Change Your Image
brotherdeacon
RENOIR (Grand Illusion, The Crime of Monsieur Lang, Rules of the Game).
OSHIMA (Violence at Noon, Boy, Death by Hanging)
HAWKS (The Twentieth Century, Red River, The Big Sleep).
BUNUEL (Viridiana, The Milky Way, Los Olvidados).
BERGMAN (Sawdust and Tinsel, Summer with Monika, A Lesson in Love).
KI-DUK KIM (The Isle; Samaritan Girl; Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring).
VON STERNBERG (The Docks of New York, Blue Angel, Shanghai Express).
MIZOGUCHI (Ugetsu Monotagari, Life of Oharu, Sansho the Bailiff).
PASOLINI (Arabian Nights, Oedipus Rex, Momma Roma).
VISCONTI (Ossessione, White Nights, Rocco and his Brothers).
CASSAVETES (Faces, Woman Under the Influence, Opening Night).
IMAMURA (The Insect Woman, The Eel, Black Rain).
CLAIRE DENIS (Beau Travail, Chocolat, Friday Night)
T. RICHARDSON (The Entertainer, A Taste of Honey, Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner).
VON TRIER (Breaking the Waves, Dancing in the Dark, Elements of Crime).
M. OPHULS (La Ronde, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Reckless Moment).
Some other favorite films:
The Lusty Men (N. Ray)
Cesar, Marius, Fanny (Pagnol trilogy)
Knife in the Water (R. Polanski)
Children of Paradise (M. Carne)
Germany, Year Zero (R. Rossellini)
The Proud Ones (Yves All�gret)
My Man Godfrey (De Cava)
The Apartment (B. Wilder)
Fat City (J. Huston)
Strozek (W. Herzog)
All About My Mother (P. Almodovar)
Pyassa (Guru Dutt)
The Old Dark House (J. Whale)
The Samurai Trilogy (Inagaki)
Turtles Can Fly (Ghobadi)
Institute Benjamenta (Quay Bros.)
Werckmeister Harmonies (B.Tarr)
Burmese Harp (K. Ichikawa)
Gummo (H. Korine)
Naked (M. Leigh)
The 41st (G. Chukhrai)
Casque D'Or (J. Becker)
Wife Be Like a Rose (M. Naruse)
Visitor Q (T. Miiki)
The Runner (A. Naderi)
Les Bons Debarras (F. Mankiewicz)
Battle in Heaven (C. Reygadas)
Kongo (W. Cowen)
Broadway Danny Rose (W. Allen)
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Bandini (1963)
A Rare Accomplishment
Vintage Bollywood films are a new source of wonder for me. With less than ten titles under my belt, I still enjoy the big-eyed optimism of a neophyte, and being something of a film buff in other genres, the critical demands of a cranky old art-house fop. That being my background, I approached Bimal Roy's film, Bandini, with few expectations and was pleasantly surprised, so pleasantly. The intelligently-handled scenes by director Bimal Roy took me back to a few of the great American and French directors of the 1930's, when realism was eschewed for style, and drama was willing to risk sentimentality if it meant giving strength to the ultimate story. The type of film-making I'm thinking of was a breeding ground for humanism's values, complete with conflict, tears, and heroic resolution. In Hollywood, Frank Borzage would be one example, early Capra was another, even the uber-stylist, Von Sternberg. And in France, similarities can be identified with the work of between-the-wars Renoir and a slightly later Yves Allegret. But, of course, what these forerunners to the Bandini movie didn't utilize, and which so many Hindi films demand, is the placement of musical numbers. The musical numbers in Bandini were excellent, not an easy accomplishment given that the dramatic story-line takes place in a woman's prison during the Raj's last dark chapter before Indian independence. Not exactly Ethel Merman territory. The musical compositions and lyrics in Indian movies during 1963, the year of Bandini's release, were still in it's golden era, and playback singers were being revered as national treasures. Listening to the voices of Asha Bosle and Lata Mangeshkar delivering S.D. Burman compositions is a treat to remember for a long time. And though I only know the lyrics through subtitles, their poignancy seemed a very high mark in the marriage of lyric, music and story.
Which brings me to the real revelation of this film, the extraordinary actress Nutan, as she developed our lead prisoner's character into the embodiment of a strong-willed yet tender heroine of considerable depth and spirit. She captures the screen like very few actresses I've ever watched; as the saying goes, "the camera loves her." But, I'm not here to try more than a thumbnail review of this wonderful film. The production value; the acting, which also included Ashok Kumar in his sincere portrayal as a multi-faceted "freedom fighter; the exacting and accomplished black and white camera work of Kamal Bose; all these found just the right tone to create an unexpected masterwork of romantic drama. Glory to Bollywood. Oh, and if you liked this movie, I recommend Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, both by the incomparable Guru Dutt. High art indeed.
Cadillac Records (2008)
A Vegas Tribute Band Has More Soul
Yet another musician-based biopic, sad but true. It's a musical recreation of early recording artists at Chess Records circa 1950-1960's, the Chicago Blues' holiest temple. Marquee roles include Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry. Pulling strings from behind the glass is owner/macher, Leonard Chess. Unfortunately, Hollywood can even f**k up the blues. In it's profligate grab for cash, the executives seem to have found a formula which entails hiring music and film stars to pose and emote for an hour and a half in order to sell a soundtrack. Do they teach this stuff at USC film school? Or does the new breed bypass appreciation of the medium altogether? Is it all dollars and cents? For every good bit of casting, such as Jeffrey Wright in the role of Muddy Waters, there are countless others who flail around, mug, grimace, bleed, and of course sing. Adrian Brody will not remember this role as a hallmark in his career. At what point did the director, Darnell Martin, throw up her hands and quit caring? Contracting Beyonce to fill the role of Etta James is like casting a Persian kitten with dyed tips to play a bloody-mouthed mother lion growling her need across the hot nighttime skies. Whoever made this movie should be ashamed. Hell, I'm ashamed and I only watched it.
This movie is so bad it will probably make money. The producers know their market: youthful audiences aroused by celebrity casts (Mos Def, Beyonce), and older fans enticed by the Blues legends of their youth. We need look no farther than the recent box office success of similar films including Taylor Hackford's "Ray," James Mangold's "I Walk the Line," and Bill Condon's "Dreamgirls." Each one focusing on the recording industry with its supply of soundtrack hits, stars and prestigious awards. This movie sips from that same well.
Cadillac Records borrows heavily from those films, but lacks any focus. It's a compendium of characters, songs, sub-plots in search of a main thread. They'd probably have achieved their ends more successfully by making "Muddy," thereby concentrating on one major luminary instead of an entire stable of acts. Or "Etta," since R and B is a more commercially popular and viable commodity in 2009 than the three-chord limitations of Chicago Blues. In fact Cadillac Records tried to fit about 5 biopics into one, which was an unfortunate conception.
A tribute lounge band in Las Vegas gives more integrity to the Chicago legends than this movie does. There's something so soulless and imitative about it, as if it were written, filmed, edited and finished by a cell of marketing executives bent on scraping every last dollar out of its tired carcass.