022) For the War to End, The Walls Should Have Crumbled (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1980) and R … Doesn’t Answer Anymore (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1981)
Sun, Jan 22 / IFC Center, NYC
A pair of early docs by the Dardenne brothers: the first about a strike at a Belgian steel plant, the other a more impressionistic take on European free radio. The latter’s mildly more interesting, but neither are essential viewing.
023) Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975)
Sun, Jan 22 / Netflix DVD
Only my second Argento film (after Suspiria) and my first official giallo. Got the DVD instead of streaming it because the Instant Watch version is the shorter English-language edit. Turns out the DVD just tacks on the missing 20 or so minutes in Italian, so there are abrupt language shifts between scenes or even in the middle of sentences. (Why couldn’t the whole DVD just be in Italian with subtitles???) It does make the movie even stranger, at least. The reveal of the murderer is rather ridiculous — and obvious if you follow Ebert’s law of economy of characters — but the murders themselves are genuinely disturbing.
024) Madigan (Don Siegel, 1968)
Mon, Jan 23 / Netflix Watch Instantly
Richard Widmark is a detective who plays by his own rules but gets results! Henry Fonda is the by-the-book commissioner trying to keep him in line! Probably quite gritty and clever when it came out, but now just reads as the template for a dozen mediocre Clint Eastwood or Denzel Washington vehicles.
025) War Horse (Steven Spielberg, 2011)
Tues, Jan 24 / AMC Loews 84th St 6
Between this and The Adventures of Tintin, Spielberg’s making interesting movies again! I never got quite as emotionally invested as I’d have liked, but at least he didn’t pour on the syrup either. The cinematography is very Jack Cardiff-esque (a definite plus). Also, the movie’s responsible for my new favorite IMDb review quote: “The Horse was simply amazing, the facial expressions were all spot on.”
026) The T.A.M.I. Show (Steve Binder, 1964)
Wed, Jan 25 / Netflix DVD
Had seen clips from this before, of course, but never the whole thing start to end. James Brown’s set is the obvious highlight, but don’t overlook Lesley Gore. The most painful-yet-hilarious moment: Chuck Berry’s version of “Maybelline” being taken over mid-song by Gerry and the Pacemakers. We’ll show you who’s rock and roll!
027) One From the Heart (Francis Ford Coppola, 1982)
Wed, Jan 25 / Netflix Watch Instantly
Totally understand why this flopped but kinda loved it anyway. The story’s rather predictable (and the ending a letdown), but Coppola does an admirable job of updating the soundstage musical, the sets are gorgeous in an ’80s neon way, and Tom Waits’s score reminds you that he once sang and wrote bittersweet love songs instead of banging on garbage cans and gargling like a demon-possessed Cookie Monster.
028) Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg, 1991)
Fri, Jan 27 / Netflix Watch Instantly
Turns out this was the only post-1980 Cronenberg movie I hadn’t seen (not counting A Dangerous Method). I’d put it toward the weaker end of the spectrum, but it’s still pretty impressive at understanding Burroughs without getting overwhelmed by the oddity or trying to impose too literal a structure.
029) Rosetta (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1999)
Sat, Jan 28 / IFC Center, NYC
More jolly fun from the Dardennes. Not as good as La promesse because Rosetta doesn’t ever seem to realize how cruel she’s being to everyone around her (except for the final shot?). Which is kind of the point — her life’s so rough that her soul’s crushed — but it doesn’t make her sympathetic enough to care about. Likewise, just because I get why the film is repetitious doesn’t make it any less so.
030) The Unfaithful Wife (Claude Chabrol, 1969)
Sat, Jan 28 / Netflix DVD
The more Chabrol films I watch, the more they all seem the same. This isn’t a knock against him, exactly. There’s something kind of comforting about having the French arthouse equivalent of Law and Order, in that you know exactly what you’re going to get (and what you’re going to get is murder). But it also means there’s nothing as overwhelmingly wonderful as Day for Night or My Night at Maud’s or Breathless.
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cheapocheapo reblogged this from sallyo and added:
Sally conveniently left...part where her companion *cough* cried her eyes out
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