Change Your Image
RobbyHegmann
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againArthouse, in my opinion, represents the films that try to experiment outside of the limits of standard and stereotypical cinema as well as those who attempt to characterize the human consciousness in some form. The genre is a quite serious one, while it allows comedy in it, it's always predominating an emotive meaning over the pure entertainment; which allows to immidiately discard some films from it.
Reviews
Paris, Texas (1984)
Express the unexplainable
"Paris, Texas" is one of my favorite films of all times, and the thing about this pick is that I can't say with certainty why. The movie starts very empty, showing us a Travis that has isolated himself for some unknown reason. Once you know why (or once you think you know) it still becomes mysterious by leaving gaps in the story. The film is all about unexplainable details, but that's its core: expressing that feeling. There is some romance in his loose actitude, and the soundtrack as well as the visuals help to highlight the lonelyness. Finally it reaches a climax, except that it becomes a monologue rather than a dialogue, the picture is still uncomplete, until he adquieres the braveness to say it out loud; suddenly everything makes sense, and all the things untold in the dialogue becomes clear with the shots and expressions of the two protagonists: it's a love story through pictures rather than words and it does what cinema does (or should attempt to do) best: capture a living feeling, a sensation; the sensation of that inconclusive relationship. It's not a happy ending, but it's definetely not a sad one. It's a bittersweet life.
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Iconic romance
Often recommended as one of the best romances ever, "When Harry Met Sally..." is a completely recommended pick, very funny and having one of the most memorable couples in movie history.
Both Harry and Sally are initially shown as incompatible, almoust oposites, but as the movie goes, we, the audience, realize that their personalities are actually complementary. Their conversations become more emotive and intimate with time, both changing to become better and the good cinematography emphatizes that; specially with details as the multiple split camera scenes (which seemed to be the hardest to film).
Talking about the singular elements, the script is amazing, one of the best in the genre, the movie has a lot of quotable lines itself, but that doesn't define a good script, but rather the smoothness in their conversations and -a very important thing- self-refering quotes that -like a postmodern book- criticize constructively the stereotypes in both the fictional and real romance (with data as the "fake ; rate or the male/female frienships). This kind of elements give an intelligent aspect to an already enjoyable tape, but of course, it all reduces to that question: is it worth your time? To which I assure you it is.
Höstsonaten (1978)
And Bergman made it again!
Some days ago, I was thinking about my absolute top 10 favorite films, and how I'd include Wild Strawberries as #2 spot. That reminded me, it was a long since I've seen anything from Bergman, so, by many reasons I ended picking this one up, without the impressions that it would blew my mind, but it did. The next day, I told a friend of mine to watch this film and I ended up describing it as "imagine an Allen screenplay, but more expressive and in which everyone is as eloquent as him"; we ended up laughing, but I really meant my words. Bergman is by far one of the best screenwritters I've got the pleasure to enjoy and he really shines in this one.
Maybe the problem is that it doesn't have the existentialism of "Seventh Seal" or introspectiveness of "Persona", but believe when I say that this is one of the most intense films I've ever seen. The psychological relationships, the overall emotion is just breathtaking; sum to that a wonderfull classical soundtrack, with a unique depth and analysis into some hidden jems of romanticism and the barroque era and you have a hell of a weekend plan. That's not all, since every character is very sensitive and -as I said- eloquent, although it may be best to say observant; their indirect judges make such joy the experience when confronted together, it makes my heart jump out of my chest.
The magic of Bergman relies on the fact that he can make this good of an experience with a very simplistic stage or situation; just like "12 Angry Men" has become known for its perspicacity while ocurring in a single room, "Autumn Sonata" develops practically in a single house. It feels as human as it can get, and while I don't think emotions could ever be explained in its totality through words, Bergman is the one who scores higher in his attempts. Watching a work of him is like reading a dramatic but somehow romantic novel, such about family, love and unsolved problematics; plus the element of music, what else could I ask?!
Irréversible (2002)
Painful... but worth it!
'Irreversible' is one of the best examples of what "experimental" cinema is, but also, is quite an experience, a painful one. If you're thinking about seeing this film, I must warn you about the long shots whose rotation and unsteadiness will certainly give you the vertigo, and it'll probably make your head dizzy; getting over it, you'll watch endless scenes whose brutality and crudity could make you puke, if you decide to never stop the film nor cover your eyes, you'll be victim of one of the most disturbing pictures there are, for sure.
Getting ahead of it, Noé is one of the most idiosincratic directors alive, this is probably his masterpiece, putting you in the shoes of a dramatic and grievous story, that I personally consider it to be one of the best ones of the decade, it's morally denegrating and ambiguos, it's filthy, in the sexual sense, it's symbolic and immersive, and it truly hurts; every second felt like an eternity, which is positive due to the image that it aspires to give. It's an experimental and innovative film, way ahead of its time, with characters that are as honest and real as you can get, with actitudes, a screenplay and overall, an acting, that many films could only wish to obtain. I can see a lot in western cinema coming from this early tape, and I mean 'early', because two iconic details in Nolan's films I've seen them depicted here, way before they released. The scenes are so well designed that I felt the need to watch a "Making Of" series, since I constantly thought it seemed too real to be recorded. And halfway through I started to fing symbolism and metaphores worth of a Kubrick film, in fact, you can see one referenced near the ending (not hard to spot), which is something quite new to the millenial cinema, there was a long time ago since I hadn't see a good use of such elements. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant... and painful (in a relatively positive way).
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Powerfull!
Spike Lee is one of the most remarkable directors of the decade, independent of your political posture it is undeniable that his works have highlighted minorities and racial issues, he is the main voice of a movement, and that is a hell of a thing to do! That said, while personally I disagree with the "Black Lives Matter" movement in the present, I enjoyed a lot this picture, there is so much to tell about it: Let's start with the trivials, the editing was marvellous, you can easily detect a music motif, but out of that, the scenes were all so cleanly orchestrated, the story was smooth and credible; the film was comical, everyone at the cinema were loosing their asses at a couple of scenes (I would mention some examples, but I'd rather not to avoid spoilers), but much more acknowledgeable is the fact that the movie is capable of building tension and creating suspense when necessary, but also has the hability to loose and be funny at times. It's immersive, powerfull, very straight-forward with its intentions, it's beautiful to watch and although it's not too partial (politically, I mean) it makes some breathtaking parallels, it's filled with smart simbolism, and it's definitely one must-watch tape of the 2018
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Unbelievable mediocre
Freddie Mercury is such a character! As a singer he's definetely one of the top 10, as a composer he's shown to be unique and revolutionary as no-one else before, and he had such an exotic and interesting life, what a pity that it wasn't that well translated to the screen. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is far from being the best motion picture of the year, it isn't even a good film, the editing was the worst part overall, songs that diserved full treatment (such as "Bohemian Rhapsody") were cutted while other songs were fully displayed (and the time didn't lacked, there is simply no explaination for this choice), also the screenplay was very poor, I can't remember any quote or time I felt dragged into the play, in fact I remember times were I thought the dialog was very empty and even irritating. The film takes 30 minutes just to play music, 20 of them to recreate the "Live Aid" concert -which I strongly recommend you to see instead of the film montage-, and that is the biggest reason people overrate this movie, because of the sensation of being in a concert, but if that is your objective go buy a real concert of Queen (i like the 1986, live in Rio performance), but that shouldn't be the objective of a biographic play. The film tries to treat so much topics (his relationship with his dad, his friendship with Mary, Queen's stability, his sexuality) but none of them actually utilized any simbolism or metaphores, everything was explicit and felt both bland and cliché, which is awfull to say while watching a (pseudo) biography of Freddie! If there is something to highlight was Rami Malek's interpretation, the excentricism and glamour of Mercury was quite well captured, the personage felt as the real man, also Gwilym Lee looks just like Brian May! But good interpretations can't save a mediocre storyline, narration, lack of deepness and melodramatic exageration. If you like musicals look at "Cold War", this is a far better one.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Mediocre at best, not recommended
As a lifetime fan of Star Wars I've seen a few of the best films in mankind included in this saga and quite another "meh" choices. For any Star Wars fan that has seen the six films they can already see that you'll be way happier to only remember the original trilogy (ep. 4, 5 and 6), because the prequel trilogy was a complete mess (maybe except for the ep. 3). One of the main critics for the ep. 1 is the fact that it feels forced, has awfully boring characters, dialog and is the same story from the ep. 4 (which is already based in the stories of "Dune" and Kurosawa's films). The same can be applied to ep. 7. First question: should you watch it? If you have the chance, you could. Should you pay for it? Absolutely not. The film is, once again, a recreation of the ep. 4, Ray is the most inbelieveble character in the whole saga, she has more control over the force than Luke, came literally from nowhere and beats Kylo Ren in her first use of the lightsaber. The story is extremely cliché, the only difference between the revels blowing the death star is that this one is bigger (kind of like an advertisment: this film's death star is bigger and deathly-er!). Luke just dissapeared because, reasons? And while the idea of having two protaginists (Finn and Ray) was good it just didn't work, oh! And everything just doesn't make sense. Did I mention that Ray has no experience or training with mastering the force and suddenly seems to be more skilfull than any other character? Yeah, that happens too. Ray is a complete Mary Sue and this film is both mediocre and disrespectfull to the original trilogy (well, almoust everything after these were mediocre and disrespectfull). Don't spend money on it
Isle of Dogs (2018)
One of Anderson's most idiosincratic work
"Isle of Dogs" is a japanese-ambiented stopmotion picture about a distopic future where dogs are banned and expeled to an outer trash island. It features a fantastic mix between animation styles (hand-drawned 2D for TV scenes) and languages (humans speak japanese, but dogs "english") making it an incredibly satisfactory immersive story that'll keep you awake as long as it takes. Even better, it doesn't feel dark and depressive as it sounds, it actually is quite fun and comical in a lot of scenes; the narration is filled of memorable and iconic characters, it actually makes you doubt about the ending (wasn't 100% unpredictable, but it's not annoying, at all) and overall it makes you reflect, as any sci-fi distopia would, perfect both for adults and children, you'll encounter an unforgettable experience and a magnificent looking picture, also a very original one, in an era where "good animation" stands for Pixar's blockbuster proyects or japanese anime it is always reconforting to see a big production to vary. Also, don't think the production will be simplistic, it is extremely perfectionist, at the level (or even higher) than "Fantastic Mr. Fox", and the "fantastic" in the name it is not misplaced. Totally recommended.
A Quiet Place (2018)
A horror film that scares!
The last years have been pitiful for the horror genre, how many of these films actually scared you, or gave you shivers for a long period of time? Personally not much of them, "A Quiet Place" is one hell of a good movie because it scares! If I gave it a 7/10 is because I didn't get too many actual metaphores, social critiques or contextual treatments as in other movies as in "Rosemary's Baby" for example, but it accomplishes what it proposes to, to scare you, and that is a lot to say! Also, a few scenes were a little predictible, in particular, the nail incident and some things got developed too slowly as the earphone feedback effect or the bloody childbirth, but overall I felt afraid, creeped out and I'm really satisfied with that. Definetely one of the best movies of the year
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The comedy everyone should watch
The Monty Python group is an icon of modern comedy, since their first work in the "Flying Circus" TV series to their "Meaning of Life" film, they've brought us a lot of short but smart and overall funny sketches to remember. Without even considering songs like "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", their characters and situations are so memorable and iconic they're impossible to forget.
I've got to mention I don't consider myself to be a fan of comedy in general, I've seen a few films but generally the humor of TV isn't as comfortable or familiar as real-life conversation jokes, but this is one hell of an exception. I came to this film expecting to see a real fantastic middle-age ambientated movie, what I got was one extremely absurd comedy that kept me laughting constantly. The final result is an spectacular motion picture, that utilices every resource it has to creat a joke: the low budget serves for the writing of the coconaut scene and the animation makes up very entertaining short transitions that, I assure you, at least will make you smile. The nihilism, political debate and satirical representations of god and religion not only make for good acts but also for good implicit social critiques.
In simple words: the film is a masterpiece of comedy, whose influence has transcendent decades being even referenced and studied directly in the present. Seeing it will not only serve you for "cultural purposes" but also will offer you a very good time with unforgettable dialog and situations
Ah-ga-ssi (2016)
How to react to expectatives
In 2016, the band Radiohead published "A Moon Shaped Pool", although it wasn't a bad record I can't help but dislike it when I think it came from the same creators of "Kid A". Expectatives are a double-sided weapon. I watched the film, because I like "Oldboy" and they shared directors. How did them (the expectatives) played for this film? Surprisingly well, in my opinion! Everything (except the action) that shone in "Oldboy" is done fantasticly well in "The Handmaiden".
The motion picture is a very erotic and sensual story from the get-go, however this is only another tool for counting and beautify the already excelent story. There is a strong focus on beauty and sex, although the actions of the characters seem uninterested in such details are precisely those who shape the final a result: a movie with a fantastic photography, shimmering due to its color use, that draw a very traditional atmosphere that captivates anyone that watches it. The scenes are so overwhelmingly orchestrated that they stick long after they've been seen. Don't let the runtime depress you, if you're an erotism lover you'll surely be charmed by this piece
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Sci-Fi Film that Never Gets Old
"2001: A Space Oddisey" is 1968 science-fiction film by genious Stanley Kubrick, the script was a colaboration between Kubrick and novelist Arthur C. Clarke. Time later, Clarke would release a novel about the same story althought you shouldn't take it in consideration when analizing this film.
I've never given a 10 in my life, and I'll never do it again, 2001 is exeptional in every aspect it's propoused to, the use of classical music makes this a movie without age, the wonderful photography, the magnificent scenes and space shots it's simply unforgivible; even if you don't understand it (which is/will probably the case) you can't help but admire the masterpiece in front of your eyes.
What is unique, is the amount of depth that this film can have, every time you'll rewatch it not only you'll find new details but also comprend a little bit more of what it is all about. At the first view it felt as a quick look at human's history, both past and future. At the second view I understood that Kubrick's made a comparason between our ignorance in our primitive forms and our behaviour in the outer space. Third view and I thought it was about humanity itself, you know, the AI as a new form of human thought, the fake discovery on the moon, the reactions, etc. And so on. What it is wonderfull of this take on Kubrick is that, as well as in 'The Shining', every one can have its own interpretation. In many ways the film treats the lies for self-recognition, the egocentrism of humans, our lacks of moral, our inmaturance, our insignificance, but in the other way it speaks about the screen, the proper mediums of cinema (althought it is very subtle), and so on; it is a must watch for everyone, specially because you'll be trying to find your way throught this marvellous puzzle we call '2001'
Memento (2000)
Nolan's Most Interesting Masterpiece
Memento is a 2000 movie by Christopher Nolan. The history follows Leonard, a detective who has amnesia in his attempt of doing... what exactly? That's the premise of the longplay; the obra is a tribute to film-noir but with a unique way of storytelling that goes partly forwards and partly backwards, this aspect is the most brilliant element of the whole motion picture, also, the form it develops, the acting, everything is so well executed and as every other play by Nolan you'll never feel bored. Totally recommended for any fan of drama / crime / mistery cinema