#52 - Yojimbo

#52 is a classic - utter and complete classic - it has inspired copycats in the west - (A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing) - it made an international superstar out of Toshiro Mifune and continues the great collaborations between him and Akira Kurosawa.

I'm going to do something a little different here - I'm not going to talk about the film yet

I'm going to talk about a time when I had seen Seven Samurai, and had bought the boxed set which included that, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and the Hidden Fortress.

Also I was semi homeless - living out of a friend's spare bedroom - and drinking heavily - I also had a band practice space which had a small couch but not much band practicing.

And I went out and bought one of those combo DVD/TV units - and I'd walk 3 blocks to the store, buy some rumplemintz, walk back to the practice space, and watch these DVD's on the 4:3 little TV which I put at the end of the couch, and I'd drink to excess and watch samurai movies.   I think I watched them all twice

Later on, after I quit drinking, I'd find refuge again in a two week theater run of Samurai movies in Town.  Right when I was beginning my sobriety, I would play video games or watch TV or (meh) smoke weed - but early on there was a two week stint of Samurai movies at the University's Theater, where I got to see Yojimbo on the big screen, as well as other classics like Sword of Doom and Hari-Kiri, which may be my favorite Samurai film of all time.

So the genre has a special place in my heart - they're my westerns - I still want to go to Japan but the wife is too paranoid about radiation so I'll probably never get to go - but I'd go on a tour and I'd look at famous Japanese history from the 1600-1850's

It's a deeply entertaining film - the music, cinematography, and action are top notch - it looks great on a Blu-Ray and I even listened a 2nd time with the commentary because Stephen Prince brings a lot to it, and will tie it together with the next film, a sequel with the same character, who Mifune would also play a variation on a couple more times in future cinema - just as Clint Eastwood would play a different "Man With No Name" character in some of his later westerns.

It's a great film - I wish everyone could enjoy it in the theaters again

RB

#51 - Brazil

#51 is a 1985 picture meant to evoke 1984 in a comical, almost satirist kind of way - it probably would have been OUT in 1984 if there hadn't been such a heavy conflict between the Studio and Terry Gilliam - LOL

Half the story of Brazil is told in the drama between a studio head and the director as to what kind of film was going to be put out and what kind of happy/sad ending it was to get - as it stands...this is the director's final cut - and bears his image of what he intended - Terry Gilliam did a couple shorts between this and Time Bandits, but this was his next main film. 

As far as films go - it's a little plodding - I'm sure the effects in 1985 were killer - I can understand if some folks walked out bored or just having W.T.F. syndrome - I found myself drifting a bit but as a whole thought it was an interesting film

the idea of being trapped in Bureaucracy is interesting - as that's basically the vise that grips all these characters and all they do - it actually reminded me of a totally unexpected film coming up later on, "Ikiru" where the inertia of trying to get things done in the govt. cause a rebellion in a civil servant - but this is meant to be funny, comedic, and oppressive at the same time, and it pulls it off fairly well

One could easily imagine a remake for today but I'd prefer not - LOL  - this kind of film can only be made once and they did a pretty good job - I'd watch it again with friends

Lotsa special features - it's not on filmstruck and I got stuck with a 1999 box set in 4:3 and not incredibly good detail, but the jest of it came thru

honestly, I've really been waiting almost the whole blog since I started for #52 - so that helped me get this out in a hurry :)

#50 - And The Ship Sails On

#50 - (well, we've skipped 3 but official #50 on the spine)

I can't sugarcoat this - I thought this was a boring film - I think I'm going to sigh every time a Fellini film comes up at this rate - I thought the story was dull, the effects unimpressive - and maybe there's something about European Life revealed in here that I missed, but as a whole I was so bored I almost fell asleep in broad daylight watching it -

Not much else to say about this one

RB

#49 - Nights of Cabiria

Ah yah...my second Fellini film - I thought it was my first but forgot he directed Amacord which I watched about 14 months ago - THAT film stuck with me as one of my initial fav's - so much so I almost bought the blu-ray

THIS ONE - took some time to get into - I guess it's one of the last of Fellini's Neo-Realism films before he got more into his surreal style.  I honestly struggled to get into it the first two times and had to stop (and go to bed) about 1/4 and 1/2 way in but then I finished it up and got a lot more sympathy for the protagonist in the second half.

Fellini's wife, Giulietta Masina, plays Cabiria, the prostitute with a heart of gold? in this film - she brings an almost vaudeville approach - (others have said Chaplin) to the character.  It made it a little hard for me to find sympathy for her early on, although the first scene in the film is a hard luck one

the DVD is out of print on Criterion - the film is currently on Filmstruck - as I was able to find it at the library, I can confirm there are some interesting interviews, clips on restoration, and commentary on a scene which was deleted from the initial print and readded a few years later - (and in this edition, before I knew it had been deleted, which is a decision I don't disagree with the producer on) - some interesting early clips where the character briefly appeared in a 1952 film, and the like.   It won't be my favorite Fellini film, but now that it's done I can say I'm glad I watched it, and I have another one in the barrel which I guess might make Fellini my most watched director up to this point BUT we also have some more Kurosawa coming up too.

Not a bad film - just takes some time to get into and if you're tired, watching a film with subtitles that you're not terribly into is a good way to fall asleep in the lazy-boy - good times

#48 - Black Orpheus

#48 is a visual and musical tour de force I never heard about - Black Orpheus -

disclaimer - I think it's like one of FOUR Orpheus movies in the first couple hundred Criterion releases but I'm betting it's the most original  (Edit 12/26/2018 - this comment uh, didn't age so well - all of the Orpheus films were sorta out there - LOL)

The story is a South American take on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in Rio De Janeiro at Carnival time - While I think they caught a lot of the atmosphere they maybe didn't do enough to truly capture the city except from the Mountains.   I think this movie could have done for Rio what Summertime did for Venice - but what I DID learn was that it did bring Bossa Nova music out of Brazil to a wider audience and that's got to count for something - I also heard it was Barack Obama's Mother's favorite film but that he personally had issues with it when he went to go see it with her

There is a beauty and life to this film that's hard to beat - The Color is excellent, the actors are very telegenic, and the music is awesome - music infuses the background of the whole movie and the child actors bring a strong sense of levity and joy to the film

some great special features, interviews, etc - it was a Brazil/France co-production - and as such there is some controversy - some folks feel it's an outsider's take on Brazil and glorifies the poverty of the folks there - but as a colorful and beautiful film it cannot be denied that it's a fantastic film

side tangent - thoughts on Cobra Kai

figured I'd take a bit of a small break here to talk about something coming up - it seems as if there is going to be a Youtube Red series called "Cobra Kai" about the two main characters from the Karate Kid, what...33 years later now?

Disclaimer - I met Billy Zabka at a youth group retreat in the mid 90's and loved the Equalizer, so he always gets props with me.

but even without that I have to admit, I'm excited.

I was a preteen/teenager when The Karate Kid came out - I think at some point I even took Karate lessons on or around when it came out.   The class was much more low key at the local Athletic club though. 

But here's the thing - I was a REALLY UNCOOL kid growing up - like virtual leper/pariah - horribly nerdy and incapable of really holding down real friendships in rural redneck Montana where a bus ride with the kids who weren't going to do any better than fixing cars was hell for me until I got off the bus.  Even as I got further up in the High School chain, I barely had the respect of my peers - a few of us nerds got together and played games over lunch.   I never got in any full bore fights but I had a few assholes trip me and shit - and I was also one of the scrawniest kids around. 

To this day I'm probably more successful than 90% of my tormentors and I won't go see them at the reunions - fuck those guys

So for me, The Karate Kid was a hell of an inspirational picture - it made me happy to see it and I probably have seen it almost a half dozen times?    At the end, when Zabka's character tells Daniel Russo he's all right, there's a sort of small redemption in there for him as well - we never get to see how it plays out in the next two sequels, but what did he take of that moment.   Did it define Johnny  or did he revert back - initial indications in the teaser to me is he's old Johnny again.

(and it's probably too much to ask, but could we get Elizabeth Shue for a bit - bring that triangle back - LOL - but I haven't seen her in much lately)

We've had some bad luck lately with nostalgia coming back into fashion.  I am still disappointed in how the new Star Wars trilogy is playing out - the new Indiana Jones a few years ago - more of the same - Rocky and Rambo back - meh.

But this could really be interesting - how do our successes as young men define us as we get older - has Ralph Macchio's character turned into a sad used car salesman, trying to see his kids on the weekend while Billy traveled the world seizing the day after college?   I'm really curious to see how these two protagonists go forward at this point and what the story will be.

A movie shows us a picture of a life, but a sequel 33 years later - if done right, can paint a much bigger picture

AND we have Youtube Red here in the house...so score already!

Looking forward to it
RB

#47 - Insomnia

#47 is like film noir, but in the light instead of darkness - ain't that funny - LOL

This is a captivating thriller starring Stellan Skargard as a Swedish detective trying to solve a murder in Norway, above the arctic circle, in the middle of summer.   As such, it's the land of the midnight sun.  A number of choices and mistakes, as well as said sunlight disrupting his sleep, result in a tale of a man slowly struggling to solve a case while hiding secrets of his own all while slowly dragging down under the weight of said secrets and sleepness.

I knew this was remade - (5 years later with Al Pacino and Robin Williams) but I never saw it so I didn't know what we had going on - this was also kinda close to me as I lived in AK for a few years and even in Anchorage, you could have in the middle of summer enough light at midnight/1am to work outside if you wanted to - if you didn't pay attention you'd be up till midnight without paying attention so we def. got the blackout curtains. 

This is a great film, and it held my attention thruout - there is an interview with the Director and Stellan several years later and it has been released on blu-ray.  Being that the film is from 1997, it's a nice relief once in a while to see a film that isn't marred by 70 years of dust or obsolete film techniques

I'll get some more of these in - it's my oncall weekend and the wife is outta dodge so lots of chances to watch a few more movies

RB