Side Street

I got a bit disappointed by this Anthony Mann noir for MGM, mostly because I don't think Farley Granger is a good actor. His is playing a poor postman, struggling to get by with his wife who is expecting a child, and steal money and meet falls on the wrong side of the law.

Hollywoodland

Meh, terrible film, over long, no rhythm, nicely photographed but no passion whatsoever, over-dramatic and over-directed. Not good.

Variety lights

Fellini's first film, co-directed with Lattuada, follows a troupe of variety actors around little provincial towns, hoping for bigger gigs, the director falls for an ingenue, who has grander plans. Bitter sweet and charming, but lacking in variety acts a little.

Les Miserables part 3

Lots of barricades action, probably too much, but it all ends happily. A proper epic film with great music by Honneger and nicely photographed by Kruger who filmed Napoleon for Gance.

Les Miserables part 1 & 2

Great adaptation from Raymond Bernard with Harry Baur as Valjean, Charles Vanel as Jabert, and a show stealing Charles Dullin as the nasty Thenardier. Basically a big blockbuster from the early 30s.

Night on earth

Not the best Jarmush, with some annoying characters but some charming ones too.

Ratatouille

Good PR for the rats, no mean cats. The rats are cute, the story sweet, great animation, but it is too a bit long and would have benefitted for being shorter.

Les Maitres du Temps

Laloux teams with Moebius for this fantastic animated film, great story, cool electronic score and great design.

The Steel Helmet

Fuller's last independant film was the first film about the Korea war. More in line with Fuller's style but not as good as his subsequent films.

Mystery Street

Directed by John Sturges and nicely photogrphed by John Alton is more a murder mystery than a true film noir. The first half is entertaining but the second half is too predictable.

Act of violence

Top noir film from MGM directed by Fred Zinnemann with a scary Robert Ryan looking for revenge in a small California town, going after Van Heflin who betrayed him and a bunch of soldiers in a German camp. Great atmosphere and classic ending.

Wooden crosses

Big World War I drama in time for Nov 11th. A big budget film from Pathé skilledfully directed by Raymond Bernard. Actually not a great deal happens, with the execption of the 2nd half with lots of battles, but the films shows the pointlessness of war, the boredom, camaraderie and horror. There are a few really masterful shots.

Blades of glory

Figure skating is such a gay sport, it was easy to come up with a film about it with 2 arch-rivals becoming the first male pair. Actually quite funny at times.

Kuroneko

Classic Japanese ghost story with a women raped by a gang of samurai, reappearing as black cats seeking revenge. Nicely shot in black & white and scope.

Days of heaven

I'm not a huge fan of Mallick, but this was very good, largely because of the amazing photography of Nestor Almendros, really stunningly beautiful, and great score from Morricone.