X-Men Origins: Wolverine 7/10
I am swimming through the ashes of the bridges I have burned.
We got the film "Monster's Ball" with Halle Berry on the Dubai Channel last night. As you might imagine, great chunks were cut. Its a shame because there was some great acting in it.
Avatar 10/10
I am swimming through the ashes of the bridges I have burned.
"Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind", It was amazing.
Edge of Darkness 100/10
(no, it's not a typo)
"But do you really, seriously, Major Scobie," Dr. Sykes asked, "believe in hell?"
"In flames and torment?""Oh, yes, I do."
"That sort of hell wouldn't worry me," Fellowes said."Perhaps not quite that. They tell us it may be a permanent sense of loss."
"Perhaps you've never lost anything of importance," Scobie said.
a few days ago
"But do you really, seriously, Major Scobie," Dr. Sykes asked, "believe in hell?"
"In flames and torment?""Oh, yes, I do."
"That sort of hell wouldn't worry me," Fellowes said."Perhaps not quite that. They tell us it may be a permanent sense of loss."
"Perhaps you've never lost anything of importance," Scobie said.
Pierre Le Flou - A postmodern epic which Godard envisioned, along with his own Breathless, cinema for the rest of the 20th century. With a synopsis similar to that of Bonnie and Cylde (made a year later), Pierre Le Flou concerns the often surreal and disjointed adventures of two people fed up with the trappings of modern society. The narrative after this is constantly jumping from one level of reality to another and is explicitly self-referential with characters even acknowledging the existence of the audience at times. This is a great epic of fragments juxtaposing violence, musical numbers, weird humor, soliloquy, poetry and stream-of-consciousness narration. This film will long be remembered, even after its imitators have been forgotten. 10/10
In the Mood for Love - Tell me, is it any mystery at all that Wong Kar-wai is considered one of the greatest living directors amongst Scorsese and Godard? He has a great deal in common with both and is truly the leader of the new wave of great Eastern film-making. His camera is so eloquent and poetic, I'd dare say that I've never seen as lush a film as this.
A love-story about two married neighbors living in a Hong Kong apartment in the 60's, who find out that both of their partners are having affairs with each other. Both in despair and frustration slowly ease into a friendship which is given all of the effort by both to remain platonic.
This is a great film, a unique film, an incredibly moving film about lost chances and lost time with an ending most Hollywood romances are too timid to do. This film is real with real people with real problems. Two masterful performances by the two leads.
And then there is Kar-Wai's direction, which is indescribable. Not since Ozu have I seen better pillow shots used in a film. Between every few scenes, Kar-Wai uses a transitional scene put into slow motion against immensely sublime strings. The effect is dream-like, sublime and moving all at the same time.
The plot in this film made me think of the great French New Wave film Hiroshima, Mon Amour, and the two are comparable in their emotional subtly. There is a poem flashed onscreen at the end which pierced my heart. I saw a mirror of myself. Please go see this movie, it will be the best romance you've seen in a while. 10/10
The Moments of Dominion
That happen on the Soul
And leave it with a Discontent
Too exquisite — to tell —
-Emily Dickinson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVW8GCnr9-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckGIvr6WVw4
sh_einstein: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favourite movies, so beautiful.
The last movie I watched was Hidalgo, for the 5th or 6th time.
I adore this movie, mostly because I've always been a horse lover, AND a Viggo Mortenson fan. Based on the life of endurance horse rider Frank Hopkins, this film is absolutely stunning- it has some amazing scenery as we follow Frank through his adventure to win the great race. There are issues of belonging in this, as Frank is part Red Indian and part white male, but he does not belong to either.
It really is an inspiring movie.
Saw this Spanish language film on Sundance:
http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Eat-Oscar-...4961828&sr=1-1
Also this German film:
http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Others-M...4961927&sr=1-1
And this Chinese film:
http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Shaft-Qi...4961981&sr=1-1
All three are extraordinary in illustrating different space-times.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - What film has ever been a more despairing war cry for human dignity and freedom than One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? What image in cinema has been more earth-shatteringly powerful as the image of that sink crashing through the windows of the mental hospital?
Jack Nicholson in a sense began his career in this picture. Yes he had starred in some very great films before this one (Chinatown, Five Easy Pieces) but here he established a persona as the rather unstable rebel which would hold onto him for the rest of his career. I must say, it seems that iconic "Jack Nicholson smile" seemed to have originated from here.
Very few films have presented so clearly and powerfully the cold tyranny not only of the then-current medical system, but society in general. These men who are held in a mental hospital are labeled as 'crazies' and are too afraid to even go out into the real world even though most of them are free to do so.
The absolute archetype of the cold and calculated indifference of this overly-rational world is Nurse Rached. My God, there has probably never been a more spiteful villian in movie history, even though she is very polite, is good at her job and probably raises her voice twice during the course of the whole film. What Milos Forman's masterpiece does is show the hidden monstrosity under these systems in meandering close-ups of Nurse Rached's face.
This is a film of shattering power with among two of the best performances in cinematic history with Jack Nicholson and the rebellious pseudo-psychotic and Lousie Fletcher as the cold and indifferent Nurse Ratched. Every time I see this film I am in tears, and every time I see it they become less and less tears of despair but tears of joy. This is a hopeful film, a film that says that even though most of the world is a mental hospital, there is still humanity left in certain places waiting to burst out. 10/10
You, The Living - An undeniable work of Beckettian genius. Quirky, funny, surreal, perfect to that very last perfect shot. Like music it presents the darkly humorous rhythms of everyday life through a series of brief vignettes where the camera rarely moves. We may live in a world full of depression and despair, but how funny it all is. This film best recalls the quote from Beckett's Endgame; "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness." 10/10
Rome, Open City - A classic and extremely influential film which started Italian neo-realism. This is a almost shockingly realistic and gritty film made and set during WWII in Italy, it unflinchingly presents themes of murdering of innocents and torture, in an especially explicit way for the standards of 1945. The iconic street shooting is as powerful and shattering as ever, and the alliance between the priest and the communist is very moving; the former who provides the best performances in the whole film. That said, Rossilini's film occasionally stoops down to the levels of melodrama and at times feels less neo-realistic than it should be. Still worth being seen in high-regard because of Aldo Fabrizi's beautiful performance as the priest. 8/10
Last edited by DanielBenoit; 06-07-2010 at 01:50 AM.
The Moments of Dominion
That happen on the Soul
And leave it with a Discontent
Too exquisite — to tell —
-Emily Dickinson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVW8GCnr9-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckGIvr6WVw4
Alice in Wonderland - 08/10
The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness.