Risselada

Member since 9/21/2006, last signed in awhile ago.

"Home Alone is like a kid's version of Straw Dogs without the rape."

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Personal statement:

Interested in everything about film. I'd like to sample every different kind of film possible, and every different kind of art for that matter, just to see what's out there.

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Risselada's movie tags

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Hangover

The Hangover
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"The Hangover I'd been wanting to see the one because of Zach Galifianakis but missed it in the theatre. I ended up seeing it unexpectedly at the end of a night at a house party. When things were dying down someone started playing what I assume was a pirated copy and I couldn't help but just staying and watching the whole thing. It was pretty much what I expected from previously seeing the trailer and some of Todd Phillips' other films. Zach is pretty much the highlight here. Although everyone else in the cast is good as well. Zach just has the more out of this world kind of acting. Doing things that other people might find embarrassing but Zach acts as though is just logical for his character. This is as opposed to the kind of frat boy mentality of Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha's characters that embody the most overall tone of the film. This is the kind of tone that I would get sick of a lot quicker if it didn't have the likes of Zach in it. Sex and drugs are not funny i ... " [More]

Re:True Horror
By Risselada in HORROR MOVIES 101
"[quote user="Dr_Gor"] It would seem that even "famous" people are not immune to this phenomenon... Weird News in the Neighborhood [/quote] I have to wonder if that link isn't bringing me to where you intended, because what came up for me didn't have much to do with famous people or anything spooky " [More]

Re:True Horror
By Risselada in HORROR MOVIES 101
"[quote user="Dr_Gor"] [quote user="Dr_Gor"] [quote user="Risselada"] So did anything about her seem ethereal? Do you think she was a ghost? [/quote] Do you mean besides her very odd behaviour towards a total stranger and the fact that she seemingly vanished into thin air in an instant? As I said before she looked as real to me as any person I have ever seen and her hand felt real enough to me when we did the "high-five"... There was something at that instant when we did the high-five... Her eyes seemed to wander from me and looked at something in the distance... almost skyward. The expresion on her face changed and the smile went away. At that instant I thought this was very strange. Her blonde hair was pinned up in the back and her eyes were brown or hazel, I think. She wore a grey cloth jacket that was buttoned or zipped up to the neck with grey "fur" around the neck and sleeves and bottom and blue-jeans. As you have read earlier, I have seen at least a coupl ... " [More]

My Best Fiend

director ratings - Werner Herzo ...
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"This is the thirteenth feature length film I've seen by director Werner Herzog. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing. Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski (My Best Fiend) Herzog is not just my favorite director to hear talk, he is one of my favorite people to listen to altogether. So I was excited to watch was appeared to be his most personal documentary. About his most famous leading man Klaus Kinski, this is mostly about Herzog's interactions and relationship with the man. If you know even a little bit about Herzog or Kinski or have seen either of their movies and have been fascinated, then I can wholeheartedly recommend this film. My only real disappointment was that I had seen most of the footage in this film already through other sources. So there wasn't quite enough new here to satisfy what I was hoping for. Nevertheless, it should be fantastic for anyone ... " [More]

Anatomy of a Murder

director introductions - Otto P ...
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"This is the first film I've seen by director Otto Preminger. Anatomy of a Murder A good courtroom drama, but less for the reasons that I would have expected. At some point finding out what really happened and who is guilty or innocent is not quite as important as just watching all of the different characters involved, their motives, methods, and relationships. Also notable for being one of the earliest major screen appearances from the great George C. Scott. His talent and skill as a distinct actor were already developed at this early stage of his film carreers. Also interesting as one of the only major films I've ever seen that takes place in the Michigan Upper Peninsula. What also sticks out about the film is how open it is about talking about and investigating such disturbing crimes as violence and rape. The word rape is used quite openly, along with many details surrounding the incident. The crime was not made light of, yet we see how it can become more matter of fact or be ... " [More]

Moral Tales, Filmic Issues
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"Moral Tales, Filmic Issues This one isn't in the Spout database but I thought I'd mention it because I enjoyed it. You can see this on disc one of the Criterion Collection set of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales. The first film in the set The Bakery Girl of Monceau is so short at 23 minutes that it would have seemed kind of wasteful to have nothing else on the disc. So we get this fantastic 84 minute long dialogue with Eric Rohmer and Barbet Schroeder. These guys are as wonderful to hear talking to each other as it is to hear the characters in Rohmer's films talking to each other. Even though I had not hardly any of the films he was referring to I found it fascinating. I will have to revisit this interview some day after I have seen more of his oeuvre. Rating: 9/10 " [More]

A Generation

director ratings - Andrzej Wajd ...
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"This is the second feature length film I've seen by director Andrzej Wajda. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing. Kanal I'm always so thrilled to find new movies as great as this. It's not great because everything that happens in it is so pleasant, but because (like several of my favorite movies) it is so apt in portraying the true horrors war and revolution, and more specifically what this particular moment for people like this in the Warsaw Uprising may have been like. In some ways realistically and in some ways more poetically. It's an excellent ensemble movie like a lot of good war movies are, but this one really steps it up to the highest level. So many emotions. You are there with the characters, feeling the will to keep going on, and at the same time the desperation that the efforts will most likely all be useless. Also, add this one to the short list o ... " [More]

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"Snow White The final feature length film from the DVD set "Treasures From American Film Archives" is a classic tale, but set some of the future standards of cinematic interpretations. Or at least it is known to have been a considerable influence on Walt Disney in his inspiration and execution of his own version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. My biggest complaint is that there seems to be moments that jump over major scenes or plot points. I don't know if part of the film is missing or the filmmakers just assumed people were familiar with the story enough to know what wasn't being shown. Otherwise it's a fun example of very early American fantasy filmmaking. Rating: 7/10 " [More]

The Gold Rush

The Chechahcos
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"The Chechahcos From disc three of the DVD set "Treasures From American Film Archives". An interesting silent feature set in the Alaska gold rush from director Lewis H. Moomaw. This is his only surviving film. Some action, romance, drama. The different settings like the boat, the lodges, and especially the Alaska landscapes are major points of interest as well though. It was said Chaplin got some ideas from this film for The Gold Rush. Rating: 7/10 " [More]

Burn After Reading

director ratings - Joel and Eth ...
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"This is the forteenth feature length film I've seen by directors Joel and Ethan Coen. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing. A Serious Man It's a special moment that seems to have come around once a year in the fall season the last few years when I get to watch another new Coen brothers film. Since they are my favorite filmmakers, and being a film lover, there are few moments of cinematic anticipation as big as this for me. My love and admiration for their films always ends up being massive. Sometimes immediately, and sometimes as it sinks in. Last year's Burn After Reading was pretty much instantaneous. A Serious Man I knew I liked just as much, but took me a while longer to figure out completely why. The reason it took me a while, is actually the reason why it's so great. It has a lot of the wonderful and distinctive Coen brothers characters and dialogue. Bu ... " [More]

The Toll of the Sea

The Toll of the Sea
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"The Toll of the Sea Another one from the DVD set "Treasures From American Film Archives". This was the first "successful" feature film to use the two-tone Technicolor process through its entirety. It is doubtful that the film would have had even a small fraction of the notoriety it does not if it weren't for that distinguishing fact, although it isn't a horrible film. The only other notable aspect of the film is actress Anna May Wong. It was rare for Asian American women to have starring roles in American films, and she does a praiseworthy job. Her appearance and performance along with two other secondary Asian American actresses and the sets filmed in the early Technicolor process would be my only primary reasons to recommend the film. Rating: 5/10 " [More]

All About Eve

director ratings - Joseph L. Ma ...
By Risselada in Risselada Blog
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"This is the second feature length film I've seen by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing. All About Eve I don't have too much to say about such a famous movie mostly because I feel like it must have all been said before, and I would tend to agree with the general sentiments surrounding it. If you rent the DVD for this movie, you will get more special features than you can almost handle. I watched them all because I'm compulsive. I enjoyed them, but now I've heard so much about this movie, that I can't stand to take too much time to write much more about it. I usually tend to shy away from movies about backstage theatre drama, especially involving selfish divas. People tend to write about what they know, so there are a highly disproportionate amount of backstage subject matters in movies and plays. But when the writing, acting, an ... " [More]