The Thief of Bagdad

Another of my '100 films you've never heard of': The Thief of Bagdad (or should that be Baghdad?) and as it won 3 Oscars (cinematography, art direction, and special effects), you probably have heard of it - as well as the Douglas Fairbanks silent version from 1924 (see photo).

The King of Comedy

Scorsese and de Niro follow up Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull with something a little more cerebral - The King of Comedy - which I watched last night as part of my 100 Best Films project - stalking, obsession, kidnapping - hardly the stuff of comedy! 

Big Wednesday

Last night watched Big Wednesday, the 83rd film for my other blog http://patrese2.blogspot.co.uk - only recommended for fans of bare-chested blokes posing with their surf boards gazing into the distance - not my cup of tea therefore.

Je Tu Il Elle

The film equivalent of 'watching paint dry' - for the first half hour of this art house black and white film by Chantal Ackerman, a girl (Ackerman herself), in a almost empty room, lies on the bed, eats sugar, writes letters, and gets naked. Later, hitch-hiking, she is picked up by a truck driver, and finishes up at the house of a girl-friend where they have sex. It's very slow, but almost hypnotic, almost. 

Academy cinemas

With reference to my earlier blog, here's a photo of the Academy Cinemas in Oxford St:

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Birdman (again)

Just realised that Birdman (see my earlier blog) got the OSCAR for Best Picture - ho hum...  

The Round Up

Brownie points to MUBI for selecting The Round Up as their film of the day. I remember seeing this when it came out, in 1966, at one of the Academy cinemas in Oxford St - at the time one of the only places you could see less mainstream films. I probably went as a result of reading a review by Dilys Powell in the Sunday paper - I think I may even still have the review somewhere in a box in the loft, as the film made a great impression on me. I guess, at the time, it was something completely different - and it still packs a punch - somewhere in Hungary the army is trying to track down outlaws (opposition resistance leaders) and so rounds up all the local men (shepherds mainly), keeps them in a specially constructed prison in the middle of a huge plain and uses all sorts of psychological methods to identify the outlaws from the innocent shepherds - it's all very still and quiet and alien and strangely disturbing - but shot in such stunning black and white (the blacks are really black and the whites and really white) that it is just beautiful to watch. Lovely to see it again (for the first time since 1966) though I note you can get it these days on DVD. Thoroughly recommended. Trying to remember other films I saw around the same time that I was similarly affected by - Closely Observed Trains possibly, and Juliet of the Spirits and, well I'm sure others will come to mind.