Miles Messervy 007
Posts: 6870
Joined: 11/2/2009
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First update for this month:
Features:
9. Back to the Future (1985, Zemeckis)
Saw it in an almost-empty cinema, but this is still a great, great cinema experience. Some stuff is naive, there’s lots of exposition and some plotholes but this is still one of the best blockbusters ever made – funny, romantic, suspenseful, and all-round awesome.
64. Diabolik [Danger: Diabolik] (1968, Bava)
Extremely silly, visually distinctive, full of gorgeous babes. The bad stuff only makes it better, like Law’s acting and the back projections; the whole thing is brilliantly camp and very inventive. Sort of a parallel universe to Bond films. Inept government (with Terry Thomas as minister of the interior) amuses greatly. Morricone’s score is a far cry from most of his stuff but works beautifully. Did I mention it's awesome?
66. Mononoke-hime [Princess Mononoke] (1997, Miyazaki)
Makes the same point as his other two films I've seen, but execution-wise it's the best yet. Gorgeous visuals and great work from Hisaishi as usual, plus great character animation. Epic stuff overall.
78. Night of the Living Dead (1968, Romero)
REVIEW HERE
81. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991, Cameron)
*thumb up*
84. Trading Places (1983, Landis)
A great comedy with a superb cast, score, and comic timing. Who knew Jamie Lee Curtis could be that good? My only complaint would be Aykroyd’s character – there is no proper transition from stiffness to sympatheticness (I know this is not a word, shut up).
91. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht [Nosferatu the Vampyre] (1979, Herzog)
REVIEW HERE
112. Gaslight (1940, Dickinson)
Quite a pleasant surprise. Beautifully understated considering how melodramatic the premise is. Walbrook is perfect, the supporting cast is great, and it never overstays its welcome. Doesn't feel dated at all, even the cinematography and editing are modern in feel. It's not perfect (the ending does slip into melodrama and it is a bit repetitive in the way the wife is driven mad) and a bit confusing (I don't get how Walbrook killed his aunt if he was on the street in the opening scene, though maybe that's a testament to my stupidity more than anything else), but certainly worth a watch. Curious about the remake as well as Dickinson's other work.
143. The First Movie (2009, Cousins)
Touching but unfocused. It’s not clear whether the film is about cinema, as it should be, or about politics, which bore a bit. Very worthwhile overall though, especially the Q&A afterwards.
158. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009, Lord/Miller)
Caught it on Sky and sorry I missed it in the theatres now. Fantastic self-aware humour and visual inventiveness outweigh the schmaltz, especially since the latter is partly tongue-in-cheek as well.
167. The Toolbox Murders (1978, Donnelly)
REVIEW HERE
169. The Deer Hunter (1978, Cimino)
REVIEW HERE
198. Death Wish (1974, Winner)
Charles Bronson's wife gets killed and his daughter raped, so he goes out and kill some muggers. A really trashy urban western despite the solid production values and a lot of future notable actors making an appearance. Kael called Dirty Harry a fascist masterpiece, this is it, only without the masterpiece part.
However, it does have some great black humour and the juxtaposition of Arizona and New York really works. Plus, Bronson is pretty badass. And the best thing about it, probably, is that there is no closure whatsoever, no chance encounter with the actual muggers who triggered the whole thing. Solid. I am curious about the apparently outrageous part 3 as well as Winner's earlier, supposedly better movies.
Shorts:
21. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988, Haynes) {43 mins}
Exploitative? Sure. Heartbreaking? Yes.
30. Powers of Ten (1977, Eames/Eames) {9 mins}
Simple and complex at the same time, great stuff. Slow and geeky to some, probably, but there’s no other way for it to make the point it’s making, and its approach more than pays off. Elmer Bernstein’s score makes it even better.
68. Je t’aime John Wayne (2000, MacDonald) {10 mins}
Amusing Breathless spoof but nothing special.
81. Used (2005, Desai) {3 mins}
It's good for what it is, but what it is is a student short (how come Tech doesn't have an IMDB profile, BTW? Even farmers mums have it nowadays...). The rain effect is horrible, I agree, but the scene with the shoes on the dancefloor is funny.
84. Peter & the Wolf (2006, Templeton) {28 mins}
LOLEMOPETER. Some nice moments, but c'mon.
< Message edited by Miles Messervy 007 -- 16/10/2010 6:29:32 PM >
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quote:
jamesbondguy:
Miles is clearly the finest film theorist of his generation
quote:
Deviation:
if it isn't ham, I'll eat a living pig.
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RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2010 - 
I couldn't wait forever... Now let's watch Part 3 together, it looks more fun anyway. 
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