(Dir. Robert Wiene 1920)
I have no clue what the rating for this film is, I don't even know if ratings were even a thing when this came out. My personal rating: W for weird. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent German Expressionist film and boy howdy was this movie a ride. The first thing my mom said when we started this movie was, "What the heck." and I think that is a pretty good summary. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was a person, it would be a moody emo pre-teen. It features insane lighting, KISS levels of eyeliner, ridiculously tall chairs, lots of crazy people, and a ton of dramatic swooning. I didn't hate it though, it's so over the top that it becomes a little charming, the movie embraces its emo-ness. I know this entire paragraph has been about how weird this movie is, but I cannot stress this enough. "What exactly is in the cabinet of Dr. Caligari?" you may ask. See that guy in the photo above? He's in the cabinet, and if I opened a cabinet only to be met with that I'd close that thing right back up. The guy in the cabinet is named Cesare and he is a Somnambulist, which basically means he has been sleeping for his entire life and will do anything he's told. He really gives off movie Frankenstein vibes. He lumbers around a lot killing people and kidnapping beautiful women. Classic horror monster. Cesare is directed by the villainous director of the insane asylum, Dr Caligari, who is using Cesare to murder people FOR SCIENCE. By the end, the evil Dr. Caligari is caught by the heroic fiancee of the previously mentioned beautiful woman, and put in a straitjacket. However this wouldn't be German expressionism without some mind-boggling insight into the human mind, **SPOILERS AHEAD** it turns out that the hero is actually a patient in the insane asylum and made all this up in his own head. The movie ends with the crazy hero struggling in a straitjacket, a parallel to the scene in which Dr. Caligari is locked up. **END SPOILERS** Overall, I liked this movie, but I really hated the musical backing. It sounds like they threw some jazz musicians and an 80's synth band into a room together and told them to have at it. The music itself wasn't bad exactly, but it did not match the time period in the film. So basically it bugged me the entire time. I eventually had to just mute the sound. tl;dr this is a perfect movie to have playing in the background of a Halloween party, but add your own music to it.
1 Comment
(Dir. Wes Anderson 2009)
PG, in terms of content I think it's fine to watch, but for small children the animation style might honestly be a little to freaky. So I really enjoyed this movie. I honestly expected this to be one of Wes Anderson's earlier movies after watching it. Despite his character's not technically being real, animated and all that, they show more emotion than any of the characters in his other films. I'm not saying this as a criticism of his other movies, I love those too, but this was an interesting difference. What I really loved is how much depth each of the character's in the Fantastic Mr. Fox had. Despite its subtlety, each character had clear motivations for what they did. Wes Anderson's plots are generally pretty fantastical (pardon the pun), but it's easy to lose yourself in this film, not questioning the more outlandish moments, because in the character's eyes everything they do makes sense, and so it does to the viewer too. As always, I loved the color scheme in this movie. I think Wes Anderson stuck to more natural earthy tones in this movie, instead of his usual pastels, because it was set in nature. I mean the main characters lived in a tree for heaven's sake. The color palette still seemed distinctly Wes Anderson though, probably because of all the careful planning to make sure it blends together seamlessly. (Dir. John Landis 1980)
The Blues Brothers rated R, it's not graphic or anything, just has lots of cursing. I was a little apprehensive going into this movie just because, honestly, I don't think SNL is that great. I used to watch the original seasons with my family and they were ok, but I think it's a little ambitious to try to produce consistently fresh funny material every week. Plus, I hate it when they break character and laugh, so the live stuff was just eh for me. This was not the case in Blues Brothers at all. The Blues boys never broke their straight face once, and I loved it! Sure the situations that they get themselves into are hilarious, but they're only made funnier by the calm straight faced reactions. When I think Blues Brothers I think high speed car chases and gleefully dangerous physics defying stunts, all while they discuss something completely banal, like what to have for dinner. If you haven't already figured this out, my favorite trope is people reacting to ridiculous events as if they're just everyday events. I just want to take a moment to talk about the star-studded cast in this film. Today in film it's pretty common to see a mediocre movie with a crew of insanely talented actors in the lead roles, like King Kong: Skull Island, for example. Which always frustrates me, cause sure its not a terrible movie, it's entertaining so it achieves its purpose, but you never would have heard of it if not for the cast. Added to, I can never figure out why these actors would agree to appear in these films as a major role. Blackmail? I don't know. Ok, tangent time over, but what I really enjoyed about Blues Brothers is that yeah, It had an extremely star studded cast, but the film never really revolved around any one of them. Even without the already famous actors, this film would be just as famous and just as good. When I watch the Blues Brothers, I don't wonder why these stars agreed to appear. In fact, I think the stars in the cast add another layer of humor to the film. Sure, seeing some random woman trying to murder them throughout the film, with zero success, is funny, but when that woman is also Carrie Fischer it makes it even funnier. I think it's because in this movie it adds to that feeling of "What the heck is going on?" that makes the events so funny. Another thing I love to see (well, hear, in this case) in movies is good music. Boy did the Blue Brothers have a lot, I mean c'mon, Aretha Franklin was in it! Side note, the Blues boys in the dance number for respect is one of the funniest things I have ever seen, I could honestly watch the movie just for that. My personal favorite song, thank you for asking, was their version of the theme from Rawhide. Don't ask me why, I don't know. tl;dr Just when you think this film can't get any more ridiculous, it does, and you'll love it. Also, I hate Illinois Nazis. Each and every one of these is rated R. These are hilarious for adults, but nightmare fuel for children.
Watching these movies, the only thing that I can think is, how bored must Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost get in Britain. These are the kids of plots that Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes would come up with sitting in his desk at school. Normal England must be too boring for this lot cause all their movies feature some crazy circumstance going on there. These range from zombie apocalypses to *spoilers* murderous neighborhood association cults and alien overlords. These movies are a perfect blend of everyday life and bizarreness that somehow gives these movies a feeling of reality, despite their outlandish plots. The Cornetto Trilogy would be what would happen if Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett got together to make a film. Just to clarify, this isn't a trilogy in the sense that their plots are connected. They do have common themes though, such as absurd happenings in everyday life, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, jumping over fences, pubs, people getting hit by cars, general shenanigans, and Cornettos. Hot Fuzz (Dir. Edgar Wright 2007) My personal favorite out of this trilogy, this may be because it was the first one I saw. I didn't even realize it was a "trilogy" until a while after I'd watched Hot Fuzz for the first time. This movie is Epic. Simon Pegg is by no means the most handsome man on Earth, but let me tell you I fell in love with Nicholas Angel (The character Simon Pegg played). Nicholas Angel is the classic "married-to-my-job" by the book detective featured in many classic films, however Angel is just a little TOO good. Thus he is shipped off to a small sleepy town in the country where there is seemingly no crime. But nothing gets past Nicholas Angel! And soon bad-assery abounds as Angel and his sidekick Danny (Nick Frost) paint the town red (HA get it??). Shaun of the Dead (Dir. Edgar Wright 2004) You've got red on your header. Watch the movie to get the joke (I've got you now). This has got to be the most realistic zombie apocalypse movie I've ever seen. Yes, I do realize realistic zombie apocalypse is a bit of an oxymoron. Lord knows I'd mostly be bumbling around whacking zombies with whatever blunt object was closest to me. I did cringe a little whenever they threw those vinyl records though... rip. The action scenes weren't as amazing as in Hot Fuzz, but we can't all be perfect. This movie features the worst reason to get back together with someone, "Well, you don't want to die alone...do you?". MAYBE I DO. What are you gonna do about that?! This movie has all the classic zombie movie tropes. Thinking the zombies are just drunk or high people, whacking heads off, someone hiding the fact that they've been bitten, that's not your *insert loved one here* any more, and the obligatory mutual murder/suicide that they don't actually go through with scene. World's End (Dir. Edgar Wright 2013) World's End is my least favorite in the trilogy, it's still a really good movie though. I had no idea where this movie was going to go when I first started it, I knew something crazy was going to happen, cause that's how all these movies go, and boy, I was not disappointed! This one really feels like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett wrote it from beyond the grave, also it has a little bit of a Doctor Who vibe at the end. The whole idea of "We're humans and our imperfections/stubbornness/passion/etc. is what makes us human, and we're somehow special because of it" is pretty common in pretty much anything with aliens. Humans have a mighty high opinion of themselves if you ask me. I just realized that that last sentence makes me sound like an alien. I'm totally not an alien *wink*. PG, this documentary is totally family friendly unless you have ichthyophobia
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary telling the story of Jiro Ono, a master sushi chef. His restaurant is world renowned and, despite its humble setting, has received three Michelin stars. Both his sons are also sushi chefs, his eldest will take over for Jiro when he retires, and the younger owns a restaurant of his own. I do not consider myself a foodie, I don't even like sushi, but watching this documentary made me wish that I did. The amount of work put in by Jiro and his apprentices just to prepare the sushi is insane. They massage the octopus for forty to fifty whole minutes to bring out the flavor. The octopus gets treated better than I treat myself, though I am still alive so that's one thing I've got going for me. I actually cannot comprehend the amount of work and discipline that goes into training to make this kind of sushi. I learned after watching the documentary that Barack Obama once ate at Jiro's sushi restaurant, Obama's opinion, "I was born in Hawaii and ate a lot of sushi, but this was the best sushi I've ever had in my life.". I feel like this has turned into more of an add for this restaurant than a film review at this point, but I'm just going to roll with it. In terms of film style, I liked how the background noise was used to fill the silence rather than music for a majority of the documentary. This really gave a feel for what day to day life is like for Jiro. When music was used, it blended beautifully with the background noise. The scene when the fish vendors are bidding on the daily catches is my new favorite thing. This documentary could have been very boring if it just focused on how Jiro made sushi, but it also covered topics such as the Ono's family dynamic, the effect overfishing is having on the sushi business, and Jiro's own history. Added to Jiro's own personal brand of humor, this documentary is not only interesting, but entertaining, and it doesn't hurt that the film style has a very artistic feel to it. Tl;dr: This documentary will make you hungry, but you should watch it anyway. This film is Not Rated. I wouldn't let small children watch it, but I honestly don't think many small children are interested in foreign french films so I'd say you're safe.
Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, or Welcome to the Sticks, is the story of a Southern Frenchmen, Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad), that is transferred up North for his job. At the beginning of this film I was almost reminded of Hot Fuzz, a personal favorite of mine. A big city postman is moved into a sleepy small town for his job, and befriends a simple yet kind local man that he works with. Except *Spoiler Alert* the townspeople do not turn out to be a part of a murderous cult in this one. Upon Philippe's arrival he goes through many misunderstandings because of the northern french accent. This "Shti" accent is to the French what stereotypical rural southern english is to Americans. Despite Philippe's initial misgivings, he grows to love the northern town and the people in it. Unfortunately, he cannot tell his wife this. When Philippe moved north, his wife stayed at their home in the south with their son. His wife, thinking Philippe is miserable in the north, showers him with love and affection over the "sacrifice" he is making for his family, and so their marriage is doing better than ever. My favorite quote from the film has got to be, "My wife loves me. Why should I ruin it with the truth?". Overall this is a comedic film about overcoming regional differences and stereotypes. I loved how this film did not rely on dialogue for comedy, but made good use of situational humor. This allowed the film to have serious moments, without losing the overall tone of light heartedness. |
Aubrey KirchhoffI'm just screaming into the void and somehow getting graded on it. Archives
April 2018
|