Let's watch THE SEVENTH SEAL and talk about the death of Ingmar Bergman.

When I heard the news this morning that legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman died I thought: "Hmm, that sucks! And how weird." Weird, because just last Wednesday I had seen his classic film The Seventh Seal for the first time. I know, I know but I say better late then never.

Moriarty over at AICN wrote that nobody in the chat room he posted the news in had seen any of Bergman's films, and how that saddened but didn't shock him. I can say the same for most of my friends, and would urge them to at least seen a few of his films to familiarize themselves which a director who is considered by many to be one of the greatest of all-time. I myself, up until last week had only ever seen Persona, which, at the time, blew me away! I can't really figure out why I haven't seen more of his films until now

I decided to watch The Seventh Seal because it seems to hold more of a mythical reputation in regards to its greatness in the annals of cinema history. The movie itself did not impress me too terribly much. But what is clear when watching this movie is the skill of the filmmaker. Not only that but Berman was also one hell of a writer. The film's look at confronting the inevitability of death is pretty compelling. Bergman also is extremely skilled at creating a mood and an atmosphere. The 2 films of his that I have seen are filled with unforgettable images whether it be Death in The Seventh Seal or the seemingly thousands of closeups in Persona.

As The Seventh Seal left me wanting more, I explored an extra titled "An Illustrated Filmography" included in the Criterion version of the film. It is a fairly "old-school" DVD special feature but it did include enough info to make me want to see Wild Strawberries (also exploring death and dying) as the next movie in my exploration of this amazing director.

Let's give Bergman his due. I am not here to talk about how brilliant he was. I am just saying, let's see what all the fuss is about and then decide for ourselves whether or not we want to agree will all of those that idolize this director.

"Let's watch VANISHING POINT!"

I've watched quite a few movies since my last post but rather then bore you with another list I'll give you the highlight of my weekend so far.

Blockbuster finally got around to sending me the classic road/car chase movie Vanishing Point after it had been at the top of my queue for several months. I'd always meant to see this film but decided I would have to watch it after Quentin Tarantino heavily referenced it in Death Proof. A friend forewarned me that the film consist of 120 minutes of a cars racing down the highway and it turns out he was right. I also had second thoughts after I watched another movie referenced in Death Proof, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and it failed to live up to expectations. The thing is though, I really liked the movie.

Starting from the beginning, the scene for the film's finale is set and the second the lone driver Kowalski hastily sets out for San Francisco to deliver that iconic 1970 Dodge Challenger, I was hooked.

As the lead character fills himself up with Benzedrine and drives with no regard for the car he is supposed to deliver or the police that are attempting to stop this mad man you begin to think: "what the fuck? Why is this dude going nuts?" Then director Richard C. Sarafian
cuts in flashbacks of Kowalski's history as a professional(but reckless) race car and motorcycle driver, a dishonorable discharge from the police force, and the tradegic death of his true love.
And now it's all clear that the K man just doesn't give a fuck. The rest of the film follows him through amazing helicopter shots, encounters with religious wackos, a hippie with a chopper and a butt naked girlfriend all of this while the blind revolutionary radio DJ Super Soul cheers him on.

When deciding whether or not to watch Vanishing Point it's a pretty easy one: if you like road movies, cars, car chase films, are a stunt junkie, or just dig exploitation films in general then you will no doubt enjoy this movie. And if you love Vanishing Point check out Death Proof, Monte Hellman's classic Two Lane Blacktop and http://www.varaces.com/The Movie Car Chase Database.

On a side note: I have not seen the made-for-TV remake from the 90s starring Viggo Mortensen. Let me know if any of you have and think its worth a look.

My Film Studies Schooling

As some of you may or may not know I received a bachelor's degree in film studies. Now I did not go to "film school". Rather, what I did was study the form and function of film as an art form.

I got the idea from The Sophomore Critic (http://sophomorecritic.blogspot.com/) to list the films I saw throughout college (Starting a Portland Community College, then The University of Oregon and finally Purdue University.) In order for people to see what I learned. It's not to brag or anything; if you care, then you care. There are too many films listed to discuss but I would hope that this would either give you some insight into me as a person that loves film and film analysis or possibly that you might explore some of these films yourself or through conversations with me.

I have lost the notebooks from PCC so the list for it is by memory. All the others are comprehensive. Also, I have left out a number of short films, while including a few notable long form short films.

PCC: ( I will undoubtedly miss a few)
intro to film:
- Psycho
- North By Northwest - both by Hitchcock
- Badlands
- The Thin Red Line - both by Terrence Malick
- The Apartment - Billy Wilder
- This Boys Life
- What's Eating Gilbert Grape - both by Lasse Hallstrom
- Night of the Hunter- Charles Laughton
- Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood
- High Noon Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch
- Annie Hall - Woodie Allen
- The 400 Blows - Francois Truffaut
- The Butcher Boy - Neil Jordan
- Citizen Kane - Orson Welles
- Casablanca - Michael Curtiz

U of O:
intro to film:
- Persona - Ingmar Bergman
- Some Like it Hot - Billy Wilder
- Los Olvidados - Luis Bunuel
- La Jetee - Chris Marker
- The 400 Blows - again
- Quilombo - Carlos Diegues
- Babakeuieria - Don Featherstone
- Red Sorghum - Zhang Yimou
- Starship Troppers - Paul Veerhoven
- My Own Private Idaho - Gus Van Sant
- Go - Doug Liman
- Scream - Wes Craven
politics in film:
- Metropolis - Fritz Lang
- Dr. Strangelove or How Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick
- Do The Right Thing - Spike Lee
- Thelma & Louise - Ridley Scott
- Wall Street - Oliver Stone
- Brazil - Terry Gilliam
- Traffic - Steven Soderbergh
- Pleasantville - Gary Ross

Purdue:
German Cinema:
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Robert Weine
- The Last Man - F.W. Murnau
- Metropolis - again
- M - Frtiz Lang
- The Blue Angel - Josef Von Sternberg
- Truimph of the Will - Leni Riefenstahl
- Stroszek - Werner Herzog
- Kaspar Hauser - Herzog
- Effie Briest - R. W. Fassbinder
- Germany Pale Mother - Helma Sanders-Brahms
- Paris, Texas - Wim Wenders
- Run Lola Run, Tom Tykwer
- Bagdad Cafe - Percy Aldon
Spanish and Latin American Cinema:
- Solas - Benito Zambrano
- Talk to Her - Pedro Almodovar
- Belle de Jour - Luis Bunuel
- El Cielo Abierto - Miguel Albaladejo
- Entre La Piernas - Manuel Gomez Pereira
- Dias Contados - Imanol Uribe
- The Devil's Backbone - Guillermo Del Toro
- Y Tu Mama tambien - Alfonso Cuaron
- Like Water For Chocolate - Alfonso Arau
- The Crime of Padre Amaro - Carlos Carrera
- Camila - Maria Luisa Bemberg
- The Dark Side of the Heart - Eliseo Subiela
- Our Lady of Assassins - Barbet Schroeder
- Pantaleon y las visitadoras - Francisco Lombardi
Russian and Eastern European Cinema:
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks - Lev Kuleshov
- Battleship Potemkin
- Alexander Nevsky - both by Sergei Eisenstein
- Volga, Volga - Grigori Alexandrov
- Ballad of a Soldier - Grigori Chukhrai
- Come and See - Elem Klimov
- Fireman's Ball - Milos Foreman
- Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears - Vladimir Menshov
- Window to Paris - Yuri Mamin
- The Theif - Pavel Chukhari
- Barber of Siberia - Nikita Mikhalkov
- Russian Arc - Alexander Sokurov
Italian Cinema:
- Cabiria- Giovanni Pastrone
- 1860 - Alessandro Blasetti
- Rome Open City - Roberto Rossellini
- Bicycle Thieves
- Miracle in Milan - both by Vittorio De Sica
- La Dolce Vita - Federico Fellini
- The Battle of Algiers - Gillo Pontecorvo
- 8 1/2 - Federico Fellini
- Satyricon - Fellini again
- The Decamercon - Pier Paolo Pasolini
- The Conformist - Bernardo Bertolucci
- Love and Anarchy - Lina Wertmuller
- Fred & Ginger - Fellini
- Seven Beauties - Lina Wertmuller
- Divorce Italian Style - Pietro Germi
Blacks in Hollywood Film:
- Birth of a Nation - D.W. Griffith
- Gone with the Wind - Victor Fleming
- Cabin in the Sky - Vincente Minnelli
- Carmen Jones - Otto Preminger
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - Stanley Kramer
- A Raisin in the Sun - Daniel Petrie
- Shaft - Gordon Parks
- Coffy - Jack Hill
- Driving Miss Daisy - Bruce Beresford
- Daughters of the Dust - Julie Dash
- Bamboozled - Spike Lee
French Cinema:
- Fanny - Marcel Pagnol
- The Rules of the Game - Jean Renoir
- La Coquille et le clergyman
- The Smiling Madame Beudet - both by Germaine Dulac
- M. Hulot's Holiday - Jacques Tati
- Les Diaboliques - Henri-Georges Clouzot
- The 400 Blows - god i love this movie
- Hiroshima Mon Amour - Alan Resnais
- Le Samourai - Jean-Pierre Melville
- Breathless - Jean-Luc Godard
- Chocolat - Claire Denis
- City of Lost Children - Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- All the mornings of the world - Alain Corneau
- Diva - Jean-Jacques Beineix
- The Piano Teacher - Michael Haneke

The most important trend here is that Professors love to teach The 400 Blows. Either because it's easy to teach or it is in fact one of the greatest films. Most people who have seen it will agree it is a damn good movie, and after seeing it that first time at PCC when I was fresh out of high school I knew I wanted to get my degree in film studies so I could watch as many movies as possible. Ever since I have wanted to watch movies for a living. So if anyone would like to pay me to do so, I would be grateful. Until, then i gues i'll just keep watching.