cinemiotique

Michael Reeves Article in Fangoria #304

2011-04-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

Be on the lookout for my article on director Michael Reeves and the historical significance of his 1969 epic "Witchfinder General" (starring Vincent Price). Discover how "Witchfinder" helped lay the groundwork for modern day movie violence and forged a new path for filmmakers looking to explore the extreme peaks of realism. Fangoria #304 will be on sale June 1st!

Sorority Row (2009), Stewart Hendler *

2010-03-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

I think it’s safe to say that the screenwriter had some trouble deciding who the mysterious killer of this lurid tale would be. The two red herrings were certainly out of the question, as they would have been far too obvious. So in true “I’ve-got-no-clue-how-to-end-this-thing” fashion, we're presented with a pair of characters whose motivations are completely implausible! Pure, unadulterated dreck!

Drag Me To Hell (2009), Sam Raimi ****

2009-07-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Drag me to Hell. Indeed. Only it wasn’t hell. And I certainly wasn’t dragged. In fact, this was a breath of fresh air!

When I heard that Sam Raimi was returning to horror, I must admit, like everyone else, I had high expectations.

I'm happy to report that those expectations they were not only met -- but surpassed!

The thing that struck me most about this film-going-experience was just how fun it was (as was Army of Darkness and Darkman before that). The scares, the comedy, the pacing, everything: a perfect brew... as only Raimi can do!

Drag me to Hell. Saw it three times, it inspired a Sam Raimi retrospective, but most importantly, it got me to pick up the pen and write a friggin’ horror film.

Les Diaboliques (1955), H.R. Clouzot ****

2007-11-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

The title translates as THE DEVILS - but who exactly are the devils? Nothing is quite what it seems in H.R. Clouzot’s classic and highly influential crime thriller.

Set at a boys’ boarding school, the film centers around two women who plot the perfect murder. Christina (Vera Clouzot) is wife to the school’s cruel and sadistic headmaster Michel (Paul Meurisse); and despite her ailing heart condition, Michel insists on having an open relationship with his mistress and fellow school teacher Nicole (Simone Signoret). But when Nicole begins complaining of Michel’s cruelty and abuse, the two women conspire against him and begin planning his demise.

The film begins with an intense and foreboding score; complete with out-of-tune vocals and thunderous organs. We then get our first shot of “water”: a paper boat floating peacefully in a puddle. Suddenly, the boat is trampled by a passing vehicle. This foreshadowing is followed by many references and allusions to water. Naturally, water is an element associated with purifying, but Clouzot cleverly turns this assumption on its head.

For instance, the two conspirators fill a bathtub in order to drown the drugged and unsuspecting Michel – the loud rush of water drowning the characters with tension. Then after the body mysteriously refuses to surface, they find themselves draining an entire pool where the body was dumped and made to look like an accident/suicide. There is even the amplified and ominous “drip” from the bathtub after the murder has been committed; a great devise that Mario Bava might’ve picked up for his horror classic BLACK SABBATH (1963).

Being a masterfully directed film, LES DIABOLIQUES was apparently a great influence on Alfred Hitchcock who later used the films same authors for VERTIGO (1958). On a more trivial note, the film landed at number 49 on Bravo’s 100 SCARIEST MOMENTS!

No Country for Old Men (2007), Joel and Ethan Cohen **1/2

2007-11-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Whether the film is good or bad, if it's the Cohen brothers, you can always count on some great sequences - of which there are plenty here. Unfortunately, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN didn’t live up to the hype, but it’s still entertaining as hell.

It's apparent that the Cohen brothers possess a deep understanding and appreciation of cinemas past. Just observe their effective use of silence, sound and framing - all of which comes from filmmakers that have already written the language of cinema. The Cohen’s are somehow able to look at directors like Hitchcock and Leone and apply their techniques without ripping them off. They watch, they study, they learn. They harvest these elements of effective story telling and tension-building, then stamp them with their own distinct style and look.

The plot for OLD MEN is very simple: Man stumbles upon drug deal gone wrong; man finds a case full of cash; man is pursued by ruthless assassin bent on getting the cash back.

Within this simple plot line are plenty of great moments filled with tension and suspense, but the film ultimately falls apart at the end. I invested a lot in these characters and wanted some kind of resolution.

Now I understand that “independent film” doesn’t always agree with Hollywood’s “happy ending”; their argument being: life is unpredictable and film should sometimes model life. But then I have to ask: why even tell a story? Stories always end. Stories are not life. Life is life. And stories are stories. A down beat ending is one thing, but no ending at all is another thing entirely! The whole argument feels a bit pompous.

I sense you can feel my frustration!

But this actually says something positive about NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. The characters were well written, the performances were excellent and the simplistic plot was exciting and engaging - even if at times the writing felt a bit sloppy. Since I’m conflicted however, I’m giving the film exactly half the stars it could have gotten with a proper ending.

Control (2007), Anton Corbijn ****

2007-11-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Joy Division will always be a part of my life - even if I don’t listen to them nearly as much as I use to. Some ten years back I found myself immersed in the electronic arrangements and driving beats of a very popular 80’s band called New Order. I soon discovered that New Order was once a little known cult band named Joy Division.

Fascinated by the drastic stylistic and tonal differences between the two bands, I decided to pick up the Ian Curtis (lead singer of Joy Division) biography TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE and started reading it on a trip to Paris.

While in Paris I spent an entire day and two rolls of black & white film at Pere-Lachaise; the final resting place of many artists, poets and musicians - Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Chopin just to name a few. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

And guess what was playing on my walkman that entire day? CLOSER by Joy Division.

A few years went by and I found myself drawn to different types of music; music with messages of hope, perseverance and perhaps a healthy dose of self examination.

Then I found out that TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE was being made into a movie. Suddenly, that day at Pere-Lachaise came back in vivid memory. I broke out the old Joy Division albums in anticipation.

Oh... and Anton Corbijn was directing!

I’ve been a fan of Anton Corbijn for as long as I’ve known the bands he’s photographed. Corbijn has created enduring images and album artwork for bands such as U2, Depeche Mode and yes, Joy Division. You may not know him by name, but you’ve seen his work.

More than his amazing photographs however, I’d say that my greatest memories of Anton Corbjin go back to a series of music videos he did for Depeche Mode. I remember being blown away with their powerfully simple images. Corbijn is a photographer first and foremost, so there’s a great deal of emphasis placed on the individual shot in his music videos. And like any great filmmaker, he makes every shot count; each shot presents a unique idea that can be admired on it’s own.

I remember thinking that this guy should definitely make the jump to feature films. And now over a decade later (over twenty years after shooting his DM music videos), he’s finally made the jump.

And CONTROL is as good as it should be. Corbijn’s images are as well thought out and striking as ever and he most certainly demonstrates that he can handle directing great performances in a powerfully dramatic story. Sam Riley and Samantha Morton are terrific in the leading roles and the music of Joy Division couldn’t be more perfectly incorporated. Whether you’re familiar with the songs of Joy Division or not, the film stands on it’s own as a piece of cinematic splendor.

American Gangster (2007), Ridley Scott ***1/2

2007-11-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

The moment I saw the trailer for this film, I knew I’d love it. It’s 70’s, it’s Ridley Scott, and it draws on one of my favorite sub-genres of all time – blaxploitation!

AMERICAN GANGSTER tells the true-story-based tale of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), who during the late 1960s inherits the territory run by the then-late Bumpy Johnson and builds a Harlem based heroin trafficking ring that manages to undercut the Italian mafia. Frank’s heroin is pure, cheap and cleverly shipped directly from Bangkok using military caskets during the Vietnam conflict.

Hot on his trail is detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), a brutally honest undercover cop who deals not only with the corruption out on the streets but also within the police force.

Screenwriter Steven Zaillian makes both characters equally interesting by flipping their personal and professional lives. While Frank Lucas is a ruthless mob boss, he values his family and lives by a strict code of honor. Richie Roberts on the other hand, turns in a million dollars in unmarked cash and exposes police corruption making him a less than well liked figure on the force, but he’s also a cheating husband, womanizer and unfit father. Richie Roberts it seems is the one cop Frank Lucas can’t buy. The story is so engrossing and well told that the 157 minute running time is hardly felt. Some of the dialog and the random placement of that dialog (Lucas: "You're either somebody or you're nobody") gets a little tedious in places. It'll make you roll your eyes, but ultimately won't hurt your enjoyment of the film.

The first thing that really got me excited was the parallel between this story and that of Tony Gibbs (Fred Williamson) in Larry Cohen’s 1973 blaxploitation classic BLACK CAESAR. While the film proudly displays its low budget trappings, it also has a lot of things going for it - everything from Fred Williamson’s badass performance to the wonderful and completely complimentary music provided by the legendary James Brown. BLACK CAESAR is the door into what some of us were hoping would be an enduring sub-genre.

Since the death of blaxploitation there's been the occasional film that would reminds us of what we’ve been missing. Films like ACTION JACKSON, NEW JACK CITY, JACKIE BROWN, BLACK SNAKE MOAN and now AMERICAN GANGSTER.

AMERCIAN GANGSTER is a film that I’m sure wouldn’t like the label of blaxploitation and for the most part it doesn’t quite fit the bill - in fact, it's closer to SCAREFACE and GOODFELLAS than anything in the blaxploitation back catalog. Ridley Scott’s film has top-notch performances by both its leads and supporting actors (Josh Brolin deserves special recognition), has a significant budget and in all the recent heat surrounding the use of racist language, the “N” word is only spoken two or three times. But when “Across 100^th Street” by Bobby Womack starts to play, you know there’s a respectful nod to a whole sub-genre of films that would never fly in today’s politically correct society.

Shock Corridor (1963), Sam Fuller *****

2007-10-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Some six years ago when I was living in Istanbul I made friends with a cinephile. He was an American obsessed with the Turkish pop culture of the 1960s and made his living writing articles on the subject and teaching English. As it turned out, he knew a great deal about movies too. All kinds of movies. When I was finally invited to his apartment to watch a couple of flicks I was bombarded with unkempt shelves full of films and books – so much so that the apartment was quite difficult to navigate. Turkish film posters from the 1960s covered the walls. A film junkie’s paradise.

One of the films we watched that day was SHOCK CORRIDOR. Needless to say, I liked the film, but I wasn’t thoroughly impressed; not like I was the second feature of the day: BURIAL GROUND (1981). As the years went by however, I would come across random discussions on SHOCK CORRIDOR’s relevance to both cinema and American culture. And how could I forget the way that cinephile introduced me to the film in the first place - like it was a forgotten treasure that only an elite few had the privilege to watch.

SHOCK CORRIDOR tells the story of Johnny Barrett; a fame obsessed newspaper reporter bent on winning the Pulitzer Prize. With the co-operation of his staff and reluctant girlfriend, he schemes to have himself committed to a mental hospital in order to investigate a murder.

Widely seen as just-your-average B-movie upon its release, Sam Fuller cleverly takes this simple premise and creates an allegory for American society during the 1960s. Exploring the topics of xenophobia, racism and nuclear war, Fuller successfully compares 60's America to an insane asylum.

What struck me most this time around was just how fresh and relevant the film felt. Having recently undergone the horrendous witch fires here in California, I made a daring observation. A local news reporter (Channel 8/CBS) took it upon himself to report the burning of his own home. Initially I felt a great deal of sorrow for his loss, but then you start thinking, if that had been my home, would I be reporting it live on television for everyone to see? No. Then the reporter starts showing up on national news programs. He’d gone big time. He was seen as a trooper within the media for never putting the camera down; even during a time of personal crisis. Could it be that he was looking for his own Pulitzer Prize? An Emmy perhaps?

The Saw Franchise *

2007-10-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

When this series started some four years ago, I’ll admit that I was marginally interested. The concept sounded interesting and the jigsaw puppet used to promote the film definitely fell into the category of creepy/cool. Not to mention a majority of the horror fanzines were giving it glowing reviews.

Now at this time with the massive onslaught of foreign DVD releases, I was discovering the Italian giallo for the first time (for those of you who don’t know; giallo films are essentially sadistic whodunits made popular in Italy during the 1970s). And oh how I loved the Italian giallo. So in some publication (I forget which), SAW was being billed as a throwback to this underrated subgenre. I guess that’s really what peaked my interest most.

Needless to say, I walked out of the theater disappointed on all accounts. The creepy/cool puppet was underutilized. The acting was horrible - even for a horror movie. The MTV style editing was ridiculous, forcing the audience to disengage with whatever story there might have been. And worst of all – it was nothing like a giallo film!

But unable to learn from my mistakes, I ventured in with the rest of the sheep to see SAW II. And years later, out of sheer boredom, decided to rent SAW III. And the only thing I gathered from those experiences was how much worse the series was becoming. The cops and detectives in these movies reminded me of the same roles in Ed Wood’s films - minus the charm. The gore was completely halloween-store-bought-phony making all the set pieces a complete laugh riot.

Both movies were a chore to get through - and that’s putting it mildly.

What baffles me is how this insanely boring and uninspired horror franchise managed to monopolize Halloween and continues to make more and more money. Other, more worthy, entries to the genre are forced to open in August out of fear of competing with this juggernaut that is SAW. I have no idea who is going and supporting these films (although up to this point I've been guilty as charged), but hopefully this time around horror fans will demand a little more from their beloved genre and sites like Bloody Disgusting will stop excepting bribes for good reviews. A couple years back Johnny Depp stated that Hollywood criminally underrates it's audiences, but with the continued success of franchises like SAW, who's to say.

So all this has got me thinking. What is it about the SAW movies? Despite how much I loathed the first installment there are plenty of people that loved it – but not the sequels. So perhaps what we have here is something similar to A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. I was crazy for Freddy Kruger growing up and while the first three NIGHTMARES are decent enough, the rest of the series completely fell flat. But there I was supporting my favorite boogeyman. And so the series went on and on. And continues to go on.

Could Jigsaw be this generations Freddy Kruger? Probably, but come on, you know who would win in a fight!

Wrong Turn 2 (2007), Joe Lynch *

2007-10-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to like this movie – I mean really!

To the great disappointment of many of my friends and fellow film lovers, I absolutely adored the first Wrong Turn. Sitting in that next-to-empty theater in ‘03 I felt like I was immediately thrust back to the heyday of slasher films.

Forget about these jokers that tell you how influenced they are by the 70’s and 80’s and how their film is the throwback we’ve all been waiting for – Wrong Turn was the real deal! Period. Recently there have even been some good horror films making this crazy claim, but none have hit the mark quite like Wrong Turn.

So naturally when I found out there was going to be a Wrong Turn 2 and that the reviewers for both BloodyDisgusting.com and Fangoria.com were giving it glowing reviews, I began counting down the days.

I’m not sure what movie these reviewers were watching – perhaps it was a different cut of the film – but this was the biggest waste of time and encompasses everything I hate about the modern horror film.

Let’s start with the lack of detail. The opening shots of Kimberly Caldwell driving through the back woods of Virginia immediately threw me out of the film - the roads were way to clean – it looked civilized. First red flag!

Then when we finally get inside the home of the inbreds it looked as though the wood floors had just been mopped. The last I remembered, homicidal inbreds weren’t that good at house keeping. Out of curiosity, I had to go back and watch the same scene in the first Wrong Turn – there’s no contest.

Now this might seem like nit-picking to a lot people but let’s not forget what Ed Wood said: “Filmmaking is not about the tiny details. It’s about the big picture.” Remember, in addition to being a comedy, Ed Wood is also considered a cautionary tale.

Let’s move on.

In the behind-the-scenes featurette, director Joe Lynch said that he comes from the “Sam Raimi School of Filmmaking”, but I’m not so sure Sam Raimi would see it that way. Who am I kidding; Sam Raimi probably wouldn’t even care. But I do.

Lynch blatantly rips off the signature Raimi edits and camera moves with an I-can-achieve-it-too glee. And the “throwback” to the Texas Chainsaw dinner scene was blatant and unnecessary as well. For God’s sake people! We’ve all seen the same films! Surprise us with something new!

Another thing about Joe Lynch that caught my eye and got me thinking was the man’s mannerisms – and I blame this on you, Quentin Tarantino. It seems like a lot of these up-and-coming directors in the horror genre feel as though they need flail their hands around, talk really fast and act like they had ADD to be considered a legitimate director and taken seriously. Hell, I’ve even found myself acting like that when talking about movies. It’s contagious sure, but completely unnecessary. And it just makes you look like a fool.

So bottom line: this is as bad as straight-to-video releases get.

Elevator to the Gallows (1958), Louis Malle ****

2007-10-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the people at Criterion I’ve watched yet another classic film I had no idea existed - Louis Malle’s precursor to the French New Wave - Elevator to the Gallows. The script was adapted from a crime/pulp novel by Noël Calef and predated the now famous film movement that experimented with many of the mediums fundamentals.

What I admired most about Elevator to the Gallows was its simplicity. The film had a very structured script in where both “cause-and-effect” and fate played key roles. Just when you think you know how things are going to end, the script shifts in a new direction.

The foundations of a great film is a great script. It’s fairly evident that Malle is a competent director - the shots are beautiful and the editing is smooth; but it was the script that held me to my seat.

I also have to give a shout-out to the score by Miles Davis. It is indeed beautiful and cements Elevator to the Gallows as classic noir!

The Great Dictator (1940), Charlie Chaplin *****

2007-10-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Oh how times have changed!

The Great Dictator was written and directed by Charlie Chaplin a full year before the United States entered WWII. The film mercilessly satirizes Adolph Hitler, Nazi Germany and fascism – an astounding feat considering today’s divided political climate in America. We’re most certainly getting our doses of war movies out of Hollywood (this week saw the release of The Kingdom) but unfortunately the message is very masochistic. There is nothing to unite us, empower us or give us hope. Oh how times have changed!

With that being said, this has become my favorite Charlie Chaplin film – hands down! With this being Chaplin’s first “talkie” he proves that not only is he a master of physical comedy but of verbal comedy as well. The film brilliantly balances humor with heart wrenching drama and manages to unite its viewers on such a serious and tragic subject. Rather than fearing or even loathing the great dictator, Chaplin gives us a unique opportunity to simply laugh at him.

And a special mention to Chaplin’s final speech! Not only is it incredibly well written but it is delivered with such sincerity – a true testament to Chaplin’s ability as an actor! Genius! Genius! Genius!

Dear Mr. Chaplin, I think that when you died a little piece of Hollywood died with you.

Kill, Baby…Kill! (1966), Mario Bava *****

2007-10-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

I need to be upfront about the fact that I became aware of Mario Bava just four years ago. In that time however, I have become a huge admirer and made it a personal goal to view as many films by this criminally underrated director as possible.

Unfortunately I had to watch Kill, Baby…Kill! online at Fangoria.tv. The release of the DVD from Dark Sky was pulled for some reason so I had to subject myself to the full screen Europix version. Naturally, I can’t wait to view this film in it original aspect ratio, but this version didn’t bother me too much. In fact, I was just glad to have finally seen it!

For me, watching a film by Mario Bava is like reliving Saturday afternoons as a kid. Bava’s direct approach to horror with the cobwebs, frightened villagers, decrepit castles and foggy graveyards harkens back to seeing Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in a classic gothic Hammer production. Kill, Baby..Kill! managed to successfully draw me into its haunted world just as Black Sunday and Black Sabbath had.

The Warriors (1979), Walter Hill **

2007-10-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

I’d been hearing a lot about this film for the last couple of years. I interviewed Irwin Keyes at the onset of Rob Zombies transformation from rock star to filmmaker and he stated that The Warriors was a film he was extremely proud to be a part of (he was in one shot). That same day I interviewed Debbie Rochon and she stated that The Warriors was her favorite B-movie.

When the DVD came out I read numerous reviews on amazon.com and IMDB and couldn’t believe the amount of praise. It was most certainly a cult film and had the following to prove it.

I have to say I definitely admire the film. I love the concept and even the execution to a certain extent. Some of the films atmosphere and sound reminded me of Escape from New York (1981). The comic book style and campy dialogue cemented this film as a fun action B-movie rather than a serious look at the brutal life of street gangs. Wise choice!

Somehow however, this film just didn’t do it for me. The silly outfits and macho mannerisms had me thinking that Michael Jackson was going to come out and start moonwalking or that The Warriors were going to break into a dance routine like in West Side Story.

The Deer Hunter (1978), Michael Cimino **

2007-10-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Remember watching the academy awards and the “film of the moment” wins over something that you know 20 years down the line will held as a classic. Well I feel that The Deer Hunter It was nominated with Heaven Can Wait, An Unmarried Woman, and Midnight Express. I guess something had to win. was a film of the moment.

This film is unnecessarily long. And every time a film is unnecessarily long we always say the same thing: “well I know what they were trying to do.” Sure - they were “establishing the characters” so that when the critical plot points hit, we would be more affected by the tragic turn of events. It didn’t work here.

The first half of this film could have been cut down to 45 minutes and the characters could have been more developed and sympathetic. By the time they got to Vietnam, I didn’t care. In fact, a lot of the dialogue consisted of “Howya doin?”

That’s about as deep as it got.

Eastern Promises (2007), David Cronenberg ***

2007-10-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

Mafia movies make such great cinema, don’t they? You’ve got low key lighting, foreign accents, dialogue with double meanings and the timeless themes of loyalty and betrayal. What’s not to love? Unfortunately the aforementioned are also clichés and can get quite tiresome if in the hands of the wrong director.

I read a number of reviews on this film before seeing it and I have to say that I agree with a majority of them. Eastern Promises is a mafia movie and it plays out like one with all the clichés intact; however there is still something alluring about the film as it never bored me for one minute. The characters were well crafted and the plot (while nothing new) held my interest. With the exception of a few over-the-top violent scenes, this is a very different Cronenberg film – it’s a very straight story.

What’s up with Cronenberg’s new interest in the mafia anyway?

The 400 Blows (1959), François Truffaut *****

2007-10-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

Before today I had never seen a film by François Truffaut; this would be my first – and it just so happens that this is Truffaut’s first feature film. How fitting.

As with many of the films I’ve been catching up with lately my interest in this film comes primarily from an image I’ve seen over and over again: Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) longingly peering through a fence – the shadows cutting across his face like scars. A very striking image.

Being associated with the French New Wave, I have to admit that I had my reservations about this film. Back in film school it seemed as though the French New Wave was being shoved down our throats and was being taught as the only “true” cinema (of course the “dogma” movement was on the rise back then – so we got our dose of that too). With the exception of a few films by Jean-Luc Goddard, I wasn’t impressed. I was far more interested in what the Italians were doing in the 60’s than the French.

Anyway, with that being said, I was pleasantly surprised with The 400 Blows. I’ve been watching a whole slew of films about childhood lately (Stand By Me; A Christmas Story) and would rate this among the best I’ve seen thus far.

The Third Man (1949), Carol Reed *****

2007-10-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

HARRY LIME: "In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed — they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

This has to be among one of my favorite films. Every time I see it I’m reminded of why its held up so well over the years.

What I’ve consistently enjoyed most about The Third Man is the theme of a stranger-in-a-strange-land – which was most likely a great influence on later films that applied this same theme. The films unique score (played entirely on a zither), it’s masterful use of lighting/cinematography and its historic war-torn locations all contribute to the films atmosphere of paranoia and deceit.

Although Orson Welles is only in a “third” of the movie, his presence is most certainly felt throughout. And there could have been no better choice for the role of Harry Lime. While I admire Orson Welles a great deal, I have never been a huge fan, but his work here (as minimal as it was) ranks among his best.

Point Blank (1967), John Boorman *****

2007-10-23T11:03:00.001-07:00

“I want my money!”

The first time I saw Point Blank was in a movie theater. And since I wasn’t even born in 1967 the only way this could have happened was if the film had played in a museum.

The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) had a film program that ran for a couple of years. Because ticket prices were so low and not enough people showed up to support the program, it eventually died. It was a very sad day indeed. Fortunately, one of the original 35mm prints I got to experience there was Point Blank.

I had never even heard of this film before seeing it that night. And I didn’t know who Lee Marvin was. But walking out of the theater I was extremely grateful that I had discovered them both.

What makes Point Blank so much more than just your average revenge thriller is it’s use of editing to convey both the memory and psychological state of its protagonist. It clearly draws on the best aspects of film noir and the French New Wave. The film has a distant and cold feel with its use of locations and sounds.

And Lee Marvin is excellent as the angry and calculating Walker who has been betrayed by his best friend and wife for $93,000.00.

Modern Times (1936), Charlie Chaplin *****

2007-10-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

I had to watch this because nearly every film book I’ve read had that famous image of Charlie Chaplin trapped in the gears of that huge machine. I soon realized that I had seen it before – or at least parts of it. I seem to remember a blindfolded Charlie Chaplin dangerously roller skating on the 2^nd floor of a department store and that final scene of Chaplin singing in the restaurant.

I have to say that the highlight of this film – other than the amazing assembly-line factory set – was the nose-powder-in-the-salt-shaker routine. Great stuff!

Charlie Chaplin vs. The Great Depression. Apparently the film was considered culturally significant in 1989 and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It’s clear to see why.

More than just a great comedic film, Modern Times was a reflection of a society at one of its lowest points. Despite its bleak subject matter, the film manages to remind us of the strength that love and companionship can have in such trying times. It must have been the message and the feeling everyone was looking for during the Great Depression.

La Jetee (1962), Chris Marker *****

2007-10-23T10:58:00.001-07:00

When I was in community college I took an “introduction to film” class. This class was responsible for exposing me to a majority of the great films and directors I admire today. By the time I got to film school I was discovering films on my own. The professors (for the most part) were more interested in pushing their own tastes/agendas on the students and less about deconstructing worthy additions to cinema. One of the exceptions was La Jette.

I didn’t understand this film then and I don’t understand it now, but what I do understand is its incredible power to show us the true essence of cinema. Cinema is about images and relationships and La Jette illustrates that beautifully. The film successfully breaks everything down to the bare essentials and reminds us that an image is worth a thousand words.

It is mesmerizing, poetic and moving.

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Roger Corman ***

2007-10-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

Until recently I thought that I had seen all of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price collaborations, yet somehow The Tomb of Ligeia snuck under the radar. Apparently this was Vincent Price’s last collaboration with Roger Corman and was significant because of its use of outdoor locations (to cut costs Corman shot many of his Edgar Allen Poe adaptations on sound stages).

If you’re familiar with this series of films and somehow missed this one as I did, you’re not missing much. As with all of these movies the dialogue is heavy on exposition, contains a lengthy dream sequence that feels like filler and ends with everything going up in flames. But what makes watching these films so much fun is the presence of Vincent Price. He was admittedly goofy at times, but tapped into a persona that was uniquely his own. He was (and is) always a joy to watch.

I also noticed that Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd) bore an uncanny resemblance to Barbra Steele which got me thinking: how great would it have been if there was a Vincent Price/Mario Bava collaboration?

It’s Alive (1974), Larry Cohen ***

2007-10-23T10:46:00.001-07:00

CLAYTON: You know O’Connors down in Accounting? He’s got a retarded kid. Insists on keeping him in the house, too. Nobody thinks a thing of that. Nobody blames him.”

DAVIES: We’re not talking about a retarded kid, and you know it. We’re talking about a monstrosity of some kind.

Flipping through books on horror movies when I was a child I would continually run into the poster of It’s Alive – the wicker basket with the mutant baby’s hand hanging over the side. And probably on the same page would be a picture of the mutant baby itself. Needless to say I had a few sleepless nights over those images. Now some 20 years later I have finally watched the film whose ad campaign alone gave me nightmares.

Well. I wasn’t scared. At all. In fact I laughed more than I jumped. But somehow I was thoroughly entertained by this film.

The first thing I noticed was how similar the music was to Brian De Palma’s 1973 cult classic Sisters. Now I realize how dated Bernard Herrmann’s soundtracks have become (or perhaps even cliché) but having watched both of these films recently, it’s safe to say that they haven’t lost any of their impact in contributing a great atmosphere. I also realized that just prior to directing It’s Alive, Larry Cohen directed two of my favorite blaxploitation films: Black Caesar (1973) and Hell Up in Harlem (1973) starring the great Fred Williamson.

This is a B-movie! The dialogue makes sure that we’re aware of that! We’ve got the scientists giving their pseudo explanations for the mutant baby phenomena and policemen and detectives contemplating the great mystery – all in classic B-movie fashion. Naturally, the acting is subpar, but I did feel that the cast gave an honest effort; especially the mutant baby’s father played by John P. Ryan (at least those tears looked genuine).

Watching It’s Alive has made me meditate on just how terrible B-movie acting has gotten recently. I think rising actors back in the day were less concerned about being “noticed” and more concerned about the art of acting. They didn’t always rise to the occasion - but at least they gave it an honest go.

The Brave One (2007), Neil Jordan *

2007-10-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

This movie was terrible!

When the trailer for The Brave One surfaced a few months back I sat up and took notice. Jody Foster. Cool. Hey! - wait a minute! Isn’t this Death Wish? They’re re-making Death Wish with Jody Foster?!

Then the title of the film came up. And it wasn’t Death Wish. What?!

I immediately came home and went online to see what others were saying about this trailer and sure enough - I wasn’t imagining things. Others had caught on to the blatant Death Wish resemblance.

All right, I thought, I’ve hated the idea of re-makes since they recently became fashionable in Hollywood but the original Death Wish was definitely flawed. It’s one of those movies that might actually be improved upon. I mean it’s got Jody Foster and Neil Jordan attached to it. How bad can it be?

What bothered me more an anything though is that the ad campaign and the studio was making no reference to Death Wish. I read entire articles and interviews with the cast and crew that gave no mention of the films source material. Did they think that most people had never heard of Charles Bronson’s most famous film? Especially since, as Rob Zombie recently stated in defense of his Halloween re-make, people are hyper-sensitive as to what’s out there because of the internet and DVD. Nice try folks!

Now on to the film!

We start with the script. Horrible. The dialogue was stilted and un-relatable. The situations were ludicrous. And the performances were not up to standard. Adding the “poetic” spoken-word-radio-show-stuff made the whole thing laughable. They should have just played it as a B-movie - then all of the aforementioned would have worked in its favor.

And, as has been mentioned in other reviews, the casting was all wrong. There was absolutely no chemistry between Jody Foster and Naveen Andrews – a chemistry that was absolutely vital to this particular kind of film.

Although extremely flawed as well, James Wan’s Death Sentence (which came out a few weeks prior) was a more welcome addition to the vigilante/revenge genre.

Bottom line: It just didn’t work.

The Virgin Spring (1960), Igmar Bergman *****

2007-10-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Virgin Spring was of course the inspiration for Wes Craven’s 1972 debut The Last House on the Left – a film that I’m very familiar with. But as it usually goes, and most certainly in this instance, the source material is far superior.

I have to admit that I am not well versed on the films of Igmar Bergman and I almost feel a sense of guilt for that. I was exposed to Bergman in film school but only through fellow students that had admired his body of work. I knew of him only through one defining image – Death.

Next to Cries and Whispers, The Seventh Seal was the one film of his I had been most familiar - and only because of Bengt Ekerot as Death. It is a powerful image that has stuck with me since the first time I saw it.

It is clear that Bergman had heavily contemplated over his images. He knew exactly what he was putting on film and the emotional impact they would have on his audience. His sense of pacing was deliberate, the dialog in his films speak like poetry and the foreboding atmosphere hangs in the air long after the film is through. After viewing only my 2^nd film by Bergman, I feel as though I have true sense of both his abilities and his outlook on morality and religion.

The Virgin Spring plays like a Grimm’s Fairy Tale. We have the young virgin Karin (Birgitta Pettersson), her foster sister Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom) and the evil woods that represent the cruel world outside. When she leaves the love and safety of her home to deliver candles to the church, Karin is confronted by evil and soon learns that she is ill equipped in dealing with it what she does not know.

Bergman cleverly opens the film with Ingeri looking up and pleading to the Norse god, Odin. And only when we have completely forgotten this scene does it come back in a most significant way. And like most good films, the director takes his time setting up the characters and their dynamic. In a sense, the viewer becomes Karin’s parents – we fall in love with the child and her spirit. She is innocence personified. We become emotionally invested in her and that is why we suffer the same way Karin’s parents do in the film.

This a simple film but powerful in its simplicity.

Se7en (1995), David Fincher ****

2007-10-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through the channels last night and saw that Se7en was on TNT. I hadn’t seen the film since it came out but remembered that it had a great opening credit sequence (supposedly the one that started the opening credits as an art form in and of itself) - so I started watching. And watching. And watching. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

The script borders between a silly B-movie plot line and brilliance. It’s such on obvious idea in retrospect but other than a few forgivable cliches the screenwriter (Andrew Kevin Walker) handles it pretty well.

Morgan Freeman’s character, for example, prefers wine to beer - a character trait reminding us (as if we hadn’t figured it out yet) that he’s the refined and thoughtful detective while the beer guzzling Brad Pitt is young and brash. And the scene between Morgan Freeman and Gweneth Paltrow in the diner seemed like a complete afterthought. Of course the pregnancy gives the ending more urgency and makes Brad Pitt’s “wrath” more potent, but the scene felt like a last minute re-write.

What people seem to remember most about Se7en however, is it’s atmosphere - a modern day film noir if there ever was one. David Fincher manages the difficult task of making film noir seem new again - hence the reason for all the imitations afterward (most of them starring Morgan Freeman). Had it not been for Finchers direction this could have been a very different film indeed which is why he has managed to sustain a very successful career - he’s a director with a great aesthetic and the ability to take a mediocre script and make it fascinating. For all of his obvious talent and skill as a director though, I believe David Fincher has been greatly over-hyped since Se7en. He has yet to top this film!