The intimate animated feature you rarely see made in the US. The only film directed by Yoshifumi Kondo is a love story about a simple coincidence leading to a greater relationship. The plot plays like your typical teenage romance but this one has much more weight to it. It's not the beat by beat storylines Nicholas Sparks and John Green use to sell truckloads of books. It's emotional and feels more real, even with the fantasy elements (which would later be explored in The Cat Returns). The end is a little odd but it feels realistic being that the characters are teenagers who will say things without understanding them.
Roland Emmerich really seems to like World War II movies. This is more or less a 90's update of those, but with intergalactic monsters replacing Nazis. And between space battles, some excellent explosions (the sequence where the cities get destroyed is right up there with Terminator 2's nuclear war sequence for the best explosion ever in a film), and a fast pace, you can't ask for much more. This is also perhaps the best of the military vs. aliens movies because it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It doesn't feel like a commercial for the U.S. military (probably because the military isn't a major focus on the film) and you have different types of good guys in the story. It's the classic story of everyone working together to fight for the fate of the world.
And at the showing, the crowd applauded at the end. I think the studios can fix their woes by seeing how movies like Independence Day and Jurassic Park (I'd also add Twister and the Indiana Jones trilogy) can still make an impact with audiences instead of doing things like trying to redo Shaft as a comedy or Men in Black without Will Smith or a Tommy Lee Jones counterpart.
A brutal film about the death of the West. Somewhat of an epitaph of the traditional Western, Sam Peckinpah turns the normal genre conventions upside down by not focusing on the traditional protagonist (in most films of the genre, Robert Ryan's character would be the good guy) and choosing to show how depraved some of the outlaws could really be. This film must have been shocking back in 1969 with its amoral tones, graphic violence (it was originally rated X and edited down but now we can see the uncut version in theatres and on home video), and quick cut editing (Peckinpah was editing MTV-style before it even had a name). And on a big screen, so much is opened up. It's not the same film at home.
The latest viewing of this seminal film made me realize that the oft-referenced sequences with Vincent and Mia are part of the weakest segment of the film as they've been imitated so often and become what everyone thinks Tarantino is (in the same way, I feel The Royal Tenenbaums is a lesser Wes Anderson because every parody of Wes Anderson is based on that film). But no one ever seems to bring up The Gold Watch as some of Tarantino's best work. It's somewhat of the film's antithesis: subtle(r) and less about trying to bleed cool. The middle third has some intense moments that don't require dialogue or any music and the relationship between Butch and Fabienne is directed like that of a really good play (much like the first half of The Hateful Eight). It also segues nicely into The Bonnie Situation.
Or maybe the edge of Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife has worn off on me because of the rowdy crowd I watched it with loves the film for the violence rather than the technique. It's unfair to lump it in with something like The Boondock Saints or some other fratboy movie. Pulp Fiction is a film to study.
The rare case of the posthumous breakout film. Brandon Lee's final acting performance entered legend status due to his passing as the result of an on-set accident. But after the release (which only happen after Paramount dropped the film in post-production and Miramax snatched up the rights), the film managed to make Lee into a household name...and he never lived to see it happen. Also, I'm convinced Heath Ledger based his portrayal of The Joker on The Crow. Though one is an antihero and the other is a villain, both characters have a flair for theatricality and a sliding scale of charisma and madness.
As for the film itself, this is the only Crow film worth watching. The film doesn't exactly glorify violence and through editing, displays the pain and suffering Eric Draven has gone through between his death and acts of revenge. The sequels do the opposite and seemed to appeal to an audience that missed the artistic elements of the story and focused solely on the action and soundtrack.
The studio version of the drug film that producers like Roger Corman were making at the time. And it's much more fun and campy than the drive-in fare that was truly a product of its time and didn't age well. Though Fox bowdlerized much of Jacqueline Susann's story for the screen (a year later, they might have been able to release it as is with an R rating), the fact that so much time and effort was put into a film that could have been easily a throwaway project is impressive. It's more than your typical Lifetime fare. It's cinematic trash with a purpose and perhaps one of the oddest choices for inclusion in the Criterion Collection.
Also, I have to wonder if Neely (Patty Duke's character) was based on Judy Garland. The fact that Garland was supposed to be to in the film but got fired (and was replaced by Susan Hayward) due to her own issues similar to Neely's makes it seem more than coincidence.
A long-form music video that launched Prince to worldwide stardom. Prince is basically playing himself and the movie is very misogynistic (odd that Sixteen Candles from the same year is often criticized for its racism and Revenge of the Nerds is called out for condoning rape but this one gets a pass even though it might actually be worse than those two) but when it hits its high points, it hits its high points. A lot of the film's strengths come from the direction and production design, which combines the MTV style with a feel that suggests a modern-day urban Western (hell, Prince's character is named The Kid). Morris Day (whose character is much like Little Richard) could be viewed as the evil land baron/outlaw archetype while Apolloina is the hooker with a heart of gold figure.
This movie also makes me want to visit Minneapolis again.
Though known more for it being filled with cool, I think the greatest strength of Reservoir Dogs lays in its pacing and intensity. Tarantino takes the cliche formula of setting low budget movies in almost one room and turns it on its head. While many indie films of this type can be boring and obnoxious, Reservoir Dogs is neither. It's compelling storytelling and makes something new from its often old-hat premise themes (a robbery gone wrong, a close-knit gang, the mole among the group, etc.). And it seems like other Tarantino films, the lesser elements get all the focus while the deeper, better elements get glossed over. There's more than just the chrome finish that gets all the attention.
Gone with the Wind in North Africa (and Italy). Anthony Minghella didn't direct many movies (only six, plus a seventh that ran under an hour) but he was one who could do a lot of work with a romantic story. He even made Cold Mountain a good movie by cutting out all of the Confederate apologist stuff that was in the book. A lot of the film's success lays in the narrative and using flashbacks to tell the story of a pilot near death trying to remember his past and the nurse who tries to help him survive. I can see why many would level the "overrated" tag on this film (it's definitely not mainstream) and it's not as good as Fargo from the same year but it's better awards bait than something like The Reader, which tried to be the 2000's English Patient and failed. And it certainly did deserve a few of its Oscars (such as Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing).
I really need to rewatch The English Patient one of these days. I remember I was 15 when it was released, and didn't really wanna go see it, but my mother took me with her, and it blew me away, I loved it. But strangely I've never seen it ever since.
The Red Balloon is a masterpiece of short filmmaking. The only short film to win a major Oscar, Albert Lamorisse manages to create emotion from the simple subject of a balloon following a caring boy around Paris one day and their adventures together. There is an incredible beauty from the film and the ending still gets to me.
White Mane was a first-time viewing (every release seems to pair these two, from the previous Criterion laserdisc and DVD to my UK Blu-ray) and it's interesting to see how this influenced the film version of The Black Stallion, but I feel it was more homage than anything. Though not at the level of The Red Balloon, this is pleasant way to spend 45 minutes. It reminds me of a better version of some of the live-action Westerns Disney made in their early run of live-action cinema.
Lastly, a film that I enjoy but didn't get to finish. Broken Arrow is one John Woo's better American films. Christian Slater is a likeable action hero while John Travolta, possibly at his physical peak, is enjoyable psychotic. Unfortunately, I found out late in the film that my new portable Blu-ray player had a non-working AC adapter (I spend $170 on it and Sylvania can't be bothered to test a $10 adapter). I had to order a replacement on Amazon, which pains me as I'm out of town and don't want my bank account hacked again, but it's better than being SOL with some Blu-rays I can't watch now.
A pair of middle-of-the-night genre films that I can't recommend enough. Freaked is one of the most enjoyable demented films ever made and one of the strangest studio-made films. The fact that I've seen this film so many times might explain my warped sense of humor.
After a showing of the UPA version of The Tell-Tale Heart, I watched Mike Flanagan and his wife Kate Siegel's movie again. Even with praise from Stephen King and William Friedkin, it feels like this straight-to-Netflix film has been overshadowed by A Quiet Place. But its low-fi nature and Siegel's impressive debut makes this a much better bet that John Krasinski and his wife's sign language horror film from two years later. When people talk about the new horror renaissance, it's filmmakers like Flanagan that made it possible. And I now realize that I should watch The Haunting of Hill House, possible before Doctor Sleep opens.
Possibly the last of the 80's comedies where an average Joe takes on the system and one of the better ones. Scorned by critics and ignored by audiences during its release, UHF was discovered by fans of Weird Al Yankovic on home video and television (appropriately) and seen today, the film serves as the perfect time capsule of the peak era of independent television stations before events such as the formation of the fifth (and sixth) network as well as Telecommunications Act of 1996 making duopolies in the television industry possible. It is also an example of how Weird Al should have carried more movies. His style of humor on screen brings to mind a cross between Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker and a cleaner John Waters.
If Jean-Luc Godard made Shane and set it in 1980's Japan. This mix of food and passion stuffed into a modern-day Western plotline is a delightful comedy focused on characters than in many films would be seen as marginal but are more relatable than your typical glamorous Hollywood characters. These are your working class heroes teaming up to create the best ramen shop possible (with some little vignettes mixed in for good measure). Juzo Itami was regarded as one of Japan's greatest satirists and though this is one of his lighter films, you can still see a lot of his trademarks through making fun of Japanese culture and peppering in some dark humor in places. The main story also has a lot of sweetness to it.
Meanwhile, who would have guessed that the actor who played Gun would go on to be an Oscar-nominated actor appearing in some of the biggest films of the past two decades?
All three, shown in their original theatrical, pre-special edition forms. I still feel the original is the best one while as good as The Empire Strikes Back is, I don't feel it's the only one that anyone should agree with it is the best (as Reddit tends to depict the Star Wars fan community). I still think the Luke/Vader battle is better in Jedi than in Empire and there are some issues with Empire (for example, why is Lando wearing Han's clothes at the end?). Also, the Ewoks got a bad rap. How is this subplot considered more ridiculous than the first third basically being a Dukes of Hazzard episode with the Rebel Alliance?
