BEYAZ ŞEYTAN - BLOW Divx İzle

Inspector Bellamy (Monday, November 29, 2010) (150)

On it's surface, Claude Chabrol's Inspector Bellamy is a murder mystery investigation movie, a story of a cop who gets pulled out of his vacation and into a twisted tale of a crime of passion. It is really not that at all, but rather a tale of love, lust and aging, an examination of family ties and devotion to loved ones.

In Chabrol's final film (having died in September) we see Paul Bellamy (Gérard Depardieu), a famous detective who has written about his years on the police force, is on vacation with his wife Françoise in the South of France. He is contacted by a man who explains a very complicated romantic story involving the apparent murder of a homeless man, insurance fraud, facial reconstruction surgery, and a passionate extra-marital affair. The man hopes Bellamy can investigate his story and prove that he is not guilty of murder.

Bellamy is close to retirement and he and his wife are looking to spending more quiet time together, doing crossword puzzles and having dinner with friends. Bellamy's drunk, ne'er-do-well brother, Jacques, barges into their quiet life at this moment and begins to stir up their regular lives. Bellamy is a consummate cop, always digging, never trusting, never shitting down.

Depardieu gives one of his best performances, probably his best since his wonderful performance in Berri's Jean de Florette. He's an old man who still has a lot of life in him (and quite a sex drive). He's bitter and cynical, but very sympathetic and sometimes very funny.

We cannot forget that the film is the work of a master filmmaker. Chabrol takes the whole mystery genre and uses the structure as a McGuffin, a cinematic red herring. The film is not really a mystery at all (at least the mystery is rather the secondary story), but a story of a man coming to terms with the third season of his life and the messed-up nature of humanity. The script by Chabrol and Odile Barski is really wonderful, full of depth, love and humor.

Chabrol uses a wonderful a wonderful score written by his son Matthieu to set a rather sweet, nostalgic and light tone to the film. He uses lots of playful first-person point-of-view shots, somewhat ironically, as if we are Bellamy, walking through his house. The cinematography by Eduardo Serra is simple and straightforward, but very nice.

This film is really about nostalgia and old age, I think. It's about a man coming to terms with his own mortality, his own history and his own humanity. It has a slightly unusual structure (most of the film is the mystery story, but that is really the background), but is very sweet and interesting.

Stars: 3 of 4

Martin Scorsese's Fran Lebowitz Doc PUBLIC SPEAKING Now Airing On HBO

PUBLIC SPEAKING (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 2010)

"When I was a child it was called 'talking back' and now it's called public speaking, you know? But it's really the same. So, the thing I used to get punished for at home and in school...and get bad marks in school for it...then at a certain point in my life I got actually paid and rewarded for it. But it's the exact same thing." - Fran Lebowitz

This film is loosely a documentary really; it's mostly a sit-down conversation with noted author Fran Lebowitz at her favorite table at the Waverly Inn in Greenwich Village, NYC interrupted only occasionally with bio doc clippage.

Scorsese embraces Lebowitz at the beginning of the film and the back of his head can be seen as well as his laugh can be heard throughout the film, but this is a showcase for Lebowitz's gift for gab - and a damn good one.

We hear the outspoken woman, who comes across as the consumate New Yorker, as she offers views on race, gay rights, and the over abundance of bad writers in the marketplace and it's funny stuff. Intellectual insights galore from one of the few people to get their own Jeopardy category: "The Quotable Fran Lebowitz."

A highlight are Lebowitz's telling of the many meetings she had with Hollywood people over rights to her books which she never sold are as gold as anecdotes can get.

Among the clips of Lebowitz on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Charlie Rose, various speaking engagements, and most amusingly, as Judge Janice Goldbergon on Law And Order, there is illuminating archival footage of influences such as James Baldwin and Gore Vidal as well.

As "Jeopardy" attains there are many great quotes in this doc such as:

"Here's the problem with being ahead of your time...by the time everyone gets around to it, you're bored."

Maybe, but I wasn't bored for a second watching PUBLIC SPEAKING.

PUBLIC SPEAKING is now airing on HBO. Check your local listings for show-times. No word yet about when it will be released on DVD.

More later...

CONVICTION: The Film Babble Blog Review

CONVICTION (Dir. Tony Goldwyn, 2010)

It's that time of year - time for a piece of Hilary Swank Oscar bait.

Last year Swank's performance as Amelia Earhart failed to get a nomination so she's back playing another real person - Betty Anne Waters - a working class mother fighting the legal system in this earnest yet fiercely mediocre melodrama.

Full of the kind of spunk that Lou Grant would definitely hate, Waters put herself through law school just so she could represent her brother, who was wrongfully convicted of murder in Massachusetts.

Sam Rockwell plays the brother, spending the bulk of his role in prison scenes with Swank. The film flashes back to the early '80s when the crime was committed with Rockwell being arrested by Melissa Leo as an obviously corrupt cop.

In a courtroom sequence Rockwell's ex-wife (Clea DuVall) and ex-girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) testify against the accused while Swank steams on the sidelines.

Over the next 16 years Swank struggles to earn her GED, a college diploma and a law degree while working as a bartender all the while investigating her brother's case.

Swank befriends a sassy Minnie Driver as a fellow student and spurned on by the prospect of new DNA evidence hooks up with the Innocence Project - an organization that overturns wrongful convictions led by Barry Scheck (a sauve but wooden Peter Galagher).

With a bad Boston accent and a strained expression for most of the movie, Swank sure doesn't deserve a nomination for this one. Rockwell fares better, but there's not really much to his character.

We see that he's a white trash ruffian always in trouble with the law - the kind who will start a barfight one minute then do a cheered-on semi-striptease to a redneck anthem on the jukebox the next.

We're supposed to be seduced by his wildness and in turn admire Swank's plucky determination to clear her brother's name, because, well, she's wild inside too.

Driver's accent isn't much better than Swank's, but as a Devil's advocate best friend she has a likable presence. Juliette Lewis makes the most of her short but sweet part - she's completely believable as tawdry trailer-trash with bad teeth.

As it was based on a true story this film is not without merit; it's competently constructed, but its bland TV movie mechanisms and treacly score kept it from getting anywhere near my heart.

Try as it might, CONVICTION isn't very convincing.

More later...

IMDB PUANI YÜKSEK FİLMLER

imdb puanlamasına göre sitemizde bulunan en yüksek puanlı filmleri burada sıralıyoruz.
1- Akıl Defteri
2- Matriks
3-Yüzüklerin Efendisi
4- Yukarı Bak
5- Seven
6-Esaretin Bedeli

AKIL DEFTERİ - MEMENTO İZLE

AKIL DEFTERİNİ İZLE İMDB PUANI ÇOK YÜKSEK BİR FİLM

PRESTİJ PİRESTİJ İZLE - The Prestige Türkçe

Pirestij filmini izle online indir, internet üzerinden izle, full filmler cinema seyret




ALTERNATİF 2
Prestij 1.Kısım İzle

Prestij 2.Kısım İzle

Prestij 3.Kısım İzle

DVD Review: BEST WORST MOVIE

BEST WORST MOVIE

(Dir. Michael Stephenson, 2009)

Meet George Hardy.

He's a dentist in Alexander City, Alabama who is much loved by the local community.

Hardy seems a normal nice guy except for one crucial piece of information: in 1990 he starred in a notoriously awful movie titled TROLL 2.

TROLL 2 was a direct to video schlock horror flick that had no connection to TROLL (1986). The movie has inexplicably gained an audience over the years while maintaining its 0% rating on the Rotten Tomatometer.

Why? Well file this under case file: "it's so bad that it's good."

TROLL 2 is about a family taking a vacation in a small town named Nilbog (goblin spelled backwords) who are taunted and tortured by vegetarian goblins (not trolls, mind you).

As its reputation tells us, it contains some of the worst effects, the worst acting, worst writing, and worst direction of any film in history.

For the record though, I must say that I agree with Horror Movie Journalist M.J. Simpson who appears in this doc that there are far worse movies - but that's a whole other blog post.

This documentary, made by Michael Stephenson who was the child actor in TROLL 2, explores the minor fan phenomenon surrounding the supposed "Citizen Kane" of suck.

Stephenson follows Hardy as he attends sold-out revival screenings as well as interviews many fans and cast members including Margo Prey, Don Packard, Darren Ewing, Jason Wright, and Connie Young.

Ironic or not, the love for TROLL 2 is hilariously contagious as Hardy and the rest of the cast are treated like rock stars at these screenings, but the film goes from funny to fascinating to sad fairly swiftly.

Stephensen travels to Italy to interview director Claudio Fragasso (credited as Drake Floyd in TROLL 2) and his wife Rossella Drudi (who wrote the screenplay for TROLL 2 also credited to Drake Floyd). Fragasso talks pretentiously about the film:

"It's an important film which talks about the family, the union of the family resisting all of those things that want to destroy it and see it dead."

At a cast re-union/screening, Fragasso, who speaks very little English, has trouble answering a question from a fan about why there are no Trolls in the film. It had to be repeated a few times: "Why is it called 'Troll 2' when there are no trolls in the film?"

Fragasso only has this response: "You don't understand nothing."

After amusing scenes of cast members re-enacting scenes from TROLL 2, the doc starts to get sad as Hardy who's gung ho about enjoying his semi-celebrity status, visits a memorabilia convention in Britain manning a TROLL 2 table that hardly anybody visited.

Hardy to passerbys: "Have you seen 'Troll 2'? No? Aw, you're missing it - worst film ever made!"

Some cults only extend so far it seems.

Special Features: a slew of deleted scenes and extra interviews equaling over an hour of bonus BEST WORST MOVIE goodness.

If you want to see what the fuss is about - TROLL 2 is currently available on Hulu.com and streaming on Netflix Instant as it's celebrating its 20th anniversary.

More later...

Yeni Yıl Şarkısı - Jim Carrey filmleri izle

A Christmas Carol Tr Dublaj
cim keriy filmi izle, jim karry, jim carry filmlerini izle, cim kerrey online izle


Alternatif 1: Novamov’da izle

Alternatif 2: Videoweed’de izle

Joe Black - Brad Pitt izle

meet joe black
bired pit filmleri, bred pit
Oyuncular: Brad Pitt , Anthony Hopkins , Claire Forlan



Alternatif 1: Movshare’da izle

Alternatif 2: Novamov’da izle

Alternatif 3: Videoweed’de izle

Blu Ray Review: THE EXTRA MAN

Now out on Blu ray, DVD, and scheduled to be available streaming on Netflix Instant starting 12/16/2010:

THE EXTRA MAN (Dirs. Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, 2010)









This film, which I initially thought was too quirky for its own good, grew on me quite a bit. Kevin Kline has been in so few movies lately that it's extremely pleasing to see him sink his teeth into a juicy role, and the role here is a beaut.




As seen through the eyes of Paul Dano as a young aspiring writer with delusions of "Great Gatsby"-ish grandeur, we meet Kline as Henry Harrison - an eccentric failed playwright who lives off of the splendor of rich old ladies as he describes: "A fine meal, vintage champagne...an orchestra perhaps."

You see the scraggily gray haired mustached Kline considers himself an "extra man." He explains:




"You see women outlive men so there's always a need for an extra man at the table. It maintains a proper seating arrangement. Boy-girl, boy-girl."




Dano, who was kicked out of a teaching position at Princeton and came to New York to "find himself", rents a room from Kline and gets a job doing phone sales for an environmental magazine. Dano is fascinated by Kline's philosophies and tricks like how to get into the opera for free.




As a fellow flighty co-worker, Katie Holmes becomes the object of Dano's affection, but there's a little snag in his plans as she has an activist boyfriend and, uh, Dano has a bit of a cross dressing issue.




In one of the most off-kilter performances of his career, John C. Reilly appears in a small part as a grizzly wide-eyed neighbor of Kline's who speaks in falsetto. Reilly's part doesn't really fit in at first, but as the film goes on it becomes an inexactractable piece of the quirky quilt.




Though it's largely Dano's movie, Kline is who keeps it rolling with his witty line readings and chutzpah - a scene in which he teaches Dano how to take a leak while standing between parked cars on the street has more cheeky charm than one could imagine with that description.




What's less successful is the handling of Dano's sexual deviance. Scenes of the droopy sad eyed actor fondling brassieres and trying on women's clothes are cringe-worthy and don't add much to the more interesting material involving the wealthy women Kline is trying to woo.




A subplot involving Celia Weston as a wannabe socialite and somewhat rival of Kline's isn't explored fully, likewise Patti D'Arbanville's skimpy part as a dominatrix that Dano hires.




These flaws aside, THE EXTRA MAN is just amusing enough to be recommended. It's not as essential a film as director Berman and Pulcini's AMERICAN SPLENDOR, but it's fairly agreeable entertainment nonetheless.




Special Features: a commentary with Kevin Kline and author Jonathan Ames ("Bored To Death") who wrote the original novel, a second commentary with the co-directors + crew, a deleted scene, a clip of the voice recording for a cartoon clip, a behind the scene featerette of the musical score, and HDNet: A look at THE EXTRA MAN.




More later...

Vampir İmparatorluğu - Vampir Filmleri

vamir vampir imparatorluğu, vampir kurtadam filmleri izle, vampirli filmler


FİLMi İZLEMEK İÇİN TIKLAYIN.

Sihirbazın Çırağını Online İzle

Sihirbaz filmini izle, sihirbazlık filmleri izle


Alternatif 1: Novamov’da izle

Alternatif 2: Videoweed’de izle

Alternatif 3: Movshare’da izle

Çarlinin Çikolata Fabrikasını izle

Charlie’nin Çikolata Fabrikasını internetten bedava izle
Oyuncular : Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter,



1.parça

2.parça

3

4

5

6

TOPRAK ALTINDA ONLAYN İZLE

TOPRAK ALTINDA filmi mezarda yani tabutun içinde geçen çok kaliteli bir film bir gerilim filmidir.
IMDB Puanı: 7.7/10

DİRİLİŞ - AFTER LİFE İZLE

diriliş filmini izle, gerilim filmleri, mezarda canlanan
Tür: Dram, Gerilim, Gizem, Korku, Psikolojik

FASTER: The Film Babble Blog Review

FASTER

(Dir. George Tillman, Jr., 2010)

Apparently after a slew of kid's movies and commercial comedies, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has decided to put his goofy grin up on the shelf and get back to basics in a big dumb action shoot 'em up.

On the day of his release from a 10 year prison sentence "The Rock", who a title tells us is "Driver", sits down in front of a sympathetic Warden (Tom Berenger). Berenger in a one scene cameo goes on about rehabilitation and offers a helping hand. "Any questions?" the Warden asks. The Rock: "Where's the exit?"

This is our protagonist's first and only line for a bit into FASTER, which follows the extremely stoical ex con as he follows a list of those involved in the bank robbery that landed him in jail and who murdered his brother.

One informant after another is treated to a bullet to the brain. Meanwhile, a sleazy Billy Bob Thornton, only identified as "Cop", is trailing "Driver" and there's Oliver Jackson-Cohen as a slick high tech assassin labeled only as "Killer" who is also caught up in the chase.

Working from the inside loop with a strong willed police detective (Carla Gugino), Thornton is a divorced druggie - unfortunately a scene devised to enforce his character's messed up mindset is set to the First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" which can't help but recall THE BIG LEBOWSKI (Dude! Don't steal from "The Dude"!)

Admiring The Rock's confidence and skills, Jackson-Cohen tells his girlfriend (Maggie Grace from "Lost") that his new worthy adversary is "faster" than he is, in case you were wondering about the film's title.

FASTER is ultra-formulaic and it takes itself way too seriously with only a few feeble attempts at humor to give us much relief. The Rock puts in a refined and solid performance, but it's not a very interesting character. We don't learn anything about him except his single minded mission and the heavily implied love for his brother.

And because he's as unbeatable as always - there's no edge or sense of danger present.

Thornton steals the scenes he's in - he and the brash Jackson-Cohen appear to be having fun with their roles which is good because The Rock sure isn't.

As for the mechanics of the plot there is a bit of a mystery about who pulled the strings in the botched bank job set-up with flashbacks and images on a videotape, but I seriously doubt the target audience for this film will care or be very shocked when the reveal comes. They'll probably just be waiting for the next kill like the preview crowd at the advance screening I saw this at who ate every bit of it up.

I will give credit to the fact that there were no explosions in this movie. For an action movie of this ilk that certainly can be seen as major restraint.

This is a movie for The Rock fans plain and simple. Those who want brains instead of blockbuster bloodlust may want to sit this one out.




More later...

A Review Of The Dreadful TAMARA DREWE

TAMARA DREWE (Dir. Stephen Frears, 2010)

I was surprised to see the credit “Based on the graphic novel” on the screen at the beginning of this British comedy clunker.

It seems every other movie this year was based on a graphic novel!

Nothing wrong with that I suppose, just unexpected with this type of Thomas Hardy-ish material which concerns a writer’s retreat setting in a quaint English village captured in the ever lasting golden hour.

In a tale told in seasons, aspiring authors congregate at the home of a bestselling writer (Roger Allam) and his hosting wife (Tamsin Greig) who has long learned to look the other way to deal with her husband’s affairs.

Allam is always pompously pontificating about his supposed literary talent mostly to a struggling neurotic writer played by a buffoonish Bill Camp.

Returning to the town for the first time since her nose-job, Gemma Arterton, as the title character, appears in skimpy cut-offs and red tank top and every man in sight swoons.

This includes Luke Evans as the gardener/handyman who had a fling with Artenton when they were teens we’re told in a racy flashback.

Artenton is a journalist covering a punk pop band named Swipe who break up after a row on stage in which the drummer (Dominic Cooper) is outraged over the coupling of 2 his band-mates particularly since one had been his girlfriend.

To Evan’s chagrin Cooper and Artenton quickly couple up themselves, all the while a couple of hiding chatty schoolgirls (Jessica Barden and Charlotte Christie) watch it all smitten themselves with Cooper.

Allam gets into the game by bedding Arterton, Camp secretly pines for Grieg who he uses as a muse, and the schoolgirls cause trouble with a naughty email so there’s endless foolish shenanigans at every turn.

The film builds to a tragic last third, hints of which are dropped here and there throughout, but once it’s upon us its effect is mind-numbingly banal.

For all its energy and colorful imagery, “Tamara Drewe” never gels. It’s a completely charmless and painfully unfunny farce. Every attempt at wit falls flat and I could never deduce what the point of it all was.

No insights into restless writer’s mindsets or hearts – it’s all just misplaced vanity.

It also doesn’t help that the characters are all unlikable especially Allam’s who is just a transparent caricature of a womanizing cad.

The film doesn’t seem to be on anybody’s side so there’s nobody to care about. Despite the richness of the countryside and Frear’s ace sense of staging, its ultra-smarmy tone sabotages the entire production.

I can only hope that the graphic novel (and still going comic strip in the Guardian) by Posy Simmonds is more worthwhile than this dreadful tripe.

More later...

Tiny Furniture (Friday, November 19, 2010) (149)

Tiny Furniture is the first feature film from Lena Dunham, daughter of New York artists Laurie Simmons and Carroll Dunham. The film seems to be rather autobiographical about a girl named Aura who gets home from her Midwestern private college (Dunham went to Oberlin) and moves back in with her mother, a SoHo artist who takes pictures of dollhouse furniture.

On the surface this is yet another version of The Graduate. A girl is done with college and looking for direction in life. But I think there is much more here than just that. This is a particularly young and frank version of contemporary life, particularly for younger kids today entering the world when there are no jobs available, when you can basically do anything you want with a computer (publish your own book, write your own newspaper, record a hit single). It's not easier this way, however, it possibly puts much more pressure on you because so much is expected of you (you went to college, after all) and at the same time almost nothing is expected of you too (well, it's really hard out there right now).

Aura has a very hip downtown friend, Charlotte, who introduces her to a loser named Jed (played by mumblecore star Alex Karpovsky). He is in New York for a stretch of time and is crashing on the floors of his friends' places. When her mom goes out of tow, Aura invited Jed to stay with them for a bit. She bumps around lower Manhattan for awhile, finds a dead-end job as a reservationist/hostess at a restaurant, flirts with a chef at that restaurant, does some drugs, searches for direction.

I would really call this film post-mumblecore, as it treats relationships, sex and human interaction with a super-frank tone, but has a much more elegant and thought-out visual look. There are some absolutely wonderful shots and set-ups that Dunham gives us. Some that seem way beyond her years and some, even, that are a bit showy (in a very Jonathan Franzen showy way... we get that you're super talented, please don't rub our faces in your fanciness).

Dunham herself is a less-than-totally-in-shape girl, but she shows herself naked or in slightly unflattering clothes a fair amount. I really don't think she's making a point about sexuality - other than to say there is no point here about nudity. She's comfortable in her skin and we should be comfortable with her. It's just not a thing. This is very similar to the mumblecore view of sex and nudity: Sex and nudity happen - deal with it, dudes. What might be more interesting here is the view of many who think that she's really saying something here with her nudity. It's as if the only way we can understand her own view of sexuality is to contextualize it in our own frame of reference. But I think she's not saying anything, the same way you're not saying anything when you wear shorts or sandals. It's just a fact. There.

Dunham does treat sex very frankly and dispassionately, but I think this is more a reflection of her generation's view of sex than anything else. It might be jarring for us to witness what appears like a disgusting fuck session in the street (bordering on date rape), but to young people (young women), this is typical and not special. Aura owns her own sexuality because it is hers, because it is of her skin, the same way her imperfect body is hers. She can own a bad sex experience the same way she can have a bad day at work. On to the next day, on to the next boy to fuck.

Stars: 3 of 4

Jackass 3D (Thursday, November 18, 2010) (148)

There is really not much to say about this film. It's fucking hilarious and gross, shocking, terrible, nauseating and silly. Johnny Knoxville and his gang of weirdos do all sorts of fucked up stuff here that you should never try at home. Oh - and it's fucking great.

I was very impressed with the 3-D and how well is worked here. More than just getting stuff to come out of the screen at you, we really got a sense of intimacy, which actually helped with some of the gags.

I think the grossest ones were the guy who was getting his tooth pulled by a string connected to a car (pulling the whole tooth out, root and all) and the fat guy sweat cocktail, where they make an obese guy wear a rubber suit, go on a stationary bike and then drink the sweat that collects in a cup behind him. Fucking disgusting.

I strongly look forward to the next Jackass movie!

Stars: 3 of 4

FAIR GAME: The Film Babble Blog Review

FAIR GAME 

(Dir. Doug Liman, 2010)

The true story of former CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband retired diplomat Joesph C. Wilson is told in this thriller/melodrama based on Plame's book "Fair Game: My Life As A Spy, My Betrayal By The White House."

As portrayed by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn (in their third film together) we follow them through the dense details of how their reputations were besmirched by the Bush administration in the early aughts when Wilson reported that "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."

Plame's CIA identity was exposed in the press and Wilson's work for the government is threatened, but the film seems to stress that what was more important is that their marriage was being torn apart.

It begins with Plame recruiting her husband to travel to Africa to investigate reports that Niger has sold 50 tons of "yellowcake" uranium ore to Saddam Hussein. Of course, he finds no trace of yellowcake and files a report to that effect as well as writes an op-ed piece for the New York Times entitled "What I Didn't Find In Africa."

The controversy surrounding the couple, stupidly dubbed "Plamegate", becomes extremely messy as does the movie. Many scenes are too strained and too choppy for the appropriate mood and there's an annoying inconsistent shaki-cam framing which detracts from its possible emotional power.

It's the stateside companion to Paul Greengrass's just as forced film GREEN ZONE in which army officer Matt Damon complains to an excruciating degree about not being able to find Weapons of Mass Destruction anywhere.

Penn and Watts make a convincing couple - their arguments over Plame's reluctance to go public with the facts are initially involving, but their attempts at intensity grow more and more tiresome as the film progresses to its predictable conclusion.

There is a wasted, and fictional, subplot involving an Iraqi doctor (Israeli actress Liraz Charhi) who works with Plame to find out the extent of Iraq's nuclear program. This also concerns the doctor's physicist brother in Baghdad, played by Khaled Nabawy, who Plame promises will be safely re-located if he helps out. We also get Chief of Staff Scooter Libby (David Andrews) and Senior Advisor Karl Rove (Adam LeFevre) basically just being evil as they plot to discredit the heroic couple.

Then there's a cameo by Sam Shepherd as Plame's wise father that's so badly shot that we can barely see it's him until halfway through the scene. With it's speechifying and constantly interspersed ominous shots of Washington locations (the White House, the Capital, the Pentagon, etc.) FAIR GAME has noble intentions, but its the cinematic equivalent of listening to hours of the liberal radio network Air America. 

Hearing the hosts bitching non-stop about how we were lied to in order to justify the Iraq war - even if you agreed with them - was painful and a large part of why that network failed. And it's the main reason this film fails too.

More later...

INSIDE JOB: The Film Babble Blog Review

INSIDE JOB
(Dir. Charles Ferguson, 2010)




"I don't know what credit default swaps are. I'm old fashioned that way." - George Soros




That makes 2 of us. There are many things like that in this documentary that I was completely in the dark about going in, yet in a sober (and sobering) manner INSIDE JOB explains the financial meltdown of 2008 in a fairly graspable way.




Matt Damon calmly narrates the film, taking us through segments entitled "How We Got Here", "The Bubble", "The Crisis", "Accountability", and "Where We Are Now". It's a lot of complicated information to take in, but through interviews with key players such as the before mentioned financier George Soros, U.S. House Representative Barney Frank, former NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Economics professor Nouriel Roubini, economist Paul Volcker, and many others, the film does an impressive, if at times impenetrable, job of breaking it down.




Ferguson, whose previous film the Iraq war doc NO END IN SIGHT was just as exhaustive, has a real knack for assembling a powerful narrative out of a tangled web of sometimes extremely confusing criteria. We learn about corporate fat cats pocketing millions sometimes billions of dollars from corrupt loans.




We see power point presentation style graphics that help define CDOs (collateralized debt obligations), subprime lending, and all kind of mortage mayhem. We even get an interview with a former Wall Street "Madam" (Kristin Davis) who supplied investment bankers with prostitutes.




It's an excellent eye-opening documentary that thankfully uses a minimum of Michael Moore-ish methods like pop song punctuation.




Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" plays during the opening credit swoop through the Manhattan skyline, and Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" provides a backing beat to footage of excessive lifestyles, but such touches don't intrude at all on the thesis at hand.




INSIDE JOB is more informative than it is entertaining and its conclusion that criticizes President Obama for doing little to change the situation is depressing, but it's an incredibly well crafted and sharply focused work that got my mind reeling.




That is, even if I still can't tell you exactly what a credit default swap is.

More later...

Lars von Trier's ANTICHRIST Now Out On DVD And Streaming On Netflix Instrant

ANTICHRIST (Dir. Lars von Trier, 2009)

This abstract horror film begins with a vivid black and white sex scene opening in which it looks like Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainesbourg are actually doing the deed. As a married couple copulating, Dafoe and Gainesbourg writhe in slow motion unaware that their baby boy (Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm) has gotten out of bed and is walking around their apartment.

Their son climbs to the ledge of an open window. He falls to his death in the snow below.

From there the film changes into color, but it's not that colorful. Dafoe and Gainesbourg Pale light bathes Dafoe and Gainesbourg's skin with gray tones setting the mournful mood.

Gainesbourg is going out of her skin over her son's death while Dafoe, a therapist, tries to tend to her with his cold and clinical methods. Dafoe decides they should retreat to a cabin in the woods because nothing says horror like a cabin in the woods! I half expected them to find the "Book Of The Dead" there.

Shadows and light move through many gothic shots of the nature surrounding them and yep, strange evil things start to happen such as Gainesbourg calling their surroundings "Satan's garden" and a fox with a voice out of THE EXORCIST saying "choas reigns" to Dafoe.

Many other weird and disturbing things happen to the couple, none of which I feel like relating.

Sexual madness is an overriding theme with excruciating scenes of genital mutilation. Gainesbourg had been working on a thesis about genocide in the same cabin the year before so there's that too.

ANTICHRIST is full of incredibly lucid cinematography and excellent acting by its 2 leads (who are the only people in the film after the son's death), but it's a disgusting and dreadful work that I could not see the point of at all.

Director von Trier has previously made thought provoking and vital films like DANCER IN THE DARK and DOGVILLE, but this is a wretched work that I wouldn't wish upon anyone - even the former co-worker of mine that recommended Paul Haggis's CRASH to me.

However Criterion deemed the film worthy enough to add to their mighty collection, and I see many folks on the internet calling it a masterpiece, but I felt absolutely assaulted by it. To each their own I suppose.

The Criterion Collection edition contains the following special features: an audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith, interviews with von Trier and the leads, a collection of video pieces delving into the production, a documentary called "Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival 2009", and a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ian Christie.

Or you can watch it with no frills on Netflix Instant. Just don't say you weren't warned.

More later...

DVD Review: WINNEBAGO MAN

WINNEBAGO MAN (Dir. Ben Steinbauer, 2009)

So maybe you've seen or at least heard of this crazy clip (easily findable on YouTube) of outtakes from an industrial Winnebago sales film circa 1989 in which the spokesperson swears up a storm in take after take?

Labeled "The Angriest Man in the World" it began life as a VHS tape copied and passed around for years until YouTube came along in 2005 and made it a internet sensation - VH1 ranked it the third best viral video not long after.

In this more interesting than it has a right to be documentary film maker Ben Steinbauer parlays his obsession with the extremely profane man from the clip into a journey towards discovery - no, really!

Steinbauer tracks down the crew members that leaked the "bloopers" and even resorts to hiring a private detective in order to find Rebney.

Rebney turns out to be living in the mountains of Northern California and is - wait for it - an ornery profane curmudgeon.

Rebney's strong political views and anger towards those who have made him an object of humiliation on the internet make for more swearing sequences - so much so that I can see this DVD being put on for drinking game purposes.

Steinbauer and the normally reclused Rebney argue up until the film culminates in the director taking his half blind subject to a Found Film Festival appearance where the audience treats the perpetually pissed off wannabe pundit like a rock star.

WINNEBAGO MAN is very funny and it serves as a neat little history of viral video - one in which those that are laughed at can simultaneously be regarded as everyman heroes. We feel like in those horribly hot, fly filled conditions that made this one odd guy insanely curse like it was going out of style - we may have acted the same. So the clip serves as a sort of release.

A young girl approaches Rebney after he gets off stage at the Found Film Festival and tells him: "You have no idea - this clip, everytime I'm in a bad mood I watch you swear and it makes me smile."

Rebney smiles too and for the first time in the film he appears to "get" it.

WINNEBAGO MAN is surely to be seen by some as disposable documentary because of its silly subject matter and fanboy thrust, but as disposable docs go it's one of the most entertaining I've ever seen.

WINNEBAGO MAN was released Tuesday, November 2nd, on DVD. It contains just a couple of bonus features, but they are good ones: the "Completed 1989 Winnebago Video" (25 min.) and a NYC Premiere Featurette (16 min.).

More later...

127 Hours (Tuesday, November 9, 2010) (147)

Based on Aron Ralston's book about his crazy experience bouldering in Utah, 127 Hours is a totally grizzly story that is certainly not for all audiences.

Ralston is a twenty-something kid who loves to go bouldering, canyoning and exploring the wilderness of Utah. One day he goes into Blue John Canyon and ends up falling into a gorge with a boulder on top of his arm. As he struggles with the rock, he comes to the conclusion (after about 100 hours) that his only option is to break his arm off to get free.

Ralston is played here by James Franco, who does a really wonderful job with the role. Franco is fun and fresh with a bright smile always on his face and a can-do attitude with everything (including his own arm amputation). We see the flakiness of Ralston that leads him to not tell his friends and family where he is going and when he'll be back and not bring a good pocket knife (had he only known he would need it later...).

Director and co-writer Danny Boyle does a very nice job showing what is mostly a one-man show here, considering Franco is alone on screen for at least 75 minutes. The film doesn't really get boring and Boyle uses flashbacks effectively and Ralston's imagination very well.

One annoying thing is a pretty terrible epilogue that Boyle adds at the of the movie. We see that Raltson now leads a happy life with his wife and a kid. This is silly and beats us over the head with the fact that it's a true story (which it clearly is, no?). I dunno - I feel like part of watching a movie is to see an actor playing a role and interpreting a character. To then see the real guy at the end is frustrating (because it undermines Franco's performance) and not necessary at all.

This is a small movie, one I would call lesser Boyle. It has a good score by A.R. Rahman (who did the score for Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire) and a script co-written by Boyle and past collaborator Simon Beaufoy. It's a nice film, but not brilliant.

Stars: 2.5 of 4

Gece ve Gündüz Filmini İzleyin

Knight And Day 2010 ABD
Gösterim Tarihi: 09 Temmuz 2010
Oyuncular: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz,