Week in Film: Catching Up

Week in Film: Catching Up

Grey Gardens

   Year: 1975

   Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer

       Little and big Edie Beale live in a dilapidated old house, infested with raccoons and other animals. Once high society participants, this is where they have now found themselves, free from society but still trapped in their own world. These are eccentric characters, and we are brought into their lives as they live them: carefree and unknowing of any social standards. It’s a fascinating watch.

   Rating: B

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant

   Year: 1972

   Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

       This being my first experience with Fassbinder’s work, I had nothing to go off of in terms of what to expect other than his contemporaries in the New German Cinema movement. I was not disappointed. It’s a beautifully shot and brilliantly acted, a complex character study and inspection of relationships and power dynamics.

   Rating: A

Natural Born Killers

   Year: 1994

   Director: Oliver Stone

       The cinematic style is like that of another Stone picture, JFK, where different styles juxtapose and intersect with each other. Here it is taken to a clashing, and seemingly random extreme. The commentary about the nature of violence and the media and human nature and all that is interesting, but I think the chaos of it can’t quite hold up under the statement it is trying to make, or not making, I’m really not sure.

   Rating: C

Deadpool

   Year: 2016

   Director: Tim Miller

       A superhero movie meets a gored up Judd Apatow comedy. It’s fine. The humor is fun sometimes, but also now and then it falls flat. An interesting take on the genre, and admittedly bringing new things to it, but ultimately sadly similar to the usual stuff, with not enough divergence to really be as unique and original as it thinks it’s being.

   Rating: C-

Taste of Cherry

   Year: 1997

   Director: Abbas Kiarostami

       Kiarostami’s Palme Do’r winner is worthy of the prize, and depicts everything that works best in the master filmmakers movies: experimentation, introspection, philosophy, morality and mortality, and car trips. The ending as powerful and full of mixed feelings, and the very ending is somewhat baffling, yet very Kiarostami in it’s genre bending, fiction/reality line treading way.

   Rating: B+

Ten

   Year: 2002

   Director: Abbas Kiarostami

       It’s surprising how such a simple setup can inspire such deep and profound commentary, and provoke such impactful and true emotion. Its observations on women in Iran are incredibly insightful, and the various conversations give many perspectives, giving a well rounded view of the social and political landscape for Iranian women in a country that discriminates against them. A minimalist masterpiece.

   Rating: A-

In a Lonely Place

   Year: 1950

   Director: Nicholas Ray

        A surprisingly deep character study in the guise of a film noir. In fact, I’m hard pressed to even call this a film noir. Sure, it may have some of the trappings of one, but it plays out more like a psychological drama about people more than it fits into that genre (although I suppose that genre can be somewhat broad at times). This is far more complex than most other films of the era and style.

   Rating: B+

A Brief History of Time

   Year: 1991

   Director: Errol Morris

       Documentary that explores the theories and life of one of the greatest minds of the 20th/21st century. While I can see criticisms that the piece does not focus enough on either aspect referred to above, I think there is a good mixture of both his ideas and personal life to be satisfying.

   Rating: B-

Jubilee
   Year: 1978
   Director: Derek Jarman

       A very amateurish dystopian time travel philosophical punk film centering around the queen of England and dangerous and violent girl gangs in a dilapidated London. Interesting but ultimately too scrappy to be of much worth. There is some cool stuff, particularly the stuff with the queen, her subjects, and the weird black fingernailed guy who teleports them to the degradation of their empires future.

   Rating: D+

Watership Down
   Year: 1978
   Director: Martin Rosen

       The scariest movie about cute little animated rabbits.

   Rating: B-

Bicycle Thieves
   Year: 1948
   Director: Vittorio de Sica

       So far, the best of Italian Neorealism I’ve seen. A touching, affecting, and human story of life and morality. Powerful in it’s simplicity and emotionally raw in its scenes. The ending it particularly heart wrenching.

   Rating: A-

The Lobster

   Year: 2015

   Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

        The films of Yorgos Lanthimos, or from the ones I've seen, seem to be cultural mirrors. That wouldn't be abnormal for a filmmaker, other than the extreme, violent, and darkly hilarious directions he runs with the reflections of society he's centering his movies around. In the Lobster, he makes it his task to tackle society's attitudes toward couples, again in his most brutally aggressive yet deadpan way. The result, while a bit tiring and relentlessly bleak, is overall a success, both in idea and execution.

   Rating: B-

Before the Rain
   Year: 1994
   Director: Milcho Manchevski

       A connection of three different tales intersecting and overlapping each other, causing ripples in each other’s stories and lives. A decent moral film.

   Rating: B-

The Son's Room
   Year: 2001
   Director: Nanni Moretti

       Reminded me of Ordinary People. An incredibly emotional film that packs a punch diving into the lives of a family after a son is lost. Sweet and painful, I can see why it's regularly hailed as one of the best of the 2000s.

   Rating: B+

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
   Year: 1974
   Director: Werner Herzog

       Possibly Herzog’s greatest work (at least from what I’ve seen). It is a fascinating idea and one that endlessly captivates and inspires much philosophy.

   Rating: A

L'enfance nue
   Year: 1968
   Director: Maurice Pialat

       A decent enough movie, but dwarfed by the shadow of the similar 400 Blows. It is hard to get engaged in this one I find.

   Rating: C

Modern Times
   Director: Charlie Chaplin
   Year: 1936

       Not Chaplin's best, feeling more like a series of incidents (more so than usual) than a real cohesive whole. None the less still pretty good, and as funny at times as his best stuff.

   Rating: B-

Woyzeck
   Director: Werner Herzog
   Year: 1979

       Another great Kinski performance. This one feels very much like a play. The scene where (spoiler alert) Woyzeck murders his wife in slow motion is great. Not top tier Herzog but pretty good in its own right.

   Rating: B

Heart of Glass
   Director: Werner Herzog
   Year: 1978

       Apparently Herzog hypnotized most of the cast for the recording of this film. I don't know if that's true, but they certainly act like it. Also it's boring, and not in a particularly redeeming way. Some great shots of nature though, as one can expect.

   Rating: C

Fata Morgana
   Director: Werner Herzog
   Year: 1971

       The kind of thing that makes you want to go write poetry. What is it about? I don't know, something about man and nature or something, go ask Herzog.

   Rating: B-

Land of Silence and Darkness
   Director: Werner Herzog
   Year: 1971

       An interesting companion piece to Fata Morgana. This one has been accused of being exploitative, but I disagree. I think it is simply trying to depict these peoples struggle, as well as their amazing accomplishments.

   Rating: C

Odd Man Out
   Director: Carol Reed
   Year: 1947

       Kind of dull, to be honest. I just couldn’t really get into it, and it seemed to drag a little.

   Rating: C

Farewell My Concubine
   Director: Chen Kaige
   Year: 1993

       A beautifully shot historical drama. Interesting at times, but over long and ultimately a failure to engage me. Reminded me of The Last Emperor, which is a negative comparison.

   Rating: C+

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
   Director: Werner Herzog
   Year: 1972

       Werner Herzog's apparent masterpiece, but not my favorite of his. I've heard complaints of it looking and feeling amateur, but I don't agree with that criticism. I think that it does have more of a documentary feel to it, but that adds to the film instead of takes away. Kinski is great as usual.

   Rating: B+

The Way of the Dragon
   Director: Bruce Lee
   Year: 1972

       Bruce Lee! Versus Chuck Norris! In the Coliseum! In Spaaacceee! Alright I added that last bit. A bit of insane, silly fun.

   Rating: B-

The Graduate

   Director: Mike Nichols

   Year: 1967

       A revolution in film, and a great one at that too. Dustin Hoffman gives likely the performance of his career, as does Nichols the film of his. An articulation of the feelings and thoughts of a generation.

   Rating: A

Nosferatu the Vampyre
   Director: Werner Herzog
   Year: 1979

       Much better than the terribly aged silent original. Klaus Kinski brings an incredible vulnerability to the vampire, and is amongst his best performances. The plague scenes in the village square are horribly frightening. Some unintentionally humorous moments, but aside from that a masterclass in atmosphere and dread. Not a pop out scary movie, but a much better kind.

   Rating: B

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
   Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
   Year: 1974

       Pretty good, but nowhere near as good as Petra von Kant. The racial commentary I thought was good, and was surprised to see the extreme reactions in Germany to their relationship, which might have been a little overdone. Great central performance though.

   Rating: B

The Manchurian Candidate
   Director: John Frankenheimer
   Year: 1962

       A cold war paranoia criticism, inflected, ironically, with its own dose of paranoia as well. At times brilliantly shot, but sometimes slipping out the newer filmmaking styles and regressing into older ways, which aren't always better. Caught between two eras of hollywood.

   Rating: B+

My Winnipeg
   Director: Guy Maddin
   Year: 2007

       A dark, nostalgic, hypnotic, and hilarious journey into the heart of the heart of the country. “Why? Why? Why don’t we just swim?”

   Rating: A-

Elevator to the Gallows
   Director: Louis Malle
   Year: 1958

       A pretty good thriller by a director I've had a hard time connecting with before. This is a much better effort than the other films I've seen by him, probably because it is so different from them.

   Rating: B