jenni_blog (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jenni_blog) wrote2010-07-24 07:30 pm
jenni_blog) wrote2010-07-24 07:30 pm
MOVIE REVIEWS! SOME WEIRD ONES
One thing that people don't know about me is that I often do things by threes, without even planning to, or even noticing it a lot of the time. I think I'm a bit OCD.
Especially DVDs. I will watch three DVDs of the same type one after the other, and in fact, I usually watch movies this way, unless I am watching a film on TV.
So during the last week I was feeling like I'd enjoy watching some romantic, sexy stuff and I ended up watching six movies altogether: three gay films and three sexy het films. They weren't porn, but actual movies and the gay ones were not really explicit or anything. Well, one of them was, and it was made in 1976!
Here is the list, and I'll do a little review with my opinion on each of them. And since I am such a 'visual' person, I must include a picture with each review. :)
The gay films are:
1) Shelter - written and directed by Jonah Markowitz. An American film.
2) Newcastle - LOL. It's not about the football club. Written and directed by Dan Castle. It takes place in Australia.
3) Johan - a French classic, unseen since 1976, and the most explicit of the bunch. A film by Philippe Vallois.
The others:
1) Swimming Pool - written and directed by Francois Ozon. It's English.
2) The Dreamers - directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. (French)
3) Lie With Me - directed by Clement Virgo (Canadian)
Reviews and Opinions
1) Shelter
An art school dropout in California with a part-time job as a fast-food cook, Zach lives with his single sister and her son. His sister imposes on him far too often to babysit for her, but as it happens he meets the older brother of his best friend at the beach one day while looking after his nephew. Zach does not at first know he is gay, but he has been having problems connecting with his beautiful girlfriend, she becomes increasingly frustrated, and even when it becomes obvious that his friend's brother has feelings for him, he stays in denial. But not for too long. LOL.
What I liked about this was the natural acting, the gorgeous actors, the great scenery and locations, and it actually had a compelling story that would appeal to many people who could understand Zach's situation. There wasn't anything I disliked, but I would have liked to have seen more lovemaking scenes. I think the actors in this are actually straight, not that that makes a huge difference all the time in a gay film, but this movie was not at all explicit.
2) Newcastle
Okay, I really want to squeee hard when writing about Newcastle because it seriously has the most gorgeous cast in any movie, ever. AND they are semi-naked ALL of the time and fully naked a LOT of the time. It's Australian. It's a surfing movie. But it has a good plot, a compelling story and the boys are all good actors. Basically, Jesse is a 17-year-old hottie who tries to live up to what his superstar brother accomplished as a surfer. There is another brother who is not in denial about his sexuality but his family is. However, when six boys and two girls (all friends except for Jesse and his bro) go away for a camping weekend, the brother falls in love with one of the other boys. Squeee again. Totally sexy and great visual eye candy, this film seriously cannot be missed by anyone who appreciates this sort of thing. Two thumbs up! LOL.
3) Johan
This movie was really weird but compelling. It did have some explicit moments but also some very annoying ones by a self-indulgent director. It was originally shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976 but given an 'X' rating right away and the film disappeared until recently. It is of the 'cinema verite' mode, and is a chronicle of gay life in Paris in the 70s. For that reason it is quite interesting, but the director gets carried away with segues into too many 'artsy' moments and a prolonged sequence near the end with an actress who giggles incessantly in the most annoying way that makes you want to clap your hands over your ears or press "stop" as fast as you can get your finger on the button.
4) Swimming Pool
I loved this movie! Everything about it was great - the acting, the scenery, locations, plot, pacing, suspense - everything was done really well. It stars Charlotte Rampling, an older actress probably best known for 'The Night Porter', at least that is what I remember her in and it was quite scandalous back in the day. She plays a writer whose publisher has sent her to his country house in France to complete a book. She is quite uptight and sexually repressed, so when the publisher's daughter shows up unexpectedly to stay there at the same time as the writer, tension is created between the two women. The daughter is sexually adventurous and brings a different man home every night. They never seem to perform sex in the bedroom, but instead the girl seems to want to do it all over the house and in and around the swimming pool. She and her partners are usually watched covertly by the author, who decides to put aside the book she was writing to begin a new story about the daughter. The film develops into a murder mystery of a sort. It is also fascinating to watch the unravelling of the writer's inhibitions as the two women begin to learn from each other.
5) The Dreamers
Eva Green and Michael Pitt star in this sexually explicit French film about an American film student who meets an odd brother and sister at university in Paris. It's a visually stunning movie with beautiful actors and lots of full frontal eye candy, particularly of Eva Green, but also the boys. I enjoyed it although I found Eva Green's character to be extremely irritating. I really cannot stand manipulative females who play-act their way into getting all the attention heaped upon them all the time. An example: Eva cooks the last of the food the three have in the house (the parents are away) and she burns it all (I suspect purposely). But she demands that Michael Pitt's character eats it, which he does, but he can't compliment her on it because he's obviously gagging. This enables Eva's character to throw a 'poor little me' hissy fit and lots of attention even though she manipulated this whole scenario herself and knew exactly what she was doing. If anyone should apologize, it's her. I can't stand women like this and believe me, I've known plenty of them in my life. But I don't want to rant. The worst thing this character does is to wake up while she is sleeping in a handmade tent in the middle of the living room with her brother and Michael Pitt (the boys remain asleep), get all emo about the predicament they are in, walk into the kitchen, unscrew the hose to the oven, drag it all the way back to the tent and hold it there, hoping that the gas emitting from it will kill them. For fuck's sake, has she given the boys any choice in whether they die or not? Of course, not, it's ALL about HER and how bad SHE feels and she has to be the DRAMA QUEEN and manipulate yet another situation!
Okay, sorry, rant over. LOL. This movie is worth seeing, however, I really couldn't stand the Eva Green character, obviously.
6) Lie With Me
OMG. This movie was fantastic. I mean, seriously wonderful. And what stuns me is the fact it's Canadian! Once in awhile we can make a great one, honestly! It is about a sexy girl who is turned on all the time. I guess we used to call these girls nymphomaniacs. We first see her in a club dancing provocatively, attracting more than a few men. She makes goo-goo eyes with one of them, but he is with his girlfriend and can't do anything about it. So she picks up another guy, takes him outside and makes him perform sex after giving him oral out in the open on the side of the street. Sitting in a parked car in full view is the guy and his gf from the club, and he watches them while getting oral from his gf in the car.
This is a very sexually explicit film. It really doesn't pull any punches, yet it is not a porn film. (LOL. Sometimes there is a very fine line.) But this has a plot and some great acting. I also loved the costumes. The clothes were very attractive. The lead actress, Lauren Lee Smith, is really beautiful, in a natural way, and while I was not attracted by the lead actor's face (Eric Balfour), this guy has probably the best physique I've ever seen in a film. However, his genitalia is not large, but it wasn't unattractive. Hahahaha.
Okay, so those are my reviews. I've also recently watched some interesting films, including 'Inception' at the movie theatre and 'The Lovely Bones' on DVD. As well as a couple of Robert Pattinson films that are NOT the 'Twilight' movies. He's impressed me as an actor and I'd like to write about him. And I'm just about to watch 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' on DVD. So perhaps I'll review those movies at a later date.
Especially DVDs. I will watch three DVDs of the same type one after the other, and in fact, I usually watch movies this way, unless I am watching a film on TV.
So during the last week I was feeling like I'd enjoy watching some romantic, sexy stuff and I ended up watching six movies altogether: three gay films and three sexy het films. They weren't porn, but actual movies and the gay ones were not really explicit or anything. Well, one of them was, and it was made in 1976!
Here is the list, and I'll do a little review with my opinion on each of them. And since I am such a 'visual' person, I must include a picture with each review. :)
The gay films are:
1) Shelter - written and directed by Jonah Markowitz. An American film.
2) Newcastle - LOL. It's not about the football club. Written and directed by Dan Castle. It takes place in Australia.
3) Johan - a French classic, unseen since 1976, and the most explicit of the bunch. A film by Philippe Vallois.
The others:
1) Swimming Pool - written and directed by Francois Ozon. It's English.
2) The Dreamers - directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. (French)
3) Lie With Me - directed by Clement Virgo (Canadian)
Reviews and Opinions
1) Shelter
An art school dropout in California with a part-time job as a fast-food cook, Zach lives with his single sister and her son. His sister imposes on him far too often to babysit for her, but as it happens he meets the older brother of his best friend at the beach one day while looking after his nephew. Zach does not at first know he is gay, but he has been having problems connecting with his beautiful girlfriend, she becomes increasingly frustrated, and even when it becomes obvious that his friend's brother has feelings for him, he stays in denial. But not for too long. LOL.
What I liked about this was the natural acting, the gorgeous actors, the great scenery and locations, and it actually had a compelling story that would appeal to many people who could understand Zach's situation. There wasn't anything I disliked, but I would have liked to have seen more lovemaking scenes. I think the actors in this are actually straight, not that that makes a huge difference all the time in a gay film, but this movie was not at all explicit.
2) Newcastle
Okay, I really want to squeee hard when writing about Newcastle because it seriously has the most gorgeous cast in any movie, ever. AND they are semi-naked ALL of the time and fully naked a LOT of the time. It's Australian. It's a surfing movie. But it has a good plot, a compelling story and the boys are all good actors. Basically, Jesse is a 17-year-old hottie who tries to live up to what his superstar brother accomplished as a surfer. There is another brother who is not in denial about his sexuality but his family is. However, when six boys and two girls (all friends except for Jesse and his bro) go away for a camping weekend, the brother falls in love with one of the other boys. Squeee again. Totally sexy and great visual eye candy, this film seriously cannot be missed by anyone who appreciates this sort of thing. Two thumbs up! LOL.
3) Johan
This movie was really weird but compelling. It did have some explicit moments but also some very annoying ones by a self-indulgent director. It was originally shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976 but given an 'X' rating right away and the film disappeared until recently. It is of the 'cinema verite' mode, and is a chronicle of gay life in Paris in the 70s. For that reason it is quite interesting, but the director gets carried away with segues into too many 'artsy' moments and a prolonged sequence near the end with an actress who giggles incessantly in the most annoying way that makes you want to clap your hands over your ears or press "stop" as fast as you can get your finger on the button.
4) Swimming Pool
I loved this movie! Everything about it was great - the acting, the scenery, locations, plot, pacing, suspense - everything was done really well. It stars Charlotte Rampling, an older actress probably best known for 'The Night Porter', at least that is what I remember her in and it was quite scandalous back in the day. She plays a writer whose publisher has sent her to his country house in France to complete a book. She is quite uptight and sexually repressed, so when the publisher's daughter shows up unexpectedly to stay there at the same time as the writer, tension is created between the two women. The daughter is sexually adventurous and brings a different man home every night. They never seem to perform sex in the bedroom, but instead the girl seems to want to do it all over the house and in and around the swimming pool. She and her partners are usually watched covertly by the author, who decides to put aside the book she was writing to begin a new story about the daughter. The film develops into a murder mystery of a sort. It is also fascinating to watch the unravelling of the writer's inhibitions as the two women begin to learn from each other.
5) The Dreamers
Eva Green and Michael Pitt star in this sexually explicit French film about an American film student who meets an odd brother and sister at university in Paris. It's a visually stunning movie with beautiful actors and lots of full frontal eye candy, particularly of Eva Green, but also the boys. I enjoyed it although I found Eva Green's character to be extremely irritating. I really cannot stand manipulative females who play-act their way into getting all the attention heaped upon them all the time. An example: Eva cooks the last of the food the three have in the house (the parents are away) and she burns it all (I suspect purposely). But she demands that Michael Pitt's character eats it, which he does, but he can't compliment her on it because he's obviously gagging. This enables Eva's character to throw a 'poor little me' hissy fit and lots of attention even though she manipulated this whole scenario herself and knew exactly what she was doing. If anyone should apologize, it's her. I can't stand women like this and believe me, I've known plenty of them in my life. But I don't want to rant. The worst thing this character does is to wake up while she is sleeping in a handmade tent in the middle of the living room with her brother and Michael Pitt (the boys remain asleep), get all emo about the predicament they are in, walk into the kitchen, unscrew the hose to the oven, drag it all the way back to the tent and hold it there, hoping that the gas emitting from it will kill them. For fuck's sake, has she given the boys any choice in whether they die or not? Of course, not, it's ALL about HER and how bad SHE feels and she has to be the DRAMA QUEEN and manipulate yet another situation!
Okay, sorry, rant over. LOL. This movie is worth seeing, however, I really couldn't stand the Eva Green character, obviously.
6) Lie With Me
OMG. This movie was fantastic. I mean, seriously wonderful. And what stuns me is the fact it's Canadian! Once in awhile we can make a great one, honestly! It is about a sexy girl who is turned on all the time. I guess we used to call these girls nymphomaniacs. We first see her in a club dancing provocatively, attracting more than a few men. She makes goo-goo eyes with one of them, but he is with his girlfriend and can't do anything about it. So she picks up another guy, takes him outside and makes him perform sex after giving him oral out in the open on the side of the street. Sitting in a parked car in full view is the guy and his gf from the club, and he watches them while getting oral from his gf in the car.
This is a very sexually explicit film. It really doesn't pull any punches, yet it is not a porn film. (LOL. Sometimes there is a very fine line.) But this has a plot and some great acting. I also loved the costumes. The clothes were very attractive. The lead actress, Lauren Lee Smith, is really beautiful, in a natural way, and while I was not attracted by the lead actor's face (Eric Balfour), this guy has probably the best physique I've ever seen in a film. However, his genitalia is not large, but it wasn't unattractive. Hahahaha.
Okay, so those are my reviews. I've also recently watched some interesting films, including 'Inception' at the movie theatre and 'The Lovely Bones' on DVD. As well as a couple of Robert Pattinson films that are NOT the 'Twilight' movies. He's impressed me as an actor and I'd like to write about him. And I'm just about to watch 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' on DVD. So perhaps I'll review those movies at a later date.
no subject
Ahhh...the BAFICI! And we have the TFF (Toronto Film Festival) here, which has probably helped to fuel my interest in the indies!
Btw...can you recommend any good recent Argentine films that I haven't seen yet? You've been so fantastic at reccing some great movies that I watched and loved...Nine Queens, Cronica de una fuga and XXY to name a few! :)
OMG what a fantastic icon! Is that Tevez with his kids?
no subject
Mmm let me think... Well, if you haven't seen El Secreto de sus ojos, I would totally advise you to do it!
If you can find it, Cenizas del Paraiso (it's not really recent, but I love it). And then there's the Trapero movies, which I haven't seen but I've always heard great stuff about them: "Leonera" and "Carancho". Oh, and then there's one that I loved, called "Hermanas". Those are the ones that come to mind right now :)
no subject
Yeah, I thought Tevez only had one little girl, but I remember seeing that there were a few kids at the match that day... :)
no subject