I knew I would be setting myself up for a challenge when I chose Koyaanisqatsi as one of my films to review for Criterion Month. After all, how do you review a movie with no dialogue, no story, and no explicit narrative other than what you choose to glean from its vast and beautiful images? Well, I suppose it brings up the question of what constitutes good film writing. And I suppose Koyaanisqatsi would be thought of as a hard film to write about because a lot of film writing typically concerns plot or story, of which Koyaanisqatsi has none. But I often feel like a lot of the best film writing (or really any writing about art) is about how a movie makes you feel. And there’s plenty to feel while watching Koyaanisqatsi. Continue reading →

I’ve been in a sci-fi mood lately. I’ve been watching James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction and though today’s film isn’t discussed on the show—gotta make room for films that matter like I Am Legend and Avatar—it got me thinking about the great sci-fi films I have yet to see. Stalker is a film you’ll find on most “Best Sci-Fi Films” lists. But you know another film on most lists? Solaris, also directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. I bring that up because Solaris is one of the most boring films I’ve ever attempted to watch.

Continue reading →

When you’re doing a project like this one, especially if you’re doing it the way I am, it’s easy to takes movies for granted. This month I’ve already watched eight other movies, and in most cases, written up reviews immediately after their credits rolled. When you’re watching some of the world’s finest cinema, it’s really not that hard to do; you just summarize the plot, comment on the themes or the film’s impact, and Bob’s your uncle. It such a streamlined process I didn’t even think to talk about how comforting it was to see familiar actors last night in The Last Picture Show, a rare gift in this mostly director-driven practice. But it all comes to a smashing halt when you watch something truly experimental, like The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Continue reading →

The Last Picture Show is yet another coming of age story that’s really distant from my life experience. It’s set during the Fifties in a small (and shrinking) town somewhere in Texas oil country, where optimism seems to have already died long ago. This is a place where no one has career prospects and the adults entertain themselves by watching to terrible high school basketball team and sleeping with each other. For the kids, the entertainment options have dwindled to the property of one man, Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson), who has a cafe, a pool hall, an the movie theater, from which the title of the film comes.

Continue reading →

How does one go about reviewing a movie like Multiple Maniacs? I struggled with roughly this same dilemma last year when I reviewed Beyond The Valley of The Dolls, so perhaps I’m more equipped than I otherwise would’ve been. Although, Dolls at least had the kind of (surprisingly) accomplished technical qualities that made it a complete anomaly in the Hollywood studio system. Multiple Maniacs, however, takes that same kind of trashy aesthetic and somehow makes it even trashier, with a nothing budget and the barely actors known as the Dreamland players. And yet, somehow, its absurd depravity is something hard not to still be shocked and entertained by, even 50 years after a murder-happy Divine strutted the streets of Baltimore. Continue reading →

Look, I think every time we do one of these themed months, we should each be allowed to do one half-assed review. Sean already cashed his (quite amusingly), so since reviewing this movie isn’t exactly the most pressing thing on my mind on this particular night, I hope you’ll forgive the half-assery. Also, this seems like the most acceptable review to phone in, since I don’t think anyone else at Mildly Pleased had heard of this movie when I picked it during our Criterion draft. Hell, I didn’t know much about it, other than that Éric Rohmer was a name I’d heard, but didn’t know much about. And despite my rush to finish this movie, I wouldn’t mind familiarizing myself with more of Rohmer’s work. Continue reading →