10-16
Films I watched in October, 2016
FV: First Viewing RW: Rewatch
FV: First Viewing RW: Rewatch
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25 titles
- DirectorToshiya FujitaStarsMeiko KajiBunjaku HanTakeo ChiiFive freewheeling friends conjure up a plan to rob 30 million yen from a religious movement.FV: There's something strange about these Stray Cat Rock films. They straddle that line between complete innocence and what eventually would become the Japanese exploitation films I know and love. For instance, Wild Jumbo was directed by Toshiya Fujita only a mere 3 years before Lady Snowblood. This heist film is an analogy to the end of innocence for not only the characters but also Japanese films. Meiko Kaji steals inflatable rafts and my heart <3
- DirectorJodie MackA choreographed motion study for twinkling trinkets: costume jewelry and natural wonders join forces to perform plastic pirouettes, dancing a luminous lament until the tide comes in.FV: A ballet of jewelry and their refracted light. Neat filters and dissolves.
- DirectorDavid AyerStarsWill SmithJared LetoMargot RobbieA secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.FV: I like more butter on popcorn.
- DirectorJustin LinStarsChris PineZachary QuintoKarl UrbanThe crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test.FV: Fun watch and forget popcorn flick
- DirectorYasuharu HasebeStarsMeiko KajiRikiya YasuokaTatsuya FujiA street girl gang clashes with racist local gangsters after one of the girls starts dating an Afro-Japanese man.FV: So far the best in the series. A little bit more risque that the previous titles. Had some iconic shots. Is that the hat from Female Convict Scorpion?
- DirectorMaya DerenStarsRita ChristianiMaya DerenAnaïs NinAn experiment with editing techniques that distort space and time in order to further contextualize an image.FV: Too abstract for me to understand but it was beautifully memorizing.
- DirectorYasuharu HasebeStarsTatsuya FujiNoriko KurosawaEiji GôTwo Japanese men help a Vietnam war deserter escape from Japan for Sweden. They plan to fund the escape by selling LSD pills. After word of the drug deal gets spread around they find themselves fending off rival gangs.FV: Following the same "loss of innocence" message as the rest of the Stray Cat Rock series this film in comparison to it's predecessor, Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter, seems weaker. I'm glad Meiko Kaji kept that iconic look! As always the wipes and soundtrack are fun.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsSimone SignoretGeorges MarchalCharles VanelAdventurer Shark comes to a small village near a diamond-miners' camp, and local police arrest him, accusing him of having committed a bank robbery in a neighboring town. The police also confiscate the diamond mine for the state, which incites the miners to revolt, but they're defeated. Shark, Father Lizzardi, Castin, his daughter, and Djin, a whore Castin loves, flee into the jungle and fight for their lives.FV: Strange to see a Buñuel film so similar to a Hollywood picture. Favorite scene was the transition from France back to the jungle through a photograph.
- DirectorAdam BrooksStarsRyan ReynoldsRachel WeiszAbigail BreslinA political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter.FV: Good teary eyed rom-com.
- DirectorToshiya FujitaStarsMeiko KajiTatsuya FujiYoshio HaradaThe series swansong, Beat '71, sees Kaji framed and sent to prison by her boyfriend's father and with the help of some hippies she strives to be re-united.FV: A great ending to a fantastic series! The playful forshadowing with non-diegetic sound was fun. "We're stray cats, not dogs!"
- DirectorWilliam KleinStarsJohn AbbeyDelphine SeyrigDonald PleasenceMr. Freedom is an all-American superhero that destroys everyone who even remotely disagrees with imperialism. The film accounts his latest assignment to save France from being taken over by the commies.FV: An over the top absurdist satire about American exceptionalism. Absurdist comedies aren't exactly my thing but I really enjoyed this movie. The sound design, editing, sets, and camera work were amazing. If it was dialed just slightly down, this could have easily been sitting beside Lina Wertmüller's films in my top 10. Can't wait to watch more Klein.
- DirectorWilliam KleinAn experimental meditation on Times Square's marquees and iconic advertising that captures the concurrently seedy and dazzling aspects of New York's Great White Way.FV: A beautiful, tongue in cheek, glimpse at the landscape of Time Square. At night marketing adverts engulf the city in beautiful neon artificial light. In the day, when the natural sun is up, we see how ugly the adverts make the city look. The film is a simple critique of capitalist marketing and I absolutely loved it.
- DirectorJanie GeiserJanie Geiser takes us along on her search for the original meaning of the word 'algebra' with the help of a remarkable series of found objects, medical illustrations and a rich variety of animation techniques.FV: I can't even... Something about watching children play at the park and realizing that they're thinking about war... or war has been instilled in these children playing in the park.. or comparing children to animals who's thoughts are rather violent... I have no clue. Looked cool though!
- DirectorJulie DelpyMarie PilletStarsJulie DelpyChris RockAlbert DelpyManhattan couple Marion and Mingus, who each have children from prior relationships, find their comfortable family dynamic jostled by a visit from Marion's relatives.FV: Hilarious romcom! The surrealism, the political subversiveness, the exhibitionism, loved it!
- DirectorWilliam KleinStarsDorothy McGowanJean RochefortSami FreyA model tells a television crew about her dreams of a life with Prince Charming while she is fending off the lecherous advances of a horde of men.FV: A critique on patriarchy. My favorite William Klein yet! The film is more mature than Mr. Freedom yet still retains that Klein-esque sneer. Gorgeous film that combined collage, surrealism, and nouvelle vague theory all into one.
- DirectorMaya DerenStarsMarcel DuchampPajorita MattaThe surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman.
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsMartin DonovanPJ HarveyDave SimondsThe end of the millenium has taken on a certain significance in modern day prophecies. What happens if Jesus Christ has second thoughts about the Apocalypse? It is December 31, 1999 and New Year's Eve takes on new meaning when the Devil, Jesus Christ, and Christ's assistant Magdelina discuss and debate the end of the world, the opening of the seven seals, and the essence of being human.FV: A Christianized look at the how the Millennium felt at the time. Nothing special stood out. I was interested in seeing the Henry Fool trilogy but after this first look at Hal Hartley I'm unsure if I would enjoy it.
- DirectorWoo-sang ParkY.K. KimStarsY.K. KimVincent HirschJoseph DiamandA martial arts rock band goes up against a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida's narcotics trade.FV: This monstrosity couldn't keep my attention. Not my kind of trash.
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsD.J. MendelDanielle MeyerPallavi SastryThe funny and moving tale of Joe Fulton who can fix anything for anybody but he can't achieve success himself. But maybe today will be different!FV: A quirky character study that shows an optimistic, heartwarming, look at humanity. Much better than The Book of Life. Loved the camera work.
- DirectorAgnès JaouiStarsAnne AlvaroJean-Pierre BacriAlain ChabatThe lives of 6 people over 35 in Rouen, France, and their relationship to each other.FV: French romcom-ish. Had it's funny moments but completely forgettable.
- DirectorCamilo RestrepoStarsDavid AbrousseHarry PerigoneChristine SalemTo keep a promise made to her dying mother, a young woman goes off in search of her father, a womanizer she has never met. Along the way, she soon learns that he is dead. But that doesn't change her plans - she still intends to find him.FV: A woman goes to see her father for the first time after her mothers death. Told in song.
- DirectorKevin Jerome EversonFe26 is a 16mm short film by Kevin Jerome Everson that follows two gentlemen around the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio and examines the tensions between illegal work -in this case, the stealing of manhole covers and copper piping--and the basic survival tactics that exist in areas of high unemployment.FV: Interesting documentary about survival and copper.
- DirectorIsmaïl BahriAt first, Foyer seems to be a projection without film, where the only thing visible is a palpitating white screen. Voices accompany this white emptiness.FV: Interesting study of light filtered through paper in Tunisia with digetic commentary from random people. It might have run a little too long for my liking because at some point I started questioning my life choices and realizing how dirty my screen was.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsLina RomayJack TaylorAlice ArnoA beautiful female vampire lures men to their doom.FV: The existential dilemma of a succubus. Similar to Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac. Jess Franco plays with focus and a seemingly boundless amount of zooms. Franco's definitely hit or miss with me and unfortunately this film missed. Still, a naked woman walking in a foggy forest is a great shot but I did laugh hard when Lina Romay bumped into the camera!
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsPatrick MageeMimsy FarmerDavid WarbeckA professor with the psychic ability to communicate with the dead uses his powers on his pet cat in order to take vengeance upon his enemies.FV: My first Fulci and it was every bit as violent as I thought it would be! The practical effects were amazing!