tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61348920742029053582024-03-12T18:52:04.327-04:00CELLULOID SLAMMERMovie and media reviews and commentaryBehemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.comBlogger1382125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-77470247542587184662024-03-05T08:15:00.004-05:002024-03-05T08:15:33.405-05:00Babylon 5: The Road Home (2023) Directed by Matt Peters<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cX7hdf_FCGkHuT-gP9xSDXeG9GqtpGjrX-_sUS6bxRd2QQliGyYmWa8BWSI4XYJMtvmqBaIzaYzO4dpmxuA7ptC7rVFzJq_FgV6r521OUXuiJfjhAXlr7dZeBwPQI537K2PM5I1G0BmqsMcAEaiG_uBI5gw_OGor1ZjcFiz0heGBq5avLYiF7txPeMad/s1296/Dm8c3xaocf9KEMs8bNTZQW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="1296" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cX7hdf_FCGkHuT-gP9xSDXeG9GqtpGjrX-_sUS6bxRd2QQliGyYmWa8BWSI4XYJMtvmqBaIzaYzO4dpmxuA7ptC7rVFzJq_FgV6r521OUXuiJfjhAXlr7dZeBwPQI537K2PM5I1G0BmqsMcAEaiG_uBI5gw_OGor1ZjcFiz0heGBq5avLYiF7txPeMad/w654-h368/Dm8c3xaocf9KEMs8bNTZQW.jpg" width="654" /></a></div><br /> While waiting for a rumoured reboot of Babylon 5 the groundbreaking TV show from the 90s we were treated to a surprise animated movie with the original characters and starring the voices of the surviving cast. <p></p><p>The story revolves around a time travel/ alternate universe concept that has new Interstellar Alliance president John Sheridan leaping around reality because of an accident involving a new power source starting up. It was written by J. Michael Straczynski who created the original show and all it's various spinoffs. The animation is pretty good and some of the shots are beautifully done and while it might be heavy on fan service, seeing these characters in a new adventure that takes place before the end of the series was nothing short of wonderful. This will limit it's appeal to newcomers but it obviously wan't made for anyone not familiar with the original but it also likely added new enthusiasm that the reboot, long spoken about but never materializing might actually be coming. </p><p>I admit I am a fan of the show and this was at treat for me even though multiverse/time travel plots are not my favourite thing in the world. The proposed new show will not be a continuation so this was a last chance to see it in it's old form with the characters and actors fans like me love so much. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-90871745716919636762024-02-18T12:14:00.004-05:002024-02-18T12:14:30.567-05:00TV series: Monarch - legacy of Monsters<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYbuBU9GEo5oBihhV8ai4DNm4UVhcbiojiS7TgrGOL1ifGX3hfc8dLPRcFj4LiQOJGWVSoSxOJfvV7jwiXNCS0sblDCJRaszwDz0hHYUNF8TH2aUiMiNwoNG1aRQAU0MMtZQSD_jISL7RZYTdnx45rGLQCn9gd4-x7azwc6bvfjBQu-xY6l-RuA8sFhll/s1000/monarch-legacy-of-monsters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="1000" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYbuBU9GEo5oBihhV8ai4DNm4UVhcbiojiS7TgrGOL1ifGX3hfc8dLPRcFj4LiQOJGWVSoSxOJfvV7jwiXNCS0sblDCJRaszwDz0hHYUNF8TH2aUiMiNwoNG1aRQAU0MMtZQSD_jISL7RZYTdnx45rGLQCn9gd4-x7azwc6bvfjBQu-xY6l-RuA8sFhll/w605-h318/monarch-legacy-of-monsters.jpg" width="605" /></a></div><br />Evidently I have been n a Japanese monster kick lately. We had a chance to watch the Legendary TV series Monarch - Legacy of monsters recently. Legendary is the studio making the new American Godzilla and King Kong movies which have been getting worse with each one. I have to say the Series was much more interesting and better put together. There are damn few monsters but much more interesting characters and situations and mysteries to get you involved. <p></p><p>A young San Franciscan woman goes to her father's in Tokyo and discovers he has another family there. She meets her new brother and the two go on hunt to find their father with the brother's ex girlfriend and get caught up in the history and intrigue of Monarch, the organization that is trying to control the giant monsters appearing over the earth since Godzilla attacked in 2014. The series at the same time follows the beginning of the organization by following the scientists and military man who founded it. </p><p>I won't spoil much but everyone seems to be related and no one is to be trusted. It moves along and throws in enough monsters to remind you they are still there and it has Kurt Russel and his son playing the same character in different time periods. Like most of these mystery mongering plots, it takes awhile to find anything out but it's not boring. I will say the last 2 episodes basically cover everything in the first 8 and you could watch those two and be pretty much up to date and not have missed too much. It, of course ends on cliffhanger and I will watch if a second series comes around. I liked everyone in it more than anyone is any of the films and while not earth shattering, it did leave me curious for what happens next. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-79459366341965968922024-02-15T06:52:00.002-05:002024-02-15T06:52:20.550-05:003000 years of Longing (2022) directed by George Miller<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KhDtdEmU_XwiJgRT-2rr0bsTIrMle8qn0QDXO6k7i9nvRqdh8L-B2GFCjS55LrAceRaiyJmiLvgONdgFA4q5_IIVQGQXf0Kh1vCrnRLXqW0C5NIRtPvN2R8ayFVn95uSO5dGVBiOhE8jQdYH6-1HDNRUE5_XkL-l1G5AQZiRUMqn3NoCRDz2Nqh4Cgwa/s2280/1178226-2280x1140-desktop-dual-monitors-three-thousand-years-of-longing-2022-movie-background-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="2280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KhDtdEmU_XwiJgRT-2rr0bsTIrMle8qn0QDXO6k7i9nvRqdh8L-B2GFCjS55LrAceRaiyJmiLvgONdgFA4q5_IIVQGQXf0Kh1vCrnRLXqW0C5NIRtPvN2R8ayFVn95uSO5dGVBiOhE8jQdYH6-1HDNRUE5_XkL-l1G5AQZiRUMqn3NoCRDz2Nqh4Cgwa/w640-h320/1178226-2280x1140-desktop-dual-monitors-three-thousand-years-of-longing-2022-movie-background-image.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This fantasy film starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba took me by surprise. Not because of the actors, having them both in a film was enough for me to want to see it, but more because of my idea that it would be a simple, low budget film more psychologic in nature when it was an extravagant looking, beautifully filmed piece that definitely landed more on art film than blockbuster but nevertheless managed to include some amazing effects. <p></p><p>Swinton is a narratology expert and begins to see disturbing visions while talking at a conference in Istanbul. She finds an antique bottle and while cleaning it find a Djinn has been trapped inside. </p><p>I don't want to spoil the film too much but I will say the interaction between the two main characters as the Djinn tells his life story to convince Swinton to ask for 3 wishes, the first being "her heart's content" really pulls you in. All the performances are great and the film doesn't drag during it's 106 minutes. </p><p>I will say there are some elements that bugged me. The Djinn is described as being electromagnetic in nature. Fine. But when he begins to suffer from information overload in London because of all the cell phones etc etc it was confusing. Istanbul is at least as full of tech as London and we see that clearing at the start of the film. It's that old only European and the USA are first world nations prejudice rearing its ugly head. I also found the leads character's sudden need to be loved and less lonely made me angry. She was self sufficient and not lonely at all until suddenly she was.. another trope. All women are supposed need a family and man to be happy and if they say they don't they are fooling themselves. There is a potential issue of what is real and what isn't for some viewers. In some instances the Djin is clearly real and in the world while others, including the end, he might be all in her head. This bothers me less since I like that sort of discussion it brings but it did seem the film wasn't sure what to do with the magical elements. </p><p>Well worth seeing despite the plot holes and missteps. I have not read the story it was based on and that might clear up some of the problems but films should stand on their own, even if based on outside material. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-72652949331634582582024-01-23T16:40:00.002-05:002024-01-23T16:40:25.116-05:00Poster: The Man Who laughs (1928)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2JvyIK0JudinhobFp6G34juOa34RYEgkDDC6wctp5sMeI7WJ2NP1CYARNQ1a5PhpXC7RlUMZnzftstBPa7uA9zk5FZCWryDQStq32Ww4QDwN_8OGObd0ciPkjvac6ydiunH19XRlysM9igBKmvWrum_De2aKe2hZ1UtE9zPMOd6cAPgG0rCdMBv_ZQAX/s2000/Man%20Who%20Laughs_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="819" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2JvyIK0JudinhobFp6G34juOa34RYEgkDDC6wctp5sMeI7WJ2NP1CYARNQ1a5PhpXC7RlUMZnzftstBPa7uA9zk5FZCWryDQStq32Ww4QDwN_8OGObd0ciPkjvac6ydiunH19XRlysM9igBKmvWrum_De2aKe2hZ1UtE9zPMOd6cAPgG0rCdMBv_ZQAX/w614-h819/Man%20Who%20Laughs_poster.jpg" width="614" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Drawn with Krita, part of my movie monster poster series. </div><br /><p></p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-69386407721198507322024-01-12T04:26:00.000-05:002024-01-12T04:26:04.272-05:00Shin Ultraman (2022) directed by Shinji Higuchi<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_uywp7gY-hRPJfT0-iyPZQZax9BXdXPjUBnkFdux_UdEZh9R2-3teRpMbWNo0kAYbt8dpuiLDhqpt67Gdkadu4WL4gSzswAx8GO6JOyisaE6y1fZiync3v88FBoXWta6dWFY6y8nJ516qkjnzM4Z2MXC_N9m8AzrS0vwwCbb7jXCov1atA9ocpvpMKqEN/s1200/Shin-Ultraman-Teaser-Trailer-3-Video-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_uywp7gY-hRPJfT0-iyPZQZax9BXdXPjUBnkFdux_UdEZh9R2-3teRpMbWNo0kAYbt8dpuiLDhqpt67Gdkadu4WL4gSzswAx8GO6JOyisaE6y1fZiync3v88FBoXWta6dWFY6y8nJ516qkjnzM4Z2MXC_N9m8AzrS0vwwCbb7jXCov1atA9ocpvpMKqEN/w604-h340/Shin-Ultraman-Teaser-Trailer-3-Video-1.jpg" width="604" /></a></div><br /> While not as familiar as Godzilla, Ultraman was a huge hit in Japan in the 60s and has a continuing fandom to this day. When I was very young in the 60s my dad and I would go to church and then to my grandparents house. They had a TV, probably the first I ever saw, as we would watch Ultraman before my mom came by later for the Sunday family lunch. So I do have some nostalgia for this character and was happy to see some of the references that are al over this new reboot. <p></p><p>Unlike Shin Godzilla, this was not a hardcore, serious reimagining of the franchise but more light-hearted. Also unlike Shin Godzilla it doesn't really work. The story follows the TV show lore with some nicely updated elements but it really goes all over the place. It starts with monsters attacking then moves into some sort of alien taking over the world by discrediting Ultraman, to another alien going to take over the work in another way to a giant robot spaceship showing up and about to destroy the planet. It's really a mess and too long. </p><p>The cinematography has been given high marks and I honestly don't know why. 40% of the film takes place in a board room where people talk constantly and don't do anything while camera angle wildly change and they seem to be using webcams and surveillance cameras to do it. So much is shot through legs, chairs on the floor, at woman's feet... it is really hard to figure out what is happening. The characters have no real connection to each other and Ultraman love of humanity seems to have no basis. </p><p>I HAVE to talk about to 2 super weird things you can't miss if you watch the film. The lead woman out of nowhere slaps her own butt hard enough to break a hip throughout the movies... for.. motivation? And the human form of Ultraman smells her for some reason, she look uncomfortable and she should he even smalls between her legs! WTF?</p><p>The fight scenes, monsters (who disappear after the aliens arrive) and other effects shots are well filmed. The look of the hero is a nice update but the movie itself is too rambling to hold your attention fr the over 2 hour runtime. </p><p>Super fans of the TV show and other versions of Ultraman will surely get a lot to chew on some scenes are shot by shot from the TV show, there are graphic, sound and musical elements taken directly from the 60s as well and they might be fun to spot. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-22441838451565581632023-12-28T08:32:00.003-05:002023-12-28T08:32:28.120-05:00Godzilla Minus 1 (2023) directed by Takashi Yamazaki<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzOb_H9exGHtiWeV9Eut0jug9AaM7V2QS0MRY0l_Ji2UJWmnp9tSElc10kJcZBszdKCsaOnKrnetTdCZOrpYvlxWknq1oIkOdvl73C24dWpDodocZ-oyaYnRmfz2RwoHgd3gCLfcP-WtuNvwgkhvN89KNGRE_PmF06Zv3inDdyZ2KfMIKkmGQlcHMgtwG/s1920/godzilla-minus-one.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzOb_H9exGHtiWeV9Eut0jug9AaM7V2QS0MRY0l_Ji2UJWmnp9tSElc10kJcZBszdKCsaOnKrnetTdCZOrpYvlxWknq1oIkOdvl73C24dWpDodocZ-oyaYnRmfz2RwoHgd3gCLfcP-WtuNvwgkhvN89KNGRE_PmF06Zv3inDdyZ2KfMIKkmGQlcHMgtwG/w642-h361/godzilla-minus-one.jpeg" width="642" /></a></div><br />I will admit that after seeing trailers for this film, I was excited. It looked AMAZING and the setting, post WWII Japan was intriguing since Godzilla was not supposed to appear until the 50s when the first film was released. <p></p><p>This is, in many ways, a return to the tone of the original Japanese film although I was glad to see it was not as big a downer as I anticipated. It's no laugh riot, but in a film about lost hope, lost honour and loss of everything, it had its uplifting moments. I was not sure what the title meant but (thanks to my friend George) it was cleared up for me. Japan is literally starting at the lowest point in its history... zero at the film begins and then it manages to drop even lower, to minus 1 when Godzilla arrives and makes things even worse. </p><p>The leads are a Kamikaze pilot who is dishonoured by living through the war, a homeless woman who has found and decided to take care of a baby which makes her also dishonourable in may people's eyes who assume she is a prostitute and how they eventually come together as a family of misfits trying to figure who they are after the devastating war. In my assessment, Godzilla is the representation of that devastation and loss after the war as he comes in keeping anything from being rebuilt and no one can move on while he is proving how small and weak humanity is compared the the terrors the have released on themselves like the bomb, the war and of course Godzilla itself. </p><p>Despite the heavy subject matter, this movie is still, at is roots, a giant monster movie. The integrate the original Godzilla theme music, come up with ridiculous ways to destroy the menace, destruction is everywhere and it even manages to reference previous films without being too "canon driven". There are extremely sad parts and the willingness to talk about the how the Japanese government put very little value on human life while fighting the war was refreshing. The Americans are not shown as being all that much better in the end. It's a rare kaju film where the human characters are not just front and centre but the driving force of the plot. It really works. There is real drama in here without Godzilla having to show up at all, but boy does he ever show up. Massive and looking better than I have ever seen despite a low 15 million budget as opposed to the American Godzilla films which I believe average 200-300 million each and are not nearly as interesting to watch. He is massive, scary and his look references not just past versions but mythological dragons. It is an unstoppable force of nature brought to life by atomic bomb tests and is now asserting its dominance over us. It is treated as a real living creature and as our punishment for being into being in the first place. </p><p>Of course no movie is perfect. I would say 20 minutes could be cut not because it drags but because I think a quicker pace would make it even more exciting to watch. I also found the end a little too Hollywood for me which robbed it of some of it's most powerful scenes of loss. There is also a very clear leading into a next film, which I will see 100% but I don't think we needed it. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-27128075740699825282023-11-16T07:50:00.007-05:002023-11-16T07:50:47.944-05:00Polish posters: Barbarella<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKmNsjE2IsVcdmSsCSkqH1mzyMNasZQJJoFjYMSn-lhejBm-waqRR4imZoOCCy5fwQsh4K8PtB32jfM27Dj76y76M8UG3cmIJl2iyMht8qPqUF9RPilasFY8quAy7LaVFWYrs1jXnp9eVBZ_gFPzW7iNSy22re-r9yNUa-ep3L-i0Ts7y9BGfocRzvues/s590/iu-26.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="400" height="801" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKmNsjE2IsVcdmSsCSkqH1mzyMNasZQJJoFjYMSn-lhejBm-waqRR4imZoOCCy5fwQsh4K8PtB32jfM27Dj76y76M8UG3cmIJl2iyMht8qPqUF9RPilasFY8quAy7LaVFWYrs1jXnp9eVBZ_gFPzW7iNSy22re-r9yNUa-ep3L-i0Ts7y9BGfocRzvues/w543-h801/iu-26.jpeg" width="543" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Jane Fonda gets top billing even over the title which makes me thing this was made long after the film was. Not sure where she is or why she is pressing that button, or why she has starfish on her nipples. These are questions that might never be answered. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-79896890087484099782023-10-28T04:50:00.045-04:002023-10-28T04:50:00.155-04:00 Walked with a Zombie (1943) directed by Jacques Tourneur<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDviJiCaFEvNHd2N86t_o3XWHzIybKLGAv9sHGvLfKpXjBWDO7d78sGHjQ9yVmiywpCopQ4FRR_KKy9jHeGN49TATJFLpFFnGkkkgPv-1ZUubbAvCJfDCSXkyVj1n4Y5XXsf3cy6pSRMD7Klpmn1e-nX8l9EzjK4x2es-9D387if2KnO64GUaqiGpjwYb/s2100/october%20Horrors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="2100" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDviJiCaFEvNHd2N86t_o3XWHzIybKLGAv9sHGvLfKpXjBWDO7d78sGHjQ9yVmiywpCopQ4FRR_KKy9jHeGN49TATJFLpFFnGkkkgPv-1ZUubbAvCJfDCSXkyVj1n4Y5XXsf3cy6pSRMD7Klpmn1e-nX8l9EzjK4x2es-9D387if2KnO64GUaqiGpjwYb/w664-h188/october%20Horrors.jpg" width="664" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUakFDaPUZp02ymO9m3TrapqJbXBw7GfQcVJ8zMdN3c7yc4HP8NMj_ZduDzNcX48E6AP-SEZFwEGuRa6BFRx8DuYmb8S0vTU3OzaeI01WT7UbYjq_2O8kDHHLYQfhr02GvNnrtkoHZq_VGhPVPNmOejCf4writFKmTkLKegU5ZvzEN-Q7PJ7azENEkp86W/s2409/Poster%20-%20I%20Walked%20With%20a%20Zombie_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1895" data-original-width="2409" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUakFDaPUZp02ymO9m3TrapqJbXBw7GfQcVJ8zMdN3c7yc4HP8NMj_ZduDzNcX48E6AP-SEZFwEGuRa6BFRx8DuYmb8S0vTU3OzaeI01WT7UbYjq_2O8kDHHLYQfhr02GvNnrtkoHZq_VGhPVPNmOejCf4writFKmTkLKegU5ZvzEN-Q7PJ7azENEkp86W/w645-h507/Poster%20-%20I%20Walked%20With%20a%20Zombie_12.jpg" width="645" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Started October Horrors with an early Zombie flick and so ending with another seemed appropriate. I am not a Zombie fan to be honest, but this and "White Zombie" do tick some boxes for me. <p></p><p>While this film about a nurse sent to take care of a woman with zombie like symptoms after a fever damaged her spinal cord does not have Bels Lugosi to give a fantastic performance, it does have Frances Lee as the nurse and was produced by "Cat people" Val Newton. Somehow, Lee doesn't get top billing despite being the lead and the strongest performer. I had forgotten how fearless her character is on trying to help the mysterious woman in her charge. She doesn't flinch in situations I think all of the male characters would have run screaming from. </p><p>The lower budget in this is made moot by a really interesting story that never really says if the voodoo depicted is real magic or not, even though it is strongly hinted there is something supernatural going. There is a scene where a practitioner is pulling a doll made to look like the stricken woman on a string while almost preforming a sort of dance. It's hard to describe but i have seen similar in real ceremonies. It is a very effective scene. </p><p>I won't go too much into the plot as it's fair to say it's better to watch this unspoiled. I will warn the ending isn't exactly a happy one and a little shocking they went there. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-13830367357938549442023-10-22T15:36:00.002-04:002023-10-22T15:36:18.347-04:00The City Silent (2023) graphic novel by Mike Luce<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnBW61BevzQlf7rgZ6iwl_UujCLLvjDeS2MBqJYI1vOhlB_4emIJiJhyphenhyphenTDriJHfpCyW9r92ardUZx6CBwX3k-D09MaTfP6B-cBW7WHruX3_Xxza1gYKdKZkghPJ5Ue2nEpRSqADNMwCFGp19cZ4OA1gv3Q5Ql3QuTgqVud26xabWr6mYGX2U13N2T3ImC/s1280/city%20silent%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="833" height="685" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnBW61BevzQlf7rgZ6iwl_UujCLLvjDeS2MBqJYI1vOhlB_4emIJiJhyphenhyphenTDriJHfpCyW9r92ardUZx6CBwX3k-D09MaTfP6B-cBW7WHruX3_Xxza1gYKdKZkghPJ5Ue2nEpRSqADNMwCFGp19cZ4OA1gv3Q5Ql3QuTgqVud26xabWr6mYGX2U13N2T3ImC/w445-h685/city%20silent%20cover.jpg" width="445" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A break from the October Horrors and a plug for the release of the first half of Mike Luce's epic opera/comic The City Silent. Years in the making and with a few more to go, this is follow up to his previous comic The City of Dream of Tamino the Cat (which you should also buy). There really isn't much like it out there and Mike has poured his artist's soul into telling the story of an artist's soul. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://tblue.gumroad.com/l/grfkzk">https://tblue.gumroad.com/l/grfkzk</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Click that link and get a copy! </div><br /><p></p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-36740978884363188352023-10-21T04:32:00.095-04:002023-10-21T04:32:00.138-04:00Les deux orphelines vampires (1997) directed by Jean Rollin. <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPe9DfLBONPslUsAonTgmswtRlItVbqIeABcjCzyGL9_QEOL89dBksrY1CqZtRJinrmSEezfcFHEi5gFBs3Uk-mBjH55f-1L3NC-S7Vx6P_NhTi2jzjwsY23fueeBQYX9aOTqqkFu9dKhkqq8VIYdvP79Q2FIiWlwtcRGRz96Dwafv2EZCUDGWslyzmPeb/s2100/october%20Horrors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="2100" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPe9DfLBONPslUsAonTgmswtRlItVbqIeABcjCzyGL9_QEOL89dBksrY1CqZtRJinrmSEezfcFHEi5gFBs3Uk-mBjH55f-1L3NC-S7Vx6P_NhTi2jzjwsY23fueeBQYX9aOTqqkFu9dKhkqq8VIYdvP79Q2FIiWlwtcRGRz96Dwafv2EZCUDGWslyzmPeb/w645-h183/october%20Horrors.jpg" width="645" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkoXQqSyhOuC6jGJqY1Sw18K_PJ8gCGn1e2iyQIZrPMa9KxQ9I6mo-4l6ZAFbkpBadvnyQjlT5A6CgzHLq1dvce7FE6vm9z8kjhIGPTcfcl2Zxtku2gG2iHlBN0f2eSDIjMhjIZH6ZfXhDFdg0KrYEIj9wzNHPmburm_UpgH_nlgTmL6Gv-2XO-OCDTDU/s1665/d3e81edd1605652be661edb389e946d2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1665" data-original-width="1137" height="770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkoXQqSyhOuC6jGJqY1Sw18K_PJ8gCGn1e2iyQIZrPMa9KxQ9I6mo-4l6ZAFbkpBadvnyQjlT5A6CgzHLq1dvce7FE6vm9z8kjhIGPTcfcl2Zxtku2gG2iHlBN0f2eSDIjMhjIZH6ZfXhDFdg0KrYEIj9wzNHPmburm_UpgH_nlgTmL6Gv-2XO-OCDTDU/w527-h770/d3e81edd1605652be661edb389e946d2.jpg" width="527" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once again we found ourselves watching another Jean Rollin film. To my credit, it was a double feature and I stopped the second film early on. This was only slightly better than "Requiem for a Vampire" and only slightly less confusing. The premise is pretty interesting, however. Two blind orphans live with nuns in... Paris? ...New York? ... but can see at night with everything having a blue tint, except when they forget to add it or the budget doesn't allow it. They are also somehow vampires. I liked the idea of being blind in the daytime and sighted at night and 2 vampires hiding their secret by living in an orphanage run by nuns was intriguing. Sadly, the plot is a mess and makes little sense. The orphanage is clearly in Paris but the girls run around New York, I guess it's a flashback but it, like most things in this movie is not made all that clear. The two run into other supernatural creatures, or not, they might just be crazy people. One seems ot be another sort of vampire who lives in Père Lachaise Cemetery has massive bat wings in place of arms and wears a tight disco outfit not seen since Studio 54 was open. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Like his other films, it drags on and characters wax poetic about their fate. The vampire children are pretty reckless and tell anyone who will listen they are vampires it seems. After being adopted they get drunk and one is shot by their adopted parent who thinks there is an invader on his property. They run away and the the one gets shot and they drown each other in a river. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A positive for this film over his others is in this one the underage girls are not naked and having sex all the time though they are sexualized. Their blindness is sometimes forgotten and time is pretty fluid. The visit Père Lachaise Cemetery, fall asleep, wake up hours later yet somehow the 2 other couples they passed early in the day are still there. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rollin is known for these vampire films although he has made plenty of others types of movies but I am not sure why he has a following. I guess we have seen three so far so I shouldn't criticize! </div><br />Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-42233841861243685592023-10-14T04:00:00.044-04:002023-10-14T04:00:00.145-04:00Naked Vampire Double feature<p><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG--Csim_HB008xmQTF0cM1LENQdoQVVUhzEWnCDasPiz8th1jt3bas6sYq-G9QT4_t47xtCNWrCNoeNNZ4ygYjsZLA0dWQYTjLM1Hf2LNgVf0UcQKNUIcLZIVi_sRgcmOIa-oE035f4y-_m1RSi_vC_SQcmQYuHpH31lHMQ9q9Vb4JM7PEfnTMpJAKgy7/s2100/october%20Horrors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="2100" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG--Csim_HB008xmQTF0cM1LENQdoQVVUhzEWnCDasPiz8th1jt3bas6sYq-G9QT4_t47xtCNWrCNoeNNZ4ygYjsZLA0dWQYTjLM1Hf2LNgVf0UcQKNUIcLZIVi_sRgcmOIa-oE035f4y-_m1RSi_vC_SQcmQYuHpH31lHMQ9q9Vb4JM7PEfnTMpJAKgy7/w650-h185/october%20Horrors.jpg" width="650" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />As luck (?) would </span><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 14px;">have it, we caught 2, count 'em 2, naked vampire movies in a row on a French movie channel. </span></span><p></p><p><i style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><br />Requiem pour un Vampire (1971)</b></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBgB8Qpv_G4HsuS0c07-v6N3kEwk46osZGl7GTz9JVrJWiPmMkSpzgPg6-qkoPQdN1P6GwKMCbre4tOC39MovQrRXQ0vS1orEFRW-1cZuaxvdAEetoSapSAan6ayv4aBc_Hn8ejNIcfzp4MGvCSe6KAD_LuDPG7lnNqAb8lBPnNe9Sez8olAuH3743Eum/s373/Requiem,_jean_rollin-1971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBgB8Qpv_G4HsuS0c07-v6N3kEwk46osZGl7GTz9JVrJWiPmMkSpzgPg6-qkoPQdN1P6GwKMCbre4tOC39MovQrRXQ0vS1orEFRW-1cZuaxvdAEetoSapSAan6ayv4aBc_Hn8ejNIcfzp4MGvCSe6KAD_LuDPG7lnNqAb8lBPnNe9Sez8olAuH3743Eum/s320/Requiem,_jean_rollin-1971.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><i>From wikipedia because I have little idea how they got so much plot from watching this film. I have added commentary. </i><p></p><p>Two women <span style="color: #cc0000;">(Underaged girls)</span> dressed as clowns and a male driver are being chased through the countryside, for unknown reasons <span style="color: #cc0000;">(this whole film is for unknown reasons)</span>. As the man drives, the women shoot at their pursuers. When the man is shot, the women are forced to burn the car with his body inside and once they remove their costumes, they run through a forest, and later a cemetery, in which one of the women, Michelle, is almost buried alive.</p><p>Walking through a field, they come to the outside of a gothic castle. There they are bitten by vampire bats, which lead them to go into the castle, where they make love in a cozy bed <span style="color: #cc0000;">(fulfills the lesbian vampire trope but somehow this does not count as them losing their viginity</span>). They tour the castle and discover a few skeletons along with a woman playing an organ. She begins to follow them, so they shoot at her, but she doesn't die. They run away and are caught by some men who force themselves on them. A vampire woman stops the men, and the vampire woman who chased them almost bites them until they break away. They soon come across a male vampire, the last of his kind. He has plans for the women. They are bitten in order to continue his bloodline, but they must stay virgins. Michelle likes the idea of everlasting life but her girlfriend has serious doubts, and by sleeping with Frédéric, a random passerby <span style="color: #cc0000;">(cute and a total asshole who call her a slut when they escape from the vampire)</span>, she not only jeopardizes the vampire's plans but also puts the mutual love and friendship between her and Michelle to the ultimate test. The vampire realizes that he must not continue the bloodline, and lets Michelle and her girlfriend escape.</p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">The filming goes randomly from day to night and so many shots are just plain weird and you have no idea what you are looking at. Characters appear from nowhere, and there are two woman in league with the vampire but they look so much alike we thought there was only one until they are in a scene together at the end. There is an EXTENDED scene of one of the girls letting some random chase her throughout the castle for hours? days? and he never manages to actually fuck her. NONE of this makes any sense whatsoever! </span></p><p><i style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>La Vampire Nue (1970)</b></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuBymNLEX4QDOE86aFiTZeChTkdQTbPYcGkghgyKdQl1pldmOv3pbtPkb6y5wxpcHu-_e_jz0L7Zkuri-5dNbSP08A5cReKUyMdyvJEh-wK5QBj8Yg94fMCs6rJmrCoaYmkrzRUrW8wq2KGAJw1czjafV34HlS4mGo5Albq5_bawJ37Um3yDOTdKrRm9U/s368/Nue,_jean_rollin-1969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="270" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuBymNLEX4QDOE86aFiTZeChTkdQTbPYcGkghgyKdQl1pldmOv3pbtPkb6y5wxpcHu-_e_jz0L7Zkuri-5dNbSP08A5cReKUyMdyvJEh-wK5QBj8Yg94fMCs6rJmrCoaYmkrzRUrW8wq2KGAJw1czjafV34HlS4mGo5Albq5_bawJ37Um3yDOTdKrRm9U/s320/Nue,_jean_rollin-1969.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br />In a strange laboratory, three men in weird masks take the blood of a naked young woman in a hood. Another woman in an orange nightgown is wandering the streets and is followed by a group of people also wearing weird masks. The woman comes across a man named Pierre who tries to help her, but the masked men corner them and shoot the woman; Pierre escapes unharmed. <span style="color: #cc0000;">(pretty easy since the masked people walk so slow he could have crawled away from them)</span>. The masked men take the woman into a building, and Pierre follows. Guests then arrive for some sort of party, but Pierre can't get into the building. Another scene reveals his father is behind it.<p></p><p>He gatecrashes the next party, and a woman commits suicide in front of the other guests when a man shows her picture up on a projector <span style="color: #cc0000;">(with an obviously fake gun that doesn't seem to make a mark nevermind blow what should have been a chunk out of the other side of her head)</span>. The woman in the orange nightgown appears and drinks the woman's blood. Pierre's face then appears on the projector. <span style="color: #cc0000;">(How? When did they take the photo?) </span>The other guests turn on Pierre. He escapes and is stopped by a man in a white cape <span style="color: #cc0000;">(The guy is just walking are the street in a cape and some sort of weird robe and no one notices?)</span> who tells him to go to his father's office, where more mysteries await him.<span style="color: #cc0000;"> (like WTF is happening in this movie.)</span></p><p>Pierre goes to his father's office and confronts him, who explains <span style="color: #cc0000;">(suddenly become an exposition factory to try and make some sense of this)</span> that the girl he saw is his protégée and an orphan. Pierre's father was a friend of her family. The girl has an unknown blood condition, and her wounds heal right away; she is also believed to be a goddess by certain fanatics. What the father is saying is that she is a vampire. <span style="color: #cc0000;">(IS that what he was saying?)</span> People are working to find someone with the same condition so that they can find a cure. The hoods and masks hide human faces from her so that she does not know she is different. <span style="color: #cc0000;">(What? She looks like everyone else, she is different because she is the ONLY person not wearing a mask!)</span> They are hiding her from a group of vampires.</p><p>The vampire in the white cape takes the woman and tells Pierre to protect her. A fight then occurs between the vampires and the humans, <span style="color: #cc0000;">(We had no idea there were other vampires in this movie even at this point)</span> leading to a beach where the woman sees the sunlight for the first time. They explain that they are not vampires but mutants and that the human race will one day evolve and all have the power of immortality. <span style="color: #cc0000;">(Sure, OK)</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">This movie was so slow and plodding it was impossible to stay awake. The director was trying for artsy artsy but it just looked like the edited in everything they shot regardless of whether is helped tell the "story" or not. The protagonist, is an asswipe rich kid with REALLY high cheekbones so isn't sympathetic at all. The wiki page leaves out the scene with the protagonist's friend is "Painting" a naked woman with large gold fake fingernails who inexplicably painted her toenails blue so no match-y match for here! She touched herself in the most tedious non erotic way imaginable until he gets call and just leaves her in his place trying to find her own breasts. </span></p><p>Do NOT watch this movies! OMG I wish we had an excuse for sitting through them other than we were captured by un <span style="caret-color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">unbelievably terrible they are! </span></p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-80489521866578175732023-10-01T04:00:00.066-04:002023-10-01T04:00:00.153-04:00October Horror: White Zombie (1932) directed by Victor Halperin<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUtcjEw_2H2IqNDyZ1bvRPu1Fr2MvBZ68DWOQX3WnPBL3NlfR2DyQgKDph7nHDopFf3eIAxpgPlCavwZ-9F1Znnr10AYSdp8mpN8sYcwZqC6tOY6K7tpy6RBmQ_VyCyxzubwEPZ2lDuzgq8F_wL4wGkckwdz05n0mh1jS0_XtjROr2CjhRakEa64RXvdG/s2100/october%20Horrors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="2100" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUtcjEw_2H2IqNDyZ1bvRPu1Fr2MvBZ68DWOQX3WnPBL3NlfR2DyQgKDph7nHDopFf3eIAxpgPlCavwZ-9F1Znnr10AYSdp8mpN8sYcwZqC6tOY6K7tpy6RBmQ_VyCyxzubwEPZ2lDuzgq8F_wL4wGkckwdz05n0mh1jS0_XtjROr2CjhRakEa64RXvdG/w587-h167/october%20Horrors.jpg" width="587" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpkn9zeibQUi55v41v-k82YKZmfONbPRI6vM3_KlM4vK1Od2zvTFoT8za1g99tQlmlnuiQDknz4yfCBPvDvlHcBqtvGvyXKfwSc_gcdnvyTQAPZHsDJUAt74_L-zZDRRV7ec7QVGJdQR3pojqehUfbRT2iz-RWQ5llQOsUORJxgMtPqF_o9_bOL8q_E1E/s2048/white-zombie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1594" data-original-width="2048" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpkn9zeibQUi55v41v-k82YKZmfONbPRI6vM3_KlM4vK1Od2zvTFoT8za1g99tQlmlnuiQDknz4yfCBPvDvlHcBqtvGvyXKfwSc_gcdnvyTQAPZHsDJUAt74_L-zZDRRV7ec7QVGJdQR3pojqehUfbRT2iz-RWQ5llQOsUORJxgMtPqF_o9_bOL8q_E1E/w546-h425/white-zombie.jpeg" width="546" /></a></div><br /><br />While not a huge success financially or critically, White Zombie has gained a good reputation over the years as not only the first Zombie film but as underrated one. <p></p><p>The story is simple enough, a couple has gone to Haiti to be married in the castle like home of a man they barely know. That man has met to to be bride on a voyage and has fallen in love with her and decides that in order to have her, he will use the magic powers of Murder Legendre, seriously that IS his name, who has a small battalion of zombies at his disposal. Things do not go as planned and the bride is turned into a creature under the control of Legendre and her wanna be lover realizes too late that zombies are not fun dates and he would prefer her happy, even if not with him. Lugosi's Legendre has other plans but is thwarted by the local priest and the newlywed husband. </p><p>This movie has some stunning matte paintings, very moody and cool cinematography and. especially for the time, a unique zombie premise that has more to do with real zombie legends than pretty much most other films that have come after it. What it does not have is good acting (except by Lugosi who is amazing and carries the film), good pacing or decent music appropriate for the setting.</p><p>This does not make for a great film but one worth seeing, in my opinion anyway. Like many older films I feel like a reedit could help it immensely. Taking out the long drawn out scenes and condensing the film to the essentials would pick up the pace and make little plot problems like what couple would decide to get married at some weird stranger's house on a zombie island because they met him on a boat. There is a decent, maybe fantastic film in here and it peeks through enough to keep you watching. Lugosi proves why he was such a star, his powers over the undead are shown solely through his physicality and not through effects like they would be today. </p><p><br /></p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-35755915966529730792023-09-17T11:50:00.005-04:002023-09-20T04:43:02.728-04:00L’Année Dernière à Marienbad (1961) directed byAlain Renais<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQXXXju579WnoeQ1-v0QBgckMjnXZduOU0nO1YwVi6nIzwTosZ0fS3KLnqgMkOKieulwfdxAWxu3QmEd27LTPodSqpVZGqO-Jy2ew8Jlak5UeWUk6gSSFPE_veoHudrnO6uWsiun7_9OHSrkLsziyYxoD9Wrk1QtMBK6C5UHYA8DI1fJ57ByJ3SUb5KT0/s853/IMG_0752.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="853" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQXXXju579WnoeQ1-v0QBgckMjnXZduOU0nO1YwVi6nIzwTosZ0fS3KLnqgMkOKieulwfdxAWxu3QmEd27LTPodSqpVZGqO-Jy2ew8Jlak5UeWUk6gSSFPE_veoHudrnO6uWsiun7_9OHSrkLsziyYxoD9Wrk1QtMBK6C5UHYA8DI1fJ57ByJ3SUb5KT0/w482-h271/IMG_0752.jpeg" width="482" /></a></div></blockquote></blockquote><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />This is a staple of the French New Wave and for good reason. The cinematography is beyond amazing. The camera moves precisely with tracking shots I would not have thought possible at this time period and lighting and composition is fantastic. Delphine Seyrig and Giorgio Albertazzi are beautiful, cold and impeccably dressed. <div><br /></div><div>One thing you should not expect from this film is answers to what is going on or even who the characters are. No one is named, we don’t know exactly where, or even when they are or what is happening or merely in the head of the characters. A man and woman meet at fancy hotel and agree to meet again a year later. A year later, they are both there but the woman says she doesn’t remember the man and is with a guy who “ might be her husband… or not”. Dialog is repeated, time is fluid, the actors start in one location and time and are suddenly continuing the dialog in another location and time. There is amazing editing and the man or woman might be killed by the maybe husband… or it’s all in someone’s head. There really isn’t much of a resolution and it doesn’t really matter. It’s beautiful to see. </div>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-59466971118971333842023-09-02T11:03:00.000-04:002023-09-02T11:03:01.433-04:00New Animation: Pulled Towards the Sea. (2023) directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/33ThFpsfKnQ?si=n-Lwfcfk_QZF9xvz" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><div>I wrote and illustrated a short story before deciding to make this animation and got some feedback on that which helped this be a much better story in the end. The last 2 years have been a horror of dealing with dementia in several close family members and how this terrible disease is very much a monster that takes those we love away in one of the most heart breaking and sorrowful ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>Originally this seemed like a good project to do in Blender and start my transition away from Cinema 4D before my old version of that software stops working but I have not been able to get to a point where I can understand Blender well enough to do that and getting this done seemed more important than learning something new(ish). </div><div><br /></div><div>I decided early on that black and white would be best and I don't regret it. I am an avid photographer who especially loves black and white images and tried to give this a sort of silent film/vintage photography look. I worked for months on the cliff set and small town to get the look I wanted and tried not to overdo it on the details that would never be seen or used. The shot of the walk from the town to the cliffs was the most daunting and took 46 hours to render. I wanted the pace to be slow but I think it doesn't drag on and it has kept the attention the few people who have seen it so far. </div><div><br /></div><div>Editing in Final Cut Pro and composting was done with Apple's long neglected but sometimes still updated Motion software which I like working in and doesn't cost me money every month like After Effects would. </div><div><br /></div><div>Music and sound effects are by me and I am not expert in either but I hope they work well enough. I am planning to try and get this in some festivals. The "Another Hole in the Head" in San Francisco has been very good to me over the years and I hope other festivals will pick it up as long as I can find the money to enter a few! </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Personal note:</b></div><div><div>This is the first gothic animation I have made based on a short story I wrote myself. It is the first animation I have done in over 2 years and is the direct result of why I hadn't produced anything else in all that time. </div><div><br /></div><div>As I often state with my projects, <a href="https://thomasblue-illustration.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Mike Luce</a> was kind enough with all the other things he is doing to make the time to do the voice work and give me feedback. <a href="http://Core4d.com">Core4d.com</a> where I have been an active member for many, many years also deserves credit for the encouragement of the gang in the forums there. </div></div></div>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-32805964971975077252023-08-17T06:04:00.004-04:002023-08-17T07:33:04.019-04:00Stranger than Paradise (1984} Directed by Jim Jarmush<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlrwAfsvCU8xLBL88tHRNCzrFVYqJQEX0f-qlPsg6NkYBZ-NnYJV30X2OSxbjTyX516UkbcEmjPoiYWsXeYP_UyCCLPculYgvAsZdaNPUYGMss3svPlVQGgDz8Qo8g4zutKNo1bKzaXyh1IjiO36i3BYdsuB6buELlJh2tSzsFWttyqUhD1puwqh8AG2T/s1440/stranger-than-paradise-1776141571.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1440" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlrwAfsvCU8xLBL88tHRNCzrFVYqJQEX0f-qlPsg6NkYBZ-NnYJV30X2OSxbjTyX516UkbcEmjPoiYWsXeYP_UyCCLPculYgvAsZdaNPUYGMss3svPlVQGgDz8Qo8g4zutKNo1bKzaXyh1IjiO36i3BYdsuB6buELlJh2tSzsFWttyqUhD1puwqh8AG2T/w631-h329/stranger-than-paradise-1776141571.jpeg" width="631" /></a></div><br /> I saw this in the cinema on release and it was as hard to pin down what to like about it as it is now. There is much to like about it but if you try and describe what that is, the film sounds like a boring mess. The story itself rambles on like the live of the characters who mange to grow on us and each other, maybe because they seem to have no idea how to relate to each other but manage to form friendships and have a pretty mundane adventure that nevertheless draws you in. <p></p><p>Eva is from Budapest is visiting her cousin in New York and well, nothing much happens. She meets his best friend but never sees anything but the depressing little section of the city they live in so she goes to Cleveland which is not much different (something the characters remark on) and then to some similarly run down part of Florida together. They have no real plans and their inability to really communicate well leads to the wrong character going back to Budapest. </p><p>The cinematography of the film, I think, is what pulls us in. The dialogue is funny, but not joke-y, we just see how absurd tiny mundane detail can be and end up having feelings for people that in any other film we wouldn't even notice. It can be hard to stop watching even though you know no one in it is really going anywhere. Well, except the one the ends up in Budapest. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-7319009840683061722023-06-29T17:50:00.004-04:002023-06-29T17:50:39.864-04:00Un beau monstre (1971) directed by Sergio Gobbi<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRG1aWDutC79JlKNXTFfJhUvkuRR7QcE1u-vLntLWB25EL_a8LJEO7UWWWlThZ0a7f2kzC9ys4QfXZU8kbA1lps2Hy1FF7INtvFSbdvtOKqsBTeP63YfNzoDDbxdK6I9WZlmRYLNgv3D0lAIHnUIEkHWK0XS6Y7Gh3cFaBVuonNE5lHZ_Kr9boUxIZbqJ/s1280/gsMenSavxZNQfWGFXG6xbyF62U2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRG1aWDutC79JlKNXTFfJhUvkuRR7QcE1u-vLntLWB25EL_a8LJEO7UWWWlThZ0a7f2kzC9ys4QfXZU8kbA1lps2Hy1FF7INtvFSbdvtOKqsBTeP63YfNzoDDbxdK6I9WZlmRYLNgv3D0lAIHnUIEkHWK0XS6Y7Gh3cFaBVuonNE5lHZ_Kr9boUxIZbqJ/w668-h377/gsMenSavxZNQfWGFXG6xbyF62U2.jpg" width="668" /></a></div><br /> I had the chance to see this on TV after reading about in relation to the death of Helmet Berger recently. He plays a sadist who drives his wife to suicide and then proceeds to do the same to his second wife. Police Officer Leroy (Charles Aznavour) begins to suspect the truth and is determined to save the unfortunate woman from Alain's clutches. The movie is filmed as an art film and moves pretty slowly. The sadism is sort of low key but cruel and they seemed to be holding back on getting too explicit with that while, even at 2 in the afternoon on Quebec TV, the film has some rare full frontal male nudity showing off Berger's talents as he was considered one of the most beautiful actors at the time. (Hence the name of the film.) <p></p><p>I can't say I loved it or hated it. the Performances are very understated and the motivations of just about everyone but the inspector are nebulous at best. There is some interesting cinematography, maybe to interesting as I was sometimes not sure where the characters were or how their apartment was set up. I also am not a fan of watching people be cruel as entertainment and the film allows Berger to control his wife totally, including raping her while she is sick and given drugs. There is never really a passion between the man and his victims, they seem be be going through the motions most of the time. </p><p><span style="color: red;">Spoiler:</span> </p><p>In the last scene of the movie, the police are shown investigating something that is revealed to be the bodies of Nathalie and Alain next to each other on the ground. The two spouses have most likely committed suicide together.</p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-10005957039687521662023-06-20T09:43:00.000-04:002023-06-20T09:43:02.398-04:00Rings of Power (streaming show) season one 2022<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWcXnVRZomKf2shU36ndkRJgbFT6XMpczet0mZ1G_3UoURGso_b2emsA_9c9xvWp5qkQ3T2nvrHXT8K5VgoYNIARawJgkEIl5V9wERXxdNLbgWz9C7wS6558zbCq0yesopQeXfK3VFf-47loAosYLTpyhQbeboq89b3DIiNki-aB3mi27TPzvkyRs-2qm/s1920/f4b06-16444289757908-1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWcXnVRZomKf2shU36ndkRJgbFT6XMpczet0mZ1G_3UoURGso_b2emsA_9c9xvWp5qkQ3T2nvrHXT8K5VgoYNIARawJgkEIl5V9wERXxdNLbgWz9C7wS6558zbCq0yesopQeXfK3VFf-47loAosYLTpyhQbeboq89b3DIiNki-aB3mi27TPzvkyRs-2qm/w635-h397/f4b06-16444289757908-1920.jpg" width="635" /></a></div><br />Season one of the proposed 5 year one BILLION dollar series finally made its way on to my iPad on a recent trip to Boston. The bus ride is long and dull and the perfect time for a lavish escapist TV show. Covering events that predate the Lord of the Rings book series, this story follows the history of how the rings of power, central to those books, came about. While not having any real connection to Peter Jackson's films it does keep a certain continuity of design and tone, though I found the TV show a bit more bloody and violent. <p></p><p>Production values, acting and story are pretty top notch and well thought out (though I did spot a couple continuity errors) this is without a doubt set up as a serialized TV show in how is laid out and not a movie extended over episodes. The massive budget shows, I was afraid it would look like a video game from the trailers and was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't over sharpened or over saturated and while stylized, it did manage to have a natural look well combined with a fantasy aesthetic. </p><p>The story mostly centres around elf Galadriel, a powerful force in the Tolkien era, as a warrior dead set on revenge after her brother is killed in the battles again the now missing and presumed dead by most, Sauron. She is a powerful character physically but not the mystical force we see her as later on. Other known characters are included due to the long lives of their races and it gives the series a nice link to the later versions without having to be slavishly tied to them.</p><p>For Tolkien fans, you can see the emergence of later characters coming a mile away... sort of. They were smart, I think, to fill this storyline with quite a few red herrings to throw off the fans enough to not be really sure if their assumptions are right. I works to keep the show interesting and exiting as some of the mysteries are revealed while others are left for the next season. Some of the characters seem like jerks and are developed to be anything but over the run of the show and that helps keep things tense as the heroes may not always be right or have all the information they need to see the whole picture. </p><p>Overall it's pretty damn good, they didn't waste the budget or the confidence of Tolkien followers and are creating a nice companion piece to what was already out there. As a rule, I HATE prequels. I don't think we need to fill in every five minutes of what happened between this and that in a franchise as it takes audience participation out of everything and destroys much of the mystery and fun of speculating about things only hinted at. Luckily this was cleverly crafted to avoid the pitfalls of prequels so far. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-54792401068318819602023-06-08T11:33:00.005-04:002023-06-10T08:53:52.708-04:00The Servant (1963) Directed by Joseph Losey<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KXhDyDmEYqVf_lQ0tTBTFZyZ9ZmN-3DGQsonCRLEsbeKtepma3UeSB2m89H-Sa2DBo2WUIg7oTohQPFUTddNculNlC9gfEKRzWK2Dno4LZALWoafJ8-BQqxRap6jr1IhoDJ5q-BvX7a6vTrl9Dn89P4hHWHLkNOl9Fud_EeiMqjNXbuK1HnpYsIx-Q/s650/Editors-Pick-The-Servant-3298570696.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="650" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KXhDyDmEYqVf_lQ0tTBTFZyZ9ZmN-3DGQsonCRLEsbeKtepma3UeSB2m89H-Sa2DBo2WUIg7oTohQPFUTddNculNlC9gfEKRzWK2Dno4LZALWoafJ8-BQqxRap6jr1IhoDJ5q-BvX7a6vTrl9Dn89P4hHWHLkNOl9Fud_EeiMqjNXbuK1HnpYsIx-Q/w638-h295/Editors-Pick-The-Servant-3298570696.jpeg" width="638" /></a></div><br />Written by Harold Pinter, this film is about the class struggle in British society. The 4 main characters are a rich guy, his girlfriend, the manservant he hires and his girlfriend who he introduces to the household as his sister so she can get work as a maid. The rich guy, Tony is an alcoholic and basically an asshat. To be honest, the entire cast is playing unlikeable people to various degrees. As the story moves forward the manservant (Hugo Barrett played by Bogarde) reverses the boss/servant role and takes over and gleefully ruins the life of Tony.<p></p><p>Everyone gets their turn to be the bad guy in this movie and it's fascinating in many ways to see how low they all go and what they put up with from each other. The filming is pretty interesting as well. The images are super clear with no depth of field and much of the action is filmed from behind things, through things, reflected in mirrors and at odd angles. </p><p>If you are looking for any sort of resolution, stop doing that, there isn't any. In a way it's a slice of life sort of thing and end with Tony passed out and Barrett still in charge. That can't last forever, one's money can't last forever and they will all be out in the cold I suspect. </p><p>While everyone in the film is cold hearted, Tony is the biggest jerk in that it's his fault he let it get to the extremes it does but he hardly elicits any more sympathy than the other characters. There is a STRONG homeotic vibe, especially after Barrett takes things over but it is never specifically addressed. </p><p>So it's not for everyone and very much a product of its time but I think worth a watch. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-43622255346973224622023-05-15T06:18:00.003-04:002023-05-15T06:18:28.552-04:00Polish Posters: Sunset Boulevard<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbn2_DpCtCoapXXD4MAEaYWzLCd8NDzCQDRcBRGpcV1ouAWcI5CN8rLCK5_easy679CNBMFgpfeG0_Mpu3yQJ4uGBcRF2g_oBRf6fh32bWvLh4zqvdwEWqP7Feme-8cGv6lsQim66v6JC_mROwyXHIHT6Oj7i2lY811O_Uzqn8yd3FFBl622EIg3-2lw/s1600/iu-10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1080" height="878" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbn2_DpCtCoapXXD4MAEaYWzLCd8NDzCQDRcBRGpcV1ouAWcI5CN8rLCK5_easy679CNBMFgpfeG0_Mpu3yQJ4uGBcRF2g_oBRf6fh32bWvLh4zqvdwEWqP7Feme-8cGv6lsQim66v6JC_mROwyXHIHT6Oj7i2lY811O_Uzqn8yd3FFBl622EIg3-2lw/w593-h878/iu-10.jpeg" width="593" /></a></div><br />Sort of like this one... it's weird. An armless medusa headed Gloria Swanson certainly gets your attention. Despite the stylization and almost cartoon look, I think there is still a resemblance to Norma Desmond. <p></p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-73503383235406637552023-04-18T10:34:00.005-04:002023-04-22T03:06:27.883-04:00High Life (2018) directed by Claire Denis<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBhWURVvDVNRF8tCOjvujiyYBwTolvwoBOsvGc0eAxSo5XbGKFlWpdfj0C-UHWQKHycN7fT-PercZ5U1i8GSMPwIUpn8fQwmD1hFp_Kf3ZHPe8pXHwNGLxES82bL_L6D1dCUml1IYzDIDgJM1r3C-HFX0fbd_c1MpNTaJ4a6nU1NJx20rhFvX8Yro1Q/s1280/High-Life-2018-Banner-4292940378.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBhWURVvDVNRF8tCOjvujiyYBwTolvwoBOsvGc0eAxSo5XbGKFlWpdfj0C-UHWQKHycN7fT-PercZ5U1i8GSMPwIUpn8fQwmD1hFp_Kf3ZHPe8pXHwNGLxES82bL_L6D1dCUml1IYzDIDgJM1r3C-HFX0fbd_c1MpNTaJ4a6nU1NJx20rhFvX8Yro1Q/w653-h367/High-Life-2018-Banner-4292940378.jpeg" width="653" /></a></div><br />I have seen more Robert Pattinson led films than I ever imagined I would the last couple of years and I have been amazed at how he has grown as an actor and how open he is to interesting roles. So I can see how he was drawn into this film, it is Claire Denis’ first English language film and on paper I am sure it looked profound. In practice however, the film produced makes little sense. Juliette Binoche, another interesting performer is also a main character and like Pattinson is wasted in à confusing nonsensical role. <p></p><p>In short, this film lacks any sort of sense on most levels. For some reason criminals with death sentences are experimented on spaceships heading to black hole(s?) looking for an energy source. The lack of a coherent story and poorly drawn characters make it impossible for the actors to give decent performances and even harder for the viewer to figure out what is going on. Sometimes you can see the seed of the great idea behind a disappointing movie but this one seems more concerned with appearing profound without putting the work into putting anything behind those appearances. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-19962332618168802542023-04-03T10:32:00.010-04:002023-04-03T10:32:00.250-04:00The Batman (2022) directed by Matt Reeves<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxujRmTJcjv6MTpsoCCyRvDIABIjP1gdVuelMKP7q6I3asXk8-6Dk8YyUlnHKbS3RNttnN1xKsNPExyqP3RqFwP2dMgbaWZhjfRcEjeBA6Dj3ZzTMtW1QyxDjSHlocZyvIz4bAfs3QHGnMNKHj8e1F_fCRsBs9HIlG1cwXBwmDGu6YNA8Iq_GeJq8ZA/s3840/batman-movie-2022-new_bWdpbGmUmZqaraWkpJRmbmdlrWZlbWVmZmlt-1612515705.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxujRmTJcjv6MTpsoCCyRvDIABIjP1gdVuelMKP7q6I3asXk8-6Dk8YyUlnHKbS3RNttnN1xKsNPExyqP3RqFwP2dMgbaWZhjfRcEjeBA6Dj3ZzTMtW1QyxDjSHlocZyvIz4bAfs3QHGnMNKHj8e1F_fCRsBs9HIlG1cwXBwmDGu6YNA8Iq_GeJq8ZA/w649-h365/batman-movie-2022-new_bWdpbGmUmZqaraWkpJRmbmdlrWZlbWVmZmlt-1612515705.jpeg" width="649" /></a></div><br />There are far too many Batman films, particularly Batman origin films and only a couple of them have been worth a rematch to me. This film tries to reboot the character yet again by reintroducing some of the elements from the original comics and some of the better later comics and finally accepting that every person on planet earth know why Batman is Batman and does retread that ground yet another time. <p></p><p>Robert Pattinson plays the lead and was not the obvious choice, which is why I think it works. He has a new intensity and anger that we haven’t seen before. The character is much more human and not some indestructible hero but gets hurt, often, and actually grows as a character during the movie. One really welcome addition is that the “world’s greatest detective” actually does a lot of detecting for once. There is a lot more of him figuring things out than action sequences, not that this 3 hour film lacks action sequences. The villain are more humanize as well and the world for the most part seems plausible and as over the top as previous incarnations in this franchise. </p><p>Some weak points are the lack of humour throughout. It could have used a little levity here and there to break it up and the obligatory special effect set-piece involved the sea walls around Gotham City being danger… you didn’t know Gotham was on the ocean? Well neither did I until the sea walls were suddenly part of the plot. Speaking of the plot, it does get a little rambling and over complicated as it suffers like many DC superhero films do with an access of villain and plot twists some of which are poorly executed. </p><p>One of the better Batman movies overall but still suffering from some of the same stuff many other comic book adaptions do which might be unavoidable especially with such a well know main character. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-35841732091427152462023-03-21T10:30:00.002-04:002023-03-21T17:39:49.076-04:00Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) directed by Jim Jarmusch<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRiIyDOT2ftvnZ0yoCJg4Psi-b-xppCEzCltZ5pCYGhi3NLWF56RPOYe7pIFty7I_H7JR7Pkm26at1Aq4Q78XYSMYGScAaVGX72hlxfno9_Ad5ZQXYMV5Rg9K_7PS0Sz67JbkmqIskBkQppEctVVB_BlDvnikHNx4ZC8HGIfDKO7I5KhgMXDq9Syljg/s2560/06c5db00e5a47ae9761c7e5e578879bb-2928474656.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1380" data-original-width="2560" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRiIyDOT2ftvnZ0yoCJg4Psi-b-xppCEzCltZ5pCYGhi3NLWF56RPOYe7pIFty7I_H7JR7Pkm26at1Aq4Q78XYSMYGScAaVGX72hlxfno9_Ad5ZQXYMV5Rg9K_7PS0Sz67JbkmqIskBkQppEctVVB_BlDvnikHNx4ZC8HGIfDKO7I5KhgMXDq9Syljg/w654-h353/06c5db00e5a47ae9761c7e5e578879bb-2928474656.jpeg" width="654" /></a></div><br />Starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, this is a art film take on vampires. Swinton and Hiddleston are have been a couple for the last few hundred years but are currently living apart. Their characters are named Adam and Eve which I found a little annoying to be honest but there wasn’t much other religious symbolism in the film. John Hurt plays Christopher Marlowe and the script makes it clear that he wrote the Shakespeare plays and Adam was behind some of the world’s most famous poets and musicians while Eve has had her share of relations with famous historical people. This is an element that I find ridiculous in many films with vampires or any long lived characters. They always seem to know or worse, have been famous people throughout their lives. Like in stories of reincarnation, no one is ever a pig farmer, that are always Cleopatra. The unlikeliness of that just irritates me. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>This a Jarmusch film so the story is sort of light on details or structure and instead relies on how interesting you find the people in the story. I do think this works for him and it doesn’t fail him in this film either but it’s the performances of the main actors that keeps you watching. He introduced some elements that took me a while to figure out why they were important, like how the vampires wear gloves when out and about, but not all the time. Adam does seem to mopey at times but is still manages to elicit sympathy. John Hurt and Tilda Swinton are the highlight of any production in my opinion and they don’t disappoint here. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-14878157445482747822023-03-07T10:30:00.001-05:002023-03-07T10:30:20.650-05:00November (2017) directed by Rainer Sarnet<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_DhArYk7z6CygSeoq4t-cJ3Hy0ha8v71L3nnOOJCGXJ0TWcDH1HyUwYwPaXrEg6dbel-P6c8-0LpNKZaUWmvn0-lRVumfOGc4zj-6vmdWJCioByygvjILDc4Gffl4seXGkDeps0Gw1lm1fkiaUgu8gupnO9fIjPaIyQ02suo4UeD5H3U6m04dxEVYw/s1200/november-1200-1200-675-675-crop-000000-4239692907.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_DhArYk7z6CygSeoq4t-cJ3Hy0ha8v71L3nnOOJCGXJ0TWcDH1HyUwYwPaXrEg6dbel-P6c8-0LpNKZaUWmvn0-lRVumfOGc4zj-6vmdWJCioByygvjILDc4Gffl4seXGkDeps0Gw1lm1fkiaUgu8gupnO9fIjPaIyQ02suo4UeD5H3U6m04dxEVYw/w658-h370/november-1200-1200-675-675-crop-000000-4239692907.jpeg" width="658" /></a></div> <br />This black and white Estonian film was kind of sold as a horror story and while there are horror elements, its play much more as fairy tale. The villagers of this town are tricking the devil into deals that lets them put souls and life into devices made from bits and pieces they have lying around and are used to steal things from their neighbours and do chores. They have also been tricking the Black Death from coming into their community. Overload over this is a sort of lover triangle between Liina a farm girl who is also a werewolf, the curse local farm boy Hans and the Baron’s daughter who is a somnambulist who is dangerously close to walking off the roof of the manor nightly. Liina is promised the her father’s older, creepy friend and Hans is in love with the sleep walking girl while Liina pines after Hans. <p></p><p>The events in this film are, to say the least bizarre but fascinating. The relation of the occult and supernatural to the villagers is handled so casually, not of it is strange to them despite of strange it is to us. As a spoiler warning, like most of the original fairy tales old old, things do do end well.</p><p>The two main young actors, despite being cover in crud most of the time are really appealing and the acting throughout is very good. The place where the film outshine almost all other films I’ve seen in a long time is the cinematography which is just sublime. The effects of the Kraats, the soul infused mechanical creatures, are very well done and integrate naturally into the action and there are some truly beautiful scenes that make this a film like no other you have seen. </p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-32182123910246210682023-02-07T09:18:00.004-05:002023-02-07T09:18:00.242-05:00Moonage Daydream (2022) directed by Brett Morgen<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbPg2VNiSiTX0vCFCxPU4oxaCIlA27W5TZSuQT5CqsC0OiNHHYTXSVVd4XPdw02fRckOWYOTnDzJU5MKv-0aN_6Ouk05vKF-yLOhQfREycjGYEEHjJSObnH4uUzMOL_D35qPBEagK0DOvLdXhrbY4wtp_xYtUn7xxAkhook7LSzfIa6nWi5C6aATI7g/s1280/david-bowie-moonage-daydream-teaser-trailer-1653326664.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbPg2VNiSiTX0vCFCxPU4oxaCIlA27W5TZSuQT5CqsC0OiNHHYTXSVVd4XPdw02fRckOWYOTnDzJU5MKv-0aN_6Ouk05vKF-yLOhQfREycjGYEEHjJSObnH4uUzMOL_D35qPBEagK0DOvLdXhrbY4wtp_xYtUn7xxAkhook7LSzfIa6nWi5C6aATI7g/w651-h366/david-bowie-moonage-daydream-teaser-trailer-1653326664.jpeg" width="651" /></a></div><br />A lauded documentary about the life of rock start and artist David Bowie and authorized by his estate, this film has some amazing editing and fantastic sound restoration in it. The film mixes early Bowie with later Bowie clips and highlights several interviews he did over the years, gradually moving towards the last years of his life. It has been well received by his fans and won awards at several festivals. <p></p><p>I do like Bowie, his work was strongly present in my youth and I followed his career right up until his death. I cannot say I like this movie very much overall, however. There is a lot of repetition in the clips they show and graphics. many of the quickly flashing images have little connection to the man or his work and information about his life and art is sparse to say the least both in visually and in the interviews. If anyone has a giant catalog of visuals to draw from it's David Bowie, there should be no need for showing things over and over again no matter how pretty they are. </p><p>I would say fans would be thrilled the effort was made but they won't learn anything much new about their idol. The film doesn't even mentioned he died. If you weren't familiar with him, you would be missing a lot of useful info that might help you decode his public personality and private life. There are endless shots of the back of his head with him walking places. I honestly think the film would be at least cut in ½ is they and the repeated graphics were removed and the information you learn about him would still seem sparse. </p><p>For me, I have yet to see a decent accounting of his life and work.</p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134892074202905358.post-27956264675801244082023-02-01T08:34:00.005-05:002023-02-01T08:34:49.599-05:00Documentary: No Straight Lines (2023) directed by VIVIAN KLEIMAN<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0aCzFiLUrJHkwIZDDpmJRpBzXUyc0WO_SDgcYp8z7zqUJpZ5N0xIPwPhtKBJ81XXp5oT1a_hOHzG5nN_yAiqyKDdXQsOIYd0vQlawv1ZWIhGgNvjkVBSuuQz-jPkwK8aUbIVwCekSNVzio8MZH3mnrZr0mGYaRNDVVSkcC8CLARWwWDzuvniAJpE7dQ/s1920/cropped-NSL-banenr-head-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="1920" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0aCzFiLUrJHkwIZDDpmJRpBzXUyc0WO_SDgcYp8z7zqUJpZ5N0xIPwPhtKBJ81XXp5oT1a_hOHzG5nN_yAiqyKDdXQsOIYd0vQlawv1ZWIhGgNvjkVBSuuQz-jPkwK8aUbIVwCekSNVzio8MZH3mnrZr0mGYaRNDVVSkcC8CLARWwWDzuvniAJpE7dQ/w654-h137/cropped-NSL-banenr-head-1.jpg" width="654" /></a></div><br />This documentary follows the start of comics made by openly gay artists to present day. I hadn't heard about it until I was told an old friend, Jennifer Camper, was in it. I also worked in a comic book store fin the 80s so I was familiar with the other artists the history they were telling. <p></p><p>Kleiman does a good job with her interviews and where they go. She lets them slip away from being a strict history of gay comics to , smartly, keeping a lot of conversation about what else was going on at the time to put it all in context. There are a lot of women artists involved as well which was a pleasant surprise as I knew of more lesbian arts than gay ones in the field a the time and it was nice to see them represented in force. I had to take a break about ⅔ through and was surprised there was no mention of Eric Orner (another old friend), his Ethan Green comic nor his graphic novel about politician Barney Frank. Seemed really good fit but who knows what got in the way. As a filmmaker myself, I realize you can't talk to everyone and some people just won't talk to you in the time you need them too. Near the very end, however, I saw a piece of artwork that showed his characters (including Boston's the Hat Sisters) so he was represented just not highlighted. </p><p>This is a good modern look back at the early innovators that brought gay subject matter into the comic book world.</p>Behemoth mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224320582603239565noreply@blogger.com2