Tetsuo: The Iron Man

This movie defied description when I saw it. Thankfully somebody did that for me, alas:

from mandiapple.com: 

Widely accepted as one of the most groundbreaking and seminal cyberpunk movies ever to have been produced in Japan, directed by and starring Shinya Tsukamoto, one of the most critically-lauded directors in the world, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, a super-short black and white movie (running at precisely 67 minutes) more suited to the art world than the cinema, is also notoriously one of the most difficult to both watch and indeed understand.

With its cacophonous, grating industrial soundtrack matching graphic, brutally hyper-kinetic imagery, and with one infamous scene in particular grabbing the public's attention (involving... errr, shall we say, the world's largest revolving drill bit and a sensitive part of the human anatomy ;-D), and deranged, incomprehensible plot,Tetsuo has often been referred to as an 'assault on the senses'. And yet on watching it, it's really hard to believe that a movie this far ahead of its time was actually produced in 1988.

Now with that being said, I immediately fell in love with this movie on the first viewing and plan on watching it again and again. This is really saying something considering I'm not one of those people who will watch the same movie a hundred times.

Easily in my top 5 of all time.

Mauvais Sang

MAUVAS SANG. 1986.

(ENGLISH: THE NIGHT IS YOUNG/BAD BLOOD)
I'm sure no one is surprised that I picked a bizarre, visually-striking French film for my first post. Directed in 1986 by Leos Carax, Mauvais Sang could be said to have many resemblances to the early storytelling of Jean-Luc Godard. Likewise, it has many of the same sort of quirks. Throughout the film there are drastic changes in the color and pace of the film, from still shots of only red, white, and black, to a graceful green and blue skydiving scene. There is plenty of comic relief, ecstatically different from the dreary color filtered scenes of only red and black.

Being a French film, the actresses are intolerably beautiful. Mauvais Sang has two of the best: a young Juilette Binoche and Julie Delpy, who was 17 during the making of the film. The male lead, Denis Lavant, does a good performance but the character is difficult to understand. Which brings us to the plot. Just like Godard, Carax has a habit of ignoring the viewer when it comes to plot details, almost as if saying, "If you want a detailed plot that makes sense, read a book." So he concentrates on things books can't: color, movement, and faces.

Mauvais Sang takes place in Paris in the future. Two men of indeterminate origin owe lots of money to an American gangstress, so they decide to employ the son of one of their old friends to steal an antidote for the STBO virus, which attacks lovers who make love without love. To enjoy the film, none of that knowledge is necessary. To put it succinctly, the movie is beautifully shot, and it is that, the overal atmosphere given by the camera and the actors, that make this film good.

die welle (the wave) (2008)

"it doesn't matter who's the best-looking, most popular or successful. the wave has made us all equal."

the wave is a german film that follows a high school class spiraling out of control. rainer wenger is a new and unorthodox teacher; he wears a ramones t-shirt, sports multiple tattoos, and is really excited to teach a curriculum about anarchy for a special week long class project. unfortunately due to circumstances he instead is forced to teach about autocracy. he decides to make the best of the situation, and make the class fun by trying a simulated dictatorship in the classroom setting. before the week is over his novel approach to education will have unforeseen consequences.

this was a pretty great movie, though a little less than what i was expecting. some of the soundtrack was a bit suspect, but capturing the nuance of youth culture is a difficult task. i was most impressed at how well the spirit of the wave was conveyed to the audience. it never felt like what the students were doing was forced. which is surprising given all the events take place in a single week and how quickly they fall into line within the movement. a fine movie about the dangers of fascism.

Fishing With John

"The fishermen wake up excited to be alive. They hope for good weather and good luck. Both fisherman are covered with sores and boners."





Ok, so this isn't a movie. Fishing With John was television show in 1991 that only lasted six episodes. Actor and musician John Lurie, a man who knows nothing about fishing, is the host. Watch him take his famous friends(Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillion, and Dennis Hopper) on bizarre trips in search of sharks, giant squids, and other underwater creatures.





I recomend you smoke a bowl before watching.

Check the comments for more info.

Brick

Brick is a 2005 American film noir written and directed by Rian Johnson. It was Johnson's directorial debut and won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Brick was distributed by Focus Features, opening in the United States on April 7, 2006, in New York and Los Angeles.

The film's narrative centers on a hardboiled detective story that takes place in suburbia. Most of the main characters are high school students. The film draws heavily in plot, characterization, and dialogue from hardboiled classics, especially from Dashiell Hammett. The title refers to a block of heroin, compressed roughly to the size and shape of a brick.

check in the comments for more info.