Category: The Reasons
Three Reasons: Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945). An Honest Depiction of Alcohol Addiction.
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In 1946 Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945) won the Austrian-American auteur five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay (the film is based on Charles R. Jackson’s homonymous book). While I love to make fun of the Oscars or get really pissed at their poor decisions, this is one of those instances where I feel they got it right. Then again, you can’t go wrong with Billy Wilder. I recently watched this film for the first time and absolutely adored it. In typical Criterion fashion I decided to share Three Reasons why I think this is a must-see. Continue reading
Three Reasons: Mark Waters’ Vampire Academy (2014). The Prime Example of Young Adult Fiction That Works.
Lately, I found myself reflecting on how I am slowly but surely transitioning into an older age group in terms of Hollywood demographics. When I see all these adverts for young adult films (and most big blockbusters in general) all I feel is just complete disinterest. I was worried that I am getting too old to “get” these movies, but watching Mark Waters’ Vampire Academy I realized that it’s simply not true. A good movie is a good movie, regardless of who it’s targeting. Continue reading
Five Reasons: Catherine Breillat’s Barbe Bleue (2009) & Bonus: My Theory on Why Bluebeard’s Blue Beard is Blue
In 2009 Catherine Breillat decided to film Charles Perrault’s famous French folktale Barbe bleue (that’s Bluebeard en anglais). The classic fable was published by Perrault in Paris in 1697, but was set in 15th Century France. The story is about a wealthy French aristocrat who had a blue beard and a passion for young women, namely slitting their lovely throats. His modus operandi included marrying his innocent victims, live with them for a year or less and then kill them. I never really got this story, because I mean come on, why would you kill a beautiful young woman? Continue reading
Three Reasons: Catherine Breillat’s Brief Crossing (2001)
In case you hadn’t noticed Catherine Breillat is one of my favorite French auteurs. Brief Crossing (original title: Brève traversée) is one of her highest rated films on IMDb, but not many people have seen it or talk about it. However I’m sure that a lot of people would enjoy this film, because as we will see it has some interesting ideas about sex and sexual encounters, it’s very sexy and do I really need Three Reasons? Yes? Okay, more sex! There’s not a lot of nudity in this film apart from one rather lengthy sex scene, but one could say that the whole film is about sex, although there’s more than that. Continue reading
Three Reasons: Claire Denis’ Beau Travail (1999)
Considered one of the best films of all time by the illustrious Sight & Sound people, Claire Denis’ Beau Travail is indeed an interesting movie to watch and discuss. In true Criterion fashion I will give you my Three Reasons for enjoying this film as much as I did. It is however the third reason, the ending of the film, which really sold it to me. In fact I loved the ending so much it made me want to make a post about movie endings, but then that’s not really an easy topic to discuss. How do you talk about a film’s ending without spoiling it? Continue reading
Three Reasons: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979)
Believe it or not: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker is not part of the Criterion Collection, so they can’t do one of their famous Three Reasons videos, but I can. Why? Because I’m above the law. Just kidding. I only watched this classic masterpiece the other day for the first time and since I’m sure there are thousands of reviews about it on the web, I decided to just mention three reasons why I loved it so much. If you enjoy the Three Reasons series you can find more in the new blog section called The Reasons (under Lists). Thanks & Enjoy. Continue reading
Three Reasons: Yoshida Yoshishige’s Woman of the Lake (1966)
Though Yoshida Yoshishige’s Woman of the Lake is not part of the prestigious Criterion Collection, it definitely feels like it should be as you watch it. It’s has a very specific 1960s tone and aesthetic of the great classics of that time period. I decided to list Three Reasons to check it out, because it seems like an under-seen film. Not many people have rated it on IMDb, but that’s precisely where it was recommended to me a while back. So I’d like to thank the IMDb users for their great advice. Continue reading
Three Reasons: Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day (1993)
Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day might not be the first film that comes to mind when you think about the great classics of cinema, but it is a universally well-liked movie. Its firm position in the IMDb Top 250 is proof, not that it needs that, but it’s always nice and it totally deserves that spot, unlike some flavor of the week films randomly showing up due to fanatic fanboy voting (but that’s a topic for another day). Groundhog Day is one of my brother’s favorite films and he wanted to re-watch it the other day and so we did. Continue reading
Three Reasons: Emir Kusturica’s Underground (1995)
What’s Three Reasons? A lazy version of Five Reasons of course. But then isn’t it an exact ripoff of the Criterion Collection YouTube videos? Yes, but I prefer the word homage. Anyways, enough chitchat let’s get down to business. This is a short article about Emir Kusturica’s Underground (original title: Podzemlje). This film won the Serbian auteur the top prize, the Palm d’Or, at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Continue reading
Five Reasons: Luchino Visconti’s Conversation Piece (1974)
What up my friends? It’s been a while since I’ve done a Five Reasons. Why? Well, this section is dedicated to the classics of cinema and I’ve been watching more recent films lately and the few classics I’ve checked out haven’t really inspired me. However a friend of mine mentioned this film to me and since I love Luchino Visconti, but hadn’t seen Conversation Piece (original title: Gruppo di famiglia in un interno) I decided to check it out last night, and let me tell you it’s fantastic. So I’d like to thank my kind friend for once again recommending a great movie and I hope you enjoy this (hopefully) brief piece on it. Here are five reasons why I recommend Luchino Visconti’s Conversation Piece. Continue reading
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