It's been a while and i'm so behind, so instead of 10, i'm going to do all the films i've seen since the last batch (sorry for the long post; i'm listening to Blanck Mass' new album and it's 2x 20 minute songs, so good to type to!)
1) Magnum Force (Ted Post, 1973) [RW]: The 2nd in the Dirty Harry films is still a pretty strong film and focuses on the theme of extreme vigilantism; it's a shame it's still pretty relevant today with bad things happening to good people. It's a difficult film to decide which side of the fence you sit on (as most of the people killed are pimps, drug and arms dealers etc), as at what point do you stop? I like that the film was co-written by the director of The Deer Hunter!
2) Who Saw Her Die? (Aldo Lado, 1972): I'm losing patience with watching interesting films with terrible remasters; I blame the company 'Shameless' for this (almost a modern day 'Vipco'...it's not enough to release a film anymore if it looks like shit). Sadly, despite having George Lazenby (Bond!) in a giallo, I found this film to be a little too dull and pedestrian.
3) Growing Up With 'I Spit On Your Grave' (Terry Zarchi, 2019): A fascinating documentary directed by the son of the director of ISOYG. I finally watched the film last year and was uneasy with what I thought was a pretty good film. On the other hand, I can completely understand why some people think it is shocking (and to this day remains cut in the UK - although from being banned to 12 minutes cut to 1 1/2 minutes cut, more is available). There are some powerful interviews with rape survivors who found strength in the film of the woman not taking the terrible things that happened to her lying down. I'm morbidly curious to watch the official sequel 'Deja-vu' which came out last year. I hear it's terrible, but to release a 2 1/2 hour film on this subject is brave and/or foolhardy.
4) Fulci For Fake (Simone Scafidi, 2019): Another documentary on a director I admire and can't put my finger on why. Lucio Fulci's films are cheap and nasty, but because most of his films were banned in the UK, there's a forbidden fruit to it all (although all are available now with the exception of an uncut version of 'The New York Ripper'). It's a weird film in which an actor pretends to be Lucio Fulci (long since passed away) and interviews his daughter. It's not helped by not identifying who the people are being interviewed and some films are focused on more than others, but it's a novel approach to the usual talking heads method.
5) The Washing Machine (Ruggero Deodato, 1993): A late period giallo from the director of 'Cannibal Holocaust'. I have to admit a slight admiration for its sleaziness and fearless acting, but on the other hand, it's cheap, badly acted and the plot twists were so frequent, I couldn't be bothered to keep up with it.
6) Hara-Kiri - Death Of A Samurai (Takashi Miike, 2011): I find Miike fascinating in his work rate and ability to do any genre he wishes. Hara-Kiri is a very SLOW movie and at times I wished it was cut by half an hour just so it can be finished, but on the other hand, the slow pace works wonderfully. The scene where a man tries to commit hara-kiri with a blunt wooden sword for 5 minutes is excruciating to watch.
7) One Night In Miami (Regina King, 2020): If cinemas were still open, this film would've certainly been shown as part of Oscar season. As it is, I watched it on Prime (I had a free month). A (fictionalised?) portrait of key Black figures - Sam Cooke, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X and sadly an NFL player i've never heard of - spend a night in a Miami motel and basically shoot the shit. Based on a stage play, I found it a great watch. The actors did a great job and whilst not one I would go out of my to watch again, the fact it was an easy watch means I wouldn't turn it off it if were to be shown again! It's sad that this is only the 2nd "2021" released film i've seen this year...
8) Star Wars - Droids [The Pirates & The Prince and Treasure of the Hidden Planet] (Ken Stephenson, Raymond Jafelice & Clive A. Smith, 1985): This is based on a TV show with R2D2 and C3PO. My DVD consists of 2x 4 part episodes made into a "movie". You can clearly tell they are episodic as the current events finish after 20 minutes each time. I found this to be fascinating and quickly got used to the rather cheap animation. I am a fan of Star Wars, although I do find the recent stuff - whilst great - feeling something's not right. What I got from this was the sense of joy and adventure which I think the new stuff is lacking. There's a lot of heart in this I think.
9) Joe Kidd (John Sturges, 1972) [RW]: I'm re-watching a Clint Eastwood film each week and have to admit this one is lower grade Eastwood. There's nothing wrong with it; it's entirely watchable, but it's also pretty damn disposable. A western that lasts 85 minutes where stuff happens is perfectly fine on a wet Saturday afternoon, but it doesn't really stick in the memory much afterwards.
10) The Undercover Man (Joseph H. Lewis, 1949): This is Blu-Ray #2 of my Columbia Noir boxset. It is about a man trying to bring down some gangsters by convicting them on tax evasion. It's as dry as it sounds, but despite that, it was quite watchable. Thankfully, it was only 85 minutes long. On the BR was the director's short film 'Man On A Bus' (1955) about travelers on a bus in Jerusalem and how they came to be where they are. It was pretty good. Unrelated save for the themes of 'The Undercover Man' was the Three Stooges short 'Income Tax Sappy' (Jules White, 1954). Only my 2nd Stooges short (each film in this boxset has a Stooges short relating to the themes of the main film), it was massive fun! They are a nice 15 minute palate cleanser!
11) Chi-Raq (Spike Lee, 2015): An Amazon Prime exclusive film. I admire the work rate of Spike Lee and found this film fascinating. A modern day adaptation of a Greek tragedy, it combines comedy, drama, musical and maybe a couple more genres thrown in the mix. Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack are always great value!
12) Blue Film Woman (Kan Mukai, 1969): Volume #4 of my Pink Film boxset. This is a well made, but ethically dubious film. It consists of a bankrupt stock broker giving his wife up to a creditor (who then allows his mentally challenged son to rape her). After dying in a car crash and the husband also dying of a heart attack, the daughter then plots revenge. It gets points for making me uneasy at least!
13) Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (Jason Woliner, 2020): I only watched the original Borat a few weeks ago, so as I only had a day left before my trial was over, thought I should watch this too! Again, very funny, very cringy. If it helped terrible people get their comeuppance, then all the better.
14) Pass Over (Spike Lee & Danya Taymor, 2018): This is a stage play, so only 3 or 4 actors throughout the entire film. It is of two people trying to get out of their daily lives, but the threat of poverty and racism rear its ugly head. It was a hard film to watch, because the main character said the N word at least 300 times (basically every sentence). I appreciate that Black people using it to another Black person means the context is different, but when it's every other word, it just becomes silly. Otherwise a powerful play.
15) Boiling Point (Takeshi Kitano, 1990): I love Kitano, even if his films are pretty hard to watch at times. Boiling Point is a very slow film, but love that when any action comes, it comes and goes within seconds. I probably should've watched this on a night when I wasn't tired, but some great scenes stick in my mind (usually the violence which comes out of nowhere!)
16) The Nude Vampire (Jean Rollin, 1970): I've now moved onto a 6 week free trial of the BFI (British Film Institute) player/ My first film was an French erotic horror. This was a hazy daydream of a film; not much happens and when it does, it's done slowly or in a way that suggests some hallucinogenics were taken. A hazy daydream of a film, beautifully shot with a great soundtrack!
17) Woman of Yokyo (Yasujiro Ozu, 1933): The BFI player has a ton of Ozu films, so will be going through as many as possible. I admire Ozu and agree he is one of the most important filmmakers in the world, but you really do have to be in the right mood for his films. This one was a 45 minute silent movie and despite being an early film, was pretty good. Sadly, I was sleepy by this point so ironically missed some of the few text scenes, but it was well done.
18) Eyes Without A Face (Georges Franju, 1960): This is one i've wanted to watch for years and it was worth the accolades given. Despite being 60 years old, the face transplant scene is still shocking. (I find surgery scenes hard to stomach). It's beautifully shot and has an air of unease throughout.
19) Shanghai Express (Josef Von Sternberg, 1932): Of all the Sternberg/Dietrich films, this is the one I was most excited to see and it was worth the wait. Not much to say other than it's a great film - acting, set design, tension; it's all there!
20) Legend (Ridley Scott, 1985): This is an odd one. I must admit that I am not keen on fantasy films (especially dark fantasy - hence why I don't care for stuff like Skyrim, Game of Thrones etc) and for the first 20 minutes, I thought this film was very ugly; it was so over the top, it was hard to concentrate on what was going on. When it calmed down, I enjoyed this film more; especially when the demon comes along! I read that there was a lot of interference with this film to the point two versions exist. I watched the shorter one and have been told the extended cut is better. I imagine the opening 20 minutes is where a lot of interference comes from.
21) My Voage To Italy (Martin Scorcese, 1995): A 4 hour documentary from the master on the films that made him. It should be better than it is, but I think the problem is that the scenes go on for so long (up to 10 minutes at a time) that the pacing is out of whack. Most of the films Scorcese picks are from the same director and all his films are beyond depressing, so if anything, it's put me off watching them! Still, Scorcese is one of the most passionate filmmakers out there, so watching him talk is wonderful.
22) That Night's Wife (Yasujiro Ozu, 1930): Another silent film from Ozu and I think I liked this one better. It involves a father committing robbery to pay for the treatment of his sick daughter. It's an interesting dilemma and being mostly set in a (disused?) cinema makes it better.
23) Pink Narcissus (James Bidgood, 1971): This is a fascinating film done on 8mm filmed over 7 years. It is a pioneering film for the gay community and it was astonishing to watch; it's mostly silent and the plot is akin to a dream. The use of colour is beautiful and there were a couple of shocking shots (ejaculation into the camera!) which proves that there is still things out there that can surprise me.
24) 100 Years Of Japanese Cinema (Nagisa Oshima, 1995): Compared to Scorcese's documentary, Oshima's is only 50 minutes and feels a bit disingenuous seeing as a quarter of the running time is his own films! It's still fairly interesting, but we've really come leaps and bounds since then. You need more than 50 minutes to cover such a diverse range of cinema.
25) The Shiver Of The Vampires (Jean Rollin, 1971): What I said for 16) can be said here too. Sadly, I felt sleepy at parts, but frankly I don't think it made much difference... !!
26) The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926): This film was astonishing. It feels like the Grandfather of Mad Max: Fury Road. Watching this restored my faith in cinema; I am bored to death of CGI heavy films; you watch it thinking "this isn't real, so why do I care what happens here?", but here - everything has a physicality to it that 95 years on, I was gasping at bits that could've easily killed or injured the actors! What a great way to start a Saturday morning!!
), but I have a feeling either next weekend or the long weekend (Easter weekend, here in Canada), we'll get back into the swing of things :). If I can get home next Friday on time, I think I will FINALLY be able to watch Saving Ryan's Privates, as I will have 2+ hours to sit back and enjoy 