Une belle fille comme moi (A Gorgeous Kid Like Me)

A bawdy comedy from Truffaut.  Some of it is dumb, some smart, none of it great.  But it’s charming and entertaining enough to be worthwhile.  Bernadette Lafont plays one of those unstoppable Truffaut heroines like Jeanne Moreau in Jules et Jim or The Bride Wore Black.  The movie skips from one amusing anecdote to another as Camille expertly manipulates the multitude of men in her life.  While it’s not the best (or even the funniest) movie in Truffaut’s body of work, it’s a good bit of fun.  Rating: 7

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Visage

In a way, this is Tsai’s most accessible film since Rebels of the Neon God.  He’s cut way back on the ultra-miniminalist, absurdly long takes.  Very few scenes are of “people doing nothing”, and virtually every scene is a striking work of beauty, like pieces in a museum (the film was commissioned by, and partially shot in, the Louvre).  Even the themes of isolationism are toned down.  Characters frequently appear interacting together, even experiencing joy with each other!  So why has it had such a poor reception?  Well, even “mainstream Tsai” is a hard sell, and I must admit this is a very unfocused work.  On one level, it’s about the process of filmmaking, and the layers of artificiality.  We are never sure what exists in reality, in the movie-within-a-movie, in fantasy, or in the supernatural.  Reality and artificiality seem to constantly bleed into each other, creating different variations of the meta-universe.  It’s also a re-affirmation of Tsai’s adoration of Truffaut, again casting Jean-Pierre Leaud (as the actor “Antoine”), Fanny Ardant (as a producer) and Jeanne Moreau.  There’s also the appearance of a flipbook containing the final moments of 400 Blows (layers of artificiality again!).  And going even further, this may be the continuation of Tsai’s own “Antoine Doinel” series.  What Time Is It There is his 400 Blows, and The Skywalk Is Gone is his Antoine et Colette, and The Wayward Cloud is his Stolen Kisses.  I hadn’t considered it before, but it seems to me now that I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone is his Bed & Board.  Which makes Visage his Love on the Run, and whether intended or not, that makes sense.  There are numerous references to the previous films.  This review is getting too long to enumerate them all, but the death of the mother is a clear parallel to the death of the father in WTIIT.  Like all Tsai films, there’s a good deal of very sly, dry humor.  His preoccupation with water invading private spaces makes a hilarious, explosive appearance in the first five minutes.  I had to wonder if Tsai was poking fun at himself a bit here, it was so over-the-top (for him, that is).

I am rambling, and that’s appropriate for this movie, which is so packed and sprawling that it probably would confuse the hell out of anyone not already on the Tsai bandwagon.  I won’t pretend to understand all of it either, but I’m such a raging fanboy that I lapped it all up.  I think Tsai would have to do something radically different from his formula before he could let me down.  Rating: 10

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Talk About a Stranger

As the opening credits rolled and I saw John Alton was the cinematographer, I got very excited.  The excitement wore off three minutes later.  A young boy tries to prove that the creepy new neighbor poisoned his dog.  Naturally, the boy is an obnoxious little brat, and most of this movie plays out like an episode of “Leave It to Beaver”, moralistic ending and all.  There is very little noir about any of this.  However, Alton’s photography is truly stunning, far far better than this film deserves.  I guess if you have no noir expectations and a high tolerance level for irritating children, it’s worth a watch.  For me, it was a real drag.  Rating: 4

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Brakhage 5/30/10

Dog Star Man (rewatch) – Definitely not as euphoric about this as I used to be.  It’s certainly an impressive, sprawling work with a lot of meaning to be mined.  This time I saw it as the origin of some sort of new pagan mythology, with the star being our life-giving sun, the man a mythic hero going through an epic struggle, and the dog as his spirit guide.  The thing is that it can be a real slog to get through.  I kind of had to force myself to sit through it, mostly during Part 1.  As the longest part of the film (nearly half of it) this is a problem.  The prelude is also long, but has a lot more going on.  I don’t have much issue with parts 2-4.  It’s just that plodding tedium of part 1 needs to be trimmed down.  Rating: 7

 

The Wonder Ring (rewatch) – Let’s ride the choo-choo and make a movie film!  I still think this is very thin material, but I must say the Blu-Ray really brings out its simple beauty (more than a shitty internet video).  In fact I kinda like it now.  A nice piece, even if not very thought-provoking.  Rating: 7

 

The Dead (rewatch) – This one is still boring as hell.  Rating: 3

 

Two: Creeley/McClure - Some interesting portraiture of a couple of Brakhage’s buddies, with generous usage of superimpositions and rapid-fire editing.  Rating: 6

 

23rd Psalm Branch (rewatch) – Okay, I’m gonna have to lay off the Brakhage for a couple of days.  Trying to take in too much at once has burned me out on it.  My feelings on this one haven’t changed that much… some powerful images, but the barrage of them induces fatigue and sensory overload.  Rating: 7 (Part I) + 6 (Part II)

The Captive City

A reporter discovers his small town is being taken over by a crime syndicate.  Kind of disappointing compared to Robert Wise’s other noir films like The Set-Up and Odds Against Tomorrow.  It is well-directed and makes good use of John Forsythe (not a great actor, but a likable joe).  But the story is very been-there-done-that, with nothing too exciting to add.  The mob in this movie is rather low-key, by noir standards, and so there isn’t as much tension or threat of danger as it feels like there should be.  Not a bad movie, just needs more juice.  Rating: 7

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The Unknown Man

Pretty good courtroom drama with an interesting twist.  Walter Pidgeon (he of the fabulous authoritative voice from Forbidden Planet) is great as the naive civil attorney whose innocence is spoiled when he takes on a criminal case.  The film is noir only by the broadest of definitions, but it’s a good watch anyway.  Rating: 7

IMDb

Brakhage 5/29/10 part 2

Glaze of Cathexis (rewatch) – I tend to react to Brakhage’s hand-painted films on a purely aesthetic level.  This one isn’t as “pretty” to me as the others, nor do I quite understand what he was shooting for.  Rating: 6

 

Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse (rewatch) – Rushing, hypnotic images of distorted television and chaotic streaks of paint.  I’m tempted to say it goes on a bit too long, but I couldn’t look away.  Rating: 7

 

Untitled (For Marilyn) (rewatch) – This one does feel a little long, but results in such a glorious crescendo that it’s worth the wait.  An electrifying finale.  Rating: 7

 

Black Ice (rewatch) – One of my favorites of the painted films.  The sense of vertigo really makes you feel like you’re endlessly falling into the frame.  Rating: 9

 

Study in Color and Black and White (rewatch) – Very sparse, not much to latch onto here.  More like “study in black”.  Rating: 4

 

Stellar (rewatch) – It is impressive how Brakhage can employ minor variations in the same techniques to produce wildly different effects.  In most respects, this resembles any of a dozen of the other painted films.  But by simply adding a smattering of white dots, it looks for all the world like fantastic visions of the cosmos.  Rating: 9

 

Crack Glass Eulogy (rewatch) – Rather dull and lifeless.  Feels slapped together without much thought.  Even the composed music doesn’t help much.  Rating: 4

 

The Dark Tower (rewatch) – An evocative struggle between utter blackness and brilliant flashes of colored light.  Rating: 8

 

Commingled Containers (rewatch) – As much as I love some of Brakhage’s work, I must admit that a lot of his films bleed together in my memory.  But this one has always stuck with me.  Such wonderful, stunning technique, a breathtaking work of beauty.  Rating: 9

 

Lovesong (rewatch) – “A hand-painted visualization of sex in the mind’s eye”.  At first I was like “okay Stan, if you say so”… but after a while I started to see it.  Whatever it is, it’s damn purty.  The hi-def presentation really enhances the tactile sensation of paint on film.  I wanted to reach through the screen and hold it.  Rating: 9

World for Ransom

Aldrich evokes some killer ambience, particularly in his depiction of the seedy underbelly of Singapore.  Otherwise, this is a dud.  A weak, unimaginative script that fails to exploit its cold war premise, some humor that falls flat, very little real tension, and a lousy cast.  Dan Duryea makes a terrible leading man, his reedy voice and smarmy demeanor are too irritating.  No one else is that good in it, either.  A short movie, but one that feels longer than it should.  Rating: 5

IMDb

early shorts roundup

The Great Train Robbery - This is boring and there’s no sound!  I feel somewhat ashamed that I haven’t gotten around to this before now, it’s one of those milestones that you’re “supposed” to see if you care about movies.  Whether or not it’s the “first” narrative film, but it’s one of the first anyway, and that’s enough to make it a historical curiosity.  It’s also fairly entertaining, and certainly worth 10 minutes.  Not really the kind of thing you’re going to watch over and over again, though, except maybe if you’re studying cinema history.  Rating: 7

 

A Trip to the Moon (rewatch) – This is one I have seen before, but it was quite a while ago so I decided to refresh my memory.  This is really the type of early cinema that I enjoy, these delightful flights of fancy, these outbursts of creativity.  These guys all look like they’re having a blast.  Rating: 8

 

Moscow Clad in Snow - Not much to this, but it’s an interesting piece of historical documentary, showcasing a bygone era in a place that has gone through many changes.  Some of the scenes are very lovely.  Rating: 7

 

Un homme de tête (Four Heads Better Than One) – Very short, but clever and actually pretty funny, even today.  Rating: 7

 

Le Diable Noir (The Black Imp) – Geez, you’re never too old to get an education.  I’m learning that Méliès was really awesome.  I mean, I guess I knew that already by reputation, but I’ve never looked into him that deeply before.  Lots of fun here.  Watch out for chairs.  Rating: 7

 

Les Kiriki, acrobates japonais - A simple and obvious trick today… but it probably blew some fucking minds back in 1907.  Rating: 7

Sorry, Wrong Number

So-so suspense.  The bulk of it is told in flashback, sometimes flashbacks within flashbacks.  From Barbara Stanwyck’s point of view, almost every piece of information is gleaned from the telephone, which often becomes an instrument of menace.  The film is heavy on exposition and light on tension, but has some interesting plot developments and a satisfying conclusion.  One’s sympathies shift as we see Stanwyck and Lancaster from the perspectives of other characters.  Stanwyck’s performance isn’t that great, but it has a fun campy edge to it.  Rating: 7

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