Saturday, September 26, 2015
Trespass (1992)
Two Arkansas firemen get hold of a map that leads to a cache of stolen gold in an abandoned factory in East St. Louis.
Despite the evident expertise in the production the plot is messy and the action and violence hardly exciting.
Halliwell**: "Tense and violent thriller, like a modernized, interior, technological version of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."
Maltin***: "Fast, furious, culturally disreputable entertainment filmed in potent cat-and-mouse style by director Hill - his most entertaining movie in years."
Friday, September 25, 2015
New Stuff: Nein. A Manifesto
I've been following and enjoying @NeinQuarterly on Twitter for a while now (and got to see him live tonight here in Regensburg!); needless to say I got the book.
Die Halbstarken (1956)
The leader of criminal teenage gang finds himself torn between his own brother and his girlfriend.
Early (and influential) German movie about juvenile delinquents as forlorn rebels, amazingly realistic with a great cast of young actors, shot in original Berlin settings; it sill manages to compel even today.
Nothing Personal (2009)
A young Dutch woman, who after throwing away all her possessions, becomes a vagabond by choice and finds the solitude she was looking for in an austere landscape of Irish Connemara with an old man who lives a solitary life in a secluded house in Ireland.
Subtle idiosyncratic study of a human relationship between two unequal and eccentric persons, which at times seems like an in vitro experiment.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
First Lines: Desmond Bagley - Running Blind
To be encumbered with a corpse is to be in a difficult position, especially when the corpse is without benefit of death certificate.
Mud (2012)
Two young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the vigilantes that are on his trail and to reunite him with his true love.
Slow-paced and subtle melodrama of juvenile awakening, all made in good taste with a competent cast, but the two teenage leads are the true stars of the movie.
Maltin***1/2: "Beguiling, fablelike film...Unusual film moves at a leisurely pace, as it should, with sensitive performances from the kids and grown-ups alike."
New Stuff: Werner Herzog
I have been intending to get this book for a long time; Werner Herzog is always a good read.
Reign of Terror (1949)
Robespierrre, a powerful figure in the French revolution, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked for the guillotine.
Oddly mixing history drama with a (complicated) Noir crime plot the movie actually manages to create atmosphere and suspense.
Halliwell*: "Moderate period melodrama with an attractive though artificial look."
Maltin***: "Vivied costume drama...Moss is particularly good as the elegantly, eloquently evil Foucher. Stunningly photographed by John Alton; every shot is a painting!"
