The Movies of 2010, Part XXX
73. The Honeymoon Killers (1969) - A movie based on the Lonely Hearts murders of the late '40s. It has a big cult following, and hasn't been available on video until recently.
I don't know if I liked it or not. It's definitely an art film crammed into an exploitation film package, but the ultra-low budget makes it all seem so cheap and sleazy it's hard to appreciate the sophisticated bits. It gets better near the end, I can see the art better. But I could never get past the central conceit: How did this angry overweight woman exert so much attraction and influence over this slick Spanish con artist? I know it happened in real life, but the movie just kind of glosses over that.
I bet there are a lot of people who would appreciate this movie, but I'm not sure who they would be.
74. A Serious Man (2009) - The Coen Brothers black comedy about a Jewish professor in 1967, who has a rather spectacular run of bad luck. A lot of people I know hated this, but I dug it. It sucked me into it's odd little world. You kind of need to be ready for all the Coen Brothers' various peculiarities, because it might be the most Coen Brothersy movie they've ever made. No real plot, no resolution. Ideas are presented and allowed to just sort of drift into space. That kind of a thing. And a reasonable knowledge of Jewish culture would help, too.
75. Psych-Out (1968) - Maybe A Serious Man motivated me to dig this out, I don't know. It's an old AIP hippie exploitation movie, about a deaf woman who visits Haight-Ashbury looking for her lost brother, who's become some sort of hippie mystic prophet dude.
My fascination with psychedelic exploitation movies is very unique to me, and I've long given up trying to explain to people why I like them. But this movie might have killed my fascination. It's really pretty darn boring. Most of my enjoyment was seeing famous actors early in their careers (Jack Nicholson! Dean Stockwell! Bruce Dern!) and the really terrible wigs they were forced to wear. There's little plot and no resolution (and unlike A Serious Man, this movie was constructed in a way where there needed to be those things), and many of the characters are pointlessly obnoxious. But still, it's kind of nice as a sort of travelogue of that era, and some of the music is fun.
76. Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) - The latest Warner Brothers/DC Comics animated direct to video. It's been getting some mixed reviews among people I know, with the voice work taking the brunt of the criticism. That didn't bother me. This is Batman in super-grim mode, and the Joker in psychopathic killer mode, and I thought the voices fit those interpretations of the characters.
Actually, I really enjoyed this one. But I hope they don't make all of their future releases with a super dark take like this. I like a good, dark Batman story, but there's enough of that around.
I don't know if I liked it or not. It's definitely an art film crammed into an exploitation film package, but the ultra-low budget makes it all seem so cheap and sleazy it's hard to appreciate the sophisticated bits. It gets better near the end, I can see the art better. But I could never get past the central conceit: How did this angry overweight woman exert so much attraction and influence over this slick Spanish con artist? I know it happened in real life, but the movie just kind of glosses over that.
I bet there are a lot of people who would appreciate this movie, but I'm not sure who they would be.
74. A Serious Man (2009) - The Coen Brothers black comedy about a Jewish professor in 1967, who has a rather spectacular run of bad luck. A lot of people I know hated this, but I dug it. It sucked me into it's odd little world. You kind of need to be ready for all the Coen Brothers' various peculiarities, because it might be the most Coen Brothersy movie they've ever made. No real plot, no resolution. Ideas are presented and allowed to just sort of drift into space. That kind of a thing. And a reasonable knowledge of Jewish culture would help, too.
75. Psych-Out (1968) - Maybe A Serious Man motivated me to dig this out, I don't know. It's an old AIP hippie exploitation movie, about a deaf woman who visits Haight-Ashbury looking for her lost brother, who's become some sort of hippie mystic prophet dude.
My fascination with psychedelic exploitation movies is very unique to me, and I've long given up trying to explain to people why I like them. But this movie might have killed my fascination. It's really pretty darn boring. Most of my enjoyment was seeing famous actors early in their careers (Jack Nicholson! Dean Stockwell! Bruce Dern!) and the really terrible wigs they were forced to wear. There's little plot and no resolution (and unlike A Serious Man, this movie was constructed in a way where there needed to be those things), and many of the characters are pointlessly obnoxious. But still, it's kind of nice as a sort of travelogue of that era, and some of the music is fun.
76. Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) - The latest Warner Brothers/DC Comics animated direct to video. It's been getting some mixed reviews among people I know, with the voice work taking the brunt of the criticism. That didn't bother me. This is Batman in super-grim mode, and the Joker in psychopathic killer mode, and I thought the voices fit those interpretations of the characters.
Actually, I really enjoyed this one. But I hope they don't make all of their future releases with a super dark take like this. I like a good, dark Batman story, but there's enough of that around.