The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)
Articulating why I love Michael Haneke films so much is difficult. I’m not sure why I saw Funny Games three times. Or why The Piano Teacher got a five star rating from me on Netflix. There’s no comfort or solace found in his work. I didn’t walk away from Cache feeling uplifted. I suppose it’s the fact that among all the directors working today, his movies are, for me, the most thought-provoking. I leave the theatre with more questions than answers.... Read More
Shutter Island
Beware, there are huge spoilers here. Seriously. I give away the whole movie. I won’t deny that Martin Scorsese has more talent than more directors working today. He’s pretty much a genius. His full skill set is on display in Shutter Island, but that’s really all this movie has going for it. The premise, based on the book by Dennis Lehane (and adapted for the big screen by Laeta Kalogridis) is completely obvious from the trailer. Two federal marshals are... Read More
Oscar Predictions!
The website Vouchercodes.co.uk is having a competition for film bloggers/critics surrounding the Oscars, and was kind enough to invite me to participate. I love the Oscars. And love guessing (correctly) who will win even more. The competition rules are simple: choose the number of categories you’d like to guess (there’s no penalty for categories not considered), one point for a correct guess, minus one point for a wrong guess. I thought I’d just go for... Read More
Library Loot
You may have noticed there hasn’t been much activity lately here at Bitchin’ Film Reviews. My sister had a baby, which means lots of distractions. Family has been in the area, and I’ve taken up holding the baby as one of my new past times. This comes at a good time since everything in theatres right now is pretty ass-y (not including Shutter Island, which I’ll see soon). This also took a toll on my Library Loot watching time. So I didn’t get... Read More
Today I Feel Like This
Library Loot!
I was quite pleased with last week’s loot. There was some really, really excellent stuff in there. Ivan’s Childhood was a million times more accessible than I expected it to be, and a million times better than I thought it would be. Not that I don’t have faith in Tarkovsky, but this was, after all, his very first film. It was so well structured, I didn’t know what to think. Happily, this is the first film I watched for my Inaccessible Director Challenge,... Read More
Update! The 100 Movies I’ve Never Seen Project Giveaway
It’s been a bit more than a year since I began this little challenge. The original post can be found here. I was taking some time off from my life to nurse mono, and a friend of mine made me this list to gently introduce me to classic films. Up until that point, I consciously stayed away from almost everything made before 1990. Stupid, I know. I didn’t get going on the list really until about August of 2009, and I posted an update in early December. That... Read More
I want to rub this trailer all over me. Immediately. – Heartless
Library Loot
Wednesdays are frequently becoming my favorite day. It was especially needed today since, and I’m not exaggerating, since Friday night at 7pm, I’ve spent ninety three hours as my place of employment. That’s out of a possible one hundred and twenty five. The library was a nice calm oasis among all the stuff that exists outside of film. Last week’s loot was exceptionally good. I was pleased with all nine selections, and I actually managed to watch a... Read More
