Celluloid #5

In Theatre

No outings this week

In Home

Crazed Fruit (1956) Nakahira - A cool movie about two brothers who fall for the same woman. Beautiful, sexy, and quite tense at times, this Japanese film also features a strong anti-Western vibe while simultaneously incorporating western/capitalistic elements (water skis, cocktail bars, etc.) Has a lot of youthful energy and rebelliousness. 5/5

Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) Pabst - Louise Brooks stars as Thymian, a young woman who is sent away to a girl's reformatory school by an evil stepmother figure after being raped by a family friend. She eventually gets to leave the school and gets tangled up with a different set of people who focus more on the vices in life. There's always something providing a struggle in her life. Brooks is charming to watch as usual. 4/5

For Y'ur Height Only (1979) Nicart - A Filipino James Bond spoof, where Agent 007 is replaced by Agent 00, played by Weng Weng, a midget with a really bad haircut. Agent 00 still kicks a lot of ass (mainly by aiming his kicks at his enemy's genitals) and still does well with the ladies, including the leading "Bond girl" in this film, "the Sex Pot." Extremely low budget with a plot that really doesn't make much sense, nevertheless adding to the charm. 4/5

Gimme Shelter (1970) Maysles - Documentary juxtaposing the New York and Altamont shows of the Rolling Stones 1969 American tour. In New York, one can see how Mick Jagger may have once held sex appeal and Keith Richards actually doesn't look like a corpse just yet. All in all New York seemed like a pretty great show. In comparison the Altamont show in the Bay Area seems like a complete nightmare; mainly for the notorious shankings wielded out by the Hell's Angels. 4.5/5

Masculin Feminin (1966) Godard - The boy from The 400 Blows is mostly grown up and pursuing a young woman who works at a magazine, but is also recording a pop album. Randomly, throughout the film between scenes, Godard posts screens of text that seem vaguely revolutionary or at least some sort of social commentary. Also, Paul (400 blows kid) gets a job surveying "the typical French woman" and asks them all sorts of questions ranging from "what type of birth control methods do you use?" to "where in the world are you aware of wars happening right now?" Basically, coming-of-age in France amidst counterculture and attempts to define gender and sexuality. 4/5

Sanjuro (1962) Kurosawa - I liked this film, but was also kinda bored. It's the sequel to Yojimbo, but practically the same story over again. The two sides warring each other in a village are completely idiotic, and an eccentric samurai (who also enjoys the bottle) is the only one who seems to possess an intelligence. While there's nothing wrong with this film, I really think people should just choose to watch this or Yojimbo...not both. 3.5/5

In News

* The "Up Series" is a documentary started in England which filmed fourteen 7 year-olds, and proceeding to return to film them every seven years. That series is currently up to 49 Up. The concept proved so popular that documentary series were started in several other countries including Russia, Japan, and...South Africa. Next month 21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children will be available for rent, dealing with post-apartheid race relations, crime, and AIDS.

* Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director who brought us Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, and Amelie has a new film in production, Micmacs a tire-larigot...which roughly translates to "this endless mess."