Spring in Fialta
A malign star kept him
Aware of that one, never read it, largely because I found One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest a trite and dozing book. I'll keep Wolfe's book in mind. Never read him.
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Aware of that one, never read it, largely because I found One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest a trite and dozing book. I'll keep Wolfe's book in mind. Never read him.
Man, you are in for a treat, then. Wolfe is by far my favourite chronicler of the '60s and '70s. He's got a style that is unmistakable; he virtually defined the New Journalism and practiced what he preached. Here's a bit of an introduction to him:
Wolfe and the New Journalism
Stick to his non-fiction, though. At least, for awhile.
You Should Have Left (2020) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)
A couple (Kevin Bacon, Amanda Seyfried) and their young daughter rent a house in the Welsh countryside and experience strange occurrences once inside. This psychological horror film is a twist on a haunted house story, but it's just as much about trust and secrets in a relationship. I'm not sure if the house is a metaphor, but that gives you the general idea of the type of film that it is. I liked the ideas behind the film, but I don't think that they were executed as well as they could've been. It's not as suspenseful or scary or even as poignant as it tries to be and is rather predictable and a bit depressing. The one really bright spot for me was the young actress (Avery Essex) who played the daughter and is very good for her age (~7yo). She spends much of the movie looking confused, sad or scared and is very convincing in conveying such emotion and delivering her lines. The fact that the film largely hinges on her performance makes it stand out even more. Bacon and Seyfried do respectable jobs, but their performances aren't remarkable in any way. Overall, the film, itself, is unremarkable. It's not good enough for me to recommend, but I wouldn't necessarily warn people away from watching it, either, if expectations are kept low.
A couple (Kevin Bacon, Amanda Seyfried) and their young daughter rent a house in the Welsh countryside and experience strange occurrences once inside. This psychological horror film is a twist on a haunted house story, but it's just as much about trust and secrets in a relationship. I'm not sure if the house is a metaphor, but that gives you the general idea of the type of film that it is. I liked the ideas behind the film, but I don't think that they were executed as well as they could've been. It's not as suspenseful or scary or even as poignant as it tries to be and is rather predictable and a bit depressing. The one really bright spot for me was the young actress (Avery Essex) who played the daughter and is very good for her age (~7yo). She spends much of the movie looking confused, sad or scared and is very convincing in conveying such emotion and delivering her lines. The fact that the film largely hinges on her performance makes it stand out even more. Bacon and Seyfried do respectable jobs, but their performances aren't remarkable in any way. Overall, the film, itself, is unremarkable. It's not good enough for me to recommend, but I wouldn't necessarily warn people away from watching it, either, if expectations are kept low.
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Five Easy Pieces (1970) Directed by Bob Rafelson. 6A
Though he had made eighteen low budget pictures before Easy Rider, Jack Nicholson seemed to burst on the scene all of a sudden with the release of that counter culture road movie. Easy Rider opened doors for him, but it was Five Easy Pieces that established his reputation as both leading man material and a very good actor. Like many of Nicholson’s best works, Five Easy Pieces is a character study. Nicholson play Bobby, not a happy guy. He works on an oil rig until he abruptly quits, tries to cope with a brainless partner with whom he feels trapped, and has ignored his family and his now dying father for years. Bobby comes from a family of musicians, and he himself is an accomplished pianist. But nothing he did ever came to much of anything. Getting laid occasionally by whomever is handy helps a little, but never enough. He’s amiable about it mostly, but the rage seeps through from time to time.
The ‘70s was a good decade for antiheroes and nobody brought as much depth, energy and spirit to these types of roles than did Nicholson. On screen, he exudes smarts, a sense of mischief and easy charm that appealed to both men and women, albeit for different reasons. His characters somehow manage to be likeable even when they are having temper tantrums. Unfortunately, Five Easy Pieces presents some overdrawn caricatures as foils, and all of them are women: a testy waitress, a neurotic lesbian couple headed to Alaska; an obnoxious intellectual; and the blonde bimbo who he is somehow stuck with (very well played by Karen Black). Flaws and all, though, Five Easy Pieces (refers to pieces of music…not, well, you know) is one on Nicholson’s signature performances.
Yep, this movie is all about Jack. This is always my go-to example of a good character study of an unlikeable character. Bobby is loud and obnoxious, but he has so much internal struggles, that the whole time, the audiences want to figure him out, and they cannot take their eyes off of him as a result. He is pretty much the same character throughout the movie, but at the very least, he teases change, and at times, that can be more interesting than actual change.
This is also a good example of how a single character can elevate a whole movie. Honestly, the movie as a whole is so-so, but because Bobby is so memorable, that it stays on my consciousness. Your grade is spot on.
Personally, I gave it extra points for being filmed on Vancouver Island too. Frankly, that place has not changed all that much in all these years, so that was a nice tidbit for me.
He parodied this scene himself in About Schmidt. If you have time, check that one out. You might get a good kick out of it.
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The Elusive Corporal (1962) Directed by Jean Renoir 7A
It is curious that the great French humanist director Jean Renoir chose to bookend his career with two prison camp movies, Grand Illusion (1937) and this film, The Elusive Corporal. Whereas Grand Illusion is one of the greatest war movies ever made, The Elusive Corporal is a far lighter, more comic tale about a prisoner-of-war soldier who tries to escape his captors over and over again. Even when he is put in a camp with the worst offenders, he continues his attempts. He is relentless, though not all of his comrades are. Some profit off confinement and live well. Others appreciate a classless camaraderie with their fellow captives that they know will evaporate once the war is ended and everyone goes back to their old ways. If part of this plot sounds familiar, it is because The Great Escape used many of the same elements a year later in 1963. Whether this was plagiarism, homage or mere coincidence, The Elusive Corporal takes a very different approach, eschewing action for character development and wry laughs. Yet a sense of national embarrassment and humiliation hang in the air. Though the movie is not among Renoir’s masterworks, it is still worth seeing.
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KallioWeHardlyKnewYe
Hey! We won!
- May 30, 2003
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To close out my horror marathon:
Vamp. An 80s vampire comedy I definitely remember watching at a babysitter’s house and being taken with the, um, scenery. It’s set mostly in a strip club FWIW. Neither the humor nor the nostalgia did much for me. Not exactly bad. Just kinda pedestrian. Also, and this might be an odd complaint, but it’s strangely unpopulated. The club, the streets ... it feels like there’s only like six actors in this movie and the couldn’t afford even extras. Neon budget is solid though. Ahh the 80s.
Inferno. Argento’s Suspiria follows up. Less garish with the blood, but more so with the colored lights. Typical gruesome killer shenannigans. More magical mumbo jumbo.
Dagon. RIP Stuart Gordon. The fourth of his HP Lovecraft adaptations (feature-length, he did one TV episode). I’d been meaning to watch this one for a while. It’s got bad SFX, some of the worst I’ve seen in a professionally done movie and it has that cheap sheen of an early digital film. Spotty acting. But on the positive side it really captures Lovecraft’s otherwordly grossness nicely and the last 30 minutes drives that home well.
Halloween. I can’t say much that hasn’t already been said here and elsewhere. Honestly has been a while since I revisited. I still think The Thing is Carpenter’s apex, but other directors would kill to have this be their second best. I always enjoy how much of the threat is presented during the day even if the violence doesn’t come until sundown. The synth score still slaps.
One programming note: I had originally planned to watch Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Amer. I had difficulty tracking that down so I was going to do their Let the Corpses Tan instead, but upon reading a little more about that, it seemed that it was definitely more crime/western and less actual horror. So I’ll save that for another time.
Vamp. An 80s vampire comedy I definitely remember watching at a babysitter’s house and being taken with the, um, scenery. It’s set mostly in a strip club FWIW. Neither the humor nor the nostalgia did much for me. Not exactly bad. Just kinda pedestrian. Also, and this might be an odd complaint, but it’s strangely unpopulated. The club, the streets ... it feels like there’s only like six actors in this movie and the couldn’t afford even extras. Neon budget is solid though. Ahh the 80s.
Inferno. Argento’s Suspiria follows up. Less garish with the blood, but more so with the colored lights. Typical gruesome killer shenannigans. More magical mumbo jumbo.
Dagon. RIP Stuart Gordon. The fourth of his HP Lovecraft adaptations (feature-length, he did one TV episode). I’d been meaning to watch this one for a while. It’s got bad SFX, some of the worst I’ve seen in a professionally done movie and it has that cheap sheen of an early digital film. Spotty acting. But on the positive side it really captures Lovecraft’s otherwordly grossness nicely and the last 30 minutes drives that home well.
Halloween. I can’t say much that hasn’t already been said here and elsewhere. Honestly has been a while since I revisited. I still think The Thing is Carpenter’s apex, but other directors would kill to have this be their second best. I always enjoy how much of the threat is presented during the day even if the violence doesn’t come until sundown. The synth score still slaps.
One programming note: I had originally planned to watch Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Amer. I had difficulty tracking that down so I was going to do their Let the Corpses Tan instead, but upon reading a little more about that, it seemed that it was definitely more crime/western and less actual horror. So I’ll save that for another time.
On the Rocks (2020) Directed by Sofia Coppola 4A
On the Rocks is a serious misfire from the normally reliable Sofia Coppola. The movie borrows a tired rom-com idea—a harried wife thinks her husband may be cheating on her—and then doesn’t quite know how to play it. When Linda (Rashida Jones) begins to doubt her husband’s Dean’s (Marlon Wayons) fidelity, she seeks the advice of her estranged father Felix (Bill Murray) and he begins to play sleuth with real enthusiasm. Felix is a toned-down version of a mad-cap comedy staple—a well-aged man about town who knows a bit about everything and make friends with anyone. His good spirits, however, seem misplaced in a movie that is maudlin at its core. About an hour of the way through, it’s like the movie just gives up trying. Starting with a forlorn scene at a restaurant table and continuing through subsequent scenes in Felix’s apartment, at a birthday party for an old lady, and in a hallway staring at an Impressionist painting, On the Rocks becomes totally adrift in the doldrums. With Wayons’ character a virtual cipher in the script, the ending seems tacked on not because it is plausible, which it isn't, but because Coppola couldn’t figure out how else to end it. Early on, several scenes with Murray are fun. But they can’t save On the Rocks from becoming the downer that it is.
Chili
Time passes when you're not looking
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Good film, saw it several years ago. Don't recall the parody though, so will re-watch at some point. Thanks.He parodied this scene himself in About Schmidt. If you have time, check that one out. You might get a good kick out of it.
Have seen most of Jack's films back to the trip to the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors. A lot of memorable roles.
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Sorry, I read about it years ago, and it turns out Payne cut it from the movie.
I did find it in the Deleted Scenes on youtube:
It starts at 11:35.
Pranzo Oltranzista
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- Oct 18, 2017
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Few comments. I have very little memory of Vamp, but I know that like you I liked it for questionable reasons when I was a kid. Loved Inferno, but I should watch it again, another one I haven't seen in a loooong time. Love Dagon, but yeah the effects are cheapo - the whole atmosphere of the town though, great work (I think I made a comment on it not so long ago). To me, Halloween is so overrated... everytime I read something positive about it, I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry. It's badly directed, not that original, and kind of dumb (and responsible for so many dumb films that followed it). I think Carpenter is a pretty bad director overall (even though contrarily to better directors, he has a clear signature, which is to me a good thing), and I think The Thing was a lucky shot. There's at least 2 or 3, maybe 4 other of his films that I think are better than Halloween, and none that are great in that. I prefer Halloween II (probably my favorite slasher), and probably III, and probably the two remakes by Zombie, to the original - I know, extra-blasphemous.
I must have Amer somewhere. If I find it, I'll try to send it your way. It's amazing. The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears is great too, but yeah, Let the Corpses Tan (one of the last films I've seen in a theater) is not a horror film. It's fun, but really not as good as the previous two.
Yeah I should watch Inferno again very soon as I haven’t seen it in years. I do have the Blue Underground blu-ray of it though.
ORRFForever
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- Oct 29, 2018
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Yep.
But then again they all have. Be it John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Dario Argento, Wes Craven, George Romero, Lucio Fulci, etc.
Alone (2020), not to be confused with Alone (2020) or Alone (2020) - 6/10 (Liked it)
A woman (Jules Wilcox) tries to escape from a serial kidnapper and killer while driving through the Pacific Northwest. This indie thriller starts a lot like Duel, with Jessica pissing off the wrong driver by trying to pass him, and, later, plays out like other films of women running from psycho men. That makes it feel pretty familiar, but at least it does it fairly well. It's often predictable, but there are also moments when she does the unexpected, like stay quiet when we expect her to attack or attack when we expect her to stay quiet. She does make some questionable decisions and ignores some of the advice that you try to give her through the TV, but I suppose that that helps to keep her real. She did feel mostly believable to me... not a super woman, but not a helpless victim, either. Overall, it's a pretty competently made suspense film. The one thing that keeps me from giving a 7/10 is that there isn't much emotional investment. For the most part, the only characters in the movie are the cat and the mouse, and you can guess the outcome, so all that's left to see is how the story gets there. It's still a good movie, though, even if it's familiar, and I'd certainly recommend it.
BTW, what is it with horror/thriller films and Volvos? Why are psychos in movies always trying to murder young women who drive Volvos, and not just any Volvos, but Volvos from the 80s and early 90s that you hardly see on the road any more? Is it because they're considered family cars, so driving them conveys that the victims have families (that maybe passed them down to them) or will go on to start families if they survive? I'm a fan of Volvos, so I don't mind and even enjoying seeing them, but that means that I always notice them and I notice them in these types of films a lot. Someone should write a dissertation on it.
A woman (Jules Wilcox) tries to escape from a serial kidnapper and killer while driving through the Pacific Northwest. This indie thriller starts a lot like Duel, with Jessica pissing off the wrong driver by trying to pass him, and, later, plays out like other films of women running from psycho men. That makes it feel pretty familiar, but at least it does it fairly well. It's often predictable, but there are also moments when she does the unexpected, like stay quiet when we expect her to attack or attack when we expect her to stay quiet. She does make some questionable decisions and ignores some of the advice that you try to give her through the TV, but I suppose that that helps to keep her real. She did feel mostly believable to me... not a super woman, but not a helpless victim, either. Overall, it's a pretty competently made suspense film. The one thing that keeps me from giving a 7/10 is that there isn't much emotional investment. For the most part, the only characters in the movie are the cat and the mouse, and you can guess the outcome, so all that's left to see is how the story gets there. It's still a good movie, though, even if it's familiar, and I'd certainly recommend it.
BTW, what is it with horror/thriller films and Volvos? Why are psychos in movies always trying to murder young women who drive Volvos, and not just any Volvos, but Volvos from the 80s and early 90s that you hardly see on the road any more? Is it because they're considered family cars, so driving them conveys that the victims have families (that maybe passed them down to them) or will go on to start families if they survive? I'm a fan of Volvos, so I don't mind and even enjoying seeing them, but that means that I always notice them and I notice them in these types of films a lot. Someone should write a dissertation on it.
Pranzo Oltranzista
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- Oct 18, 2017
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I watched The Initiation a few days ago. I'd probably give it a 4/10. It isn't horrible for an 80s horror, but isn't good, either. It has a pretty decent twist at the end, though, that makes it more memorable than it otherwise would be (kind of like Sleepaway Camp, but less shocking).
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Halloween H20 - 1998
Twenty years after the first Halloween, we get this one. I saw it in theatres when it was new, but haven’t watched it again until now. I’m not the biggest horror fan, but I enjoyed this one enough. I watched the original a few months back, and I think I liked this one more actually. Not bad at all.
7/10
Twenty years after the first Halloween, we get this one. I saw it in theatres when it was new, but haven’t watched it again until now. I’m not the biggest horror fan, but I enjoyed this one enough. I watched the original a few months back, and I think I liked this one more actually. Not bad at all.
7/10
ProstheticConscience
Check dein Limit
Hey you're probably not aware of this, but the world doesn't end at the US border.
Damn. With so little new content out there, I was hoping this movie was going to be a good one. Thanks for the review though, it will keep my expectations in check. Will let you know later how my own mileage varied on this one .
On the Rocks (2020) Directed by Sofia Coppola 4A
On the Rocks is a serious misfire from the normally reliable Sofia Coppola. The movie borrows a tired rom-com idea—a harried wife thinks her husband may be cheating on her—and then doesn’t quite know how to play it. When Linda (Rashida Jones) begins to doubt her husband’s Dean’s (Marlon Wayons) fidelity, she seeks the advice of her estranged father Felix (Bill Murray) and he begins to play sleuth with real enthusiasm. Felix is a toned-down version of a mad-cap comedy staple—a well-aged man about town who knows a bit about everything and make friends with anyone. His good spirits, however, seem misplaced in a movie that is maudlin at its core. About an hour of the way through, it’s like the movie just gives up trying. Starting with a forlorn scene at a restaurant table and continuing through subsequent scenes in Felix’s apartment, at a birthday party for an old lady, and in a hallway staring at an Impressionist painting, On the Rocks becomes totally adrift in the doldrums. With Wayons’ character a virtual cipher in the script, the ending seems tacked on not because it is plausible, which it isn't, but because Coppola couldn’t figure out how else to end it. Early on, several scenes with Murray are fun. But they can’t save On the Rocks from becoming the downer that it is.
ORRFForever
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Most horror films either work or they don't, with very little in between.
Pranzo Oltranzista
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Interesting point. Tobe Hooper was a shit director, and I think Carpenter and Romero were very limited (Romero still signed a few great films, but his lows are really low, and like all of them, he aged really badly). Fulci, I don't know, he worked his way through very limited means, and some weird projects.
Argento started off as a genius for the genre and maintained a high level for some time. I guess he got stuck in trying to do Argento stuff.
ORRFForever
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Pranzo Oltranzista
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Oh forgot about Craven... I think he had great talent at storytelling and a great feel for what people wanted to see. Didn't make for a lot of interesting films to me though.
Ranking time:
Argento
Romero
Carpenter
Craven
Hooper
Fulci...... I don't know, if you consider only his better horror films, you might want to put him third. If you consider his whole filmography, he competes with Hooper for last place.
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