CAIRO STATION (1958, EGYPT)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-eight, from Abdel Nasser's Egypt Cairo Station (1958) or the funner to say title, Bab El Hadid

This is the first Egyptian film I've ever watched, unless you count The Ten Commandments, but I don't think you can. Anyhow, after twenty-eight straight days of blogs,I'm a little tired. I'm just going to look to the 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die Book and see if I can find a suitable comment and see if I can go with that.

"Cairo Station is vivid and moving, precise in its portrayls, original as its creation of a single individual and as the embdoiment of a secular culture, one that is so close and yet so different than that of the West." -Jean-Michel Frodon, 1001 contributor.

Sounds good, I can go with that.

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CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994, HONG KONG)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-seven, from Hong Kong, while still under the control of the British Empire
Chungking Express (Expiration date: 1994)

You know...sometimes with an art film you might watch it once, you know, and ask "What was that about?" or say "I didn't get it." Then, you know watch it again and you're like, "Hey, I get it! That was a pretty cool film." That was true for me of Chungking Express. The two stories in this film didn't seem to have anything to do with each other, yet they did, but that was the point. Wasn't it? Or was it? I think I've confused myself. I'll bet Godard never used any Mamas and the Papas song in his movies, eh? Not that that's important. Anyway, would I see more Wong Kar Wai films? Why, yes I would.

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THE BUTCHER BOY (1997, IRELAND)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-six, from the Republic of Ireland
The Butcher Boy (1997)

A picture show of obvious quality and stinging dark humor, but when you have a main character so unlikable, who you just want to see knocked on his arse, is that really a good thing? But isn't a break from the conventional what I'm supposedly looking for? Isn't this why I'm trying to watch all these fekkin' movies? Am I not trying to find something different that can move me in a meaningful way? Or is this whole thing just plain bollocks?

I need a drink. No, I can't do it. I need a smoke. No, don't smoke. I feel like such a bogger. Wait, therapy? Yeah, maybe therapy. That would make for some good craic, eh? But it might take me more than one session to get over the image of Sinead O'Connor as the Virgin Mary.

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THE BURMESE HARP (1956, JAPAN)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-five, from the Constitutional Monarchy of Japan
The Burmese Harp (1956)

You know, Kurt Vonnegut said making an anti-war film was like making an anti-glacier film. I guess he's right. I guess you'll never stop it. But you gotta fight for peace. Hey, that's funny. Fight for peace. That expression seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Too many blogs in a row. Beautiful film, though. See it. It may inspire you to join a monastery, learn to play Home on the Range on a harp or at least buy a parrot. Love the music in this film. Did I mention this was a beautiful film? I think I did. Too many films in a row, though. At least I'm seeing good films. How do actual film critics do it? I mean how are they able to watch all those romantic comedies in succession? Feel bad for them. Final words on Burmese Harp: Beautiful film. Did I say that already?

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UGETSU (1953, JAPAN)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-four, from the Constitutional Monarchy of Japan
Ugetsu (1953)

Please excuse me, I'm trying to shake off my Red Sorghum hangover, so to speak. Anyway, moving on. I often have the fantasy about becoming a samurai or having a ghostly Oriental princess fall in love with me for my art. I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I'd like to see some more Mizoguchi. Or something like that. I just know I'm going to be a little punchy until I get to movie 31.

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RED SORGHUM (1987, CHINA)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-three, from the People's Republic of China
Red Sorghum (1987)

Even after doing twenty-two blogs in twenty-two days, you probably shouldn't indulge in too much red wine on the twenty-third day if you're going to continue to watch movies and try to determine how much you like them. Trust me on this. I don't think under the circumstances that I gave Red Sorghum much of a fair shake. I still think I prefer the same director's Raise the Red Lantern, but so it goes. At least the wine I've been drinking hadn't been peed in.

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LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST (1988, GREECE)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-two, from the Hellenic Republic
Landscape in the Mist (1988)

I'm not an actual movie reviewer, but if I were I'd say something like this about Landscape in the Mist: "Director Theo Angelopoulos paints such a luscious work of art on his cinematic canvas that the viewer can't help but be swept away by the film's orchestral tapestry and enduring beauty." Or something like that. I'm not really sure what orchestral tapestry means, I just thought it sounded good. I did like Landscape in the Mist. Kinda sad though.

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