Celluloid #99

In Theaters

Enter the Void (2010) Noe - Neon nightmare with the sentiment "Life's a Bitch and then you die" and maybe that the key to life is the nipple.  I was into the overstimulation of the opening credits, but sadly what follows is repetitive, pretty boring, and about an hour too long. Oscar and his sister Linda live in Tokyo. He deals drugs and she works as a stripper. Their parents died when they were young and they are unnaturally close. Their lives seem totally depressing and Oscar gets killed as the result of a series of bad decisions. This happens in the first 15 minutes I would guess, and then the rest of the movie he floats around watching his sister. 1.5/5

In Home

Claire's Knee (1970) Rohmer - Jerome is going to get married to Lucinde, but he runs into an old writer friend. She challenges him to an experiment where he would seduce the young neighbors. Jerome first tries Laura, but she rebuffs his advances. Then he becomes obsessed with Claire, and yes, her knee. So much talking and moralizing and philosophizing in all of Rohmer's films, to the point where I think I feel pretty medium about his work overall. 3/5

Friday (1995) Gray - So whatever. A film where two friends spend the afternoon getting high, flirting with girls, and avoiding paying back the guy who sold them the weed. Initially, I was disappointed because I didn't think the movie was that funny, but then I started laughing when describing the excessive farting to my friends, so maybe I did think it was a little funny after all. 3/5

Lacombe Lucien (1974) Malle - When Lucien gets denied acceptance to the Underground French Resistance, he ends up working on the other side for the German Police. Early on we see scenes of Lucien killing animals, so you know he's got an evil streak. The authority goes to his head, but he seems a little like a typical teenager when he develops a crush on the daughter of a Jewish tailor. 3.5/5

Nanook of the North (1922) Flaherty - A portrait of people living in the harshest of environments, often on the brink of starvation. Often considered the first documentary, scenes of the Inuit making an igloo or ice fishing are pretty remarkable. 4/5

Vengeance is Mine (1979) Imamura - Iwao has been a bad seed ever since he was a child. An initial rebellious streak evolves into adult murderous tendencies. While Iwao leaves a trail of bodies behind him in the midst of being on the run, his wife is carrying on a relationship with his father. For much of the film, Iwao poses as a professor at a hotel known for procuring prostitutes, and falls in love with the hotel owner. A typical arc for a crime story, but still very stylish. 4/5