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Reviews
Taxi Driver (1976)
Rocky beat this?
It just goes to show (year after year, it's nothing new) that the best "man" does not always win. Let's face it, okay? Travis Bickle would have kicked Rocky Balboa's butt in a second. Onto a more artistic commentary. The writing of Taxi Driver is impeccable, as it is a very personal story from the heart and mind of the brilliant Paul Schrader. The direction, well, it's Scorcese, so do you need to know anything else? This is one of the consummate films about alienation and urban decay (as paralleled by the inner decay of DeNiro's Bickle). There have been pretenders to the throne, but anyone who knows an iota about film cannot deny (or is foolish if he or she did) that this disturbing film resides forever in the damaged soul of anyone who has ever felt the slightest bit outside of the moral and social mainstream.
Anno 2020 - I gladiatori del futuro (1983)
What's with "The Deer Hunter" rip-off?
I caught some of this ultra-cheese rip-off on Joe Bob's MonsterVision. I laughed, I cried. I squirmed during the tense and moving roulette scene because of Chris Walken's portrayal of... oops, wrong movie. I was engrossed by Mel Gibson's portrayal of a hollow loner surviving in the post-apocalyptic wastes... oops, wrong movie. I endured what I could and flipped to Starz, where they were showing "Playing God," with Agent Mulder and the Falcon (or was it the Snowman?), which wasn't much better. So, I just poured another drink and flipped between the two, and made it a truly memorable Saturday night in front of the cathode-ray opiate.
Viskningar och rop (1972)
Beautiful
If there is one word that can describe this film, it would be, simply, beautiful. To start, look at the photography. The colors strike at you from your TV screen, vivid and bold. Second, the silences. Those precious silent moments broken by a "cry." The "whispers" of the title between these sisters. Thirdly, the emotional disparity. The love for their dying sister and a strangely innate inability to consummate what their clashing feelings mean, the way these emotions effect them. The physical beauty of these female characters contrasted by their icicle insides. Harrowing, cold, moving, consuming. Like these women. Like this film. Like this piece of art, on film.
Living in Oblivion (1995)
Simple brilliance
Probably one of the most well written, cast, acted, and directed movies I've ever been fortunate enough to see. I can watch it over and over and over, and always find something new in it. From Nick, to Wolf, to Chad, to Tito ("Toto...") and Ellen, to Les and Bob and Focus-Pull (awesome Kevin Corrigan), the entire film captivates. I suppose it helps when you are struggling in the industry to get your work made, but it is a great way to spend ninety minutes regardless. DiCillo has made an utter masterpiece. Obviously, I cannot recommend this movie enough.