nicorama

Day for Night (1973)

(DVD — BCForum at SBCC)

Verdict:

Psycho (1960)

(DVD — BCForum at SBCC)

Verdict:

3:10 to Yuma (2007) proves once again that Christian Bale is one of the most interesting and mesmerizing actors working today. Fantastic performance.

(Riviera Theater, Santa Barbara, Cinema Society — Q&A with James Mangold and his wife producer Kathy Conrad)

Verdict:

House of Bamboo (1955)

(DVD)

Verdict:

Fixed Bayonets! (1951) is what you might expect in a Fuller film — tough characters who smoke cigars in morally ambivalent situations.
“Just remember that you’re not aiming at a man. You’re aiming at the enemy.”

(DVD)

Verdict: For the studio sets > incredibly artficial.

From New Zealand director Jane Campion, who gave us An Angel at my Table (1990) and The Piano (1993), comes In the Cut (2003) starring Meg Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Mark Ruffalo.

A film that tries to build a character study around a serial-killer, but without much of a character — a bit of a disaster.

(DVD)

Verdict: Not much here — the cinematography is well done, but makes the film look like a commercial/music video.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) is one of the early Romanian films to have had success in the last few years — this film started the recent Romanian trend by winning the 2005 Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Others are the 2006 Golden Camera Cannes winner 12:08 East of Bucharest (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006) and the recent 2007 Palmes d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu).

Fantastic film — fascinating to watch what this man has to endure whatever the circumstances. The ending is a bit awkward — what exactly happens — he’s ready for surgery, then…

(DVD)

Verdict: Grim but provocative. Incredible realism.

Condor Hero (2001): Episode 1 is part animation, part comic book, part video game, and part live action. Low-tech special effects and CGI actually work well here — interesting. Although incredibly bad/theatrical acting — and low-budget sets.

(DVD): Episode 1

Verdict:

Running Out of Time (1999) has an interesting premise: what would a killer/gangster do if he only had four weeks to live because of a terminal cancer?

(DVD)

Verdict: For a creative take on crime/robbery and looming death — some interesting plot situations including friendship between a gangster and a police negotiator.

Before Night Falls (2000) for me represents the mutli-field success of Julian Schnabel — with Basquiat (1996) and Le Scaphandre et le papillon (2007). A successful artist and a celebrated filmmaker (Cannes Best Director 2007). One of the rare artists to crossover into filmmaking with success.

(DVD)

Verdict: