I haven't posted in a while but I have been watching movies.
Here is a list of what I have been watching on DVD: Life of Pi; Idiocracy; Silver Linings Playbook; Les Miserables; Ong Bak 3; The Spiderwick Chronicles; Stripes; Silverado; Last Life in the Universe; Zeitgeist; Cave of Forgotten Dreams; Tokyo-ga; Bones Brigade: An Autobiography; The Tempest; The Pirates of Penzance; Max Headroom; Titan A.E.; McCabe and Mrs. Miller; Meek's Cutoff; The Assassination of Jesse James; Constantine; Eastern Promises; and Waterworld!
Some good stuff. Some less good stuff. I have been on a Western kick lately. I recommend Silverado and McCabe and Mrs. Miller as the classic "New" westerns they are. Last Life in the Universe is a great Thai movie from 2003 (directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang) starring Tadanobu Asano and Sinitta Boonyasak. I highly recommend it.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a documentary on Chauvet Cave's amazing prehistoric art by Werner Herzog. It is really cool to see the amazing artwork.
The Assassination of Jesse James has nice elements but Brad Pitt is only fair and the movie suffers from bloat in my view.
Tokyo-ga is worth watching as is the Bones Brigade doc.
I'll get back to actual reviews soon. . . .
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Pacific Rim
(2013) Guillermo Del Toro
Ah Guillermo Del Toro strikes again. Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and giant monsters from another dimension. What else need be said? Well, OK actually other than riffing on a million and one (read: Shadow of the Colossus) video game superboss monsters and the idea of retooling the classic Gojira/ Kaiju and Giant Battling Robots (Mecha) mythos-- this movie is descent. The core story and performances are solid but the weakest, most aggravating element is the "mascot-esque" humorous performances of the "scientist" characters. They were essentially stepping of each others lines and muddling the dialogue with yelling and frenetic nonsense. It really detracted from the film. Bummer. Other than that there is some good action and a basically interestingly realized future where mankind faces a monstrous threat from beyond.
Trailer
Ah Guillermo Del Toro strikes again. Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and giant monsters from another dimension. What else need be said? Well, OK actually other than riffing on a million and one (read: Shadow of the Colossus) video game superboss monsters and the idea of retooling the classic Gojira/ Kaiju and Giant Battling Robots (Mecha) mythos-- this movie is descent. The core story and performances are solid but the weakest, most aggravating element is the "mascot-esque" humorous performances of the "scientist" characters. They were essentially stepping of each others lines and muddling the dialogue with yelling and frenetic nonsense. It really detracted from the film. Bummer. Other than that there is some good action and a basically interestingly realized future where mankind faces a monstrous threat from beyond.
Trailer
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Jiro Dreams of Sushi On DVD
(2011) David Gelb
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary portrait of world renown sushi chef Ono Jiro and his sushi chef sons. Jiro has a $300.00 a plate sushi room which requires patrons to make reservations a month in advance. He is one of the few Michelin 3 star sushi chefs in the world. This is an engaging documentary which features a good deal of information on how sushi is made, on the ingredients which go into making sushi and the business of sushi. Journeys to the Fish Market to purchase seafood are particularly interesting. The different people that help to support Jiro through their expertise with seafood and are similarly supported by him (through his purchases) are an interesting contrast to Jiro himself. There are discussions with his sons (one who runs his own, less expensive "mirror version" of Jiro's operation, and one who will succeed Jiro) and with reporters and critics who offer a great deal of insight into why Jiro is so successful. If you want to see a documentary about hard work paying off this is it!
Official Site
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary portrait of world renown sushi chef Ono Jiro and his sushi chef sons. Jiro has a $300.00 a plate sushi room which requires patrons to make reservations a month in advance. He is one of the few Michelin 3 star sushi chefs in the world. This is an engaging documentary which features a good deal of information on how sushi is made, on the ingredients which go into making sushi and the business of sushi. Journeys to the Fish Market to purchase seafood are particularly interesting. The different people that help to support Jiro through their expertise with seafood and are similarly supported by him (through his purchases) are an interesting contrast to Jiro himself. There are discussions with his sons (one who runs his own, less expensive "mirror version" of Jiro's operation, and one who will succeed Jiro) and with reporters and critics who offer a great deal of insight into why Jiro is so successful. If you want to see a documentary about hard work paying off this is it!
Official Site
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Ironman 3 and On DVD: Ride With the Devil
Ironman 3
(2013, Shane Black)
Robert Downey Jr. is back as Tony Stark in Marvel's third installment in the Ironman series. Marvel Studios has done a good job of re-tooling their properties in an effort to bring comics to cinema in a way that doesn't piss off fans-- Bravo Marvel! This movie is very much like first film in that the audience gets to see that what makes Ironman special is not the technology but Tony Stark's amazing intellect. This movie was fun and the best thing about it is Ben Kingsley's very fine performance. I strongly recommend checking this out if only to have a chuckle at Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE. (5/7)
Trailer
Ride With the Devil (Criterion)
(1999, Ang Lee)
Ang Lee's Civil War epic about Southern skirmishes, Jayhawkers, and Bushwackers is really a meditation on brotherhood, love, and the power of circumstance and less of an historical examination of an aspect of the Civil War not usually brought to film. Outstanding performances by Geoffrey Wright as the slave Holt, who chooses to stay by his friend who freed him and follow him as he fights a guerrilla war against the Union, and Tobey Maguire as Jake Roedel, a young man of German descent who chooses to support the South rather than the Union as many other recent German immigrants were doing at the time. Skeet Ulrich, Jewel Kilcher, Simon Baker, Mark Ruffalo, Jim Caviezel, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers all put in fine performances. A solid film well shot with an appropriate soundtrack. Filming on location in Kansas and Missouri adds authenticity. (5/7)
Trailer
(2013, Shane Black)
Robert Downey Jr. is back as Tony Stark in Marvel's third installment in the Ironman series. Marvel Studios has done a good job of re-tooling their properties in an effort to bring comics to cinema in a way that doesn't piss off fans-- Bravo Marvel! This movie is very much like first film in that the audience gets to see that what makes Ironman special is not the technology but Tony Stark's amazing intellect. This movie was fun and the best thing about it is Ben Kingsley's very fine performance. I strongly recommend checking this out if only to have a chuckle at Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE. (5/7)
Trailer
Ride With the Devil (Criterion)
(1999, Ang Lee)
Ang Lee's Civil War epic about Southern skirmishes, Jayhawkers, and Bushwackers is really a meditation on brotherhood, love, and the power of circumstance and less of an historical examination of an aspect of the Civil War not usually brought to film. Outstanding performances by Geoffrey Wright as the slave Holt, who chooses to stay by his friend who freed him and follow him as he fights a guerrilla war against the Union, and Tobey Maguire as Jake Roedel, a young man of German descent who chooses to support the South rather than the Union as many other recent German immigrants were doing at the time. Skeet Ulrich, Jewel Kilcher, Simon Baker, Mark Ruffalo, Jim Caviezel, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers all put in fine performances. A solid film well shot with an appropriate soundtrack. Filming on location in Kansas and Missouri adds authenticity. (5/7)
Trailer
Saturday, February 16, 2013
On DVD: John Dies in the End
(2012, Don Coscarelli)
In the spirit of House II (1987) and Big Trouble in Little China (1986) comes the irreverent reverence that is John Dies at the End. Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho Tep) is a "horror" director better known for the Phantasm movies. This however is an extracosmic psychedelic mash-up of a film that has a lot of nice qualities that echo Hellraiser and Gremlins in some ways. Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes star as Dave and John two unlikely heroes who gain various mental abilities through exposure to the living drug/ organism Soy Sauce and battle the extradimensional forces of darkness. I shouldn't say much more. John Carpenter's They Live is also similarly related to perception and things unseen just beneath the surface of apparent reality and good versus evil. So watch and think about Gremlins, and Hellraiser, and They Live, and House II: The Second Story, and Evil Dead II and Big Trouble in Little China and then realize that Paul Giamatti was a producer on this movie. What does all that have to do with anything? Dunno. Maybe this is a pilot for a TV series. . . . (5/7)
Trailer
David Wong
In the spirit of House II (1987) and Big Trouble in Little China (1986) comes the irreverent reverence that is John Dies at the End. Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho Tep) is a "horror" director better known for the Phantasm movies. This however is an extracosmic psychedelic mash-up of a film that has a lot of nice qualities that echo Hellraiser and Gremlins in some ways. Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes star as Dave and John two unlikely heroes who gain various mental abilities through exposure to the living drug/ organism Soy Sauce and battle the extradimensional forces of darkness. I shouldn't say much more. John Carpenter's They Live is also similarly related to perception and things unseen just beneath the surface of apparent reality and good versus evil. So watch and think about Gremlins, and Hellraiser, and They Live, and House II: The Second Story, and Evil Dead II and Big Trouble in Little China and then realize that Paul Giamatti was a producer on this movie. What does all that have to do with anything? Dunno. Maybe this is a pilot for a TV series. . . . (5/7)
Trailer
David Wong
Thursday, January 3, 2013
On DVD: Bunraku
(2010, Guy Moshe)
Bunraku is a very original futuristic noirish fantastic western with swords and bushido ethos which is utterly theatrical and bizarre. Starring Josh Hartnett, Kevin McKidd (Rome), Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Japan's music star Gackt and super hot Emily Kaiho, with Demi Moore, Immortal legend Shun Sugata (Ichi the Killer, Last Samurai, Izo) and voice over by Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantomas, etc.) Great sets and concepts, good fight choreography, and good performances but this film may be too weird for some people. (5/7)
Trailer
Bunraku is a very original futuristic noirish fantastic western with swords and bushido ethos which is utterly theatrical and bizarre. Starring Josh Hartnett, Kevin McKidd (Rome), Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Japan's music star Gackt and super hot Emily Kaiho, with Demi Moore, Immortal legend Shun Sugata (Ichi the Killer, Last Samurai, Izo) and voice over by Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantomas, etc.) Great sets and concepts, good fight choreography, and good performances but this film may be too weird for some people. (5/7)
Trailer
Argo
(2012, Ben Affleck)
Ben Affleck bothers me. It is probably entirely due to the fact that he played Daredevil the Marvel Comics character in the terrible movie of the same name. Horrible. Also he was in another unvarnished turd of a film: Phantoms (1998). I do not care what anyone says Phantoms is a horrible Dean Koontz adaptation and a horrible movie and Ben Affleck is bad in it. That said here is my review:
John Goodman and Alan Arkin are awesome. This is a tightly scripted, tense thriller which really works. This is a fun ride. There are a few weak conventions here and there but on balance a solid film. Well done Mr. Damon, er Mr. Affleck-- well done. And it's based on a true story! Go USA!
Trailer
Ben Affleck bothers me. It is probably entirely due to the fact that he played Daredevil the Marvel Comics character in the terrible movie of the same name. Horrible. Also he was in another unvarnished turd of a film: Phantoms (1998). I do not care what anyone says Phantoms is a horrible Dean Koontz adaptation and a horrible movie and Ben Affleck is bad in it. That said here is my review:
John Goodman and Alan Arkin are awesome. This is a tightly scripted, tense thriller which really works. This is a fun ride. There are a few weak conventions here and there but on balance a solid film. Well done Mr. Damon, er Mr. Affleck-- well done. And it's based on a true story! Go USA!
Trailer
Django Unchained
(2012, Quentin Tarantino)
Quentin Tarantino has come on a long, varied journey since Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). The ride has been mostly enjoyable with a few missteps here and there. I was not a fan of Inglorious Basterds (2009) though aspects of it are great. The greatest thing about that film was the incomparably good Christoph Waltz. It is around Christoph Waltz's fine performance that Django Unchained revolves. Jaime Foxx is decent as Django and there are some nice nods and cameos as well as some fun character actor performances but it is the truly sensitive acting of Waltz that keeps the cheese of Django at bay-- at least until the end. The pulpy grindhouse vibe is clearly what Tarantino is enamored with and generally it works. A gorefest Peckinpah might appreciate. Virtually no nudity and a view of slavery that, while heightened and hyperbolized, does not hide from the absolute horror that was slavery in the 1860's South. There is good social commentary here, beneath the surface, and I've no doubt many people will not be able to handle Django on many levels. The ubiquitous use of the "n" word may inspire drinking games. . . .
This is a western and it works as a western. The music is good when it is morriconian and not good when it is anachronistically rap laden-- not because hip hop can't work or the songs are not ok-- it is simply because it is distracting. So what did I really think? Jamie Foxx is fine. Christoph Waltz is awesome. I liked seeing Tom Savini, Zoë Bell, and Michael Parks hidden in there and Franco Nero was a nice add among others. Location shooting in Louisiana worked as the South but Southern California will never look like anywhere but California. Just one question: why does SoCal's Leo DiCaprio always play southerners? At least Brad Pitt is from Oklahoma/Missouri. . . ha ha
(6/7)
Trailer
Quentin Tarantino has come on a long, varied journey since Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). The ride has been mostly enjoyable with a few missteps here and there. I was not a fan of Inglorious Basterds (2009) though aspects of it are great. The greatest thing about that film was the incomparably good Christoph Waltz. It is around Christoph Waltz's fine performance that Django Unchained revolves. Jaime Foxx is decent as Django and there are some nice nods and cameos as well as some fun character actor performances but it is the truly sensitive acting of Waltz that keeps the cheese of Django at bay-- at least until the end. The pulpy grindhouse vibe is clearly what Tarantino is enamored with and generally it works. A gorefest Peckinpah might appreciate. Virtually no nudity and a view of slavery that, while heightened and hyperbolized, does not hide from the absolute horror that was slavery in the 1860's South. There is good social commentary here, beneath the surface, and I've no doubt many people will not be able to handle Django on many levels. The ubiquitous use of the "n" word may inspire drinking games. . . .
This is a western and it works as a western. The music is good when it is morriconian and not good when it is anachronistically rap laden-- not because hip hop can't work or the songs are not ok-- it is simply because it is distracting. So what did I really think? Jamie Foxx is fine. Christoph Waltz is awesome. I liked seeing Tom Savini, Zoë Bell, and Michael Parks hidden in there and Franco Nero was a nice add among others. Location shooting in Louisiana worked as the South but Southern California will never look like anywhere but California. Just one question: why does SoCal's Leo DiCaprio always play southerners? At least Brad Pitt is from Oklahoma/Missouri. . . ha ha
(6/7)
Trailer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)