tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40480872910646720352024-03-06T00:37:12.100+08:00blah blah blah gay - not just a movie review blogAn occasional blog featuring reviews, lists and articles on movies, music, books and lifeblahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-20696521034390332342014-01-21T17:32:00.000+08:002014-01-21T19:27:25.496+08:00The Pleasure Dome 21st Jan 2014 - Katalin Varga/Don't Talk To Strange Men/The Big Easy<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's a trial attempt to write 500 words per week on whatever movie or movies I've seen this week, not everything I've seen and not the movies that get highlighted in my monthly diaries, just some films that inspired me to write more than a couple of unintelligible lines. Emboldened by the writings of Graham Greene who wrote something similar every week for several years for a newspaper, the reviews of which were collected in book form under the title The Pleasure Dome. The idea is to become a better writer. But then that's always the idea.</span></span></i><br />
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<a href="http://2010.riverrunfilm.com/sites/default/files/films/FILM%20-%20Katalin%20Varga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2010.riverrunfilm.com/sites/default/files/films/FILM%20-%20Katalin%20Varga.jpg" height="432" title="Katalin Varga The Pleasure Dome" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">To quote a fellow reviewer, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Katalin Varga</b> is a bleak and beautiful
film. Just the way I like them, too. Written and directed by English filmmaker
Peter Strickland, funded from his own bank account and filmed in Romania with
Romanian actors speaking Romanian. Technically this could be another fine film
for inclusion in the much-vaunted Romanian New Wave.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's a slow telling of a woman's
quest for revenge nine years after she was raped but it's really not the rape
revenge film you're thinking of. Not least because you don't see the rape and
the revenge is not sweet or bloody. You do see, however, plenty of atmospheric
shots of the countryside, close-ups on troubled faces, meaning conveyed with a
nod or a slight movement and plenty of interesting back story inferred rather
than explained explicitly.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Newcomer Hilda Peter as the
eponymous protagonist carries the entire film on her delicate shoulders but it
should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Strickland's followup,
Berberian Sound Studio, that the careful use of sound effects and score is the
main star of the film, serving to subtly drive proceedings and create an air of
foreboding around each moments.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t Talk To Strange Men</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> is </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">essentially a British public service
announcement for young girls of the 60s, and a warning for their parents,
originally released as the B-movie to Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
It doubles as a very good thriller produced on the outskirts of the social
realist movement of the time. The idea of seducing young girls anonymously and
the frank look at the effect it can have on previously sensible teenagers is
one that is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s but modern cinema could
never play things quite so subtly. Director Pat Jackson benefits from a really
tight script, on the nose performances and impressive cinematography from Jack
Cardiff, to produce an all round gem of a film forgotten in time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Big Easy</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">
was Jim McBride's followup to his Richard Gere starring reimagining of Godard's
Bout de Souffle and boy does it fly in the face of expectations. A New Orleans
set neo-noir should be hot, sweaty, sordid and a little bit mystical,
essentially everything that Alan Parker's Angel Heart would be the following
year but with this Dennis Quaid starrer you're left with a wise-cracking buffoon
whose occasional Cajun accent is suspect at best and the only thing hot and
sweaty is the chemistry between the sheets he shares with Ellen Barkin and a
movie which aims for light hearted entertainment at all the wrong moments.
Otherwise it's a very ordinary story of heroin and crooked cops that telegraphs
its ultimate villains from the opening scene, one that could have been set in
any major American city such is the magnolia nature of proceedings. It
will surprise nobody I’m sure to note that Hollywood took note and made sure
that Jim McBride didn’t have much of a directorial career after this.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-33936398717124855092014-01-03T10:19:00.003+08:002014-01-03T10:19:32.062+08:00Top 5: 2013 Albums of the YearFive great albums could easily have been ten. Some of my favourite new albums from 2013:<br />
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<a href="http://hasitleaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/574817_10151462555772430_1923734942_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://hasitleaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/574817_10151462555772430_1923734942_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. Heart Attack by Man Overboard</span><br />
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Possibly out of place on this otherwise indie-pop list, the third studio album from defenders of pop punk is more than an enjoyable walk down memory lane, their brand of pop-punk/emo is an energetic combination of everything and everyone I ever loved in my late teens but somehow fresh and new and exciting at the same time. Heart Attack demonstrates the sounds of a band who have toured non-stop and matured exponentially as they went.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. Say Hi To The Band by Stagecoach</span><br />
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The first and, sadly, last album from the indie poppers. Their usual spiky, raucous sound toned down on several wonderful tracks imbued with real melancholy. The standout track for me has to be "A New Hand" and the kind chaps even outdid themselves by allowing me to use the song in my now aborted feature film directorial debut.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. No Blues by Los Campesinos!</span><br />
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A rather lovely surprise, this fifth album from my favourite Welsh indie popsters is a triumphant return to form after the almost unlistenable self indulgent misery of Hello Sadness. I'd all but given up on them but No Blues is filled with fabulousness and more than its fair share of sporting metaphors. LC4LYF!<br />
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<a href="http://d3c1jucybpy4ua.cloudfront.net/data/13712/main_article/My_First_Tooth_-_Love_Makes_Monsters.png?1361793885" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="http://d3c1jucybpy4ua.cloudfront.net/data/13712/main_article/My_First_Tooth_-_Love_Makes_Monsters.png?1361793885" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Love Makes Monsters by My First Tooth</span><br />
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Beautiful. Just beautiful. AND incredibly lovely people. AND have the distinction of playing one of the most memorable gigs of my life during 2013. The horny old goat dude on a Camden sound desk tried his hardest to ruin the sound for the five of us present but My First Tooth rode through it and made flying to England worthwhile.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBuprn17i_Ti6RnTQOyQf3xShYNn9I0oWlJ30EdErsydQphFjSjKUdrvuOD2KJsxpepmpIpuzzqkIDuw53y7Wymy9G-LUVTR7U3S7otxxCNt0i8uzxDJoQsfi3mWGGzMWLcuHrTlj6ZM/s1600/The+October+Game+-+Balancing+-+Cover+Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBuprn17i_Ti6RnTQOyQf3xShYNn9I0oWlJ30EdErsydQphFjSjKUdrvuOD2KJsxpepmpIpuzzqkIDuw53y7Wymy9G-LUVTR7U3S7otxxCNt0i8uzxDJoQsfi3mWGGzMWLcuHrTlj6ZM/s200/The+October+Game+-+Balancing+-+Cover+Art.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Balancing by The October Game</span><br />
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The album I listened the most this year is an incredible collection of pop songs performed by some of the most talented musicians I've had the pleasure to spend time with. Drifting from pop to post-rock with catchy choruses, eccentric lyrics, heartfelt sentiment and atmospheric nods towards folklore this is an album of different ideas and styles, almost like a greatest hits compilation rather than an album led by one definite concept. Yes, I admit a little bias BUT that doesn't change the fact that I have happily listened to this on repeat for 14 hours.<br />
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blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-22052258685079462992014-01-02T15:00:00.000+08:002014-01-02T15:00:04.774+08:002013 So Far (Sep - Dec) Top 5 2013 ReleasesThe final part of my assessment of the final four months of 2013 is the
one most people care about I guess, the best movies released this year.
Kind of irrelevant with the year end list coming up but I've seen a massive 65 of them and these are the best 5:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/rush-2013/">Rush</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ron-howard/">Ron Howard</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuE7RtfATb28BgNzESxWJPsVqsLbICJqg0llB-xlv-o1tBzPPju-q174HbWprgA9Rc-gPf_rgYTJ2hlgycyw2MrpmetgGruRXDjs3pn-x3YSo6YZ8J9sV8GYdy3DwD_LzHHSKjiqVfUSCc/s1600/RUSH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuE7RtfATb28BgNzESxWJPsVqsLbICJqg0llB-xlv-o1tBzPPju-q174HbWprgA9Rc-gPf_rgYTJ2hlgycyw2MrpmetgGruRXDjs3pn-x3YSo6YZ8J9sV8GYdy3DwD_LzHHSKjiqVfUSCc/s640/RUSH.jpg" title="rush ron howard" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/frances-ha/">Frances Ha</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/noah-baumbach/">Noah Baumbach</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/august-osage-county/">August: Osage County</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-wells-1/">John Wells</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/blue-caprice/">Blue Caprice</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alexandre-moors/">Alexandre Moors</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/gravity-2013/">Gravity</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alfonso-cuaron/">Alfonso Cuarón</a></span><br />
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<i>Full list of 2013 movies seen Sep - Dec: Kick-Ass 2, World War Z,
Oxyana, Monster's University, The Bling Ring, Burton & Taylor, The
Hangover Part III, This is the End, A Single Shot, Rewind This!, Privacy
Setting, After Earth, Dead in Tombstone, An Accidental Soldier, The
Internship, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Ass Backwards, Paradise, Man of
Steel, White House Down, All is Bright, Crystal Fairy, Some Girl(s),
Violet & Daisy, Gravity, Despicable Me 2, Turbo, This is Martin
Bonner, Riddick, Earthbound, Blue Caprice, The To-Do List, We're The
Millers, McCanick, Mystery Road, The East, The World's End, 2 Guns, The
Wolverine, How I Live Now, The Kings of Summer, Elysium, Frances Ha,
Prisoners, Machete Kills, Big Sur, A Case of You, The Last Days on Mars,
Kilimanjaro, Mood Indigo, Runner Runner, Out of the Furnace, Blue
Jasmine, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, The Spectacular Now, Don
Jon, Fruitvale Station, Much Ado About Nothing, August: Osage County,
Escape Plan, Rush, American Hustle, Computer Chess, Burma</i> blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-13682710862778100782014-01-02T12:00:00.000+08:002014-01-02T12:00:01.941+08:002013 So Far (Sep - Dec) Bottom 5 2013 ReleasesMy roundup of the third segment of 2013 continues with a look at the worst
the year has offered me so far. Having seen a scandalous 65
releases from 2013 the field was quite competitive, here are the five films I've enjoyed the least:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/how-i-live-now/">How I Live Now</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/kevin-macdonald/">Kevin Macdonald</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/runner-runner/">Runner Runner</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/brad-furman/">Brad Furman</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/turbo/">Turbo</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/david-soren/">David Soren</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.filmblerg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/turbo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="342" src="http://www.filmblerg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/turbo.png" title="turbo" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/ass-backwards/">Ass Backwards</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chris-nelson/">Chris Nelson</a></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://www.icgmagazine.com/wordpress/wp-content/images/2013/01/30.Ass-Backwards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="294" src="http://www.icgmagazine.com/wordpress/wp-content/images/2013/01/30.Ass-Backwards.jpg" title="Ass Backwards" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-hangover-part-iii/">The Hangover Part III</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/todd-phillips/">Todd Phillips</a></span><br />
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<br />
<i>Full list of 2013 movies seen Sep - Dec: Kick-Ass 2, World War Z,
Oxyana, Monster's University, The Bling Ring, Burton & Taylor, The
Hangover Part III, This is the End, A Single Shot, Rewind This!, Privacy
Setting, After Earth, Dead in Tombstone, An Accidental Soldier, The
Internship, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Ass Backwards, Paradise, Man of
Steel, White House Down, All is Bright, Crystal Fairy, Some Girl(s),
Violet & Daisy, Gravity, Despicable Me 2, Turbo, This is Martin
Bonner, Riddick, Earthbound, Blue Caprice, The To-Do List, We're The
Millers, McCanick, Mystery Road, The East, The World's End, 2 Guns, The
Wolverine, How I Live Now, The Kings of Summer, Elysium, Frances Ha,
Prisoners, Machete Kills, Big Sur, A Case of You, The Last Days on Mars,
Kilimanjaro, Mood Indigo, Runner Runner, Out of the Furnace, Blue
Jasmine, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, The Spectacular Now, Don
Jon, Fruitvale Station, Much Ado About Nothing, August: Osage County,
Escape Plan, Rush, American Hustle, Computer Chess, Burma</i> blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-81933419344150805682014-01-02T09:00:00.000+08:002014-01-02T09:00:01.511+08:002013 So Far (Sep - Dec) Top 10 Pre-2013 CatchupToday is marked by three quick recommendation posts, wrapping up the third segment of the year in cinema.<br />
<br />
First up, of the 208 films released prior to 2013 seen for the first time during
this four month period these are the 10 I enjoyed the most and all come
very highly recommended. I've been a lucky boy.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">10. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-taking-of-pelham-one-two-three/">The Taking of Pelham One Two Three</a> (1974) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joseph-sargent/">Joseph Sargent</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://prod.entertainment.telly.sky.com/image/unscaled/2013/02/18/The-Taking-of-Pelham-One-Two-Three-1974-DI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="358" src="http://prod.entertainment.telly.sky.com/image/unscaled/2013/02/18/The-Taking-of-Pelham-One-Two-Three-1974-DI.jpg" title="The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">9. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/electra-glide-in-blue/">Electra Glide in Blue</a> (1973) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/james-william-guercio/">James William Guercio</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLIxX-EuR_AwhS63PjwVRyQNWu1DspwbYQyM55yIR4FrtYFPGmQOGFj2f2qE55dKKNIWzcZI9RqXf9o7rWVQqBBBFAx6d_2oHPypOML99gi-4C2Gbmho-sVYXnw-rakjKJxuNwTm6_wg/s1600/photo-Derapage-controle-Electra-Glide-in-Blue-Electra-Glide-in-Blue-1973-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLIxX-EuR_AwhS63PjwVRyQNWu1DspwbYQyM55yIR4FrtYFPGmQOGFj2f2qE55dKKNIWzcZI9RqXf9o7rWVQqBBBFAx6d_2oHPypOML99gi-4C2Gbmho-sVYXnw-rakjKJxuNwTm6_wg/s640/photo-Derapage-controle-Electra-Glide-in-Blue-Electra-Glide-in-Blue-1973-7.jpg" title="Electra Glide In Blue" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">8. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/nashville/">Nashville</a> (1975) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-altman/">Robert Altman</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81e7koz4NaL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="270" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81e7koz4NaL._SL1500_.jpg" title="Nashville" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">7. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/f-for-fake/">F for Fake</a> (1973) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/orson-welles/">Orson Welles</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/7d17f5d5dfcd6d7889969df2f3d2c52f/tumblr_mhfjoaoYoL1qanj91o2_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/7d17f5d5dfcd6d7889969df2f3d2c52f/tumblr_mhfjoaoYoL1qanj91o2_1280.png" title="F for Fake" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">6. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/monte-walsh-1970/">Monte Walsh</a> (1970) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/william-a-fraker/">William A. Fraker</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://thegreatwesternmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/monte-walsh-marvin-moreau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="432" src="http://thegreatwesternmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/monte-walsh-marvin-moreau.jpg" title="Monte Walsh" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death/">A Matter of Life and Death</a> (1946) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-powell/">Michael Powell</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/emeric-pressburger/">Emeric Pressburger</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnuVp8povrM/T-B8wYJAbUI/AAAAAAAAHvI/6GQbt9uYd1k/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+19062012+141535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="488" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnuVp8povrM/T-B8wYJAbUI/AAAAAAAAHvI/6GQbt9uYd1k/s640/Fullscreen+capture+19062012+141535.jpg" title="A Matter of Life and Death" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/for-a-few-dollars-more/">For a Few Dollars More</a> (1965) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/sergio-leone/">Sergio Leone</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://mindreels.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/large_few_dollars_more_blu-ray3few.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="340" src="http://mindreels.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/large_few_dollars_more_blu-ray3few.jpg" title="for a few dollars more" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/black-narcissus/">Black Narcissus</a> (1947) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-powell/">Michael Powell</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/emeric-pressburger/">Emeric Pressburger</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oUc1MAz2qOg/TWr9lwopmII/AAAAAAAAD_E/wSFw7Gud52w/s640/black+narc4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oUc1MAz2qOg/TWr9lwopmII/AAAAAAAAD_E/wSFw7Gud52w/s640/black+narc4.jpg" title="Black Narcissus" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/blow-out/">Blow Out</a> (1981) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/brian-de-palma/">Brian De Palma</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://clarkkent81.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/blow-out-horizontal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="430" src="http://clarkkent81.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/blow-out-horizontal.jpg" title="blow out travolta" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/army-of-shadows/">Army of Shadows</a> (1969) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jean-pierre-melville/">Jean-Pierre Melville</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://moviepline.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/armyofdarkness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="http://moviepline.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/armyofdarkness.jpg" title="army of shadows" width="640" /></a></div>
blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-18969712976246796512014-01-01T01:22:00.000+08:002014-01-01T19:01:01.260+08:00Movie Diary #18: December 2013<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Happy New Year! Here's to excellent 2014's for all. And good luck to American's who finally have something approaching a worthwhile medical system.</b></span></div>
<br />
The last month of 2013, a relatively slow one in terms of movie watching, I had a burning urge to take part in the December Challenge, to plough through 100 hundred films without pausing for breath but resisted in favour of having a life. Rare around these parts I'm sure you'll have noticed.<br />
<br />
Here's the last post before a full recap. I've got a Top 15 new releases as well as a Bottom 15 new releases. December saw my YTD total reach 150 thanks to viewing a 18 further films from 2013, target reached. A total worthy of assessing, a top fifteen is certainly more worthy if you've seen 150 films than if you've seen 30, therefore my list is the definitive one for the entire planet. Obviously.<br />
<br />
72 movies seen in December also took me to 901 YTD, whilst I would have liked to (and it looked certainly possible at one point) reach 1000 films seen in the year it simply was not to be. Taking that number and deducting 2013 releases and the 98 rewatches (10 in December, the month of the happy revisit to childhood past) leaves me with 653 films to choose from for Top 15 pre-2013 discoveries list.<br />
<br />
I have a total of 10 recommendations for you film lovers this month, 2 terrible pieces of shit, 5 excellently produced gems and 3 masterpieces. Dig in.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Dire</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4QukQE4L9CLnUMGXx1zd1SfPDfjUwPbJxQomOn3aMkRD8SP-YzcAbU2PODbbnQ7ImlShTfLH3Mal3yPjWZACeNDhkG8r7TYpgGEhVp8lFWso15WWwzFbGK_vsP-9vwLSZdpAow9RTzg/s1600/runner+runner+cloudy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4QukQE4L9CLnUMGXx1zd1SfPDfjUwPbJxQomOn3aMkRD8SP-YzcAbU2PODbbnQ7ImlShTfLH3Mal3yPjWZACeNDhkG8r7TYpgGEhVp8lFWso15WWwzFbGK_vsP-9vwLSZdpAow9RTzg/s640/runner+runner+cloudy+2.jpg" title="runner runner cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/runner-runner/">Runner Runner</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/brad-furman/">Brad Furman</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Runner Runner is the kind of BAD film that would have gone straight to bargain basement DVD if not for the names Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake above the title. Brad Furman's direction is at best 'by the numbers' obvious and at worst the laziest and dullest "thriller" I've ever seen but what really sets Runner Runner apart from the rest is the shocking attempt at storytelling made by screenwriters Koppelman and Levein. None of it makes any sense, whole swathes of "plot" are painfully absurd and really stupid exposition happens at every opportunity. </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-2/">Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/cody-cameron/">Cody Cameron</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/kris-pearn/">Kris Pearn</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>John Frances Daly can ruin anything he puts his hand to. The first Cloudy was a blast of bizarre, an offbeat comic animation that took me by surprise and brought may a smile and many a catchphrase to my life. This unnecessary sequel is a mess of hack writing (not surprising with the sheer number of writers credits really) and by the numbers storytelling, unique and interesting characters have been butchered and Mr T was not invited back. I wish I could forget this even existed.</i> </blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Excellent</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5earWknSLHFXOLOB9CuYN8IxaopWnfh2cX4MdcXN_Y9Iyj_3NY8U97ZVusaYtSMDAF4wr1Zzk79T7Q6eXh6BeiVoDpja2zhKvSsOVkASCVOXO-R8AsrlB1q0GPbz1AlI2hDlu81p9F4w/s1600/white+reindeer+matter+of+life+and+death+supporting+characters+home+alone+hogfather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5earWknSLHFXOLOB9CuYN8IxaopWnfh2cX4MdcXN_Y9Iyj_3NY8U97ZVusaYtSMDAF4wr1Zzk79T7Q6eXh6BeiVoDpja2zhKvSsOVkASCVOXO-R8AsrlB1q0GPbz1AlI2hDlu81p9F4w/s640/white+reindeer+matter+of+life+and+death+supporting+characters+home+alone+hogfather.jpg" title="white reindeer matter of life and death supporting characters home alone hogfather" width="492" /></a></div>
</div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death/">A Matter of Life and Death</a> (1946) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-powell/">Michael Powell</a> & <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/emeric-pressburger/">Emeric Pressburger </a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The opening of this work of genius by Mr Powell and Mr Pressburger had
me gasping with cinephile pleasure such was the skill and imagination
brought to my screen. David Niven and Kim Hunter falling in love over
the radio as the pilot prepares to die is, quite incredibly given its
content, one of the most joyous scenes I've ever witnessed. The pair of
directors never cease finding new ways to amaze, whether it's the
enormous stairway to heaven or Marius Goring's breaking of the fourth
wall, the flitting between glorious technicolour and the beautiful
tradition of black & white or even essentially pre-empting the death
scene of T.E. Lawrence as photographed by David Lean.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/white-reindeer/">White Reindeer</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/zach-clark/">Zach Clark</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Anna Margaret Hollyman's performance as the damaged housewife is as
impressive as Cate Blanchett's Blue Jasmine, although it's not glamorous
or flashy; she spends an inordinate amount of time sitting on or bent
over toilets looking very much worn out for example. Her portrait of a
broken woman is fascinating, heartbreaking and extremely funny and much
more subtle than most scenery chewing award nominees, that she won't get
any attention from The Academy says much more about their failure as an
organisation than her acting ability.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/hogfather/">Terry Pratchett's Hogfather</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/vadim-jean/">Vadim Jean</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It's Christmas, so it's time to watch The Hogfather once more. So
faithful to Terry Pratchett's delightfully funny novel, this 3+ hour
adaptation is a modern Christmas classic that discusses the nature of
belief and is full of wonderful performances. You don't need to be a fan
of the books to enjoy this film so why haven't you seen it already?</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/home-alone/">Home Alone</a> (1990) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chris-columbus/">Chris Columbus</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Our annual visit to the McCallister household took place at a sold out
cinematic screening full of adults. Who knew that would happen when this
slapstick kids movie came out in 1990? Most people have a few movies
from their childhood that they remember fondly but Home Alone just has
that special something that keeps the kids coming back for more twenty
three years later. Pesci and Stern as the nefarious Wet Bandits are both
sufficiently villainous and wonderfully silly, doing great work,
especially as they essentially have to carry the drama of the entire
film whilst the child actor that defined a generation ran around having a
great time.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/supporting-characters/">Supporting Characters</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/daniel-schechter/">Daniel Schechter</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Alex Karpovsky and Tarik Lowe are fabulous as a couple of friends who
work together editing a movie, there's a really honest friend vibe
working between them that carries the entire film, making it the
entertaining and pleasing piece that it is. On second watch it still
holds together nicely, the humour remains and the denouement still
affecting. It's no The Colour Wheel but it's a truly fine example of the
current movement in low-fi American indie cinema. Will place high in my year end Top 15.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Masterpiece<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrfqdZYVq5KD4OR0TpDiJ2w8JB2NKQHMiRjIKM91_LDKpXvhBqKA_y23u4h_6O0QSWxOu4vhiKJbEEllomVPDFHsCz9UdwhplfXUFZ-y_CoXhk4WR5yi4VcMPTbQFnl2l5L6y2AeX300/s1600/wicker+man+blade+runner+fantastic+mr+fox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrfqdZYVq5KD4OR0TpDiJ2w8JB2NKQHMiRjIKM91_LDKpXvhBqKA_y23u4h_6O0QSWxOu4vhiKJbEEllomVPDFHsCz9UdwhplfXUFZ-y_CoXhk4WR5yi4VcMPTbQFnl2l5L6y2AeX300/s640/wicker+man+blade+runner+fantastic+mr+fox.jpg" title="wicker man blade runner fantastic mr fox" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/fantastic-mr-fox/">Fantastic Mr Fox</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/wes-anderson/">Wes Anderson</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The most Wes Anderson of any Wes Anderson film, The Fantastic Mr Fox is the work of a quirky genius who has found the 100% right material for themselves. Charming, funny, with wicked dialogue combined with beautiful and sometimes breathtaking cinematography, this is everything I could want in contemporary American cinema. Has rewarded and will continue to reward repeat viewings.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/blade-runner/">Blade Runner</a> (1982) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ridley-scott/">Ridley Scott</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Ridley Scott with more than a little help from his wonderfully talented
and put upon production team achieved a visionary masterpiece that
deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Citizen Kane. In some
ways it is the ultimate film noir with its existential narrative,
expressionistic lighting, the neon and the smoke, a conflicted
protagonist and a charismatic antagonist that you can't help but root
for, it's funny and intelligent and even the mesmerising and crazy
performance of Rutger Hauer seems to recall quite a lot of James Cagney.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-wicker-man/">The Wicker Man</a> (1973) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robin-hardy/">Robin Hardy</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Christopher Lee plays his role to perfection, a learned man, joyous and open minded, yet still has a playful menace about him that again pays off wonderfully come the end. Whilst Edward Woodward captures the straight laced lunacy of his character with remarkable skill and the very real sense of horror that you take away from The Wicker Man comes not from blood, gore, suspense or loud music but from a closeup of his face as you listen to his voice, truly acting at its finest.</i></blockquote>
<br />
That's it. Comment or tweet if you like. But save your powder for the lists that are about to come. blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-19288721517920039582013-12-31T11:17:00.001+08:002013-12-31T11:17:11.061+08:00Top 10: 2013 ReadsI may as well give up pretending that this blog exists for any real
writing purpose at the moment, so in the spirit of year end here's a
list, lists are the easiest posts of all.<br />
<br />
In 2013 I've
read 122 books, not quite half of what I read last year but priorities
change, so my Top 10 Reads of 2013 accounts for just under ten percent
of the total. Noir has taken precedence over everything in my reading as
well as my viewing but this list isn't all blacker than black. I promise.<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10. Fierce Bitches by Jedidiah Ayres (2013)</span><br />
<i>Jedidiah Ayres' prose is sparse and his tale is bleak as fuck, mirroring
the carefully constructed locale and the unforgiving sun baked desert
that surrounds it. This appears to be his first novella but its written
with the skill and voice of a much more experienced man to the point
that I wouldn't be surprised if this was Jim Thompson still writing
after faking his death back in '77. Most impressive is his use of the
second person narration, a device that can horribly backfire in the
wrong hands but in this case was so perfectly done that I hardly noticed
it until the chapter was over.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">9. London Under by Peter Ackroyd (2011)</span><br />
<i>Example chapter titles include Holy Water, Forgotten Streams, Buried
Secrets and The Heart of Darkness and every page contains at least one
moment of wonder to those uneducated yet enthusiastic readers (which is
exactly the target audience for this work) like myself. For a chapter or
two I thought it was going to take me weeks to read due the sheer
quantity of google and wiki searches I was performing to acquire further
knowledge of a proffered fact whilst reading before readjusting my
mindset to just let the author entertain me with his seemingly endless
supply of poetic historical tales.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">8. The Pirates! In an Adventure With The Romantics by Gideon Defoe (2012)</span><br />
<i>If you were to take a poll of people reading you might find a lot of
votes for great use of ham in a nautical setting, there may even be
several readers who enjoy the excellent names created for the motley
crew of pirates but guaranteed that majority will tell you that the best
bit about reading a book about The Pirates! is all the running through
that happens. Just ask Jeffrey Keeten about the time he ran a man
through for daring not to wear a fencing cup in school colours if you
are unsure of the unique pleasures a good running through can provide.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">7. Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson (1964)</span><br />
<i>This tale of small town America is littered with pimps, whores, crooked
lawmen, private detectives, women no better than they ought to be,
incestuous men, wife beaters, murderers, corrupt politicians, vindictive
women, peeping toms, mentally challenged cuckolds, religious zealots
and plenty of sex. Of course on top of that there's Sheriff Nick Corey, a
noir protagonist the likes of which you may never have seen.</i> <br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. Eight Million Ways To Die by Lawrence Block (1982)</span><br />
<i>The fifth Matt Scudder takes a further dark turn in to a city plagued by
demons and lawlessness, taking a pessimistic cue from the classic
movie/TV show The Naked City this is the story of a dead call girl, of
2000 murders per year, of a private investigator, of an alcoholic on a
path of self-destruction. During his investigation Scudder comes in to
contact with all kinds of filth and degenerates, he makes acquaintances
with a good cop, a good pimp, five hookers and a black albino informant.
There's violence and paranoia, sobriety and alcohol related blackouts,
it's a rocky ride and I shan't spoil it for you. Soon to be a Liam Neeson movie it could easily have been directed by Harmony Korine.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. Bit of a Blur: The Autobiography by Alex James (2007)</span><br />
<i>From the opening lines I was impressed with his ability to write,
weaving together a series of interesting and entertaining anecdotes with
an infectious enthusiasm, granted if you can't have enthusiasm for your
subject when you're writing about yourself you may as well give up
writing altogether, but James is erudite and witty and incredibly frank
about his occasionally abhorrent behaviour. I was enamoured from the
start and James (and obviously a great editor) didn't let me down,
becoming, by quite some margin, my favourite autobiography/biography
that I've ever picked up.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno (2006)</span><br />
<i>A deep melancholy permeates the pages of The Boy Detective Fails, a
magical little book that asks questions about growing up and growing
old, the death of innocence and imagination, loss and grief via the
story of an adult boy detective. People reference something called
Encyclopedia Brown plus the usual suspects of The Hardy Boys and Nancy
Drew, popular characters from an American childhood that seemed too
Other to me as a young man in small town England. I preferred the much
more English series, The Mystery Kids, myself. But anyway take those
kids who had magical crime busting adventures and crush their spirit and
enthusiasm and send them out to solve the mystery of death and you've
got the essence of The Boy Detective Fails. And in his straight-faced magical realist style of writing he crafted
something of a Lemony Snicket for adults, something smart and haunting,
laced with real pain and sorrow and wit and heart and situational
humour. It's a truly surprising piece of work that deserves to be lauded
and paid homage to with countless imitators who just don't have the
skill to get past the original surface gimmick and imbue their novel
with actual life.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Wake In Fright by Kenneth Cook (1961)</span><br />
<i>You know, from the opening paragraphs, that this book is going to stay
with you as only the most powerful books do. Cook captures the essence
of the vast emptiness of the desert, the punishing effect of constant
heat from sun up to sun down and the isolation of man in a place he
doesn't belong, and wraps it up in a tight little novel that suffocates
the reader. I felt almost claustrophobic whilst reading, the pressure
and closeness of the heat described transferring itself to me on my nice
air conditioned bus. </i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George Higgins (1972)</span><br />
<i>It's all fly on the way stuff with dialogue feeling so authentic you
have to retune your brain to the sounds of criminal class Boston, the
kind of stuff Elmore Leonard is widely praised for but better. When not
in conversation TFOEC is narrated with the kind of matter of fact
attention to detail you might find in a Martin Beck or 87th Precinct
novel for example, it's dry in itself but the subject matter isn't. The
action might largely appear to be happening in between these chapters of
conversation but the combination of dialogue and narration create a
portrait of the life of these people, their criminal actions, the
lifestyle choice, that will certainly serve as an anthropological study
and an entertaining crime read for future generations.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley (1978) </span><br />
<i><strong>Crumley writes this stuff better than just about anyone I've experienced to date</strong>,
the way he took hold of the genre, seemingly educated himself on
Chandler, Hammett, Willeford, Thompson et al and crafted this
masterpiece is a remarkable thing to have witnessed, it is a true shame
that he isn't more widely known and respected. Having said that it is
only through the praise lavished on his work from the fourth generation
of hard-boiled and noir writers who claim to be in his debt that I
stumbled across this work. People like George Pelecanos and Dennis
Lehane have described this book as <strong>one of the best pieces of fiction written in the past fifty years</strong>. Very high praise indeed and in my experience fully justified.</i><br />
<br />
How about you guys, any favourites from amongst these? How about your favourite discovery of the year? Tweet me, comment, send me a letter, whatever.<i> </i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-17873032580128930362013-12-01T13:00:00.000+08:002013-12-01T13:00:02.128+08:00Movie Diary #17: November 2013November has been and gone, another month of throwing myself in to the watching of copious amounts of movies as a way of coping or dealing with my failed attempts to make a movie. It's time to stop dwelling, time to stop wallowing, time to get up, get out and do something other than watch film after film after film.<br />
<br />
November also brought about a discovery of the film criticism of Graham Greene, his collected writings from 1935-1940 were published as <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/Pleasure-Dome-Graham-Greene-Collected-Film/9374437731/bd">The Pleasure Dome</a> and should be considered as essential reading for any wannabe critic such is the quality of the man's words and insights.<br />
<br />
The tally reached a quite improbable <b>118</b> over the thirty days in the month of my thirty first birthday, beating my previous best of 116 in May and bringing me up to <b>829</b> year to date. I limited myself to <b>8</b> rewatches (<b>88</b> YTD) but unless I can watch over a hundred films without rewatching too many in December I'm not going to make my 10% target. I plan on having a Whit Stillman day in the middle of Summer which certainly won't help matters and I've got an urge to have a weekend of only watching my favourite films too. A sacrifice worth making and not even much of one really.<br />
<br />
I saw <b>17</b> new releases (<b>132</b> YTD) with two in the highly recommended category below which features <b>12</b> films you really should see. Other recommendations include avoiding <b>9</b> films I wish I hadn't bothered watching, one of which will surely upset some people and for the first time since June I offer up <b>5</b> masterpieces which have blown me away in the past month.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Why Why Why Why Why Bother?</span><br />
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<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/qwerty/">Qwerty</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/bill-sebastian/">Bill Sebastian</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Nice idea but as with all nice but absurd ideas it really needed to be
played straight otherwise, as in the case of Qwerty, you come off like a
bunch of amateur arseholes TRYING to be funny.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/superman/">Superman</a> (1978) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/richard-donner/">Richard Donner</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>They wanted Sam Peckinpah to direct this movie but Peckinpah took a gun to the meeting and waved it about. I'd much rather watch that in slow motion for nearly three hours than this merchandise shilling garbage about a concept that doesn't exist anymore. The American way of truth and justice is a sugar coated myth they sell the idiots, they actually knew that in the 70s and yet this still got made.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-kings-of-summer/">The Kings of Summer</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jordan-vogt-roberts/">Jordan Vogt-Roberts</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A truly irritating little teenage shit of a movie that takes the very
worst characters from American teen comedies and puts them in a hut in
the woods where they can indulge in being "real men," adds a half assed
attempt at surreal farce and romantic imagery and plays itself off as a
coming of age drama.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/how-i-live-now/">How I Live Now</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/kevin-macdonald/">Kevin Macdonald</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>You can't annoy the shit out of your audience with an awful American
teenage girl and a noisy as fuck soundtrack from the very beginning and
expect them to give a shit when World War 3 breaks out. Granted I didn't
realise Meg Rosoff wrote exclusively for little girls before watching.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/end-of-days/">End of Days</a> (1999) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-hyams/">Peter Hyams</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The general premise is laughable and borderline offensive and I do
wonder why this film couldn't have been made without the Arnie
storyline. Also the resolution is one of the worst I've witnessed. </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/timecop/">Timecop</a> (1994) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-hyams/">Peter Hyams</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>An all round bad movie, with no redeeming features except for the
initial idea. Has anybody read the comics this was based on? Are they as
badly written?</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-delta-force/">The Delta Force</a> (1986) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/menahem-golan/">Menahem Golan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Considering the premise of Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin joining forces to
fight terrorism 80s style this is a giant sack of shit that can't get
past the fact that it's a Menahem Golan movie. Robert Forster as an Arab
terrorist and Hanna Schygulla as a German air hostess who seems
sexually aroused whenever she looks at him are other notable casting
choices.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-long-kiss-goodnight/">The Long Kiss Goodnight</a> (1996) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/renny-harlin/">Renny Harlin</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What the hell has everyone been smoking? The Long Kiss Goodnight is a
dumb movie of interminable length, directed with all of the skill of a
blind sloth. There are a few jokes to raise a half smile and Jackson
does what Jackson does but beyond that the best part by far was the
brief clip of Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-island/">The Island</a> (1980) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-ritchie/">Michael Ritchie</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Absolute garbage. Michael Caine had no quality control on what he said yes to and puts in one of his worst performances. Michael Ritchie was a mediocre director at best but the complete lack of tension, thrills, drama, cohesive structure and well delivered dialogue combined with bizarre editing and horrific exposition must rank this as one of his very worst pictures.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Not Quite Some of the Best Movies Ever Made</span><br />
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<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/blue-caprice/">Blue Caprice</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alexandre-moors/">Alexandre Moors</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Director Alexandre Moors takes a slow, thoughtful approach to his
material, somewhat akin to Van Sant's Elephant but with much more
substance, to what could easily be a sensationalist piece of cinema in
the wrong hands. A fascinating and terrifying character study of two killers, Isaiah
Washington in the perfect role for his intense brand of performance and
youngster Tequan Richmond brooding his way through his first real movie
gig, of the grooming of one by the other and the driving on of each
other as their incomprehensibly evil plan comes to fruition.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-taking-of-pelham-one-two-three/">The Taking of Pelham One Two Three</a> (1973) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joseph-sargent/">Joseph Sargent</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It never really feels like a safe decision was made throughout. The
characters, hostages aside, are wonderfully interesting people with
their own personalities and the interactions between them dance from
comic to tense and back again and it is this that is sorely lacking in
modern cinema. Nobody is there to score focus group points and as such
none of them are really a cliche or stereotype. If you haven't seen this version yet you really should, it's one of the
best crime films of the 70s, which was by far the best decade for
American crime cinema.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-east/">The East</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/zal-batmanglij/">Zal Batmanglij</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This is an incredibly solid little film (albeit with the assistance of
Ridley and Tony Scott so not that little really) that deserves to be
seen and should be highly praised, not necessarily for the things that
it isn't either. I've seen how Hollywood would make this movie and time
and time again I've not been impressed but Batmanglij sets a really
unobtrusive tone with a slow pace from the beginning and has the luxury
of Brit Marling's intense lead performance to lean on when required. Yet
he is able to incorporate some really tense moments as the
anti-corporation group carries out their "terrorist" plans.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/f-for-fake/">F For Fake</a> (1973) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/orson-welles/">Orson Welles</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>In film school we took an entire year to look at the documentary, the
way the borders of fiction and non-fiction can be and are blurred. We
discussed many different films, including Nanook, Blair Witch and Night
& Fog but at no point in any lecture or any article or any textbook
was this almost definitive statement on the veracity of the documentary
by Orson Welles. How can I trust any of the three years of by university
education when such a travesty of an oversight occurred? Did they not
know anything? And does that make my degree even more worthless? It's quite the brilliant piece of cinema, yet another one from the mind of one of the greatest men to ever work in the medium.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/nashville/">Nashvile</a> (1975) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-altman/">Robert Altman</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The pinnacle of Robert Altman's unique brand of cinema. If I'd seen this
as a younger man I wouldn't have hesitated to get lost in rewatching
this countless times as I did his earlier Elliot Gould-fests (Gould
makes a wonderful cameo as himself here) but as it stands I don't feel
like giving up days of my life to a movie about Nashville. Once is
enough, to understand the grand scale of the great directors vision, to
grasp the intricacies of the intertwined lives of the participants, to
marvel at the audacity of it all. </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/monte-walsh-1970/">Monte Walsh</a> (1970) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/william-a-fraker/">William A. Fraker</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The late 60s really marked the death of an era for the western movie and
William Fraker's adaptation of Jack Shaefer's (Shane) novel is a movie
that takes a stark look at the end of the traditional cowboy era of
American history. Within that framework is another traditional
narrative, that of the old man struggling to come to terms with his
advancing years in a world changing faster than he can possibly keep up.
And Lee Marvin excels in that role better than almost any other actor
in the history of American cinema.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/busting/">Busting</a> (1974) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-hyams/">Peter Hyams</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The script by Hyams is wonderfully cynical, a true classic of crime
screenwriting from the 70s, that amazing period of grimey creativity
that brought us 98% of all the very best crime cinema that was ever
made. It is filled with wit, delivered perfectly (naturally) by Gould
and another really good performance from Blake who really underplays his
character, becoming almost a straight man for Gould's typical
bafoonery. But Gould has an edge to him that you tend not to see in his
more famous roles, a serious, determined existential edge that turns him
much more in to the "sad clown" than even his bumbling private eye in
Long Goodbye could achieve. He has a pretty brilliant 'tache too.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/straight-time/">Straight Time</a> (1978) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ulu-grosbard/">Ulu Grosbard</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Dustin Hoffman is at his subtle and intense best as a career criminal
who makes his choices and is prepared to live with them. With support
from Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh and a remarkably reined in Gary
Busey this is a quality film with a quality cast that doesn't quite
scale the heights it might have.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-bothersome-man/">The Bothersome Man</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jens-lien/">Jens Lien</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The Bothersome Man is a Norwegian satire of modern consumerism and obsession with
appearances, a surreal comedy and utopia gone wrong, a fable about
daring to be different, an original tale of what may even be the
afterlife yet still manages to recall Jeunet et Caro, Gilliam, Andersson
and Wenders, even more specifically at times I was thinking of The
Truman Show, The Matrix and Wristcutters. Beautifully framed using an
unassuming palette of greys and blues and filled with wonderfully
strange moments that more often than not will have you laughing out loud.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west/">Once Upon a Time in the West</a> (1968) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/sergio-leone/">Sergio Leone</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>At nearly three hours Once Upon a Time in the West is most definitely
not long enough to do all of it's many storylines and complex characters
justice. It's a majestic western, visually astounding with a score to
die for but suffers in the storytelling department, as have the three
previous Leone films.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/crossroads-1986/">Crossroads</a> (1986) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/walter-hill/">Walter Hill</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Colour me surprised to find that Crossroads is without doubt one of the
highlights in the career of Walter Hill, this take on the legend of
Robert Johnson is essentially The Karate Kid with blues guitar instead
of kung fu but with real soul and no contrived fist pumping moments. Ry Cooder's soundtrack is perfectly matched to the mood of one of the best films about music I've seen.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/autumn-sonata/">Autumn Sonata</a> (1978) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ingmar-bergman/">Ingmar Bergman</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Wow. Ullman and Bergman are sensational as the repressed emotions boil up and two women set out seemingly to destroy each other. Everything about this feels completely authentic. At least from watching mothers and daughters interact over in my family over the years anyway.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Masterpiece</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6mByk1WMMToPFQ9BHwyUcO62_RCk-8f8L6gil0BLt3_BMu8ndQCOp4ktvmjMTshnmcqECBZC-yhCw-e2JyLn0BOsb9ymmABnBCpxlLmK6K5JhuMTdwQLl-OCpi3LZtGo85zUOlRxYEk/s1600/spring+breakers+army+of+shadows+blow+out+tokyo+story+scott+pilgrim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6mByk1WMMToPFQ9BHwyUcO62_RCk-8f8L6gil0BLt3_BMu8ndQCOp4ktvmjMTshnmcqECBZC-yhCw-e2JyLn0BOsb9ymmABnBCpxlLmK6K5JhuMTdwQLl-OCpi3LZtGo85zUOlRxYEk/s640/spring+breakers+army+of+shadows+blow+out+tokyo+story+scott+pilgrim.jpg" title="spring breakers army of shadows blow out tokyo story scott pilgrim" width="458" /></a></div>
</div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/blow-out/">Blow Out</a> (1981) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/brian-de-palma/">Brian De Palma</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Visually it is an incredible experience from start to finish; littered
with incredible single shots, amazing set pieces, stunning ideas pulled
off with seeming nonchalance and even the dated effects are impressive.
As you would expect from a film about the work of a sound engineer the
audio design is top quality too, layer upon layer of noise and silence
enhancing the sumptuous visuals and the career best work from John
Travolta.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world/">Scott Pilgrim vs the World</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/edgar-wright/">Edgar Wright</a><br />
<div class="text collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing:3032383/">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I'm
honestly conflicted over giving this film the full marks. After
tonight's screening at the Rooftop Cinema in Perth I reckon I must have
seen it an even dozen times and it just keeps getting funnier. But it's a
teen comedy comic book adaptation. Conflicted!</i><br />
<i> </i><i>Edgar Wright has
done such a great job in adapting the visuals, mood and attitude of the
excellent graphic novels, the soundtrack is phenomenally well chosen and
the cast all excel in their roles however small plus it seems like
Michael Cera was born to be Scott Pilgrim.</i><br />
<i> </i><i>I heart Scott Pilgrim so much. Full stars!</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/tokyo-story/">Tokyo Story</a> (1953) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/yasujiro-ozu/">Yasujiro Ozu</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A devastatingly effective piece of cinema, carefully crafted with great pathos. I'd not noticed previously that it shares many similarities with another of my all time favourites, Secrets & Lies, especially in terms of structure, tone and the power held over the viewer, which has sort of blown my mind. Ozu directed what is probably the pinnacle of this little social realist drama sub-genre 43 years before Mike Leigh came close to matching him.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/spring-breakers/">Spring Breakers</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/harmony-korine/">Harmony Korine</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It seems I just can't get enough of Spring Breakers. I can't believe that this film is tying with Gravity for my best film of 2013. In my head I'm doing something ridiculous, I'm including it on a list with Citizen Kane; the kind of incredible films that both entertain and leave you marvelling at the skill of the director, films with many layers that you feel like you will never come close to comprehending no matter how many times you watch them. I feel like that is wrong.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/army-of-shadows/">Army of Shadows</a> (1969) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jean-pierre-melville/">Jean-Pierre Melville</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Pick a WWII movie, pick your favourite WWII movie, I guarantee you
it's not as good as Army of Shadows. There's a very real chance that you
could pick ANY other movie in the entire history of cinema and it
wouldn't be as good as Army of Shadows.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>For 145 tension filled minutes Jean-Pierre Melville keeps the viewer
in the palm of his hand, a director at the height of his almost magical
powers, every moment exquisitely crafted in tones of blue-grey and quite
aptly shadow and light.</i></blockquote>
<br />
I'm ready for the fallout, Superman fans sharpen your claws and do your worst. Any other opinions also welcome, recommendations <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">via twitter</a> are invited. </div>
blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-75416993038336109432013-11-11T14:51:00.000+08:002013-11-11T14:51:00.073+08:00Movie Diary #16: October 2013Right, now we're pretty much up to date with this stuff. October saw me return from the disaster that was my attempt to make a movie and hit the play button with abandon, really indulging myself with whatever I felt like watching and very rarely leaving the house.<br />
<br />
After September October managed to supply 21 recommendations out of the 74 (711 year to date) films seen during the month. With my rewatch count kept to a paltry 2 (80 YTD) October was a month of comfort from quantity not guaranteed quality of "comfort" films.<br />
<br />
I saw 16 new releases (114 YTD,) but only one is worthy of recommending but boy was it a good one. So that's 3 new masterpiece recommendations, seriously folks add them to the top of your watchlist, 8 more that are definitely worth investigating if you haven't already and 11 (an incredible 5 of which are 2013 releases) that you should never watch even if bored and it's a choice between that and staring at the wall for several hours.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Why Why Why Why Why Why Bother?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUj8o8xcfQMsEn5_pCVOXfXAJ7F6Di0EqsdFhh8bEI9vKlx72d2jvKu8mVUqD14vphe_IgYVlJE56X2yKad2KLRJPd3NlpIIDZkejPhnEORN8QKp_LpagfhzS5ddsQXbsz3LFJehrKwY/s1600/man+of+steel+violet+daisy+mikes+murder+earthbound+star+trek+turbo+simpatico+10+thin+ice+ultimate+warrior+ass+backwards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUj8o8xcfQMsEn5_pCVOXfXAJ7F6Di0EqsdFhh8bEI9vKlx72d2jvKu8mVUqD14vphe_IgYVlJE56X2yKad2KLRJPd3NlpIIDZkejPhnEORN8QKp_LpagfhzS5ddsQXbsz3LFJehrKwY/s640/man+of+steel+violet+daisy+mikes+murder+earthbound+star+trek+turbo+simpatico+10+thin+ice+ultimate+warrior+ass+backwards.jpg" title="man of steel violet daisy mikes murder earthbound star trek turbo simpatico 10 thin ice ultimate warrior ass backwards" width="534" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/ass-backwards/">Ass Backwards</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chris-nelson/">Chris Nelson</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Holy shit, what the fuck were they thinking? As unfunny and as
excruciating as I expected The Internship to be and then some. Truly,
remarkably bad cinema.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/simpatico/">Simpatico</a> (1999) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/matthew-warchus/">Matthew Warchus</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I might not always agree with the praise heaped upon movies by Roger
Ebert but when it comes to movies that sucked he was almost always on
the money. Sometimes a movie that isn't very good can be forgiven thanks
to a fun idea that appeals to a small part of your non critical mind or
great performances elevating a movie out of suckiness and in to
mediocrity but with Simpatico there's a convoluted noir-esque plot AND
good performances from great actors and still I found myself in
agreement with Mr Ebert. Simpatico is a great big bore from start to
finish.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/mikes-murder/">Mike's Murder</a> (1984) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/james-bridges/">James Bridges</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Pretty slow and pretty dull neo-noir. Nothing happens for 45 minutes and then there's an hour of sloppy, badly written dialogue as Debra Winger "investigates" the titular event in a series of improbable moments.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/man-of-steel/">Man of Steel</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/zack-snyder/">Zack "Sucker Punch" Snyder</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>An incredibly boring movie that's about 2.5 hours too long. Like all of
the problems with the Batman Begins origin story dragged out and
expanded upon with a much less interesting character in a much uglier
way, exactly as you would expect from Zack "300" Snyder. Not the worst
blockbuster of the year but one of them. After watching this who would
care that Affleck was Batman in the pointless sequel to a DOA original?</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/star-trek-the-motion-picture/">Star Trek: The Motion Picture</a> (1979) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-wise/">Robert Wise</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>How boring did they want to make this?! I can fully get behind the
"escape the smallness of the TV" approach also known as "celebrate the
massive nature of cinema" but the seemingly never ending attempt to
explore the vastness of space by using sloooooooow moving shots of the
Enterprise in spacedock or the ominous cloud
destroying things slowly get incredibly tedious very, very quickly.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/violet-daisy/">Violet & Daisy</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/geoffrey-fletcher/">Geoffrey Fletcher</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>No surprise that it took several years from it's festival appearances to
get a VOD release as Violet & Daisy is a mess of attempted shiny
visuals and stilted dialogue delivered by two female leads who were
clearly directed to be awful. Not the worst movie of the year but it's
right down there.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-ultimate-warrior/">The Ultimate Warrior</a> (1975) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-clouse/">Robert Clouse</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The Ultimate Warrior promises to be a fighting movie but the fight
scenes are amongst the worst I've ever seen and the actual dialogue and
plot are amongst some of the most offensively stupid and naive I've ever
witnessed.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/turbo/">Turbo</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/david-soren/">David Soren</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Awful CGI animation from Hollywood for kids in 2013 has a new benchmark in garbage; Turbo easily surpasses Epic as the years worst, a feat I never expected to be attained this year or any other such was the abhorrent nature of said film. But somehow Turbo manages to be both derivative and offensive, it's incredibly ugly and its message is all over the place and they clearly spent about 3 seconds (if that) on thinking about the world building aspect of garden snails working in a factory and how talking nitrous oxide powered snails would interact with the human world.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/thin-ice-2011/">Thin Ice</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jill-sprecher/">Jill Sprecher</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>There's a reason you haven't heard of Thin Ice, a caper movie starring
two incredibly likeable actors, one an Oscar winner and the other an
Oscar nominee, the reason is that this film is one of the very worst
instances of the matchstick man conceit.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/10/">10</a> (1979) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/blake-edwards/">Blake Edwards </a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I'd heard tale of this being a comedy but it turns out that's more of an
urban legend as 10 starts off dull and proceeds to fail at causing even
a titter for two hours. Perhaps it is unfair to expect something as
wonderfully joyful as Dudley Moore in Arthur but I went in with low
expectations and had them pulverised by the sheer tedium of it all, not
to mention the offensive nature of the concept that felt just a little
too long in the tooth for 1979. 1 star for Dudley Moore.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/earthbound/">Earthbound</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alan-brennan/">Alan Brennan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I can't resist a Rafe Spall movie, and so I bring crap like this upon myself every single time. It's just not funny, at all, despite trying every type of humour imaginable at every opportunity. Rafe Spall is, as usual, great and despite being an awful cliche of a manic pixie dream girl Jenn Murray has a real quality and presence about her, beyond that there's nothing to recommend. In 2013 you can trust the Irish to release a terrible superhero movie about religious beliefs without the subtle metaphors of a Zack "Sucker Punch" Snyder joint.</i> </blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Not Quite Some of the Best Movies Ever Made</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBJFtVvEJCy7HjlVhHxz2O9Ktk1Ocr0ewcrtchmCAoePr6pgI1WAbQbk7ji329rAjyyXzCqnjFrInRKOHAM_mkgtIsNgjlc2HmOBnJ2sIdQpWYMP1Len-UURqdyJlknKL6z8u_klSW_g/s1600/cabinet+of+caligari+oxbow+incident+fistful+of+dollars+electra+glide+in+blue+paths+of+glory+bug+good+bad+ugly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBJFtVvEJCy7HjlVhHxz2O9Ktk1Ocr0ewcrtchmCAoePr6pgI1WAbQbk7ji329rAjyyXzCqnjFrInRKOHAM_mkgtIsNgjlc2HmOBnJ2sIdQpWYMP1Len-UURqdyJlknKL6z8u_klSW_g/s640/cabinet+of+caligari+oxbow+incident+fistful+of+dollars+electra+glide+in+blue+paths+of+glory+bug+good+bad+ugly.jpg" title="cabinet of caligari oxbow incident fistful of dollars electra glide in blue paths of glory bug good bad ugly" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/bug-2006/">Bug</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/william-friedkin/">William Friedkin</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The second half of this movie was like a train wreck that somehow blows
up a nuclear reactor. Horrible, shocking, mesmerising, the kind of
cinema that is so far removed from the staid comfortable lifestyle most
of us live that your jaw will drop repeatedly (if you manage to raise it
to begin with,) you will want to vomit several times, if you think on
it too hard you may find tears have sprung to your eyes and the whole
time your brain is screaming, fighting to unscramble what you're seeing,
to put a label on it and quantify it as a metaphor or several metaphors
even, a statement about something, anything, just so long as you can
classify it and deal with the fall out in a more comfortable manner.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-fistful-of-dollars/">A Fistful of Dollars</a> (1964) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/sergio-leone/">Sergio Leone</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Seen hot on the heels of watching Yojmbo and Last Man Standing and
reading Red Harvest, it was always going to take something special in
the telling of this story yet again to impress me and boy was
I impressed. The combination of Leone's vision and Eastwood's performance elevate
this version of Hammett's tale of corruption and a protagonist who
exists in that grey area between black hat and white hat, playing two
opposing gangs off against each other for the good of humanity and his
pocket, above all other versions in terms of entertainment
and enjoyment.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-ox-bow-incident/">The Ox-Bow Incident</a> (1943) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/william-a-wellman/">William A. Wellman</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A fine example of the early western-noir genre crossover that provides
an awfully large amount of inspiration for the later award winning movie
about mob justice 12 Angry Men; with an expected ending that still
manages to pack an almighty punch thanks to some fine acting from all
involved, a tight play-like script and strong directing from William
Wellman. This film will place high on my list of favourite westerns.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920/">The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari</a> (1920) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-wiene/">Robert Wiene</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Another one of those films I thought I'd seen in film school but had
actually only seen clips of, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is incredible
piece of early cinema and as important as any film ever made. The set
design and the painting of shadows is wonderful all on its own but the
storytelling is a step beyond anything previously seen in the medium,
the combination of which makes this film still highly entertaining and
an enjoyable watch at almost one hundred years old.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/paths-of-glory/">Paths of Glory</a> (1957) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/stanley-kubrick/">Stanley Kubrick</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Kubrick's anti-war movie is incredibly effective despite how overtly cold he painted his villains in their lambs to the slaughter attitudes. Known as an innovator of style in genre pictures I was most impressed by how he almost never allowed the camera to rest, keeping everything moving back and forth or on a constant dolly, and not in a shakeycam Paul Greengrass way either, it's something that I don't recall seeing in previous war movies and to a certain extent even the films that came after.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/">The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly</a> (1966) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/sergio-leone/">Sergio Leone</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>TGTBATU is a great acronym, and an enjoyable enough three hour movie but it certainly didn't live up to its predecessor, primarily it is a bit too deliberately slapsticky in its humour for my liking. There's a large part of the plot that revolves around the American Civil War which felt incredibly unnecessary and only served to dilute the hipster badass on a horse plot that had served them so well in two previous outings. I can see how by the time you get to the incredible (and it really does deserved to be lauded as marquee moment in cinematic history) Mexican Standoff denouement you might be exhausted and delighted by the ending helping you to forget about the faults that came before but really this is not as purely entertaining as a standalone movie as For A Few Dollars More. Sergio Leone still does wonderful things with his camera and with the genre and never has a Quentin Tarantino influence been more obvious than here. Then there's Ennio Morricone, his work on this film has stood the test of time and there's a very good reason why, he demonstrates an awareness of his art form and the way it will be interpreted that goes beyond 99.9% of composers throughout history, IT IS TRULY MASTERFUL.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/days-of-heaven/">Days of Heaven</a> (1978) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/terrence-malick/">Terrence Malick</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>There's an obvious story as far as the plot in this movie goes, large swathes of dialogue, especially the narration, is unintelligible and I find a babyfaced Richrd Gere quite unbelievable for this role, much in the same way I could never take DiCaprio seriously as the world wise drifter in Titanic BUT still there's a poetic beauty to this film that raises it above such petty concerns as dialogue and story and pretty faces to the point where you deserve to indulge yourself in repeat viewings.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/electra-glide-in-blue/">Electra Glide In Blue</a> (1973) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/james-william-guercio/">James William Guercio</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The combination of rookie director/producer James Guerico, master cinematographer Conrad Hall and the intense Robert Blake in the lead role create a stunning mix of incredible visuals and existential angst, within a meandering plot filled with bizarre scenes that would never find a place within a more traditional movie or anything made in Hollywood after 1978 I would imagine. Yet it's these bizarre scenes and out of place rants by the characters that make the film the fascinating journey that it is.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Masterpiece</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJY0LjobiafDHQ1IPY3lSFRD-rLISyiB8xnOckFGAjAZuY3LPkn3yevt5w_NFKk4d5p8dFdxLWnoQMTaQpzvY3hvGCvNRsj-Gh7t-6P0Ua8-t8R4MpIJj-hVzlI-mRyQquLBbpaUu5SY/s1600/for+a+few+dollars+more+gravity+black+narcissus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJY0LjobiafDHQ1IPY3lSFRD-rLISyiB8xnOckFGAjAZuY3LPkn3yevt5w_NFKk4d5p8dFdxLWnoQMTaQpzvY3hvGCvNRsj-Gh7t-6P0Ua8-t8R4MpIJj-hVzlI-mRyQquLBbpaUu5SY/s640/for+a+few+dollars+more+gravity+black+narcissus.jpg" title="for a few dollars more gravity black narcissus" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/for-a-few-dollars-more/">For A Few Dollars More</a> (1965) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/sergio-leone/">Sergio Leone</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>If Fistful was the first great film I'd seen in months then the followup
is the first masterpiece; For a Few Dollars More takes all that was
great about the Yojimbo clone and elevates all of it to the next level
thanks to a much more interesting (perhaps not original) script and a
score from Morricone that has deservedly become part of pop culture
legend. Eastwood is wonderful but it is the relationship with Van Cleef
that takes the acting to new heights, the importance of having more than
one great actor AND character in a movie. Volonte is once more the bad
guy and his memorable performance as the deranged and effeminate El
Indio is almost comparable to the two Americans in terms of
entertainment and quality.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/gravity-2013/">Gravity</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alfonso-cuaron/">Alfonso Cuarón</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>How nice is it to see an intelligent movie for adults that isn't
deliberate Oscar bait come out of Hollywood. After 109 new releases in
2013 I've finally found one that I absolutely loved from start to
finish. It's going to take something very special to knock this from the
top spot.</i><i> Visually impressive, Gravity has the best use of 3D I've seen and I
can't imagine such a useless technology as that being utilised any
better in its current guise. But it is the heart pounding tension that
Cuaron brings to the table that left us jittery as we walked around the
supermarket afterwards, the kind of reaction usually reserved for far
too much coffee, that is Gravity's gift to cinema. In an artistic medium
that relies heavily on cheap jump scares and loud sound effects to
artificially create tension it is an absolute pleasure to feel like it
is organically grown from a tight script, wonderful performances and a
director on top of his game.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/black-narcissus/">Black Narcissus</a> (1947) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-powell/">Michael Powell</a> & <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/emeric-pressburger/">Emeric Pressburger</a><br />
<div class="text collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing:2805523/">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I seem to be on a run of watching movies I thought I'd seen in film
school but actually had only seen brief clips of, Black Narcissus was
taught in a subject called "genres" take note of the plural, what we
were actually taught by the angry old lady was "melodrama" which as you
may know isn't a genre in itself. I, and several other students,
resented this incredibly narrow approach to what could have been a
fascinating three months of study and Powell & Pressburger seem to
have taken the brunt of things. Until now I thought that it was a well
made women's colonial picture but I readily admit that my younger self
was a fool.</i><i> Here's the truth of Black Narcissus, as far as I know there is no
finer, more complete narrative film produced in the second half of the
40s. Compared to this everything else sort of looks and feels like early
silent cinema. How it didn't even get a best picture Oscar nomination
let alone the win it so rightfully deserved is beyond my comprehension.
At least Jack Cardiff's stellar work as cinematographer was
acknowledged.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Pretty great stuff there I must say, a really good month for movies, any favourites amongst them? Don't forget to<a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby"> tweet your comments at me if you'd prefer</a>. </div>
blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-32619392195483055722013-11-08T14:00:00.000+08:002013-11-08T14:00:13.365+08:00Movie Diary #15: September 2013Moving on to my very short September diary. This was the month I was supposed to be filming Good Times and the intense nature of attempting to salvage a floundering film is reflected in the very small number of films seen. Naturally it is considerably higher than if I had actually been in production!<br />
<br />
31 films seen during September left me with a year to date of 637, with only 2 rewatches keeping my YTD total down to 78, perhaps that 10% target I was aiming for is still within reach? Of the 31 seen during the thirty days 14 were new release movies, bringing a year to date total of 98. And yet none of them were particularly good.<br />
<br />
The most disappointing, and surprising, statistic from September is the 7 recommendations I have to offer you. All 7 are firmly in the giant waste of time category with nothing even close to being a masterpiece, so please continue to avoid them if you have managed to so far.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Dire</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtjhJ5JF_8ru58LoGz8Gew1DKlkTu8tI1j_qx12DvjmcNwbb0T_OC4Qo8lJXRXaqovxNVQUL6AjoZBRs_ZY-ZzQEyx57lC6wjKo6aTOHoIZ0wwrpBfldeLUas8PButUk_u2QV1fy9fio/s1600/dead+in+tombstone+kickass+the+pleasure+of+being+robbed+after+earth+hangover+3+love+crimes+diary+of+a+hotman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtjhJ5JF_8ru58LoGz8Gew1DKlkTu8tI1j_qx12DvjmcNwbb0T_OC4Qo8lJXRXaqovxNVQUL6AjoZBRs_ZY-ZzQEyx57lC6wjKo6aTOHoIZ0wwrpBfldeLUas8PButUk_u2QV1fy9fio/s640/dead+in+tombstone+kickass+the+pleasure+of+being+robbed+after+earth+hangover+3+love+crimes+diary+of+a+hotman.jpg" title="http://letterboxd.com/film/oxyana/" width="613" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/love-crimes/">Love Crimes</a> (1992) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/lizzy-borden/">Lizzie Borden</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Every negative thing said and written about this movie is accurate.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-pleasure-of-being-robbed/">The Pleasure of Being Robbed</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joshua-safdie/">Joshua Safdie</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It's movies like this that give American indie cinema a bad name, these
people are awful and nothing feels authentic, why don't we all just
watch Silver Linings Playbook instead?</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/kick-ass-2/">Kick-Ass 2</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jeff-wadlow/">Jeff Wadlow</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>So there's pretty much nothing good going for this movie, I can't
imagine there's anyone who might take pleasure in such inane stupidity.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-hangover-part-iii/">The Hangover Part III</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/todd-phillips/">Todd Phillips</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Potentially even worse than Die Hard 5. There isn't one single laugh in this supposed comedy.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/after-earth/">After Earth</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/m-night-shyamalan/">M. Night Shyamalan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>By far the worst Will Smith movie in existence at the time of writing.
I'm quite saddened by this as that oeuvre includes Bad Boys 2. I'm a
confessed fan of Smith and tried to avoid knowing anything about this
film before watching it but the second Shyamalamalam's name got
mentioned I knew to expect the worst. This however goes beyond the worst
and for the most part the only blame that can be thrown at the
directors feet was taking the paycheck proffered by Smith to put his
name on it when apparently to all intents and purposes it was Smith in
charge of this vanity project to make his son a star. I have no problem
with that idea, I just have a problem that it's a deadly boring and
unimaginative as this. That Jaiden is a pretty mediocre actor at best
doesn't help matters either.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/diary-of-a-hitman/">Diary of a Hitman</a> (1991) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/roy-london/">Roy London</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Whatever circumstances were behind the acting coach Roy London being left in charge of directing a multi-million dollar film are I'm sure the story might be one of the more interesting of relatively recent Hollywood history; there's bound to be hidden cameras and blackmail involved at some point. The fact that he was an acting coach is pretty ironic as every single actor involved in the production of this film puts in a horrifyingly awful performance.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/dead-in-tombstone/">Dead in Tombstone</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/roel-reine/">Roel Reiné</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>On their own the names Rourke, Trejo, Hall and Meyer are not enough to
make me consider watching a straight to bargain bin movie but there's
something about the combination of the four that made me think it might
be worth while. Sadly that is not the case, the script is hopelessly
bad, in particular the dialogue, and the direction is ham fisted at
best. Don't be fooled in to thinking it's just a bit of fun, it's not,
it's a waste of time. </i></blockquote>
If I had to pick one film seen during Septemebr to recommend it would be the drug related social documentary <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/oxyana/">Oxyana</a> but it certainly wouldn't be for all.<br />
<br />
<i>Sorry I don't have anything positive to report from September but it was bad all round for me. Come <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">discuss it with me on twitter</a> why don't you?</i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-72867229570659650372013-11-07T14:00:00.000+08:002013-11-07T16:14:35.067+08:002013 So Far (May - Aug) Top 5 2013 ReleasesThe final part of my assessment of the second four months of 2013 is the
one most people care about I guess, the best movies released this year.
I've seen a massive 64 of them and these are the best 5: <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/spring-breakers/">Spring Breakers</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/harmony-korine/">Harmony Korine</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://laraandthereelboy.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/spring-breakers8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="http://laraandthereelboy.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/spring-breakers8.jpg" title="spring breakers harmony korine" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/white-reindeer/">White Reindeer</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/zach-clark/">Zach Clark</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIt8pCrLzhr0BjUNJ7dm794q3nIgwA0WtxMN4sRSQonTHEvpruRR15k6Q4RGA2zewH-vupWmbOCSdYVA2S895Nds8Eyp4Io73EXgBSFpqrZAeVl_BSkBNKWD8J-ux4qL10IphLPJj8rCLH/s640/WHITE%2520REINDEER%2520STILL%25201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIt8pCrLzhr0BjUNJ7dm794q3nIgwA0WtxMN4sRSQonTHEvpruRR15k6Q4RGA2zewH-vupWmbOCSdYVA2S895Nds8Eyp4Io73EXgBSFpqrZAeVl_BSkBNKWD8J-ux4qL10IphLPJj8rCLH/s640/WHITE%2520REINDEER%2520STILL%25201.jpg" title="white reindeer zach clark" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/behind-the-candelabra/">Behind The Candelabra</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/steven-soderbergh/">Steven Soderbergh</a></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/hVvyIhqzAtw/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/hVvyIhqzAtw/maxresdefault.jpg" title="behind the candelabra steven soderbergh" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/before-midnight/">Before Midnight</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/richard-linklater/">Richard Linklater</a></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.zekefilm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/before8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="http://www.zekefilm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/before8.jpg" title="before midnight richard linklater" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-fifth-season/">The Fifth Season</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-brosens/">Peter Brosens</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jessica-hope-woodworth/">Jessica Hope Woodworth</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3Hgh0YZIwP0-pTzmmZ7PYRn7boU9VWu4AX6juuXpWKvcUu9szqh9FZBD3Ph93AFwycGcG33kq0BHPNCdv-PPY0kWgrELol2b9gdvUOAoUa_plVrMHmfGBVqI_Z5Z_AGFRC-aftArxfU/s1600/TheFifthSeason_Still04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="goog_1426947649"></span><img alt="" border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3Hgh0YZIwP0-pTzmmZ7PYRn7boU9VWu4AX6juuXpWKvcUu9szqh9FZBD3Ph93AFwycGcG33kq0BHPNCdv-PPY0kWgrELol2b9gdvUOAoUa_plVrMHmfGBVqI_Z5Z_AGFRC-aftArxfU/s640/TheFifthSeason_Still04.jpg" title="fifth season peter brosens jessica hope woodworth" width="640" /><span id="goog_1426947650"></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As you might expect from such a large quantity of films to choose from this was much harder than picking five films seen in the first third of the year. Honourable mentions could go to another seven(!) over the past four months and they are highlighted below in the full list.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Full list of 2013 releases seen May - Aug: I Give It a Year, A
Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Parker, Star Trek Into
Darkness, Broken City, A Good Day to Die Hard, The Place Beyond the
Pines, Snitch, Bullet to the Head, Broken, Gimme the Loot, Behind the
Candelabra, The Call, Stoker, Burt Wonderstone, Rapture-Palooza,
Phantom, <b>Mud</b>, Odd Thomas, Penthouse North, Spring Breakers, Olympus Has
Fallen, Redemption, The Croods, Off World, Pictures of Superheroes, A
Field in England, The Fifth Season, GI Joe 2, Fast 6, Trance, Trash and
Progress, <b>Supporting Characters</b>, White Reindeer, Europa Report, Pawn
Shop Chronicles, Lunarcy!, Pacific Rim, Night Train to Lisbon, <b>Only God
Forgive</b>s, Rock Jocks, Oblivion, Klip, The Act of Killing, Before
Midnight, <b>More Than Honey</b>, Drinking Buddies, The Lifeguard, Magic Magic,
The Canyons, Byzantium, Touchy Feely, Epic, <b>Laurence Anyways</b>, The Heat,
The Iceman, Pain & Gain, Clear History, <b>A Teacher</b>, The Look of
Love, Empire State, Now You See Me, <b>Prince Avalanche</b></i></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What have you seen? What are your favourites from the year? Join the conversation in the comments or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@BBBGToby</a> with #2013best.</i></span> </span>
blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-91988099680110658022013-11-06T02:00:00.000+08:002013-11-06T02:00:05.041+08:002013 So Far (May - Aug) Bottom 5 2013 ReleasesMy roundup of the second third of 2013 continues with a look at the worst
the year has offered me so far. Having seen a scandalous 64
releases from 2013 the field was quite competitive, here are the five films I've enjoyed the least so
far:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/olympus-has-fallen/">Olympus Has Fallen</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/antoine-fuqua/">Antoine Fuqua</a></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/olympus-has-fallen08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="440" src="http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/olympus-has-fallen08.jpg" title="olympus has fallen antonie fuqua" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/epic/">Epic</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chris-wedge/">Chris Wedge</a></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/media_stream/looklocal/1/7516938/images/Epic-Movie-Wallpaper-Dekstop-Background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/media_stream/looklocal/1/7516938/images/Epic-Movie-Wallpaper-Dekstop-Background.jpg" title="epic chris wedge" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/i-give-it-a-year/">I Give It A Year</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/dan-mazer/">Dan Mazer</a></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Anna-Faris-Bra-underwear-giveitayear-650x315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="310" src="http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Anna-Faris-Bra-underwear-giveitayear-650x315.jpg" title="i give it a year dan mazer" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-glimpse-inside-the-mind-of-charles-swan-iii/">A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/roman-coppola/">Roman Coppola</a></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://kingsceleb.com/images/stories/a_glimpse_inside_the_mind_of_charles_swan_iii/C_C_Sheffield_-A_Glimpse_Inside_the_Mind_of_Charles_Swan_III-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="346" src="http://kingsceleb.com/images/stories/a_glimpse_inside_the_mind_of_charles_swan_iii/C_C_Sheffield_-A_Glimpse_Inside_the_Mind_of_Charles_Swan_III-1.jpg" title="Charles Swan III Roman Coppola" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-good-day-to-die-hard/">Die Hard 5</a> - Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-moore/">John Moore</a></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/2013/2/c110ee0b-ceb6-44b6-b871-5b5fcea26828HiRes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="476" src="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/2013/2/c110ee0b-ceb6-44b6-b871-5b5fcea26828HiRes.JPG" title="die hard 5 john moore" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
So many awful movies coming out of Hollywood this year, I've been torturing myself in the hope that one of them will entertain me but it's so rare these days. It's as though they're determined to make the worst movie possible at all times, some other notably bad movies highlighted below.<br />
<br />
<i>Full list of 2013 releases seen May - Aug: I Give It a Year, A
Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, <b>Parker</b>, Star Trek Into
Darkness, <b>Broken City</b>, A Good Day to Die Hard, The Place Beyond the
Pines, Snitch, Bullet to the Head, Broken, Gimme the Loot, Behind the
Candelabra, The Call, Stoker, <b>Burt Wonderstone</b>, Rapture-Palooza,
Phantom, Mud, Odd Thomas, Penthouse North, Spring Breakers, Olympus Has
Fallen, Redemption, <b>The Croods</b>, Off World, Pictures of Superheroes, A
Field in England, The Fifth Season, <b>GI Joe 2</b>, Fast 6, Trance, Trash and
Progress, Supporting Characters, White Reindeer, Europa Report, <b>Pawn
Shop Chronicles</b>, Lunarcy!, Pacific Rim, Night Train to Lisbon, Only God
Forgives, Rock Jocks, <b>Oblivion</b>, Klip, The Act of Killing, Before
Midnight, More Than Honey, Drinking Buddies, <b>The Lifeguard</b>, Magic Magic,
The Canyons, Byzantium, Touchy Feely, Epic, Laurence Anyways, The Heat,
The Iceman, Pain & Gain, Clear History, A Teacher, The Look of
Love, Empire State, Now You See Me, Prince Avalanche</i><br />
<br />
<i>Agree? Disagree? What's your least favourite film of 2013 so far? Comment below or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a> with #2013worst
</i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-71247503126418296272013-11-05T14:00:00.000+08:002013-11-05T14:00:08.282+08:002013 So Far (May - Aug) Top 10 Pre-2013 CatchupContinuing to assess my year in cinema this is the first of three posts looking at the films viewed between May 1st and August 31st.<br />
<br />
Of the 236 films released prior to 2013 seen for the first time during this four month period these are the 10 I enjoyed the most and all come very highly recommended.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">10. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/jess-moss/">Jess + Moss</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/clay-jeter/">Clay Jeter</a></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.cinemadpresents.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/J+M_girl-barn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="http://www.cinemadpresents.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/J+M_girl-barn.jpg" title="Jess + Moss Clay Jeter" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">9. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/dogtooth/">Dogtooth</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/giorgos-lanthimos/">Giorgos Lanthimos</a> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.cinemastrikesback.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/dogtooth1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="444" src="http://www.cinemastrikesback.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/dogtooth1.jpg" title="Dogtooth Giorgios Lanthimos" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">8. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/lornas-silence/">Lorna's Silence</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/luc-dardenne/">Luc Dardenne</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jean-pierre-dardenne/">Jean-Pierre Dardenne</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb0uP_tWzz3QOTu4CmAsnjtiMSi_7JAtX5gRL0-g5cDeOoMB5dW-Xu9zYhm88Htcjon5dSzIEcgMO7dwUp-9CgS-nF6AhQq7fYieS-t0iN9qYOpTqt58Ht_sKIulC97p6H1UKSM5cZWo/s1600/Lorna'sSilence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb0uP_tWzz3QOTu4CmAsnjtiMSi_7JAtX5gRL0-g5cDeOoMB5dW-Xu9zYhm88Htcjon5dSzIEcgMO7dwUp-9CgS-nF6AhQq7fYieS-t0iN9qYOpTqt58Ht_sKIulC97p6H1UKSM5cZWo/s640/Lorna'sSilence.jpg" title="Lorna's Silence Dardenne" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">7. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/police-adjective/">Police, Adjective</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/corneliu-porumboiu/">Corneliu Porumboiu</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.tvbomb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="378" src="http://www.tvbomb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/5.jpg" title="police adjective corneliu porumboiu" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">6. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/breathing/">Atmen</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/karl-markovics/">Karl Markovics </a></span><br />
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<a href="http://permanentplastichelmet.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/breathing118.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="272" src="http://permanentplastichelmet.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/breathing118.jpeg" title="Atmen karl markovics" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/damnation/">Damnation</a> (1988) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/bela-tarr/">Bela Tarr</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HEeGpvQFuVk/UZJI4pj3LhI/AAAAAAAARWE/oIOsSi7MoT8/s640/damnation-bela-tarr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="490" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HEeGpvQFuVk/UZJI4pj3LhI/AAAAAAAARWE/oIOsSi7MoT8/s640/damnation-bela-tarr.jpg" title="damnation bela tarr" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/wake-in-fright/">Wake In Fright</a> (1972) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ted-kotcheff/">Ted Kotcheff</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPORb3tMQ04l_YMtpaWsttRAHg198RUEHcM_UaA4h5_hkRZa5Ccng3wiXscZOSMo34yLYYR4paSMgSabvKTgWrLPkVWrSajALJ4qVJpObayhUoK4KIBmWZ0To4ImkEzuBTqMtyo37b96y/s1600/vlcsnap-2013-03-31-01h11m15s73.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPORb3tMQ04l_YMtpaWsttRAHg198RUEHcM_UaA4h5_hkRZa5Ccng3wiXscZOSMo34yLYYR4paSMgSabvKTgWrLPkVWrSajALJ4qVJpObayhUoK4KIBmWZ0To4ImkEzuBTqMtyo37b96y/s640/vlcsnap-2013-03-31-01h11m15s73.png" title="wake in fright ted kotcheff" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-color-wheel/">The Colour Wheel</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alex-ross-perry/">Alex Ross Perry</a> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHM-HKotJjuSGgJ11fm8hME8zjZ30R4DSI-RWPZsud69s2LHMV7BkZmDxfKAMO_EoMZ6ZdqAyAoCg3NmJKxMlMBIX44P25wjVOqGqT7b4FWNglH3_Fbcf1afE10HsjQLm2sRKBlvi_7ow/s1600/THE+COLOR+WHEEL+HQ+STILL+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHM-HKotJjuSGgJ11fm8hME8zjZ30R4DSI-RWPZsud69s2LHMV7BkZmDxfKAMO_EoMZ6ZdqAyAoCg3NmJKxMlMBIX44P25wjVOqGqT7b4FWNglH3_Fbcf1afE10HsjQLm2sRKBlvi_7ow/s640/THE+COLOR+WHEEL+HQ+STILL+4.jpg" title="colour wheel alex ross perry" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/weekend-2011/">Weekend</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/andrew-haigh/">Andrew Haigh</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhcBm9jyim0J3gno7iMTjC7O7pnSyThRHQiMNR52AeUCF8Q2iJ25Z-Q2gmDXN-0QXf3Foo_lzU-XlleIFm3bIwjTWZ3H5jXOoYVdZ8C_g2WDa1a4978ApChc7PEiFU1EWDxPp_YsxkVTo/s1600/weekend_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhcBm9jyim0J3gno7iMTjC7O7pnSyThRHQiMNR52AeUCF8Q2iJ25Z-Q2gmDXN-0QXf3Foo_lzU-XlleIFm3bIwjTWZ3H5jXOoYVdZ8C_g2WDa1a4978ApChc7PEiFU1EWDxPp_YsxkVTo/s640/weekend_02.jpg" title="weekend andrew haigh" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/unforgiven/">Unforgiven</a> (1992) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/clint-eastwood/">Clint Eastwood</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7dSgvjOwv7_R_zdVI8p9HScj5roPFUZoh7OVdOLTIlYgpx8ZERsXLooH6HkIvpG8uDDJ6B9y_CtFbRHzwALVz6YqkzRkXLCfePwdwDJmhqycMpmkJHq4wCdkaj5VqX0HJMbPiJfSNAWE/s1600/Unforgiven+Clint+Eastwood.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7dSgvjOwv7_R_zdVI8p9HScj5roPFUZoh7OVdOLTIlYgpx8ZERsXLooH6HkIvpG8uDDJ6B9y_CtFbRHzwALVz6YqkzRkXLCfePwdwDJmhqycMpmkJHq4wCdkaj5VqX0HJMbPiJfSNAWE/s640/Unforgiven+Clint+Eastwood.png" title="unforgiven clint eastwood" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>Anyone got a 100% success rate with these ten? How's your year going for great films? <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">Tweet me</a>.</i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-41507586184751463432013-11-04T14:00:00.000+08:002013-11-05T08:42:43.371+08:00Movie Diary #14: August 2013After several months away at work on a disastrous creative project and mental recuperation I'll be spamming your feed with multiple diary entries and other posts in the next fortnight. Let's start with August.<br />
<br />
August was so far away! A mixture of pre-production on my now failed movie making endeavour and heading to England to actually make the film kept numbers lower than previous months, which may have directly influenced the amount of dodgy looking films I was willing to take a chance on. Of the 67 (606 year to date) films seen in August (9 rewatches with a total of 76 YTD) only 3 were really awful wastes of time and all 3 of them released in 2013. Whereas 9 were really very good and I even found 2 masterpieces, both recent films however.<br />
<br />
My list of films seen released in 2013 reached 85 with a pretty hefty 18 added in August, the best of which, A Teacher, will place low on my Top 15 for the year so far.<br />
<br />
Here's my 14 recommendations (both positive and negative) from August.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Avoid Like The Plague</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBik4cnvZTMpr_pZvXZKEjxRmrO4khAvaxfDjLR2d2xRlHaf5n8NBKKTYIZM-9bq4ihiLxTeVtnaisivsIl1qlAy6tHGiRPBERKKqWa8T5YjbcUSGeqAZoUfTKRmhWnFlSbkN5qpEj3KY/s1600/lifeguard+epic+ripd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBik4cnvZTMpr_pZvXZKEjxRmrO4khAvaxfDjLR2d2xRlHaf5n8NBKKTYIZM-9bq4ihiLxTeVtnaisivsIl1qlAy6tHGiRPBERKKqWa8T5YjbcUSGeqAZoUfTKRmhWnFlSbkN5qpEj3KY/s640/lifeguard+epic+ripd.jpg" title="Lifeguard Epic RIPD" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-lifeguard/" target="_blank">The Lifeguard</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/liz-w-garcia/">Liz W. Garcia</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>So I like Kristen Bell in this but it's all so bland and bordering on stupid and definitely unnecessary. There's an attempt to be "of the moment" in terms of structure, style and content but really it's shit like this that gives indie film a bad name, cliche ridden and handheld for no reason whatsoever.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/epic/" target="_blank">Epic</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chris-wedge/" target="_blank">Chris Wedge</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Pretty much the worst animated movie I've seen in years, ugly animation,
lazy animation, terrible stunt voice casting, awfully basic
storytelling.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/ripd/">R.I.P.D.</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-schwentke/">Robert Schwentke</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Well, yes, that just happened. A concept with a whole lot of potential ruined by a director who didn't seem to have a cohesive overall vision, a script that was highly derivative and lacking in FUN and some truly terribly CGI coupled with awful cinematography. This is a truly disastrous movie and here's hoping that Robert Schwentke will be dispatched to the Rest In Peace Department for terrible directors and so no longer be able to "entertain" us with such cinematic marvels as RED, Flightplan and The Time Traveller's Wife. </i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Minutes & Money Well Spent</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYvfB1MfeB4j4fYY0HfVQ8DEtNrhPMV1pJGFLEQfJkfHIJ2NOegfMwVA5Fo8uheYdHqew1ClIH__5vfCXYE_SMKpf8RZN502_nP6Djae8FixCdDjjU53FjudHtlZklir-v02wc2MAKwo/s1600/hard+times+inception+a+teacher+corky+shame+truck+turner+my+favourite+year+marriage+material+hollywoodland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYvfB1MfeB4j4fYY0HfVQ8DEtNrhPMV1pJGFLEQfJkfHIJ2NOegfMwVA5Fo8uheYdHqew1ClIH__5vfCXYE_SMKpf8RZN502_nP6Djae8FixCdDjjU53FjudHtlZklir-v02wc2MAKwo/s640/hard+times+inception+a+teacher+corky+shame+truck+turner+my+favourite+year+marriage+material+hollywoodland.jpg" title="hard times inception a teacher corky shame truck turner my favourite year marriage material hollywoodland" width="452" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/marriage-material/">Marriage Material</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joe-swanberg/">Joe Swanberg</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>One of the most accurate yet subtle portraits of the differences between men and women and the way they approach relationships. You'll almost certainly find the crying baby divisive, I know I just wanted it to shut the hell up whilst others wanted to pick it up. The raw honesty that Swanberg brings to this film stands in stark contrast to the more recent Drinking Buddies and hopefully is a sign of what I should expect as I dig deeper in to his back catalogue.</i><br />
<i><a href="http://vimeo.com/34790491" target="_blank">The entire film is available for free via Swanberg's Vimeo page.</a> </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/corky/" target="_blank">Corky</a> (1972) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/leonard-horn/">Leonard Horn</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Leonard Horn's Corky is a true forgotten gem of 1970's American cinema.
The story of an alcoholic stock car driver who still dreams big, who
despite his undoubted talent is his own worst enemy, would feel right at
home in the hands of David Gordon Green or Jeff Nicholls today, with
its unflinching and unapologetic portrait of small town American life.
Robert Blake is perfect as the titular character falling from grace in
spectacular fashion, he's no Michael Shannon but very few are, and I
encourage you all to seek out this movie at the earliest opportunity.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/shame-2011/" target="_blank">Shame</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/steve-mcqueen/" target="_blank">Steve McQueen</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Revisited because so many people have referenced this film after reading
the script for my own current film project and considering I wasn't
exactly gushing in my praise for this film previously it must have had a
more pronounced impact on my subconscious than I realised; I kind of feel
like a dirty plagiarist with some entire establishing sequences
seemingly copied from Steve McQueen. McQueen really does structure his
characters development very well, establishing mood as well as
personality in a few simple steps and with the help of Michael
Fassbender's wonderful lead performance he made one of the better films
2011 offered up.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/my-favorite-year/" target="_blank">My Favourite Year</a> (1982) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/richard-benjamin/">Richard Benjamin</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Peter O'Toole is quite wonderful as the Errol Flynn type down on his
luck drinking womanising Hollywood idol and to recast this role with
Russell Brand is a much larger travesty than doing the same with Dudley
Moore's Arthur, as Peter O'Toole brings a lot more to every moment than
comedic likeability, his natural acting talent and decades of presence
fill the screen in ways that 99.9% of actors could never hope to match,
let alone "alternative" comedians slash celebrities slash
big-haired junkies.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/hollywoodland/" target="_blank">Hollywoodland</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/allen-coulter/">Allen Coulter</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Every time I watch this movie I like it more and more, there's so much to be liked in terms of content and performance. Adrien Brody leads the way as the private detective putting himself in
harms way to get to the truth but the quality doesn't stop there with
powerful performances from Diane Lane, Ben Affleck and Bob Hoskins
in support. But it is the mood and tone of the piece that really captures my
imagination, recalling Schlesinger's fabulous Day of the Locust in it's
portrayal of the decay of the Golden Age of Hollywood in addition to
period noir, there is so much more to Hollywoodland than mere
noirstalgia.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/inception/" target="_blank">Inception</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/christopher-nolan/" target="_blank">Christopher Nolan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I went from giving this film full marks 3 years ago to being barely able to get to the end. It's still visually impressive, the scope of his imagination is
incredibly large, there's not a single bad performance from the huge
ensemble cast and yet, really, when you get down to it, there's a great
big nothing at the heart of this movie. It's all spectacle, intelligent
spectacle but only distracting entertainment nonetheless.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-teacher/" target="_blank">A Teacher</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/hannah-fidell/" target="_blank">Hannah Fidell</a><br />
<div class="text collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing:2430925/">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Hannah
Fidell's A Teacher is the second movie seen this month focusing on an
older woman's affair with a schoolboy. Whereas The Lifeguard attempts to
present Kristen Bell's folly in a realistic and sympathetic light A
Teacher attempts nothing, it just watches the relationship, lets the
audience make its own mind up and shows the very real consequences on
Lindsay Burdge's teacher.</i><br />
<i> </i><i>Fidell's direction is necessarily
unobtrusive considering the potentially salacious subject matter and the
film relies heavily on the performance of Burdge who is more than up to
the task. She carries the descent from happy, functioning member of
society in to a despairing wreck with apparent ease and even better none
of the cliché histrionics that lesser performers might have been
tempted to resort to.</i><br />
<i> </i><i>For fans of the prevalent style in
contemporary American low budget cinema, A Teacher is a fine film well
worth your iTunes download purchase.</i></blockquote>
<i> </i></div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/truck-turner/" target="_blank">Truck Turner</a> (1974) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jonathan-kaplan/">Jonathan Kaplan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Truck Turner is pretty much one long 90 minute chase scene that sets out
at 100mph to entertain and doesn't let off until the credits roll. Much
to my surprise Isaac Hayes is great as the eponymous anti-hero but he's
not alone in a cast that features wonderfully enjoyable performances
from Alan Weeks, Nichelle Nichols and of course Yaphet Kotto. </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/hard-times-1975/">Hard Times</a> (1975) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/walter-hill/">Walter Hill</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>From the opening scenes the cinematography of occasional Hill
collaborator Philip Lathrop is superb, and it deserves to be seen for
the way he makes each shot a piece of art but it is what it is thanks to
the firm foundation of Hill's approach towards the material and the
excellent casting of Bronson and Coburn. It is a film that could quite
easily have been turned in to another silly caper in the wrong hands,
especially if some unwise fool had opted to use the banjo on the score
but Bronson barely speaks and Coburn bristles at every slight, between
them they bring incredible presence and subtlety. And that subtlety is
what sets this film above most others on a similar subject.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Masterpiece </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsqtofMzUgaQ7e8Q3dxSgCA8JxbBvxIy19ZMMhSDBLxfUP-v6IDtdef9YXVmlqIPxB4IQ5bu6Pw9cjVNzvm8F5S2jW5GXI9iDIPYnEKBWyucW9vRiKAS7NoKf_rGkTOxH4_qGk8Udox0/s1600/once+upon+a+time+in+anatolia+weekend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsqtofMzUgaQ7e8Q3dxSgCA8JxbBvxIy19ZMMhSDBLxfUP-v6IDtdef9YXVmlqIPxB4IQ5bu6Pw9cjVNzvm8F5S2jW5GXI9iDIPYnEKBWyucW9vRiKAS7NoKf_rGkTOxH4_qGk8Udox0/s640/once+upon+a+time+in+anatolia+weekend.jpg" title="once upon a time in anatolia weekend" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/once-upon-a-time-in-anatolia/" target="_blank">Once Upon <span style="font-size: small;">a</span> Time in Anatolia</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/nuri-bilge-ceylan/">Nuri Bilge Ceylan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Straight in as my favourite film of 2011, heads a truly impressive 15 for the year.</i><br />
<i>A true masterpiece of the medium, visually stunning, a mesmerising film
from first to last that piles layer upon layer of complexity and yet
remains (if you choose) a sublimely simple tale of picking up a dead
body from a field and performing an autopsy. Worth every second of the
150 minute runtime.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/weekend-1/" target="_blank">Weekend</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/andrew-haigh/" target="_blank">Andrew Haigh</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The first time I saw Andrew Haigh's Weekend I was so <a href="http://boxd.it/19Rjd">very impressed</a>.
Now I'm about to shoot my own film in similar cramped conditions I
thought it was about time to revisit as "research". If anything it is
even more impressive this time around. If I can make a movie half as
impressive as this I will be a very happy man.</i></blockquote>
Any thoughts? <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">Hit me up on twitter</a> blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-53582021364935733702013-11-01T10:52:00.000+08:002013-11-01T10:52:08.545+08:00Blahblahblah making movies (or not)You may have noticed that I've been away. You may recall I was taking a trip to England to make a no budget feature film. Now I'm back and I've got almost nothing to show for it.<br />
<br />
Making a no budget feature film is a giant headache and relies on a lot of people doing a lot of work for next to no money or in most cases nothing except the experience and the pleasure of your company. In that kind of scenario you need to expect things to go wrong, or at least not as smoothly as you would like, especially in an industry that is as notoriously fraught with logistical nightmares and giant egos as film making.<br />
<br />
I'm ready to accept that ultimately the failure of Good Times to get in to production is my own, as head of the production the buck stops with me but there's only so much one person can deal with and only so many times that person can be let down by broken promises before things reach tipping point.<br />
<br />
During pre-production of Good Times I met some really great people who were willing to do anything they could to help my creative vision come to fruition but sadly they were few and far between and when it comes to outlining what caused my film to not get made they don't really factor in to the story, but just so you know, it wasn't all bad.<br />
<br />
The majority of my experiences were bad, friends from film school who showed enthusiasm for the project, for finally getting out in to the world and making something that they trained for instead of sitting on the dole or in a call centre, were the first to let me down, from something "small" like not doing something they said they would do right through to taking back an offer of accommodation and leaving me homeless.<br />
<br />
After that we move on to so-called industry professionals, and I'm talking about crew and actors here, people who didn't have the decency to return phone calls, text messages, emails or, you know, that other thing that people do when they can't make it to a meeting or simply changed their mind about a project, phone me and tell me so that I knew where I stood.<br />
<br />
But most disappointing, from my point of view, was the equipment hire company who I was actually paying the majority of the budget to doing exactly the same thing. I can't see how a business can function with such bad service. Maybe this is just the way of the world and at 30 I'm old fashioned but to me this kind of behaviour is unacceptable in any walk of life.<br />
<br />
So yes, no film to share, no trailer, no behind the scenes footage, nothing fun or exciting at all. <br />
<br />
The trip wasn't a complete bust, I have one small video to share with the few of you who might care; I had the distinct pleasure of living with two members of the band The October Game whilst in England during the time they were preparing to release their third album, Balancing, and produced a promo video for them. Shot behind the scenes of the music video shoot for their first single We Built This Wall To Destroy It. I'm actually a big fan of the album and if you feel like checking it out you can find it on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/balancing/id718151421?ign-mpt=uo%3D4">iTunes</a> and direct from the label <a href="http://www.scyllarecords.bigcartel.com/product/the-october-game-balancing">Scylla Records</a>, something I highly recommend you do.<br />
<br />
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blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-59939408599404009432013-08-02T13:19:00.000+08:002013-08-02T13:21:43.243+08:00Movie Diary #13: July 2013July went quickly. I've been working hard on pre-production of my debut feature film but still managed to watch 71 movies according to Letterboxd. That makes 539 YTD. 8 of those are rewatches bringing YTD total up to 67, I think my dream of limiting that number to 10% of my total is well and truly dead at this point.<br />
<br />
I saw an incredible 23 new films in July, thanks in part to the Revelation Film Fest, this number accounts for over a third of the 2013 films seen this year. 67 is a good strong number and I think reaching 100 before January is well within my grasp. My end of year Top 15 has 11 strong candidates listed so far, despite my general disgust with the majority of new releases it's good to see that there's still some real quality finding its way on to screens.<br />
<br />
In total I have 21 recommendations from the month, 6 that you should really stay clear of, believe me you're going to appreciate that with this bunch. 15 really great films that are close to being masterpieces and then 2 actual masterpieces, one an all time favourite and the other is possibly the best you'll see from the post-mumblecore scene.<br />
<br />
For those of you interested in my film, it's called <b>Good Times</b> and it can be found at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/goodtimesfilm" target="_blank">facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/GoodTimesFilm" target="_blank">twitter</a> so far but there's some other social networking in the pipeline. I'd love it if you guys could like it and follow and stuff, any word of mouth on the project will be helpful.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Dire</span></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-croods/">The Croods</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/kirk-de-micco/">Kirk De Micco</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chris-sanders/">Chris Sanders</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>No. Just no. The trailer looked really stupid and I wasn't disappointed by the feature. It's oh so ugly to look at too.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/off-world-2013/">Off World</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/emmett-callinan/">Emmett Callinan</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A low budget sci-fi thriller that looks and feels exactly like a low budget sci-fi thriller, generic plot and dialogue, daytime soap level line readings and a really peculiar greyscale colorisation applied throughout. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was developed for syfy or whatever the channel is branding itself as these days.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/gi-joe-retaliation/">G.I. Joe: Retaliation</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jon-chu/">Jon Chu</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Was this one of those movies where Bruce Willis gets paid by 50 Cent to show up for a bit to try to give a really awful film some credibility? I'd say that's possible. I expected it to be stupid and fun but this is stupid and dull which is the ultimate crime when you have a bunch of guys running around shooting stuff really. I'd watch The Rock in anything and so this was guaranteed to show up in my life sooner or later, I wish it had been much later, like when I'm over my whole "I'll watch The Rock in anything" phase.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/pawn-shop-chronicles/">Pawn Shop Chronicles</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/wayne-kramer/">Wayne Kramer</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This movie was originally written for FRED DURST to wear a backwards
baseball cap whilst directing it. Wayne Kramer didn't save it although
I'm certain he's a better director than Mr Bizkit.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/oblivion-2013/">Oblivion</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joseph-kosinski/">Joseph Kosinski</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Possibly the worst big budget science fiction movie I've seen since Surrogates. Oblivion is a dull, unimaginative, ugly, derivative, obvious, grey, overly long Tom Cruise vehicle. I hope that this is forgotten about very quickly and never mentioned again. I really wanted to say consigned to oblivion but the film was so bad it didn't deserve the pun.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/sudden-death/">Sudden Death</a> (1995) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-hyams/">Peter Hyams</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Almost unwatchable for non martial arts fans I would say. The action is poor anyway but some of the choices Hyams makes for purposes of "tension" or "suspense" left me quite bemused. The major fault lies with the script however. Written by the guy who wrote Police Academy 3, 4 and 5 based on a story idea by somebody else?! How do you have the story idea for this? I must assume it was "lets regurgitate Die Hard without what made it special" brainstorming sessions that accounts for her moment of genius.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Really Very Good Actually</span></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/revanche/">Revanche</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/gotz-spielmann/">Götz Spielmann</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I feel like this was a major influence on the development of the far inferior and much less subtle Place Beyond The Pines. Instead of being violent or flashy it is just a simple, slow, study of humanity.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/28-hotel-rooms/">28 Hotel Rooms</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/matt-ross/">Matt Ross</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A love affair between two people who only meet in hotel rooms, told only when they are in those hotel rooms. It's certainly a gimmick but 28 Hotel Rooms is much more than that, it's an exploration of how we love, why we love, the restrictions we place on love, it's funny, sweet, poignant, thought provoking, it recalls all those failed love affairs in your past and reminds you of the good and the bad but mostly it reminds you of why you loved in the first place.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-fifth-season/">The Fifth Season</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-brosens/">Peter Brosens</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jessica-hope-woodworth/">Jessica Hope Woodworth</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>50 movies and six months in to 2013 and The Fifth Season has become the frontrunner for movie of the year. As Ronan Doyle said in his excellent review it really is The Wicker Man as made by Roy Andersson. It's beautiful to look at, mesmerising at times, paced to perfection and almost so subtle that you might miss the apocalyptic overtones that would mark it as another product of 2013's Year of The End. Should I trademark that? </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/supporting-characters/">Supporting Characters</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/daniel-schechter/">Daniel Schechter</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Supporting Characters is another in the seemingly endless stream of low budget character and dialogue driven New York feature films linked to the slackervetes group of filmmakers. It's a witty low-fi romantic comedy starring one of the unlikeliest romcom protagonists you're ever likely to meet, Alex Karpovsky. But it's not just another film for the canon, it's one of the better examples of post-mumblecore on a restricted budget.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/modern-love-is-automatic/">Modern Love Is Automatic</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/zach-clark/">Zach Clark</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A nurse moonlights as a dominatrix, her room mate is a naive and enthusiastic aspiring model who is repeatedly taken advantage of in her quest to be successful. These are not the elements you might ordinarily associate with comedy but Zach Clark seemingly looks at the world in a different way to other writers and with the help of great performances from Melodie Sisk and Maggie Ross offers the viewer an insight in to an alternative take on modern American life.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Zach Clark has made this film available to stream for <a href="http://vimeo.com/user4420040/modernloveisautomatic">free at Vimeo.</a> I highly recommend you check it out.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/white-reindeer/">White Reindeer</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/zach-clark/">Zach Clark</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>White Reindeer is somehow the 500th movie I've seen in the first six and a half months of 2013. I just felt that landmark should have been announced somewhere. I'm so grateful that it was a very good movie indeed, worthy of a milestone such as this one. Over indulgence is a Christmas tradition right? <br />Films like this once confirm that I do not have what it takes to review or talk about movies professionally, when I truly enjoy a film I suddenly find myself with nothing to say at all that can do my feelings justice but rest assured list lovers White Reindeer will certainly feature high in my end of year list</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/blind-shaft/">Blind Shaft</a> (2003) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/yang-li/">Yang Li</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Part noir, part bleak social realism, all brilliant. Fans of everything I love in cinema should be ready to be wowed by this product of Mainland China that shares as much with the great cinema of the Romanian New Wave as it does modern neo-noir such as Winter's Bone.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/only-god-forgives/">Only God Forgives</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/nicolas-winding-refn/">Nicholas Winding Refn</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>His films may not have reached masterpiece levels just yet but Refn is consistently a top quality filmmaker that is a pleasure to watch even on his off days. I asked the question previously, where are all the Refn copycats? The answer is nowhere, what he does with the crime genre takes vision, skill and talent compared to those Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino wannabes churning out generic garbage. I can't wait to see what he does next.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/kiss-kiss-bang-bang-2005/">Kiss Kiss Bang Bang</a> (2005) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/shane-black/">Shane Black</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A first rewatch in 2 years and I'm pretty certain that Shane Black is
some kind of insane genius, as that is what it would take to write and
envision something as wonderfully playful as this without descending in
to farce and still crafting a damned fine neo-noir thriller.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/outland/">Outland</a> (1981) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/peter-hyams/">Peter Hyams</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It feels a little ordinary and conventional in 2013 but in a world where
Alien was still new and fresh there should have been plenty of room for
Sean Connery running around a space station with a shotgun taking down a
drug smuggling ring with the help of a black man and an actual real
female character that wasn't a plot device, a wife, or a love interest
(played perfectly by Frances Sternhagen.)</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/no-distance-left-to-run/">No Distance Left To Run</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/will-lovelace/">Will Lovelace</a>, <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/dylan-southern/">Dylan Southern</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave were THE reason for my love of guitar based
indie pop at a time when EVERYONE around me seemed to be in to some
form of garage dance rave shit and to have this film as a document to
refer back to that time in my life is wonderful, that' s actually an
incredibly well made film that combines archive material, live footage
and new interviews just elevates it to a whole new level. All of the new
material is of such a high quality too.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/before-midnight/">Before Midnight</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/richard-linklater/">Richard Linklater</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I was incredibly sceptical about a third film in this series and yet
incredibly excited at the same time. To witness Richard Linklater
directing Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jesse and Celine is something
akin to perfect cinema as defined by Andre Bazin, everything about their
lives captured on screen feels so honest, a truth often attempted but
rarely achieved in independent American film and I am more than ready to
watch this series every 9 years for the rest of my life.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/more-than-honey/">More Than Honey</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/markus-imhoof/">Markus Imhoof</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Much more than stunning wildlife photography, this fascinating documentary could be enough to make you a militant vegan, a depressed anti-capitalist, a staunch opponent of America and a dedicated Western Australian based cinematographer. <br /><br />Oh how beautiful my country looks on film, oh how disgusting the practices of money hungry migratory bee farmers, oh those poor little magnificent creatures, oh how dumb Markus Imhoof allows those Americans to look on film.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/sin-city/">Sin City</a> (2005) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-rodriguez/">Robert Rodriguez</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Quite unsurprisingly after 8 years the wow factor has worn away from
this incredibly faithful adaptation but what remains is still one bad
ass noir graphic novel complete with some of the best performances of
the casts career. Frank Miller's attempt at The Spirit shows that it's
not just his superb graphic novel that's responsible for the inherent
quality in this production, underneath all that shiny CGI Robert
Rodriguez is one hell of a director.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/brick/">Brick</a> (2005) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/rian-johnson/">Rian Johnson</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Rian Johnson's huge leap of imagination is just as impressive today as
it was 8 years ago. This high school noir homage sets the tone from the
opening shots and doesn't let up until the dame swings from her pretty
little neck.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Masterpieces</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZba12rcu9gZbY6INNudcTXtkfy2kd7VwuvLLgm5Ji3JMKDftywaSMnjC8bDdcPoQvJOQ8NrlqOiqh8v6YqK-vAGmiuz4n-w6xlv-nR14mvQSzMLZ7q-qzAmL7sWmKltt_A3JR7oCoRyc/s1600/Limey+Color+Wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZba12rcu9gZbY6INNudcTXtkfy2kd7VwuvLLgm5Ji3JMKDftywaSMnjC8bDdcPoQvJOQ8NrlqOiqh8v6YqK-vAGmiuz4n-w6xlv-nR14mvQSzMLZ7q-qzAmL7sWmKltt_A3JR7oCoRyc/s640/Limey+Color+Wheel.jpg" title="The Limey The Color Wheel" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-limey/">The Limey</a> (1999) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/steven-soderbergh/">Steven Soderbergh</a><br />
<div class="text collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing%3A2077728/">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Tell him I'm fucking coming!</i><br />
<i> </i><i>Man I love this movie, one of the most important movies of my life, seeing this made me love Soderbergh, and you know how it goes from there. Between the Dobbs script and Soderbergh's direction a fantastically entertaining experiment in noir storytelling unfolds with a brilliant lead performance from Terence Stamp that breaks your heart by the time of denouement. Simply wonderful.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-color-wheel/">The Colour Wheel</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alex-ross-perry/">Alex Ross Perry</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>JR takes a road trip with her brother, they bicker and snipe like only siblings can. That's pretty much it. And it's a brilliant piece of American filmmaking. So incredibly and unexpectedly funny from start to finish, the double team of Altman and Perry have such incredible chemistry that they brought tears to my eyes with their mean spirited quips and barrage of inappropriateness. The grainy 16mm image and location shooting might lead you to think this is another offering from the Slackervetes school of naturalism but you'll either realise your error and go with the slightly surreal nature of the story quite quickly or hate this film completely for confusing your brain with its mixed messages.</i></blockquote>
<br />
So that's that, go right ahead and comment and tweet me and stuff, don't forget to show Good Times some love on the social networks. If you've got questions about the film or whatever I'm happy to answer them. </div>
blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-75239343336217282392013-07-01T15:28:00.000+08:002013-07-01T15:28:00.582+08:00Movie Diary #12: June 2013Half the year gone and I've seen 468 films. June was an odd month, after the craziness of May I took a break, only watching films occasionally, and I still managed to reach 71 over 30 days. 8 were rewatches bringing the YTD rewatches to 59.<br />
<br />
The highlight would almost certainly be Spring Breakers which I saw twice in three days and whilst it's not something I would consider a masterpiece just yet it's certainly got something special going for it whilst at the same time being quite awful.<br />
<br />
2013 continues to disappoint in general, 11 new movies seen in June taking the YTD count up to 44 but of those, 5 were contributions to this months 9 truly awful viewing experiences.<br />
<br />
At the other end of the spectrum the ongoing Noir-a-Thon provided 4 of the 5 masterpieces for the month but sadly they were all rewatches. But there was a very healthy 12 films that come highly recommended. If you're looking for something great that you might not have heard of, these 12 are for you.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Dire</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/hesher/">Hesher</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/spencer-susser/">Spencer Susser</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It's not funny, it's dumb. It's not dramatic or charming, it's dumb and
incredibly obvious from the start. And dumb. If it wasn't for watching JGL have a
good time as Hesher this would be completely unwatchable.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-blood-of-heroes/">The Blood of Heroes</a> (1990) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/david-webb-peoples/">David Webb Peoples</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The idea of a David Webb Peoples scripted apocalyptic sports movie
starring Rutger Hauer was too much to resist. I wish I had. It's boring
and repetitive from the opening scene and the tedium doesn't lift until
the credits roll. If you like violence in your scifi movie you might
like this one.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-incredible-burt-wonderstone/">The Incredible Burt Wonderstone</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/don-scardino/">Don Scardino</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Every so often a movie comes along that is so bad you wish you could get
arrested for downloading it. I deserve to be sent to jail for a very
long time for inflicting this one on Leah but John Francis Daley
deserves to be shot out of a fucking canon in to the Great Wall of China
without a helmet for writing this shit. I used to feel bad that he was
the only member of the Freaks and Geeks cast that didn't seem to make
any impact as an actor but now after putting up with this tragic waste
of Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin and Steve Carrell for the past
100 minutes I wish him an anonymous painful, penniless death in a
Hollywood skid row apartment that had its power and water switched off
two years previously and a serious rat infestation.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/phantom/">Phantom</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/todd-robinson/">Todd Robinson</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I feel bad for every actor involved with this, especially if they worked for scale. It's not the worst movie of the year and as with Robinson's previous work it looks good but that is pretty much it. </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/i-anna/">I, Anna</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/barnaby-southcombe/">Barnaby Southcombe</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>There's no way this would have been made if the director wasn't
Charlotte Rampling's son. It's a pretty poor noir that focuses on style
without being particularly stylish. So much of the dialogue is dreadful
in that trying too hard to be real kind of way that we've been inflicted
with by sub-standard writers in a post-Tarantino world and isn't helped
by actors who aren't good enough but then when Rampling and Byrne are
struggling with it you can't really blame them.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/last-days/">Last Days</a> (2005) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/gus-van-sant/">Gus van Sant</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Gus van Sant's Last Days occasionally threatens to be more than a bizarre series of scenes of Michael Pitt wandering around mumbling incoherently but constantly fails to deliver on its promise instead heading off in to a world of ill-considered moments of Lukas Haas forgetting the words to a Velvet Underground song. If there is meaning and understanding to be found in this film it was hidden pretty deep and I didn't find it.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/odd-thomas/">Odd Thomas</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/stephen-sommers/">Stephen Sommers</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A plot about the after life filmed in a completely lifeless way. Tries for a similar feel to John Dies at the End but fails miserably despite the much bigger budget. That is why Don Coscarelli is an under appreciated great and Stephen Sommers is a chump who makes boring movies.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/penthouse-north/">Penthouse North</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joseph-ruben/">Joseph Ruben</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This is one star for Michael Keaton, the rest of the movie is a pile
of shit that should never have been greenlit. Dreadful dialogue, awful
direction, Keaton aside the acting is mediocre at best. There's an interesting enough heist concept here; two guys want to
get back what was stolen from them in a doublecross, they hold a blind
woman hostage in her penthouse apartment and attempt to torture the
location from here, and yet that is the extent of the exploration of the
scenario. What follows is at best generic, obvious and cliched and at
worst painfully dumb.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/olympus-has-fallen/">Olympus Has Fallen</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/antoine-fuqua/">Antoine Fuqua</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>So offensively bad in every way. I could criticise it for hours but
what's the point? You're either an idiot like me who expects it to be
bad and watches it anyway or you're an idiot who expects it to be good
and can't wait to watch all 17 hours of this mess by Antoine Fuqua,
either way we're all swimming through a sea of shit of our own making.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Really Very Good Actually</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXo2b4fyEl8mQj10OcnLggl-eSvmu4TXtiVeGyyqCdudtwH-0dqxz2lyWXruGdvPUqEYj2YDmDid8umEWb9RUgPgIBiTC0Dwe5MqjztlRYzMSC5PxShf5uzBtxA941I0n1g6XqgDiLgc/s1142/in+search+of+a+midnight+kiss+bal+funny+ha+ha+spring+breakers+big+night+stoker+never+let+go+bad+lieutenant+hell+in+the+pacific+mud+another+earth+le+fils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXo2b4fyEl8mQj10OcnLggl-eSvmu4TXtiVeGyyqCdudtwH-0dqxz2lyWXruGdvPUqEYj2YDmDid8umEWb9RUgPgIBiTC0Dwe5MqjztlRYzMSC5PxShf5uzBtxA941I0n1g6XqgDiLgc/s640/in+search+of+a+midnight+kiss+bal+funny+ha+ha+spring+breakers+big+night+stoker+never+let+go+bad+lieutenant+hell+in+the+pacific+mud+another+earth+le+fils.jpg" title="in search of a midnight kiss bal funny ha ha spring breakers big night stoker never let go bad lieutenant hell in the pacific mud another earth le fils" width="560" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/in-search-of-a-midnight-kiss/">In Search of a Midnight Kiss</a> (2007) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alex-holdridge/">Alex Holdridge</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A charming and funny look at life and love in your late 20's. The witty script and great chemistry between the two leads sets it apart from all the other Richard Linklater and Woody Allen wannabes.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/stoker/">Stoker</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/chan-wook-park/">Park Chan-Wook</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I can't imagine there will be a more intelligent Hollywood movie in
2013, or perhaps I should say one that treats the audience as if they
have intelligence. Content wise it is far beyond my previous experiences with Park
Chan-Wook but whether I enjoyed it as much is another matter. Bring on
the rewatch.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/never-let-go/">Never Let Go</a> (1963) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-guillermin/">John Guillermin</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A quite brilliant late British noir that seems to have been unfairly
forgotten. Peter Sellars as the villain is exceptionally evil whilst
Richard Todd as the down on his luck everyman with nothing to lose finds
his fighting spirit at last in a final showdown that wouldn't be out of
place in Killer's Kiss. The use of expressionist light and shadow is up
there with the best that Hollywood's emigres had to offer and the story
is pure pulp goodness.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/hell-in-the-pacific/">Hell in the Pacific</a> (1968) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-boorman/">John Boorman</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Not as flashy as John Boorman's Point Blank but almost as impressive in
terms of pure cinema. Two men who don't speak the same language, natural
enemies infact, are stranded on a Pacific island. It works as an examination of the stupidity of war and a study of the
strengths of man, it should have been a success and certainly deserves
more than to be forgotten by new generations of moviegoers.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-son/">Le Fils</a> (2002) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jean-pierre-dardenne/">The Dardenne Brothers</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Very very impressive, four films in to the Dardenne filmography and this is my favourite to date. Their usual adherence to realism in cinema is enhanced by a bold and interesting choice in cinematography, their camera mimicking the protagonist in its sneaking and hiding, watching him almost like an obsessed ghost, framing that ordinarily might be considered odd (and just might frustrate a lot of viewers) gives a strange claustrophobia to Olivier's existence and left me fascinated and enthralled throughout.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/another-earth/">Another Earth</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/mike-cahill/">Mike Cahill</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Quite nearly perfect. Cahill and Marling don't seem to make a bad decision between them for 90+ minutes in this low-fi "sci-fi" drama. Except like the greats of science fiction (as seen as props in the film) this isn't really about space and stuff, it's about humanity. There are a few wobbly moments where the low budget and sophomore director become obvious but beyond that it's simply great storytelling.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/mud/">Mud</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/jeff-nichols/">Jeff Nichols</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It was always going to suffer in comparison to Take Shelter and Killer Joe but Jeff Nichols manages to take 2012's Man of the Year a step in a different direction with this wonderful coming of age/teens left to their own devices as old customs are slowly dying story. If he is to replace Soderbergh as my favourite American filmmaker then this one will surely be compared to King of the Hill in years to come.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/honey-2010/">Bal</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/semih-kaplanoglu/">Semih Kaplanoglu</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Ronan's <a href="http://boxd.it/22iw">Something to Watch</a> list strikes gold again!<br /><br />Another simple and beautiful film that tells it's story with very few words whilst at the same time being a statement about the power of storytelling. Features a remarkable central performance from a child actor and a director who makes the most of his locations to magnify the power of his message.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-bad-lieutenant-port-of-call-new-orleans/">Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/werner-herzog/">Werner Herzog</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>There's a reason that I didn't remember my current favourite actor,
Michael Shannon, appearing in this movie; he has two of the tiniest
scenes imaginable whilst still getting a credit. Can you imagine a
Werner Herzog film starring Cage and Shannon? It's an incredibly
tantalising concept, well at least when the inner Cage is channelled in
to producing something close to this recent career high. I really dig
this film so the lack of Shannon wasn't too disappointing, it was always
worthy of a rewatch. Even if you ignore the iguanas this is one batshit
crazy film whilst still remaining a high quality mainstream crime film
and character study of a good man battling his inner demons. The title
is a bit of a mouthful though.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/funny-ha-ha/">Funny Ha Ha</a> (2002) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/andrew-bujalski/">Andrew Bujalski</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The central performance from Kate Dollenmayer certainly elevates it
above a lot of the other films associated with the mumblecore movement and the
aimless meandering of her character Marnie combined with the awkward
blathering conversations featured does hit points that others just can't
seem to reach due to higher budgets or attempts to improve on the
formula or simply ideas that are not as well realised.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/spring-breakers/">Spring Breakers</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/harmony-korine/">Harmony Korine</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>By far Harmony Korine's most accessible work, not sure whether that makes it his best or not. A giant horrible mess of images from the worst of American college life evolves in to something much better but I don't know what. A disconcerting viewing experience if only because you don't now what to make of it.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/big-night/">Big Night</a> (1996) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/stanley-tucci/">Stanley Tucci</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Charming is usually a dirty word in this household, charming should
never be the first word you use to describe a film as 99 times out of
100 it also usually means it's trite and cynical. Stanley Tucci's
directorial debut is neither of those thing but it is most definitely a
charming ensemble piece that highlights the absolute waste of talent
that is both Tony Shaloub and Stanley Tucci when working minor character
parts in mainstream Hollywood cinema. I don't think it's a secret to
anyone who has been paying attention for the past 20+ years that both of
these actors are almost always the finest performers in whatever they
appear in but the sheer size and brilliance of their abilities is
magnified astronomically when allowed the freedom to truly inhabit a
role and a film for 90+ minutes.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Masterpiece</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1s0oShCfHiTDfYQSnEOUUBRSRnzZISGTzOz8bkee62to3TkTnVtW4rOlngtwzGxo-MWu4OUlMh_KaPInTzuP4fT9gprpwe4xdo06ElHssaZ-IjpmjMEyXXHio4x6xyZV1BLKIP-Lgvgk/s1000/darjeeling+limited+la+confidential+12+monkeys+blair+witch+project+dark+city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1s0oShCfHiTDfYQSnEOUUBRSRnzZISGTzOz8bkee62to3TkTnVtW4rOlngtwzGxo-MWu4OUlMh_KaPInTzuP4fT9gprpwe4xdo06ElHssaZ-IjpmjMEyXXHio4x6xyZV1BLKIP-Lgvgk/s640/darjeeling+limited+la+confidential+12+monkeys+blair+witch+project+dark+city.jpg" title="darjeeling limited la confidential 12 monkeys blair witch project dark city" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/twelve-monkeys/">Twelve Monkeys</a> (1995) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/terry-gilliam/">Terry Gilliam</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I've lost count of the number of times I've seen Twelve Monkeys now and
it just keeps impressing me. Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt and Terry Gilliam
have all got careers filled with great films but this one has to be
considered in the top two if not the best of the bunch for each of them.
Of course David Webb Peoples also wrote Unforgiven and Blade Runner so
you can't say the same about him. Impressive.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-darjeeling-limited/">The Darjeeling Limited</a> (2007) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/wes-anderson/">Wes Anderson</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A beautiful masterpiece of quirky familial drama and spiritual road movie.
It is the most visually impressive of all of his films and in Brody,
Wilson & Schwartzman the finest individual and ensemble performances
too. I never get tired of watching it.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/la-confidential/">L.A. Confidential</a> (1997) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/curtis-hanson/">Curtis Hanson</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Not only is L.A. Confidential a great adaptation but it is a great movie
in its own right that fully deserved every single one of those nine
Oscar nominations. That it lost to Titanic of all films is a complete
and utter travesty.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/dark-city-1998/">Dark City</a> (1998) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/alex-proyas/">Alex Proyas</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Much less flashy than the similar themed Matrix this movie has aged like
a fine wine compared to the other slightly more vinegary Wachowski
brew. The screenplay from Dobbs and Goyer is the philosophical and
thematic successor to the seminal Blade Runner whereas the direction of
Proyas and cinematography of Wolski owe a lot more to Escher and German
Expressionism, with a little help from some hard working talented set
and costume designers.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-blair-witch-project/">The Blair Witch Project</a> (1999) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/daniel-myrick/">Myrick & Sanchez</a> <br />
<div class="text collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing%3A1995934/">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>
</i><i>Considering it avoids all temptation to have men in suits leaping out
at you, gore spattering the lens or a score designed to make you jump
Blair Witch really gets your heart racing by spending an hour making you
empathise with all three characters despite the fact that they are
truly awful people with the irritating habit of pretty much shouting
everything.</i><i> Seeing it as part of documentary theory class caused me to reassess
my entire way of thought on the film, it's not just scary it's a
wonderful exploration of what it means to be in front of or behind a
camera, perhaps not on the same artistic level as Dziga Vertov but for
the post-MTV handicam generation it's almost a masterpiece.</i></blockquote>
<br />
I'm up for discussions on these or any other film if you are. Get in touch via <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">twitter</a>, comment below or do something crazy like email me via the about page.</div>
blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-122859283056642632013-06-14T08:34:00.000+08:002013-06-14T08:34:28.530+08:00Mixtape Movies Blogathon: Dude, It's A Volleyball!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://wp.me/prVbF-2T4"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://fandangogroovers.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/mixtape-movies-image-2.jpg?w=500&h=320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>Andy Hart AKA Fandango Groover has done it again, created another great Lamb Blogathon. This time he <a href="http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/mixtape-movies-2/">challenges us to bring back the mixtape</a>: compile a collection of six movies that fit together, they are not expected to be definitive personal lists, they are just small expressions of creativity in linking the movies. Pick five movies within a chosen theme that compliment each other and one wild card that stands out as different but still maintains the theme.</i><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"I would rather take my chance out there on the ocean than to stay here
and die on this shithole island, spending the rest of my life talking TO A GODDAMN VOLLEYBALL!" - Tom Hanks CAST AWAY</b></blockquote>
I expect this third instalment of Mixtape Movies will be the last for a while but who knows what inspiration I might get between now and tomorrow? If you missed the last two tapes check out <a href="http://blahblahblahgay.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/moviemixtape2.html">Home Sweet Home</a> and <a href="http://blahblahblahgay.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/moviemixtape.html">A Tiny Flame</a> now! <br />
<br />
In honour of Wilson the volleyball from Cast Away this mixtape is intended to highlight loneliness and the various ways we as a species deal with it, at least in cinema anyway. With the idea that these mixtapes are intended to make friends and influence people I started making a list of movies that I love and that aren't widely seen or been used in one of the other mixtapes and I noticed this theme amongst them and it's a theme that has spread to my own writing projects of late. Lost connections, isolation and loneliness are what this mixtape is all about. That and sharing the way I see cinema.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4NfiOM5LZM3bPx25QEKq7vgDaBIlLLOJJM9tmnxZxuLiuwYytc8P1cxMC_JrE04ecTgKR_Qs4qW2ct37-X-5S_1O6RZDkTY0yI6Ylhx_HKMbIClSQ_4WkhZ_smfiDh7VveGkRMk1EBA/s1600/dude+its+a+volleyball+movie+mixtape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4NfiOM5LZM3bPx25QEKq7vgDaBIlLLOJJM9tmnxZxuLiuwYytc8P1cxMC_JrE04ecTgKR_Qs4qW2ct37-X-5S_1O6RZDkTY0yI6Ylhx_HKMbIClSQ_4WkhZ_smfiDh7VveGkRMk1EBA/s640/dude+its+a+volleyball+movie+mixtape.jpg" title="Dude It's A Volleyball Movie Mixtape" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/moon/">Moon</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/duncan-jones/">Duncan Jones</a></span><br />
<br />
As with previous mixes I'm going to start the tape off nice and easy, Sam Rockwell in the modern science fiction classic Moon is probably as accessible as it gets when I start to think about this subject. The way he clings to his sanity via GERTY whilst an enjoyable watch is as obvious as it gets without painting a face on a volleyball with your own blood.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-brown-bunny/">The Brown Bunny</a> (2004) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/vincent-gallo/">Vincent Gallo</a></span><br />
<br />
A controversial choice for many but I find Gallo's sophomore effort to be a beautiful, atmospheric study of a man set adrift from society of his own doing. Sure the famous fellatio scene was perhaps a little indulgent but I can't blame the guy. Both of Gallo's films touch on the same subject matter but Brown Bunny is certainly more likely to ignite conversation versus the almost universally loved Buffalo 66.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/breathing/">Atmen</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/karl-markovics/">Karl Markovics</a></span><br />
<br />
Karl Markovics' debut is a very recent experience for me but it has stayed with me, barely a day passing without thinking about the life of its protagonist, Roman Kogler, a young man who has spent his entire life in an institution of one kind or another struggling to find his place in the world. Truly affecting cinema.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/man-push-cart/">Man Push Cart</a> (2005) <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ramin-bahrani/">Ramin Bahrani</a></span><br />
<br />
The first film I ever got invited to watch at a film festival, it always struck me as deserving of a much wider audience than it got. Its subject is a lonely Pakistani immigrant in New York working towards his American dream and features a series of indiginities culminating in a heartbreaking ending. Bahrani has gone on to be considered a pioneer of the "neo-neo-realist" American cinema with his films Chop Shop and Goodbye Solo treading similar territory. A director well worth searching out.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/fish-tank/">Fish Tank</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/andrea-arnold/">Andrea Arnold</a></span><br />
<br />
Fish Tank is my wildcard selection because it doesn't take the idea f loneliness as it's central theme but it underscores the entire piece by being the driving force for the behaviour one of the characters. Andrea Arnold is another director whose work consistently deals with similar events and emotions, whilst Red Road featured a woman who chooses isolation in an attempt to deal with her grief over a tragic event Fish Tank looks at a teenage girl in a working class single parent family and how she reacts to being essentially abandoned by her mother.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/wendy-and-lucy/">Wendy & Lucy</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/kelly-reichardt/">Kelly Reichardt</a></span><br />
<br />
Wendy starts the movie with three things, her car, her dog and hope. By the time the end credits roll she has had to give up all but the slightest slither of hope. A wonderful film featuring a wonderful performance from Michelle Williams.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8gMZSQ30QhqSwYC8GhiIMZRVuci-L7ZBd6LlI1eF0uOyVY80gvJHz6a2NiNXU_2KTjHgdUog1kCXDryEP4gNekXoJSrQR-xeCk9GwPFOukaFciX8A5dcKy99_KJo03bFkBSwp9CcJHg/s1600/Moon+Brown+Bunny+Atmen+Man+Push+Cart+Fish+Tank+Wendy+Lucy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8gMZSQ30QhqSwYC8GhiIMZRVuci-L7ZBd6LlI1eF0uOyVY80gvJHz6a2NiNXU_2KTjHgdUog1kCXDryEP4gNekXoJSrQR-xeCk9GwPFOukaFciX8A5dcKy99_KJo03bFkBSwp9CcJHg/s640/Moon+Brown+Bunny+Atmen+Man+Push+Cart+Fish+Tank+Wendy+Lucy.jpg" title="Moon Brown Bunny Atmen Man Push Cart Fish Tank Wendy & Lucy" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>I'm starting to think that I might not be making the best impression on people with all these less than cheerful movie mixtapes, maybe I'll make a bubblegum pop mixtape next. Join in the discussion in the comments or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a> #mixtapemovies. Did you make a mixtape I haven't seen yet? Leave a link. If you want to join in head over to <a href="http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/mixtape-movies-2/">Fandango Groovers</a> for the full instructions and for more movie mixtapes check out the complete database <a href="http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/mixtape-movies/">here</a> (after 22nd June.)</i>
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blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-82577711745577789522013-06-10T14:10:00.000+08:002013-06-10T14:10:01.205+08:00Movie Review: The Call (2013) Dir. Brad Anderson<div itemprop="description">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Pelham 123 remake but with a kidnapped girl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-call-2013-2/">The Call</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/brad-anderson/">Brad Anderson</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars</span><br />
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<b>Blurb:</b> Jordan Turner (Halle Berry) is an experienced 911 operator but when she
makes an error in judgement and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and
unsure if she can continue. But then teenager Casey Welson (Abigail
Breslin) is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911. And
Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and
quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save Casey, but to
make sure the man is brought to justice.<br />
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<a href="http://www.buzzmygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/the-call-brad-anderson-abigail-breslin-620x400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="412" src="http://www.buzzmygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/the-call-brad-anderson-abigail-breslin-620x400.jpg" title="The Call Abigail Breslin" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b>Thoughts:</b> Brad Anderson is responsible for high quality recent thrillers The Machinist and Transsiberian as well as great work on The Wire, The Killing, Treme and Boardwalk Empire but after the giant misstep of 2011's Vanishing on 7th Street the best he could get for his next project was this WWE Studios production complete with a wrestler in the cast. It did not bode well and that's before I take in to consideration the fact that guaranteed quality repellent Halle Berry is the star.<br />
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If you want a popcorn thriller this is probably as good as it gets in
2013 thanks largely to the skill of Brad Anderson. There's a good
concept at its heart, the 911 operator dealing with a call from a
kidnapped girl, but when it goes beyond that basic idea it treads the
line of absurdity far too readily.<br />
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The opening scenes were pretty much as expected, i.e. stupid and
exposition filled and I was filled with regret at having gone against my
initial instincts and seen this movie just because of the director.<br />
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The middle section surprised the hell out of me with its quality,
although with Anderson at the helm it shouldn't have, the tension is
skilfully built up to almost unbearable levels despite the best
intentions of a dodgy screenplay.<br />
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But once it comes out of the other side it lost me once more with a
final act that had no place in the kind of film we had just had set up
for us. I appreciate that there are certain expectations from your
lowest common denominator audience and that these are almost certainly
met with the slasher horror that the film becomes but I just find these
things stupid and unnecessary.<br />
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It certainly could have been worse but I don't think Brad Anderson
disgraced himself too much by taking on this project. It was so not
awful that I didn't even want to punch Halle Berry in the face. I'm
actually astounded that it won't even trouble my "Worst of 2013" list.<br />
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<i>Any thoughts on Halle Berry? Is there any way back for Brad Anderson? Join the discussion in the comments, on <a href="http://boxd.it/1ic0R">Letterboxd</a> or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a> </i><br />
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blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-60318844174353427792013-06-08T15:53:00.000+08:002013-06-08T17:00:45.870+08:00Revelation 16 Perth International Film Festival: 4 - 14 July 2013The <a href="http://www.revelationfilmfest.org/">16th Revelation Perth International Film Festival</a> is fast approaching and I'm quite excited indeed as I just got home from the program launch of what looks to be an incredible fortnight of cinema and cinema related events.<br />
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To quote directly from the website this years festival offers:<br />
<ul>
<li>A once in a lifetime live experience featuring Goblin playing their live score to Dario Argento's 1977 horror classic <i>Suspiria</i> </li>
<li>50+ Australian premieres</li>
<li>4 world premieres</li>
<li>30+ guests from Australia and around the globe </li>
<li>Workshops and masterclasses</li>
<li>A return to our micro-cinema roots with the Dome Pop-Up</li>
<li>4 venues across Perth </li>
<li>Over 100 sessions </li>
<li>120+
individual films from China, Australia, India, Canada, Germany, France,
UK, Switzerland, Denmark, Russian Federation, Iceland, Norway, South
Korea, Israel, Belgium, France and Iran.</li>
<li>Films from direct from film festivals the caliber of <i>Toronto, Berlin, Rotterdam, Sundance, Cannes, SxSW, Telluride </i>and many of our favourites.</li>
<li>A host of true discoveries that makes <i><b>Rev</b></i> a real independent showcase and breaker to titles in Australia and elsewhere.</li>
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This is THE Western Australian film festival, everything else pales in comparison and this year it has expanded to four venues to accommodate the growing stature and vision of the event, with a lineup of films to match! There might not be any Romanian New Wave but it's still worth booking your holidays for next month and flying to Perth for Revfest. Gold Passes which give access to every single screening are a ridiculously cheap $190 and if I wasn't getting one for free I'd probably pawn my jet-ski to pay for it.<br />
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Being from Perth I seem to always find something to complain about and usually it's that nothing really happens here, especially in terms of interesting cinema but RevFest stands out from the crowd as something exceptional and unique to my city and I'm proud of volunteering my services to help with the smooth running of events as well as spreading the word about some exceptional programming this year.<br />
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Two things instantly stood out for me, the Australian premieres of Ben Wheatleys<span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-field-in-england/">A Field In England</a></span><br />
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and <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/white-reindeer/">White Reindeer</a> </span>with a Q&A session with perhaps my favourite American indie director Zach Clark afterwards. What the hell do people ask in Q&A's? My mind always goes blank. Which might actually be preferable to what happened when I bumped in to my favourite singer in a bar that time.<br />
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Ordinarily that would be enough for me but wait there's more, here's a few that really tickle my fancy:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/upstream-color/">Upstream Colour</a></span> <br />
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<i>A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the lifecycle of an
ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to
assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.</i><br />
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The new film from the director of Primer has been receiving rave reviews worldwide. I don't care what it's about, after so many years waiting to see what he'd do next this was always going to be a must watch movie.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-fifth-season/">The Fifth Season</a></span><br />
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<i>A time of climatic derailing, never-ending winter, spring that never
arrives, disappearing bees, cows that no longer produce milk, and
impending famine. Instead of blaming the heavens, the village’s
inhabitants find themselves some other people to blame: a man who was
just passing by with his disabled son.</i><br />
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It looks quite beautiful and <a href="http://nextprojection.com/2012/11/20/cork-film-festival-2012-day-three/">Ronan at Next Projection</a> has a perfect poster quote: <i>"A bit like what would have happened if Béla Tarr and Roy Andersson co-directed The Wicker Man."</i> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/gimme-the-loot/">Gimme The Loot</a></span><br />
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<i>Malcolm and Sofia, two determined teens from the Bronx, are the ultimate graffiti-writers hatch a plan to tag an iconic NYC landmark, but they need to raise $500 to pull off their spectacular scheme. What follows is an adventure over two summer days to raise the cash any way they can.</i><br />
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I've had the pleasure of seeing this one already and it is a fully enjoyable light comedy directed by a director with an eye for interesting composition. This is a low budget indie flick filled with promise.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-act-of-killing/">The Act of Killing</a></span><br />
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<i>In a place where killers are celebrated as heroes, these filmmakers
challenge unrepentant death-squad leaders to dramatize their role in
genocide. The result is a surreal, cinematic journey, not only into the
memories and imaginations of mass murderers, but also into a
frighteningly banal regime of corruption and impunity.</i><br />
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At nearly three hours it might take a lot out of you but The Act of Killing has widely been hailed as a must see film about humanity and human nature and if you can stomach the content you should join me for what promises to be an experience you won't forget in a hurry.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/pictures-of-superheroes/">Pictures of Superheroes</a></span><br />
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<i>Marie is hired as a maid by businessman Eric who also asks her to pretend to be his wife to seduce his
clients. While cleaning Eric’s home, Marie becomes close to Joe, an aspiring superhero artist who also lives in Eric’s house,
although unbeknownst to Eric.</i><br />
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A film said to be a quirky deadpan comedy, with a premise that intrigues me to the point of having to watch it. Beyond that I know nothing about this film, the stuff that film festival memories are made of.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/pieta/">Pieta</a></span><br />
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<i>A loan shark is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the
arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.</i> <br />
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Ordinarily a new Kim Ki-Duk film coming to Perth would be pretty big news for me but such is the quality of this years lineup it has become just another great film to look forward to.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/harry-dean-stanton-partly-fiction/">Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction</a></span><br />
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<i>Documentary looking back at the career of the popular character actor Harry Dean Stanton, featuring songs performed by Stanton.</i><br />
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Watching Harry Dean Stanton be the centre of attention for 77 minutes? Who wouldn't want to watch that?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/london-the-modern-babylon/">London - The Modern Babylon</a></span><br />
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<i>Julien Temple directs a documentary looking at the past century of London's history.</i><br />
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The premise is enough. Of all the cities of the world London fascinates me the most, despite having lived there for a large portion of my life I still feel like I hardly know the place. Two hours surely isn't enough? <br />
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<i>Whose coming? What are you most looking forward to? Comment and tweet and stuff.</i> blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-13235424197678002222013-06-07T12:19:00.000+08:002013-06-07T12:19:00.361+08:00Mixtape Movies Blogathon: Home Sweet Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Andy Hart AKA Fandango Groover has done it again, created another great Lamb Blogathon. This time he <a href="http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/mixtape-movies-2/">challenges us to bring back the mixtape</a>: compile a collection of six movies that fit together, they are not expected to be definitive personal lists, they are just small expressions of creativity in linking the movies. Pick five movies within a chosen theme that compliment each other and one wild card that stands out as different but still maintains the theme.</i><br />
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<b>"These children, they're not really bad most of them, just products of rotten neighbourhoods and bad family situations." - Sixteen by No Doubt</b></blockquote>
I enjoyed making <span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://blahblahblahgay.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/moviemixtape.html">A Tiny Flame to Cup One’s Hand Around and Protect From the Wind</a> so much that I couldn't stop thinking about new ways to share groups of films with people who are in need of my education and so several more mixtapes were recorded to my long play VHS tapes. First up is Home Sweet Home, a movie mixtape title that recalls one of my favourite music mixtapes that I ever made and an early blogging attempt. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">The phrase Home Sweet Home conjures up images of family dinners, cross-stitched sofa covers and a cat to sit on your feet whilst you watch TV but I can't say I've ever cared much for movies about warm, loving parents, hot dinners, family holidays and other such movie cliche. Perhaps because I had never experienced it in real life, when I think of families in cinema I think of the damage that they inflict upon each other without even trying and sometimes when they do.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">In keeping with the previous theme of making a mixtape to educate or impress another human being I picked six films that demonstrate my cinematic taste, my "wide" knowledge of world cinema and my cynical outlook on life and family. If you were to watch one of these a day for a week and still want to hang out with me come Sunday then I think we're gonna be good friends.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-celebration/">Festen</a> (1998) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/thomas-vinterberg/">Thomas Vinterberg</a></span><br />
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A nice easy Dogme '95 movie about buggering your young son to start things off. Without making light of the scenario Vinterberg demonstrates the conflict within a group of adult siblings desperate for parental approval. Material that Arrested Development would mine frequently to great effect.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/sister/">L'Enfant d'en Haut</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ursula-meier/">Ursula Meier</a></span><br />
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Either of Ursula Meier's acclaimed films could have found a home on this mixtape, but it is the more recent Sister that I eventually landed on due to the honest reality presented as opposed to the slightly surreal nature of Home. The familial relationship here whilst bleak also offers real hope that "modern family structures" can provide warmth and support for their young children.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-war-zone/">The War Zone</a> (1999) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/tim-roth/">Tim Roth</a></span><br />
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I wouldn't be a true cinephile or mixtape impresario if I didn't include something obscure and in desperate need of being seen by more people. Tim Roth's The War Zone is exactly that movie in this instance. It's a film with a scene that made Ray Winstone cry during production and holds a mirror up to a Broken Britain that isn't getting fixed any time soon.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/dogtooth/">Dogtooth</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/giorgos-lanthimos/">Giorgos Lanthimos</a></span><br />
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Considering some of the dark material included in this mixtape the unusual family situation presented in Dogtooth becomes a remarkably light watch for the most part. This choice allows you to ponder the bliss of not knowing that you are suffering abuse at the hands of your parents whilst thinking that you live in paradise.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/together-2000/">Tillsammans</a> (2000) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/lukas-moodysson/">Lukas Moodysson</a></span><br />
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I debated on the positioning of this one on the tape, whether to end with something slightly lighter or not. Tillsammans presents a Swedish comic alternative to the traditional family unit, a young boy is moved in to a hippy commune with his mother and all that that entails. Quirky yet serious, a social reevalutation with interesting characters.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/there-will-be-blood/">There Will Be Blood</a> (2007) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/paul-thomas-anderson/">Paul Thomas Anderson</a></span><br />
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My wild card is my choice to end the mixtape with. It doesn't fit with the whole in that it isn't solely about families but it does feature a relationship that is worth highlighting and any excuse to get somebody experiencing this masterpiece is good enough for me. There Will Be Blood is many things, including a not very pleasant portrait of Daniel Plainview, father. It had to be the last track, how do you follow this film other than a cup of coffee with your new friend who made you this mixtape?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXTeF3Xw9fgJyOUUtwqyNoe5M9hDYVNYuXH9RfjqjVkn78eT90idJ6f5baWm8WhmrAEgrOCYzUzfU_CQ8mDwT11WDvIStpPuLqLA552BIVDThckHVq0FCsytTDyqhqphlWyLBj6EU9Hw/s1600/festen+sister+war+zone+dogtoth+together+there+will+be+blood+home+sweet+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXTeF3Xw9fgJyOUUtwqyNoe5M9hDYVNYuXH9RfjqjVkn78eT90idJ6f5baWm8WhmrAEgrOCYzUzfU_CQ8mDwT11WDvIStpPuLqLA552BIVDThckHVq0FCsytTDyqhqphlWyLBj6EU9Hw/s640/festen+sister+war+zone+dogtoth+together+there+will+be+blood+home+sweet+home.jpg" title="festen sister war zone dogtooth together there will be blood home sweet home movie mixtape" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>What do you think? I'm bound to have left out some great films on similar subjects, what would you have included? Leave some comments here or on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a> with #moviemixtape. Did you make a mixtape I haven't seen yet? Leave a link. If you want to join in head over to <a href="http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/mixtape-movies-2/">Fandango Groovers</a> for the full instructions and for more movie mixtapes check out the complete database <a href="http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/mixtape-movies/">here</a> (after 22nd June.)</i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-84457856180279715202013-06-06T14:53:00.000+08:002013-06-06T14:53:00.519+08:00Top 10: 30 Countries ProjectIt's a wonderful feeling, the sense of achievement in completing something. In May I completed two feature script writing projects, my first two in five or six years, and the 30 Countries Project as mentioned at the start of the month. I'm not saying that watching 30 movies from 30 countries in 30 days is on a par with the other achievement but by the time the credits rolled on Esma's Secret on Friday morning I was well and truly pleased with myself.<br />
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The concept of the challenge/project was put forth on Letterboxd in late March and whilst there were several dozen participants interested in exploring cinema from around the world only a handful of us seem to have completed it, further proof that I have accomplished something I feel,<br />
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I consider myself relatively well watched when it comes to cinema but actually putting a foreign language film in my player had become something that I found excuses not to do, thanks to this challenge I got past that block in style and ended up seeing a lot more than 30 non-English language films in May, more than I had watched in the previous 18 months in fact.<br />
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It has been documented in various social mediums that I have been discouraged from watching Eastern European cinema because it is so bleak but the quality of those I discovered last month was so high that I find myself drawn to them instead of my usual easy access Hollywood mindless nonsense. Yes, my relationship with Leah has suffered slightly over these petty disagreements on cinema about abortion and Communist era lifestyle and now I plan to help dismantle your relationships too, here are my Top 10 discoveries of the 30 Countries Project, with my highest recommendation to you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/reprise/">Reprise</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joachim-trier/">Joachim Trier</a> - <i>Norway</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3ydkfhghG1qa409eo1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="344" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3ydkfhghG1qa409eo1_1280.png" title="reprise joachim trier" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">9. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/home-2009-2/">Home</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ursula-meier/">Ursula Meier</a> - <i>Switzerland</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://tiefkultur.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="416" src="http://tiefkultur.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/home.jpg" title="Home Ursula Meier" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">8. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/cache/">Cache</a> (2005) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-haneke/">Michael Haneke</a> - <i>Austria</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/c01009908536eaddc2f09d7366140353/tumblr_mhcg8qfjz81qck7ldo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/c01009908536eaddc2f09d7366140353/tumblr_mhcg8qfjz81qck7ldo1_1280.jpg" title="cache michael haneke" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-celebration/">Festen</a> (1998) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/thomas-vinterberg/">Thomas Vinterberg</a> - <i>Denmark</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.thatfilmguy.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/festen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="http://www.thatfilmguy.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/festen.jpg" title="festen thomas vinterberg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/autumn-2008/">Sonbahar</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ozcan-alper/">Özcan Alper</a> - <i>Turkey</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mikserdekibeyin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="458" src="http://www.mikserdekibeyin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/21.jpg" title="sonbahar ozcan alper" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/soldier-of-orange/">Soldier of Orange</a> (1979) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/paul-verhoeven-1/">Paul Verhoeven</a> - <i>The Netherlands</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/original/AfKcQH97wIYPrxdW8sU9j94MtYq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/original/AfKcQH97wIYPrxdW8sU9j94MtYq.jpg" title="soldier of orange paul verhoeven" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/lornas-silence/">Lorna's Silence</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/luc-dardenne/">The Dardenne Brothers</a> - <i>Belgium</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb0uP_tWzz3QOTu4CmAsnjtiMSi_7JAtX5gRL0-g5cDeOoMB5dW-Xu9zYhm88Htcjon5dSzIEcgMO7dwUp-9CgS-nF6AhQq7fYieS-t0iN9qYOpTqt58Ht_sKIulC97p6H1UKSM5cZWo/s1600/Lorna'sSilence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb0uP_tWzz3QOTu4CmAsnjtiMSi_7JAtX5gRL0-g5cDeOoMB5dW-Xu9zYhm88Htcjon5dSzIEcgMO7dwUp-9CgS-nF6AhQq7fYieS-t0iN9qYOpTqt58Ht_sKIulC97p6H1UKSM5cZWo/s640/Lorna'sSilence.jpg" title="lorna's silence dardenne" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/dogtooth/">Dogtooth</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/giorgos-lanthimos/">Giorgos Lanthimos</a> - <i>Greece</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.thirdage.com/files/originals/-dogtooth--nominated-for-best-foreign-language-film-for-83rd-academy-awards-beverly-hills--california-67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="http://www.thirdage.com/files/originals/-dogtooth--nominated-for-best-foreign-language-film-for-83rd-academy-awards-beverly-hills--california-67.jpg" title="dogtooth giorgos lanthimos" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/police-adjective/">Police, Adjective</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/corneliu-porumboiu/">Corneliu Porumboiu</a> - <i>Romania</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.tvbomb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="378" src="http://www.tvbomb.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/5.jpg" title="police adjective corneliu porumboiu" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/wake-in-fright/">Wake In Fright</a> (1972) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ted-kotcheff/">Ted Kotcheff</a> - <i>Australia</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPORb3tMQ04l_YMtpaWsttRAHg198RUEHcM_UaA4h5_hkRZa5Ccng3wiXscZOSMo34yLYYR4paSMgSabvKTgWrLPkVWrSajALJ4qVJpObayhUoK4KIBmWZ0To4ImkEzuBTqMtyo37b96y/s1600/vlcsnap-2013-03-31-01h11m15s73.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPORb3tMQ04l_YMtpaWsttRAHg198RUEHcM_UaA4h5_hkRZa5Ccng3wiXscZOSMo34yLYYR4paSMgSabvKTgWrLPkVWrSajALJ4qVJpObayhUoK4KIBmWZ0To4ImkEzuBTqMtyo37b96y/s640/vlcsnap-2013-03-31-01h11m15s73.png" title="wake in fright ted kotcheff" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Right well there you are, feel free to let me know how your loved ones react in the comments or tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a> but please don't cite me in any divorce papers that get filed. Thanks.</i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-36817908172199646722013-06-05T14:58:00.000+08:002013-06-05T17:04:05.119+08:00Currently Listening: Just Dreaming by Owen Stephen (2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/p480x480/389130_10152768222195237_1898614682_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/p480x480/389130_10152768222195237_1898614682_n.jpg" title="Owen Stephen Just Dreaming EP" width="452" /></a></div>
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You may recall the name Owen Stephen from the credits of my short film <a href="http://blahblahblahgay.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/blahblahblahgaymakesmovies.html">Until Now</a>. The Hertfordshire, UK based singer-songwriter was responsible for composing and performing the original music in the film and now after six years of solid touring with a variety of live acts has released his debut EP, Just Dreaming.<br />
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Originally making his name as a bass player for English alt. rock band <a href="http://theoctobergame.bandcamp.com/">The October Game</a> he has performed a variety of roles, including as part of former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes' touring band on recent world tours and this debut EP demonstrates the confidence of a man who has mastered his craft in front of thousands of screaming fans. His sound belies his relatively minor stature in the world of pop music and instead of becoming shoe-gazey and introverted like a lot of fledgling singer-songwriters, Owen aims for the stars.<br />
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His experience playing stadium tours shines through, his songs are wide in scope, offering the kind of large radio friendly sound that characterises such acts as Matchbox 20, The Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, complete with catchy choruses and soaring guitars. I expect that it is only a matter of time before he is called upon to provide a song for a massive Hollywood romantic drama.<br />
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Owen recently toured this EP coast to coast across America, supporting <a href="http://raminkarimloo.com/" target="_blank">Ramin Karimloo</a> and it is the country influenced track ‘Place Called Love’ that stands out on first listen. It also garnered a lot of attention for him with several radio appearances and a review from KKYR that was quite effusive in its praise, calling it <i>"effervescent and reminiscent of fifties era rock and roll but with a bluesy, modern twist...the beat is catchy and joyful...perfect listening on a sunny summer day."</i> The same could be said about the entire EP in fact.<br />
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He wears his influences on his sleeve with clear joy; taking in Tracy Chapman, the aforementioned American radio rock acts, Barenaked Ladies and Jack Johnson amongst others, and yet never sounds derivative. The only negative that I can draw is the lack of overall direction in the EP, these are six very enjoyable tracks on their own but as a collection they work better as a demonstration of Owen's enthusiasm for his music and his versatility as a songwriter. The variety of sounds give a disjointed feel to the whole which might not be so noticeable on a full length album, which I'm told will be released towards the end of 2013 or the early part of 2014.<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=1906816903/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://owenstephenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/just-dreaming-ep">Just Dreaming EP by Owen Stephen</a></iframe><br />
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I fully recommend downloading this album from <a href="http://owenstephenmusic.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> and if you're so inclined follow Owen on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/owenstephenmusic" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/OwenStephen" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/owenstephenmusic" target="_blank">YouTube</a> for updates about live performances, new releases etc.<br />
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<i>Comment below or why not tweet #justdreaming <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a>?</i> blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-48765830714889900622013-06-04T13:53:00.000+08:002013-06-04T13:53:00.244+08:00Blahblahblahgay Makes Movies: Until Now (2007) & Canard (2006)<div style="text-align: left;">
You may remember that I posted a link to my short film, Until Now, in the recent past and that for some reason the music was missing from the upload. Well fear not I discovered the finished article in a drawer this week and have made it available on Vimeo. As before, I appreciate all feedback especially the constructive kind.<br />
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To bring the rest of you up to speed, this was my university graduation piece from 2007. A two man crew of myself and Simon Bonner, shot for around £200 if my memory serves me correctly. The script was a finalist in some international competition that was so unimportant to me (because I didn't win) that I have forgotten what it was called.<br />
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The all important rediscovered musical composition was written and recorded by Owen Stephen who has recently released his debut EP as a singer-songwriter. He can be found on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/owenstephenmusic">facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/OwenStephen">twitter</a> and <a href="http://owenstephenmusic.bandcamp.com/">bandcamp</a>.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/67282856" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/67282856">Until Now (2007)</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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I'm working on something new for the first time in many years, so consider this a show reel page of sorts for when I start begging for help with expenses or making like I'm Zach Braff or whatever. Leah suggested I show you my other film as an example of how I prefer to use a camera and tell a story; so this is Canard, a short piece created for "Experimental Cinema" class. A video that one user has described as being <i>"hypnotizing and relaxing...absolutely wonderful!"</i></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5-98xu6KKhE?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></div>
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<i>So yeah, comment away by all means, I like it when you tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a> so do that too if you feel like it.</i>blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4048087291064672035.post-41612311985807956312013-06-02T14:00:00.000+08:002013-06-02T14:00:00.162+08:00Movie Diary #11: May 2013May is over. Thank goodness. I found myself in an ever expanding attempt to watch a larger number of movies, only managing to stop the compulsion to put another DVD in the player when I reached a hundred, otherwise I might have gone way past the <b>116 </b>films I eventually saw. This level of insanity cannot continue in to June as I seem to have written my way out of writer's block and have multiple projects in need of rewrites and pre-production to think about but still after five months of the year I have seen <b>397</b> films so far.<br />
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I revisited <b>7</b> films in May bringing the total rewatch count in 2013 up to <b>51</b>. If I can get this number under 10% I'd be very happy but with research for possible film productions that ambition may go the way of the dodo.<br />
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The 2013 film counter had a further <b>12</b> added to it this month bringing the total seen this year to <b>33</b>.<br />
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I've managed to pare down the 116 to some essential recommendations for you. There's a horrible 10 I advise you to avoid, 20 to keep an eye out for and 5 masterpieces you should see today if you haven't already, of which Star Wars day only contributed one entry.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Dire</span></div>
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<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/runaway/">Runaway</a> (1984) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-crichton/">Michael Crichton</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This movie is stupid. Selleck has a massive moustache. The robots are
not even remotely believable. In a post Blade Runner world this is what
they came up with? Michael Crichton was big on ideas that's for sure but
beyond that I'm not sure he ever really managed to succeed in the film
industry.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/i-give-it-a-year/">I Give It A Year</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/dan-mazer/">Dan Mazer</a><br />
<div class="text collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing%3A1701770/">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Not
funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not
funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny.
Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not
funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny.
Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not
funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny.
Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not
funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny.
Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not funny. Not
funny. Not funny.</i><br />
<i> </i><i>It's like watching Kristen Wiig's dentist in
Ghost Town less funny sister for 90 minutes. Or one long Stephen
Merchant sketch. Really? This got made? Poor Rafe Spall.</i></blockquote>
</div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-glimpse-inside-the-mind-of-charles-swan-iii/">A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/roman-coppola/">Roman Coppola</a><br />
<div itemprop="description">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What is the point of this movie? Roman Coppola is nearly 50 and
chooses to step out of the cinematic shadows of his father, sister and mentor with
this half arsed attempt to be Charlie Kaufman crossed with Wes
Anderson? I just don't understand his decision making here.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>Charlie Sheen is not someone who can read this dialogue and make you
believe it. He might be an arsehole having a midlife crisis in real life
and that probably helped him play an arsehole having a midlife crisis
here but acting is not his strong suit.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>It's a giant mess. Largely unfunny. I want my 90 minutes back.</i></blockquote>
<i>
</i></div>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/parker/">Parker</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/taylor-hackford/">Taylor Hackford</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I tried watching without my previous affection towards the novels,
Lee Marvin or even Payback, hoping to enjoy it. I mean there's a cast
with bags of potential here, even J.Lo could have been a great choice if
she'd channelled her Out of Sight performance, Donald Westlake aside,
this could have been pure mindless entertainment of the highest order.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>Taylor Hackford man. Fucking Taylor Hackford. Shoddy lazy directing at best.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/broken-city/">Broken City</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/allen-hughes/">Allen Hughes</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Very little of this movie works. It's a schizophrenic piece that doesn't
know whether it's a neo-noir detective story or a political thriller. I
love to watch Mark Wahlberg but this is one of his worst and most
uninteresting films to date. The dialogue is pretty bad throughout but
coming out of the mouth of Catherine Zeta Jones it's especially
dreadful. I've never been particularly impressed by the movies of The
Hughes Brothers but it seems that when one of them works on their own
the quality drops even further.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-runaways/">The Runaways</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/floria-sigismondi/">Floria Sigismondi</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This movie is actually pretty dreadful. It's a terrible
biopic, it's a terrible music biopic, it's a terrible coming of age
story, its a terrible punk movie, it's a terrible feminist movie, it's a
terrible movie about the exploitation of teenagers. I only watched this movie for Michael Shannon anyway so I got what I deserved I suppose.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/summer-window/">Summer Window</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/hendrik-handloegten/">Hendrik Handloegten</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Yes, I am complaining at being suckered in by the presence if Hoss and
the soft science fiction angle of the plot, a soft science fiction time
travel story that's been told a thousand times before with different
variations sure; but still nothing interesting was done with the
concept, nothing was at stake and I certainly didn't care whether the
movie ended in a positive or negative manner for the protagonist, as
long as it ended and ended soon.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-good-day-to-die-hard/">A Good Day To Die Hard</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-moore/">John Moore</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Quite possibly the worst movie ever made. Ed Wood has nothing on John
Moore and Skip Woods. I would rather watch a Len Wiseman movie instead
of this it's that bad. At least Taken 2 had some half decent action
scenes, this just has some zooming cameras and gratuitous car crashes. I
will watch another 300 movies this year and I won't see anything close
to being this awful. I saw Mickey Rourke in Java Heat and had a better
time than watching Die Hard 5. I'm going to make a T-Shirt of that and
send it to Bruce Willis.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/take-this-waltz/">Take This Waltz</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/sarah-polley/">Sarah Polley</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>If this movie had a face I would want to punch it in it. If Michelle
Williams character existed in real life I would make sure I was never in
the same location as her because she is so mentally unstable I'd be
afraid of inadvertently getting caught up in one of her frequent bursts
of tears over nothing. She's afraid of connections. This film is afraid
of subtlety and undertones and is filled with painfully obvious
metaphors and symbolism and a constant colour correction that hurts your
eyes and so many more problems. </i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/joy-ride/">Joy Ride AKA Road Kill</a> (2001) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-dahl/">John Dahl</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Holy shit this is awful. JJ Abrams wrote this?! John Dahl directed it? Not my kind of movie in general but with Dahl helming I hoped for more. I
like Steve Zahn on occasion but in this instance he makes Paul Walker
seem talented. Waste of time. Waste of $26m too.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Really Very Good Actually</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WIvv-yWAiTr8mpa00x1Aapkxg1eo24aMCLVeGYupKcecJA4fFQj8Wvh5gBu5M9fMWwRK9njn_vBypGPk4scbtTUIoXMGx50kMqjHaC8SDom4WKY9jlyy4hoLMFMVEYLObCBp3W31bNg/s1600/king+of+the+hill+reprise+dirty+dozen+behind+candelabra+jess+moss+cache+dogtooth+lornas+silence+serious+man+atmen+bug+soldier+of+orange+jennifers+body+last+seduction+two+lane+blacktop+home+sonbahar+prefab+people+police+adjective+festen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WIvv-yWAiTr8mpa00x1Aapkxg1eo24aMCLVeGYupKcecJA4fFQj8Wvh5gBu5M9fMWwRK9njn_vBypGPk4scbtTUIoXMGx50kMqjHaC8SDom4WKY9jlyy4hoLMFMVEYLObCBp3W31bNg/s640/king+of+the+hill+reprise+dirty+dozen+behind+candelabra+jess+moss+cache+dogtooth+lornas+silence+serious+man+atmen+bug+soldier+of+orange+jennifers+body+last+seduction+two+lane+blacktop+home+sonbahar+prefab+people+police+adjective+festen.jpg" title="king of the hill reprise dirty dozen behind candelabra jess moss cache dogtooth lornas silence serious man atmen bug soldier of orange jennifers body last seduction two lane blacktop home sonbahar prefab people police adjective festen" width="540" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/soldier-of-orange/">Solider of Orange</a> (1979) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/paul-verhoeven-1/">Paul Verhoeven</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This is a classy and intelligent wartime biopic that suffers from some
of the same flaws that all pictures of this type suffer from; a large
cast of characters that get lost in the wide scope, an episodic plot,
details left out or glossed over for the sake of brevity, that kind of
thing but not to any major detriment.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/bug-2006/">Bug</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/william-friedkin/">William Friedkin</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Horrible, shocking, mesmerising, the kind of cinema that is so far
removed from the staid comfortable lifestyle most of us live that your
jaw will drop repeatedly (if you manage to raise it to begin with,) you
will want to vomit several times, if you think on it too hard you may
find tears have sprung to your eyes and the whole time your brain is
screaming, fighting to unscramble what you're seeing, to put a label on
it and quantify it as a metaphor or several metaphors even, a statement
about something, anything, just so long as you can classify it and deal
with the fall out in a more comfortable manner.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/home-2009-2/">Home</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ursula-meier/">Ursula Meier</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Idyllic family unit, living in the countryside, next to an abandoned
freeway. The freeway is reopened and their lives change forever.</i><i> I expected a movie with this concept to be a little more surreal,
instead this is a political message film posing as magic realism
disguised as kitchen sink drama.</i><i> I cannot even pretend to know what this movie is a metaphor for but I
would hazard a guess at the perils of modern life, the planetwide
disaster that is technological pollution, mental illness, the importance
of family.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/cache-hidden/">Cache</a> (2005) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/michael-haneke/">Michael Haneke</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>An interesting psychological drama bordering on horror that holds your
attention throughout by not explaining anything. Well played Heneke as
that was obviously your intention. But much like American horror movies
this is populated by stupid people who don't behave like normal people
when faced with these scenarios. </i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/reprise/">Reprise</a> (2006) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joachim-trier/">Joachim Trier</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Joachim Trier is a very interesting director. He takes a little of the
Amelie gimmick and rubs it in a heavy dose of coming of age realism to
create a sobering yet joyful experience filled with poetic visuals and
somehow succeeded in making a quite lovely film despite it being is
debut.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/jess-moss/">Jess + Moss</a> (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/clay-jeter/">Clay Jeter</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Jess + Moss really is like a book of beautiful moving photographs with words and music added for effect. A perfect example of Appalachian poverty and the rich life (however mythical) of the inhabitants.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/police-adjective/">Police, Adjective</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/corneliu-porumboiu/">Corneliu Porumboiu</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Police, Adjective is a minimalist police procedural film that follows
the hard work of one man trailing a teenage boy on suspicion of drugs
offences that is at the same time a portrait of post-Communist Romanian,
a discussion of the nature of police work and the law, alienation and
the effects of being a policeman on the policeman. Mesmerising from the first six minute silent tracking shot of the cop
following the teen and doesn't let up through meals, meetings and
stakeouts. I couldn't help but enjoy it and even now I find it growing
on me further.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-prefab-people/">The Prefab People</a> (1982) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/bela-tarr/">Béla Tarr</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Bela Tarr started off making social realist cinema? Unlike Ken Loach, Tarr isn't using the medium to highlight the failings
of society, instead he seems to be highlighting the faults of humanity, the
internal conflicts which when externalised cause further interpersonal
conflict, in this case the memories of a struggling married couple with
two children in 1980 Communist Budapest. It's far from perfect but it is exactly the kind of film making I take great pleasure from.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/breathing/">Breathin</a>g (2012) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/karl-markovics/">Karl Markovics</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Breathing might be the debut feature from actor turned director Karl
Markovics but it is such an assured piece of cinema that I can't see it
being his last. I admire his directorial style a great deal, he sets his shot, locks his
camera and allows his actors to do what is needed to get a strong
performance out of them. First time actor Thomas Schubert is wonderfully
expressive as the protagonist, allowing his eyes to do a lot of the
work as he deals with a range of emotions and new experiences, most
notable grief, guilt and fear. As Peter de Lane frequently says, it's
all in the eyes.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/a-serious-man/">A Serious Man</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/joel-coen/">The Coen Brothers</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I will always remember being the only person laughing in the cinema when
this was released and the strange looks I got from other people as they
left. Brilliantly funny, superbly shot. One of the Coen's best films.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/dogtooth/">Dogtooth</a> (2010) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/giorgos-lanthimos/">Giorgos Lanthimos</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Much like the work of Haneke you can take a thousand different
readings of this film, you can believe it is a political statement, you
can see it as an allegory, you can even watch it as a documentary of an
evil man but if you watch this film and aren't affected or moved, even
if it's to nausea, you probably weren't paying attention.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>Cinema like nothing else I've experienced so far.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/jennifers-body/">Jennifer's Body</a> (2009) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/karyn-kusama/">Karyn Kusama</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This must be one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood movies
of recent times. This is not a horror movie, it's not even supposed to
be scary. Diablo Cody's script is hilarious from start to finish and is
very deliberately deconstructing the high school horror genre, just not
in a Cabin in the Woods way. It is so well made that it makes Megan Fox
look like she put in a good acting performance. All of these characters
are real, wait the goth kids are not real, highly stylised versions of
real kids with a completely made up slang (which I happen to think is
genius of Tolkien like proportions) but real in an unreal situation. Oh
man, Adam Brody is so fucking brilliant as the lead singer of the devil
worshipping indie band he deserves his own spinoff movie/TV series and a
role in every movie ever made from here on out.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/two-lane-blacktop/">Two-Lane Blacktop</a> (1971) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/monte-hellman/">Monte Hellman</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A quite wonderful road movie that deserves its cult status.
Existentialism and all natural performances from non-actors and a superb
Warren Oates as their counterpoint. Considering the year of creation you can read metaphor and symbolism in
to just about every scene if you so choose but even taken at face value -
a story about men and the road - it is a film that entertains on all
levels from start to finish.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/lornas-silence/">Lorna's Silence</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/luc-dardenne/">The Dardenne Brothers</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Very cool. A thriller of sorts, told in the realist style with
incredibly natural performances. My first experience of the Dardenne
Brothers was quite something. A look at immigration issues within the
European Union at present without the hysteria applied by the media.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-dirty-dozen/">The Dirty Dozen</a> (1967) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/robert-aldrich/">Robert Aldrich</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson and Jim Brown have enough punches in them to
take down an entire country on their own in most movies but when you
back them up with nine other men Hitler stood no chance!</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-celebration/">Festen</a> (1998) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/thomas-vinterberg/">Thomas Vinterberg</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Festen is quite clearly the best film made under the Dogme '95 guidelines, not
just for the visceral nature of the storytelling but the way Vinterberg
made the obstructions, the restrictions, the vow of chastity work for
his film. It seems like all other Dogme directors actively sought out
loopholes but Vinterberg embraced the challenge and it shows in the
quality of the finished product.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/autumn-2008/">Sonbahar</a> (2008) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ozcan-alper/">Özcan Alper</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Quality low budget world cinema from a strong new voice worth keeping an eye on. Packed with beautiful vistas and long moody takes without dialogue it is
the use of ambient noise, or at times a lack of, that most impressed.</i> </blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/the-last-seduction/">The Last Seduction</a> (1994) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/john-dahl/">John Dahl</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This movie is all about Linda Fiorentino. A great modern noir with a kick ass bitch who doesn't take shit from nobody as the protagonist/femme fatale. It really was an Oscar worthy performance opposite the guy who would go on to direct Battleships.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/king-of-the-hill/">King of the Hill</a> (1993) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/steven-soderbergh/">Steven Soderbergh</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This film should have crowned Steven Soderbergh's career and marked him
as a true great of American cinema and yet almost nobody has seen it.
If, for example, this had been one of those remarkable pieces from John
Huston during his renaissance we'd all have heard it mentioned as a
modern classic whenever a critic wants to wax lyrical about the majesty
that cinema should strive to always achieve.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/behind-the-candelabra/">Behind The Candelabra</a> (2013) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/steven-soderbergh/">Steven Soderbergh</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Douglas and Damon are marvellous, calling them career defining
performances sounds rather absurd considering the age and previous body
of work from both of them but if this movie is not regarded as a true
watermark against which all their work is judged in future I will be
very surprised. And then there's the work of Rob Lowe which is almost
show stealing.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Masterpiece Cinema</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhPki5PqddbVSGz0Adh8qBizXTv1vHfLIjOM-rKbxhl-NPdzAkdjALPP1FwJL1vDdGnY4Nm9zFkF1cqcbTltVW6mngdzo_hP7BYBGOa1Ld6OhIHbR29uBsDuqxb3WE_fNTmoiZGHPBhc/s1600/unforgiven+damnation+wake+in+fright+weekend+empire+strikes+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhPki5PqddbVSGz0Adh8qBizXTv1vHfLIjOM-rKbxhl-NPdzAkdjALPP1FwJL1vDdGnY4Nm9zFkF1cqcbTltVW6mngdzo_hP7BYBGOa1Ld6OhIHbR29uBsDuqxb3WE_fNTmoiZGHPBhc/s640/unforgiven+damnation+wake+in+fright+weekend+empire+strikes+back.jpg" title="unforgiven damnation wake in fright weekend empire strikes back" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/wake-in-fright/">Wake In Fright</a> (1972) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/ted-kotcheff/">Ted Kotcheff</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A truly brilliant example of Australian cinema. A nightmare that piece
by piece strips back the civilised veneer of one man and demonstrates
the dark animal nature at the heart of us all. Adapted from the
masterpiece of Australian literature by Canadian director Ted Kotcheff
this was the first time Australia and Australians were authentically
depicted in cinema, and it really is brutally honest.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/weekend-1/">Weekend</a> (2011) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/andrew-haigh/">Andrew Haigh</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Andrew Haigh's debut feature makes me want to scrap every script I've been working on and question just what it is I want to achieve with my life. This love story is charming, funny and moving, told with quite stunningly simple direction in what were surely cramped working conditions and quite perfect natural performances from the two leads. It's near perfect independent cinema that I can only dream of matching some day.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/star-wars-episode-v-the-empire-strikes-back/">The Empire Strikes Back</a> (1980) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/irvin-kershner/">Irvin Kirshner</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Han gets frozen in carbonite and Luke loses his hand. Come on, what's not to love?</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/unforgiven/">Unforgiven</a> (1992) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/clint-eastwood/">Clint Eastwood</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I can't remember the last time I gave a full 10 out of 10 rating to a film on first viewing but Unforgiven is just that good. There are cinematic lists of shame, if you haven't seen Unforgiven then
it should be at the top of yours. This is one of the greatest films ever
made and it is obvious from the opening minutes. Nearly perfect in
every way. I doubt there's a better western or ever will be. I shall not
discuss the ins and the outs, the whys and the wherefores, there is no
point, this is a film over 20 years old now and still it shines as s
beacon of light for all that a genre picture can be. Every single person
involved in this film did their jobs to the best of their abilities.
Between the incredibly intelligent script from Peoples and the sublime
directorial vision of Eastwood we have been granted a glimpse in to the
strengths and failings of mankind and the inevitability of our
expiration.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/film/damnation/">Damnation</a> (1988) Dir. <a href="http://letterboxd.com/director/bela-tarr/">Béla Tarr</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Add me to the list of this man's admirers, I'm hopelessly smitten and
was from the very first shot. I'm told Damnation is Bela Tarr's
breakthrough film, the moment he first utilised his now trademark style
of long takes composed of beautiful cinematography and very little
dialogue, but there's a fair amount of the social realism he began his
career with too, forming some kind of poetic social realism that
contrasts misery and desperation with heart stopping beauty.
Mesmerising, unique cinema that will surely not be to all tastes.</i></blockquote>
<i>Over on Letterboxd I discovered that I've been shitting on people's childhoods with by dislike of Runaway, anyone got any favourites from when they were kids that they want me to shit on in June? Comment on that or anything else that my recommendations inspire you to say, below or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/bbbgtoby">@bbbgtoby</a>.</i> blahblahblah Tobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370451386116555733noreply@blogger.com9