Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 02:11
(A review of
Nosferatu)
Wow, man... It is almost a 100 years old... How awesome is that! It is black and white, it is silent and yet it is totally spellbinding. I wonder how many so-called horror fans have still to watch this masterpiece? Basically, it is simply the first and ultimate vampire flick, no more no less. In my opinion and a view shared by the gross majority of the film community, it is still an amazing feature and all the vampire flicks made after that became its legacy. On top of that, not only is it a great horror classic but it is also a fine example of German expressionism. Furthermore, who was this guy Max Schreck anyway?!? He gave here one of the weirdest performances you'll ever see but it totally worked (He was so convincing that there was even this legend is that Schreck's otherworldly performance as Nosferatu was due to the fact that he was in reality a vampire. Willem Dafoe portrayed him as such, playing the vampire Count Orlok in 'Shadow of the Vampire', another movie that you should absolutely watch). To conclude, it is a great classic and it is definitely worth a look, even a must see for horror fans in specific and movie lovers in general.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 01:54
(A review of
Bicycle Thieves (1948))
To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Anyway, it is probably the most famous movie coming from the Italian neo-realist genre and since it is such a classic, I was really glad to finally watch the damned thing. Well, the first thing that stroke me was how simple the story actually was. However, even though it was a simple tale, I was actually impressed by how damned efficient it was. Indeed, I am often amazed and even annoyed by how convoluted and far-fetched the movie plots can become in our modern movies. This movie was the proof that it does never need to be this way, that you don't have to have some annoying twist or some unbelievable action scenes to make things more entertaining. In my opinion, the combination of realism and symbolism displayed here was just great and the story was sometimes rather heartbreaking. Still, I guess it is an acquired taste and I guess many modern viewers might get bored by this flick. Anyway, it remains an awesome classic, it is definitely worth a look, and pretty much a must see for any decent movie lover.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 01:45
(A review of
Cinema Paradiso)
I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, after all these years, it is still such a great movie and easily the best movie about movies. Back then, there was no television and you couldn't download the movies and you had to be there, in the movies theaters, and it was a magical experience. For me, to rewatch this flick after all these years was such a powerful experience. Indeed, I started to go to the movies when I was a little kid, back then, I was already fascinated and, after all these years, after watching maybe 6000 movies, it is still my greatest passion. This movie perfectly gave the reason why. Basically, movies are all about emotions, about dreaming, about leaving everything behind and getting involved in something bigger than yourself. Nowadays, with the streaming platforms and the download frenzy, it has become a more solitary activity but we still have the huge blockbusters in the movie theaters that provide a similar communal experience as displayed in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, it is a beautiful and nostalgic picture and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are a movie buff.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 12:55
(A review of
Nosferatu the Vampyre)
So far, it must be one of the best remakes I have ever seen. Of course, it might not have been as groundbreaking as the first version directed by F.W. Murnau but it was still a fascinating feature nonetheless. Indeed, I thought that the directing by Werner Herzorg was awesome and, in my opinion, it gave a totally different visual look on this story. On top of that, Klaus Kinski was a great substitute for Max Schreck. You might find it surprising but even though it might not be one of the most famous vampire flicks ever made, I believe it is actually one of the very best. Basically, they managed to create a great mood, reminiscent of the first version but still with its own style and flavor. Obviously, since it is rather slow, it is probably not for the impatient viewer and you shouldn't expect some spectacular stuff like you have in Francis Ford Coppola's version but it didn't bother me, in the contrary. To conclude, I think it is an amazing and underrated vampire flick, actually one of the best out there, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Werner Herzog's work.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 12:46
(A review of
Christiane F.)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. To be honest, while watching this movie again, I was actually surprised by how weak the acting actually was, especially during the beginning, but it might be explained by the fact that the actors were all very young and had never acted before. Even so, it was still a powerful and shattering movie. Indeed, even though it might not be the most hardcore movie concerning drugs, it is definitely near the top ('Requiem for a Dream' might be even worse but I need to rewatch it to make up my mind for good). Basically, there was absolutely no joy, no happiness whatsoever in this movie, just total despair and that’s something they really got right with this movie, it was how dark and gloomy the whole thing was. Actually, this movie should be some compulsory viewing for all teenagers and, if after watching the damned thing, they still want to try heroin, then they would need some serious help. That's probably the most heartbreaking thing about this movie, the fact that it involves such young kids and the fact that they picked up such young actors instead of some grown-ups made it even more crushing to behold. Anyway, to conclude, if you don't mind getting depressed while watching a movie, the damned thing is definitely worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 12:31
(A review of
The Tin Drum (1979))
I actually already saw this movie but since it was maybe 20 years ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. To be honest, the only things I really remembered was the fact that there was this weird little boy and that the whole thing really had fascinated me at the time. Well, eventually, it must be one of the weirdest WWII dramas I have ever seen. I mean, half of it was a rather straightforward but still interesting telling of the rising of the Nazis in Poland at the time and the other half was basically some kind of surrealist tale about a strange boy with some unusual gifts. Well, once again, I thought that this mix was just quite spellbinding to behold. Above all, the masterstroke was to find David Bennent to play the main character. Indeed, while watching the damned thing, I was still not able to figure out how old he was, not only because of his appearance but also because of his acting skills which were just as convincing if he would have been a young boy, a teenager or an adult. Eventually, I have discovered that he was not even 13 years old at the time which is just mind-blowing considering the depth of his performance. Anyway, to conclude, even though it seems slighty forgotten nowadays, it is still a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 12:25
(A review of
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days)
Honestly, before watching this movie, I wasn't aware of this page of history so just only for this, it was really interesting to watch this movie. For once, you have here a WWII feature where Germans were not only nazis but also some heroic role models and I thought it was a rather refreshing approach. You may wonder if at this age you would have had the courage to take the same actions, probably not. Eventually, to enjoy this movie, it all depends if you like historical movies or not, I guess. Personally, I thought that it was a spellbinding drama with some sober but efficient directing and acting and they effectively avoided to make the whole thing overdramatic. To conclude, I thinkit it was a rather fascinating historical feature and definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 12:09
(A review of
Aguirre: The Wrath of God)
To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. It is probably the most famous movie directed by Werner Herzog and since I kept hearing some great things about the damned thing, I was really eager to check it out. Well, it completely deserved its reputation and, even though it might be slow for some impatient viewers, I thought it was just quite spellbinding to behold. For this movie, for the very first time, Herzorg was working with Klaus Kinski who gave probably his most famous performance as Don Lope de Aguirre. Anyway, apparently, those 2 guys seemed to think that, to make a movie about an insane man, well, you pretty much have to become actually insane yourself. Of course, you might wonder if it was really a good idea to go so far just to make a movie but you can't argue that the end-result was quite amazing. In the future, I should definitely watch ‘Fitzcarraldo’ which was apparently another fascinating and insane jungle adventure involving once again Herzorg and Kinski. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, the whole thing was quite mesmerizing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Werner Herzog’s work.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 11:52
(A review of
La Notte)
To be honest, it has been ages since I saw this movie and I should definitely re-watch at some point. I have to admit that except for ‘Blowup, I didn’t care so much for the movies I have seen directed by Michelangelo Antonioni but there is no denying that, in the 60's, he was a major movie director and this movie was one of the many masterpieces he made back in those days. Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni were both really strong here as they delivered some great perfomances. Above all, I thought it was a very deep movie which didn't deal with some chases, shootings, explosions and special effects but with relationships and the human mind in general. Eventually, I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 11:40
(A review of
Teorema)
To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but it had such impact on me at the time, I still can remember it vividly. Indeed, I was very young when I saw it and I had never seen something like this before. I mean, when I did watch some classics when I was much younger, I didn’t always connect with them right away but, with this one, it was a completely different story. Indeed, it is probably one of the most fascinating movie I have ever seen. In fact, I’m usually not really good with movies involving a lot of symbolism and there were here so many layers and so many meanings. The fact that nothing was explained whatsoever at the end made the whole thing even more mesmerizing. It’s a pity I haven’t watched more movies directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini (in fact, I have only seen this movie and his directing debut ‘Accattone’) since I became instantly fascinated by this director after watching this flick. To conclude, I do believe it might be one of the most difficult movies to comprehend but it is eventually really rewarding to watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s work.
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