Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

Masks. Cracks. Cracks in the walls, cracks in the floor. Clock ticking. Razor blade, rabbit. Neurosis. Distorted images. Extreme close-ups. Music, sound effects. Rabbit's head in the purse. Man. Tick-tack, tick-tack, tick-tack. Men. Paranoia. Walls again, hands coming out the walls. Rape. Imaginary rape. The city. Insanity. Walking, high heels clicking. Sister, family photo. Lack of music. Lack of sound effects. Catherine Deneuve. Click-clack, click-clack. Madness. Fear. Sex. Repression. Decay. Bells, children playing outside. Hallucinations. Murder. Final frame. Repulsion. Masterpiece.

11/10

Maldito - O Estranho Mundo de José Mojica Marins aka Coffin Joe: The Strange World of José Mojica Marins (André Barcinski, Ivan Finotti, 2001)

Great stuff and perfect film to conclude Coffin Joe phenomenal box set. Great mix of documentary footage (opening scene of acting class is so fucking awesome!), scenes from his movies and of course interviews full of bizarre anecdotes. 

Stuff with making his actresses drunk for "snakes" scenes is hilarious, doing porn in order to survive and do his personal films reminded me so much of Jean Rollin and of course now we finally know how Coffin Joe was born. Mojica took 20 amphetamines pills to keep him awake 4 days when shooting At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul. He had divided his crew into 2 units and shoot movie without sleeping. Since then he was never the same...

The only objection to this little jewel is that it is too short!? I could and certainly would watch it for hours.

9/10

Alien 3 (David Fincher, 1992)

By far the best one of the sequels and – I know it’s a blasphemy – in some ways even better than original one! It has that old and gritty and warned-out feeling that first one captured so well and we all love (fuck that high techno CGI Cameron’s action shit!). It gets even better with claustrophobic shots of shafts and corridors chases with creature’s POV camera works.

It does start a bit slowly but we are rewarded for our waiting with the best scene of the movie. It’s at the funeral when Dillon is giving “ashes to ashes” speech and simultaneously alien rips apart that poor dog. It’s simply brilliant and it reminded me somehow about ending of the first Godfather.

Then it turns into action/slasher and most of the killings are great and gory enough, especially for high budget Hollywood blockbuster. First massacre is my favorite following by sneaky dispatching of Pete Postlethwaite. He didn’t see it coming at all!

Action is masterfully intertwined with Ripley’s “motherhood” story and this gives movie really cool tone. One of the convicts has a remark about her not being married and having children and – voila – next thing you know she carries an embryo. I wonder if pro-life fanatics would change their attitude after seeing this masterpiece. Or maybe not – she does end up in the lake of fire, doesn’t she? In any case - that "close up" of Ripley and alien is gotta be one of the coolest shots in the film history!

So good to see it after a while, cannot believe it’s been 20 years already. It hasn’t aged a bit, it’s still flawless! 

And such a shame about David Fincher - after this one he made one more masterpiece in Se7en and then sadly disappeared from my radar.

9/10

Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)

Ok, Friedkin's most well known movies are French Connection and Exorcist but my favorite one was To Live and Die in LA. Total masterpiece and 3rd on my all-time police corruption list, after Gangsters and Police.

That was until I saw this nasty masterpiece. It is of course movie of the year, there's no question about it. I cannot see it possible that anytime soon something as good as this will come out. Btw - last time I've said that and needed to correct myself was in 1995 after seeing Se7en and shortly after seeing Ususal Suspects. But I'm digressing again. Let's finally go to Joe.

It's main theme is violence. And not in arty-farty way of some psychological inner struggles or shit like that. It is simply aggressive and violent and dirty movie that I think doesn't even try to entertain. But amazingly is not exploitative (not for the most part anyways) and Friedkin uses violence just as another tool for driving the story. Good example of this are both killings which are not even shown. Which btw once again proves that images can be more horrifying if they are left to viewer to imagine and interpret. Skillful director certainly doesn't need gallons of CGI-ed blood... Pure fucking Violence is also used for finally establishing Joe as total psychopath. McConaughey was great through entire film but didn't really cross that final line of insanity. So when KFC box was opened we knew he was a real deal.

Basically just everything works here, from the story to the direction and the cast. Juno Temple as Dottie is certainly discovery and it was great to see Gina Gershon again. Fell in love with her when I saw her in  Bound.

Required multiple viewing, can't wait to get it on DVD with hopefully Friedkin's commnetary.

10/10

Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 1969)

Mother of all serial killers movies, with father of course being Henry! Nothing will ever reach standard that these two masterpieces have set.

And also master class for young film makers about how to make something extraordinary with next to zero budget. This should be mandatory viewing in all film schools at least once a year. I don't watch it anually to learn anything, I just need to see it from time to time because it's so damn good.

10/10

Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours aka My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days (Andrzej Zulawski, 1989)

I love bizarre, insane, wild and crazy movies of Zulawski, especially ones with Sophie Marceau (not really counting Fidelite which is crap and La Note Bleu for which I cannot find subtitles). So I watch this one or L'amour Braque every now and then when I’m in the “right” frame of mind.

It’s kind of boy-meets-girl romantic story with our main two protagonists both rather strange and outside this world. He has invented some new computer language and has undefined mental terminal illness and she is a star of travelling show because she can read minds of other people. So, fucked up as they both are, they were of course made for each other.

And there is lot of screaming and overall madness and other wonderfully bizarre characters (her mother, hotel receptionist!!) and – to be honest – seeing Sophie nude doesn’t hurt your eyes neither. Lots of happening going on in this one and as in true French arty style, content is not as important as a style. So you either love it or hate it. 

I simply love though I’m not sure I understood everything.

9/10

Old Boy (Chan-wook Park, 2003)

Always nice to see Old Boy and this time pleasure was even greater because I had a chance to see it on the big screen. It was part of a little festival that Raid’s director Gareth Evans put together here in Dublin.

It’s of course one of the best revenge movies of the recent years, surpassed only by its successor Lady Vengeance. And even if you are a bit weird and not into this kind of stuff, you must admit how fresh and inventive it is. And gag with dotted line going from the hammer to that poor bastard’s forehead is just hilarious and I’ll never forget the WTF feeling when I first saw it.

Should stop now because you never know when you talk too much. Maybe Mr. Park will kidnap me and put away for 15 years!

8/10

Fever Pitch (David Evans, 1997)

You can probably tell I’m not kind of guy for romantic comedies, but this is definitely one of my guilty pleasures and I’m surprised it hasn’t got its deserved cult status yet.

I like almost everything about this movie but above all the dialogues. Almost everything anyone says is hilarious. The only movie (and book) comparable is another masterpiece Commitments.

So go see this next time Arsenal loses at home to some Wigan or Bolton. You’ll feel better!

10/10

Lat sau san taam aka Hard-Boiled (John Woo, 1992)

Saw this masterpiece for the first time on the big screen and was naturally blown away. My favorite Woo’s flicks used to be Killer, Better Tomorrow 2 and Hard-Boiled. But now I’m not too sure anymore – Hard Boiled is at least tied with Killer at the first spot. 

You see I kind of preferred to watch Chow Yun-Fat as cool kind of guy and not stereotypical (even more for HK that is) humorous and charming ladies man, but his portrayal of Tequila is just brilliant. I must see Killer again soon and decide about this tie.

10/10