Friday, June 30, 2017
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Monday, June 26, 2017
Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics, 1911 - ★★★★
This was really so much fun. According to my sources (wikipedia) this is one of the first real animated movies, and how fitting that the real animation starts with a title "Watch Me Move". Then movement is on and much like Fantasmagoria, a bunch of weird stuff is happening.
That is all preluded though, by Winsor McCay, our director, telling his friends he wants to make a movie with moving animation. They make fun of him, so he bets with them he can do it. He'll draw 4000 pictures that then make it a moving animated movie.
I like that even though everything was black and white or black and sepia, at least all one coloured, animation could be in colour in 1911 already. That's stuff you don't usually think about at first.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Friday, June 23, 2017
XX, 2017 - ★★★½
I'm a fan of anthology movies. Especially in the horror genre, sometimes 4 short stories can be more fun than one longer movie. And usually there is something connecting the stories in some sort of way. In this, all shorts are directed by women.
I think the first story was also my favourite. The Box is about a kid seeing the inside of a box and then he just stops eating.
I loved that I had to think, try to follow what's happening and that it's open for interpretation. I also love when characters just behave kind of weird, it gives me the creeps.
The Birthday Party is about a mother preparing her daughters seventh birthday party when she finds out her husband killed himself. Of course she doesn't want the daughter to find out, so she tries to hide it.
While I liked this story it felt kind of out of place as it wasn't really about horror. I'm pretty sure this exact story already exists as a comedy. It was still well acted and beautifully shot. Also I'm pretty sure that rapping panda guy is actually Joe Swanberg. No ImdB listing yet though.
The third story, Don't Fall was, in my opinion, the weakest segment. Maybe that was because it was much shorter than the rest. It kind of didn't manage to build up any tension necessary to actually shock or surprise me.
The final story, Her only living son was fun. It's about a son turning 18 as weird things start to happen. It felt very similar to We need to talk about Kevin, a movie I really want to rewatch.
While the first story was very ambigous, even including a dream sequence, the last story serves you all the info on a silver platter. At the end you know exactly what happened, no questions asked. Once again I really liked all people around them reacting in strange ways, just being weird.
All in all this was a fun anthology, while not all 4 shorts are great, at least none of them is horrible. They are all well shot, looking good and except for one story to some extend scary. Still there are flaws, it's not a perfect movie. I'm rating XX 3.5 out of 5 stars and a like.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Lost Highway, 1997 - ★★★★
Going on in my adventure through David Lynchs filmography i watched Lost Highway, a movie you don't hear from much anymore.
According to letterboxd, the genres are Drama, Mystery and Thriller, but I'd add horror to that for sure.
I'm still not perfectly sure what happened in the movie, but I got enough to know I enjoyed it. It's very out there, certainly a movie by Lynch, and no one else. It's more of an experience, just like a dream.
The "mystery man" is so creepy, every time I saw his face I got creeped out.
I want to say something about the acting, but I'm not sure it would be fair because I'm pretty sure some of the weird acting choices were actually choices by Lynch, not the actors.
Patricia Arquette, for example, seems very wooden and just weird in some scenes, yet is very realistic in others, sometimes scenes right after each other.
This is really an experience, just like every Lynch movie is. I'm rating it 4 out of 5 stars and a like.
Monday, June 12, 2017
The Last Broadcast, 1998 - ★★★
1998, one year before the Blair Witch Project changed the movie business, we got a found footage movie, about a group of young documentarians, going into the woods to find some evil being, only to be found dead a short time after.
While the Blair Witch Project was only the found footage, edited into a narrative, and produced to shock, The Last Broadcast was made to feel even more real.
A documentarian heard about this case, got his hands on the material and tried to find the truth. While it wasn't particulary scary, I thought it felt realistic, more real than the Blair Witch Project. The only character I didn't buy was the sheriff, he didn't fit.
In the recent uprise of true-crime documentaries, this fits pretty well (other than that it's all made up).
But like I said, this is not scary, it just feels like a documentary.
The worst part about it is the ending, which I won't spoil. But the ending, with a great build-up, then decides to disappoint me and go a different way.
I think this is an interesting idea, made well, but it might be boring. I'd rate this movie 3 out of 5 stars and a like.
Der Firmling, 1934
Ah, the golden times, when grandpa got drunk on schnaps with his grandson, the young confirmee and orders a cigar for the around 10 year old boy in the restaurant to smoke there.
It's in a similar comedic style as "Der Theaterbesuch", but I preferred that one. Still a fun little comdy short from a different time.
Rubber, 2010 - ★★★★
Following up Blue Velvet with Rubber is like a match made in heaven. This movie is lynchian in a unique way.
When I heard about this movie, I just heard it's about a rubber tire blowing up people. Never ever has anyone mentioned the whole outlying plot of a group of people in the desert, watching said tire through binoculars.
I love the beginning, a monologue by Stephen Spinella, adressing the ficitonal audience (us) and as we found out soon enough, the actual audience, telling us and them (or maybe we are them??) about No Reason. Then he spills a glass of water onto the ground of the desert and leaves.
It's shot beautifully, the whole opening are just pictures of dirt in the desert, yet everything looks beautiful.
The special effects are not the best, but they are not supposed to be. They do exactly what they should do, because the whole plot of a tire running amok is already ridiculous, why would we need great effects if we buy into that story?
Then again, I wonder how they did most of the scenes with the tire itself, cause they look great.
I really enjoyed this movie, and while the commentary was very on the nose, it never felt judgemental and I really enjoyed how it was done. I'm already excited to watch Wrong, the directors next movie.
4 out of 5 stars, and a big recommendation.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Magic Magic, 2013 - ★★★½
I went into this only knowing it's starring Juno Temple and Michael Cera. Wanted to watch it as blind as possible. And it worked.
Alicia (Juno Temple) is going on a vacation with her cousin Sarah (Emily Browning) and her friends. But something feels off. Are they planning to kill her? Or worse?
The weirdest thing about this movie is Michael Cera. He plays the same character he always does, but instead of funny reactions and fitting music we have a horror movie vibe and bad reactions... and Cera is the scariest character in this. I didn't wonder if he would snap, I just wondered when.
They all give great performances, and up until the end I'm still not fully certain what was going on in this movie. But I really liked it. Throughout the movie I was creeped out, wondering what was going to happen. I also was scared for Alicia throughout this movie.
All in all I really enjoyed this movie, it's worth a watch and I think this is not as well known as it should be. I'm rating Magic Magic 3.5 out of 5 stars and a like.
Killer Joe, 2011 - ★★★★½
I mean I heard that this movie was good. I heard that this movie was fucked up. I didn't know it would be this good and this fucked up.
It's the start of the McConnaissance, a new era of cinema. This is where it all began. The movies before this were "Ghosts of Girlfriends past" and "Fool's Gold". Suddenly he isn't a womanizer anymore, now he's a killer. Killer Joe, to be exact.
Everyone else delivers a great performance, but this is really McConaughy's movie.
I really really liked this movie. It's not for everyone, it's very crude and dark (the plot is about a family deciding to hire a hitman to kill the moher). These characters are the definition of Trailer Trash.
I'm rating this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars. Give it a watch... if you dare.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Casablanca, 1942 - ★★★★★
I don't think there is anyone I can write down that hasn't been said about this movie before.
All I'll say is that I went into this with high expectations and I still think Casablanca deserves to be one of the greatest movies of all time.
Witness for the Prosecution, 1957 - ★★★★½
What a great movie.
I just loved Charles Laughton as the barrister who is kind of an asshole, but really a great and smart guy. His interactions with Elsa Lanchester, his nurse, are hilarious.
Tyrone Power has so much charme in this movie, he is really good as the suspect, helpless in love with Marlene Dietrich, who just doesn't seem to feel the same way. And she is also great in her role as the German wife, even though she is almost too German.
I just love courtroom dramas. Especially if they are like this, actually smart, making you wonder how it will end. And the ending is its own thing entirely.
I kind of feel like this movie is not talked about enough. Sure, it's not completely forgotten, but I don't hear it mentioned as often as some other movies from the time that are from a similar quality.
I really enjoyed this movie and was on the edge of my seat throughout, wondering what would happen next and how it would be resolved. I'm rating Witness for the Prosecution 4.5 out of 5 stars and a like.
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Trainwreck, 2015 - ★★★
I'd much rather watch "Dogwalker"starring Daniel Radcliffe ans Marisa Tomei!
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Killer Klowns from Outer Space, 1988 - ★★★★
These are actually the funniest clowns I've ever witnessed.
I mean, this is no masterpiece, not a work of art. But it's really one of those movies that are just fun to watch. I laughed out loud so many times.
And the practical effects were great.
I'm rating this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Lucid Dream, 2017 - ★★½
South Korean movie, out todaym out on Netflix ... about Lucid Dreaming? Sign me up (in a figure of Speech, I've been signed up on Netflix for years).
First of all, forget everything you know about lucid dreaming, cause it will be useless. I wish they just made it about something like inception and not about a real thing. Because this is not how lucid dreams work.
But if you can see past that, this is a fun and interesting crime thriller, involving shared dreams and remembering things by dreaming.
I just feel like they could have done more with the concept. You go to dreams constantly and they have a reality check: just look at your watch, if it doesn't work, you're dreaming. But the audience never needs that. A few times I wished we'd have to look for clues and maybe realise that the main character is dreaming, but that never happened.
All that being said, I enjoyed the story for what it was, an interesting little crime thriller about a missing child. The acting is good and it has some interesting shots.
I'm rating Lucid Dream 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Baywatch, 2017 - ★★
I knew this wasn't well received, but I had a free ticket and a friend who wanted to see it, so I went.
First of all, I had fun. I wasn't blown away, but it wasn't completely unfunny. All the actors also played their roles fine, none stuck out as bad.
I just felt like they didn't exactly know what they were shooting. At first I felt like I was watching a pretty high budget, pretty good, simple stupid comedy (the opening was hilarious if you ask me). And it felt like what you'd see in the late 2000s, a comedy about a group of tweens trying to accomplish something (in this case to become lifeguards) while also getting romantically involved during it.
I actually would have enjoyed that.
Instead they went into a murder ... well, not mystery, there is never any question what happens (neither to us nor the Rock), so I guess just a murder movie.
Going from jokes about a guy who has his penis stuck in a sun lounger to a firy rescue mission in which they find a dead body just doesn't feel the same.
And there was a lot of stupidity in this movie, lots of things that didn't make any sense and the usual blogbuster nonsense.
But I still laughed a few times and most of the action looked pretty awesome.
In the end this is a watchable movie, but I'm not sure who it's directed to. That being said, the blooper reel makes it seem like at least the cast had a good time, so good for them.
I'm rating Baywatch 2 out of 5 stars.