Nursebob
Vancouver Public Library
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DiggerDigger, DVD
DVD - 2022 | Greek, Modern (1453-)DVD, 2022. Language: Greek, Modern (1453-)
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 27, 2024
The HoldoversThe Holdovers, DVD
DVD - 2024 | Collector's editionDVD, 2024. Collector's edition
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Holds: 275 on 30 copies
Holds: 275 on 30 copies
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 21, 2024
Comment:
From the film’s opening credits featuring scratchy film stock and a dated Universal Studios logo to its soundtrack of songs from the likes of Cat Stevens and The Temptations, director Alexander Payne has accomplished the near impossible—created a period piece that actually FEELS like it was made way back then. While cinematographer Eigil Bryld capitalizes on a real life blizzard to give us telling backdrops of snowbound fields and icy Boston cityscapes, David Hemingson’s Oscar-nominated script balances poignancy with enough comic relief to keep things from becoming bogged down in cloying melodrama. Neurotic pupil Angus’ antisocial behaviour conceals a painful vulnerability which resonates with professor Paul’s own deep-seated unhappiness, and the friction between the two gives cafeteria supervisor Mary a reason to move beyond her grief. And the three mains are perfectly cast: Dominic Sessa’s delicate features literally tremble with repressed anguish; Paul Giamatti growls and sputters, his walleyed stare (courtesy of prosthetic contact lenses) making “eye-to-eye” conversations deliberately awkward; and Da'Vine Joy Randolph’s cynical gaze and corpulent figure provide an unexpected anchor. Rules will be broken, secrets will be shared, and by the time classes resume all three will find their lives have taken a different direction—for better or worse. Despite his protests to the contrary, Payne has indeed given us a new Christmas classic—only this one can be enjoyed all year long. And that final scene will prove priceless to anyone who enjoyed Payne’s previous film, 2004’s "Sideways".From the film’s opening credits featuring scratchy film stock and a dated Universal Studios logo to its soundtrack of songs from the likes of Cat Stevens and The Temptations, director Alexander Payne has accomplished the near impossible—created a…
The ornithologistThe ornithologist, DVD
DVD - 2017 | PortugueseDVD, 2017. Language: Portuguese
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 18, 2024
Comment:
The trials and temptations of Anthony of Padua —the 13th century saint who wandered through the wilds assaulted by demons and tempted by visions of earthly flesh in order to prove his spiritual purity—are played out in the countryside of contemporary northern Portugal with director João Pedro Rodrigues tacking on a rainbow twist for good measure. After his kayak capsizes in unforeseen rapids, birdwatcher Fernando regains consciousness to find the once serene countryside now suddenly turned menacing with phantasms and animal familiars. Thus lost in a dark forest populated by yowling beasts and devilish pagans the atheistic Fernando embarks on a spiritual awakening which will see him bound by a pair of cackling Furies, propositioned by a trio of bare-breasted Amazons, and succumb to the heavenly charms of one VERY GOOD shepherd… Rodrigues obviously did his catechismal homework for the film makes interesting, occasionally clever, allusions to the legends surrounding St. Anthony be it the symbolic wild boar (pig fat was used to anoint the sick) and avian cameos (infernal owls and a virtuous dove vie for attention) or Fernando—now considering a name change—offering his own version of Anthony's "sermon to the fish". And of course "memento mori" abound with our awakening protagonist stumbling upon a tomb and a grinning skull…and a resurrection of sorts. Admittedly it’s all very Catholic—even if the “Love of Christ” was taken a bit too far (the goats were scandalized)—but it could also be taken as a complex psychodrama detailing one man’s emotional metamorphosis, his only link to the “real world” a bottle of prescription pills and a series of worried texts from a lover back home. Finally, in the title role hunky French actor Paul Hamy gives rise to more than a couple of unclean thoughts himself.The trials and temptations of Anthony of Padua —the 13th century saint who wandered through the wilds assaulted by demons and tempted by visions of earthly flesh in order to prove his spiritual purity—are played out in the countryside of…
The Hellstrom ChronicleThe Hellstrom Chronicle, DVD
DVD - 2011 | Standard versionDVD, 2011. Standard version
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Holds: 2 on 1 copy
Holds: 2 on 1 copy
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 17, 2024
Comment:
“The Earth was created not with the gentle caress of love, but with the brutal violence of rape…” And with this baffling analogy Wolper Pictures begins its sensationalistic exposé on the insect world, winner of 1971’s Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Narrated by overly serious and slightly eccentric entomologist Dr. Nils Hellstrom (actually character actor Lawrence Pressman), "Hellstrom Chronicle" depicts insects as biological computers, disease-carrying assassins, and an implacable army of super-beings able to withstand everything from poison to radiation with a flick of their antennae. Unfolding like a horror movie with Pressman’s grim voiceover hovering like one of the four horsemen, nightmare images (bugs are damn UGLY) get paired with chilling trivia suggesting that man is ultimately helpless against the wee soulless beasties for while we poison our environment in an attempt to eradicate them, they simply adapt and multiply—one clip of African farmers racing about helplessly as hordes of hungry locusts descend from the sky would be right at home in a ‘50s monster flick. “Where there is no intelligence, there is also no stupidity!” admonishes Hellstrom/Pressman as he gives the human race yet another bitch slap in the face using a withering comparison between our corrupt society based on power and greed, and a well-maintained hive of bees where the idea of self is sacrificed for the sake of the whole. “Without the burden of intellect, emotion, or individual identity, these creatures were given something we weren’t: the knowledge that they must work together to create the elusive utopia…” drones Hellstrom, taking the opportunity to rub our faces in it yet again—and as the screen fades to black with the image of a triumphant beetle backlit by a setting sun you’re left to decide whether or not to cringe in terror or laugh out loud. Or just grab the flyswatter and reassert your own superiority. As an aside, this film served as inspiration for Frank Herbert’s 1973 science-fiction novel, "Hellstrom’s Hive". Reading the book and then watching the movie (or vice versa) definitely doubles the shiver factor!“The Earth was created not with the gentle caress of love, but with the brutal violence of rape…” And with this baffling analogy Wolper Pictures begins its sensationalistic exposé on the insect world, winner of 1971’s Oscar for Best Documentary…
Marked WomanMarked Woman, DVD
DVD - 2006DVD, 2006
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 15, 2024
Comment:
Notable at the time for its frank depiction of violence against women, its arguments against gender inequality, and its disheartening portrayal of sexual exploitation—due to Hollywood’s strict moral code at the time you’ll have to read between the lines because "prostitution" is only vaguely hinted at—the story follows the usual arc towards triumphant justice. But directors Lloyd Bacon and Michael Curtiz throw audiences something of a feminist curve ball at the very end with a scene suggesting that even though the film’s female protagonists managed to survive a battle, the war is far from over. Inspired by the real life trial of gangster “Lucky Luciano”.Notable at the time for its frank depiction of violence against women, its arguments against gender inequality, and its disheartening portrayal of sexual exploitation—due to Hollywood’s strict moral code at the time you’ll have to read between the…
OSS 117OSS 117, DVDCairo, nest of spies
DVD - 2008 | FrenchDVD, 2008. Language: French
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Holds: 2 on 1 copy
Holds: 2 on 1 copy
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 11, 2024
Comment:
Five years before they tap-danced their way to the Oscars for 2011’s "The Artist", Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo teamed up for this side-splitting James Bond spoof, one of the funniest films of that particular ilk I have yet to see. Lampooning every espionage movie trope he can think of, director Michel Hazanavicius and his team of writers mine everything from cultural differences and religion to the battle of the sexes to expose a mother lode of comedy. The sexual innuendos (including 117’s questionable leanings) are as corny as they come, 117’s cultural ignorance is groan-inducing, and a botched assassination in a chicken factory ends in a flurry of feathered missiles (PETA beware!). And that smackdown b*tch fight between a princess and a female operative, involving torn dresses and gratuitous lingerie, adds a smirk to the worst excesses of the Bond franchise. For her part Bejo plays it mostly straight, her character looking on with increasing hostility as a blissfully ignorant 117 repeatedly sticks his foot in his mouth until she just can’t take it anymore… A thoroughly enjoyable flick rife with visual gags and corny one-liners all tied together with a sharply satirical script, and Hazanavicius’ decision to film the entire production using 1950s technology—poorly made miniatures, shamelessly obvious rear projection screens—makes it all the more hilarious. Ian Fleming would have been livid but Hitchcock, I believe, would have smiled.Five years before they tap-danced their way to the Oscars for 2011’s "The Artist", Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo teamed up for this side-splitting James Bond spoof, one of the funniest films of that particular ilk I have yet to see. Lampooning…
Beyond TomorrowBeyond Tomorrow, Streaming Video
Streaming VideoStreaming Video
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 08, 2024
Comment:
In this 80-minute church sermon director A. Edward Sutherland threatens to bury us under an avalanche of warbling choirs, sickeningly precious kids (Jean works at a children’s clinic), and compulsory cheer while the Almighty makes a series of ham-fisted cameos amid swirling clouds and blinding arc lights. As Jean, Jean Parker alternately weeps and beams like a good little martyr while Richard Carlson, playing James, yucks it up as a Texas yokel seduced by the Big Apple. In fact the only performances of note come from Charles Winninger as one of the ghostly tycoons—a feisty Irishman determined to see the good in everyone—and Maria Ouspenskaya playing her usual Eastern European eccentric, this time as a deposed Russian noblewoman now content to serve as housemaid. Trite and manipulative from its opening montage of twinkling ornaments to that final stairway to Heaven <eye roll> this is one holiday confection that will have you muttering “Humbug!”In this 80-minute church sermon director A. Edward Sutherland threatens to bury us under an avalanche of warbling choirs, sickeningly precious kids (Jean works at a children’s clinic), and compulsory cheer while the Almighty makes a series of…
You Only Live OnceYou Only Live Once, DVD
DVD - 2003DVD, 2003
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Holds: 3 on 1 copy
Holds: 3 on 1 copy
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 06, 2024
Comment:
Romeo and Juliet turn Bonnie and Clyde in director Fritz Lang’s weeping melodrama notable at the time for its portrayal of violence and human suffering as well as its sympathetic portrayal of a former prisoner whose attempts to go straight are marred at every turn by the court of popular opinion. Sidney practically glows through the smiles and tears as her character searches for those elusive silver linings, and Fonda’s anti-hero gives off romantic vibes even if his bursts of outrage sometimes feel just a bit stagey. For his part, Lang piles on the irony and pathos with each poor choice the couple is maneuvered into making inevitably leading to another leaving us to guess which way it will all end. Graced by suitable metaphors—crooked roads, fogbound forests, gates (both pearly and otherwise)—Lang’s noirish romance certainly nudged the envelope for 1937 cinema. Its dramatic conceits may seem a bit naïve to contemporary audiences but the pure star power of Fonda and Sidney coupled with Leon Shamroy’s evocative cinematography suggest a story which is greater than the sum of its scenes.Romeo and Juliet turn Bonnie and Clyde in director Fritz Lang’s weeping melodrama notable at the time for its portrayal of violence and human suffering as well as its sympathetic portrayal of a former prisoner whose attempts to go straight are…
Coming to AmericaComing to America, DVD
DVD - 2017 | Special collectior's editionDVD, 2017. Special collectior's edition
Nursebob's rating:
Added Mar 04, 2024
Comment:
A completely predictable “reverse Cinderella” fairy tale chockfull of inside jokes and culture shock schtick as Prince Akeem meets Miss Right and then must overcome obstacles including her meddling father (John Amos), her pushy boyfriend, and one very irate king. But Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall manage to pull it off with a barrage of corny one-liners and expert comic timing which makes even the silliest joke seem funnier than it actually is. And the fact they portray multiple characters throughout is comedy genius with Murphy playing, among other things, a truculent middle-aged barber and feisty Jewish pensioner while Arsenio hams it up as an oily preacher and a brief but hilarious stint as a baritone-voiced barroom diva decked out in gaudy cocktail drag. And they’re backed up by a slew of surprise cameos from the likes of Louie Anderson playing a fastidious burger-flipper, Samuel L. Jackson as a wannabe armed robber, and a young Cuba Gooding Jr. making his debut as a barber shop customer. And a surprise "Trading Places" reunion is as funny as it is unexpected. From opulent African sets (with choreographed dance sequences by Paula Abdul) to a rat-infested hotel in Queens, director John Landis keeps the tempo brisk enough to prevent you from yawning while Murphy emits some of that old onscreen charisma which made him an 80s movie star. The plot may be tired, the ending a study in “happily ever after” clichés, but cast and crew (nods to the wardrobe people!) deliver what is essentially a silly old-fashioned Feel Good movie and for that I forgive them on all counts.A completely predictable “reverse Cinderella” fairy tale chockfull of inside jokes and culture shock schtick as Prince Akeem meets Miss Right and then must overcome obstacles including her meddling father (John Amos), her pushy boyfriend, and one…
The Toxic AvengerThe Toxic Avenger, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2024Streaming Video, 2024
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 29, 2024
Comment:
Taking place in the quaint suburban sprawl of Tromaville (“Toxic Chemical Capital of the World!”) directors Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman’s crass and utterly tasteless superhero spoof is certainly one of the high/low points of 80s cinema. The hammy performances are largely comprised of exaggerated tantrums, bitchy disses, and canned screams, while the wardrobe department lowers the bar further with a gymnasium full of bikini-clad bimbos and macho meatheads bulging in nylon shorts and headbands. As you might expect the humour is definitely low-brow with sight gags involving blood and guts, fisticuffs and murder, including a few sequences guaranteed to put today’s easily traumatized popcorn munchers on life support (lovers of cute kids and dogs should definitely keep their distance). Unfortunately the initial hilarity winds down long before the movie does. And of course there’s sex and boobs. It’s insensitive, it’s offensive, it’s sophomoric…in other words it’s the type of tacky micro-budgeted drive-in fare for which Troma Entertainment became infamous. But I can’t remember the last time a film—especially that “bicycle scene”—made me laugh so hard.Taking place in the quaint suburban sprawl of Tromaville (“Toxic Chemical Capital of the World!”) directors Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman’s crass and utterly tasteless superhero spoof is certainly one of the high/low points of 80s cinema. The…
Ms .45Ms .45, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2023Streaming Video, 2023
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 28, 2024
Comment:
When grindhouse and arthouse intersect the result looks something like this early work from Abel Ferrara, a vicious yet eloquently staged melding of bloodstained exploitation and skewed feminist metaphor. Zoë Lund is perfectly cast as the mouse-turned-Fury, her model looks and smoky gaze going from pain and horror to vengeful determination with nothing more than a twist of the lips or a flickering of the eyelids. And Ferrara emphasizes her considerable onscreen charisma with contrasting backdrops of urban squalor and a cheerless palette of drab autumnal colours. The violence is suitably brutal as bullets rip through flesh and a gruesome aside features a meat grinder, but Ferrara records the carnage with an operatic intensity that borders on the surreal—a climactic Halloween bacchanal becoming a triumph of lighting, texture, and perspective all set to a discordant jazz thump. Slick, stylish, and loaded with pointed imagery (Thana’s Halloween costume!) "Ms. 45" is one of those small gems which remind us that big films can indeed spring from tiny budgets.When grindhouse and arthouse intersect the result looks something like this early work from Abel Ferrara, a vicious yet eloquently staged melding of bloodstained exploitation and skewed feminist metaphor. Zoë Lund is perfectly cast as the…
SchizoSchizo, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2014Streaming Video, 2014
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 27, 2024
Comment:
You pretty well know whodunnit within the first 20 minutes (an opening voiceover does everything but write their name on the wall) but that doesn’t prevent this British giallo from entertaining audiences…if only in a curious roadkill sort of way. The attempts at generating suspense produce a few squirms which are promptly dispelled by the usual illogical devices—“I think I just saw a knife-wielding maniac outside the bathroom door so I’ll finish soaping up my breasts, throw on a skimpy towel, and examine every square inch of the apartment.” Naturally. And the murders themselves, a nice combination of POV angles and victim close-ups, are certainly grisly enough to have given the old nannies at the BBFC cause to grab the scissors—I especially liked the “knitting needle” scene. But the film’s sole red herring fails to add any mystery to an already superficial plot and the uneven performances range from fair to middling with Queenie Watts (playing a feisty housekeeper) coming out on top and Stephanie Beacham (playing Samantha’s old school chum and romantic rival) oozing 70s chic. Unfortunately, the whole production relies largely on Lynne Frederick’s reactions as the distraught Samantha and she can’t even faint convincingly. But the real star of this little cheese platter is clearly the decor! The couple’s apartment is a study in loud and tacky fashion abominations from the horrid patchwork wallpaper and shower curtain curtains to the purple walls, burgundy bedspreads, and dollar store tchotchkes, the design department clearly went out of their way to ensure that nothing matched anything. It’s like watching a slasher flick unfold inside a warehouse filled with kitschy castoffs and thinking “if the murderer doesn’t kill them that living room set certainly will”.You pretty well know whodunnit within the first 20 minutes (an opening voiceover does everything but write their name on the wall) but that doesn’t prevent this British giallo from entertaining audiences…if only in a curious roadkill sort of way. …
PiecesPieces, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2016Streaming Video, 2016
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 26, 2024
Comment:
In this cheesy American slasher/Eurotrash giallo hybrid, director Juan Piquer Simón piles on the gore and boobs, mixes them with some horrible English dubbing and low-rent special effects (apparently real slaughterhouse blood and guts were used for the carnage scenes), and tops it all with some of the hammiest performances to ever grace a grindhouse screen. The result is a silly mess of plagiarisms including Shelley Duvall’s washroom scene from "The Shining" and a ridiculous finale straight out of "Carrie", and lots of horror affectations—Lynda Day’s screams of frustration sound more like she’s in labour, the non-professional “victims” screech as if they’ve just seen a mouse rather than their impending death, and Paul L. Smith (playing creepy groundskeeper and major red herring, Willard) has trouble blinking his eyes in unison. And then producer Dick Randall grabs an extra from one of his current kung-fu movies to add a bafflingly pointless martial arts sequence. “I don’t know what came over me…” chuckles the Bruce Lee lookalike after dancing around Lynda Day George for a full minute, “…I must have eaten some bad chop suey!” Actually, by the time the closing credits finally ended this fiasco I felt the same way.In this cheesy American slasher/Eurotrash giallo hybrid, director Juan Piquer Simón piles on the gore and boobs, mixes them with some horrible English dubbing and low-rent special effects (apparently real slaughterhouse blood and guts were used for…
The Driller KillerThe Driller Killer, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2017Streaming Video, 2017
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 22, 2024
Comment:
In this his debut feature film Abel Ferrara, one of the crown princes of zero-budget shockers, creates a surprisingly effective psychodrama with low grade special effects that had British censors clutching their pearls. Shot on grainy low-res stock which enhances its black shadows and bright red gore, Ferrara turns his seedy NYC locations into one man’s psychological hell with a directorial style that gilds an 80s punk aesthetic and some disappointingly tame grindhouse carnage with passages of pure surrealism featuring showers of blood and a modest apartment morphing into a madhouse. It’s like watching a grunge music video directed by Sigmund Freud—with a little help from Andy Warhol perhaps—and Ferrara wastes no opportunity to reinforce his protagonist’s mental deterioration with cleverly placed billboards (“New York WINS!”); grating guitar chords as the rock band next door screeches out yet another opus; and Reno’s own artwork featuring leering human and animal faces marred by painted slash marks. It’s trash cinema of course, with suitably trashy performances such as real life ballet student-turned-real life stripper Baybi Day who plays Reno’s roommate, Pamela, like a coked-out Suzanne Somers. But despite the film’s many stumbles and missteps Ferrara nevertheless manages to capture a little of the zeitgeist surrounding Manhattan’s underbelly circa 1979 with its raucous club scene and legions of disaffected youth, and for that reason alone it deserves more than a cursory snub.In this his debut feature film Abel Ferrara, one of the crown princes of zero-budget shockers, creates a surprisingly effective psychodrama with low grade special effects that had British censors clutching their pearls. Shot on grainy low-res stock…
Hard to be a GodHard to be a God, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2016 | RussianStreaming Video, 2016. Language: Russian
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 22, 2024
Comment:
It took me three nights to slog through Aleksei German’s 3-hour swan song based on a bestselling sci-fi story from the Soviet era, for it’s a fascinating multi-layered film of such powerful vulgarity that I was only able to digest it in sixty minute bites. German’s opus has been compared to the likes of Tarkovsky and one can certainly see echoes of the Russian master surfacing in those cryptic visuals and filthy metaphors (unhatched eggs figure prominently). I would also add Kubrick, Ben Wheatley, and a dash of Fellini to the mix but the final vision of pus and decay is wholly original. A brilliant victory of staging, German uses multiple sets and long meticulous tracking shots that dog actors through claustrophobic hovels and fields of garbage, his dreary B&W cinematography capturing a society rejoicing in its own excrement on a dank world composed mainly of mud puddles and choking smoke, flatulence and snot. Objects are thrown haphazardly towards the camera—tin dolls, gloved fists, bloated corpses—like cheesy 3D shocks and characters routinely break the fourth wall, their dirty cankerous faces leering directly at the audience as if taken aback by our world as much as we are by theirs. Unfortunately a muddled script of phlegmatic non-sequiturs and grunted curses gets swallowed up by the movie’s ingeniously crude sets making for great optics with little bite. A totally immersive experience (as peasants sniff their scabby fingers I found myself holding my own nose) hovering somewhere between performance art, absurdist satire, and hellish diorama, "Hard to be a God" is one of those rare films I enjoyed but can never recommend. In the end it may be little more than bread and circuses, but the bread is molded over and this particular circus has no exits. Timid viewers are advised to keep their distance.It took me three nights to slog through Aleksei German’s 3-hour swan song based on a bestselling sci-fi story from the Soviet era, for it’s a fascinating multi-layered film of such powerful vulgarity that I was only able to digest it in sixty minute…
Sleepaway CampSleepaway Camp, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2023Streaming Video, 2023
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 19, 2024
Comment:
Every now and then there comes a movie so perfectly terrible in every conceivable way that it actually gets by on sheer awfulness alone. Case in point is this ultra-cheesy “Dead Teenagers” flick from 1983, a production so bad it was elevated to cult status almost overnight. Where to begin? Let’s start with the awkward dialogue and affected runway poses which pass for acting. One would be hard pressed to award a trophy for Worst Performance since they are all so uniformly bad: Desiree Gould as Angela’s eccentric Aunt Martha sounds like she’s reading her lines for the first time; Katherine Kamhi as Meg the Camp Slut gives a master class in hamming it up while flipping a ponytail back and forth; Owen Hughes as the camp’s disgustingly horny pedo cook gives a surprisingly good scream; and Felissa Rose as Angela perfects the art of the monotone drone. I’d also give an honourable mention to Dan Tursi and James Paradise’s “gay scene” for I’ve never seen a pair of actors generate more awkward onscreen discomfort. Then there’s the embarrassingly hilarious ‘80s touches with head bands, short shorts, and cut-off tank tops all around. Of course, being a slasher flick there’s little attention given to logic since just about every murder could have been easily avoided if the victim had only [insert obvious course of action here]. But the deaths are pretty cool as our mystery assailant grabs everything from curling irons to beehives in order to punish the wicked while writer/director Robert Hiltzik blows his meagre budget on special effects. And, last but not least, there’s that controversial BIG TWIST at the end which horror aficionados still recount with much fondness—an overwrought reveal accentuated by a frozen demonic grimace and bestial snarls. Recommended for hardcore fans of Z-grade shockers only.Every now and then there comes a movie so perfectly terrible in every conceivable way that it actually gets by on sheer awfulness alone. Case in point is this ultra-cheesy “Dead Teenagers” flick from 1983, a production so bad it was elevated to…
Memory HouseMemory House, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2022 | PortugueseStreaming Video, 2022. Language: Portuguese
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 16, 2024
Comment:
As a sociopolitical statement writer/director João Paulo Miranda Maria’s arty polemic suffers from too many pushy metaphors and overt stereotypes: the dairy’s industrial decor is whiter than a Trump rally, every European is a knee-slapping racist, and only the black cows have any sense. Furthermore, the petty acts of vandalism and disrespect shown Cristovam (and his three-legged dog) begin to feel stagey after a while. In other words this is the type of “festival film” that always seems to skew audience votes. However, if taken as an allegory about one man raging against the powers that be by reasserting himself (à la 1993’s "Falling Down" only with less bite and more bark) the director's use of magical realism, complimented by folkloric references and traditional music, warrants a few pale comparisons to Michael Haneke or Roy Andersson. Cristovam’s battle with a jungle demon becomes grimly ironic when the sun rises, a growling animal familiar leers from the back of a prostitute’s jacket, and the old man himself becomes something of an impotent totem when he squares off against his germanic overlords. I’m sure Brazilian nationals would see a very different film—the mythological references are mostly lost on Western eyes while the political and historical gibes (South vs North?) are confusing—but for me it proved to be a case of stylish trappings overlaying another pat tirade on colonialism.As a sociopolitical statement writer/director João Paulo Miranda Maria’s arty polemic suffers from too many pushy metaphors and overt stereotypes: the dairy’s industrial decor is whiter than a Trump rally, every European is a knee-slapping racist,…
Memory houseMemory house, DVD
DVD - 2021 | PortugueseDVD, 2021. Language: Portuguese
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 16, 2024
Comment:
As a sociopolitical statement writer/director João Paulo Miranda Maria’s arty polemic suffers from too many pushy metaphors and overt stereotypes: the dairy’s industrial decor is whiter than a Trump rally, every European is a knee-slapping racist, and only the black cows have any sense. Furthermore, the petty acts of vandalism and disrespect shown Cristovam (and his three-legged dog) begin to feel stagey after a while. In other words this is the type of “festival film” that always seems to skew audience votes. However, if taken as an allegory about one man raging against the powers that be by reasserting himself (à la 1993’s "Falling Down" only with less bite and more bark) the director's use of magical realism, complimented by folkloric references and traditional music, warrants a few pale comparisons to Michael Haneke or Roy Andersson. Cristovam’s battle with a jungle demon becomes grimly ironic when the sun rises, a growling animal familiar leers from the back of a prostitute’s jacket, and the old man himself becomes something of an impotent totem when he squares off against his germanic overlords. I’m sure Brazilian nationals would see a very different film—the mythological references are mostly lost on Western eyes while the political and historical gibes (South vs North?) are confusing—but for me it proved to be a case of stylish trappings overlaying another pat tirade on colonialism.As a sociopolitical statement writer/director João Paulo Miranda Maria’s arty polemic suffers from too many pushy metaphors and overt stereotypes: the dairy’s industrial decor is whiter than a Trump rally, every European is a knee-slapping racist,…
Inland EmpireInland Empire, DVD
DVD - 2007DVD, 2007
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 13, 2024
Comment:
Somewhere in an alternate universe writer/director David Lynch is making movies with linear narratives that contain identifiable beginnings, middles, and ends. But not this universe. So once again he draws upon his bag of tricks—superimposed realities, time loops, and dream logic—to hurl us down yet another rabbit hole where he abandons us with just enough maddeningly opaque cues to slog our way through. As with all of Lynch’s films it’s the journey, not the destination, which matters and in this kaleidoscopic companion piece to "Mulholland Drive" he pulls out all the stops to amaze and confuse us while indulging his fascinations for Hollywood culture and the language of the subconscious—not to mention his affinity for ringing telephones (wake up!), colour codes (red, blue, green), and flickering lamps. Shifting roles vie with metaphors both heavenly and damned as an overly eager actress' loose grip on reality causes her hallucinations to begin hallucinating until Tinseltown itself seems caught up in the throes of a bad dream involving doppelgängers and lost souls. Complementing the onscreen reverie is a sound collage of scratchy LPs and electric buzzings while an incongruous score contains everything from Rock ’n Roll to Classical to Hip Hop. And the entire production is filmed in fuzzy standard def with a Sony handheld giving the impression we’re watching it all unfold on a computer screen like a digital psychodrama whose sidetracks into the fantastical intrude like so many pop-up windows and hyperlinks. Filmed over the course of a few years with a script often written on the sly (and it shows) you can take it as a psychedelic thought experiment or a transgressive assault on “avant-garde” cinema or just another screwy fan letter to Hollywood. Or you can simply chalk it up to Lynch being Lynch—full of affectations and artistic grandstanding yet always fascinating. Harry Dean Stanton and William H. Macy (and a few other surprise names) have walk-ons, while Peter J. Lucas scowls as a violently jealous husband and Grace Zabriskie piles on the foreshadowing as a creepy neighbour who stops by for coffee and a bit of odd advice.Somewhere in an alternate universe writer/director David Lynch is making movies with linear narratives that contain identifiable beginnings, middles, and ends. But not this universe. So once again he draws upon his bag of tricks—superimposed…
DOGS DON'T WEAR PANTSDOGS DON'T WEAR PANTS, DVD
DVD - 2024 | Widescreen ed | FinnishDVD, 2024. Widescreen ed. Language: Finnish
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Holds: 19 on 3 copies
Holds: 19 on 3 copies
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 11, 2024
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Mistaken for a sex comedy by the Saturday night popcorn crowd, J. P. Valkeapää’s disturbing tale of grief grown morbid is in fact an urban tragedy. Several years after his wife drowned while they were on holidays, Helsinki physician Juha is still not coping with the psychological pain and vague sense of guilt associated with her death. And then, quite by accident, he crosses paths with S&M dominatrix Mona and discovers a release of sorts by substituting his mental anguish for physical pain and humiliation. But as their sessions grow more intense Juha discovers that the temporary emotional catharsis offered by sadomasochism can be more addictive than any drug… Filmed in lurid shades of black and red reminiscent of Italian gialli films, Valkeapää’s voyeuristic camera doesn’t shy away from leather whips and blood (you’ve been warned) but as the story progresses the transgressive slowly turns pathetic as dom and sub become the co-dependants they actually are. Can be compared to Hlynur Palmason’s superior Icelandic film, "A White, White Day" in that it focuses on a particularly male expression of pathological grief—but whereas Palmason’s grieving husband could at least see the light ahead, Juha forsakes it altogether in favour of the tunnel.Mistaken for a sex comedy by the Saturday night popcorn crowd, J. P. Valkeapää’s disturbing tale of grief grown morbid is in fact an urban tragedy. Several years after his wife drowned while they were on holidays, Helsinki physician Juha is still…
BelushiBelushi, DVD
DVD - 2021DVD, 2021
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 09, 2024
Comment:
R. J. Cutler’s incisive documentary on the life and death of SNL legend John Belushi follows the usual trajectory—restless young boy follows his dream of fame and fortune only to be undone by the harsh realities of life in the spotlight—but he takes a few novel approaches. To begin with his use of previously recorded voice interviews instead of endless talking heads allows the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Carrie Fisher, Harold Ramis, and other close associates of John (including his widow, Judy) to provide context without interrupting the film’s stream of old TV clips, yearbook photos, and home movies which emphasize Belushi’s formative years as the talented black sheep of a staunch immigrant family. Secondly, Cutler fills in the visual gaps using edgy animated sequences with Bill Hader giving an uncanny impersonation of Belushi’s rasping voice. And, finally, excerpts from Judy’s diary and John’s own tortured love letters, both presented in scrawling cursive, trace the devolution of a once creative and dynamic personality as he succumbs to addiction, despair, and the weight of his own ambition. From smart aleck kid to television phenomenon to Hollywood centrepiece to overdose statistic at the age of 33, Belushi didn’t so much burn the candle at both ends as take a blowtorch to it—but while he blazed he shed a lovely light indeed. R.I.P.R. J. Cutler’s incisive documentary on the life and death of SNL legend John Belushi follows the usual trajectory—restless young boy follows his dream of fame and fortune only to be undone by the harsh realities of life in the spotlight—but he takes…
The mafia kills only in summerThe mafia kills only in summer, DVD
DVD - 2017 | ItalianDVD, 2017. Language: Italian
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 07, 2024
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As a coming-of-age story it has its charms thanks in large part to Alex Bisconti’s performance as 13-year old Arturo—his doe-eyed reactions registering frustration, heartbreak, and juvenile yearning with ease. But as an obvious homage to the politicians, judges, and police officers who lost their lives fighting the Mafia (with Pif himself playing grown-up Arturo still lusting after grown-up Flora) things get muddled down. Unless you are familiar with the sociopolitical setting in which the story takes place the list of deceased carries little to no emotional impact even with the grainy crime scene footage and passionate newscasts thrown in. Pif’s heart is in the right place however as he outlines a childhood in which bogeymen carry out drive-bys on motor scooters, an impotent church offers little solace, and real heroes wear badges and bang gavels.As a coming-of-age story it has its charms thanks in large part to Alex Bisconti’s performance as 13-year old Arturo—his doe-eyed reactions registering frustration, heartbreak, and juvenile yearning with ease. But as an obvious homage to the…
Hello DestroyerHello Destroyer, DVD
DVD - 2016DVD, 2016
Nursebob's rating:
Added Feb 01, 2024
Comment:
One can’t watch Canadian news these days without seeing at least one article bemoaning hockey’s “toxic culture” whether it be brutal hazings, on-air fisticuffs, or sexual assaults, but writer/director Kevan Funk brings it down to a very personal level with this slow-burner about a young man who becomes both a product and a victim of that same culture. Funk lays the pathos on thick and heavy with the film’s Prince George settings filtered through a haze of grey skies and empty dirt roads while Tyson’s temporary odd jobs—demolishing a family home, hosing blood off the walls of a slaughterhouse—provide metaphors as subtle as a puck to the face. Even the team’s harshly lit locker room comes to resemble a jail cell while their off-ice socialization appears to consist of drinking, bravado, and throwing punches. Furthermore, critics are quick to point out that regardless of how the sport is played the team doesn’t abandon its own in times of trouble (quite the opposite in fact) and there is certainly some truth to that. Taken as a character study however, "Hello Destroyer" is a quiet, minutely observed tragedy about one young man’s headlong fall from preeminence to pariah. And star Jared Abrahamson nails it. His hoarse voice and downcast posture suggesting a deeper pain he is ill-equipped to handle especially when his usual supports—family, friends, fans—now approach him with uncertainty or outright hostility. Or not at all. In one pivotal scene Tyson gazes into a case full of trophies, symbols of a glory which now seems forever out of reach. While the script itself may be contentious depending on which side of the rink you stand on, this is still a noteworthy piece of cinema which opens with a solid punch and ends with an agonizing uncertainty.One can’t watch Canadian news these days without seeing at least one article bemoaning hockey’s “toxic culture” whether it be brutal hazings, on-air fisticuffs, or sexual assaults, but writer/director Kevan Funk brings it down to a very personal…
DishonoredDishonored, DVD
DVD - 2018 | DVD special editionDVD, 2018. DVD special edition
Nursebob's rating:
Added Jan 31, 2024
Comment:
Dietrich practically glows in B&W playing a pragmatic young woman whose hard life lessons have left her unafraid of either living or dying, yet whose libido is still very much alive and kicking. But there is a sense of vulnerability to her character for even as she leads spies and traitors to their executions one can sense a moral ambivalence behind those luminous eyes as she takes one nervous drag after another on that dangling cigarette. Perhaps director Josef von Sternberg meant her to be a kind of proto-feminist: Strong, resourceful, and unapologetic for her life thus far, and willing to sacrifice her own feelings for the greater good—at least up to a point. Unfortunately McLaglen is left in her dust, faced with Dietrich’s innate sensuality and big screen presence his character is little more than brawny huff and puff unable to even smile convincingly. Nevertheless, despite their mismatched allures the two still generate erotic sparks even if the camera stops just shy of the duvet, and it’s this sexual tension which adds a bit of spice to an otherwise formulaic espionage drama. Credit must also be given to cinematographer Lee Garmes whose imaginative lens goes from bird’s eye panoramas of battleground chaos to chaos of a different kind at an officers’ wild bacchanal to a striking moment of intimacy between Austrian and Russian with Kranau’s broad physique silhouetted against a windowpane lit by sweeping searchlights. A softly lit romance of sorts, but one with a hardened edge devoid of the usual sentimentality and an ending as cold as its wintry setting.Dietrich practically glows in B&W playing a pragmatic young woman whose hard life lessons have left her unafraid of either living or dying, yet whose libido is still very much alive and kicking. But there is a sense of vulnerability to her…
Nursebob's rating:
Added Jan 29, 2024
Comment:
This second instalment in Kenneth Oppel's award-winning series about the little bat who could is actually a well written adventure yarn which stretches from the far North all the way down to Brazil. Pitting diminutive bat "Shade" against the menacing vampire bat "Goth" makes for some harrowing chapters with just enough supernatural touches (not to mention interference from evil humans) to make you want to turn the next page. But a children's book? With passages detailing bloody sacrifices, demonic monsters, and grisly wounds it's not exactly your typical bedtime story.This second instalment in Kenneth Oppel's award-winning series about the little bat who could is actually a well written adventure yarn which stretches from the far North all the way down to Brazil. Pitting diminutive bat "Shade" against the…
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