Reviews

...for this is not your typical film. But i am sure that most of you on here know that by now. I was able to see this at the Walter Reade Theater in NYC this past Wednesday. Gaspar Noe was there with Nathaniel Brown and Paz de la Huerta for some Q&A after the viewing. We saw the "directors cut" and Noe was glad we saw it in that theater because it is said to have the best movie theater sound in NYC.

I have been following this for about a year now and I thought I would know what to expect..but I was wrong. This film for me played with my emotions. It seems to be a movie about family. The bond a family has and the loss of family..on many different levels. Being a parent I could say that maybe it effected me differently then if you don't have a child. I enjoyed spending time with the characters, watching different events in their lives unfold. I especially enjoyed the characters of Bruno, Mario, Victor and Alex. All of them played an important role in the downfall of Oscar and Linda..and as the story is told, I was very curious about what was happening or what will happen to them.

Noe takes us to a dark place, a very dark place, as he did in Irreversible. But this time its candy coated in hallucinatory visuals created by dimethyltryptamine. Everything is beautiful, bright, shimmering yet we are in some of the bowels of the earth. This film, I feel, is not as violent as his past two. Though there are some gruesome images in it, they are things that happen in life, a car accident, an abortion, he just takes us to that place and let's us watch. Knowing that Marc Caro worked on design of this film is just so amazing and you can see it throughout the film.

The story does go back and forth in moments of the lead characters lives. But by the end I wasn't quite sure if it was all just some heavy trip or what was going on was real. Noe does an amazing job at blending and mixing the story together, you are interested in every second of what is happening.

I will be seeing this again when it comes out in September and I am very interested to see what they cut out. It would be a shame kinda to see it altered from what we saw this past week...the movie was perfect in every aspect.

Cheers to Gaspar and the films actors and crew...you all have done a great job.

Pics from the Q&A

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I have seen some other Fuller films not knowing they were all his. The Big Red One, White Dog and Shark. So when I learned that this was made by the same director I was ready to go...until...this sleazy woman fantasizes all over the movie about changing her life and saving kids. And I could have not been any more bored for the entire film.

....and the real surprise came to me when my film professor said that this was on Criterion...I said "What?? This is on Criterion?" But now that I have thought about it I do understand why.

This is a story about hope and redemption..a sleazy whore trying to make good...that alone doesn't relate to my justification of why it is on Criterion...it's not a sleazy film..it is about sleazy people. These were new characters in the film world since the Hays laws were lifted. I feel that it is an important film for its time and for what it proceeded.

Some day I will try it again and try to keep these thoughts in mind...but not any time soon.

This was a different film from what I thought it would be...well..I wasn't really sure what to expect. Reading the synopsis before didn't do anything for me, but I gave it a chance and it was sooo wonderful. Bergman and Grant are fabulous, and so is Rains. Again, Hitchcock has a way of storytelling that keeps you at the edge of your seat, and Grant shines in front of that camera as he always does for film partner Alfred.

I'm not really one who is into spy films, but soon was proved wrong to my surprise. I found it interesting how deep the character went for the job she was fulfilling. She has to infiltrate some Germans by going undercover, or should I say under covers. The romance part of the film did not do anything for me, and so I put up with it knowing the best is yet to come...the suspense just builds.

But the best came at the end...when the German she personally infiltrated loses, he is forced to turn and face the other villains, and that is when I burst out loud in awe....One hell of an ending....wonder what they did to him??

Wow..another great Hitchcock film. I wonder if he was teased over his name growing up...anyway, again, Grant delivers another great performance under the direction of the legendary great director. I had never seen this until recently and glad that I waited. It has taken me a while to get into the "old classics", and now that I am more familiar with them and their actors, they have become more enjoyable.

The story is simple. Man marries woman. Man gambles, woman worries. Man lies, woman worries more. Mans best friend dies, woman worries even more. Woman worries about her life, Man seems to threaten it. Man sums things up, Woman was wrong.

The film possesses some great cinematography which you can always look forward too from Hitchcock, and a few good twists. And you just have to love Nigel Bruce as Beaky....

Watch this when you can. You don't have to rush because it's not going anyplace. It will be around for many repeat viewings.

I was so glad to have seen this film again. It had been many years since I had first watched it, and now seeing it, it was so much more of an important film to me. There are several little tricks that work on such a great level in this film that the next time I watch it I will be excited about this wonderful film. Joe's narration, opening the film with the end of the film, the set design of Norma's house, the superb cinematography and most of all Gloria Swanson. This is the only film I have ever seen of hers and she is so amazing. The character of Norma Desmond is one of a somewhat forgotten actress of the silent era who believes it is time for her great comeback to the silver screen. There is one problem though, she is a loon. Outright over the top whack job who obsesses on her career. Swamson is over the top. Very believable at times and as well, very laughable. There is a movie out there called The Forbidden Zone from early 1980's. The actress Susan Tyrell portrays a character very similar to the Desmond role, even in her facial expressions. I recommend this film to all who enjoy a good drama/thriller. I have a feeling that this film will never get old.

Wow....another great film from Welles. I watched this with no knowledge of what it was about, and what a surprise it was for me. He is, in my eyes, a genius. Every time I see another one of his films, I can't help noticing the brilliant originality of each one. Though it is not Citizen Kane, and it is not meant to be, it still has that amazing cinematography and insane characters all throughout the film. The characters are wacky, from Welles' bad Irish accent, which didn't bother me after a while, to Glenn Anders bizarre portrayal of George Grisby, which I thought stole the show.

The fact that they shot on location was wonderful. I feel the use of the outdoor light, especially on the boat, made the film so much more believable. The strange placement of what we would call green/blue screen today gave the film a surreal atmosphere, the scene in the aquarium was great with the over sized sea creatures. The court scene was fun and so was the ending in the mirror room....Welles sure was ahead of his time...wouldn't you say lover??

I have always loved this movie along side many other "cult" films throughout cinema's history. Freaks does not have the shock value that it had when I was younger, but it still stands strong as a bizarre film from it's time period. There are not many films that showcase people with physical disabilities the way this one does. Everyone is familiar with the classic "freak show", so I feel that because of this, it is easier to watch these people on film in a way that they are not exploited, at least this is how I feel. The acting is OK. Nothing amazing, but they do get the job done to convey the story. Watching this film made me look in to the backgrounds of the actors who portrayed the "freaks" and some of their stories are quite interesting. The films look is dark and creepy, mainly because it is set around a carnival/circus which one normally associates with being fun and cheerful. Because of the nature of events that takes place in the film, especially the ending when Cleopatra is revealed after being physically altered by the freaks into a "chicken lady", there is a very grotesque evil that surrounds the film and it's characters. I often compare this film to Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo and The Holy Mountain. It too uses people who are physically disabled in a bizarre and corrupt setting.

I just watched this for the second time, the first being many years ago, and I enjoyed it much more now that I'm older. Knowing the history of the time period this film takes place, it is interesting to watch it from the Southern view. This film was made only about 50 years after the Civil War, and because of that, for me, it holds more of a truth about the war that we might not see today in cinema. The story was enjoyable, yet very negative at times. It was interesting seeing the role of President Lincoln portrayed during the war, especially his assassination. The storyline of the brothers, and their family, was easy to relate to after knowing family members who have children serving overseas today in the military. The cinematography and imagery is bold and powerful for the time it was made. I can only imagine the controversy this film caused in the North when it came out. I read that their was a sequel made by a different director called The Fall of a Nation. It is now considered to be a lost film from what I read on Wikipedia. Too bad, I would have enjoyed seeing it.

I just watched this film for the first time today. I am not much a fan of westerns, but this was something more than a western, something very dark and depressing. I had to watch 12 Angry Men last semester in my Socialogy class and couldn't help but to feel both films have a similar tone, with Ox-Bow being much more dark. The acting was superb all around the table. I felt bad for the victims, worse for the people who believed the victims, and disgust towards the lynchers. The copy I streamed from netflix looked beautiful. the picture was crisp with wonderful cinematography. the scene when the camera pans around to reveal the shadows of the hanging men were more effective than actually seeing them in person hanging. And then the twist, I am always a fan of twists if they are done right, No Way Out being one of my favorites, and this worked very well. I thought that would happen but then it didn't, and right as I thought all was done it hits you. I recommend this film to all, western lovers or not, I can see why this stands the test of times.