Flawed, but an OK way to kill a few hours on the couch.
I was interested in how Korean samurai movies compare with Japanese samurai movies, so I forgave many of this films fundamental transgressions. In the same way that photorealistic art undermines the thing that makes comic books work, the director of a sword-and-sash fantasy does his project a disservice when he opts for a grainy, cinema verite approach.
That kind of thing works in movies where you're trying to drive home some kind of reality (the beach landing from Saving Private Ryan comes to mind). It doesn't work so well when you've got people leaping onto the roofs of buildings and running across the tiles like a cat, or pulling arrows out of their chest so they can spit in the face of the opressor and fight on. It creates a disconnect with the audience.
This movie was Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon re-imagined as Gimme Shelter, and it just didn't pan out.
Friday, June 30, 2006
movie: the latest
two more for the permanent collection:
Emma
A very nice Austen adaptation. The wife is adding it to her 'watch when depressed' stack, alongside The Apartment, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & Manhattan
Titus
My pick, one of the greatest films ever made.
I think it was the role that broke Anthony Hopkins, in the way Apocalypse Now broke Frances Ford Coppola and Blade Runner broke Ridley Scott. He seems to have entered into the Brando stage of his career, cashing paychecks for mailed-in roles.
Emma
A very nice Austen adaptation. The wife is adding it to her 'watch when depressed' stack, alongside The Apartment, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & Manhattan
Titus
My pick, one of the greatest films ever made.
I think it was the role that broke Anthony Hopkins, in the way Apocalypse Now broke Frances Ford Coppola and Blade Runner broke Ridley Scott. He seems to have entered into the Brando stage of his career, cashing paychecks for mailed-in roles.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
hee, hee
"Awkward moments abound in penis pump trial"
Yikes!
Former Judge Donald D. Thompson, a veteran of 23 years on the bench, is on trial on charges he used a penis pump on himself in the courtroom while sitting in judgment of others
Yikes!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
movie: battle royale (with cheese)
Lived up to my expectations.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but one of the greatest examples of the genus "real film wearing the skin of a genre movie" I've seen in quite a while.
This is the movie Quentin Tarantino wishes he could make but lacks the depth to pull off...which explains why he cast BR's Girl #13 as Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill.
Earns my highest rating.
Lovers of exploitation, Japanese weirdness and art films who don't mind buckets of arterial spray will be pleased.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but one of the greatest examples of the genus "real film wearing the skin of a genre movie" I've seen in quite a while.
This is the movie Quentin Tarantino wishes he could make but lacks the depth to pull off...which explains why he cast BR's Girl #13 as Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill.
Earns my highest rating.
Lovers of exploitation, Japanese weirdness and art films who don't mind buckets of arterial spray will be pleased.
movie liveblogging: Pitch Black
so far it's Alien Lite, not really bad but suffereing under the hand of a director who's reach substantially exceeds his grasp.
It's the sort of movie where the freshman actors treat the hokey script like Shakespeare and the Ripley stand-in says "what, do you think I'm trying to prove something?" to which the Dallas stand-in replies "I don't know....are you?".
Good news- the male romantic lead who I liked and thought looked vaguely familiar turns out to be Cole Hauser, son of one of my all-time favorite b-movie actors Wings Hauser.
Wings registered one of the all-time p4p b-movie tour de force roles as the maniacal pimp Ramrod in Vice Squad. I'm glad to see his boy getting some work.
final verdict:
A solid B- overall.
It had strengths and weaknesses. Sorta frustrating because the weaknesses could have been done away with by more diligent rewrites on the screenplay. But didn't piss me off and drive me crazy like so many mainstream releases. The critters were pretty cool, it didn't go overboard with explaining every little thing that happened and Vin did a solid job as the ex-con antihero.
Worth a rental.
On to my next victim!
It's the sort of movie where the freshman actors treat the hokey script like Shakespeare and the Ripley stand-in says "what, do you think I'm trying to prove something?" to which the Dallas stand-in replies "I don't know....are you?".
Good news- the male romantic lead who I liked and thought looked vaguely familiar turns out to be Cole Hauser, son of one of my all-time favorite b-movie actors Wings Hauser.
Wings registered one of the all-time p4p b-movie tour de force roles as the maniacal pimp Ramrod in Vice Squad. I'm glad to see his boy getting some work.
final verdict:
A solid B- overall.
It had strengths and weaknesses. Sorta frustrating because the weaknesses could have been done away with by more diligent rewrites on the screenplay. But didn't piss me off and drive me crazy like so many mainstream releases. The critters were pretty cool, it didn't go overboard with explaining every little thing that happened and Vin did a solid job as the ex-con antihero.
Worth a rental.
On to my next victim!
sick time
I hate being sick like Huey Newton hated The Man.
Fortunately I confront my nemesis only rarely...unlike Huey, who died of his affliction.
One silver lining of teh sick is freely indulging my weakness for cream of tomato soup & saltine crackers, one of the few relics of my childhood I've allowed to remain standing.
Another is grabbing a pile of b-movies and hunkering down on the couch for several hours of uninterrupted exploitation with absolutely no guilt.
Our DVD player is one of those weird Sony 5-disc changers, neatly eliminating the need to move for anything short of a pressing emergency.
tonight's lineup:
Battle Royale, a movie I've been meaning to see for a few years and not one I could ever talk the wife into, even though it stars Takeshi Kitano. He became a favorite of ours during our Paris idyll a few years ago. The movie house closest to our hotel was having a Kitano film festival where we stopped every day on our way back from touristy outings.
Predator II
I couldn't make it past the first 15 minutes of Aliens vs Predator so I thought I'd give this goofy sequel another spin.
Sword in the Moon
A modern Korean martial arts flick. I've been meaning to take a closer look at the Korean cinema renaissance...what better representative than a movie Rotten Tomatoes tags with the keywords "Foreign Films, Korean, Action, Adventure, Martial Arts, Vengeance, Assassins"
Pitch Black
I don't "get" Vin Diesel, but after seeing him on some talk show unabashedly admitting he played AD&D as a kid I decided to give him another chance. Even sickness would be no excuse for a Fast and the Furious screening, so this SF opus got the nod.
will report back with my findings.
Fortunately I confront my nemesis only rarely...unlike Huey, who died of his affliction.
One silver lining of teh sick is freely indulging my weakness for cream of tomato soup & saltine crackers, one of the few relics of my childhood I've allowed to remain standing.
Another is grabbing a pile of b-movies and hunkering down on the couch for several hours of uninterrupted exploitation with absolutely no guilt.
Our DVD player is one of those weird Sony 5-disc changers, neatly eliminating the need to move for anything short of a pressing emergency.
tonight's lineup:
Battle Royale, a movie I've been meaning to see for a few years and not one I could ever talk the wife into, even though it stars Takeshi Kitano. He became a favorite of ours during our Paris idyll a few years ago. The movie house closest to our hotel was having a Kitano film festival where we stopped every day on our way back from touristy outings.
Predator II
I couldn't make it past the first 15 minutes of Aliens vs Predator so I thought I'd give this goofy sequel another spin.
Sword in the Moon
A modern Korean martial arts flick. I've been meaning to take a closer look at the Korean cinema renaissance...what better representative than a movie Rotten Tomatoes tags with the keywords "Foreign Films, Korean, Action, Adventure, Martial Arts, Vengeance, Assassins"
Pitch Black
I don't "get" Vin Diesel, but after seeing him on some talk show unabashedly admitting he played AD&D as a kid I decided to give him another chance. Even sickness would be no excuse for a Fast and the Furious screening, so this SF opus got the nod.
will report back with my findings.
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