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Reviews
Awakened (2013)
Big Budgets don't stand a chance
Independent films are on the rise. Thanks to films like this one, the difference between a huge budget thriller and this one is merely the ad campaign. Hope is a huge theme throughout the picture, I would definitely say it inspires hope and then pulls through with that idea. I mean this film is obviously very enlightening but I really felt that mood really trumped anything else in the film. The actors were always on point and very, very convincing, but the way the directors used lighting and music and simple visual cues to captivate the audience's attention I found very effect. I thought of this film as more of a emotion or feeling than anything else. The suspense is obviously what always kept me attentive, but there was more to it as well. Familial themes that I think we all can relate to. Great little picture
La montaña sagrada (1973)
What a feeling!
There are the obvious social themes and ideas that are pushed across in the film, which were relevant at the time, are still relevant today and a powerful message. But above all, above all! You have to just sit back and watch this film. Admire the care taken to construct a picture like this, of this caliber. The repetition, the color, the sheer beauty, really is unparalleled. The way Jodorowsky uses music I feel can't be compared to any other director. The way he uses tribal drumming and chanting to set a mood has your heart race in a way that builds suspense and keeps you on edge similarly to electronic music of present day. Such an eye opening and enlightening experience. This is how a film should be: an experience, a feeling. I was captivated and moved to tears. Lord, what a picture.
Pi (1998)
Ugh, what a wild ride!
Before mentioning any lovely details about this film. First, I have to mention the cinematography. Jesus, lord above. The high-contrast black and white moved me to tears. For a low-budget film it puts you in this dark, disturbing, grimy world that I never wanted to leave. I'm getting goose pimples just thinking about it. Unreal. Now, the character set up by Sean Gullette is so dark, so tortured, yet, so real. To think that this was Aronofsky's debut is just unbelievable. The soundtrack is definitely one of the best electronic soundtracks of all time. It swarms as you view the film and really makes you forget about the outside world. Such a disturbing film, but one that really sticks with you. So worth it!!
Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969)
A Freaky-deaky experience
A very worthwhile freak-deaky experience. In this film's short lifespan it takes you on a wild ride using techniques that have become common place in modern cinema. The music by Mick Jagger that is oh so memorable. The jump cuts, the shot-layering, the changing of frame rate is so definitively anger that you would be daft to confuse it with anyone's else work. The way that Anger tries to shove you head first into the occult is just breathtaking. You go into some kind of trance state with this film. To view Satan as he appears in this film is truly changing. Any film student interested in making an impact on film today has to see this picture. Anger made his first film at 15, he was young when he made this one too. This is a film that pushes the envelope. We don't need anymore formulaic boring action movies, we need people like this willing to push the limits of the medium and mess with your mind.
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
A Landmark in Independent Cinema
This is the film that really set independent films off. This film really started the trend. This film questioned the formulas and trends that people knew and loved in the 80s and tore them down. When it came out, this film was really unlike anything else seen. It baffles the mind that our heroes, our stars of the film have no motivations are so lazy and really don't care to do anything at all. But its also brilliant and so real. Nobody before then would have really thought of to make a film about two lazy people that smoke chesterfields and hang around the house. The cinematography is beautiful and very memorable. I believe its a story of human mediocrity and normalcy that is much needed to be told. A great film that could get anyone in Jim Jarmusch and get anyone into independent cinema