The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975)

 

Rocky Horror Picture Show was one of those cult classics that I had never seen. It took me many years to finally decide to watch it. Although I was genuinely interested for the movie, there was something that was holding me back. And fact is that after I saw it, I understood my reluctance to watch it. The movie has most certainly some interesting elements and it carries a craziness that is deeply authentic, but is an exhausting movie, hands down. And the reason for being an exhausting movie are the songs. I understand a movie to be a musical, a genre that I never loved, but song after song after song gets unbelievably tedious and tiresome. A movie is more than anything a prose, a film. When you strip your movie almost completely of dialogue and you're left with a continuous parade of interesting maybe, but boring nevertheless, songs the movie is robbed of its potential charm.

And of course that is a shame because the set and the costumes are fabulous, incredibly creative and fantasizing, the performances are of high quality and the general atmosphere of the movie speaks about a real transgressive story. If that movie was a normal comedy horror movie and not musical or maybe a musical but with half the songs it would have been a brilliant film. I understand deeply the need to make a different sarcastic musical, but you must think of the audience also, because they suffer with this movie and its endless singing. There are so many songs in that film that near the end I wasn't even paying real attention to the film anymore. I was so genuinely disturbed by the la la la that I wanted the film to finally end and be on my way. This obsession to the film's songs makes the movie to look dated even by musical standards. Cult movie for sure, but for people with a lot of patience I must say.  

The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983)

Vampirism has certainly something deeply erotic and sexual. There are a lot of movies out there which picture vampires as simply bloodthirsty creatures who drink the blood of young virgin women. I was never much of a fan of these movies. For me vampires carry a bewitching quality, something that cannot be explained in plain words. That ancient allure of them, that beauty and finesse and their characteristic of inflicting pain together with pleasure is what drives me near to these fiction creatures. The Hunger is a movie that begins from the fact that vampires are the underground princes and princesses of this world. The film is very loosely judgmental over their methods. The thing that stays with you after the end of the movie was not that they sucked the blood of other people, but their incredible aura. Their astonishing character and aesthetic.

I would definitely argue that The Hunger is one of the most interesting vampire movies that one can find. Away from the cliches of the genre, it draws a line somewhere between the crime and the pleasure, the evil and the godly, the beautiful and the ferocious. The vampires of the movie are creatures of the night, but in a way that makes you love them for what they are. I would go even further to say that the vampires of this movie, are the ones that look like the most interesting part of the society. Thirst for blood goes together with an incredible beauty, an amazing grace, a stupendous charm. And this is definitely the way that suits the vampires. This is the right way that should be presented and not like some vacant violent creatures. I recommend this movie to anyone who feels that his aesthetic is somehow different from the others. For those who feel and understand themselves like creatures of the night. 

Night On Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991)

 

I saw Night On Earth in the Greek streaming platform cinobo after many years that I hadn't seen the movie and I can say that I envy Jim for his minimalism. Truth is that I would never try to make something so standard yet solid and funny. The thing with Jim's art is that you think after the movie, "Man that was extremely minimal". And the next thought is, "But no matter how many years I would try it I could never make it as brilliantly as he did it". Night On Earth is so simple that you think that he shot and wrote it in a weekend. And yet there is something underneath, a brilliant comment for the human species that we see it in his most humble and typical moments that steals your breath away. Jim's characters have nothing extreme and weird, yet they are incredibly idiosyncratic. There is that immense coolness that is coming from the screen straight at you that you cannot possibly deny. The more you get into the movie, the more you understand that if the world was manufactured by Jim Jarmusch it would be a heavenly place, a living circus. 

And the more I think about it the more I understand that in order to make so "down-tempo" cinema you must be a person who would very easily make films with a thousand explosions. You choose to make that type of cinema because that is what comes from your heart. And that is the greatest charm of Jim's art. That his movies come from inside of him. The characters have an intimacy with the audience that you cannot find anywhere else. You can touch those people that you see there on the screen. And that is a heavenly attribute. A gift that very few filmmakers have. Making such personal movies means that you are an artist of pure and authentic character and that is definitely Jim. One of the greatest voices in American cinema.   

The Prestige (Christopher Nolan, 2006)

 

As much as Christopher Nolan has disappointed me with his last three films, I can't forget that he used to make really wonderful, exceptional films. The Prestige is a bewitching movie, a movie that speaks the magical language of pure cinematic finesse. And it's not only the actual story of the movie that grabs you so tight that you can't escape from any direction, but also the flavor and the details of the movie, that incredible atmosphere, darkly and mysterious, that goes together, perfectly, with the rest of the story. You see that story of ruthless antagonism between two magicians in the hands of a less talented creator would be an interesting movie, but it wouldn't have that extra thing, that exquisite taste that the film has. Because no matter how much I want to concentrate on the story, my mind, instinctively, goes to the magic of the movie. Those absolutely fabulous moments inside the film where you are sure that you are watching a fantasy movie, a movie that came out of a fairy tale. And that I think is Prestige's biggest charm.

I watched it for the first time in Berlin and I was taken so much by it that I wanted to watch it a second time. I watched some years after when I was back in Athens and I couldn't believe how irresistible that movie is. Every time that I watch the poster I think of the details of that movie and I get seriously high. I get so high that I want to watch it again. Maybe not the whole movie, but some parts of it, I want to simply devour them. And when a movie lives so vividly inside you for so long, it means that is a movie that is close to being infallible. And although it doesn't exist an infallible work of art, because perfection is a meaningless word, The Prestige is so close to your heart that you forget everything else and you want simply to love it and adore it once more.   

It ( Andy Muschietti, 2017)

 

In order to write about It and be precise, we must think about the Stephen King's book that is based upon. And if we think about the book and remember it, its structure and plot, we'll come to the conclusion that no matter nicely shot this film is, it didn't respect the book. The movie gave so much to the horror and scary part of the book that it forgot all the other elements. And by all means, I don't insinuate that this is a lousy movie, but I think that it could be much better than it is. The book by Stephen King has so many things inside that you, at times, forget that you are reading a horror book. The movie, on the other hand, is a straightforward collection of highly scary moments. The characters and the atmosphere of the book were left behind in order to make a horror movie that will answer to the needs of today. Today that we have come to need so much... horror from horror movies that all the fun and the intrigue of the horror film is finally lost. 

I do think that It is a decent movie and one that you can enjoy watching, but I can't forget that it's based upon a masterpiece that could make the movie be a brilliant masterpiece also. And I don't forget that the laws of today's filmography are completely pathetic. We want so eagerly to be shocked by the film we are watching that we forget all the truly important elements of a movie. And no matter the good work in the casting and in the direction the film looks incredibly low on expectations. We tend to forget that a good horror movie is for starters a good movie and not a waffling collection of horrific moments. I'm not interested to see the clown of the movie attacking once more the children as I'm interested to see the children's character. Their emotional universe, their torment, their fears, their dreams. And in that part the film did an almost lousy job, because it spend all of its time scaring us. I have said it many times that 9 out of 10 modern horror films are for me incredible craps. The good horror movie is the exception to the rule. So according to that It is an interesting horror movie, but definitely one that could have been a thousand times better than it is.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Guy Ritchie, 2024)

 

What is that thing that is called feelgood cinema? Feelgood cinema, fun cinema, guilty pleasure you can name it as you like, but the thing that remains is that it makes you feel... high. Like you have smoked the best joint in the world. Guy Ritchie is one of the biggest "sellers" of feelgood cinema and that is a fucking fact. But watching at The Ministry I can say, easily, that there is more to Ritchie's cinema than simple fun. There is a type of pleasure and a finesse that you rarely find in a filmmaker nowadays. The Ministry is a movie that is very loosely based on true events, but that is not the point here and certainly that is not the point with Guy's cinema. The movie has a thousand eyes and a million hands. It moves with miraculous speed, beauty and valor. There is that certain... Guy Ritchie quality in the movie that makes it to rise higher than the average well shot war movie. Yes my friends the movie not only has the looks, but it has the fucking attitude also to bewitch you as a spectator. It's that phantasmagoria of style and etiquette that makes this beauty move, actually.

I can easily say that I had a blast of fun and a good time with it. But again that's not where it all ends. There is a flavor in the image and the tone of the film. It's like the frame and everything that's in it speak a language of nobles. And when I say nobles don't mean self-righteous stuck-ups. I mean people with chivalry. And that's exactly where you can find this Guy Ritchie's movie. Yes it's a war movie, but it has something exotic, something bewitching, something mystic inside of it. You can take that movie and serve it at a party where all the guests wear peculiar costumes and unearthly masks and it will definitely be a number one hit. Because the movie has a very eccentric side. A side that is well hidden underneath the guns and the bullets, but if you are there, watching the film, you can sense it and understand it perfectly. So let's just say that The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a suit that is worn by the few, the brave and aesthetically daring.  

How To Talk To Girls At Parties (John Cameron Mitchell, 2017)

 As you probably already know the biggest delusion of all in this life is to try and be perfect. Artistic pieces that have often pictured as perfect are in fact far from that. Some of them are also dated movies that dinosaur critics picture as perfect because they live in another time and in another planet. The thing that is more important in a movie is the soul of the film. The guts of the movie. And when your movie has soul, there is no flaw that can destroy that. Your movie might be filled with flaws, still there is something in there far bigger than those flaws that makes your movie truly worthy. John Cameron Mitchell is a man of guts, there is no doubt about that. All of his films have something that makes them unique artistic pieces with a clear and fearless expression, away from cliches and inside authenticity and ingenuity. Mitchell is a man of few words. From 2001 he has made only four feature films. But when he decides to speak, then he knows pretty damn well what he is talking about.

This film of his is a wild and crazy journey inside the punk-era of England combined with a totally lunatic science fiction story. The smell of the movie is that of the uncompromising, teenager, revolutionary flavor. His film is totally fearless, it's uniquely bold and it has that element of the big surprise for the spectator who feels that he is been put inside a tube and that tube is traveling with the speed of light to unknown places and territories. How To Talk is a movie that defies conservatism, spits on decency and takes a huge shit on authority. It's clearly an authentic punk movie, with the word punk written in capital and gold letters and it's one of those movies that will be loved by people who still have that fire burning inside of them. For the brave, the dirty, the filthy and the ones that have understood that life is something that happens only once.