First Time Viewings: September 2021

Viewed: 01-09-21

Intriguing but scattershot sci-fi from Jean-Luc Godard. Eddie Constantine plays Lemmy Caution who is a secret agent sent to destroy a super computer that controls a city called Alphaville. It's a sci-fi but nothing looks futuristic, it's more like a parallel universe. It's an odd film that might be more amusing to those that are familiar with the Lemmy Caution character from many previous thrillers as this film turns everything on its head.

I do like this film, there are many fascinating elements but I just couldn't connect with it the way I was hoping to.

7/10

Viewed: 01-09-21

Hokey and cheap looking spaghetti western doesn't offer up much to make it memorable. This film doesn't even feature a character called Django so it's obviously just trying to cash in on the name. Has some ok action scenes and isn't entirely boring so it's ok if you just want to kill some time but there's many films that fit that category.

5/10

Viewed: 02-09-21

That's one hell of a title isn't it? While the title may give away a couple of things that happen, it's more of a misdirection than anything. This isn't some schlocky B-grade film as the title suggests but an intelligent slow burning character study of a man played to perfection by the wonderful Sam Elliott. It's not so much about what he did but how he went about doing it and how it affects him. Though there still feels like a lot, we the viewers, are not privy to.

There will be many theories about what different things mean and symbolise, like the stone in the shoe or what was in the box? I like discussion like that. There are a lot of outlandish ideas throughout this film and not all of them work, but this film will stick in your mind.

This is certainly an ambitious project for first time writer/director Robert D. Krzykowski and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next but I like that he pushes the envelope with ideas and can come up with a clever and original story in this day and age where so many films are sequels or recycled stories from other films.

8/10

Viewed: 02-09-21

Fascinating short film from the director of "The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot". Well made and promises a continuation of the story which has not happened as yet unfortunately.

8/10

Viewed: 02-09-21

Ok film of a magazine editor who has a breakdown after having a hectic work schedule and partying ways and decides to change her name and move away to lead a more simpler happy life. In the process she meets the love of her life but doesn't come clean with her past but as always the past catches up with her.

Hedy Lamar plays the woman and this film is all about her. She is photographed perfectly and puts in a great performance to boot. Unfortunately when the past catches up with her the film quickly dips in quality. So many characters do stupid things just to propel the film to an unsatisfying conclusion. It's a shame because there's plenty of sharp dialogue throughout the film to keep you entertained for a decent stretch.

This is actually the first film I've seen with Hedy Lamar and it's worth watching for her performance.

6/10

Viewed: 03-09-21

One of the many video game adaptations of the 90's and they were all pretty terrible. This movie is terrible but I think the film makers were aware how terrible it was so they made it as campy and cheesy as possible and had some fun with it. It certainly feels that way watching it. It's a train wreck but I had some fun watching it and the visuals are comically interesting so for entertainment value alone it has some merit.

6/10

Viewed: 07-09-21

Well Gus certainly had some balls to remake the Hitchcock classic. A lot of people seemed to have already written this film off before seeing it but while I do find it a little pointless it's really not a bad film. Here we have a mostly shot-for-shot remake that only adds a few little flourishes that simply could not be shown in 1960. Also the opening sequence shot from a helicopter and flies straight into a hotel room is great to watch as this is exactly what Hitch wanted to do but technology didn't allow it at the time.

The one problem with a shot-for-shot remake is that you're essentially copycatting somebody else. The great shots you're filming, somebody else thought of first for the exact same thing. You're not creating something, you're reenacting something. The original was innovative, this one feels like it's simply tracing the lines. This one is an experiment. An experiment that possibly only Gus Van Sant could (almost) pull off.

This version is still entertaining, and even though we all know how it ends, still had me interested throughout. I loved William H. Macy playing the private investigator and Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen were excellent as the sister and boyfriend of Marion Crane. Anne Heche was good as Crane but I definitely preferred Janet Leigh. Vince Vaughn was the weak part of the cast for me. I do like him as an actor but I don't like how he decided to play Norman Bates. He gives a creepy vibe straight off the bat whereas Anthony Perkins was awkward and nervous but likable which I feel really added to the overall feel of the original. This is the thing that really separates the two films, Anthony Perkins' sublimely pitch perfect Norman Bates against Vaughn's performance that's better suited to a b-grade thriller.

One thing I thought of was what if the original never existed and this is the original. Is this a good movie on its own merits taking the context out of it? In my opinion, yes. But we live in a world where the original does exist, so while it's far from being a failure, it's also not quite successful because we've already seen somebody do a better job of it.

6/10

Viewed: 11-09-21

Low-budget sci-fi from John Sayles could've been a terribly corny film from someone else But Sayles' script is so clever and funny and Joe Morton's central performance as a mute alien in a human body is played to perfection. This film has a lot to say on society that is still quite relevant today. The dialogue is sharp and all the actors give it their all. The card trick scene on the subway is especially great and perceptive. This may be a low-budget film but in no way is it cheap.

8/10

Viewed: 14-09-21

This is a stunning debut film from Jean-Jacques Beineix. The plot is almost secondary to the wonderful images on screen, but the fact that the plot is full of intrigue, suspense, humour and interesting human interaction pushes this film to masterpiece status.

You could say this is a chase film as the lead character is in possession of 2 tapes that are unrelated to each other but has crooks after him to get the tapes, but the tapes are essentially MacGuffins to set the plot in motion. Even without the plot I would've been happy to just watch these people live their lives as they are very interesting and well written characters.

With such a strong debut it's a shame that director Beineix never again reached these heights. I've seen Betty Blue and it has quite the cult following but it's nowhere near as good as this. He only made 4 films other than these two, I've haven't seen them but none were well received. Still, I'm quite intrigued to watch them eventually.

10/10

Viewed: 19-09-21

Moody and atmospheric vampire film with a nice touch of humour here and there. Jim Jarmusch creates a wonderful ambience with this story of centuries old vampire lovers and how they get by in modern times. The two central performances by Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston are first class and John Hurt is sublime in his small role. There is style galore by Jarmusch but also a screenplay full of substance so you get the best of both worlds. This is up there as one of Jarmusch's best films.

9/10

Viewed: 19-09-21

Crazy black comedy about parents turning on their kids and trying to kill them. The film focuses on two parents played by Nic Cage and Selma Blair and their children. The build-up is so wonderfully executed that when the action gets going it doesn't quite live up to the hype but it's still a lot of fun. If this film went a little deeper and ended on a powerful note then this could have been something special in the black comedy canon but alas, it will just have to settle for just being good entertainment rather than an absolute blast of a joyride.

7/10