Films Seen This Week:
The Phenix City Story - 1955 directed by Phil Karlson
8/10
This was quite a powerful, if poorly made film, that showed the darker side of America. I can't say I loved it, but I was impressed by the brutal honesty of it all, very realistic and very convincing. However I did find it overly preachy.
Definitely a memorable viewing experience though, if only for a certain very horrifying scene that I will long remember. In fact, the film reminded me in a way of The Intruder that I reviewed not long ago, there may not seem to be much ground for comparison at first, but the fashion in which it was made, combined with the horrifying yet honest look at the darker side of America reminded me of that film at times...
Lost Highway
6/10
Lost Highway was the first film in what I like to call David Lynch's Hollywood Trilogy, which is composed of this film, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. Lost Highway was not as good as Mulholland Drive, but far better than Inland Empire.
Patricia Arquette was as great as ever and as usual seriously underrated, I mean in the 90's she worked with Tim Burton (Ed Wood) Martin Scorsese (Bringing Out The Dead) and Tony Scott (True Romance).
The film as a whole though it pretty frustrating, and I couldn't help but feel that there were many strong ideas that were poorly developed.
Eraserhead
8/10
This was a creepy, claustrophobic, disturbing and fantastically weird look at one man's anxiety.
The dream sequence in which his head gets used to make erasers is particularly memorable, in fact the whole film is pretty unforgettable in it's originality and boldness.
The baby/creature was extraordinarily well made, very scary and although it does little you will easily grow to hate it.
With this film Lynch showed immediately that he was a incredibly creative director, and although his career has had it's ups and downs, he still remains one of the most creative individuals to have made films, and Eraserhead is one of his finest acheivements.
Rocco and His Brothers - 1960 directed by Luchino Visconti
10/10
I'll be reviewing it when I can.
Limitless - 2010 directed by Neil Burger
7/10
I was surprised by how good it was, there were of course manythings I didn't like, but on the whole it was definitely better than an average film of it's kind.
And it was cool to see De Niro in a good film again...
A Few Thoughts:
I have quite an announcement to make, unfortunately it isn't very good news for the blog. I am right in the middle of moving house, to a completely different country. So as I'll be packing up my PC I will have extremely limited internet access for a couple of weeks. I thought it would be best just to put the blog on hiatus for a couple of weeks.
It's a shame really as I was just getting into a pretty steady posting routine (and I had a music review planned for tomorrow), with some regular features and such. But now it's all postponed. However the good news is that during this time I will be constantly writing new material for the blog so when I return it will be with many reviews and stuff, all ready to post!
That's all for this week as I really must get back to my packing...
But first here's some links to some great posts and some awesome blogs to read while I'm on hiatus!
Time for some Links:
The FIlm Conoisseur takes an insightful look at Japanese director Takeshi Miike's films.
A great review of Bushido, Cruel Code Of The Samurai was posted at the excellent Mondo 70.
The Movie Snob reviews a film I watched relatively recently, A Perfect World. He liked it more than I did.
Custard at Front Room Cinema has listed his Top Ten favourite Opening Sequences, as well as launching the World Icon Tour with a post written by me!
A most interesting post on films dealing with home invasion was posted at Big Thoughts From a Small Mind.
As David Lynch was in the Director's Chair this month, there have been many interesting posts on his work popping up here and there, but Kevyn Knox's was one of the best I read.
Ruth @"let's be splendid about this..." reviews Snowtown, an Australian film that sounds intriguing.
Stevee lists some of the reasons why she loves the actress Rebecca Hall, I can't say I'm familiar with her work myself, but she was good in The Town.
Anomalous Material presents a list of the 10 Best Movie Presidents, as well as taking a fascinating look at the career of Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi.
Bonjour Tristesse reviews El Topo, a film I've been meaning to watch for ages, but have never been in the right mood for...
The Roger Corman Blogathon is well underway over at Forgotten Classics of Yesteryear, many great reviews have been submitted, including mine which you can find here in case you missed it.
I never know what to link to at the amazing site Man, I love Films, as there is so much great stuff posted every week, so I'll just link to the whole site and you can find what interest you from there!
And Finally Andy Buckle reviews Tom Tykwer's new film, Three, which looks very disappointing. I wonder what happened to the brilliant director of Run Lola Run....
Also after my return, I doubt I'll have time to catch up on all your great posts, but if there is something in particular you want me to read, let me know and I'll check it out when I return!
Farewell for now,
Jack
PS, you can comment on this post as I'll still be checking my email when I find the time and of course, answering any comments...
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