When do we live? That's what I want to know.

maddieonthings:

Tivoli, NY

(via roboplops)

365 films in 2013 | 160 | Festen (1998, Thomas Vinterberg)

★★★★★★★★★★

Rather than a sustainable movement, Dogme ‘95 was a publicity stunt, one that worked in that it brought Vinterberg and von Trier a lot of attention (ironic, given that one of the conditions is that the director cannot be credited), after which it was quickly abandoned. Still, that’s nothing against them or the films - if you have a severely limited budget, you might as well try to justify a DV aesthetic on artistic grounds. Anyway, this technique works very well for the birthday party/family reunion plot, having a voyeuristic documentary flavour, and injects some naturalism into what could have been an overly melodramatic premise. 

365 films in 2013 | 159 | Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, Woody Allen)

★★★★★★★★☆☆

I just have to come face to face with the fact that I’m not gifted. I can appreciate art and I love music but… it’s sad really because I feel like I have a lot to express and I’m not gifted.

Man, I wish I were Woody Allen so I could holiday around Europe making movies with cool actors. He’s pretty great at writing for actresses as well (Hannah and Her Sisters is possibly my favourite of his films), and there’s no Allen-substitute character here which is a bonus. I’m not crazy about the use of a narrator, but often it worked really well, allowing the film to cover a large span of time in the characters’ lives (I maintain that comedies should be around 90 minutes - I’ll take the 90 minute comedy with a voice-over over the 150 minute comedy without one any day). Barcelona looks stunning, and I’m not surprised the city contributed a lot of money to the production, and the music is good too. 

365 films in 2013 | 158 | Day of the Dead(1985, George A. Romero)

★★★★★★★★★★

If it weren’t for the original Night of the Living Dead, this would be the greatest zombie film I’d ever seen. It’s unrelenting, grim and full of brilliant moments. The gore effects have progressed a lot since Dawn as well. 

365 films in 2013 | 157 | The Green Hornet (2011, Michel Gondry)

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

I’m ambivalent towards Seth Rogen most of the time (apart from the wonderfully dark Observe & Report), but I liked Be Kind, Rewind. While there are traces of Michel Gondry left (the camera movement and anamorphic lens flares are cool), it’s all superfluous. The whole film is superfluous. It’s a stupidly violent product of a Hollywood marketing machine, and as such lacks a soul. The only ones who come out looking fairly well are Christoph Waltz and Edward James Olmos who are badass no matter what they’re doing, but it’s still a massive waste of their time and of anyone who watches this. 

365 films in 2013 | 156 | Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005, Miranda July)

★★★★★★★★★★

Like a gentler Todd Solondz, Miranda July takes a group of incredibly dysfunctional characters and humanises them. Everything’s shot through with dry humour and a lyricism that I found magnificent. 

365 films in 2013 | 155 | Rubber (2011, Quentin Dupieux)

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

A cool idea, executed well. I just wish it hadn’t looked so bland (I’m sure it was shot on a DSLR, and the blown out sun and constant shallow depth of field looks terrible - why would you want a shallow depth of field for a “riding into the sunset” shot? Why?!?! How could you make the desert look completely uncinematic?).