jesusatan2001 Reviews

The Velvet Underground and Nico (1966)

So many things to be said about this picture...

[10/10 · 5 November 2003]

I just recently saw a film print of this for the first time at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Warhol retrospective a few weeks ago and was floored. If you are an artist or a musician, or both, then this is a particularly important film to see. It exists as the perfect time-capsule of 1966 in the Warhol Factory and completely lacks pretension. Even though it's original intention was to be wall paper (un-edited, moving images of The Velvet Underground, projected onto themselves as they actually played live), it still managed to take me though just about my entire range of emotions. Throughout the course of the film I thought about life, death, art, love, sex, and nearly everything in between. If you are expecting a concert film, think again...

If you are lucky enough to find it, watch it with an open mind.

The Hunger (1983)

Very Stylish!

[10/10 · 31 October 2003]

I really love this movie. The acting is a little ho-hum, certain things run a little long here and there and the story isn't all it could be, but hey... it looks incredible. I mean, gorgeous! I also love vampire films and I love David Bowie, so for me, movies don't really get much better. I normally would deep six my opinion of a movie if it came down to just the style and cast, but this one (for some reason) I grant full pardon of its short-comings. It is amazing. I honestly do think the first five minutes of this movie are perfect. I love the music ("Bela Lugosi is Dead", performed by Bauhaus), the editing, the cinematography, the titles, the costumes (hey, it was 1983), the whole bit. It gets me going. I do really wish the whole movie would have kept up the momentum it started with the beginning, but its worth seeing for the beginning alone. It is a fun movie, nothing very deep, but its a good time. You can laugh at it one minute and then it will come back and shock you the next. But style takes the drivers seat in this picture (not such a bad thing)...keep one eye open for a brief, walk-on by beginner, Willem Dafoe!

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The Best Horror Film

[10/10 · 28 October 2003]

The (original) Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is without a doubt in my mind, the most impressive horror film to date. No other horror film stays with you in the same way. You feel not only fearful for the characters, but at times feel afraid for your own safety. The natural lighting and loose, improvised acting style creates a strong sense of reality that no other horror film can possibly achieve. Under a thin layer of dated aesthetics (1973 style of dress) lies the most dangerous, horrifying and psychotic world ever committed to script or screen. As the first of its kind, this movie set the mold for the modern horror film, though none were ever to realize any comparable distinction. It gave birth to the "slasher" genre (for better or for worse) . It is also one of few timeless films that has managed to combine horror and avant-garde styles, successfully. Unlike its remake, this one is more of an exercise in minimalism and simplicity (think even Dogme). The expert subtlety of the filmmakers; Tobe Hooper (writer/director), Kim Henkel (co-writer) and Daniel Pearl (cinematographer) results more in

psychological terror than in gore. The air-tight script, jarring realism and attention to detail are unparalleled in practically any film, horror or otherwise. And last, but by far not the least Marylin Burns PHENOMENAL performance is the only in cinematic history (a close second by that of Shelly Duvall in The Shining) that evokes such a nature of desperate and primal fear. You truly believe in every single one of her screams that her life is hanging by a single, thin thread.