Comments for Shoot the Glass

Comment on Le Salaire de la Peur by TravisBickle

TravisBickle — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:11:54 +0000

Both this film and Les Diaboliques are movies which I never tire of watching over and over, true masterpieces as you say. Amongst Clouzot's other films there is also another awesome classic, Quai des Orfèvres. It's a great murder mystery with a fantastically laid back performance from Louis Jouvet as inspector Antoine, who seems to just float through the whole film. It also includes some great shooting of Paris and you mustn't miss anything to be able to understand the final dénoument. Some interesting trivia from IMDb: Hitchcock considered Clouzot a very serious rival for the title of Master of Suspense, and Psycho was put into production because Hitchcock specifically intended to outdo Les Diaboliques. Clouzot beat Hitchcock in buying the rights to Les Diaboliques with a margin of just a few hours.

Comment on Das Leben der Anderen by TravisBickle

TravisBickle — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:12:33 +0000

I reviewed this on FW lately and agree with you both, it really blew me away. Superb acting and a great feeling of intensity throughout. It was also a close run thing for me between this and Pan's Labyrinth, I'm not sure I could place one above the other though. Whilst we're talking about del Toro, I had the good fortune to catch one of his earlier films the other night on TV called El Espinazo del Diablo (The Devils Backbone) which was a really excellent and stylish ghost story. It's set in an orphanage at the end of the Spanish civil war and is very eerie and beautifully shot. Well worth a watch if you can find it, 4 stars from me.

Comment on Twilight by Joost

Joost — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:15:47 +0000

I completely missed anything to do with this movie. I saw the trailer about a month ago, and that was the first time I heard anything about it. And the first thing that came to mind was ‘Meh to the max’.

And I don’t really get what’s with the ‘HP killer’ thing either. The only thing they have in common is the teenage and the ‘world beyond our world’. The rest is utter crap.

Comment on Dog Day Afternoon by TravisBickle

TravisBickle — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:15:40 +0000

I too love Sidney Lumet’s work, but even though I love this film, I still don’t rate it quite as high as Serpico from two years before. The detachment in Pacino’s face, his sometimes furious, sometimes placid acting in certain scenes is remeniscent of him in The Godfather. Just such a fine actor and director combo. I watched a documentary the other day where Lumet said that he’d gotten the perfect take of Pacino on the phone to Sarandon, but asked him to do a second take feeling exhausted and spent. Magical directing.

Comment on Du Rififi Chez les Hommes by Hanna

Hanna — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:26:56 +0000

Thanks for those recommendations. I definitely want to check out some of those, and want to add to that list Le Cercle Rouge.

Comment on Du Rififi Chez les Hommes by TravisBickle

TravisBickle — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:44:31 +0000

I'm such a sucker for these great 50's, 60's and early 70's French gangster movies and this one is a real treat. Dassin was a great director, before Rififi he'd made Night and the City and there followed later Topkapi. I agree, the lengthy silent scene is awesome and you are gripped all the way through it. The film also conveys a great unity between the gang carrying out the heist. Servais is great in probably the most notable role of his career other than his work with Luis Buñuel. If you liked this little gem of a heist movie, then you'll also probably love Le Clan des Siciliens by Henri Verneuil, starring the ever so cool Alain Delon, the legends Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura and the music by Ennio Morricone.

Comment on La Haine by TravisBickle

TravisBickle — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:07:33 +0000

Funnily enough, this film is in my top ten for obvious reasons. You can quite clearly see the parallels between Vinz and Bickle. As you say Hanna, the black and white really does accentuate the stark grimness of life in the less salubrious “quartiers” of Paris and only serves to ram home the desperation and menace in Cassel’s remarkable performance. I thought that the scene with the old man recounting his rather bizarre story in the public toilets was just a brilliant piece of writing and straight out of left field. Kassovitz is a great all round talent and no matter how many times I watch this movie, it still manages to grip me by the throat and not let go until way past the final music from the great soundtrack has finished. Superb.

Comment on Hitchcount by Batman

Batman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:32:27 +0000

When I first saw “Hitchcount” at the top of the page, I wondered why Hanna felt the need to see any mediocre Will Smith movie more than once.

OK. I didn’t really think that.

Comment on Ladri di Biciclette by Batman

Batman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:30:36 +0000

Nice review, Hanna. I’ll agree with everything except the final rating. It gets the full five stars from me.

Comment on Ace in the Hole by sldawgs

sldawgs — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:51:19 +0000

I was amazed at how cynical the movie was. It kept amazing me that more and more people arrived. I am glad I live in a time where the media doesn’t overanalyze and exaggerate stories or blow them all out of proportion but keep low key in their reporting of the truth.