Change Your Image
jarmic6
Big Wednesday (1978)
Shampoo (1975)
Sorcerer (1977)
The Killers (1964)
The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
District 13 (2004)
Beloved (1998)
21-87 (1964)
The Blackout (1997)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
The Bellboy (1960)
The Last Waltz (1978)
Beau travail (1999)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Lola (1961)
Summer with Monika (1953)
Padre padrone (1977)
The Long Good Friday (1980)
The Band Wagon (1953)
The Pyjama Girl Case (1977)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Storie di ordinaria follia (1981)
Hard Boiled (1992)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Vivre sa vie (1962)
Night and the City (1950)
Turkish Delight (1973)
They Live by Night (1948)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Dark of the Sun (1968)
Crank : High Voltage (2009)
Man's Castle (1933)
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Oliver Twist (1948)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
La femme publique (1984)
Twisted Nerve (1968)
Faust (1926)
Le voyage � travers l'impossible (1904)
Blow Out (1981)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
Tobacco Road (1941)
The Girl from Trieste (1982)
Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
Un chant d'amour (1950)
The Crimson Kimono (1959)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Jules et Jim (1962)
Cinderfella (1960)
Jackie Brown (1997)
The Tarnished Angels (1958)
L'avventura (1960)
Larks on a String (1990)
The Gorgon (1964)
Gojira (1954)
Diabolik (1968)
The Conversation (1974)
Matador (1986)
Luc�a y el sexo (2001)
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
After Hours (1985)
L'amour braque (1985)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Mad Max 2 (1981)
The Return (2003)
Man of the West
The Godfather Trilogy
Rio Bravo (1959)
One Week (1920)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
All That Jazz (1979)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The Apostle (1997)
Night Tide (1961)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
The Last Movie (1971)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
Three Times (2005)
The French Connection (1971)
Lost Highway (1997)
Femme Fatale (2002)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Mon oncle (1958)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Mona Lisa (1986)
Simple Men (1992)
Police Story (1985)
First Name: Carmen (1983)
The Thing (1982)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Le samoura� (1967)
Bellissima (1951)
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
The Birds (1963)
Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
Notorious (1946)
A Taste of Cherry (1997)
We Own the Night (2007)
Betty Blue (1986)
Harold and Maude (1971)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
Crash (1996)
The Two Jakes (1990)
Band of Outsiders (1964)
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
Pierrot le fou (1965)
Exiled (2006)
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Shock Corridor (1963)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Batman Returns (1992)
Topkapi (1964)
Some Came Running (1958)
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
Mouchette (1967)
The Man with Two Brains (1983)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Izo (2004)
Dressed to Kill (1980)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Naked Lunch (1991)
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)
Jaws (1975)
Domino (2005)
Written on the Wind (1956)
The Shooting (1967)
Ran (1985)
Happy Together (1997)
Monkey Business (1952)
Rabid (1977)
The Fury (1978)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)
Time of the Gypsies (1988)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Orchestra Rehearsal (1978)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Airplane! (1980)
And the Ship Sails On (1983)
Wavelength (1967)
Used Cars (1980)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Repulsion (1965)
Eraserhead (1977)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
Get Carter (1971)
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
La jet�e (1962)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Edvard Munch (1974)
Belle de jour (1967)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
House of Bamboo (1955)
Chinatown (1974)
Under Capricorn (1949)
Risky Business (1983)
Ride in the Whirlwind (1965)
Hitch Hike (1977)
Seconds (1966)
Zero for Conduct (1933)
Thundercrack! (1975)
Hold Me While I'm Naked (1966)
Le doulos (1962)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
The Match Factory Girl (1990)
Re-Animator (1985)
Batalla en el cielo (2005)
Black Narcissus (1947)
Full Moon in Paris (1984)
Regular Lovers (2005)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Ishtar (1987)
Kes (1970)
Point Blank (1967)
Lessons of Darkness (1992)
The Case of the Bloody Iris )1972)
Two Rode Together (1961)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
And Soon the Darkness (1970)
Neighbors (1920)
The Aviator's Wife (1981)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Nashville (1975)
Transporter 2 (2005)
Matango (1963)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Daisy Miller (1974)
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Love and Death (1975)
The Tall T (1957)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Clueless (1995)
Short Cuts (1993)
The Fire Within (1963)
The Swimmer (1968)
Zoolander (2001)
Inland Empire (2006)
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Scarface (1983)
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
Zabriskie Point (1970)
The Passenger (1975)
Bloody Mama (1970)
Forty Guns (1957)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Death in Venice (1971)
Behind the Green Door (1972)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974)
The Devil's Rejects (2005)
The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
Bay of Angels (1963)
Nashville (1975)
Perversion Story (1969)
La commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
Love in the Afternoon (1972)
The Stunt Man (1980)
3 Women (1977)
The Last Wave (1977)
Innocents with Dirty Hands (1975)
The Dreamers (2003)
Reviews
Sombre (1998)
Panic attacks
Far from morality and any kind of convention, Sombre is a film that's all about seeing the world through the eyes of a killer. Sound and image on the hand of Grandrieux are combined into something that can only be described as a simulation of a panic attack.
The film is basically about a travelling puppeteer who kills women just before having sex them. Most of these women are prostitutes or strippers and it's natural that when he meets one whose concern is not to arouse him sexually, he finds himself unable to treat her the same. While that may seem contrived, Grandrieux is more concerned with the idea to travelling or moving than the actual story. The plot is there to follow all the changing locations and scenery and along with that the evolving emotions of the two main characters. It's actually real interesting to see that the film suggests that move is most likely the most natural human act, in the sense that being in motion is a type of struggle (interior or exterior) which is the only road to evolution and completion.
Giant (1956)
An existential tale of redemption and bad eating habits.
Well, this is an interesting movie. It's about this Washington hottie who falls in love with a Texas hunk (who also happens to be a millionaire) and goes to Texas to spend the rest of her life with him. She is disgusted by the horrible Texans who only know how to eat disgusting food and yell to their cows and then she meets another guy who works in her husband's ranch. She's hot for him but it never gets anywhere. Instead she has has sex with her husband and they give birth to Dennis Hopper. And he grows up to become a liberal doctor, even though his father wanted him to become a conservative farmer, and he marries the ugliest Mexican girl you have ever seen.
Two Lovers (2008)
Two Auteurs
I thought it was a devastating movie and like Gray's previous We Own the Night, an essay on conformism. Only I don't believe Gray is really interested in essays. He's goes for pure emotion, nothing more than that and that's the reason he's underrated even by the art audience. His films are simple in a way that frustrates both the audience that's hungry for explosions and the audience that seeks complexity and needless symbolism in everything. Two Lovers is not complex but it's richer than everything art house hotties like Kim Ki Duk and Lars Von Trier have ever done (maybe the fact that the director's name only has two words doesn't look right to art whores). This is not a film of great statements or superficial and unrealistic characters. Von Trier relies on gimmicks to talk about humans. Gray just films them.
To put it simply, the movie is about a guy who cannot be free and realizes that the only way to exist in the society is to conform. Not because he's week. He's actually really willing to leave his life and live his life, sometimes he's as enthusiastic about it as a child, but what can one do in a society of conformists? What can you do when the all your hopes are shattered in the most quiet way? It's that quiet anger and desperation in Leonard's face when he understands than there is no way out that makes Phoenix's performance one of the 4 or 5 greatest of all time and it's Gray's will to film the small reactions, the unnoticeable movements and almost invisible details that prove him to be a director of unique vision and honesty. His work can only be compared to Altman's, not because they share any kind of obvious similarities but because Altman was also a director who seamed to film with the emotional reality in mind and nothing more. Both Phoenix and Gray understand that drama has nothing to do screams and fights. When Leonard lies emotionally exhausted in the hands of a girl (a girl who loves him more than anything) he's lost much more than the woman he loves and the chance to change his life. He's lost all hope. That's a greater image than Kubrick's space babies and Mendes's sour d**k fantasies about bathtubs full of blond tits and roses. It's a simple, humane and in the same time apocalyptic image. It's also great cinema.
Nancy Drew (2007)
Nice film by a director who should apply for an auteur verification
Nancy Drew is about this girl who loves to solve mysteries more than anything else. And she's pretty good at it. In her hometown, the police considers her a partner. Nancy's also into everything vintage. Her dressing code is 50s, she loves old music (vinyl only), etc. The thing is though, she has to move from her hometown to California as her dad (her mother died when Nancy was younger) found a pretty cool job there. So, she goes to California and there's a mystery and many people are involved in it and of course at the end, everything is great. Boring, huh? Nope. Because Andrew Fleming is a director who really understands how it is to be different. Having seen The Craft and Hamlet 2, I can't help but see how good he is at presenting characters who have nothing to do with the world that surrounds them. They are not cry babies, they don't try to adapt, they are not even fully aware of what's "wrong" with them. There are themselves, unpretentious and they don't even need to convince anyone that they are cool. They always manage to get by with what they got and at the end the rest of the world understands them (not always accepting them, though) .
The cast of this film is also really good. Emma Roberts delivers a great performance. I can't imaging any other 16 year old girl acting so easy in those 50s clothes. Roberts looks really natural in her character. The way she walks, talks and even dances is special, but it always feels effortless. She is a very physical actress and her role in Nancy Drew, however challenging, shows someone with lots of abilities. That being said, I don't think I'll be watching Aquamarine to catch up with her stuff. Josh Flitter plays Corky, a 12 year old messed up, fat kid who likes Nancy and follows her everywhere. He is a pocket size John Belushi. I just couldn't stop laughing every time he was on screen.
All in all, I really liked this one. Like the other Fleming films I've seen, it's pretty far from most comedies. It doesn't make fun of the characters in order to make us laugh. It has fun with them.
Three Businessmen (1998)
Two businessmen and a lost cause
Two businessmen meet in an abandoned restaurant of the old rococo hotel their staying and decide to take a walk in order to find booze and food. One is English and the other one is American but their surnames are similar if translated
They start walking in the streets of Liverpool, often stopping in bars and restaurants but never being able to put a bite in their mouth. They are continually talking about society and politics and economy. Sometimes they get along with each other, sometimes they don't. Anyway, from a point on, their walk takes a surrealistic turn
Alex Cox obviously directed this movie just to keep busy. The screenplay feels written by some smart-ass looser who thinks he is Samuel Beckett. Subtlety is nowhere to be found. The cinematography is atrocious. It's a film full of pretense. Cox thinks he makes an important social statement when in fact his view is banal and childish. He tries to experiment, but he fails, not only because he has produced an ugly film, but because he doesn't understand that experimental cinema is meant to take the art a step further. It's not meant to be used as a cheesy effect. Well, he doesn't seem to understand the substance of experimentation just like he didn't seem to understand the substance behind cult when he made Repo Man. He thinks he's above that stuff and he can easily use them to do whatever he wants. That's the reason why he never gets into the whole thing. Experimentation though, is not easy. It requires true vision, not some pretentious need to just differ. It also requires knowledge of the medium and while Cox has that knowledge, he uses it just to prove that he can do it too.
But to be fair, there are moments where the whole joke seems to work and actually provoke some laughs (mostly because of the performances). The scene, in which the two businessmen meet while waiting for the waiter in the restaurant, is well shot (and terribly light) and is maybe the only proof that Cox is a good director.
Rio Bravo (1959)
Everybody Needs Somebody
In a small town in Texas, a criminal (Claude Akins) is arrested after committing a murder. He is kept in prison by three guys. The local sheriff (John Wayne) and his two deputies, a drunk (Dean Martin) and a crazy old fool (Walter Brennan). Still, a threat hangs around their necks (and around town). The guy they imprisoned is the brother of a big time criminal (John Russell) who will do anything to help him escape. The three main characters have to do their best in order to keep their prisoner in until the judge comes to take care of the whole thing. But the judge takes too damn long to come.
In the meantime a group of people arrives in town. Among them an old friend of Wayne's called Pat Wheeler(Ward Bond), a beautiful ex (?) gambler (Angie Dickinson) and one of Wheelers assistants (Ricky Nelson) who later teams up with Wayne. When Wayne explains the situation to Ward Bond and clarifies that the only people helping him are a drunk who can't stand and an old guy, his friend asks: "That's all you got?". Wayne responds: "That's what I got". And that's the whole point. Rio Bravo is about people who know life is hard but they accept that as a fact and try to make the best of it.
It's a film about a bunch of people in the search of confirmation. Every character in this film is weak and struggles with his weaknesses. This is expressed in a really subtle way through Howard Hawks' visual storytelling and one of best screenplays of the 50s. Just take a look at the opening scene. Dean Martin walks in a bar. He looks dirty and tired. Most customers look at him as if he's the worst bum of the town. Someone throws a coin in a spittoon near Martin. Martin bents in order to take the coin and buy alcohol. Suddenly, as Martin reaches for the spittoon, someone kicks it away from him. He looks up. It's Wayne. That's the first time we see Wayne in the film and the way this moment is directed sets up the way he is related with Martin. Martin sees Wayne from a low angle. He looks imposing, proud and dynamic. He is almost a father figure to Martin. Actually, latter in the film, Martin calls Wayne Papa. Throughout the film these two guys try to balance their relationship. In the first half of the film Martin depends fully on Wayne. He is the one who gets him out of every mess and tries all the time to motivate him in order to get out of the state he is. When Wayne talks, Martin keeps his eyes on him. He exposes his weaknesses, his faults and disadvantages all the time to Wayne, hoping he will comfort him. But Wayne doesn't do that. He expects the best from him. Martin used to be a great shooter in the old days and Wayne tries to get him back in shape. Not though asking him to stop drinking. But through his high expectations.
Wayne's character is even weaker and although at a first look he may seam strong and willing he is the most screwed up of them all. He is the guy who has a thing about his image. He has built a persona and he holds tight to it. He wants people to think he's cool and strong and he does his best to achieve that. He is really detractive with everyone. When his friend Ward Bond is killed by the Russell gang he blames Ricky Nelson for not protecting him. He is very ironic with Walter Brennan for everything he does wrong. But Angie Dickinson touches his soft spot. From the first time they meet she has the upper hand though it might appear otherwise. She just has to raise her dress up a bit or throw a minor sexual insinuation and Wayne becomes all sweaty and nervous. He is terrified by her sexuality but if we look at it more deeply we can even say that what terrifies him is the possibility of him bonding with someone in an erotic level. His fear of sex and emotion makes him look like a fool most of the times he's in the same scene with Dickinson. But there is a point where all that stops and Wayne, subtly, changes and accepts his feelings for Dickinson. That point is defined by the moment in which Dickinson calls Wayne's character by his real name (John). She is the first one to do so and that's a way of her declaring her wish to be closer with Wayne. She actually is the only person who is able to see through his hard boiled persona.
By the end of the picture, when the bad guys have lost, the relations of the characters are balanced. When Wayne is walking with Martin, who can now stand on his feet (literally and metaphorically), Martin gives him advice on what to do and how to behave with Dickinson. Everything is alright now, not because the Russell gang is gone, but because all the characters of the film have reached a point of consciousness.
There is a scene where all the main characters (Wayne, Martin, Brennan and Nelson) are at the prison guarding Akins. The Russell gang has put a Mexican band playing a song which is supposed to warn them that they're about to die. Our guys seam worried and nervous.And what do they do? They grab a guitar and they start singing. That's a moment where these guys really bond with each other. Music (and art) is supposed to do that (bring people together). And that's what the movie finally is about. About people's need to come together. Not because they have to serve the law. But because the need for company is maybe the most basic of all human needs.