Sunflower Seductions This was recommended by a friend, as the best film she knows. This is an intelligent woman, so I endured some frustrating months trying to find it in the US, finally to see it on an overseas trip. It wasn’t a great experience for me, excepting two elements. My guess is that I… Continue reading Black Cat, White Cat (1998)
Category: Threes
Films rated three stars out of three
After the Thin Man (1936)
Walk this Way The conventional wisdom is that a classic is something that is so well formed initially that it serves well for a long time. So classic films, for instance, are seen like classic car engines, well engineered things that still work. But I think with art, most of the effect is due to… Continue reading After the Thin Man (1936)
Animal Crackers (1930)
Missed Marks I periodically revisit the Marx films to recharge my own desire for creative anarchy. This time around, I became more aware of how unclever this is as film, and how clever they got later in the medium as fast learners. Its not anarchy yet. This and “Coconuts” were stage shows the Brothers had… Continue reading Animal Crackers (1930)
And the Ship Sails On (1983)
Sleeping Chickens Fellini is a visionary mystic. He sees what he knows before he figures it out. So we have set design, costume design, even character design, before he fills things in with his narratives and allegories. I know this, so don’t come to be disappointed when the stories and allegories do not quite work.… Continue reading And the Ship Sails On (1983)
Amores Perros (2000)
Panting Astrology I believe that the future of film is now firmly in the hands of Spanish-speaking filmmakers. Not that they make the best films, but that they have the current crop of ideas. We saw Italians introduce us to the notion that a camera can be tethered to the soul of a character and… Continue reading Amores Perros (2000)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
Inside the Insides Marlon Brando can do little wrong in my book. Most people see a few giant performances followed by a period of excess and laziness, the only arguments being in when the shift occurred. But I see a genius who long ago exhausted the opportunities available in ordinary film opportunities, and who has… Continue reading The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
The Aminatrix (2003)
Busy I’m not sure I understand why this is being made. Presumably, the goal is to advertise the upcoming matrix sequel in such a way that sets the stage for game and doll marketing. Industry studies show that the type of fantasy that drives the commerce targeting teens and younger does best when “real” images… Continue reading The Aminatrix (2003)
Japanese Story (2003)
The Broken Hill This is a simple project, executed flawlessly. As with most films that bring you into human emotions, this uses an external reference. The gulf between two souls is referenced by cultural differences. The opening of the inner emotional fountain is folded into profound Australian landscapes, opened for mining. Our woman is a… Continue reading Japanese Story (2003)
Amateur (1994)
Abstract Porn Hartley is one of the most interesting directors working. Many associate him with French auteurs, but I think his experiments are more intellectual, more New York. His films are not only about other films, but exist in a world abstracted from them where almost everyone else insists on wallowing in the same space… Continue reading Amateur (1994)
All the Real Girls (2003)
Diversions Warning, if you watch this on DVD, avoid the commentary at all costs. This is a case where the creators are inarticulate nitwits, but what they have created has a particularly intelligent design. Superficially, this is the simple formula: boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl back. With this edition, the two… Continue reading All the Real Girls (2003)