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clock_of_omens
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clock_of_omens's's movie thread
#21649322 - 05/07/15 01:57 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
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Hello all. About a year ago my friend started this thread for movie reviews, and I kept it going for a while, then I stopped. You can check out that thread for some older reviews if you feel like it. Anyway, I've been thinking about starting a new thread in this forum for a while since it is slower than the pub and also actually dedicated to art. I figured now was as good a time as any since the last movie I reviewed in the other thread was Roma by Fellini and the first movie in this thread will be Amarcord.
Feel free to comment on the movies or recommend movies or discuss movies or whatever.
Here's a list of some favorite movies. The top 4 or 5 are in order, then it's just a rough list.
Eraserhead (1977) David Lynch 3 Women (1977) Robert Altman Drowning By Numbers (1986) Peter Greenaway 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubrick Careful (1992) Guy Maddin Blow Out (1981) Brian De Palma Repulsion (1965) Roman Polanski Mulholland Dr. (2001) David Lynch McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) Robert Altman Drive (2011) Nicolas Winding Refn The Devils (1971) Ken Russell Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento Aguirre: the Wrath of God (1972) Werner Herzog Hannah and her Sisters (1986) Woody Allen Trust (1990) Hal Hartley
Edited by clock_of_omens (05/07/15 02:28 PM)
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clock_of_omens
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Amarcord (1973) is the movie Fellini made after Roma, and they have a similar structure in that they are both comprised of a series of vignettes, and they both present Fellini's view of a certain place. Roma was his view of Rome and this movie is his view of a small coastal village from his childhood as he remembers it (Amarcord means 'I remember' in a dialect spoken in northern Italy.)
This movie has a stronger narrative thread and sense of characterization than Roma. Titta and his friends roam around town obsessing over the women, particularly Gradisca, the town beautician. Titta's father is unimpressed with his escapades and berates him over dinner while his mother threatens to kill herself. There is a lawyer who roams around talking to the camera about the history of the town, a blind accordionist the townspeople are always messing with, a prostitute who slinks around, and many other characters that weave in and out of the movie. The acting is all really good and the town is very believable.
As with all Fellini movies, the cinematography and musical score are excellent. The fog and snow sequences were standouts cinematography wise, and they both have great moments involving an animal. During the fog sequence, a young boy walks through a field looking at the trees, which seem ominous in the fog. He stops with a look of fear and then there is a cut to a bull drinking out of a puddle. This scene also exemplifies another great technical aspect of this movie: the sound design. The soundtrack during this scene is almost completely silent other than ambient sounds such as the wind and a passing car. The near silence and fog drenched cinematography lend a very eerie vibe to this scene. During the snow scene, some boys from the town are having a snowball fight with Gradisca which is interrupted by a loud screeching sound. They all turn to see a large bird flying toward the town square. The scene ends on a beautiful shot of a peacock spreading it's feathers in the snow.
This is the funniest of the Fellini movies I have seen. There is some straight comedy and also some satire. A couple of his targets are fascists, who have a ridiculous parade complete with a giant floral Mussolini face, and the catholic church in a scene with a priest seemingly obsessed with whether the young men touch themselves.
Fellini mixes memory with fact and fantasy to bring us a movie that is hilarious and sad and nostalgic. Overall it is a great movie. It's probably technically better than Roma, but I personally prefer Roma. It doesn't really matter though, because they are both movies well worth watching from one of the cinema greats.
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clock_of_omens
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The Circus (1928) is a movie by Charlie Chaplin featuring his Tramp character wreaking havoc upon a circus, becoming the most popular act in the process. This is the funniest of the three Chaplin movies I've seen, the others being City Lights and Modern Times. Chaplin is great as always, and the rest of the cast members were really good as well. Some of the funniest “actors” in the movie were the various animals, a standout being a particular horse who seems to have an aversion to the Tramp. The movie is filled with many hilarious gags, and the romance angle is well done as in the other Chaplin movies. I think I would rank this one between the two others with City Lights coming out on top, mainly because of the ending. This isn't to take anything away from the ending to this one, as it is also great. Based on the three movies from him I've seen, Chaplin seems to be great at endings. The version I saw had Chaplin's redone score, which was pretty good, but I would like to see the version with the original score to compare. Overall a very funny and very good movie.
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clock_of_omens
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Woody Allen is one of my favorite directors, and I've seen all but three of his movies: To Rome with Love, Everyone Says I Love You, and Another Woman. It's been a few years since I've seen most of those movies though, and I don't remember a lot about them, so I decided to re-watch most of his movies and catch the ones I haven't seen yet while doing so.
Take the Money and Run (1969) was the first totally original movie directed by Allen. His actual first film was What's Up Tiger Lily in 1966, but he just took an existing Japanese movie and re-dubbed it. This movie is a mockumentary about a criminal named Virgil Starkwell played by Allen, and it's one of his earlier full comedies. Virgil is a terrible criminal and he gets sent to jail more than once. The movie is really funny and a really good start for one of the greatest directors ever.
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DividedQuantum
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Bananas is one of the best comedies I've ever seen.
"What is your primary export?"
*sigh* "Dysentery."
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clock_of_omens
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Bananas is great. Looking forward to watching that, Sleeper, and Love and Death as my next Allen movies. Three of the funniest movies ever.
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clock_of_omens
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The Unknown (1927) stars Lon Chaney as an armless knife thrower in a circus. He is in love with the circus master's daughter played by Joan Crawford. There is another man in the circus who is also in love with her, but she has a fear of men touching her with their hands. The story is decent, although each new twist is kind of predictable after the last. It is highly ironic though which is pretty entertaining. Lon Chaney does a good job being menacing and sad. Joan Crawford is good too and really beautiful. The new musical score that was written for the movie after it was rediscovered is good. It lends some creepy atmosphere to the movie. Overall it's worth watching.
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clock_of_omens
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Going Clear (2015) is a documentary about Scientology and it's founder L. Ron Hubbard. It tells its story through interviews with previous members, archival footage and dramatic recreations of events. The first part of the movie has the interviewees explain how they first became involved in Scientology. The second part explores the life of LRH in an effort to understand what led him to start the religion. The third part has the interviewees explain the terrible things done by the church and what made them leave.
The movie seeks to inform people about Scientology and also to try to explain how people could believe and go along with the crazy things put forth by the religion. It does a good job with both goals. The section on LRH details the history of the ideas behind Scientology, and presents some plausible explanations as to why he came up with the ideas and why he decided to form a religion around them. The interviews with former members explain that the religion is first described as a way to better oneself and the world. Only after one has been in the religion for an extended period of time does one find out the crazy ideas behind it. At this point rationalizations and actions by the church that separate people from any dissenting opinions stop people from thinking too deeply about the situation.
The kinds of thinking people must engage in in order to believe some of these things don't apply just to Scientology but to other religions as well. As a result, the documentary doesn't just provide an expose on this particular religion, but also sheds some light on belief in general. This reach beyond the initial subject and the fact that it is a good history of the religion and it's founder provide the documentary with some lasting value beyond being a step in the take down of Scientology.
Edited by clock_of_omens (05/18/15 10:09 AM)
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DividedQuantum
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Yes, excellent synopsis. I saw it recently myself. Hubbard was surely a total charlatan, and his original goal was to start a religion for profit, as the movie exposed objectively (in testimony from his ex-wife, whom he treated horribly). What I'm curious about is whether he ever really believed in his own fabrications. I imagine at some point, considering the egomaniac that he was, he started to buy into his own hype as he saw himself as some type of prophet. What a horrendously fucked up individual he was, whew.
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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clock_of_omens
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Yeah, they lay out the fact that he was in it for the money really well. He wanted a way to make money that the IRS wouldn't take, and he saw religion as a way to accomplish that. I'm not sure about that either. At one point in the movie someone brings up that question and says that they think he really believed he was doing the right thing because he stuck around and was really involved all the way through, which makes sense. He definitely had some issues.
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clock_of_omens
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Bananas (1971) is Woody Allen's second fully original movie and it is another of his early pure comedies. This one has Allen meet an activist woman whom he starts to date. She breaks up with him because there is something missing, and he decides to go on their planned trip to San Marcos by himself. The dictatorship decides to kill him in order to frame the rebels, but he is instead rescued by the rebels. He ends up as the new president and travels back to the US where he meets his previous girlfriend.
Woody Allen is typically hilarious in his role as Fielding Mellish (is there a character name that more perfectly represents the Woody persona?). Louise Lasser plays Nancy, the woman Fielding dates, and she is also really funny. There is some satire thrown in, but it's mainly based around physical and verbal comedy, and Allen is great with both. The score is ridiculous and complements the action well. The movie is hilarious.
"New Testament cigarettes. I smoke 'em. He smokes 'em."
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clock_of_omens
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To Catch a Thief (1955) is a movie by Alfred Hitchcock starring Cary Grant as an ex-jewel thief who is being blamed for a series of burglaries which are similar in style to his old burglaries, so he decides that he will catch the real thief himself. He obtains a list of people in the area who own a large amount of jewelry from an insurance agent, and charms his way into a friendship with a mother daughter pair in an effort to catch the thief in the act, soon becoming romantically involved with the daughter, played by Grace Kelly.
Cary Grant is his usual highly entertaining self. Grace Kelly is good as well and really beautiful. The plot is pretty good, although fairly light on suspense in favor of more comedy and double entendre filled conversation. In one scene Grant swims out to a raft to converse with the daughter of one of his old army friends, and Kelly swims out to meet him resulting in a barb filled exchange between the two girls punctuated by Grant's signature noises. In another scene, Kelly invites Grant to her apartment and tempts him with the diamond necklace she is wearing all while fireworks go off outside.
Probably the best aspect of the movie is the cinematography. It was filmed in VistaVision, and Hitchcock makes great use of color throughout, especially in scenes like the meeting in the market with all the flowers and the costume ball. He also made great use of colored lighting which surely influenced later italian giallo filmmakers. It's not one of Hitchcock's best movies, but it is a good one.
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clock_of_omens
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Sleeper (1973) is a sci-fi comedy by Woody Allen in which he plays Miles Monroe, a health food store owner from 1973 who gets cryogenically frozen for 200 years after complications during a routine operation. He is brought out in 2173 by scientists who need him to find out about the Aries project which is being kept secret by the totalitarian government. Along the way he becomes entangled with Luna Schlosser a poet played by Diane Keaton in her first pairing with Woody Allen.
Like Bananas, this movie has some satire but is mainly a showcase for more of Allen's verbal and physical comedy. Allen and Keaton are both hilarious, and they are great together. The cinematography in this one is good, and once again the score is zany and fits the movie well. Overall Bananas is funnier, but this movie is keen, pure keen. No, it's greater than keen, it's kugat.
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clock_of_omens
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What's up bitches, I'm back. I didn't watch any movies between Sleeper and Clueless which I watched a few days ago. That's the longest by almost two months that I've gone without watching a movie in about 4.5 years. I missed movies.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was directed by Robert Wise and stars Michael Rennie as Klaatu, an alien who comes to Earth representing a coalition of planets who have decided that Earth people have become too dangerous with the development of nuclear weaponry. They tolerated our violence when it was just us destroying each other, but with the possibility of us bringing our nuclear weaponry to the stars, they take action. He brings with him a robot called GORT that has the power to destroy earth if necessary.
He gives an ultimatum, either the people of earth get their shit together and stop all the violence, or the coalition will have to destroy the planet. He explains that they have created a police force of robots just the like the one he brought with him. These robots ensure that the people on other planets don't engage in violence, because if they do, they are killed. He leaves them with this message and takes off back to his own planet. This obviously brings up a lot of questions concerning the morality imposing of non-violence through the threat of violence and other things, questions which the movie doesn't attempt to answer instead just posing them to the viewer. There is a whole debate to be had around that, but there is a different concern in modern times. If AI were to get away from us, the machines could reason in the same way as the coalition of planets, and they could create their own robotic police force to keep us in line. The movie hasn't lost any relevance over time, which is a testament to how good it is.
The acting from everyone in the movie is good. The characterization isn't super strong, but the focus is more on the plot and the ideas it brings forward, and these aspects are done well. The cinematography is good and lends to the atmosphere. The score by Bernard Herrmann is also really well done, the theremin sounds awesome.
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clock_of_omens
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Love and Death (1975) stars Woody Allen as Boris Grushenko. The movie opens with his narration about his upcoming execution and the rest of the movie is him looking back on his life. He starts with his childhood where he waxes nostalgic about his crazy family, including his father who owns a chunk of land he can hold in his hand on which he wants to build a house someday. Boris himself is obsessed with death and spends his childhood in existential crisis. As he grows up, he falls in love with his cousin Sonja, played by Diane Keaton. She loves his brother who loves someone else. These types of ridiculous relationship tangles pervade the movie. A series of hilarious scenes lead back to the beginning with Boris awaiting execution.
This was Allen's final pure comedy before he started to get more serious with Annie Hall, and I think it is the funniest of these early movies. Allen and Keaton are once again great together. There are too many great gags to list, but one of my favorites had Keaton at her husband's death bed where she says "I could have made love to you more often, or once even." and he says "Once would have been nice." The movie parodies Russian literature and European cinema equally. There are scenes where the characters go into ridiculous philosophical debates, which occurs probably in both. There are parodies of The Battleship Potempkin and The Seventh Seal specifically as well as Bergmanian devices in general. I'm going to need to come back to this movie after I read some of the big Russian novels so I can get those references. Anyway, the movie is hilarious.
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clock_of_omens
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It Happened One Night (1934) was directed by Frank Capra and stars Claudette Colbert as an heiress whose father does not approve of the man she has married, so he is taking her on his boat from Florida to New York to get it annulled. She doesn't want the annulment, so she jumps overboard and swims to shore where she catches a bus. There she meets Clark Gable, a newspaperman, who decides to help her evade her father's search party in exchange for her exclusive story.
Gable and Colbert are both great, and they have really good chemistry together. The dialogue is witty and hilarious, and they both deliver it really well. There are many great scenes, such as the famous hitchhiking scene and the scene where Gable fireman carries Colbert through a swamp, and she thinks he is giving her a piggy back ride. He scolds her for not knowing what a piggy back is and says, "show me a person who can piggy back, and I'll show you a human being." The supporting cast is good as well including Colbert's father and Gable's exasperated boss at the newspaper. A man they meet on the road named Shapely is a standout. The cinematography is great as well. There are a lot of scenes that take place outdoors which gives it a more modern feel. This is a funny and really good movie.
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clock_of_omens
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Annie Hall (1977) is Woody Allen's first stab at a more serious movie after his pure comedy era. The movie retains the comedy and is hilarious, but it tackles serious issues in a serious way unlike his previous movies. Woody Allen stars as Alvy Singer, a comedian who begins the movie with a monologue bemoaning his failed relationship with Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton. The rest of the movie proceeds in flashbacks.
Allen and Keaton are both great and they are great together, as in all of their movies. The characterization in this movie is a step up from his previous efforts as well. Alvy and Annie are well rounded realistic characters. Alvy is neurotic and kind of controlling. He never seems to be content in any situation, especially in his relationships with women. He always finds some way to screw things up. For example, with his first wife he keeps ranting about the JFK assassination in order to avoid sleeping with her. This is his main problem with Annie as well, as he is always trying to change her by making her go to therapy and adult education classes. She starts the movie insecure and ditzy as evidenced by their first meeting. It is a great scene in which she makes a bit of a fool of her self in an endearing way. As a result of Alvy's prodding, she grows more confident and intelligent, and she realizes that Alvy can't really have fun, which is what she most wants. Alvy is disappointed in the results of the growth that he brought about, and they both decide to break it off. Alvy realizes the mistake he made, so he flies back to LA to try to get Annie back, but she is happy with the way her life is. They meet again in New York sometime in the future, reminisce and part ways again. At the end Alvy hasn't really changed very much, but Annie has become a better person.
Every aspect of the movie is really good from the well written script to the acting by everyone involved to Gordon Willis's photography. Allen uses a lot of interesting narrative and editing tricks like split screen and breaking of the fourth wall. The narrative is a nice parallel to It Happened One Night where the building of the relationship between the leads is believable in both movies, while Annie Hall takes it further and shows a believable breaking apart. The movie is a great starting point in Allen's more serious work as a filmmaker.
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clock_of_omens
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I saw Irrational Man (2015) at the theaters. This is Woody Allen's latest movie starring Joaquin Phoenix as Abe, a philosophy professor who takes a teaching position at Braylin. He is depressed and blocked from writing and he can't get it up because he doesn't see the point of his life. While there he meets a chemistry professor played be Parker Posey and a student in one of his classes played by Emma Stone. The three leads are good in their roles.
This isn't one of Woody's best scripts. Some of the philosophical dialogue is pretty stiff, and some parts don't flow all that well. The beginning is especially choppy. The movie raises some moral questions that are good to think about, but it isn't subtle. The music was also weird in this one. It seems like he just threw in random jazz pieces wherever he felt like it. The kind of upbeat piece that plays during some parts doesn't really match the tone of what is happening on screen. Overall it's pretty good, but not one of his best.
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DividedQuantum
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The Man Who Would Be King
10/10
A John Huston movie, and truly outstanding. It takes place around the turn of the twentieth century, and starts out in British-empire India. It stars Michael Caine and Sean Connery as two con-men who travel from India to a fictional Shangri-La in the Himalayas called Kafiristan, which is so remote that no white man has ever lived to tell about it. Their plan is to mount a military campaign, take over a network of villages, become kings and then loot the country, to return to London millionaires.
Definitely worth a watch -- Caine and Connery exhibit wonderful chemistry, the writing and dialogue are top-notch, and the directing is expert. Couldn't recommend it more highly. They don't make movies like this anymore.
Also, the film is based on a Rudyard Kipling short story. Kipling is actually a character in the movie, and his ties to freemasonry are played-up quite a bit. A freemason, or anyone interested in that sort of thing, would get a kick out of that aspect of the movie.
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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clock_of_omens
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John Huston is great and Michael Caine is a badass. I'll have to watch that one soon.
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