Friday, March 6, 2009

Konets Sankt-Peterburga (The End of St. Petersburg)

Year: 1927
Directors: Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Doller
Writer: Nathan Zarkhi
Rating: 4.5/10

Some interesting scenes; overall a poorly done, fast-forwarded mish-mash of Russian history from a decidedly Communist slant.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Zemlya (Earth)

Year: 1930
Director: Aleksandr Dovzhenko
Writer: Aleksandr Dovzhenko
Rating: 7.5/10

Excellent visuals and deft direction, but its propaganda aspects bring it down.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Die 3 Groschen-Oper (The Threepenny Opera)

Year: 1931
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Writers: Bertolt Brecht, Béla Balázs, Léo Lania, Ladislaus Vajda
Rating: 8/10

Almost more of a play than a musical; very interesting singing and overall well done.

Repo Man

Year: 1984
Director: Alex Cox
Writer: Alex Cox
Rating: 10/10

Perfect 1980s science fiction / punk film; "proto-cyberpunk"?

Kikujirô

Year: 1999
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Writer: Takeshi Kitano
Rating: 10/10

Spectacularly meandering journey [mostly] through rural Japan.

Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries)

Year: 1957
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Writer: Ingmar Bergman
Rating: 9.5/10

Elegant and skillfully executed meditative examination of an old doctor's life.

Viridiana

Year: 1961
Director: Luis Buñuel
Writers: Julio Alejandro, Luis Buñuel, Benito Pérez Galdós
Rating: 3/10

Tawdry 1960s drama with a only few interesting scenes.