i've watched a lot of great stuff lately.
MOTHER - this is korean. pretty great. about a dumdum's mum who does what she can for her offspring. beautifully shot and acted. great script and editing. will fuck with your head. check it out!
THE BIG HEAT - this was pretty great and i didn't know it was directed by fritz lang. some very fritz-langy shots but actually great performances by the cast including a donkey-looking young lee marvin and a fantastic gloria grahame-- not a great beauty but she delivers awesome line after awesome line. was this the last "official" film noir? it's from 1953, pretty late for this type of movie, which confused me at first (though some characters make a point of highlighting that-- "this country is changing"). loved the fred flinstone steak.
SCANNERS - not the first time i've watched it but i'm doing a little cronenberg retrospective and it looks better on rewatch. this was the second movie i watched in this series, a bit out of chronological order but eh. what a great fucking story. yeah, cheaply shot, okay, but it preludes stuff like videodrome, for example. i'd say cronenberg was cyberpunk before the cyberpunks.
RABID - i couldn't get a hold of SHIVERS so i got this as a starter for the cronenberg binge. i've seen it before but it was fucking great again, and so was marylin chambers. a pity that she never made more mainstream movies, had troubles, and died early
THE WHITE RIBBON - michael hanneke's original script and it's excellent. in gorgeous black and white. i love it how he always presents you seemingly normal people and then he shows you their vile and nasty side. at this he never fails. this time he takes on an early 20th century northern german village-- peasants, burgers and nobility included. wonderfully done. has some horrid images and situations but they are worth the pain.
SHADOWS AND FOG - woody allen's homage to early film noir (speaking of fritz lang). it does feel like a filmed play (it's the dialogue that does it) but it was great anyway, i loved it, all except for mia farrow-- i don't know what he saw in her, but whatever, the movie still works and it's great.
JACK SMITH AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS
since it's hard to get a hold of jack smiths' movies i watched this-- and now i know why it's so hard-- most of them don't exist as "movies" proper. great fucking little documentary. now i understand john waters much better-- and i think i know where the raping monster lobstora came from. great stuff. all a bit tragic in the end. but great film & material & starter point for looking at more of his stuff.
DIABOLIQUE - the original one! of course. curious how the character of the benevolent cop is such a trope in french film. is that because they trust their government more? (e.g. compare vs. the big heat). anyway, great fucking movie, worthy of hitchcock and then some, and only later i realized henri-georges clouzot also directed THE WAGES OF FEAR, which is fucking amazing, but a totally different kind of movie.
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Originally Posted by evollove
Has anyone seen BLUE JASMINE yet?
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not yet, no. comes out on disc in january. i've seen the trailer though and i'm really looking forward to it.