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Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Monday, November 2, 2009
So I figured I'd better slap up a post and let everyone know that I'll be taking a short hiatus from the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" project. The reason being is that my interests have swayed away from movies for the time being, and in all fairness to the films in this book I'm gonna take a little bit of time off from the project. I want to make sure that as I watch these films they have my full, undivided attention and I can rate them as such. I'm really not sure how long I'll be gone, I may get bored in a week and decide to pop in "Earth", which is my next movie. I just wanted to make sure that I recorded this instance, so that when I look back on this years down the road, I'll know where I've been. Don't worry loyal readers, I am by no means done with this project and I still have every intention in the world of finishing the book. I certainly didn't watch The Birth of A Nation, The Man with the Movie Camera, those two oddball Bunuel films and all that overrated Eisenstein crap for nothing. I will be back and I hope you're waiting when I get here.
November 2, 2009 12:07am
November 2, 2009 12:07am
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Running Time: 62 minutesDirected By: Luis Bunuel
Written By: Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali
Main Cast: Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Max Ernst, Caridad de Laberdesque
IT WON'T TAKE LONG TO SUM UP ANOTHER BUNUEL ODDBALL FLICK
Much like its predecessor, An Andalusian Dog, Luis Bunuel once again brings us another movie that makes us scratch our heads and say "What the fuck??!!" The Age of Gold certainly makes us do both of those things, but not in that good way that makes you wanna run right over to the computer and demand answers to your questions. Its that bad way, that makes you not really care and just be glad that the craziness has ended.
My review of The Age of Gold, will be kept short and sweet, because I really am not sure how to put this movie down into words. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy David Lynch's Eraserhead, then this flick is probably for you. Once again, I don't mind odd, I just like to have some idea of what's playing out in front of me, and if there's an amazing amount of symbolism, then I at least want it to make sense and not just be babble spread all over the screen for the viewer to look at and have to furrow their brow and be completely puzzled.
There were certain parts that I didn't mind, the sexual misadventures of the man and woman, were quite interesting, as the man and woman kissed and gnawed at each other's fingers and gazed at the feet of a statue, while the woman even resorted to sucking the toe of the statue. Quite odd, yet quite interesting and gloriously grotesque. I'll give it a few notches for the few scenes that didn't make me want to rip my hair out, but that's all I can give it, as most of this film was a complete waste of time. Sorry Mr. Bunuel, me and your films just don't seem to be seeing eye to eye.
RATING: 2.5/10 That's absolutely as high as I can go, and that's being generous.
NEXT UP: Earth...Should be ready either late tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned kiddies.
October 29, 2009 11:16pm
Monday, October 26, 2009
Running Time: 101 minutesDirected By: Josef von Sternberg
Written By: Carl Zuckmayer, from the novel "Professor Unrat" by Heinrich Mann
Main Cast: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron
...HELLO THIRTIES
The thirties bust onto the scene with a vengeance, providing me with an exceptional German film starring the wonderful performances of Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich.
Jannings plays Professor Emmanuel Rath, a teacher at the local college who is respected by everyone but his students, who write notes about him behind his back and secretly call him "Professor Garbage". When Rath finds out how his pupils are spending their evenings, down at the Blue Angel nightclub, under the spell of the cabaret's headliner Lola Lola, he follows them there one night, in an attempt to catch them in the act and make sure they are properly punished. Upon arriving at the Blue Angel, Rath is almost automatically swept up and quickly finds himself in the dressing room of Lola Lola, as she undresses in front of him, leaving him quite taken aback.
Rath falls short of catching his students at the Blue Angel, but returns to the cabaret the next night in an attempt to once again meet with the gorgeous, sassy singer and apologize for his crude, abrupt behavior of the previous night. The meeting goes well and once again Rath is swept up in the fast paced world of the cabaret and quickly finds himself filled with champagne and waking up the next morning in the bed of Lola Lola. She treats him well, something he isn't used to, and sends him off to work with a kiss, breakfast and many terms of endearment.
Upon arriving at school, he finds his students immediately ridiculing him for falling in love with Lola and after causing a ruckus and drawing other professors into the room, the students are dismissed and so is Professor Rath. He returns to the cabaret, only to find Lola Lola and her crew packing up and moving out of town. Professor Rath wastes no time asking Lola to marry him and getting an acceptance from her.
What would seem like a happy ending, is not, as the marriage is the first stop on a train to complete downfall for the good professor. After losing all their money, Rath is reduced to taking on the role of a clown in the traveling cabaret act and is almost frightened to learn that the act will be returning to the professor's hometown and the Blue Angel nightclub. What will Rath's former colleagues think when they see the once respected professor, traipsing around onstage dressed as a clown.
Jannings and Dietrich are both sublime in their roles and Jannings deserves even more praise. Much like his role in The Last Laugh, Jannings' character in this film is reduced to absolutely nothing and von Sternberg does an excellent job mastering and plotting that downfall. You really start to feel sorry for the good professor after a while and want to reach out when he's down and lift him back up. You also get a sense that the professor is just a lonely guy, as one of the first scenes in the film shows Rath awakening from a night's slumber only to find that his pet canary has died. With absolutely no remorse, his maid takes the dead bird and throws it into the fire, and Rath is left with a befuddled look on his face. Poor guy!! This film was great, as I truly enjoyed it and hope that its a sign of things to come in the 1930's.
RATING: 8.5/10 I took it down a notch or so, for the singing scenes as the German songs really didn't do a whole lot for me and I could've done without them. No biggie though.
NEXT UP: The Age of Gold...Luis Bunuel directs...Oh man, more weirdness!!
October 26, 2009 1:26am
Saturday, October 24, 2009
I mounted my steed and looked ahead at the dirt road that lay before me. I have spent several months getting to know the early days of cinema, traveling through the early 1900s, the teens and the twenties. My horse began to gallop slowly down the road, kicking up a small sprig of dust with each step. Without realizing my head turned back and I took one last look at the characters that I've met thus far on my journey: Dr. Caligari, Battling Burrows, Nanook, Count Orlok, Buster Keaton and his many personas, Sisif the engineer, Ahmed the thief of Bagdad, McTeague, The Lone Prospector, Alonzo the Armless, Jakie Rabinowitz the jazz singer, Harold Hickory, Det. Frank Webber and Lulu. They all waved at me as they saw my head turn toward them and I threw up my hand and gave them a passionate wave back. I'd spent a considerable amount of time getting to know those characters and some I'll remember more fondly than others, but they were all certainly worth remembering.
I decided it was time to face forward, so I turned back and that's what I did. I looked up ahead at the thirties, which approached me. I saw a new cast of characters and films that I'll certainly look forward to spending time with: Dracula, Frankenstein, City Lights, M, I Am a Fugitive from A Chain Gang, Scarface, Freaks, Duck Soup, King Kong, It Happened One Night, The Thin Man, Mutiny On the Bounty, Modern Times, Dodsworth, Grand Illusion, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and The Rules of the Game, just to name a few. I look forward to getting to know those movies from the thirties that I have yet to experience, and reliving the ones that I already have.
Your courageous journeyman,
Andrew
October 24, 2009 5:07am
I decided it was time to face forward, so I turned back and that's what I did. I looked up ahead at the thirties, which approached me. I saw a new cast of characters and films that I'll certainly look forward to spending time with: Dracula, Frankenstein, City Lights, M, I Am a Fugitive from A Chain Gang, Scarface, Freaks, Duck Soup, King Kong, It Happened One Night, The Thin Man, Mutiny On the Bounty, Modern Times, Dodsworth, Grand Illusion, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and The Rules of the Game, just to name a few. I look forward to getting to know those movies from the thirties that I have yet to experience, and reliving the ones that I already have.
Your courageous journeyman,
Andrew
October 24, 2009 5:07am
Running Time: 133 minutesDirected By: Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Written By: Joseph Fleisler, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, from the plays "Erdgeist" and Die Buchse der Pandora by Frank Wedekind
Written By: Joseph Fleisler, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, from the plays "Erdgeist" and Die Buchse der Pandora by Frank Wedekind
Main Cast: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz, Krafft-Raschig, Alice Roberts
GOODBYE TWENTIES...
We'll end the twenties and begin the thirties with a German double feature, the first of which, Pandora's Box, is quite good and all the credit goes to the marvelous cast for executing this film.
Luoise Brooks plays Lulu, a beautiful, sexy seductress who can make any man fall to their knees with lust. However, Lulu has her eyes on Dr. Schon, a man who is already engaged and when the film starts looks to break off his affair with Lulu. At first, Lulu doesn't seem to care, knowing that she can have any man she wants anyhow, but when she overhears Dr. Schon tell his son that you just don't marry a woman like Lulu, then she must have what it appears as if she cannot. So, Lulu and Dr. Schon are married, but on their wedding night, Dr. Schon happens upon Lulu alone in a room with Schigoloch (who is either her father or her pimp, it is never defined) and a nightclub strongman Rodrigo, in a compromising situation, Dr. Schon's suspicions become reality and he realizes that he'll never fully be happy with Lulu, as there'll always be other men and he'll always be jealous. Dr. Schon removes a gun from his dresser and at first, attempts to murder the two men, but when the house is emptied later in the night, takes the gun and demands that Lulu kill herself, so that he can become a rational man again, without her. When a struggle takes place, Dr. Schon is shot and killed and Lulu is put on trial for his murder. She is sentenced to five years in prison, but when a commotion breaks out in the courtroom, Lulu gets away with Schon's son, Alwa, who has always had eyes for her.
Luoise Brooks plays Lulu, a beautiful, sexy seductress who can make any man fall to their knees with lust. However, Lulu has her eyes on Dr. Schon, a man who is already engaged and when the film starts looks to break off his affair with Lulu. At first, Lulu doesn't seem to care, knowing that she can have any man she wants anyhow, but when she overhears Dr. Schon tell his son that you just don't marry a woman like Lulu, then she must have what it appears as if she cannot. So, Lulu and Dr. Schon are married, but on their wedding night, Dr. Schon happens upon Lulu alone in a room with Schigoloch (who is either her father or her pimp, it is never defined) and a nightclub strongman Rodrigo, in a compromising situation, Dr. Schon's suspicions become reality and he realizes that he'll never fully be happy with Lulu, as there'll always be other men and he'll always be jealous. Dr. Schon removes a gun from his dresser and at first, attempts to murder the two men, but when the house is emptied later in the night, takes the gun and demands that Lulu kill herself, so that he can become a rational man again, without her. When a struggle takes place, Dr. Schon is shot and killed and Lulu is put on trial for his murder. She is sentenced to five years in prison, but when a commotion breaks out in the courtroom, Lulu gets away with Schon's son, Alwa, who has always had eyes for her.
Alwa and Lulu hop a train to Paris and make their home on a gambling boat, where Alwa seems to be addicted to the game of cards and Lulu is left to fend for herself. With Rodrigo and Schigoloch along for the ride, it seems that everyone is out to get Lulu and her world is crumbling beneath her feet. Has karma nipped Lulu in the bud and will her life continue to spiral downward after the tragic events of her wedding night?
The thing that makes this film is the performance of Louise Brooks as Lulu. Without her there'd be no film. Well maybe there'd be a film, but certainly not as good a film, as the one that G.W. Pabst put out, with Louise Brooks as his star. She totally captivates you, the viewer and you become another man in 1920's Germany, who cannot help but be a little bit smitten by her good looks and erotic behavior. Everything about her is pitch perfect, from the way she carries herself, to her costumes, to her gestures and actions. Louise Brooks nails this part and it's a shame this is the last film with her in the book, because I would've really liked to seen more of her. The rest of the cast plays off of her perfectly, adjusting their talent to interject with hers beautifully. However, there are a few dull spots in the film, which brought it down a few notches for me. Some of the scenes, such as the one on the train, as Alwa and Lulu are escaping and the really long scene on the gambling boat, could've been a hair shorter. But, I'll go back to the positives and say if there's any reason to see this film, then it's for the performance of Louise Brooks!
RATING: 6/10 Great performances with an average story, equal out to an above average rating and the twenties are finished, my friends!
RATING: 6/10 Great performances with an average story, equal out to an above average rating and the twenties are finished, my friends!
NEXT UP: The Blue Angel...Look out thirties, here I come!
October 24, 2009 4:52am
Running Time: 69 minutesDirected By: Dziga Vertov
Written By: Dziga Vertov
A FILM WITH NO INTERTITLES, A FILM WITH NO SCENARIO, A FILM WITH NO CAST
First and foremost let me say that I am all for experimenting when it comes to filmmaking, but The Man with the Movie Camera was an experiment that I did not connect with and ultimately did not enjoy.
The idea is pretty cool. Dziga Vertov took his camera out and shot Russia through the progression of one day. During that one day we see all kinds of exciting things happening in front of us; from babies being born, to people dying, to factories producing large amounts of goods, to couples marrying, divorcing, separating, to men and women swimming, sunbathing, pole vaulting, jumping hurdles and throwing discs and all kinds of other things that you can imagine. The shots seem pretty random and watching this film at first is a bit overwhelming, as you're thrown all these random, off the wall shots and supposed to take them in and make a film out of them in your head. For me it just didn't work.
Not everyone will love every movie, and not every new concept will appeal to every viewer, and that's okay, that's what makes us filmgoers a lively crowd. We can get into heated debates and while one may side with Vertov and love his experimental film, others may condemn him as a hack and hate it. I wont side with anybody, but rather just keep it simple and say that me and this film didn't get along and maybe another day and another view will yield a different rating, but today the verdict is in on The Man with the Movie Camera, and it's not a good one.
RATING: 2/10 I gave it a couple of points, just for the idea, as I felt the idea was great, it just didn't connect with me.
NEXT UP: Pandora's Box...as we say farewell to the 1920's
October 24, 2009 12:52am
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