"I just wanted to come here." - "To Winkie's?"
A dream. A nightmare. A fever dream.
"Just call me Coco. Everybody else does."
I want to write something about Mulholland Drive, but I have no idea what, or how. The film has been analyzed into detail to death and then some (it feels like the movie that could have given birth to the genre of [Insert film title] explained! videos on Youtube), and re-treading the generally accepted reading of the…
Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert...
Forty years ago today, the first episode of Fassbinder's magnum opus Berlin Alexanderplatz first aired on German television, and it is my intention to watch every single episode on its 40th anniversary - a project that will keep going until December 29th. This review will get updated after every episode.
The first episode, aptly titled The Punishment Begins, opens with our main character's release from prison, where he served a four-year sentence for manslaughter. Franz…
I have few genuine complaints about The Subject Was Roses, except that I just didn't find it very interesting. The family dynamic at its core feels like it has been explored plenty of times before (especially in stage plays), and Ulu Grosbard doesn't find an approach that makes it feel any fresher. The performances are good, but not good enough to really elevate it to something particularly memorable.
I have seen Charly only once before, and ever since, Cliff Robertson's performance has been my go-to answer when asked to pick the worst Oscar-winning performance ever. Re-watching it, I see no reason to change my mind. It's the stereotype of a mentally challenged man, all hammed-up surface level with no depth, and never coming across as anything else but lazy. I had to start directing my attention elsewhere to stop cringing. And it's not a serviceable performance when his…
So you are telling me it is possible to make a documentary about fugitives living in absolute poverty in a camp in Kabul without just reveling in the worst aspects of their fate, but actually showing them as human beings with hopes and aspirations and agency? And you're telling me that, by letting us get to know your protagonists, rather than letting them remain a cipher that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse get unleashed upon, you manage to get…
Proof you can tackle a hard topic in short film form without getting tacky, or expolitative, or just indulging in misery without saying anything about it.
The Red Suitcase almost feels like a thriller, and it certainly builds up the tension like one.
