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Before telling you more about me I'll list some of my favourite films. This site is dedicated to films after all.
1. Kaidan (Kobayashi, 1964)
2. Jungfruk�llan (Bergman, 1960) 'The Virgin Spring'
3. Dracula (Fisher, 1958)
4. M (Lang, 1931)
5. J�i-uchi: Hairy� tsuma shimatsu (Kobayashi, 1967) 'Rebellion: Receive The Wife/Samurai Rebellion'
6. Tampopo (Itami, 1985)
7. MASH (Altman, 1970)
8. Kagemusha (Kurosawa, 1980)
9. The Tales of Hoffmann (Powell and Pressburger, 1951)
10. Dracula (Curtis, 1974)
11. Casablanca (Cutiz, 1942)
12. Repulsion (Polanski, 1965)
13. Jag �r nyfiken - en film i gult (Sj�man, 1967) 'I am Curious (Yellow)'
14. Postino, Il (Radford, 1994) 'The Postman'
15. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (Murnau, 1922)
16. All Quiet On The Western Front (Mann, 1979)
17. The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969)
18. Cyrano de Bergerac (Rappeneau, 1990)
19. Bacheha-Ye aseman (Majidi, 1997) 'Children of Heaven'
20. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Huston, 1948)
21. Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945)
22. Network (Lumet, 1976)
23. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Leone, 1966)
Little things about me:
I am hard-left; meaning that I adhere to socialism. Socialism is not to be confused with liberalism so no Obama is not a socialist and pinko commies do not support him. For me fascism is the unpardonable sin and thus I hold no tolerance for fascism or crypto-fascism of any kind. I think the West is far too lenient in dealing with fascism in general.
I am interested in Mythology (Germanic, Celtic, Indian, Japanese, Chinese and even Semitic). I like languages, especially Nordic languages,Japanese, (Mexican) Spanish and Italian.
I consider myself an agnostic (leaning towards atheism) but I am not dogmatic in my beliefs. Some of my comments might make it sound like I hate Christians. I don't. I only dislike fundamentalists Christians.
I am also interested in Psychology. Carl G. Jung's Analytical Psychology is my school of choice, though I like to read about all forms of Psychology.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Ghost Story (1974)
Bizarre, eccentric cinema equals a good and quite unnerving film. MILD SPOILERS
'Ghost Story' is a pseudo-surrealist and dreamlike film. The plot is quite simplistic in a technical sense. In the 1920s or early 1930s, McFadden (Murray Melvin) invites two fellow university students to his mansion. One is Talbot, a somewhat nervous and mild fellow, and another more forceful and rude friend who leaves the house earlier in the film as his relationship with McFadden - more of an acquaintance than a real friend - doesn't really warrant him staying in a place he obviously finds uninteresting.
Talbot, on the other hand, does stay and experiences ghostly occurrences involving a Victorian doll and ''dreams'' of an insane asylum which is the key to haunting's in McFadden's newly inherited mansion.
The film is low-budget but well directed by Stephen Weeks, a very underrated filmmaker who also filmed 'I, Monster' which was one of the closer adaptations of R.L. Stephenson's 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. The films have similarities and differences. Whilst 'I, Monster' was quite straight forward in its direction, 'Ghost Story' had more surrealist touches woven into its imagery; scenes often jump back and forward from the world of dreams to reality, blending together creepily. In fact the film itself is rather dreamlike with interesting camera work and photography which, when mixed with the imagery of the Victorian doll and the scenes of the asylum, make the film unsettling and disturbing. The filming location was in Tamil Nadu Indian, though the locations chosen pass for very beautiful, yet eerie locations that are found in England.
Another interesting aspect of the film is that it was co-written by Rosemary Sutcliff, more famously a writer of historical fiction, most famously the tremendously popular 'The Eagle of the Ninth', and Philip Norman, an author and playwrite most famous for his biography of the Beatles 'Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation'. The film is also of interested to fans of M.R. James and other writers of the 20s as it is set in the same era and has a similar feel to those works of literature that are now often found in omnibuses of classic ''ghost stories''.
'Ghost Story' is an underrated and nearly forgotten horror film, which beautifully paints a cinematic treat of unsettling scenes and images instead of going for shock and gore.
A Haunting (2005)
More Christian Propaganda Than Scientific Analysis.
'A Haunting' sounds like it has the right ingredients for a great show about the paranormal; demonic possessions, haunted houses, angry spirits, dramatisation of events and true accounts of the paranormal. With all that said, 'A Haunting' fails.
Whilst, I have no problem with stories revolving around Christians, this show veers too much towards Fundamentalist propaganda. Not only are the characters usually Christian but other religions are portrayed as bad if the Fundamentalist movements deems them to be Satanic. A case in point is the episode 'Spellbound' where Wicca is portrayed as dangerous and Satanic. This is problematic as Wicca, whilst I do not agree with it, and heathenism in general are religions in their own right. If Christianity was portrayed as negative then there would be controversy. You could never make an episode based around the claim that the god YHWH/Ha'El is actually an evil demon who haunts the world. This is utter hypocrisy and very insulting to followers of Wicca.
There are some good points about the series, though. Some of the cast is surprisingly good (the Daoist priest in 'Hungry Ghosts' comes to mind), the directing, whilst being standard, is decent and the idea that drives the show is fascinating. One episode called 'Hungry Ghosts' stood out as a good episode from season two because it was free from Christian dogma and the usual clichés staging of events that dominate the series. These good points do not save the show, however, as it has no real scientific analysis and half the episode seem like an evangelical programme.
If you were a fan of this type of documentary or a horror completist you should watch this, if only to laugh at, however, if you are not then I would not recommend it.
Cahill: United States Marshal (1973)
Interesting and highly underrated Duke flick.
Many liberals like to bitch John Wayne out - I know because being a left-winger I have to put up with whiny liberals for company! What many of these liberals forget is that John Wayne - whilst politically unacceptable in many ways - was still an actor and a human being. Something some ''liberals'' complain about is Republican political oriented criticism on liberal actors and directors and the disrespect of the artistic talents of these liberal personages. I see no difference in disrespect to a left-winger or a right-winger so the hypocritical stance of these liberal ''film fans'' doesn't do their ideology any favours.
The film 'Cahill U.S. Marshal' whilst not being the greatest of westerns, is an enjoyable western with a good message - which isn't as Republican or right-wing as some other voters claimed. The wonderful acting from John Wayne and George Kennedy is on par with their best work, the plot is original and the opening of the film is fantastic and rousing.
One of the features that other voters have not commented on is the music by Elmar Bernstein. The score for 'Cahill' is amongst the great composer's finest work and the song 'A Man Gets To Thinking'' sung by Charlie Rich is a good theme on par with the 'True Grit' by Glen Campbell and I am sure that a lot of Country and Western fans - I am only mildly enamoured with this genre - will enjoy it.
Top of the Pops 2 (1994)
Good show but Steve is rather repetitive!
'Top of The Pops Two' (or TOTPT) is a music show featuring the music videos and performances of yesteryear (from the 60s all the way to the more recent 90s). The show was axed a while back but has remained very popular and may been coming back to TV shortly - to the cheer and roars of besotted fans - if rumours are to be believed.
The show features achieve footage from 'Top of The Pops' which was (and still is) a music show that focused on the current popular singles of the year. Steve Write created and 'narrates' the show. He occasionally comes up with some out-of-character funny quips in his narration but a lot of the time he just recycles the same lines (for instance his "...but first the ABBA performance that all ABBA impersonators are based on", gets a little old when used for almost all of their appearances) much to the annoyance of the shows fans. Like his radio show, he talks over most of the beginning and end of the songs features which leads you to wonder why he doesn't join an all-talk radio channel.
If you are disillusioned by the music of more recent times, if you want to reminisce about the past if you just like music this is the for you despite its faults.
Repulsion (1965)
Polanski's Masterpiece
The 1965 film, 'Repulsion' is a Psychological film about a female Belgium-born Londonite Carole Ledoux (beautifully played by the national personification of France,bCatherine Deneuve), who is repulsed by male advances and her own sexual urges, hence the titel.
As a lot of Polanski films do, this film starts off with a rather mundane day in the love of a shy but dull woman and there are only a few hints of the psychological exploration and terror that is to come later in the film, "I must get that crack mended". The very first thing we see is Carole's eye, during the credits (by James Bond's Maurice Binder), very reminiscent of Michael Powell glorious psychological thriller 'Peeping Tom, the camera then zooms out and we see Carole daydreaming in a beauty salon, which she works at. Her friend, Bridget, snaps her out of her meditation and soon a conversation about what men are primarily concerned with - sex - between Bridget and a customer ensues. This sets up the play themes of the film and also helps us to see Carole's world.
Carole is child-like, she daydreams, relies on her sister, Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) - whom she lives in an apartment with - and is quiet and very innocent looking - a nice touch. In one scene Carole laughs about a Charlie Chaplin film she hasn't even seen which highlights her child-like qualities.
Helen, Carole's sister, is having an affair with a married man, Michael (Ian Hendry) though he seems to be separated from his wife. Carole doesn't like the fact that Michael leaves his belongings lying around the apartment and in one wonderful scene, Carole even throws his stuff away and when questioned her reply is "I don't like them", given in a very wonderfully childish manner by Deneuve; thi comment isn't quite true as Carole seems to be obsessed by Michael and his belongings and has a sort of love-hate relationship with his presence in her life. On one scene she catches him shaving in the room and retreats to her room and looks rather interested in Michael. Inn another scene she is going to throw his vest in the bin, but instead she puts it to her face and then drops it and runs off to vomit Moving away from Michael and all the other males, and indeed women, of the film and on to symbolism. The Symbolism in this film is wondrously rich; Carole sees walls cracking open, obviously represents her decent into madness and the crumbling of the walls of her unconscious. The ''growth'' of her flat in the movie may represent the fact that she feels lost in an environment once familiar to her.
Of course this isn't all the symbolism to be found in Polanski's rich tapestry of the inner-self and madness and it certainly isn't the only objects of interest either.
The film is wonderfully shot in black and white by Gilbert Taylor ('Star Wars', 'Frenzy', 'Ice-Cold in Alex') which gives it a rather unsettling atmosphere before the shocks and chills surface.
Roman Polanski went on to make a lot of films with the themes of insanity and paranoia, including 'The Tenant', 'Rosemary's Baby', two other films that make up his trilogy focussing on horror in apartments. Both are great films but 'Repulsion', I feel, is the best his best work after he made 'Knife In The Water' and before 'The Pianist'.
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
An interesting Vampire film from the House of Horror, Hammer Film Productions
The Vampire Lovers 'The Vampire Lovers' is the first of the Karnstein Trilogy, and in my opinion the best. The film captures love, unhappiness and evil, which makes the film brilliant.
'The Vampire Lovers' is based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Brilliant Vampire story 'Carmilla'. The Novel, and the film, is set in the Austrian Province of Styria.
The 'Evil' of this story comes in the form of Ingrid Pitt, who plays Mircalla Karnstein, a centuries old Vampire. Mircalla travels around Styria looking for 'fresh meat' (e.g Beautiful young females!) under Pseudonyms of her real name, Marcilla and Carmilla.
She seems very lonely in the film. She wants Emma to be with her, I am not saying she isn't evil but there is a certain sadness about her character. I think Ingrid Pitt played the part well, some people say she was just good in 'nude' scenes but I think she is a good actress and especially good at facial expressions and showing emotions.
The cast of this film include Peter Cushing as General Spielsdorf, Madelyne Smith as Emma Morton, Pippa Steele as Laura Spielsdorf, George Cole as Mr Morton, Douglas Wilmar as Baron Hartog and a virtually mute John Forbes-Robertson as The Man in Black aka Count Karnstein.
'The Vampire Lovers' is a surprisingly close adaptation of Le Fanu's 'Carmilla and a ground breaking film for Hammer, as it was the first Hammer film to have nudity and first to get an X rating. After this film Vampire Films were very erotic and female Vampires made appearances in more and more films, including films by Jess Franco and other 'Euro-trash' film directors. This film did very well in the theatres and even spawned two sequels.
This film has a lot to offer the main character, as stated before, is very interesting. Though Mircalla is clearly 'Evil', you (the viewer) do sympathise with her. I love the funeral scene it is very effective and once again, as I have commented on before of times Ms Pitt uses her facial talents to good effect. I also liked the Bath scene (not just for the nudity) because there is a great chemistry between Carmilla and Emma, and until the end of that scene, Carmilla seems just like an ordinary girl.
Peter Cushing acts brilliantly, as usual, his General Spielsdorf is a very interesting character. Cushing portrays a devastated man very well.
There isn't a lot of gore but, in my opinion, too much gore would ruin the plot. Fans of Vampire films will not be disappointed.