The Syndicate

Skyfall

I think this is definitely the best Bond film in my opinion, great performances by Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, and Javier Bardem. Great cinematography and direction also.

9.5/10

Dead Man

4/5 Stars

This is the second Jarmusch film I've seen, after randomly coming across Coffee & Cigarettes and absolutely loving it. Dead Man is a hypnotic existential crawl through black and white forest landscapes peppered with dialogue made up of 90% non-sequiters. It's also an ostensible Western, although it mainly mines the stereotypical "Wild West" atmosphere for social commentary, surrealism, and a contradictory sense of absurdity and spirituality. Neil Young turns in some amazing work with the simplistic score; a single distorted reverb laced electric guitar chord never felt as appropriate in a movie score as it does here. I enjoyed the first half more than the second. The opening scene with the train car and Crispin Hellion Glover was probably my favorite part of the entire movie; I immediately rewatched just that sequence after the credits started rolling. Overall, the pacing felt intentionally sluggish at times. I appreciate and recognize what Jarmusch was trying to do, but it doesn't change my fact that I checked my phone throughout and almost fell asleep at one point.

Ricochet wrote:

A Person wrote:If you liked Arrival check out his other movies, Enemy is what I saw first from him and it blew my mind. Mongoose did not like it though >:(

What impresses me the most about Enemy is that it is not only a great mindfuck of a standalone movie, it is also a great adaptation of a mindfuck of a book (Saramago's The Double). The adaptation is overall straightforward, but Villeneuve also finds and includes an extra psychological layer, that completely works.

IMPROMPTU DENIS VILLENEUVE RANKINGS:

1. Enemy
2. Arrival
3. Polytechnique
4. Prisoners
5. Sicario
6. Incendies

I just use Letterboxd instead

I've recently gotten into Letterboxd and logging films and whatnot. So, I bring you the first installment of a hopefully regular series in which I rate the films I've seen over the course of the week and give a review in ten words or less.

Link to my letterboxd for those interested:
https://letterboxd.com/eddie330/films/diary/

Fallen Angels (1995) by Wong Kar-Wai
★★★½

Chungking sequel. Hit and miss. Astounding cinematography, but less emotion.

Dumbland (2002) by David Lynch
No Rating

Profane, crude, and surreal YouTube animation from before YouTube existed.

Vampire’s Kiss (1988) by Robert Bierman
★★★½

Every time Cage speaks, I laugh. Nothing else noteworthy here.

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) by Derek Cianfrance
★★½

Ryan Gosling = Great, Bradley Cooper = Alright, Dane DeHaan = Garbage.

Night on Earth (1991) by Jim Jarmusch
★★★★

L.A. > Helsinki > NYC > Rome > Paris. An experience, albeit inconsistent.

Battle Royale (2000) by Kinji Fukasaku
★★★½

Outdoes the premise due to strong characterization. Kitano is excellent.

The Nice Guys (2016) by Shane Black
★★★

Inherent Vice/Lebowski for Dummies. Gosling excels at physical comedy.

Carol (2015) by Todd Haynes
★★★★

Stellar performances/cinematography. A little too subtle. Prefer Haynes' Safe.

Days of Heaven (1978) by Terrence Malick
★★★★

Attempting to climb Malick learning curve. Perfect length, gorgeous visuals.

Barton Fink (1991) by the Coen Brothers
★★★★★ - Rewatch

One of my favorites. Coens do Lynch; absurdity of creating.

Naked (1993) by Mike Leigh
★★★½

Thewlis is magnificent. Everything else is repellant. Should've eliminated characters.

Ricochet wrote: ↑Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:04 pm Carol and Safe have nothing in common. More like Carol and Far from Heaven.
Place Beyond was turd.

Safe is the only other Todd Haynes' film I've seen, so it's my only frame of reference. Despite strong female performances and direction, I agree that there wasn't much commonality between them, which was a little disappointing for me, because of how much Safe sticks in my mind. I plan on revisiting Carol, with different expectations. Some of it is my own personal preference, which isn't really aligned with 50's Douglas-Sirk-type dramas.

Place Beyond had a hell of a premise and structure, just wish the execution wasn't a complete letdown, Ryan Gosling's third excluded. I'd love to see that same idea done well.

The films I watched this week were all pretty death-obsessed, albeit in very different ways.

Nocturnal Animals (2016) Directed by Tom Ford
★★½

Ford's dialogue sucks. Cast makes a valiant attempt. Dumb fun.

Harold and Maude (1971) Directed by Hal Ashby
★★★★½

Charming goddamn movie. Little too much Stevens. Perfect tone/performances.

Le Samouraï (1967) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
★★★½

Style over substance, but what style! The definition of suave.

Alternate Gif Review:



Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) Directed by Quentin Tarantino
★★★½

fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun but disposable

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) Directed by Quentin Tarantino
★★★

fun fun fun fun fun fun but even more disposable

Amour (2012) Directed by Michael Haneke
★★★★½

Enjoyably felt like I was being suffocated for two hours.

These ten-word reviews are getting harder to do, especially with films like the last one on this week's list, meaning that there's some sloppy syntax I've had to employ.

Drive (2011) Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
★★★

Fun neon-noir until it devolves into barely justified violence.

Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) Directed by Agnès Varda
★★★★

Creating meaning from minutia, doom from everyday encounters. Empathetic verite.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) Directed by David Lynch
★★★★★ - Rewatch with friends who hadn't seen it

HELLGODBABYDAMNNO! I FOUND SOMETHING!

Woman in the Dunes (1964) Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
★★★★

Sand's never been scarier. More you dig, more you're trapped.

Strangers on a Train (1951) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
★★★★

Hitchcock's most darkly playful. Impeccable photography, and Walker is iconic.

Eastern Promises (2007) Directed by David Cronenberg
★★★½

Viggo single-handedly turns this film into a pulpy treat.

Blow Out (1981) Directed by Brian De Palma
★★★

Unfortunately fails to live up to influences, despite stellar ending.

Love Exposure (2008) Directed by Sion Sono
★★★★½

Love/empathy winning over organized religion. Most manic film ever.

how bout that blade runner, eh?

i ranked it 4/5 stars, but still think it's merely the fourth best Denis Villeneuve film

I have a hastily assembled top four movies on Letterboxd made up of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, F For Fake, Barton Fink, and L'avventura.

===

Very much so, and I've really appreciated your regular movie ramblings. Somehow, the small island of Nauru has more access to the latest Cannes contenders than where I live, so I like using your posts to try and figure out what's worth watching for myself, whenever I can get around to seeing them, of course. Screw G-Man's negativity, I'm here for whatever pretentious film talk you want to lay down.

Still not willing to watch Satantango. I have principles, y'know.

i think we should just do the logical thing and lock Ricochet and G-Man in a thunderdome, watch them fight to the death, and the winner gets to have their movie opinions be the objectively right ones.

F For Fake is an Orson Welles quasi-documentary about art forgery that turns into giddy postmodern fuckery, which is something I have a taste for. *casts sideways glance at the copy of Infinite Jest sitting on his desk*

if Spiderman Homecoming was entirely about Hannibal Burress' gym teacher character, it would have been the best superhero movie ever made

[mention]Ricochet[/mention]

https://www.avclub.com/cat-lovers-bewar ... 1822214041

Okja and Mudbound were both pretty fantastic, and I’m hesitantly hyped for Duncan Jones’ Mute.

But there’s certainly a whooole lotta meh in there.

Ricochet wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:48 pm The pacing, scenery and talking are so torpid, minimalist and crudely edited that, had this movie been made a year later, I would have suspected the moviemaking of some Twin Peaks: The Return adoration.

first of all, how dare you