by Sam Juliano
Heat and humidity have reigned supreme over the Memorial Day weekend, of which today is the annual day of remembrance for those who perished in the armed forces serving our nation. For many trips down the shore and home barbecues have been the favored venues. Moving into June this week others are tackling trip plans, upcoming graduations, retirement dinners and various outdoor activities, while others remain in holding patterns under the air conditioning.
Ballots for the upcoming science-fiction films countdown continue to trickle in, and will do so until the June 15th deadline. The Top 50 countdown will begin on Monday, June 27th. After the ballots are tabulated by Angelo D’Arminio Jr. writing assignments will be offered up by group e mail.
Lucille and I attended a retirement dinner and hosted family dinners for the birthdays of two of our kids this past week, otherwise we saw a single movie in theaters and for me a torrid week of at-home viewings:
Love and Friendship **** (Saturday evening) Chelsea Cinemas
At home:
The Jester’s Tale **** 1/2 (Czechoslovakia; 1969)
Symphonie Paysanne ***** (Belgium; 1942-44)
Skippy **** (USA; 1931)
Distant Journey **** 1/2 (Czechoslovakia; 1950)
Shukuzu **** (Japan; 1953)
She and He **** 1/2 (Japan; 1953)
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun **** 1/2 (Japan; 1972)
Times of Joy and Sorrow **** (Japan; 1957)
Hard to be a God **** 1/2 (Russia; 2013)
The Last Command ***** (USA; 1928)
THE LAST COMMAND was a re-viewing on a just acquired Masters of Cinema blu ray; HARD TO BE A GOD was also a re-viewing of a film I had seen originally in the Anthology Film Archives. I had a major change of perception with this second viewing.
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Writers/Founders
Wonders in the Dark 
Love & Friendship…how was it? To borrow a quote from the esteemed Allan Fish…”utter shite!!!”
Aye, that is a famous phrase for sure Bob!!! 🙂
What I have always liked about Broadway Bob is that he never minces words. He disavows political correctness!
Ha, you got that right Peter! 🙂
That’s a mighty fine set of movies you watched at home, Sam! Was Hard to be a God watched in connection with the sf countdown?
Hope you’n’yours are having a great holiday weekend.
John, I am a man to do things in spurts, and the latest movie binge will definitely be continuing through the summer. 🙂 To answer your question, yes, HARD TO BE A GOD was absolutely re-viewed for the purpose of the science-fiction countdown. Had a very nice weekend and now am preparing for another. Many thanks as always; enjoy your own weekend!
Sam, the tulips are in full bloom here on the east coast of Canada in Prince Edward Island where I am still photographing and painting for another couple of weeks. Spring comes late and fast on this fine island and it has been a thrill to be here for the transition, including the last snowfall, the opening of lobster season and the arrival of the first cruise ship. But today will be warm and humid with fog patches, some sun and thundershowers.
All the best of the time bridging us into full summer!
Terrill, I am green with envy my friend! I don’t know if I have told you this, but I have mentioned it at the site a number of times that there is NO PLACE I want to visit more in the western hemisphere that Prince Edward Island. Not only is it lauded by many to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but it is also host to all the Anne of Green gables activities, which I would love to partake in with my family. Your own appraisal of the glorious meteorological aspects have me salivating. I know they will provide you with added inspiration too! Enjoy your weekend my friend!
https://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/24-anne-of-green-gablesanne-of-avonlea-19851987/
Quite a week of home viewing Sam! By the looks of the ratings you honed in to the films that were the most likely to impress. I’ve only seen The Last Command of these, and agree it is top-drawer.
No sign of heat abating.
Yes, I did indeed employ the loaded deck method Frank! Ha! I have been working hard watching films either reviewed or highly recommended by Allan Fish, catching up with the catalog in so doing. It has been hot for sure, but the last two days have been cooler. Have a great weekend!
Sam — I just looked up and watched the movie trailer for “Love & Friendship.” It looks hysterical! We’re definitely going to see it!
Laurie, I’d wager even money you will make the connection to it in a very big way. Len will like it too methinks. Many thanks my friend. have a super weekend.
Haven’t heard of Love and Friendship and it looks interesting. Lots of home viewing for you on the list. We have watched nothing recently as the kitchen remodel was ready for painting and final detail work which was on our list of tasks…we had to race through the weekend while carpenters were not here and last night we moved back in (one drawer pull short of finished) Now to figure out how the oven works – oh my! we are just sitting down and looking at how beautiful it is. Roof next – still unresolved.
Thank you for all your comments on my book reviews…I will get there to respond as soon as I am able this week. Thank you so much.
I have gotten behind and am reading like a fend to get up to date and maybe even a book ahead. Readers are way down so need to perk up my blog and connections because I am reviewing some amazing books right now
Stay cool. We are up in the 70s today with the 80s by the end of the week. Nothing like June usually is – hot, hot!
Thanks for the good words. Happy Birthday to all
Thank YOU so very much Patricia! Seems our temperatures are just about what yours have been even though we are 3,000 miles apart. But moving forward we can really anticipate nothing but scorching weather I’m sure. Ugh. Good luck with all the at home challenges you have been facing. I’ll certainly be following your latest book reviews. They are always excellent. Have a great week my friend!
Hello Sam and everyone!
I hope you’ve had some fine weeks, I’ve been spending some time with some movies and a lot of work myself, so sorry for my absence. Here’s what I saw:
– The Clan (2015, Pablo Trapero) *** There’s something weird about this film. It never truly made a connection with me, even if I can really point to a few flaws in it. I do think that it’s made with some sense of how a film works and how it’s directed, and it has some long shots that are interesting (even if too reminiscent of Goodfellas) I think that the use of music is particularly obnoxious as much as its use is ironic, in fact, when it’s more ironic, the less it works. Trapero is capable of some interesting elements, but here they are all in service of something that is anchored in reality and thus it only has the interesting beats that the real history has, and thus, a lot of dead time and a lot of repetition of certain moments just because of the shock inherent in them.
– El Hilo Rojo (2016, Daniela Goggi) ** I work for the production company that co-produced this movie. So, you’ll have to believe that rating as I can’t say anything else about it. Yeah. This is the time when the film critic/film worker tensions start to arise, don’t they?
– Hyperlinks or It Didn’t Happen (2015, Cécile B. Evans) **** This is the cinema of the future.
– It Came From Outer Space (1953, Jack Arnold) *** Certainly influential and seminal to what was going to be the cinema of aliens and invasions of the 50’s, but in a way the lack of interest of the aliens in the humans could and was transported to my mind as I watched it. While short and sometimes eventful, it still lacks a real conflict and the wooden acting from the main character, nor his apparent lack of trust. I couldn’t believe him either, and I could see the damn alien!
– Out 1 (1971, Jacques Rivette) ***** After I saw the first two “episodes” of this film, I went to sleep. I had never had such vivid, weird, creative and absolutely entrancing dreams in a long time. I don’t know what’s in this, I think that the imagery isn’t exactly dreamy or visually entrancing as other films from the time, but maybe there’s something in the sound design that led me to completely abstract myself from my thoughts and find myself confused, befuddled, yet still inspired beyond anything I’ve been subjected to in a long time at the movies.
This has been a year of discoveries, and I don’t mean just in movies. For some reason, the character of Leaud in this is something I can so easily identify with. There are some mannerisms and the way that he moves, the way that he talks, that he slowly but surely builds confidence after being confined under his façade that hid his personality and voice… I can identify with that, and with the obsession with secrets, codes and secret societies.
I know that I’ve barely scrapped the tip of what this movie has to offer, and I think I’ll rewatch it soon… maybe when I’m 30. And I’ll find myself finding so much more and this might be my favorite movie of all time.
I’d hate to be the guy that might say that Out 1 is his favorite film of all time, though.
– Quay (2015, Christopher Nolan) ***1/2 A loving portrait.
– Raw Force (1982, Edward D. Murphy) ***1/2 Like a encyclopedia of Film Exploitation, where everything that made it to the craze in the 70’s is featured or alluded to. There’s a woman-in-prison element with the prostitutes that are sold and put in wooden/bambu cages to be later sacrificed. There’s gore when they are eventually sacrificed. There are zombies, and a long strip tease sequence, so you have your nudies. Kung-Fu, American made, and even the Asian man looks like Bruce Lee, so you have kungfusploitation and brucesploitation. There’s even a character that resembles Hitler, and thus we’ve come full circle and gone down the Nazisploitation genre! There’s guns, so there you have your action, swords and sombie samurais, and even a late entry into the film: Nature gone wild, starring piranhas that no one knew where there in the first place. So, this film feels the same as when you go through the pages of a fully colored and illustrated book on Exploitation Cinema of the 1970’s and 80’s, but here you have more plot, a bunch of ridiculous characters, a constant anxious almost too willing to please approach to filmmaking, but in a way, honest in its intentions of just having lots of fun.
PS: It ends with a TO BE CONTINUED… I WANT MY SEQUEL DAMMIT
– La Ronde (1950, Max Ophuls) **** I just closed mine, I hope you close yours.
– Santo y Blue Demon contra el doctor Frankenstein (1974, Miguel M. Delgado) *** It was fun! I mean, the first 10 minutes are like a discovery, like plunging into a completely undiscovered territory, where you haven’t seen acting/overacting as glorious as the one displayed, nor imagery/shots as ridiculous as the ones put together here. Later it turns into something more formulaic, but there are certain elements where the weirdness pops out again. Sadly, must say, that the wrestling parts were my least favorite, as acrobatic and brutal as they seem.
– Ugetsu (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi) **** I needed a rewatch of this, after hearing so many times that this was such a masterpiece and important cinematic landmark, but I still find myself kinda cold on it. I think that Mizoguchi did much better in other films, and while I do think that it’s masterful, it’s a bit… how can I say this… preachy? I know that Mizoguchi had to concede certain plot points so the film wasn’t all sad and miserable, but I think it kinda has an agenda towards the kind of people that are valuable in daily life and those that aren’t. Bold, but I think it hits a bit too hard. Still, it’s a beautiful film and it manages to bring up emotions in the viewer.
– Zootopia (2016, Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush) **** “Racism is Bad: The movie” is surely a good pun, but it does what it sets out to do, it does it right and leaves a message for the intended audience while still delivering a fun, engaging and never dumbed-down narrative. It plays with the idea of creating action sequences around the anatomy and biology of the animals represented, making great use of the vast amount of space that could be animated.
That’s all, have a great week everyone!
Jaimie, it is always a treat to get your contribution on this weekly thread. Your performance has really been beyond incredible, so I completely understand when you are tied up. What I find most remarkable is that you haven’t been absent far more than you have been! No single person has visited these MMDs as often, nor as passionately (yes people like Jeffrey Goodman, John Grant and Frank Gallo are high up there too) but you have been at it for years my friend. I thank you many times over! I also was not overwhelmed by UGETSU the very first time I saw it, but I’ve since taken a much different position on it. I consider it a masterpiece, but SANSHO is my own favorite Mizoguchi. I also consider Ophuls’ LA RONDE a masterpiece, and plan to revisit OUT 1 again very soon on the Arrow release. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE is a terrific science fiction film that may well make our final cut. Still need to see the other films you speak of here. Have a great week!
Sam, I’ll have my ballot ready by the weekend. Thanks for forwarding me the copies from the others!
Thanks so much Ricky! Greatly looking forward to it!
Hello Sam! Wanted to stop by and let you know that I too will be completing a ballot for the science fiction countdown. I’m sorry that I haven’t been placing comments since your great Caldecott series of late 15 and early 16, but I plan to be more active for the sci-fi. I do follow all the new posts.
Tim, so great to hear from you my friend! As I said to Ricky above I am thrilled to have your participation in a project that has suddenly taken off. I did appreciate all your comments during the Caldecott series, and look forward to your ballot.
Sam, thanks for sending out my ballot to the group. I’m eager to see how it all pans out mid-month!
Quite a marathon week of Japanese films viewings!
Thanks so much on both counts Peter!
Sam, congrats on the bdays of two of the kids. I know those were great evenings!
Wow, you did have a torrid week of at-home viewings and it sounds like a number of those were quite rewarding. Nothing seen unfortunately this week but I plan to change that very, very soon!
Hope all is great, Sam!
Sam, congrats on the bdays of two of the kids. I know those were great evenings!
Wow, you did have a torrid week of at-home viewings and it sounds like a number of those were quite rewarding. Nothing seen unfortunately this week but I plan to change that very, very soon!
All is well my friend, thanks so much for the very kind words! Yes this particular week yielded some very great films indeed! There remain masterpieces out there that need to be discovered. 🙂 Many thanks as always for your incredible support and passion!!