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| In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Baby: Gaia |
In the Earth > Gaia Practically the same movie. Both Eco-Horror with a psychotronic
edge. Scientists visit a forest and learn that you don't mess with
Mother Nature. In the Earth is decidedly superior, the obverse
of director Ben Wheatley's A Field in England. Gaia is overly
literal with the forest primeval turning men into mushroom people.
Summer Interlude This 1951 Ingmar Bergman film is his first feature which could
be called Bergmanesque. The usual suspects are all here: Death,
the silence of God, Art versus artifice, stunning Gunnar Fischer
photography, animals triggering dark forebodings, even wild
strawberries.
What We Do Is Secret A 2007 biopic of Darby Crash, lead singer for the short lived
LA punk group, the Germs. Inept. A better bet for those interested
in the subject is Penelope Spheeris' documentary, The Decline of
Western Civilization.
Lemon (2017) One of the least ingratiating and repellent art products
to be produced in Los Angeles since the Germs suitably titled GI.
If one survives the flood of bodily fluids and the lacerating Jewish
masochism of co-writer/ lead Brett Gelman (who repeats
his loathsomeness in the wonderful Fleabag), one might succumb
to the charms of director (and co-writer) Janicza Bravo's suitably
awkward rhythms and precise mise-en-scene. I did,
somewhere around David Paymer's marvelously woeful cameo,
but there is a reason this recent feature is on the free streaming
server, Tubi. The adventurous and fans of Bravo's work on Zola
should check it out.
The Magician (1926) Rex Ingram's films always has pictorial splendor, but something
is missing here to lift it above the routine. Michael Powell wrote
that lead Paul Wegener (The Golem) did not get along with Ingram.
Certainly, compared to the prime rib that Emil Jennings could
have offered, Wegener is canned Bavarian ham. Wegener would
repeat this performance in 1927's even more leaden, Svengali.
The Mad Woman's Ball > The Voyeurs (Amazon Prime)
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