Mark Wahlberg should have won an oscar for his performance in this film. And the writer of the screenplay for giving him the part. And the cinematographer for the unique look of the film.

Poetic. Dreamy. Surreal. There's just something about the way Sion Sono puts together a film that appeals to me. The assemblage maybe more than the film.

A thoroughly engaging film on the surface. The creative camera angles, the mostly gray/green color palette accentuating a sense of disease or decay, the original music and sound design, and the beauty of the actors add up to a sensuous ninety minute delight.

Charlene Choi is magnificent as the schizophrenic, sad and lonely Winnie.

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sitenoise at the movies: Diary (Mon seung)

Perfectly executed. One of the most well-crafted films I've ever seen. Dizzying animal terror. Swirling, whirling cameras and a soundtrack designed to induce nausea make watching this film a physical experience. Super punk. Not for everybody. I'm glad it went backward. Ends sweetly. Super sweet. Bravo.

This is a painful and gorgeous film. Not sad. Painful. And gorgeous. And painful. Be advised that there are a couple scenes in this film that rank up there as a couple of the most difficult scenes to endure in cinematic history. You don't actually see anything, but it's clear what's going on and it is essential to the meaning of this movie. You will squirm in your seat. Guaranteed. And if animals being harmed in the making of a film bothers you, and you consider fish and frogs animals, stay away.

This a great film about sadness and friendship. Outstanding performances.

High octane intimidating sense of humor.

Simply Beautiful. This is Brokeback Babbling Brook. Incredibly insightful story about one-sided young gay love that transcends itself. The woman who made this film is the daughter of a famous film director and I'd say its given hera wonderful head start. She's young and destined for greatness if the gentle and mature way she put this film together is any indication.

An amazing love story. Outstanding performances!

Jong-du is a social misfit, heading for retarded. When his brother tells him he should think before he acts, he responds "I don't know what you mean", and he doesn't. He can't see the need to.

Gong-ju has cerebral palsy. Jong-du doesn't see it, or he sees right through it. Clearly. It registers nothing in him.

This is my guilty pleasure 5 star film.

I smiled from ear to ear watching this movie from the time sensitive boy was introduced until the very end. This is an exceptionally well done film.

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sitenoise at the movies: Blue Gate Crossing (Lan se da men) (2002)

Doesn't everybody bow to the greatness of this film?

This film is ice cold and Caroline Ducey is magnificent in the lead. One of the most intellectually erotic films Catherine Breillat has manufactired. This is her masterpiece. Sexy, sad, creepy, and real co-exist all at once.

A perfectly cast film by David Mamet.

Post modern disgust at its finest and most endearing. Hal Hartley at his best. Nobody acts in this film, they just deliver lines. Lead character carries around a hand grenade at all times ... "just in case."

A magnificent character study of a woman who has retreated.

No denying it. So much passion went into the making of this film it drips off the screen.

A gold standard

James Earl Jones: The equation of life on the Serengeti is simple. Herbivores eat plants. Carnivores eat herbivores. Magnificent.

A surprising, illuminating, entertaining, enlightening, educational program. Michael Palin is perfect for this. He's an everyman with a sense of humor in some very foreign places.

Beautifully written, beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and bewildering

sitenoise at the movies: Spider Forest Review

If you like a good mind-fuck ... and who doesn't? ... a little kinky sex and a lot of tension, go here. Trying to figure out the layout of this apartment was mind boggling. It was supposed to be.

sitenoise at the movies: Next Door (Naboer)

I laughed I cried. I can't imagine anyone disliking this film.

Do-yeon Jeon fans, add this one to your queue. She plays both mother and daughter in this touching film about a woman who goes back in time and befriends her mother and witnesses the courtship between her mother and father. Great location, cinematography and acting.

Naomi Watts's performance of a lifetime ... Wow!

Great filmmaker, great cast.

Like an army of films rushing at you all at once. Frustrating to follow sometimes (best to just let it fall all over you), but the sheer strength of Kseniya Rappoport's performance pulls you through the film and her character's life. It's a stunning portrayal of love, fear, and determination.

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sitenoise at the movies: The Unknown Woman (La Sconosciuta) (2006)

Lost in Beijing is banned in China and its filmmakers are banned for two years from making films in China. What kind of nonsensical time-out is that? I want more of them to fall through the cracks and make films like Lost in Beijing--which is nothing like Farewell My Hero's Kingdom of Flying Yellow Flowers.

sitenoise at the movies: Lost In Beijing

Interesting direction to this semi-arty French film. Loved the frustrating ending and all the scenes in the rehearsal studio. Keep your eyes out for tough, natural beauty Catherine de Léan. Wears Boots.

sitenoise at the movies: La Capture

It's a buddy cop comedy melodrama. Typically over-the-top Korean style done very very well. World of Silence peels off layer upon layer, uncovering about five film's worth of internal demons and other dramatic tragedies, but it ends, and it seems to end a few times, like a sportscaster screaming "No! No! I don't believe it! Don't ..." and then "Great shot!" when it goes in.

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sitenoise at the movies: World of Silence

A gripping thriller with a bewildered sense of humor made possible by the kick-ass performance of Yun-seok Kim. Highly recommended. There are a handful of groan out loud plot moves in The Chaser, but so what. There are also more than a handful of plot moves this film doesn't do, moves that most people will be guessing it will do, that it more than makes up for it. This is a film I know I'll watch again just for the performance of it. The plot won't matter. It's that good.

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sitenoise at the movies: The Chaser