Mean Streets - 1973 - Dir. Scorsese

I saw Mean Streets back in high school feeling it necessary to watch all IMPORTANT films. I think that resulted in me SEEING a lot of films but not creating too many actual memories of them. I only remembered a young De Niro and a lot of red lights and a car crash. As the film began, I got totally psyched for what I was watching. I think in retrospect, Mean Streets feels like a huge step for the modern style of film making we see a lot of gangster and action movies we see today. And it's especially interesting to watch Scorsese beginning to do things that he would master in later years (like the walking through the club shot, although its at its most charming here) which would go on to influence others.. I think perhaps being how rough a lot of aspects of the film are and how damned youthful these guys are, there's a lot of energy in the picture. It feels rowdy. Even in comparison to Scorsese's later pictures, this one feels incredibly free. These aren't the moody Travis Bickles. They aren't as classy as the Goodfella characters. The plot moves about as wildly as the characters, with a specific direction but it's apt to take twists and turns. I also must get excited about David Carridine's silly ass/bad ass cameo. Perhaps what has been sticking in my head the most after seeing the picture is DeNiro's long pointless story to Keitel, trying to get out of trouble, at one point they both grow confused as to the details of the story and they both let loose a weird cheerful Mobbed up- "Hey!" It can be weird, confusing, and cheap, but damn is it charming.

OH NO! Keitel is turning into some kind of weasel!

National Treasure II: Book of Secrets - 2007 - Dir. Turteltaub

I wasn't blown away by National Treasure, The Original. I can't really say this fared much better... although, I think this WAS the better movie. I think, in general, the first movie was surprisingly dull. This one had a lot more action and adventure in it. Really, the closer they get in spirit to Indiana Jones, the happier I get. If the third one that eventually gets made is just Nicholas Cage just watching Raiders, that would be fucking AWESOME. So, I dunno. You know, it's basically the same movie, switch out Sean Bean for Ed Harris, throw in the ever awesome Helen Mirren and that's it. You got it. They manage to find outrageous things for Nicholas Cage to do. SNEAK INTO BUCKINGHAM PALACE!? BREAK INTO THE OVAL OFFICE!? KIDNAP THE PRESIDENT!??! OMG! Naturally, Cage does all these things with the simplicity of a protagonist in a kid's adventure flick. You can't stop the sonuvabitch. Although, let me just say, I didn't give a fuck about the plot or the conspiracy. I mean... it was silly to begin with. I had no idea who Ed Harris really was. Just some kind of a jerk. A black market dealer according to wikipedia. All right, sure. That's a thing he could be. Go Ed Harris!

Uuuuhhhh... I'm solving mysteries.

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive - 1987 - Dir. Cohen

Well, I've finished the It's Alive trilogy. Perhaps the most famous trilogy of killer mutant babies every made. And you know, yesterday, I was wrong. There aren't just MORE babies in this one. There's BIGGER babies too. And perhaps the biggest baby of all is Michael Moriarty. He does kind of give me a Giant Baby vibe in this movie. He's great fun in this movie, though. Kind of cracking jokes for a healthy portion. I feel like Larry Cohen really had hit his stride in the 80's. Being that Island of the Alive was almost ten years after It Lives Again, Cohen definitely got a lot better at making silly horror movies. Island of the Alive definitely was the most entertaining of the series, although, I must say, it did drag a bit more than the second one. Especially towards the end. Although, I can't hate- There was a ridiculous series of shots of cops. MANY cops, falling off a roof. It gave me quite a chuckle. I always enjoy when Cohen takes the time to let the movie's message speak out. He always does it in a nudge-nudge fashion. Never banging you over the head, never getting pretentious. Just showing you a connection and usually making a crack about it. Like the sudden bit about the Commies. Oh man, and any movie that has a scene end with two men, new friends, parting ways say to the other "I hope you don't have to shoot your son" both with big smiles on their faces can't be bad. IT CAN'T! MAN! I dig Larry Cohen. He's just great.

OH NO! It's killer mutant MAN BABIES!

It Lives Again - 1978 - Dir. Cohen

You know you're in for a treat when a movie's sequels are released onto the same DVD. You also know you're in for a treat when the sequels are simply pile on the mutant killer babies. I'm actually not the biggest fan of It's Alive, as far as Cohen movies go, its probably lower on my list. Apart from the novelty of the premise, I couldn't find a ton to enjoy in the movie, especially since it was lit with a pen light for a good chunk. There's been a decent gap so I couldn't say if I liked It Lives Again more... It felt like more of the same, literally, there's just MORE babies. I might say it poses the argument a little more interestingly than the first one. In the original, it's kind of just John P. Ryan deciding whether or not he might kill his mutant baby. It's Frederick Forrest this time around but there's a bit more on the side of Don't Kill Your Baby. And they even think they can teach them to not be blood-thirsty killers. So it felt like a bit harder of a decision. Forrest is also a more interesting actor to watch. The movie is surprisingly devoid of gore or violence really, a slight disappointment considering the nature of the film. Also! The film stars John Marley from Faces. I was trying to place both him and Forrest throughout the whole damn movie. So, I guess, I would have to say, I did enjoy this movie. It held my attention but in the end, a bit of a forgettable B-movie and entry into the Cohen filmography.

Hello? This is the only screenshot of the movie that could be found? Okay.

Julien Donkey-Boy - 1999 - Dir. Korine

As I watched Julien Donkey-Boy, I enjoyed myself. Rambling characters, rambling scenes, rambling everything. No problems so far. Nothing really seemed to be coming together exactly, but I got the impression the movie was ending soon. I had been watching it for a while, after all. I paused the movie and saw I was a third through. Hrm... maybe this would be trickier than I thought. So yeah, the movie felt a little slow. Maybe not as slow after the first "act." But I remember feeling like Gummo breezed by. I think it was a little more engaging in general. However, Julien Donkey-Boy did get me raise quickly raise my hands to my head in horror/anxiety. Then I wanted to stop watching it. A movie rarely does that to me. But you know, Werner Herzog, Ewan Bremner, and Chloe Sevifsihggrey are all fantastically intense in this. I like to think that Herzog just came on the set with a gas mask and just improvised all his scenes. And there's definitely some sequences that are just incredible. The movie even features some Oval, whose chopped up glitch goes well with the glitchy editing of the film. I especially liked a scene where Julien feeds his brother Chris like a dog but we only speed through it getting seconds of it. So, the film can be pretty slow at times, and not as generally interesting as Gummo but the film certainly has its moments.

Julien, on the set of his rap video with his posse.

Love Songs - 2007 - Honoré

I don't really watch a lot musicals. I have a tendency to get a little bored during the actual singing part either because the songs are little unrelated to the plot or because I just have trouble following the plot through the song. I'm just not a terrific musical viewer. So I sort of knew that I was going to have a tough time with Love Songs. To be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure how much I connected with the characters, or really understood their arcs. In some sense, it made the film a little more engaging just because I was trying to crack these people open. Like, I wasn't ever bored while watching the movie, consistently trying to figure out where theses characters were emotionally, because we are definitely given a real distance from them, which I like. Nothing felt spelled out for us. Maybe it could also be the culture gap, I'm not sure. I did ENJOY watching Love Songs. It has an engaging enough story and the songs were nice to listen to. I'm not going to act like I know much about music but some songs had a really sweet poetic quality to them that I could get behind even if I couldn't follow the metaphors as well as I would have liked perhaps just because reading subtitles leaves me at a handicap. The film's editing definitely had some really strong points where I was just YEEAAAHHH! And the ending had a nice feel to it, if not a little sudden.

They've almost got this threesome idea figured out!

Simon of the Desert - 1959 - Dir. Buñuel

Man! I love Luis Buñuel. He's just the best. Did you guys know he's the best? So, yeah, I was a little disappointed with Exterminating Angel, I'll admit it. It was still a great movie and all, and I look back upon it fondly. But Simon of the Desert totally came out of nowhere for me. I didn't really know anything about it apart from it being about a guy living on a pillar. But it's easily one of my more favorite Buñuel movies now, and clocking in at a sveldt 45 minutes (short film!) only makes me happier. It's like having a really satisfying snack. I was enjoying the movie through and through, what with the strangely cynical depiction of religion. Simon performs a miracle of restoring a man his hands and everyone loses interest very quickly, the Man's first act with his hands is to give his kid a healthy whack. The film is filled with quirky asides where Simon consistently mutters unrelated thoughts. What really hit it home for me was the end. I LOVE WEIRD ENDINGS! The film seems to project a real enjoyment for everyone involved. Pinal said it was were favorite film to work with Buñuel on and it shows. Although, I immediately feel like anyone playing Satan in a movie like this must just have a ball. It's like having permission to run around and act like an asshole channeling modern day Al Pacino of Nicholas Cage (yes, they now always play their roles as if they will suddenly be revealed to be Satan). The film is just incredibly satisfying and functions as a really good mark between later Buñuel and his earlier work as well. It's like a 45 minute synthesis.

Simon of the Desert? More liek Simon of GETTING IT ON! YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!