rotacirav
Movie Buff
Member Since: 04 Aug 2024
Location: Austria
Age: 23
Bio: I don’t love films; I watch them because I think they are important for a cultural understanding of the last century, and occasionally great. These are rated higher than 80 and recommended. Works rated lower than 42 (which signifies indifference or unratability) are advised against.
Reading log: https://www.librarything.com/catalog/rotacirav
Reading log: https://www.librarything.com/catalog/rotacirav
Featured Reviews
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12 Angry Men (1957) - Rated 04 Aug 2024
"An impressive demonstration that the classical unities of theatre can work in film (time, place, action; here even with the added constraint of no change in configuration, or group of characters present), this is probably one of the greatest pieces of left-liberal propaganda. I mean that word neutrally: that’s what it is. Its truth lies not in depicting our institutions as they are, but as they should be, if we are to have these institutions at all."
The Night of the Hunter (1955) - Rated 25 Aug 2024
"Symbolic, not mimetic – of course it flopped, but even on this site many people don’t seem to understand nonmimetic representation (“thin plot”, “overacting”). Apart from cinematography, the use of song (tied to the use of scripture) is extraordinary, helping to create a second act as otherwordly as in “Tristan und Isolde” (and the lullaby’s chromatic mediant pendulum is very Wagnerian). Read it as a psychoanalytic fairytale – the odd-seeming changes in tone are very deliberate."
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) - Rated 06 Oct 2024
"“Well, letʼs initiate you to the fine art of watching Ice Age,” said the friendʼs mother to sceptical ten-year-old me, and right she was: itʼs like exploitation films for kids, making you laugh part at it and part with it, greatly enjoyable in amiable company after a long day. Bring junk food. Or better yet, turn off your devices and go outside, into the wilderness."
Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Rated 04 Aug 2024
"solve the problems of the world with VIOLENCE and CINEMA"
Barry Lyndon (1975) - Rated 04 Aug 2024
"The great achievement here is shifting the focus away from humans: Like there are parts in Wagner where the voice becomes accompaniment to the orchestra, this is a film about cinematography and staging with the script in service of it. From the opening extreme long shot, human life is shown for what it is in a subsidiary manner – we donʼt matter too much after all."
Gone with the Wind (1939) - Rated 08 Dec 2024
"Talking colour remake of Birth of a Nation (breaking its commercial record) that showcased Hollywoodʼs now greatly advanced means of dissimulation. Unlike the simply trivial novel, has a garish beauty perversely enjoyable for an hour or two; aside from the occasional audio clipping or Griffith intertitle, the lie is perfected as Mitchellʼs pontifications are reduced to the background (not farther) of her ode to female narcissism. Banned in Nazi Germany but beloved by its leaders, naturally."
Vertigo (1958) - Rated 10 Sep 2024
"Countless amazing shots, sparse dialogue, and Hermannʼs Tristan Lite score create a wonderful impressionist feel. It isnʼt nearly what itʼs jazzed up to be though, just a moody mystery somewhat more attentive to fantasy and desire than most. Stewart isnʼt quite right for the role (though he gives it his best), and itʼs a rather unforgivable error to let the viewer know the secret before him in a completely unnecessary sequence: this late in the film the male gaze canʼt be broken, only botched."
War Room (2015) - Rated 27 Aug 2024
"I started to watch this in a room full of European hardcore Catholics – the kind of people who believe in literal demons intervening in life. (Long story.) After the first few minutes they said “this is too ridiculous, let’s watch something else”. It’s that kind of film."
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) - Rated 29 Aug 2024
"This could be condemned for Hollywoodizing one of mankind’s greatest tragedies, or respected for educating a mass audience about it. The romantic subplot is definitely in bad taste, but might have been necessary for mainstream acceptance; at any rate, it is balanced out by the surprising acknowledgement that the Nazis took inspiration from U.S. eugenics laws. There have been much more shameless films about the topic, but Hollywood means go only so far here."