Reviews

This film is outstanding. The camera, light and soundtrack are all phenomenal. It has no plot at all, being just a visual ode to a form the author deemed beautiful - the parabola - and it spends around eight minutes dazzling the viewer with it.

The atmosphere created by this short over but a shape is surreal and majestic. Surely a great watch.

That Cold Day In The Park is a great movie about obsession and posessive relationships, that more people should watch.

It takes an aging woman, Frances Austen, as the protagonist. She sees a (seemingly mute) young man in the park. She invites him in, and gives him a room, and trying to fulfill all of his needs. However, she has no intention of letting him go.

It plays as a slow burner psycho story. The characters are explored without ever getting basic information on them: the boy's name is never revealed, for example. But what is really ingenious about it is the progression and implications, as Frances grows more and more to need the boy in her house, and how she starts to desire him. The climax explodes about five minutes from the picture's end, once tension is maxed out and finally snaps.

It is a sexual thriller, yes. It is built around the emptiness of Frances's wealthy life, and how far she is willing to go in order to obtain some adventure, or perhaps "love".

Great performances come from Sandy Dennis (Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?) and Michael Burns (The Virginian). Burns, who has probably no more than 20 lines in the whole film, is given almost only the movement and the facial expressions to work with, and manages to be a mysterious and interesting presence in the screen. Dennis plays the lonely lady in a methodical way. Her voice is the highlight. By the end, when she asks the boy to "make love" to her, by her voice only, it is clear that she is on the verge of a breakdown.

The direction is Robert Altman's (The Player, M.A.S.H.), who had yet to take his greatest and most popular projects. The picture takes place mostly in interiors, giving a certain feeling of claustrophobia, as if the viewer was trapped alongside the boy. Surely a great idea for the cinematography, in the best "New Age Hollywood" style.

As quite slow, sexual and puzzling burn, it isn't everyone's cup of tea. But for the fans of the Late 60s and 70s era of "Arthouse" filmmaking, it is a great watch.

This is possibly one of the campiest movies of all time. The acting would make Tommy Wiseau Oscar-worthy by comparison. The story has more holes than a swiss cheese. It looks like it was made in the 1980s, even though it came out in 2005. But holy holiday massacre cheer, is this an enjoyable movie.

It's a pretty short feature, Santa's kills are outrageously fun to watch and very well spread, so there are never any really boring moments. It's almost constant action, and when it isn't a pretty explicit murders, the viewer is probably too busy laughing at the awful lines and performances. But it's very self-aware all around. It let Bill Goldberg perform his Spear and say his "Who's Next?" catchphrase. The line "He's scary, yet educational" is the best example of this.

Santa's Slay does get some extra points for Santa's backstory, which happens to be a proper original, and quite creative concept. The execution with the stop motion was well made. And some real effort was put into creating interesting details, such as the Christ-Mass origin and the Santa-Satan relationship.

In conclusion, this is a film that has got the swag to make a rewatch every year worthy. It's no Die Hard, but can be a really fun option for an alternative Christmas movie.

A great character piece, and very consistent for a TV Show. The development between the two leads is nothing short of phenomenal, as is the chemistry.

It is very straightfoward and very entretaining, but it can be quite sugary from time to time. Thankfully, it hits the nail right on the head, and the romance is not exaggerated into the point of being unbearable. Even viewers less comfortable with this sort of romantic comedy will still find things to appreciate. The view of romance in this show is innocent and simplified, quite fitting to its young characters.

The animation is good. It is no Ghibli or CoMix Wave (yes, Takagi's giant forehead, I'm looking at you.), but the character designs are very decent, and the movement is fluid. The music is great, especially the openings and end credits.

In conclusion, this is a great anime, and one of the best TV shows available right now. It's surely worth a watch.

The main lesson of this film may be "Never mistreat the garbage man, you don't know how skilled of a gunslinger he is". Kidding aside, it's actually a great film about a character's journey, and features a well written development hardly seen in Spaghetti Westerns, and still manages to be very entertaining. The film tells the story of Scott (Giuliano Gemma), son of a prostitute and an unknown father, who is the garbage man in Clifton, and how he rises to a position of influence in the town, thanks to the help of Frank Talby (Lee Van Cleef)'s lessons. Scott has a phenomenal arc, as he stays in between his own goals and personality and Talby's pulling of his strings, until the inevitable confrontation between the two. The final conflict has one of the best examples of foreshadowing and character growth in the Spaghetti subgenre. Lee Van Cleef gives a compelling, but "typecast" performance of the old gunfighter teaching important lessons to a young man. It was his third time landing a similar role, the first being in For a Few Dollars More, and the second being Death Rides a Horse. The difference being that in this movie, the "teacher" plays a villainous role, causing it to stand out. Giuliano Gemma gives the performance of a lifetime, getting deep into his character of Scott. He has some of the best delivered lines in Spaghetti Western history, especially after his lessons, when he obtains an important position in the town's hierarchy. The visible changes in posture, talking and expression as his character progresses are very remarkable. The palette in this film, contrasting with many of its genre, is especially colorful, giving it a lively, almost cartoonish feeling. Examples of this are in the gambling house scenes, that are way more vividly colored than most westerns, not only at the time, but ever. That makes the whole experience of watching very enjoyable. In conclusion, Day of Anger is a very special hidden gem of Spaghetti Western. Counting with one of the few well-established character developments in the genre, great performances by two known faces of the era, and a vivid palette, this film should be able to please most audiences.

"Django, have you always been alone?" The song, written by Luis Bacalov and performed by Rocky Roberts, ponders, as an unknown man drags a coffin through the mud. That man is Django, a gunslinger who would go on to define a genre, and the protagonist of a gritty, violent and outrageously fun film. A man to respect, that is for sure. Directed by Sergio Corbucci, the same artist responsible for classics such as Navajo Joe (1966) and The Great Silence (1968), the film is one of the most influential Spaghetti Westerns ever. It tells the story of Django (Franco Nero), a tragic hero with a mysterious background, who arrives at a town in war. Major Jackson (Eduardo Fajardo) and his men try to exterminate the Mexicans, who, led by General Rodriguez (José Bódalo) are trying to set up their revolution. In between the two sides is Nathaniel (Ángel Álvarez), the owner of the bar, hotel and bordello, who has to serve both sides. A career-launching and defining performance by Franco Nero is one of the elements that make this flick a success. His character is defined by a constant feel of melancholy, to which Nero brings gravitas: while never losing his cool, especially through his steely and confident stares, Django is clearly portrayed as a haunted man. The supporting cast goes a long way in cementing the heavy tone of the film, especially Loredana Nusciak, giving a gutsy performance as a prostitute who falls for the titular character. A notable part of this film's magic are the action sequences. While extremely brutal for their time, including a man's ear getting quite graphically severed, they are the absolute definition of "campy". Instead of ruining it, it only makes the experience more enjoyable. The violence essentially gets a more humorous vibe, serving even as a relief from all the graveness that is present everywhere else in the movie. The soundtrack is remarkable: not only does it present an unforgettable theme song for the opening, but it also has a spectacular use of the leitmotif (a recurring musical phrase). Django is, in every possible way, a classic and standard bearer of its genre. Even with campy violent sequences for the public's enjoyment, the film still maintains a serious storyline, and has great dramatic performances, especially by the central actor. As an answer to the question asked in the song, after gaining a huge legion of fans, it's safe to say Django will no longer be alone.

There is one word to define The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And that word is "transcendent". This movie is not only the pinnacle of the Spaghetti Western, but it transcended into the pinnacle of the Western genre in itself. It's safe to say it transcends that too, and can be considered one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking ever. It counts with memorable performances by three different leads, a story that breaks the "black and white" concepts of morale, and an original score that can only be defined by "epic".

Directed by the man responsible for the revitalization of the western in Italy, Sergio Leone, the film does an incredible job of introducing every character, and showing each and every one has a dubious concept of moral values. "The Bad", Sentenza, or Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), is shown to be a ruthless, greedy gun for hire, but also someone who lives by the mantra of always getting the job done. "The Ugly", Tuco, is a greedy backstabber, but he is also a man who comes from an extremely poor environment and family conflicts, showing a bit of determinism in the film. "The Good", Blondie (Clint Eastwood) is not much better himself. While he is surely the less greedy one, he also has no problem with killing and backstabbing other people. To put it in perspective, he is ironically announced as "The Good" right after abandoning a man to die in the desert. The story follows all these three personalities as they engage in their particular gold rush: a buried treasure that is hidden in a cemetery. In order to find it, they must form an uneasy alliance, while trying to outrun each other, and claim the prized gold alone. All of this while the Civil War happens around them. The performances are nothing short of amazing. It goes to show the range that Lee Van Cleef had once this villainous role is compared to his work in the previous installment of the trilogy, For a Few Dollars More, as a heroic, friendly and almost fatherly figure. His presence is as intimidating as ever, and one of the best he has given in his lengthy career. Eastwood is as eye-catching as one would expect: his deep stares and lines delivered in a whispery, yet gravelly voice, defined The Man With No Name. But the best of the bunch has to be Eli Wallach. His comedic timing is as precise as any bullet shot in this film. But the most outstanding part of his characterization is that while he is extremely funny, he also manages to be a credible threat for the "hero", Blondie.

The original music score for this film deserves a whole book just to talk about it, and it still wouldn't do it justice. It's simply a lesson by the maestro, Ennio Morricone, on how music can change a film. Thanks to a track such as L'estasi dell'oro (The Ecstasy of Gold), a man running around a cemetery becomes one of the most epic scenes ever made. Thanks to a composition such as Il Triello, three men staring at each other, pondering their options for seven minutes straight, becomes tense enough to have the viewer on the edge of its seat. There is simply no other way to put it: Morricone crafted one of the best scores in this art's history.

At the end of the day, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is more than just a great western film. It's a show of great acting, writing, directing and music scoring. It's a real once in a lifetime classic, that has been around for a long time, and not aged a little bit, and will still be talked about for generations of cinephiles to come. To conclude, all I can say is... There are two kinds of people, my friend. Those who have watched this film, and those who have not. You watch.

Spike's new joint doesn't have that great of a story. While it does offer a few interesting situations for the gold hunting 'Nam vets, it's nothing that stands out from the hundreds of films on the topic. To make it worse, at various points, it drags for quite a while. It is full of political "preaching", and that is not that big of a problem. It's as expected from Spike Lee's style of filmmaking. However, the final scenes seen to have been added after the movie was done.

Another problem is the casting, that has severe age-matching problems. The vietnamese girlfriend of one of the characters should be much older, as should her daughter. And Lee might have had his artistic reasons for using the aged actors for the flashbacks, but I sincerely cannot understand it. Casting younger people for these parts or de-aging them through computer effects would have been a better decision.

In its defense, he soundtrack, counting with various Marvin Gaye songs, is an absolute delight. And so is the acting, especially by Delroy Lindo, who goes on a especially great monologue while walking through the jungle, and a magnificent portrayal of PTSD. Chadwick Boseman gives an emotional performance. May the sequence with Lindo offering forgiveness be pointed out as one of the best in the whole film. The cinematography is also good, and the creativity with the aspect ratios for the flashbacks was quite good.

Overall, it's a film with good visuals and great performances, but with a fairly weak story and some casting issues.