Side Tangent - Godzilla Minus One

 

I've been a tiny bit stalled on Red Beard due to it's length and my ADHD - someday soon I'll get it done.

IN THE MEANTIME, I've made a trip to a real theater again for the first time in a few week.   I've probably seen about 20 Godzilla movies from both Japan and America, and as far as a genre goes, I like them.  This one right here is probably the best one I've ever seen, hands down.

Long story short, it's another "reboot" which means it starts like there's never been a Godzilla before.  (This gets complicated - but basically, most movies are sequels of the 1954, or there were a couple stretches where they were sequels to each other, but by and large, until 2016's Shin Godzilla, all the Toho properties basically assumed Godzilla's first film exists and builds on that)

But what makes this unique is that this one takes place in the years right after World War II, in the late 40's.   The characters we meet in this movie are already struggling with PTSD, Trauma, and Survivor's Guilt before even getting to the monster.   They're living in burned out buildings in Tokyo, barely surviving, and working to do things like clean up mines after the war.   When Godzilla shows up they are already on the precipice.

I saw something on Reddit that really hit true with me - in this one you are rooting for Godzilla to be defeated.   In a lot of these, you root for Godzilla vs. another Monster or hope to see him back someday.  However, in this one, you grow attached to the characters, and that doesn't leave you.   There are moments where the theater is silent as a pindrop - it's really something to experience.

In any case, I think it's the best Godzilla movie I have ever seen, and it's worth a trip to the big screen one time if you can pull it off

RB

#158 - The Importance of Being Earnest

 yeah....this didn't do much for me - Not a big Oscar Wilde fan.   Honestly struggled to keep my attention with it and any attempt to write much up for it here is just filling space - I watched it - let's move on

#157 - The Royal Tenenbaums

 

#157 is our second Wes Anderson film and one of his most popular ones with a stellar cast.   There is such a unique style to his films.   I recently saw Asteroid City, so to compare these two films which are 20 years apart you still see the same oddities and framing and almost a storybook set.   

This is basically a family drama with a lot of oddballs.   To say more probably wouldn't do service so I'll hold up at that - my biggest issue with getting this done was finding a place to watch it since it's currently not on the Channel.

The only thing that I didn't like was that I guess Gene Hackman made it kind of hard on the Director.   He was hoping for fun and light roles to wrap up his career, and I guess he was berating Wes hard enough that Bill Murray (who has been in a number of his films) showed up on his days off to keep an eye on things.  Alternate fun fact, Bill was supposed to be in Asteroid City, but I guess he got sick and they had to sub with Steve Carell, which is fine too.

Anyways, it's a pretty good film from a creative director with a unique style.   I can't say enough how much I like that whether in music, film, singing, or whatever.   Someone who is able to do something no one else does or create what no one else thinks to create is always a winner in my book.   The first thought I had was oddly, Yasujiro Ozu, who has that unique way of filming with the characters speaking directly to your face.    No one else does what these directors do and apparently Ozu inspired Wes Anderson, so there you go.

See that was only a few weeks - not a year between entries :)

#156 - Hearts and Minds

 

So I liked this one but not as much as I thought I would.   It's a classic 1974 documentary (mostly argued anti-war documentary) on the Vietnam War.   He does a good job of getting his subjects.   He spends a lot of time stateside on the "rah-rah" crowd that encourages all good boys do their duty.

He spends a lot of time also communicating with the Vietnamese who make it plain at this point that some want the Americans there but most don't.  One of the interviews that struck me was of an entrepreneur preparing for peace, the massive influx of capitalism and tourists, and prosperity.    This is all done between the time the Americans are winding down, but before North Vietnam steamrolls them in '75.   One has to see this footage and immediately wonder if this guy made it out or not.   Maybe the Director's Commentary has something.

Because of the time of filming and the US commitment wrapping down, it's hard to get a full grasp if they knew what was coming or what the final results would be.   I suppose this would hit much harder in 1974, with the anti-war movement still going on, but the full self-reflection hadn't happened yet.   Other documentaries, (thinking of the excellent Ken Burns series) would do a much better job of showing the whole picture and both sides more fairly, but if you hadn't had any anti-Vietnam documentaries out yet, then this one would be pretty incredible.

As it was, I liked it.   I didn't love it but I might watch the special features on the Criterion Channel.

Also, side note - in a stupid, stupid move that makes no sense to me, Wikipedia pulled it's list of movies in the Collection that I have used for years - LOL.   I think it went away a week ago but the last archived copy on Archive.org is golden

List of Criterion Collection releases - Wikipedia

#155 - Tokyo Olympiad

 

It seemed like this one was hard to find for a while - in fact, at one point back in the Filmstruck days I was going to blitz thru 30 movies more or less to get to it before the channel shut down - that would have left us at a very different spot today.   I'd probably be up to 300 by now.

But what we have here is a great film - a triumph of sports, and really a study on the the spirit of athleticism.   I guess this isn't what Japan wanted.   In fact there's alternate edits and Japanese takes on the Olympics precisely because they didn't like Kon's vision here.   In the special features I learned some of his negative was taken and re-cut for an alternate film commissioned by Japan.   The restoration team ended up restoring both films, stating it wasn't their place to make the political or artistic choices.   I guess we do lose the stereo soundtrack in this cut, but all the stereo prints were destroyed at one time or another.

What is left is a vision.  and what is that vision?   It seems to be an exploration of the athletes more than the events.   Quite often we see zoomed in faces before the events, as he is analyzing the strain and stresses on these athletes before they launch the shot putt, or do the 100m dash.   He wants to show their agony before and after the competition, and of course, the triumph of victory.

I often found myself watching an event, getting the final time, and then going to Google to see what the world record was.   Some were set during these Olympics but they would be broken in later years.  Still it's a crazy thing to see in some like the 100m dash, we're taking 4/10th's of a second is all.   Here's some side trivia - the winner, Bob Hayes of USA, would go on to play pro football, and is the only Athlete to have both a gold medal and a Super Bowl Ring.   There was also manual and automatic timing going on and so his actual time is between 10.06 and 9.99 seconds depending on manual, automatic, or whatever you use.   In any case he was thought to be the fastest sprinter in the world before Usain Bolt.

I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would and I'm pretty sure it's got to do with the way Kon chose what he edited to see it in a different light than the typical competition films.   I always joked that if I kept doing this for 20 years I'd eventually hit the Olympic box set and then I'd call it quits but hey....maybe I'll keep going after that 

RB

#154 - The Horse's Mouth

This was an interesting little film with Alec Guinness, who would write the screenplay for this film based upon a famous novel in the 40's.   Basically this is the comedic life of an eccentric painter, and the somewhat humorous escapades that surround him as he attempts to get some of his old paintings back, get new ones done, and tries very hard to not get arrested.   

Obviously any Star Wars fan will recognize Alec who by this point has white hair and the same mop top.  The voice is a bit different, but the gruff character does seem to draw you in a bit.   I admit this didn't hold my attention as much as I wanted it to but at the end of the day it was an interesting film.

This will be the first of three entries in the collection by the director Robert Neame.   (The second one is just up ahead in #163)   He directed and worked in quite a large number of films but none of their titles stand out to me although I'm sure to a British Cinema fan they would.   In any case, we have some very interesting and fascinating works ahead so I'm glad to have seen this one

#153 - General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait

 
so #153 is a documentary about Idi Amin, the president of Uganda in the 1970's.   The director managed to show the true character of his subject without his subject catching on, and makes it clear in some spots that what's being shown is Idi's stagecraft, arranging audiences, military exercises in 30 year old tanks, etc.   At the same time, we're also seeing a man who honestly, feels a bit over-reaching and in over his head.  He's going to invade Israel with Paratroopers.  He's going to build a radio station to reach all Africa and Europe - We see a man who's ambition is untethered from his actual ability to do things.

It struggled to keep my attention in that regard.   A LOT of the film is Idi Amin talking - generally it seems he's just making stuff up as he goes along.   There is a long scene cabinet meeting where he basically tells his ministers "don't be weak like women" for 10 minutes as if this passes for leadership.  At one point while the Foreign Minister is dressed down, the director inserts a voiceover that two weeks later he will be found dead floating in the Nile River.   This scene had to be cut when Amin held 100 French Ugandans hostage in a hotel and threatened they would not be released without cuts (which were later restored)

but what hit me later, and what hits me now, is the parallels to another President.  Idi Amin was a bit of a dimwit - but could just make stuff up as he rambled.   He clearly loved to cover himself in the trappings of the military, and flipped between presidential suits and his General uniform.   He was a man of humor and joking on the outside, but underneath was responsible for the deaths of thousands of his people.

I can't help but notice the striking parallels to Donald Trump, another pompous over sized man who, once he got into power, had little to no idea of how to actually lead.    It is my sincerest hope we don't see an Idi Amin in the White House, yet the ground is already being laid for his return.   In that regard, this movie is a warning today about the allure of a populist strongman and the consequences of embracing one in an election.

#152 - George Washington

 

This one came out of nowhere for me - I haven't heard of the director, and I hadn't heard of the film that I recall when I watched it - it's beautifully shot - No one else will make the comparison, but I feel he captured the mood and feel of this film the way Wong Kar-Wai captures Hong Kong

The story takes place amongst a group of kids in an economically depressed area of North Carolina.   I almost don't want to say too much about it because I think it's the kind of film you should go in cold with but suffice it to say, the way the story is told, and especially the way it's show by the filmography, Tim Orr, tell a story all it's own.   

The side trivia here is very interesting - most of the actors are amateurs who the director found here and there.   I think they filmed it in a very short time with rented gear from Dawson's Creek, and while the director went on to do several more films, most of the actors/actressses in this film only have one or two credits to their name after this and the lead actor (who the director found on a beach and asked to be in his movie) has none.

This film feels like a southern gothic visual version of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska and I was very impressed - I may even give it a once more with the director's commentary to get all the really good trivia.   It's a dark story, and a bit of one that takes your breath away in spots, but it's worth watching

#151 - Traffic

 

#151 is an Oscar Award winning film by Steven Soderbergh with three entangled stories about the drug war in America and Mexico.   Steven does an excellent job of filming each story in it's own way - I think even with different film stock - using colors to divide the stories that revolve around two competing drug cartels trying to get their product to the US

It's a great story, and I remember seeing it 20 years ago before I really knew what cinema was doing or how it worked - (I can't remember if it was in the theater or not) - Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones do a great job in their stories, and Benicio del Toro didn't even speak Spanish when he got the role that won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. 

There's a lesson here, but there's also a great story and it's one that I imagine looks phenomenal on the Blu-Ray - I was unable to get official disks but it looks like there's 25 deleted scenes, and a lot of great backstory about how things were filmed.   Glad to see it's still in print even if it's not on the Channel right now.   

It's a nice break from the real art-house stuff occasionally to get one of the more contemporary US films in here, so it washed down easy and was an enjoyable re-watch 22 years later.

#150 - Bob le Flambeur

 

finally! - #150 - for this one we have a French heist film that has shades of what will become the French New Wave.   A bit of humor and energy to this one.   Bob (the Gambler, for translation's sake) is just what he says - a man who lives by chance and a two headed coin.   He gets an idea when down on his luck for a heist, and well, the story will have to tell itself.

This one is OOP in Criterion but I found it in Kanopy.  It had a nice vibe and flow, with lots of outside Paris shots which I always adore.   

Our standout here is Isabelle Corey, who plays the young female interest that helps move a bit of the plot along.   This is her first film, and we'll see here in "And God Created Woman and then show up in a number of Italian films.   She sort of owns every scene she's in, and really seems like someone added just to have one beautiful young woman, but hey, sometimes that's what we need.

The film seems to have a touch of influence from American Gangster films.   Not Noir, but definitely we have a gangster element as Bob used to be a heist guy but has a code that makes him hate pimps, which gives him that element of likability and makes us root from him.   

This is also our first exposure to the director, Jean Pierre Melville.   He has done some films I've been eager to see, and look forward to seeing him again.   As stated, he does have an influence on the French New Wave scene to follow and I'm looking forward to further updates from this director

#149 - Juilet of the Spirits

 

Number 149 - AKA Holy crap I finally got this done - I don't think I've done an in-order release in months - as usual, this was facilitated by the spouse being out of town but I think it still took a restart and 3 viewings.

I've made no secret of the fact I'm hit or miss with Fellini although I find Giulietta Masina (his wife and longtime collaborator) enjoyable in any film.   I guess this was Fellini's first color film, and the one after 8 1/2.   There's a lot of stuff said and implied here that Fellini is acting out here.   Some say he's projecting his own desires for a mistress and affair in here.   In fact, I think it's the same mistress from 8 1/2  - same actress, that is.

It's an interesting story about a bored housewife who after a seance, begins having increasingly and bizarre spiritual visions.   Near the end it starts to become a colorful horror story, with the director clearly relishing the new palate he can paint with - All I can really say is, it was somewhat entertaining but I felt overall plot and direction a bit vague.   I think Ebert said that this is considered his last great film and the decline starts from here with the exception of Amacord.   I confess I have yet to find any fault with this statement having seen at least 5 of his films now in the first 149.   That's probably more than any other director up to this point except maybe Kurosawa.

Anyhow I hope to ramp things back up again - we have some interesting documentaries coming up, some french heist films, and I think I can probably start up again without the twitter account which I felt compelled to delete because of the douchebag that bought Twitter.

This is mostly for my own thoughts anyways.

RB

Side Tangent - Uzumasa Limelight

 

I had been meaning to watch this movie for a while and thru a loophole of a loophole was finally able to get around to it - (all I will say is, if you can get Kanopy, do so - and if your library doesn't have a thing with them....there are libraries that do that you can get a library card with without being in the city - google) -

This is about a 70 year old man who for 40 years or so has been an extra in Samurai movies and shows.   He shows up for work every day and generally dies a gruesome death - (I loved the tagline - he has lived for the art of dying)   This is a man who has to accept that his world has changed, and the art form he loved has changed.   Before he goes he takes the time to mentor a young woman who, upon becoming a star, brings him back for one more glorious death onscreen.

I think this is a movie that hits harder for me at 50.   I recently heard the same about Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan.   From the eyes of middle age, these movies say something different.   They remind us of who and where we are, and what is waiting when we realize our best isn't in front of us.

I had tremendous compassion for the lead actor, Seizo Fukumoto, and his "apprentice" as it were, played by Chihiro Yamamoto - there is a bit of an unspoken backstory here that she reminds him of a woman he loved that maybe, died while he was ramping up his career as a young man?   

But I love samurai cinema, and I love this stuff.   This was a movie about mortality, change, and passing on to the next generation, and it even had a fair degree of fun sword play in it even though it was all actors :)   I don't know if this blog will continue to focus on Criterion releases in sequence or if I will just start jumping around and posting about movies that really hit me hard, but this one will stay with me forever.