Change Your Image
capo-365-829602
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Tokyo Tribe (2014)
Crazy, Insane, but Completely Lucid!
Shion Sono can, in the case of Love Exposure, make a 4 hour movie feel like a 2 hour movie and in the case of Tokyo Tribe make a two hour movie feel like a four hour movie. A strange showdown in Tokyo between warring crews is a freaking absurd mix between the Warriors, 1970's yakuza flicks, and an entire history of hip hop videos. The beats are tight, the visuals mind-blowing, the whole thing is like a crazy hallucination that is actually closer to way the real world operates than we admit. The set it is filmed on is obviously fake like the rain that hits it, the acting is absurd, the plot simple, but executed however the hell he wants. What is Shion Sono trying to say??? I think everyone that watches Tokyo Tribe at one point has to ask the question they know they shouldn't. I see, hear, and feel this movie. It does drag at times, since they're defiantly rapping almost every line of dialogue. Something about this film makes it the most progressive, subversive, pure cinema yet to be made on such a large scale. It's inaccessible, but mindless. It's mindful and welcoming. Crazy, insane, but completely lucid the entire time. I think it's genius. I think this guy Shion Sono is a genius. Should I admit that again? Oh I guess I already did on his last film.
Jigoku de naze warui (2013)
Best Movie of 2013
The more movies of Sion Sono's that I see, the more I realize that he is one of the greatest artists working today. It's a big claim and I don't like to kiss ass, but the man is one of the few people working in entertainment and art that sees through the current state of the world and instead of criticizing it, he creates a stylish farce that inspires, entertains, and breaks our balls for believing in what we do, in the way we do. He challenges us in a playful way, that I believe is more compelling than the other artists that attempt to do the same thing through relating trauma in films that Hollywood seems to like concerning war, disease, rags to riches to rags, etc...
The world is absurd because of the people in it. The characters. Of course this life is a saga, a tragedy, an adventure, a romance, but above all it is a chaotic mess filled with jokes and gore. Filled with weirdos that are completely out of place on this planet and weirdos that are even more in place.
I love Sion Sono's films and this one in particular lives up to what I love about them. This film gives me hope in the world. I won't spoil it for you. It's about yakuzas clashing with a film crew. It's about me and you. It's about you and me. Yakuzas and a film crew.
La grande bellezza (2013)
Great Visuals, Intelligent Film, but Pretentious Plot that's not Entertaining for its Length
I was really really excited to see La Grande Bellezza, after all the praise in the American and Italian media. While the cinematography was entertaining, the movie was a little redundant and pretentious for me. Still it's worth a view.
The film has been compared to Fellini, but to me Fellini in general has more movement in his pictures. More black comedy that hits deeper. More soul. In La Grande Bellezza, the camera moves, but not so much the people. They just sit there talking. I suspect that may be what Sorrentino was trying to show, satire, or criticize? but Rome today has many sides and this is not the most interesting one. I think if anyone belongs to this slice of Rome it is the filmmakers of La Grande Bellezza. Discussing the past and trying to emulate it, instead of moving towards the future and embracing it.
Still despite it's pretentiousness, the film makes the viewer think deeply. The film is brave for being existential with very high technical skill. Some of the best cinematography I've ever seen. There are some very strong moments where greatness is shown. These moments are rare for movies nowadays. My problem with the film is in-between these flashes of greatness, the story drags and is a boring conversation on an even more boring subject. To me the subject comes across as self-righteous and uninspiring. That really made me emotional because the performances and visuals were the opposite. I suspect this could be the motive behind the film. Either way the director is a very smart man, but I prefer directors that are able to entertain while giving their message.
I really enjoyed Sabrina Ferilli and Carlo Verdone in this film, but not so much the lead actor. I preferred him in Gommora and didn't like Il Divo at all.
I do see this film as an achievement in art, but for me it wasn't entertaining outside of its visuals and nods to the past Italian masters. I would prefer to rewatch Fellini, Pasolini, Antonioni, Dino Risi, Bellochio, Leone, Martino, Argento, and suggest others do, while waiting for the a new Italian master to emerge.
To me La Grande Bellezza ironically belongs in the same company that it criticizes. It is a very strange thing that I notice of Italian culture in which I have been lucky enough to be both on the outside and inside of as someone whose family has lived in and around Rome since before WWII and still does.
Don't forget and allow yourself to be fooled by another side of local genius. A different art. The nationalist hype machine under the shadows of Berlusconi is as strong as ever in Italy. This movie was sold well, since it is something the international film community wants is a new Italian masterpiece.
Fellini... really? hahahahahaha... macche te scherzi?
Saek-jeuk-shi-gong (2002)
A Story Told Many Times, Told Better
People compare this movie to recent comedies, made in the states which are far inferior. This is one of the best, if not "the best" comedies in this genre of Porky's, Animal House, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, American pie, etc... It's made in Korea during their height of their filmmaking. The scenes are powerful, laugh out loud funny, and fast. The acting is natural and the comedic rhythm is fluid. The gags are exaggerated at times, but completely satisfying. The change in mood towards the end can almost bring you to tears, which is impressive for a movie that can make you laugh harder than most. It manages to cover the entire range of human emotions disguised in a silly premise. This is superior filmmaking on all levels. It is a story told many times, told better. High art, disguised in a commercial medium. I love this movie. Tonight I watched it for the fourth time and it is just as entertaining and touching as the first time.
Hypothermia (2010)
Visually Masterful Underground Cinema.
Visually masterful underground cinema. The bleak, but beautiful setting of the frozen lake is warped by a minimalistic luciferian score. The pacing is hypnotic, at times slow, but meditative.
I enjoyed the plot, which was a tongue-in-cheek combination of fishing, family drama, and horror. It was a weird mix of exactly what you'd expect and complete ridiculousness. It could use some more tits and more gore, but maybe that will happen in part 2.
The acting is b-movie camp outside of Michael Rooker and Amy Chang. You've got to listen closely to grab some of the bizarre stuff the character's say with straight faces.
It seems that swimming below the traditional genre flourishes there is a subversive social message. I definitely didn't watch it for the relevant message, but instead enjoyed it for the eerie tension and creepiness.
This is my favorite McKenney film with Automatons trailing close behind it.