millerian-02797

Ne of the funniest movies of the year is an anarchist 19th-century movie about watchmakers. The simple nature of filmmaking, but so wonderfully awkward and creative, almost every shot in this is locked down and far away, less about the performances, and more about the world it inhabits, and how the idea of time, and how much of a construct the idea of it is in the first place. How life ties us down by forcing us to contain ourselves to a strict guideline of time and work, and how when everything seems ridiculous and pointless the only necessary option is to rebel and leave. It is very slow, and there isn't really any music, but the tone, cinematography, and the structure of certain scenes is purposefully slow to go with the idea of time. Is a scene "wasting" time, or is it allowing the natural flow of a scene's structure to go together perfectly? For something so simple and unseen, this is such a bizarrely beautiful and thoughtful film. A film that can easily be thought of as pretentious, but like godard all that pretension is just hogwash, and where the film's objectives rely on is in the screwball aspect of societal structure and capitalist expectations. Great stuff.

Just a simple story about a man hustling and getting his nut. What an enthralling movie from beginning to end, featuring an american looking to be successful in running a brothel in singapore. A beautiful character enhanced by a spectacular performance. The film looks frequently beautiful, and the night cinematography is gorgeous, use of street lights and the moon shining create such a wonderfully calm atmosphere throughout. Truly one of the most beautiful hangout movies that also manages to include blackmailing high-profile politicians. Bogdonavich may not have realized it, but trashy low-budget cinema is where he really shined because he elevated like few others did. Another case of meta-commentary as well with bogdonavich, a movie that should be so sleazy, manages to be incredibly calming and beautiful to watch due to bogdonavich's amazing direction and gazzara's spectacular lead performance.