Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Diva

The Guns of Navarone

Monday, January 28, 2008

1408

Blow-up

Friday, January 25, 2008

Art of the Devil

Feh. Not impressed at all by this one, and I don't think it was just because I could only get the dubbed version to play (which was pretty awful!).

Not scary, melodramatic. Thailand, 2004.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

My Life To Live

Godard, French new wave, 1962. Bleak, stylistic, very abrupt ending.

Here's a clip:

The Double Life of Veronique

From the great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski comes this fairytale-like film of identity. Beautiful, strange, compelling.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

Well made but maddening documentary of an Iraqi journalist's mistaken arrest and subsequent tribulations at the hands of the US occupation.

BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge

Birth

Cloverfield

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Breakdown

Kurt Russell. Tense film that follows Russell's everyman as he searches for his abducted wife in the middle of nowhere.

The ending was a little heavy-handed and over the top, but still a decent viewing experience.

No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain is my new hero. If you're a foodie at all, and like Bourdain's bad ass, opinionated delivery of food and culture as he travels the world, you'll enjoy this show.

Here's a taste of the show, from Ireland:

The Negotiator

Takashi Miike. Stylish policier + complex Japanese take on the revenge drama. Solid and interesting film.

The Bird People In China

Takashi Miike. A Yakuza and a salaryman trek to China in pursuit of jade. Hilarity and sweetness ensue. Nice film, unexpected from Miike.

One Missed Call

Takashi Miike. Horror. Pretty good, always like creepy Japanese ghosts.

Gozu

Takashi Miike. Yakuza horror theater. No english dialogue, so watched it in Japanese. Not sure if this makes it more or less confusing, but I'm looking forward to watching it again with subtitles.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Weird western.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension!

Fun, weird film. A little messy, but enjoyable.

Shoot the Piano Player

Truffaut. New wave, French cinema. Strange, beautiful film.

Amarcord

Fellini. Another beautiful film from the Italian master of cinema.

Meet the Feebles

Peter Jackson. Drugs, snuff films, dirty journalism, live theater, STDs, murder and mayhem. All done by puppets.

Bangkok Dangerous

Pang Brothers. Hyper-violent thug life on the streets of Bangkok. Follows the travails of two friends, one of whom is deaf, who are guns for hire.

The Bad Seed

Great classic horror film. Psychosis passed down the family line into the body of a little girl. Great characters, over the top acting, cone shaped bras (it's the 50's!). Only the heavy, moralistic ending marred it for me.

Green For Danger

Murder mystery set in Britain during WWII. Under the constant threat of flying rockets from Germany, inspector Cockrill attempts to solve the murder of an ordinary postman.