The Virgin Spring - 1960 - Dir. Bergman

Man, sometimes Bergman can just direct the hell out of a movie. I forget that sometimes. The Virgin Spring is definitely one of my more favorite of his. I had always remembered that Last House on the Left was a remake or based on an Ingmar Bergman film, which always stuck out in my mind. The plot clearly lends itself to a more gory version, three herdsmen after murdering and raping a girl unknowingly seek shelter at a farm which is owned by the girl's family. The Family realizes what has happened to their daughter and vengence is seeked. Naturally, Bergman's version is not a Swedish Old Boy but at the time the rape was extremely shocking. Tame by today's standards but still leaves quite an impact. The film has some really beautiful set-ups and there's a series of just incredible tableau. Max Von Sydow plays the girls father and damn if the man can't glare. Thematically the film has a bunch of interesting things going on with paganism and Christianity. Apparently, that was a time in Sweden's history where Christianity was just forming and paganism was on the decline. It definitely adds a extra level to the whole piece. ALSO THE ENDING IS AWESOME! I always like it when a film can illicit a vocal response from me. When that water starts flowing, so did the noise. Bring da noise, Bergman!

YEAH MAX! Teach that fucking tree a lesson!

Charlie Wilson's War - 2007 - Dir. Nichols

I don't know why, I was feeling in a terrifically political mood this morning and decided I needed to be charmed and amused at the same time. Charlie Wilson's War hit the spot like nobodies business. The press for the film made it seem like I was going to watch Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks be romantic at each other for an extended period of time. Thankfully, their relationship is rather understated and, at best, professional in a very PARTICULAR way. We see way more of Hanks hanging out with Hoffman. Which is awesome. Their first scene together is hilarious and has all the timing of... well... something very well timed. The story moves along well enough. It's subtle in it's insinuations of 9/11... or... maybe not so subtle as I think about it. They do anything but come right out and say it. Clearly, Wilson worried about the power vacuum that would form but not nearly enough. The movie felt somewhat un-biased, although it seemingly attributes numerous achievements to the Democrat Wilson that he may not have earned, but it also does not spend much time demonizing although I must consider the amount of characters talking about killing Russians without a blink of the eye. Nichols is a sly dog, we know that though.

Watch out Tom! Ned might lead you into a room and have a great monologue at you!

Caged Heat - 1974 - Dir. Demme

I didn't really dig this too much. I actually stopped watching it at one point which is fairly rare for me. It's not that is was particularly bad. In fact, if I think about it, it seemed interesting enough for a Women in Prison flick. Having a nice amount of quirky and tongue-in-cheek elements to it. But I dunno, I think a lot had to do with the production quality, but REALLY: What could I expect? it's a Roger Corman exploitation flick, so I think this is Standard Operating Procedure. I think I also warmed up to the movie a little bit more after watching Corman give and interview about it. It definitely made the flick seem a lot more charming. And there are fun/interesting parts to it as well as some pretty snazzy editing. It's Demme's directing debut and he's clearly working on a style. He does some really neat things with sound which ironically is in general of a pretty incredibly poor quality. There were a few scenes in the movie that were completely indecipherable. The Warden was probably one of the more interesting bits in the film and I wouldn't have minded a bit more of her. ALSO, Erica Gavin of Vixen! fame plays one of the lead protagonists. That lady is such a goofy actor, I get behind her 100%!

ACHOOO!

The Return of the Pink Panther - 1975 - Dir. Edwards

I'm a little torn by The Return of the Pink Panther. On one hand, it is ridiculous and silly. However, it is also intensely boring. It's a little puzzling and I'm not saying the "plot" aspects of the movie are boring. Oh no, not at all. Sometimes, Peter Sellers falling down and knocking crap over could only be so funny. Alternatively, it's also the best parts of the movie. On occasion, it's set up perfectly and seeing the sonuvabitch ruin an entire room is awesome. His opening and ending battle with Cato is an example of the best parts. As is when he is "disguised" as a telephone repairman. The overly long sequence in the hotel room, however, I could have done with significantly less of. Since Clousseau is basically distracted the entire film, the plot manifests itself with Christopher Plummer, who is perfectly charming. The film has a funny dichotomy of burgling being an intensely delicate procedure, where Clousseau is a huge klutz. I imagine that's intentional. I was also a fan of Herbert Lom who basically had to make the same joke funny in every scene he was in. While Sellars is, of course, hilarious. I feel like I would watch the other movies in the series for Lom, to see how fucking nuts he really gets. And hopefully we won't be subjected to any more which gun is the lighter and which is the actual gun jokes.

MAN! The Monkey is showing NO RESPECT!

Minority Report - 2002 - Dir. Spielberg

I don't really get the craze about Minority Report. All right, maybe calling it a craze is a little over-the-top. It does seem to do incredibly well, however. I dunno. I feel like I really dig the movie for a good chunk of it, I think until the plot really gets moving. Watching Tom Cruise evade police and try and prove his innocence, MAN, I've had enough of that. The premise is neat. Although, that must make a little bit of sense only because I'm a sucker for the Philip K. Dick. I'll admit that I haven't really been a huge fan of Spielberg siiiince- Actually, I looking at his filmography, I haven't really been a fan of his action/sci-fi movies since Jurassic Park, but movies like Catch Me If You Can, hey man, I won't complain about that! Anyway, I felt no drive to give a damn about what was on screen, all of the futuristic looks and gadgets felt old and tired. It didn't even feel like it solidified in a single vision of the future. The action is forgettable. It's not an awful movie by any means. Just a tired one. If Spielberg is so supportive of the blockbuster, why's he got to make his two hours plus. All these damn shallow movies (Transformers, I'm looking in your direction) should just admit they're trashy and try and clock in at 90. Now I'm being unfair. Minority Report has an interesting story to tell, it's just not a terribly interesting movie. :p

Tom Cruise operating the future computer, although I would be just an interested to see him operate just a normal computer.

Husbands - 1970 - Dir. Cassavetes

So Husbands begins with photographs of four men, flexing. TONS of flexing. Then they are at a funeral, one of the men has died, and there are three left. Then three men begin to drink and they do not appear to stop. The film is completely raucous. The beginning portion contains screaming and singing and running around in the most ridiculous manner. It's three men being reduced to children, or perhaps even reducing themselves to children. There's an intense craving in the men to be someone who they aren't, and the film might in some ways document their failure to be anything but: HUSBANDS. The film is exactly what I've come to expect from Cassavetes. Long, wandering scenes. Lots of jokes and laughing, although I can't say the laughing really comes from me. But I am entertained. There's so much childishness and liveliness... I love to think about where the honesty is in a Cassavetes film. Although the existence of it is probably futile, there is still something terribly engaging about trying to find it. I would want to watch the film again, despite it's length and its sluggish pace (but we must've come to expect that), there's something appealing and hypnotic about it.

MEN!

The NeverEnding Story - 1984 - Dir. Petersen

Most people of my age probably have SOME kind of association with NeverEnding Story. I probably had less than others, referring to the Luck Dragon as a flying dog and whatnot. It didn't leave much of an impact when I was a kid. A few scenes came back to me as I watched it but the film was mostly unknown to me. It's easy to see why the film was such a big deal: goofy-ass special effects, tons of escapism, and plenty of creatures. The story isn't terribly impressive although I was happy to see the parallels between the quest and battling depression and lethargy. As with all kids movies some of it is subtle and some of it is beating you over the head with it. The movie basically moves you from set-up to set-up for the special/creature effects. Which are still neat to this day. Considering its a mostly German production, it has a Grimm fairy tale feel. Naturally, the movie can be pretty slow and when you get right down to it, I was happy as it ended. Having long past the point where we were seeing anything new or interesting. The film peeks pretty early, perhaps for me the meeting of all the weird big headed, multi-faced people. Although, I guess I'm neglecting some bright spots with giant turtles and goofy crap like that.

I could've used way more Teeny-Weeny and his racing snail.