West of the Moon - ★★★★

West of the Moon - ★★★★
REVIEWED

"It was not a Great War, it was terrible."

Narrator (Michael John Galvin

Quirky and extremely glossy 10 minute short, linking various children's dream accounts into a fantasy ripping yarn. With the main universal themes being about age and memories of those we've lost.

Such an easy way to spend 10 minutes, it looks somewhat like an expensive beer commercial, but thats not exactly bad. Another gem I've stumbled upon thanks to a member on LBoxd.

[PRFR]
The whole 10 minutes are pure eye candy. But the moment that stuck out for me was when I understood it came from children's ideas, with the segment they change it from a bird in the kitchen to a robot, kinda makes you sad kids lose their imaginations as they grow older.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Ubit Drakona, 1988 - ★★★★

Ubit Drakona aka Kill the Dragon 1988 - ★★★★
REVIEWED

"The only way to get rid of a dragon, is to have ones own dragon."

The Archivist 

 

Beguiling Russian fable that uses the age old theme of an Hero vs Dragon as its backdrop to study human nature and why society will always be governed by one system or another and never be truly free. A traveler who claims to be a descendant of Lancelot walks into a city to find it under the grip of the tyrannical Mr Dragon. Our hero learns that anyone has a right to challenge the Dragon, only do the backward nations people really need or want their freedom back.

The movies all over the damn place, theres musical numbers and science fiction thrown in among its more dramatic moments. But even though its absurd its got an extremely sharp plot and makes great points. I'll be honest, a touch of the more political aspects flew gleefully over my head, outside of the Cold War and Stalin I'm very ignorant to Soviet Union politics. The structure of 'Ubit Drakona aka Kill the Dragon' reminded me most of Jack Arnold's anti war/establishment classic 'The Mouse That Roared', in that its really a comedy about the little man making a stand. Hell Oleg Yankovskiy as Mr Dragon hops into several persona's equally as well as Sellers managed to do. In fact the acting is solid throughout especially from Yankovskiey and Aleksandr Abdulov as our hero. Like most Russian fantasy movies its visually sumptuous, the locations used and peculiar architecture really add to the other world & time feel.

[PRFR]
Some of the crazy policys used like boarding up every window in the city so its populus can't see the truth. And the clever ending with children watching a man flying a dragon kite, open to being taught an alternative way of life.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Horrors of Malformed Men, 1969 - ★★★★

Horrors of Malformed Men, 1969 - ★★★★
REVIEWED
Japanese exploitation legend Teruo Ishii's horror opus is basically a twisted, weirded out version of 'Island of Lost Souls'. I waited years to see this and thankfully it delivered. Comes highly recommended but only suitable to fans of bizarre cinema.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

The Outcasts, 1985 - ★★★★

The Outcasts, 1985 - ★★★★
REVIEWED

"Horrible hairy, boozy, smelly, pervy bikers!... but they're nice people."

Pub Barman

Viewed as part of my Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1. Hilarious documentary, following an hard Heineken® drinkin', cheeky pot smokin' & speed abusin' Great Yarmouth based biker gang, who are sort of a low rent chapter of the English hells angels.

Taken from the British 'Forty Minutes' one off short documentaries, The Outcasts was so painfully funny you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a 'Spinal Tap' style soof mockumentary. The gang only consist of 30 odd members (best to keep it small, so we know everyone) but they do meetings with other gangs and get upwards of 150 showing up. They love their mams and seemingly make their club funds by running a burger van, during the film most the members get caught in a DHSS fraud swoop. Not the best doc I've ever seen, but one of the more funnier ones. Hell even the darker, more serious sides to the film made me laugh, like one of their members Wulf's funeral.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 1976 - ★★★★

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 1976 - ★★★★
REVIEWED

"I didn't quit school, I've never been to school."

A juvenile delinquent

Viewed as part of my *Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1.Legendary cult b&w documentary following the rise in rebellious youth bikers in 70's Tokyo, Japan. Its still fascinating close to 40 years later.

Not perfect (captured far too much home life and just sitting around for me), and one the cool movie hipsters have overrated (you know the types who daringly see Eraserhead and let you know about it), but 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor' aka 'Goddo supiido yuu! Burakku emparaa' still ranks as one of the most interesting film documents on a youth movement, thats ever been made. It packs enough energy and cool to fill 10 docs. Visually its extremely gritty very new wave cinema feeling, best segments are just watching the teens riding around, or being shy chatting with or about girls. My favorite segment was when one of the boys bought a new bike for the first time, a fun scene with bonkers j-music.

Theres some truly amazing b&w photography used as well, like the sight of a lone bike in-front of a lights flashing police car or the various goofy kids sporting penned on swastikas (I'm all for rebellion, so long as it washes off for my studies or office job tomorrow).

* I did make one rule with my doc theme month, not to list anything I'd seen previously, though I'd seen segments of this before (hard not to have done being a fan of the band GSYB, I was bound to be interested how they got their name). But I'd not previously seen it in its entireity, honest l; )

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, 1995 - ★★★★

Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, 1995 - ★★★★
REVIEWED

"Jiminy Cockroach... what times are hard."

Woland (Ken Stott)

Wickedly stylish, nightmarish short that twists Franz Kafka's classic tale 'The Metamorphosis' with Frank Capra's legendary It's A Wonderful Life. Mr. K suffers a turbulent spell of anxiety leading to writers block, he starts to get more and more depressed while his imagination gets the better of him.

Visually and aurally spellbinding, with a fantastic cast featuring Richard E. Grant and Ken Stott. Throw in a cool concept, adds up to make a rewarding short movie.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

The Deal, 1998 - ★★★★

The Deal, 1998 - ★★★★
REVIEWED

"The power and the glory"

Veneer (Larry Pine) while pointing to his balls

Two powerful businessmen hatch a plan to merge their assets, while sharing mutual respect and the odd insult. They're possibly God and the Devil, but hey doesn't everyone in high power positions think they are.

Hilarious absurd short features heaps of fantasticly twisted dialog, golden scrotum's, funky dad dancing and briliant performances from both Joe Grifasi and Larry Pine. Its like a mini episode of Mad Men only with more balls.

Originally taken from Letterboxd