3/10
"I am not your friend is a film of improvisations – not only from the part of the nine amateur actors, but from the D.O.P, the director and the scriptwriters as well. The story unfolded itself instantly by the reactions and ideas of actors during the 20 days of shooting and developed into what is presented to the audience."
Yeah, but that doesn't make it a good or even interesting movie. A concept that probably had a lot more potential on paper.
4/10
Cobbling together a series of creepy albeit repetitive vignettes (film some weird happening at night, watch it the next day, talk about how scary it is, repeat) does not a good movie make. The two main characters embody so many horror character clichés (the impotent female and the skeptical male at their most basic) you find yourself cheering for the ghost or demon, or whatever it may be. I'll give the film credit for originality and not relying on gore or ever truly answering the question of what's haunting the two, but I was hoping for a lot better after all the hype.
7/10
For the first half I wasn't feeling it but credit to the filmmakers because it's almost impossible to be not won over, if only in part, by the end of the movie. There's things I liked (namely the acting, especially by Mo'nique) and things I didn't like: the movie at times feels like a large-scale (no pun intended) after school special, and there are definitely some mawkish moments, not least the insipid dedication at the end. If the acting wasn't as good as it is, its flaws and inconsistencies would not be so easily overlooked, I think.
10/10
Last Nikkatsu movie, and hands down the best one. Combines all the over-the-top humor, romance, double-crossing, and violence from the previous four. The story isn't new territory but the story is told very well, the film is directed with flair, the soundtrack is exceptional, and Joe Shishido's moody main character seems to be both inspired by and sowing the seeds for the Spaghetti Western anti-heroes of the era. In fact it's hard to believe this movie was never remade as a Western because it's certainly ripe for it. If you want all the best of the Nikkatsu movies in one 84-minute chunk, start here.
8/10
The first half is fantastic, funnier than any comedy I've seen all year, and does a great job evoking (well I assume, I was never there) a Midwestern Jewish community in the late 60's. The second half is a bit of a downshift and things get almost too stereotypically "Coens" for me (this coming from a huge Coens Bros fan) - the existential questions, the abrupt ending, the jarring character turns...they've been done before and with greater effect in Barton Fink, Fargo and NCFOM and it feels like the brothers are going through the motions to a degree here. That said, A Serious Man is still a very good, enjoyable, and incredibly well-acted film, but it's a notch below their "A" material.
3/10
Part-movie, part-documentary about the nude male modelling scene and Bob Mizer's Athletic Modelling Guild in the 50's...the content is interesting and there's definitely a good story to be told here but this movie fails spectacularly. The interviews with the models (including Jack LaLanne), now mostly in their 60's, are revealing and at turns heart-warming and heartbreaking...but they're too few in between as most of the movie is made up of dramatic recreations of events that occured with terrible actors and laughably cheap looking sets. The movie messily splices actual footage shot by Mizer in the 50's with black-and-white recreations (sometimes featuring actors bearing very little resemblance to their real-life counterparts) which occasionally turn to full-color for no apparent reason. The film also makes the grave mistake of talking down to the viewer and pleading for acceptance at the end instead of letting the audience come to its own conclusions. It seems way too geared to people who already had an interest in this sort of thing, and makes a pretty lousy attempt to engage outsiders (like myself).
7/10 Good, taut, suspenseful thriller. The cast is all very good, and of course Glenn Close especially. My only gripe is the sheer number of dumb/illogical decisions made by Michael Douglas' character and his family during the course of his harassment.
