8 women, 1 man found murdered, who dunnit. Secrets come out,clues agogo but you do have to wait till the end to get to the plot. very stange, very funny film. I really enjoyed it.
I'm willing to say that of all the Korean monster movies I've ever seen, this is the best. Having said that, I've never seen another Korean monster movie, but this one I'm sure is better than any others out there hiding away. When your last film is a spactaular critical success like Memories of Murder, what are you to do? Well, for Bong Joon-ho, the answer to following up his brilliant police procedural was obviously to make the biggest blockbuster in South Korean history with this monster movie. However, the monster is only part of the story, merely the impetus which drives these characters to desperate measures in desperate times. This is no ordinary monster movie, Bong wastes no tie in delivering the goods, and within 15 minutes, the titular Host is ramapaging along the banks of the mighty Han River. In fact, this is really the most screen time the beast gets, sure it appears sporadically throughout the film to remind the viewer that it is there, but the film is really about the Park family. Park Hee-bong owns a snack stand along the Han river and employs his shiftless son Gang-du, also living with them are Hee-bong's near-champion daughter Nam-joo, his unemployed college educated son Nam-il, and Gang-du's daughter Hyun-seo. The real hysteria begins when Hyun-seo is abducted and apparently eaten by the monster. This is when this family of underachievers begins to prive its mettle, especially Gang-du. When the government descends upon the banks of the Han river everything spins into chaos and a great deal of the film is dedicated to the Park family trying to navigate the beauracracy and get out of the holding camps and out to look for Hyun-seo, who, it turns out, may still be alive. The films has at least four or five moments that will make you leap from your seat, and the special effects are outstanding, at least until the last reel, where the creature falls apart a bit under duress. This film plays like a comedy/tragedy of errors as both the South Korean and American governments fail the Park family at every turn. Does the Park family ultimately triumph? This is not Hollywood, so that is not a forgone conclusion, but in any case, we the audience remain captivated by the ordinary family pushed to extraordinary action in The Host. The DVD features a second disc packed with extras, many many short featurettes on various aspects of production, a very good effort for a very worthwhile film.
Since the early 1980's, Jim Jarmusch has been one of America's indie darlings, and with good reason. His droll comedies manage to make the audience chuckle, and sometimes even laugh out loud without cheap gags, simply by letting his characters be. This anthology feature is among his ver finest works in that regard, it is an exercise in control since none of his characters spend any more than a couple of minutes outside of their taxicabs. The premise is following 5 concurrent cab rides in different parts of the world and seeing what happens. The film follows tomboy Winona Ryder and talent agent Gena Rowlands on a trip home from the airport in Los Angeles, eastern european immigrant Armin Mueller-Stahl driving b-boy Giancarlo Esposito and his sister-in-law Rosie Perez home to Brooklyn in a hilarious cross-cultural piece, Isaach de Bankole drives blind and tough-as-nails beauty Beatrice Dalle home and de Bankole finds himself neutered by the caustic beauty. The films ends with the two best segments, Rome and Helsinki. In Rome, driver Roberto Benigni escorts a priest home late one evening and unknowingly confesses the poor man to death with tales of depravity he feels compelled to relate via a sort of Benigni-esque verbal diarrhea, completely out of order and utterly hilarious. Helsinki takes a tragic turn when cabbie Matti Pellonpää drives home three drunken and complaining workers after a night of boozing, it becomes a pissing match to determine who has the saddest life story, needless to say, it is the poor driver who puts his passengers in their place, but how? Well, you'll have to watch to find out. This is one of Jarmusch's most poignant films, not to mention ambitious. Unfortunately, this disc has nothing spectacular to offer aside from the film, as there are no extras and not even any subtitle options. It is an inexpensive way to see the film, however, if you really want to see it the right way, The Criterion Collection has already confirmed a special edition for later this year. My advice, rent this one, buy the Criterion.
Went to the RAF Scampton museum yesterday to find out more about this incredible mission and the bravery of the air crews involved. Then went home to watch the DVD - the film was shot at the base which only adds to the realism as you step into their world. Excellent acting and a well balanced script really build up suspense as the mission unfolds. Thoroughly recommended.
Family At War, this is a very good example of vintage TV. The series was broadcast in the very early 70's and has really good actors and actresses who play their parts very well, quite a few of them became famous in other roles. Although the first series seemed amature by todays standards it was very enjoyable and production wise it does get better has it goes on. It also gives a good account of what it was like for the ordinary family to live through the 1939-45 World War.
John Carpenter knows film. Not only does he know how to make films, he knows all about films and it shows in every one of his own films that it is a personal passion. The Thing was based on Howard Hawks 1951 space alien feature The Thing From Another World, but John Carpenter accomplishes something rare in making a remake that clearly outshines the original in every aspect. The film revolves around an Antarctic science lab manned by an American crew. One day what appears to be a stray dog appears in their camp being chased by a helicopter firing shots in a clear attempt to snuff out the poor little doggy. The Americans save the dog, but in doing so, unwittingly doom themselves. The titular "Thing" is an alien life form that perpetuates itself by mimicking its surroundings, namely, the Americans. The genius becomes then that in order to take over the camp and destroy the Americans, all the Thing must do is create paranoia and let the crew destroy each other. Leading the fight against the interloper is Kurt Russell as R. J. McReady, Carpenter's go-to guy and all-around testosterone machine. Russell had already played the heavy in Carpenter's Escape From New York and would repeat in later features the same alpha male character he plays in McReady. In watching The Thing, the parallel to the play on the red scare in the 50's in the United States is very obvious, as the members of the crew all are suspect of one another as The Thing takes them on one and a time. The filmed is packed from beginning to end with stunning setpieces and amazing effects work, including the infamous spider head, which scared the hell out of me the first time I saw it. The Thing is one of the all time greatest mosnter movies ever made, and is often mentioned in the same breath with Alien, which is the other main contender, although, I must say I prefer this one. The DVD has a number of short features about various aspects of the production, pretty standard stuff. The real star is the film, for those who've never seen it, prepare to jump, because you won't be able to avoid a few good scares in The Thing!
Bram Stoker's tale of horror has been told scores of times on the screen, but none yet have reached the iconic status of Tod Browning's 1931 version. The image most people visualize in their minds when thinking of the Dracula story is that of Bela Lugosi. The story begins with real estate broker Renfield on his way to make arrangements for a piece of property desired by Count Dracula. A series of bizarre incidents en route to Dracula's castle pique Renfield's curiosity, but not enough to deter him from making his commission. Once he arrives and is treated to the Count's hospitality. his curiosity becomes something more akin to wariness, however, he does not get truly uncomfortable until it is too late. This was one of Lugosi's first featured roles in Hollywood after a long and storied career in Hungarian theater, he went to the United States in search of a career as a film actor and Dracula was his big break. This film both made him a star and trapped him in a stereotype from which he would never escape. I can imagine that there are probably worse things to be remembered for, but it frustrated him until his death that he was unable to break that mold. The film is wonderfully atmospheric and, while not the best of the Universal horrors (people often cite Bride of Frankenstein as deserving of that honor), it cerainly remains the most recognizable. The film reaks of theater, with most of the actors having come from the broadway production of the play, and is over acted every step of the way. This barely dminishes its charm as an early brilliant example of Hollywood's affection with gothic horror. It is very entertaining to watch and imagine how this would have frightened an audience in the 1930's with its dated and fairly obvious visual effects. These types of things had not yet become overwrought stereotypes for the horror genre and must have scared the pants off theatergoers. That being said it was Lugosi's sex appeal that kept them coming back as this film made him a much desired figure. While not perfect, this film accomplishes its goal admirably, it frightens, it seduces, and it creeps under your skin. Let youself be romanced by this gothic masterpiece and you will see what I mean.
This film is simply awesome. It doesnt matter that it is in Spanish - most of the time you are not concentrating on the subtitles but the brilliant performances and masterful camera work. The story is intense and draws you in quickly, and to top it all off it has a superb soundtrack.
A must see!!!
A beautiful, poetic and fairly explicit film, Un chant d'amour seems to me a simple expression of homo-eroticism, homo-phobia, the relationship between the two and gay male desire can exist in that relationship.
The film was written and directed by once controversial and now legendery playwright/novelist/poet Jean Genet, and shot by the even more celebrated Jean Cocteau. It is a short film in which we see a series of men in a series of prison cell, and a sadistic prison guard observing them.
The prisoners are all pre-occupied with various amorous thoughts and dreams. Sometimes these are directed towards the men in the cells beside them, sometimes not. Whilst this happens we see the prison guard simultaneously morally repulsed by and erotically drawn to the men. Both his desire and repulsion are expressed in violence and cruelty.
Although this film is short it certainly does not lack something to say. Although it is not for everyone, in a more tolerant climate perhaps it could be.
Remember the last time you tried on a pair of jeans? Yes, we have all squeezed ourselves into a pair one size too small, so small that our waist looks like the top of a muffin... Was there a door on the other side? No, but there was for Mr Benn - an ordinary man from an ordinary street from an ordinary town.
Go through that door with him, and you will re-live your child like I did. Fantasy and imagination are a requirement - do you still have what it takes? Hope so...
This is the best film made about race relations in the United States since To Kill A Mockingbird. A strong claim, I realize, but Spike Lee's third feature lives up to the hype. Following his comedic critical darlings She's Gotta Have It and School Daze, Spike Lee came back with this stunner of a drama film. The film plays out over the course of one day in Brooklyn, New York and charts one street's descent into disaster. Lee stars as Mookie, a regular guy, a pizza delivery man for the Italian owned pizza joint up the street, as he walks up and down, making his deliveries and visiting his girlfriend, played by Rosie Perez, he is shoved into the cauldron that cannot help boiling over. The film features tour de froce performances by a host of amazing black actors including Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L Jackson, Spike, and Giancarlo Esposito. The film also features excellent performances from Danny Aiello as the owner of the pizza place and John Tuturro as his incendiary son who starts stirring the pot early in the film. The film's tagline, "You Can Do Nothing, You Can Do Something, or You Can Do The Right Thing," sums up the thrust of the film perfectly as we continually watch characters do something and nothing and very rarely even attempt the right thing. Lee leaves no racial epithet unhurled and spares not even his black brother sna sisters in on of the films most arresting sequences, a montage of people ranging from the Italian pizza shop owner to the Korean grocery store owner to himself and Radio Raheem rattling off insult after insult to show how common it is and how easy to ignore the true impact unless it is literally shouted in your face repeatedly. This film accomplishes more effectively what more recent films like Crash and Babel have attempted in recent years. It plays as an allegory of prejudice along racial lines, while it does tip over to the preachy side on occasion, Lee's focus is clear, and when he takes aim at any subject, people's views change. There is no good guy and there is no bad guy, even the people who you'd think were the films heroes, characters like Giancarlo Esposito's Buggin' Out, hurl invective at people for tresspasses as insignificant and scuffing his shoes. This is the beauty of Do The Right Thing. People are people, no one is a hero, no man is more than a man, and with faults. I cannot recommend this film enough, anyone with any interest in American urban life would be remiss in skipping Do The Right Thing.
After making Branded to Kill director Suzuki Seijun got fired because, according to his studio, his films made no sense OR money. Now, not many people or films could boast that, but ...
Branded to Kill, however, does feature a hitman - number three killer - who can only get sexually aroused when he smells boiling rice. When one of his targets gets away, a butterfly lands on his guns sight just as he is going to pull the trigger, he becomes the number one target of the number one killer in Japan. From this basic premise we are given one of the maddest and most entertaining action films of all time.
Now 40 or so years after its release it is a well established cult classic. Cooler than cool, if Tarantino actually admitted how much he liked this film (instead of desperately denying it) he would probably have to start paying Suzuki rights.
F for Fake is a labyrinthine film of almost truths, half truths and sometimes plain old lies.
Orson Welles masterfully weaves this labyrinth in the form of a film around another, Clifford Irving, the faker of a biography of mogul recluse Howard Hughes and incidentally biographer and friend of infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory. Of course Elmyr and his own lies add another ring of deception to F for Fake which becomes an incredibly witty occasion for thought.
And this DVD is a good one providing great context to ground what is a movie genuinely worthy of context.
Great fun; intellectually stimulating; occasionally touching; and very cool.
Apparently a geek used to be someone that was kept in a circus, addicted to drugs - most commonly alcohol - and would be, in their desperate state, fed live chickens, rats and so-on for the entertainment of the circus guests. And Nightmare Alley, often called the darkest of all film noir, has two of them.
Unusual yes, but what do you expect from director Edmund Goulding, fan of drugs, alcohol, bi-sexual orgies and "screaming colour combinations" himself.
Once again Eureka!MoC have given us a great DVD of a great film.
Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thieves is perhaps the most influential movie ever made. But on top of that it is one of the most beautiful, with an ending able to reduce the most cold hearted old sod to tears.
The film tells the story of a post-war Italian man's struggle to find and then keep work, made possible by the possession of a bicyle. The bicycle gets stolen and he and his young son set out desperately across Rome to find it again. Add to this the relationship between the man and his son and his sons adoration of his father and you have it.
Anyone can and should enjoy this movie.
Nothing less than three master-peices in a single box - and with a 180 page book to boot. If only western character based drama could be so complex and rich. Not only the protagenists, but also the periphery characters in these films are detailed almost beyond imagination. And brought to life by little inconsistencies, personal motivations and desires.
Repast and The Sound of Mountain are two of the most heart-rending and poignant tellings of personal suffering and sacrifice I have ever encountered in cinema. Flowing, though no less engaging, is slighly less personal, looking as it does at a group of women rather than just one. Not only are the characters genuinely 3-dimensional, but so are the movies themsleves. Often down beat they often display moments of tenderness and even humour.
Naruse, from this boxset alone, appears to me a master of his arts, story telling and film making.
The DVDs are excellent as is expected from Eureka! MoC and all of the essays in the 180 page book are worth reading. In fact I urge you to read them.
This introducion to Naruse has me hungry for more, and I am desperately awaiting my next fix. Do yourselves a favour and experience these films.
Imamura Shohei, director of this film, was interested in the lower halves of the social order and lower halves of the human body. And in Vengeance is Mine explores both through the hard cold eye of his almost anphropolical camera. As such it is a disturbing movie.
Based on the true story of a murderous rampage an seventy-eight day nationwide man hunt, Vengeance is Mine is equal parts titilating and alienating, repulsive and poignant. Imamura follows the killer on his final days as he staves off the banality of life with women and booze, revelaing the human in the inhuman in occasional poignant moments.
This DVD is internatinally the best release of this important film. The transfer is flawless, the Tony Rayns commentary and accompanying booklet informative, and Alex Cox introduciton mouth watering.
Disturbing, popular - it won every major film award in Japan on its release, and one of the most important and influential films to emerge from Japan in the last thirty years, Vengeance is Mine is a must see. Presented in this stellar DVD, however, Vengeance is Mine is also a must own.
Although not Bresson's finest film, The Trial of Joan of Arc is fascinating for all those interested in films and their making. It does not, however, tell us a story that we have not heard a dozen times before - Carl Th. Dreyer made a much celebrated film about Joan's trial as well. The two legendary directors even used the same source material.
Rather the root of this fascination, for me at least, is its running time of little over sixty minutes. And the fact that Bresson has managed to tell the story of Joan of Arc in such a small time.
This film represents something of an apex in economical film making and editing (outside of the avant garde) and as much is a must see for any prospective film maker. Fans of Bresson should appreciate it all the more.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder's last film is a must see for any fans of his earlier films or cinema more generally.
The sailor Querelle of the title struts around the port of Brest from sexual encounter to crime back and back to sexual encounter. All the time surrounded by the lurid, candy coloured light of Fassbinder's set and the kind of thick atmosphere only he could muster. Abound with mirrors, doubles, desire and exploitation this trully is a FASSBINDER film. And he, after all, was the last (in my opinion still un-surpassed) great director of the twentieth-century.
This telling of Jean Genet's swarthy sailor has a certain honesty about it - described as all of Fassbinder's melodramas but no longer in drag by Thomas Elsaesser. And that alone makes it a MUST SEE.
Flesh, Trash and Heat shocked me into liking director Morrissey after being bored by his Flesh for Frankenstein. I found all three films are comoulsive viewing, barely able to take my eyes of their star Joe Dallesandro as he saunters through life's trials and tribulations. Surrounded by the more often weird than wonderful members of Andy Warhol's factory.
Usually Joe looks bored. He might be gettign high on intravenous smack, posing nude for a gentle old pervert, chatting to some young hustlers, sharing a muffin with his baby, robbing a house, receiving oral sex, or lying beside his girlfriend (played by the transvestite Holly Woodlawn in trash) as she masturbates - as suggested by him, with a beer bottle, but he still seems strangely unengaged. And it is that which I found most fascinating about this film.
Although the trilogy is clearly less controversial than when they were first released they remain fresh compelling. Most certainly worth a look at the incredibly low prices these DVDs are now selling for.
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