Week #4. My eyes are less bloodshot now. The majority of films I’ve seen this year have been older films screened in the cinemas. I love it.

Burn After Reading (2008) dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
27/03/16
rewatch

A masterpiece for reasons I can’t explain. Every single performance here shows its respective actor at their absolute best. ★★★★★

Super (2010) dir. James Gunn
28/03/16

Gunn’s take on the average man willfully turned superhero is a tonal mess, but this doesn’t detract from the sheer guts it has in its gory and nihilistic presentation of violence in contrast to Frank’s (Rainn Wilson) unhinging devotion to God. Ellen Page goes against all morals to play this part. Seriously, shut up crime. ★★★

Tropic Thunder (2008) dir. Ben Stiller 
28/03/16
rewatch

I only managed to catch about 3/4 of this but it still remains a fairly volatile experience, treating its familial narrative with a quietly restrained emotional core and extending satire that hits further with every passing minute. A pleasure to see Downey Jr. channeling some long lost psycho-Australian vibes (I’m looking at you, Natural Born Killers) and Tom Cruise’s physical appearance deserves no other word than ‘gross’.  ★★★★

Greed (1924) dir. Erich von Stroheim 
30/03/16

My first silent film, experienced in the glory that is 35mm. For a film of its time, it certainly boasts some outrageous violence (husband murdering wife, men dying of dehydration in Death Valley). Greed forces its titular term on the viewer with no restraint, the destruction of all human connection comes at the cost of a shimmering coin. It’s hard to pick a single character that doesn’t express this desire, Stroheim’s world created solely on the belief that man is a glutenous monster, finding the possession of wealth a greater satisfaction than any humanly touch. ★★★½

Queen Kelly (1929) dir. Erich von Stroheim
30/03/16

My second silent film (thanks Cinematheque), also experienced in glorious 35mm. The fact that this was never completed is one of the most depressing things in the world. Glimmers of Stroheim’s genius are caught floating in every frame, every scene, every second–MGM studio execs were blind not to see it. Resorting at some points to a radical transitioning between still photography and title card, frantically trying to piece itself together, Queen Kelly in its now state remains one of the great films that never was. ★★★½

Le Cercle Rouge (1970) dir. Jean-Pierre Melville 
31/03/16

Glorious 35mm!! (dear Astor, please fix your projectors, I do not appreciate the clipping). Truly an inspiring gateway into French crime cinema, one tinged with a melancholic blue in each frame. Melville is more interested in letting silences speak for themselves (that heist scene! an unspoken tension like you wouldn’t believe). “All men are guilty“, Melville knows this, and by the time the leading trio find themselves in the titular red circle we know this cycle never ends. ★★★★½