Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Shadows (1959)
Bergman Island (2006)
Monday, November 8, 2010
My 20 Favorite Movies (for now)
(this is in alphabetical order because there's no way I could rank it)
1. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
2. The Big Lebowski (Ethan and Joel Coen, 1998)
3. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)
6. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998)
7. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
8. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
9. Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
10. Mullholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
11. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
12. Peirrot Le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
13. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
14. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
15. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
16. A Serious Man (Ethan and Joel Coen, 2009)
17. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950)
18. Superbad (Greg Mottola, 2007)
19. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
20. Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Director Review: BILLE AUGUST
I'm sad to say that I have not yet seen the two Bille August films that are most popular and celebrated. This is especially sad since the second time August won the Palm D'or it was for Best Intentions, a movie written by one of my favorite filmmakers, Ingmar Bergman. But I'll do what I can off the three films I HAVE seen.
First I watch one of his first films, TWIST AND SHOUT (1984), a coming of age story involving two teenage friends battling for different definitions of love. Bjorn falls in love with a girl named Anna, and through that relationship learns some of the dangers and frustrations of love. Erik's story revolves around his relationship with his mother and father. Despite his father's controling attitude and pleas against it, Erik develops a bond with her that helps her to overcome to some degree an illness she has. I like this film because it exlores so many different definitions of love. It does not although exlore any definitions of twisting and shouting, which was puzzling.
Second I watched SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW (1997). This film comes later in August's career and my only guess is that he had temporarily forgotten how to make movies. Or maybe it's just that all of the honesty and wisdom he displayed in the other two features I saw was impossible for him to translate into a thriller about an ice scientist investigating a child murder. The acting is bad. The story is unbeleivable. Skip this.
Lastly I watched the most depressing movie I've ever seen, A SONG FOR MARTIN (2001). In stark contrast to SMILLA, this film is almost too real. About a brilliant orchestral conductor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease which slowly turns him into little more than a vegetable, and the love that his wife refuses to let go of all the way to his death. Everything about their relationship feels real which I attribute to the incredible skill of the two lead actors. It's rare to come across a film the beckons me to surrender to my sadness and just feel it, and even more rare that I have almost no choice but to do so. This is a masterfully presented film.
How do I make general statements about a director who made at least two unbeleivably good movies and at least one unbeleivably bad movie? I just won't.
Next Director: JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX
First I watch one of his first films, TWIST AND SHOUT (1984), a coming of age story involving two teenage friends battling for different definitions of love. Bjorn falls in love with a girl named Anna, and through that relationship learns some of the dangers and frustrations of love. Erik's story revolves around his relationship with his mother and father. Despite his father's controling attitude and pleas against it, Erik develops a bond with her that helps her to overcome to some degree an illness she has. I like this film because it exlores so many different definitions of love. It does not although exlore any definitions of twisting and shouting, which was puzzling.
Second I watched SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW (1997). This film comes later in August's career and my only guess is that he had temporarily forgotten how to make movies. Or maybe it's just that all of the honesty and wisdom he displayed in the other two features I saw was impossible for him to translate into a thriller about an ice scientist investigating a child murder. The acting is bad. The story is unbeleivable. Skip this.
Lastly I watched the most depressing movie I've ever seen, A SONG FOR MARTIN (2001). In stark contrast to SMILLA, this film is almost too real. About a brilliant orchestral conductor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease which slowly turns him into little more than a vegetable, and the love that his wife refuses to let go of all the way to his death. Everything about their relationship feels real which I attribute to the incredible skill of the two lead actors. It's rare to come across a film the beckons me to surrender to my sadness and just feel it, and even more rare that I have almost no choice but to do so. This is a masterfully presented film.
How do I make general statements about a director who made at least two unbeleivably good movies and at least one unbeleivably bad movie? I just won't.
Next Director: JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX
Killers (2010)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
At my fourth viewing this timeless classic cements itself as my personal favorite from Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman.
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