2013-11-29

To Kill a Mockingbird



To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962)
In the thirties in Alabama, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) is a widow and a lawyer father of Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Phillip Alford). Saw in the eyes of the children the story is simple but beautifully told about the trial of a black man who supposedly raped and beat a young white woman. Atticus is the lawyer of the black man in this trial that will reveal to the children the racism and the evil of the world.

2013-11-28

Les Cahiers du Cinéma’s 2013 Top 10




Founded by the great André Bazin, Les Cahiers du Cinéma has been one of the main references in films since the 1950’s.

This year, as any other year, they are one of the firsts to release their Top 10 of the year. More often than not, they surprise everyone by ranking unexpected films higher and consensus goodies in the lower ranks.

Without much blabbering here’s what they though was the cream of the year 2013 :

2013-11-27

Two Rode Together



Two Rode Together (John Ford, 1961)

Marshal McCabe (James Stewart) and First Lt. Jim Gary (Richard Widmark) are hired to bring back siblings and parents that have been kidnapped by the Comanches many years ago. They will meet Chief Quanach Parker (Henry Brandon) and make a trade for a young boy and the Squaw (Linda Cristal) of Stone Calf (Woody Strode). 

2013-11-25

Safety Last!



Safety Last! (Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, 1923)
Harold Lloyd’s most popular and well known movie has recently received one of the most prestigious treatments : a Criterion collection release. This classic Silent comedy is famously recognized for its star climbing on the façade of a 12 story building and hanging in the air from a huge clock. 

2013-11-24

A Sun That Never Sets...almost


Wow! I'm always amazed and surprised when someone comments or mentions my blog out there. Just to be read by people other than myself is very heartwarming. This blog has always been a place where I keep a diary of my film viewing experiences, sometimes views and opinions but most of all where I try to share my passion for movies.

2013-11-23

Late November update - Christmas Is Coming



As the turning point of the year that commercials, radio stations, and shopping malls now announce the day after Halloween, Christmas is coming and this year it is on December the 25 th.

2013-11-22

Lone Star (1996)



Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996)

After the discovery of a skeleton in an ancient shooting range in a little town in Texas. The sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) embarks on an investigation that will make him revive the past of his father (Matthew McConaughey), also a sheriff of the town and his predecessor (Kris Kristofferson). Also intertwined are Otis (Ron Canada) as the owner of the African-American bar of the town, the colonel of the almost closed military base (Joe Morton) and Sam’s old flame Pilar (Elisabeth Pena) and her mother Mercedes (Miriam Colon).

2013-11-20

Close-Up

Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
The film tells the story of the real-life trial of a man (Hossain Sabzian) who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. It features the people involved, acting as themselves. A film about human identity, it helped to increase recognition of Abbas Kiarostami in the West.

2013-11-19

How To Make Money or How Hollywood Completely Destroyed Itself




With the recent announcement of a potential sequel to Taxi Driver a It’s A Wonderful Life 2 scheduled for 2015 and the serial remakes, sequels, prequels, etc. Added to that the superheroes series birthing every week featuring more and more CGI special effects, similar stories.

This gives less financing and support for original stories and material for filmmakers wanting to do something else than the mainstream big budget productions.

It is a very simplistic observation that doesn’t take many elements in consideration and I know that I’m probably making a bold statement but I think that Hollywood has just let down cinephiles and film enthusiasts to finance an industry and forgot that it earned its letters of respect and noblesse by the work of artists like Chaplin, Griffith, Lubitsch, Murnau, Ford, Hawks, Hitchcock, and many other great names.

Call me nostalgic, an old fart (at thirty years old), a purist, if you want but I am sad today when I read those upcoming new releases.





What do you think of the actual Hollywood movies? What’s your opionion?

2013-11-18

Hairspray (1988)

Hairspray (John Waters, 1988)
The original campy comedy that generated a Broadway hit musical and an average remake in 2007, John WatersHairspray is a whole lot of fun. With the last appearance of the star of his trashy films like Pink Flamingo, Divine, Hairspray celebrates music and the evolution of tolerance in America.

2013-11-15

Stranger Than Paradise

Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984)
Widely known as the precursor of Independent American Cinema, Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise is so hip that it the term hipster could have been invented just for it. The late Pauline Kael compared Jarmusch‘s film to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot where nothing is actually done and where Beckett wants us to notice every little thing.

2013-11-13

Gloria (1980)


Gloria (John Cassavetes, 1980)
It tells the story of a gangster's girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have.
As much as director John Cassavetes hit a home run with his film A Woman Under the Influence starring his wife Gena Rowlands, he would have been average with his Gloria. At first, Cassavetes didn’t wanted to direct the movie and sold the script to Columbia Pictures. But when Rowlands was linked to the title character she asked for him to direct it. Mixing Cassavetes’ use of Cinéma Vérité and the big studio means, Gloria is on the limit between the independent picture that characterized the director’s fruitful career and the conventional mob movies.

2013-11-12

The Hangover Part III



The Hangover Part III (Todd Phillips, 2013)
Our four forced friends of Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zack Galifianakis) returned with Chow (Ken Jeong) for a new adventure with a story centered more on Chow and his illicit behaviors. Obviously the four get involved with an mortal enemy of Chow named Marshall (John Goodman) that goes back to the Part I linked to Black Doug (Mike Epps) who sold the drug to Alan at the first place.

2013-11-11

The Passenger (Professione: reporter)

The Passenger (Professione : reporter) (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975)
David Locke (Jack Nicholson) is a television journalist making a documentary film on post-colonial Africa. To finish the film, he is in the Sahara desert seeking to meet with and interview rebel fighters involved in Chad's civil war. Struggling to find rebels to interview, his frustrations reach a climax when his Land Rover gets hopelessly stuck on a sand dune. After a long walk through the desert back to his hotel a thoroughly glum Locke finds that an Englishman by the name of Robertson (Charles Mulvehill), who has also been staying there and with whom he had struck up a friendship, has died overnight in his hotel room.

2013-11-08

The Cabin in the Woods



The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012)

While getting into things as the typical horror slasher film where every character must be typecast and situations  of scares and behaviors like having sex in the woods or reciting an ancient formula to rise their death, The Cabin in the Woods twists it topsy turvy and uses the stereotypes to demonstrate its manipulation of the characters and the viewers. Director/writer Drew Goddard and co-writer Joss Whedon are showing the strings behind your typical horror flick and translate it in a some kind of dark prophecy for film geeks and satire lovers. All that in a fashion way to criticize torture porn and a great sense of dark comedy. 

2013-11-06

A Separation

A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
My personal knowledge of Iranian Cinema started with The Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami and ended there. This masterpiece was my only encounter with the films of this part of the world except the short film The House is Black. In the later years, I wanted to discover more films from different countries and cultures. My quest of the 1000 Greatest Films of TSPDT was my basis to get to those films. With the last update of the list Kiarostami got 3 or more titles included on the list plus the ones he already had there. There was also an addition that was also on my list of recent films to discover; Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation. Praised everywhere it entered in competition and even nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars, it won the Best Foreign Film category.

2013-11-04

Down by Law

Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
Jack (John Lurie), Zack (Tom Waits), and Bob (Roberto Benigni) three complete strangers, are put together in the same prison cell for crimes they did not commit. One day, Bob tells them how they could escape.

2013-11-01

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Manhattan Murder Mystery (Woody Allen, 1993)
Larry Lipton (Woody Allen) and his wife Carol (Diane Keaton) meet their new next-door neighbors Paul (Jerry Adler) and Lilian (Lynn Cohen) House. They meet at the Houses' apartment for coffee, and they discover they have common interests. The next night, Larry and Carol find the Houses' door open and a crowd forming in the hallway. Lilian has died of a heart attack. The Liptons are surprised by the death because Lilian seemed so healthy.
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