Flipside Movie Emporium

[Danny Baldwin]

Yeah; the big one was purely caused by the stupid "city rules," or whatever you'd call them. A hunter, who was lost in the woods for nearly two days, let off a flare gun so someone would find him. They did. But since it was dusk, it was "too dangerous to let a helicopter put it out." They let it burn. Ugh. Nutty thing going on; the one that was five years ago came really close to my old house, but this one is insane. The air is cleaner now, but truly, it was the cleanest in the movie theatres. Man oh man.
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Danny Baldwin

View My Reviews

[Mark Dujsik]

10/27 - 11/2

Friday the 13th Part 2 (Miner, 1981)

Scary Movie 3 (Zucker, 2003)

This Is Spinal Tap (Reiner, 1984) (repeat)

28 Days Later (Boyle, 2003) (repeat)

I was sick this week, so I didn't get to go out at all. I'm feeling better now, but rehearsals for Philadelphia Story start tomorrow. Don't think this month is going to be much better.

I guess I'm not a big fan of the Friday the 13th series yet. I liked the sequel better than the original, though, and call me crazy but that cloth bag over Jason's head is much scary than the hockey mask.

I love Spinal Tap. I really do. I might convince my roommate to watch it this week, so I can see it again.

28 Days Later is better the second time around, and I actually laughed a lot at Scary Movie 3 (review pending).

EDIT: Added link to review of Scary Movie 3.
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"Film lovers are sick people."

--Francois Truffaut

10 Best Films of 2006

Mark Reviews Movies

[Danny Baldwin]

Ten this week; top that. Back to school though; I've got Owning Mahowny from Netflix, Revolutions ond Wednesday (hopefully), and bought both Hulk and Whale Rider on DVD to watch again. I've got quite a linuep going now.

Must See

3rd Viewing of: Halloween

Recommended

Veronica Guerin

Y Tu Mama Tambien

The School of Rock (barely)

Second Viewing of: Charlies Angels: Full Throttle

Cable Worthy

Chasing Papi

Willard (barely)

Not Recommended

A Man Apart

Daddy Day Care

Die Die and Rot in Hell

Scary Movie 3

Yes, I've added to the catagories. I like that last one though too much to boot it.
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Danny Baldwin

View My Reviews

[the night watchman]

10/26-11/1

I Walked With a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943) This Val Lewton flick starts off a little slow, but picks up considerably in the second half. The walk through the sugar fields delivers some nice frisson, and I loved the music during voodoo ritual.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Seigel, 1956) One of my favorite 50s horror flicks. This and the ?78 Philip Kaufman remake are a couple of rare movies that can still deliver chills no matter how often I see them. The body on the pool table always gives me the willies, as well as the strange ?town gathering? at the bus station.

Alien: The Director?s Cut (Scott, 2003) Less a ?director?s cut? -- if we take the phrase to mean a reinstatement of the director?s vision over studio mandates -- and more a rethinking of pacing and narrative development. It?s essentially the same movie, but more tightly paced and with a better flow. I was also happy to see two outtakes reinserted, specifically the alien transmission and the arrival of Ripley and Parker at Brett?s death. It?s also nice to see the cocoon scene back in the cut.



The Eye (2002, Pang Brothers) Effectively spine-tingling Asian ghost flick. I?d heard a lot about this movie and admittedly went it skeptical, but it delivered. The last third seems to realize the need for a plot, and sort of dumps one in (although, admittedly it?s foreshadowed in the first hour), changing the pace and the tone, and resulting in a lessening of tension, but it still remains a solid chiller for my money.
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

[the night watchman]

[beltmann]

10/27 ? 11/2

A short work week allowed me to have a good movie week:

Beyond Borders (Campbell, 2003). Isn?t this just Lara Croft jet-setting from one political hotspot to another? The way Campbell exploits the various locations as a travelogue of suffering is beyond borderline?it crosses right over into indecency.

A Bucket of Blood (Corman, 1959). A weird parable about the price of art, both psychological and physical. Dick Miller is wonderful, and the movie works as a witty parody of Beatnik pretensions.

Murderous Maids (Jean-Pierre Denis, 2000). Based on the real story of the Papin sisters, it is a nasty, depressing story, but one with complex psychological dimensions.

Blind Spot: Hitler?s Secretary (Heller, 2002). As a 21-year-old woman, Traudl Junge found herself taking dictation for Adolf Hitler, eventually staying with him right through to the final bunker. She has spent a lifetime feeling guilt for not knowing the full extent of the Holocaust--essentially, guilt for being an accidental, ignorant accessory to mass murder--and agreed to sit down, at age 78, to tell the stories of her experiences. The movie is badly, sharply edited, and consists strictly of video footage of Junge's talking head, occasionally interspersed by white titles on black background. No claims for its "cinematic" skill can be made. Yet the story is worthy, even if it is too rambling, too dispassionate.

Radio (Tollin, 2003). Viewed as a parable for kids, it hits the mark just right. Veering close to the edge of mawkishness, this feel-good, crowdpleasing moral lesson never quite crosses over into insufferable, and Tollin, aided immensely by Ed Harris, at times shows surprising restraint.

Casa de los Babys (Sayles, 2003). Less about adoption than exploitation (of maternal instincts, of legal processes, of political activism). When it comes to Sayles I'm a true believer, but this seems like one of his slackest efforts.

Veronica Guerin (Schumacher, 2003). Schumacher essentially reduces Guerin?s quest to a fast-paced thriller about suave journalism, but I was okay with that. Despite the overlong, overwrought final minutes, this is a crisp tribute shot on evocative locations, and filled with expressive, credible actors.

Le Cercle Rouge (Melville, 1970). Not the equal of Melville?s Bob le Flambeur, but still one of the definitive tough-guy heist flicks.

He Who Gets Slapped (Sjostrom, 1924). Sjostrom?s The Wind is one of my favorite pictures, but this melodrama about a self-loathing circus clown owes more to Lon Chaney than to Sjostrom.

The Little Shop of Horrors (Corman, 1960). "Bring me some more chow!" This is a movie that understands--and loves--its own goofy premise, scoring nearly all of its points through its bizarre, well-toned sense of humor.

The Body Snatcher (Wise, 1945). Boris Karloff is an aggressive, menacing grave robber, supplying cadavers to a doctor performing clandestine experiments. Bela Lugosi is here, too, but clearly playing off the bench.

The Last Broadcast (Avalos, 1998). Easier to dismiss than write about.

Suspiria (Argento, 1977). The best Argento I?ve seen, although that?s not saying much. All it has going for it is visual design, but since this may be one of the most expressive, delirious nightmare doll houses ever put on film, that's nearly enough. The story is painfully basic, and sometimes completely abandoned; Argento's main interest--at the expense of acting, dialogue, characterization, and even terror--is in the color and light plays, and I found myself admiring the deep reds, minty greens, etc. throughout, Each room has its own high art, abstract design. The violence may be suspenseless and superfluous, but the colors are magnificent.

The Wasp Woman (Corman, 1960). That wacky Roger!

Jump Tomorrow (Hopkins, 2001). A few minutes in I started sensing similarities to Jorge, a short film I really like, and to my surprise this turned out to be a feature-length expansion of that short senior thesis by Hopkins. (I had no idea when I rented it!) Like a bewitching wizard, he throws disparate elements into the pot, adds a pinch of toad's tongue, and conjures a comedy quite unlike any other. The story concerns George, a Nigerian man about to enter a pre-arranged marriage when he meets a young Latino woman , and befriends a jilted Frenchman who encourages him to follow his heart rather than his sense of duty. Is the reserved George capable of a big romantic risk? To find out, we must endure/enjoy Hopkins' good-hearted attempt to merge '30s screwball, French farce, Tati, and surrealism into all of a piece. Frankly, it took a few days for me to realize the impact this road comedy made on me.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (Hirsch, 2003). In South Africa, the battle against apartheid was aided immensely by freedom music, and this documentary tells the history of those songs and the activists that used them. The subject is certainly worthy, and Hirsch asks the right questions, but I was annoyed by the overbearing sense of victimhood cachet.

Of those, I?d highly recommend Le Cercle Rouge, He Who Gets Slapped, Bucket of Blood, and Little Shop of Horrors. I?d recommend, with reservations, Murderous Maids, Veronica Guerin, Jump Tomorrow, and maybe Suspiria, but only to genre fans.

Eric

[beltmann]

[Michael Scrutchin]

[Mark Dujsik]

[Danny Baldwin]

[matt header]

I've seen no Jason movies and no Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Pretty sad for a movie buff, I think - I'll have to get right on that. (I have seen ALL of the Halloween movies, though, and I have no idea why - the first and H20 are my favorites, though not nearly equal in quality.)

[matt header]

Here's mine:

"Contempt" (Godard) This was the first time that I've seen this or any other Godard movie, and I'm very impressed: he gives experimental style and emotional intensity equal value, evidenced by my favorite scene in this movie, in which the married couple argue across a lamp that keeps on turning on and off, while the camera slowly pans between each of them separately. Complex, powerful, sad and quite funny (especially in its depiction of the American producer); I wonder about the tragic ending, though, although it provides a unique correlation to the Greek tragedy movie-within-a-movie. A-

"Peeping Tom" (Powell) Subversive and really creepy, with a nervous, twitchy, delirious performance by Carl Boehm as the misfit who murders women with a blade equipped onto his tripod. Intense and well-drawn, with a tone that's morbidly suspenseful but also darkly funny; the best horror movie I've seen in a while. A-

"The Station Agent" (McCarthy) Saw a screening of this recently, and I'd really recommend it: its potentially mawkish plot (alienated dwarf finds redemption with goofy and carefree coffee vendor and depressed woman mourning the loss of her son) is done realistically and Peter Dinklage, as alienated Finbar, gives a somberly magnetic performance. At times predictable, but at other times very human and warm. B+

"High Fidelity" (Frears; 2nd viewing) Great comedy - Cusack is actually believable as a sometimes-asshole, surprisingly, but the movie is just as sweet and unique as the book it's based on. B+

"The Exquisite Hour" (Phillip Solomon) Brilliant short film contains shots of a man on what seems to be his death bed as grainy, animalistic images flow in front of him - apparently his last visions before death. Somehow, it seems like what he sees is exactly what one would see upon death. Indescribable, really; I don't know how you could find this one, though (I saw it for a film class). A+

"Spiders in Love: An Arachnogasmic Musical" (Martha Colburn) Viciously feminist animation in which animated spiders with female faces play with large animated penises and then, apparently, mutilate them. Disturbing as it is, I don't really have a problem with the grisly subject matter; the restless, annoying, overindulgent feel is what put me off. D

"Bread and Roses" (Loach) Quietly powerful tale of Latino janitors in an American office building striking for better wages. This is the first movie I've seen by Ken Loach, and if all of his other movies are like this one, then claims about him being anti-American seem unwarranted; it's a strong critique, definitely, but an analysis of a society that's rarely examined, at least from this viewpoint. B

"Psycho" (Hitchcock; 6th viewing) As good as always. A+

"Juliet of the Spirits" (Fellini) The worst I've seen by Fellini, a director I absolutely love. I've only seen his earlier works, and I hear that his later stuff is poor and self-indulgent; this, supposedly, marks the start of his descent, and I can see that. Giuletta Masina gives an excellent and sweet performance, but she seems self-guided: Fellini, maybe, is more concerned about elaborate visual pageantry than his movie's theme about sexual submissiveness (that's what I interpreted, anyway). Sometimes, Masina's/Fellini's hallucinations work to add to the movie's demented charm; sometimes, it's weird for the sake of being weird. B

"Soundtrack" (Barry Spinello) A short film composed of lines and shapes dancing in unison to a hand-scratched soundtrack. Fun, energetic, and excitingly abstract. A-

"Glass" (Leighton Pierce) Distorted shots through glasses as they are being filled with water don't necessarily form a solid narrative in any way, but give this seven-minute film a dreamlike, hazy, and mysterious quality that I can't quite describe. As an exercise in feel and atmosphere, it's practically unmatchable. A

"Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" (Cohen) I was really turned off by the way that Cohen turned the life of one of history's cinematic legends into a syrupy, corny, very routine action film/romance/drama/the underdog wins!-type bio. Perhaps that was the point, to make Lee's life seem determinedly and unabashedly cinematic, but it in a way trivializes the very real mystery of the man. Jason Scott Lee is quite good, though, but he couldn't save a movie I grew to be really disgusted and bored with. D

"Animal House" (Landis) The first time I've seen it, and I laughed a lot: my favorite joke may be the marching band that ends up jammed into an alleyway, too dimwitted to realize that there is a wall in front of them. Raucous, raunchy, and silly, but its "gross-out" humor is more humorous than gross. Belushi, Tom Hulce, and nearly the entire rest of the cast give great comedic performances. Too goofy to resist. B+

"Murder, My Sweet" (Dmytryk) A very average film noir, in my opinion. The dialogue in this Raymond Chandler mystery doesn't crackle so much as it moves in fits and starts; there are some good one-liners, but they are one in many. Dick Powell, I don't think, has the necessary gruffness to play a film noir hero; Bogart, Cagney, or Mitchum could have made this work. The supporting cast is quite good, and the usual dark shadows make it fun to watch, but I have already forgotten most of it. (Will anyone here ridicule me for liking Animal House more than a well-respected film noir?) B-

[beltmann]

Isn't Animal House respected as a comedy at least as much as Murder My Sweet is respected as a noir? I actually really like Murder; I think it does wonders for Dick Powell's straight-laced image. Certainly not one of the great noirs, though.

Eric

[beltmann]

[matt header]

I've never felt a hatred for a movie so passionately as I have for "Hollow Man," a movie that wasn't critically reviled by most people. But I find everything - EVERYTHING - that is wrong with Hollywood is in that movie.