Cult of Personality

"THX 1138" (feature)
Dir: George Lucas
Premier: 1971
Viewed: 4/6/09
Review: The word “minimalist” had been used to describe the visual design. Not only do I agree, but Id also say that their use of color was tough to look at. When I first saw it as a High School student, I remember being depressed that I didn’t have my Game Boy Advance with me. The film was minimalist on pretty much everything except concept and running time. I feel like the film didn’t have to be that long. Perhaps the average viewer’s attention span was more flexible back then.

“THX 1138” was an admittedly influential film. Though I found it impossibly dry at times, I often forget what wonderful stories could not have happened without films like “THX” being released. One of my favorite story genres, Cyberpunk, and the "Star Wars" films would come much later after films like “THX” and “Blade Runner”. The concept of a world beaten numb by conformity is pretty compelling. I also noticed, when SEN ends up getting caught by the enforcers, it brings up thoughts of an animal breaking out of it’s cage, only to panic by the lack of security and overwhelming freedom of the outside. SEN Breaks down and practically begs them to take him back.




"Female Trouble" (feature clip)
Dir: John Waters
Premier: 1984
Viewed: 4/6/09


"Forbidden Zone" (feature clip)
Dir: Richard Burton
Premier: 1982
Viewed: 4/6/09


"Eraserhead" (feature clip)
Dir: David Lynch
Premier: 1977
Viewed: 4/6/09


"Sins of the Fleshapoids" (feature)
Dir: Mike Kuchar
Premier: 1965
Viewed 4/6/09
Review: The plot of “Sins of the Fleshapoids” is one that could have translated to a watchable film. I can assume it’s pretty easy to even accidentally make a social commentary about the environment. I still have to give the film makers props for the commentary about vanity, sloth and greed.

As far as acting is concerned, camp runs wild in this movie. Even in pantomime, one could attempt to act out concepts convincingly. I understand that the players in this production aren’t trained very well (or at all).

It must have been fun to film this though. The “outside-the-box” dialogue techniques are worthy of praise. This was before you could do the same effect in half the time, with a fraction of the mess and risk with AfterEffects. The lighting was dark and hazy, possibly in an attempt to draw attention away from the low-rent sets. With that said, I feel it worked pretty well their advantage.

"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (Feature)
Dir: Luis Bunuel
Premier: 1972
Viewed: 4/12/09
Review: This movie had interesting choices for the plot. It was a bit difficult to follow, but for Luis Bunuel, I was expecting something off-center. I heard of this guy from Art History 3, and how he worked with Salvador Dali. That information was repeated in Film History 1. It was to be repeated again in Film History 2. The ghost stories were unexpected, especially the one of the bloody sergeant. I couldn’t really tell at a certain point which story was the true story.

The Characters were superfluous to their own stories, which I guess is how they should be in this film. They talk constantly, when all they say is really small talk lost in so much polite jargon. The fact that the “fabricated” moments were so similar cinematically to the true moments made it really hard to separate the two and comfortably follow the plot. By the end of it all I couldn’t even tell if the characters were alive or not. They were walking down a road at the end shot, which leads me to believe they continue down their helix of a life.