The weekend started with a screening of Satyajit Ray's
Pather Panchali, a neo-neorealist movie about an indian family who goes through life. Part 1 of 3 following the life of the little boy of the movie, Apu.
That night was finished with
My Fair Lady . I had no idea the sheer acting talents of Audrey Hepburn, nor the power that Warner Bros. studio had at the time to produce something of that magnitude. I love the film.
The next sets of movies come in at twos.
First two were
Head in the Clouds and
U Turn. Head in the Clouds was a terrible mock epic with tremendous talents (Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz), but a slow story and poor direction. Lost money when I rented it.
U Turn is an Oliver Stone movie that is nuts. Sean Penn's character rolls into this dusty town with a busted radiator hose where he meets the strangest people you'll hopefully never meet. Oh, by the way, he's just lost two fingers for not paying a loan earlier, and people are on the way to do more than fingers. J-Lo costars as a double crossing lunatic.
The next two are classics
Lola Rennnt and
La Dolce Vita . Both movies are mind blowing. La Dolce Vita rules the neo-realist charts, and Run Lola Run is absolutely amazing. Just when I thought camera tricks and editing had gone to the dogs and there was nothing original left, this movie comes and shows me an old dog can relearn old tricks. Great animation too.
The final two movies were equally as amazing.
Tokyo Story which follows about a year's life of a Japanese couple who visit their children in Tokyo from the countryside and begin to learn their burden of old age.......Think of your parents when you watch this movie and thank them for what they've done for you.
The other movie, Ingmar Bergman's
Persona was completely confusing, but incredibly fascinating. An actress is assigned a nun to watch over her and a range of emotions are poured out onto the screen. Wild. If you don't love the modernists, you're losing your sense of humor. The opening sequence of film with uncontrollable film, tarantulas, nails, and a penis blew my mind. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.