The Naked Kiss(dir. Samuel Fuller)
Utterly cinematic. Great moments throughout. The scene where we find out the secret to her fiance is extremely haunting and actually handled amazingly well by Fuller, who steers to almost camp with other situations similar to this one. "Charlie" gives an especially nuanced performance. It kind of gets clunky near the end, but it still remained highly compelling.
**** out of ****
Happy Feet(dir. George Miller)
Too long. Animation shouldn't run this long because the stories are usually very simple and can't really last an almost two hour running time. It had moments that were nice and the political message was quite refreshing in an animated film. If it was shorter, it would have been way more enjoyable.
**1/2 out of ****
Showing posts with label fuller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fuller. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Oh Alain...
White Dog(dir. Samuel Fuller)
I was surprised by how good this was. I wanted to see it pretty much for how ridiculous the concept seemed, but I was surprised by how effective this was as a drama. I remember reading the Great Directors for Fuller on Senses of Cinema and I believe someone said he makes poetry out of ridiculousness. This is the perfect example of this. It was actually intellectual especially the end. I can see theories that the dog represents society, which makes the most sense to me. This could be his best film.
**** out of ****
Le Cercle Rouge(dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
Watching Heat, I wanted to see another caper film and the fact that Michael Mann is obviously influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville, I decided to put this near the top of the Blockbuster Online queue. Not sure if this is better than Heat, but this is clearly his best film. What amazes me about his films is just the level of detail like how the inspector has a lot of cats and the whole robbery sequence was quite compelling. The ending was kind of a letdown, but thats one of the only flaws I can see with this nearly flawless film. The scenes in the bar were quite astonishing. I loved it.
**** out of ****
I was surprised by how good this was. I wanted to see it pretty much for how ridiculous the concept seemed, but I was surprised by how effective this was as a drama. I remember reading the Great Directors for Fuller on Senses of Cinema and I believe someone said he makes poetry out of ridiculousness. This is the perfect example of this. It was actually intellectual especially the end. I can see theories that the dog represents society, which makes the most sense to me. This could be his best film.
**** out of ****
Le Cercle Rouge(dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
Watching Heat, I wanted to see another caper film and the fact that Michael Mann is obviously influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville, I decided to put this near the top of the Blockbuster Online queue. Not sure if this is better than Heat, but this is clearly his best film. What amazes me about his films is just the level of detail like how the inspector has a lot of cats and the whole robbery sequence was quite compelling. The ending was kind of a letdown, but thats one of the only flaws I can see with this nearly flawless film. The scenes in the bar were quite astonishing. I loved it.
**** out of ****
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Oh Sand and Steel...
The Steel Helmet(dir. Samuel Fuller)
One of the best war movies I've ever seen.
**** out of ****
Woman in the Dunes(dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara)
One of the best movies I've ever seen.
**** out of ****
One of the best war movies I've ever seen.
**** out of ****
Woman in the Dunes(dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara)
One of the best movies I've ever seen.
**** out of ****
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Movie Reviews...
My Darling Clementine(dir. John Ford)
I've seen Grapes of Wrath before, but I'm pretty surpised I like this. Of the classic Hollywood westerns I've seen, I can't honestly say I was in love with the whole thing. I can't say it for this either, but it pretty much comes close. Probably my biggest issue is that its a genre. A genre in which subtlity is not very common and this was in an age of unsubtlity which makes it even more unsubtle. The fact of the matter has moments are subtle and beautiful which means alot in this genre. I don't watch much classic Hollywood films, but I would probably say this and Grapes of Wrath are my favorites so far.
**** out of ****
Rushmore(dir. Wes Anderson)[rewatch]
I wasn't sure if I've actually seen the whole thing before so I watched it again. I didn't realize I've seen basically in the movie, but whatever. I looked more into the character of Max Fischer while watching this time and why he acts the way he does. One scene between Max and Ms. Cross probably tells you the whole reason or at least a possible reason why he is in "love" with her when she confronts him about whether having sex with him would put an end to this. I also rewatched this to see if I like more than The Royal Tenenbaums. Tenenbaums is better, but this is still awesome stuff.
**** out of ****
Shrek 2(dir. NO clue)
Intelligent animated films are hard to find. This is pretty intelligent and imaginative. I enjoyed the references to other fairy tale stories and Starbucks and other pop culture nonsense. I didn't think it had as good of a story as the first however.
*** out of ****
Goodbye, South Goodbye(dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien)
First Taiwan movie I've ever seen. I can't say this film was a very emotional experience probably because I had the feeling that I was lost throughout the whole thing. It didn't have a difficult story to follow, it was just the way it was told which is probably what amazed me the most about the film. There was some scenes that blew my mind like a scene where the three main characters are driving on a moped and a motorcycle. I will probably rewatch this or try to find a better copy of it online since this version had pretty lousy video. The film had a sort of Asian Tarkovsky feel to it.
*** out of ****
The Night Listener(dir. No CLUE)
The storytelling is pretty good, but the actual story is pretty bad. Only one scene was very poorly handled which was kind of a combination between a slapstick chase and some horror movie like The Ring. Robin Williams was good. Milks the inspired by true events alittle too much.
*** out of ****
Wedding Crashers(dir. No Clue)
My two biggest complaints are it wasn't that funny and it was very stereotypical. It somehow works with those two complaints against it. The whole thing kind of felt like Rachael McAdams's speech in it. It tries to make you laugh and has good intentions, but it fails.
*** out of ****
Forty Guns(dir. Samuel Fuller)
I have the same feelings about Johnny Guitar. These films are supposed to be films that "independent" minded filmmakers of the classic era twisting a genre to something that suits their needs. However, these films are not as subtle as My Darling Clementine which is categorized as a very Hollywood western. I don't get it. They're somewhat enjoyable, but I've seen better from Fuller and Ray.
*** out of ****
I've seen Grapes of Wrath before, but I'm pretty surpised I like this. Of the classic Hollywood westerns I've seen, I can't honestly say I was in love with the whole thing. I can't say it for this either, but it pretty much comes close. Probably my biggest issue is that its a genre. A genre in which subtlity is not very common and this was in an age of unsubtlity which makes it even more unsubtle. The fact of the matter has moments are subtle and beautiful which means alot in this genre. I don't watch much classic Hollywood films, but I would probably say this and Grapes of Wrath are my favorites so far.
**** out of ****
Rushmore(dir. Wes Anderson)[rewatch]
I wasn't sure if I've actually seen the whole thing before so I watched it again. I didn't realize I've seen basically in the movie, but whatever. I looked more into the character of Max Fischer while watching this time and why he acts the way he does. One scene between Max and Ms. Cross probably tells you the whole reason or at least a possible reason why he is in "love" with her when she confronts him about whether having sex with him would put an end to this. I also rewatched this to see if I like more than The Royal Tenenbaums. Tenenbaums is better, but this is still awesome stuff.
**** out of ****
Shrek 2(dir. NO clue)
Intelligent animated films are hard to find. This is pretty intelligent and imaginative. I enjoyed the references to other fairy tale stories and Starbucks and other pop culture nonsense. I didn't think it had as good of a story as the first however.
*** out of ****
Goodbye, South Goodbye(dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien)
First Taiwan movie I've ever seen. I can't say this film was a very emotional experience probably because I had the feeling that I was lost throughout the whole thing. It didn't have a difficult story to follow, it was just the way it was told which is probably what amazed me the most about the film. There was some scenes that blew my mind like a scene where the three main characters are driving on a moped and a motorcycle. I will probably rewatch this or try to find a better copy of it online since this version had pretty lousy video. The film had a sort of Asian Tarkovsky feel to it.
*** out of ****
The Night Listener(dir. No CLUE)
The storytelling is pretty good, but the actual story is pretty bad. Only one scene was very poorly handled which was kind of a combination between a slapstick chase and some horror movie like The Ring. Robin Williams was good. Milks the inspired by true events alittle too much.
*** out of ****
Wedding Crashers(dir. No Clue)
My two biggest complaints are it wasn't that funny and it was very stereotypical. It somehow works with those two complaints against it. The whole thing kind of felt like Rachael McAdams's speech in it. It tries to make you laugh and has good intentions, but it fails.
*** out of ****
Forty Guns(dir. Samuel Fuller)
I have the same feelings about Johnny Guitar. These films are supposed to be films that "independent" minded filmmakers of the classic era twisting a genre to something that suits their needs. However, these films are not as subtle as My Darling Clementine which is categorized as a very Hollywood western. I don't get it. They're somewhat enjoyable, but I've seen better from Fuller and Ray.
*** out of ****
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