Our Feature Presentation
 

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Danananananananana dudududududududu danana

So, its 2015, I have well over a hundred posts and I've got a new years resolution.

That resolution is to watch 300 motion pictures that I have never seen before. I thought, hey, what the hell, I should make a journal to celebrate the whole affair.

So, I'll be keeping track of everything I watch and dropping in with the odd review. I'll also be reviewing some classics that I already love and hopefully recommending some gems.

Oh, and yeah, I know that Trollheart has something like this already, but screw it, you can never have too much movies.

Films reviewed: 13
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock - 1958 - United States
Shock - Alfred Werker - 1946 - United States
True Romance - Tony Scott - 1993 - Unites States
The Great Silence - Sergio Corbucci - 1968 - Italy
Detour - Edgar G. Ulmer - 1945 - United States
Come and See - Elem Kilmov - 1985 - Russia
I Saw the Devil and His Name Was King
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance
The Bad Sleep Well and Sharknado 2: The Second One
Trainspotting and Buried

Top Whatever Films That I Really Like That Came to Mind When I Thought About Movies That I Love But Aren't in any way Definitive Except Insofar as I Would Recommend Them to Anyone with Eyes: 2
La Haine and Taxi Driver

Good luck with your journal, sounds like it's going to be loads of fun! If you ever need any recommendations for cheesy retro drive-in flicks, just give me a holler!

The Great Silence
 

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I'm starting off with something that won't help my new years resolution, because I've seen it many times before. In fact, it holds the dubious honour of being by favourite spaghetti western (which makes it my favourite western as well)

The Great Silence is a 1968 spaghetti western directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays a mute gunslinger and Klaus Kinski plays a psychopathic bounty hunter.

The movie takes place entirely in the snow. This gives it a creepy, almost claustrophobic atmosphere that contrasts with almost every other western ever made.

The whole thing is typical Corbucci. Peoples thumbs get shot off, they stab each other in the back, they kill for the sake of money. Corbucci's films portray the west (or, in this case, the north) as being full of psychopaths and killers and bounty hunters in a way that he (and to some extent, the spaghetti western) only could. The entire aesthetic of the movie is blood contrasted against snow (also see: Fargo). As is often the case with Corbucci films, it has an aspect of social awareness to it as well, which I'm not going to spoil for you.

Visually, the piece is pretty good. I wish it had maybe a bit more contrast, but we have to remember that it was shot on a shoestring budget. Don't expect the wide angle cinematography of something like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, though.

The sound is typical spaghetti western cheese. As is to be expected, the entire thing is done in ADR. The foley work is fine, but it's also what you'd expect from the genre. This is part of what makes so many people love these movies, though.

I'm a usually a big fan of Ennio Morricone's scores, but this one left me wanting. I'm glad he didn't go the rattlesnake in a drumkit route of the dollars films -- this simply wouldn't have worked with the snow. However, I would've liked something a bit more memorable, ala Fargo.

As a whole, the actors do a good job. Jean-Louis Trintignant's character doesn't talk, but he gets emotions across very well with his expressions and body language. Also, in my opinion, this is Klaus Kinski's best performance in a genre film. Not his best overall, mind you.

Despite obvious flaws, the great silence is a classic western. It's excellent at avoiding the cliches of the genre. You should watch it!

8/10

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome. I'll make a point of it. I'd appreciate anything that you can recommend as well!

Subbed, I'm always looking for movies to watch!

New film #1
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Vertigo is a 1958 American suspense/thriller film by Alfred Hitchcock starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novac.

It's the first new movie for me this year, and a great way to start it off.

Jimmy Stewart plays a detective who develops agoraphobia (fear of heights), and decides to retire. A friend then convinces him to follow his wife, who he has good reason to be concerned about. Soon, though, he becomes obsessed with her...

All of the actors do an very good job on this film. Jimmy Stewart is a pretty consistent actor, so there's not a lot I can say. Kim Novac didn't have too many lines (Barbara Bel Geddes actually probably has more, owing to the quick banter between her and Stewart), but she was the right person for the part. The supporting cast does a good job as well, particularly the previously mentioned Barbara Bel Geddes, who I wish had more screentime (although, at 128 minutes, this is already very long for a Hitchcock movie).

As a whole, its suspenseful, smart and tense. Hitchcock deals with the same themes that he is often associated with, particularly voyeurism (the first few scenes when the protagonist investigates the woman come to mind).

I adore the beautiful 65mm cinematography all over this movie. The colours are vibrant and everything is very sharp. Film grain isn't terribly noticeable either. As a whole, I'd like to watch this on blu ray at some point (I've got the dvd). That being said, there was at least one scene that stood out as having a star trekish softness to it, but that might have just been the print that was scanned.
Interestingly, something called the dolly zoom was invented for this movie. It is achieved by physically moving the camera away from the subject while zooming in. It is often called the "Vertigo" shot, but you might have also seen it in films like Jaws and Goodfellas.

The music is brilliant too. It's not quite as frenetic as Psycho's iconic theme, but it has a great amount of range. As far as I can tell, the dialogue is mostly recorded on location. There also aren't any noticeable mistakes with the foley work on the film.

All in all, I loved this movie. I still like psycho a bit better, but I think this is an 8.5

Welcome to Journaltown!
And don't worry about me: The Couch Potato mostly concentrates on TV, and where I do films they're often sci-fi or fantasy ones (though not always). Anyway, it's not like I have a copyright on the idea.
Nice to see you here. :thumb:

Hey, thanks. Hope you find something of interest.

If you like Klaus Kinski in Spaghetti westerns, you might get a kick out of "Twice a Judas" (1969). I think he also appeared in a few random westerns like "Lo Chiamavano King" and "The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe".

Thanks Trollheart. I'm going to be focusing on foreign film, art cinema, cheezy drive in movies, poverty row noires, etc., so hopefully there's not too much overlap.

I recommend you watch The Man From Nowhere, one of my absolute favorite foreign films. I think you'll love it. I won't describe it to you. I want you to have no expectations.

Be sure to thank me though when you report back here with a raving review.

http://i61.tinypic.com/2im45d0.jpg

It'd be awesome to see a review of this:

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV...14,317_AL_.jpg

Detour
 

Previously watched film #2:
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Detour is a 1945 American poverty row noir film starring Tom Neil, Ann Savage and Claudia Drake and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.

Really, this is the best example of a poverty row film that I can give. As far as I can tell, it might've been done for as little as $20,000, but man is it a bang for the buck. Poverty row studios were sort of like the indies of today. They shot B pictures on shoestring budgets. Often, these movies gained very little critical attention at the time they came out. However, some of them (like detour) have gained attention since then.

Detour is a short, fundamentally flawed film, but it races forward and explodes on impact. It's well paced and powerful. It's got the typical archetypes of the genre (the vitriol spewing femme fatale, for instance), but they're used in an incredibly interesting fashion.

I would describe all of the performances as passable. Tom Neil plays a quietly depressed man, which he does a good job at. Ann savage seldom looses her crunched up expression of rage and hate and general pissed-off-ness, which is at times a a bit funny but works for the part. Throughout the movie, this is really the only feeling that she expresses. I would have likes to see a bit more range. Claudia Drake's performance is pretty unremarkable, but it's not a travesty or anything. None of the performances are terribly naturalistic, but for this type of movie they don't need to be.

The script is dynamic, hard hitting and incredibly climactic. The dialogue is pretty well written. Most of the supporting characters (ie. everyone but Tom Neil) are a bit one dimensional. Even Tom Neil's character feels like he's really just there to serve the plot. This isn't a movie that you'll want to go to if you're looking for character drama.

The music is pretty unremarkable, but there was a scene where the protagonist l plays a piano that I particularly enjoyed. So much so, in fact, that I sampled it in the short film that I shot this summer.
The dialogue is clear enough, and the sound effects are fine (for a 1945 poverty row noir), but there's a cracking in the background throughout. This is something that you come to expect from films like this, though. Nothing to be dome except for maybe a full restoration.

A full restoration seems pretty unlikely, though, because the film has entered into the public domain. It's an excellent example of B noirs, and I full heartedly recommend it. You can probably find it on YouTube if you look.
I give it a 7/10

@Oriphiel: I'll put all of those in my watch list. There's something really special about a good (and sometimes bad) spaghetti.

@ContrivedNihlism: ah, yeah, I've heard good things about that. Also on the list.

@Plankton: broken link...

Yeah man, I went in to the movie blind, knew nothing about it, literally. Late at night, browsing Netflix at a buddies drinking beers, and it caught my eye, and so I watched it and discovered a fantastic work of foreign cinema. I still haven't watched a better foreign film since, thought I am sure if I did some looking around, I'd find something better.

Oh hey, as another late night Netflix movie discovery in foreign cinema, I will also recommend this...

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The movie poster doesn't do much for giving an idea of the film, but trust me; do not judge this movie by its poster. I think you'll be surprised.

http://i58.tinypic.com/29lmcjs.jpg

This one too.

Those all looks really intriguing, so hopefully I can get to a few soon. For the next little while, my internet is to ****ty to download or stream anything, so I'm stuck with whatever I have on dvd and blu ray, but I'll make a point of including those next time I get a chance to download stuff.

Since everyone seems to be posting big pictures of movie posters, I may as well jump on the bandwagon!

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shock
 

New film #2
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Shock is a 1946 film noir starring Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, Frank Latimore and Anabel Shaw and directed by Alfred Werker.

Alanbel Shaw's character witnesses a murder and becomes distraught. The perpetrator (Vincent Price) happens to be a doctor, and he covers up the murder by having her committed to a sanitarium.

I thought this was a terrific idea for a movie, and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's by no means an amazing picture, but it is a solid, dependable way to kill an hour (well, seventy minutes). There's nothing that stands out as being particularly excellent, but it's suspenseful and generally well made. It has a much larger budget than the last movie I reviewed, but it still firmly sits in b picture territory.

The film was made before Vincent Price became known for b horror pictures, and he does an excellent job. On one hand, he comes off as being wonderfully evil. On the other hand, you get the feeling that he has a lot of remorse. All in all, both sides of him work towards a great performance.
Lynn Bari plays a nurse and Price's girlfriend. Throughout then movie, she pushes him to do things so that they both can get away, and she's fairly convincing at it. I wouldn't really say that she's as good as Price in this movie, but she's very competent and right for the part.
Anabel shaw has an interesting part. Throughout the movie, she's psychological distraught over the murder. Honestly, it's a bit overacted (and at times, weirdly sexual). Throughout, she has a wide eyed look of either terror or vacancy.
Frank Latimore plays Shaw's husband who's just returned from war. He seems pretty concerned about her, but again, it's not a particularly remarkable performance.

I'd be hard pressed to differentiate the soundtrack of this film from that of any other 1940s film noir. However, the sound is plenty crisp and clear.
It's shot and lit pretty well. I love classic noir 3 point lighting, and this is a fine example of it. There's also a scene towards the start with some weird distortion going on. I'd like to know how this was accomplished.

I hate to call this movie "so-so", because I actually really enjoyed it and would recommend it to fans of the genre. However, I'm going to give it the so-so rating of:
5/10

Okay, so, I posted my fourth review and updated the banner. Now it's not so large, and it moves!
I might do one more review today if I feel like it, not sure. Maybe a Kurosawa film.

First look into your journal and was shocked to see this. I'm a huge spaghetti western fan and know this film so well. It's probably not my overall favourite, but certainly top 5 and I know it tops many people's lists.

Jean-Louis Trintignant was without doubt one of the finest French actors of his generation and I'll always love him especially in The Conformist. Klaus Kinski was the perfect example of an actor that accepted any role, but always made it something special, such a unique actor and one of a kind.

The snow is its crowning achievement, but Corbucci was always a master of the using brutal environments for his westerns. For example the mud in Django is just legendary.

Perfect summary, whereas Leone was all about style, Corbucci usually said bollocks to that and just went for blood and guts. The most vulgar scene in that film surely has to be Charley eating his chicken just before he's shot :laughing:

I think you'll find that the budget wasn't that low, as Corbucci was one of the biggest spaghetti directors at this time and in most countries where Italian films were shown, spaghetti westerns were booming business. Also Jean Louis Trintignant was one of the biggest actors in Europe at this time and the Alp location where it was shot wouldn't have been cheap like say the Spanish desert.

Heh, I remember watching "Shock". A little on the uneventful side, but Vincent Price was great.

A similar titled film with Vincent Price is the Shocker or as I know it The Tingler, a William Castle classic.

@UnknownSoldier: glad you enjoyed the movie and (hopefully) the review. Is that what you call a review of a review btw? ;)
Regardless, thanks for the support. It's definitely a classic.
Oh, and good catch about the budget. I can't seem to find any information about what it cost to shoot, sadly. It makes sense that it would cost more than I initially thought, though.
I've not seen "The Shocker". Is it worth a watch (and maybe a review)?
Thanks for the support.

@Oriphiel: I enjoyed it for what it was worth, and Vincent Price was what really made the movie.

Previously watched film #3
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Come and See is a 1985 Russian war film starring (and introducing) both Aleksei Kravchenko (Florya) and Olga Mironova (Glasha) and directed by Elem Klimov. It's a beautiful and terrible example of soviet cinema. I've heard it compared to Tarkovsky's seminal 1962 war film "Ivan's Chilhood", which more people have seen in the west (Tarkovsky being similar to directors like Kurosawa, Leone, Godard and Truffaut in regards to western recognition), but I honestly like Klimov's film better.

Speaking of Truffaut, he clearly hadn't seen this movie when he said "There is no such thing as an anti war film, because war, by it's very nature, makes for exciting spectacle."
Well, this movie is actually very low on exciting spectacle. It doesn't so much make you want to pick up a gun (or, to cheer on those that have) as hide under a rock.

In this purpose, it is an absolute success. It is maybe the most terrifying, intense, horrible account of war that has ever been captured on celluloid. If another film exceeds it in those regards, I might not want to ever see it (for my own sanity). In one scene, a girl is brutally raped by Nazis. In another, a church full of children is burned to the ground. It's an incredibly real feeling depiction, while still being, at times, completely absurd.

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The film is an account of Nazi occupation of Belarus (at the time part of the USSR). It follows a young boy named Florya, who witnesses the whole thing. Along the way, his family is killed, he becomes deaf and he meets a girl named Glasha. Neither lead had acted in a film prior to this.
Despite this fact, they both give terrifically traumatised performances. Aleksei Kravchenko particularly, is incredible. Some people would say that he's overacting, but this is exactly how I think a person would act under these conditions. This makes sense, as it's a very method performance. So method, in fact that the director wanted to have him hypnotized after shooting was finished. Unfortunately, this ended up not being particularly effective. Olga Mironova plays an even more disturbed character. I'm just going to describe her performance as "bat**** crazy". In the best possible way.

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The music compliments what's happening on screen perfectly. It's seriously some if the most provocative movie music ever. I guess you could describe it as ambient, but, like, the most unsettling ambient music EVER (okay, probably not, but when paired with the movie...). There are also a lot of points where classical music is mixed with what's already here, which is used to great effect. At some point, I'd like to do a full review of the soundtrack, but that's for another day.



The picture was largely shot on steadicam (a cylindrical thing that keeps the camera steady -- I want one). It also looks like, at times, they used a lot of practical lighting (that is, light that was available in the environment rather than light from on set lights). The colours are very drab and muted. Most of the time, greens and browns dominate. When all of this is put together, it gives the movie a very real feel. Often, it looks like a documentary (if a documentary had feature film type production, that is. It by no means looks rushed or on the spot). I also noticed a few split diopter shots (a lens split in two parts, with each part having a different focal length, often used to get deep focus, see THIS). Rather than simply using these shots for deep focus, the film creates some really beautiful visual compositions.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2itAWjtiJa...and_see005.jpg

So, what did I think? Well, to put it simply, Come and See is a masterpiece, and among the greatest war movies ever made. I can't recommend it for the faint of heart, but if you want to see something truly great, go and see.

10/10

I'm just getting warmed up with movie recommendations. I usually do not get any bad feedback from any foreign movie I suggest someone check out, I think I have pretty good taste in foreign cinema and hopefully you'll be another individual that tells me you loved what I suggest you watch.

There's a pretty great film called Mother that you should look in to as well. Then there are the IP Man movies, too. One of my favorite foreign actors plays Ip Man in those movies, Donnie Yen; he's got other great movies as well, dramas, comedy/action/to straight up action packed madness.

I'll go through my collection and post other films I think you'd enjoy.

Needless to say because of the violence his films, they were always under threat of censor and for the US market they were often heavily cut. I think it was only in France that they were never cut.

If you really like spaghetti westerns I heavily recommend the Alex Cox book "10,000 Ways to Die" it's an essential read as he reviews loads of films in detail, it's a bit biased at times but his knowledge is unsurpassed on the subject.

Nearly every Vincent Price film from this era is worth a watch, but "The Tingler" is a real cult classic, as it's about a creature that forms in the human body on the spine when a person reaches extreme fear..... so of course it's worth watching:)

I noticed you did an Ulmer film and I'm a big fan of films by German/Austrian émigré directors/actors like this that fled to the USA in the 1930s from Nazi Germany and include people like Fritz Lange, Ernst Lubitsch, Peter Lorre, Erich Von Stroheim, Richard Siodmak and Edgar Ulmer etc.

Edward Ulmer was a bit uneven but if you haven't you really need to check out the low budget "Bluebeard" with John Carradine and the classic "Black Cat" one of the very best Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi films.

Hey man, if you like martial art movies, surely you know of the Shaw Brothers?

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I'll be honest Oriphiel, I've not heard of them. I'll look in to watching the above movie you posted though.

If you like martial arts and cheesy drive-in flicks, you'll be in heaven! Here's an example...

Sorry 'bout that.

Adventures of Power: In his quest to become the world's greatest air-drummer, a small-town dreamer must overcome obstacles and ridicule to save the day.

Adventures of Power (2008) - IMDb

@ContrivedNihlism: ip man is great. I'll make sure to check some of that other stuff out.

@UnknownSoldier: unfortunately, a lot of spaghettis also didn't get the critical recognition they deserved because they were seen as being cheap Italian knockoffs.
I'll have to check out that book. Looks pretty interesting.

@plankton: I'll make sure to have a look at some point (connection is still an issue, so you'll have to wait a bit.

Oh, and to everyone: I updated Come and See with the first half of a review. It's longer than the other ones and contains pictures. I went more in depth because I feel like the movie deserves it.
I need to take a break (typing all of these on my phone until I can get my laptop back), but I'll be back in a bit to write about the technical aspects of the film.

New movie #3:

https://www.movieposter.com/posters/.../109/MPW-54893

True Romance is a 1993 Romace/Crime film starring Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. Notably, it was also written by Quentin Tarantino.

I'm maybe sometimes a little too critical of romantic movies. Having been forced (by family and friends) to sit through a few too many Adam Sandler schlockbusters, I think I have good reason to be on edge when a movie is titled "True Romance". Why is it that when screenwriters get handed this type of job, they loose all semblance of originality?

No, I'm not afraid of the softer side of human emotion. Hell, I have a triple feature box set of Alfred Hitchcock romances (to be reviewed) sitting beside me. I'm simply not a fan of generic, commercialised BS. Naturally, this movie wont fare well unless it can bring something fresh to the table...

http://seetimaar.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/tr1.jpg

The story starts off with Clarence Worley (Slater) meeting Alabama Whitman (Arquette) while watching a triple feature of kung-fu movies in a theatre. Later they go on a date (which escalates quickly).
However, Alabama soon reveals to Clarence that she was a call girl hired by his boss as a birthday present, but that she's fallen in love with him (groan...). Soon (like, really very soon), they're married. Clarence ends up killing her pimp (played by Gary Oldman) and steals several hundred thousand dollars worth in cocaine.

Okay, so, that last bit with the pimp killing and cocaine stealing was a bit of a left turn (or would have been if Tarantino hadn't been the writer). And, the rest of the movie follows suit. This really isn't the boring crap that we've come to expect from the genre.
I'm a big fan of the whole 90s crime cinema thing, and this is a decent example. It's actually more of a Tarantino-esque crime film built around a romance than just a romantic movie.

Honestly, the love story itself isn't that great. It moves forward super fast, and (despite the call girl thing), isn't that new. However, this is a story that has a lot to offer besides that. Tarantino's writing in nimble, the dialogue is witty (although, a few lines very closely resemble stuff he would use later on in his own films). The film is also at times either very funny or very emotional, which can be hard to pull off.

One thing that particularly bothered me, but shouldn't be taken as a strike against the film, was the movie theatre scene. Alabama waltzes in in the middle of the movie, intentionally spills popcorn on Clarence, lights up a cigarette and tries to engage in conversation. Probably 70% of my pet peeves involve movie theatres, and this bothered me to no end. I don't care how attractive Patrica Arquette is, talking/smoking/whatever in a movie theatre is like the ultimate turn off. This isn't something that is really to do with the quality of the film, though. Just something that bugged me.

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Christian Slater plays a pop culture obsessed cool guy who works at a comic book shop. However, he shows that he has a dark side too, and manages to play both sides pretty subtly.

Patricia Arquette's performance is okay. Sometimes she takes the giggly-ness a bit too far, which can be a bit annoying. She does, however, play the more emotional moments of the film rather well.

Both leads do a decent job, but where the movie really shines is the supporting cast. A few actors who stick out were:

Christopher Walken, who plays a Sicilian thug who's after the leads because of the cocaine. He really does an excellent job playing a (maybe) psychopath.

http://media.giphy.com/media/11gocxOejJHXag/giphy.gif

Brad Pitt, who plays a character who's really just there to move the story forward, but makes it really interesting. He's a stoner who (apparently) never leaves home and watches tv and smokes all day.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...e_2120674i.jpg

Gary Oldman, who plays Drexel the pimp. This guy is maybe the best part of the movie. He's so insane, it's great. Gary Oldman is always awesome as a villain (go see Luc Besson's "Leon the Professional" and "The Fifth Element").

https://cinema1544.files.wordpress.c.../09/drexel.jpg

The soundtrack is excellent. There are quite a few classic rock n' roll tunes that you might recognise. The ost, by Hans Zimmer, is very good too, taking an almost ironic approach with music that sounds like it would be well suited to a Tarzan movie.

The image is pretty sharp and the colours are (as is to be expected from a sex, drugs, rock n' roll pop culture obsessed crime comedy) very vibrant. As Vincent Vega once said, it's like a wax museum with a pulse.

Oh, and those Hawaiian shirts are great.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...9945c3470d.jpg

I liked this movie. It's certainly not without it's flaws and (cringe) movie theatre antics. I wouldn't say it's as good as many of the great 90s crime dramas (Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, Goodfellas, The Usual Suspects, Boogie Nights etc.), but it's certainly worth giving a watch, and giving a:
7/10

Hey everyone, I finished the true Romance review. Enjoy!

Nice review! I'll definitely check out "True Romance" sometime.

The scene with Dennis and Chris is priceless.

Coming soon to a movie reviewer near you:
http://static.cinemagia.ro/img/db/mo...nt-437724l.jpg

So, I won't be writing any reviews until I can get my laptop back, but to keep track of watched films:

http://cinemaflair.com/wp-content/up...ko-d799yjv.jpg

Gonna add two new watched films. Swear to god, I'll catch up on the reviews this weekend.

Alfred Hitchcock - Frenzy
Richard Linklater - Boyhood

Do you ever watch Italian giallos?

It's not really a genre that I've delved too far into, although I'd like to at some point.

Any recs to get started with?