plato's cave seventy eight (being a film journal)

12.12.2018
Alan Clarke - The Firm - 1988

In 1994 the great filmmaker/professor Mark Lapore insisted I see the Alan Clarke retrospective at the MFA. I did and I saw the light. This one in particular left a strong impression. For years I got sick of telling people to see this great film with Gary Oldman and have them say "you mean Tom Cruise". Perfect film and beautifully put together, Clarke was a truly gifted artist. Strange but I couldn't find the film on imdb.

12.13.2018
Sydney Pollack - The Firm - 1993

Speaking of which, I watched the Cruise film too. Had not seen since it came out and I then honestly hated it. It actually is not a bad film, good white knuckle kind of ride. Gene Hackman is as always spectacular. Not sure if I would watch again or think about it much.

12.16.2018
David Lynch - The Straight Story - 1999

Another film I had not seen since it came out, in the movie theater I believe. This is one of Lynch's best films, so subtle for him yet full of his signature moves for the true initiates of his work. The bar scene (image above) is some really powerful and emotional stuff. Richard Farnsworth was quite the heavy actor.

Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather - 1972

Of the handful of VHS tapes I had in high school, The Godfather One and Two were in there and were often viddied on our early 1990s shite television. Over the years I have watched this every five years or so and I was up for a screening, plus my wife had yet to see it. As usual "The Prince of Darkness" floats through my mind the entire screening.

12.17.2018
Steven Knight - Locke - 2013
A little boring of a film but worth seeing for the Tom Hardy performance. Great photography as well.

12.18.2018
Anthony Mann - The Far Country - 1954

I use to have the James Stewart: The Western Collection boxset and would watch the Mann films pretty frequently. Great films to watch over and over. William H. Daniels cinematography and Walt Brennan, John McIntire, Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, and Jack Elam doing their business. Nothing better.

12.19.2018
Anthony Mann - Bend of the River - 1952

Another gem of a Mann/Stewart western. Arthur Kennedy is a strange actor, their buddy business is a bit uncomfortable but adds to the greatness of the film. Kennedy often plays a sob or morally corrupt person. Good stuff.

12.20.2018
Robert Altman - Gosford Park - 2001

Had only seen this once when it came out. Very lovely film, a little hard to follow which is a bit problematic. One of those films you have to watch often (like Miller's Crossing) to have the details make sense. I am use to Altman's dialogue being obscured and having multiple viewings bring the meanings to the foreground but here I am not sure how well it works as it is more names thrown at you rather than sound or words. Surely one of those films to see more than once with a solid cast.

12.21.2018
Michael Cimino - The Sunchaser - 1996
A Cimino film I hadn't seen. Only made it 20 minutes through, a bit of a dog with some bad music.

Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity - 2013

Second time seeing this but first time on a big screen. The photography by Emmanuel Lubezki is unreal, the first long shot your jaw hurts from hitting the floor so hard. Not Cuarón's best film but surely a great once to watch with much of the music being rather stunning. Ending could be modified in my opinion but still a film to watch more than once.

Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter - 1978

Vilmos Zsigmond as cinematographer in Cimino's great film staring the late and goddamn great John Cazale along with Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, John Savage, Christopher Walken, and George Dzundza. Cazale had that true screen magic. Perfect film that one can watch many times over the years. My father served in the Marines in Vietnam, this film he showed me when I was practically in diapers. 

12.22.2018
Peter Farrelly - Green Book - 2018

Double feature with this and The Favourite. This film maybe was a bit light but I really enjoyed it and was ready to watch again when it ended. Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini are some of my favorite actors. They did a great job, beautiful film to look at as well.

Yorgos Lanthimos - The Favourite - 2018

Saw this in the theater today. I have seen most of Mr. Lanthimos' films, was looking forward to it. The trio of actors brings this film together quite nicely, especially love Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz. My one major problem with this film was the way it was shot. The wide angle lens panning was just so ugly to me visually, I had trouble getting past it. Even many of the static shots just looked unappealing.  I understand wanting to show off the architecture/interiors but the look it gave the film felt like kitsch to me. Also it just was too "Barry Lyndon", like he made an ersatz version of the great film. Not without interest though.

plato's cave seventy seven (being a film journal)

12.6.2018
Ariel Vromen - The Iceman - 2013
Second time seeing this, I enjoy the Michael Shannon performance.

Ben Affleck - Gone Baby Gone - 2007
Have seen this a couple of times, mostly a pretty good film.

12.7.2018
Terrence Malik - The Thin Red Line - 1998

My favorite Malik film, have seen this many times over the years. Purchased bluray and christened our new screening room with a viewing. Photography by John Toll and music by Hans Zimmer, Charles Ives (The Unanswered Question), Gabriel Fauré, Arsenije Jovanovic, Arvo Pärt, and Francesco Lupica. I hadn't thought of the very nice CD of Jovanovic's work which I plan to listen to this week.  Great soundtrack! I include an image of Elias Koteas as he just one hell of a great actor.

12.8.2018
Andrey Zvyagintsev - Loveless - 2017

From the director of The Return from 2003. The film starts with some breathtaking winter photography by Mikhail Krichman, and a window shot not unlike Josef Sudek. The film is just beautiful to watch. The plot and characters were a bit grating on me, a couple of Russian yuppies neglect their kid and he runs away or is taken. So many melon farmers like this in the world I find I don't want to watch movies about them, but definitely worth watching as Zvyagintsev is a serious filmmaker.

12.9.2018
Mike Judge - Office Space - 1999
Saw this was streamable and decided to give it a go as I was very tired and wanted something with a bit of humor. Stephen Root makes this film worth rewatching.

12.10.2018
Ted Post - Hang 'Em High - 1968
Early Western with Clint Eastwood. I use to watch Westerns quite often but have not as much in the last few years, so going through some of the lesser known classics. This one is problematic but has some good moments, Eastwood is dirty sob as he is in so many films, a pleasure to watch.

12.11.2018
Alfonso Cuarón - Roma - 2018

Watched this in the theater with Atmos sound. Have never seen a film with sound this overwhelmingly present in a theater, sound that washes all over you like a fog. The film transcends almost all contemporary films of the last 30 years and what they have to offer with the exception of Béla Tarr and a couple of Terrence Malik films.  Of course there are contemporary art house films but jeez louise many are like going to the dentist or too steeped in the Tarkovsky/Bresson/Ozu tradition to take seriously, this one transcends time and space throughout. I find many current arthouse films (one could use Loveless above as an example) have moments but you really need to make excuses for more than half of the film to talk about it with any kind of enthusiasm. Seeing Roma reminded me of my younger days seeing The Seven Samurai or Bergman Films or Andrei Rublev on the big screen for the first time. The shock of it, the pure pleasure. 100% and no fucking around. You get older and these shocks are less frequent.

For this viewer, there was a strong connection with the Structuralist filmmakers of the 60s and 70s like Michael Snow, Ernie Gehr, Malcolm Le Grice, Chris Welsby etc, and also with filmmakers deeply moved by these films whom moved into a more narrative space like Chantal Akerman. The artifice of the film itself is overwhelmingly a character in Roma, the movement of the camera and the relationship of architecture and people to the lens and therefore to the screen and how the viewer perceives the screen. One can say artifice as film is magic and not reality. Gehr had once said there was a desire for the Structuralists to remove the person, like how landscape painters had, yet the person does creep into many of their films like Snow's <-->Back and Forth. These filmmakers really played with sound in interesting ways as well which is what made me first think of them. An example in Roma is in the ending credits where the camera looks up towards the sky.  A few airplanes fly overhead (a big theme in this film). The sound is mostly field-recording based with some flute sounds here and there.  The first few planes go over and they give no sound, and then the last one goes past and we finally hear the familiar roar. Such a delicate touch, these delicacies occurs over and over in the film. Long takes with people floating by the lens. Early in we have a series of camera pans on the second floor of his childhood house followed by a cut where the camera is suddenly on the first floor and the pan continues with no effort or shock. Deeply poetic. Oftentimes the camera is a potential observer, an absent one or a loving one. Is the camera merely observing or possibly it is Cuarón looking back to his memories with some form of observation we all dream we could have. This dream/memory state gives Cuarón something rare in the history of cinema and this film such a force.

Along with First Reformed, this is the best film of the year. Roma maybe the best of the decade.

plato's cave seventy six (being a film journal)

11.25.2018
Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester By The Sea - 2016

About the fourth time seeing this. Great film with some spot on actorshippe. Really like the palette of the film as well, an abundance of oceanic blues.

11.26.2018
Coen Brothers - The Big Lebowski - 1998

Have seen many times. Needed an old friend to take the pain away after packing, moving, and unpacking. This and a bit of wine. Pictured above is from the mesmerizing performance by Jack Kehler, a key scene in the film. Reminds me of second-hand descriptions of Jack Smith performances I heard back in college. The art made ridiculous in this film is refreshing.

11.29.2018
John Boorman - Excalibur - 1981
Early 80s films have often times been analyzed here for their magical je ne sais quoi. Another good one here, a little silly at times but visually beautiful and a great cast which includes Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart, and Liam Neeson & Ciarán Hinds in small roles. Photography by Alex Thomson is lovely. I don't know how I could have not seen this as a kid.

11.30.2018
David Gordon Green - Joe - 2013

Very nice David Gordon Green film with some heavy actorshippe by Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan. Some nasty sons of bitches in this film as well, makes you want to loose some spittle. Potentially his best film to date.

12.1.2018
Chang-dong Lee - Burning - 2018

Saw Mr. Chang-dong Lee's new film in the theater, the film is getting much praise and it is a hell of a film with a fucked up ending. Would have to see again to be more articulate about it but I really enjoyed the main actor's performance.

12.2.2018
Alice Rohrwacher - Lazzaro felice - 2018

Very much in the tradition of Ermanno Olmi's films. Great film, beautifully shot, sort of absurdity mixed with Italian realism. Second above image could have come from Erice's The Dream Of Light (The Quince Tree Of The Sun).

The Brothers Coen - Blood Simple - 1984

First film by The Brothers Coen. I have seen this many times over the years, my favorite part is M. Emmet Walsh. Such a sleaze in it, reminds me a bit of Peter Boyle in Paul Schrader's Hardcore. After having watched their films many times over the years, I noticed many connections between films that are in a way overly simplistic but potentially well thought out and sophisticated. Like in this film there is the connection with The Big Lebowski with the private dick and his little blue Volkswagen Bug. In The Big Lebowski you have Peter Stormare's Lingonberry pancakes and in Fargo his repetion of "pancakes house". Steve Buscemi mentions many times in The Big Lebowski In-N-Out Burgers and in Fargo he talks about the in and out with his call girl.

12.3.2018
John Hillcoat - The Proposition - 2005

I saw this when it came out and really took a strong dislike to it, although I loved the soundtrack (and of course the actors etc). I only remembered the look of it and the couple shots with high speed equus ian travel (not sure if that is a word) with cranked guitar and noise bursts. This second time I tolerated the film but didn't come to enjoy it like I was hoping. Not a bad film though, just possibly too much of a hodgepodge story or lacking some dynamite? Still loved the equus bit. Great acting too and the film looks fantastic.

The Brothers Coen - A Serious Man - 2009

Was listening to a podcast on the 5 best Brothers Coen films relating to the recent Adam Nayman book. My wife and I got to thinking about our favorites? Mr. Nayman said A Serious Man which I would potentially agree with. One reason being the concentration on Jewish culture which is unique for them. Also the more than usual subtle humor. This and The Man That Wasn't There are two strong contenders for best of films by them outside of the more obvious Fargo and The Big Lebowski. This film I have watched about 4 times so far, not as many as some of their others but the joys of watching a film over and over are starting to happen for me. One part I really enjoy is Richard Kind as Brother Arthur and his "just a minute"... never gets old. I hadn't realized the first few times just how many times he says that, often barely audible in the background overlapping other conversations.

12.4.2018
Boris Sagal - Omega Man - 1971

Childhood film rewatch. I like this film when he is alone but it gets a little dull when the other humans appear. Charlton Heston is a very intriguing actor, the more films I see with him as an adult the more I get to like his aura in movies.

12.5.2018
The Brothers Coen - No Country for Old Men - 2007

Another potential "best" Brothers Coen film. Have seen it around 20 times or more. I went with my mother to Marfa for a week just a year or so after this came out, more to see all the Judd works than because of my interest in film, but having seen this and There Will be Blood many times, and a recent rewatching of another great one Giant, one realizes what a great place it is visually in cinema. Even an idiot could point a camera at a bunch of dirt and get a good image around Marfa, some kind of magic there. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is another heavy film shot there.

plato's cave seventy five (being a film journal)

I just moved from one apartment to another. Very hard work. After settling in I finished writing this post and somehow it completely disappeared and I don't feel like rewriting, so here are the films sans proper description, just a small bit on if I liked or not.

11.1.2018 - 11.23.2018

Debra Granik - Leave No Trace - 2018

Good film, more raw version of Captain Fantastic. Fuck Portland and its anti-humanistic rules.

Stefano Sollima - Sicario: Day of the Soldado - 2018
Mimics tasty bits of first film.

John Sturges - The Magnificent Seven - 1960

Second time seeing this, use to the story as Seven Samurai which is a code-10 for me. Good film but not quite the same calibre. Eli Wallach!!!! Only one the same level as Mifune except for Steve McQueen and possibly Yul Brynner.

Tony Zierra - Filmworker - 2017

Portrait of the wonderful Leon Vitali who gave up his acting career and devoted himself to Stanley Kubrick, very good film and Vitali is endlessly fascinating.

Chang-dong Lee - Secret Sunshine - 2007
Really good film, looking forward to seeing his few film Burning

William Wyler - The Big Country - 1958
I love all Bill Wyler films. Second time seeing, great stuff.

Norman Jewison - In The Heat of the Night - 1967
Second time seeing this great film. Portrait of American racist melon farmers, not much different than the times we live in.

Yuri Norstein films

Norstein exhibition in Jersey City, many unseen films including a nice segment from The Overcoat. I bought a signed print of Mr. Hedgehog for my new apartment (above image).

Chloé Zhao - The Rider - 2017

Really top notch raw / natural film. Blew me away.

Coen Brothers - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - 2018

Was very excited by the Tom Waits segment and the Liam Neeson/Harry Melling segment.

Noah Baumbach - While We're Young - 2014
Not sure why I watched, don't like this blaggard's films.

Kenneth Lonergan - Margaret Extended Cut - 2011

Had seen the theatrical version a few times, finally saw this extended cut which is a very much better film, with overlapping Bob Altman style abstract dialogue-confusion and NYC as a supporting role  in a Woody Allen meets Ernie Gehr sort of way. Will never see the short version again but will stick with this masterpiece.

plato's cave seventy four (being a film journal) horror

10.28.2018
George A. Romero - Dawn of the Dead - 1978

An old classic Zombie film from Romero. Not as good as his first one but has some pretty good action in it. Music by The Goblins and Dario Argento.

Philip Ridley - The Reflecting Skin - 1990

Very low key vampire film. Not the best but a good performance by Viggo Mortensen and photography by Mike Leigh's heavy dp Dick Pope.

10.29.2018
John Carpenter - The Fog - 1980

When Halloween approaches, one must get the Carpenter films going. Beautiful film, I have wandered the area of Inverness, Bolinas and Point Reyes quite a bit and recognize many spots in this film. God's country.

10.30.2018
Sam Raimi - Evil Dead II - 1987

Had only seen parts of this a long time ago. Crazy film, I love the camera freely floating through the forest. Impressive Mr. Raimi did this, makes many of the 80s horror films seem amateur.

10.31.2018
John Carpenter - The Thing - 1982

My favorite horror film for Halloween. I include the image above as the power of the hand-held shot here is so shocking every viewing, the eeriness of it is off-putting in a subtle way, and a tiny hint of the business forthcoming. Shocking and complete fuckery.

plato's cave seventy three (being a film journal) horror

10.22.2018
Steven Spielberg - Jaws - 1975

Saw this film a few times on TV when I was 3 feet tall. A real shocker then and now, so well put together of a film. Visually stunning and some crazy shit happening. Loved every second of it.

11.23.2018
Paul Verhoeven - Starship Troopers - 1997
Giant bugs. Strange film, didn't like it much.

Sara Colangelo - The Kindergarten Teacher - 2018
Might as well be an horror film. Dumb film.

Peter Hyams - Relic - 1997
Not a great film but always a pleasure to watch Tom Sizemore and James Whitmore.

11.24.2018
George A. Romero - Day of the Dead - 1985
Not one of Romero's best, more for the die hard zombie aficionado. This coming week I plan to watch Dawn of the Dead which I remember liking much more.

Jeff Nichols - Take Shelter - 2011

Not completely a horror film but it was on Shudder. Second time seeing this, starts pretty slow but once it gets going it is a powerful film. I wish in a way that it kept going another 2 hours post apocalyptic storm as it starts getting really exciting and you want to see Shannon's visions become reality.

10.25.2018
Philip Kaufman - Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1978

I use to eat 4-5 times a year at this great restaurant in San Francisco, and almost every time would see Philip Kaufman eating and drinking there, he must really love the place as I did. Never said anything to him but I do really love his films. This is a near perfect horror film, one of the best and doesn't get much better. Also strange because working near the financial district of the city, with all the automatons there, this film seems like a documentary (cinéma vérité horror). My experience with the good old "don't call it Frisco" was pretty much non existent. As soon as I moved there (1997) it was quickly becoming a yuppy haven. The mayor at the time Willie Brown said if you didn't make 50k a year you had no right to live there. Shit, I was making like $10 an hour and going to school. Seeing films shot in SF brings back great memories though, of how lovely visually the city regardless of the young tech anti-Christs that have taken it over. This film surely feeds into this concept.

Roman Polanski - Rosemary's Baby - 1968

Two of the best horror films in a row. Never gets old even after 2 dozen or more viewings. Cassavetes is such a slimy prick in the film, just a joy to watch. Seeing it again after Hereditary really makes me rethink that film, by Devil it really copied the hell out of Rosemary's Baby.

10.26.2018
Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz - Goodnight Mommy - 2014

I couldn't get into this film. If it had been a little more unique or interesting in how it was made I could have gotten past the gore of it but it just had that ubiquitous post-L'Argent contemporary European style that I personally get tired of seeing.  The style can work well at times like with Haneke and Dardenne. Maybe a reader has a better understanding of this? The influence of Tarkovsky and Bresson is maybe too strong in films from over yonder. The near sterile long take actually has become sterile in so many of these films, people love it though.

11.27.2018
Luca Guadagnino - Suspiria - 2018

This film was almost wonderful. I was completely taken in by the charms of the direction, the acting, the music and especially the atmosphere. Guadagnino has a beautifully unique vision which is so notable partly because of the intelligent way he references the history of cinema. As an example, the trademark zoom of 60s cinema here is transformed into a more than homage artifact, becoming something of a voyeuristic character moving around the action and observing in a way the viewer cannot. Quite unlike Tarantino who uses the zoom in a jokey way that at most gets a laugh.

If the majority of this film was at a level of sophistication of say 11, there are two sections that are hovering around 4 or 5. Number one is the first scene with Dr. Josef Klemperer and Patricia; the editing progressed in a pointlessly rapid manner that just thoroughly lacked poetry and good taste. Second was the last section of the film with the Bitch's Brew sequence which indeed has some lovely bits but is mostly absurd, trashy and poorly directed, choreographed and edited. The song by Thom Yorke (which is quite good) unfortunately gives a music video quality. The partially glimpsed devil and exploding heads add some proper fuckery, but the poorly choreographed dancers that fall short of an other-worldly mayhem stand out, and the Helena Markos character is just so darn corny.

This would be one of those great current films with at least the latter sequence heavily modified, and I would argue the initial one re-edited, but it was still a pretty great film. The Thom Yorke music with the dancing sequences was really like drinking some Lagavulin, quite heavenly.

Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive - 2013

Second time seeing this. Really brilliant take on the modern day vampire film. Jeffrey Wright in another comic Jarmusch role (the other being Broken Flowers). Our hero's life rotates around vintage guitars and amps, old records and old Jags; car and guitar. Pictured above is a lovely mid 1960s Fender Jaguar and interesting to note the Marshall amp with the 2 lls taken off. Also interesting to note our hero is not a trem man. Good stuff that makes this world worth the effort. Our hero's walls are adorned with some heavy figures, from J.S. Bach to Rodney Dangerfield, he has good eclectic taste.

repair me now

Colin Andrew Sheffield - Repair Me Now - 2018

New CD/digital download on Jason Lescalleet's label Glistening Examples
Thanks for utilizing photography by Matthew Swiezynski from the area of the Pacific Northwest