Film of the Week: The Seventh Seal (1957)

Upon its release in 1957 in the art house film circuit, Ingmar Bergman's classic The Seventh Seal was hailed as one of the most artistically inspired films of all time, and so it remains today. The Seventh Seal tells the story of a knight from the crusades who plays a game of chess with death as he attempts to find life's meaning. While mainstream America strayed away from this Swedish film, those viewers who would find their way into art house theaters flocked to go this classic. Perhaps the term "art house cinema" may require some explanation. Art house films are films that are particularly artistically interesting, and can often be quite strange. Usually ignored by mainstream audiences, art house films are by definition released in an art museum's theater, or specialty artistic theater.

Best Films of the Decade

Perhaps I'm a little late, but following the theory of "better late than never" I have decided that in addition to discussing Five Deadly Venoms this week that I would release my list of the top ten films of the past decade

1. There Will Be Blood

2. Che

3. The Departed

4. No Country for Old Men

5. Inglourious Basterds

6. Crash

7. The Hurt Locker

8. Slumdog Millionaire

9. The Dark Knight

10. The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Film of the Week: Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

Throughout the 1970's in Hong Kong, martial arts cinema was everywhere. Dozens of production companies sprung up after the success of Bruce Lee's films, but none of them were as famous or successful as the Shaw Brothers Studio. At their peak, the Shaw Brothers were rolling out over a hundred films each year. The Shaw Brothers films were made quickly and cheaply, with little attention to plot or dialogue. These films instead focused on supplying the viewer with frequent and extravagant martial arts battles. Five Deadly Venoms is a prime example of the offerings of the Shaw Brothers. With a paper thin plot about a young student of the Venoms martial arts school pursuing his five senior students, it may be difficult to see the appeal of Five Deadly Venoms. While the Shaw Brothers films have never attracted mainstream audiences in the U.S., they have maintained a steady cult following. The action and entertainment of these films cannot be overlooked, even if they do lack talented writers or actors. For all of those who would dismiss these films as having the artistry of a garbage can, I suggest that they look a little more closely.

Film of the Week: Vanishing Point (1971)

We're back to discussing a film this week, and what better to come back with than Vanishing Point. Throughout film history, a special breed of films called exploitation films have lived in the shadows. Ignored by mainstream audiences, these films gained their name from "exploiting" certain things such as violence or nudity, and many have attracted large cult followings. While exploitation films may exploit anything from the sexuality of Nazism to the violence of cannibalism, Vanishing Point is a carsploitation film. First, yes carsploitation is an actual term and it refers to films that attract audiences by offering outrageous stunts performed in cars. Vanishing Point is widely considered to be the best film of this genre though others such as Gone in 60 Seconds and more recently the Fast and the Furious films are also quite popular. Vanishing Point may be the ultimate movie for guys. It's exciting and filled with high speed chases, and in addition to that the protagonist meets all sorts of strange characters such as a blind radio host and a nude woman on a motorcycle. While Vanishing Point lacks an intricate plot or any real character development, it is very entertaining and I recommend it to anyone just looking for a good time.

Best FIlms of 2009

Once again this week, we will not be discussing a past film. Instead I'm going to weigh in on th best films of 2009.

1. Up in the Air

2. Inglourious Basterds

3. Nine

4. The Road

5. The Hangover

6.Paranormal Activities

7. 500 Days of Summer

8. Moon

9. The Hurt Locker

10. Avatar