Saturday, January 24, 2015
The Cat and the Canary (1978)
A group of potential heirs gather in a forbidding old house to learn which of them will inherit a fortune and learn that a flesh-rending maniac is loose.
Slightly tongue-in-cheek and rather frumpy crime farce, which is surprising for a director better known for his adult erotic films.
Halliwell (no star): "An overpowerlingly cast but half-heartedly scripted remake, which after a spirited beginning bores more than thrills."
Maltin**1/2: "Entertaining remake...with a likable cast; reasonably faithful to the original..."
Rarely Heard: Caroline Weeks - Elegy
I came across Caroline Weeks via MySpace and instantly got her first album. She is a music and visual artist who works both independently and collaboratively. So far she has recorded an album of solo works called Songs For Edna on Manimal Vinyl in 2009 and is currently working on material for her second album. Caroline has also recorded and performed with Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes which included touring with Radiohead on their In Rainbows tour where she met Philip Selway (drummer of Radiohead) which sparked another musical project. Caroline is also creatively involved in projects with Collectress and Triangulation.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Rarely Heard: Björk - Álfur Út Úr Hól
I guess I needn't explain much about Björk, most of her music is indeed highly ackowledged and well-known, rightly so. Lesser known is maybe the fact that in Iceland she had already been a star at the age of 11. At that age she released her very first album and it had some lovely cover versions on it. Let's see, if you can recognize this song?
Thursday, January 22, 2015
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
A strung-out junkie deals with daily demoralizing drug addiction while crippled wife and card sharks continue to pull him down.
At the time a groudbreaking an realistic depiction of addiction the movie still fascinates due to excellent performances, professional direction and great b/w photography.
Halliwell*: "Sensational on its first release, with its cold turkey scenes, this now seems a muddled impressionist melodrama with echoes of the silent German cinema and much over-acting and miscasting all round. But Sinatra is good; and it is different..."
Maltin***: "...Sinatra's performance is still provocative, especially in the actor's gets-the-shakes withdrawal scene. Otherwise, the film (which appears to have been shot on the cheap) has lost some, though hardly all, of its power."
Le salaire de la peur (1953)
In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.
A classic of suspenseful cinema that also offers good detail to the period and place of the action, I still think it takes a bit too long, before the actual story begins.
Halliwell***: "After too extened an introduction to the less than admirable characters, this fascinating film resolves itself into a suspense shocker with one craftily managed bad moment after another."
Maltin***1/2: "Marvelous, gritty, and extremely suspenseful epic..."
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