Patiod Reviews

Manon of the Spring (1986)

The standard for giving a "10"

[10/10 · 21 January 2000]

Whenever I'm tempted to give a movie that I liked a lot a "10" rating, I think of this and Jean de Florette (it's one long story arc). It's a rare film that comes up to this standard.

Strongly recommend that you rent them both at once; watch Jean de Florette on Friday or Saturday, and then watch Manon of the Spring the next day. Otherwise, Jean de Fleurette is just too damn depressing.

But whether apart or taken together, they are as fine a work of art as any of us can hope to ask for.

Duel (1971 TV Movie)

Packed a wallop back in '71

[10/10 · 11 January 2000]

I don't know how this film plays today on the VCR, but I very clearly and distinctly remember watching this when it first aired in 1971. It's one of the few TV experiences that sticks in my mind with that kind of clarity after almost 30 years.

I watched with my dad, a salesman who spent all of his days in his car. At the end of the movie, we were both stunned and drained. Neither of us had seen anything comparable on TV.

I think sometimes it's important to consider a work in its historical context. Like "Carnival of Souls" this was extremely original in its day, and does some things that have since become somewhat cliched. But unlike many classics, I was lucky enough to experience it without having read or heard anything about it, and without ever having heard of this kid Speilberg.

Love Serenade (1996)

Weird, uncomfortable, bizarre

[13 September 1999]

Definitely an ODD movie. And like Muriel's Wedding much of the humor is of the very uncomfortable sort. But it did a good job communicating the boredom and claustraphobia of contricted lives in a small, isolated town.

I did love that I had no idea where this movie was going - like some of the other people said, the ending came completely out of the blue. I'm not sure I totally grasped all the fish stuff, though - maybe that's why I found the very last image so puzzling.