Flipside Movie Emporium

[Danny Baldwin]

[Danny Baldwin]

Ah, psh, looks like they don't have it in stock. Not surprising. Perhaps I'll finally cave in and buy that Lang set.
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Danny Baldwin

View My Reviews

[beltmann]

[Mark Dujsik]

[Jim Harper]

27/02/06 - 05/03/06

Nine Queens (dir. Fabian Bielinsky, 2000)*

The Magician (dir. Alfred Vohrer, 1965)

The Vampire Lovers (dir. Roy Ward Baker, 1970)*

The Door with 7 Locks (dir. Alfred Vohrer, 1962)

Equilibrium (dir. Kurt Wimmer, 2002)

The Premonition/Svart Lucia (dir. Rumle Hammerich, 1992)

Frankenstein Created Woman (dir. Terence Fisher, 1967)*

Room 13 (dir. Alfred Vohrer, 1963)

The Inn on the River (dir. Alfred Vohrer, 1962)*

The Black Abbot (dir. FJ Gottlieb, 1963)

The Puzzle of the Red Orchid (dir. Helmuth Ashley, 1962)*

The Hills Have Eyes (dir. Wes Craven, 1977)

Forbidden Planet (dir. Fred M Wilcox, 1956)*

Best new film this week: Nine Queens. Absolutely great. Very inventive and exceptionally well-acted. Not surprising it's ended up getting the remake treatment.

The Vampire Lovers and Frankenstein Created Woman were both very good, something of a surprise, since I'd been lead to believe they were both weaker Hammer efforts. I had suspected that Lovers would be another boring misfire like Lust For A Vampire, but it was pretty good for a late-period Hammer.

Forbidden Planet was also good too, definitely one of the best 50s sci-fi efforts I've seen in a long time. Decent special effects and interesting sets, but the acting wasn't always that good... ;)

Neither The Inn on the River nor The Puzzle of the Red Orchid were particularly good. Vohrer's a solid director and Inn boasted a great cast, while Puzzle starred Christopher Lee, but they are both lesser krimi. Room 13 and The Door with the 7 Locks are excellent examples of the form however.

[Mark Dujsik]

2/27 - 3/5

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Silberling, 2004)

Yep. One. I'd watch something tonight but Oscar party.

Anyway, I really like everything about Lemony Snicket except Jim Carrey, who sadly pretty much undermines the entire movie.
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"Film lovers are sick people."

--Francois Truffaut

10 Best Films of 2006

Mark Reviews Movies

[Danny Baldwin]

2/27 - 3/5

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel, 1956) - Glad I finally caught up with this one. It's fun.

Aquamarine (Allen, 2006) - I went to the screening purely because of the convenience of its time and location, but actually rather enjoyed myself. A breezy and slick take on cliche, convincingly executed. Color me stunned.
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Danny Baldwin

View My Reviews

[mfritschel]

A recap of the past couple of weeks:

Match Point (Allen, 2006) - overall a very solid movie, I have to admit that it had me on the edge of my seat for the majority, and it lacked all the typical Woody Allen banter.

Sideways (Payne, 2004) - a repeat viewing, but I found it just as enjoyable the second time around.

Crash (Haggis, 2005) - another repeat viewing, and I have to borrow a quote for Mark D. on this one. Best picture . . . WTF!

The White Diamond (Herzog, 2004) - after watching Grizzly Man a handful of times, its just hard for this movie to compare. It follows the same general plot emphasis, but lacks the characters and overall obsurdness of Grizzly.

Domino (Scott, 2005) - I enjoy watch Tony Scott movies for their MTV like style, but thats about all the movie had going for it, that and Mickey Rourke.

Red Eye (Craven, 2005) - The first two thirds of the movie were very strong, but once they left the airplane it really plummited into an abyss.

[Monkeypox]

Sin City - A second viewing found me liking it even less. The only person capable of selling this tripe is Willis, and the unfortunate pairing of him with Alba is so jarring he's got no chance to recover. So after two viewings, it goes from watchable to unintentionally funny. Sometimes comic books should just stay comic books, and by "sometimes" I mean pretty much all the time.
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Rattlesnake's Texas Cobra, you sonofabitch!

[the night watchman]

The Picture of Dorian Grey (Albert Lewin, 1945) - Though the drama is tarnished a bit by a narrative voice-over, this is a beautifully-photographed and compelling movie with top-notch acting. I haven?t read Wilde?s novel, but I want to now.

Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005) - I have friends who didn?t like this movie because they didn?t like the subject, Timothy Treadwell. Well, that?s sort of missing the point, isn?t it? I found him shrill and self-involved, too, but I did respect his ability to survive among the bears for over a decade, I admired the beauty of the visuals he captured, which showed a genuine love for nature, and I found Herzog?s portrayal of Treadwell balanced and fascinating. All documentaries, of course, are as much fiction as reality, and while the Treadwell who walked the planet up until a few years ago was certainly of broader and more nuanced character than 100 minutes of film can capture, I think Herzog really hit upon the essence and conflict of his subject?s personality. A fantastic film.

Toolbox Murders (2005, Tobe Hooper) - An inconsistent filmmaker makes a low-budget remake of a worthless bottom-of-the-barrel 80s slasher flick and turns out one of the best horror films in years. Who?da thunk it? While it doesn?t break any new ground, it does what most current American horror movies fail to accomplish: namely, provide an interesting story, establish characters that we actually care about, and ratchet up the suspense. In other words, it?s fun and engaging. Now, is that so hard?

Munich (Stephen Spielberg, 2005) - One of the best movies I?ve seen in a long time. It doesn?t surprise me that so many politicos and ideological-obsessives can?t seem to grasp it, or that they habitually misunderstand it -- the core problem it addresses is so fundamental it flies right under their radar. While its focus is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, its heart is nothing less than the tribalistic need of humanity to advance the group -- whether the nature of the group is religious, national, cultural, political, or racial -- at the expense of all other groups, and the peril of the individual. Beyond that, Munich is an absolutely stunning thriller, and an example of shear virtuoso filmmaking.

Menace II Society (Hughes Bros, 1993) - I saw this when it was first released, but I?d forgotten what a shocking and powerful portrait it is. It?s not flawless, but highs definitely make up for its lows.

Cube Zero (Ernie Barbarash, 2004) - Acceptably entertaining b-movie that is flawed by an ending that even the movie itself seems uncertain of, a little bit too much dystopian lollygagging in the first third, and an overindulgent and distracting performance by the villain. Not as good as the first two, but still enjoyable overall.

Kiki?s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) - This is the third time I?ve watched his movie, and only the first time I really took to it. Don?t know why I couldn?t connect the other times. Maybe I?m lightening up.

Ultraviolet (Kurt Wimmer, 2006) - Astonishingly awful piece of cinema. Blows the recent Amityville Horror and The Fog remakes out of the water for shear badness. It?s worse than both Uwe Boll movies put together. Uh-huh, you read that right.
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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

[Jim Harper]

06/03/06 - 12/03/06

Nos miran/They?re Watching (dir. Norberto Lopez Amado, 2003)*

Circus of Fear (dir. John Llewellyn Moxley, 1966)*

The Tunnel (dir. Ronald Suso Richter, 2001)*

Tattoo (dir. Robert Schwentke, 2002)

The Face of Fu Manchu (dir. Don Sharp, 1965)

The Dancer Upstairs (dir. John Malkovich, 2002)

Kwaidan (dir. Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)*

Theatre of Death (dir. Samuel Gallu, 1966)*

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (dir. Irwin Allen)*

This week's favourite: Nos miran. Excellent Spanish horror flick, in a similar vein to The Others and The Nameless. Solid acting and carefullly composed atmosphere, thankfully free of loud shocks and an allegedly astonishing twist ending. Everything The Sixth Sense could have been.

Runner-up: The Tunnel, German film, originally a TV series, about the creation of a tunnel into East Berlin to smuggle people into the west. Good script, decent acting (with two prominent members of the Downfall cast in starring roles). Slightly fictionalized, but great entertainment throughout its long running time (160 mins).

Favourite repeat: The Dancer Upstairs. Such a good film and one of the best political thrillers I've seen in years. Deserved a wider audience.

Worst: Tattoo. Great moments, but for the most part it's such a slow and dull film.

[the night watchman]

[Jim Harper]

[the night watchman]

[Monkeypox]