The Good, The Bad and the Ugly scene to celebrate Clint's poll victory

Since Clint Eastwood beat John Wayne 10-6 on the latest poll...lets have a classic duel scene from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!

This is such an amazing scene with a three person duel by director Sergio Leone.

Commercials by Roy Andersson

In my review of Songs From the Second Floor a few days ago I mentioned that director Roy Andersson was known for his commercials. Here are a short group that are quirky, bizarre and pretty interesting. Roy Andersson!

UTW review of Brothers

Go here if you want to read my review in this week's UTW of Brothers. It's the new film from director Jim Sheridan with a cast of well known actors, family melodrama and war.

Songs From the Second Floor

There is nothing I like more than watching a film I have no expectations for and having the movie blow me away. I have to admit, it doesn't happen a lot because the more films you watch, the harder it is to be surprised, shocked and moved by what you are watching. The brutal truth of it is if you watch hundreds of movies a year for twenty five years in a row--you get kind of desensitized by the onslaught of what you watch.

But you also never give up hope that the next movie you watch will be the one that lights some unexpected spark inside your heart as it unfolds. While I enjoy many new films throughout the year, only a few times a year (if that many) does something come out of nowhere to leave me awestruck, dumbfounded and tingling with pleasure as I watch it. I just finished Roy Andersson's Songs From the Second Floor a few minutes ago and am in such a state. Wow!

Andersson has only made three feature films in forty plus years as a filmmaker (this is only his second feature, coming twenty five years since his first in 1975; he's also made numerous shorts and commercials in his native Sweden) which makes this movie all the more astonishing to me. Songs From the Second Floor is a cinematic work of art, fully recognized by decades of contemplation regarding content, message and design. It's something I might have to watch a second time to let every image sink further into me.

Songs From the Second Floor is not the easiest film to watch at times. It's a raw, no-holds barred indictment of modern society, utilizes no clear story or lead characters, has passages where little or no dialogue is uttered and embraces surreal, Kafkaesque scenes that deliver Andersson's bleak message for the world we inhabit. The main star of the film is the unbearable, pervasive malaise that accompanies much of the human existence in Andersson's world. Call me crazy but witnessing such unabashed doom and gloom has never been so riveting!

Andersson spends time concentrating on places where normalcy should reign supreme. We see hospital rooms, bars, apartments, lobbies and hallways--all lit with eerie, otherworldly artificial lighting that is hauntingly gorgeous and soul crushing at the same time. Andersson loves the long take (as do I). He bathes his characters in wondrous long shots with zero camera movement (another thing I prefer) as they stare off into space, lost in near catatonic dazes. There are traffic jams that stretch through every Stockholm street, young girls being sacrificed by the government and clergy for no reason, mass panic on the streets as the world seems to be crumbling around us all and other forms of unexplained events. None of it moves the story forward but it adds to the general sense of foreboding present in the film. This may not sound great or interesting but it is.

Songs From the Second Floor is a magical realization of director Roy Andersson's vision. It's uncompromising, daring, beautiful, maddening, depressing, humorous, quirky and something that I won't be forgetting anytime soon. I'm now aching to see Andersson's 2007 film You, The Living when it comes out on DVD. If it's anything like this, I'm in for an exhilarating experience. Highly, highly recommended if you are into something outside the mainstream (or just really good movies!).

Songs From The Second Floor - Silent Song

This scene from Songs From the Second Floor is very typical of the film. It's got the mundane rubbing up against the surreal--this time with musical accompaniment. There are dozens of memorable, amazing sequences like this in this Swedish film.

UTW review of An Education

Go here if you want to read my review of An Education. It's an English drama set in 1961 as a precocious 16 year old falls into the romantic company of a much older man. It's really good.

November movies, video blogging and poll results

I was looking at Cameron McCasland's blog The Red Headed Revolution and got to see him do a video post and thought to myself that I should do those every so often. So, look for that in the future. Thanks Cameron for that idea!

Most recent poll results: What was the best decade for movies? 1970s got nine votes, 1980s got four, 2000s got three and a single person thought the 1990s was the best decade. CineRobot readers got this one right--the '70s was the best decade for films.

New poll question is up: Who made better westerns? John Wayne or Clint Eastwood? Please vote. It's the American way.

A Boy's Life---2003---usa   **1/2
More Than a Game---2008---usa   ***
The Counterfeiters---2007---germany   ***
The Fourth Kind---2009---usa   **
Rear Window---1954---usa   *****!
The Men Who Stare at Goats---2009---usa   ***
Pirate Radio---2009---england   **1/2
Encounters at the End of the World---2008---usa   ***1/2
The Damned United---2009---england   ***1/2
Fat City---1972---usa   ***1/2
The Duellists---1978---england   ****
The Castle---1997---australia   ***1/2
Sleeper---1973---usa   ****
To Catch a Thief---1955---usa    ****
Tell No One---2007---france    ****
An Education---2009---england   ****
Sunshine Cleaning---2008---usa   ***
I Love You, Man---2008---usa   ****
3-Iron---2004---south korea   ****
A Serious Man---2009---usa   ***

Herzog quote

There's lots of reasons I like German director Werner Herzog. This quote from his 2008 documentary Encounters at the End of the World is just another reason:
"I loathe the sun both on my celluloid and my skin."

Amen brother! Sunlight is evil.

Life of Brian, Budapest, 1995

In 1995 I spent some time in Budapest, Hungary. I saw a bunch of films there, usually on the very cheap, in tiny or makeshift theatres that weren't traditional movie theatres. There were dozens of small theatres all over the city and you never really new what was going to happen until you found your seat. One of my favorites, Blue Box, was a square room that utilized park benches as seats. The strangest screening I had in Budapest was for Monty Python's Life of Brian.

It started as it usually did when I'd see a film in Budapest--I'd make sure it was indeed in English with Hungarian subtitles and not dubbed. It was. I was told to sit near the front of the stage for the screening as I got my ticket. "Okay," I thought, odd request but I was fine with it as I entered the little room that had a screen towards the back of the theatre stage.

Seven or eight others were already in their seats and all were sitting in the first couple of rows. My Hungarian was extremely poor (it's a very hard language to pick up) so I can only guess that the others were as befuddled as I was about the directive to sit near the front. Maybe they knew what I didn't know but I don't think so based on their immediate reaction regarding what was about to come our way.

When it was time for the film to start, we found out why we were told to sit where we were sitting. A moveable cart with TV and VCR was wheeled onto the middle of the stage directly in front of us. They were plugged into an extension cord and turned on. I couldn't believe my eyes! "Surely not," I thought as I watched the two guys in their 20s on the stage fiddle with knobs. But it was true, one pressed play, lights dimmed and the film started.

This was incredible to me. This group of strangers were going to watch Life of Brian together IN a movie theatre but ON a portable TV and VHS tape! And, you know what? We laughed like crazy and had a terrific time. I may have enjoyed it more due to the unexpected way it was screened. If I had one story to sum up my time in Budapest, it just might be the night I watched Life of Brian.