Posts Tagged ‘Suspiria’

Gorgeous Camp, Campy Gore – Three Films By Dario Argento

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Posted 14 Oct 2011 — by Ezra Stead
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Got

By Ezra Stead

The Phantom of the Opera is a film Dario Argento was born to make. The Phantom of the Opera, Italy, 1998

Jenifer, USA, 2005

Pelts, Canada / USA, 2006

Directed by Dario Argento

Italian filmmaker Dario Argento is widely known among horror fans as a distinctive, sadistic auteur, a director who has found beauty in terror and mutilation with films such as Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980) and Opera (1987). It is often forgotten that he also helped write one of the greatest Westerns of all time, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), but that makes sense, as he has devoted his career as a director to the creepily atmospheric and macabre, delighting in tales of the supernatural and visions of brutal but creative murder. Suspiria is generally considered to be his masterpiece (and it is certainly one of the prettiest horror films I’ve ever seen) and I actually like Opera even more in many ways, but this entry in my ongoing Halloween Movie Month (HMM … yeah, I like that acronym better) series will focus on three newer films with which I recently caught up, including his two contributions to Mick Garris’s always intriguing Masters of Horror series. Read More

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Hanna

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Posted 04 May 2011 — by contributor
Category Film Reviews, Movies I Got

By Scott Martin

Hanna, USA / UK / Germany, 2011

Directed by Joe Wright

Saoirse Ronan stars as the title character in Joe Wright's Hanna. The most disappointing thing about Hanna is that the theater wasn’t crowded: less than half full, and everyone there loved it. Opening night, no less. Perhaps everyone went to see David Gordon Green’s Your Highness instead? Even so, the people who opted for Your Highness probably wouldn’t make up the proper crowd for an arthouse thriller directed by the man behind Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). This is purely speculation, as all tastes are different. I’ll certainly be seeing Your Highness at some point, but I’m paid to. So, that point is probably moot, too. Regardless, the fact that the theater had elbow room, room for me to store my bag in another seat, and only a total of probably forty or so people … it’s a bit depressing. Read More

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Black Swan

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Posted 13 Dec 2010 — by contributor
Category Member Movie Reviews, Movies I Got

By Ezra Stead

black swan Natalie Portman movies i didnt getBlack Swan, USA, 2010

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

The latest film from visionary director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) continues to show his versatility and determination to not make the same film twice. Originally slated to direct the upcoming David O. Russell film The Fighter, Aronofsky understandably considered the project too similar to his previous film, 2008’s The Wrestler, and opted instead to make the intense, hallucinatory madhouse that is Black Swan.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina Sayers, an up-and-coming ballet dancer in New York City who finds herself in the lead role of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. She is initially chosen for the role as a replacement for veteran dancer Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) because she embodies the qualities of the White Swan – grace and beauty. Her technical perfection is clear, but her lusty French director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel, in his best English-language role to date), insists that she find her dark side, the Black Swan representing cunning and sensuality. Read More

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