My energy has been lacking in regards to all things cinematic. Here is what I remember watching (for the first time) since the last time I posted here.
My Blueberry Nights (Kar Wai), 89% B
The Savages (Jenkins), 92% A-
Rocket Science (Blitz), 90% A-
Casandra’s Dream (Allen), 84% B
Jumper (Liman), 85.5% B
Macon County Line (Compton), 86.5% B
Hard Candy (Slade), 87% B
Be Kind Rewind (Gondry), 92.25% A-
I’ve been slacking. These are movies that I’ve watched (for the first time) since last posted review. At least the ones that I remember at the moment.
No Country for Old Men, Coen, 96.75% A
Brazil, Gilliam, 91.5% A-
The Dancer Upstairs, Malkovich, 93.25% A-
House of Games, Mamet, 92.25% A-
Pickpocket, Bresson, 91.5% A-
Once, Carney, 91% A-
American Psycho, Herron, 88% B+
A Fish Called Wanda, Crichton, 89% B+
Two-Lane Blacktop, Hellman, 87% B
I have always liked the DVD cover art for the Criterion Collection. I picked about 30 covers that really struck me out of the 400+ that they have issued. Then I pared it down to these 10, based solely on the cover design (I haven’t seen most of them). When you click on the numbers it’ll take you to a page where you can expand a larger view of the covers.
10. Honeymoon Killers
9. La Commare Secca
8. Koko: A Talking Gorilla
7. Eyes Without a Face
6. La Connectionneuse
5. Bob le Flambeur
4. Charade
3. The Man Who Fell to Earth
2. Pierrot le Fou
1. Jules and Jim
I first became aware of this movie at Blockbuster, back when the rental selection was 99% VHS and 1% DVD. It was in the Sundance section, and after picking things from that section for a while I was over it. But I remember seeing the cover with Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci looking pretty dreadful. For some reason I thought it might be like The Doom Generation, which I loathed, and thus always passed.
But since then I have read favorable things about the movie and found out a little more about Vincent Gallo (friend of the late Jean Michel Basquiat, he’s been a model, rock musician, artist, break dancer, actor, writer, director, producer, etc. I also found out enough to know I don’t need to see The Brown Bunny). And I love good 90s independent cinema so I went for it. The movie is about a loser who gets out of jail and kidnaps a girl to take home to his parents, whom he hates but wants to show that he has made something of his life (married and a CIA agent). It is quirky, funny and sad. The direction is great, with a lot of fun stylistic ways of advancing the story. Other than a slow stretch before the final act, I would say it was entertaining and had good performances by all (Ben Gazzara and Anjelica Huston as his parents, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Corrigan and Jan-Michael Vincent in bit roles).
I will leave you with an unrelated quote from Mr. Gallo:
“I feel very happy that Bush is our president. One way that you can tell we have a good president, is by how much the French dislike him. The more the French hate him, the better he must be. And they hate this one.”
Grade: 91.5% A-
If you know the films Great Expectations, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban or Children of Men then you know Alfonso Cuarón. This film is his first feature and I learned of it when Criterion came out with an edition of it. It is a Mexican social satire that is very entertaining. The lead character is a playboy who jumps from one sexual encounter to another until he messes with the wrong girl– the nurse at his doctor’s office. Taking revenge, she changes his HIV test from negative to positive. He falls in love for the first time with his next door neighbor but then gets the letter with his results in the mail. The movie continues hilariously with him dealing with that and his former lifestyle. The movie is wonderfully stylized (as in Great Expectations, you’ll notice a lot of green) and the cinematography is top shelf. A good movie.
Grade: 90% A-
