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DeadChannel · 01-01-2015, 04:21 PM

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 · 01-01-2015, 05:01 PM

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 · 01-01-2015, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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!

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

Trollheart · 01-02-2015, 11:00 AM

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.

DeadChannel · 01-02-2015, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

CoNtrivedNiHilism · 01-02-2015, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

DeadChannel · 01-01-2015, 05:42 PM

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

Unknown Soldier · 01-02-2015, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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)

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.

Quote:

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.

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.

Quote:

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 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.

Quote:

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.

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

Quote:

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.

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.

Machine · 01-01-2015, 07:06 PM

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

DeadChannel · 01-02-2015, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Machine

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

Hey, thanks. Hope you find something of interest.

01-01-2015, 04:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
DeadChannel Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Canada Posts: 1,259	Our Feature Presentation 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 Last edited by DeadChannel; 11-29-2015 at 07:23 PM.

01-02-2015, 11:00 AM	#4 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	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. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-01-2015, 05:42 PM	#7 (permalink)
DeadChannel Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Canada Posts: 1,259	The Great Silence 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 Last edited by DeadChannel; 01-01-2015 at 06:08 PM.

01-01-2015, 07:06 PM	#9 (permalink)
Machine moon lake inc. Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Detroit Posts: 2,125	Subbed, I'm always looking for movies to watch! __________________ boost my ego listen to me stroke my delay pedal ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.

01-01-2015, 05:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,354	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!