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oliver9184 · 03-27-2010, 07:57 AM

Little Caesar 7/10 is, along with The Public Enemy (9/10) and Scarface (7/10), one of the three films that kick-started the gangster genre soon after sound first came to the movies. Here urbane, sophisticated and generaly non-gangster Edward G Robinson plays Rico Bandello, the callous lowlife loosely based upon Al Capone with "a chip on his shoulder the size of Chicago". He's not as watchable as Cagney, more so than Muni but more classic Hollywood gangste than either. His voice was surely the inspiration for Chief Wiggum.

Chronos 6/10 is a "non-verbal/non-narrative" time-lapse photography film made by Koyaanisqatsi photographer Ron Fricke. It, and its music, pales by comparison to that film but there are some effective moments. It was made for Imax and it's score would be higher had I seen it there instead of on my little oldfashioned TV.

Carnal Knowledge 7/10 is a sex-drama/comedy from 1971. Except for in The Shining, which sort of doesn't count, I haven't ever seen Jack Nicholson loose it so brilliantly as here. I know that everyone already knows it but he is amazing. At one point Art Garfunkel tells him "you can't make fucking your life's work." Forty years later I think Jack would beg to differ. And he precedes his iconic "Here's Johnny!" line from The Shining, saying "Here's Bobbie!" instead, but delivering it in exactly the same way.

Teeth 7/10 is a film I had heard of and been drawn to for some time but was too scared to watch. It's about a girl who has two sets of teeth: one in her mouth and one between her legs. She's in high school and starts off as an advocate of sexual abstinence, then starts hanging out with a boy she likes and gets a little curious about her body. The vagina dentata is as ancient and primal and universal a fear as the incubus/succubus legends and my fear was that this film would explicitly render the horror in a completely sober and "realistic" way - that may have made a better film but it's not something I could have easily watched. But I heard by accident that Teeth plays for laughs most of the time and is pretty much just a throwaway teen horror/comedy. It turned out to be true: there are plenty of laughs, the horror is absurd and/or funny and the film's tone is light.

Taken 5/10 is a silly, brainless thriller starring Liam Neeson as a loving father who has to find his daughter, who has been kidnapped by some dangerous Europeans. Luckily Neeson's career in the CIA (or whatever) prepared him for just such an eventuality as this, and he comes to Paris to kick Albanian criminal ass and rescue his little girl. Empire said it more effectively than I can: "If you took Commando and replaced all its humour (intentional or otherwise) with snarling hatred, you’d end up with Taken - a risible male-re-empowerment fantasy set in a world where a fatal headshot and rescue from a life of inter-racial rape is the best way to win back your daughter’s heart."

Perrier's Bounty 9/10. If you liked In Bruges, and it seems like most people did, you'll like this film which I hadn't heard of before I entered the cinema. It's laugh out loud funny, fast-moving and really poignant. With its amused and detatched narration it's like an Irish Big Lebowski. Cillian Murphy, who I've not seen lead a film before, is a revelation, totally believable and much more likeable than Colin Farrell's manchild in In Bruges, and the rest of the cast - including Jim Broadbent and Brendan Gleason - is excellent. There are large holes and larger coincidences in the story but they don't matter because the film skates over them so fast.

Layer Cake 7/10 is a British crime film from 2004 starring Daniel Craig and Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). It's a slickly made and easy to watch film that suffers by way of a disinteresting and unsympathetic lead character (Craig) and an ending which is so egregious and hollow it feels like the film just slapped you and said "fuck you for watching this".

Bug 8/10 is a very interesting horror film from 2006 starring Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon. For a long, long time you sit watching, wondering where the fuck it's going. It takes ages to set itself up but it all pays off and it's refreshing to see that in a film that's not thirty years old. Not a surprise when you consider it's adapted from a play and the director's none other than William Friedkin. The two leads are impeccable in demanding roles and give tremendous performances.

03-27-2010, 07:57 AM	#3781 (permalink)
oliver9184 Psycho	Little Caesar 7/10 is, along with The Public Enemy (9/10) and Scarface (7/10), one of the three films that kick-started the gangster genre soon after sound first came to the movies. Here urbane, sophisticated and generaly non-gangster Edward G Robinson plays Rico Bandello, the callous lowlife loosely based upon Al Capone with "a chip on his shoulder the size of Chicago". He's not as watchable as Cagney, more so than Muni but more classic Hollywood gangste than either. His voice was surely the inspiration for Chief Wiggum. Chronos 6/10 is a "non-verbal/non-narrative" time-lapse photography film made by Koyaanisqatsi photographer Ron Fricke. It, and its music, pales by comparison to that film but there are some effective moments. It was made for Imax and it's score would be higher had I seen it there instead of on my little oldfashioned TV. Carnal Knowledge 7/10 is a sex-drama/comedy from 1971. Except for in The Shining, which sort of doesn't count, I haven't ever seen Jack Nicholson loose it so brilliantly as here. I know that everyone already knows it but he is amazing. At one point Art Garfunkel tells him "you can't make fucking your life's work." Forty years later I think Jack would beg to differ. And he precedes his iconic "Here's Johnny!" line from The Shining, saying "Here's Bobbie!" instead, but delivering it in exactly the same way. Teeth 7/10 is a film I had heard of and been drawn to for some time but was too scared to watch. It's about a girl who has two sets of teeth: one in her mouth and one between her legs. She's in high school and starts off as an advocate of sexual abstinence, then starts hanging out with a boy she likes and gets a little curious about her body. The vagina dentata is as ancient and primal and universal a fear as the incubus/succubus legends and my fear was that this film would explicitly render the horror in a completely sober and "realistic" way - that may have made a better film but it's not something I could have easily watched. But I heard by accident that Teeth plays for laughs most of the time and is pretty much just a throwaway teen horror/comedy. It turned out to be true: there are plenty of laughs, the horror is absurd and/or funny and the film's tone is light. Taken 5/10 is a silly, brainless thriller starring Liam Neeson as a loving father who has to find his daughter, who has been kidnapped by some dangerous Europeans. Luckily Neeson's career in the CIA (or whatever) prepared him for just such an eventuality as this, and he comes to Paris to kick Albanian criminal ass and rescue his little girl. Empire said it more effectively than I can: "If you took Commando and replaced all its humour (intentional or otherwise) with snarling hatred, you’d end up with Taken - a risible male-re-empowerment fantasy set in a world where a fatal headshot and rescue from a life of inter-racial rape is the best way to win back your daughter’s heart." Perrier's Bounty 9/10. If you liked In Bruges, and it seems like most people did, you'll like this film which I hadn't heard of before I entered the cinema. It's laugh out loud funny, fast-moving and really poignant. With its amused and detatched narration it's like an Irish Big Lebowski. Cillian Murphy, who I've not seen lead a film before, is a revelation, totally believable and much more likeable than Colin Farrell's manchild in In Bruges, and the rest of the cast - including Jim Broadbent and Brendan Gleason - is excellent. There are large holes and larger coincidences in the story but they don't matter because the film skates over them so fast. Layer Cake 7/10 is a British crime film from 2004 starring Daniel Craig and Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). It's a slickly made and easy to watch film that suffers by way of a disinteresting and unsympathetic lead character (Craig) and an ending which is so egregious and hollow it feels like the film just slapped you and said "fuck you for watching this". Bug 8/10 is a very interesting horror film from 2006 starring Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon. For a long, long time you sit watching, wondering where the fuck it's going. It takes ages to set itself up but it all pays off and it's refreshing to see that in a film that's not thirty years old. Not a surprise when you consider it's adapted from a play and the director's none other than William Friedkin. The two leads are impeccable in demanding roles and give tremendous performances.