jasperredhat Reviews

Charles & Caril (1988 TV Special)

Easy the Hard Road

[7/10 · 23 November 2023]

Yes, this is how you make a documentary. And how you tell a crime story. Bluntly. No nonsense. Or own analyzes.

On November 30, 1957, Charles Starkweather decided to buy a teddy bear for his girlfriend. He was denied credit and therefore defeated the shop assistant Robert Colvert with a shotgun. He ripped together some banknotes from the cash register and forced Colvert out of the store and in a stolen car. In a forest grove, Starkweather stopped. When Colvert, he was executed with shots in his head.

Starkweather's defects made him the easy target for the school's bullies. But after a visit to the movies in his hometown Lincoln, Nebraska, he transformed from an uncertain boy to a rebel. The movie was "Wild Youth." Like his new idols, he now wore leather jacket, jeans and cowboy boots. He used pomada in his hair and practiced cool attitudes and looks.

Easy the hard road.

Untitled (The City at Night) (2013)

I think he's dead now

[5/10 · 22 November 2023]

An introvert consideration or perhaps observation of images through nocturnal wanderings in the cityscape. I find this collection unsatisfactory as a work of art or internal documentary. In addition, there is a large distance between image and text that can never be bridged. In my world.

"The artist has no intention of showing the work publicly." This may be the answer to my questions.

"One day one of the clients from the shelter visited he gallery. I recognized him, because he had stayed at the shelter at several occasions. He was on drugs and dirty, but he wasn't dangerous. He's actually a really nice guy. Or he was - I think he's dead now."

Skrotliv (2007)

Inspiration Feast

[7/10 · 14 November 2023]

A work that creates a visual meeting between art, body and scrap metal. And has offered inspiration for a large number of art projects here and there in the world. It is one of a kind. Brilliant and daring. Funny and beautiful. SU-EN first came to Skrotcentralen/The Scrap Centre in 1997. She was looking for an exciting location for a photo shoot. Since then she has worked on a variety of projects and a large number of works have been created inspired by this amazing place. What was fascinating about the place was the fact that the body became so small in comparison to these piles of metal. At the same time, there was a thundering cycle and a fantastic recycling cycle like no other! She wanted to be part of this cycle. Scrap Bodies also became this video film Skrotliv/Scrap Life.

The Vanishing Triangle (2023)

Watching the Detectives

[6/10 · 9 November 2023]

It's rather daring. To execute this crime story in a manner we remember from the 80's. The 1980's that is. But, it works. Up to a point. They manage to stir up the tension and keep it boiling until... the famous final scene. Where it gets a bit slow and archaic.

Yes, it is a relief to escape from mobile phones and computers. That world of instant messaging that kills most of the excitement. And we get a lot of passionate acting in many supporting roles. And India Mullen fights for her life surrounded by soggy memories.

This is strictly watching the Detectives. The old-fashioned police & thieves saga.

Queeny (1995)

It's Shakespeare!

[7/10 · 8 November 2023]

Seven minutes of absolute poppycock. Action packed nonsense in a lingo that you might just grasp a hint off. Queeny is the center of attention in this tale without beginning or end. But it sticks. It's Shakespeare. It's brilliant. Who is she and why are they saying these terrible things about her? What did Queeny ever do to deserve this public approbation? Not that everyone dislikes her. But the Jury's still out if the 22 interviewees here are anything to go by. Queeny's moment of enigmatic revelation is amongst the most sublime to be found all year. Queeny rules and i dont care what they say.

Karossen (1971 TV Movie)

Bergman 2.0

[7/10 · 25 October 2023]

A very daring staging even by Swedish standards. Related to the drama of Pasolini and Norén. Evabritt Strandberg get to play out her entire register of attraction and inaccessibility. A naked room, demasked people and a sexual drive that has only one target. The Swedish playwright and author Carl-Magnus Åsard has created a compressed, brutal and erotic drama where love is consumed and desire rules. The television audience reacted violently to this creation and the performance was referred to as a scandal. Nevertheless "Karossen/The Body" led to a Bergman 2.0 within the intimate, intrusive drama in a room. Monica Ekman has a minor part.

Nattmara (1965)

Ulla Jacobsson exposed.

[6/10 · 1 October 2023]

This Arne Mattsson thriller, written by Per Wahlöö, was filmed right after one of Mattsson's hits, "Morianna". But they have very little in common. "Nattmara" received decent reviews in Sweden. And was followed by two of Arne Mattsson's best efforts, "Yngsjömordet" and "Den onda cirkeln".

To me, Nattmara works quite well. Ulla Jacobsson is as expected, Gunnar Hellström not completely happy with his supporting role, while Sven Lindberg as the police inspector shines. Tord Peterson's character carries a secret we don't get to know and Mona Malm we could have seen more of.

The story has a few twists to stay on track the full 100 minutes. And Mattsson's fetishes and darlings are all there, but the movie lacks sexual action. Unusual for Mattsson.

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything: End of the Acid Dream (2021) Season 1, Episode 2

This episode is pure magic!

[8/10 · 23 August 2023]

"End of the Acid Dream" - Changing focus to other types of drugs, which means that some performers are forced to take a break from reality. This episode is pure magic. Something that does not apply to the other episodes of the series. A deluge of musical madness and immortality. Sly Stone, Jim Morrison, Hunter S. Thompson, Keith Richards and the French riviera. Brown sugar, Chivas, Colt 45, Jack Daniels, and Chenin Blanc. Mick Jagger babbles about tax evasion and bankruptcy for the Stones. Hunter S. Is a long way from home and sometimes in Las Vegas. Ahmet Ertegün is looking good, while welcoming the Stone to his label. Marshall Chess becomes CEO of the Rolling Stones record label. It's sunny and boring at Villefranche-sur-Mer. Jimmy Miller complains about bad sound in the basement of Nellcôte. Rare footage all over.

The Forger (2022)

A chamber play

[8/10 · 24 June 2023]

"Der Passfälscher" portrays the everyday horror of Nazi-occupied Berlin on a personal intimate level. A chamber play without bombastic abominations and the well known anonymous brutality. Maggie Pere's film is related to a German cultural canon as Margarethe von Trotta's "Die bleierne Zeit". It doesn't get much better than this.

"Der Passfälscher" is unique in many ways, to me. Like the use of "Heil Hitler". As an assurance or a feeler. Or the almost perpetually smiling Cioma Schönhaus. And the stressed fear of going out. Which also becomes a necessity for a filmmaker with a minimal budget. Also the depiction of a society where your life is plundered of every possession if you happen to be of the wrong kind.

I will watch this film many times.

Extrapolations: 2068: The Going-Away Party (2023) Season 1, Episode 7

Who's afraid of today?

[7/10 · 16 April 2023]

Some 60 years since Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opened on Broadway. A new kind of deep diving into the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, and their guests, a young couple. In this adaptation it is New Year's Eve 2068 in San Fransisco. A leased waitress completes the frustrated quartet. And we get a brisk and animated compact version of Albee's three acts. In discussing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Edward Albee cites Nietzsche's interpretation of the Apollonian/ Dionysian dichotomy of ancient Greek drama, as described in "The Birth of Tragedy". Nicole Holofcener and Bess Wohl's characters has new worries in sight, less fantasy and perhaps an urge to travel... away from a world of ultra smog. It might happen around 2068. It just might. And this piece is interesting with a dedicated ensemble.

Make Up (2019)

Self-Portrait Under Plastic

[7/10 · 27 November 2022]

"I use make-up in the film to look at the different ways in which someone might feel about expressions of femininity, but the title also speaks of making-up things, or telling tales, making up or breaking up. Most importantly, 'making up' our identity." Thats Claire Oakley's definition of her puzzle.

Yes, this film grabs your attention through its sincere ambition to tell you something you can use in life. Gifted and cinematic. And "Make Up" will be plagiarized by filmmakers who can't think for themselves. Hope Claire Oakley gets something for her contribution to film history.

And as Davina Quinlivan pointed out; "...the female identity is further influenced by Maria Lassnig's paintings, particularly Self-Portrait Under Plastic (1972). Lassnig's portrait sees her face under a thin film of plastic, loosely falling over her head." Thank you Davina for that vital input.

Too bad the audience do not show up in the theater to see this piece of kleinkunst. But you might catch it on HBO Max.

Joni Mitchell - Le spleen et la colère (2022)

"They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum..."

[1/10 · 13 November 2022]

"...And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them." No, no, no - this is not worthy the subject. It's really not Joni Mitchell's style to throw together a bunch of images and moving pictures and think it will make an interesting documentary. For example, take this part about sus chords - suspended chords. I suspect that not everyone watching was sure what exactly it was about. Like how they help to add color and movement to chord progressions. Instead, we get a lot of available jaded replays that we could put together ourselves. If that would make sense. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot".

Inside Man: Episode #1.1 (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Harold Pinter is not dead -

[8/10 · 2 November 2022]

• he is only hiding. And this hellzapoppin' hologram from the far side made my morning. Guess I was not the only one trying to figure out what the first scene was about. To no use. It's all elevated. And the characters bump into each other like radio-cars on Luna Park in the dark. It is refreshing to be exposed to this mumbo jumbo. And leave all the neatly corrected and arranged realism at bay. Now, remember, I am commenting on the first episode. I am a bit crestfallen when it comes to the title of it all. Inside Man? Is "Entering Hades" taken? Or "Your Light Is Out". Well now, no matter what happens in the future, I'll be treasuring this episode like the resurrection of Harold Pinter.

Holy Emy (2021)

Psychic Surgery

[7/10 · 26 August 2022]

Psychic surgery and faith healing. Not your everyday topic in the movies. This film is exuberant. For better or worse. There is an intoxicating dramaturgical and emotional magic that lasts all the way through. The multilingualism adds a lot. But not the music. It becomes a burden.

Still, the film puts me in a mood, a delirium tremens kind of condition, that is difficult to interpret. Kind of like psychic surgery. Harmful or healthy?

The Exception (2019)

A masterclass in pass-agg office etiquette

[7/10 · 24 July 2022]

About the psychology of evil and the tricky fact that we all consist of a certain measure of this evil, while of course we also harbor goodness.

A simple fact that is often forgotten or overlooked in our black and white realm. "A masterclass in pass-agg office etiquette" as NME writes in its review.

A story so complex and daring, with such a high degree of difficulty, that it forces/attracts us to further studies of the wretchedness of our souls and our distaste for weakness. Probably too complicated to attract Hollywood producers and script factories. Which we can be happy about.

Luzifer (2021)

Delirium Tremens

[4/10 · 28 April 2022]

Wild faith in God and very curious drones. An arrhythmically edited tale in the highlands of central Europe. Maria and Johannes struggle. There is too much talk. Silence is rare. And the effect sound and music should be rooted in nature. But the drones add a lot of tension and voltage.

And when the house finally burned down, sure enough he was in it.