sign in
register

yesistasty

yesistasty
Cinema Addict - 1013 Film Ratings
Member Since: 28 Jul 2009
Location: Chicago, USA
Bio: I like the movies.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6206945-alec-sieber
http://www.last.fm/user/yesistasty

more Recent Ratings

93 80% Pather Panchali (1955) - Rated 17 Dec 2024
"A remarkably assured debut. There is a simple charm and beauty in the filmmaking here."
93 80% Red Desert (1964) - Rated 16 Dec 2024
"Antonioni's cautious first foray into color film reveals a filmmaker obsessed with control, fearful of not choosing and perfecting every single element of his filmic image. The result is a fabulous-looking film, despite its portrayal of the most smog-choked, polluted environment possible. This is certainly the most foggy film ever made. Yet it is gorgeous. Like his other films, this film's complexity is all submerged beneath the negligible narrative and beautiful visuals."
85 51% Secret Honor (1984) - Rated 13 Dec 2024
"Perhaps incoherent to somebody who's not already a Nixon obsessive. A couple of Nixon tomes under my belt, I settled in to enjoy this offbeat take on the weird man from Whittier. Philip Baker Hall is ok, maybe a bit goofy with his too-often repeated gestures and tics (although I think most are borrowed from the real Nixon). Not a total oddity for Altman, one of the great directors of jazzy acting."
92 76% North by Northwest (1959) - Rated 06 Dec 2024
"Another masterwork from Hitchcock's mature technicolor phase. Many classic, endlessly-referenced setpieces. "Vertigo" was a stunning exploration of color, here we are treated to a gorgeous geometric display of lines and angles. The film is a showcase of mid-century design throughout, from the high-modernist UN headquarters to the family road-trip kitsch of Mt. Rushmore. A visual feast, especially for those with a soft spot for the aesthetic."
59 8% Far and Away (1992) - Rated 26 Nov 2024
"My wife unearthed this turd on Tubi while she searched for something to play in the background while she worked. Excellent film for that purpose. Remarkably insipid and boring, but occasionally there's a pretty landscape to look at. The gulf between David Lean and Ron Howard is VAST. The land rush segment is attention-grabbing at least."
77 33% Possession (1981) - Rated 14 Nov 2024
"Isabelle Adjani's character is psychotic, and she does a fantastic job with the role. This movie is at its best in the birthing scene in the metro. Here is where Zulawski's swooping camera and the brutal performance meet somewhere close to genuine intensity and fear. The problem is, everybody else in this movie is psychotic too. Sam Neill is terrible in this, bug-eyed and cartoonish. He thinks he's in a comedy, and this movie certainly often plays like one, unintentionally, I think."
72 22% Andrey Tarkovsky; a cinema prayer (2019) - Rated 13 Nov 2024
"Lots of footage from Tarkovksy's films, extensive quotations from his writings. Kind of a pleasant gloss for those who love the filmmaker enough to be curious about his journals and some of his more gnomic musings on art and faith. Tarkovsky's statements on art are more comprehensive in his excellent book "Sculpting in Time." His statements on faith are more emphatic and clear in his films."
90 68% The Sacrifice (1986) - Rated 10 Nov 2024
"Maybe Tarkovsky's slowest, most inscrutable film, and that's really saying something. The narrative left me somewhat cold, although I have to admire the visuals. Some of the most subtle, beautifully naturalistic lighting you will see. "Fanny and Alexander" is one of my favorite films, and I enjoyed seeing Edwall and Josephson reunited here. Both are great, Edwall as an earthy, wise postman, Josephson as a Swedish atheist who dreams himself into becoming the holy fool from "Nostalgia.""
59 8% Dune (2021) - Rated 08 Nov 2024
"Amazed at how well-regarded the cinematography is. Everything is over-saturated and gray. Looks dreary and bland. I'd say just make your shit black and white, but then they'd have to use contrast instead of underlighting every scene. Looks like they forgot to dress the sets. Putting a tiny human figure and a large cgi machine on opposite sides of a scope frame isn't inherently epic. This looks half-finished. The actors don't have much to work with. Dull script, no wit or humor."
93 80% Anora (2024) - Rated 29 Oct 2024
"The opening shot and credit sequence is stunning, introducing us to a cinematic voice that is exuberant, humanistic, and conversant with the history of the form. Here we have screwball and John Cassavetes and technicolor splendor remixed for the neon age of the Safdies and Harmony Korine. Even when the storytelling falters, when the farce gets too broad and the hysterics too grating a repetitive, the cinematic energy is undeniable. Mikey Madison is brilliant."