Brick (2005)

First of all, if you have not seen this movie, shame on you. I have been a fan of this movie ever since I saw it a few years ago at a close friend of mines house (on a whim actually). Needless to say I was blown away by how clean and original the overall production was. I actually managed to pick it up for three dollars a few days ago (probably the greatest deal I have ever found) and it still holds onto every strand of amazement it entangled me in almost three years ago.

The thing that seperates this film from everything else that I saw that year is how smart of a movie this is. For one, the American noir film has truly been a neglected genre in the last couple decades (a hit every couple of years or so) and it is always good seeing a fresh take on it. For those who are clueless as to what "noir" is then perhaps you should take this time to watch a few of the hardboiled classic films (the old Bogart pictures are a good place to start). They usually involve some kind of murder and some kind of detective investigating and there is always a femme fatale. How this movie approaches this style of film is by having the entire script ripped right from a classic detective movie and submerges it in the world of a contemporary California high school with a hearty helping of the drug culture (but done in a way that almost makes it glamorous).

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (of 3rd Rock from the Sun fame) stars and is practically made for this role. The entire cast suffers from "rather perfect casting" syndrome, and this is something that you will never find in a major motion picture. It is almost sickening how well everyone does portraying a classic type of character in modern times.

Being a noir film, it has a certain way of setting up every shot. There has to be a clear distinction between light and dark, with the use of shadows playing almost as a character themselves. These distinct attributes don't really contrast well in a film with color as they do in a black in white world, but Brick manages to stay true to the world of film noir and yet adding a feeling of being set in modern times (fancy shots and special effects are what set this movie in the present age). I wouldn't say the shots are beautiful as they are stark, precise and show only what you are suppose to see (playing on the power of shadows and low angles).

Being original is what makes this film a true gem, it isn't some big Hollywood blowout or filled with A-class actors who don't put as much emotion into it for what they are getting paid. It knows what it is and it isn't trying to be something far superior. To be honest, it is far better (to me at least) that the neo-noir films being produced for millions of dollars. It is as gritty and dark as noir is suppose to be and it manages to do this with the bare essentials and it will keep you guessing till the very end (a true noir rule indeed). The story is true to what it sets out to do and there is no beating around the bush with unecessary character arcs or pointless plot holes. It may not shine as bright as some big budget films, but I can gurantee the luster will retain longer than most films twice as huge and four times as confusing.

Like I said, I picked this up for three dollars a few days ago (still in its original factory seal and everything) and that is the only bad thing about this movie, is that it has been banished to the discount dollar bin at the local discount store. Do yourself a favor, if you happen to find this movie for such an abysmal price (good for me, but also a disgrace to a fine piece of art, seeing it cost less than a fast food meal) pick it up. With several well deserved accolades under its belt, watching this film will shine a whole new light on the genre great America was once known for.

El Topo (The Mole) (1970)

Now, a late holiday gift for everyone.

Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo.

This is my favorite film, this is probably the greatest film ever made, and it is more than likely this is perfection at its greatest. Nothing has, or ever will come to what this movie has done for world of cinema (at least in my eyes).

With this being said, I will try to sum up this movie into something worth reading.

Alejandro Jodorowsky, as you may have read about in my review of his mind-skewing epic "The Holy Mountain" is probably the most pretentious man to ever grace the film industry. Everything he shows you has multiple meanings, therefore creating something that can be viewed on more than one level (at least a thousand by my count). Every scene is a piece of art, the foreground, midground, and even the background are all parts conducted masterfully by his vision.

This movie however was not his trip to finding enlightenment (as was The Holy Mountain), but his showing of the power of life, death, love, hate, and showing how everything will eventually pass through all of these stages in life. No one is fully good nor fully bad, and Jordorowsky displays this brilliantly (Superman is a pervert in his eyes).

The symbolism is a lot more subtle in this movie, but this does not mean that everything is not representing something or another (from his relationship with his son, his hate for his father and two amputee's dressed like John Wayne), and this is what seperates Jordorowsky from all other directors. His attention to detail and true eye for finding beauty in everything (I mean everything) is why he is the greatest, because he is not afraid to show things (and people) who normally wouldn't get the praise or screentime he gives them (Passolini did this also, much more on the negative side of the social spectrum).

From the first shot of the horse riding through the desert to the final scene is a beautiful showing of a fall from grace and the redimption one can truly find in the end (like I said before, he shows that no one is truly good or truly bad, and, oddly enough, that everyone must realize that they have both a female and a male side).

Another one of the things that I respect him for is that he uses normal people instead of actors (everything from himself in the lead role to his son he has never seen. He even has a woman who took 500 tabs of acid and was triping the entire time of shooting). Once again, he uses people that normally wouldn't (at the time) be in a film, and this adds a whole different spectrum to his films, because most of the time these people are playing themselves (no one is acting gay or under the influence, they actually have those qualities). This is something that has died out in most of the film industry in these times (everyone claims to be an aspiring actor) and it is a true shame. Reality is what everyone is trying to produce and it can't happen if there are people pretending to be something their not.

Moving on to what you hear during this visual barrage;

One of Jordorowsky's claims is that the soundtrack (this being all of the audio in the film, from the music to the dialouge) is another level of art and it should be altered and changed. Nothing should be left normal and more often than not it is about as far from normal as you can get. You have a woman sounding like a young man and the sound of goats turned to 11 (if this joke does not land, i'm sorry for you) and this is just another reason why he is in a whole different league than everyone else.

Besides the film itself, I can't recommend the commentary more. Having him explain everything that is being seen just adds even more luster to his already blinding films (I do mean watch all of his films a few times and then watch it with the commentary track on).

This review is certainly not enough to muster up even a smidgen of what this movie is and what kind of impact it brings to the table. If you watch any movie that I review do yourself a favor and pick this one up and dedicate a few hours to soaking in what a true genius in every sense of the word has to offer.

The Alphabet (1968)

Please forgive me for not putting a still from this little four minutes of pure insanity (I wouldn't want to look at it ever time I signed on, it would scare the shit out of me). Allow me to explain my reasoning behind why this freaks film me out more than anything I have ever seen (and only being four minutes long and having this effect is rather impressive).

David Lynch (the man whos picture I decided to op for, a little less creepy, but not by much) is someone who I've known about for years, but never really paid any attention to (I was in my ignorant foreign film stage and wasn't going to watch anything from America in fear that it would burn my eyes out), and to be honest, as scary as he is, I regret not checking him out earlier.

But, they also say "ignorance is bliss" and that is an equally defendable side of this review. For the record, I don't think I have been this scared (or unsettled/disturbed, I don't really get scared) in a long time. I don't know if it is my fear of little girls or the alphabet (or both), but let me warn you about what you are about to get yourself into if deciding to watch this.

The girl in this film is the creepiest I have ever seen (forget what you think you know about creepy little girls, Lynch was the father of creepy girls) and that is what is unsettling about the whole thing. I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about it

Because quite frankly, I don't like to. I don't like her. I'm sure she is a sweet girl in real life, but in this she is the illigitimate love child from the drunken orgy the girls from The Exorcist, The Ring, The Grudge, and just about every horror film the Japanese have ever made (and their sad American brethren). There was mud and no one knows who stuck what where, but the aftermath of it all is this chick.

The whole idea of this story stemmed from a nightmare his wife's niece (who I believe is the little girl in the film, but i'm not going to research it any, if it is important to you then by all means you have the power) had, where she was saying the alphabet in some kind of sick and demented (described as tormented) way.

If this does not tell you what the hell this is going to be about, then allow me to elaborate (but only for a minute), and please note that this is purely from memory (as I will never watch this ever again, ever), so if what I say doesn't sell it, then by all means go watch it on YouTube.

There is the alphabet being said by some creepy girl, along with some weird surreal animation of letters and what not flowing out of the body (through the neck) of some guy then it ends with the creepiest fucking child to ever walk the planet (it actually makes my eyes water thinking about it) reciting the alphabet while parading around a dark room on a white sheet in a bunch of stop-motion shots (I could have done without her getting up close to the camera) and then her tossing and turning in bed.

Just fucking weird, unsettling, disturbing, whatever the hell you want to call it. The dark end of the surreal spectrum pretty much sums up most (if not all) of Lynch's work.

This was the film that brought Lynch some minimal recognition and was the start (although one film came before this one, something about six guys getting sick six times...what the fuck?) to his very sucessful (i.e. creepy as hell) film career.

As I stated before, it is on YouTube, and only being four minutes long, so if you want to ruin your night (and the amount of hours of sleep you get) then by all means check it out (along with everything else he has made, truly a master at the craft).

This is just the start of the Lynch reviews mind you...

The Silent CIty (2006)

I'm currently taking a few days to go back and write about all the short films I have seen over the years and had nowhere to express how I felt about them. This gem was found on accident (I don't recall what I was looking for, but I do remember this was bashed for being a fake whatever it was)

Set in a dystopian future (obviously in a city of some sorts) on a war torn planet (not sure if it is Earth or not, who really knows) where apparently on the Irish are still alive. Cillian Murphy (of Batman Begins The Edge of Love fame), Don Wycherley (Batchelors Walk),and Garvan Mcgrath star in this film. That is really all I can say about the cast, as it is just them three and some skeletons and some mysterious fast moving entity of sorts. The amount of reality shown in the few minutes is amazing, it is just what war is, dirty. Come to think of it, dirt might be another character, a kind of enviorment that reflects the people that live within it. It is short and to the point, just how it should be. Things happen and that is that, no beating around the bush with uneeded character developement. This also might be a method to his madness, showing how anonymous the face of war truly is.

Academy Award nominated director Ruairi Robinson pretty much was at the helm of everything (even the visual effects) and really shows true strength in the struggling world of modern cinema (be on the lookout for his Hollywood major motion picture debut with a live action version of Akira (I won't get into my opinions on this), and i'm dissappointed that this is not a feature length film as it would have been a great movie (something I can't really say about many short films). This is actually the reason he really broke out into the whole Hollywood scene (meaning he has an agent now) and it can only get better from here for him.

This also means things can only get better for you. Another independent genius has scored the ultimate gig. Be sure to keep an eye on him.

You can find this on Youtube, and again it is something to watch when you have some downtime.

Golgotha (2007)

I had been on a binge of short films a while back, and I remembered that Carlos Dengler (the bass player for the band Interpol) broke out onto the scene with Golgotha. Written and scored by the musician and photographed, edited, and directed by Daniel Ryan (who has gained some noteriety in the Chicago film scene lately), it beautifully displays the aspects of life that most of us take for granted and it's truly an emotion driven film. The stark contrasts between poverty and luxury are riveting, and the silent majesty of the cathederal (something, no matter social class, can find sanctuary in) is pefectly complimented by Dengler's triumphant score.

This little film has a big heart, and one can look at it in any number of ways. Does it mean that we have forgotten who sacrificed themselves for us (and still are), and does it matter to the cocktail downing party crowds that seemingly turn a blind eye to the real world? Or is it simply saying that it truly is religion that divides us? Whatever it is, i'm sure it's there somewhere.

If you've got some downtime in your day you can find this on YouTube, and I haven't heard anyone complain about something free, so do yourself a favor and watch it.

Gigli (2003)

If there was a movie that could single handidly destroy a large amount of classic genres, it would be this horrible piece of history that im sure a lot of people pay a blind eye to. This (as well as a partial request from someone) is the only reason I have watched this movie again (seriously no one should ever have to experience anything from this movie once, but twice...eh) No one should ever hear it's haunting name, let along watch the damn thing. This is probably the worst modern movie I have ever seen. Let me break it down into a vast cake baking contest I thought about last night. A cool Summer day on the country side....

Our head chef (baker, im not sure what he would be called) Martin Brest, who was actually an acclaimed direct..baker before today (Beverly Hill's Cop, Scent of a Woman, Meet Joe Black), but like most people in his area of work he wanted to be innovative (or he was apparently tired of being good at what he was being paid to do). He decided to do something a little different for todays competition, he decided to hire a brand new crew of helpers for this ( a couple of washed up has-beens and something called a "Bennifer" amongst others). Brest was going to go all the way with this, he has got some big named actors and a couple that is the eye of all media attention in those days. The only problem is when he wasn't looking someone switched all his chocolate out for shit, and he apparently has a bad nose.

First on the list (seriously the list is long) is the foundation of every cake, the humble list of ingredients (the script here people) used to ensure the rest of the cake will taste better than everyone else's and thus winning several awards. Brest stopped at the Devil's Food Store before the competition and picked up a few things that would help him win all the awards simultaneously and forever crown him the master of the cake (movie) world. The cashier should have warned him he was just buying different colors of the same stinky shit. The sript tries to blend all of these different genres of film (gangster flims, the buddy picture, a romantic comedy, the endearing tear-jerker and some weird rendition of a Three Musketeers) with it's quirky speeches that no one would ever say in real life. By the time these people get through with there "Triumph of the Will" dictorial reapings, no one is paying attention and quite frankly no one really knows why the hell someone would say that stupid shit. If you want something done right, cut out the fucking words and just do it. This is only the tip of this porta-potti iceberg.

Brest gets back to where he will be baking this cake and lays all of what he just bought out on the table. He entourage crowds behind him to see what they will use to win this little competition, and apparently they are all deaf, blind and dumb because they dont realize the train wreck that lay before them. One over-zealous cook backs away from the table with a smile, he can feel it, this is his moment...

This poor souls name is Ben Affleck, and he has had a somewhat moderate success in this world (he has been hit and miss his entire career), but he shows the world that he is the greatest baker (not the main baker, but the...whatever it is called) in this world or the next. Now, I understand the confusion here (if you aren't confused yet, congrats), "wait, isn't this movie horrible?" you say to yourselves, and yes it is probably the worst movie made in the last 10,000 years, but the only reason im giving Affleck such commendation is only because no one can act that much like a douchebag and not laugh in every scene. Affleck is amazing at keeping his composure despite knowing that this is making him look like the biggest ass on the face of the planet, and he puts his soul into it. Fact-Affleck cannot (CANNOT) be someone with a certain amount of "higher power"(in this case, some weird mafia affiliation) Fact-Affleck cannot (CANNOT) be a bad ass, he just isn't cut out for it, he is better off getting emotional over some lesbian (who isn't his wife (at the time)). Fact-Affleck's character is the father of all douchbags across the globe, he is the soul providor of all of their actions and ways of living, and he did this without anyone seeing him act in this movie. To sum it up, Affleck was not made for this part and it is quite sad to see him call himself a "gangstas' gangster true mack daddy pimp" or whatever the fuck it was. Brest does not realize this and he keeps crafting his ultimate shit storm.

The woman clung to Affleck as he begins mixing the flour with the eggs and butter(all made of shit by the way) is someone who I actually enjoy in a movie or two (The Cell (we will get to soon) and when she played Selena (the singer)), but for some reason she can't seem to stop holding onto Afflecks arm and plus she is dropping all the other shit into the wrong bowl and fucking up everything else as well, just burning the frosting (ive never been to a bake off, so im sure these are the only things left to do). She also suffers from being just a laughable character. She is some lesbian hitman or some shit who has a certain fondness for Thanksgiving (I will not ruin this for you, and the fact that you will never watch this movie will leave this little comment a mystery). She is both caring and cold, but bad at both on levels previously unknown to the world. Just a very unbelievable character in a cluster fuck of a world. Still burning the cake pan and the frosting, she smiles as she looks at her wedding ring. Insert the bells of tragedy here.

The young man sitting under the table yelling at the top of his lungs is Justin Bartha and he has every right to hide because he is an utter shame at what he does in this film. I guess I have to commend him for playing someone with a challenging life, but the sole fact that it is in this movie makes it an ignorant mocking of people with problems. Just bad taste is what it is, its not endearing when he has Affleck read ingredients to him or the fact he wants to go to "The Baywatch" its just salt in an open wound, and boy does it sting.

We look around Brest's cooking area and we see two old farts in the corner seeing who has the more badass DeNiro impression (he could not be there as he was preparing for the shitstorm Godsend). Al Pacino and Christopher Walker were the key ingredients in the crew of cooks and helpers that were destined to bring the blue ribbon home. The only problem is that both of these actors became irrelevant in the 90's (unless you think Scarface is amazing or you just can't get enough of Walken and his thing for a cow bell), but because they were somebodies at sometime Brest thinks that just having them in the movie (or baking the cake) he will score good numbers at the boxoffice (or judge's table). Im pretty sure i don't have to explain these two, as everyone knows they need to just retire with a little, if any, glory still left in those wrinkled skin bags of theirs. Bleh.

Everything else is just bad, bad, bad, bad. Im not going to waste anymore time here.

Brest is sweating as he carries his cake to the table to be evaluated by the sharp-eyed panel of judges. It's awfulness is dripping off of the platter it sits on and thus killing the green grass it touches as it lands. There is a brown aura that lingers around the 45 foot tall pile of hell-spawned refuse, but this doesn't stop Brest. He plops it onto the long table and the cake folds under its own horrible exsistence and seven of the 45 layers explode sending a thick brown sludge into the faces of the judges, burning them alive (there were flames and everything) and winning him absoluteley nothing, no ribbon, no nothing. Although someone does stop him and tells him that he has created the worst thing he has ever seen. Brest doesn't believe it, he turns to his crew as he knew they would never abaddon him in these times. His booth is empty, even the ghosts that dwell in ghosts towns and such aren't even there. They have all gone back to their homes to live with what they have done to the world, as it could not be taken back now. Brest is distraught and will never bake again (never direct again). Close curtains. Thank God.

Vormittagsspuk (Ghosts Before Breakfast) (1928)

This little short stop motion film (where an object is moved small amounts between frames, thus appearing to be moving on its own) is a creepy little movie. The thing is, the ghost are not the creepy part, its the group of four guys who seem to come in contact with spirits before their bowl of oatmeal, or in this case a cup of coffee.

To pretty much answer the question "how does a lunatic think?", well this movie is as close to answering that question. Involving flying hats that land perfectly on the tops of bushes (and eachother) and really creepy guys looking everywhere with deathly blank stares, seeming to have lost their hats (and sanitys) to some mischievous celestial beings (who are expert revolver stackers). Seriously, they could have been wax figures for all I know, they were that weird looking. Then there is a scene where a figure of a man is standing behind a target and another man is trying to shoot him, but suddenly the first guy's head starts spinning around. Then cue ghost gun stacking and spinning cutscene. Yea, pretty darn weird.


This actually has some of the more disturbing (not really for these times, but I thought they were a little bit freaky) scenes ive seen in some early work like this. The "beard rubbing scene" is probably the creepiest thing (the one guy who starts twisting his mustache..eh) and then the guy with the horrid (I mean hoorrid) teeth rocking his head back and forth while two guys bash eachother bare handedly.

These German guys were probably the greatest filmmakers of the 20's (even on into the early thirties, before the American noir movement) and Hans Richter's little film really shows how odd some of their material really was.

Maybe it was a good thing the Nazi's destroyed the sound version of the film, I cant imagine who could bare that experience.


Also, i dont quite understand why the guy with the hat on his head was looking for a hat as well, but maybe he was just helping the other weirdos out.




Furthermore, I just found a copy with music (not sure if it is the real deal, will look into it) and lets just say, its exactly what you would expect to be playing at some serial rapists barber shop.

Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom) (1975)

I first learned of a film that depicted the most horrendous acts of mankind with a artistic nonchalantness my final year in school. I could not believe that something so crazy had actually been produced, and i needed to see it. I purchased it soon after learning about its raw emotion and a well defined lack of concern, ended up being a bad bootleg, lost it (couldnt complain here really), but then this pox of a film was reissued by Criterion a few months ago, so i decided to pick up an actual copy of it, and i've seen a lot of things in my time, but this definetley takes the cake of just being the most deplorable piece of simulated hatred i have ever seen.

Killed just days before Salò's offical release, Pier Paolo Pasolini takes a story that is already saturated with things that aren't something that anyone should be proud of acting out (let alone write about it) and adds an all too familiar current day tone. A film so attrocious that the screenwriter has yet to see the movie he helped craft, and the multiple countries banning this film along the years only adds to the power of this social outcry.


On to the actual film. This is a downward spiral from beginning to end, there are no breaks in the constant skew of humanity. There is no pause or time to catch your breath, this is a constant barrage on everything we, as civilized people, hold sacred. The idea of seeing the majority of the movie from far in the distance was done on purpose. Pasolini wanted there to be thread of empathy for the actors on scree, he wanted us to all see what was happening as if we were there ourselves. There is no room to mourn or try and get an understanding of what is going on, this is the lowest of the low and Pasolini want all to know this.

To furthermore add to the unique quality of this film, the actors were kept in the dark about what was to be shot the next day until minutes before shooting actually began, so most of the reactions (and the young girl vomitting in the circle of shit) are real, these young people do not know what they stepped into and it is clearly showing in the faces. They are essentially degrading themselves in the name of art, and it is some of the strongest commitment i have ever seen in a movie.


This film offer no hope for redimption, you are not able to feel sorry for anyone involved in this film and you can't help but fail at trying to seperate yourself from the men commiting such acts, as you are just another pair of voyuristic eyes watching. The only redeeming quality this film has going for it is that it does in fact end eventually, but not as the credits roll, this film will resonate with you for days to come, never really leaving you no matter how much you try.

Shichinin No Samurai (Seven Samurai) (1954)

Now, despite what I may proclaim haphazardly about El Topo being as close to spiritual enlightenment as anything I have ever seen in this world or the next, know that it is only because I do believe that Alejandro is a God amongst mortal men.

In reality, Akira Kurosawa's MONUMENTAL film "The Seven Samurai" is, and forever will be, the greatest film produced by any mortal man (see? see?). Yes, i do believe that Kurosawa has the ever-so-keen "eye of the beholder" perceptions of the world around him, and he pulls out all the stops in the 3 hour plus statue of celluloid perfection to bring you a movie that will forever burn brightly, no matter how dense the shit storm is, and my friends, it is pretty fucking thick.

When i describe a film as "whole", what I mean is that every shot, from one side of the screen to the other, something is happening, as a true piece of art is suppose to present to the audience.

In every shot of this film, from one corner to the opposite, and even from one depth to the next, action is taking place, people are talking or doing something, or a horizon shot of a band of horse-clad bandits rides across the hills is taking place, and the fact of the matter is--you can see the entire group of bandits in the shot.

Perception is Kurosawa's middle name. He is the almighty mighty knowing Holy Meca of a man in the realm of perception. He knows the true art of every depth of vision and he makes them a true piece of the film, not something that lays empty in every shot. 3-D would be a good way to describe how "The Seven Samurai" looks. Don't view every shot as a flat image, but as a cube, there is action happening from 12 inches in front of the camera to 20 feet from it. There is so much going on in every shot that im curious to how he does it without making it a cluddered mess to look at, and it is obvious he is just that good at what he does.

On to my favorite part of this film, its lead actor (and my favorite), Toshiro Mifune. He is the most entertaining actor I have ever seen (the only thing to even come close to him would be Daniel Day-Lewis or...well Daniel Day-Lewis pretty much is it) and much live the way Kurosawa directs, Mifune acts. He is a very deeply intrisic man who one moment can be jumping off the ground excited to hunched down and snarling. He is intimidating, cruel, disillusioned, but also endearing, proud and commanding. A force that has certainly resonated a certain perfection in it's own right.

Everything about this movie has been crafted from the finest the world has to offer, from the actors to the action, the Director of Photography (a genius in his own right, more on him later im sure) to the horse wrangler and from the mud and the artificial rain, this movie has everything anyone will ever need in reality, but for everything else there is always El Topo.

Lot in Sodom (1933)

One of the few unspoken wonders of the silent era in film was that you could do just about anything in real life (a teacher, doctor, or even the cashier at the local drug store), but if you wanted to make a movie, you could and someone would consider you a genius.

Personally, im not one for stories from the Bible (just not as interesting as some might think), but when you have the word "sodom" thrown in there, one begins to think things are going to get bumpy (as interesting as it gets).

Sodomy sells people, and a little bit of homosexuality never hurt anyone, and salt, American lives on salt.


This (like most Biblical films) was done very well, a quality of work one would expect from a man with a medical degree (see? you could be anyone). It stuck to the story and didn't try and get all pretentious and outlandish like those haughty Europeans across the pond. This was the throwing of the gauntlet. This was proof that we know what the hell we are doing, even if no one else does.

On to the film,
The human furiousity depicted in this movie is insane. You really get a grasp of the energy and pure exhiliration of what went on in this little city of pure human indulgance.

The "experimentation" used in this movie is comprised of dissolves and images transfixed on top of other images (often a mirror image or the same shot flipped and ran along with the original. This is what seperates this movie from others in the same genre. Sodom was a place of pure debauchery and one can see it in the presentation. Even if you have no knowledge of this story (I have very little, but then again Wikipedia is always just a click away) this movie is just a good example of the type of Avant-Garde or Experimental film us Americans were bringing to the world (the 1930's, as you know, were the years of the German filmaker, and quite frankly some of the best films ever were made in this decade).

Another reason this movie scores high is that it was a complete turn from what Hollywood was shelling out at the time. The 30's in America were the years of early noir and crime dramas, and this was somewhere out in the left field (along with very few others, at least here in the states) of it all, and to be honest, this was really one of the forefathers of Avant-Garde in America, and brought about the birth of "alternative filmaking" and the postwar influx of art in every medium.
The basis of the story might turn some away (both the non religious and those afraid of clogged arteries ), but i can't recommend this movie more. It is always a pleasure to see the actualy beginnings of a movement. The best part of it all is that you can find it for free online (Public Domain here people), so at the end of it all you don't really lose out on anything.

Plus, whats more fun than seeing someone turn into a giant pile of salt?

Blacksmith Scene (1893)

Only clocking in at 36 seconds or so, this is one of the first actual uses of film as a medium for displaying an action or story (Dickson Greeting is actually known as the first film ever, just made seven years earlier), so this was pretty amazing for the time. Now though, its just thirty odd seconds of three men drinking and banging on some metal.

More of a test of equipment than actually telling a story of some sort, this little piece of cinematic history is just interesting to watch and see where filmaking all started.

Seriously, they are drinking beer and banging metal, it doesn't get any realer than that.

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

Only a few films have been made around the whole "flying carpet and magic rope" genre, and to be quite honest i think that is a good thing, as not to dilude an amazing world that is brilliantly portrayed in one of the finest pieces of Fantasy film i have seen in a while.

Douglas Fairbanks, the "The King of Hollywood" at one time, is AMAZING in this film as the Thief (although not the only thief). He plays the arrogant almost..."douchebaggish"....theif who through plowing his daily toll out of more civilized folk finds himself on a much grander scale adventure than stealing money from snobby townsfolk. This involves daring swordfights and deadly monsters, but all set to the silent hue of filmmaking, which i think is some of the finest film in the world.

Douglas Fairbanks. His silent film skills are mesmerizing, and the way he plays off his surroundings as nonchalantly as he does is incredible and he has a feeling of deep involvement in the characters that he plays. He knows he is telling a story and he wants to please adult and child alike, and through his acting he captivates the hearts of many, and very successfully mind you.

Besides great acting this movie also had really good (for the time) special effects. The magic rope actually had me taking a double-take a few times, it was that realistic. The quick cuts are done almost subtlely enough to make you think nothing was changed in the shot. No children were harmed in this movie (to my knowledge) so don't go thinking that now.

As with most silent films, the rest of the cast has to play off the figurehead of the film, and the cast of The Thief of Bagdad adds to the wonder of the entire scope of the film perfectly, both inhancing its wonder and dream like view and making this film more memorable.

These visual effects, along with Fairbanks and an amazing (although a bit cliched nowadays) story and this is what child's dreams are made of. This is the stuff of wonders and amazement. Fantasy is defined with this movie, not simply taken and contourted somehow, this is the definition of what fantasy is.

Much like Aladdin is to our decade, this was to the children of the 20's, and it hasn't lost any of its strength eighty years down the road. The lusterous glory of Arabian times still sows wonders in the heads of millions, and it isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

Symphonie diagonale (1924)

Ah, the land of Public Domain. a place where you can find true gems and hidden treasures, or really bad movies that are no surprise to have had their copyright run out. This little movie is, for lack of a better way to put it, not for everyone. There is no plot, sound,color, or anything but stark images on a black screen for an extended period of time. This images can be interpreted anyway you want (i thought they represented the beating of a heart, but that is just me) and it is done so abstractly that the list is infinite.

You wont find this film on DVD so look for it online (again, Public Domains are a good thing here) and there is no reason whatsoever that you would want to watch this movie other than the fact you can say you have seen it and further alienate yourself from your peers. With this being said, there is no reason not watch this movie, but most will feel that the seven minutes it takes you to watch this will forever be wasted. Just a little piece of Abstract pie that takes you back to when the whole idea of making movies was still a fresh idea in culture and the results were generally endless.

There is no real way to defend this little film, or even condemn it for that matter. It is simply a showing of one of the forefathers of Abstract/Avant-Garde film genre, and to be quite honest, it is one of the better presentations of said subject.It is abstract enough without totally confusing the viewer, but deep enough to envoke artistic thought on what is actually being protrayed.

Most "Avant-Garde" claiming movies out there are pieces of pretentious rubble that aren't worth your time (I might actually get to some of them soon enough), but this has just the right balance of imagery and lack of anything else that earns itself a proper place in the niche of Abstract film.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

As i skimmed my DVD collection today i noticed a ungodly blemish of a film on the bottom shelf. Imported from Australia and only watched once by my eyes is a movie not quite accepted for what it is but relished for everything it isn't. I bring you Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust, and friends this isn't going to be pretty.

Although not my favorite controversial Italian film ever (Salo by far is the greatest) but still a good piece of explotation cinema that blends actual movie style filming (which in my opinion was the downfall of an otherwise believeable "mockumentary, but more on this later) with guerilla-esque documentary style shooting (which gets pretty grisly). It tells the tale of a group of amatuer filmaker's as they set off for a wild excursion in the jungle "Heart of Darkness" style, but if you decided to break every rule there is. They just don't make them like this anymore, and I will try and sum up the whole thing without ruining it for you.

First of all, the violence in this movie is unlike anything you have ever seen or will ever see again in this life or the next. Not for the faint of heart or the ever so common animal lover, seriously, if you love animals to any extent other than considering them a pet than this movie is not for you, and I mean it. Real animals get slaughtered in the name of art and it gets pretty grisly (the turtle scene is by far the gastliest thing i have ever seen and this is only for the sake of the animal lovers i had to sit and watch this with. I wasn't effected much other than quenching my curiosity of what it looks like under a turtle's shell) and Deodato doesn't stop there and he adds a few rape scenes, a primitive abortion, an impalement, more blood, oh and some good ol' cannibalism. Did i mention a baby pig gets shot in the head? Yeah, there is some of that too. A monkey getting the top of it's head chopped off you ask? This movie delivers that in spades. The only aspect that seperates this from all those quasi-horror films or the current heap of gore filled cannon fodder they are passing as films these days is that the majority of this is real, yes REAL. I wont disclaim what is and what isnt (all the animal scenes are real mind you), but im sure this wont stop you from googling it anyway.

The only reason this movie isnt as good as it could have been is the beginning is shot like a movie and it decimates the overall momentum that this movie is suppose to have. If they just showed you the tapes they found on the decrepit carcasses of the camera man and his fellow friends then this would have been a monumental film in a genre that had already hit it's high point a few years before (Salo again) but they had to make it a movie and add in some cheesy 80's era acting that a few slides of text or even a narrator could have taken care of. Even in the wake of all this bad acting the movie still raised every red flag from here to Nantucket and back again. A few court cases and proof that everything was fabricated (not the animals dying though, sorry.) and what was left was a monsterous movement in the freedom that filmaking can garner to someone with a clear vision of what he wants and who he wants to upset.

Clearly im praising this movie to some extent and I do recommend this to anyone who likes to see something a bit different (read: unlike anything you will ever see). Not a good "family flick" or something you watch with the signifigant other, your mother, or anyone for that matter. This movie is to be watched alone with the drapes pulled down and behind locked doors, and for good reason.