Nine Months

I am now three-fourths the way through the project, and starting to slack off. Oi, I'll get it together though. Top five of the month in no particular order:

Throne of Blood
Spirit in the Beehive
Miller's Crossing
Irreversible
The 39 Steps

Honorable Mention: Gojira, Ran, The Ox-Bow Incident, Pickpocket, The Naked Spur

The Ox-Bow Incident

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036244/]

The Gist:
This is possibly the most ambitious B-movie I've ever seen. And it is a B-movie, directed by Wellman (who directed other such film karma B-movies as Public Enemy and Night Nurse), running an hour and fifteen minutes, and with ticky tacky western sets. It does, however, have a star in Henry Fonda and a script that challenges the very nature of justice and the mob mentality, creating perhaps a darker version of the modern lynch mob mentality explored in Fonda's 12 Angry Men. Where the latter film had Fonda as mythic lone figure who is able to stem the tide of blind injustice, here Fonda is a far more flawed and human character. He is able to see that what is happening is wrong but what little he tries to do to stop the momentum of the posse is inept and ineffectual. The innocent men are hanged, and the mob must then face the consequences of their actions when the men are revealed to be innocent far too late for it to matter. The film is surprisingly moving, it really caught me off guard.

Irreversible

Irreversible (2002)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290673/]

The Gist:
Gaspar Noe's film aims for stark sensationalism, even purporting that the film carries a frequency that is undetectable but unconsciously makes the viewer nauseous (which sounds like hokum honestly. Granted I didn't hear that from a quote of the director himself but instead several people who have watched the film and stated it as fact). I must say that on a whole, this film accomplishes what it sets out to do admirably. It starts with twirling, swaying camera movements that belie the turmoil of the situation and as the movie progresses the camera slowly calms as it passes through the night in question: where the film brutally depicts the rape and beating of a woman and the revenge sought out by the woman's current and ex boyfriends. Where the film gets me is after all of this, when it calms at the very beginning and shows a delicate and intimate scene between the woman and her boyfriend. Without this scene as the anchor, the violence would become overwrought. Instead, with context and contrast, the film reaches a staggering depth.

How to Steal a Million

How to Steal A Million (1966)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060522/]

The Gist:
An enjoyable caper film that doesn't offer much in terms of substance but gets by remarkably well on formula and great leading actors. This is one of those rare films that we see Audrey Hepburn actually given a love interest that isn't a couple generations older than she is, and thank god because honestly a film like Funny Face is tough to watch after seeing old Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire films and seeing the lead actress stay young while Astaire gets old. In fact, I watched that film with a group of friends and someone riffed that it was a really sweat "father daughter movie". But on to this movie. If you've seen a heist film, you've seen this one but the repartee between the characters is solid, the banter light, an enjoyable way to pass a couple hours.

Gojira

Gojira (1954)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047034/]

The Gist:
Gojira is the ultimate participatory film. You have horrible acting, a slow build to the awesomeness that is Gojira, and a large portion of film time purely devoted to Gojira's wanton destruction of Tokyo. In a group setting, which is how I viewed the film, this leads to comments about how Gojira is just acting out his frustrations over his confused identity between sea and terrestrial based monster form (he does look like a rather awkward mix in this one), how Gojira has quote "cute haunches", and how Gojira is "never acting, ever!" when we compare the monster to the horrible performances of the actors. Of course, what is most interesting is that underneath all the gratuitous monster movie mayhem there is a very compelling undercurrent of post-atomic Japanese culture:

1. Gojira is an embodiment of senseless destruction, oozing radioactivity and thereby directly linking him to both the consequences and the symbolic link of atomic warfare.

2. The means that are used to destroy him are so dangerous that the scientist sacrifices himself along with disintegrated corpse of the lovable sea monster before the technology can get into the wrong hands.

Lots of parallels to take from this, ne?

Week Thirty-Six

We approach the three quarters mark of the project! Of course, after the year is over I'll likely start a new year with slightly modified rules. I like having the incentive to watch films and also a handy reference point for all the films I've recently seen. In other words, the project is an unprecedented success already. New queue:

Gojira (1954) - check

How to Steal a Million (1966) - check

Irreversible (2002) - check

Ox-Bow Incident (1943) - check

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

IMDB #209 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036342/]

The Gist:

This film had a lot going for it. Joseph Cotton working with Hitchcock, the director coming off of huge hits in America like Rebecca and Saboteur, and a plot that breeds a paranoia that Hitchcock films are known for (perhaps best exemplified in Rear Window). However, I must say that for me this is the most overrated, disappointing Hitchcock film I have seen, and I've seen a decent number of them. First off, we don't get really get into any carefully plotted suspicion because Cotton's character is so obvious and overwrought that it is impossible for his niece not to acknowledge his dark past. His character is just poorly written, poorly directed (sorry Hitchock, generally you're a god so you'll live), and he really weighs the film down. Then you have the saccharine way that Cotton's family dotes on him, which was plainly just annoying, and the watered down third act where the uncle starts to try to kill the niece who now knows his secret. This was the first Hitchcock film that I really had to struggle to finish. It's also one of the better rated Hitchcock films. Ah, subjectivity.

The Naked Spur

The Naked Spur (1953)

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044953/]

The Gist:

This is the second Anthony Mann/James Stewart western I've watched, and I must say that I enjoyed it a great deal more than The Man From Laramie. While Laramie attempted to emasculate the archetypal Western character, The Naked Spur instead attempts to corrupt him. Stewart is the perfect choice for this role, to show how an honest ranch hand becomes a merciless bounty hunter in the West. His personality is already emblematic of the former role, and through his post-war reinterpretation of his own star persona he's able to find ways to create a darker impression of the character while still maintaining a strong thread of authenticity. In short, this is honestly what a character who was inherently good would look like after he sacrificed his integrity for wealth. Add to that a conniving outlaw that attempts to turn the band of impromptu bounty hunters against each other, a tightly wound plot that moves well, and an underlying commentary of greed that is strongly reminiscent of The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and you have one of the better westerns of the era.

Pickpocket

Pickpocket (1959)

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053168/]

The Gist:

The first thing you notice about the film is its bizarre performances. At first I wanted to characterize them as dead pan but I slowly felt this raw undercurrent of emotion that really belied that kind of description. This is more apparent with the protagonist than anyone, a man who is compulsively drawn to larceny and to his own inevitable destruction. That juxtaposition of listless performance and the thrill of theft sets up an interesting subtextual read on the film, namely that these small thefts serve as away for the character to elevate a dull, unimportant life into something tangibly exciting and real. The ending moment of closure reinforces this idea through a different medium of transcendence, one of love, as the protagonist and his love interest finally embrace through prison bars. All in all it was an interesting film, very minimalist, very French, excellent moments of tension.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1157705/]

The Gist:

This is a documentary about the oft discussed trial of Roman Polanski for rape that resulted in Roman leaving the country before he could be sentenced. Just last year, Roman was turned over to America by the Swiss government just as he was traveling to the Zurich Film Festival to accept a lifetime achievement award. That surreal juxtaposition is something that is inherently intrinsic in the case of Roman Polanski, a man who unconsciously provokes sympathy. The documentary focuses as much on the actual events leading to the trial as certain miscarriages of justice that took place in the trial itself. The most pointed criticism of the judge of the case came from the information that he tried to pressure the lawyers into "acting" decisions already made beforehand in chambers just to look better to the press. And yet, with all that aside one's mind immediately focuses on the word rape (which he was never going to be charged with, interestingly enough. That charged was dropped and what he stood to serve time on was the unlawful sex with a minor [still, 13 years old, hard to stomach]). As difficult as that is to understand, the audience is also given the information that Polanksi was a holocaust survivor, that his pregnant wife was brutally murdered by the Manson family and he was still in psychological shock from the incident during the encounter in question, and that there are possible cultural differences in regards to age and sex. You also have the fact that the woman in question has publicly forgiven him and has said she doesn't want anything more to happen to him. I can't tell people what to feel about any of this because it's definitely raw material. I don't even know what I feel. However, it is a good documentary to clear up some misconceptions about the whole thing.

Week Thirty-Five

New queue:

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) - check
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - check
The Naked Spur (1953) - check
Pickpocket (1959) - check

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054606/]

The Gist:
I don't want to slam on this film, because I appreciate Gilliam's intentions. However, I think I might have to because the whole thing came off as a massive disappointment for me. The problem is as follows, Gilliam has a very strong set up and the first half or so of this film is intriguing as hell, but the film eventually falls apart. In the first half it sets up the odd antiquity of the traveling show against the backdrop of modern day, greasy urban London, it sets up a playful dreamscape with the underlying peril of potential destruction, and it establishes very likable characters. It's when Gilliam has to push past the unique premise to fulfill a full story arch that the film loses focus. None of the themes set up in the first half of the film are satisfactorily resolved in the second half. Also, Ledger's character sadly becomes wildly inconsistent as he is lost through the incarnations of Colin Ferrel, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp (it's a shame the film can't end with Ledger due to his death, as it stands I felt like the character just evaporated). Anyway, the premise and a curiosity of Ledger's last film is more than enough to warrant a viewing, just don't expect much beyond that.

Ran

Ran (1985)
IMDB #143 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/]

The Gist:
I was correct when I assumed I would like Throne of Blood better than this film, but I must say it is a case of personal preference. Ran is late stage Kurosawa's epic masterpiece, once again emulating Shakespeare through the tale of King Lear. Throughout the film I was most intrigued by a continued stylistic choice from the director that emphasized a contrast between stasis and movement. He had several shots of castles standing stolid as clouds blew past at great speed, he opens his film with characters that seem so still I thought the frames were actually stills, but they're not, and the characters begin to move. This second choice is repeated again and again, as he blocks his people in a motionless frame and then allows them to breathe to life. In a way, I think this is oddly reflective of the Japanese culture, an idea of perceived passivity with an underlying current of emotion and potential turmoil. This aspect of the culture is reinforced through the plot of King Lear, where the undercurrent of the character's motives amidst silence and obedience becomes the driving force of the film.

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps (1935)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026029/]

The Gist:
Early phase Hitchcock that is significantly reminiscent of North By Northwest. It's even referenced of being reminiscent of the other film on the DVD cover. There's the normal citizen who gets swept up in a spy plot, who is dogged by both enemy spies and by the government, there is a mistaken case of murder (by knifing in both films), the escape takes place on a train, there is a woman who helps the man evade his captors, and so on. In fact, there is at least one shot of the train riding on the tracks that is literally the exact same shot in the other film, and as deliberate as Hitchcock is I imagine that choice was specifically orchestrated. Anyway, for my money this is a stronger film than Hitchcock's better known reincarnation. It has the privilege of being one of the best most beautiful films the director has made in terms of cinematography and setting, it is at times terribly clever as in a scene where the protagonist addresses a crowd impersonating a public official as he attempts to evade his captors, and finally it just has an intangible charm to it (much the same as The Lady Vanishes).

Miller's Crossing

Miller's Crossing [1990]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100150/]

The Gist:
I've meant to see this for sometime, but I have a specific impetus for seeing it now rather than later. I was looking up old noir writers, and I came across a wikipedia article of The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett. It was apparently the writer's book, dealing with crooked crime boss and the investigation of a murder and a brewing gang war and was listed as an inspiration for Miller's Crossing. Of course, Miller's Crossing takes a different slant with it, creating a sense of intrigue and betrayal between the crime boss and his right hand man. The film has badass shootouts and Gabriel Bryne boozing around and being awesome and a plot that twists around gleefully never giving you full insight on the protagonists mindset. It's a damn good film.

Week Thirty-Four

Still playing catch up a bit with the project. New queue:

Miller's Crossing (1990) - check
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) - check
Ran (1985) - check
The 39 Steps (1935) - check

My Man Godfrey

My Man Godfrey
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028010/]

The Gist:
This is a film that succeeds in being rather likable but I'm not sure how, because for everything My Man Godfrey tries to be it ultimately falls short. For instance, is this film a social satire on the wealthy, ruling class? Well it has Godfrey make quips about the snobbish upper crust brats that he works for, but certainly the plot falls short of any real pointed ire or comeuppance. What about the film as a love story? Well everyone seems to fall in love with Godfrey, but he doesn't seem to fall in love with anyone else (rightly so) and then he has a romance foisted on him at the end of the film which feels cloying and forced and without real resolution. Then, of course, there is the question of conflict. Godfrey handles his challenges with the family with ease, so that isn't very compelling. The potential frame up job on Godfrey is good but brief. The rescue of the "forgotten men" could have been compelling but that all happens off screen. Finally, you have the detail of Godfrey actually being a rich man working as a butler but nothing really significant comes from that either. So why is this film as good as it is? I suppose because of the performance and dialogue of the main character, where you instantly find him compelling, along with his interactions. Other than that, the film has issues.

The Spirit in the Beehive

The Spirit in the Beehive (1973)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070040/]

The Gist:
This is one of those films that I came upon by accident, where I had no initial knowledge of it but the premise sounded so intriguing that I had to sit down and watch it. I was scanning Netflix Watch Instantly and I read a synopsis about a young girl who watches Frankenstein and then goes searching for the real monster's spirit, eventually believing she's found it in a deserter from the Spanish Civil War. The synopsis was a bit disingenuous, which can happen with Netflix, mainly because the film is such a weird existential minimalist allegory that it becomes somewhat difficult to define it. Essentially though, the story has to do with effects of the disintegration of a family, particularly the structure of the married parents, and how the children are subtly influenced. One child becomes rather morbid, nearly strangling a cat out of whim, painting her lips with blood, pretending she's dead to frighten her younger sister. The other, of course, retreats into this fantasy of Frankenstein's monster. The whole film evokes a cryptic beauty, each scene drenched in silence and brooding nostalgia.

The Throne of Blood

The Throne of Blood (1957)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050613/]

The Gist:
Akira Kurosawa has two relatively famous Shakespeare revisionist films. This is the first I have seen, and it's honestly a little hard to imagine the other being any better. Honestly, it's a little hard to imagine that I would like any of Kurosawa's films as much as this. The whole film is drenched in fog and massive set pieces, the story of Macbeth is altered through the characteristics of traditional Japanese Noh Theater, and Kurosawa actually altered the voices of all of his actors in post production to take out the treble and create low deep barking voices. It doesn't hurt that Macbeth is the Shakespeare play I have seen the most on stage, have read the most on paper. But honestly, this film becomes an original creation, something that all adaptations should strive for. Kurosawa has taken an established work of art and turned it into something entirely new, something more than just Macbeth with Samurais (although that alone would be and is awesome).

The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Postman Always Ring Twice (1946)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038854/]

The Gist:
A film noir that had trouble getting off the ground because of the Code in Hollywood. In fact, the James M. Cain novel was penned on the same year of the Production Code was officially enforced, and its issues with adultery, violence, and lurid sexuality kept the film from seeing the light of day for a solid twelve years after the novel's success. Oddly enough, however, I didn't find the film to be any more bold than other film noir entries that had less issue entering the foray of production. I suppose it all stems from some puritanical view on the sanctity of marriage and the evils of adultery, thus justifying the 30s gangster-esque morality ending. Anyway, my personal opinion is that whatever concessions the filmmakers made to get Postman going, ie painting its characters in a morally black light, sacrificed the nuance necessary to make the concept really work.

Week Thirty-Three

New Queue, new month, and so on:

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) - check
My Man Godfrey (1936) - check
Throne of Blood (1957) - check
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) - check

Eight Months

Well it took me five days over the limit to get there but I'm done with the month. Also through three-fourths of the entire project. Here's the top five:

The Twilight Samurai
Les Diaboliques
Memories of Murder
The Killing
The Limits of Control

Honorable Mention: My Favorite Wife, Metropolis, The Lost Weekend, Tyson