March 2013 in Film

From http://deeperintomovies.net/journal/image09/sevenveils1.jpg

Best Film of the Month

1. Dance of the Seven Veils (Ken Russell, 1970/UK) – 10/10

2. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959/USA) – 10/10

3. The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973/Spain) – 10/10

4. Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt (Hiroyuki Imaishi, 2010/Japan) – 9/10 [Anime Series]

5. Content (Chris Petit, 2010/Germany-UK) – 9/10 [Rewatch]

6. Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955/France) – 8/10

7. From Russia with Love (Terence Young, 1963/UK) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

8. City of Women (Federico Fellini, 1980/France-Italy) – 8/10

9. Freezer aka. Freeze Me (Takashi Ishii, 2000/Japan) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

10. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012/UK-USA) – 8/10

Pretty much a month of slowly delving into the best of cinema in films like Rififi, an attempt to push back my taste in films further than the nineteen sixties which is successful so far. It also shows just how consistency or patterns really do not quantify where you can find great work. I am not that fond of the James Bond films, but when they are done exceedingly well, two appear on this list, while an obscure work from Federico Fellini managed to be a hidden gem. The two worth mentioning are Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt and Dance of the Seven Veils. The former is not for everyone, but it is the sort of experimentation and bravery I want more in Japanese anime, completely tasteless and childish, but clearly made by talented people with no restrictions in whatever tangents they desired over thirteen TV episodes. The latter should be impossible to see, technically illegal to see because the Strauss family have suppressed it until 2019, but Ken Russell’s controversial documentary on the composer is available online, quite easily, and is exceptional. Like Fellini, once you become comfortable with his style, Russell is a truly talented director.

Biggest Surprise of the Month

1. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (John Hyams, 2012/USA) – 8/10

2. Night Train Murders (Aldo Lado, 1975/Italy) – 8/10

3. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012/UK-USA) – 8/10

4. Dragon Lord (Jackie Chan, 1982/Hong Kong) – 8/10

5. My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946/USA) – 8/10

John Hyams’ film justifies itself in being at the top of this list because I hated the first film in Hyams’ reinterpretation of the series. Taking heavy influence from Enter The Void (2010), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is an unsettling and strange melding of action cinema, body horror and science fiction, one that is compelling and suggests that straight-to-video action cinema, even though this did get a cinema release in the US, has the potential to be as brave as this. It was released straight to DVD this year in the UK, so it is in the running for my best of 2013.

Discovery of the Month

1. City of Women (Federico Fellini, 1980/France-Italy) – 8/10

2. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961/UK) – 8/10

3. Thief (Michael Mann, 1981/USA) – 8/10

4. Dragon Lord (Jackie Chan, 1982/Hong Kong) – 8/10

5. Holy Flame of the Martial World (Chin-Ku Lu, 1983/Hong Kong) – 7/10

6. Boccaccio ’70 (Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti and Mario Monicelli, 1962/France-Italy) – 8/10

7. Savage Messiah (Ken Russell, 1972/UK) – 8/10

We can thank the British DVD company Masters of Cinema for the number 1 entry. If they weren’t a boutique of gems before, they might become it this year.

Biggest Change of Opinion

1. Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (Steve Roberts, 1980/UK) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

2. Freezer aka. Freeze Me (Takashi Ishii, 2000/Japan) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

3. Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965/France-Italy) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

4. Terror At The Opera aka. Opera (Dario Argento, 1987/Italy) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

5. Tokyo Godfathers (Satoshi Kon and Shôgo Furuya, 2003/Japan) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

It took a single rewatch to make a film I found boring on the first viewing a bizarre and hilarious piece of absurdism, hence why Sir Henry at Rawlingson End is at Number 1. This category is necessary as I question my opinions on films I’ve seen years ago and rewatch them, my tastes shifting as films like those on this list improve for me.

Most Divisive Film of the Month

1. Behindert (Stephen Dwoskin, 1974/West Germany-UK) – 6/10 [Rewatch]

2. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012/USA) – 8/10

3. House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977/Japan) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

4. Visions of Ecstasy (Nigel Wingrove, 1989/UK) – 6/10

5. Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012/UK-USA) – 6/10

As the review I did on the blog states, Behindert has virtues but is a minor work from the late director. Number 2 and 3 could be controversial choices, but they need to be there. The Master is a great film, but I don’t know exactly why, while House is good but is far from the weirdest film ever made but more a curiosity from the Japanese mainstream in the seventies.

The Most Underrated Film

1. Savages (Oliver Stone, 2012/USA) – 8/10

2. Freezer aka. Freeze Me (Takashi Ishii, 2000/Japan) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

3. City of Women (Federico Fellini, 1980/France-Italy) – 8/10

4. Dragon Lord (Jackie Chan, 1982/Hong Kong) – 8/10

5. Night Train Murders (Aldo Lado, 1975/Italy) – 8/10

6. Terror At The Opera aka. Opera (Dario Argento, 1987/Italy) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

7. Arirang (Kim Ki-duk, 2011/South Korea) – 7/10

8. Street Fighter (Steven E. de Souza, 1994/Japan-USA) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

9. Marquis De Sade’s Justine (Jesus Franco, 1969/Italy-Liechtenstein-USA-West Germany) – 7/10

I keep questioning the general consensus from film critics, and since I did a review of it this month too on the blog, Oliver Stone’s Savages needed to be on top of this list. Kim Ki-duk’s Arirang walks a fine line between pretentiousness and art, but it’s clear that, even in a dark moment of his career where he shut himself off from the outside world for three years, he is able to scrutinise and criticise his sadness for egotism, and more importantly, turn himself into a character from his films, a conflicted, self destructive individual who lashes out at himself as much as others. With this in mind, to dismiss it as an ego project seems like a cheap comment.

The Most Overrated Film

1. Almost Human (Umberto Lenzi, 1974/Italy) – 4/10

2. Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012/USA) – 5/10

3. Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso, 2008/Argentina-France-Germany-Netherlands-Spain) – 5/10

4. Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008/France-USA) – 3/10

5. The Spiral Staircase (Robert Siodmak, 1945/USA) – 5/10

6. House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977/Japan) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

House only appears on this because it far from justifies the tagline as one of the weirdest films ever made. It is completely separate from the other films on the list, including a Disney film which failed to live up to its critical praise and inspired premise, and two art house films which felt paper-thin on viewing, which is worse for Liverpool since Alonso  has made at least one masterpiece from what I have seen. Almost Human takes the top spot as it is the film people with knowledge of the Italian poliziotteschi subgenre bring up as one of the best movies from it. It doesn’t really stand up for me to be brutally honest.

Biggest Disappointment of the Month

1. Almost Human (Umberto Lenzi, 1974/Italy) – 4/10

2. Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012/USA) – 5/10

3. Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso, 2008/Argentina-France-Germany-Netherlands-Spain) – 5/10

4. Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008/France-USA) – 3/10

5. The Spiral Staircase (Robert Siodmak, 1945/USA) – 5/10

6. Family (Takashi Miike, 2001/Japan) – 3/10

(Almost) identical to the list above it. Again, it smarts how Wreck-It Ralph turns a great concept into the usual plot line of an obnoxious person slowly becoming a great person that is repeated to death in a lot of multiplex cinema. It’s a hollow plotline that could be read to be a justification for the more obnoxious behaviour people have of this generation coming through our pop culture, but my real disappointment is that Wreck-It Ralph fails to be a tribute to videogames even a non-gamer like myself, who used to play games, could have loved, and is yet still being praised as a great film despite this glaring fact.

[Non] Guilty Pleasure of the Month

1. Mad Bull 34 (Satoshi Dezaki, 1991/Japan) – 7/10

2. Starcrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1979/Italy-USA) – 8/10]

3. Sinbad of the Seven Seas (Luigi Cozzi and Enzo G. Castellari, 1989/Italy-USA) – 6/10

4. Undefeatable (Godfrey Ho, 1993/Hong Kong) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

5. Street Fighter (Steven E. de Souza, 1994/Japan-USA) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

The others are all ridiculous, but the four episode original video animation Mad Bull 34 has to be put on top of the list because its content is completely undefendable. From the era where anime only meant violence and sex in the West, it is completely offensive, yet why I can still see merit in it is because there is much worst in existence, including non-anime works, and that the work cannot be taken seriously at all. Considering its original source material was written by the man who created Crying Freeman, Lone Wolf and Cub and Hanzo the Razor, you should be going into this like I did knowing what to expect.

The Para-Bizarre Film/Scene/Work of the Month

1. The final episode of Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt (Hiroyuki Imaishi, 2010/Japan) – 9/10 [Anime Series]

2. Holy Flame of the Martial World (Chin-Ku Lu, 1983/Hong Kong) – 7/10

3. Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (Steve Roberts, 1980/UK) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

4. Starcrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1979/Italy-USA) – 8/10]

5. Grenade Underwear etc. from Mad Bull 34 (Satoshi Dezaki, 1991/Japan) – 7/10

6. House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977/Japan) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

7. Flying Head from Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 aka. Zombi 3 (Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei, 1988/Italy) – 2/10

House only gets on this list because it still has some strange aspects. Frankly, the inclusions above are far and away more strange and bizarre than it could ever be. Number 1 has been in my mind for the rest of the month since I saw the TV series, and while the rest of twelve episodes could have been included on the list, the final episode takes the biscuit, use of live action and a post end credit segment sealing the impact of the whole thing.

Worst Film of the Month

1. Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 aka. Zombi 3 (Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei, 1988/Italy) – 2/10

2. Demons 6: De Profundis aka. Il gatto nero (Luigi Cozzi, 1989/Italy) – 2/10

3. Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008/France-USA) – 3/10

5. Family (Takashi Miike, 2001/Japan) – 3/10

You can find out why the top two entries are here through mini-reviews on the blog.

The Steven Seagal Award For Best Worst Scene

1. The Religious Discussions Crossed with Softcore Lesbian Sex Scenes in Sacred Flesh (Nigel Wingrove, 2000/UK) – 6/10

2. Flying Head from Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 aka. Zombi 3 (Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei, 1988/Italy) – 2/10

Attempting to have serious discussions on the nature of sin, only to become a string of softcore sex scenes between nuns, is going to be silly. If you view it as softcore titillation, the nunsploitation film Sacred Flesh has some reward. Just don’t view it as anything else.

The Person(s) (And Concepts) of The Month

1. Roger Deakins, Director of Photography for Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012/UK-USA) – 8/10

2. Arisa Ogasawara and Mariya Ise, main voice actresses for Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt (Hiroyuki Imaishi, 2010/Japan) – 9/10 [Anime Series]

3. Taku Takahashi and TCY Crew, music composers for Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt (Hiroyuki Imaishi, 2010/Japan) – 9/10 [Anime Series]

4. Yoshiaki Umegaki, voice actor for Tokyo Godfathers (Satoshi Kon and Shôgo Furuya, 2003/Japan) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

5. Christopher Gable, principle lead for Dance of the Seven Veils (Ken Russell, 1970/UK) – 10/10

6. Jackie Chan and the Stunt Team of Dragon Lord (Jackie Chan, 1982/Hong Kong) – 8/10

7. James Caan. for Thief (Michael Mann, 1981/USA) – 8/10

8. Harumi Inoue, main actress of Freezer aka. Freeze Me (Takashi Ishii, 2000/Japan) – 8/10 [Rewatch]

9. Ken Russell

10. Raul Julia, for Street Fighter (Steven E. de Souza, 1994/Japan-USA) – 7/10 [Rewatch]

Honourable Mentions - Jack Palance, for Marquis De Sade’s Justine (Jesus Franco, 1969/Italy-Liechtenstein-USA-West Germany) – 7/10; Trevor Howard, for Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (Steve Roberts, 1980/UK) – 8/10 [Rewatch]; Tangerine Dream, music composers for Thief (Michael Mann, 1981/USA) – 8/10; Marcello Mastroianni, for City of Women (Federico Fellini, 1980/France-Italy) – 8/10; Federico Fellini; Scott Antony and Dorothy Tutin, for Savage Messiah (Ken Russell, 1972/UK) – 8/10; Jules Dassin, for Rififi (1955/France) – 8/10]; Kim Ki-duk; John Hyams, director of Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012/USA) – 8/10; The Special Effects Team of Starcrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1979/Italy-USA) – 8/10; Elle [and His Voice Actor Hamilton Camp] of Starcrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1979/Italy-USA) – 8/10; Chris Petit, director of Content (2010/Germany-UK) – 9/10 [Rewatch]; Whoever donated 1990s WWF Wrestling PPV DVDs in one of my local charity shops; The Practical Effects Team of Holy Flame of the Martial World (Chin-Ku Lu, 1983/Hong Kong) – 7/10; Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti and Mario Monicelli, for their work on Boccaccio ’70 (1962/France-Italy) – 8/10; James Mason, for North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959/USA) – 10/10; Luigi Cozzi; Salma Hayek, for Savages (Oliver Stone, 2012/USA) – 8/10; Michael Fassbinder, for Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012/UK-USA) – 6/10; Michel Gondry; Viewing Disney Animation on Super 8 film; Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina, for Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965/France-Italy) – 8/10 [Rewatch]; Alpha 60 from Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965/France-Italy) – 8/10 [Rewatch]; Henry Fonda and Victor Mature for My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946/USA) – 8/10; Lou Ferrigno and John Steiner for Sinbad of the Seven Seas (Luigi Cozzi and Enzo G. Castellari, 1989/Italy-USA) – 6/10; Bizarre and Long Forgotten 90s WWF Wrestler Gimmicks like Mantaur and Adam Bomb

The Bond films were stylish, but Deakins has taken the series to a new level of visual look that is jaw dropping and I hope continues in the series. Of all the inclusions on the list and mentions, the references to WWF wrestling might be a surprise, but thanks to an unknown donator of DVDs, I can now see the strange period before wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin made it big and have evidence that, while I love the decade, the nineties in general is probably more dated and peculiar than any other. Voice actresses Arisa Ogasawara and Mariya Isedo deserve the second spot on the list for helping make such a divisive series work which the charisma of their performances. They also take English language swearing, particular Ogasawara’s use of the word ‘fuck’, to a level of artistry that even live action work cannot compare, just scrapping at the glass floor of David Mamet ‘s throne.

Dishonorable Person (Or Concept) of the Month

The suppression of Dance of the Seven Veils (Ken Russell, 1970/UK) that will last to 2019

Dishonourable Mentions - Sam Raimi, for Oz the Great and Powerful (2013/USA) – 5/10; The Late Nineteen Eighties for Destroying the Quality of Italian Genre Films; Claudio Fragasso and Bruno Mattei for Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 aka. Zombi 3 (Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei, 1988/Italy) – 2/10; Sushi Typhoon for Yakuza Weapon (Tak Sakaguchi and Yudai Yamaguchi, 2011/Japan) – 4/10; Eran Creevy for his disappointing follow-up Welcome to the Punch (2013/UK-USA) – 3/10;

It seems cruel to have Sam Raimi on the mentions list, but I want better for him, and like Wreck-It Ralph, it’s the same plot of an arsehole redeeming himself that feels vacuous. Eran Creevy appearance here is soul crushing, since I remember seeing his micro-budgeted debut Shifty (2009) on a cinema screen years ago and being impressed by it. Unfortunately, and I probably should have put co-producer Ridley Scott and the people who put Welcome To The Punch into production on the list instead of him, Creevy has ended having his follow-up become the sort of tedious film that we get stuck with being made in the United Kingdom when we all know our country can make better.

75 Works Watched In March

24 Rewatched Works

51 New Works Seen

From http://randomc.net/image/Panty%20&%20Stocking%20with%20Garterbelt/Panty
%20&%20Stocking%20with%20Garterbelt%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2004.jpg