100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(88/100)~
You zero in on a crowd... you find a person, you find a story. While a film made of shorts sounds like it would get exhausting or be too loose, though it certainly loses steam near the end, that element of war being just a matter of fact and in the Italian neo-realism spirit of focusing on the downtrodden, the gimmick works. Rossellini may indulge in melodrama, but he needs his stories to…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(87/100)~
I had an odd experience watching The Hill. I worship Sidney Lumet but I really wasn't into it at first. Near the halfway point it started to grow on me... a lot. So much so that I decided to completely restart it and watch it with a fresh perspective. It's a fantastic anti-war (or anti-army) film without being necessary unpatriotic. I can agree with its ethos. Brilliant photography and performances on all sides, from Sean Connery's imioned monologue near the end and Harry Andrews domineering easy-to-hate presence.
It's hardly a complicated film but I would say it's unnecessarily dense.
50 Classics to See in 2017 ~(86/100)~
Oh dear. I'm feeling a bit alone on not liking any of this. I know there are fans here, but this was just a complete mess. I know it's supposed to be 'off' but none of the subliminal cuts nor warped angles did anything for me but think it's an amateur trying to provoke an unearned reaction.
The plot was all over the place, never settling down for a second to get bearings.…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(85/100)~
The bridge between Mikhail Kalatozov's stirring The Cranes Are Flying and sensational I Am Cuba marries the two styles with astonishing execution. Cranes' melodrama dragged it down, though you'd be hard-pressed to find a style more dazzling than I Am Cuba, but the heart of Letter Never Sent balanced with the existential intellect and the exhausting physicality makes it a very well-rounded experience, even if the story and its characters are very simplistic.…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(84/100)~
Well it delivers on its promises of the spirit of the road. I feel like it touches on some interesting generational thing. That said, I like a little more character in my characters. Nevertheless, very enjoyable if by free-wheeling mood alone, but I can't say I connected to it.
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(83/100)~
Wasn't certain about it at first in the way it dives in seeming like Esther was a star already, but when I realized the film had more ground to cover and that it would eventually go the distance, I was sold. It is too long, and I'm not certain that the restored scenes from production stills aren't too distracting, but it has some knockout scenes and really comes to its own when the…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(82/100)~
Woody wallows in Bergman-esque misery (or at least imagery), but I think he kinda misses the point. Bergman deals with it on a religious existential point, rather than a depressed existential point, and he has a bit more sprightly energy in between the bleakness. That said, while I don't feel the story comes together at all, it has some pretty good individual scenes and uniformly excellent acting.
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(81/100)~
Maybe the bar was raised too high for me from Opening Night... not to discredit Love Streams. It's a very well acted dual character study that looks much better than it has to. All my problems come with the writing - not necessarily the dialogue, which is mostly brilliant - but the structuring. It thinks it needs an hour of vague context before it gets moving... and then it doesn't really come to…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(80/100)~
Naturally for Tati, it's plotless and nearly character-less, but it's funny and looks fantastic. So what elevates it besides the relaxing easy going atmosphere? Well it doesn't have the thematic ambition of Mon Oncle and Play Time, but every single gag is a creative riff on a social faux pas, and it's pretty brilliant and efficient on them too.
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(79/100)~
It's my lucky day with two 9/10s in a row from my classics project. That hasn't happened since I watched Walkabout after Opening Night back in May. I didn't expect to love either this or Happy Together, but I don't regret it (I usually like to space my viewings out... considering I had 17 films between Happy Together and Love in the Afternoon without a 9/10).
I adore The Holy Mountain and I…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(77/100)~
(I'm powering through my classics right now because I'm motivated to get them done and I want to move onto my contemporary classics watchlist and 2017 films. Will probably be watching 2 a day and be done by mid-October).
By 1932 standards, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is masterpiece. That's relative to the 5 years of sound cinema audiences were treated with. I can't solely judge a film on the…
100 Classics to See in 2017 ~(78/100)~
They clean, they wash, they scrub
And still the world is a mess.
I've been sleeping on this masterpiece for way too long. After adoring my first Wong Kar-Wai nearly 10 years ago with Chungking Express and struggling to find something that matches it (Fallen Angels was an early high that wore off, In the Mood for Love is growing on me but I wasn't hot on it at first), I think Happy…