Oh Reviews...

Over the Hedge(dir. ?)
I have the same feelings towards this movie as I do with Wedding Crashers. It's not horrible, it's just not that good either.
** out of ****
Ten on Ten(dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
Dug it.
*** out of ****
The Skywalk is Gone(dir. Tsai Ming-Liang)
The closing shot of the clouds was alittle much.
*** out of ****

Another Motherload...

Mirror(dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
Second time is a charm.
**** out of ****
Stalker(dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
**** out of ****
A Prarie Home Companion(dir. Robert Altman)
It started off pretty slow, but when it reached the point where you discover who the woman in the white trenchcoat is, everything seemed to fall in place. Definately not his best, but still good.
*** out of ****
The Man From Laramie(dir. Anthony Mann)
Definately better than The Naked Spur and Winchester '73. Quite possible be my favorite western.
**** out of ****
Rio Grande(dir. John Ford)
*** out of ****
The Searchers(dir. John Ford)
**** out of ****
Hondo(dir. John Farrow)
**** out of ****
Ten(dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
I absolutely loved this movie.
**** out of ****
A Better Tomorrow(dir. John Woo)
The plot is pretty bad. Theres not that much action. It's still a decent movie just for its style.
*** out of ****
Notre Musique(dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
I didn't really understand what it was trying to convey. I read other reviews of it and they talk about the idea of how being the victim in a war is better than being the victor. That makes sense and the film definately goes over that, but it was not that interesting. The best parts were the Hell portion where he uses footage from movie and creates a bizarre and somewhat scary view of war and his speech on shot and reverse shot.
** out of ****
Three Times(dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien)
This movie is extremely uneven. The first "time" is the best portion of the film. It had an innocent romantic charm that worked well with it, while the others just pretty much fall flat. The second "time" is interesting because its silent, but this stylistic choice is basically a gimmick. The third "time" is sort of interesting. The characters seem like those "dark" people on LiveJournal where they make up poems and other artistic things to show how intelligent and creative they are. Just like those people, I could care less about the characters in this part.
** out of ****
Rebels of a Neon God(dir. Tsai Ming-Liang)
**** out of ****
The Wrong Man(dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
*** out of ****
Winter Light(dir. Ingmar Bergman)
The first Bergman that I actually enjoyed.
**** out of ****
What Time is it There?(dir. Tsai Ming-Liang)
I absolutely loved it.
**** out of ****
Goodbye, Dragon Inn(dir. Tsai Ming-Liang)
It came together at the end.
**** out of ****
Days of Being Wild(dir. Wong Kar-Wai)
It was good, but the ending was pretty bad. He could have ended it probably three times before the ending and I would have been happy. It is interesting how different this film feels from his later ones.
*** out of ****

Week and a Half? Review #1?

1. The Royal Tenenbaums (dir. Wes Anderson)
This is my favorite movie now. It is everything I dreamed of in a movie except not knowing it. Some people feel it is painfully controlled, but the instances of emotion are almost crippling because of this control. The characters also do things that seem irrational and spontanteous while the style and the world is controlled by the film-makers. One scene that I think is perfect is when Richie sees Margot the first time in the movie when he is an adult. The music and everything creates the perfect feeling in me that I can't help, but love this movie. I know the rest of the movie isn't perfect, but it comes quite close.
Sidenote: It is quite interesting to compare this Paul Thomas Anderson's third film, Magnolia. They both have a father in it that attempts to reach out to his family by saying he is dying. Phillip Baker Hall's character might be dying while Royal is not dying at all. Hall's character however might have did far worse things to his family than Royal. Narration in both films is surpisingly similar. They both don't have narration in the middle of the picture, but bookend the film. There is alot more narration in Wes's film though. Both films seem to be controlled very elaborately compared to each film-maker's work before this. Rushmore showed Wes's signature style alot while Bottle Rocket just showed little bits like the jumpsuits. Paul's Boogie Nights showed the direction he would be heading with Magnolia, but hasn't made a film like it since. I also believe both those films are the best of their respective director.
**** out of ****
2. Dead Man (dir. Jim Jarmusch)
This movie is my favorite Jarmusch film. I cared for the characters and it felt surpisingly focused compared to his earlier work and even his later work (Broken Flowers). Thats not to say his other films I've seen are worth watching, but they fail to create a mood and a universe like this movie. The soundtrack is amazing and Gary Farmer's performance as Nobody is particularly noteworthy. The film felt like a spiritual western. I dig it.
3. California Split (dir. Robert Altman)
Elliot Gould is the man.
**** out of ****
4. Close-Up (dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
Kind of funny. Not the movie, the situation I watched the movie. I watched it right after the post below. It even says Based on a True Story in the beginning, but the film has documentary footage implemented of it. Some of the people in the documentary footage were willing to re-enact instances talked about in the documentary footage. The ending makes you wonder if the events actually happened or not so it isn't completely abusing its Based on a True Story. Most Hollywood pictures would have put no effort at all into the movie since the audience already has a sense of "Oh this really happened" even though they should be trying harder. Kiarostami is one of my favorite film-makers now.
**** out of ****

Taste of Cherry Review and Analysis

Original review:
Taste of Cherry(dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
I'm borderline whether this film is actually good or bad. It was interesting and different. It was not as good as The Wind Will Carry Us which had conversations that felt natural and pointless yet meaningful. The whole film really doesn't engage the viewer but there is something bold about it that I have to respect.
*** out of ****
Rewatch Review:
I've never done this. I have never done a rewatch review on here, but I feel I need to. In all honesty, my first time watching the film was one of extreme boredom. I did not like it that much. The ending was interesting, but that was it. I thought the whole stages of life dealing with the passengers just seemed dull and pretentious. It was too self-conscious, but now I think about it, it goes well with the ending which is basically a giant self reflection of movie making. The film is much more intellectual stimulating on this viewing. Kiarostami constantly gives hints throughout the film that I never picked up on on my first viewing. The characters constantly refer to the earth and dirt. One conversation between an Afghani security guard and Mr. Badii reveals that Mr. Badii loves the earth. His form of suicide deals with earth. He has dug a hole to lay down after taking all his sleeping pills and he must have someone bury him if he dies. Why does he try to kill himself? I don't know for sure, but I'll get into that right now.
Analysis(SPOILERS):
All of this is purely opinion, but I feel it could make some sense. Earth is constantly referenced. Mr. Badii loves the earth. We constantly see the earth being shaped and manipulated which leads me to believe that Mr. Badii hates what human beings are doing to it. He constantly drives with his Range Rover on roads that were made by the manipulation of earth. I now see this as a metaphor for Kiarostami's style of film-making. He does not want to manipulate audiences or hijack them emotional. This film is emotional, but not to the extent a Hollywood film would be. It is much more intellectual. This is how Kiarostami makes his films. You could view Mr. Badii killing himself as a form of sacrifice for the earth. Kiarostami's films could be seen as "suicides" where he sacrifices his artistic control for his audience. He cares about them too much just like Mr. Badii cares for the earth. He wants the audience to defer from the film and be intellectually stimulated. He wants them to breath life into the film, not him breath life into the film for the audience. The ending however is a tricky bastard. It is self-reflexive as hell and does not correlate with the rest of the film. I realize now maybe I figured out something. The last time we see of Mr. Badii is sitting in that hole waiting to see if he dies or not. Obviously, Kiarostami wanting to have his audience intellectually stimulated and moved by thought would not give us an indication of whether he dies or not. We never find out, but after that scene we see Kiarostami directing a group of soldiers. Mr. Badii talks about his days serving in the army. He states that it was the best time of his life. The whole ending reminds us of earlier scenes in the film. There is a tree with probably mulberries on it since the Turkish passenger did not kill himself because of mulberries. The whole ending is however kind of reminscent of the scene that came right before it. Sure, Kiarostami is not lying down in a hole wondering if he will wake up tomorrow, but him film-making is the equivalent of that. He has no idea whether this film will be liked or disliked. Just like Mr. Badii's death is, its up to fate and the viewer. Kiarostami has sacrificed himself in this film for all cinema fans to enjoy. I love it and I feel I am now Sherlock Holmes and have solved some sort of mystery. This is a modern masterpiece and I take back every bad thing I said about this film.

**** out of ****

Movie Reviews

Au Hashard Bathalzar(dir. Robert Bresson)
I still don't really grasp the Bresson style. It just frustrates the hell out of me yet it is interesting. I will probably rewatch one of the four films I have seen by him or maybe try some of his later work. This movie clicked at first and clicked
out which made it more frustrating. ? out of ****
Capote(dir. Bennett Miller)
A really good film about the writing process for a legendary author and could there possible be a message about the death penalty? What made this film better than Crash or Good Night, and Good Luck is that there could be a message about the death penalty, but it doesn't cram it down your throat. Hoffman's performance is kind of overrated, but it was still great. **** out of ****
The Squid and the Whale(dir. Noah Bambauch)
I heard this film is Wes Anderson lite, but it really isn't. It doesn't seem to try so hard to be quirky or stylistic. It seems very honest and personal which the two Wes Anderson films I've seen don't have, but I still love Wes Anderson. This was a great film about divorce and the effects on the family. **** out of ****
Taste of Cherry(dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
I currently have this movie still from Blockbuster, but it doesn't count as a checked out movie. I'll probably rewatch it pretty soon, but this film is really slow. It isn't nearly as thought-provoking or interesting as The Wind Will Carry Us. The ending probably provoked the most thought and was probably the most interesting part in the whole film. ** out of ****

Taste of Cherry and The Leopard Mini Reviews

The Leopard(dir. Luchino Visconti)(US version)
The whole film was pretty good. Nothing really amazing about it. It kind of got boring during the last 45 minutes or so. I need to watch the original version of it.
*** out of ****

Taste of Cherry(dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
I'm borderline whether this film is actually good or bad. It was interesting and different. It was not as good as The Wind Will Carry Us which had conversations that felt natural and pointless yet meaningful. The whole film really doesn't engage the viewer but there is something bold about it that I have to respect.
*** out of ****

The Wind WIll Carry Us Review

This film is directed by Abbas Kiarostami. He is an Iranian filmmaker whose film, Taste of Cherry, won the Palm D'or at the Cannes Film Festival. I have been interested in him for awhile so I rented this. I was expecting something slow and meticulous and I guess some people would watch this film and think that, but I was suprised how fascinating this film was. There is not much plot. You could basically sum it up with an engineer and his colleagues are waiting in village for an old woman to die and they are supposed to take pictures of the funeral ceremony. The film reminds me of something more along the lines Eric Rohmer than Robert Bresson with the constant talking covering up the fact there is not much plot development. This is not a bad thing, but I could see how people could get bored. The meaning of the film is not immediately apparent until a conversation between the engineer and a doctor. The doctor recites a poem and I basically took it in as the meaning to the whole film. The engineer and his colleagues are waiting for death when they should really just be living. The film is marked with idleness and repetition. The conversations are more or less the same. The engineer constantly gets called and has to drive his car to higher ground to talk in a cemetary. He talks to a man digging a well up there and happens to come across a bone. He keeps the bone throughout the film until the end. The ending seems like a major change in the engineer's life throughout the whole film. I took it in as he is done waiting and ready to start living. This film is a modern masterpiece.

Pros:
-Beatiful photography
-Realistic acting
-Repitition is used almost comforting in a way
-The film has little plot development, but remains extremely interesting all the way through

Cons:
-Can be boring to some
-Repetition might annoy some
-Too much talking?
-Not much backround on the protagonist?

Overall: A modern masterpiece
**** out of ****