A British science fiction drama based on the book by George Orwell, directed by Michael Radford, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton.
A dystopian future society forbids thought. A man who works in a "fact checking" job for a newspaper realizes what truth is and that he is being lied to. He meets a woman who feels the same and they have a romance, but are caught by thought police.
This is a weird one. I really like the plot and the ideas behind it, but this was extremely unpleasant to watch. I would classify this alongside THX 1138 (1971) and Metropolis (1927) as films about runaway governments. I really like the genre and wish that more people would get into this set of ideas because this science fiction is getting closer to present day fact every day. The characters in this film were cast correctly and acted their roles well. The video was very stylized, with drab city scenes, bright outdoor scenes and institutional torture chambers. It was the torture chambers which irked me most. It seemed too convincing and there was a scene with possible abuse of real rats. I don't object to Cannibal Holocaust (1980) having a real turtle mutilated, but there was a time when rats were my only friends and a pet turtle will never like a person. Editing was very slow compared to the newer films I've watched recently. Audio was generally alright, but there was some whispered dialogue which was too quiet. I have to give it a pink rating because I like the subject matter and the book, but not the film. If you don't know the story, you need to watch it.
An American western written and directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges and John Hurt.
After college graduation, a man goes to a foreign immigrant pioneer settlement to be a hero. He wants to leave with the woman he loves, but she won't leave her brothel. Military or militia guys show up and things get violent.
This 219 minute film can be summed up in 1 scene. Kris Kristofferson is trying to read a list of names to a group of immigrants and they won't shut up long enough to let him read (image) these immigrants in this room. Saying it had audio problems is like saying that walking from Argentina to Alaska takes a little while. Most of the scenes included mobs, crowds, gangs, parties and armies, complete with trains, wagons and horses. They were always all moving and shouting at once. Most films would have a directional microphone on the actors and/or do an overdub so we can hear dialogue without being overwhelmed by background noise. This did not. There are lots of films which have a plot worth spending 3 and a half hours on, but don't. This had about a 45 minute plot and spent 3 and a half hours on it. This may also be why the plot was not clearly presented. There were good things, though. The video all looked amazing. There was shot variety and lots of detail. Besides "The Walken Beast", nobody could ask for a better cast. In writing a hero, whenever he is needed for some official purpose, he's passed out drunk. It's just that there were serious problems which completely prevented me from enjoying it. I rate this poor because it could have been fixed with some editing. You probably should not watch it.
An American western directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Johnny Depp, Lance Henriksen, Crispin Glover, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Jared Harris, Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt, Alfred Molina and Robert Mitchum.
An urban man goes to a rural town where he was promised a job, only to be denied. He spends the night with a woman whose husband comes home in the morning. A gunfight ensues and they are all shot. The urban man then steals a horse and wanders around the wilderness with a Native American called Nobody. The husband's father has meanwhile sent bounty hunters and ordered wanted posters to be posted.
This was my second time watching this and the ending left me wondering about when the main character dies. The video was all in black and white and the only thing that puzzled me slightly was the main character's POV without glasses was still in sharp focus. The plot was a little sparse, but even the minor characters were memorable. I don't write here to drag this out into forced over-analysis. I rate it adequate. You should really watch other Jim Jarmusch films.
A British German drama directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tilda Swinton, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright and John Hurt.
A female vampire in Tangiers goes to visit her husband in Detroit, but her sister shows up and drinks the husband's zombie. They kick out the sister and both go to Tangiers in order to avoid being known.
Every once in a while, a truly goth movie comes along. I definitely appreciated the two hour duration and still wanted more. It went too quickly, even though the actual pacing was moderate. The plot was pretty sparse, but this was like a "slice of life" Mike Leigh film that doesn't need constant action and conflict. The characters were very much to my liking. I cared what happened to them, their dialogue was written in character and the actors did a great job playing their roles. These vampires are of the cleaner Hollywood style. They don't even drool blood like Radu from Subspecies. I liked that the husband wore all black and the wife wore light colors. The husband's house looked like musician's heaven (probably all real equipment) and Tangiers looked convincing. The camera-work and editing were seamless. The only time that I really noticed what the camera was doing was in spinning overhead shots and during the first blood drinking scene. All of the vampires drink blood from small wine glasses and are followed by the camera as they lean back, like in Trainspotting. The audio is where I have to get negative on this. The dialogue was audible and correctly mixed, but the music genre was not to my liking. The whole style, flavor and feeling of this was very cohesive and dark. Other critics give this film about a B average, which I think is abysmally low for something so gloomily beautiful. I rate this best because I wanted to watch it again right after it ended.
A South Korean science fiction action adventure directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, John Hurt and Ed Harris.
A new ice age has been created by a failed solution to global warming. All of humanity now lives on a train that travels the entire world at high speed, with a hierarchal class system based on compartments. A leader in the low class tail compartment leads a revolution to reach the elite nose of the train.
This was pretty good. We've got some good characters in a mostly good plot with a unique premise. There were many majestic arctic shots of the train travelling through snowy landscapes and many action scenes of conflicts along the journey from back to front. The style was new movie 2000s+ too perfect, but it worked for a science fiction flick. Some of the action scenes were crappily shot with too much editing, too many different camera angles and shot styles in too little time. Some sections of the plot got a tad muddy and the version that I got did not have English subtitles for when the security expert junkie was speaking. For some odd reason, I found the woman in white depicted here to be irresistably attractive. Overall, I think it's worth watching and was generally a pleasant experience. I rate it adequate. You might want to watch this.
