Howdy folks,
My stars, it's been almost a month since last I darkened these halls. Chalk it up to film festival recovery, Barcelonia adventures with T. Harv Eker and being once again gainfully employed (playing Richard Hannay in Artists' Ensemble's production of THE 39 STEPS). I embrace both the madness and the calm, but eventually it's time to get back on the proverbial horse and trot out some critical mass if not massive critiques.
As always feel free to leave your two cents worth - we'll make sure you get some change back.
Enjoy!
HORROR:
POST-BIFFF AFTERNOONS WITH GERT:
Spiders (2000) (1st viewing) d. Jones, Gary (USA)
KITLEY’S KRYPTIC ARMY APRIL MISSION: CONFESSION TIME
I decided to approach this month’s mission more as a chance to shout “finally!” than anything else. After all, that’s the general sentiment of the confession exercise, and while no one else might have been tapping their foot waiting for me to see them, these two have been on my “to-see” list for 8 and 10 years, respectively, from Rue Morgue’s 100 Alternative Horror Movies and Fangoria’s 101 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Seen lists. I don’t know if either of them necessarily qualify as bona-fide classics, but I’m damn glad to finally have them under my belt.
Cut-Throats Nine (1972) (1st viewing) d. Marchent, Joaquin Romero (Spain)
Maniac Cop 2 (1990) (1st viewing) d. Lustig, William (USA)
CIVILIAN:
Survive Style 5+ (2004) (1st viewing) d. Sekiguchi, Gen (Japan)
Five individual storylines (a man repeatedly murders his wife only to have her return time and again, a respected businessman is permanently hypnotized into thinking he is a bird, a workaholic female conjures ridiculous marketing schemes which are played out before us, etc.) occasionally criss-cross in this absurdist and outlandish masterpiece that dazzles with its hyperactive art direction even as it confounds viewer logic circuits. Indescribable but indispensable, a must-see for adventurous cinephiles. The last movie I saw during my Brussels excursion - many thanks to Gilles, Vanessa and Gert for their spirit and hospitality and knowing how to send a Yank home with his mind blown.
39 Steps, The (1935) (2nd viewing) d. Hitchcock, Alfred (UK)
The Master of Suspense earns his early bones in this superb yarn about a callow young man (Robert Donat) who finds himself immersed in a tale of espionage and mistaken identity. Along with the previous year’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, this is arguably the film that launched Hitch’s career and still holds up nearly eight decades later.
2013 Totals to date: 134 films, 126 1st time views, 72 horror, 48 cinema
No comments:
Post a Comment