Celluloid #89

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Days of Being Wild (1991) Wong - York treats ladies badly. He breaks Su Lizhen's heart when she asks him to marry her. Then he turns around and breaks Mimi's heart when she proposes that he pick her up from the club regularly. York also wants to track down his biological mother. 4/5

the Naked Kiss (1964) Fuller - Apparently the title refers to a tell-tale sign of perverts. Kelly was a prostitute, but after entering a new town she decides to change her ways (after sleeping with the sheriff). She starts working at the hospital for disabled children (where she also records a creepy song with the kids) and gets engaged to a prominent person. Unfortunately, people have a lot of secrets to keep, and as a result Kelly is made to suffer. 4/5

the Princess Bride (1987) Reiner - A childhood classic for most of my peers, but recently I watched this with some of my friends and a five year-old. The five year-old hated it and chastised us for making her watch a "scary, violent movie" which of course the rest of us brushed off because it's so silly and rarely does one even see a little blood. (All though I will concede that the swamp scenes with the ROUS- "rodents of unusual size" probably freaked me out as a kid as well). It was nice to revisit Buttercup & Wesley, the Spaniard hellbent on avenging his father's death, and of course lovable Andre the Giant. 4/5

Repulsion (1965) Polanski - Carol is fragile and a little off mentally. When her sister goes out of town for a couple weeks, Carol loses it. It doesn't help that guys will not leave her alone...Polanski was really great in the 1960s with his thrillers involving crazy people (I'm also thinking of Knife in the Water) and so good at ratcheting up the tension. 4.5/5

Tony Manero (2008) Larrain - Raul is obsessed with "Tony Manero", the John Travolta character from Saturday Night Fever. The film is Chilean and takes place at a time when Chile was in huge political upheaval. I though the premise sounded entertaining; Raul's main goal is the perfect the ideal disco routine. However, this film is surprisingly really dark and Raul is up there for the prize of "worst person ever." 4/5

the Trial (1962) Welles - Appropriately creepy and stylish representation of Kafka's famous novel. Josef K gets charged with an unnamed crime. He gets tangled up in all kinds of bureaucracy without ever finding out the details of his case, along the way getting obsessed with acquittal. My favorite scene is a surreal moment of a multitude of little girls trying to get at Josef while he's behind bars. Making out on a huge pile of papers is also pretty good..4/5

Zombieland (2009) Fleischer - Columbus and Tallahassee are a mismatched pair teamed up for survival in a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies. Columbus is anxious, neurotic, and makes mention several times of his social awkwardness and how that has prepared him for a lonely life. Tallahassee is more interested in obtaining the "zombie kill of the week" and finding some twinkies. Along the way the run into a couple of girls to provide drama and love interest. I wish this film was scarier or more gory...all the references to "the rules" got a little tedious after a while. 3.5/5