Category: century
Century 2018: Black Panther
(July 28, 2018)Black Panther. Ryan Coogler. 2018. This started off really well and I was like “wow! this is like a real movie or something!” but then soon got bogged down in really bad acting (like the challengers in the coronation scene (and where they should have had thousands of people watching the fight, not dozens CGId … Continue reading Century 2018: Black Panther
Century 2017: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
(July 27, 2018)Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson. 2017. OK, I’ve seen the other new Star Wars films… I think… And I saw the original ones back in the 80s. And I saw the first of the prequels. In short, I’m not really a Star Wars fan, but I though the previous one was pretty entertaining … Continue reading Century 2017: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Century 2016: Tickled
(July 27, 2018)The parrot is fascinated by all the bokeh. Tickled. David Farrier. 2016. Last year, I bought all the films John Waters said were the best of 2016. Well, at least all the ones that were available at the time… There were a couple that were totally “er, no”, like Cattle Towards Glow, but in general … Continue reading Century 2016: Tickled
Century 2015: Louder Than Bombs
(July 21, 2018)Louder Than Bombs. Joachim Trier. 2015. Hey! A Norwegian film! And it’s co-written by the guy who did a movie in my apartment. Er… small world? This, weirdly enough, is filmed in the US, with English language actors and a mostly American crew, I guess? And it’s weird seeing Joachim Trier’s usual directorial touches that … Continue reading Century 2015: Louder Than Bombs
Century 2014: Retour à Ithaque
(July 21, 2018)Retour à Ithaque. Laurent Cantet. 2014. Quite a few of the DVDs I have I can’t really remember why I bought. I do remember this one: I thought it was a Cuban film, so I got it for my World of Films and Cocktails blog series. And it is filmed in Cuba, but it’s really … Continue reading Century 2014: Retour à Ithaque
Century 2013: Venus in Fur
(July 21, 2018)Gah. Another DVVD with forced subtitles… Venus in Fur. Roman Polanski. 2013. Without Canal+, there would have been no European cinema for the past two decades. That’s my conclusion after watching a lot of films these past couple of years. Canal+ is always, in my mind at least, listed as a co-producer of any European … Continue reading Century 2013: Venus in Fur
Century 2011: Dreams of a Life
(July 20, 2018)Dreams of a Life. Carol Morley. 2011. Oh, right. This is a documentary by Carol Morley, who did The Alcohol Years, which I saw… a couple of years ago? Hm. I don’t remember what it was about, but I must have liked it if I bought this one? Hm, I think I did? So it’s … Continue reading Century 2011: Dreams of a Life
Century 2010: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
(July 20, 2018)Gah! This is one of those blu-rays that has a ‘forced’ subtitle; i.e., it’s part of the video stream instead of being a separate thing. Whyyyy. Oh, it’s by Digital Factory. I guess that’s more digital. I was so confused by the subtitles here. Jardin. Jaguar. Ooh! I love those ears. So Tardi. The Extraordinary … Continue reading Century 2010: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
Century 2009: Precious
(July 20, 2018)Precious. Lee Daniels. 2009. Hey, I bought this one twice. Even if it won a couple of Oscars it’s not that bad! But the American convention of having adult actors playing teenagers is so weird. For the first few minutes I wondered why a woman in her mid-20s was attending junior high, but then (helpfully) … Continue reading Century 2009: Precious
Century 2008: The Smiths: The Queen is Dead
(July 14, 2018)The Smiths: The Queen is Dead. Derek Jarman. 2008. What’s this then? Oh, it’s an “unauthorised” documentary about The Smiths focusing on The Queen is Dead. I’ve seen a couple of these before. They’re made on the cheap… But this does actually have The Smith’s songs, so it’s not as no-budget as some of the … Continue reading Century 2008: The Smiths: The Queen is Dead
Century 2007: What Would Jesus Buy?
(July 14, 2018)What Would Jesus Buy?. Rob VanAlkemade. 2007. Whaaa. It’s a documentary by that Supersize Me guy? Why did I buy this? I hate modern American documentaries: They’re snippet, snippet, snippet with some officious deep male voice telling you how outrageous everything is. Or… Oh, it isn’t. It’s a mocumentary? Well, that makes more sense. I … Continue reading Century 2007: What Would Jesus Buy?
Century 2006: As You Like It
(July 13, 2018)As You Like It. Kenneth Branagh. 2006. Oh, Kenneth Branagh. How we adored him in the early 90s. He could do no wrong. He was that perfect mix of high culture (Shakespeare) and real drama (Peter’s Friends) with a detour into silly genre (Dead Again). And he was married to Emma Thompson and had Phyllida … Continue reading Century 2006: As You Like It
Century 2004: Triple Agent
(July 13, 2018)Triple Agent. Éric Rohmer. 2004. Oops! I had gotten to 2002 last month, and then I went back to 2001 in the previous post. So now we’re at 2004, because I have nothing from 2003, so that all worked out perfectly! Right? And… it’s an Éric Rohmer film! Yay! And it’s a period drama. I’m … Continue reading Century 2004: Triple Agent
Century 2001: The Man Who Wasn’t There
(July 13, 2018)The Man Who Wasn’t There. Joel Coen. 2001. Hey, it’s been a while since I saw a movie. Busy busy. But finally! A weekend that’s all open. Now, I was a bit distracted while watching parts of this film, It certainly has an original cast of characters and some great actors in Frances MacDormand and … Continue reading Century 2001: The Man Who Wasn’t There
Century 2002: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
(June 30, 2018)Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. George Clooney. 2002. I didn’t have tripe sec, so I used a orange liqueur instead. Offal, oranges; it’s all the same. But this is the first film George Clooney directed, and it’s such a typical first movie. Clooney’s going USE ALL THE TRICKS FROM ALL THE MOVIES in this film. … Continue reading Century 2002: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Century 2001: Hawaiian Gardens
(June 30, 2018)Hawaiian Gardens. Percy Adlon. 2001. Well, this is a different aesthetic from Percy Adlon. Instead of super-saturated colours a sound stage and nice film stock, this looks like it’s been filmed on an early-generation digital camera, and it’s all on location with natural lighting. It’s got a rating of 4.1 on imdb, which is the … Continue reading Century 2001: Hawaiian Gardens
Century 2000: In The Mood For Love
(June 30, 2018)In The Mood For Love. Kar Wai Wong. 2000. The last time I saw this film, it looked completely different! 2046 was more like this film, only much more mannered. This film has nerve and emotional depth. I watched the Anthony Bourdain Hong Kong show the other week, and he mentioned that this was his … Continue reading Century 2000: In The Mood For Love
Century 1999: An Ideal Husband
(June 23, 2018)An Ideal Husband. Oliver Parker. 1999. How weird. I can’t find the DVD for this film, or any of the other four I ripped on the same day… I must have… put them… somewhere.. But. Hm. what’s the expression to describe this… “Aggressively pedestrian”? “Excessively standard”? Ever single shot here is a shot you’ve seen, … Continue reading Century 1999: An Ideal Husband
Century 1996: Star Trek 8: First Contact
(June 23, 2018)Star Trek 8: First Contact. Jonathan Frakes. 1996. Oops! Another Star Trek film. I guess my stacks of DVDs were pretty light on 90s films… I remember this as being much better than it is. It’s got the best Star Trek villains, the Borg, but somehow this film manages to strip away many of the … Continue reading Century 1996: Star Trek 8: First Contact
Century 1995: Rendez-vouz in Paris
(June 16, 2018)Rendez-vouz in Paris. Éric Rohmer. 1995. Eric Rohmer was a director I was totally and utterly unaware of until a couple of years ago when I bought one of his films on a whim in a DVD shop somewhere. Mostly because of his name, which reminded me of Sax Rohmer. And it’s weird, because he … Continue reading Century 1995: Rendez-vouz in Paris
Century 1994: Trois Couleurs Blanc
(June 16, 2018)Trois Couleurs Blanc. Krzysztof Kieslowski. 1994. This is one of the oldest DVDs I have, I think. I remember buying the box set while on holiday in London in the 90s. And somehow it’s never felt vitally urgent to watch these films, so it’s taken me almost 20 years to watch the trilogy. I have … Continue reading Century 1994: Trois Couleurs Blanc
Century 1991: Poison
(June 16, 2018)Poison. Todd Haynes. 1991. Todd Haynes have done so few films. If I’m reading imdb correctly, this is his first one (from 1991), and he’s only done six more, which isn’t a lot of films per decade. And it’s not like his movies haven’t been successful… It’s weird. I like all his films (although I … Continue reading Century 1991: Poison
Century 1990: Alice
(June 15, 2018)Alice. Woody Allen. 1990. This is a Woody Allen film from after I stopped watching him (I think I stopped the year before, growing tired of watching film after film concerning the problems of rich people in Manhattan), so I’m curious as to what he’s up to now, then. Aaaaand… it turns out to be … Continue reading Century 1990: Alice
Century 1989: Rosalie Goes Shopping
(June 15, 2018)Rosalie Goes Shopping. Percy Adlon. 1989. This is one of the less-than-handful of films from the Percy Adlon DVD box set I bought that I can actually watch (most of the rest are in German without subtitles in any language I understand), but, oh, what a film. I remember watching this when it was new … Continue reading Century 1989: Rosalie Goes Shopping
Century 1988: Pee Wee’s Christmas Special
(June 10, 2018)Pee Wee’s Christmas Special. Wayne Orr. 1988. OK, I’m on today’s nth cocktail, but I think this might be the best TV thing ever shown anywhere ever. Pee Wee has gotten an amazing number of amazing stars to appear on his special (Grace Jones, k. d. lang, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg), but it’s still the same … Continue reading Century 1988: Pee Wee’s Christmas Special
Century 1987: September
(June 9, 2018)September. Woody Allen. 1987. Hm… what was the film that made me stop watching the yearly Woody Allen film? I don’t think it was this one… Perhaps it was one a couple of years later? Crimes and Misdemeanors? I don’t recall. But I do remember why I stopped watching his films: I was sitting in … Continue reading Century 1987: September
Century 1986: Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home
(June 9, 2018)Worst. Punk. Ever. Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home. Leonard Nimoy. 1986. OK, we’re firmly in the 80s now. Instead of the crew of the Enterprise having extremely shiny faces now (a typical 70s thing), everybody has thoroughly powdered skin now. All matte. I did watch this film in the 80s, and the only thing … Continue reading Century 1986: Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home
Century 1985: Spies Like Us
(June 8, 2018)Spies Like Us. John Landis. 1985. It was this one or The Purple Rose of Cairo, which I don’t have any positive memories of. This is such a confusing movie. It has all the hallmarks of a zany crazy comedy, but there are like no jokes here, and the few jokes that are identifiable as … Continue reading Century 1985: Spies Like Us
Century 1984: Broadway Danny Rose
(June 8, 2018)Broadway Danny Rose. Woody Allen. 1984. Yeah, OK, for 1983 it was this is The Search For Spock and I threw the dice and I went for this one. Allen had like an Imperial period where he could do no wrong, and this is towards the end of that period. And when he’s on screen … Continue reading Century 1984: Broadway Danny Rose
Century 1983: The Man With Two Brains
(June 8, 2018)The Man With Two Brains. Carl Reiner. 1983. Oh my Emacs! This is so stupid. In the best way possible. I must have seen this before at some point, because so many scenes were familiar, like the Hufhurr thing, but it’s been a while. And I guess a lot of the jokes haven’t aged well … Continue reading Century 1983: The Man With Two Brains
Century 1982: Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
(June 8, 2018)Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. Nicholas Meyer. 1982. I was going to watch Der Stand der Dinge by Wim Wenders, but my DVD turned out to just have German subtitles. *sigh* It seems to be a current theme with European films. So I have a choice between another Woody Allen film and this. … Continue reading Century 1982: Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
Century 1981: Reds
(June 2, 2018)Reds. Warren Beatty. 1981. Most films I have on my shelf of unseen films I can pretty much figure out why I’ve bought. This one, I have no idea. Did somebody recommend it to me? This is such a 70s film, and not in a bad way. If I had to make a guess at … Continue reading Century 1981: Reds
Century 1980: Stardust Memories
(June 2, 2018)Stardust Memories. Woody Allen. 1980. My plan was to watch Céleste by Percy Adlon for 1980. I’ve been looking for a collection of his films forever, because the few films of his I’ve seen I think range from great to wonderful (Zuckerbaby, Rosalie Goes Shopping, Salmonberries, Bagdad Cafe), and I wanted to watch the rest … Continue reading Century 1980: Stardust Memories
Century 1979: Die Patriotin
(June 1, 2018)Die Patriotin. Alexander Kluge. 1979. In a weird way, what this film reminds me most of is The Last of England by Derek Jarman. They are stylistically very far apart, but there’s something in the punk approach to talking about larger issues that seems to connect them. Jarman’s film is mesmerising; this isn’t up there … Continue reading Century 1979: Die Patriotin
Century 1978: Interiors
(June 1, 2018)Interiors. Woody Allen. 1978. Oh, right, this is Woody Allen’s first Bergman rip-off. I mean, his first drama film. I honestly thought this was going to be better. And the cinematography is totes amazeballs: The subdued colour scheme and the unshowy angles. It’s so calm and understated. But I feel that basically all the actors … Continue reading Century 1978: Interiors
Century 1977: The Duellists
(May 26, 2018)The Duellists. Ridley Scott. 1977. I had to choose between watching the bluray of Eraserhead or this (both made in 1977), and I chose this. It’s the film Ridley Scott directed before Alien and then Blade Runner, both of which are er rather good. (I especially love Alien.) So I was curious as to what … Continue reading Century 1977: The Duellists
Century 1975: Love and Death
(May 26, 2018)Love and Death. Woody Allen. 1975. Woody Allen is terribly controversial at the moment, but this is an incredibly funny film. Diane Keaton is perfection and the one-liners keep on coming at you. Not to mention all the physical comedy. It does tend to lose its steam with some regularity, and the standup-derived bits don’t … Continue reading Century 1975: Love and Death
Century 1974: The Cars That Ate Paris
(May 26, 2018)The Cars That Ate Paris. Peter Weir. 1974. I’ve been cocktailing from this very old book, but I think I’m ready to move on to another book now. Oldee-tymey cocktails seem basically to be random combinations of boozes with very little finesse. I feel the need for less booze and more mixers. Anyway! This is … Continue reading Century 1974: The Cars That Ate Paris
Century 1973: World on a Wire
(May 25, 2018)World on a Wire. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1973. I am no Fassbinder connoisseur, but I’ve seen my share. But I’m pretty sure this is a pretty abnormal Fassbinder film. On the other hand, aren’t they all? But this is sci-fi flick of sorts, and I don’t think that’s really his metier, is it? It’s like … Continue reading Century 1973: World on a Wire
Century 1972: Slaughterhouse Five
(May 25, 2018)Slaughterhouse Five. George Roy Hill. 1972. Hey! I read this book when I was a teenager. And that was in the previous century! I’m amazed at how many scenes are familiar to me still, so it made a huge impression, apparently. Some of the scenes (like when the guy started talking about the dog and … Continue reading Century 1972: Slaughterhouse Five
Century 1971: Out 1: Noli me tangere
(May 20, 2018)Out 1: Noli me tangere. Jacques Rivette. 1971. It’s a Saturday, and I should be working, but instead I’m watching this 12 or 13 hour movie from 1971. I’d read about it before, because it’s a pretty famous film (or perhaps infamous), and Carlotta released a really handsome collection of it on Bluray. 2K, but … Continue reading Century 1971: Out 1: Noli me tangere
Century 1970: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
(May 18, 2018)The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Billy Wilder. 1970. What a strange and awkward film. Is Wilder going for a 40s comedy but updating it embarrassingly with a gay panic storyline? But it’s mostly just a cod-standard Sherlock Holmes story. Although slightly more irreverent than usual and not based on a Conan Doyle story. It’s … Continue reading Century 1970: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Century 1966: Andrei Rublev
(May 13, 2018)Andrei Rublev. Andrei Tarkovsky. 1966. This is officially the 13th best film ever. It’s got the most classic casting problem: The casting director is really hot on a certain type, so we get about twenty actors that look pretty much identical. So I’m spending most scenes waiting for somebody to mention the other characters by … Continue reading Century 1966: Andrei Rublev
Century 1964: Paris When It Sizzles
(May 11, 2018)Paris When It Sizzles. Richard Quine. 1964. This cocktail was surprisingly delicious. The ingredients seem kinda meh, but all together they resulted in an amazing cocktail. Hay! I had two films from 1963 lined up, but it turned out that my DVDs of Les Carabiniers and Le petit soldat had no subtitles whatsoever, so that’s … Continue reading Century 1964: Paris When It Sizzles
Century 1959: Some Like It Hot
(May 11, 2018)Some Like It Hot. Billy Wilder. 1959. Another Monroe film! This one’s pretty much on fleek. Can’t really fault it much, other than that I seem to remember the repartee being snappier? And I would guess that if I were to google around a bit I might find thought pieces about this being a transsexuals-as-predators-by-proxy … Continue reading Century 1959: Some Like It Hot
Century 1957: The Tarnished Angels
(May 6, 2018)The Tarnished Angels. Douglas Sirk. 1957. Yay! Another Douglas Sirk film! I just watched the documentary on the DVD of There’s Always Tomorrow, and the was asked what his favourite film was (of his own), and he said that he doesn’t think like that. But he’d recently seen Tarnished Angels at a MoMa thing in … Continue reading Century 1957: The Tarnished Angels
Century 1956: There’s Always Tomorrow
(May 5, 2018)Hm… is that the right aspect ratio? Isn’t the Earth supposed to be, like, round? Oh, that’s better! This is an anamorph DVD. You don’t see that very often – they usually just letterbox it, which means fewer pixels. Nice. There’s Always Tomorrow. Douglas Sirk. 1956. I’ve been looking forward to watching this movie: I’m … Continue reading Century 1956: There’s Always Tomorrow
Century 1955: The Seven Year Itch
(May 5, 2018)The Seven Year Itch. Billy Wilder. 1955. I’ve seen this before, of course, but it’s been a while, I think. I wondered whether I would find it creepy this time over. I mean, it’s an entire film about some nerd creeping on Marilyn Monroe. And there certainly are some icky scenes in here, but Monroe … Continue reading Century 1955: The Seven Year Itch
Century 1954: La Strada
(May 4, 2018)La Strada. Federico Fellini. 1954. What an odd film. Fellini’s later film are more overtly artificial, but here it’s unclear what the panto-like performance of Gelsomina is meant to convey. Is she supposed to be 14? Slightly er naive? Why does she shift from being naive to knowing so often? Why is she blond(e)? Nobody … Continue reading Century 1954: La Strada
Century 1952: Jack and the Beanstalk
(May 4, 2018)Jack and the Beanstalk. Jean Yarbrough. 1952. Hey! Abbott and Costello on the heels of Laurel and Hardy! Whenever some Oldz person writes about either of the pairs, they’ll make sure to mention how the other pair is better/worse. I can never remember which one they prefer. Probably Laurel and Hardy? Based on the two … Continue reading Century 1952: Jack and the Beanstalk
Century 1951: Utopia
(May 4, 2018)Slapstick isn’t funny if it looks like the guy is really suffering Utopia. Léo Joannon. 1951. The DVD transfer is rather beat. I almost looks like it was mastered from a VHS copy? And Laurel and Hardy look really beat here, too. Hardy is sweating profusely in many scenes and Laurel looks like he’s at … Continue reading Century 1951: Utopia
Century 1950: At War With The Army
(May 4, 2018)At War With The Army. Hal Walker. 1950. Hay! What happened to the 40s? I skipped it, because I’m amassing a collection of 40s film for a future nefarious blogging project. So we’re not in 1950, but with a comedy/musical/war film. With Jerry Lewis! Oh! This has the scene that Monty Python referred to with … Continue reading Century 1950: At War With The Army
Century 1939: The Flying Deuces
(May 3, 2018)The Flying Deuces. A. Edward Sutherland. 1939. Hey! That’s a gap of several years since the previous film! I thought I had more 30s DVDs… And I sort of have, but they’re all part of various box sets, so I’m skipping them for this blog series, which is All Single DVDs All The Time. This … Continue reading Century 1939: The Flying Deuces
Century 1934: It Happened One Night
(May 1, 2018)It Happened One Night. Frank Capra. 1934. Uh-up. This one won the Oscars. But how bad can it be? It’s Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, directed by Frank Capra, so it should be, like, good. But it’s not. It all feels like a creeper rapey thing: Gable pursued Gilbert with a ferocity and inevitability that’s … Continue reading Century 1934: It Happened One Night
Century 1933: This Day and Age
(April 30, 2018)This Day and Age. Cecil B. DeMille. 1933. I thought they said that teenagers were invented in the 50s! But here we are in the 30s and we’re rebelling without any cause whatsoever. Is this really from the 30s? Is imdb lying to me? Well, Wikipedia agrees with imdb, so let’s go with it… Anyway, … Continue reading Century 1933: This Day and Age
Century 1924: The Last Laugh
(April 30, 2018)The Last Laugh. F.W. Murnau. 1924. Wow. That Murnau is going to go places. This is just so incredibly stylish and exciting to watch. Beautifully restored, too. It’s fascinating how well Murnau is able to tell the entire story with nary an intertitle: Virtually everything is conveyed through the acting, setting and cinematography. This involves … Continue reading Century 1924: The Last Laugh
Century 1921: The Phantom Carriage
(April 30, 2018)The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen). Victor Sjöström. 1921. This is one of Ingmar Bergman’s favourite films, and Bergman did a play based on the making of this film. Which explains the double feature on this DVD. Back in the pre-talkie days, Sweden was allegedly seen as a somewhat important film nation, and this was one of … Continue reading Century 1921: The Phantom Carriage
Century 1918: Hearts of the World
(April 29, 2018)Hearts of the World. D.W. Griffith. 1918. Hey, it’s the first post of the new movie blog series hopefully taking me from 1918 to 2018. By skipping some years. D. W. Griffith is a very controversial director, of course, but Lillian Gish is Lillian Gish. This is an awfully confusing movie. Mostly because I thought … Continue reading Century 1918: Hearts of the World
Century
(April 28, 2018)Or rather: Leftovers. I was tidying the DVD stacks (rooting out doubles and the like), and it occurred to me that I should probably watch all this stuff at some point or other. While going through the discs, I noted that the oldest unseen movie I have is from 1918… And this year is 2018… … Continue reading Century