Week 16 and 17 in film

I'm Still Here (Casey Affleck, 2010)
Not only a great actor, but Phoenix proves to be funny as well. Had the world doubting if his claimed career move (from actor to rapper) was a hoax. Everyone remembers his Letterman appearance, this film puts it in context. A great joke and a statement against reality shows, unfortunately not funny enough to fill an entire film. 6.5/10

Enter the Void (Gaspar Noe, 2009)
After watching this a couple of years ago it came back to my memory at times. Perhaps better than I remembered? Well, yes, for the first hour, at least, it's great. It is the second half that kills it a bit. Noe's very original choice in narration works against him after a while. Makes the last hour a drag, which is a shame, this film is special. 6/10

Hard Target (John Woo, 1993)
Guilty pleasure, and it's not even bad! John Woo's first Hollywood film is a fast and stylish action flick that has everything that made the 90s action movies great. Van Damme's haircut is film history in itself! 7.5/10

We Own The Night (James Gray, 2007)
Again, a good film from Gray. This is not the most original plot, but directed in a way that feels more like Scorsese than most imitations, and this might not even be an imitation. Phoenix is, as ever, great. 8/10

Cop Land (James Mangold, 1997)
What a mess. A great cast that centers the weakest actor. Fails to entertain which is quite a shame considering that it is a genre that easily amuses me, usually. 4/10

The Hunger Games: Cathing Fire (Francis Lawrence, 2013)
Jennifer Lawrence, Philip Seymour Hoffman, an exciting survival battle? Could be great. Well, forget it. Maybe this film appeals to you if you've read the book, but I couldn't feel with the characters or experience any suspense, at all. And shouldn't it have an ending? Oh wait, we have a new goose with golden eggs. 3/10



Magnificent Obsession (Douglas Sirk, 1954)
Starting to become a Sirk fan. His films are just as beautiful and easy to watch as they are melodramatic. This one is sometimes too melodramatic but contains a very powerful message, not even under the surface this time, or I am missing something... 8/10

White Dog (Samuel Fuller, 1982)
Powerful story about a dog who is trained to attack (and kill) black people. Great metaphor and one very effective horror film. A must see in American cinema. 8/10

Week 36 in film

Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959)
Safe to say that this film, the last in Sirk's oeuvre, is a culmination of the themes he likes to use in his films. I haven't seen the issue of racism been adressed so clever and effective before. The drama is truly gripping and the final scene is brilliantly sarcastic. Sirk is becoming one of my favourite directors and the late Hollywood 50's was already an era I love.
"I'm somebody else. I'm white... white... WHITE!"    9/10



Mud (Jeff Nichols, 2013)
There was a time when I couldn't stand Matthew McConaughey, I hated his self-indulgent overacting and presence on the screen in general. How easy this can change once an actor starts picking up good role after good role. In this film he is again acting great in a story which can best be described as a fairy-tale like drama from the perspective of children. Love the vibe, eventhough the ending leans towards the sweet and sappy. 8/10

The Wire - Season 3
Yes, I am still as excited as I was after the first season. How good is a series when you actually start missing (criminal) characters that are either killed or arrested? Two seasons to go and I will fall into a deep hole when this is over.... 9.5/10

Sharknado (Anthony C. Ferrante, 2013)
Best tagline ever: 'Enough said'. This film is so extremely bad...but it is made like it doesn't care and knows how bad it is. I had fun actually and you can't really say that the director failed since I am sure he was self-aware during the making of this crap. If not, he, and the rest of the world, should worry.... 5.5/10

The Last Relic (Grigori Kromanov, 1969)
You may have never heard of this film. Apparently the cinematic pride of Estonia. With or without this notion a pretty standard medieval adventure film that definitely has something going for it, for instance being charming and perhaps controversial (let's not spoil but the ending definitely makes a statement). Boring at times as well unfortunately. 6/10

The Roaring Twenties (Raoul Walsh, 1939)
Bogart and Cagney together in a picture never disappoints. I did expect a bit more fireworks in this film not only because of the cast but especially because I consider Walsh his White Heat (ten years later) a masterpiece and that one has a lot more suspense and action. The Roaring Twenties is a bit more timid and fragmented. Not a bad movie though, especially not if you are interested in its historical context.  7/10

Paradies: Glaube (Ulrich Seidl, 2012)
Not as good as Paradies: Liebe. This film somehow makes more of a caricature of its Christian female protagonist. People like her may be out there, but sympathy for her or her (moslim) husband is hard to feel. Well, I felt a bit bad for the husband a couple of times. Some moments are really funny and I wonder if that is what the director intented. 6/10

I'm a Cyborg, But That's Ok (Chan-wook Park, 2006)
The director of Oldboy made a messy, chaotic comedy that fails to be funny. This film is boring, and that's not ok.  3.5/10



The Hour-Glass Sanatorium (Wojciech Has, 1973)
Quite a trip. This film (from Poland) portrays a guy who visits his dying father in a sanatorium where some hour-glass trick can reverse time and change events. Sound like a science fiction film but this film is more a dreamlike, colorful trip. The protagonist is confronted with ex-girlfriends, his father and mother in better times, jew ghetto's etc. When I read this synopsis I was hoping for a film like Tarkovsky's The Mirror. The comparison doesn't hold up that well, this film is more static, colorful and fantasy-like. Looks like something that inspired Terry Gilliam's nineties work.  Beautiful, but at times confusing and (too) trippy.  7.5/10

Week 23 in film

Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, 2013)
With the previous films being amongst my personal favorites I was somewhat afraid of a disappointment. The start felt a bit off, we see Jesse with his son at the airport, is this film going to live up to its predecessors? The answer: yes. It doesn't take too long before Jesse and Celine are together talking and talking, and talking. May be boring for many, it blew me away again. The conversations are so real, feel so natural and made me sit on the edge of my seat the entire time. After three films the 2nd (Before Sunset) is still the best. Linklater stated that this is the last one, I wonder how he feels in 9 years from now. Anyway, forget the Godfather-trilogy, this is better!  8.5/10



All I Desire (Douglas Sirk, 1953)
As I am watching a lot of films from the early thirties lately the great Barbara Stanwyck grows in my book of favorite actresses. In this film she is somewhat older, but still on fire. Not the best Sirk, but her performance makes it definitely worthwhile. 7.5/10

The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard, 1930)
Apparently a pre-code classic. Were the actors acting or reading from the script? To me they felt like cardboard, the story, controversial maybe, but nevertheless predictable and too sweet. Forgettable. 5/10

Design for Living (Ernst Lubitsch, 1933)
Much better example of a qualitative product of pre-code Hollywood. Funny and well-acted film from the director of favorites like Trouble in Paradise and To Be or Not To Be. Oh, and I will look up more films that have Edward Everett Horton, what a character!  7.5/10