(1919, Dir. Robert Wiene)
I watched this movie by myself in a very dark room in the middle of the night. Do not watch this movie by yourself in a very dark room in the middle of the night. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari follows the story of a man named Franzis who had a few bad run-ins with a somnambulist named Cesare and said somnambulist's "master" a while back, ultimately ending with the somnambulist's master putting Franzis in an insane asylum. Or at least, I think that was the plot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. To be honest, I was pretty confused. But I think you were supposed to be. Caligari is a disorienting film, by nature. The spooky, mysterious characters, with their bizarre makeup, are hard to read. The expressionist-style, fanciful sets add an extra layer to decode in every scene. And the story plays out as a mystery, but not one that is ever completely solved. When I read "The End", my head was still spinning. And I do think that was by design. When this film came out, WWI had just ended, and Germany was in total disarray. The sense of confusion created in Caligari reflects the state of the country at the time. I can't tell if I liked this movie. It weirded me out. But I know it was good, and it was important. The sets and costumes were magnificent. The actor's performances were chilling. The camera techniques engaged me and terrified me (I can't remember exactly when, but I almost jumped out of my seat at one point). So, 8.5/10 Books about Dr. Caligari (who was he really, anyway?).
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This is a documentary about a shot-for-shot remake 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark as begun by 11-year-old boys, and it is exactly as fun as it sounds, which is to say, very. The main story of the documentary revolves around the group (Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos, and Jayson Lamb) reuniting to film the last scene needed to complete their adaptation, with bits of background and side stories woven throughout as they become relevant. The non-linear quality is well-executed and makes this documentary a lot of fun to watch. I very much enjoyed seeing the story unfold piece by piece, delving deeper into the lives of the creators and the details of the production. The clips shown from the adaptation were chosen very well to reflect the creativity and dedication that went into it, and was a great parallel to the hard work that they were doing to complete the final scene. Interviews with Zala, Strompolos, and Lamb are supplemented well with interviews with friends and family members that give a well-rounded sense of the community that endeavored to do something as fanciful as to recreate an Indiana Jones movie as accurately as possible. This movie was so much fun to watch and I enjoyed it immensely. 9/10 plane explosions.
(1949, Dir. Buster Keaton, Robert Z. Leonard)
Give me every variation on The Parfumerie, and give it to me now! This sort-of-musical romantic comedy follows the same basic anonymous-penpals-real-life-rivals-turned-lovers plot as the play The Parfumerie, the Broadway musical She Loves Me, and films The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. Yet In the Good Old Summertime wasn't boring. Garland and Johnson's chemistry kept me very entertained, despite already knowing almost every turn the story was going to take. The ensemble cast of the music store employees (S.Z. Sakall, Spring Byington, Clinton Sundberg, and Buster Keaton) played very well as a fun, watchable unit. Lillian Bronson was charming as Aunt Addie, and Marcia Van Dyke was sweet and clueless as Louise Bronson. The movie had its low points too: the violin subplot could have been interesting, but fell a little flat, and the musical interludes, while very well-done and enjoyable, did nothing to move the plot along and sometimes went on longer than they should've. But this movie was simply a lot of fun. The physical comedy bits landed well, the dramatic-irony-filled plot bounced along well, and all the romantic buildup paid off wonderfully in the end. Was this movie predictable? Yes. But it was a great time nonetheless. 8/10 Amboy Harps. (1954, Dir. Robert Wise)
If you like watching old white guys in suits act like babies, then this is the movie for you! The president of a big-name furniture company dies, leaving the executive board to fight among themselves as to who the next president will be. This film can best be described as a bologna sandwich: the bread on either end is just fine, but the middle is bland and worthless. Things started interestingly enough, with an interesting first-person opening from the point of view of Avery Bullard, the president, who then collapses while calling a cab on Wall Street. Things went downhill from there. The intertwining stories of the members of the executive board were confusing and boring. Excellent performances from William Holden, June Allyson, and Barbara Stanwych made it engaging here and there, but it all went on for far too long before all the executives finally reconvened in a meeting to elect a new company president. In by far the best scene in the movie, William Holden's young-ish, smart-ish, honest-ish executive gives a rousing speech about how the Treadway Furniture Corporation needs to mean more than just furniture or something. At long last, he's elected president, and the movie finally ends. There were some good bits here and there, but the overall feeling I retain is best described as "meh". 5.5/10 Treadway Tables. (2014, Dir. Thomas Carter)
I'm going to be up-front: I did not like this movie. Maybe it had something to do with being forced to watch it and think about it on a retreat, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I don't like football all that much, but boy oh boy did I ever not enjoy this. It only supports the argument that All Sports Movies are the Same, though it somehow tries to turn the underdog trope on its head by turning it into an...overdog trope? It was poorly executed regardless, and unexciting. It certainly had its moments: the funeral scene at the beginning was touching, and the team's trip to the VA Hospital was a departure from what one might usually see in this genere. But the characters were hard to get attached to. I found myself wishing the story were about Ser'Darius Blain's character, who was far more interesting than the boys who took center stage for most of the movie. Jim Caviezel's performance as the all-important Coach was flat and emotionless for the duration of the movie, and WHAT A DURATION IT WAS. One hour and fifty-five minutes has rarely felt longer. 5/10 streak games. |
AuthorEileen here, writing reviews for film class. Archives
April 2018
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