American westerns directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne.
John Wayne is in a group of "good guys" who must stay within the sheriff's office during conflict with criminals. The 3 films have differing varieties of this, but the main idea is the same.
This series got worse as it went on. Rio Bravo is one of my favorite films and I am keeping the other ones, but they did not live up to its standards. How can you beat Dean Martin and Walter Brennan playing music in the office while under siege? In El Dorado, the sheriff was the drunk instead of a deputy to John Wayne and the sharp-shooter from Rio Bravo became a can't-shooter with a sawed off shotgun. I won't even mention all of the character changes in Rio Lobo. Let's just say that John Wayne was a soldier during the civil war. Don't get me wrong. The plot and characters were the main focus of the 3 films and high production value for the time made them classic westerns. I do actually like all of them. I just think that the writing blew its load on #1 while 2 and 3 got sloppy seconds. 1 more beef with the series: where is my Sergio Leone style crane up and out exit shot? When exploiting western film cliches (as these films do), why not go all out and make it a complete package? I rate this series good. I know I've reviewed 2 of the films already, but this is an update/summary. If you like 1960s American westerns, watch these.
An American romance directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and John Goodman.
A man flies an airplane to put out forest fires, but his girlfriend wants him to become a flight instructor. He crashes his plane, dies and is assigned to be inspiration for his ex's new boyfriend.
Stupid, terrible and vapid. The audio sounded like modern films: the fire scenes sounded like they were happening in my room and the dialogue was a few blocks away. In a dialogue-driven plot (even what little there was of it), the dialogue needs to at least be audible. The characters were all shallow and lacked back-story. The audience never finds out what any of them were doing before the first scene of the movie. When all of this is piled on top of me not liking romance films, it does not end well. At the ending, when the woman sunk her plane, I was saying "drown, bitch, drown!" at the screen. I rate this bad. Do not watch!
A French Italian comedy directed by Luis Bunuel, starring Julien Bertheau, Jean Rochefort, Jean-Claude Brialy and Michel Piccoli.
Continuous characters are involved in unrelated events which are meant to make the viewer question socially accepted norms of behavior.
Most of this was incoherent. It just seemed like there was no point. Some of it made a great deal of sense, though. There were 3 scenes that I wish to highlight.
In the first scene, a group of people sit at a table which has toilets instead of chairs. As the scene goes on, it is revealed that they find food to be disgusting. 1 man from the group gets up and goes to "the dining room" to eat in private.
The second scene involves a school girl who has disappeared. Her parents are notified and they rush to the school. When they enter the classroom, the teacher is trying to explain the situation and the girl walks up to tell them she is there. The teacher calls roll and the girl stands up when her name is called. The parents and child go to the cops where the man filling out the report examines the girl who is standing right next to him in order to fill in hair color, eye color, clothing, etc.
A man with a rifle is in a tall building and picks off people on the street. The court hears his case, sentences him to death and he walks out with everyone else like nothing happened.
By using nonsense, absurdity and opposites, Bunuel has created something more than just a comedy. Unfortunately, the people who get it and understand some meaning are the ones who would not need these preconceptions questioned. AND Those who need these preconceptions questioned and should think about them would not understand the film enough for it to prompt them to reflective thought. Using this line of thought, it could be seen as a film used to boast mental superiority. Smart people who get it would show it to their dumb friends and laugh when the friend did not understand. I rate this adequate because what I understood of it was quite funny.
An American erotic musical comedy directed by Michael Pataki and produced by Charles Band.
An altered re-telling of the Cinderella story.
I found this to be lewdly funny. Some of my favorite alterations were the fairy godmother being a black man and the prince looking for the girl whose pussy fit correctly. The fairy godmother's magic wand is something that must be seen in action to be appreciated. The video style looked very much like Charles Banmd's later work with Subspecies and Puppet Master. The acting and singing seemed second rate, with the main focus being on nudity and prurient jokes. I'm not writing about this because I have much to say, but because of the strange combination of genres. I rate it adequate.
A Japanese animated drama directed by Isao Takahata.
During World War 2, a boy and his younger sister lose their home and mother in a bombing. They try to stay with an aunt, but she mistreats them and they move into an abandoned shelter by a river.
I think this is one of the saddest movies ever made. It was all like the ending of SLC Punk! (1998). Being Studio Ghibli, the animation was amazing. The backgrounds were incredibly detailed and the characters moved naturally. I think the writing and dialogue were good as well. Because it's so sad, I don't like watching it very frequently. However, it is an amazing work of art. I rate this good for production value and writing.
