782. Hotel Terminus: Klaus Barbie et son temps/Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)

Running Time: 267 minutes
Directed By: Marcel Ophuls
Written By: Marcel Ophuls
Main Cast: Klaus Barbie, Claude Lanzmann, Marcel Ophuls, Eugene Kolb, Johannes Schneider-Merck
Click here to view the trailer

OPHULS ASKS THE TOUGH QUESTIONS

Today, I drag myself out of bed, feeling the after effects of a migraine headache, to bring to you the review of "Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie". For those of you who don't know who Barbie is, he was known as the "Butcher of Lyon", serving Adolf Hitler and ultimately torturing and killing many Jews.

Marcel Ophuls (son of Max Ophuls), a Jew and someone who was obviously very effected by the Holocaust, turns his camera toward Klaus Barbie, a master torturer and convicted killer of children. The film probes his entire life, from childhood to his trial and imprisonment in 1987. After World War II, Barbie was recruited by U.S. Army Counter Intelligence and worked as an agent. Ophuls grills the retired U.S. agents who would place Barbie under their employ and doesn't hold back in condemning their actions. Following his work for the United States, Barbie defected to Bolivia, where he lived under the name Klaus Altmann and was later identified and extradited back to France, where he would stand trial.

Certain parts of "Hotel Terminus" were interesting. For example, the stories of torture from Holocaust survivors, ones that actually faced punishment from Barbie himself. The sheer horror that the Jews faced never ceases to astound me, how they were arrested, tortured and killed simply for being Jewish. Ophuls is actually Jewish himself, so this is obviously a really personal story for him and he doesn't hold back, especially when talking to the retired U.S. Counter Intelligence agents about their hand in hiring and working with Klaus Barbie, a known Nazi, although some of them claim not to have known about his past. That would be the other really interesting section, hearing stories from the likes of Eugene Kolb about Barbie's work for this country. The rest, however, wasn't so great and hearing stories about the French Resistance, Barbie's defection to Bolivia and his extradition and trial, really bored me to tears. I either wasn't interested or didn't have enough prior history to be able to really get the gist of what was being discussed.

Anyway, that's pretty much my final opinion. Certain parts I did enjoy and most other parts I didn't. However, while watching "Hotel Terminus" I realized two things that I'd like to share.

*Sometimes I forget that all evil men were once children and I wonder when all of their innocence was lost. In the film, people who knew Barbie as a child speak about him and how they never thought he'd grow up to torture other human beings. Klaus Barbie and even Adolf Hitler were children at one point and never though they'd grow up to do the horrific things that they did. It really makes me interested in where they went south, the evolution of their mind and where and why these evil premonitions were bred.

*The second thought while watching "Hotel Terminus" is much less deep. First of all, I love hearing people talk, especially if I'm interested in what they're talking about. It just so happens that in the case of "Hotel Terminus" I usually wasn't THAT interested. But I got to thinking, what if someone made a "documentary" in the style of "Hotel Terminus", using a fictional backdrop. You could just make up a story and use actors to give their accounts of "what really happened", although it would be a total work of fiction and simply be testimonials and interviews from different actors speaking on the fictional subject. I think it would work best as a horror film, because lets face it, "Hotel Terminus" is kind of a horror film. It would kind of work the same way "found footage films" work, but there would be no action, only dialogue and interviews. Just a thought, maybe a good one, maybe a bad one, but a thought nonetheless.

RATING: 5/10  Lets just slice it right down the middle and call it a day. Marcel has another film in THE BOOK, "The Sorrow and the Pity" and apparently it's better...I do hope so.

MOVIES WATCHED: 574
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 427

November 9, 2012  12:25pm

873. Natural Born Killers (1994)

Running Time: 120 minutes
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Written By: David Veloz, Richard Rutowski, Oliver Stone, from story by Quentin Tarantino
Main Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Sizemore, Tommy Lee Jones
Click here to view the trailer

STONE WEEK: 4 of 4

Today I conclude "Stone Week" and "Natural Born Killers" gets the deciding vote on whether I'll ultimately commend Oliver Stone as a good filmmaker or condemn him as a bad one. Here Olive Stone tells the tale of Mickey and Mallory, a script originally written by Quentin Tarantino, before he became famous.

The movie is made or broken in the plot, but rather in the experience of watching it and taking it all in. However, because I'm a creature of habit, I simply must relay the plot for you. The film centers around Mickey (Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Lewis), a married couple (although their wedding consisted of them cutting their palms, holding hands and being their own priest) who are going cross country, making media headlines as serial killers.  The "M & M Murders" get worldwide publicity and everyone from Paris, France to Hoston, Texas are talking about Micky and Mallory, buying magazines with their faces on it and becoming consumed with the media blitzkrieg. Mickey and Mallory's calling card, if you will, consists of them leaving one person alive at each of their murder sites, so that person can tell the world that Mickey and Mallory struck again. Meanwhile, Wayne Gale (Downey Jr.) is becoming famous off the names of M & M, centering his television show, "American Maniacs" around the demonic couple. There's also Detective Jack Scagnetti (Sizemore), a famous cop who's on the trail of M & M. Eventually things go south for Mickey and Mallory, as they kill an Indian who takes them in and shelters them and are subsequently bitten by a rattlesnake, leading to their arrest and imprisonment.

I'm struggling with this one, because on one hand I REALLY hated it and on the other hand, the few things I did like about it, I really liked. Why don't we start with the good and segue into the bad. In a 2007 interview, Quentin Tarantino had the following to say about "Natural Born Killers", when asked if he ever got around to watching it:

(paraphrasing)
"I was enjoying it until the terrible Mallory Knox sitcom thing"

BINGO! That's where all my interest went down the tubes as well. But, hey, we're talking about the good first, so I will say that the opening is ONE OF the best openings I've seen in a long time. The music is perfect, the dialogue is perfect and it certainly did it's job and hooked me in for the ride. Unfortunately, I was begging to get out about twenty minutes down the road. So, it's not hard to see why Tarantino was enjoying himself up to that stupid "sitcom thing". In fact, even this bit of dialogue sounds like it was plucked directly out of a Tarantino film:

Mickey: Maam, what kind of pies do you have?
Waitress: Well we got um...Apple, Pecan, Cherry and Key Lime
Mickey: Which do you reccomend?
Waitress: Well the Key Lime's great but it's an acquired taste.
Mickey: Well I ain't had Key Lime pie in ten years
Waitress: When you had it did you like it?
Mickey: No, but that don't mean much, I was a completely different person back then.
(pause)
Mickey: Lets give that Key Lime pie a day in court and a big 'ol glass of nonfat milk, if you please.

I LOVED this exchange, it was perfect and while I'm on the subject, who knew Woody Harrelson had these kinds of skills in him. I'm not just talking about this scene, but he's perfect throughout the entire film and gets added to a long list of actors I need to see more stuff from. Also, again we get an absolute knockout performance from Tommy Lee Jones and while he doesn't have a whole lot of screen time, he damn near steals the show when he gets the opportunity - add his name to that same list.

Once that Mallory Knox "sitcom thing" came on though, I knew me and this film just weren't going to jive. I knew Oliver Stone, like always, was going to take a less traveled path in telling his story and everything was going to be very unconventional. Stone uses animation, black and white photography and back and front projection to tell his story and ultimately it just didn't work for me. I loved what I was able to love and took away what I was able to take away, but in the end, I just can't give "Natural Born Killers" a recommendation. It was far too weird for my tastes and hey, I'm all for a little weirdness, but this fucking thing is as weird as shit! And, of course, as per usual Oliver Stone is trying to make some sort of statement about the media and violence and the glorification of evil men and I'm really tired of having statements made on me. Tarantino also said in an interview that if you like his movies, you probably won't like "Natural Born Killers" and if you like Stone's work, you'll probably love it. I love me a Tarantino movie, so I guess he nailed it there.

RATING: 4/10  That might be too generous of a rating, but maybe not. I liked "NBK" better than "Platoon" and "Salvador", but would have to give "JFK" the honors of being the best Stone flick I watched this week.

A WORD OR TWO ABOUT OLIVER STONE

I don't like him. 'Nuff said.

Just kidding.

To say that Oliver Stone was a bad filmmaker would be too easy, so I'll just say that Oliver Stone was a fine filmmaker, who just happened to make films that didn't appeal to me. I'm sure there are people out there who love his work and good for them, because it's obvious that the guy has a great deal of talent. Unfortunately, his films and my tastes just weren't a match made in heaven and in the end, I'd have to put him in the thumbs down column when it comes to listing director's. Oliver Stone was more concerned with making statements, rather than telling stories. The director's that I admire are the one's who are the best storytellers and when I look at Stone's work, I don't see a good storyteller, I simple see someone who is technically great at making movies and that's not good enough for me. There was also the case of just not being interested in a lot of what his movies were about - the Vietnam War, the Salvador crisis, etc. I liked "JFK" a lot, but not necessarily for the direction, but because I found the subject matter to be very interesting. With "NBK", I admired Stone's vision and applaud him for trying something different, when a lot of director's would find solace in the safety of a formulaic mold. However, "NBK" just didn't work for me. Anyway, in closing, let me say that if you're looking for a really good Oliver Stone movie and one that also gets my seal of approval, then check out "U-Turn". A lot of people trash it, but I really liked, you get a good performance from Sean Penn and a nice little story.

On a side note, if THE BOOK insisted on including four Oliver Stone movies, here's the four I wish they'd have chosen.

1. U-Turn
2. Born on the Fourth of July
3. JFK
4. (tie) Wall Street (because I've never seen it and want to)/The Doors (because it's not bad, although still not a "must see")

MOVIES WATCHED: 573
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 428

November 6, 2012  6:47pm

838. JFK (1991)

Running Time: 189 minutes
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Written By: Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar, from the book Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs and On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison
Main Cast: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Joe Pesci, Michael Rooker
Click here to view the trailer

STONE WEEK: 3 of 4

After manually manipulating a '10' rating with the watching of "Fargo", I return to the "Stone Week" festivities and follow Oliver into a new decade and his 1991 film "JFK".

To outline the entire plot of "JFK" would take entirely too long, as the film clocks in at a whopping three hours and change and covers a lot of ground as it plays out. For the unaware, the film is not a biopic about the life of the 35th President of the United States, but rather a probing into the events surrounding the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on that fateful November day in 1963 (forty-nine years ago this month).  The film's central character is New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Costner), a man who was somewhat traumatized by the events that occurred on November 22, 1963 and made it his personal mission to uncover the truth about whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald (Oldman) acted alone in assassinating JFK. Garrison disagrees with the shoddy questioning and tactics implemented in the Warren Commission, a commission organized to investigate the assassination and who concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby both acted alone in committing their crimes. The film uses lots of fast, genius editing techniques to really make the viewers head spin and throws out a lot of information over the course of it's three hour running time. The film also stars and features dozens of Hollywood A-listers, including Joe Pesci, Vincent D'Onofrio, Michael Rooker, Wayne Knight, John Candy, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ed Asner, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, John Larroquette and Martin Sheen as the narrator. Okay, so maybe I'm using the term "A-lister" loosely, but my point is that there's a lot of recognizable faces in it.

It's kind of ironic that I'm writing about "JFK" one day before millions of people will head to their voting stations and choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. This film really made me aware of my country and my government and made me question the ethical background of, not only the politicians of yesterday, but also the politicians of today. It's not that prior to watching "JFK" I had a truckload of faith in the United States government, but this film really makes you wonder, question and feel skepticism. To think that the John F. Kennedy assassination could have been orchestrated by people as far up as Lyndon B. Johnson is mind boggling. This film made me wonder what it must've been like to be standing on Elm Street on November 22, 1963, surrounded by chaos and having all the truths right in front of you, but not knowing what to look for. The truth about who killed John F. Kennedy was in broad daylight, in Dallas, on that November day and thousands of people who arrived to watch the President's motorcade were there, but NO ONE was able to give a definitive eyewitness report. People claimed to have seen smoke, coming from behind a fence, on a grassy area, but no one was able to conclusively say whether or not Oswald did or didn't commit the crime, nor were the able to finger a second gunmen.

Prior to even watching "JFK" and despite not being born until 1984, I was always of the opinion that Oswald didn't act alone and I'd even go one step further and say that it's very possible Oswald wasn't even one of the shooters. Maybe that's my dramatic instinct kicking in though, my need to have situations be more exciting. I think that's actually where the success of "JFK" comes from. People want to believe that there's a hidden truth, a super secret being shielded from the public, something we're not allowed to know about. People love to speculate, theorize and draw conspiracy theories and perhaps not knowing is half the fun of "JFK". If you walk away from this movie and you're still of the opinion that "no, Oswald and Ruby both acted alone - one was a nutcase who wanted to kill the President and one was a patriot who wanted to avenge the death of his fallen leader", then you're not playing along with the plot of the film and obviously you're a close-minded person. Being open-minded is so much more fun, because it allows you to take all points of view and make your own theories and assumptions.

If nothing else, this film obviously made me think. It made me want to learn more about the JFK administration, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis and probe further into the events surrounding the assassination. While watching this movie I wished desperately that I would've been more educated when it came to those subjects so that I would've had some frame of reference when I was getting information fired at me at rapid speed and trying my best to take it, process it and understand it. I had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with all of those facts, figures, testimonies, theories and ideas and several times throughout the film, I had to rewind the movie to reassess what I'd just heard. The film is a political thriller and we all know how I feel about mixing movies and politics, but this one gets my seal of approval. I didn't love it to death or anything, but I applaud Stone for making me want to take an interest in my country's history (no matter how shady it may be) and for making me think and be baffled by his theories. Oh and as much as I dislike Kevin Costner, I have to give the guy credit here. He managed to do a great job giving a very LONG speech at the end of the film. However, best performance of the film honors go to Tommy Lee Jones who, no joke, stood on a film set surrounded by those dozens of stars I mentioned above and easily was the best one there.

RATING: 7/10  Only one Oliver Stone picture left and I plan to give it a look later tonight - "Natural Born Killers".

MOVIES WATCHED: 572
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 429

November 5, 2012  10:33pm

903. FARGO (1996)

Running Time: 98 minutes
Directed By: Joel Coen
Written By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Main Cast: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell
Click here to view the trailer

BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS

Yesterday I noted in my "Salvador" review that it had been ten films in a row since I rated a film over '7'. I also guaranteed that the next review I wrote would change my losing streak and on that note, I bring you "Fargo" - a personal favorite of mine for a while now.

The plot revolves around Jerry Lundegaard (Macy), a car salesman in serious debt, who hires two men, Carl (Buscemi) and Gaear (Stormare) to kidnap his wife. His plan is that once his wife is kidnapped by the two slimy perpetrators, his father-in-law, Wade (Presnell), will provide the kidnappers with their requested ransom money. The kidnappers are to receive $40,000 for their deed, but Jerry plans to tell Wade that they're requesting $80,000, so that he can skim some off the top, before paying off the kidnappers and getting his wife back - "no rough stuff". However, things go awry when Carl and Gaear are forced to murder a suspecting policeman and two passersby. The kidnappers get cranky and decide that they want the full $80,000 from Jerry, but that's okay because Jerry ACTUALLY requested $1 million from Wade. Enter Marge Gunderson (McDormand), a pregnant policewoman with keen policing skills, who looks to nab the murderers and is lead closer and closer to Jerry Lundegaard's doorstep in the process.

SPOILER ALERT!

Thank God for good films and good filmmaker's. I was starting to forget that old feeling - the feeling of watching a great movie and realizing, before it even finishes, that it's going to receive a perfect '10'.  However, if you're one of the few who doesn't like "Fargo", I guess I could understand that opinion. In fact, the first time I ever watched this one, I didn't like it either. It wasn't until repeated viewing that I started to come around and get closer and closer to realizing the greatness that it wields. So what's so great about "Fargo" and why do I love it?

*The cast - There's no denying the fantastic cast that comes together to showcase their talents and add to the already fantastic script. Frances McDormand picked up an Oscar for her role as Marge Gunderson and rightfully so. William H. Macy was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but had it stolen away by Cuba Gooding Jr., a crime that should've been punishable by jail time. If you ever begin to question that acting talents of Macy, just pop in "Fargo" and it should all come flooding back to you. And hey, I haven't even mentioned Buscemi and Stormare, who are also both fine - although Stormare barely speaks, so I guess he doesn't deserve as much praise as the other three key players.

*"Fargo" also does a fantastic job of mixing genres and smearing together elements of comedy, noir, thriller, murder mystery and drama. It seems like every time the scene changes, so does the mood of the film and you really have to be a versatile movie watcher to be able to keep up with the different elements. Take, for instance, the scene where Wade and Carl meet for the exchange - a really gritty, noir-like scene that utilizes music and atmosphere to their fullest advantages. That look on Wade's face after he's been shot is priceless and the music perfectly in sync. Then you get scenes with Buscemi and Stormare arguing in the car about what they're going to eat for breakfast - one wants pancakes, the other wants a shot and a steak - a very comedic scene. I spoke yesterday about "Salvador" and it's attempt to mix comedy in the midst of a serious film and how it didn't work. Here, the Coens show Olive Stone how it's done, blending everything together in sublime harmony.

*The setting - There's something about the setting - Minneapolis, Fargo, the snow, the common folk and their "Minnesota Nice" slang - that really give this film an eeriness. It reminds you that evil doers and their plots and schemes can exist anywhere and that even though this film isn't based on a true story, it certainly could be. In fact, maybe that's why the Coens posted that false notice at the beginning of the film. It's said that they posted it because they felt if audiences believed that the movie were true, then they'd be open to buying into a more ludicrous plot. The cold and snow also play a major part in "Fargo", with the weather almost taking on a life of it's own. There's something about films set in extreme heat or extreme cold that really appeal to me, especially if the director can make you feel what the characters are feeling. For example, I always feel so suffocated when I watch "12 Angry Men", watching these twelve guys in a sweltering hot jury room. "Fargo" uses the same method, only the opposite.

There may be a few other reasons, but those are the primary reasons why I love "Fargo". I've mentioned before that I always have a hard time writing about film's that I've previously been close to and "Fargo" is no exception. A film grows on you so much and so strong, that you forget to pay attention to why you're digging it and just dig it. The longer you're familiar with a film, the harder it becomes to explain why it initially appealed to you.

RATING: 10/10  For the curious, the #1 spot of the next TOP 20 is currently being fought over by this, "Stranger Than Paradise", "Barry Lyndon", "A Fish Called Wanda", "Drugstore Cowboy" and "Terms of Endearment".

MOVIES WATCHED: 571
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 430

November 4, 2012  7:40pm

753. Salvador (1986)

Running Time: 123 minutes
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Written By: Oliver Stone, Rick Boyle
Main Cast: James Woods, James Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo
Click here to view the trailer

STONE WEEK: 2 of 4

Yes folks, you read that right, James Belushi somehow managed to get a role in a "must see" film. However, the fact of the matter is that I'd rather watch reruns of "According to Jim" than have to sit through "Salvador" again and that's saying something.

James Woods stars as Richard Boyle, a down on his luck, American photographer. When his wife takes their child & leaves him and he's ousted from his apartment, Boyle hits the road, alongside Dr. Rock (Belushi), an American disc jockey, headed for El Salvador. At the time, El Salvador is in the middle of a civil war and it's Boyle's plan to scrape up some freelance work, shooting some pictures. Boyle is a born con-artist and manages to weasel help out of anyone with a set of ears, managing to get together some funds and a camera. Once there, Boyle hooks up with his old girlfriend, Maria (Carrillo) and falls in love all over again. However, his girlfriend is without proper paperwork and if stopped, she could be killed for not having it. Boyle tries diligently to get Maria her papers, all the while trying to convince her to marry him, get some pictures and get his nose into the middle of the political turmoil.

Okay, so maybe "Salvador" wasn't so bad that I'd prefer "According to Jim" reruns, but I have to say I really didn't take to it. Oliver Stone is obviously a talented filmmaker, but he tries too hard to educate us, rather than just tell us a story. I just can't seem to get interested in films that deal with politics, civil wars and the like. I had absolutely no interest in learning about the history of El Salvador and the turmoil they faced, yet here was Stone trying his best to try and entice me. I didn't care for the cast here either, as Woods tried too hard to be funny and the comedy didn't mix well with the heaping piles of dead bodies. Oh and did I mention James Belushi's in this? And yet, I have absolutely no idea why he was in it, because his character literally does nothing. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Belushi wandered on to the set one day and stumbled into a dozen or so scenes and they just felt sorry for him and left them in. So lets see here...

CHECKLIST:
*hated all the politics, civil war talk and the history lesson
*hated Woods and his feeble attempt at trying to be funny in the midst of an otherwise very serious film
*HATED James Belushi

Yeah, I think we got it. I will say that the film started out well and I appreciated Stone's efforts to try and familiarize us with the characters, before throwing us into the real meat of the plot - that was a smart move. Unfortunately the movie didn't work too well on me and I ultimately found the film to very basic and pretty formulaic. 'Nuff said.

RATING: 4/10  Okay, that's TEN films in a row now that have failed to garner at least a '7' rating. Either I'm getting too picky or this book seriously lowered their standards when labeling movies as "must see". Either way, this ends with the next movie...I guarantee it.

MOVIES WATCHED: 570
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 431

November 3, 2012  4:07pm

October 2012 Recap

I'm still tired, but the month has changed and I have a burning desire to reassess my thoughts...

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die - As seen in October 2012
1) The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982 - Taivani, Taivani) 2.5/10 - Very forgettable film. No idea why it was included in THE BOOK.
2) The Killer (1989 - John Woo) 8.5/10
3) The Dead (1987 - John Huston) 4/10
4) The Killing Fields (1984 - Roland Joffe) 3.5/10 - Just couldn't stand this movie for some reason. Probably because I had no prior knowledge of the subject matter.
5) Romper Stomper (1992 - Geoffrey Wright 7/10 - Not as good as your run of the mill '7', but that final scene at the beach made the entire film. Good stuff!
6) Cinema Paradiso (1988 - Giuseppe Tornatore) 7/10 - File this one in the disappointments folder. It was really good and has a shot at a "Ten Worth Mentioning" spot, at least, but overall I expected a lot more.
7) The White Balloon (1995 - Jafar Panahi) 7.5/10 - Still can't believe how much I liked this one. My only gripe is that I didn't really get the significance of the white balloon and the guy at the end, but that's my problem, not the film's.
8) Dear Diary (1994 - Nanni Moretti) 9/10 - Perhaps the best thing I saw this month that I hadn't previously seen. A shoo in for the upcoming TOP 20.
9) Loulou (1980 - Maurice Pialat) 7/10 - Ahh now these were the days! When everything I was watching was scoring a '7' or higher.
10) Manhunter (1986 - Michael Mann) 7/10 - Not nearly as good as "The Silence of the Lambs", but still well worthy of your time. A little cheesy at times, but it's all forgivable.
11) The Silence of the Lambs (1991 - Jonathan Demme) 9.5/10 - Still just can't find it in myself to go that extra half notch. Oh well, a '9.5' is nothing to sneeze at.
12) Murmur of the Heart (1971 - Louis Malle) 8/10 - If they had focused more time on building the budding romance that Laurent would develop for his mother, I would've given it a '10'. It just takes too long to get to the payoff.
13) Atlantic City (1980 - Louis Malle) 6.5/10
14) Au revoir les enfants (1987 - Louis Malle) 5/10 - I probably shouldn't even go that high, but the end got me.
15) Deseret (1995 - James Benning) 1/10 - 'Nuff said
16) The Vanishing (1988 - George Sluizer) 9/10 - Great movie! I really, really want to go back and re-watch the Sutherland/Bridges version now. I just know it isn't as good though.
17) Project A, Part II (1987 - Jackie Chan) 5/10 - Chan was AWEsome, the rest wasn't.
18) The Wicker Man (1973 - Robin Hardy) 8/10 - This grew on me in the past week, big time. It also brought to my attention the talents of Anthony Shaffer, writer of this, "Frenzy" and "Sleuth".
19) The Official Story (1985 - Luis Puenzo) 4/10
20) Dawn of the Dead (1978 - George A. Romero) 7.5/10 - For maximum effect, watch this with your wife or girlfriend, cuddled up in bed, on a cold or rainy Saturday.
21) Blonde Cobra (1963 - Ken Jacobs) 1/10 - 'Nuff said
22) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964 - Jacques Demy) 6.5/10
23) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974 - Tobe Hooper) 6.5/10
24) Koyaanisqatsi (1983 - Godfrey Reggio) 5/10 - Magnificent, but boring as a mofo.
25) Poltergeist (1982 - Tobe Hooper) 4.5/10 - In case you haven't notice, we're reaching the point now where no additional comments are required, because I've just recently spoke on all these.
26) Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971 - Melvin Van Peebles) 6/10 - Still very impressed with what Van Peebles was able to create on basically no funds.
27) The Hills Have Eyes (1977 - Wes Craven) 4.5/10
28) Platoon (1986 - Oliver Stone) 5/10 - The photography, the obviously personal and powerful script added to the fact that it was a humdrum war film makes for an even '5' rating.

Wowie zowie, twenty-eight movies this month and added to the rest of the season, that means I only have thirty-two to go until I'll be making TOP 20 list #6. So, in other words, if I can repeat my October performance in November, then I'll pretty much be finished come December 1st. However, I won't hold my breath because I DID have a vacation last month and that helped a lot in reaching twenty-eight movies watched.

Also, just as a head's up, don't expect too much out of me from now until Sunday evening, as I'm working till then and getting my ass handed to me in the process. Words of advice folks, if you take a week's vacation, be prepared to have work kick your ass when you return. Anyway, I'll do what I can between now and then, I'm just saying don't expect much. The next three films should be the last three films of "Stone Week" as I have them all currently at my disposal and they're waiting to be watched, so expect those.

November 1, 2012  10:47pm

851. Yuen Ling-yuk/The Actress (1992)

Running Time: 154 minutes
Directed By: Stanley Kwan
Written By: Chiu Tai An-Ping
Main Cast: Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Chin Han, Paul Chang
Click here to view the trailer

IT CAME FROM YOUTUBE

It's probably easy to tell that since my "Platoon" review, my vacation has ended and I've returned to work, hence the lack of reviews. But trust me, it's been a hell of a three work days trying to get back into the swing of things. Anyway, lets get down to business and today's business is a Hong Kong film directed by Stanley Kwan - "The Actress".

The film is a biopic which chronicles the life and career of Ruan Lingyu (Cheung), a very popular Chinese, silent actress. The film flips back and forth between re-creations of Lingyu's life and career, actual footage from Lingyu films and interviews conducted by Stanley Kwan with people who knew Lingyu and with his own cast. Ruan Lingyu took on many different roles, always trying to challenge herself and never being one to fit a specific stereotype as an actress. Over the course of her eight year career, Lingyu appeared in over two dozen films, including starring roles in "The Goddess", "New Women", "Little Toys", "Night in the City" and "Reminiscence of Peking", all of which we see re-created in this film, by Maggie Cheung. The film shows of two lovers Ruan had during her career, Chang Ta-Min (Lawrence Ng) and Tang Chi-Shan (Han). Originally, Ruan was married to Ta-Min, but left him in 1935 and formed a relationship with Chi-Shan, who later began abusing her.

I'm very tired, so please forgive me if I keep this one short and sweet.

SPOILER ALERT!

 
Man, was this a tough movie to get through. From the word "go", I just couldn't get into this one and I think it had a lot to do with the way everything was put together. I didn't like the inter-cutting of real, documentary style sequences with the fictional, recreated scenes. Warren Beatty employed the same type of method in "Reds" and it really didn't work for me there either. I'd rather be told a straight, linear story, instead of continually being stopped and restarted again. When I was younger (say late teens, early 20s) I really loved a good biopic. I actually have a vague recollection of making a big list of all the biopics I could think of and vowing to watch them all. As I've grown, I've realized that they can be a tricky film to make, because if the life wasn't exciting, then the film can either be boring or inaccurate. It's obvious here that Kwan went to great lengths to ensure his film was dead on with what actually happened and outside of her suicide, Ruan didn't have a life that deemed being told on film. She starred in some films, of which we see A LOT of them recreated by Cheung, she had a couple of suitors, she was a determined actress and then, when her private life was exposed, she committed suicide.

I really don't have much good to say about "The Actress". I enjoyed the performance by Cheung and any awards she won for the part were well deserved. The film was beautifully shot and beautifully scored, but literally everything else did not work for me and I had a really hard time making it to the end of this.

RATING: 3/10  Man, I always feel so ashamed when I write such a short review. I feel like I'm cheating myself and someday, when I go back and read this, I'm going to kick myself for not expanding my thought. Hey future me!!! I'm fucking tired, allright!!

MOVIES WATCHED: 569
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 432

November 1, 2012  5:32pm