Sunday, January 27, 2008

Masculine Feminine (1966)



Masculine Feminine (1966)
Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Chantal Goya, Marlene Jobert; DIRECTED BY: Jean-Luc Godard; PRODUCER: Royal Films International;
Awards: Berlin Intl. Film Fest. 1966: Actor (Leaud).
Review: A young Parisian just out of the Army engages in some anarchistic activities when he has an affair with a radical woman singer. Hailed as one of the best French New Wave films. In French with English subtitles.

And God Created Woman (1957)


And God Created Woman (1957)
Genre(s): Sex & Sexuality
Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Curt Jurgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Christian Marquand; DIRECTED BY: Roger Vadim; PRODUCER: Raoul J. Levy;
Review: Launching pad for Bardot's career as a sex siren, as she flits across the screen in a succession of scanty outfits and hangs out at the St. Tropez beach in what is euphemistically known as a swimsuit while turning up the heat for the males always in attendance. The plot concerns an 18-year-old nymphomaniac who is given a home by a local family with three handsome young sons. A cutting-edge sex film in its time that was boffo at the boxoffice. In French with English subtitles.

Female and the Flesh (1955)


Female and the Flesh (1955)

Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Raymond Pellegrin, Roger Pigaut, Claude Romain, Guy Pierauld DIRECTED BY: Lacombe, Georges

A Woman Like Satan (1958)


A Woman Like Satan (1958)

Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Antonio Vilar, Lila Kedrova, Daniel Ivernel, Darío Moreno, Michel Roux ; DIRECTED BY: Julien Duvivier; ;

The Girl in the Bikini (1952)


The Girl in the Bikini (1952)

Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Jean-François Calvé, Howard Vernon, Espanita Cortez; DIRECTED BY: Willy Rozier;

Love on a Pillow (1962)


Love on a Pillow (1962)
Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Robert Hossein, James Robertson Justice, Jean-Marc Bory, Yves Barsacq DIRECTED BY: Vadim, Roger

Contempt (1964)


Contempt (1964)
Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Fritz Lang, Georgia Moll, Michel Piccoli, Jean-Luc Godard, Linda Veras; DIRECTED BY: Jean-Luc Godard; WRITTEN BY: Jean-Luc Godard; CINEMATOGRAPHY BY: Raoul Coutard; MUSIC BY: Georges Delerue. PRODUCER: Avco Embassy, Carlo Ponti.
Review: A film about the filming of a new version of "The Odyssey," and the rival visions of how to tell the story. Amusing look at the film business features Fritz Lang playing himself, Godard as his assistant. Bardot is pleasant scenery. Adapted from Moravia's "A Ghost at Noon."

Faces (1968)


Cast: John Marley, Gena Rowlands, Lynn Carlin, Seymour Cassel; DIRECTED BY: John Cassavettes;

Shadows (1959)


(1959)
Cast: Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd, Anthony Ray; DIRECTED BY: John Cassavetes;

The Passenger (1975)


The Passenger (1975)
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Ian Hendry, Jenny Runacre, Steven Berkoff; DIRECTED BY: Michelangelo Antonioni; WRITTEN BY: Mark Peploe, Michelangelo Antonioni; MUSIC BY: Claude Bolling. PRODUCER: Carlo Ponti.
Review: A dissatisfied TV reporter changes identities with a dead man while on assignment in Africa, then learns that he is posing as a gunrunner. Mysterious, elliptical production from Italian master Antonioni, who co-wrote. Nicholson is fine in the low-key role, and Schneider is surprisingly winning as the woman drawn to him.

Last Tango in Paris (1973)


Cast: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Maria Michi, Massimo Girotti, Catherine Allegret; DIRECTED BY: Bernardo Bertolucci; WRITTEN BY: Bernardo Bertolucci; CINEMATOGRAPHY BY: Vittorio Storaro; MUSIC BY: Gato Barbieri. PRODUCER: United Artists.
Awards: N.Y. Film Critics 1973: Actor (Brando); Natl. Soc. Film Critics 1973: Actor (Brando).
Review: Brando plays a middle-aged American who meets a French girl and tries to forget his wife's suicide with a short, extremely steamy affair. Bertolucci proves to be a master; Brando gives one of his best performances.

The Wild One (1954)


The Wild One (1954)
Cast: Marlon Brando, Lee Marvin, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith, Jerry Paris, Alvy Moore, Jay C. Flippen, Peggy Maley, Bruno VeSota; DIRECTED BY: Laslo Benedek; WRITTEN BY: John Paxton; CINEMATOGRAPHY BY: Hal Mohr; MUSIC BY: Leith Stevens. PRODUCER: Stanley Kramer, Columbia Pictures.
The original biker flick: two motorcycle gangs descend upon a quiet midwestern town and each other. Brando is the leader of one (Marvin leads the other), struggling against social prejudices and his own gang's lawlessness to find love and a normal life. The classic tribute to 1950s rebelliousness. Based vaguely on a real incident in California. Quaint after nearly 40 years, but still the touchstone for much that has come since, and still a central role in Brando's now-long career. Brando himself believes it failed to explore motivations for youth gangs and violence, only depicting them. Banned in Britain until 1967.