Forbidden Planet (1956)

If I may be so bold, this is probably my favorite science-fiction film from the 1950s, a decade which produced some of the most awe-inspiring space pictures of all time. It's entertaining in a silly, almost campy way, providing lots of gizmo-gazmo talk and outrageous sexual innuendos; but in an almost unthinkable opposition the film then turns its plot into a Freudian driven psychological thriller, a story meant to cater to the thinker, not just the thrill-seeker. This daring combination pays off, and while it is a joy to absorb the film's more nostalgic escapist pleasures (glorious Cinemascope, beautiful space color palette, Robby the Robot) it is also exciting to watch such an audacious plot unravel, one that was loosely adapted from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. The cast is pitch-perfect; the young Earth crew is lead by Leslie Nielsen, and Walter Pidgeon is the planet-marooned genious who seems quite upset when the former arrives, satisfied to occupy the forbidden planet alone. Worlds collide as the two begin to take different kinds of interests in Pidgeon's daughter, played by Anne Francis. Added to the film are miraculous special effects which seamlessly blend animation and film, arming director Wilcox with an arsenal of magic allowing anything imagined to be created for the screen. The movie is a rare achievement, a science-fiction film whose bright ideas are ageless and whose antique visuals become finer through the years.

Love this one. One of my favorites growing up in the 90s. Have you seen Suburbia? I thought that one was equally as cool if not better. These kinda films get me a little homesick about the past :p

War Of The Worlds (1952)

Awful dialogue haha and it seemed dumbed down from the little I remember of the record I used to listen to as kid. The heavy handed religious themes kinda ruined it for me by the end. Still... an enjoyable enough distraction for the afternoon but I wouldn't rate it as highly as a lot of people seem to.

Let's not forget the groundbreaking score by Louis & Bebe Barron. First movie to use an all electronic score.

Paperhouse (1988)

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/3584/paperhouse.jpg

An amazingly beautiful fantasy film.

>>: A-

The Broken

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Fun everything-comes-together-nicely-in-the-end flick. Just enough violence to satisfy most. Ashe.
d

Night at the Museum 2 - incredibly horrible piece of embarrasing shit.

UP (in 3D) beautiful film. much deeper than i was expecting - very touching.

La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher)

Id go so far to say its one of the finest examples of Sci Fi from any decade, everything about it stunning. This is one of those films which really is a 100% absolutely must see.


Predator 2

Hugely entertaining film, like it alot.

Ah! Excellent film.
Pretty intense, though. Isabelle Huppert's performance in it is one of my all-time favorites.

Very intense. I've watched it twice already and each time I interpret it in a whole different way. Isabelle Huppert is amazingly constricted and repressed down to her very toes... incredible performance.

That last scene I watched over and over. The expression on her face gives me chills.

The signal

I didn't have any expectations, all I knew was a few people here had dug it recently. It was really good, mixing pycho and brutal horror elements with a bit of comedy at times. One of the best new horrors I have seen for a while.

8/10

Oh my goodness, absolutely.
It's like an explosion.

Role Models

Got a bunch of laughs out of this one. I've done similar work so I could relate to a bunch of it.

"Nightmare at noon" 3/10

It was bad.

Went to see "Drag Me To Hell" Friday. Great movie.

Then swung by my local Best Buy and found a couple others. Seen them but watched them again!

Alien
Last House on the Left (1972)

El espíritu de la colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive) (1973)

Once (2006)

Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) (1957)

I watched Wild Strawberries recently. Really beautiful film.

49th Parellel (1941)

Actually, the only real flaw in the film are the tangled and inconsistent accents, particularly Olivier's French over-execution. This is a wonderful picture full of humor and horror, and there are so many surprises, twists and turns that the ending comes far too soon- this is the kind of vivid story which could go on pleasantly forever. Of course we have Michael Powell to thank for that, a director's director who knows where to find life in his frame. He captures his actors at their most vulnerable, finds drama in the most unthinkable places, and all the while he steadies his story so that the jokes all crack nicely and the tragedies knock you flat. This expert control feels on celluloid something like a pulse, pumping all the rights things into every available space and leaving no shot a waste. An ensemble cast features many good performances and a few great ones, notably Leslie Howard's full-blooded turn as a chatty art-wise Canadian who gets picked on by a couple of Nazis for loose lips, but then pursues his chance to get even. A very funny, often angry and always riveting war-time film which is sure to have a little something for everyone.

My favorite part was the section in the Hutterite community. The extras in the scene where the Nazi makes his recruitment speech were played by actual German expatriot farmers. Amazing melding of reality and reel-ity!

Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

A total fun!

>>: B+

Directed By John Ford (1971/2006)

Now, let me start with an admission that I'm sure will get me attacked by some of the cinephiles around here: I've never actually seen any of John Ford's films :o . That said, I ran across the start of this documentary last night on TCM, and figured why not give it a look.

Really entertaining and informative documentary. Lots of great interviews with some of Hollywood's finest: John Wayne, James Stewart, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and more. Great insight into a film icon and, even though I can't really call myself a fan because I haven't seen any of his stuff, I found myself fascinated by this portrait of a great artist.

Now, I just need to track down some of his films...

...


..............WHAT?!

The Searchers?! The Grapes of Wrath? Stagecoach? You haven't seen any of these? My god you've got a good discovery ahead of you.

...I'm sorry:o

I figured you'd be the first to jump on that one. I really can't say why I've never got into his work...just never ran across much of it around here, I guess. But after watching this documentary, I realize just what I've been missing, and I need to rectify the situation ASAP.

I tried to watch The Fugitive (1947) last night - TCM was showing it directly after the documentary - but by that point it was almost 1 a.m. and I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Don't worry though...I'll be getting some of his stuff as soon as I possibly can.

EDIT - Just noticed that I forgot to post a flick I watched a couple days ago...should get a little bit back into your good books Alky.

Modern Times (1936)

Another shameful admission: this was my first exposure to Chaplin :o. No, I had never seen a Charlie Chaplin picture before...but after taking in this masterpiece, I have to see more.

I loved every second of it...brilliant sight gags, great story telling, just all-around perfect entertainment. Chaplin just about blew me away, what an amazing performer. He doesn't just steal the show, he literally takes control of every single frame he's in. Absolutely spectacular.

Modern Times is the only Chaplin film I've seen. Caught it on the big screen when it was re-released, the had an orchestra playing the score. Amazing!

I love the part with the feeding machine.

Ah, excellent! Now, in this order, watch The Gold Rush and then City Lights. It'll be like an orgasmic Chaplin climax.

But be warned: make sure, make EXTRA SURE that the version of The Gold Rush you watch is the original silent version released in 1925. In the forties he released a re-cut version featuring a voice-over narration, and it is much less enjoyable; for some reason, this version seems to be the more prominant film seen by casual viewers these days, which is a damn shame. The Warner 2-disc DVD has both features on it.

And City Lights...well, it's one of the most indescribable movie experiences of all time.

And Elvis- you should follow suit, buddy!

In the Mouth of Madness

I had the pleasure of seeing this for the first time (it's the summer and I can finally catch up on some good horror movies and not the crap that I end up watching on the sci-fi channel on the weekends (don't have netflix at school)).

anyway i must say that i absolutely loved it! it was really nice to see some creepy scenes that didn't rely on CG. that's what i love about the older style that everything is the in the real plane and thus it makes it more believable (if done right that is). it was good night and i think i completely creeped out my dad on my movie choice...

just wait til next time...i've rented battle royale :D

EDIT:
just forgot, i recently saw My Bloody Valentine

now i am a fan of crappy horror movies (am sure a number of people can share my guilt in this) and jumped on the fact that it had Jensen Ackles in it (i am a die-hard supernatural fan). he was about the only good thing in this movie aside from the almost laughable kills (i did wish i saw it in theaters with the 3-D as i am sure it was really cool). i think the gore would have more of an impact if the actors showed a little more horror at the sudden slaughter of their fellow townsmen. i mean come ON, the first scene in hospital and all the police can say are 'wow. it looks like ....'

anyway, that was my little rant about it. on a more positively side i think that the pace was interesting and i did like the end.

never mind

Oh, absolutely. The entire thing is really flawless, but the dream sequence at the beginning is legendary. One of the greatest sequences ever filmed, I think.

-------------------------------------------

Today, in the ongoing pursuit of introducing people I love to movies I love, I watched:

Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf) (1968)

Clean, Shaven (1993)

Two great films about insanity.

Next Avengers.
Better than I was expecting for a spin-off of a movie based on a spin-off of a comic.

Sin City. All in all a great watch. A paragon of a guy's flick but with artistic flair. Ashe.
d

Pet Semetary.

Such a contradictory flick- flashes of true brilliance surrounded by so much cheesey crap.

Surely Fred Gwynne's greatest role though. He's so creepy yet endearing.

Straw Dogs (1971)

Wow, this film blew me away. It's actually tied with Taxi Driver for my favourite film. Dustin Hoffman was fantastic, and the direction by Peckinpah was flawless.

-10/10

I agree...saw it once at age 12-13 and tracked it down again a couple years ago...I still don't entirely know what to make of it but it is a pretty cool journey.

Saw the 2008 "Journey to the centre of the Earth".
Not AS bad a film as I was expecting...but not really one I'd care to see again.
Also, I'm not doing the 3d thing at home again until they give you those clear (is it tru3d?) ones, hell, I'd pay a hundred or two for a functional double set.
The blue/red shit just fucks with my eyes, makes the whole thing uncomfortable - we ended up watching the rest non-3d after about 45 minutes.

yeah - its garbage - turns everything dull and muddy ..

completely pointless

Ex Drummer

I maybe had to high of an expectation for this. I still really liked it, I think on a second viewing I would like it more actually. It was a bit MTV at times which stopped it from being as gritty as I was hopeing for it to be. Still it looks great.

7/10

Never really thought of Mark Wahlberg as a bad actor...he was fine in The Departed, Shooter, We Own The Night and a couple of others. But after watching The Happening [ or as much as I could get through ] man....this performance was horrible.

The International---pretty good flic with some great locations.

His older brother was in Shooter, Newb.