Track the Films You Watch (2007) - Page 5

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2007)

01/09/07

That's Black Entertainment: Westerns (2002)

Somewhat entertaining documentary that takes a look at the early, all black cast westerns, which were made from the 1920s-50s. Most of the interesting films they talk about are sadly lost so we don't get to see any clips and the documentary is full of stories we've already heard regarding the racism of the times and why black producer's had to make their own films. I wish more detail had gone into how production got started on these films instead of the same stories being told.

Bronze Buckaroo, The (1939)

Interesting, if not too original, all black cast western has a gang of cowboys showing up to visit a friend when they learn he's disappeared. After some investigating it turns out that he's been kidnapped by a crazy man (Spencer Williams) and his gang who want him to sign over his property. The story isn't too original but I was surprised to see how well written some of this film is. There's quite a bit of comic relief that works very well and gets several laughs including a joke involving a talking mule and there's some card shark stuff that comes off very good. Performances range from good to poor with Williams coming off the best. This is nothing great but it's interesting nonetheless. Also included is some great music.

01/10/07

Lying Lips (1939)

Rather bizarre murder mystery from director Oscar Micheaux who's best remembered for Within Our Gates. An innocent woman (Edna Mae Harris) is sent to prison for murdering her aunt while her best friend and a Detective (Robert Earl Jones) try to find the real killers. This was my third film by the director but the first sound feature. His direction is pretty good throughout but you really have to question his screenplay, which starts off rather silly and just gets stranger from there. The case is eventually cracked when the Detective takes one man to a haunted house so that a ghost will scare the truth out of him. The performances are all pretty bad and yes, that Robert Earl Jones is the father of James Earl Jones.

Olympus (1997)

Yet another Joe D'Amato adult film.

01/11/07

Ship That Died, The (1938)

Interesting and mildly amusing short film from director Jacques Tourneur about the mystery surrounding the Mary Celeste, which was a ship found in 1872 without a trace of its crew. Hammer's film The Phantom Ship did a better job at showing one possibility of what might have happened but this film is pretty good. It shows two different things that might have happened to the crew but the too cheerful narration doesn't help the subject matter.

Hard to Handle (1986)

Bob Dylan, backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers during their Australian tour. Highlights include the rousing acoustic versions of Girl From the North Country and It's Alright Ma as well as rocking versions of Like a Rolling Stone. Other highlights include the highly underrated I'll Remember You and Lenny Bruce. I wish Columbia would give this an official release here and include a full 2 1/2 hour show (instead of the 1 hour here).

From Hell It Came (1957)

Incredibly silly horror film about a tribal prince who is executed for a crime he didn't commit and stuff inside a tree trunk. A few days later the tree trunk returns to life to seek vengeance. The tree monster looks incredibly stupid and gets more laughs than anything but on the whole this is a deadly boring film. The monster doesn't show up until the forty-five minute mark and the human characters are all boring and dull.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2007)

I think it's hard to see anything mean-spirited because we're white.

Over the past month I've been watching several black cinema films, watching several documentaries and I'm currently reading a few books on black cinema from 1915-1940 and my views of these films have certainly changed. Everyone knows my stance on a certain film and I've often said that these are only movies and they can't hurt anyone but my thoughts have certainly changed. I still don't agree it's right to hide these films from public viewing though.

I'll probably post more on this after I finish my books and watch more of the films.


01/12/07

Land Without Bread (1933)

Disappointing Luis Bunuel documentary about a remote village in Spain where civilization has hardly moved. Bunuel, in my opinion, makes the mistake of trying to be surrealistic when the film didn't need any of that. I found everything on screen was just overproduced and it really didn't mix well with the narration. For whatever the reason, I didn't care about what I was seeing and I didn't care about what I was listening to.

Movies of Color: Black Southern Cinema (2003)

Entertaining documentary that takes a look at early black cinema with filmmakers such as Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams and a debate of the merits of The Birth of a Nation. The documentary does a very good job at talking about these early black films but I think we could have done without another debate of the Griffith film even though it's very fair and balanced. The most interesting aspects deal with Micheaux and Williams but I wish the documentary had dug a little deeper into their careers since very little is known about the men.

December 7th, 1941 (1943)

John Ford's highly entertaining recreation of Pearl Harbor and the events after it certainly deserved the Academy Award win it received for Best Documentary Short. The film mixes recreated scenes very well with actual footage and I'd go as far to say that the battle scenes (done with models) are among the best from any war film of the period. The version I watched was the original, 34-minute theatrical version.

Red Room (1999)

Extremely brutal and sometimes revolting Japanese horror film, which has gained a huge cult following over the years due to countless bootlegs but it finally got an official release here this week. The film is a cruel look at reality game shows and what limits people will go to in order to win the prize. In the case here the prize is ten-million yen and the object of the game is to be the last person standing. Four people play and all four draw cards. The one who draws the King must pick two others to torture each other. The game is over when three people quit or are dead. The "torture" starts out easy with two women kissing but as the film goes on each round gets more and more violent. There are two death scenes that will go down in horror history as some of the toughest to watch. I'm usually against these Japanese horror films that go for all torture but this one here actually has a pretty interesting story mixed in with the violence and there's actually several interesting plot twists. The film is hard to watch at times but the 68-minute running time goes by quickly. Original title: Akai misshitsu (heya): Kindan no ôsama geemu.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2007)

01/13/07

Momia Azteca, La (1957)

Mexican horror film about a scientist (Raymond Gay) who uses hypnosis to look into people's past lives. He experiments on his girlfriend and learns she was a sacrificed princess who was buried with a golden breastplate. The scientist decides to go looking for it and eventually runs into the title character as well as a master thief known as The Bat. Here's a good idea to all future filmmakers if you're going to make a movie called The Aztec Mummy. Make sure the mummy is in the picture for more than three minutes. Technically speaking this is a fairly well made film but one can't help but be letdown since the title character hardly gets any screentime.

Maldicion de la Momia Azteca, La (1957)

Corny sequel to the above film has The Bat escaping police custody and kidnapping the scientist and his girlfriend (both from the first film). This time around there's also an overweight, masked wrestler named The Angel who tries to help matters and of course there's the aztec mummy who is nice enough to stop by for about five minutes. While the first film was a tad bit more serious in tone, this one here is pure camp from start to finish and manages to get quite a few unintentional laughs. I couldn't help but laugh my ass off at The Angel who has to be one of the dumbest "heroes" in film history. His goal is to protect the scientist and his family but he gets them in more trouble than anything else. The scene where The Angel gets beat up by The Bat's men is priceless. This film only runs 63-minutes but I still can't figure out why they only use the mummy for five minutes. Oh well.

Momia Azteca Contra el Robot Humano, La (1958)

I've seen the American dubbed version of this, known as The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy but this was my first viewing of the Mexican version. In this third film, The Bat somehow survives and in order to steal the priceless jewels from the mummy, he creates a human robot. This film runs 64-minutes and twenty-five of those minutes is nothing more than scenes from the previous two films. The new footage here is all pretty lifeless and dull with the exception of the robot, which has to be the poorest looking one in film history. The big fight between the robot and the mummy is dull as well. As bad as this is things got much worse with The Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy.

Gemidos de Placer (1983)

Jess Franco directed this film about a man (Robert Foster) who invites a woman (Lina Romay) to live with him so that they can drive his wife crazy when she returns home from an asylum. Once again Franco bases a film on the work of Marquis de Sade but the end results aren't too good. I had to view the film in Spanish without any subs so perhaps a proper version will improve my thoughts but I found the story rather boring, the pacing off and the sex scenes were unerotic and came off laughable during some parts. I'm not sure what was up with Romay but she was quite skinny here, which normally wasn't the case in her 80's period.

01/14/07

Shining, The (1980)

Years ago a theater in Louisville played several Kubrick films but this was one I missed out on so I jumped at the chance to catch it at the midnight showing. I got there at 11:15 to get my ticket and there was a group of people ahead of me trying to get their money out so I cut ahead of them and got my ticket when the cashier then pulled a "Sold Out" sign. Inside the theater I discovered that I was probably one of the youngest people there as it was certainly a high school/college crowd. I was a little worried about this and sure enough there was some MST3K types in there but they finally shut up when the movie started to get intense. The print shows was certainly beat up and it appears to have been an original or at least a very old one because the old Warner logo was still on it. The film was shown 1.66 and for my money it just didn't look right. I'll certainly be keeping my 4:3 DVD if the upcoming SE is matted.

Either way, I've often called this the greatest flawed masterpiece ever made. The more I see this film the more I fall in love with it. I'm at the point now, even with its flaws, that I'd call it one of the greatest horror films ever made. Kubrick's master touch is all over this thing, especially the wonderful tracking shots of Danny on his bike and the POV shots are all brilliantly done. When Danny first runs into the two little girls, for my money this is still the most chilling scenes I've seen from any movie. I just love the way Kubrick takes his time to introduce us to the hotel and the characters. I think this really pays off as it builds up suspense over time and really lets it all go during the frantic ending. I've got several theories about what happens in the film but I won't go into them now. I know a lot are critical of Nicholson's performance but I think it's wonderful. Yes, it's way over the top and at times campy but I think that was the point he and Kubrick wanted. No matter how the character is acting, we see his breakdown in front of us and when someone's mind snap who's to say how that person will carry on?

I mentioned the wonderful tracking and POV shots and this really comes through when Jack is following Wendy when she's got the bat. The way Kubrick keeps the camera flowing is quite chilling and certainly very effective. The music score is terrific as well and it really rattles the nerves throughout. It's funny to think that in 1980 Fangoria readers voted this the worst horror film of the year and voted Friday the 13th as the best. I think time has spoken about that issue and this film really is one of the last of its kind. I kept thinking about this younger crowd and their horror films like Saw and Hostel and it was really depressing because those are basically snuff films while this here is true horror.

Saw 3 unrated version

Jigsaw is on his death bed and kidnaps a nurse to help keep him alive. If he dies so does she. Also on hand is another man who must play Jigsaw's game. To say anything else would pretty much ruin several surprises that happen towards the end of the film. I'm not a fan of this series and while I found the first two film very well made, I think they crossed the line that no horror film should cross in the fact that they were mean spirited and sadistic. I was worried at the start of this film because we once again entered that sadistic violence but thankfully this ended after the first thirty minutes and when the "game" started we actually got a pretty good little thriller. The torture scenes are a lot tamer and take a back seat to the story, which is why I think this is the best of the series. The character of Jigsaw has always been an interesting one but we really didn't get to know anything about him in the first two movies. He's on full display here and it was interesting to see him interact with the people playing the game. I viewed the unrated DVD and I'm not sure how much is different from the R-rated theatrical cut but the brain operation scene is certainly well done.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2007)

First and foremost, I think there's a big difference between criticizing BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN for not having hardcore sex scenes and criticizing SAW for being mean spirited. However, you could make a point with what you said but I think a better point would have been criticizing me for my low ratings of those D'Amato flicks I've been going through this month.

However, there are two or three ways I can take this but I'll fall back on a previous post at another board re: Is Horror Moral? When it comes to the general press horror fans are looked at as weirdos because a lot of people will look at us and wonder how we could be entertained by people being slaughtered. It's hard to explain why we like violence in FRIDAY THE 13TH but I've always stated that it's really no difference then the violence you'd see in RAMBO or DIE HARD.

However, not trying to sound like Roger Ebert, I think there is a line that shouldn't be crossed and yes, you could call this a personal expression but I would go further and ask what "mental state" someone would have to be in to enjoy someone being tortured in a mean spirited, sadistic way. I mean, I can watch SALO and be disgusted by it and I understand someone not wanting to experience that type of filth again. However, I'd be a tad bit worried if someone watched SALO and "got off" on it in an entertainment type of way. The rape scenes in THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and pretty out there and I'd be worried if someone got off on it.

In regards to SAW, HOSTEL and other sadistic horror films, my comments were mainly centered at someone who would get off on this type of horror. Is it moral? Has horror finally gone too far? One scene in SAW or HOSTEL is more graphic, brutal and bloody then the entire FRIDAY THE 13TH series. I'm not one to say horror films should cut back but I can enjoy the violence in F13 or DIE HARD as entertainment. I can't be entertained by seeing torture in SAW. I can be entertained by women in prison films as long as they aren't mean spirited. Of course, you might find the violence in SAW entertaining and that's where the debate of the line being crossed comes into play.

I'm not sure if you feel the violence in horror films have gone too far or if you "enjoy" SAW because, as you said, Jigsaw is killing bad people in order to teach them a lesson. But as in SAW 3, I think the character tells Jigsaw what he's doing isn't right no matter how he sees it and that's how I personally feel towards this sadistic violence.

On a technical level, the sadistic and mean spirted violence ruins and chance for a scare, which is what a horror film should deliver IMO. If you read my review of THE SHINING I mentioned these films before watching SAW 3. The one death scene in THE SHINING was 70 seconds longer and more graphic but Kubrick cut it down to a matter of seconds because he felt the overly violent situation would ruin the suspense. I personally agree with him and think the scene works fine. In the original version, Nicholson's character pretty much crushed his skull, broke his spine and continually tortured him. To me, the scene would have lost its impact.

George found HALLOWEEN too violent. I found SAW too violent. Is there a personal thing coming into play here? Yes. However, my attack against the film is because SAW isn't trying to win an Oscar and it's not trying to be great filmmaking. It's a popcorn movie that should be "fun" and "entertaining". I personally don't see how torture can be fun. The mystery of the SAW movies and the "what would you do" works terrifically and makes the films what they are. And, IMO, SAW 3 proves you didn't have to be sadistic in making the films effective.


Re: NOTHING BUT TROUBLE

Here's what I wrote in last years thread:

Laurel and Hardy meet a young boy and soon they discover that he's really a King. The duo must protect the boy from a few people trying to kill him. Once again, I had heard this was a pretty bad film but while it's miles from Hal Roach material, the film contains a few laughs and has a little charm to it. It's too bad Warner isn't including this in their upcoming set but my recording from TCM, which seemed to be remastered, will do just fine. The best moment takes place in a zoo where L&H must try and steal a streak away from a lion. Another nice moment is when Laurel is trying to ref a football game. Most of the gags are lazy and fall on their face but the film is a decent time killer.


Off topic but TCM is showing THE GOLD RUSH, RASHOMON and JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG tonight starting at midnight. Did you record METROPOLIS last night? I know you've been meaning to catch some of these. You should certainly try and catch RASHOMON since I'm not sure if you've entered that director's world yet. (Not to mention but Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT and Reed's THE THIRD MAN are on Wednesday night).