June 2011
16 posts
168. Santa Sangre [Jodorowsky.1989.Mexico]
This is only the third Jodorowsky film I’ve put under my belt, and it’s definitely the tamest of the three I’ve seen. Santa Sangre is surprisingly whimsical in nature ableit extremely nightmarish, in only a way that Jodorowsky could pull off effectively. There is much more of a cohesive plot especially when compared to El Topo or Holy Mountain. The plot centers around a...
167. 13 Assassins [Miike.2010.US]
Absolutely positively incredible. I was lucky enough to be able to see this at a midnight screening at Keystone Art Cinema in front of a packed audience. 13 Assassins is a jidaigeki film, which is Japanese for “period piece”. Essentially, it’s a samurai epic that takes place in the 1840’s. It’s an amazing work of cinema done in a way that is uniquely Miike. ...
166. Jackass 3.5 [Tremaine.2011.US]
With every Jackass movie comes hundreds of hours of unused footage, thus the concept of a movie made up entirely of deleted scenes was born. For what it’s worth, 2.5 was a lot better but 3.5 definitely has its moments. The “Pushback” and “Enema Longjump” were both hilarious. Steve-O being sober now adds an interesting dynamic as well. I enjoyed the explanation of...
165. Jackass 3 [Tremaine.2010.US]
I watched this about a week before Ryan Dunn’s untimely demise, in retrospect he probably has the roughest scenes in the film. This is a solid Jackass entry, but I definitely could have benefited from seeing it in 3D. You’d think eventually, they would run out of terrible things to put each other through, but you’d be wrong. This is pretty brutal, like...
164. Super 8 [Abrams.2011.US]
Despite suffering from a pretty terrible ending, this is probably still my favorite movie of the year. The first hour or so is just wonderful. Without giving too much away, it’s like Red October meets Independence Day meets E.T. or some amalgamation there of. The acting on the part of the children in this is marvelous, just absolutely first rate. It’s a period piece with a heavy...
163. Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris...
Of all the WWF documentaries I’ve sat through recently, this is probably the worst, if not tied for the worst with The Hardy Boyz doc. It’s actually pretty good for the first hour or so, but it’s just WAY too long and drags on much longer than it needed to. I suppose this is THE definitive look at Chris Jericho and his many peronas: the wrestler, butt rock frontman, and...
162. The Fighter [Russell.2010.US]
A Micky Ward biopic without Arturo Gatti, enough said really. It’s not that this was necessarily a bad film, moreso that Ward’s life before Gatti is simply not worthy of a feature length film. Ward’s bouts with Gatti were simply unbelievable, like something out of a Balboa VS. Creed match. To simply mention it as a footnote at the end of the film is sad to me. Marky Mark was...
161. Simon of the Desert [Buñuel.1965.Spain]
This is actually the final installment in a trilogy of films by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel. His unnamed trilogy targets religion, but mainly Christianity. Simon of the Desert was unfortunately never finished due to lack of funding, so it’s only 45 minutes long. Also to note, Claudio Brook and the gorgeous Silvia Pinal star in all three films together. Simon in particular details the...
160. Dracula 2000 [Lussier.2000.US]
Not to be confused with Coppola’s rendition of Dracula from 1992, this is yet another rendition of the same old shit, only 2000 manages to bring something new to the table. Unfortunately, it’s nothing all that interesting or exciting. In fact, it’s not even worth doing a plot synopsis. It sports a cast of stereotypical 90’s B-stars, most notably Omar Epps and the angry...
159. Shadow [Zampaglione.2008.Italy]
I’ve never seen a movie take such a shitty turn for the worst in the final act. The film actually starts off strong but it manages to sabotage its own greatness with a gimmicky played out ending. I was expecting a fast paced thriller using the wilderness as a backdrop. What I got was a thriller that slowly degraded into a torture porn with an ending that would make Patrick Duffy from his...
158. From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money...
Much to my surprise, not only is there a Dusk Till Dawn 2, but there is a third installment as well (which I will get to later). Going in with lowered expectations, seeing as the original is one of my favorite movies ever, I was delighted with how good this was. The myriad of ridiculous shot choices was my favorite part. Especially the POV from inside the vampires mouth whenever they bit...
157. Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut...
Despite having never seen the original “cut” of this recent low budget cult hit, I feel as if the changes made to the film were minimal at best. Midnight Movie is a straightforward slasher with an atypical finale. The plot centers around this idea of a film within a film. Infamous filmmaker turned serial killer Ted Radford hacked down the entire cast of his 1970′s cult film The Dark...
156. Anvil! The Story of Anvil [Gervasi.2008.US]
The Story of Anvil is seemingly one part Behind the Music and two parts Spinal Tap. That is to say, it’s as equally comedic as it is depressing. Anvil is a metal group from the 80’s struggling to make it in a music scene that has long since forgotten who they are. I found myself wanting them to succeed so badly, because they seem like such a friendly group of Canadians. At the same...
155. Lolita [Kubrick.1962.US]
Knowing absolutely nothing about the novel of the same name, I would venture to guess that Kubrick was spot on with his film adaptation. It’s a film of imagination, mainly because a lot of the more explicit parts of the book were toned down due to pressures from the MPAA. Regardless, hebephilia still manages to be the main theme of the film. Sue Lyon, who plays Lolita, was actually 13 at...
154. Zombie Girl: The Movie...
This was just a delightful documentary recommended to me by one Chadd Derkins. I seriously can’t gush enough about how heart-warming this movie is. I had an ear to ear smile from start to finish. Zombie Girl is simply the documentation of one girl’s foray into filmmaking. Did I mention that the girl in question is 12 years old? That’s right, a 12 year old is basically living...
153. Animal Crackers [Heerman.1930.US]
So I have seen only a handful of Marx Brothers films, but they’ve all been pretty great. Anarchistic comedy was all the rage in the 1920’s and 30’s, and none came wackier than Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. It’s a brand of comedy that I don’t think has been successfully duplicated since…just a barrage of constant one-liners, non sequiturs, and musical numbers. ...
