@theoffice, I'm a liar I told you i'll watch two movies yesterday... I watched three !!

"The Horror of the Party Beach" (1964). A creepy horror movie with humanoïd-giant-protozoas who drink human blood... A very entertaining beach movie with lot of cute girls dancing on the beach screaming of horror, (the attack of the slumber party by the monsters is terrible !!) lot of rock'n roll music, and frightening bloodthirsty monsters... A good Z one directed by Del Tenney (he commited "descendant" (2003) for the younger of you ;)) 7,5/10

"Born to Kill" (1947) Robert Wise makes here a very good Film Noir with a creepy atmosphere and with two main characters completly mentaly ill : Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney make a wonderfull acting performance in this very good movie with a very intelligent script... The best Robert Wise movie after "The Set Up" "and perhaps "the Bodysnatcher" 9/10.

"Return of the Fly" (1959). Vicent Price here again for the sequel of Neuman's masterpiece of 1958. This sequel is not as bad as most of people say ... Bernds is a good regular of Bs and I found the movie very enjoying. The nice photography and the b&w cinemascope certainly strengthen the impact on the audience... a good B movie 8/10
Oh @the office, concerning my job... Teaching botany and caring about a botanical garden... so in winter it's more quiet ;) and let time for movies...

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PIRANHA (2010)--- Hopeless.. why is this ever made?? Horror.. blood, of course, but this is so funny!! And i didn't even laugh!! Seriously everything is bad
about this.. special effects, characters (are there any), horror, story. 3/10

INCEPTION (2010)--- Saw it again after i saw it in IMAX theatre, great movie!! Nice story, and characters! 8/10

"La mansión de los muertos vivientes" (1985) Un pure Jess Franco's movie, with sex and horror... very cheap a tribute to the Ossorio's cult classic "La noche del terror ciego " 6/10
"Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide" (1961) Reg Park is now Hercules in this strange and entertaining movie with an Hercules not very hurry to go in action, a true dilettante... nice colors, nice sttings. 7,5/10
Tht's all for today...

Pleasantville
Pleasant surprise, nice little film
7/10

Food, Inc.
Good docu even if I didn't learn anything new, many docu made on this matter already...
7/10

@Chrisy, regarding Un prophète. I had the same feeling: a well made film, and certainly thrilling, but also a bit cliché. We have already seen it all in other prison dramas. It surprised me that it received so much praise and attention. I saw it at a festival immediately after seeing Rapt, by Lucas Belvaux, which I thought was more daring.

"I was a teenage Frankenstein" (1957) HéHé, HéHéHé, HéHé... Completly weird and budgetless... a good Z with completly improbable plot for fans 5/10
"Phantom from space" (1953) No as bad as supposed... 6,5/10
"Ice Age 3" (2009) I won't give a note or make any comments on movies made for chilren under 8 (know they are numerous on WTM...). My 4 years old nephew enjoy it, that's the most important...
@theoffice... don't complain about my job ;)

"Fire maiden of Outer Space" (1956) is a totaly camp movie. Macho men this is for you... this is the UK response to US in this sort of movies in the lineage of "Cat-women of he moon" or "Missile to the moon" and before the mythic "Queen of Outer Space", this movie is incredibly kitsch with an incredible plot : an expedition to Jupiter is attracted on the 13th moon of the planet which is inhabited by an old man, his 15 daughters and a monster... They are the remains ot the Atlantis who escaped to this planet because they believed that all the Earth was going to be submerged. The five male-explorators will kill the beast, pick up a girl and promise to come back with male settlers... A great moment of cinema. For MST3K fans only and then 10/10 otherwise you're allowed not to watch it... ;)

Don't worry RDPL55 I won't watch "Fire maiden of Outer Space" lol ^^

@theoffice !! Why ?? You should try !! I even watched "Avatar", it was much much longer... and less funny!!

You did'nt watch "Avatar" ?? or "Kil Bill" ?? :D

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In a certain way, yes... A masterpiecepf B, an economy of means, but lot's of emotion created, lot of mystery.. on Monalisa's smile much ink has been spillled over the issue... and on her identity too. Even a simple sitting woman might be great mystery... Even a cheap B movie can be a masterpiece... but even a 500 millions $ movie can be just more than a Z one...
P.S. I find the small amazons of "revenge of he virgins" more sexy than the blues ones of "Avatar" ;)

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I finally watched Inception, no doubt the movie was great, even if I need to watch it again to be sure I get the whole story :) But I had a real problem with the sound on my Bluray, it was really hard to hear the character's voices, whereas action scenes were really really loud. Nolan obviously chose to have music during the whole movie, even when people are just talking, I'm OK with that. But I was wondering if the "sound mixing" was wrong on the Bluray or if it was made on purpose. Anyway, I found it really annoying, I had to lower and increase sound between each scene...

My December movies Part I

Siworae [Il Mare] (2000) 4/10
Slightly better (because more simple) than the American remake 'The Lake House', but equally nonsensical.

Jal aljido mothamyeonseo [Like You Know It All] (2009) 4/10
About a Korean film director who is supposed to judge at a film festival, but prefers to drink and meet up with old acquaintances. The character is unlikable, the acting is poor and so is the photography and production design.

Copie conforme (2010) 4/10
Now that's a monumental lack of chemistry between Juliette Binoche and William Shimell. And what a terrible script with its supposedly 'deep' philosophical theme of authenticity.

Le concert (2009) 5/10
As a drama, it could have been a decent film. But the stupid humor turns it into a joke.

Kray [The Edge] (2010) 5/10
This year's Russian Academy Awards submission and Golden Globe nominee is a good looking film with a messy, unfocused plot, set in Siberia at the end of WW II and featuring some trains that for unclear reasons are now and then driven up and down the railroad track.

Bakha satang [Peppermint Candy] (1999) 5/10
Seven episodes, in reverse chronological order, show (against the background of turbulent Korean history) moments in the life of a man who commits suicide in the opening scene of the film. As he soon turns out to be not a nice person, it's hard to sympathize. Moreover, the 'explanation' for his behavior, to be found in his past, isn't very satisfactory.

Sunshine (2007) 5/10
Science fiction film with some nice images and some promising traces of reflection, but on the whole too many technical improbabilities and predictable conflicts and casualties.

Shi gan [Time] (2006) 5/10
Another well acted en beautifully filmed Kim Ki-duk movie, that somehow isn't satisfactory. Probably it's simply the suggestion that some plastic surgery rends people unrecognizable that sucks.

Down to the Bone (2004) 6/10
Debra Granik's 2004 low budget debut feature film is a sincere and human portrait of a working class mother trying to overcome a coke addiction, without getting sentimental. Maybe a bit too depressing to enjoy, but one can see the talent with which Granik would later make Winter's Bone (see below).

Tuntematon Sotilas [The Unknown Soldier] (1955) 6/10
In 2007, the Fins voted this 1955 (anti-) war movie, shown from the perspective of ordinary soldiers, the best Finnish film ever, but I suspect it's a sentimental thing, not an honest assessment.

The Good Heart (2009) 6/10
In 2003 Icelandic director Dagur Kari made Noi Albinoi, a wonderfully gloomy and poetic coming-of-age film. The Good Heart isn't that good. It's possible to recognize the hand of director, but something is wrong with the script. Or maybe the Icelandic mood and dark humor do not translate well to a New York setting.

Enter the Void (2009) 6/10
It's certainly a special visual experience, but not a very good film. Dialogues are wooden. Ten minutes into the film the plot is revealed and then everything indeed happens as predicted. Despite the visuals I was often bored. Without giving the ending away, I think it was ridiculous. The opening credits, on the contrary, are memorable.

Musta jää [Black Ice] (2007) 6/10
Gynecologist wife finds out that her architect husband is having an affair with a student and decides to befriend the mistress in order to, well, find out more and mess things up. The movie won all the Finnish film awards in 2007, but, to be honest, after a promising start, the second half has too many melodramatic twists.

Miesten vuoro [Steam of Life] (2010) 6/10
Documentary showing Finnish men in saunas all over the country, opening up and sharing honest stories about difficult moments in their lives. Touching at times, but I didn't always manage to really relate to the people talking. I would say the seclusion of the sauna not only produces intimacy, but also too much confinement.

Les barons (2009) 6/10
Comedy about three apathetic twenty-something Arab immigrant friends in Brussels. Debut film by Belgian-Moroccan director Nabil Ben Yadir touches on all the clichés of the genre, but is entertaining nevertheless.

Seom [The Isle] (2000) 6/10
Partly beautiful and intriguing, partly unpleasant and sick, this Korean film about the bonding of a suicidal fugitive and a mute murderous girl in a fishing resort.

Taking Woodstock (2009) 6/10
Nothing surprising, and a bit dull, but a nice little film nevertheless.

My Winnipeg (2007) 6/10
Canadian director Guy Maddin is a phenomenon, having spent twenty years making faux silent movies, using all the appropriate ancient film techniques. It may sometimes feel as a gimmick, not really suitable for feature length films, but in this portrait of his hometown Winnipeg, made up of (both true and false) memories and bizarre facts, it works well. Memorable as a city portrait, but certainly not for all audiences.

My December movies Part III

Never Let Me Go (2010) 9/10
Those who are familiar with the literary work of Kazuo Ishiguro will remember its meticulous and slightly surreal character, its pessimistic tone, and the perspective: a narrator who is apparently blind to his or her own shortcomings and flaws. This film is an adaption of one of his books. Set in an alternate version of Britain in which humans are bred for the purpose of organ donation. Think 'The Island', but then without the air of science fiction, without chases, guns and explosions, without wise guys, discoveries and escapes, without moral judgement, without happy ending. The result is a strong and cool film that is utterly disturbing. A note for the Dutch: it will be shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (26 Jan - 6 Feb).

(Sorry for the three parts. There is a maximum amount of characters to a post...)

For next month I have planned to do some catching up with Chilean cinema, so be prepared! ;-)

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The Kentucky Fried Movie
Some hillarious parts, but also some a lot less funny
Just nice to watch if you know "Les Nuls" since they took a lot of inspiration from this movie :)
6.5/10



Monsters
mouha, a bit pointless...
6/10

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This week movies...

"The Phenix City Story" (1955) Phil Karlson directed this interresting Film Noir based on true events. It’s a very violent movie (a child is murdered, a whole family is blown to bits in an explosion, a woman is molested and slaughtered…). It’s made like a documentary, and the first sequences are interwievs of the true protagonists of the story. To discover. 7,5/10

"Dial 1119" (1950) a very strange Film noir with a psycophat escaped from the asylum and who wants to kill his psychiatrist. He takes four customers and a barman in hostages in a bar. A nervous in camera movie… 7,5/10

"Crime Wave" an excellent film noir by André de Toth with Sterling Hayden and an evil plot… 8/10

"Armored car Robbery" A small film noir, short and nervous… with an attack of the armored car very similar to the one in Siodmak’s "Criss Cross". Very pleasant to watch 7/10

"Les fugitifs" (1986) A french comedy with Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu… It could have been worst. 5,5/10

"The Spider Woman strikes backé (1946). Incredible B movie with astounding plot… with Rondo Hatton, the famous acromegalic actor of the Universal… 6/10.

"The Big Steal" (1949) A small Film Noir directed by Don Siegel with Robert Mitchum… very interresting, fast and furious, with no injury time… 7,5/10.

"Decoy" (1946) A Monogram’s B film noir of the story of a femme fatale who’ll do everything to get the money of a robbery, even kill her 'lovers'… a bit speaky (but it’s allways like this in such poverty row’s productions), but worth of watching. 6,5/10.

"100.000 dollars au soleil" (1964) In the same style as Clouzot’s "Le Salaire de la Peur" Henry Verneuil directed a good adventure movie in a wonderfull b&w scope and with a bunch of french stars : Jean-Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier... A good one. 8/10.

"The Land Unknown" (1957) in Antarctic, adventurers and scientists discover a forgotten prehistoric world… and many other suprises. Virgil Vogel directed good B movie in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle’s "Lost World"… and before "Jurassic Park". Enjoying ! 7/10.