In April (Armenia 1985), on the 70th anniversary of the genocide, on April 24, 1985, Vigen Chaldranyan stages a conversation between the generations in a mixture of comedy and bitter seriousness. As every year, the veterans talk about the days of the war. But while their sons can no longer hear all this, the grandchildren feel called upon to “solve the Armenian question”.Read More »
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Stunningly lensed around a homespun mafia tragi-comedy, but lacking even a shred of sympathy for its grotesque characters, It Was the Son (a.k.a. The Son Did It) describes a dysfunctional family from the underbelly of Palermo as monstrous stereotypes whose future is as dead-end as the highway leading to their gray housing block. There are some rueful smiles along the way but look for no heart-felt comedy in this adaptation of a novel by Roberto Alajmo. This cruel satire on the Italian South certainly has curiosity value, but it ends up feeling too flat and bleak to make a serious splash at the boxoffice after its Venice and Toronto bows.Read More »
Peter Goldson, aka The Stabilizer, searches for drug smuggler Greg Rainmaker. Rainmaker killed Goldson’s fiancee by kicking her with his spiked shoes, and now Goldson wants revenge. Meanwhile, Rainmaker has kidnapped the famous Professor Protost, and the Stabilizer teams up with his daughter Christina to save the Professor and bring Rainmaker down for good.Read More »
A lawyer defends a yacht captain accused of killing his boss and raping his mistress.Read More »
In 1979 Ryû Murakami directed the adaption of his best selling novel “Almost Transparent Blue”: Main character Ryū and his small group of young friends are living in a Japanese town with an American air force base, their lives revolve around sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. The movie depicts the daily monotony of drug-induced hallucinations, vicious acts of violence, overdoses and group sex.
This only ever came out on VHS.Read More »
At first glance, you might dismiss Journey Through the Past as just another sci-fi quickie. Please DON’T do that. This 75-minute, R-rated musical documentary is a probing portrait of rock star Neil Young. The film begins in 1966, when Young was still with Buffalo Springfield, and concludes in “the present”-1972, that is. Also appearing are Neil Young’s faithful companions Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, David Crosby and Graham Nash. Songs include “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and “Heart of Gold.” The direction of Journey Through the Past is credited to one “Bernard Shakey”-who also goes by the name of Neil Young ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »
Two horror tales based on short stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by two famous horror directors, George A. Romero and Dario Argento. A greedy wife kills her husband, but not completely. A sleazy reporter adopts a strange black cat.Read More »
Even when he’s not working with his own material, Alan Rudolph remains one of our sharpest film stylists. In this 1991 featurea somber thriller involving wife abuse and murder in New Jersey, written by William Reilly and Claude Kervenhe does such a good job with the storytelling and the actors that the broadness of the film’s depiction of a working-class milieu doesn’t seem unduly jarring, anchored as it is in an effectively distancing New Age score by Mark Isham. Demi Moore, who also coproduced, stars as the best friend and coworker of a hairdresser (Glenne Headly) married to an abusive layabout (Bruce Willis). If in the past Rudolph has tended to romanticize the sordidness of working-class life (as in Remember My Name and Choose Me), here he seems to be trying to overcompensate with a vengeance, but the fleetness of his camera moves and editing and the strength of his lead actors (who also include Harvey Keitel and Billie Neal as police detectives) keep one riveted to the screen.
Jonathan RosenbaumRead More »
The war has ended leaving a deep trace in people. Going trough a different conflicts in the first days of peace – dealing with a former enemy’s collaborators and executing traitors – a former soldier continues with killing even in peace.Read More »