DeadChannel

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

Oriphiel

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!

DeadChannel

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

DeadChannel

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

Machine

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

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DeadChannel

New film #1


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

Trollheart

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.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

DeadChannel

Hey, thanks. Hope you find something of interest.

Oriphiel

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".

DeadChannel

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.