Month: April 2014
CM&C:LXV Sound of Noise
(April 24, 2014)Sound of Noise. Ola Simonsson, Johannes Stjärne Nilsson. 2010. ★★★★★☆ Wonderfully inventive and hilarious. Twenty-First Century: 😃
CM&C:LXIV Hunger Games
(April 23, 2014)Hunger Games. Gary Ross. 2012. ★★★★★☆ Kiwi Caipirinha: 😃
CM&C:LXIII Husbands
(April 23, 2014)Husbands. John Cassavetes. 1970. ★☆☆☆☆☆ Ok, my loathing for this movie might not make me totally objective. Sorree!!! Twentieth Century: 😃
CM&C:LXII Cry-Baby
(April 22, 2014)Cry-Baby. John Waters. 1990. ★★★★★☆ Tip Top: ☠ Tom Collins: 😧
CM&C:LXI Inland Empire
(April 22, 2014)Inland Empire. David Lynch. 2006. ★★★★★★ Fantastic movie. But can someone tell me what happened? Kiwi Mojito: 😃
CM&C:LX Jawbreaker
(April 21, 2014)Jawbreaker. Darren Stein. 1999. ★★★☆☆☆ Ti Punch: 😃
CM&C:LIX 2046
(April 21, 2014)2046. Kar Wai Wong. 2004. ★★★☆☆☆ Wow! Much bokeh! Such colour! As you can see, the cinematography is excellent. And the story is framed originally. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty boring melodrama. With schmaltzy music underlying every single beat. I mean, beautiful classical schmaltz. I mean music. Oops. I can see how people would think that … Continue reading CM&C:LIX 2046
CM&C:LVIII 東京物語
(April 20, 2014)“Isn’t life dissapointing?” “”Yes, nothing but disappointment.” Tokyo Story. Yasujirô Ozu. 1953. ★★★★★☆ This is officially the best movie in the world ever, apparently. Even so, it’s pretty good. The ending was all boo-hoo. Manga Colada: 😧
CM&C:LVII The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
(April 20, 2014)The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Garth Jennings. 2005. ★★★★☆☆ Lychee Margarita: 😧
CM&C:LVI Resident Evil
(April 19, 2014)Resident Evil. Paul W.S. Anderson. 2002. ★★★☆☆☆ There’s a lot to like about this movie. It has a certain charming, mawkish amateurishness. But… Batida de Mamao: 😃
CM&C:LV Pierrot le fou
(April 19, 2014)Pierrot le fou. Jean-Luc Godard. 1965. ★★★★★★ Mango Margarita: 😃
CM&C:LIV The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
(April 18, 2014)The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Peter Jackson. 2013. ★★★★☆☆ I tried ripping this 3D Bluray with makemkv. After duckducking for hours, I determined that makemkv makes a “stereoscopic” full resolution file — just like what’s on the Bluray. Which makes sense. But there’s no software to convert that to something that anything can play … Continue reading CM&C:LIV The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
CM&C:LIII Of Human Bondage
(April 18, 2014)Of Human Bondage. John Cromwell. 1934. ★★☆☆☆☆ Between the Sheets: 😧
CM&C:LII Two-Lane Blacktop
(April 17, 2014)Two-Lane Blacktop. Monte Hellman. 1971. ★★★☆☆☆ Stinger: 😒
CM&C:LI The Rules of Attraction
(April 16, 2014)The Rules of Attraction. Roger Avary. 2002. ★★★★☆☆ Caucasian: 😃
CM&C:L Solaris
(April 16, 2014)Mmm… space-age beds look so comfy… So comfy… Solaris. Steven Soderbergh. 2002. ★★★☆☆☆ Stork Club: 😧
CM&C:XLIX Berlin Alexanderplatz
(April 15, 2014)Berlin Alexanderplatz. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1980. ★★★★★☆ To celebrate the 49th movie in the CM&C series, I decided to watch Berlin Alexanderplatz (a film in thirteen parts with an epilogue which runs for 15½ hours) in one day. I planned it all out: Get up earlyish on a Saturday; start watching while eating breakfast; install … Continue reading CM&C:XLIX Berlin Alexanderplatz
CM&C:XLVIII Subway
(April 15, 2014)Hm. Perhaps Besson and Bresson are different people? Subway. Luc Besson. 1985. ★★★☆☆☆ Watermelon Cucumber Cooler: 😒
CM&C:XLVII New York Doll
(April 14, 2014)New York Doll. Greg Whiteley. 2005. ★★★☆☆☆ Passion Fruit Daiquiri: 😃
CM&C:XLVI Eastern Promises
(April 14, 2014)Eastern Promises. David Cronenberg. 2007. ★★★★☆☆ Southside: 😃
CM&C:XLV L’Argent
(April 13, 2014)L’Argent. Robert Bresson. 1983. ★★★★★★ Silk Stockings: 😃
CM&C:XLIV Paranoid Park
(April 13, 2014)Paranoid Park. Gus van Sant. 2007. ★★★★★★ It might be excessive, but I think my rating here can be defended. The sequencing of events; the (I’m assuming) somewhat improvised dialogue; the (I’m assuming) non-professional actors; the sound editing: It all feels so fresh and original. And it results in an utterly engrossing experience. Saettle Manhattan: … Continue reading CM&C:XLIV Paranoid Park
CM&C:XLIII Pacific Rim
(April 12, 2014)Cap’n! The movie canna take any more cliches! But here’s the kick-ass sciencey action woman. And the two nerdy science geeks. The dog. The grizzled older hero. The manic technobabble. The sciencey bickering. Oh, well. Could there be romance? What does the stern commander think about it all? You guess. Boo. Weird science. Grunt grunt. … Continue reading CM&C:XLIII Pacific Rim
CM&C:XLII Woyzeck
(April 12, 2014)Woyzeck. Werner Herzog. 1979. ★★★★★★ Satan’s Whiskers: 😃
CM&C:XLI Scream 4
(April 11, 2014)Scream 4. Wes Craven. 2011. ★★★☆☆☆ There’s a lot to like about this movie. The meta-meta-ness is amusing, and the dialogue (mostly centered on women interacting) feels fresh. I just wish it were better. Saratoga: 😒
CM&C:XL Brief Encounter
(April 10, 2014)Brief Encounter. David Lean. 1945. ★★★★★☆ The second version of the opening scene was heartstoppingly brilliant, but it’s not a perfect movie. The scenes with the waitron were genius, though. Rosalita: 😒
CM&C:XXXIX Shock Corridor
(April 10, 2014)Nymphos! Shock Corridor. Samuel Fuller. 1963. ★★★★☆☆ Scofflaw: 😒
CM&C:XXXVIII Winter’s Bone
(April 9, 2014)Winter’s Bone. Debra Granik. 2010. ★★★★★☆ Robert Burns: 😒
CM&C:XXXVII Chocolat
(April 9, 2014)Chocolat. Claire Denis. 1988. ★★★★★☆ Red Snapper: 😒
CM&C:XXXVI Fa yeung nin wa
(April 8, 2014)Hmm…. For a Kai War Wong movie, this looks kinda… different… Would I be paranoid if I started thinking that they put the wrong DVD in the cover? Still not sure. Oh, I don’t care. This is awesome. In The Mood For Love. Kar Wai Wong. 2000. ★★★★★☆ Planter’s Punch: 😃
CM&C:XXXV Shall We Dance
(April 8, 2014)There are many things I love about 30s musical comedies. Their verisimilitude is astounding. What you see here is the engine room of an ocean liner. But you have to wonder whether the casting choice for the machine room is a commentary on something. Wow. So machinery. Much technical. Shall We Dance. Mark Sandrich. 1937. … Continue reading CM&C:XXXV Shall We Dance
CM&C:XXXIV Bottle Rocket
(April 7, 2014)Bottle Rocket. Wes Anderson. 1996. ★★★☆☆☆ Perhaps I’m just generally down on the entire “hapless young-ish men fumble around” genre. Perhaps it’s just fatigue from seeing yet another Bechdel-test-failing movie. Perhaps this movie is good. But I don’t see it. Pisco Sour: 😃
CM&C:XXXIII Menschen am Sonntag
(April 6, 2014)Kids with their ghetto blasters at the beach. Tsk. Menschen am Sonntag. Kurt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann & Rochus Gliese. 1930. ★★★☆☆☆ Batida de maracujá: 😃
CM&C:XXXII Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
(April 5, 2014)Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Michael Bay. 2009. ★★★★☆☆ I liked this movie. It was entertaining and surprisingly funny. However, it had the obligatory boring infodump scenes, and the So Much Drama scenes, and went on far too long. If they’d cut an hour, it would have been a good movie. Batida Mango: 😃
CM&C:XXXI Blue
(April 4, 2014)Blue. Derek Jarman. 1993. ★★★★★☆ Mango Daiquiri: 😒
CM&C:XXX Superbad
(April 4, 2014)He’s in high school. They’re both in high school. It’s the most annoying guy from Saturday Night Live? It is. Superbad. Greg Mottola. 2007. ★★☆☆☆☆ It started off pretty funny, but the last three hours were a PSA about how you’re not supposed to have sex when you’re drunk. Which is just wrong. In addition … Continue reading CM&C:XXX Superbad
CM&C:XXIX Los amantes pasajeros
(April 3, 2014)I’m So Excited. Pedro Almodovar. 2013. ★★★★★☆ East India House: 😃
CM&C:XXVIII Elysium
(April 3, 2014)Elysium. Neill Blomkamp. 2013. ★★★☆☆☆ It’s funny (but not in a ha-ha way) how this movie fails in pretty much the same way as the director’s previous movie, District 9. They both start out really well, but then turn into boring heist movies when the director has made his point. I like the ending of … Continue reading CM&C:XXVIII Elysium
CM&C:XXVII L. A. Zombie
(April 2, 2014)L. A. Zombie. Bruce LaBruce. 2010. ★★★☆☆☆ I did see the “edited” version, though. The hardcore one may be better or worse. Kentucky Maid: 😃
CM&C:XXVI India Song
(April 2, 2014)India Song. Marguerite Duras. 1975. ★★★★★★ Hendricks Ellison: 😃 (But I made it with Beefeater.)
CM&C:XXV The Limits of Control
(April 1, 2014)The Limits of Control. Jim Jarmusch. 2009. ★★★★★☆ Delmonico: 😒
CM&C:XXIV Rude Boy
(April 1, 2014)Rude Boy. Jack Hazan, David Mingay. 1980. ★★☆☆☆☆ Corpse Reviver #2: 😃