Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Ok yes, Fukusaku did a 1978 version (Titled The Fall of Ako Castle) and Ichikawa did the 1994 version.

The conversation I had with @Takoma11 a while ago about whether or not Total Recall truly qualifies as being a "progressive" film on the whole inspired to me write a couple of entries about it over in my old "Smusings" thread in the Reviews sub-board, so I figured I'd share the link to it in case anyone's interested in it here; enjoy!

Excellent. I haven't seen any of these. Thanks dude!

Which would you recommend? The one on Criterion?

We do not speak of the Keanu version around here……

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A Scanner Darkly - (2006)

Strikingly disorientating dark animated sci-fi film based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. Set in the future where a new designer drug is producing a new generation of addicts whose brains are being destroyed. Add to that a dystopian society where people are relentlessly spied on and you've got yourself a really effecting movie with a powerful ending. I liked it.

6/10

Note that, as importantly as Renoir and Carné, both Lange and Daybreak are scripted by Jacques Prevert, who may be, more than Jules Berry himself, a reason for the similarity between these baddies (see also : Michel Simon's character in Quai des Brumes).

Prevert was the angle through which I came to these movies.

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Quite entartaining, I'd watch it again.

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

Trespass (1992) -

Firefighters Vince (Bill Paxton) and Don (William Sadler) hunt for treasure in an abandoned factory that happens to be in gang territory in this loose riff on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It's lean, mean and full of men who are desperate and/or trigger happy, so it's a good thing that Walter Hill is at the helm. It's been said that the best acting occurs in confined spaces, and while Paxton and Sadler are no slouches, they still lend credence to this argument. Paxton's transition from a mere lover of exploring to a man who must fight for his life is as convincing as it is visceral. The same could be said of Sadler, who's not there just to play treasure hunter. It's also a joy to see Ice-T and Ice Cube, who play two of the more volatile gang members, simply be in the same movie because they play off each other just as well as the leads do. The movie's style makes it a relic of its time, especially in its use of camcorder footage courtesy of aptly named audience surrogate gangster Video (T.E. Russell). Some have said that this touch is distracting or calls too much attention to itself, but I like it for the uncertainty it adds as to how it will pay off. There are several "best laid plans" thrillers like this one, and even though it's far from the best one, it has enough going for it from the cast to its unpredictably to its close-quartered intensity to recommend it. What's more, Tiny Lister has a tiny...sorry, small part in it (too easy). Oh, and a fun fact: legends Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis wrote the script when they were just starting out.

I haven't seen that in decades, but I remember it made for a fun 1-2 punch with Judgment Night (Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding, Denis Leary).

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I've been meaning to see that one too, although the presence of Jeremy Piven makes me apprehensive since I'm not a big fan. What a punchable face he has.

Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)



Oh boy, this was pretty much a miss in most aspects. On paper it sounded like an interesting classic thriller with good production credits. A forensic accountant is compelled to flee with his son when some of his family is murdered by mob assassins, presumably because he has uncovered damning evidence against the mobsters. After he is murdered, his son goes on the run alone, where he soon meets up with a remote fire tower lookout who is tasked with saving she and the boy from the hit men as well as from a raging forest fire the pursuers have set.

Director Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River) was a definite attraction due to his previous successes. There were high points, like the adolescent actor, Finn Little, who played Connor, the son of the murdered forensic accountant character, and who served pretty much as co-lead with Angelina Jolie. Little's talent was deep and well rounded, despite his young age. Also there was impressive forest fire photography, and first rate CGI that was indistinguishable from real life raging flames.

But there were two deficits. The novel of the same name by Michael Koryta was very highly regarded by the critics, but the screenplay did not produce the same cachet. We'll guess that the chief writer was Charles Leavitt, a writer of some note. Yet this script felt superficial and by-the-numbers.

Some of the problems lay in the casting. Angelina Jolie is far too attractive and gentle looking to play a rough and tough firefighter/smokejumper. It was almost impossible to take her character seriously right from the start, although she was more plausible when interacting with the boy. Her character would have been much better played by a somewhat more average looking actress, for example Samantha Mathis, Laura Dern, or even a butch looking type like Tilda Swinton. Of course Jolie's star power was likely the biggest consideration for the producers.

Since they avoided graphic sex and violence the picture could have been given a more commercial PG-13 rating, but for hundreds of F words in the dialogue. It seemed that every sentence had to have several Fs, which soon became annoying, like fingernails scraped on a blackboard, or a bad satire. The language was even used by Jolie's character while speaking to the boy.

There was some suspense, and a few isolated thrills, but overall it was a mediocre production that could have been much better. This will not have been one of Sheridan's best pictures.

Doc's rating: 4/10

That definitely pinpoints the reason for the similarities, THANK YOU
And I'll be looking into Quai des Brumes - also, thank you!

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You're welcome. A couple years ago, I went through a solid Prevert phase, which eventually lead me to his collaborations with Carné, etc. If you haven't seen it, you could check Les visiteurs du soir. It's a medieval fairy tale, so it doesn't have the grim social poetic impact of these old urban french movies that I love. But : it features a super campy Jules Berry in the role that just sums up all his other ones.

SF = Z



[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

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Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call New Orleans - (2009)

New Orleans somewhat disintegrated when Hurricane Katrina hit, and in a similar way cop Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) disintegrates after injuring his back during the hurricane. He becomes an erratic and hopeless drug addict. Fortunately he has the drive and ambition to hide this from the police department he works for - but we wonder how long this can last as he messes up a multiple murder investigation while attempting to save his relationship with his girlfriend and family. As always, it's fascinating when a director more known for his artistic vision directs a mainstream film like this. The material suits Cage so much, it's impossible to think of anyone else in his place. It's a crazy, frenetic film and quite enjoyable.

I had a brother-in-law and friend (who writes, directs and stars in b-movies - and is often an extra in larger movies) share a scene and a couple of lines with Nicolas Cage once. But that's a story for another time.

7/10


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Real Genius - (1985)

I'd just seen the trailer for Val and seen Val Kilmer in Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call New Orleans when I decided I'd watch this film next - it's been one recommended to me a while ago. Kilmer heads the cast as whizz kid amongst whizz kids Chris Knight, and without seeing snippets of his home movies I would never have known just how close this character was to the real Val Kilmer. Chris Knight is witty, full of energy, eccentric and obviously a genius who helps his university cohorts to unknowingly create a weapon they must then steal lest it be used to kill people with abandon. The film has enough funny moments to make it watchable, with a familiar 'college comedy' feel that many such films in the 80s had.

6/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)



Musashi Myamoto, who was once a gifted but wild ashigaru, is now a knight-errant that is unmatched in skill with the blade. His renown has caught the eye of Shogun, who would like to utilize him as a teacher and vassal, but has also drawn closer Sasaki Kojirō the ronin. Iching to test his mettle against Musashi, Sasaki obsessively needs to prove that he, not Musashi is the greatest swordsman in all of Japan.

Straight off the get-go Musashi Myamoto is the fully realized samurai that he was working towards becoming through the first two movies in the trilogy, and Toshiro Mifune perfectly encapsulates this in each and every frame. He is now kind, wise, and completely confident in himself in all things... but the things of love. Samurai II ends with Musashi pouncing on Otsu fully expecting her to be down for some serious love-making, is shut down awkwardly, because Otsu just wasn't ready. Musashi, being totally not an awful rapey bastard like 90% of the men in this series, feels a deep shame over what he did. Which leads me to something that I really loved about this series as whole, when it starts an arch it ****ing finishes that arch. When Otsu and Musashi meet again in Samurai III it is very awkward until they actually have an adult conversation about what had happened, and this misunderstanding is handled surprising well for movie from this era. The conversation allows Musashi to move past his shame, and it also give Otsu the perfect opening to once again pour her heart out all of Musashi. The arch completes when Musashi surprises Otsu by referring to her as a "Samurai's wife" like a suave mother******.

Another arch that came to satisfying close was that of Akemi, the daughter of a scheming prostitute, but unfortunately it's a tragic one. Akemi desperately wants to be better person than her wicked mother and in the first film she seems to be a promising young girl with a big heart. In Samurai II we see a bit of her mother come out of her when she lies to Otsu and threatens her with a knife, but she still seems like a nice enough girl deep down... Surely this was just a one time thing. In this final film Akemi completely succumbs to her unfortunate familial traits and unleashes a pack of bandits on an entire ****ing town, after Musashi rejects her one final time. Though, we do still see the Akemi we once knew when she snaps to her senses and saves Otsu from the chaos that she totally created, and dying in the process. Her dynamic performance made her one of the highlights of the entire trilogy for me. It was a fantastic tragedy.

And then there is Sasaki Kojiro, the arrogant, ambitious, and subtly villainous ronin. Everything not only in this film, but the previous two as well is leading up to this final duel between Sasaki Kojiro and Musashi Myamoto. But not because we the audience are dying to know who the better swordsman is... but because Sasaki is the mirror image of Musashi. He is who Musashi used to be. In order for Musashi to truly become the samurai he was always meant to be, he needs to defeat the man he used to be. This final duel is quick, but poignant, leaving Musashi visibly full of emotion while he stares down at the man he once was dead on the sandy shore of Ganryu.

The only areas where I found this film lacked compared to the first two in the trilogy were in it's actions sequences and visuals. That's not to say it isn't a beautiful and well shot movie, the final duel for instance is absolutely gorgeous and very well choreographed, It just didn't quite have the same level of style and visual flair as what had came before. Where this film truly shines is in it's ability to tie up everything from the previous two films in such a satisfying way. What really impressed me was how it made me appreciate the previous two a lot more, especially Samurai II. I know it's almost cliche to say this, but I actually find it hard to look at them as three separate films because of how well each installment compliments the other. I guess you could say they are three separate movies, but one giant epic. Fantastic film. Fantastic Trilogy.