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385,268 | 391,152 | 65,724 | 10 | Definitely one of the great American films . | This movie is most famous for a scene in which Jack Nicholson tells a waitress to hold the chicken salad between her knees so he can get some plain wheat toast , but , in a movie as good as this , that very famous scene may be its least memorable one . After that scene , I hadn't heard anything about what this film was really about , and its depth and power took me completely by surprise . It's a story of a man trapped in his own life , unable to find a place to settle . All the locations at which he has arrived have lead to nothing but disappointment and the realization that there just might not be a life for him . God , how I can sympathize . Just as I was starting to question whether Nicholson was as good an actor as everybody seems to think he is , I've come upon his very best performance . Karen Black plays his girlfriend , a hick who loves him to death . He's not sure if she's good enough for him , or vice versa . Lois Smith , Ralph Waite , and Susan Anspach give good supporting performances . A flat-out masterpiece . |
385,851 | 391,152 | 104,466 | 10 | Cave Canem | Any film that affects me emotionally I consider great . But a film that affects me so much that I feel it physically can be called a masterpiece . Narrative does not normally have such power . When a spectator is learning about people who aren't directly connected with you , who are usually not even real , then he / she should realize that these characters are apart from your life and should not matter . Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives is a film , however , which sets the viewer in the action on screen . He does this with perfect hand-held cameras and jump cuts . The camera work makes you feel like you're right there , and it adds a breakneck speed to the film . This seems like one of the most realistic films ever made . I have no complaints about this film myself . I would give it a , but make no mistake : this is a very unpleasant film to watch . I like unpleasant films , but this one is particularly harsh . The situations develop like a fly landing in a Venus fly trap . A character will walk towards a life which he / she believes will bring sweetness and happiness , but the new life quickly engulfs them . And when the film ends , the characters are seen stepping into a different trap : quicksand . No audience member could be naive enough to think that any of the characters are standing in a desirable place when the film closes . Husbands and Wives is a movie that could cause divorces , and could cause long-term lapses between relationships . If nothing else , it is a film that will make you cringe and squirm . |
384,963 | 391,152 | 45,274 | 10 | There's hardly been a better film ever made | Umberto D . may be the single most powerful film ever made . It's pretty much impossible not to be affected by it , and I'd imagine only a monster could get through it without shedding a tear . It's not all sad , and certainly cannot be called unrelentingly depressing . There are plenty of beautifully funny moments . The main character , Umberto , is one of the greatest characters I've ever met at the movies . It would be simple to make him just a man to pity : he is a poor old man who is down on his luck . But the artists behind the film have fleshed him out into an incredibly human character . The supporting characters , even those who show up for just a moment , are just as well created . And the acting is godly . , without a second thought . It's one of the best films ever made . |
385,973 | 391,152 | 43,278 | 10 | Musical masterpiece | This is probably my favorite Best Picture winner of all time , with its only competition being The English Patient . It's hard to say exactly what makes this one so good for me , because its flaws are pretty obvious . Gene Kelly is way too aggressive when he first pursues Leslie Caron , almost in a creepy sort of way . It doesn't help that he's over twice her age . And the way Nina Foch is treated is pretty cruel . Most of that I attribute to the culture under which it was made . Plus , combined with the ecstatic feeling I get with the reunion of Jerry and Lise , I think the sadness I feel for Milo as well as Henri gives the film a wonderful bittersweet tone . The musical numbers are uniformly fantastic . The standout is Kelly's " I've Got Rhythm " with the little kids - I love " Singin ' in the Rain " , but this one blows it out of the water . And of course the 18 minute ballet that ends the film is the tour de force of tours de force . To me , it's the epitome of dance , music and cinema . |
384,885 | 391,152 | 32,234 | 10 | This film shows us the unseen face of alcoholism : the humor ! | I think that W . C . Fields ' caricature is recognizable by many people , but I think almost no one is familiar with him from his actual movies . More likely , people are just familiar with him from Looney Toons and such . But the actual comedian W . C . Fields was an absolutely hilarious guy . He fits in with other classic comedians like Keaton and Chaplin and Lloyd and even the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges in that he had an established persona which appeared in his films . What is really unique about him is his perfection in comedic acting , both physical , like the comedy you would see in the silents , and in delivering dialogue . His timing is so good in The Bank Dick . The dialogue has to be some of the best comedic dialogue ever written . To boot , the other players in the film are just as funny . His family members are just great , especially his youngest daughter , who constantly beats on him with various objects . And when you see the film , which you definitely should , notice that Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges plays the bartender whom Fields ( his name is Eggbert Souse ( pronounced Soosay ! ) ) follows around back to the bar whenever their paths happen to cross . The Bank Dick is certainly one of the funniest comedies ever made . |
384,697 | 391,152 | 58,715 | 10 | There is no better film about Jesus Christ | Well , maybe there is , but I've never caught a glimpse of it . Most movies about him are fundamentally wrong . In a religion which has totally turned its back on the line " it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of Heaven " ( in fact , I am surprised that some pope or other did not officially removed that line from the Bible ; be sure that this film retains it and has it come right out of the mouth of Jesus Christ , who , I assume , was its speaker in the Bible ) , movies about Jesus are generally overproduced messes that do nothing but retell the story with much less effect than the Bible itself has . Even Martin Scorsese's version of the story , The Last Temptation of Christ , suffers from this . Although , despite its flaws , it has a lot more power than most films about these same events . I do not understand why Pier Paolo Pasolini , who was a Marxist , a homosexual , and an atheist , made this film . But , despite his reason , it has turned out to be a great masterpiece . No one has ever attempted to set the story in its proper setting , at least not to my knowledge . The characters here are certainly semitic and Middle Eastern , unlike the entirely Anglo-Saxon casts of every other Jesus film or even any other religious film . Also , the cast , made up of unprofessional actors including Pasolini's own mother as the elder Mary , has not one beautiful face amongst it , except for maybe the actress who plays the younger Mary ; she is quite beautiful . These faces and bodies are real : unattractive , harsh and worn . Teeth are not straight and white , but crooked and discolored as they certainly would have been before dentists were around . Clothing is not beautifully colored , but plain and tattered . Only the richest people could afford dye for clothing . Pasolini has also forsaken the traditional look of Jesus Christ . While the facial hair remains similar , although maybe lessened , the long hair is dropped in favor for shorter hair , which is the way that people wore it at the time . The image of the long-haired Jesus is a case of syncresis , that is , the mixing of religions ; that image was adopted from the ancient Greek depictions of Bacchus , the god of wine . What results is an account as straighforward as can possibly exist . With Pasolini's own personal convictions , the audience does not have to feel like they are being preached at . Christians , unless they are so foolish as to believe that Jesus WAS an Anglo-Saxon , should be moved to tears . Nonbelievers ( anyway , those who appreciate film ) will reel at the marvelous use of classical music ( including , strangely enough , Prokofiev's music from Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky ) , the greatness of the actors , especially the man who plays Christ ( I've heard that he was a Marxist truck driver ) , and the beautiful simplicity of Pasolini's direction , sort of a perfect mix between Italian Neorealism and French New Wave . I myself , a staunch atheist , found it very powerful . . |
385,436 | 391,152 | 78,748 | 10 | The Purina Dog Chow company will expand and make a big mistake ! | Ridely Scott is such a minimalist in Alien that many sci-fi nuts find it slow and unexciting . So many people prefer Aliens , its sequel , to this one . I think Aliens , directed by James Cameron , is another sci-fi masterpiece ( and maybe the best action film ever made ) , but I think Alien is much better . In fact , I would say that it is among the best films ever made , in sci-fi , only second to 2001 . The plot absolutely lacks contrivance . All the plot points develop how they would naturally . And there are great surprises throughout the film . Even if you haven't seen the film , you know about the chest-bursting scene . You probably saw it parodied dozens of times . But watch the scene where Ian Holm reveals his secret ! That is one amazing scene ! I actually saw the sequel first , so I kind of knew that secret , too , but it still shocked me . It was so well directed . Notice how the dialogue works . It never particularly draws attention to itself . It actually reminds me of Robert Altman , how he directed such movies as Nashville , where many characters are speaking at the same time , and nothing seems more or less important than anything else . It is just like real life . Alien is one of the most realistic , documentary-like sci-fi films ever made . Also notice the setting . The Nostromo's design is so believable that I feel that I'm actually seeing a real space vehicle . The alien ship also beams with its spookiness . The characters are also extremely believable . They are so well written that even the first character who dies is completely developed . If you get the DVD , they actually created dossiers about each of the crew members . It also has extra scenes which round out the characters even more . I think Ripley is one of the most endearing characters in film history . Even in the last two sequels , which were visually interesting but not very well written or directed , Ripley held my interest . I teared up when she died at the end of 3 . If they made a fifth one , I would go , no matter how terrible I knew it would be . The acting is also top-notch . Ian Holm , a great actor , gives one of his best performances here . I love the last scene that he is in . Truly a master . And of course Sigourney Weaver could have just as easily been nominated for an Oscar for her performance here as she was for Aliens . I wish she would make more movies . She's so talented . The most important part of a film , in my mind , is the mood . And boy , does Alien have one of the most genuinely spooky movies I've ever seen . Make sure you watch it after the sun has gone down . Also , watching it alone will help . The special effects are kind of cheap , but Scott knows this well enough . He only shows the alien for seconds at a time . Besides keeping us from seeing the shoddiness of those puppets , this technique makes the alien seem all the more creepy and mysterious . , no doubt at all ( BTW , the symbols all over the Nostromo are the same insignias as those of the Purina Dog Chow company ) |
384,883 | 391,152 | 98,253 | 10 | One of the most underrated films ever | I was reminded of this film after sitting through the ( bad ) film The Cell . I don't know if that film's director , Tarsem , had seen Santa Sangre , but it was quite similar . For those who have not seen Santa Sangre , please do . It is basically a more foreign version of Hitchcock's Psycho . It is excessive , but its excesses are all interesting and fun to watch . Plus , I actually did care about the characters at the end of the film . |
385,562 | 391,152 | 24,480 | 10 | Perhaps Rene Clair's most perfect film | Jean and Anna are young and in love . They spend Bastille Day together trying to dance the night away , trying to get in a kiss or two . Things keep getting in the way though , funny things like the rain , the whim of the band that's playing , and the stuffy old woman walking around . Unfortunately , when Jean returns home , his ex-girlfriend is waiting for him on his bed . Misunderstandings ensue , and it's not worth ruining by revealing all the wonderful things that happen through the rest of this film . I love À nous la liberté and Le million a lot , but neither of them reach the emotional peaks of Quatorze Juillet . It's still just as humorous as the other two , perhaps more so , but neither of them moved me like this one . It's not a musical , but it is imbued with very beautiful music . It's a magical film , one of the best ever made . Annabella , who also starred in Le million , is back as Anna in this one . . |
384,891 | 391,152 | 24,481 | 10 | Hollywood Masterpiece | Man , I've never seen Greta Garbo before . She is absolutely electric in Queen Christina , giving a performance of great strength and passion . In fact , if there is a flaw in this film , it is that Garbo is TOO good . She draws your attention away from all other parts of the film , all action and all other performances , so that you can only stare at that vision of beauty and power . We don't have stars anymore . Julia Roberts ? Don't make me laugh . When she's in a movie , all I tend to do is stare at her chest . Greta Garbo exudes a sexuality which is somehow simultaneously subtle and demanding . Despite the difficulties of looking elsewhere , I did often enough to claim that this film is a masterpiece in all other aspects as well . The production design is marvelous . The cinematography ( especially when the photography is of Garbo ! ) is impeccable and gorgeous . The writing is actually wonderful , too . There are a lot of magnificent lines . Indeed , there are so many great ones that I can't at the minute pick out one in particular . Perhaps the exchange : " You can not die an old maid , my queen . " to which Christina replies : " I won't . I plan to die a bachelor . " SLIGHT SPOILERS : Oh yes . The lesbian erotica . I must admit , that aspect of the film was what convinced me to sit down and watch it . There isn't too much , but there are a few very hot moments where Christina is kissing her young servant girl and one great scene where a wench is hitting on her , believing her to be a man . The main romantic relationship in the film is between Christina and Antonio , an envoy from Spain . There's also a choice sequence of homoeroticism , where she , again , pretending she is a young man , ends up in the same room at an inn with him . She does finally reveal her femininity and ends up sleeping with him ( in one of those awesome Hollywood edits ) . In the morning , Antonio's servant comes to tell him that they cannot yet leave the inn . He and Christina , whom others think is a young man , are sleeping in a bed under a large canopy . When the servant tells him their dilemma , Antonio replies : " Good . " " Are you going to get up from bed now ? " " No . I think I will stay in bed all day today . " The servant has a very perplexed look on his face . " Well , do you want some hot chocolate ? " " Yes . " " Er , um , how about the , um , other gentleman ? " Antonio answers for shim : " Yes . " Now , what do you think that implies ? ? ? . |
384,669 | 391,152 | 87,280 | 10 | Poor Lars von Trier | Poor Lars von Trier . Why do people hate you so ? Perhaps it is because you have come into existence so late in the chronology of film history . I personally do not believe that the filmic art has died or even weakened . It is as strong as ever right now . Every decade has its masterpieces . The only difference between them is that in a few decades the great films all contain similar themes via the tempora and mores . People will tell you that the worst dry spell for film was the 1980s , and a lot of people in the near future will carry this over into the 1990s . It is total bunk , untrue . There was just no dominant theme . The actual reason , though , why people refuse to notice the masterpieces of the last two decades is not because there either were none or that there was no dominant theme . It is because the definitions of greatness have changed amongst the critics . They have grown bitter , and refuse to pay attention , ready at the drop of a hat to come up with a really creative phrase in their criticism or to use one of their favorite words , " overwrought , " " pretentious , " " self-indulgent . " I think the word " overwrought " perfectly describes Citizen Kane , though I will be the first to call it one of the greatest films ever made . Orson Welles is almost hubristic in the techniques he uses to make the film . All the words listed above could probably be used to describe that film . These words all have a common synonym not found in Roget's : " original . " Critics today are so cynical , they refuse to admit anything original into their intellects . Here fits all the works of Lars von Trier . Previous to The Element of Crime , I had seen his three latest films , all Dogmaesque ( Dogma 95 , of course , authored by Trier ; only one of his films , The Idiots , was actually made under the banner of Dogma 95 . Breaking the Waves was its immediate precursor and Dancer in the Dark , made right after The Idiots , is the immediate next step in the director's evolution ) . These films were made with a certain " vow of chastity " that gave them an emotional immediacy like no other films I've ever seen . Breaking the Waves is Trier's only enormous hit in the USA . Even though there are many people who do see an enormously sexist view behind it , most people were deeply affected by it . I am included here , as it was the first film of his that I saw . I cried my eyes out for about the final hour of that film . Many people find Dancer in the Dark similar in power , but there is a much louder criticism and hatred for this film . It seems less complex than Breaking the Waves , and the sexism which was accused in Breaking can be seen much more clearly here , or at least that is what the critics claim . Me , again , I found it utterly powerful . And then there is the Idiots , which must be the most misunderstood film made . It is almost universally hated . Barely released in the US , it is apparently not going to be released on DVD ( those creeps ) . Me ? Well , I love it and feel sorry for its director , who just happens to be the genius whom he claims to be so often . Now I finally get to journey back to his pre-Dogmaesque films with Element of Crime . I've already wasted most of my space on a rather useless diatribe , but I'd just like to say , as part of the genre of the apocalyptic future , it is better than Brazil , Blade Runner , and even A Clockwork Orange . It is the complete opposite of the Dogmaesque films . Whereas they are an exploration of emotion , this film , and I assume the other pre-Dogmaesque films , is an exploration of the intellect . It relies on its sly style more than on its content , where the Dogmaesque films are the opposite . There is hardly a better film in terms of artistry of composition . Only Sejun Sezuki's Branded to Kill matches it in pure audacity . I say , if you are wondering whether you should buy this film ( on DVD , Criterion ) just to see it , YES . DO IT . It is well worth your money . |
385,953 | 391,152 | 910,970 | 10 | Pretty much a masterpiece | I honestly want to throw every superlative I can think of at this movie . I'm an unabashed Pixar fan , and have been since Toy Story 2 , but I was a little disappointed in their last two films , Cars and Ratatouille . Both were good , very good at times , but I don't think they hit the level of what came before . To me , WALL-E is a return to form . No , that's too weak . It's their peak . No , that's wrong , too . A " peak " implies that they're about to go down . I doubt that's true , although it's going to be hard to beat this one . WALL-E is my favorite of the Pixar films so far because I think it goes past the point of merely fantastic to that of being transcendent . It's a truly visionary film , one that inspired my jaw to drop over and over again . And it's intimate , too . It's hard to believe , but you're going to fall in love with a couple of robots when you watch the movie . And it's incredibly smart , too . Pixar has actually had this vein in most if not all of their movies , where they deliver moral lessons without any pandering whatsoever . The movie also contains deft social commentary . It's a pure joy to watch , and , without a doubt , one of the all-time great animated movies . Thank God for Pixar . |
384,666 | 391,152 | 113,627 | 10 | Best film of the 90s | I've never been more touched or involved by a movie relationship than by the relationship between Ben and Sera in this film . This film is a dream and it wrapped me up in its mood forever . I don't see it as being depressing . Surely some of it is , but the underlying spirit of this film lies in the main characters ' unconditional love for each other . There has never been any other film where I've believed in the love more ( except maybe Wings of Desire ) . Titanic is utterly laughable in comparison , a nightmarish teenage mentality that makes me sick to the soul . I would say that this is the only film in the 90s in my all time top ten . The performances should have both won Oscars ; Susan Surandon really did not deserve hers for Dead Man Walking . She always plays the same character . Nick Cage's and Elisabeth Shue's performances are paralleled by very few . It's too bad , but I think that most people have forgotten it . I think critics are too cynical in the 90s . Yes , there are a lot of bad films , more than usual probably . It's disconcerting that most bad films aren't put out by B-movie directors ( direct-to-video releases have stopped them ) , but by Hollywood and also the Indie filmmakers , who are truly just as bad as Hollywood in their lack of originality . Critics refuse to declare any film a masterpiece , as if there have been none this decade . Only three films have been deigned bona fide masterpieces in this decade : Schindler's List ( deserved , but only declared a masterpiece because of its director , who is hardly an auteur ) , Pulp Fiction ( deserved , but there have been many better films ) , and Fargo ( undeserved ; Siskel & Ebert made this one recognized all by themselves . Surely , it deserves recognition , but it has flaws ; originality should not be the only qualifier for a masterpiece ) . Leaving Las Vegas appeared on many top ten lists ( usually in the middle , though Roger Ebert had it as number one , though 1995 was a particularly poor year for films ) , but was shut out from the best Picture Oscars by such crowd pleasers as Babe and Braveheart . And Il Postino is just a Miramax joke . That is what really beat it out , because it hardly belonged at the Oscars at all . I know these comments have had little to do with the actual film . It would be really difficult to describe the power of this film . It is really an emotional experience , so you really have to see it . If you saw it and hated it , try it again . Just clear your head and let the mood absorb you . I hope it can give you a feeling similar to the one it has constantly given me since I saw it in 1995 . |
385,426 | 391,152 | 50,915 | 10 | Exceptional Western ( SPOILERS ) | Perhaps not perfect , but I think Run of the Arrow is one of my favorite Westerns . I like it mainly because of the conflicted feelings of all the characters . I like when characters are unsure of themselves . The film opens on the last day of the Civil War . Rod Steiger plays an Irish immigrant , now a Southern soldier , O'Meara . He's so angry that General Lee has surrendered , he aims his rifle at him as he passes by . Luckily someone convinces him not to pull the trigger , and he eventually wanders back to his home , utterly defeated . Everyone around him has lost their pride , and he can feel his fading fast . So he jumps on his horse , the one he stole from the last Union soldier whom he shot ( but did not kill ) , the last soldier wounded in the war , and heads out West , which , unlike the South , is not part of " America . " O'Meara quickly runs into an old Sioux , Walking Coyote , who was working as a scout for the Union Army and is about to head back to his own tribe . O'Meara doesn't like the fact that he worked for the Union Army , but he can't help it that he's an interesting person . He's interested in the Sioux himself , and wonders if he can join the tribe ( as he knows that the Indians have constant conflicts with the Union ) . I'm skipping over a huge plot point ( whence comes the title ) , but eventually O'Meara is accepted as a member of the Sioux tribe , but he can never quite become one . He gets along fine with the tribe , but they don't look at him in the same way as they do fellow tribesmen . Even his wife ( okay , squaw ) , who once saved his life , can't accept him as one of them , though she loves him very much . Soon the United States Cavalry comes to the tribe , courting them in order to be able to build a fort . They seem peaceful enough , and O'Meara is chosen to scout for them , so that they won't build the fort anywhere where they will scare away bison . O'Meara is not happy to help the Union men , but he is obligated to do so . The captain of the outfit happens to be the man whom he shot at the beginning of the film , but he is completely kind to O'Meara , and also the Sioux , with whom he honestly wants to coexist peacefully . There is some nice dialogue between the two as the captain tries to get O'Meara to see things from other points of view . Unfortunately , a group of rebels from his tribe , assuming that the Cavalry cannot be acting honestly , attack and kill the captain . His second in command is much less forgiving to the Sioux ( and his underlings are easily convinced that the whole tribe is deadly after the assassination that they witnessed ) , and a small war erupts , and neither side really wants to trust O'Meara , who seems to be halfway between the two groups , and certainly not a full member of either . Here comes the climax , and there's no need to go into it in too much depth . The climactic sequence is well written , but , probably due to budget constraints , not well staged . It's okay , but the special effects and stunts aren't top notch ( even when arrows hit men right in their bellies , only the tip goes in ) . There is a nice scene where a squib explodes when a man gets shot in the forehead , shocking to see in a film from 1957 . I didn't think squibs even existed at the time , probably not until The Wild Bunch several years later . The film ends very well . In the dominant mood of the film , it leaves the audience with mixed feelings . Out of the three Fuller films I've seen ( including also Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss ) , this is the best . Perhaps Shock Corridor is more immediately impressing , but I think Run of the Arrow will stay with me longer . Fuller's script is great , and the film deserves to be compared to any great Western . Even though it's not quite on a John Ford level ( I think both are masterpieces , but Run of the Arrow is a much smaller one ) , it would be good with The Searchers as a double feature . Both are about bitter Civil War veterans from the South out West . Ethan Edwards and O'Meara deal with things in quite the opposite way , of course , which is why they'd be interesting to see on the same bill . Rod Steiger's work should be especially appreciated . It's a difficult role , a difficult job to express the inner conflict of the character . At first look , it might not look like he shows much emotion . However , everything is expressed very subtly . I think Steiger knows exactly what he's doing here . The rest of the actors are first-rate , as well , even though all the Sioux are played by white people . It's obvious , but , oh well , just accept it . It wasn't a universal truth in 1957 , but it was pretty widespread . When there are choice roles , you know that they had to belong to semi-big-name actors . Heck , even the Native American Marlon Brando sent to accept his Godfather Oscar , in protest for the way Hollywood treated the race , was a white woman in disguise ! Charles Bronson plays Blue Buffalo , the Sioux chief . I didn't even recognize him ! . |
385,208 | 391,152 | 57,163 | 10 | Great American prose poem | One Hell of a movie , and very nearly perfect . Paul Newman , Melvyn Douglas , and Brandon De Wilde star as three generations of a ranching family . Douglas is the patriarch , stern and strong , but clearly moving ever closer to the end of his life . Paul Newman , who plays the title character , is his youngest and only surviving son . There is an obvious but unspoken conflict between the two of them . In the middle is Brandon De Wilde , actually the film's main character ( although all the choice acting moments belong to Douglas and Newman , and the yet to be mentioned Patricia Neal ) . His father , Newman's brother , died when he was very young . Growing up in Douglas ' shadow , he worships the man and tries to emulate his moral code . However , his wilder side sees the untamed Newman as a sort of folk hero , and the rare times when he gets to hang out with his uncle seem to him to be the best of his life . Patricia Neal plays their maid ( brilliantly , I should immediately state ) , after whom both uncle and nephew lust . A different conflict arises from this . As Hud , Paul Newman has many chances to be a second James Dean , exploding with emotion . Those scenes are excellent , of course , but where Hud succeeds most is at the edges of the screen . It is an enormously subtle film . The filmmakers should especially be commended for their amazing use of musical score . There is a really beautiful score , but it is never used , not once , to steer the audience's emotions . A good 90 % of the film has no music in the background . Hud is an American masterpiece . . |
385,741 | 391,152 | 97,814 | 10 | One of the greatest children's films ever made | This ranks up there with Pinocchio as the greatest movie for children ever made . One huge problem with most animated children's films are that the plots are so conventional and often contain very 1950s ideals for society that they become detrimental to society . One's childhood is the most impressionable time in their life , so movies that are directed towards them teach them what places different sorts of people play in society . There is a very humorous , but also very serious bit of dialogue in a film called The Last Days of Disco where characters discuss the effects Lady and the Tramp could have on little girls , depicting a young female dog falling for a vagabond Tramp . This , they muse , sets young women up to fall for rebellious men later in life . This may seem like a humorous idea , but it's absolutely true . Even good Disney movies give children these standards . As nice as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves may be , they basically teach that it is the woman's place to grow up and get married , prefereably to a handsome rich man ( perhaps the rich part is never said , but both the main male characters in these films do happen to own castles ) . The writers of these films probably had no idea that that is what they were doing , but it is . That is why Pinocchio is the best Disney movie . It is probably the only Disney animated film that I can think of that actually concerns the predicament of its target audience : children . I can hardly think of a single ( American ) animated film besides it that has a child as its main character ( oh , the Jungle Book , which is also excellent ) . Then comes Kiki's Delivery Service . It is an absolutely perfect movie about a young girl out on her own trying to handle the responsibilities of life . It is , in my opinion , the best movie that a child can watch . And not only will it teach children , it is also marvelously animated , directed , and written . There is a plethora of great characters , exciting moments , and imaginative situations . It should also expand a child's mind , not only because of the imagination involved , which will help to break children away from conventions in their film experience , thus making them more intelligent , but because it comes from another culture . It doesn't overtly show its Japaneseness , unless you count the imagination involved ( though you should count that as a credit towards Hayao Miyazaki , who is the greatest genius of animation as far as I'm concerned ) . But it may spark an interest in children old enough to understand that someone from another country made it . Also , for younger kids , Miyazaki's fantastic , equally good My Neighbor Totoro . ( ps : I have only seen the dubbed version of this film . I find it perfectly acceptable and great . Nothing made me cringe , anyway . I think Kirsten Dunst did a very good job characterizing Kiki , a much better job than Claire Danes did characterizing San from Princess Mononoke . ) |
385,152 | 391,152 | 29,850 | 10 | I kinda want to beat up some Germans right now . . . | When I first saw this film around 6 months ago , I considered it interesting , but little more . But it stuck with me . That interest grew and grew , and I wondered whether my initial boredom and response had more to do with the actual VHS quality rather than the film itself . I purchased the Criterion DVD box set , and it turns out that I was right the second time . Alexander Nevsky is a great film . It is rousing , and I'm sure it succeeded in its main aim : propaganda against the Germans . That is the most common criticism against this film , and against Eisenstein , that it is merely propagandist and nothing else . It's untrue . He is an amazing film artist , one of the most important whoever lived . By now , the world is far enough beyond Joseph Stalin to be able to watch Eisenstein's films as art . |
385,126 | 391,152 | 462,322 | 10 | Hard to beat for best film of ' 07 | It would be hard to defend this nostalgic double-feature film as a masterpiece , but I can , without any guilt , say that it was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had at the theater . It's not just a movie ; it can legitimately be called an experience . Rodriguez's segment , Planet Terror , is probably the more easily enjoyed and more consistently enjoyable of the films . Kind of a rip-off of Romero's Dead series , but that makes perfect sense as it's supposed to be a cheap fright flick . And what easier way to make a cheap fright flick than to rip off a good one ? Planet Terror feels exactly like what it is supposed to be , with its disgusting gore , lame jokes and Godawful acting ( star Freddy Rodriguez , the segment's male lead , excels at this so well it's downright spooky ) . And , what's better , it rarely seems to be winking at the audience when it's doing these things . It's an all-out ball . Tarantino's segment , Death Proof , is a more confounding animal . After Planet Terror , any movie might seem a little slow . But Death Proof really is a slow burn . It starts off with a very 70s-ish feel , with outdated hairstyles and bad acting that feels like it comes from bad movies of that era . But then , about halfway through , it changes tones entirely and becomes a very modern-feeling movie , with mostly pretty good performances . The dialogue throughout is very much in the Tarantino vein , and let us not forget that it was his dialogue that made him famous . The structure of the film kind of seemed nouvelle vague-esquire , and of course Tarantino was a big fan of that movement . When Death Proof gets to its climax , though , it's pure adrenaline rush . The film references ( aloud ) Dirty Marry Crazy Larry , Vanishing Point and Gone in 60 Seconds , and then ends with one of the most entertaining car chases in cinema history . However disjointed Death Proof feels , it's still a damn fun movie . And the two halves of Grindhouse might not comment on each other much ( they do briefly share the same universe , in one weird sequence ) , but the entire thing just rocks . Add to that several fake trailers for other cheesy movies ( my favorite being the first one , Machete , of which a feature length version is supposedly already in production ) , and you've really got yourself some cinematic gold . It'll be a shame when Harvey " Scissorhands " Weinstein cuts it in two in a short while here , because it's all about the entire experience . Right now it's the film to beat for ' 07 . |
385,911 | 391,152 | 22,150 | 10 | Very satisfying light entertainment | I have lately got into the habit of purchasing any interesting DVD that the Criterion company releases . I figure that even if I dislike the movie , Criterion usually supplies enough extra material to compensate for any shortcomings in the actual film . I read up on them , and I buy the ones which are the most interesting to me . Le Million is my latest purchase , and I must say that I was not disappointed in the film . It is cheery , funny , and romantic . Everything about it is quite excellent . The songs are wonderful . If I understood French , I would probably hum them and sing them all day long . The acting is very good for this kind of movie . American musicals of the classic Hollywood era relied more on song and dance than the actual characters and story , but in Le Million , the characters are rather well developed and the story , while not being anything extremely impressive , is not at all lacking . I loved the developments of the relationships , especially the relationship between the once best friends Michel and Prosper . The romantic moments are also very well developed . The direction is nearly perfect , with several very memorable moments . Probably the single most perfect scene of the film occurs right after the lead couple has an argument . They hide on the stage of an opera performance , and the opera singers sing lines which the couple , Michel and Beatrice , interpret to their own situation . This is definitely one of the high points in cinema history . The scene managed to make me laugh , to win me over with a very sweet romance , and make me smirk at just how clever the director was . I give this film a . P . S . - Some information for anyone who has the same faith in Criterion that I do and is planning to buy it . Amongst the Criterion discs I now own , Le Million contains the fewest features . All it has is a photo gallery ( not all that useful ; one might flip through it once ) and a rare television interview with Rene Clair , the director . This piece is of some interest . He was one of the many directors who had started out in silent film , and when talkies were first appearing , he said that they represented the death of film . I think most film-savvy people understand what these directors meant when they said that , but it is interesting to hear him explain it . Also , if you have read the description of this movie on Amazon . com , please note that they were wrong in one important respect : not every line in the film is sung . In fact , it contains no more songs than a regular musical . It is actually a lot more like a Chaplin or Buster Keaton or Marx Brothers film . My criticisms of the disc are not that important . Heck , Criterion has the right to smack me around for making those complaints . The fact is , their people probably spent hundreds of hours fixing up a film which only 20 ( now 21 ! ) people have voted for on imdb , and only about a hundred people , if that , will ever see the film . Heck , if you look at the Criterion web site , Le Million is nowhere to be found . I have no clue why not . It's something they should really be proud of ( of course , their web site is surprisingly horrible ) . They did a fine job on this film . Bravo ! They deserve all the money I can stand to give them ! |
385,821 | 391,152 | 367,027 | 10 | Surely he can't hit two homeruns in a row , can he ? | John Cameron Mitchell had a lot to live up for after his debut film , Hedwig and the Angry Inch . Since that film was based on a play and a character he created and perfected over many years , one had to wonder whether he had anything besides that left in him . Fortunately , his second film , Shortbus , lived up to my nearly impossible-to-attain expectations . It centers around several New Yorkers and their sex lives . Among the main characters are Sofia , a sex therapist who has never achieved orgasm , a gay couple both named Jamie , and a dominatrix who goes by the name Severin ( the revelation of her real name is one of the film's funniest moments ) . These people meet at a sex club called Shortbus . The film is already infamous for featuring unsimulated sex scenes . It's easily the most graphic film I've ever seen ( not counting actual pornography ) , but because of Mitchell's humanism and the love which he and his cast ( who co-wrote the screenplay ) have for the characters , it never seems exploitative . I'm not sure I would say it was absolutely necessary , but it's possible the film wouldn't quite carry the same weight that it does without it . By depicting the acts for real , Mitchell is showing that there is nothing at all to be ashamed of . Watching Shortbus , I realized how strangely every other movie that is explicitly about sex treats its subject . Sex is supposed to be something that's joyous , but think of any other movie featuring a lot of sex ? In the Realm of the Senses , Breaking the Waves , Salo , even Last Tango in Paris ? sex is always something that is painful , something that , at its core , is about hurt . It's either about inflicting pain or trying to heal emotional scars ? and in the latter case it pretty much always fails . Even actual pornography depicts sex as something that is about violence . While most of the characters in Shortbus are unsatisfied in one way or another , the sex they have is not depicted as a false sense of hope . The movie unabashedly treats sex as something that is good for people . I once knew a man who told me that sex and love have nothing to do with each other . Shortbus is about the connection between the two . It's the rare movie , perhaps the only movie , that actually sees a connection between them . The movie's most famous line may turn out to be " It's like the ' 60s , but with less hope , " but , for the life of me , I haven't seen a more hopeful film in a long while . It's a breath of very fresh air , and a fantastic source of inspiration . Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a revolutionary film about gender identity in the 21st Century . Mitchell's second film may turn out to be a revolution on the 21st Century's attitude toward sex . A masterpiece . |
384,562 | 391,152 | 345,549 | 10 | Masterpiece | I've seen the plot before , at least in some fashion . A man and a woman meet under tragic ( or tragicomic ) circumstances . They are complete opposites , but begin an unconventional , semi-romantic relationship . It took me the whole movie to think of where I had seen it , but I did finally come up with a title ( Monster's Ball ) . So I've seen the plot before . It's been done before . But it hasn't been done too often , and I tend to like stories like this . Besides , it's all in the way it's done , and , man , is this done right . Tadanobu Asano , best known as the masochistic villain Kakihara of Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer , plays a withdrawn Japanese man living for unspecified reasons in Thailand . He works in a library and the walls of his meticulously organized apartment are lined with stacks of books . Through a couple of events , which are too good to spoil , he meets with polar opposite Sinitta Boonyasak , a Thai girl who works dressed up as a Japanese schoolgirl , and is probably something of a prostitute . Asano moves in with the girl and there is a connection ( in that order ) . This is a subtle film that flows like a gentle brook . Christopher Doyle , easily the best cinematographer working today , lends his impeccable style to the picture ( director Ratanaruang says many kind words about him in a 20 minute interview on the DVD ) , and the music , by Hualongpong Riddim , is simply amazing . Takashi Miike himself appears late in the film in an amusing role , and he's given the film's best line . Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's direction is truly impressive , and his attention to detail is particularly worth praising . It's a wonderful film , one that will live with me a long time . |
385,572 | 391,152 | 31,855 | 10 | Offensive , but it's a great cartoon | Betty ended her career in 1939 . I don't know which is her last cartoon , but I'm hoping it's this one . It would be a great culmination of the cartoon's development . Featuring some very offensive Indian stereotypes , but that doesn't mean it's not exceptional . Betty , transporting swing instruments to her band , stops at an Indian reservation to buy a tom-tom . The Indians steal her instruments and start using them in stereotypical Indian ways . A Hiawatha clone uses the cello case as a canoe , one man uses a trombone to siphon water from a pond , a woman uses drumsticks to crush corn into meal , and another man tries to cook with a bongo drum . Sally stops them and teaches them how to swing . |
385,206 | 391,152 | 29,947 | 10 | as funny as any other film ever made | I never really cared for the way a character in a Howard Hawks movie delivered their dialogue . I liked everything else about his movies - the direction , the actual dialogue , and the plots , but that rapid-fire delivery had turned me off in the past in such films as His Girl Friday , The Big Sleep , and The Thing from Another World ( which Hawks was rumored to have directed ) . Here , though , in Bringing Up Baby , everything is absolutely perfect . There is not the tiniest bit in this film that misfires . Everyone and everything is hitting bullseyes . You know how difficult that is to do when you're working with two leopards and a dog ? And it's so effortless it's almost scary . It's years ahead of its time - the only comparable talkie I can think of is Some Like it Hot , but I think Bringing Up Baby is actually better than that classic . |
385,321 | 391,152 | 76,706 | 10 | A masterpiece | Maybe the best prison film ever made because its origin is people who were actually in prison , most notably its main author , Miguel Piñero . The film deals with the interrelationship between the prisoners of a cell block . That's what most of the film is , the observation of these men and their culture . The plot of the film is about a new arrival ( Bruce Davison ) who has been arrested as a suspect on a child molestation charge . He's never been in prison , and he's very afraid , which , of course , he should be . Short Eyes doesn't make any easy choices at all , which makes for a particularly uncomfortable movie to watch . But it also makes it one of the gutsiest and most important films ever made , and it's one of the best movies I've ever seen . It's one of only two movies that I've ever watched twice right in a row . Well , the second time was with commentary by the director ( and another man , whose participation in the film I don't exactly know ) , because I wanted to know exactly how this film came about , and to confirm my guess that there was some kind of inside track to prison life behind the scenes . There was far more than I could have guessed ; the commentary also ranks as one of the best I've ever listened to . A masterpiece . |
385,212 | 391,152 | 47,550 | 10 | Exceptionally funny | After the lamentably unseen The First Time , the next Frank Tashlin movie showing at my local revival theater was Susan Slept Here . I was sure that SSH could not live up to the high standard set by the first film . But it did , and surpassed it . Personally , I think it's one of my five or ten favorite comedies . Dick Powell ( whom I've always loved ) stars as Mark Christopher , a Hollywood screenwriter who hasn't had any success after winning an Oscar ( which , incidentally , serves as the narrator ) . He once had an idea to write a serious picture ( as opposed to the frivolous comedies that he has specialized in ) about a juvenile delinquent , which he mentioned to a policeman friend of his . Well , on Christmas Eve , that policeman , along with his partner , shows up at Mark's door with a 17 year-old juvenile delinquent as a present . Her name is Susan ( Debbie Reynolds , whom I also love , almost desperately ! ) , and the policeman proposes that Mark hang around her for a couple of days , you know , for research . He's in a hurry to take his girlfriend ( the gorgeous but ferocious Anne Francis , who would star in Forbidden Planet a couple of years later ) out on a date , but that comes to an abrupt halt when Susan answers Mark's phone . You know the schtick : Mark starts out annoyed at Susan , but they grow attached . The age difference is brought up frequently enough so it doesn't get too creepy . Mark is 35 ( [ laugh ] - maybe when Powell was dancing with Busby Berkeley ) and Susan is 17 ( Reynolds was 22 at the time , but she is probably the only actress who could get away with playing a teenager until she was in her 40s ) . For a very long time Mark doesn't respond to Susan's crush . The only major flaw in the film - and even it's acceptable - is Mark's motivation in marrying Susan . He does it , he says , to save her from six months jail time ( she has been arrested for assault on a sailor and vagrancy ) . It's not very believable , but it's also not that big a deal . The two leads are exceptional . This was Powell's last movie . After it , he retired to television , although I only call it retirement as a movie snob ; he was enormously , enormously successful in the new medium . He's more or less the straight man here . He has a particularly great scene where he watches a 20 year-old movie for which he wrote the dialogue on television . As the actors speak their horrendous dialogue , we watch Powell as he mouths their words , both a man's and a woman's ( it's a break-up scene ) , with an embarrassed look in his eyes . If Powell is good , Reynolds is masterful . She's such an odd actress , not conventional in any way . She had her own niche in Hollywood . Her acting is doll-like with its jerky movements and huge facial expressions . That isn't a criticism whatsoever . I have never seen her in a straight drama ( the closest is How the West Was Won ) ; I'd imagine she acts differently , or she never made one . In comedies like this and Singin ' in the Rain , she's absolutely perfect . There is not a moment when she's on screen during which I was not laughing myself to tears . The film also has one of the greatest supporting casts ever . Anne Francis I've already mentioned . I very much appreciate the fact that the writers didn't make her character abominable ; Susan Slept Here , although it's not a musical , is very much a direct descendent of An American in Paris and Singin ' in the Rain . One criticism I have of Singin ' is that Jean Hagan's villain is too cartoonish ( or at least I would have that criticism if Hagan weren't so damn funny in that movie ) . Francis in SSH is played sympathetically for the most part . Glenda Farrell plays Mark's secretary , Maude , an alcoholic who answers the telephone on Christmas morning : " You talk , I can't . " Alvy Moore is Mark's friend and assistant , Virgil , who can crack wise with the best of them . Horace McMahon and Herb Vigran play the two cops , and Les Tremayne plays Mark's lawyer , who is obsessive about his therapy sessions . Red Skeleton has a wordless but amusing cameo as Maude's teenage sweetheart . . |
385,232 | 391,152 | 27,990 | 10 | There is one joke in this short that cracks me up so much . . . | Pluto stumbles into a henhouse when chicks are being born , and they think that he is their mother . The joke I refer to is when one of the chicks eats a grasshopper as big as he is , and bounces around when the grasshopper refuses to stop . This is a very funny cartoon to be found on the new Silly Symphonies DVD collection . |
385,810 | 391,152 | 87,188 | 10 | Left me gasping for air . . . | Conventional knowledge has it that the only film of Fellini's worth a damn after 8 ½ is Amarcord . Earlier this afternoon , I would have gladly agreed , but tonight I have discovered that this is a fallacy . I present to you And the Ship Sails On . . . , a film that is not only to be ranked alongside Fellini's permanent , almost unquestionable masterpieces , La Strada , Nights of Cabiria , La Dolce Vita , 8 ½ , and Amarcord , but one to be ranked among the best works in cinema . Perhaps this is the most underrated film ever made by a true master , the man who literally was the first filmmaker to be called " auteur " by Andre Bazin in an article about Nights of Cabiria . I would describe this film as a close relative of Amarcord's . The style of characterization is identical - instead of of a close character study , the sort of characterization most film lovers tend to like , the characters in these two films are drawn more broadly , with more attention paid to unique physical features and behavioral quirks . This is all in an attempt to have the audience identify the characters - or , more precisely , caricatures ( before he made movies , Fellini worked as a caricaturist on the streets of Rome ) - in a stereotypical way . Take Titta's parents from Amarcord - they're whom we might draw if we were asked to draw bickering parents . Take the Duke from And the Ship Sails On - could you imagine a teenage , Teutonic duke any other way than Fellini presents him ? You could also take it the other way - when you see this odd fellow on screen , do you have any doubt that he is Germanic royalty ? The visual style is also similar to Amarcord's - that one was painted with cartoonish colors . And the Ship Sails On is also very colorful , but the palette is more specified here - a beautiful canvas of blue-grays and whites . The narrative styles of the two films differ quite a bit , but still are similar . Amarcord taps the vein of nostalgia - perhaps the most untapped of human emotions - for its affect . And the Ship Sails On seems to be going for absurdist , surreal satire . It's a genre that is more or less dead in the world of cinema , which is why , I assume , this film was such a bomb in 1984 and is relatively unknown today . Why satirize the aristocracy of the WWI era anyhow ? That's a good question , but one that is not difficult to answer . I don't believe that Fellini meant the film as any kind of biting satire . It's all done in fun , although the juxtaposition of the rich with the Serbian refugees , whom the ship's crew finds afloat on sinking rafts one night , does ring with a certain painful and ironic truth about how the rich see the poor . Still , even though we might scoff at the way the aristocrats try to trace the roots of Serbian dances back to ancient times , the scene immediately following it , where those aristocrats go down on the deck to dance with the Serbians , is very entertaining and beautiful . The music in that scene , in fact , the music throughout the entire film , made me want to clap and dance . The actors move rhythmically as they progress through the film . I also have to add that Fellini never made a funnier film , at least of the ones I've seen , which are a majority of them ( Toby Dammit of the omnibus film Spirits of the Dead comes very close ) . Most of this film's greatness lies in individual scenes , and thus , as you might guess , the sum is not exactly equal to the parts - at least as far as I saw , there's no real point - the substance is thin . But when style is this beautiful , I say screw substance . Each individual scene ranks among the best ever put to film - the wine glass concert , the scene where sunlight brightens one half of the ship and moonlight the other , the boiler room scene where the great opera singers compete vocally in order to impress the sailors below , the interview with the duke , and the opera singer's funeral . Each scene is so exquisitely created by Fellini and every other artist involved that it is entirely forgiveable if the audience remembers those individual images rather than an overall effect . For me , the combination did have an overall effect : I was so awestruck that I was weeping , though there was nothing onscreen to weep at . . |
385,503 | 391,152 | 28,010 | 10 | We've really lost something nowadays | I don't want to be one of those " they don't make ' em like they used to " people , but I just can't help it when it comes to comedy . We've lost that talent completely , it seems . I can't think of any really great comedies of the past ten years . The golden age for film comedy was the mid 1930s to the mid 1940s ( at least for the talkies ; silent comedies were a totally different art form ) . This is also the period of the screwball comedy . My Man Godfrey was one of the first screwball comedies . Films such as Bringing Up Baby and The Lady Eve perfected the form , but My Man Godfrey is nearly as perfect . It isn't quite as funny as Bringing Up Baby nor is it as emotionally resonant as The Lady Eve , but it is funny , it has depression era social commentary ( its main theme is identical to Preston Sturges ' Sullivan's Travels , beating it by 6 years ) , and the script is marvelous . The finale is as good as any other comic finale , including the last scene of Some Like it Hot . The actors are also in top form . William Powell is the straight man , and he plays it very well . All the rest are as nutty as ever . Carole Lombard probably gives her greatest performance here ( I suppose I shouldn't say that since I've only seen her in one other film ; I can only guess at this since it is one of the funniest performances of film history ) . Gail Patrick is perfectly devious as Lombard's conniving sister . Eugene Pallette is great as their father . Alice Brady , though , steals the show as their mother , a total fruit cake whose protoge , Carlo ( Mischa Auer ) does nothing but eat the household's food and pound the same couple of notes on their piano . And look for cameos by MGM regulars Franklin Pangborn and Grady Sutton . |
385,141 | 391,152 | 366,996 | 10 | A twisted masterpiece | My first experience with Canadian director Guy Maddin , whom I've heard a lot about but for whom I wasn't quite prepared . This is easily one of the strangest films I've ever seen , and it was like nothing else I'd ever seen previously . I absolutely loved it . It's the kind of innovative film-making that makes my heart flutter with delight . It just boggles the mind that Isabella Rossellini would co-star with Kids in the Hall and SNL alum Mark McKinney in a bizarre art film . Actually , McKinney doesn't seem out of place at all . I don't know how familiar others are with The Kids in the Hall , but in their later seasons , each episode ended with a sketch somewhat longer than the others . These were often not pitched as comedy sketches , with jokes and punchlines , but as an artful comedy of a unique timbre . Does anyone remember the sketch about the worker at a sausage factory that felt similar to 1984 ? The Saddest Music in the World has the same subtle , almost impossible hilarity as those kinds of Kids in the Hall Sketches , but at over 100 minutes . And it works . It works beautifully . . |
384,860 | 391,152 | 388,838 | 10 | Powerful film , with two of the best performances of the past few years | I could easily imagine Hollywood remaking Olivier Assayas ' Clean ? in fact , I would be happy to see it . The story is a sure-fire Oscar winner . Whichever big Hollywood actress wants her Oscar , step right up . But it would certainly be melodramatic , and could never match the raw power contained in this film . Maggie Cheung plays a woman , Emily , trying to stay away from heroin after her husband has overdosed . Their son lives with her father-in-law ( Nick Nolte ) , who insists ( though kindly ) that she not see him for a few years , until she has proved that she can be responsible . The movie is mostly spent with Emily and her day-to-day life . She moves back to Paris , where she met her husband , and works in a Chinese restaurant , then in a department store . She desperately tries to get in contact with old friends who might help her get a decent job , but they all know her too well and don't trust her . The film is very observant of Emily as a human being . It's such an intimate portrait of a desperate person trying to get her life back together ? perhaps together for the first time in her life . Assayas , who also wrote the script , understands her deeply . And Maggie Cheung even moreso . Cheung gives one of the finest performances I've ever seen . Just the expressions on her face devastated me from scene to scene . I mean , she is so subtle . It's just outstanding . Assayas ' direction is likewise subtle . A Hollywood remake , I could imagine , could also be subtle , but nowhere near as quiet and observant as the original ( in fact , scanning through user comments , I can see that many were simply bored by the film ) . While it would be easy to spend pages gushing over Cheung's performance , it must also be noted that Nick Nolte is at least at the same level . This may very well be his best performance . It helps immensely that the character is so perfectly written . It would have been easy to make him a jerk ? and , again , thinking ahead to the remake , it's quite possible that that is what this character will become ? but Assayas gives him a deep understanding of Emily's situation , and an ability to empathize that I don't think can exist in American cinema . Nolte hits every note exactly right . His line reading is just beautiful . My single complaint about the film is the child actor who plays the son . I suppose it must have been difficult to find a half-Chinese , half-Caucasian kid on a limited budget who could act . They certainly did not find a kid who could act , though . James Dennis is easily one of the worst child actors I've seen in years . It's a flaw I can forgive , though . The movie ends very ambiguously , and it's arguable whether Assayas made the right choice here . I could argue that it feels too hopeful . There's a quick , matter-of-fact shot in which we see a smile cross Emily's face . I think I would have cut that and perhaps directed Cheung to avoid any readable facial expression . However , I know it didn't escape the director ? or the actress either ? that Emily , who is clean at this point , is approaching the world in which she fell into the trap of drug addiction . It might be better for her to stay working at a department store , perhaps somewhere cheaper to live than Paris . |
384,644 | 391,152 | 299,977 | 10 | I think this is what God invented light for | My mind is just so clouded with enthusiasm that I'm not sure I can judge Hero well , but I definitely had the feeling that I was watching a film that would instantly be one of my very favorites . I loved it , every damn second of it , to death . It can be compared to any number of films , directed by any number of directors around the world , but it comes out as something completely unique and amazing . The one reference I would like to emphasize , because I'm guessing that it hasn't been noticed ( although I missed every previous conversation in the preceding two years surrounding Hero , and I'm doubtlessly wrong ) is this : Hero reminds me a heck of a lot of Alexander Nevsky . Nevsky is a straight-out propaganda piece , aimed towards WWII audiences , and Hero veers late in the film towards a weird theme of Chinese national pride , which is certainly a kind of propaganda . But neither film is too interesting in that aspect , except from a purely historical point of view . Nevsky is constantly misunderstood by modern audiences ; it feels archaic , and it's a deliberate archaism . Sergei Eisenstein invented an entirely unique style that , as far as I know , has never been copied . Similarly , Zhang's creativity explodes into something the likes of which I've never even imagined before . Hero is stylized beyond belief , with ridiculous theatrics in one corner , and visuals controlled with a color co-ordination controlled with an iron fist in the other . To me , the nationalist epic intention for Hero is moot . This is the invention of mythology , a mythology that we're never meant to believe anyway , but just to absorb . The complex narrative structure is reminiscent of Rashomon , but I think it's using its idealized , and often lying flashbacks in a different fashion . I'm guessing that some of the film's critics harped on this point , that many of these passionately told stories and miraculously eye-popping set-pieces are in fact invented by the characters on screen . This criticism , I think , is just when talking about , say , The Usual Suspects , but not with Hero . I haven't come close to plumbing the depths of this movie yet ? just far too awed at what I saw ? but I like the concept of these tragic , mythical heroes having story after story woven around them . For instance , the story of Broken Sword and Flying Snow is told at least four times . Each time , the plot differs slightly , with the events happening a bit differently , but always with the same results , and , more importantly , with the same emotions . It's like these characters are so well known , their story arises spontaneously from their character traits . This film was obviously made on the heels of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon . I absolutely love Lee's film , but Hero surpasses it by miles . I love watching Lee's film , feeling its emotions , watching its startling action sequences , which were so new to me at the time ( they still hold up , of course ) . When I watch CTHD , though , as much as I love the tragic romance and the story of the cocksure teenager , I anticipate the fight scenes . As good as everything else is , the action takes center stage . In Hero , the action scenes are even better , more beautiful , more startling , and more inventive . And they are just the icing on the cake . My one and only complaint about the film has to do with CTHD : the music . It's far too close to the beautiful score of CTHD , almost matching it note-for-note at times . It perhaps should have been much more Chinese . Other than that , what is there left to say ? A lot , I expect , but on subsequent viewings . I ought to say that I am in utter disbelief that I was able to catch this at my local multiplex . I was sure that it had been dubbed , though I had not heard that they dubbed it . As far as I know , it is the first foreign language film ever to play at that theater . I was sure I would have to wait for DVD . I wonder if it will stay there more than a week . I wish I had time to see it once a day . Hell , every showing . I haven't slept in 22 hours and I know I'm just babbling now , but I'm pretty sure that I have a new favorite for the current decade ( and millennium , while we're at it ) . Perhaps it is the only recent film that may be able to break into my hallowed top 10 . Okay , now I know I'm crazy ! . |
385,745 | 391,152 | 111,590 | 10 | Hey , the guy who plays the professor in this film was Commandant Lassard from the Police Academy Series ! ! ! | Okay , okay . Now that I've got that out of my system , I can actually review the movie . Vanya on 42nd Street is pretty much a perfect film , just like its predecessor My Dinner With Andre . Both films have the same three cooperative creators , Andre Gregory , Wallace Shawn , and Louis Malle . Both these films have revolutionary structure . My Dinner With Andre is a film about two people who sit down to dinner and an extended conversation . Nothing else . For nearly two hours , two people talk , interrupted occasionally by a waiter delivering food . It is one of my favorite films , and only two films rival its depths that I can think of offhand , 2001 and Citizen Kane . All three of those films are so layered and have so many levels of interpretation that their value is priceless . Vanya on 42nd Street is a film about the first complete rehearsal of an English translation of the Anton Chekov play _ Uncle Vanya _ . The camera shows us actors acting on an undecorated stage with their street clothes on . And it pulls us in just as well as if we were sitting in the front row opening night ( perhaps even more ; I will explain why further down the page ) . I was entirely involved in the play throughout the whole film , and at one point Vanya ( Wallace Shawn ) grabs a cup which he wants to put water in . Emblazened on it : " I < heart > NY . " It yanked me out of feudal Russia in a heartbeat . It wasn't there on accident of course . The bright red lettering faces straight on towards the camera , and is in the very center of the picture . This cup is pure braggartry , screaming : " THERE ! You were entirely involved in something that was in no way real . Look just how well we are fooling you ! " Of course , it didn't take another second before I was completely absorbed with the play . About fifteen to twenty minutes later , at the end of act three , tears were streaming down my neck . Okay , now , my reason for my claim that I experienced this play better in this film than I could ever experience it in the front row of a professional production of it . My reason stems from my fundamental dislike of theater . When one is acting in a play , one must shout ( or rather , as a theater teacher might correct me , Project ! ) for the audience to be able to hear you . People do not shout their deeply emotionaly words . They grumble them or murmur them or whisper them or moan them . Dialogue released in a groan or a grumble does not project all that well . Therefore , all dialogue in a theatrical setting has always seemed , well , phony . Also , the complex facial expressions are entirely lost on every person sitting in the aisles at a play . All except for the most pronounced and overwrought . The same goes for gestures . Gestures are not always large in normal human communication , but on stage they simply must be for them to be communicated . The actors in this film are so , so , so , so so so so good , especially in their facial expressions . You could never get a proper feel for them sitting beneath them in a playhouse . The medium of film allows subtlety , as little as that quality is used in most films . That is why I feel film is superior to the play . Well then , if I believe that plays are awful , and conversely , that films are great , then why don't I believe that _ Uncle Vanya _ would have been easily adapted into film . Well , because it was written for the stage , I believe ( though I'm not 100 % sure why , I'll honestly say ) . To actually see these actors moving around inside a house , or , even worse ( since it's not in the actual play ) , on a farm would have seemed unrealistic . Normally , plays just feel stagey when they're put to film . There have been few exceptions that I can think of . I can tell almost instantly , when a play is translated into film . The only really great film to be made from a play is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? , easily one of the best films ever made . It never lacks the feel of a film . You can tell it was once a play , but it never feels like it has to be a play like Uncle Vanya would if it were adapted straight from play to film . I attribute most of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? ' s success as a film to the perfect acting and the superior cinematography by Haskell Wexler . The play to film thing even bothers me when it is Shakespeare . I have seen very few Shakespeare films adapted straight to film that have worked for me . Zafferelli's Romeo and Juliette was the best . But the two Shakespeare works on film which have really intrigued me are direct descendents of Vanya on 42nd : Looking for Richard ( I cannot believe Al Pacino did not see Vanya ) and Shakespeare in Love ( okay , maybe this isn't directly inspired by Vanya ) . Both of those films place the play on an inner level of the film's overall plot , and thus they try to teach us the inner workings of the plays themselves and acting as an art on the whole . Anyway , since I am tired and no longer in control of my thoughts , per se , I will just say , goodnight everybody ! |
385,596 | 391,152 | 14,429 | 10 | Never before have I heard an audience react so much to a film | Safety Last was funny pretty much throughout its entirety . The scene where Harold and his roommate hide in their coats ( you'd have to see it to know what I'm talking about ) got an enormous laugh which lasted for a long time , followed by some applause . I remember that there was a slow section , lasting about 5 minutes , after Harold's fiancee arrived in the city , but other than that , this film was consistently hilarious . And then during the building climbing scene , there were so many laughs and gasps , applause , and shouts ( " OH MY GOD ! " ) coming from the audience . It was probably the single most hair-raising scene that I or most of the other people in the theater had ever seen . And the climb , which lasts , I believe , 12 stories , should have gotten old . But it never came close to getting old . Each joke was masterful . After having seen the film , I was unfairly comparing it to the silent film that I had seen the previous week at a theater with live piano : Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr . Well , nothing is really comparable to that film . I consider it the funniest film I've ever seen . I was planning to give Safety Last a , but after some thought , I realized that I laughed a lot harder and more at this film than 90 % of the other comedies I've seen . At least 90 % , but probably much more . I have to give this a . This film really should be on DVD , or at least VHS . Harold Lloyd shouldn't be as forgotten as he is . |
385,737 | 391,152 | 58,409 | 10 | We need to see more films of this type from Japan in the US | I was under the impression when I rented this film that it wasdirected by Sezuki Seijun , but the credits gave a different name . Itstill might be him ( it was something else Sezuki ) , and I amassuming it was as I write this review . Having totally fallen in love with Branded to Kill and , to a slightlylesser extant , but not too much lesser , with Tokyo Drifter , I wasoverjoyed to find this at the video store ( I remembered havingheard at one point of its being on video ) . And I was even moreoverjoyed to watch it . It's an amazing film which I would placeslightly ahead of Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill , giving it a . The film opens right after the end of WWII with a young womanstarving in the street ( not something I would expect from the twoprevious yakuza films I've seen of Seijun's ) . She meets up with agroup of four prostitutes who allow her to work with them . They areself-sufficient and need no pimp . They keep themselves in linewith the threat of torture if any one of them ever sleeps with a manwithout accepting money . Of course , you can see the possibility forexploitation , and there is exploitation , believe me . After a while , arobust thug ( Jo Shishido of Branded to Kill , cheekbones and all ) shows up in their crumbling household . They respect himbecause he resists the GIs who try to keep the law in their city ( never specified ) and those Japanese people who cooperate withthem . They're also all attracted to him . After this is developed , thereisn't much more plot - only a couple of events happen afterwards . More or less , it is a character study and also a sociological study . The anti-Americanism is very interesting to see . Seijun was asoldier in the Japanese army himself and , although I could easilypoint out that , hey , you started it , it's easy to understand what hemust have felt after he and his comrades lost a war , what it wouldhave done to the male psyche as well as the female ( this film wasmade about twenty years afterwards ) . Some people would naturally hate this film because it mixes itsstyles , often very harshly . It's really nothing that Godard wouldn'thave done - in fact , it's actually something that Godard , despite mygreat affection for him and his films , could never have achieved ; hewas far too interested in subverting filmic conventions and toounconcerned with making interesting films at times . It is filmed incolor , and its art design / cinematography / costuming , everythingtechnical , is color coordinated in a way akin to something like a1950s musical . Four of the five prostitutes are color-coated andthere is , for instance , an amazing scene where these four color - specific hookers muse over Shishido alone against a setdesigned only in their colors . Often the film is quite melodramatic , almost like a Douglas Sirk film . At other times , it is something likesado-masochistic porno , especially during the torture scenes . There are scenes akin to the brutality in Tokyo Drifter and Brandedto Kill ; there is some major brutality to women ( sometimesinflicted by women ) , so if you're particularly sensitive to that , youmight want to avoid this . Also , if that's a problem with you , takespecial measures to avoid Branded to Kill . You might want to skipover this next description tot he next paragraph if you very easily getsick or if you're a militant animal rights activist , but there is astunning scene where Jo Shishido slaughters a live cow . I'm prettysure it's a real scene of slaughter . If not , then it's a damned goodfacsimile . If you were horrified at the real scenes of sacrifice inApocalypse Now , you might just want to avoid this film altogether . The bottom line for me is that this film is a masterpiece . An insaneone , to be sure , but this film , as well as Tokyo Drifter and Brandedto Kill , demonstrate just how gorgeous insanity can besometimes . Janus Films , whose logo you see on the videotapesbefore just about 90 % of all foreign films that were made before1970 , and Home Vision Cinema , who distributes about everythingmade after 1970 , collaborated on the videotape that I watched , which recently went out of print . Those two companies should beringing tons of bells for anyone who collects videos . Yup , those arethe two companies who produce DVDs ' ( and Laserdiscs ' ) Criterion Collection , the only DVDs , in the long run , which are reallyworth owning . This company has already released both Brandedto Kill and Tokyo Drifter . I pray to God - I'd even sell my soul to thedevil - so that Criterion will release Gate of Flesh and - please , please God ! ( or Satan ! ) - other Seijun films , or even other filmswhich generally resemble his , if such other artists do exist , that Ihave not seen or even heard of . Think about it Criterion . I know thatBranded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter aren't your most popular DVDs , but , having talked to so many people who are discovering themand having never resisted an opportunity to spread his name andreputation to any other film buff I have met ( and others who arefamiliar with him do the same ) , I know that he is becoming a hugecult item . In my mind , judging only by the three films of his that I'veseen , I prefer him even to Akira Kurosawa ( I cannot comment onOzu or Mizoguchi ; unfortunately , I have only ever seen one Ozu andno Mizoguchis , merely based on availability ) , whom I generallyprefer to nearly every filmmaker with whom I am very familiar . |
385,802 | 391,152 | 60,586 | 10 | After a second viewing . . . | The first time around , I was a little lost on this one . I didn't have the proper knowledge of its historical context . The Criterion liner notes are a big help . I just wish I had read them more recently . This is a satire of the militaristic attitude that eventually lead Japan into WWII . I remembered it being a comedy . It does have its comic moments , mostly involving Kiroku's uncontrollable erections , but it is rather serious in tone . Well , that's even a little weird . Suzuki is able to create a remarkable balance between the film's serious themes , its action sequences , as well as its comic touches . All the while , he creates a film of outstanding imagery , gorgeous cinematography , and artful editing . To think , Suzuki Seijun had probably no ability to choose which films he made . He was a bit lucky to land this one , though , as it was written by Kaneto Shindo , who had to be hot stuff after having already directed both The Island and Onibaba ( though I wouldn't know how those films were received in Japan ) . This is one of only two Suzuki films that stand outside of the yakuza genre , so here ( and in Story of a Prostitute ) he was able to deal with deeper themes than normal . But anyway , Suzuki had little control over what material he was to direct , one way or another . I find his ability to create great art infinitely more impressive than any number of cinematic artists who had more or less complete control over their own work . It would be utterly wrong not to include Suzuki in the pantheon of the world's greatest film artists . |
385,558 | 391,152 | 74,718 | 10 | One of the most important films of its time | While Jonah is generally referred to as a comedy , it is not . It does have some , perhaps many , funny moments . Comedy is certainly a part of it . But the film is a serious and almost perfect meditation on the post-revolutionary era and what's in store for the future . It is also a document on the passage of time , the ways in which the world changes around us , the ways in which we as individuals evolve , or devolve . The different characters negotiate their existences in different ways , with different philosophies . The mood of the film is very sad , but in the gentlest way possible . There's a hope for the future , but it's not a big one . It's quite pessimistic . The musical score , by Jean-Marie Senia , is exquisite , one of the best ever written for the cinema . The camera moves beautifully . . |
384,537 | 391,152 | 50,783 | 10 | Unbelievably Great | This is one of the most perfect films ever committed to celluloid . It involved me more than at least 99 % of other films I've seen , and the main character , Cabiria , is a character to cherish and love forever ( of course , we who have seen La Strada are already partly familiar with the character ) . I've hardly ever cared more about a character , and even after only five minutes into the film , I wanted so desperately to protect her . Giulietta Masina is so masterful in her performance , and Federico Fellini , her husband , is as masterful in his direction . I did not believe that they could match their success with La Strada , but , in fact , they succeeded in surpassing it . Bravo . . One of the best films ever made , plain and simple . |
385,310 | 391,152 | 58,430 | 10 | one-of-a-kind | I'm not going to go into any long , complicated discussions on Onibaba . Suffice it to say that it is one of the most original and best films I've ever seen . It's truly breathtaking . It grows to a fever pitch of fear by the finale . The black and white photography is also amazing . . |
385,935 | 391,152 | 37,800 | 10 | Beautiful . One of the best romances ever filmed | SPOILERSMichael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are master filmmakers , and I Know Where I'm Going is one of their greatest films . The only one that I've seen that I think is better is A Matter of Life in Death ( in America called Stairway to Heaven ) , but this film is very close . It concerns a woman who knows where she's going : to an island of the Hebrides , Kiloran , to marry a rich man , her boss . She arrives at the seashore where she can see Kiloran , but its late and very foggy . They can't cross today . She meets a man , Torquil , who lives there and is also stuck , a descendant of royalty , but now having not much money . He tells her that , if she counts the wooden beams on her ceiling and then makes a wish , it will come true as long as she believes in it . She wishes for the wind , which has gotten strong , to keep blowing and blow the fog and clouds away . For the next several days , she is stuck where she is and she cannot stop herself from falling in love with Torquil . What results is a film of subtle beauty and intelligence . The locales of Scotland are used extraordinarily well . The film has perhaps some of the most beautiful black and white photography ever captured ( you'll really want to go to Soctland after you see it ! ) . How can the Archers be so good ? I've seen four of their films , this , A Matter of Life and Death , The Red Shoes , and Black Narcissus . The latter two I have some problems with , but they are great films ( I bought Black Narcissus sight unseen , and , although I was a bit disappointed in it the first time I watched it , I have seen it four times in six months ; it grows on me , that's for sure ) . But I just don't know : these films seem so simple . I mean , they aren't abstruse art films or anything . The level of invention is staggering , but mostly because their techniques are not overly complex . Why can't these be made anymore ? I think I Know Where I'm Going may be too old fashioned for today's audiences ( which is truly sad , however sadly true ) . I guess it's the same for those other three films . It's cynicism : the bane of modernity . PS : It is a well known fact that the inspiration for the final ballet in the 1951 film An American in Paris was The Red Shoes . Gene Kelly convinced his producers to allow him to do that ballet by showing them the 13 minute ballet sequence from The Red Shoes . The ending of I Know Where I'm Going resembles the ending of An American in Paris . I wonder if Kelly and Vincente Minnelli were fans of this film , also . Anyone know ? |
384,706 | 391,152 | 393,109 | 10 | One of the best of the last couple of years | Extraordinary neo-noir . It's so good a Raymond Chandler imitation that it's shocking that it was an original screenplay and not adapted from a detective novel . The film takes place in high school , where a student , Brendan ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) , investigates the murder of his ex-girlfriend . He navigates through the various cliques and fringe groups and uncovers the seedy realm of drug dealers . The movie works in every way ? as noir parody , as straight up noir , as a high school movie ( though one wonders if any of these characters have ever gone to class ) , and even the drama is compelling . The plot is delightfully unfollowable , as is the hard-boiled dialogue ( this is a rare movie whose script I'd like to read ; I should at least give it another viewing with subtitles on ) . And the direction is outstanding . This is one of the best directorial debuts of the last decade . Rian Johnson also edited ( he previously edited Lucky McKee's wonderful May ) , and even that aspect is amazing . Johnson is a triple threat , and an immense talent to be watched . It's going to be very difficult for him to surpass Brick . |
384,959 | 391,152 | 24,216 | 10 | ? That's waaaaaaaaaaay too low | When such weak 1990s efforts as the Matrix , Se7en , Fight Club , The Shawshank Redemption and American Beauty are so high up on the imdb list , and King Kong is hardly on the list , this should tell you that there is something wrong with the system . Sure , King Kong looks a little silly , but you can't expect it to look great , at least in the special effects area , after nearly 70 years . Besides , I say " a little silly " emphasizing " little . " The stop-motion animation may seem crude , but I would take it over the computer animation of films today anytime . The only great computer animation , in my opinion ( excluding movies made completely with computer animation ; I'm talking about computer animated characters on screen with live action characters ) , is Jurassic Park . The dinosaurs looked real in that film . Every other film that uses computer animated characters , MIB , The Phantom Menace , etc , looks terrible . The computer animated characters look so extraordinarily like they were made on a computer . It looks like one could just click a button and get rid of Jar-Jar Binks ( and we all wish we could ) . King Kong , as well as the other monsters on Skull Island , look like they're on the screen with the human actors . The dinosaurs , especially the brontosaurus ( or apatasaurus , if you will ) , look nearly as good as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park . And King Kong looks a lot better than the terrible 1970s version of the same film . Could you imagine a computer animated King Kong ? It makes me sick just to think about it . King Kong is not the summit of stop-motion animation . Ray Harryhausen perfected the technique in films like Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans . But that was over thirty years later . King Kong's effects look great still . But to spend a lot of time on the effects , defending them , is unnecessary in order to prove the film's worth . It's great in every other aspect , too . Acting . Fay Wray is amazing , as well as all the other players . Direction ? Amazing , all the way . The filmmakers take a lot of chances , and every one of them works . The script is also great . Perhaps the best part of the film is the cinematography . I'm not sure , but it looks to me like it was shot in deep focus . Orson Welles did not , of course , invent this technique . He just utilized it to the max . So it is not impossible that it was shot in that way . In every way , King Kong is a masterpiece . It is one of the most unabashedly amusing films ever committed to celluloid , with its only competition being , perhaps , The Wizard of Oz . I love this movie . Why don't you ? |
385,479 | 391,152 | 85,400 | 10 | A masterpiece | A stunning and original film . This is the second film by Alain Tanner I've seen . I watched his Jonah Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 last summer , and it sticks with me as few films have . In the White City might not , but who knows . It's already getting bigger in my mind , and I only turned the VCR off about five minutes ago . This film concerns a drifter of sorts ( Bruno Ganz , in a role very different from others of his that I've seen ) who finds his job as a sailor too tedious and unfulfilling . When his ship docks in Lisbon , he quits without a word and moves into a small hotel . There he meets a cute bartender who works downstairs ( Teresa Madruga ) ; she's a strong personality , which attracts him . The mystery surrounding the sailor pulls her in , and they become lovers . Meanwhile , Ganz wanders around Lisbon with a small , handheld camera shooting random things . He also writes brief letters and throws them , along with reels of film that he has shot , into the mail . We then see another woman , this one in Switzerland , who is apparently Ganz's abandoned wife . We find out very little about her ( she never has a name ) . All we know is that she's upset about her man's absence , and he seems to be cruelly hurting her . Is he doing this on purpose ? What exactly is the deal with this guy ? I was just as curious about this guy as Madruga was . But the more she finds out about him , the less impressed she is . Perhaps he's not some romantic adventurer . Perhaps he's just a loser . I just found this person so fascinating . Many will find the film a bore , I think , but it was amazing to me . Even if you don't care for it , you must admit that the jazzy musical score by Jean-Luc Barbier is exceptional ( one of the best , I think ) and that Acácio de Almeida's cinematography is breathtaking . To me , it's all around a masterpiece . . |
385,168 | 391,152 | 37,824 | 10 | My God , I wasn't expecting it to be THAT good | Before I new much about him , when I used to see the box for Alexander Nevsky on the Foreign shelf at my local video store , I always misread Eisenstein's name , transforming it into Einstein . Well , Einstein suits him just as well , for what Albert Einstein was to science Sergei Eisenstein is to the cinema . Witness Battleship Potemkin , possibly the most rousing film ever made . Today , nearly 80 years after it was made , it still has the power to inspire revolution . Its amazing montage editing style may have died with silent cinema ( although there are at least two directors today who are somewhat similar : Shinya Tsukamoto and Darren Aranofsky ) , but it will never be forgotten . When Eisenstein moved to sound , he realized that rapid montage would not work in the new medium . He adapted his style , perfecting a new one . Alexander Nevsky and the two Ivan the Terrible films come off to many people as stale historical epics . To me , they come off as the very peak of that genre . Usually I do find historical epics stuffy , but the direction , acting , writing , cinematography , and music of these three films are exquisite , so far beyond anything that I've ever seen that these films stir me nearly as much as Potemkin does . Ivan the Terrible I is a bit confusing in its plot to begin with , but you have to stick with it . First off , there are many , many characters . A great many are not mentioned by name , and most of the rest are only named on rare occasions . But Eisenstein familiarizes us with the characters ' faces . These faces are perfectly chosen and lighted spectacularly . The light is so harsh that every crag in a person's face is clear , and noses cast foreboding shadows . The way time progresses in this film is without much warning , and one problem I encountered was identifying Ivan himself . I did not catch on at first when the first sequence ended and the second sequence began , and Ivan , in the second sequence , has a beard . Once you realize that , though , you're home free . That beard serves as a great identifier throughout the film ( and is used in many ways by Eisenstein ) . I was expecting to like this film , but I found myself obsessed with this utter masterpiece . |
384,758 | 391,152 | 47,417 | 10 | Exceptionally done | An exceptional social issue film about prisoners rioting , trying to get the press to tell the stories of their mistreatment and trying to get the government to effect change in the prison system . Everything about it is absolutely top-notch : the screenplay and the direction are realistic and very , very taut . Don Siegel , I assume , didn't have a huge budget on this one , and he accomplishes an amazing lot . I love the way Richard Collin's script pits the rioters not only against the establishment , but also against each other . In a cell block full of so many differing personalities ( or perhaps " criminalities " is a better word ) , they're not all likely to agree . The acting is almost universally excellent , with the one exception of Emile Meyer , who plays the Warden . He's a little creaky , but all the others , including Neville Brand , Leo Gordon ( who had been a real prisoner in the prison seen in this film ) , and Robert Osterloh among many others , are pretty much perfect . One strong moment after another makes Riot in Cell Block 11 a must-see gem , a low-budget masterpiece . . |
385,061 | 391,152 | 28,119 | 10 | The Best Popeye Cartoon | That I can think of anyway . This Popeye cartoon is the funniest and most exciting short ever made , counting Disney and Warner Brothers , too . I especially like the songs , Sinbad's ( Bluto ) theme , and the song that the two-headed giant sings as he beats the tar out of Popeye . The best scene has Popeye taking care of Sinbad's giant bird . |
385,229 | 391,152 | 20,414 | 10 | Maybe the first great work of animation and probably one of the first important sound films | Every second of those six minutes is perfect . What a creative little cartoon ! This is Disney gold ! Four skeletons awake from their graves and dance around , scaring black cats and owls alike . They turn each other into xylophones and do the Charleston ! These are six of the most important minutes of film history ! . |
384,715 | 391,152 | 60,668 | 10 | Brilliant ! | Brilliant in every way . A film of a play about a play put on by the inmates of the Asylum of Charenton in France , 1808 , as directed by the Marquis de Sade ( played by Patrick Magee ) . Filmed plays are often criticized for their staginess , but this one quite requires that feeling . The actors are separated from the audience , which appears from time to time , by metal bars , which also appear from time to time . Most of the film takes place in the middle of the play , with the lunatics seeming dangerously in our faces . The man who runs the asylum sits on the side ( behind the bars ) and occasionally walks out onto the stage to calm his residents down , or to castigate the Marquis for including certain undesirable notions in his play . The subject of the play is the nature and importance of human cruelty as demonstrated by the French Revolution ( which ended some 15 years earlier ) , but which continues on , even to the present , far beyond the actual setting of the play . About a thousand ideas are thrown out throughout the film , and it's difficult to catch them all . It's the kind of movie that sets the head reeling , and it made me want to watch it again ASAP . The actors are all brilliant . Besides Magee , Glenda Jackson deserves special praise for her performance as the narcoleptic inmate who plays the executioner of Marat . I didn't mention that other name in the title because I am unfamiliar with the historical character . I understood the gist of his role in the Revolution , but I'd like to learn more before I rewatch the film . Peter Brook's direction is fantastic ; he kept my heart rate up throught the entire film . I'm thinking about getting the DVD , especially if it has subtitles . It is sometimes difficult to understand the dialogue , and almost impossible to understand the song lyrics . Oh , did I mention it was a musical ? . |
385,515 | 391,152 | 109,066 | 10 | A masterpiece | I don't even know where to begin on Vive L'Amour . It is the second Tsai Ming-liang film I've seen , after The Hole . I doubted that it could be as good as The Hole , but it turned out to be an even better film . In fact , I'd say it's pretty close to perfect . The only thing I don't like about it is its American title - " Vive L'Amour " makes it sound like a romantic comedy starring Gerard Depardieu . This film is about love , but not in any conventional way . I'd love to relate the plot of the film , but I think that'd ruin it quite a bit . Part of the fun of it is figuring out exactly what's going on . Those who like puzzle films will find the initial puzzle of Vive L'Amour very intriguing . Those who don't like slow-moving films should avoid it , though . A good benchmark : if you like Antonioni's films , especially L'Avventura , which is directly referenced in this film , you'll probably like it . Here's an intriguing fact about Vie L'Amour : there is not one piece of audible dialogue spoken until 21 minutes have gone by . One of the main characters does not speak until 49 minutes have passed . If you were to write out all the dialogue of the film , you could probably fit it on a single page . Tsai is simply audacious in his paucity of dialogue . And it could have easily seemed like little more than a stunt , but the characters still come off as fully developed and interesting people . The drama works wonders , and there is a lot of comedy , too . The film is also very erotic . I really don't want to say another word about this film . I hope that any reader will have enjoyed or agreed with the numerous other reviews I have written to take my recommendation at face value . I have seen hundreds of great films , and Vive L'Amour is one of the best I have seen . Also , make sure to check out The Hole , which is also on Fox Lorber DVD . Fox Lorber has gotten a lot of undeserved criticism in the past . Their DVDs aren't always the best ( they're no Criterion ) , but they're usually of great visual quality . They may have few extras , but extras are not always necessary . I would even suggest that Criterion sometimes stuffs their DVDs with unnecessary and low-quality material . |
384,608 | 391,152 | 45,464 | 10 | One of the best live-action children's films ever made | What a wonderful and beautiful movie ! It was a failure when it was first released , so it's about time that it was rediscovered by the whole world . Only a couple of other live-action children's films are better . This ought to be considered next to The Wizard of Oz and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory . It's about a boy who is forced to take piano lessons and hates it . When he falls asleep , he dreams that his piano teacher is an evil villain hypnotizing mothers across the country to make their kids take piano lessons . The film is stuffed to the brim with outrageous colors , great sets ( that look exactly like Dr . Seuss ' books ) , good performances , and wonderful songs . . |
384,615 | 391,152 | 57,277 | 10 | Exceptional | If , at some point in the future , Pather Panchali cannot fulfil its duties as Satyajit Ray's masterpiece , Mahanagar can step up and fill in the position . Or perhaps the two films can co-rule , as they compliment each other so nicely . Pather Panchali is the simple , straightforward masterpiece and Mahanagar is the more ambitious and complex work . The first is Ray's La Strada and the second his La Dolce Vita . The Big City is a subtle , flowing work about a young housewife ( Madhabi Mukherjee , who would also star in Ray's Charulata ) in a middle-class family who finds a job when her father-in-law needs a new pair of spectacles . The family is very conservative , and this upsets everyone . Her husband's manhood is somewhat insulted , her father - and mother-in-law ( who both live with the married couple in a rather small apartment ) feel that it's just not right , and her son thinks he's been forgotten . The only one who supports her is her younger sister-in-law ; she sees her as a role model . The husband ( Anil Chatterjee ) tries to get her to quit , but , when he loses his own job , he changes his mind quickly . Now she becomes the breadwinner , and he is effectively castrated . This could have been a little , humble film , like many of Ray's works . But here he decides to examine a huge portion of his own culture , setting up many opposites and studying them closely . We have the husband and wife , man and woman , old-world conservatism and new-world progression , young and old , employer and employee . The list goes on . The depth of this film is nearly endless , and I'm sure it would hold up to any number of repeated viewings . The only flaw that I can see is a somewhat contrived climax - Ray had this problem in a few of his films . I do have to give special praise to the two leads . Mukherjee and Chatterjee are just brilliant in the film . The supporting cast is also uniformly excellent . |
385,568 | 391,152 | 113,824 | 10 | Ghibli cannot be stopped ! | A very moving animé film from Studio Ghibli , as good as anything either Miyazaki or Takahata have made . It's a very simple and down-to-earth movie about a young teenage girl who is experiencing her first love , as well as doubts about her future . Whisper understands its characters as few films do , and I became quite intimate with our heroine , Shizuku . It also has a sense of mood unmatched by any other film I can think of set in everyday life . The way it feels to live in a cramped apartment , the emotions of the first day of school , and the way the sky looks after it has rained ? so many generic memories of my life brought right to the forefront , as if they were the only moments that mattered . The film enveloped me so completely , I could smell the odor of the antique shop . The music is so wonderful , the score by Yuji Nomi . And I never could have imagined that John Denver's song ' Country Roads ' would make me weep . Well , it was in Japanese , but still . It's frightening . Each Ghibli film I see makes me think that the next one cannot possibly match it , yet each film inevitably does . . |
385,854 | 391,152 | 67,185 | 10 | This is the movie The Graduate should have been | Harold and Maude is a perfect movie . It's extremely well written and well acted . It reminded me a lot of The Graduate , a movie which I liked but felt was not all that special . Harold is much like Benjamin from that movie , but he's such a jerk . And Mrs . Robinson is also completely unlikable . Harold and Maude has to be the most uplifting film I have ever seen . It is one of those rare films which makes you re-examine your life in a positive way . I beg you to see it . One rarely sees films of this caliber . |
384,626 | 391,152 | 42,786 | 10 | Very important and much better than people have ever realized | An intriguing , understated , and remarkable picture . It focuses on a super-typical American family of the 1950s , the Smiths , husband ( James Whitmore ) , wife ( Nancy Davis , later Reagan ) , son ( Gary Gray ) , and expected child . One night , precisely at 8 : 30 , a strange voice on the radio announces that he is God . For the next several nights , he speaks on the radio at the same time . The entire world , except for those behind the Iron Curtain , hears these messages and begins to listen each night , frightened that divine punishment , or perhaps Judgement Day might be near . The Smiths are as afraid as anyone else . They all fear for Mary , the mother , who is nine months pregnant , may die in childbirth . Her mother and her sister both died when giving birth to their second children , and God has just claimed on the radio that he will demonstrate his miraculous powers . That's the big problem , and then Joseph , the husband , has many smaller problems . He's stuck in a dead end job , he hates his boss , a particular motorcycle cop seems to have it in for him , and the starter on his car doesn't work . They're all little things , but together , especially when the voice agitates him further , he's not sure he can make it . There is a lot to love about this movie . Although the Smiths are such a symbolic family in that they represent the ideal American family ( I would like to suggest ignoring the fact that the husband and wife are named Joseph and Mary and that Mary's pregnant , because , as far as I see , not much is done with that particular symbolism ) , they feel so real and individual . They aren't perfect ; they have weaknesses and fights . But they have such a touching family relationship . I love the way Joe strokes his wife's cheek each morning to wake her up . When Joe's car won't work in the morning , little Johnny imitates his exact routine for his mother's amusement at the breakfast table . The greatest power in the universe may be the force that's driving the plot , but this is a movie that realizes that the little moments of life are what count best , and few films have shown a better knowledge of that . As I was watching The Next Voice You Hear , the film it reminded me of most was The Day the Earth Stood Still . The plot is nearly identical , but The Next Voice You Hear is so much more gentle . Klaatu , in Day , threatens to destroy humanity if they don't cooperate . Luckily , God's much more understanding . Of course , those countries of Eastern Europe who are under the thumb of the USSR never hear God's voice , even though communist China doesn't miss out ( or am I wrong about my history ? ) . It was the Cold War that sparked The Day the Earth Stood Still . Besides one solitary comment early in the film , there is no mention of the Soviet Union or communism . Yet it still pervades any possible interpretation of the film . If God wants to deliver a message to the world , one would think that he wouldn't skip over anyone . Even atheists in the US hear it . And one would expect a writer from the United States to want those who were perceived as a threat to hear God's message . This little conundrum is quite maddening , and there's no good solution to it . I would call it a major flaw ( even though , like I said , it takes up merely a second of film ) , but it allows room for interpretation . That is , I'm not disappointed in that fact , only intrigued . The Next Voice You Hear is a profoundly Christian film , and one of the best , I'd say . It's message is overwhelmingly positive , and it's not really that didactic . There are a lot of points to be thought over after the film is done . This would be an ideal film for anyone to show at Sunday School or something like that . It's really one of the most fascinating films I've ever seen . Really , I haven't even broken the surface here , and I didn't discuss any of its artistry ( of which there is a lot ) . See this movie , please . . |
385,618 | 391,152 | 60,277 | 10 | A favorite of mine | It's not especially deep , but it's a dark and disturbing chambara about a merciless samurai , Ryunosuke ( Tatsuya Nakadai ) , who can ? and will , without hesitation ? kill anybody who challenges him with a sword . He sees himself as a force of karmic balance . The film starts off with him disposing of an old man praying for death . The film is based on a newspaper serial that began in the 1910s and continued for several decades . The story never really ended , and , likewise , the film , which only covers certain bits of the novel , has no resolution . This has often bothered people , but I think it works well . Whatever the case , even if the film doesn't satisfy you as a whole , there are a number of outstanding setpieces . Nakadai's being ambushed in the forest near the beginning . The battle in the snow , where Toshiro Mifune dispatches of a dozen or more attackers while Nakadai watches cautiously from the sidelines . And that final sequence is the mother of all rampages , where Nakadai goes apesht in a brothel . Tatsuya Nakadai is really a fantastic actor . I know , his performance here isn't particularly complex , but he is absolutely frightening in his infinite evil . Compare this to his overwhelming humanity in The Human Condition . Okamoto's direction is assured , and Hiroshi Murai provides some of the best black & white photography ever captured . The new Criterion disc is quite good . It is without extras , but the accompanying essay is a big help at putting the film and its source material in context . |
385,800 | 391,152 | 285,005 | 10 | One of Miike's greatest achievements | Yes , it's another yakuza movie ( well , close enough , anyway ) , but , like all of Miike's crime movies , it has its own flavor . Two rival hit men ( Miike regulars Sho Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi ) discover that they're old friends . They were raised together in the same orphanage . In the first half of the film , the two travel back to the small island where they grew up . In the second half , they return to Tokyo as partners , avenging angels who donate their blood money to charity . The film is a powerful story of lost innocence and rediscovered friendship . Miike creates many stunning sequences , including a gorgeous montage where the two men entertain children with a play while the film cross-cuts to a gang war , the fruit of their wicked labor . And then the final sequence is just beautiful , managing to be both enormously touching and humorous . It's a great flick , and , if anyone is interested in getting to know the director , not a bad place at all to start ( it has absolutely nothing to do with the first Dead or Alive movie , either ) . |
385,643 | 391,152 | 110,005 | 10 | easily one of the best films of the 1990s | Oh , Jesus . Heavenly Creatures is a heavy , heavy film that's just about enough to kill you . It builds up a frenzied mood that seems to me incomparable to any other film that I've seen . I liked Peter Jackson's Braindead , which was planned-as-camp fun , but never in that film did I see a hint of genius . Here his mastery of the medium is well evident . And unforgettable film . The only mystery is how the hell it took me so long to even hear of it . |
384,762 | 391,152 | 46,672 | 10 | Underrated masterpiece | When I was 13 , I visited Disney World as a present for my graduation from elementary school . I was already too old , and I was rather annoyed at most of it . Particularly annoying was the 20 , 000 Leagues Under the Sea . It had the longest line and , when I finally got on the ride , it was utterly boring . It also takes longer than all of the other rides , as well . Well , the movie on which the ride is based is fortunately much more fun ( and you could probably watch it thrice in a row from the time you step into the ride's line up to the moment you get back off the thing ! ) . It's actually one of the best films Disney ever put its name on , counting both live action and animation . In fact , the only one I can think of off hand that I definitely prefer is Mary Poppins . A good deal of 20 , 000's success can probably be found in Jules Verne's novel . I have a feeling that a lot of the dialogue and plot were left intact ( I know some of it was changed ) . The script and dialogue are enormously literate . Disney films rarely ( if ever ) express this much intelligence and depth . It would only equal half the movie , though , if the lead actors weren't aboard . Kirk Douglas , Paul Lukas , Peter Lorre , and James Mason are at their bests here . Douglas and Mason in particular give stellar performances ( Lukas ' character is more of an observer and Lorre is , well , Lorre , but both have great scenes ) . Douglas plays Ned Land , a harpooner and the sole survivor of a ship's crew which was attacked by the Nautilaus . He's energetic and funny , and he also effectively communicates his dilemma as someone who has no real purpose on the ship , and is thus disposable . Heck , Kirk even sings a great song , believe it or not ! Mason plays Captain Nemo , a character that became so archetypical afterwards that he might seem somewhat cliche to some . But Mason has some of the most amazing line readings . Richard Fleischer's direction is quite good . The film also benefits from an obviously enormous budget , as the production values are awe-inspiring . Take for example a scene in which the Nautilaus begins to sink . We see various bolts burst and pipes bend . We see the details when they repair the ship . And the giant squid attack is actually quite well done . The special effect technology is a bit crude at the time ( a goofy rubber shark thankfully only appears in one shot ) , but the squid's enormous tentacles look and move realistically , or at least as realistically as one can demand for a film from this period . I'm telling you , don't ignore this movie just because Disney produced it and you can only get it in one of those giant plastic retard cases . It's a great , great film . . |
384,532 | 391,152 | 58,279 | 10 | A masterpiece . | Kwaidan is a somewhat difficult work . Its four stories , with the exception of one , are not very involving and they can even become a little boring in their narrative . They are not very frightening , although they all attain a level of creepiness . Except for " Hoichi , the Earless , " one of the most stunning tales I've ever experienced in a film , you can see the ending coming from a long ways away ( the final episode , " In a Cup of Tea , " is a little different , in that it has no ending , per se ; the ending the filmmakers do come up with is a little disappointing ) . The reason that this film is a masterpiece is its masterful composition . I think I have heard that Kobayashi was a painter . Even if I just made that up , it would fit . The colors are godly . Any frame of the film is a masterful painting . If you are interested in composition and cinematography in film , this is the one to see . If you only care about narrative , read books . Don't watch films . But at least see " Hoichi the Earless " for its composition and story . I suggest buying the Criterion released DVD . It is one of the cheaper DVDs of that company . And you don't have to watch the four stories in succession . If you watch them apart , and they could very easily be watched apart , the boredom factor will fade from existence . |
385,398 | 391,152 | 36,244 | 10 | American Masterpiece | More than a decade before Henry Fonda purchased the rights to and produced Twelve Angry Men , he starred in The Ox-Bow Incident , another film about possibly innocent men accused of murder and up for execution . Luckily , the kid from Twelve Angry Men didn't live in the old West , ' cause they didn't have them darn , highfalutin ' courts back then ! News comes to a small town that a rancher has been shot by cattle rustlers . It's frightening , but terribly believable , how quickly a lynch mob forms . A couple of citizens try to calm down the bunch , but are unable to . Fonda is very understated in one of his best roles as a man who clearly objects to the way the mob ( which he is a part of ) acts towards three men they find , but is unsure of what he can do to stop it . He more or less just goes along with it . There isn't a performance in the bunch that isn't masterful . Standouts include Jane Darwell as the only woman in the mob , toting a giant shotgun along ( it's actually quite funny in itself , but still chilling ) and a young Anthony Quinn as one of the men the mob believes did the killing . You can see from the very start where the film's going and what its point is , but the level of acting , direction , and dialogue make it one of the best American films . . |
384,628 | 391,152 | 22,867 | 10 | One of the best ever made | Famous for introducing the world to Hedy Lamarr and full frontal nudity , but it's oh so much more . In fact , this is one of the pinnacles of cinematic poetry , up there with some of the seminal works of 1930s art cinema , in the same prestigious group as Under the Roofs of Paris , Tabu , Olympia , and even L'Atalante . It's nearly a silent , relying mostly on its miraculous images , and also its fantastic , symphonic score by Giuseppe Becce . It's a masterpiece of cinematography and music , yes , and also of editing , direction , writing , and acting . A good 90 % of the film moves along perfectly . Machatý seems an expert at using motifs . Perhaps not as subtle as it could be , and perhaps a bit overused , but the appearances of objects like insects , lights , and horses carry the story forward beautifully . The small snatches of dialogue are , thankfully , unintrusive . They don't jar as much as one would imagine . The final bit is odd , to say the least . Reminiscent of Russian silents , we have a montage of workers . This barely makes sense in the course of the narrative , but it's so gorgeously done that I refuse to harp too much on that flaw . Ecstasy is a film that is desperately in need of rediscovery . It belongs amongst the best films ever made . |
385,377 | 391,152 | 18,528 | 10 | The Unknown is an unknown masterpiece | This is an enormously powerful film , and also very unique as far as the films I've seen . Lon Chaney plays an armless circus performer , a knife thrower , who , well , is not quite honest about his existence . He's in love with the circus ringleader's daughter , played by Joan Crawford . A strong man named Malibar is in love with her , but she can't stand being touched by a man's hands and arms . Instead , she prefers to hang around with the armless ( and ergo handless ) Chaney . He has no doubts that he's in love with her , but does she love him ? She seems to . . . The Unknown works as a bizarre circus film , a horror film , and a psychological drama . Lon Chaney is at his best here . He really affected me with his performance . This film is actually prime to be remade . It is a masterpiece , I think , but it could stand to be much longer ( what , it's only 54 minutes , I think ) . The psychological and emotional depth could be even further expanded , making an even greater masterpiece . Unfortunately , I think if you proposed such an original script today , even if it is a remake of a classic film , the Hollywood producers and script readers would just laugh at you . Maybe a director with clout could get it done . Perhaps Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich fame ? Actually , this must have been at least half of the inspiration for Alejandro Jorodowsky's 1986 masterpiece Santa Sangre , the other half being inspired by Hitchcock's Psycho . |
385,341 | 391,152 | 60,176 | 10 | The most malleable masterpiece I can think of | I would only suggest the films of Michelangelo Antonioni to those who are extremely serious about film . He is an underappreciated auteur , and this underappreciation comes from the enormous difficulties his films raise . In fact , his films are kind of difficult to find . I've only seen two , L'avventura and Blowup . These are his two most famous and most studied films . If you read down the comments on this page , you'll quickly notice that many people do not like this film . I do not blame them . Initially , it can be boring . In fact , the film becomes more interesting after contemplating it long after it is over . After contemplation , and on subsequent viewings , this film seems a lot better . The same goes for L'avventura . And when you begin to think about , and then when you begin to read other people's comments and opinions , you will instantly notice that there have been dozens and dozens of rather disparate interpretations , with most of them even making sense . This provides a rare treat , an intellectual challenge . POSSIBLE SPOILERS My personal interpretation ( I just finished watching it for the second time , without having seen it for about 3 years ) : Thomas , the photographer , is a man who seems to have everything he wants . He is wealthy ( at least a little ; he does express the desire to be even wealthier at one point ) , and people are at his whim . He treats them whichever way he wants . This especially goes for women . He is a fashion photographer ( THE fashion photographer ; if you ever see a movie or a tv commercial with a man snapping pictures frantically at posing models , it is based on this film ) , so women are practically knocking down his door to get him to manipulate them . It has all become too easy for Thomas . He is like the proverbial spoiled child : having got everything he wanted , he has become profoundly bored with it . Because of this , he runs away from a monotonous shoot to a park , where things happen spontaneously . He chases birds and photographs them . Then , suddenly , eureka ! A couple going about their lives as if no one were watching them . A challenge ! Reality ! Thomas jumps into bushes to get closer , as if a National Geographic photographer glimpsing rare animal behavior . As he is leaving the park , the woman of the couple does notice him , and chases him down for the film . For Thomas , life is again back to normal . He joshes her cruelly , letting her know that he is controlling this situation . Thomas goes back home ( I'm skipping over some important stuff , but I'll stick to the meat ) , where the same woman ( Vanessa Redgrave ) is waiting . Again , he controls the situation , and lets Redgrave know that he is controlling it , finally sending her on her merry way with the wrong film . When she has gone , he develops that film from the park . As he scours it , he discovers that he may have taken pictures of a murder . This does not disturb him . Actually , it excites him , almost sexually . He has been having virtual sex with the women he is seen photographing all through the film , but he only really gets aroused at this ( in fact , an orgy scene which arises a few minutes from this point does little but distract Thomas , and when it is over , he kicks the two women from his home rather forcefully , and then goes straight back to his scouring and blowing-up ) . He is aroused , I believe , because of his inability to truely control this situation . It is like riding a wild stallion . Having blown the photographs up to an abstract mess , Thomas decides that he must examine the murder site . There he finds the body which he believed he saw in his photos . He goes back to his pad , and finds the place ransacked with only the most blown-up photo he has of the incident left behind . It is abstract , and he is instantly unsure whether or not he did see the corpse when he was in the park . He tries desperately to tell his friends , but they could not care in the least ( they joke about it ) . His sexual excitement has transformed into frenzy . He is not used to these sorts of emotions , and has no idea how to control himself now . He goes on a wild goose chase after a woman who looks like Redgrave from the back . A friend , high on pot , finally tells him to relax and go to bed . When Thomas wakes in the morning , he immediately goes back to the park , unsure of his experiences in the past couple of days . No body . The excitement is over . But wait ! A group of mimes ( see Ebert's explanation through the external reviews link ) has started to mime a tennis match nearby . Thomas watches these people simulate the sport . Although neither balls nor rackets exist , Antonioni subtly inserts the sounds of a tennis match in sync with the mimed actions . One of the tennis mimes hits the invisible ball over the tennis court fence , and signals Thomas to go and get it . Thomas does not even question the ball's existence ( Antonioni playfully moves the camera as if the tennis ball is actually in the center , even having the camera bounce after the invisiball has hit the ground ) . This invisible object is no less real than what he is experiencing in everyday life , and also than the games of invisibility that he has been playing for the last couple of days . After Thomas throws the ball back , he wavers . What to do now ? Well , his choice is finally just to disappear . He has completely lost control of the world around him , and his only recourse at this point is simply to null his own existence . He does not do it bitterly ( one of the greatest things about this film is the audience's change in attitude over Thomas ; at first , we despise his cruelty and spoiled nature ; now , we pity him ) , but almost willfully . Nonexistance is not such a bad option sometimes . |
384,618 | 391,152 | 216,625 | 10 | Absolutely brilliant ! One of the best of the last couple of years ! | A brilliant an original film . It unites current fads in art cinema , the frequent long take and multiple , interlocking storylines , both of which are in danger of becoming cliché . The way that these interlocking stories begin and end is very interesting . It gives us so little , and leaves us to figure out so much for ourselves . It's like a cinematic test of the psychological principle of closure . We ourselves have to connect the scenes and build the stories . In a way , it's kind of a game , and a fun one , at that . But it does cover some serious and important topics , namely the interaction of the various , and constantly increasing variety , of peoples in Europe . Most of the action takes place in France , although it does journey to Eastern Europe often and even Africa at one point . And , thankfully , Haneke isn't happy about simply making blanket political statements about the situation . For example , in the film's second scene , a white boy throws a piece of paper into a homeless woman's lap . A young black man , an immigrant from Africa , sees him and tries to force him to apologize to the woman . They get into a fight when the white boy refuses , the police see it and haul the black man , the white boy , and the homeless woman away . The black man is charged , the homeless woman , a refugee from Romania , is deported , and the white boy is let go . The criticism seems clear and obvious , until we find out that the piece of paper , which the audience is originally to think is garbage , is money . We learn this from the woman , who tells someone else about it and how she had once done nearly the same thing to someone below her in class . None of the stories are resolved . We are left to finish them for ourselves . This is one of the best films of recent years . Really , there have been a ton of highly-praised directors who rely entirely on bags of gimmicks . It's so nice to see a modern film that actually achieves something resembling a re-imagining of how narrative works in the cinema . |
385,769 | 391,152 | 29,604 | 10 | One of the best examples of Hollywood's Golden Age | I don't quite know how to put my passion for this film into words . It's something I never expected . I taped it off of television because I've been on a Ginger Rogers kick lately ( I think I'm in love with her ) , and very luckily experienced something of enormous quality . There is not a regular plot . Unlike most classical cinema , the goal towards which the film is striving is quite tenuous . Basically , the goal is for Katherine Hepburn to get a part in a play and give a good performance , but it is never stressed . Instead , what we get is more of an ensemble piece . There are characters who are more central than others , but we get to know well a great number of characters . And we live with them , experience their dreams , hardships , and successes , falling more and more deeply in love with them every minute , caring about them as we would dear friends or siblings . It is most often referred to as a comedy , and the dialogue tends to be hilarious ( Ginger Rogers is in full form here , wisecracking at the speed of light ) , but the film's drama is very affecting , too . This film's ending is so beautiful , and like all great films , we're reluctant to say goodbye to the characters . Fortunately , since I have it on tape , I can visit the boarding house any time I want . Unfortunately , since this film is neither on VHS nor DVD , you probably cannot . Watch for it on AMC or TCM or other stations that play classic films . You will not be disappointed . |
385,406 | 391,152 | 38,120 | 10 | Maybe the best American WWII film | William A . Wellman is one of the American cinema's greatest craftsmen . The Story of G . I . Joe is one of his best , if not his best . It presumably inspired a lot of later films . It especially reminds me of Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam film , Full Metal Jacket ( the second half of it , anyway ) . This film should also be praised for its dedication to realism , and its lack of propaganda , surprising in such a vivid war film that was being made in the thick of the action in both Europe and the Pacific . I also really love the script . The structure is very tenuous . Unlike most American films , it has no real " goal . " Take a look at the infinitely inferior Steven Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan . In that film , the story centered around the search for Private Ryan . In The Story of G . I . Joe , the goal is simply the arrival at Rome , but this isn't at all what the film is about . It concentrates mostly on how the soldiers passed the time and how they felt . In this way , it's the second most sensitive war film I can think of , only following Jean Renoir's unsurpassed The Grand Illusion . There are some excellent battle scenes , as well . As with most war films , there isn't a lot of overt characterization . It works really well here , though . Instead of opting for the old two-dimensional types of soldiers - you know , the " tough guy " the " young guy " the " religious guy " and what have you - Wellman just lets the characters develop within the actors . We may not know all of their names , or even recognize the same characters throughout the film , but , with each close-up of a soldier's face , we know as much about that person as we could know . The acting is very good . The three who stand out are Burgess Meredith , who plays Ernie Pyle , the writer whose works the film is based on , Robert Mitchum , wonderfully sensitive as the troop leader ( he was probably never better ; he received his one and only Oscar nomination for the role ) , and Freddie Steele . Early in the film he receives a phonograph recording of his young son speaking . He spends most of the film first looking for a phonograph player and then trying to repair it . This subplot is especially touching . Wellman's direction is superb . The cinematography is , as well , and so is the music . The only problem that the film has is that it runs into war movie cliches , but one would expect that those cliches probably existed in real life , as well . . |
385,878 | 391,152 | 36,172 | 10 | Comic masterpiece ! | Easily the best film that I've ever seen from George Stevens ( and I really like several of his other films ) . Jean Arthur stars as a woman renting out half of her apartment because of a housing shortage in Washington D . C . Charles Coburn , who is in Washington to help solve the crisis , weasles his way into the apartment even though Arthur didn't want a male roommate . The morning after , Joel McCrea arrives with yesterday's newspaper , not knowing that the vacancy exists no more . No matter , though . Coburn rents half of his half of the apartment to McCrea , unbeknownst to Arthur . God knows this premise could have made one hell of a sitcom , but it also makes a damn funny movie . There isn't an unfunny scene in the entire film , and several scenes vie for the title of Best Romantic Comedy of all times with Preston Sturges ' contemporaneous films . The three performers are remarkable . They have great chemistry as a comic trio , and McCrea and Arthur throw sparks off the screen with their surprisingly erotic romance . I failed to mention that Arthur is engaged to an older man , adding to the dilemma . Richard Gaines is also excellent as that fiancé . I love the way his mouth moves . Grady Sutton has a very funny cameo near the end of the film as a waiter . Stevens ' direction is exceptional . It's shocking how believably he pulls off the scene in which McCrea and Arthur wander around the apartment without bumping into each other . This is reminiscent of a famous scene from Buster Keaton's The Navigator , and it's even funnier . Or that intimate scene where McCrea gives a carrying case to Jean Arthur . Their acting is so subtly romantic in that scene . I love the way Stevens films it . . |
385,356 | 391,152 | 443,680 | 10 | One of the best so far this decade | This almost defines the oft-used term " elegiac Western " . It has some of the well-worn themes of Westerns , such as the creation of Western myth vs . the cold , harsh realities . But for some reason , it never feels like anything else I've ever seen . It has a style more reminiscent of Michelangelo Antonioni than any of the great Western filmmakers . It's slow and likes to surround its characters with enormous landscapes that almost swallow them whole . But it's also not averse to close-ups . Director Dominik , who has only made one other film , Chopper , and it's been seven years since then , loves to concentrate on facial expressions , as well as body language ( don't know if I've ever seen a film with this level of attention to body language , or maybe it's just not something to which I've ever been lead to pay much attention ) . The cast is uniformly brilliant . Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are the titular leads , and neither has done as well . Affleck is a revelation . The supporting cast includes Sam Rockwell , Mary-Louise Parker , Jeremy Renner , Garrett Dillahunt and Paul Schneider . Andrew Dominik is the star , though . There have been plenty of successful Westerns over the past couple of decades , but I'd be hard-pressed to name a single one out that so beautifully and completely re-invents the genre . 3 : 10 to Yuma may well be the big money-making Western of the year , but I think history will recall it as being the year that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was released . It is the best film of the year so far , and will be hard to top . |
385,107 | 391,152 | 20,768 | 10 | The sun rises again | Murnau's third American film after Sunrise and the lost Four Devils , and his penultimate before Tabu . City Girl , of the surviving three , is the least seen . The reason for this must be its close resemblance to Sunrise , which is a masterpiece of the first order . Yes , City Girl does remind one of Sunrise in its mood and focus . A young rube from Minnesota ( Charles Farrell ) travels to Chicago to sell his father's wheat crop . Business-wise , the trip doesn't go well , but his romantic world blossoms when he meets up with a lonely waitress ( Mary Duncan ) . The two marry , and the rest of the film deals with Duncan's fight for acceptance on the farm , where she faces a fierce opponent in her father-in-law ( David Torrence ) . The film is romantic , emotionally moving and utterly beautiful . Yes , it is a lot like Sunrise , but , heck , who wouldn't want a second Sunrise ? It's hardly a carbon copy , anyway , so it's like another wonderful gift . City Girl is a masterpiece , as well . I'm not the biggest fan of Murnau's German films , but his three surviving American films are probably the best proof of the sentiment that the silent cinema was at a miraculous level right when it was snuffed by sound . Murnau tragically died in an auto accident in 1931 . I find it hard to imagine his work in the talkies , but I have an inkling that the cinema would be rather different if he had survived . |
385,489 | 391,152 | 34,240 | 10 | One of the cleverest scripts ever written ; MAJOR SPOILERS AHEA | Sullivan's Travels has a lot to offer . Its comedy is often great , and its drama is even greater . It is also one of the most well written films I have ever seen , especially from the studio system . This is its basic premise : a Hollywood director , Sullivan , sees the suffering of the common people around him , or at least he thinks he has , and decides he must do something about it : he will make a movie about the horrors of everyday life in the slums of America . His producers object : what does he know about their lives ? He's a rich college graduate , privileged all his life . He makes several thousand dollars a week . They've got him here , but he has a solution : he'll don a hobo's garb , leave his home with only a dime , and walk the streets looking for trouble . This he genuinely attempts , but his producers refuse to leave him alone , sending a high-tech fleet after him , equipped with doctors , cooks , writers , and PR people . Also , no matter how hard he tries , Sullivan ends up back in Hollywood every time . The second time he is re-routed , he meets up with a girl , played by Veronica Lake . She suggests that she could help him , for she has been on the road for a while . And that she does , although they still cannot escape the fleet of protectors . Finally , after travelling from L . A . to Kansas City as hobos ( at least most of the way ) , Sullivan decides that he has done enough and has learned what he needs to learn . My reaction was : " WHAT ? ! ? ! ? ! " After the movie had tried to establish that these pretentious people know not a thing about the meek , it is giving up this early ? By this point , its view of homelessness was the same as it was nearly everywhere else : hobos are just happy people who don't need a home . Luckily , and fantastically , the film takes an unexpected corner at this point . Instead of contradicting itself , it boldly points out that it was thus far contradicting itself . In an arrogant haze ( and mostly through the fault of the PR crew ) , Sullivan goes out on the street with $1000 worth of fives , planning to distribute them to the homeless whom he finds . One of the homeless men , after receiving his $5 bill ( and consequently gazing upon Sullivan's stack of them ) , follows him and knocks him out , stealing the rest of the wad . The hobo stuffs Sullivan into a train car , and then he is hit by a train while trying to collect the money he has dropped . His friends , after an exhaustive search , determine that the dead hobo is actually Sullivan . Sullivan meanwhile awakes in a haze in the deep south , where a railroad worker is hassling him to get off of the train . In a daze , Sullivan assaults the man . Because of this , he is arrested and thrown into prison . There is a half-hour left at this point , and it solidifies this film's stake as a masterpiece . Finally , Sullivan has gotten what he wished for : the vagrant's treatment . As a convict , he and his fellow convicts are tormented . No one believes his story ( heck , they won't even listen ! ) . The film's climactic scene is brilliant : the convicts are allowed to visit an all black church ( and , although these black folk are a bit stereotyped , as you can only expect in a film from 1942 , they are shown in a surprisingly human light ; they may actually be the kindest and most sincere characters in the entire film ; although it is not expressed explicitly , these people were surely just as oppressed as the convicts ) where they are showing a film . It is a Micky Mouse cartoon , and both the black folk and the convicts break into uproarious laughter . Sullivan at first resists . He is a serious film director . He takes the medium seriously as an art . But then , he quickly comes to realize that this laughter is helping them much , much more than a film about their lives ever could . Afterwards , through a great twist , Sullivan alerts his friends of his whereabouts , which brings about his release . And the serious movie about the downtrodden he so very much wanted to make before his whole adventure he decides to scrap . A comedy would help much more . So , effectively , Sullivan's Travels simultaneously entertains and argues a very good point . Still , I think there must be a reason for dramas about the downtrodden . Who could ever deny the emotions awoken by a film like The Bicycle Thieves . I think these sorts of dramas are not meant to help the downtrodden directly , but rather they are meant to make those not downtrodden aware of the plight of those less fortunate , and therefore cause them to care and possibly even to do something . I hope this is how it works . I wonder how this film was accepted by the critics and the audiences when it was first released . P . S . Is Veronica Lake not the most beautiful Hollywood starlette you've ever seen ? This is the first film I've seen with her in it ( not counting L . A . Confidential ! ) . Maybe my only complaint is that she was not in it nearly enough ! |
384,946 | 391,152 | 46,754 | 10 | I like it better than All About Eve , myself | A quietly moving film about the short life of a curiously indescribable woman , Maria Vargas ( Ava Gardner ) , and the men who knew her . Joseph L . Mankiewicz is probably most famous for his film All About Eve , which he both wrote and directed , as he did with The Barefoot Contessa . He structures Contessa much the same as he does Eve , starting the film at the end of the story and then working backward through flashbacks . This time we begin at Maria's funeral , and three men who are attending it narrate her strange and melancholy story . Humphrey Bogart is arguably the lead actor , as he narrates the majority of the film , probably about half . He plays Harry Dawes , a washed-up movie writer / director who is carried along to Madrid by his producer , Kirk Edwards ( Warren Stevens ) and his producer's assistant , Oscar ( Edmond O'Brien , who won a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar ; Oscar is the second narrator ) . They go to Madrid to pursue Maria , whose name has started to become famous in Europe . While Maria at first refuses , Harry is able to convince her to come where others have failed . Where one might expect Mankiewicz to make The Barefoot Contessa about Hollywood what All About Eve was to Broadway , the film has little to do with Hollywood . We do experience a couple of Hollywood parties , but the film is more concerned with the world of the fabulously wealthy . Maria has grown up poor and rather wretched - she has many sad stories about her life during the Spanish Civil War - and she can hardly relate to anyone around her . Harry comes the closest ; he's more down to earth . Maria is such a fascinating character . We know a lot about her - but , then again , we know so little . The film never really does define or understand her , but that is the point . Mankiewicz almost tops All About Eve with his dialogue here ; sometimes it's almost too good . The story and its structure work perfectly , and Mankiewicz does not repeat his one mistake from All About Eve , that is , he doesn't shove our faces in the film's point . We're left to ponder , which I think is going to make me remember this one a lot longer than I will All About Eve . . |
385,469 | 391,152 | 22,913 | 10 | A great film | I saw this for the first time when I was 14 . It was probably the oldest film I'd ever seen at the time , and also for many years afterwards . I remember being really disturbed . I was wondering for days how they created these special effects in 1932 . But they aren't special effects - I couldn't accept that at the time . I see it now as one of the greatest horror films ever made , and not because the " freaks " are horrific . It's Tod Browning's amazing direction - possibly his greatest effort - that makes the film so frightening . The wedding feast is one of the great set pieces in film history . The stormy climax is chilling , as is the result of the " freaks ' " attack . Cleopatra's form , at the end , should seem outrageously silly , but that image is absolutely not . It makes me cringe to think about it . This is a must see for every film buff . |
385,796 | 391,152 | 73,580 | 10 | Nearly as great as L'Avventura or Blowup | First off , I'd like to complain about this film's lack of availability . It has been on VHS before , and in this format I rented it . It is not available now , though . It deserves to be on DVD . And if its director is not a good enough reason ( Michelangelo Antonioni ) , it contains a masterful performance by Jack Nicholson , who has a very large fan base . He has done so much great work in his career , and The Passenger is among his very best , right up there with Chinatown and The Shining . Anyway , to discuss the merits of this film : well , it is in a style much akin to Michelangelo Antonioni's more famous films , especially Blowup . Thus the average viewer will find it about as interesting as staring at a blank screen . European art films often are not goal-oriented , i . e . , there is not a goal set up near the beginning of the film that the characters are trying to achieve until the end . The Passenger is a perfect example . It actually teases those who are used to goal-oriented films by setting up a very intriguing premise , one that could have worked wonders for a Hitchcock film ( in fact , it is somewhat reminiscent of North by Northwest in its plot ) : a man , Jack Nicholson , bored with his own life , decides to trade his in for the life of another man who has just died . Nicholson looks like the dead man , and the dead man had told him that he was basically a loner . This turns out not to be true . The dead man was an illegal arms dealer , selling weapons to rebels in Africa . The police , spies , and Nicholson's friends from his previous life are all after him . Wow , exciting , huh ? Nope , not exactly . Antonioni is a great artist and has bigger themes to strive for . I have been studying Antonioni for a while now , although his films are so hard to find that my studies have not gotten all that far . Nevertheless , let me share an observance or two . ( slight SPOILERS ahead ) Characters in Antonioni films have a tendency to disappear . Anna from L'Avventura being the immediate example , I believe that she vanished on purpose . Not that I believe she got on a boat or committed suicide . I think she simply willed herself into nonexistence . Her life was going nowhere , and she wanted desperately to nullify her relationship with her boyfriend , Sandro . Thomas , the hotshot fashion photographer of Blowup , also decides to disappear , in my opinion ( see my review of that film ) . He felt that his life had no point , also . Now here is David Locke ( Nicholson ) . He is a liberal , perhaps fashionably-liberal British reporter / documentarian ( although he speaks with an American accent , for he was " educated there ; " certainly the most ridiculous part of the film was this adhoc explanation ) who is doing an expose / documentary on Africa's political climate . He plays by the rules of reporting , only dropping subtle hints about the goverment's corruption in his interviews while he certainly knows the truth of the situation . He proves himself a hypocrite in a couple of scenes , also , when he admits to Robertson , the man who will die and trade places with Locke , that he has no clue how to communicate with them ( Robertson , an arms dealer , says simply that he offers them goods , and they understand that ) . There is also an amazing scene where we see Locke interview an African folk doctor who hadstudied in Europe . He asks the man if he does and how he can still believe in his folk remedies when he has studied in a more sophisticated area of the world . The man replies , " You know , I believe your questions demonstrate more about you than my answers will demonstrate about me . Here , give me your camera , and I will record you asking those same questions . " We see Nicholson's nervous face as his own camera is turned towards him , but we do not see him do what the man asked . When he trades places with Robertson , he becomes the arms dealer . His goal had been to just escape his own life and maybe exist indifferently towards the world , but now he jumps into someone else's life whose role in life is actually to do something about these African situations that Locke was almost pretending to care about . It becomes more intriguing as it goes on . I don't want to say everything , and , alas , I am not finished interpreting it in my mind as of yet . I am giving the film a . |
385,716 | 391,152 | 311,648 | 10 | The best Thanksgiving movie ever | Thanksgiving has always meant a lot to me . Unlike the stereotypical depiction of the holiday from movies , I always found it to be , beyond any other day of the year , the day when my family is the closest . Differences and resentments fade for a day , possibly because we're Midwesterners of German descent and there's nothing we like more than food . Whatever the reason , it's a pleasant holiday for me . Pieces of April captures the way I feel about Thanksgiving perfectly , and it moved me as deeply as any movie I can think of . It has a few flaws , a few things that could have been changed for the better , but its overall effect made me overjoyed and emotionally crushed at the same time . Patricia Clarkson was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a mother of three dying of breast cancer . She's not a very nice person , and she's not too pleased with the way her life has come out . Katie Holmes plays April , Clarkson's eldest daughter . She lives in a crummy apartment in NYC and has invited her family to Thanksgiving dinner , most likely to be her mother's last . Unfortunately , Holmes finds that her oven doesn't work . She desperately searches the other apartments in her building for someone who isn't using their oven . A third track follows April's black boyfriend who rides his motorized scooter around the city for reasons that are at first obscure . It's a comedy , and a very , very funny one at that , but the themes of family and past injuries are remarkably touching . Clarkson is amazing , and she is the most obviously impressive performer in the film . However , Katie Holmes really proves herself to be one of the best actresses of her generation ; her role is much more subtle and complex than Clarkson's . Oliver Platt plays April's father , and he also gives a subtle performance as the person trying to unite the family before his wife is gone . The only thing that really bothered me was the character of Wayne ( played by Sean Hayes ) , one of the apartment dwellers whom April asks for help . He agrees to help her , but he thinks that she owes him something big , i . e . , sex . That's surely believable , but the character is played as a goofy , eccentric cartoon character . It's far below the standard of the rest of the film . It reminds me a lot of Mickey Rooney's character in Breakfast at Tiffany's , an underthought splotch on what is otherwise a masterpiece . I wonder if it will have anywhere near as powerful an effect on others as it did on me ( I wept for nearly a half an hour , and occasionally sobbed for almost an hour after that ) , but I am certainly more than willing to stick up for a movie like this that I really believe in . . |
385,173 | 391,152 | 237,993 | 10 | If they were to release this in the US , it could be a runaway hit | SPOILERSOr , at the very least , it's destined to be a cult favorite . It also could give credit to Icelandic filmmaking . The only Icelandic filmmaker that anyone knows here is Fridrick Thor Fridthrickson ( sp ? ) , although he is not know all that well , either . 101 Reykjavik is a perfect comedy , with great hints of drama all throughout its running time . Basically , it is about the greatest slacker I've ever seen , a 28 year old man who lives in a small apartment with his mother , lives on unemployment and sees no reason to ever do anything about it . I read one critic complain that the film's biggest problem was the complete unlikability of Hlynur , this slacker . I disagree wholeheartedly . He is a jerk , but I have had plenty of doubts about the worthiness of everything I've ever done . A lot of Hlynur's problems ( and the problems of his mother ) stem from the alcoholic patriarch , whom we just get two brief but telling glimpses of during the film . His character is entirely pathetic , in that I felt real sympathy for him . Hlynur has a girlfriend of sorts whom he doesn't really care for in any true way , and he has no problems cheating on her when a friend of his mother's , Lola , a Spanish Flamenco dancer , ends up sleeping with him . And yes , as you probably know , Hlynur immediately finds out that his mother is in love with Lola . And then , after a couple of scenes , he finds out that both his girlfriend and Lola are pregnant with his baby . All of this works like a bitter wake up call to Hlynur . He tries his hardest to resist it all , even attempting suicide ( by AIDS , sleeping with a horribly ugly woman , then , when he realizes that that will take too long ( and is quite unpleasant ) , by exposure to a harsh Icelandic snowstorm ) . Eventually , he realizes that that is not the way to go , and straightens up ( almost to my displeasure ) . Everything in the movie works well . My only complaints are tiny . I would maybe have liked one or two more small flashbacks to the past , when Hlynur's father was still around ( although that may also have made everything too obvious ; I would have to see two different cuts to see whether my idea would work better or worse ) . The only major complaint I have is that I wish the mother had a little bigger part . Truth be told , it is Hlynur's movie , but Lola and the girlfriend have ample screentime , but not the mother . We do end up understanding her character through the flashback , but she could have been thicker . Anyway , it's still an amazing film . I give it a , and demand that it be released in the USA . |
385,863 | 391,152 | 36,104 | 10 | I loved this one ! | Well , for the most part , anyway . In a rural part of New Mexico , actress Kiki Walker is competing for attention with a local castanets dancer . Kiki's manager brings her a leopard on a leash so she can show the dancer up during her performance . Her rival one-ups her by snapping the castanets right in the leopard's face , which drives it wild . It breaks free from its mistress ' grasp . As it flees from the night club , a waiter raises his hand : three bloody claw-marks from trying to stop the wild beast . The meat of the film is made up mostly from three tragedies resulting from the leopard - or do they ? Okay , so the " or do they ? " part isn't great , but those three tragedies are three of the best sequences in film history , no doubt . The first concerns a young girl forced by her mother to buy cornmeal in the middle of the night . Her younger brother meanly teases her by making leopard-shaped shadow puppets on the wall . The second involves a young girl who has gone to the graveyard to put flowers on her mother's grave , and also to meet with her lover . When she doesn't find him there , she becomes depressed and doesn't hear the groundskeeper's warning that he is locking the gate . The third happens to the castanet player , whose fortune teller turns up the ace of spades for her several times in a row without fail . An expert expresses the belief that the leopard could not have caused all of these events , so the film becomes , unfortunately , a whodunit . The answer is obvious immediately , even if it's not believable . Fortunately , the direction is so excellent , as well as the set pieces , that even with such a weak solution , the film is a near-masterpiece . . |
385,659 | 391,152 | 119,375 | 10 | Tight as hell | It is hard to believe that this is Erik Skjoldbjaerg's first film . It seems like a pro job to me . Very rarely do you get thrillers crafted this well . Almost everything is perfect . The script is as taut as possible . I saw no holes , anyhow . The plot is believable and you will never see the best twists coming . Even if you are the type who sits there and constantly guesses what's coming next during thrillers , I doubt you could . The film does a lot to avoid plot cliches . And if I'm wrong about that , if I was just blinded by other aspects of the film , it won't really matter . The characters are very well written . Especially the main character , played by Stellan Skarsgard . He is certainly one of the best actors working today and this may just be his greatest performance yet . He owns the film . The cinematography is effective . It's bleak and cold . The camera moves assuredly , and it's always where it should be . The music is perfectly subdued . The direction in general is simply amazing . The mise-en-scene is marvelous . I love the settings of the film , the threatening , rocky terrain , the broken and rusty buildings , everything . This is a must-see film . One of the best films of the 1990s . . P . S . : Christopher Nolan , the man who created the equally impressive thriller Memento , is set to direct the American remake of this film . I personally loved Memento ( though I think I'd choose Insomnia over it if I had to ) , and I wish Mr . Nolan all the luck . I'm sure he knows what a challenge it's going to be . And I certainly pray that he isn't satisfied with simply copying the original . He could do so and mostly get away with it - Insomnia is quite underseen . I sincerely hope that he will make it his own . I already recognize one piece of the film that has to change if the setting is moved to the U . S . : Skjoldbjaerg brilliantly uses the midnight sun in this film . I doubt it would be successful if the setting were , say , Alaska . I don't think Americans would buy it . Nolan is going to have to compensate for the loss of the midnight sun . |
384,696 | 391,152 | 58,138 | 10 | A difficult and complex film , to say the least | If you were to just watch this film half-heartedly or with a mind busy thinking of other matters , it would certainly seem like a dry film about infidelity and falling out of love - the kind of stuff that's been done a thousand times before , a thousand times before this film was made , even . And why did Dreyer have to make it so static , you might ask . But if you choose to delve into the matters at hand , feel the film's tenuous but painful emotions , you'll realize that there haven't been many films with more going on beneath the surface than this one . In fact , I can't think of another film that suggests so many themes , especially one with this little physical action onscreen . Most of Gertrud consists of two people at a time sitting on couches and facing opposite directions - no character in this film can bring themselves to look at someone else . These people talk about their relationships , either what could have been , what should have been , or what might be in the future . Although Gertrud is ostensibly a heroine - with the title as it is , we're almost required to believe that she is correct in her thoughts and actions and identify with her - as the film progresses it becomes more and more obvious that she is as much or more of the problem as the men whom she tends to blame . Then we're forced to backtrack and remember what things were involved in discussions earlier in the film in order to interpret it as a whole - take Axel's speech about free will , for instance , and Gertrud's response to it . I have just seen this film once , and I am positive that subsequent viewings will reveal many more layers . For the longest time , Gertrud was unavailable in the US . Now that it is readily available on both VHS and DVD , it's about time that it was completely rediscovered by the serious film watching community . . |
385,276 | 391,152 | 324,197 | 10 | Exceptionally directed | If there's one subgenre that particularly appeals to me , it is the post-apocalyptic movie , or any movie dealing with the end of civilization . I don't know why the subject fascinates me so , but it does . Haneke's The Time of the Wolf is one of the best of its type ever made . Some sort of cataclysm has occurred ? all we really know is that most water supplies are tainted ? and we follow a mother and her two children ( the father is with them when the film opens ) as they vie for survival . Life now is all about the few material possessions you have preserved . You try to hold onto a semblance of your values , but they seem mostly vestigial . Isabelle Huppert returns as Haneke's star . She and her children are the point around which everything happens , but they are just three people amongst many . The young girl who plays her daughter , Anaïs Demoustier , gives a particularly amazing performance . We talked ( ed : on the Classic Film forum of IMDb ) last week ( or perhaps the week before ) about the directors influenced by Hitchcock and those influenced by Bresson , and Huppert in an interview explains how both directors have influenced Haneke . It's definitely true . Haneke uses suspense in a much different manner than Hitchcock , but the devices are surprisingly similar . |
385,671 | 391,152 | 84,787 | 10 | An equal to Alien | This stands next to Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers ' 78 as one of the great horror / sci-fi hybrids of the era . The film takes place in an American research base in Antarctica . A Norwegian helicopter chases an escaped sled dog into camp , shooting at it with a rifle . When the shooter wounds one of the Americans , they kill him in self-defense . It's probably not the smartest move , seeing as how insanely the Norwegians were trying to kill it , but the Americans take the dog in . Little do they know it's not a dog at all , but an alien life form mimicking a dog . Soon it reveals its true form ? kind of ? and is burned to death . Unfortunately , it's a crafty organism and has likely infected one or more of the men . But how could you know ? It's a perfect mimic , pretty much undetectable until it's too late . The film features some of the best special effects of its time ? they have not dated a bit , and are every bit as creepy and nasty as they were in 1982 . The monster , when it reveals itself , is a true Lovecraftian thing that takes on all kinds of forms , probably an amalgam of the different organisms it has mimicked over its lifetime . Put the monster aside , though , and there's this great , intense study of paranoia . " Nobody trusts anybody " as star Kurt Russell puts it . Reminiscent of perhaps The Big Sleep , if you closely scrutinize the series of events , the plot makes no sense . There's no conceivable way the persons who eventually end up as the thing could have become it . But this lack of logic itself is part of why the movie is so horrifying . You never can tell who is or who is not an alien . Carpenter wisely never lets the audience see anything . Kudos to him for that . And also kudos to him for including two black characters who don't die in the first ten minutes of the movie , an almost unheard of feat for an African American person in a 1980s ( or ' 90s or even ' 00s ) horror movie ! A masterpiece of the genre . |
385,559 | 391,152 | 90,565 | 10 | I love this ! | The more Rohmer I see , the greater my appreciation and love grows for him . Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle is a wonderful film about a Parisian girl and a girl from the country who meet , become friends , and then move in together in an apartment in Paris . The film consists of little more than the two girls living their lives , sharing their philosophies , and acting on those philosophies . The two lead performances , by Joelle Miquel ( Reinette ) and Jessica Forde ( Mirabelle ) are outstanding . And then there are a lot of colorful - but not too colorful - side characters in the four tales , like the extraordinarily rude waiter ( Philippe Laudenbach ) and the art dealer ( Fabrice Luchini , the star of my favorite Rohmer film , the incomparably unique Perceval le gallois ) . This is a film for people who love people , their thoughts , and their talk . . |
384,662 | 391,152 | 119,698 | 10 | one of the best films i've ever had the chance to see | Princess Mononoke is , without a doubt , one of the best films I have ever witnessed . There has never been an animated film even close to this - - I kept thinking after I left the theater , how can Disney even have the guts to make another film after seeing this ? Even live action movies pale in comparison to Princess Mononoke . There has never been a film to pay such close attention to details . Watch for the magnificent and subtle flying insects throughout the film , especially in the ancient forest , where bioluminescent dragonflies glide gently around the screen . There are thousands of subtleties such as this . You'd have to see it a dozen times to appreciate this film fully . Aside from it being the most beautiful film I've ever seen , it also has an enormously powerful script . The characters are some of the the most well rounded in all film . Ashitaka especially , the main character of the film , is so nuanced that he has become in my mind one of the great characters in film , up there with Charles Foster Kane and Jake LaMotta . I would compare him to Freder , the main character of Fritz Lang's Metropolis . His role in the film is a mediator between the forces of humans and the gods of nature . Both sides comment several times that Ashitaka must be on the other side , when he is trying desperately to convince everyone that there are no sides . Peace is the way . There is a little to be desired in the American voice talent . Claire Daines was certainly a wrong choice for San ( Princess Mononoke ) , and Billy Bob Thornton just could not hide his southern accent , which made the character of Jigo seem more comical than he was probably supposed to be . Gillian Anderson's voice clashed with her character , the wolf god Moro , a bit . It hardly affected my passion . The film was so spectacular and beautiful that James Earl Jones could have voiced San and it would have detracted little . Definitely , though , I'm praying that they release the DVD with subtitle options . Anyway , Princess Mononoke is the best film of 1999 , the best film of the 1990's , and , in my personal top ten list , no lower than # 5 , but closer to # 2 . 12 hours later and my heart is still beating with the power of Princess Mononoke ! America : SEE IT ! |
385,720 | 391,152 | 389,557 | 10 | Exceptional flick . One of the best 2007 releases . | Stunning , gripping WWII thriller that plays like a pulpier version of Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows . That's not something that should be criticized , I think . There's nothing wrong with being entertaining when dealing with serious subjects , as long as the film stays respectful of its subject . And Black Book is respectful . It's tense and exciting , but it always made me understand that these were real people who were undergoing real suffering . I was both extremely entertained and involved in the situation of these characters . Carice van Houten stars , and is brilliant as a Jewish girl who escapes several near-death encounters to end up working with the Dutch resistance movement near the end of the war . She infiltrates a Nazi headquarters by seducing an officer ( Sebastian Koch of The Lives of Others ) . While the film starts off as a very black and white , resistance vs . Nazis flick , things get more and more complicated and , after a while , no one can be trusted . You never know what will happen next . The film-making is very classic , and nearly perfect . Verhoeven has always been an interesting filmmaker , but his work is plagued by sloppiness in both direction and writing . Black Book exhibits few flaws ( I might have rethought the opening , which assures us immediately that the protagonist will survive the war ) . It's one of the most satisfying cinematic experiences I've had in a very long time . |
385,372 | 391,152 | 51,207 | 10 | Despite its generic title , this is a great film | In the common way of considering Hitchcock's career , The Wrong Man is a generic and somewhat mediocre Hitchcock film . Not true . This is one of Hitchcock's best , made during the same era as many of his other major masterpieces , Rear Window and Vertigo , for instance . This is completely different than any other of his films , which is probably why it is so underrated . This is the only film that Hitchcock tried to make realistic . It's based on a true story : a man is misidentified as an armed robber . The entire film is about how the police treat him , how his wife becomes neurotic and paranoid , and then his trial . It's all done simply , and there is great suspense built up as well as a lot of pathos for Manny , played by Henry Fonda in one of his best performances . His wife is played by Vera Miles , who is convincing as a woman going insane ( although I'd rate her higher in Psycho ) . The courtroom scenes are very probably the most effective ever filmed - I generally despise that basic scene type . Here , they are very suspenseful . Hitchcock dismissed the film as mediocre . I wish he wouldn't have . His direction is as good here as it was anywhere . . |
385,850 | 391,152 | 111,873 | 10 | The best television series ever on television . Go get your mind warped today ! | If I were to make a list of the top ten television shows ever made , I would put Aeon Flux at # 1 . If I were to make a list of the top ten television shows and movies combined , it would end up at # 2 ( if you read my other comments , you'll notice that I often exalt films that I've seen in a similar top ten list format and that I have said that many films are this high on the list , but that was usually right after seeing it without any retrospect ; I have seen every episode of Aeon Flux at least 10 times , so I have the proper retrospect here ) . It only falls behind Stanley Kubrick's 2001 . Like 2001 , Aeon Flux is a mind-bending series that pushed the limits of narrative . As Trevor Goodchild says in the final episode of this series ( so far ; they've said that they might come back ) , " End Sinister " : " A person from a thousand years ago could never comprehend the world today . " Well , Aeon Flux is about 800 years in the future , because one has to see all the episodes several times before they begin to make sense . I like this , because the first few times you can appreciate the art . After you have seen each episode multiple times , you notice how amazingly and originally the narrative is constructed . So don't get angry at the series if you don't understand it initially . Begin with the more conventional ( though that word can hardly describe this television series ) episodes . Rent or buy ( it is certainly good enough to buy without having seen it before ; look at my other comments to see if you agree with my tastes , then go for it if you do ) the red cassette ( which is also on DVD ) , and watch the first two episodes , " Thanatophobia " and " A Last Time for Everything . " Then on the Blue Tape , watch " Reraizure , " the first episode . Next , go to intermediate episodes , " Isthmus Crypticus , " " Ether Drift Theory , " " The Demiurge , " " Utopia or Deuteronopia , " and " End Sinister " ( though you may want to save that for the end ) . Then , for the advanced class , go to the silent episodes on the red and yellow tapes , then see the hardest-to-get episodes " The Purge " and , by far the most mindbending and 2001-like , " Chronophasia . " Personally , I like the simple beauty of " Thanatophobia " and " A Last Time for Everything " best , but " The Purge " and " Chronophasia " will warp your mind for sure . And like I said , don't dismiss them if you don't understand them . Think about each episode as an individual structure and then as a part of the whole . And if you're truly impressed , good luck finding the Aeon Flux book they published , _ The Herodotus File _ . It will help in your understanding if you have the good luck to find it . Also , another miraculously-produced MTV animated series marvel that you might like if you like this is The Maxx . It can usually be found on the shelf with Anime films , but if not , it can be purchased just as Aeon Flux can . It , if I were to list it along with the greatest television series and films , would be # 3 . So please , go get your mind warped today by Aeon Flux and The Maxx ! |
385,848 | 391,152 | 90,605 | 10 | Probably the best action film ever made , and one of the best sci-fi films | This is James Cameron's best film . He used to be an action auteur ( but I think he threw that completely away with Titanic ) . Aliens is a masterpiece of thrills . The set is so claustrophobic , it makes me shiver just thinking about it . The reason that this movie becomes so great , though , is the mother / daughter relationship between Ripley and Newt . This is such a realistic relationship . And the actress who plays Newt was one great child actor , every bit as good as Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense . Like I said in my review of Alien , Ripley is a great character played by Sigourney Weaver , a great actress . Her suffering becomes ours . Also , notice how every scene takes place from her point of view . In the special addition DVD , though , there is a scene added where we see the colony ( actually , Newt's father ) find the aliens . This is used to introduce the colony's situation and to introduce Newt , but it was an enormous mistake to reinsert this scene back into the film . It breaks the rhythym quite terribly . It is a particularly long and clunky scene in the first place . It was enough when Paul Reiser told us that there has been a colony on that asteroid for many years . The audience knows right away that something is going to happen there with the aliens which will make Ripley have to go there . Now , with this scene having been reinserted , when the soldiers enter the colony and find a single life-form moving around , we know it is Newt ( since that first scene kept focusing in on her ) . There is no surprise as their used to be . It should have just been left as a supplemental scene . Bad , bad mistake . Of course , that scene could not ruin this great film . Only really perceptive people who have a huge understanding of the language of film will ever notice it . But those of you who read this review , pay attention to that scene . I give this film a because originally Cameron was smart enough to take that scene out . He must have reinserted it after he made Titanic . |
384,978 | 391,152 | 96,332 | 10 | Unbearably Beautiful - one of the best films ever made | One of the most romantic films ever made , it shows the problems of people whose intimacies and personal conflicts are being interrupted by history on the move . I think this film surpasses the novel , which is utterly cynical ( although understandably ) . Even in the last moments of the novel , Teresa is concerned that Tomas is cheating on her . The film also does well by dropping much of Franz's character - he was kind of uninteresting compared to Teresa , Tomas , and Sabina . It also drops such deadweight characters as Teresa's mother , Tomas ' son , and Franz's wife . Also , a ton of different coworkers are combined into a few , so that their characters have time to develop . By concentrating on the three central characters , this film blossoms past what the novel ever achieved ( although the novel is arguably more historically important ) . Philip Kaufman and Jean-Claude Carriere also add a couple of beautiful scenes that weren't in the novel , including Tomas ' and Teresa's wedding , which is one of the most beautiful scenes in filmdom . |
385,209 | 391,152 | 31,252 | 10 | One of Ford's very best | An exceptional film from John Ford ( what else should I expect ? ) . This one is set during the American Revolution , around 1776 , in the frontier area of the Mohawk River Valley ( Ohio ? ) . A British soldier named Caldwell ( John Carradine ) has come to pay the Indians of the area to make war against the Americans . Among them are Gil and Lena Martin , who have just recently married and are now trying to build a life for themselves . When the Indians ravage their farm , they are forced to move in with Mrs . McKlennar ( Edna May Oliver , in a great role ) , a benevolent widow . This is a part of American history that hasn't been adequately covered , and this is easily the best film like this that I've seen ( even if it might be the only ) . The setting is beautifully created . Ford often focuses on the strict procedures of the military , but here we see armed forces that are rather hastily thrown together . There are a couple of great action sequences , but perhaps the most memorable piece of the film is Fonda's vivid telling of a bloody battle . I like his dazed look and tone , and the fact that , even when there's no one really listening to him , he stumbles through the horrific story as if its telling is all that matters in the world . Henry Fonda did much of his best work with John Ford , and this is up there right next to his Tom Joad in the next year's The Grapes of Wrath . Claudette Colbert is an actress whose popularity has steadily declined since the studio system fell . It's not too much of a tragedy . I mean , she's not a bad actress , of course , but she just looks . . . fake . I admit that I haven't seen too many of her performances . I like her most in The Palm Beach Story - comedy suits her well . She's adequate in Drums Along the Mohawk , but I would probably refer to her as the weak link in the picture . Even as the weak link , Colbert doesn't harm the final product much at all ( perhaps , though , if a great actress had landed the role the film wouldn't be as forgotten today as it seems to be ) . Ford regular Ward Bond has a choice role , one that seems like it was meant for Victor McLaglen ( who had one of his most memorable roles that year in Gunga Din ) . Still , Bond was a character actor with an amazing range , and he is quite good as the loud but lovable lout . . |
384,923 | 391,152 | 33,804 | 10 | Very easily one of the greatest films ever made | Preston Sturges never fails to amaze me . His directorial skills are excellent . His skills as a writer are even greater . There are probably fewer than five scripts better than The Lady Eve . Both the plot and dialogue are exquisite . It is a comedy , but it is also a grand romance and an affecting drama . Barbara Stanwyck , always a master actress , is at her very best here . I'm not very familiar with Henry Fonda , but his performance is as good as hers . |
385,614 | 391,152 | 469,494 | 10 | One of the most memorable characters of 2007 in one of the year's best films | Wunderkind Paul Thomas Anderson's new film calls to mind Orson Welles ' Citizen Kane in its themes and subject , and , shockingly , it's a good enough film to sit side by side with the one most often dubbed the greatest movie ever . Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview , an oil prospector who will do anything to be a success in the business . Much like Citizen Kane , There Will Be Blood depicts how the lust for money will eventually alienate every human being around you , and eventually make you completely isolated from the world . Unlike Citizen Kane , Daniel Plainview doesn't just grow apart from the world , he also becomes insane . There is a lot of metaphorical subtext lining the film's bottom , especially concerning the relationship between fundamentalist Christianity and big business . It's all very interesting to ponder . I don't know if I think the film is one of the most intellectually stimulating movies I've ever seen . For the record , I don't think Citizen Kane is , either . The message " money corrupts " , while probably true , isn't especially insightful . What both films have in spades is a director with incredible talent who can envelop their audience in the rapturous experience of pure cinema . The desolate , desert setting sucks you in deeply and never lets you go . Every gravelly word spoken by Day-Lewis is anticipated with both glee and dread . It could have went on for three more hours , and only my bladder would have given notice . My only small grumble is Paul Dano in the final scene . He's good throughout , don't get me wrong , but that final sequence takes place over a decade after the last time we saw Eli Sunday . Daniel Plainview has aged , his son ( as a child wonderfully played by the wide-eyed Dillon Freasier ) has aged . Why is nothing done to Paul Dano to make him look older ? At least give him a mustache ! I think there must have been a reason for it , but I can't for the life of me imagine what that would be . Otherwise , an amazing experience . |
385,763 | 391,152 | 29,339 | 10 | Nine of the most beautiful minutes ever put to film | The Old Mill was a Silly Symphony developed as a test for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , which was just going into production at the time . What came out of it is utterly beautiful . It is possibly the best Disney short , even rivalling The Skeleton Dance . . |
385,279 | 391,152 | 40,369 | 10 | Brilliantly acted , directed , and written | One of John Ford's greatest films , the first of his so-called Cavalry Trilogy . Henry Fonda stars as Lt . Col . Owen Thursday , a former Union General . He gets assigned to a cavalry post in the Southwest , an assignment that he considers unimportant . He brings his daughter , Philadelphia , with him . She is played by a 16 year-old Shirley Temple , who is actually rather good . John Wayne has just about equal screen time as Fonda playing Capt . Kirby York , who has been stationed at Fort Apache for a while . York , who is familiar with the area , and Thursday , who wants most of all to win glory , clash constantly . The film unfolds beautifully , with many beautiful and exciting moments occurring along the way . I particularly love the Cavalry Trilogy because of the adherence to strict military dialogue . Of course I wouldn't know , but it sounds very authentic . I love the men barking orders and others ' compliance in this overly formal language , and with a clear but subtle expression of their feelings and attitudes . It takes great actors to do that , and Fort Apache is a showcase for a large number of excellent actors . Of course there're Fonda and Wayne , both giving their utmost to the project , but also a ton of Ford's favorite players , Pedro Armendariz , WardBond , and Victor McLaglen amongst others . John Agar , in his first film , has a very important role , as well . Pay close attention to the way Native Americans are portrayed in this film . At first , the references might cause your knee to jerk , but mind who says what . Note the beauty of the scene where John Wayne approaches the Apache warrior Chochise . That might be the best shot in a Ford film , although it's competing with about a hundred others ! Watch out for the theme of myth vs . reality in that final sequence , which would be expanded many years later in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance . . |
384,680 | 391,152 | 58,003 | 10 | I'm one of its followers . . . | If I could , I would deify this film . What most impresses me about a film is exhibited here to the utmost : mood . After this film is done , I feel completely destroyed . If you did not feel alienated from the world around you when you started , you will be by the end . If you were feeling alienated when you started , then you may just be contemplating suicide when the film ends . This mood is absolutely crushing . It affects me more than any other film , with some exceptions that are equal with it - 2001 , Persona , The Passion of Joan of Arc , and maybe a couple of others that I can't think of offhand . Red Desert is a perfect film . If anything else , at least one must be able to appreciate the masterful visual composition . If you're dismissing this film , you're really missing something . |
385,528 | 391,152 | 101,991 | 10 | Holds up against his best films | Akira Kurosawa is one of my very favorite filmmakers . If you search through my reviews , I have written about a few , The Seven Samurai , High and Low , Kagemusha , and Dreams . I have seen many more , Rashomon , Ikiru ( my personal favorite ) , Yojimbo , Sanjuro , Dersu Uzala , and Ran . I have only disliked one , High and Low , but not one of his films failed to amaze me in some way or other . My initial opinion , after seeing Rashomon , The Seven Samurai , Yojimbo , Ran and Kagemusha was that he was an amazing stylist whose films felt slightly impersonal to me . I strongly disagree with that opinion now ( I expressed it in my review to Kagemusha , which I'm surprised hasn't resulted in tons of hate mail ) . I have just finished watching Kurosawa's second to last film , Rhapsody in August . It is not highly regarded , usually dismissed as a very minor work in a master's portfolio . This I also discovered about my second favorite of his films , Dreams . Well , as far as my opinion , I think people were dead wrong about both of these films . Rhapsody in August is not a stylistic masterpiece like The Seven Samurai , Yojimbo , or Ran . Instead , only second to Ikiru , it is Kurosawa's most humanistic film . I have only seen one film by him ( although I've read a lot about him ) , but I would compare it more to Yasujiro Ozu's work . This film has a plethora of themes , ranging from the effect of the H-Bomb on both the Japanese and the Americans , the generation gaps between the three generations present ( the matriarch of the family feels separate from her middle-aged children , but she relates well to her grandchildren who are interested in their country's sorrowful history ) , and the effect of American culture on the Japanese of the present generation . It is quite a handful , but everything is handled so subtly that some viewers who don't pick up on it all may easily grow uninterested . In some ways , the film feels very didactic ( in a good way ) . I can imagine this film being showed to younger children , since the four grandchildren , at least at the beginning , are learning about the history of the bomb and Nagazaki and their grandfather's death . The only weak point of the film is probably the very end , which is difficult to understand . I have a feeling that there was some cross-cultural barrier preventing my understanding of it , so if anyone does get it , please contact me . Anyway , as I perceived it , the film ended kind of randomly . But still , what has come before is too good to get too upset by the lack of closure . It deserves a . |
384,827 | 391,152 | 15,881 | 10 | The mother of all melodramas ! | I just finished watching the recent reconstruction of this film that was commissioned by TCM a couple of years ago . Everyone knows the history of this film , at least everyone who's ever heard of it . Von Stroheim's first cut was about nine and a half hours long . MGM , of course , couldn't release such an enormous monster . No one would be willing to sit down for that long in a theater except maybe Erich von Stroheim ! They demanded that he cut it , and he complied . The second cut was around four hours long . Still to long , MGM shouted . They took it away from him and cut it down to around two and a half hours , which was still fairly long for the time , though not unprecedented ( think D . W . Griffith ) . Von Stroheim was outraged . Because of this film , and also other films that he attempted to make in the same era , he was eventually disallowed ever to direct another film in Hollywood . Of course , he made at least two memorable appearances as an actor , first in Jean Renoir's The Grand Illusion and then in Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd . For seventy-some years , the 2 . 5 hour version of Greed circulated . From what I can tell , it was much beloved , but somewhat difficult to follow . Cineastes pray to God that the missing reels are someday found , but the hope is never strong , because that would be quite impossible . But now this new version exists , with missing pieces filled in by publicity stills . It can actually be quite confusing , especially in the first half or so . I still want to see the 2 . 5 hour cut sometime , so I can see what was dropped and see if the remaining film is coherent . It took me a long time , at least an hour and a half , to start to appreciate Greed . Four hours is quite an investment , and I was growing weary for a long while . But after a certain point the film just gets better and better . The film is basically a long melodrama . A man and a woman get married . We experience their trials and their hardships . Both of these characters are overcome with greed . The wife becomes a miser . She has won $5000 in a lottery , but she demands that it stay in the bank and accumulate interest . Meanwhile , she and her husband go poor with that money sitting idle . The husband , on the other hand , spends every nickle he has as soon as he gets a hold of it . Elsewhere , we are given two more examples of the effects of money on people . A Mexican woman ( the one who sells the wife the lottery ticket ) drives a junkyard manager , her husband , wild with mythic stories of hidden treasures . In another subplot , an old man learns that his hobby is worth something and he gets $5000 , enough to court his neighbor , an aging , unmarried woman . These subplots will not be found in the original cut of the film . By the end of the long journey , I realized that I absolutely loved Greed . I immediately began to pray that someday every meter of the film will be recovered . I know it'll be a fruitless hope , but there are worse things to wish for ! . |
384,597 | 391,152 | 25,452 | 10 | Vastly underrated | One of Hitchcock's best films , and entirely undervalued . I love most of Hitch's films . His bigger productions of the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s are probably best loved , but I really like his grittier , more reality-based films as well . During that period , The Wrong Man is almost entirely overlooked , despite being one of his greatest achievements . This kind of film was most common during his British career , where he had less money to work with . I myself am least familiar with the first chunk of the man's career , but I have seen enough of them . My favorite so far is definitely Sabotage ( 1936 ) , which is another criminally underrated film . The first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is a close second favorite . A terrorist group ( led by Peter Lorre ) kills a secret agent in Switzerland . Bob and Jill Lawrence discover that the group is planning to assassinate a foreign diplomat in London in the upcoming days , so the group kidnaps their daughter to keep them quiet . They're unwilling to tell the police about the kidnapping , and eventually take it upon themselves to find her . They have to do it quickly , for , if the diplomat is killed because they withheld information from the police , a second World War could rest upon their shoulders . The story isn't particularly complex , but Hitchcock's cinema is as spectacular as it ever was , while aiming for a low key . There are a dozen memorable scenes in the film , most notably the concert with the slowly revolving camera as Jill Lawrence scans the room for the assassin . And I love the realistic standoff near the end of the film , as the police slowly move citizens to safety as the terrorists shoot from the dark . The acting is also very good , with Edna Best ( as Jill Lawrence ) and especially Peter Lorre ( how can you not love this guy ? ) standing above the rest . . |
384,911 | 391,152 | 69,467 | 10 | The silence of a Bergman film can tear the flesh right from your body | Ingmar Bergman makes the sorts of intellectually challenging films that are almost not allowed anymore . The younger generation is basically taught that the sorts of profound questions that Bergman asks ( and Bergman more than any other auteur , for even the most highly respected auteurs , Truffaut , Fellini , Kurosawa , Kubrick , shied away from subjects such as Bergman has tackled ) are unnecessary . They are taught this because , if they were to willingly examine the emptiness of human existence , they would quickly fail to participate in all the lovely shadows on the cave wall , and then society would go kaput . Truthfully , I have not seen all that many Ingmar Bergman films . This shocked me , too , as I realized this . Before I came to college , I rented his most famous film , The Seventh Seal . Even the uneducated realize upon seeing it that it is one of the best films ever made . Next , probably the next week after I saw The Seventh Seal , I rented his second most famous film : Wild Strawberries . At the time , I did not find it all that interesting . It has been four years since I saw it , and I know I should rent it again , but I remember that I was sure that I understood it when it was over , and that its profundity was slight in comparison with The Seventh Seal . Like I said , I need to see it again . It was some three years later that I saw another Bergman film , Through the Glass Darkly . I was stunned at it , as I was at The Seventh Seal , even if slightly less . And then I saw maybe the greatest film that I ever saw , and it was one of his : Persona , the film that has haunted me for months now . And now comes my fifth Bergman experience : Cries and Whispers . At first , I found it sort of slow , but that did not last for long . Without even realizing it , at about the half-hour point , I was so drawn in that I was experiencing the same pain as was being experienced by the four main characters onscreen . This is a devastating film . Its silence hurts terribly . And sometimes subtle sound effects scrape across your skin like a fork : the clock especially . Also , the whispers , which turn up as the film has faded out and is fading back in . I know for a fact that Criterion is doing a DVD version of this film , and that is great . On a VHS tape , the static is so loud as to drown out the subtleties on the soundtrack . And then there are the cries , which made me want to cry aloud along with the characters . All in all , my understanding of this completely exhilarating and painful film are weak . But in this lies the greatness of such a film that challenges my intellect . I must think hard about this , reading up on it , and hopefully seeing it again . I do not at all mind having to do this . It is much better than the escapism of an everyday film . And if you are reading this comment because you love this movie , may I suggest Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters , which was obviously inspired by this film . It is not as great , for it is lighter , but it is a worthwhile followup to the film . Also , William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying , which has a somewhat similar plot . It is about a family's relationship as concerns their dead mother . |
385,587 | 391,152 | 48,933 | 10 | Mizoguchi's final film , and his final masterpiece | Mizoguchi's swan song is one of his best , personally my second favorite film after Life of Oharu . This is the story of a group of modern day prostitutes in the red light district of Tokyo . Their sad stories are basic melodramas , but they are deeply affecting nonetheless . One is working to support her sick husband and their baby ; they had planned to kill themselves until she found out she was pregnant . One went into the business to support a son who now rejects disowns her as his mother . One gets out of the business by marrying , but finds that marriage is even more demeaning than prostitution . One particularly clever one is manipulating a businessman to buy her way out of the place . Another ran away from home with an American G . I . and has begun to mimic Western attitudes and dress , which is a good selling point . Machiko Kyo is the standout as Mickey , the Westernized girl . She has the single best scene , where her father comes looking for her to bring her home . It's a stock scene , really , but Mizoguchi and Machiko Kyo turn it in a direction that I really didn't expect . I was liking the film a lot before this scene without loving it , but this bit blew me away ? I loved every second thereafter . Scene after powerful scene lead up to one of the most amazing final shots in a film ever . Throughout the film , we are informed that politicians are trying to outlaw prostitution . In the film , it keeps failing . Due to this film that bill was finally passed . |
385,791 | 391,152 | 163,988 | 10 | IS a masterpiece ( SPOILERS ) | Martin Scorsese is arguably the best living American filmmaker , and perhaps the best living filmmaker period ( who is still making films , i . e . , not counting Ingmar Bergman ) . He has made three bona fide masterpieces , Taxi Driver , Raging Bull , and Goodfellas . Mean Streets is also often included in this list . Let's just say that if you were to argue against any of those films , you'd better have a brilliant argument prepared . Has he ever made a film that was universally regarded as bad ? Possibly . Boxcar Bertha , which is not even available on video ( although it has been ) , is usually considered to lack in quality . Scorsese himself called it his exploitation flick . Often The Color of Money is given low status , but not always . The rest of his films are hotly debated , usually . Bringing Out the Dead is one of these films . A majority may like it , but , among those who like it , not many of them like it a lot . Well , I would like to stand up as one of the very few who think that this film is one of Scorsese's masterpieces . In fact , I've always been flabberghasted that so many people find it so average or , even worse , bad . In my opinion , it is his 4th best film , after the three " bona fide " masterpieces listed above . I could never figure out what people are missing ( or what extra material I am seeing ) . Perhaps it is this : the other three bona fide masterpieces together with all of his films basically remain within the confines of the classical style of filmmaking . That is , the plots , editing , cinematography and other technical aspects of his other films do not stray far from the techniques established by D . W . Griffith . That is not to say that Scorsese doesn't stray . He goes against the rules more than most American filmmakers . But in this country , we just don't allow for much experimentation . Bringing Out the Dead does experiment quite a bit more than Scorsese's other films . Its editing and cinematography seem crazy to many viewers . To tell the truth , this style of wacky cutting and odd angles is not too uncommon in American film . Most people are familiar with it from MTV . What does strike American viewers as odd is the plot . WHAT PLOT ? some people will gasp . A lot of critics claimed that Bringing Out the Dead was a plotless mess . This upsets me , since professional critics should know this basic rule : the plot of a film is not a very important element . The plot is somewhat simplified here : a paramedic is going through a difficult slump in his work . Parallel to this is the man who has had a heart attack while his family sits and waits . These two stories intertwine . The film's structure is actually brilliant : the man who had a heart attack is forced to cling to life for three days while his savior is plummeting into depression and existential angst . This angst can only end when the man , whose condition is incredibly unstable , dies . The logic is metaphysical , which is something Americans tend not to understand . This film is not about realism . Everything is exaggerated . It is really a sensory overload for some . And then we get to the characters . NOT WELL DEVELOPED ! people will yell . It's absolutely not true . What may be said is that there really are only two characters , played by Nick Cage and Patricia Arquette . There are other interesting , but somewhat less developed , characters , such as Noel and the three co-paramedics . The main focus is Cage and Arquette , though . They are marvellously written . I think that the mistake is often made that Cage's character is one dimensional . This is because Cage is so wrapped up in his job , really he and the job become a single entity . This happens to anyone who has a job . It only happens that Cage's work is much more demanding , and it is thus taking over his soul . Arquette receives more background information . She comes off as a very human protagonist . None of the events in her life are so much different from any normal person's life . These two characters connect through their own desperations . All in all , the film is tremendously effective . Maybe Roger Ebert was right about this film's reception : it failed because people are far too cynical in this day and age , where Scorsese is more of an idealist . |
384,942 | 391,152 | 57,940 | 10 | The Culmination of Ford's Career ( Part 1 of 2 ) | Another vastly underrated John Ford masterpiece , Cheyenne Autumn is one of his most powerful and poignant . Many see it as an apologia for his career of demonizing the red man , and perhaps there's something to that , but , for the most part , the idea that he demonized Native Americans is a misinterpretation . The modern , PC idea of a Native American is a guy sitting around in a teepee making a dreamcatcher . It's actually more insulting , as many tribes , especially the ones which are depicted in John Ford's Westerns , that is , the Apaches , Comanches , and Cheyenne , were brave and proud warriors with an impeccable talent for fighting . This can be seen very clearly in a film like Fort Apache , which shows the Apache in a very respectful light . You can tell John Ford was in awe of these people . Of course , you also have Rio Grande , which basically does fit all the stereotypes , with the Indians kidnapping a wagon full of children . Of course , historically some tribes did tend to do some pretty nasty things , and the Comanches depicted in The Searchers , the film that most often garners these ill feelings , were a very cruel tribe . Whatever one's feelings about John Ford's films , Cheyenne Autumn does set out to dispell them . At heart , it is a very didactic film . Whether Ford's films were or were not demonizing the Indians , most of the young people who watched his and others ' Westerns weren't likely to see anything but demons . They just don't have the power of interpretation . Cheyenne Autumn is the only Ford film to tell a story from the point of view of the Native American characters . I was about to say that it might have been the first film to do so , but I hate making those kind of statements . When I do so I am inevitably wrong . The story concerns the Cheyenne tribe . Promised a visit by government officials , who were asked to come and view the wretched state of life on a reservation , they decide to jump the reservation and go back home when no one shows up . Little Wolf ( Ricardo Montelban , unrecognizable except for his voice ) and Dull Knife ( Gilbert Roland ) lead the tribe . Dull Knife is married to a woman only known as Spanish Woman ( Delores del Rio ) and their impetuous son , whom I don't think is ever named in the film ( in the credits he's listed as " Red Shirt " ) , is played by Sal Mineo . And , damn , Plato got buff ! Accompanying them is a Quaker woman , Deborah ( Carroll Baker ) , who wants to teach them and keep their children safe . We accompany them on their 1 , 500 mile trek . About half of the film is told from the Cheyenne's point of view . Most of the rest is told from that of the cavalry ordered to stop them and bring them back to the reservation . Leading them is Capt . Archer ( Richard Widmark ) , who completely understands the tribe's feelings about the matter . He is also worried about Deborah , whom he loves deeply . Tellingly , we never get the idea that he is afraid that the Cheyenne themselves will harm her , and I mean that we don't get that idea from either perspective . He wants to accomplish his task without getting anyone hurt , either Cheyenne or cavalry , or whoever else might wander into the picture . Ford veterans Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr . play his scouts , a role which each of them played way back in the Cavalry Trilogy . Archer also has the task of keeping Sec . Lieut . Scott on task . He wants desperately to get in a row with the Cheyenne , as his father died in an earlier battle . Scott is played by Patrick Wayne , yes , the son of John Wayne . This character represents that young child who plays Cowboys & Indians with his friends . " I've been waiting for this chance ever since I was ten , " says Scott excitedly . He learns respect for his enemies when he falls into one of their dangerous traps . Another small thread of narrative concerns the Secretary of the Interior in Washington , played by Edward G . Robinson . Robinson wants badly to help the Cheyenne , inspired by his own fighting on behalf of the abolition of slavery in his youth during the Civil War . At one point , when others are pressuring him to punish the Cheyenne , he sadly asks Abraham Lincoln what he should do . |
385,442 | 391,152 | 60,107 | 10 | If this is not a perfect film , then such a thing doesn't exist | Howard Hawks defined a masterpiece as a film with three great scenes and no bad ones . What would Hawks have said about Andre Rublev , a film with no bad scenes and some fifty scenes that are not just great but perfect in every aspect ? This is one of the most difficult films ever made , so don't expect a cake walk going into it . Truth be told , I shut it off after the first tape of two on my first attempt . I tried it again later the same week , and found it to be one of the best film ever made , maybe even the best ( although I'd have to see it once more to confirm that ) . When the screen went black , I was ready to pass out . It was a complete religious experience , one that can bring you closer to God than any church or even Bible ever could . |
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