Jeepers, i've got a lot to catch up on. I've decided to bundle certain films together if they are based on a theme or if they were extra shorts within the main film~
1) Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964): A 3 hour film consisting of 4 ghost stories. This was absolutely fascinating! None of the stories link, so it made it a lot easier to watch in fits and bursts. The use of silence throughout made the film much more tense. This is highly recommended!
2a) I Flunked But... (Yasujiro Ozu, 1930) &
2b) The Lady And The Beard (Yasujiro Ozu, 1931): I do believe that Ozu is one of the masters of cinema, but I must admit that he is one of those masters you really have to be in the mood for. Because my BFI Player free trial was limited, I wanted to watch some of the more obscure Ozu films and sadly I really struggled with them. Some bits were pretty interesting and watching early Japanese cinema is pretty fascinating, but I guess you really have to be in the mood for it.
3a) Drive A Crooked Road (Richard Quine, 1954): Film #3 of my Columbia Noir boxset and definitely the best one. Mickey Rooney plays a shy mechanic who falls in love with a femme fatale in order to be involved in a bank robbery. The setting and acting is very strong for a B-movie! Also on the disc was the Three Stooges short
3b) Higher Than A Kite (Del Lord, 1943). This was absolutely amazing; it was *so* funny and for a 15 minute short, so much happened it could've easily been a feature length film and still be fascinating.
4) A Personal Journey With Martin Scorcese Through American Movies (Martin Scorcese & Michael Henry Wilson, 1995): After the documentary on Italian cinema, it was a no brainer to do the American cinema documentary. This was probably more *fun* to watch in comparison. I love Italian cinema, but like the films of Ozu, you really have to be in the mood for it, whereas old school American cinema is a little easier to get into. Again, Scorcese's passion shines through.
5a) U2 Go Home - Live From Slane Castle (Hamish Hamilton, 2002), 5b) U2 - Live At Red Rocks (Gavin Taylor, 1983) &
5c) U2 - PopMart live at Mexico City (David Mallet, 1997): U2 are one of my all time favourite bands and so the opportunity to watch some classic concerts were a no brainer. YouTube have been streaming 3 concerts (with the 2016 show next week) and it was fantastic to see 3 different sides of U2. The Red Rocks show was probably the best one as it's only recently i've truly gotten into the pre-Joshua Tree works. Still - any U2 is great U2 :)
6a) Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (Tom McLoughlin, 1986) [RW]: Sometimes I just want to watch something that's a no-brainer. This was a lot more fun than I remember! I think by this point, a bit of humour has creeped through and it kinda works in a way? It's not scary in the slightest, but it's good fun. Less can be said about
6b) Lost Tales From Blood Camp (Andrew J. Ceperley, 2009). Each Friday the 13th film has a contemporary short film which is basically a "modern" version of Friday the 13th. Sadly, they are shit. I think I have a problem with modern horror films shot digitally; it just feels cheap and nasty. I miss the sort of grotty 35mm sort of days haha.
7a) 5 Against The House (Phil Karlson, 1955): Film #4 of the Columbia Noir boxset and whilst this is still a pretty good film, it is a step down from 'Drive A Crooked Road'. It was pretty cool to see Kim Novak in an early role. The Three Stooges short on this disc
7b) Sweet And Hot (Jules White, 1958) is a major step down from the previous one. Maybe by the late 50's, the shorts might have worn its welcome? At any rate, this was a massive disappointment. In this case, 14 minutes felt like a lifetime.
8a) Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982): This is a documentary based on the Herzog film 'Fitzcaraldo' and it was fascinating. I had no idea Mick Jagger was supposed to be in it! The shoot of this film is pretty legendary and it was a smart move to document it. Also on the disc is
8b) Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank, 1980). The name and premise alone is among the greatest of all time! Sadly, whilst it was an interesting film, I was super sad that there wasn't as much shoe eating as I was hoping
9) Requiem For A Vampire (Jean Rollin, 1971): This is my 3rd Rollin vampire film and like the last two, it feels like a variation of a theme! But it's still quite impressive that there is barely any dialogue for the first half of the movie! It's actually pretty shocking how much nudity is in it for its time too!
10) Room 666 (Wim Wenders, 1982): This is a short documentary where a dozen film directors have a roll of 8mm film and have up to 10 minutes to discuss the future of cinema. Werner Herzog and Steven Spielberg were pretty scarily accurate of what is commonplace 40 years later!
11) Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski, 2013): This is a very interesting mockumentary filmed on grainy VHS about people making computer chess programmes and pitting them against each other. It's a very strange film, but there is quite the hypnotic quality to it!
12) The Colour of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1969): I'm going to say this right off the bat...I have *no* idea what the heck this film was about...it didn't matter; it was absolutely amazing. It felt like a hazy daydream or the father of David Lynch or Alejandro Jodorowsky (or the grandson of Luis Bunuel!)
13) Visions of Esctasy (Nigel Wingrove, 1989): This short was interesting if only for the notoriety that this was the only film in the UK ever to be banned on the grounds of blasphemy. I have to say that it was kinda boring and tedious. I'm not exactly religious, so I didn't find it offensive, but I must admit to finding the whole thing kinda pointless.
14) Mifune: The Last Samurai (Steven Ozazaki, 2015): This documentary was narrated by Keanu Reeves and have Scorcese and Spielberg as talking heads! Quite an interesting documentary which has made me want to watch all my Akira Kurosawa films but at 80 minutes, felt a little too short for my tastes.
15) Plan 9 From Outer Space (Edward D. Wood, Jr, 1959): Shockingly, i've never seen this film before! I've always known of its notoriety and believe or it or not, I kinda enjoyed it! It's certainly inept and poorly made, but the passion of Wood is infectious. Frankly, i've seen hundreds of worse films!
16) The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (Macoto Tezuka, 1985): This is a musical which I found quite a joy to the point i've ordered a physical copy! The plot is basically a thin thread to link the songs together, but it's so wacky and over the top (maybe the son of Tokyo Tribe), that you can't help but be swept away from it!
17) Deconstructing Harry (Woody Allen, 1997): Another great Allen film and very clever in that multiple characters are manifestations of the main character. It's for that reason it's a bit hard to explain, but when you watch it, it makes sense. Not Allen's best, but certainly a solid effort!
18) Women Make Film - A New Road Movie Through Cinema (Mark Cousins, 2018): Sadly, I couldn't finish this in time before the documentary was wiped off (I got through 10 of 14 hours). It was a fascinating journey of over a century of films directed by female film makers. It truly proves its point that there are great films all over the world that don't get its due. It's a shame I missed the last 4 hours, but hey-ho~
19) Breezy (Clint Eastwood, 1973) [RW]: It's been a decade since i've seen this and it's just as good as I remember. This was Eastwood's first film he directed he didn't star in (although he has a cameo somewhere). It's based on a carefree young hippy falling in love with an older man who is stuck in his way of lifeless parties and never feeling alive. It's possibly a little naive, but it's well acted and the time passes nicely!