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Wonderful film.
Absolutely. I don't think a film has immersed viewers into the way of the Yakuza, more than The Yakuza.
Was it you who recommended this to me a long while back? I recall a fellow mod on here praising the film, and I can never recall who it is, but I think it's you.
I immediately went and watched it after and was blown away. Mitchum is fantastic in it (not a stretch of the imagination), as is the supporting cast, locations, and action. Gonna need to rewatch that one soon.
I pray that it never gets remade. I can see it now, Amy Schumer as Harriet Kilmer. :((
Don't forget the PG-13 rating and the probability that it would somehow be directed by Paul Feig. Let's not give them any ideas - just the other day, I mentioned how it's a shame that I've yet to see any version of 'The Fly,' and sure enough, just one day later, a new remake announcement is made.
Then quickly say something about the entire Kardashian family being abducted by aliens, never to return to Earth again.
I just returned from seeing it & found it a bit disappointing all round, although it's entertaining enough. The film lacks character moments and nearly everyone is a bit of a cardboard cutout. Think Anaconda 2 on a bigger budget rather than Anaconda (I realize that's not saying much). It's reminiscent of that film though, combined with Predator , Suicide Squad and a bit of Jurassic Park. The special effects strangely veer from exceptional to quite poor in certain places. I'm becoming quite tired of this 'piss yellow' filtering that we increasingly see in these CGI laden entries (and which unfortunately seems to have permeated the Bond universe as well with SP). This is strictly popcorn fare strategically (or is that cynically) designed to appeal to the broadest global audience and nearly every ethnic demographic. By the numbers & lacks soul. Instantly forgettable.
The color palette kind of interests me, as it recalls the 70s Vietnam war films, but I have the feeling that much of that color is actually added with computer effects, and not through more nature photography or limited lensing. Did this seem to be the case to you?
I'm not all that conversant with the 70's war films, so can't quite comment on how this compares to them in terms of the colour palette. If I were to guess though, I would say it's more computer effects, because it doesn't feel real. It's not that way all the time however, and there are some wonderful landscape shots during the quieter moments. It's only really apparent at specific moments when the creatures are on screen, which is what makes me conclude it's an effects generated contrivance.
This doesn't give any feeling like Apocalypse Now, despite that one shot you may have seen.
That's a shame. With all the rampant Apocalypse Now comparisons I've heard since the movie was teased, I was hoping it would actually feel like that film, and not just ape some visuals that could be done in any war film. As with that film, I was hoping that the humans would be put into a series of existential crises as the crazy journey they're on slowly drives them mad, and what they see makes them question everything. Probably a bit too much to ask for a blockbuster, but I had hoped it would surprise and create an ominous mood that wouldn't let up.
I'll see what some other people are saying about it in the coming weeks, but I don't think I'd have gone to the theater to see it in the first place anyway.
Excellent points. I've always felt that "best all time films" lists tend to be rather pretentious and popular box office hits. Granted, many of those like CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON deserve their praise, but with the exception of noir lists, films like OUT OF THE PAST or ON DANGEROUS GROUND may be overlooked. Noirs are my favorite films, (alongside Bond and the Universal and Hammer Horrors).
You can never go wrong with Robert Mitchum in a noir.
@ToTheRight, noirs are my favorites as well, and we've had a lot of great discussions on here about them. No other films are brave enough to show life how it is so uncompromisingly as noirs, and there's something about cynical detectives walking through wafts of fog in trench coats that just never gets old. The broken systems and broken people depicted are never in danger of feeling strange, and the messy and labyrinthine plots are a hearty challenge in and of themselves.
I've always loved the black and white photography. In one of his last interviews Michum joked his films were lit with cigarettes while the larger studios got all the lights.
I think one of the biggest reasons why films like The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown stick with us is because they sting so heavy. Noirs are able to go over the limit and do what other films wouldn't. In a time of Allied propaganda, the noirs were showing people that terms like winning and losing are things we make up to feel like the universe makes sense. It's the philosophy of noirs and how they're able to weave in existential questions of who we are and why we do what we do that will always keep me coming back. For every light-hearted romp and slapstick comedy, we need films that are willing to show us how it really is, or how it could be if we're not careful.
"Hooooooooah"
Nice film there!
The film I want to see next is His Girl Friday (1940). I will get to it soon; looks interesting.
His Girl Friday is great. Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in top form with great rapport. Hope you like it.
First viewing of this Tom Cruise starring war drama since I saw it in the theatre. It was as impressive today as it was all those years ago. Cruise stars as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key collaborators in a failed 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler and end the war. He is motivated by the carnage he witnesses around him and his pride in Germany to do something before his nation is destroyed. The film boasts a superb supporting cast including Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson. It's beautifully shot by cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, tensely scored by composer Bill Ottmann, and features no noticeable CGI, which is extremely refreshing to this viewer. There are some early (and all too brief) scenes featuring warplanes in action, landing & taxiing that are a sight to behold. The acting is top notch across the board and director Bryan Singer maintains the suspense throughout the film and particularly during certain pivotal moments. The script by co-producers Christopher McQuarrie & Nathan Alexander, based on a true historical events, is also compelling & moving. Overall this is a very entertaining American/German co-production made on a frugal budget of about $80m. I wish more intelligent thrillers like this were made today. Cruise is very good in it, and I recall this being the film which finally expunged (for me) his couch antics on the Oprah show which tainted his image for a few years. By the way, why the heck hasn't Carice van Houten been cast in a Bond film yet? She is very memorable in a small part in this film, as she is in everything I've seen her in. A great actress.
After the passing of Bruce Lee, Lord knows how many ripoffs of his work were released, something that apparently found itself under the subgenre of Bruceploitation, going sometimes to even feature footage of Lee's whether it was intended for his stand-in throughout the movie or just a flashback related sequence or whatever. Before starting work on Enter The Dragon, Lee was working on The Game of Death, an over-the-top Chinese martial arts film which never had the intention to make slight bit of a sense. The project, of course, was never completed due to Lee's tragic death.
Ever since then, with the word out there and the over-curiosity of the East-Asian filmmakers at the time, the original filmed footage of The Game of Death was not released until decades later, and to a small amount was featured in Robert Clouse's rendition of the film released in 1978, which differs from the original material by a wide margin.
The original version of Game of Death was to feature a protagonist (played by Lee) who is forced by a Korean gangster crime syndicate to kill every guardian on every floor of a pagoda and retrieve a(n) [sadly unidentified] item on top of it. Clouse's version also features the gangster angle forcing Lee's (supposed) character to do something for them, but something different in regard.
The Tower of Death (or Game of Death II as released in the US, acting as a sequel to Clouse's film) borrows the concept of the pagoda, otherwise a complete different film. If you're expecting something relevant out of the script, dialogue or the story, you are going to be largely disappointed. These elements feel like having been written by a four-year-old trying to expressive his love for revenge flicks and an overcompensating hero. Totally utterly ridiculous. Much like that 2004 film adaptation of the Dead Or Alive video game franchise. A spoof that believes it's taking itself seriously. Of course, in the first 30 minutes, it features the character of Billy Lo (from the Clouse movie) played by Kim Tai-chung as a stand-in for Bruce Lee, whose archive footage was used mostly from Enter The Dragon. As Billy is killed by a mysterious assassin, his brother Bobby Lo sets for revenge, who becomes the protagonist, again played by Kim Tai-chung, but as himself in the role.
Kim Tai-chung previously shared the role for doubling as Bruce Lee along with Yuen Biao in the 1978 version of Game of Death, and even played Lee's ghost as a character in No Retreat, No Surrender (the movie that made Van Damme famous).
Commenting on the action sequences as well as the martial arts choreography, as opposed to the absurdity of the script, these elements are directed rather beautifully. It all makes up for the lack of relevant story. The cinematography is your typical '70s martial arts quality format, but sometimes done quite well, with the slow motion bits handled correctly and in a fair amount as with the original Bruce Lee films. You've got to love the film for what it is. The set-pieces also are heavily inspired by those in the Lee films.
All in all, I haven't seen this film for 15 years straight, and never thought I'd ever revisit it. But, here we are. It's exactly how I remembered it, cringed at the dialogues, but I knew it would be the result of a stupid writing so that didn't bother me. If you love over-the-top martial movies, see this one yourself. As a Bruce Lee fan, for many reasons, I just added this one to my Blu Ray shelf.
Cary Grant's finest hour IMHO, and he has an awful lot of very fine hours.
That's right, after all the Mitchum talk lately, I felt like watching The Big Sleep (not that I need my persuasion to do so). One of these days, i'm going to have to see the Bogie version.
Utter Garbage.
Your powers of observation do you credit.
Anyways...
Hell Drivers (1957)
I watched this neat little black and white film last night, I had seen the film before a few years ago, but this was the first time revisiting it. Needless to say, this is one of my favorites. I enjoyed seeing Sean Connery in the small supporting role he has, and you can really see the difference, where he is being the rough and tough Scotsmen, as opposed to his portrayal of Bond, the ultimate example of class, and sophistication. Stanley Baker is also in the film, as the lead. He's an ex-convict who is just trying to make an honest living being this truck driver, however, he keeps being bullied by these other drivers, lead by Patrick Mcgoohan, who is just plays that cocky guy that everybody has met at least once in their lifetime. I liked the little Love Triangle with the three main characters, the dance room fight, the little fight between Baker and Mcgoohan in the office, and also the final truck scene, where you see Mcgoohan and the boss go flying off a cliff, and when the truck hits the ground, you see a dummy go flying out the truck window (which reminds me of the car kick scene in For Your Eyes Only). Anyways it's a neat film, and a must see for anybody who is a fan of 50s British cinema.
Good film, a fitting swan song for "The Duke".