Reviews

Terribly misleading film. From the cover art to the synopsis to the fact that it's a sequel to The Red Spectacles, it's easy to assume that this would be another insane sci-fi weird-out. But no, this film is slow, meticulous, delicate and at times insanely beautiful. How silly I felt when I thought I was watching the wrong movie and had to look up screenshots and other reviews to see if I was or not. It really recalls Takeshi Kitano, predating his work with Sonatine and Hana-Bi. Static shots, emphasis on backgrounds, light on dialogue. Quite a gap in style from its Seijun Suzuki-esque predecessor. The characters mainly have fun on holiday and fall in love to incredible, emotive music. There's nothing too challenging or esoteric, though it's not necessarily exciting or bent on narrative. Just a gorgeous, emotionally resonant piece of work.

No context given. No story to narrate. No elaborate set pieces or character actors. Maybe about 2 lines of dialogue. What else is there? Only the brutal reality of a country's dirty little secret. Many films about touchy political issues are analysed through a character's interpretation of how they think or how a particular story plays out but Clarke plays it out simply: people are dying... never mind the other stuff, death is caused through our own inability to absorb other people's views. The end factor being death is all that really needs to be shown to get the point across. Clarke makes fantastic use of tracking shots, slipping left and right and around to follow a person into their death.

It's provocative and probably the best TV movie ever made. I can't imagine people sitting down at night, tuning into the BBC and wondering what they should think about this mini masterpiece.

This is a strange British film which revolves around a relationship between two characters that alternates between super sweet and super disturbing (one of them has a penchant for asking people at petrol stations if they've heard a specific love song then kills them afterwards). Love and redemption, like a modern Shakespearean tragedy, courses through the film's veins. The repetitive nature of the narrative coalesces into a hypnotic rhythm, riding the pace out sleekly. Though scripted, the film feels spontaneous, exciting and shows subtle natural variation on a theme. The characters attempt to obtain purification, thinking that murder is the only way they can downplay their other more humanly flaws. Powerful, strong film that is refreshingly modest and practical.

Just how worth it is committing a crime for short term gain? Done with the best intentions, Christa Klages eventually finds that short term gains lead to devastating long term losses. A crime is still a crime regardless of pure intentions, as usually an attempt to unvictimize certain people in this way finds others being victimized. Christa and her associates are complex characters, that despite the pure honest goodness they exhibit, they still somehow had it in them to commit a powerful robbery. The camera-work is subtle but the interesting locations and angles from which the film is shot are stunning and vibrant.

At the end, we're not quite sure what to think. She's let off for her crimes but we will never know if she has ever truly learned her lesson or understands the complications that arises from a crime such as this. My first von Trotta and probably the first of many.

After reading Robin Wood's great book Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan, I found myself checking out some of the more praised titles in the book. 70s horror films are interesting as they exist in a period of time between the Universal and Hammer Horror studio monster movies and the cookie-cutter box office slasher movies. And so, much like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma going for broke in this period of the counterculture auteur-driven marketplace, horror movies were also throwing out wild unconventional ideas.

It seems that time has been rather kind to Wes Craven and George A. Romero but Larry Cohen has got the bad end of the stick, despite God Told Me To being every bit as sociological and revealing as the formerly mentioned. This movie in particular has the non-convention of not having a villain, instead showing a psychotic case of various killings, with each killer giving the reason that god told them to do it. The narrative falls away as it reaches a conclusion but the deliberate pace and atmosphere is such insanely powerful stuff that it ends up not even mattering.

Let's call a spade a spade here. This is porn. Now, I'm not prudish or interested in deeming films porn just because they have sex in them. But this is porn. As a film it is insanely inept, a porn film that masquerades as a thriller. There is no art or subtlety to it, simply a display of crude acting and titillating sensationalism. As someone who is very much into sleazy trash and dedicates a good amount of hard drive space to it, this fails even in that regard. It's dull and devoid of anything of substance.

However, it hits the right points in certain instances. The opening theme is eerie and wonderful even if it is just stock music (the other music in the film is the type of Kenny G smooth jazz you see in parodies of porn). The lighting of certain scenes is wonderful, bright and seemingly natural and the general look of the film is delightful in that grainy video shot way. These are positive aspects that could apply to any generic porn VHS of the time though.

I'm giving this a 3 because I DID get kinda horny at the beautiful women, thus in a way it fulfils its purpose. But if you want to actually watch a film then this is the worst way to go.

This was a great look at how the bourgeois deal with the same situations as everyday people who face reality. The family feel self-assured and almost cocky that nothing is going to take away what they feel is their worth, but very soon it becomes apparent that the foundation to their wealth (and what they consider happiness) is weak and footed in imbalance. Yoshimura portrays a shift in post-war society, from the old realist regime to a new liberal dismantlement of the old. While films of the time reflected the underdog's role in a settling after war, the flipping of the script allows us to see the rich as human and personable, who can suffer just as much, but ultimately are still privileged above those of the underclass.

The film is just as much a vehicle for Setsuko Hara as it is for the directorial elegance of Yoshimura, bringing along a naivety evident in her Ozu roles. She appears to be the only character with a level-headed approach to her family's situation, attaining a level of strength above the men she is surrounded with. Overall, it's entertaining and drenched in allegory while also sustaining a dramatic lightness that makes it endearing.

An obscure oddity, chastised and forgotten in its time. A different take on the Sleeping Beauty story which is complimented with interestingly composed shots, surreal characters, narrative peculiarities and great music. It's a warm piece of Americana that invokes weird nuns, freak carnivals and a rambling Richard Pryor. Basically all the stuff that makes America great. Despite the strange elements inherent in the movie, it still comes off as artfully dramatic. Love cannot be forced and no one is perfect for one another, the film explores how futile it is to make this happen when a man has the perfect opportunity to mold a sleeping beauty into his ultimate love. It is somewhat a shame that the film hasn't found an audience outside of Rosenbaum's essential 1000 and some Cinemageddon weirdos as it could easily slot itself into the fanbase cult of Harmony Korine and beyond. Watch it at 3am and let it mesmerize and sedate you.

Bartas is not what I'd call a versatile filmmaker. His films are always slow, desolate, brooding and static. However, by hammering this aesthetic again and again he's managed to carve out a very idiosyncratic niche, making him a master in the overwrought art-house circle. Few of Us is Bartas at his very best.

Though the film lacks the outside political context which haunt Praejusios dienos atminimui and Koridorius, it is a deeply personal and emotional work. The setting becomes the main character, with the actors simply supporting it as they hustle and bustle through the pastoral landscape. Actions are carried out by the characters but nothing is explained. We are completely oblivious to their motivations or context. Yekaterina Golubeva's character is dropped into the setting via helicopter but we spend the whole film struggling to interpret why she is there. It provides many questions but few too answers, which only serves to enhance the mysteriousness of the film's purpose. The ambiguity of the characters doesn't hinder the film's emotional resonance however, demonstrating just how universal loneliness really is. Though the word 'thought-provoking' is overused in regards to these types of films, it really is the only word that can be used.

'Boy' is, below the surface, a scathing commentary on post-war Japan. The country has been consumed by greed and has taken Western ideals to its hilt. The parents exploiting their son for money strikes into the heart a family that is so far away from the respect and courtesy of old Japanese values.

As a contradiction, Oshima rejects the classical repertoire of Ozu or Mizoguchi and creates a radical language much more to his own invention. The soundtrack unsettles, the camera movement is slow and anxious ridden and the characters push against any sort of likability. The fact that a small boy is the most morally conscious out of a cast of adult characters is especially telling. Also used are still images and colour filters, almost a surefire way to portray the inner thoughts of a young boy who can't adequately express himself. The widescreen filming allows for much detail in the scenes, a rush of intricacies flood each shot. Exquisite to look at but also plenty to think about.

Oshima is usually volatile in his ideas and this leads him to be a not very consistent filmmaker but when his ideas align themselves like this, there are very few who could direct better.

A beautifully shot proto-slasher that's vividly coloured and is rich in meticulously composed dramatic shots. That alone convinces me that Bava didn't create this for a cheap cash grab like so many of the 80s movies that it influenced were. The gore shown is ahead of its time in terms of realism and it really catapulted the idea that violence that ends in a bloody mess (and not just nodding to the idea of brutality) could be enticing to watch. The ending is hilariously sinister, and it certainly undone everything the movie was building on for the last ninety or so minutes, but the spontaneity is perhaps the point of it.

The only major problem is that there are too many characters to keep track of which causes the plot to be loose and hard to follow. A synopsis is really required to get more than the gist of it and that signifies quite poor storytelling. Otherwise, endearingly entertaining.

It's interesting that Trecartin predicted the onslaught of tumblr culture way before it took full effect on today's youth. The super fast flow of information that speeds by, the information being put out there even if it doesn't make sense or have a real sense of purpose, the penchant for 90s digital art etc. It all accumulates in this massive mish mash of nonsensical vignettes and cut-throat pacing.

The 8 out of 10 you see above is not really accurate, for something as off the wall and bursting with originality as this can not really be scaled from 1 to 10. Most people will hate it or find it funny in the wrong way but there will always be the small minority who see merit in creating a completely challenging and grating experience that shows a new approach reflective of our modern digital society.

Obviously this is too long -- a movie with a pacing like this does not need to have a near 2 hour runtime. In fact, this would have been a more cohesive statement had it ran for only forty minutes to an hour. As the movie follows no linear narrative, it does not need absolutely everything that's been injected into it. The run time flourishes though as a test of patience (play the 'how long can you make it into 'I-Be Area' game with your friends today!).

So as something you sit down, watch and hopefully gain some form of entertainment from this movie fails big time. However, conceptually and creatively, this movie is beyond interesting. There is room in this world for both watchable narratives and rule breaking experimental video art, it is simply your perception of how important one is over the other that determines the worth of this work.

I guess one thing you could say about this movie is that it isn't predictable.

For the first five minutes the pacing is insanely fast with millions of guns being shot to the sound of power metal, then it trails off and settles into the groove of a decent yakuza art movie about a mobster needing to raise money for his daughter's surgery.

That is, until the last 10 - 15 minutes which is one of the most completely off the wall film endings I've ever seen. I sort of thought, "This entire movie has been building to THAT?!" but I couldn't be mad because I was laughing too much. It seems like Miike spent most of the budget on just the start and the ending as the middle is rather normal and revolves more around dialogue than the action the tag line and cover promises but it's really fun and it gets stuck on one shade of colour throughout.

I see a lot of people complaining about how start and end heavy it is but I don't feel like that's a major problem. If anything, the normal pace of the middle only serves to make the ending all the more surreal and out of this world. It also gives it more substance as it cuts up the flow nicely and a complete 2 hour action movie would be too much. The problem with Ichi the Killer was that it was all style and no substance but Dead or Alive has a nice balance between the two. Miike is a very stylised director so it's refreshing when he melds a glacial pace and internal reflection into the mix. Considering the filming of this probably took a month or two, it's easy to see that the bulk of it was spent on the start and ending but the big budget set pieces work well with the lower key observational parts. A mind bending movie.

If you like Miike's other action oriented movies but wish they had the sombreness of Visitor Q or Izo then this is definitely one to watch.

One of the things that most people comment on when reading on Midori is that it was actually banned originally for depicting graphic violence to animals. Now, what is on display here is rather shocking but certainly not enough to be considered obscene, especially considering the psychopathic nature of the character which performs the act. If anything, the act featured is only detrimental to children and as anyone with a brain has figured out, this isn't for children at all.

Personally, I was quite surprised by Midori. It was mostly animated and directed by the one man and it shows: mouths don't move often, backgrounds suddenly disappear, zooming in of a single picture is common etc. If anything, these shortcuts only add to the charm of the movie and how intricately personal it is to it's creator. There was apparently 5000 paintings handpainted by Hiroshi Harada to complete the film over a course of 5 years. It was also funded by Hiroshi's life savings; if that's not dedication to a piece of art then I don't know what is.

So the animation is charming, the characters are gut wrenching and the script is full of profound reflections. Another point is the music; most of the soundtrack is created by a keyboard and the dark melancholy keyboard noodlings really add to the circus freakshow setting in the movie.

This is a very dark and unsettling anime movie, so it's only best to watch this if you're looking for something that's profound and will make you think. It will hurt you emotionally and upset you but it will stick in your mind for days on end.

The easiest point of comparison for an avant-garde western director such as Atom Egoyan is the perfect gateway auteur David Lynch; both deal with opulent, dramatic settings drowned in a sea of atmospheric knowhow. This is somewhat of a lazy evaluation to make however as it is like comparing walnuts to peanuts, both are of the same branch of food but provide completely different sensations. Atmosphere is pretty much where the languid journalist point of view between the two stops. Atom seems very much grounded in reality, and though it is one filled with surrealism, it does not cross the border of reality to fantasy like Lynch has portrayed many times.

His movies flourish with somewhat realistic characters stuck in situations that seem out of the norm. In possibly his biggest hit, 'Exotica', there is a grandiose set of a strip club that throws perverse situations in the faces of what on the surface appears to be normal people. The set almost becomes a living, breathing actor who is delivering their lines promptly and pushing the movie in directions it would not naturally go in if the actor was absent.

'Family Viewing' utilises this tool to the nth degree. Based mainly in a suburban home but also, more importantly, a run down claustrophobic nursing home, the area chokes the film and causes discomfort in the viewer. The introspective look of family intricacies reminds me of Jon Jost's masterpiece 'The Bed You Sleep In' which involves a daughter sending a letter home about how she's had flashbacks of her father raping her. This toys with the same idea though it is apparent the father has raped Armen, his elderly mother he's put into a care home, of her emotional value. Throughout the movie she doesn't say a word, stripped of her inner human and emitting a cold, desolate shoulder to those that surround her. The only person who accompanies and looks after her is her grandson, Van. His persona signifies someone who is lonely and distant, but his warm heartfelt emotions cause him to really care for this old woman. He tries everything possible to make life better for her and eventually has her living in an abandoned wing of a hotel he works at; this is caused by his father's unresolved resentment to Armen.

The story is oddly compelling, especially when the narrative is shook up and background to the characters is given through small showings of family memory tapes. This plays a big part in the mood of the film; the relationships of the characters and why they act a certain way are slowly revealed throughout the movie as nostalgic VHS cassettes are re-visited in no particular order. Things shown include clips of: Van's mother who disappeared several years previous, Van's father's phone sex fantasy, Van in several child-like scenarios and other background filler both of surreal and homely nature. The film works very well even with a shattered narrative and appears defiant as a piece of modern cinema and avant-garde cinema.

Atom Egoyan is a masterful director. Every shot seems important and the dialogue, while rusty and perhaps forced, is really thought out in terms of pushing certain ideas forward. I used to think that the only innovative, truly worthwhile directors bloomed in Japan and parts of Europe, but Egoyan has proved to me that there are still partially recent directors in the western world making a stand in their artistic vision and bringing it to life without becoming complacent in their direction.

This was my second insight into Jon Jost's filmography with the first being, of course, The Bed You Sleep In. While having some similar elements, there was definitely a large amount of things different with them. The Bed You Sleep In was slow, bleak and almost melodramatic… this is countered by the highly styled, slightly tongue in cheek surrealism of Angel City. This film has minutes upon minutes of cars driving, a helicopter bird's eye view of LA, and 10 or so minutes of a woman reciting lines only to be interrupted each time and other much stylised sequences which really do work for the movie.

The look of the film was also something I thought was important: the reflective shot of the desert with the eruptive angles of the city's scorched sun-dried vigour. Add to that the scratchy VHS quality this release pertains and you have a perfect 70s art-house movie that's not afraid of throwing away the rulebook and making a completely uncompromising work. From what I've seen Jost is truly one of the world's proper independent filmmakers who does not abide to what anyone says. His movies are what he wants them to be, not what he thinks people will like and that is one admirable quality that's prevalent throughout his work.

Personally The Bed You Sleep In worked better it's style and it's tone was more something more relatable (I've always been a sucker for slow bleak movies with long organic shots) but Angel City is also a fascinating, innovative addition to his filmography. Angel City is a mini masterpiece in its own way. The thought of exploring Jon Jost's work further is an incredibly exciting prospect, and really there has not been a weak slot in his movies thus far. He is a true visionary and really one of the only directors that is truly independent. His low budget, idiosyncratic style has been used in many other films but none refer back to him as a credential or really pull off the enormous depth Jost submits to his work. Angel City is not his best by a long shot, though with competition from 'Bell Diamond', 'The Bed You Sleep In', 'Slow Moves', 'Homecoming' and 'Speaking Directly', it is perfectly acceptable for it to not be in the top range. This however can serve as a gateway as he touches upon many themes and styles he would go on to look at.

"Me, Myself, and my Third Eye" is the fourth full-length presentation by Adam Cooley. Cooley employs a number of unorthodox techniques to execute a series of grainy stories about 4 people with fascinating flaws. The use of stop motion, altering of a single image plus the weird and wonderful colour scheme hooks onto the viewers' conscience and pulls them into the tales of surrealism and melancholy. While all these make "Me, Myself, and my Third Eye" a compelling feature, there are far more reasons to appreciate Cooley's take on postmodernism.

The film can be drawn from several influences; the philosophical quips injected into the dialogue recall Xavier: Renegade Angel, the vivid imagery is reminiscent of the more creative side of David Lynch, not to mention the colours which bring to mind Shinya Tsukamoto's Tokyo Fist. All this is encapsulated in a Begotten-like grain; things move so fast and zoomed it is difficult to suss out the actions on screen. Long camera shots of people's faces remind one of the scenes from a Kitano or Godard film though these don't portray themselves as simple rip-offs from other things but rather a deep admiration Cooley has for other people's work that has inspired him.

This movie is the first after what Cooley has dubbed the 'No Trilogy', and while they were interesting pieces of art; it feels apparent that these were mere stepping stones to what would constitute a bigger work. "Me, Myself and my Third Eye" is this work, a full-fledged mature offering which paints Adam as a forerunner of the amateur picture scene. Elements are taken from previous works and stamped with a sense of cohesion, making this so far a magnum opus for the director. If there was one criticism, it would be that some parts outstay their welcome when other scenes could have had a lot of potential to be built upon and achieve crown-wearing status of the movie. However, this negative factor is minor due to the concise 55 minute running time (and due to the nature of the film, having a longer runtime would have been total overkill).

From someone who has only really been working towards a cinematic vision for the past year or so, "Me, Myself and my Third Eye" is exciting in that there are many avenues Cooley can now take which will further his style and refine his technique. I for one am looking forward to it.

Red Room is a delightful take on reality shows, rendering them to the most sickest degree. This movie is low budgeted and you can tell, considering the whole movie seems to stay in one or two rooms. That's not why I only rated it a 5 though, my problem with this movie is that even though it only runs for an hour, it is still too long. The scene after scene of sick stunts get dull after the first 40 minutes and it is more down to how there isn't much depth and too much "look how disgusted we can make you" moments.

However Red Room doesn't TRY to have depth, it's only sole purpose is to disgust and shock the viewer and it achieves this triumphantly. This is a bleak movie and you're more than likely to feel sympathetic towards the main male character and his puppy love. The other characters however are SO dislikable that you don't really mind if they get violently hurt throughout the movie. And maybe that's where the faults for Red Room lie; the unsympathetic tendencies you get from most of the main characters makes this dull and just a shock fest. I did like the colour arrangements for the movie as everything is tinted a dark, hovering red enhancing the saddo grasp of the film.

It's just really what you want out of a movie, if you are fine with just taking in the constant sickening stunts then you'll enjoy this.