movies
I got lazy and haven't done this in a while. However, since I'm bored as all get out here are some recent ones I've seen.
D.O.A.: it's supposed to be film-noir but it comes off as a cross between bad sci-fi and bad mystery/suspense. after watching this i seriously wished MST3K had mocked this one. a man finds out he's be poisoned with "luminescence poison" and sets out to find his killer while dying slowly. my favorite part (in a bad B-movie kind of way) was the scene where he goes to another doctor to get tested and the doctor, to prove to the guy it's true, brings in a test tube of some liquid and then proceeds to turn off the light to show that it glows (hence the luminescence). oh bad sci-fi moments how i love you. the girlfriend character is also hilariously awful and cliche.
Curse of the Golden Flower: i usually like these sweeping epic movies but this one just mostly bored me. the visuals seemed kind of flat in comparison to Hero or House of Flying Daggers. gong li is excellent though (as always).
Fear and Trembling: french film about a belgian woman who goes to work in japan for a year. excellent story that draws you in.
Intermezzo: love story between leslie howard and ingrid bergman. this movie just really pissed me off. i realize it was made in 1939 but bergman's character came across as this sad sack woman willing to give up her life for howard's character and then just take it when he decides to go back to his family (i found his character pretty unsympathetic). and her line "we both know i was just an intermezzo in his life," really made me want to vomit.
L'Avventura: i put this in my netflix queue after antonioni died since i hadn't seen any of his films and was curious. i didn't love it and monica vitti is the best part of this film.