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Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)
Some Tracks Should Never Be Uncovered.
Filmmaker(s): Bille August

Smilla Jaspersen, half Danish, half Greenlander, attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland. Scenes from the film were shot in Copenhagen and western Greenland. The film was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival, where director Bille August was nominated for the Golden Bear.

Snow Job is a replacement comment, the original having been removed because of a complaint. One of the reasons for leaving IMDB and setting up this site is because possibly over a thousand of my comments were lost because some fundamentalist warrior took it on...


Published December 24, 2024
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Red Desert (1964)
This is the story of a woman… Her hidden thirsts and hungers…

In an industrializing Italian town, a married woman, rendered mentally unstable after a traffic accident, drifts into an affair with a friend of her husband.

Red Sea Parts I see a film and comment on it. If it is one I have seen before, that comment has folds from my life and internal imagination. Every film I have seen builds that imagination in some way. A few are profound and...


Published December 11, 2024
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Ugetsu (1953)
Filmmaker(s): Kenji Mizoguchi

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Saki from the Potter's Hands my film project, I watch a lot of movies. Good and bad. Old, new; new as old, old as "timeless." Nearly all of them take from me. Making art is hard work. Bad artists make you work harder, investing perhaps everything...


Published December 11, 2024
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Double Suicide: Japanese Summer (1967)
Filmmaker(s): Nagisa Ōshima

A sex-obsessed woman, a suicidal man she meets on the street, and a gun-crazy wannabe gangster become trapped in an underground hideaway.

Solid Shadows with Conflicting Death Wishes know a few of this man's films. They are among the richest experiences I know, but I was surprised at how deeply this one worked on me. The surprise comes in part from knowing how specific his target audience was....


Published December 10, 2024
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The Limits of Control (2009)
For every way in, there is another way out.
Filmmaker(s): Jim Jarmusch

A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him across Spain, but also through his own consciousness.

Solarian will have spoilers. They are not of the conventional sort. But I urge you to watch this before reading. I do urge you to watch this. "Ghost Dog," was an effective experience for me. Others might call it zen-like, or evoking a mood like that....


Published November 30, 2024
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Broken Embraces (2009)
Passion, obsession, wealth, jealousy, family, guilt, and creativity.
Filmmaker(s): Pedro Almodóvar

Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.

Blind Onion usual, Pedro builds layer upon layer of introspective insight. As before we have love, image, image as love through the eyes of a filmmaker, love as obsession, obsessions of the filmmaker's eye, and that imposed on the love discovered/portrayed. This time the layering is...


Published November 30, 2024
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Room in Rome (2010)
A night of passion that will change their lives.
Filmmaker(s): Julio Medem

A hotel room in the center of Rome serves as the setting for Alba and Natasha, two sexy and recently acquainted women, to have a physical adventure that touches their very souls.

Maps, Mirrors there is a spoiler alert on this comment and I urge you to take it seriously. You must see this, then come back. The comment below talks about structure, as my comments usually do. The structure should not be apparent to you before you...


Published November 30, 2024
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The Expendables (2010)
Choose your weapon.
Filmmaker(s): Sylvester Stallone

Barney Ross leads a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas, a martial arts expert Yin Yang, heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitionist Toll Road, and a loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee visit the remote locale to scout out their opposition and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city.

Sliding Planes and the "Transformer" movies, even the second "Charlie's Angels." These are silly or even bad films by the conventional measures. This is too. It is vapid, misogynistic and fundamentalist. I wouldn't recommend that anyone go unless they know themselves well enough. But like those other...


Published April 25, 2024
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Fawlty Towers (1975-1979)
Don’t mention the war!
Filmmaker(s): Richard Donner

Owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, a chambermaid Polly, and Spanish waiter Manuel attempt to run their hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding guests.

Silly Walk I have been trying to better understand humour. So because I am old enough to be able to, I have been thinking about Monty Python and in particular which of the Pythonistas mattered more to me. I was lucky enough to find a...


Published February 24, 2024
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Beautiful Kate (2009)
The past is always present.
Filmmaker(s): Rachel Ward

Ned Kendall is asked to return to the remote and isolated family home by his sister, to say goodbye to his father who is dying. Ned also brings his young aspiring actress fiancee who struggles with the isolation. When home he starts having memories of his childhood many involving his beautiful twin sister and his older brother. These memories awaken long-buried secrets from the family's past.

Writer's Blocks the last year, I saw a film (‘In My Father‘s Den‘) with much the same themes. In that New Zealand film, a man, a celebrated war correspondent returns to his rural home on the death of his father. There are significant unresolved frictions...


Published February 23, 2024
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