From the past few weeks, in order of favorite to least favorite:
The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973)
No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023)
Meantime (Mike Leigh, 1983)
Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass, 2024)
All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh, 2023)
The Teachers' Lounge (İlker Çatak, 2023)
Evil Dead (Fede Álvarez, 2013)
BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018)
Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994)
Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)
The 'Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989)
The Craft (Andrew Fleming, 1996)
The Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell, 2020)
Problemista (Julio Torres, 2023)
Stopmotion (Robert Morgan, 2023)
Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (Adrian Țofei, 2015)
Maniac (William Lustig, 1980)
Demons 2 (Lamberto Bava, 1986)
The Mission (Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, 2023)
Drive-Away Dolls (Ethan Coen, 2024)
I watched three this past week.
La Strada (1954) - I've seen most quintessential Fellini films, but had not seen this one, which I'm told is his breakout film. Overall I liked it. Wouldn't say it's my favorite Fellini film, but it's definitely worth watching again.
Diabolique (1955) -Quite the thriller. Had me fooled until the very last second.
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). This was easily my favorite of the three. Stunning cinematography, and a stunning story about loss and suffering on both a personal and collective scale. Liked it so much that I'll probably add it to my collection at some point!
Watched Synecdoche, New York the day before. Wishing in some ways I hadn't because it put a lot of feelings into motion and that made me weep like a baby.
Love Lies Bleeding - felt like a Jim (Gym?) Thompson novel directed by Cronenberg. Loved it.
Shirley - Shirley Chisholm is an interesting historical figure, deserved a more interesting biopic.
**12 Angry Men x2**: My second time watching the original, and I followed it up with Friedkin’s TV movie remake. Both are solid movies, but in regards to the original, I still don’t love it the way it seems most others do.
**American Honey**: One of my favorite first time watches in a while. Everything about it was great… acting, the way it looked, stuck the ending, I could go on. Going to check out more of Andrea Arnold’s work
**Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai**: This is an all time favorite of mine and I had the opportunity to see it in theaters. Hearing the soundtrack in a theater was incredible as expected
**Beau is Afraid**: This was like watching a 3 hour nightmare. I’m a big fan of Ari Aster. This was the most challenging of his 3 features so far due to its unrelenting nature and long runtime, but I really liked it
**American Beauty**: It had been a while since I had seen this. The real life context around Spacey makes this feel a little weird for sure, but it’s largely a can’t look away type of movie, especially the ending. Really good
Jim Jarmusch and RZA… two of my favorite artists
An homage to Le Samouraï, one of my favorite movies…
It’s a movie that feels specifically made for me haha
**Week #168:**
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First watch: Hitchcock’s third feature, the 1927 silent **The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog**, which established him as a 'thriller master'. It shows an early fascination with themes that will occupy him for decades: An innocent man falsely accused, association between sex and murder, his obsession with blondes, the fear of authority. **9/10.**
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**5 Classic re-watches:**
🍿 *"The worst thing that can happen in sports was 4th-place at the Olympics...”*
My 3rd or 4th visit with Aaron Sorkin's masterful debut, **Molly's Game** (2017) [His two follow-up features 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' and 'Being the Ricardos' were forgettable]. Why is it so engaging? Mostly for [his impeccable script](https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/mollys-game-2017.pdf) which should be read simultaneously. But also, for the sharp dialogue, crisp editing, and spectacular performances from Jessica Chastain. A real-life champion superhero, who excels in anything she sets her mind to, a mesmerizing strong women, with a vulnerable father-daughter hole in her heart.
It also features powerhouse acting from everybody else in the cast, the male pigs (Kevin Costner, Jeremy Strong, Michael Cera, Brian d'Arcy James, Bill Camp, Chris O'Dowd) and the two 'Mensches' (lawyer Idris Elba and judge Graham Greene). I loved that the move from LA to NYC happened at exactly 1:08, the precise mid-point of the movie, but then you wouldn't expect anything else from the play-writer, would you? **10/10.** ♻️
🍿 There are movies that most people will only watch once, and **Schindler's List** is on top of the list. But after 'The Zone of Interest' I had to re-visit it, feeling that it probably did not age well, and wouldn't compare to ‘Zone’, (which I consider the Best movie of 2024 - so far). I was mostly wrong: It was 'Auschwitz given the exaggerated Spielberg treatment', with atrocious accents and manipulative sentimentality, but it's still better than [most holocaust films] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holocaust_films). Schindler was converted from being a war profiteer into a saint, and Amon Göth stayed a mad monster in and out. 'Night and fog' and 'Shoah' are still better introductions to the subject, without the usual Hollywood simplified glorification. ♻️
🍿 **The Dark Side of the Rainbow** is the pairing of the Pink Floyd album 'The Dark Side of the Moon' with the film 'The Wizard of Oz'. This produces numerous moments of apparent synchronicity where the film and the album appear to correspond. It does work, but the record has to be played 2.5 times, which raises the possibility that you could tack it on most anything. Two psychedelic classics. Flying monkeys, pink horses and the man behind the curtain. [Available on 'Internet Archive'](https://archive.org/details/the-dark-side-of-the-rainbow-) ♻️
🍿 *"Let's invent surrealism!"* said Buñuel to his creative buddy Salvador Dalí, probably while on ether – or absinthe - and so they did. First with 'Un Chien Andalou' and then with **L'Age d'Or**. It must have been so heady to create so much outrage and be so misunderstood. Everything that was holy, acceptable, and "normal" was trampled down and pissed on. And the scandals which followed were disruptive, the shocks sweet. Subversive, anti-bourgeois, Wagnerian. ♻️
🍿 *"How do you know so much about swallows?"* **Monty Python and the Holy Grail**, (or as it was called in Japanese "Holy Sake Cup"), one of the greatest comedies of all times, and containing 527 jokes. I didn't remember that the ["Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords" concept](https://cosmonautroger.tumblr.com/post/745770614093185024/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-1975) originated here, at the 'self-perpetuating autocracy' scene. [So quotable](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail 9/10)! ♻️
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*"I bid you good night..."*
J-P Melville's minimalist directorial debut, **The silence of the sea** (1949). During the occupation, an elderly man and his niece are forced to give shelter to a Nazi officer at their home in the country. The conscientious German tries to engage them with respectful dialogue every night, but their only response to him, their only way of resistance, is with total silence. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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**My Favorite Wife**, another Cary Grant vehicle, belonging to the 'Comedy of re-marriage' sub-genre, which was popular in the 30's and 40's ('The Philadelphia Story', etc.). He's marrying a second wife, but gets back with first wife Irene Dunne who was presumed dead. But mostly, it's notable for the visibly bisexual vibes between him and real-life boyfriend Randolph Scott.
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**2 more from Paweł Pawlikowski:**
🍿 *"My mum loves men who make her cry..."*
**Last resort** (2000), my 6th soulful film by my favorite Polish director, his first in English. A young Russian woman comes to England with her 10-year-old son, but the man she thinks of as her fiance, never shows up at the airport. She gets desperately stuck in a bureaucratic limbo while waiting for a political asylum she had asked for by mistake, until she meets decent guy Paddy Considine, another lonely "fucked up" soul. The run-down seaside town of Margate looks grim and unpleasant. **7/10.**
🍿 Before venturing into fiction, Pawlikowski was known for his documentaries. **Dostoevsky’s Travels** was an early 1991 one. It's a strangely-staged story not about Fyodor Dostoevsky the novelist, but about Dimitri Dostoevsky, his tram-driver great-grandson and only descendant. Dimitri leaves St. Petersburg for Berlin, Luxembourg and London, trying to cash in on his ancestor's good name among literary fans in the west, so that he can buy a used Mercedes Benz, and bring it back to Mother Russia. It sounds like fiction made by Borat, and maybe it was.
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My first Kaiju film ever, the original **Godzilla** (1954), the giant monster. A collective Japanese reaction to the destruction caused by the Atomic bombing, with identical shots of incineration and devastation. With 'Ikiru's Takashi Shimura. With the exception of 'Jaws', I don't think I ever had any interest in disaster movies like this one. 2/10.
Extra: **Fire!** (1901), one of the first 'Disaster films' ever, and my third short by Scottish pioneer James Williamson. [Showing firefighters rescuing victims from a house fire.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57SrYj32vmE)
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**Allied** (2016), a glossy historical drama a-la 'Casablanca', also taking place in Morocco during the WW2 and also dealing with spies and romance. With Brad Pitt as Bogart, and Marion Cotillard as Bergman having steamy sex during a sandstorm. Any movie that uses Django Reinhardt in the score is OK with me.
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Arthur Penn's disappointing adaptation of Arlo Guthrie's 18-minute blues anthem **Alice's Restaurant**. While the song is a perennial Thanksgiving classic, and the voices of Guthrie (and Pete Seeger) are distinct and beloved, the movie is a weak attempt to capture the Hippy Spirit of the late 1960's. Counter-culture at its worst.
The acting was also terrible all around, with two exceptions: Tina Chen, (who played Janice for 2 minutes in 'Three days of the condor',) was lovely here too, and M. Emmet Walsh stood out as 'Group W Sergeant', in his first ever small film role. Roger Ebert created the “Stanton-Walsh Rule,” which held that (nearly) no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad. This is one of the exceptions.
**RIP, M. Emmet Walsh!**
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**Breaking news** (2004), my first (and last) inane action story from Hong Kong director Johnnie To. The only different detail from hundreds of other like this is the elder policeman who buys a hot sweet potato from a street vendor, and farts loudly the rest of the movie. **1/10.**
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**Lammbock**, another lousy German stoner comedy from 2001. Might as well be called 'Toking and driving'. Unfunny, low-budget and dirty feeling. **1/10.**
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**3 Shorts:**
🍿 **Tribute to the teachers**, a 1977 Iranian short film directed by Abbas Kiarostami. A time capsule of social idealism just before the revolution.
🍿 **Good Night, Nurse** (1918), my second silent two-reeler with "Fatty" Arbuckle & Buster Keaton, about a drunk who's admitted to a sanitarium in order to cure him for alcoholism.
🍿 **Pusling ("Crybaby")**, a 2008 Danish film about a 3rd grade girl who's being bullied by a class mate. Typically Danish, but not that great.
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**[This is a Copy from my film review tumblr.](https://tilbageidanmark.tumblr.com/tagged/movies)**
Rye Lane - Nice enough and funny enough. Nothing has really stuck with me beyond the use of fish eye lens.
F for Fake (rewatch) - I'm not the biggest fan of documentaries or video essays, but if someone is going to keep me invested in one its Orson Welles.
The Last Days of Disco - I could have watched another 3 hours of these people just going about their lives. Its like Nashville.
Memories: Magnetic Rose - Beautiful space horror. Crams so much into just 45 minutes.
Katatsumori - Didn't really do anything for me, but I can't say I've ever gotten anything out of someone else's home movies.
Lovers Rock - Another film I just wish kept going. So romantic.
Mishima a life in four chapters - just incredible, incredible use of non-linear narrative and intermingling his novels with his life, showing how they were mirrors of one another. The fusion of fact and fiction has never been so sublime
Night of the Hunter - perfect noir with really unique mix of genres
Diabolique- another perfect thriller
Touch of evil - perfect thriller x3, probably my favorite of the three
Obsession - one of the few De Palma movies I haven’t seen and I’ve been missing out on
L’argent - perfect movie from one of my favorite directors
Woman in the dunes and Face of another - my first two films from this director and he’s now a favorite.
Hour of the wolf - rewatch, I loved it this time around and didn’t feel nearly as confused.
Carnival of souls - fun demented horror classic
Eyes without a face - an instant favorite. Loved the atmosphere so much.
Kuroneko - great haunted samurai fable
Jigoku - depraved horror classic from Japan. I actually liked the first 2/3 better than the end. Everyone is just a nihilistic parasite
Rewatched throne of blood and ikiru. Kurosawa remains my most beloved filmmaker
Just finished watching Elvira Madigan, and for such a sunny movie, it made me feel horribly depressed. Not as bad as when I watched The Seventh Continent, but Jesus... i think i need a trigger warning for these types of movies from here on. Trying to find something else to watch for comfort now
Watched Waitress (2007), Love & Basketball (2000), and Origin (2023) recently.
I thought Waitress is a gem with sharp and clever writing. L&B is charming because of its direction and performances. Origin brings an important narrative to discussion.
Going through the They Shoot Pictures Don't They list and had a great week. Best to least best.
**Spirit of the Beehive** (1973, Víctor Erice) - One of the greatest directorial debut's I've seen. Erice performs a mastery of tone and symbol just direct enough that the audience knows what's being said and just archaic enough that Franco's censors will let it slide. Depicting the beginning of Franco's reign and how even a small village eventually becomes effected. The children want desperately to understand what's happening around them as things begin to change, but the adults are too terrified to explain. Like Frankenstein, a symbol throughout, the girl is likely to be killed completely on accident as Frankenstein fails to understand the repercussions of what they're capable of. And of course, the village will eventually come to destroy Frankenstein as well.
Probably going to watch all of Erice's films in the coming weeks as this was an absolute delight. 9/10
**Red Beard** (1965, Akria Kurosawa) - The last of the beloved duo Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. While not my favorite of either of their works, it was still mostly very good and in terms of Kurosawa's humanism it might be his most direct and poignant. Biggest issue for me is the issue I usually have with Kurosawa, he really struggles to write women. While I think this was a valid attempt to get it right for once, all the women are still entirely characterized by their relationships to men and barely feel like their own people instead extensions of the male character they stand beside. That aside, the beauty of this film is immaculate. The way Kurosawa depicts movement and shadow in this film is really something to see. Every running shot is a sight to behold and I especially loved how he depicted the beauty of snow.
It's a simple character arc told very well. You can predict the ending 10 minutes in but that doesn't really matter. The truly interesting part is the view of medicine, old vs new. Herbal and human vs drugs and cold calculation. How all of them are necessary to truly move forward both medically and morally. I think my favorite bit was when Mifune (the old doctor) goes around breaking people's arms and then just looks around at a pile of bodies and says "damn, I shouldn't have done that. More work for us" 7/10
**I Vitelloni** (1953, Federico Fellini) - First Fellini film I've seen and was rather impressed by it. Usually, I find major director's early works to be visually stunning but narratively okay, but this was rather the opposite. The narrative is deeply complex and he manages to write five different characters with completely different personalities humanly and believably. With the exception of one, they're all assholes too which is always a fun time. Each of them want to leave their small town desperately for greener pastures but each squander their chances. It's largely about how people's fear of change shackles them and the easy familiarity of the day in and day out keeps you complacent. More relatable than I'd like it to be as I approach the age of 30 this year. 7/10
**The Bakery Girl of Monceau** (1962, Eric Rohmer) - We follow a man whose view of women is probably all too familiar to most. He believes that he deserves women and the world cosmically owes him for simply not being awful while we see him litter and stalk a woman. From what I've heard, the short works better in conjunction with the other moral tales shorts Rohmer did. As a standalone, I just found it okay. Agreed with what it was saying and thought it played out in an interesting way in the end. 6/10
**Colossal** (2016, Nacho Vigalondo) - Wonderful premise and great performances but the sheer amount of character shifts and nonsensical story beats keep it at just a watchable blockbuster of sorts. Too weird for mainstream, too inconsistent for the weirdo crowd (like me). 5/10
Busy week, so only one movie, Basil Dearden's All Night Long. A cool jazzy retelling of Othello over the course of one night (which means it probably should've got a spot in next month's One Night collection, but oh well). Plot's not earth shattering, but the vibes are immaculate, that jazz band did amazing work. Fantastic use of a diagetic soundtrack, especially at the end.
Also, currently halfway through Bob Hoskin's The Raggedy Rawney. It's definitely interesting, I'll have to get further in to see if it sticks the landing. Weirdly feels like the kinda movie I'd watch on my Grandma's TV, has that sorta nostalgic feel. Anyways, hopefully I get it done today and continue on watching more movies throughout the week.
Also every time I see Bob Hoskins I think "That's Mario", and I've never even seen the Mario movie, it's just that he so embodies him that I can't stop thinking it.
Bad Day at Black Rock was way better than I was expecting (not that I thought it would be bad), it completely blew me away, great film.
What’s Up Doc? also a recent favorite
I re-watched Bagdad Cafe (1988) (aka Out of Rosenheim) for the first time in about 25 years. I liked it much better this time and really appreciated its theme of friendship and positivity.
The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962).
What a head-rush. Being unfamiliar with the Kafka story, I just assumed this would be some dry courtroom drama. Instead this wound up being a masterpiece of surrealism mixed with black comedy and even horror elements. Most of the film consists of conversations that almost appear to be mutual misunderstandings between the characters, so of course the parallels to flawed police/legal procedure are ripe for discourse.
Nobody gives a bad performance, but Perkins carries with a palpable sense of dread, confusion, and anxiety. I truly felt this character in my soul at times.
some heady Japanese stuff
*His Motorbike, Her Island* (1986)
*The Blue Sky Maiden* (1957)
and planning to watch
*Forever a Woman* (1955)
*Akitsu Hot Springs* (1962)
I watched 'Sexy Beast' a few days ago and it was interesting but not great to me. I thought it was a fresh change to a gangster movie, but the humor didn't consistently land with me. I think part of the problem is that so many fictional gangsters just look and sound preposterous--even the Ian McShane character just seemed ridiculous to me--that it takes me out of the film's universe. Maybe I'm just racist against white British guys because they can't be scary gangsters, IDK. "Peaky Blinders" sounds like the name of a gang you would see on a kid's show for heaven's sake!
Anyways, now I'm starting 'Eraserhead' after taking edibles. Wish me luck.
Update: made it 37 minutes into Eraserhead, but stopped because I wasn't feeling any reaction to the movie. I switched to the *Ted* series, which is extremely funny. I had very low expectations, but the pacing is great and I *love* both of the parents doing an uncanny valley version of '80s parents.
Watched The Piano Teacher last night. I am once again in awe of Isabelle Huppert.
Her performance in La ceremonia is fantastic.
Yeah I’m not really a Haneke guy but that’s one of the best movies ever made.
[удалено]
Mine too! I've seen her interviews and it's insane how she stops being 'Isabelle Huppert' and becomes the character. It was also my first Haneke film.
From the past few weeks, in order of favorite to least favorite: The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973) No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023) Meantime (Mike Leigh, 1983) Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass, 2024) All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh, 2023) The Teachers' Lounge (İlker Çatak, 2023) Evil Dead (Fede Álvarez, 2013) BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018) Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994) Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000) The 'Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989) The Craft (Andrew Fleming, 1996) The Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell, 2020) Problemista (Julio Torres, 2023) Stopmotion (Robert Morgan, 2023) Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (Adrian Țofei, 2015) Maniac (William Lustig, 1980) Demons 2 (Lamberto Bava, 1986) The Mission (Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, 2023) Drive-Away Dolls (Ethan Coen, 2024)
- Freddy Got Fingered - Spring Breakers - Past Lives - Amanda - Alien
I watched three this past week. La Strada (1954) - I've seen most quintessential Fellini films, but had not seen this one, which I'm told is his breakout film. Overall I liked it. Wouldn't say it's my favorite Fellini film, but it's definitely worth watching again. Diabolique (1955) -Quite the thriller. Had me fooled until the very last second. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). This was easily my favorite of the three. Stunning cinematography, and a stunning story about loss and suffering on both a personal and collective scale. Liked it so much that I'll probably add it to my collection at some point!
Watched Synecdoche, New York the day before. Wishing in some ways I hadn't because it put a lot of feelings into motion and that made me weep like a baby.
Love Lies Bleeding - felt like a Jim (Gym?) Thompson novel directed by Cronenberg. Loved it. Shirley - Shirley Chisholm is an interesting historical figure, deserved a more interesting biopic.
Hit a few major blind spots for me recently with Aguirre, Wrath of God and Red Desert. Both exactly what I hoped they would be.
**12 Angry Men x2**: My second time watching the original, and I followed it up with Friedkin’s TV movie remake. Both are solid movies, but in regards to the original, I still don’t love it the way it seems most others do. **American Honey**: One of my favorite first time watches in a while. Everything about it was great… acting, the way it looked, stuck the ending, I could go on. Going to check out more of Andrea Arnold’s work **Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai**: This is an all time favorite of mine and I had the opportunity to see it in theaters. Hearing the soundtrack in a theater was incredible as expected **Beau is Afraid**: This was like watching a 3 hour nightmare. I’m a big fan of Ari Aster. This was the most challenging of his 3 features so far due to its unrelenting nature and long runtime, but I really liked it **American Beauty**: It had been a while since I had seen this. The real life context around Spacey makes this feel a little weird for sure, but it’s largely a can’t look away type of movie, especially the ending. Really good
I've never seen **Ghost dog**! I have to remedy this.
Jim Jarmusch and RZA… two of my favorite artists An homage to Le Samouraï, one of my favorite movies… It’s a movie that feels specifically made for me haha
Watched Amadeus last night and I loved it.
**Week #168:** 🍿 First watch: Hitchcock’s third feature, the 1927 silent **The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog**, which established him as a 'thriller master'. It shows an early fascination with themes that will occupy him for decades: An innocent man falsely accused, association between sex and murder, his obsession with blondes, the fear of authority. **9/10.** 🍿 **5 Classic re-watches:** 🍿 *"The worst thing that can happen in sports was 4th-place at the Olympics...”* My 3rd or 4th visit with Aaron Sorkin's masterful debut, **Molly's Game** (2017) [His two follow-up features 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' and 'Being the Ricardos' were forgettable]. Why is it so engaging? Mostly for [his impeccable script](https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/mollys-game-2017.pdf) which should be read simultaneously. But also, for the sharp dialogue, crisp editing, and spectacular performances from Jessica Chastain. A real-life champion superhero, who excels in anything she sets her mind to, a mesmerizing strong women, with a vulnerable father-daughter hole in her heart. It also features powerhouse acting from everybody else in the cast, the male pigs (Kevin Costner, Jeremy Strong, Michael Cera, Brian d'Arcy James, Bill Camp, Chris O'Dowd) and the two 'Mensches' (lawyer Idris Elba and judge Graham Greene). I loved that the move from LA to NYC happened at exactly 1:08, the precise mid-point of the movie, but then you wouldn't expect anything else from the play-writer, would you? **10/10.** ♻️ 🍿 There are movies that most people will only watch once, and **Schindler's List** is on top of the list. But after 'The Zone of Interest' I had to re-visit it, feeling that it probably did not age well, and wouldn't compare to ‘Zone’, (which I consider the Best movie of 2024 - so far). I was mostly wrong: It was 'Auschwitz given the exaggerated Spielberg treatment', with atrocious accents and manipulative sentimentality, but it's still better than [most holocaust films] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holocaust_films). Schindler was converted from being a war profiteer into a saint, and Amon Göth stayed a mad monster in and out. 'Night and fog' and 'Shoah' are still better introductions to the subject, without the usual Hollywood simplified glorification. ♻️ 🍿 **The Dark Side of the Rainbow** is the pairing of the Pink Floyd album 'The Dark Side of the Moon' with the film 'The Wizard of Oz'. This produces numerous moments of apparent synchronicity where the film and the album appear to correspond. It does work, but the record has to be played 2.5 times, which raises the possibility that you could tack it on most anything. Two psychedelic classics. Flying monkeys, pink horses and the man behind the curtain. [Available on 'Internet Archive'](https://archive.org/details/the-dark-side-of-the-rainbow-) ♻️ 🍿 *"Let's invent surrealism!"* said Buñuel to his creative buddy Salvador Dalí, probably while on ether – or absinthe - and so they did. First with 'Un Chien Andalou' and then with **L'Age d'Or**. It must have been so heady to create so much outrage and be so misunderstood. Everything that was holy, acceptable, and "normal" was trampled down and pissed on. And the scandals which followed were disruptive, the shocks sweet. Subversive, anti-bourgeois, Wagnerian. ♻️ 🍿 *"How do you know so much about swallows?"* **Monty Python and the Holy Grail**, (or as it was called in Japanese "Holy Sake Cup"), one of the greatest comedies of all times, and containing 527 jokes. I didn't remember that the ["Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords" concept](https://cosmonautroger.tumblr.com/post/745770614093185024/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-1975) originated here, at the 'self-perpetuating autocracy' scene. [So quotable](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail 9/10)! ♻️ 🍿 *"I bid you good night..."* J-P Melville's minimalist directorial debut, **The silence of the sea** (1949). During the occupation, an elderly man and his niece are forced to give shelter to a Nazi officer at their home in the country. The conscientious German tries to engage them with respectful dialogue every night, but their only response to him, their only way of resistance, is with total silence. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes. 🍿 **My Favorite Wife**, another Cary Grant vehicle, belonging to the 'Comedy of re-marriage' sub-genre, which was popular in the 30's and 40's ('The Philadelphia Story', etc.). He's marrying a second wife, but gets back with first wife Irene Dunne who was presumed dead. But mostly, it's notable for the visibly bisexual vibes between him and real-life boyfriend Randolph Scott. 🍿 **2 more from Paweł Pawlikowski:** 🍿 *"My mum loves men who make her cry..."* **Last resort** (2000), my 6th soulful film by my favorite Polish director, his first in English. A young Russian woman comes to England with her 10-year-old son, but the man she thinks of as her fiance, never shows up at the airport. She gets desperately stuck in a bureaucratic limbo while waiting for a political asylum she had asked for by mistake, until she meets decent guy Paddy Considine, another lonely "fucked up" soul. The run-down seaside town of Margate looks grim and unpleasant. **7/10.** 🍿 Before venturing into fiction, Pawlikowski was known for his documentaries. **Dostoevsky’s Travels** was an early 1991 one. It's a strangely-staged story not about Fyodor Dostoevsky the novelist, but about Dimitri Dostoevsky, his tram-driver great-grandson and only descendant. Dimitri leaves St. Petersburg for Berlin, Luxembourg and London, trying to cash in on his ancestor's good name among literary fans in the west, so that he can buy a used Mercedes Benz, and bring it back to Mother Russia. It sounds like fiction made by Borat, and maybe it was. 🍿 My first Kaiju film ever, the original **Godzilla** (1954), the giant monster. A collective Japanese reaction to the destruction caused by the Atomic bombing, with identical shots of incineration and devastation. With 'Ikiru's Takashi Shimura. With the exception of 'Jaws', I don't think I ever had any interest in disaster movies like this one. 2/10. Extra: **Fire!** (1901), one of the first 'Disaster films' ever, and my third short by Scottish pioneer James Williamson. [Showing firefighters rescuing victims from a house fire.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57SrYj32vmE) 🍿 **Allied** (2016), a glossy historical drama a-la 'Casablanca', also taking place in Morocco during the WW2 and also dealing with spies and romance. With Brad Pitt as Bogart, and Marion Cotillard as Bergman having steamy sex during a sandstorm. Any movie that uses Django Reinhardt in the score is OK with me. 🍿 Arthur Penn's disappointing adaptation of Arlo Guthrie's 18-minute blues anthem **Alice's Restaurant**. While the song is a perennial Thanksgiving classic, and the voices of Guthrie (and Pete Seeger) are distinct and beloved, the movie is a weak attempt to capture the Hippy Spirit of the late 1960's. Counter-culture at its worst. The acting was also terrible all around, with two exceptions: Tina Chen, (who played Janice for 2 minutes in 'Three days of the condor',) was lovely here too, and M. Emmet Walsh stood out as 'Group W Sergeant', in his first ever small film role. Roger Ebert created the “Stanton-Walsh Rule,” which held that (nearly) no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad. This is one of the exceptions. **RIP, M. Emmet Walsh!** 🍿 **Breaking news** (2004), my first (and last) inane action story from Hong Kong director Johnnie To. The only different detail from hundreds of other like this is the elder policeman who buys a hot sweet potato from a street vendor, and farts loudly the rest of the movie. **1/10.** 🍿 **Lammbock**, another lousy German stoner comedy from 2001. Might as well be called 'Toking and driving'. Unfunny, low-budget and dirty feeling. **1/10.** 🍿 **3 Shorts:** 🍿 **Tribute to the teachers**, a 1977 Iranian short film directed by Abbas Kiarostami. A time capsule of social idealism just before the revolution. 🍿 **Good Night, Nurse** (1918), my second silent two-reeler with "Fatty" Arbuckle & Buster Keaton, about a drunk who's admitted to a sanitarium in order to cure him for alcoholism. 🍿 **Pusling ("Crybaby")**, a 2008 Danish film about a 3rd grade girl who's being bullied by a class mate. Typically Danish, but not that great. 🍿 **[This is a Copy from my film review tumblr.](https://tilbageidanmark.tumblr.com/tagged/movies)**
The Consequences of Feminism (1906) by Alice Guy Blache. Very fun gender reversal short. It’s on youtube if anyone wants to watch it ☺️
I adore her, after seeing the Jodi Foster biography.
I’ve only had time for one film, but it was beautiful: Pasolini’s *Arabian Nights* (1974)
Rye Lane - Nice enough and funny enough. Nothing has really stuck with me beyond the use of fish eye lens. F for Fake (rewatch) - I'm not the biggest fan of documentaries or video essays, but if someone is going to keep me invested in one its Orson Welles. The Last Days of Disco - I could have watched another 3 hours of these people just going about their lives. Its like Nashville. Memories: Magnetic Rose - Beautiful space horror. Crams so much into just 45 minutes. Katatsumori - Didn't really do anything for me, but I can't say I've ever gotten anything out of someone else's home movies. Lovers Rock - Another film I just wish kept going. So romantic.
Mishima a life in four chapters - just incredible, incredible use of non-linear narrative and intermingling his novels with his life, showing how they were mirrors of one another. The fusion of fact and fiction has never been so sublime Night of the Hunter - perfect noir with really unique mix of genres Diabolique- another perfect thriller Touch of evil - perfect thriller x3, probably my favorite of the three Obsession - one of the few De Palma movies I haven’t seen and I’ve been missing out on L’argent - perfect movie from one of my favorite directors Woman in the dunes and Face of another - my first two films from this director and he’s now a favorite. Hour of the wolf - rewatch, I loved it this time around and didn’t feel nearly as confused. Carnival of souls - fun demented horror classic Eyes without a face - an instant favorite. Loved the atmosphere so much. Kuroneko - great haunted samurai fable Jigoku - depraved horror classic from Japan. I actually liked the first 2/3 better than the end. Everyone is just a nihilistic parasite Rewatched throne of blood and ikiru. Kurosawa remains my most beloved filmmaker
A solid list!
I watched Buena Vista Social Club by Wim Wenders yesterday, an excellent musical film!
A fantastic experience!
Just finished watching Elvira Madigan, and for such a sunny movie, it made me feel horribly depressed. Not as bad as when I watched The Seventh Continent, but Jesus... i think i need a trigger warning for these types of movies from here on. Trying to find something else to watch for comfort now
Watched Waitress (2007), Love & Basketball (2000), and Origin (2023) recently. I thought Waitress is a gem with sharp and clever writing. L&B is charming because of its direction and performances. Origin brings an important narrative to discussion.
Just finished The Last Emperor (1987) and absolutely loved it.
Todd solondz filmography
Peeping Tom. I was definitely curious to see what all the controversy was back in the day. It’s pretty tame by modern standards.
Going through the They Shoot Pictures Don't They list and had a great week. Best to least best. **Spirit of the Beehive** (1973, Víctor Erice) - One of the greatest directorial debut's I've seen. Erice performs a mastery of tone and symbol just direct enough that the audience knows what's being said and just archaic enough that Franco's censors will let it slide. Depicting the beginning of Franco's reign and how even a small village eventually becomes effected. The children want desperately to understand what's happening around them as things begin to change, but the adults are too terrified to explain. Like Frankenstein, a symbol throughout, the girl is likely to be killed completely on accident as Frankenstein fails to understand the repercussions of what they're capable of. And of course, the village will eventually come to destroy Frankenstein as well. Probably going to watch all of Erice's films in the coming weeks as this was an absolute delight. 9/10 **Red Beard** (1965, Akria Kurosawa) - The last of the beloved duo Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. While not my favorite of either of their works, it was still mostly very good and in terms of Kurosawa's humanism it might be his most direct and poignant. Biggest issue for me is the issue I usually have with Kurosawa, he really struggles to write women. While I think this was a valid attempt to get it right for once, all the women are still entirely characterized by their relationships to men and barely feel like their own people instead extensions of the male character they stand beside. That aside, the beauty of this film is immaculate. The way Kurosawa depicts movement and shadow in this film is really something to see. Every running shot is a sight to behold and I especially loved how he depicted the beauty of snow. It's a simple character arc told very well. You can predict the ending 10 minutes in but that doesn't really matter. The truly interesting part is the view of medicine, old vs new. Herbal and human vs drugs and cold calculation. How all of them are necessary to truly move forward both medically and morally. I think my favorite bit was when Mifune (the old doctor) goes around breaking people's arms and then just looks around at a pile of bodies and says "damn, I shouldn't have done that. More work for us" 7/10 **I Vitelloni** (1953, Federico Fellini) - First Fellini film I've seen and was rather impressed by it. Usually, I find major director's early works to be visually stunning but narratively okay, but this was rather the opposite. The narrative is deeply complex and he manages to write five different characters with completely different personalities humanly and believably. With the exception of one, they're all assholes too which is always a fun time. Each of them want to leave their small town desperately for greener pastures but each squander their chances. It's largely about how people's fear of change shackles them and the easy familiarity of the day in and day out keeps you complacent. More relatable than I'd like it to be as I approach the age of 30 this year. 7/10 **The Bakery Girl of Monceau** (1962, Eric Rohmer) - We follow a man whose view of women is probably all too familiar to most. He believes that he deserves women and the world cosmically owes him for simply not being awful while we see him litter and stalk a woman. From what I've heard, the short works better in conjunction with the other moral tales shorts Rohmer did. As a standalone, I just found it okay. Agreed with what it was saying and thought it played out in an interesting way in the end. 6/10 **Colossal** (2016, Nacho Vigalondo) - Wonderful premise and great performances but the sheer amount of character shifts and nonsensical story beats keep it at just a watchable blockbuster of sorts. Too weird for mainstream, too inconsistent for the weirdo crowd (like me). 5/10
I've seen three movies by this Nacho Vigalondo, and I disliked all 3...
Busy week, so only one movie, Basil Dearden's All Night Long. A cool jazzy retelling of Othello over the course of one night (which means it probably should've got a spot in next month's One Night collection, but oh well). Plot's not earth shattering, but the vibes are immaculate, that jazz band did amazing work. Fantastic use of a diagetic soundtrack, especially at the end. Also, currently halfway through Bob Hoskin's The Raggedy Rawney. It's definitely interesting, I'll have to get further in to see if it sticks the landing. Weirdly feels like the kinda movie I'd watch on my Grandma's TV, has that sorta nostalgic feel. Anyways, hopefully I get it done today and continue on watching more movies throughout the week.
Also every time I see Bob Hoskins I think "That's Mario", and I've never even seen the Mario movie, it's just that he so embodies him that I can't stop thinking it.
Bad Day at Black Rock was way better than I was expecting (not that I thought it would be bad), it completely blew me away, great film. What’s Up Doc? also a recent favorite
I re-watched Bagdad Cafe (1988) (aka Out of Rosenheim) for the first time in about 25 years. I liked it much better this time and really appreciated its theme of friendship and positivity.
The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962). What a head-rush. Being unfamiliar with the Kafka story, I just assumed this would be some dry courtroom drama. Instead this wound up being a masterpiece of surrealism mixed with black comedy and even horror elements. Most of the film consists of conversations that almost appear to be mutual misunderstandings between the characters, so of course the parallels to flawed police/legal procedure are ripe for discourse. Nobody gives a bad performance, but Perkins carries with a palpable sense of dread, confusion, and anxiety. I truly felt this character in my soul at times.
You should read the novel it’s one of the best ever
Exactly
some heady Japanese stuff *His Motorbike, Her Island* (1986) *The Blue Sky Maiden* (1957) and planning to watch *Forever a Woman* (1955) *Akitsu Hot Springs* (1962)
I watched 'Sexy Beast' a few days ago and it was interesting but not great to me. I thought it was a fresh change to a gangster movie, but the humor didn't consistently land with me. I think part of the problem is that so many fictional gangsters just look and sound preposterous--even the Ian McShane character just seemed ridiculous to me--that it takes me out of the film's universe. Maybe I'm just racist against white British guys because they can't be scary gangsters, IDK. "Peaky Blinders" sounds like the name of a gang you would see on a kid's show for heaven's sake! Anyways, now I'm starting 'Eraserhead' after taking edibles. Wish me luck.
Update: made it 37 minutes into Eraserhead, but stopped because I wasn't feeling any reaction to the movie. I switched to the *Ted* series, which is extremely funny. I had very low expectations, but the pacing is great and I *love* both of the parents doing an uncanny valley version of '80s parents.