Hieronymus Bosch
This short and small volume does a good job in contextualizing the work of Bosch. Lots of images but they are all a bit too tiny to really study.
The Renaissance of Etching
A better title for this art book would be Etching from the Renaissance. The book covers the dawn of the medium during the Renaissance and not the “golden age” of etching that is suggested by the title. There is a ton of information and images from this period but, as it was a new process, the work itself is not as good as what would come later.
Entertainment
I’m sorry to report, but the Neil Hamburger movie isn’t that good. It’s not a movie about the Neil Hamburger character but rather it’s about a comedian whose stage persona is Neil Hamburger and loneliness of his life on the road. Fine, that could work but there is never any payoff to any scene. Every potentially interesting interaction is resolved with Gregg Turkington not reacting and just looking awkward. The comedian is the exactly same character at the beginning of the movie as he is at the end. There is no growth or arc to speak of. The only thing (beside to two or three Hamburger jokes) that this movie has going for it is the artsy shot framing which will certainly appeal to people who follow that “One Perfect Shot” Twitter feed. Otherwise. I was very disappointed with this.
Resident Evil 6 on PC
I don’t know why I keep thinking these Resident Evil games might actually be good. Everything about RE6 is frustration. There’s the odd camera positioning that gets all screwy in the many tight corridors of the levels. Then there’s the never ending boss battles in which you have next to zero ammo and have to trigger quicktime events while looking for minions to kill for resources. Checkpoint save locations are few and far between. The levels are tedious, gray, and overlong and there is very little variety in the action.
On top of all this is the decision to break the game into four separate narratives each of which is more confusing than the last. Not to mention you are forced to sit through a 5-10 minute credit crawl between each section. So lame. I bought this as a two-pack with RE7. Do I dare continue?
Thunder Road
I really liked The Wolf of Snow Hollow and needed to check out Jim Cumming’s debut. This one is about a policeman whose world is falling apart after the death of his mother and his embarrassing breakdown/dance at her funeral. The story seamlessly toggles between comedy and heartbreaking drama. The laughs come from Jim’s inability to stop talking at the wrong moments. The final scene is a perfect bow on this lovely gift of a movie.
Orgasmo
This is the first Lenzi/Baker thriller and I thought it was pretty good considering it really doesn’t have any of the style of a 70s giallo. Lots and lots of J&B whiskey drinking though.
A Night at the Opera
The first MGM Marx Brothers movie looks great and finally has a real story to follow, but none of that is why you’d watch you watch The Marx Bros. They got rid of Zeppo only to add even more dull bits with a new actor/singer filling in for him. Cut out the singing and drama and this would have been great.
So Sweet… So Perverse
Another pre-Argento giallo mystery that felt a lot like the movie I had just watched the night before, Diabolique. None of the characters are likable because you know they are all cheating and plotting, but it’s the swinging 60s, so nobody seems to care. There are enough twists to make the somewhat predictable ending pay-off.
Diabolique
I’ve listened to so many commentaries on my various giallo DVDs that cite this movie as one of the primary touchstones of the genre. The plot follows two women who devise a plan to kill their mutual husband/lover. Things don’t go as expected and we are left wondering if he is still alive (or undead). I mostly enjoyed the film and the moody climax is the real reason to watch, but it felt a bit too slow to warrant the two hour running time.
The Creeping Flesh
A zero budget Hammer horror that’s built around a stupid looking monster skeleton that Peter Cushing is researching. Spill water on it and jelly-like skin forms. The monster doesn’t appear until the last five minutes. The rest of the movie is filled with terrible acting from the female lead and other boring happenings. They certainly get a lot of mileage out of a clip of “evil” cells under a microscope.