Beloved Haters
some critics on BLOW UP, by amazon users
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Überfrachteter mittelmäßiger Film von Leonidas
Blow-Up bietet tristes London, knallbuntes 70er Jahre Feeling (welches meist aufgesetzt uns inszeniert wirkt) und eine unglaublich schlechte Vanessa Redgrave.
Dazu symbolisch überfrachtete Szenen, die dem metaphorischen Gewicht überhaupt nicht gewachsen sind.
Alles in allem ein langatmiger, zäher Film mit eher mittelmäßigen Schauspielern und einem Plot der an allen Ecken und Enden hängt.
Wenn es nicht der erste Film gewesen, der eine nackte Frau im Film zeigte (komplett nackt von vorne, wie es in der Beschreibung heißt), wäre dieser FIlm wohl auch bei Erscheinen nicht so gut aufgenommen worden.
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Blow off von T. Arndt
Ohne Spannung, ohne Idee somit auch ohne Sterne.
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Der Film ist nur etwas für Fans der 70er von B. Christ (Wolfratshausen)
In den 70er war es wohl durchaus o.k eine brauchbare Story so zu erzählen, dass ert gar keine Spannung aufkommt. Auch die Schauspieler würedn heute in keiner Seifenoper mehr spielen. Die Dialoge sind ebenfalls typisch 70er.
Ein Lichtblick sind die leicht bekleideten Mädchen - daher der eine Stern.
Mein Tipp: lieber das Geld für ein Eis ausgeben.
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Very painful By Michael W. Schellenberger (georgetown, in United States)
The movie was quickly boring but I kept waiting for something to happen, it had to since it was rated pretty good. I next found myself wanting to just turn it off and do something useful but again since the rating was good I had to continue to see the end.
If you want to watch a guy run around just taking pictures all of the time then this is for you. This had to have been the worst 2 hours and $15 I have ever spent in my life……do not buy or watch this movie.
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Good example of how NOT to make movies By A Customer
A fashion photographer discovers a crime. So what??? Big Deal!!!
The action is slow, boring and unrealistic.
The photographer is arrogant and simply rude both to
his assistants, and to his customers. All actors are square
and unconvincig, schematic. All the action spins around the
daily activities of the photographer and his frozen face.
I would understand, if this crap were made in 1920s, but hey!
Wake up! The year is 1966! So, this piece of garbage is just an example how NOT to make movies. And I do not care how popular the actors were, and how great the director.
Do not waste your time, unless you are A movie major and this one is in you Summer Viewing List.
Oh boy, this one scared me to death
The third feature by director Nicolas Roeg (The Man who fell to earth), Don’t Look Now is an extraordinarily peculiar horror film, not least because it doesn’t really act like a horror film for something like 100 of its 110 minutes. For the most part, it’s an atmospheric mystery cooking along at a low simmer, tremendously unsettling but never remotely scary. But the film turns out to have a secret: no matter what it looks like, it certainly is horrific; however, its terrors are almost exclusive grown-up, and indeed it probably counts as the most adult horror picture I’ve ever encountered, or indeed can even imagine.
Don’t Look Now is a masterpiece of psychological horror, and arguable Roeg’s best film. It is as fresh today as it was more than thirty years ago, as provocative, as intelligent. Its casting appears more and more perfect with the years, so does its editing and direction.
my new favourite polanski is…
Polanski’s quiet exposition on one man’s slow descent into madness. The audience too is teetering on the edge of what the meek clerk Trelkovsky is believing as truth or his wayward delusions. A fascinating and haunting expose with elements of suspense and horror.
Christmas is coming early this year
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is one of those rare films, which perfection dwell in the symbiosis between story, director and actors. And it was recognized, to some degree as the film first came out, being nominated for the Palm d’Or and both Conti and Kitano were in consideration as best actors, but more and more over time, as today, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence stands as one of Oshima’s greatest films and the greatest performances by actors involved. A haunting masterpiece.
some favourite criterion covers
For film nerds like myself, the Criterion Collection is the crème de la crème. Every title in their incredible catalog is restored to pristine picture and sound quality and usually boasts some of the best bonus features out there.
But what is really seals the deal is Criterion’s gorgeous box art. Every DVD in the Criterion Collection sports a completely original box art design. They must have some of the best in-house designers working today as their DVD packaging just can’t be beat.
Max Ophüls Lola Montez
Andrew Sarris in 1963 dubbed this film the greatest ever made, and although he’s noted for his quirky opinions, he’s no fool. A masterpiece, LOLA MONTES is certainly director Max Ophüls’ greatest achievement.
Lola Montes is beautifully photographed, and the emphasis on detail in it is very impressive. Some of the baroque scenes, for example, evoke parallels with Federico Fellini’s wild circus sequences in Casanova; perhaps, they were inspirational to the Italian director. On the other hand, the fractured storytelling - with flashbacks from Lola’s past introduced in non-chronological order - is uncharacteristically bold.
Lola Montes was Ophuls’ one and only film in color. It was also the director’s last film. It was shot in three versions - French, German, and English - in the 2.55:1 aspect ratio.
Released in Paris December 23rd, 1955, Lola Montes, directed by Max Ophüls, caused an unprecedented scandal. Faced with commercial failure of the movie, the producers decided to cut some scenes, to translate some of the German dialogues to French, and to remix the sound. At the end of 1956 against the director’s wishes, the film was cut further and re-edited chronologically. In 2008, thanks to digital technology, Le Cinémathèque Française is able to release a completely restored version, faithful to Max Ophüls wishes with the colors, stereo sound and format originally intended.
Enjoy it! VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Vietnam`s finest
Born on the Fourth of July / 1989
Broadening the sweep of Platoon, this is a more ambitious, accomplished film about Vietnam, but not because it treads the now familiar path from innocence to enlightenment. Rather, its strength stems from the intense depiction of a man stripped of dignity and sexuality as a result of appalling injuries.
Oliver Stone is a fearless director unafraid to undertake ambitious projects. I like much of his work but count Born on the Fourth of July and possibly Wall Street and JFK as my favorites. The story of one individual’s life, his youthful naiveté, trial by fire maturity and striving political accomplishments make for an intensely memorable film experience.
Arguable Cruise at his best, Robert Richardson’s effective cinematography, John Williams subtle score all held together with Stone’s complete grasp of the medium - it translates to a true high point of late 80’s cinema.
10/10, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The Deer Hunter / 1978
Looking at “Deer Hunter” as a whole, it has many scenes or sequences, which one can pick out and dwell upon or talk endlessly in enthusiasm, like grandeur of the wedding sequence, the Widerbergian drop of wine on the wedding dress, the close-ups of de Niro hunting, the fragility of Streep, despite that most would pick the “I love you baby” scene as their favourite. “Deer Hunter” is a film with so much detail in each scene and every scenic detail, that it steals our attention. It is larger than any single statement about how great its direction, cinematography, acting and storytelling is, as each element enriches the other. It is a film that with time has unfolded its greatness to become one of the greatest American films ever made.
Apocalypse Now / 1979
Apocalypse Now is one of the great films. Photography, score, acting and direction are without flaw. Coppola never scaled such heights subsequently. It seems the sheer effort to produce such a work extinguished much of his creative spark. Stravinsky frightened himself with the awesome force of his Sacre Du Printemps, and changed directions after, never to match this achievement; Richard Strauss fled into Neo-romanticism after writing the disturbing Elektra and Salome, unable to equal their innovation and power. But these seminal works (Le Sacre, Salome, Elektra, Apocalypse Now) remain as peaks of Art. Like the great classics of literature, each viewing of this film reveals deeper levels of meaning. It’s stupid to even apply an arbitrary rating to this work. It cannot be rated.
next to watch is Platoon, Heaven & Earth and Casualties Of War to close my vietnam-hollywood journey.
