stomach17's Reviews

...Reel Five (1999)

8/10

Stand out Brakhage piece if you ask me...

31 January 2022

This is one of the most endearing of Brakhage's abstract works. It is accompanied by an excellent piano piece, which adds mightily to the user's ability to engage with the film I would say. I also found the white canvas with jet black ink and primary colors Intrinsically beautiful, if less organic than usual for the artist. A very late Brakhage piece. I found it very likeable.

8 stars out of 10.

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Dune (2021)

9/10

Obviously the definitive film version of Dune

22 October 2021

Disclaimer: I am a big fanboy and am not at all impartial. I have read the book 4 to 5 times. I will say that this film is just great for people like me and definitely exceeded my expectations. It adheres closely to the novel and is a very accurate representation of the written story. I would easily put it in the same category as Jackson's Lord of the Rings in this regard. Seeing it on the big screen is a must. The soundscape of the film is intense. The acting is excellent and, and I don't mind saying that young Timothy Chalamet may have stole the show--coming across all at once as a skinny kid, a young man wise beyond his years, a person of powerful empathy, as well as a very natural born leader. Anyway, while this film was partly made for people like me who love the book, I am concerned that it may not go over as well with those who are unfamiliar with the story. This is no Marvel movie. It could be quite confusing I think. Also, while I enjoyed the cinematography, I am unsure how some people will react to its very brown shadowy settiing. There is a lack of HDR contrast that we have become used to in recent years. Its very shadowy and figures are often concealed in a way that you don not see them clearly. Again, very un-Disney like and some people may be turned off. Personally, I found the pace of the story just right. It does end without the story concluding of course, but I can't wait to see the continuation! I went in with rather low expectations I must say. I am happy to say now, we are dealing with not only another Dune attempt, but obviously the definitive film version of Dune. 9 stars out of 10.

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Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

5/10

kind of a broken plotline...

16 August 2021

The only thing that makes the Sicario flick's worth watching in Benicio del Toro. Josh Brolin and gang of Republican yahoos suck. If they make any more of these, it should be set in Mexico, minus the choppers, and should shoot for gritty realism. This one got 5 stars. Dumb plot progression...

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The Cure (1917)

9/10

Brilliant direction and choreography

16 August 2021

This film is among the most brilliant Chaplin film shorts. The choreography for the massage scene was hilarious. There were a lot of lines of humor woven back and forth with one another. Really great. Great direction by Chaplin himself. I am going with 9 stars on this. Again brilliant.

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The Dante Quartet (1987)

8/10

Colorful abstract beauty

16 August 2021

This four part film piece is vagurly named after the movements of the Divine Comedy. The meaning seems elusive to me, but the abstact beauty of the painted was rather enlivening. Among Brakhage's most beautiful films to look at I'd say. Meaning be damned....

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Sinbad and the War of the Furies (2016)

3/10

No monsters here...

14 March 2021

Playful made for TV looking of Sinbad film set in modern times, much of it in L.A. It was sort of cute at times a bit funny if you don't take it too seriously. The acting were adequate I suppose for what it was. I enjoyed watching it for its playfulness, but its not a good movie. 3.5 stars out of 10.

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Hare Krishna (1966)

5/10

surreal montage with chanting...

3 March 2021

Fast paced montage of surreal images of hippies on the street set to a Krishna chant. Somewhat frantic. Well done bit of photography. Milky white overexposed and at times and blurred. I would like to make something like this. 5 stars out of 10

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Vive le tour (1962)

5/10

Fairly straightforward documentary by Louis Malle

27 February 2021

A decent documentary focusing largely on the endurance test of the tour de France. The photography followed the individuals. It showed how many racers succumb to exhaustion. It also displayed the popularity of the race among the town folk along the race's route. Pretty cool. 5.5 stars.

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Scary Time (1960)

6/10

playful and polemic

22 February 2021

A Unicef funded documentary to help explain American holiday of Halloween to the outside world. Fantastic, whimsical music and all the narration is by children and from their perspective. The film takes time to show how children around the world are all the same--plating, crying, etc. Halloween is shown as play here. The film also takes time to show to American children that not all children in the world can do trick or treat because of poverty or violence. It introduces the idea of children collecting funds for Unicef and hungry children rather than candy for themselves. It reminds children in America that not all kids are as lucky as them. Again, the music in this film has great variety and playfulness and is really wonderful. 6.5 stars out of 10. This film was apparently suppressed.

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The Killers (1956)

4/10

oh interesting historical significance

20 February 2021

This film is interesting for being what it is--a Soviet cinema school's student project depicting a Hemingway short story--one of the student performers being Andrei Tarkovsky. As a film on its own right, its acting and direction are uneven. That said, I thought some of the acting was fine. The mood is a bit too subdued and less menacing than the story as I remember it. Then again, the cast were all close to 20--so that's probably is to be expected. According to most accounts, this was the first project from the Soviet film school portraying a non Russian story--and this choice, which was freshly published at the time was chosen by the young Tarkovsky himself, 4.5 stars out of 10

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The White Sheik (1952)

8/10

Brilliant comedy imbued with all of Fellini's directorial finesse!

19 February 2021

I don't know what I was expecting from this film, but I thought it was a brilliant comedy. While it was an early and seemingly low budget work for Fellini, I displayed all of his usual finesse as a director. Excellent story that kept me laughing that satirized many of the mores and norms of Italian society. I was surprised to see the Cabrira character debuted in this film. Indeed that late night scene was very well done. I love Fellini and I loved this film. 8.5 stars out of 10.

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Murder (1957)

5/10

A respectable exercise in minimalism

16 February 2021

Well photographed. Nothing I like better than an old door. High contrast black and white. The parting shot reminiscent of David's "Au Marat.' Its all over in a moment.

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La Dolce Vita (1960)

10/10

Fellini's subtle story-telling...

2 February 2021

This is a film of stark contrasts within modern Roman society, and of course, as always with Fellini, Roman society across the ages. Wealth and poverty, spectacular and mundane, beautiful and grotesque, spiritual and commercial, meaningful and trite---what we have vs. what we yearn for... what we are and what we could have been if we tried harder... Everything centers around Marcello Mastrionni, handsome but frustrated, loved but unable to truly love what he has in return, free to pass through all echelons of society, but forever trapped. After a party end in suicide, time passes and we find Marcelo older and single and the "intellectual" patron of younger party-goers. But the party has gone on a long time, the ideal attained is less sweet than when it was dreamed of.... nor as beautiful as Marcello and his paparazzi once promoted it. As the party goers step into the morning sun, they still smile but are separated from and no longer understand things natural nor innocent... they can only continue living "the sweet life" of the beautiful and the rich, that most people idealize for from their own mundane, working lives. 10 stars out of 10.

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The Irishman (2019)

7/10

Remarkable mob epic once again from Scorcese

5 January 2020

Well, Scorsese, the great depicter of the mob in film has done it again. This time with the same aging cast members of his great mob films from the past. nice to see Deniro in a starring role again. Pesci, Pacino, Keitel are all here. This film attempts to be historical fiction rather then pure fiction, rooting itself to actual figures of the late 20th century. Overall, it well done, well directed, well written and well acted. Again, good to see Deniro diplaying his acting prowess again. A bit long winded and 3,5 hours. Kinda like life itself. If you die of old age, you get tired by the end. :) 7.5 stars out of 10.

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Making a Living (1914)

7/10

Chaplin's first acting role

16 December 2019

Chaplin's first role on screen. This in itself makes this film highly noteworthy if you ask me. Personally I enjoyed his considerable screen presence throughout this short film. The Tramp character was still in its naissance, but Chaplin's talent and physical acting ability seem well developed already. I love just how nearly 19th century everything appears in this film. Really great. The Tramp has yet to arrive, but the street hustler seems to be in full force. Very enjoyable. 7 starts out of 10.

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Daredevil (2015–2018)

7/10

Well written and well acted

11 December 2019

Much better than anticipated and mostly very consistent. Quite a bit of excellent acting. We'll see how it goes from here. I cared about the characters. They made the Kingpin quite psychologically comples. His character helped drive the story for me. Matt Murdoch was mostly very good. He didn't really fight like Daredevil until the finale. I tended to enjoy the villain's characters a bit more. Anyway, good show. 7.5 stars out 10.

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Murder! (1930)

6/10

Early talkie from the master of suspense

30 November 2019

Good film. Mystery driven plot line.. Dramatic and macabre Hitchcock-esque conclusion. 6.5 stars out of 10.

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Blackmail (1929)

7/10

Wonderful early film from the master director

28 November 2019

Great old Hitchcock early talkie. Great trademark suspenseful music. Great story. Early Talkie, so sound sound was uneven. Hitchcock played with this however with the loud word 'knife' at the breakfast table. Trademark photography with the staircase scene. Excellent climax at the British museum. Moral ambiguity, Very cool and a pleasure to watch. 7.5 stars out of 10.

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Shin Godzilla (2016)

3/10

Tedious as a day in the office

27 November 2019

I had heard this movie was good. I absolutely hated it. If 2 hours of watching government bureaucrats argue is your thing, then this is the movie for you. Oh bythe way, Godzilla now has built in radar and laser beams which come out of his back. Yeah right. I guess this appeals to somebody somewhere, but not to me. 3 stars out of 10.

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La chambre (1972)

6/10

A film short

30 December 2018

Be calm and observe. What do you see? The film is titled "La chambre." It is a woman's bedroom rich in detail. It is a room that is lived in. The viewer naturally tries to compose a story from this detail, but there is little that can be said. The room is well lived in and has been for a long time. It is a woman's room. As the camera pans over the bed we see looking at us, As we pass again a second time she is peeling an orange. A private room has a center of gravity. And the camera's orbit begins to center on that and comes ever closer. The meaning is not in its detail of its "things." It will always be the person. A room is a reflection of the person who sleeps in it...

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Siberia (2018)

7/10

I disagree with most of the reviews here

13 September 2018

I'm surprised by the bad ratings here. I thought the film was pretty good. The only bad acting is Keanu Reeves. So what else is new? Its dark and tragic and perhaps a little slow moving. He has a pretty steamy relationship with a Russian girl played by Ashley St. George. I thought that was all well done. Anyway, to me this film was a nice change of pace.

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Ghost in the Shell (2017)

9/10

Cybernetic agents fight super hackers in cyberpunk classic remake

31 March 2017

Warning: Spoilers

There are a lot of purists out there. I am sure a lot of people who worship the first film will not like this film no matter what. Many wont know the story-line was composed from mixing the original movie with Stand Alone Complex 2 with its villain Kuzo, who has connection with Motoko's origin. It also pays homage to the second movie Inocence, with it killer Geisha Robots in the beginning. Those who hate the movie because Major is not played by an Asian woman need to get a life. While I agree Hollywood should not be afraid to use Asian lead actors, I thought Scarlett Johannsen played the role just fine. Actually the original Major Motoko in the anime classic is pretty wooden at times, I rather enjoyed the humanity in this portrayal. Likewise, while the script diverges from the original puppet-master villain, I don't have a problem with that. The original film, while a total 10 star classic is really quite confusing regarding the villain and what happens at the end. I think mixing Kuzo with the puppet-master was a good move creating a tighter story. Batou is played perfectly as far as I am concerned. Nice to see. Togusa, Saito are in the film without major roles. Aramaki, played by Beat Takeshi got on my nerves a bit to start with, but seemed to work better later when he started kicking ass. The Spider tank was disappointing as a giant lumbering machine rather than the "J-Pop" cute toys that they are normally in the series. The visual landscape of Neo-Tokyo was splendid to look at and borrowed a bit from the Akira film. I could go on. But why? I really enjoyed this film and I thought it was a fine homage to the original. 9 stars

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