Brief thoughts about some movies I've seen recently. I should keep a notebook by my television to jot notes while I watch films because these reviews are really sparse....
Tags: Netflix
“Stroszek” (Werner Herzog)
As always, the director's commentary is insightful, and poignant, with the added bonus of hearing Mr. Herzog's impossible-to-parody-voice.
4 stars.
Don't Look Now Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are the married couple visiting a wintry Venice after the death of their child. Sutherland's character is a whiskery restoration expert working on the crumbling architecture of the city. After a walk along the side of the San Marco Canal, they walk into what is called Hotel Europa and go upstairs. They talk, she bathes. A naked Sutherland works on his art and architectural drawings. Finally, they have sex. Roeg's technique of intercutting their sex with a later scene of them getting dressed for the evening is justly celebrated - Steven Soderbergh included a homage to it in Out of Sight.Roeg used two locations for the scene - the lobby and exteriors are the Hotel Gabrielli just east of the Piazza San Marco. The actual room where the scene takes place is in the slightly more upmarket Bauer Grunwald on the Campo San Moise. The scene was filmed early on in the production - indeed, the first time the couple had ever met - after torrential rain slowed down the outdoors shoot. Christie was by all accounts nervous, but Roeg followed the standard practice of a reduced film crew to make her more comfortable. The scene proved so convincing that rumour still persists that the sex was real.
3.5 stars.
“The Long Goodbye” (Robert Altman)
liked this more than I thought I would. Nearly a documentary of the early 70s.
4 stars.
“McCabe & Mrs. Miller” (Robert Altman)
The creators of Deadwood certainly watched this movie a dozen or more times: too many similar themes. Occasionally mumbly, but I turned on subtitles.
4 stars. I'm annoyed Deadwood didn't have a longer run, but this movie lasted just long enough.
“Eight Below (Widescreen Edition)” (Frank Marshall)
beautiful dogs, and scenery, but the humans were all, without exception, unlikable. Ended up skipping most of the scenes involving people, and the movie was better for it.
2 stars, or less if you watched the whole movie.
“Classic Albums - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland” (Roger Pomphrey)
If you've heard Electric laDylanD as many times as I have, this would be interesting. Favorite moments are when Eddie Kramer was at the mixing console, isolating certain elements such as Hendrix's stacked vocal harmonies, or harpsichord chords. Noel Redding mostly hung out at pubs, and Hendrix played the bass parts.
3.5 stars.
“Bill Hicks - Sane Man” (Rykodisc)
meh. I love Bill Hicks, but only liked some of these routines. Not his best show, depended too much upon making feedback with his microphone.
2.5 stars.
“Silent Running” (Douglas Trumbull)
Fell asleep for the middle, didn't miss much. Maybe good in the 70s, but did not hold up well.
2 stars.
“Babette's Feast” (Gabriel Axel)
Saw this enjoyable little film 20 years ago, and liked it just as much. No car chases, no sexual tension (well, perhaps metaphorically), no murders, just a small human drama, set in the land of dried fish soup.
4 stars.
“The Wicker Man” (Anchor Bay)campy pagan fun from the early 70s. Not the full, extended version however. Helps if you appreciate twee British-Isle folk.
3 stars.
