codseyes Reviews

Suspiria (I) (2018)

Truly Haunting

[9/10 · 7 June 2019]

Highly original horror with a retro backdrop. Worth seeing just for the thrilling dance scenes, particularly in Acts 5 and 6. Great tension between Swinton at her enigmatic and disturbing best and Dakota Johnson. The soundtrack fits the mood of each scene and the dance perfectly.

Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018)

Poignant and poetic

[8/10 · 20 March 2019]

An unexpected gem, reminded me of early Wim Wenders or Jadorowsky. Obviously it's not a linear plot set in everyday reality, something that some reviewers seem to have not understood. It's metaphysical references resonate more and more strongly - mortality and transience, love and loss. It's disconcerting and haunting, very original.

Raw (2016)

Truly shocking

[7/10 · 20 September 2017]

This is not US-style, "Stephen King" horror, indeed it will probably be seen as a watershed (or bloodshed!) in the genre. Shocks on several levels, and reverbs again and again on reflection. The focus opens on the traditional, nasty French uni first year initiation rites, and we're lulled into thinking that the two sisters are (innocent?) victims. There are some good plants that will come back to haunt you at the end. The ski stick is fairly obvious, but no reason initially to ask yourself why the family are veggies. A subtle escalation in the "tasty meaty morsels" that tempt Justine ("Sadien" reference?): sausage, rabbit kidney, finger... And the frontier of broken taboos starts to exceed even what her family and her jaded vet school peers can stomach. Incidentally, don't watch this with a full one! A challenging film weaving dark sexuality, cannibalism, animal and gay rights issues... wow.

Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

Aural nostalgic delight

[7/10 · 20 September 2016]

Just close your eyes and imagine yourself in a sleazy cinema / strip club, circa 1975...

The shots are well framed (hehehehe) but the action and plot are a little lacking.

The actresses are good, but why the elderly / mustachioed-ed male counterparts?

Neither the vampire nor lesbian motivation of the girls is convincing. Neither hungry nor horny.... ;)

This movie was recently shown on the French art house channel Arte... I guess vintage perv has become legit.

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

Very funny and clever

[9/10 · 8 August 2009]

The best feel-good-factor film I've seen since Little Miss Sunshine. In 1967 I won a transistor radio and spent the next ten years listening to Radio Caroline (at night under the pillow, so the early scene is uncanny!!) The film is a clever amalgam of pirate radio fact and myth featuring barely disguised DJs, and cameo scenes from album covers, fashion shoots, etc.. (orgy in the hold = Electric Ladyland; girls arriving on the prow of the boat = Mary Quant...; poster scenes = Abbey Road..., etc.) Anyone's guess if the station/boat owner is based on Ronan O'Rahilly. The kind of guy who, 20 years later might have founded a low-cost airline; The Marine Offences Act was a heinous offense against liberty and popular culture, worthy of the cold war opponents.

Beautifully filmed, a bit like smoking grass while listening to CSNY.