Change Your Image
ScorpioVelvet
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Dillinger è morto (1969)
Some Evening
Sometimes a day in somebody's life can be interesting to watch, only the most artistic filmmakers can explore with their own kind of artistry & entertainment. Even if it makes sense or not from how you see it. Marco Ferreri did with Dillinger Is Dead (1969). Rather telling a simple story about a gas mask designer who tries to make dinner as he ends up discovering what is to be the infamous gangster's gun and plays with his women & watches Spanish trip footage as to recall (with a mysterious ending), he shows us something different that we would not normally watch or understand as it processes - using an oldies soundtrack throughout the whole film for which has minimal dialogue and getting playful with his storytelling. Michel Piccoli is the main highlight of this rare art-house classic because whatever he does during this film is interesting. It is also one of cinema's lost treasures since it was never shown in America until 2008 with surprisingly good acclaim, my reaction to seeing Dillinger Is Dead was pretty good - resulting to say unlike most films have those topics being explored during daytime life. One tune I liked listening to in the film was Patty Pravo's "Qui e là" (meaning "here and then" in Italian), it really has a catchy feel-good beat besides its lyrics dealing with freedom and sounds so sixties because this film was made from the 1960's. Anyway in conclusion, say what you want about the film but it is a surprising discovery for lovers of art-house cinema and would enjoy spending an evening like nothing else.
My Rating: 5/5
The Crew (2000)
Grumpy Old Mobsters
I would never thought of seeing Richard Dreyfuss working with Burt Reynolds until I've watched The Crew (2000). It is like Grumpy Old Men (1993) except it deals with old-time mobsters who decide to reunite for one last crime and things get fishy when they make it on the news as another group of mobsters interfere with their lives. The film has dozens of pretty funny moments & dialogues while Dreyfuss & Reynolds go at their funniest & best in the entire comedy genre. Plus Dan Hedaya makes a fine addition to the cast, too. No wonder why anybody has watched this film before except recalling my family owning it on VHS, but still a good comedy to watch to pass some time.
My Rating: 3/5
Du levande (2007)
Outta the Ordinary Life
How best to describe about Roy Andersson's quirky art-house satire about everyday life, titled You, The Living (2007)? To begin with, I had a lot of mixed thoughts seeing this film throughout the entire time because I felt that each episode almost had no real plot and sometimes whether it was humorous or depressing but can be both at the same time. Each episode had different characters dealing with life but also had reprising roles in the next one or so, the main focus was just on these people and as their daily lives unfold in comical or tragic ways so it is easy to tell the whole film is just that. What about the title itself? Perhaps I may never know why it was so called You, The Living. More importantly, the film is well shot & well edited as for its acting by the cast and there are simply no spoilers since each episode doesn't have a real plot (as mentioned) but could take a few multiple viewings after first time seeing it. Frankly, the art & humor of the film do make a good blend for some of today's art-house comedies - ones that is hard to tell yet just simply sit & enjoy. Besides, this marks my first time seeing the works of Andersson as well. Not a bad start, it could need little more understanding the concept when seeing it time to time afterwards.
My Rating: 4/5
Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)
A Mis-Hit-man
The first time I saw the trailer for this sequel, I had little high hopes for it to be better & more entertaining than the previous film and just having to watch it recently didn't do any real good at all. While the films are based on Edios' video game series, Hit-man: Agent 47 (2015) is another story featuring the cue-bald assassin who is assigned to terminate a woman who has the ability to see the future (even the past) and another agent starts to go after them. This may sounded like another Terminator-like retelling while the action being the main highlight as for the rest I didn't cared much. And yes, I would prefer the first film myself instead this sequel for which concludes this review since everything else in the film just faded away and can't expect to have a better sequel in the future. Sorry, action gamers.
My Rating: 2/5
Revenge of the Ninja (1983)
Ninjas In America
The Cannon Group made all kinds of cult and art-house films during the 1980's, they were ether great or terrible but were remembered mostly watched in theaters or on video. Their action-genre films were always the best to watch because sometimes it would feature some top notch action stars such as Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme, but the first of those stars who had it big during The Cannon Group entering that decade was Sho Kosugi when he co-starred in the 1981 ninja flick Enter the Ninja (also starring Franco Nero). Then came two more so-called sequel afterwards for which he starred in again. And comes to the beginning of my review for seeing one of those three: Revenge of the Ninja (1983). This film was supposed to take place after Enter the Ninja, and deals with a Ninja who has been offered to open up a new art museum in the United States as he gives up his career as ninja after witnessing a clan slaughtering his family but things start get brutal when another ninja starts killing others and a heroin- dealing mob is stirring up trouble for the original ninja & his family. It has lots of good non-stop (& bloody at times) action from start to finish, done the the 1980's way by The Cannon Group. Kosugi even does his own ninjitsu himself along with his son, Kane. What is odd about this film is that this "another ninja" is revealed too early after getting into like the first 25 to 30 minutes into the film, but I won't spoil the whole picture anyway. But still all I have to say about this underrated action hit is a butt-kicking good time and never gets dull once it starts. I recall my father used to own this on VHS by the time I was just an infant, and now here I am as a grownup watching it for the first time & I truly love it. I do still need to see the other two, which are both Enter the Ninja & Ninja III: The Domination (1984). Watch this cult gem from The Cannon Group today if you enjoy watching good martial arts flicks since they hardly make films like this any more.
My Rating: 5/5
Germania anno zero (1948)
Life After War Isn't Easy
By the time the Second World War ended and the neorealist movement grew large, Roberto Rossellini was wrapping up his little so-called "war trilogy" with Germany Year Zero (1948). Shot entirely in Germany, the film deals with a boy struggling to grow up in a post-war Berlin along with his family. Every moment in this film is like seeing the reality of going through a life-changing experience on how you live & deal with those problems, but also leaves you both moved & stunned after having to see it the first time. Edmund Meschke's performance as little Edmund (the film's protagonist) is memorable and heartbreaking by how his character portrays in this story, while Robert Jullard's cinematography is masterfully crafted by its long takes & realistic feels with some music by Renzo Rossellini fitting in the moods. This film is one of Rossellini's most personal because his son died young while working on his trilogy and then he created Edmund for which is the main character being focused on besides other things in that world. What is even more interesting was the fact that Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) was also released the same year Germany, Year Zero came out so both films were perfect for that era because neorealism was already becoming cinema's next art. In 2002, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Haneke named this classic as one of his ten all- time favorite films for Sight & Sound's Greatest Films Poll, which is awesome to describe the film's impact after its first release. So far I can say about this postwar drama: "Wow." Even greater than Rome, Open City (1944) (which I have seen, too) but better & far more moving.
My Rating: 5/5
Aftershock (2012)
Eli Roth Is In For an Earthquake
Remember all those disaster films you used to watch back then? Or seeing the wildly, notorious works of extreme horror icon Eli Roth? Well, mix these two and you get a little-reviewed shocker titled Aftershock (2012). The film describes a group of Americans who go sightseeing & partying in Chile until all hell breaks loose when an earthquake strikes the entire country as they must escape for safety & survival but it's not easy. While the first act just consists of the main cast enjoying their stay, I felt it was like those starts of Roth's previous films in which it wouldn't turn into a horror film after those grim opening credits until halfway through. By then, I quickly became (shockingly) entertained once the first earthquake sequence popped out of nowhere - becoming a suspense adventure that also became gory as well (along with few other twists). Not only it becomes that, the film also features a Spanish-language track (with subtitles) so it's little bit foreign since it was shot in the Latin countries & the film taking place there. However, I did enjoyed seeing Roth playing as one of the main heroes because he can do some good acting besides his filmmaking and he does look really handsome. If anyone thought he or this film didn't do well at the box office, then I might think I am the only one around who gave it a good review anyway. Aftershock is a good "edge-of- your-seat" suspense ride for those who like Roth or his works.
My Rating: 4/5
Double Indemnity (1944)
Billy Wilder's Classic Film-Noir Opus
I've finally watched this today for the first time, and I was really surprised by how flawless this classic noir was made. Talk about great acting and entertaining story-line - Billy Wilder was on the road to Hollywood greatness before making his Academy Award-winning The Lost Weekend (1945) a year later. Although the film was based on a novel, the film is told in flashbacks as a salesman falls for a mistress for which he becomes involved with murdering her husband and pretend if it he was killed in an accident. Barbara Stanwyck makes quite a beautiful impression while Fred MacMurray brilliantly portrays in a main dramatic role and Edward G. Robinson also joins in the mystery. There is lot of neatly-crafted camera-work and a memorable musical score to make it enough to be an instant masterpiece of the genre, and cannot ever forget to mention great mystery writer Raymond Chandler co-wrote the screenplay with Wilder as well. In other words overall, this is my new most favorite effort from Wilder after seeing some of his well-known works for over a decade now.
My Rating: 5/5