|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 18, 2015 21:20:25 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 17, 2015 20:29:29 GMT -5
So many. Too many, perhaps. Nonetheless, here are some.
Jurassic Park The original Star Wars trilogy Terminator Terminator 2 Robocop Aladdin E.T. The Lion King Toy Story Ghostbusters 1 and 2 Groundhog Day What About Bob? (What can I say? I loved--and still do--Bill Murray) Robot Jox Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze The Sandlot Demolition Man Back to the Future Part I and II Die Hard Speed Halloween Home Alone Wayne's World Honey, I Shrunk the Kids National Lampoon's Vacation Christmas Vacation Batman Batman Returns
... and that's enough. There are undoubtedly more, but that's the gist of my childhood.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 17, 2015 14:12:38 GMT -5
Wrote a review for my website, so I figured I'd share it here.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 12, 2015 23:32:31 GMT -5
A few months ago I cancelled my Hulu subscription, not the first time and certainly not the last. Hulu is like a pesky neighbor. You hate him. You try to forget he’s there. But you can’t help envying his swimming pool and top-of-the-line BBQ leering at you from the other side of the fence. Hulu’s Criterion film collection is that alluring pool and BBQ that forces me to grit my teeth while enjoying the amenities. So, for the moment, I am enjoying my otherwise contentious relationship with Hulu, especially after watching Spoorloos, or The Vanishing as it’s known in English
The film is about Dutch couple Rex Hofman (Gene Bervoets) and Saskia Wagter (Johanna ter Steege) who at the beginning of the film are traveling to France for a vacation. After stopping at a gas station, Saskia vanishes without a trace—fittingly, the Dutch word spoorloos translates to “traceless.” The film partitions into two distinct but similar narratives. One we follow Rex and his obsession with discovering what happened to Saskia, even three years after her disappearance. The other portion of the film follows Raymond, the film’s sociopathic killer who is played to disturbing perfection by Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, and his dealings with his own much more unsettling obsessions. As you can imagine, the two are predestined to meet (predestination being one of the interesting sub-themes of the film). What then plays out is an unpredictable, unlikely, and troubling series of scenes.
The Vanishing is an unnerving film brilliantly told through a disjointed narrative and flashbacks that forces a deep descent into the mind of psychopath. This film is like nothing you’ve ever seen—unless of course, being a 27-year-old movie, you’ve already seen it or its remake.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 6, 2015 22:57:04 GMT -5
There aren’t enough adjectives to qualify the work of Orson Welles and his impact on the film industry—and radio and theater for that matter. His first feature film, Citizen Kane, is etched, seemingly by default, into every film enthusiast’s list of all-time greatest movies. That’s not a bad first attempt in the director’s chair. After Citizen Kane, Orson Welles wouldn’t go on to be a one-and-done phenomenon, such as actor-turned-director Charles Laughton with his brilliant and unsettling film, Night of the Hunter. Orson Welles, rather, would go on to direct over 40 projects while acting in over 100 films and television shows. Whether starring in his own features, lending his voice for someone else’s work, or everything in between, he was an omnipresent, inspiring force in Hollywood for roughly four decades. But one shortcoming of being such a prolific filmmaker is that some of his or her works can be overlooked or forgotten, especially when the filmmaker’s first feature lands the hallmark of greatest film ever made. Admittedly, I haven’t seen a lot of Welles’s work, whether in front of or behind the camera, because of how captivating his most iconic efforts (Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, The Third Man) are. Well, after having The Lady from Shanghai, this week’s recommendation, nested in my to-watch list for several years, I finally have it notched under my viewing belt. The prestigious Orson Welles directed, wrote, and starred in The Lady from Shanghai. He plays an Irish seaman, Michael O’Hara, with a distinctive, thick brogue. In the beginning of the film, O’Hara meets a beautiful femme fatale, Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), who O’Hara promptly rescues from three ruffians and becomes infatuated with. Elsa tells her rescuer that she is married to Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane), infamous criminal defense attorney, who just happens to be looking for a seaman to work aboard his yacht. O’Hara, motivated by his fondness for Elsa, accepts the job invitation. Later, George Grisby (Glenn Anders), Mr. Bannister’s partner, joins the three on their aquatic outing. Soon after, Grisby proposes a plan to O’Hara to help fake Grisby’s murder, leaving O’Hara $5,000 richer and Grisby absolved of his unhappy marriage. Intending to use the money to run away with Elsa, O’Hara agrees. The rest of the story plays out in an unpredictable bout of twists, turns, and whodunits The Lady from Shanghai is one of many showcases displaying Welles’s versatility as an actor, as well as his virtues behind the camera and pen. Like in all of his roles, Welles completely embodies his character, a transformation that skirts the brink of complete metamorphosis. And these merits aren’t just because of his ability, for example, to emulate an Irish accent as he does in The Lady from Shanghai, but they’re in the way he carries himself, the mannerism he develops, and all the deliberate nuances he employs for each role. For me, the most indelible aspect of Shanghai, and I’m not sure if intended or not, is the way the film plays out in a dream-like, almost nightmarish state. O’Hara is the only bit of binding normalcy the film has with its audience. Nearly every character is psychologically amiss, while others are downright bizarre. It gives the audience a sense of inescapable foreboding that lingers the entirety of the film. A foreboding that ends in an unforgettable reflective crescendo that was way ahead of its time. The Lady from Shanghai from a narrative standpoint is captivating. From a technical standpoint it’s a feat. The film is a crest in a wave with few troughs.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 5, 2015 15:49:17 GMT -5
Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. Absolutely brilliant movie. Easily my favourite of the Tolkien movies. Just SO good. My favorite as well. Can't beat it.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on Jun 3, 2015 7:49:31 GMT -5
He's still Bruce Jenner.. And he's still a he. But I guess calling him a her is better than calling him "it". Future Fox News anchor here!
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 31, 2015 16:35:38 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 31, 2015 16:17:57 GMT -5
Nice thread! I do Media Studies, just finished my first assessment for this term got a grade C Love reading these! Last film I saw was yesterday, I re-watched Scream 2 Awesome! I study communication, and I've had several classes tied to the media. It's fascinating.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 31, 2015 0:09:23 GMT -5
Based on a novel written by Charles Willeford of the same title, Miami Blues tells the story of Fred Frenger (Alec Baldwin), a sociopathic ex-con recently released from prison, and his ensuing crime spree. The movie begins with Frenger traveling to Miami to begin anew or, we can assume, to restart his pre-imprisonment lifestyle. After arriving at Miami’s airport, Frenger unintentionally murders a Hare Krishna by breaking his finger—the poor chap dies from shock. Frenger later checks into a hotel where he meets Susie Waggoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a thick-witted, naive prostitute with a heavy southern accent. As a peculiar relationship develops between Fred and Susie, the investigation of the Hare Krishna killing leads Sergeant Hoke Moseley, who simultaneously displays a polarizing doggedness and indifference in his police work, to the odd couple’s abode. As the three enjoy pork and beers, Moseley mentions the murder he’s investigating and asks Frenger to stop by the police station for a lineup. Frenger, being the practical criminal he is, breaks into Moseley’s apartment and steals his badge and gun, oh, and his dentures. Equipped with police appurtenances, Frenger ups his crime ante as he flashes his shield and firearm to take advantage of their correlative authority Miami Blues is an aberrant film in that the majority of screen time is dispensed to the villain while the hero is cast to a supporting role. The more popular Falling Down operates in the same fashion. But this construction manages to capture a noticeable anti-establishment, non-conformist zeitgeist that may have been lost otherwise. Underscoring this notion is Fred and Susie’s relationship which embodies a push-pull conflict of the socially shaped idea of normalcy. Susie desires the American platitudes of a house with a white picket fence, kids, and an oven perpetually set to 350 degrees. Frenger desires anything but routineness. He has a certain Charles Bukowski air to him as he scoffs at the idea of the nine-to-five existence. And while these may sound like heavy thematic elements, they're shrouded by a fun and relaxed air that is flush with dark comedy.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 30, 2015 8:06:54 GMT -5
It doesnt look very deep. Yeah I was expecting it to be much deeper.. That's what she said.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 29, 2015 7:03:25 GMT -5
Miami Blues - 4/5
Sherlock Holmes - 4/5
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 29, 2015 7:01:37 GMT -5
Such a good horror flick. The Best Buy version comes with a pop out cover featuring the Babadook itself. Not actually a Best Buy exclusive. I bought mine from Amazon.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 25, 2015 11:15:43 GMT -5
Finally got around to reviewing this film for my website.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 25, 2015 11:13:45 GMT -5
Predator - 4/5
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 23, 2015 22:26:20 GMT -5
$6.99 at Best Buy. But I had a $5 reward certificate, so I only paid $1.99.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 21, 2015 22:03:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 21, 2015 22:00:11 GMT -5
Thanks for reading, Chris and Joker. Here's this week's recommendation hot off the presses. The Killing is a heist film, a fraction of an overworked genre. But like all of Kubrick’s films, it’s uniquely Kubrickian. This 1956 noir-crime flick is considered Kubrick’s first mature film. At just 28 years old, the precocious Stanley Kubrick exhibited the filmmaking prowess of a grizzled Hollywood auteur. The film follows seasoned criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) as he plans and executes one final score. His plan is to rob $2,000,000 from the money-counting room at a racetrack. To do so, he must enlist the help of several individuals: a crooked cop (Ted de Corsia), a professional wrestler (Kola Kwariani), a rifle marksman (Timothy Carey), and two racetrack employees (Elisha Cook Jr. and Joe Sawyer). All these pieces are necessary to an elaborate plan, but each piece introduces new risks The plan is executed with relative success, but the subsequent events are what prove to be most trying. The film post-heist reminds us that no matter how well thought a plan is, the dreaded human element can never be prepared for. It seems that Kubrick from the beginning and continuing throughout his career had a knack for reminding us that we’re all, in fact, human. Throughout the film there are flickers of what would become hallmarks of the notoriously hard-nosed, meticulous director we understand him to have been. In fact, in an interview in 1992, actress Marie Windsor, who played Sherry Peatty in The Killing, recalled Kubrick having every shot planned, sketched, and scattered across his office. “I guess that’s why we made it in twenty-one days, with very few takes,” she said. And that’s how Kubrick was: a visionary virtuoso who, like a skilled chess player—which I understand he was—knew the precise moves that would bring about so many cinematic masterpieces.
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 20, 2015 7:53:41 GMT -5
Pitch Black - 4/5 The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury - 3/5
|
|
|
Post by Parchandri on May 19, 2015 1:24:39 GMT -5
No No: The Dockumentary - 3.5/5
F for Fake - 3.5/5
|
|