Finally saw Spike Lee’s “Inside Man”, and liked it a lot.
Very decent non-action actioner. Nice cat and mouse game between Clive Owen and Denzel Washington, very rewarding. I like smart criminals who aren’t too ruthless for their own good. Weird to see Jody Foster in there but she fits her role like a glove.
On a side note: I didn’t know Christopher Plummer was still alive and kicking!
I liked this a lot too. Lots of fun, very engagaing, some nice performances and some well managed twists.
Foster was more enjoyable than she has been for years.
My one beef was the terrible (and terribly PC) scene where the ‘dumb racist American cops’ (which is probably how Lee had them down as in his script notes) thought the Sikh was a Muslim.
Lots of cheap, needless, anti-American jibes there (with the 9/11 dust quickly forgotten it seems) and the film would have been exctly the same without that scene in.
Typical Spike Lee screaming bitch-victim overkill again.
on INSIDE MAN - *POTENTIAL SPOILER* I liked the race elements injected into the film, it added some extra zest to the proceedings…the one looney/hackneyed element was the NAZI GOLD angle…expecting Chris Plummer’s henchman to be Uwe Boll or something! And Chiwetel Ejiofor + Denzel made a bloody great team (see also Ejiofor + Don Cheadle in “TALK TO ME”). On a wierd personal side note, my 2 and a half year old daughter demands to listen to “Chayiaa, Chayiaa” every time we drive anywhere in the car. I mean who gets addicted to Bolly-pop at 2.5? oi!
Been watching:
Repoman - Always keeping coming back to that film due to the great Harry Dean Stanton role (the man is good in everything, but here - WOW!) - I always crack up at the line - “Let’s go get some sushi and not pay for it” - I don’t know why.
Freddy Got Fingered - “Daddy Would you Like some Sausage!”
Duck, You Sucker - This is exactly the kind of bat shit crazy that I want in a Leone picture. Wow this film doesn’t get enough credit, it’s a bloody masterpiece for the sheer insanity of its execution. An instant favorite of mine! The version included in the Sergio Leone Anthology is a supreme presentation of the 157 minute version. I Cannot Recommend this film Enough. Wow!
Duck, You Sucker - This is exactly the kind of bat shit crazy that I want in a Leone picture. Wow this film doesn’t get enough credit, it’s a bloody masterpiece for the sheer insanity of its execution. An instant favorite of mine! The version included in the Sergio Leone Anthology is a supreme presentation of the 157 minute version. I Cannot Recommend this film Enough. Wow!
“Sean, Sean…Sean, Sean….”
Damn fine film.
Did you notice good old (sadly late) David Warbeck? Very underrated film.
“Sean, Sean…Sean, Sean….”
Damn fine film.
Did you notice good old (sadly late) David Warbeck? Very underrated film.
Yep, I believe that Leone actually wanted Malcolm MacDowell in that tiny but quite pivotal role, but I think (certainly now) MacDowell would have been distracting there…although, on second thought, since the film does actually wallow in distracting asides, maybe it would have worked!)
Sean, Sean! Not only is the film crazy, but Ennio Morricone’s score has to be the most oddball of his career (and DAMN that says something, it’s a weird but totally fitting soundtrack and totally in mesh with the film) after watching the other Once Upon A Time movies, this one is the the bizarro-world red-headed stepchild version—in a good way!
“Repo Jake” http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvrepo.php
Dan ‘The Man’ Haggerty as a syrupy, sugery, nice, cuddly, nice, beardy, nice Repo man in a film where nothing much happens, where guys lark around and rap with each other, where nice Mr Haggerty gives balloon animals to kiddies and where nipples are nibbled. Nicely of course.
How nice!
Very good film and surprisingly captivating commentary. I don’t normally listen to the commentary… maybe for a few minutes before I get bored… but this hooked me in. After reading Mamet’s “Bambi vs Godzilla” I’m curious about his views of the film industry (or, more directly, his complete contempt for movie producers!) and narrative. Don’t always agree with them but they’re always fascinating enough and well-written enough to keep you going.
I “HEART” Ricky Jay. I’ve seen House of Games probably half a dozen times or so, I like the rhythms of the piece. I keeping coming back to all of Mamet’s directed films (exception: The Winslow Boy) as they are the con-game merged into several other genres. I like that a lot:
Business/Corporate - THE SPANISH PRISONER
Military Ops - SPARTAN
Filmmaking - STATE & MAIN
Real Estate - GLENGARY GLEN ROSS (well james foley directed this one, but still…)
Caper/Crime - HEIST
All compulsively watchable for both their complexity and their simplicity/purity.
Damn I want to pick up that book, the man writes good!
Re-watched the classic STEPFORD WIVES last night. Great movie - a lot of subtext, creepy score, solid ensemble - typical (in the best possible way) ‘70s-era American genre filmmaking.
A whoop dee doodle of a cast of course ([I]Burt Lancaster, Burt Lancaster’s teeth, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan, Claudia Cardinale Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy[/I]) and a smattering of solid action.
But Ryan seems poitlesss quite frankly as his character does nothing at all (literally!) except get them into trouble.
Perhaps the biggest reason this does not reach the heights it could have (should have) is because it tends to be a ‘cool guys on a mission’ guy’s flick while at the same time beng mostly very serious and (until the finale) amazingly bleak about human nature.
It’s genuinely chilling when Lancaster’s character is more than willing to put a bullet in the unconcious head of his one time ally and friend played by Palance.
In fact the way all one time friends (especially concerning the revolutionary female character and Lancaster) are willing to betray and kill each other.
Lancaster is truly a cynical, nihilist of the most mercenary nature and as such perhaps his final decision is rather out of character. But at least it gives us some hope and good feelings to what would otherwise be a bleakly cynical movie indeed.
But it’s an engaging ride for the most part, taken with a great cast with Marvin especially giving a thoughtful performance, stuffed with just enough above average action moments and ending with one of the GREAT final speeches in moviedom:
[I]Bellamy (To Marvin):[/I] [B]“You bastard”![/B]
[I]Marvin:[/I] [B]“Well, yes sir. In my case an accident of birth.
But you, Sir… you’re a self-made man”![/B]
There is a smattering of a very good film in this, but it’s broken up by some serious problems.
Far too much corny humour (some works, but this was also a fault to a far lesser extent with Ford’s “The Searchers” too where in a very serious plot some ‘Fordisms’ would creep in as far as comedy was concerned), far too much soppy goings on with Shirley Temple’s character and the young Officer, needlessly extended riding sequences (impressive scenery indeed, but we’ve had enough of it now), a dreadful, and dreadfully overbearing, score and a massive overdose of Irish blarney (including a vomitous ‘well now me darling’ singing interlude from some Leprechaun/human hybrid).
There was some impressive action, stunts and cinematography (especially during the Injuns/wagon chase sequence) and the friction between John Wayne and Henry Fonda (two solid performances) is engaging.
And it’s refreshing to see Ford take a more critical look at his normally Sainted U.S. Cavalry. If he does ensure us that all is well really at the end via The Duke’s (now rather cloying) speech.
A very well staged and gripping finale helps boost things…but it’s now certainly not the film it perhaps used to be and certainly not as good as it could have been even then.
horrors of malformed men (by teruo ishii, 1969) - a mixed bag of rampo elements, a result fairly similar to rampo noir at times, a very strange atmosphere of sorts, and a cast dominated by bit players that look like they’re sourced directly from the world of performance arts. one mans memories of an island, a journey to discovery the truth behind the memories, and a lot of very strange visuals… yes, there’s elements of gore and incest, but considering what ishii has also turned out himself in other films before and after this, it’s a hard thing to try to work out why this is little seen - i suggest there’s a removal of the film from the market after initially not being a huge hit, an initial reaction to the absolute strangeness from some people, enough to make for a game of chinese whispers as to its actual content… particularly in relation to the extreme nature of lots of other japanese pop culture. yes, it’s a great film, but it’s a very odd one to work out.
running out of time (johnnie to, 1999) - retrospectively, it’s easy to see where To comes from in order to arrive at a more solid modern incarnation. the direction and story are kind of there, 50% or more so, in comparison. at the time, and to a large extent even know, the direction and style of the films firmly HK. the smarts of the story come relatively late on, and it’s a shame there’s not an initial introduction to the premise revealed then, but much earlier in the game. it kind of gets surprisingly clever, resolves smartly, and remains memorable overall, but it’s still a little too close to other peoples work and the countries output in general to identify To, perhaps…
running out of time (johnnie to, 1999) - retrospectively, it’s easy to see where To comes from in order to arrive at a more solid modern incarnation. the direction and story are kind of there, 50% or more so, in comparison. at the time, and to a large extent even know, the direction and style of the films firmly HK. the smarts of the story come relatively late on, and it’s a shame there’s not an initial introduction to the premise revealed then, but much earlier in the game. it kind of gets surprisingly clever, resolves smartly, and remains memorable overall, but it’s still a little too close to other peoples work and the countries output in general to identify To, perhaps…
Liked that a great deal. Another wonderful turn by Lau.
Hated the sequel though.
