Gremlins

Saw Gremlins. I loved its black little heart.

The Story of Women

Saw The Story of Women. It was about a woman in Nazi-occupied France trying to take control of her life. She succeeds by helping women on the fringes, renting rooms to whores and providing home-made abortions. This don't fit well with the mores of the 40s and of course she suffers therefor. I found it interesting that though the story is intimately concerned with the war of the sexes, it is narrated by her son. It ends with a title-card to "have pity on the children of the condemned." I'm not sure what to make of that.

Morvern Callar

Saw Morvern Callar. It was a very hip movie. I was a little put-off by the hipness (being a not-very-hip guy myself) and its attendant free-floating dissatisfaction/aloofness, but I enjoyed seeing the main character grow by running and hunting. By the end, she is not a great person but she no longer seems broken. It is a very good movie, btw. It really isn't concerned with baby-sitting its audience or overtly explaining things. And thank goodness for that.

Sunshine

Saw Sunshine. It was pretty good, but a little overly aggressive for the story. It seemed like it was a throwback to Solaris, but by way of an action movie. Very modern, with lo-fi music mixed with matte-black computers. It had strange religious/spiritual overtones which I think were meant to be unsettling, but kept me interested.

Rome, Open City

Saw Rome, Open City. It was about the Italian resistance during Nazi occupation. It did a good job of stacking goofy loveables against mincing Nazis. Then a truckload of prisoners (good guys) revolt and kill and kill and things get serious. It then becomes a Army of Shadows-style meditation on endurance, even in the face of death & annihilation.

Dirty Harry

Saw Dirty Harry. Those darn inconvenient due process laws! Making it so hard to put away the evil-crazies... Also there was a punk who did not feel lucky and another who did.

Pixote

Saw Pixote. A lurid and grim movie. These two aspects complement each other and make moments of hope and happiness all the more precious. A sunset on the beach almost makes you forget that the police framed and killed one of the children the film revolves around. Then one of the characters wistfully sighs that soon they can be tried as an adult and that they have to be careful soon. Tough but not miserable. Rewarding.