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Reviews
La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928)
There are great movies and then there are movies at completely different level
The Passion of Joan of Arc is on a completely different level than other great films. It's haunting, terrifying and will break you down psychologically, the same way Joan of Arc was broken down during her trial. This is a masterpiece that breaks all sorts of filmmaking conventions that are rarely broken even today. In fact, the breaking those conventions are what make this film as great as it is.
It must be stated the feat that Dreyer pulled off in a technical and story sense. The Passion of Joan of Arc solely centers around Joan of Arc's trial and execution, not the battles and wars, but the trial itself. It's a dialog-driven courtroom drama told without sound. It is almost nonstop talking and there are very few title cards, yet you completely follow everything that is going on and said, even if you can't read lips or don't know the language. It's almost all close-ups without any establishing shots of peoples' faces. On top of that, the only surviving version of this film was created from the film's outtakes by Dreyer because the original version was banned, and from the outtakes, it's STILL one of the greatest film ever made, arguably the greatest ever.
This isn't just a movie, this is way beyond that. This is at such great heights that it transcends the medium itself.
Pather Panchali (1955)
Sublime, perhaps the greatest film ever made
It is so rare to be so lost within a movie and it's world during a viewing that it's an outright privilege to get to watch Pather Panchali. From beginning to end, it is a perfectly told and emotional story about a family's struggle and tragedy from a life of poverty in rural Bangladesh. It's a simple story, a gentle one, with universally relatable characters and relationships between them that anyone in the world can relate to.
This film and trilogy is one of a kind. Pather Panchali is a demonstration of what a movie can actually be, of how great a film can be. I don't feel that I can overhype this film at all. It's an experience, it has characters that you deeply care about even though they can also grate on your nerves in a very human way. Of all the films I have ever seen, I can only think of two other films that have reached the same heights of cinema as this. I saw this for the first time over ten years ago and its imagery and story has haunted me ever since.
My Big Fat Independent Movie (2005)
Worst of the Worst
This movie was horrible. Possibly one of the worst that I have ever seen -- and trust me, I've seen countless horrible student films and indies at festivals. I got every one of the jokes. I knew all the references. None of them were funny.
It wasn't even watchable -- I'm one to respect movies that are so bad that they're attention grabbing. I also respect movies that I think were terrible but at least an attempt to do something new. This doesn't fall into any one of those categories. There wasn't one good actor who displayed any sort of charisma in this entire god awful movie. However, to their defense, there was nothing to work with to begin with. The writers thought they were hilarious and witty, but ended up trying to banter movies that they will never be worthy of being associated with in their lifetimes and I find it pathetic that they thought they were. They milked the same jokes -that weren't even funny to begin with- for all their worth (i.e. calling everything cliché, describing every film term that is being used, and complaining about goddamn voice over).
The only reason why the content in any of the movies that were spoofed is a "cliche" is because horrible and painfully unoriginal screen writers & film makers (like the ones responsible for this piece of garbage) relentlessly parody them to no end.
To the people responsible for this: UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE NOT FUNNY AND THAT YOU DESERVE TO DRINK A TALL GLASS OF SHAME!