Les Miserables, very well done! 10/10.
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Les Miserables, very well done! 10/10.
The Full Treatment (1961)
A British thriller set on the Riviera in 1960, three years before the laughingly called entertainment **** hit the fan, was not to be missed even though my references gave it the thumbs down. Starring the tragic Ronald Lewis, who died penniless in a seedy London hotel, and a cast of well known contemporary French and British actors, it concerns a racing driver who suffers brain damage during a motor accident in England on his way to France with his newly married bride. Undergoing psychiatry after discovering that he wants to strangle his wife, he discovers that the psychiatrist is setting him up for an insane asylum in order to marry his wife. Run of the mill performances in a run of the mill film but, as a personal nostalgia trip, 7/10.
Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall
This is a concert. The best part was "Someone Like You" followed by the closing "Rolling in the Deep". I realized she is one of the greatest poets of the English language when thousands in the audience sang her lyrics for her. Some might not consider that even a criteria for being a poet, but so be it.
It was a little difficult following her accent when she spoke, but not her songs. I did learn how English females say "a$$hole" from her which is more delicate, like "ahshole", than the cruder way I would pronounce it.
Score 10/10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowqueen
Eeek, I really hope you like it, Snowqueen! Let me know when you see it.
Patrice Leconte's Girl On a Bridge.
Filmed in an almost sulphurous black and white, with a haunting score, Girl On a Bridge is unapologetically romantic, it is erotic without nudity, its humour is droll, its voice alternates between uplifting and bleak. Daniel Auteil is incredible as the knife-thrower Gabor, there's a subtle brutality to him that is caged deep inside, and his mysterious world-weary eyes speak volumes. Vanessa Paradis brilliantly portrays the delicately sensual, naive, tragic Adele, his target, who falls in love with any man who is nice to her, even though she seems to understand the joke is on her... They belong to the caste of those discarded by society, from their near suicidal meeting on the bridge, through their erotic (in an uncomfortably delightful way) knife-throwing act, their parting, and to their near suicidal reunion. But together they overcome this alienation. 9/10
Autumn Sonata by Bergman: Beautiful film. Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman play off each other so magnificently, in their estranged mother-daughter relationship. The years of resentment and guilt and pain build to a heart-wrenching climax and re-established why Bergman is my favourite of all filmmakers. 9/10
King of Comedy by Scorcese: Real quality flick. De Niro is absolutely at the top of his game (as is Scorcese's directing) and Jerry Lewis is excellent as well. The Don Quixote-esque nature of his character with his desire for fantasy over reality is ultimately somewhat tragic and moving. Good stuff. 8/10
Dancer in the Dark (2000; Lars Von Trier) - 9.5/10
I'm one of Trier's biggest critics, but this was a brilliant, emotionally gut-wrenching film--easily his best since Breaking the Waves. Say what you want about Trier's troll-like tendencies, but he is undeniably a ballsy filmmaker, and one of the very few that can so originally and audaciously experiment with form and genre. Who but him could think of combining a plot straight out of a 20s, silent melodrama (a poor girl is going blind and working in a factory to save money for her son's operation so he won't go blind--eat your heart out, Charlie Chaplin and Lilian Gish!), a musical, and the "style" of Dogme 95? It could've been disastrous--and many critics have claimed such (Peter Bradshaw humorously said: "one of the worst films, one of the worst artworks and perhaps one of the worst things in the history of the world.")--but it's held together by Bjork's stunning, unbearably poignant performance, and the utterly original and haunting musical numbers. I know that this is a film I'll be thinking about for months and probably years to come.
Jackie Brown (1997; Quentin Tarantino) - 7/10
This was rewatch on blu-ray, and I thought perhaps this film would've grown on me over the years, but it still feels bizarrely subdued for a Tarantino film. Where's the sense of fun and cinematic adventurism? There are some fine moments, and nobody an orchestrate more original and surprising murders than Tarantino, but it runs way too long and is far too dull for too much of that runtime to be considered great.
Both great films. Bergman is part of my "holy trinity" of filmmakers along with Hitchcock and Kurosawa.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre Menard
That looks really good. Thank you, islandclimber.Quote:
Originally Posted by islandclimber
Great reviews, Morpheus. I've wanted to see Breaking the Waves for awhile.Quote:
Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman
Rust and Bone 10/10 Oh, the French. Are they capable of making a bad movie? This is beautifully done, and the lead actors give unflinching and practically flawless performances.
Breaking the Waves is such a fantastic film. I've always positively adored Emily Watson and this was likely her most stirring performance. Simply beautiful in that tragic way.Quote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
Rust and Bone was quite brilliant. Cotillard and Schoenaerts have a wonderful on-screen chemistry.
Here's a link to a scene from Girl On the Bridge. Accompanied, and heightened by the stunning Marianne Faithfull song Who Will Take my Dreams Away (a song that has that savagely eloquent taste of smoke and leather one finds subtly in amazing bottles of red wine alongside seductive fruits), this scene is quite possibly the most dangerously romantic scene in all of film. When Auteil closes those desperate eyes to throw the last few knives, and Paradis positively writhes, gasping for some kind of air that cannot be grasped, that is beyond love. Ahhhh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaamZLKRul0
Thanks. Do let me know what you think about Breaking the Waves if/when you see it. Von Trier has a habit of getting great performances out of his (often amateur) actresses, and Emily Watson is as superb in Waves as Bjork is in Dancer.Quote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
Although his methods can drive them away from ever acting again, as with Bjork.Quote:
Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman
True, and that's a real shame. I listened to the commentary today and it did sound like they clashed a lot and it was a tough shoot. It reminds me of the old days of Hollywood when many of the directors were dickish taskmasters, but, whatever he did, it sure worked.
Some directors see their movies as theirs rather than team efforts, and feel that whatever is necessary to get the "correct" response from the actor is therefore justified. Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and David Fincher are all notorious for their treatment of their actors.Quote:
Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman
Don't forget John Ford. Hitchcock may have said actors should be treated like cattle, but I've never heard any real complaints about how he treated those he worked with.
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938; Michael Curtiz) - 8.5/10
One of infamous 30s gangster films with Cagney and a young Bogart. Cagney is top-form throughout in what maybe his best performance and best role as perhaps the most charismatic and personable gangster ever in Rocky Sullivan. In fact, he's so good he makes everyone else, including Bogart, Pat O'Brien, and Ann Sheridan pale in comparison, which makes all of the scenes without him come off as rather listless. One wonders if the Sheridan love-interest plotline didn't get heavily hacked, because it seems really incomplete and directionless. Pat O'Brien's priest character (Rocky's best friend since childhood) is so shallow and dull in comparison, though I wonder if that wasn't part of the point being made about the attractiveness of the gangster lifestyle. Luckily, it's held together with some fine, tasteful direction by Michael Curtiz, perhaps the most underrated of the old Hollywood masters. Direction at that time was supposed to be muted, utilitarian, and unostentatious, and while Curtiz can do that, he also finds spots for stylistic flairs in terms of framing, angles, lighting, and editing. The final execution scene may be the best of its kind to come out of classic Hollywood.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman
I'm a little ashamed to say I've only seen Ikiru and Rashomon of Kurosawa's. Both excellent films but I've been lazy getting around to the rest of his work. I have Ran and Throne of Blood sitting here, really need to get around to watching them.
Hitchcock is of course brilliant.
Bergman and Kubrick are my dynamic duo, though.