From Atlantis to Interzone

I hardly saw any films this month, yet alone many good ones. As per usual, in alphabetical order and first-time viewings only.

A Bay of Blood (Mario Bava, 1971)

Day of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1985)

Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach, 1995)

Trick ‘r Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2008)

Up (Pete Docter, 2009)

30.

Straight to Hell
Alex Cox
1987

Better stop dreaming of the quiet life,
‘Cos it’s the one we’ll never know.
And quit running for that runaway bus,
‘Cos those rosey days are few.
And stop apologising for the things you’ve never done,
‘Cos time is short and life is cruel,
But it’s up to us to change
This town called malice.

29.

One from the Heart
Francis Ford Coppola
1982

‘Cause love’s such an old fashioned word.
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night,
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves.
This is our last dance.
This is our last dance.
This is ourselves.

28.

Possession
Andrzej Zulawski
1981

Don’t struggle like that or I will only love you more.
For it’s much too late to get away
Or turn on the light.
The spiderman is having you for dinner tonight.

27.

Wings of Desire
Wim Wenders
1987

Come on baby, come on darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
Oh, come on angel, come on, come on darlin’,
Let’s exchange the experience.

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Apologies for the lack of any substantial recent updates. I’ve been quite busy.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1989)

Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)

Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)

Manon des sources (Claude Berri, 1986)

Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

A poor month. These were really the only noteworthy films that I watched. As per usual, they are listed in alphabetical order, and they were all first time viewings.

Adventureland (Greg Mottola, 2009)

Antichrist (Lars von Trier, 2009)

The Elephant Man (David Lynch, 1980)

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

Stardust Memories (Woody Allen, 1980)

I can stare for a thousand years.

The Best of Youth (Marco Tullio Giordana, 2003)

Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (David Yates, 2009)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932)

The Legend of Hell House (John Hough, 1973)

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If City of God, as director Fernando Meirelles has stated, was made with the intention to showcase the poverty and violence of the titular Brazilian favela, then it can be seen that the most interesting thing about the style of the film is how it differs from films with similar intentions.

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Another one of my old school assignments here: a review of City of God. I hope my writing has improved a bit since then, but this actually hasn’t help up too bad.

An anthology of tales concerning crime in a Brazilian slum and its effects on the inhabitants may initially seem best suited to a documentary, but what director Fernando Meirelles does, to mostly great effect, with City of God is create an adrenaline-fuelled film in the style of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Casino. The film is clearly inspired by the American gangster oeuvre, and so, despite the favela setting, Meirelles doesn’t necessarily place poverty at the forefront of his story, though it is present. Instead he chooses to show the rise and fall of the various criminals of the titular city, as well as of that of characters that become corrupted by the desire to either break free of the favela or seek revenge upon the gangsters running it.

Like with Goodfellas, a narrator guides us through events but unlike Henry Hill, Rocket, is something of a passive character since, despite being our lead protagonist, he does not instigate many of the events. His character’s successes and failures are entirely dependent on coincidence, and this relates to a running theme of the film. Seemingly insignificant encounters often influence greater events and unless one can truly escape the place they will end up being involved with the crime.

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Alphabetical order, with my favourite performance of theirs.

George Clooney (Out of Sight)

Paddy Considine (Dead Man’s Shoes)

Billy Crudup (Almost Famous)

Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

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