Bong Joon-ho Parasite 2019
(rewatch)
This second viewing focused my attention more clearly on the obsession with smell that the rich man has, a sickness so common today and brings to mind Harry Dean Stanton great description in Repo Man; "ordinary fucking people". Class oriented as critics are saying, but coming from a post-yuppie culture where everything needs to be bleach sanitized or it is unspeakable. Taking Buddhist meditation classes, the teacher taught that our minds need cultivation, as our bodies after a week of not being cleaned will reek with stink. Respect!
Jerry Schatzberg Scarecrow 1973
(rewatch)
Nothing better than a film where you can hear the camera (diner scene towards the beginning). Shot by Vilmos, great film.
Frank Perry Play It as It Lays 1972
Antonioni style sexual malaise. Beautifully jarring editing, almost ellipsis quality with many frames missing. Quite lovely to see this style of hard cut. Another film with that pleasant camera sound, as Tuesday Weld strokes Anthony Perkins hair as he fades. Heavy film with nice European style writing by Joan Didion.
Sidney J. Furie The Ipcress File 1965
(rewatch)
Michael Caine has much bird talk in this film, and a plot that often times is difficult to understand but in a Chandler way where the lack of clarity is good stuff. Very innovative use of electronic sound when they are analyzing the Ipcress File tape, and latter with brainwashing techniques. This period in cinema one often finds heavy-handed reverb on folly sounds, such as footsteps, to represent the space of architecture and reverberant sound. The techniques they used to my ear sounds artificial and overly electronic, yet this artificiality is actually something I find I look forward to in older films, the magic of cinema, experiencing the world through the many techniques that go into making a film.
Peter Weir Fearless 1993
Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez and John Turturro.
(rewatch)
Perfect film I love to watch over and over with the outstanding John Heard playing along side Jeff Bridges. Heard was one of those great underappreciated actors, especially good in Chilly Scenes of Winter, and The Sopranos.
2.4.2020
Arthur Hiller The Hospital 1971
George C. Scott film. He is wonderful in it, but film is sort of mediocre. Has some good moments, and good comedy. The rather attractive Diana Rigg plays Olenna Tyrell in GOT.
Michael Winner Death Wish 1974
(rewatch)
Becoming one of those films I rewatch fairly frequently. Great film.
2.6.2020
Stanley Kramer The Defiant Ones 1958
(rewatch)
Outstanding high contrast black and white photography with an emphasis on darks by Sam Leavitt.
Robert Aldrich The Big Knife 1955
(rewatch)
Céline Sciamma Portrait de la jeune fille en feu 2019
Saw this in the wonderful Cinerama Dome in Hollywood with Sciamma Q&A.
Terry Zwigoff Ghost World 2001
(rewatch)
2.11.2020
Hal Ashby Harold and Maude 1971
(rewatch)
Along with Clockwork Orange and a few others, this was for me as an early teen a gateway film into the world of art cinema. The film is a really unique portrait of an alternative The Bay Area; Hillsborough, Emeryville Mudflats, Colma, South San Francisco, and of course the Sutro Baths before the heavy renovation.
Robert Altman The Player 1992
(rewatch)
Not my favorite Altman film, but always enjoy the not quite accurate cinema history especially that of films with long takes by the Fred Ward character.
2.12.2020
William Dieterle Portrait of Jennie 1948
(rewatch)
Some wonderful storm photography, much like Clarence Brown's The Rains Came, shot by Joseph H. August and Lee Garmes. One of those truly magical films.
Tony Scott The Hunger 1983(rewatch)
Scott's directorial debut and early film for Willem Defoe (2nd Phone Booth Youth). Was on a plane this week and saw Mr. Defoe in first class, he said "pardon me" to my wife. Great film with some truly original editing and sound work, some similar to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner or Alien, but going in a far more extreme direction, aggressive and avant'garde.
2.13.2020
Andrea Arnold Wuthering Heights 2011
Shot by the outstandingly virtuosic Robbie Ryan, every frame of this film is alive with detail like a Netherlandish painting. The way the camera moves in and around the action is at times subtle and often times in your face. The focus work for this film is from another planet. Ryan has also shot; I, Daniel Blake, Catch Me Daddy, Wasp, Fish Tank, Marriage Story, The Favourite, The Meyerowitz Stories, American Honey, Philomena, and Sorry We Missed You.
2.14.2020
John Carpenter Assault on Precinct 13 1976
(rewatch)
1970s urban Western, originally titled The Anderson Alamo, and inspired by Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Carpenter used John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo "John T. Chance" as his editing pseudonym. Never noticed before that Officer Chaney here is played by Henry Brandon, who was Scar/Cicatriz in The Searchers. Father who takes revenge on his daughter getting shot resembles James Woods, has that classic 1970s sleaze look about him. Watched the Scream Factory Blu-Ray twice, second time with John Carpenter commentary. Stills show a real Western style shoot out.
Andrea Arnold Wasp 2003
Beautiful short film by Arnold shot by Robbie Ryan. Starting from a path cleared out by Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, and Alan Clarke, yet transforming into something very much her own. Intense business.
Edward Norton Motherless Brooklyn 2019
After reading the book, it was surprising how much Norton changed the story with his screenplay, very impressive work. A scene that really stood out was in the jazz club (that had an interior quite similar to the West Village's 55 Bar) where Norton aggressively hums along to Michael Kenneth Williams trumpet playing and dances with Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Great looking film, shot by Dick Pope.
William Dieterle Portrait of Jennie 1948
(rewatch)
Some wonderful storm photography, much like Clarence Brown's The Rains Came, shot by Joseph H. August and Lee Garmes. One of those truly magical films.
Scott's directorial debut and early film for Willem Defoe (2nd Phone Booth Youth). Was on a plane this week and saw Mr. Defoe in first class, he said "pardon me" to my wife. Great film with some truly original editing and sound work, some similar to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner or Alien, but going in a far more extreme direction, aggressive and avant'garde.
Andrea Arnold Wuthering Heights 2011
Shot by the outstandingly virtuosic Robbie Ryan, every frame of this film is alive with detail like a Netherlandish painting. The way the camera moves in and around the action is at times subtle and often times in your face. The focus work for this film is from another planet. Ryan has also shot; I, Daniel Blake, Catch Me Daddy, Wasp, Fish Tank, Marriage Story, The Favourite, The Meyerowitz Stories, American Honey, Philomena, and Sorry We Missed You.
John Carpenter Assault on Precinct 13 1976
(rewatch)
1970s urban Western, originally titled The Anderson Alamo, and inspired by Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Carpenter used John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo "John T. Chance" as his editing pseudonym. Never noticed before that Officer Chaney here is played by Henry Brandon, who was Scar/Cicatriz in The Searchers. Father who takes revenge on his daughter getting shot resembles James Woods, has that classic 1970s sleaze look about him. Watched the Scream Factory Blu-Ray twice, second time with John Carpenter commentary. Stills show a real Western style shoot out.
Andrea Arnold Wasp 2003
Beautiful short film by Arnold shot by Robbie Ryan. Starting from a path cleared out by Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, and Alan Clarke, yet transforming into something very much her own. Intense business.
Edward Norton Motherless Brooklyn 2019
After reading the book, it was surprising how much Norton changed the story with his screenplay, very impressive work. A scene that really stood out was in the jazz club (that had an interior quite similar to the West Village's 55 Bar) where Norton aggressively hums along to Michael Kenneth Williams trumpet playing and dances with Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Great looking film, shot by Dick Pope.
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