Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 31, 2011

Delicatessen (1991) Directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, City of Lost Children) established their eccentric, signature style in this darkly comic feature film debut, which would serve as their calling card for future projects. The setting is France, presumably in the not-so-distant f   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 27, 2011

“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss,” so goes the old Who song. In the movies, as well as life, the more things change, the more things stay the same. As I’ve gotten older, I feel less anticipation for the big summer tentpole flicks, and look forward to...   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 18, 2011

If Netflix has their way, we’ll all be watching our movies through a streaming device rather than a disc-based format (Read more here, here, or here.). They paint a rosy picture when everything will be at our fingertips, and we will no longer need to reach for a physical copy...   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 11, 2011

(1999) Directed by David Lynch; Written by John Roach and Mary Sweeney; Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton; Available formats: DVD Rating: **** The G-rated, Disney-produced docudrama The Straight Story might just be David Lynch’s most shocking effort to date. It&#8   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 4, 2011

So, why am I completely obsessed with movies – especially the zero-budget stuff that no one else gives a hoot about? It’s been a two-decades-long slow burn, ignited by Michael Weldon’s The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and its evolutionary follow-up, The Psychotronic Video Gu   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on December 21, 2010

(1998) Directed by Darren Aronofsky; Screenplay by Darren Aronofsky, Sean Gullette and Eric Watson; Starring: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman; Available formats: DVD Rating: **** Darren Aronofsky’s (Black Swan, Requiem for A Dream) feature debut is a lo   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on December 8, 2010

Stupidity, as well as profundity, is in the eye of the beholder. Movie watching can be a very personal experience. It’s often difficult to articulate why some work and some don’t, but there’s a special category of film that taps into a primal need – we’ll call it the   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on December 1, 2010

Android (1982) Directed by: Aaron Lipstadt; Starring: Klaus Kinski, Don Opper, Brie Howard, Norbert Weisser, Crofton Hardester; Available on DVD and Netflix streaming. Rating: **** 1982 was a landmark year for the sci-fi genre, including such notables as E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner a   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on November 27, 2010

Bucket of Blood (1959): You can accuse Roger Corman of many things, but you can’t say he isn’t prolific. This quickie was filmed in just five days, but it’s a surprisingly entertaining, wicked satire on modern art. Corman regular Dick Miller (who coincidentally became a regular   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on November 14, 2010

(1990) Written and Directed by Richard Stanley; Starring: Dylan McDermott, Stacey Travis, John Lynch, Iggy Pop (voice); Available formats: DVD, Blu-Ray Rating: **1/2 The label “cult classic” gets thrown around a bit too liberally these days, often being applied to   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on November 4, 2010

(1977) Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi; Starring: Kimiko Ikegami, Kumiko Ohba, Yôko Minamida; Available formats: DVD & Blu-Ray Rating: **** From the land that invented weirdness comes the über-oddity, House (Not to be confused with the 1986 House, starring the Greatest Amer   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 30, 2010

The following films, in my self-aggrandizing opinion (would that be IMSAO?), are the perfect mood-setters for this great holiday. The list is in no particular order, with the exception of Halloween, which should be at the top of anyone’s list. I apologize in advance if I’ve left one of   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 28, 2010

Today’s post marks the debut of a soon-to-be regular feature, Quick Picks and Pans. It’s three reviews for the price of one, now in convenient, fun-size form! Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965): Revisiting one’s childhood isn’t always the best thing, but here’   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 19, 2010

(1960) Directed by Terence Fisher; Starring: Peter Cushing, David Peel, Freda Jackson, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur; Available formats: DVD Rating: ***½ Let me get this straight – A Dracula movie without Dracula? Well… sort of. In the opening narration we l   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 14, 2010

I have seen the future of horror, and its name is Family Circus. That’s right. Someone in the upper echelons of 20th Century Fox has decided that there was a gaping void in the American consciousness that could only be filled by turning Bill Keane’s “classic” comic strip in   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 11, 2010

***** = A Masterpiece **** = Generally great. A few flaws here and there, but a solid effort, nonetheless.*** = Good, but not great. A perfectly acceptable waste of time. ** = Just okay. Not without its relative merits, but still decidedly   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 6, 2010

Although I wouldn’t describe myself as an early adopter, I’m usually a little bit ahead of the curve, technologically speaking. Over the past 20 years, I’ve plunked down more dollars than I’d care to count in my endless pursuit of audio and video perfection. There’s o   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on October 3, 2010

Oh no, not another movie blog! That seems to be a fair reaction, since the worldwide web is already over-saturated with other blogs covering similar ground, running the gamut from erudite film criticism ala Roger Ebert or shameless Harry Knowles-esque fanboy adoration. They all have their place in   read more