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SCREENING LOG
- 10/15-10/21, 2001
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I watched Iron Monkey, Fires on the Plain, Les Vampires,
400 Blows and Zoolander. In order of preference:
Les Vampires (1914, Louis Feuillade)
I finished parts 5 and 6 of this 8 part serial, and it remains
compulsively watchable, thanks in no small part to the appearance
of the GRAND VAMPIRE, who lays a paralyzing handshake on his
unsuspecting victims. Humor and horror are mixed with a visual
and thematic sophistication well ahead of its time.
Fires on the Plain (1959, Kon Ichikawa)
I'm not a big fan of those "best war films ever made"
lists that pop up on the Boards; bestowing such honors seems
dubious at best. However, I have no qualms with giving this
film the rightful claim of being one of the most horrifying
depictions of war I've ever seen. This account of defeated
WWII Japanese soldiers struggling to survive on a Philipine
island depicts a human devastation comparable to Klimov's
COME AND SEE -- but what makes this film a superior work is
that the horrors aren't attributed solely to the enemy. Ichikawa
is all too eager to acknowledge that horror comes from within,
and leads to unspeakable acts -- the effects may be sensationalistic
but unlike with most war movies, you certainly can't accuse
Ichikawa of glamorizing his subject matter.
400 Blows (1959, Francois Truffaut)
Not much I can say about one of the most influential films
of its time, other than that it's a must see. The only thing
I could think of to knock this masterpiece is that it smells
a bit of self-pity, which ended up being the one trait most
copied in the countless semi-autobiographical rip-offs that
have followed it.
Iron Monkey (1994, Yuen Woo-Ping)
I heard they sped up the fight scenes for the American re-release,
but whatever the case it is a superior film to CROUCHING TIGER
in so many ways. It's themes are more uniform, the action
is more breathtaking, the emotional range is broader and it's
more entertaining on the whole. Those who want the soaped-up
Masterpiece Theater version of kung fu movies can look elsewhere.
Zoolander (2001, Ben Stiller)
Harmless piece of stylized fluff written, directed and performed
by Ben Stiller -- it's nice to see him break out of his hapless
schmuck niche and try something more glamorous. The plot is
as stupid as the characters and not worth the effort to summarize.
I was entertained for a bit before both I and the film ran
out of gas halfway through -- I could tell the cast had fun
making it, and I felt happy for them.
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