Flanders

Bruno Dumont makes horrible films but they are very powerful, easy to despise and at the same time very powerful. Set in the grim north of France and then in a hot desert for war, with all its nastyness, not a pleasant experience by any means, but a memorable one.

Mark of the vampire

Apparently of remake of Tod Browning's own London after midnight (now lost), in fact it is really a remake of Browning's own Dracula. MGM decides to go after Universal.

Sweetie

I didn't think much of it, in fact I really disliked it. Film about a bunch of weirdos, not doing much and being very annoying. The chuckling commentary didn't help in appreciating better.

Dans Paris

The first half hour is quite bad, it gets better, largely thanks to Guy Marchand. The Louis Garrel character is fortunate to sleep with 3 women in the same day while tring to go to Le Bon Marché in less than 30 minutes (obvvioulsy it takes him over 9 hours), while Romain Duris is having a nervous breakdown. Lots of references to nouvelle vague films for better or worse.

The Da Vinci Code

The story is utterly rididculous as expected, but the film was quite enjoyable, as list the first half, which is a good thriller. Tom Hanks looks constipated and doesn't really say much, Toutou is bearable.

Solo con tu pareja

The first film from Alfonso Cuaron, is a slightly off beat comedy with a modern Mexican Don Juan, in 1991 Mexico City (i.e. with trendy Mexican people dressed in a very 80s style), nut amazing byt fairly entertaining.

Syndromes and a century

Fairly typical Apichatpong Weerasethakul film in 2 parts, but this time both are very similar, but the first one is set in a countryside hospital, while the second one in a high-tech one in Bangkok, same doctor and same buddhist monks (one for his a first visit to the dentist, also a singer. Arty, slow and odd but good.

Mary

Probably the best new film I have seen this year. Ferrara touches on so many themes in 85 minutes with grace and beauty without being heavy but still deep and meditating, helped by fantastic performances, filming and editing.

Rome ep 12

The last episode of this first season. It was quite good and Rome well re-created with interesting bits on religion, power, politics, sex, power, etc and very well acted as well as well crafted.

Marie Antoinette

That was the worst film I have seen at the cinema for quite a while. I fell asleep after 10 minutes for a little while (on the leather sofa seats of the electric cinema), the story was boring, lots of nice costumes and sets, but surprisingly badly filmed and poorly edited, the dialague (or lack) is shameful and the acting is not very good either. Good songs but they didn't really work for me. An absolute disaster.

Rome ep 11

Nearing the end, Brutus is now convinced he has to kill Ceasar and there is a massive fight in the arena where Veronius saves Pollo, bloody.

Black Book

Verhoeven returns to Europe with this WW2 story, over-long, full of not so believable twists and a young sexy actress to play a jew infiltrating the nazis. Entertaining, but not groundbreaking. Verhoeven and Carine Van Houten where on stage after the film to answer a few questions, which is nice.

Seduced and Abandoned

Classic Italian comedy from Pietro Germi with Stefania Sandrelli as the seduced and abandoned girl, while her middle-class Sicilian father worries about his honour. Funnier than Divorce Italian style, but could have been shorter and tighter.

Rome ep 9 & 10

More deaths and treachery, plotting and threats.

Invisible waves

From the Thai director of Last life in the universe, with Chris Doyle as a DP and that trendy Japanese actor I can't never remember the actual name. Set in HK and Phuket (and a cruise ship in between). It looks very good and the story is so cool, but it is very slow, and try to be soo cool, it gets a bit annoying. Overall quite good, but not as good as his previous film.

Body Double

One of my favourite 80s film, De Palma mixes Rear Window and Vertigo, adds porn, Frankie goes to Hollywood, a Mercedes SL, Beverly Hills and a truly amazing soundtrack from Pino Donnagio. A Classic.

Rome ep 8

Ceasar is in Egypt, meeting Cleopatra and killing Ptolemee and a beheading a couple of eunuchs, fun.

L'Ivresse du pouvoir

Chabrol creates a pure Chabrolian dilm vased on the Elf case. Huppert is great as the juge pestering the profiting execs and dealing with some dodgy politicians. A pleasure.

La doublure

A lazy comedy from Francis Veber, not very funny and not particularly well acted. Pleasant enough to watch on a sunday night.

Rome ep 7

End of the big battle, Ceasar wins it, and at the end Pompei is beheaded in Egypt. Entertaining.

Jigoku

A grotesque trip to Hell thar started very well, visually, but ends up quite ridiculous with the long sequence in hell.

Border Incident

A pseudo noir from Anthony Mann, and photographed masterfully by John Alton, suffers from a fairly uneventful script saved from a few scenes.

The racket

A Howard Hughes production for RKO, starts quite badly and messy, but really kicks in as Robert Ryan becomes nasty and Robert Mitchum, as the good cop, wants to frame him. A good little film noir at the end.

Why does herr R. run amok

Kurt Raab has a nagging wife who wants him to be promoted in a boring job, his neighbours agrees he is getting fatter, his child is not good at school, and more which brings him to go crazy and kill a few people and hang himself. The angst of the lower middle-class as seen by Fassbinder.

Rude Boy

Good punk rockumentary around The Clash. Lots of live gigs around the UK, and some political discussions, in the grey and depressing time of the late 70's, complete with a Margaret Thatcher speach for very old school Conservatives.

The sheriff of Fractured Jaw

Jayne Mansfield is the saloon owner and Kenneth More , the refined gentleman from England (Great Scot!) turned sheriff in the wild west. A delightful comedy/western directed in Scope by Raoul Walsh.

Shadowplayers - Factory Records

Factory & Manchester Post-Pink 1978-81. Great documentary with and about most of the key people from this glorious era. The Cassidy brothers from Section 25 (in particular Larry) are absolutly hilarious. Great interviews. The weird thinj is that there is no music at all during the 20 chapters.

Inside Man

Very slick looking, but wanting to be a bit too clever, but not that good. A Spike Lee Joint, but without much character.

Playtime

Tati's grand project, which ruined him, is a fantastic depiction of a new modern world, full of glass and hi-tech equipment. It is full of small details, but no plot and narrative, hence not a surprise it was a big failure when it came out.

Will success spoil Rock Hunter?

Another fantastic comedy from Frank Tashlin, with Jayne Mansfield, and her oh so kissable lips, endorsed for the Stay Put lipstick company. Advertising and the power of the media for mass marketing, already there in 1957.