Time of the Wolf(Michael Haneke, 2003)
Rating: 9.0
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
Rating: 9.9
I recently rewatched this film while it was broadcast on PBS. In my opinion this is perhaps the most significant and thought provoking melodrama to ever come out of Hollywood, not to mention a complex and intriguing character study of WWII veterans returning home.
Teresa Wright:
Duo luo tian shi (Kar Wai Wong, 1995) aka Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels ((Kar Wai Wong, 1995)
Rating: 9.6
Another gorgeously photographed and stylistically engrossing Kar Wai Wong film about loneliness and alienation in Hong Kong.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Hail the Conquering Hero (Preston Sturges, 1944)
Hail the Conquering Hero (Preston Sturges, 1944)
Rating: 9.6
A brilliant screenplay satire written and directed by Strurges, that criticizes commodified heroism, politics, and family values. Eddie Brackens is terrific as Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith, a Marine dismissed for chronic hay fever before ever seeing action. He meets a group of Marines who encourage him to tell a little white lie about his heroics at war to his mother which in turn escalates to a statue being made in his honor and the townspeople insisting he run for mayor. Woodrow becomes the symbolic embodiment of untold stories of heroics. The beautiful Ella Raines with her captivating screen presence plays Woodrow's love interest, Libby.
Ella Raines:
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Cool World (Shirley Clarke, 1964)
The Cool World (Shirley Clarke, 1964)
Rating: 9.8
This is a remarkable American New Wave docudrama that perfectly captures the milieu of Harlem in the 1960s by exploring a group of adolescents involved in gangs and juvenile delinquency. The main character, Duke, is obsessed with acquiring a gun which symbolically represents his quest for manhood, power, and escape from alienation. The film resembles the Italian neorealistic style as the environment shapes the actions of the characters and become victims of their surroundings. The jazz soundtrack provided by Dizzy Gillespie and Yusaf Lateef, among others playing Mal Waldron's original compositions is an excellent thematic counterpoint as the narrative itself is improvised and free flowing like the music. This film is a rare treat that offers photographs of a history not often explored.
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934)
Rating: 8.4
I always enjoy Peter Lorre's performances and The Albert Hall scene is brilliantly edited and composed.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Blades of Glory (Josh Gordon and Will Speck, 2007)
Blades of Glory (Josh Gordon and Will Speck, 2007)
Rating: 4.5
The story structure was actually much more thought out than Ferrell's previous comic smashes and I was impressed with the inventiveness of the skating scenes and surprised at how seamlessly the editing hid stunt doubles, but unfortunately this film didn't have any real memorable comic scenes. I did however enjoy the television skater spotlights parodies and the actual skating announcer's commentary and ridiculous puns.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Vita è bella, La (Roberto Benigni, 1997)
Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997)
Rating: 6.5
A cute and hopeful film that would be great to watch with my family, but pretty generic and often cheesy. I love Benigni's performance as well as the young boy's, but I have to say this was a disappointment after so much hype and being on imdb's top #100 list.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
La Maison de Himiko (Isshin Inudou 2005)
La Maison de Himiko (Isshin Inudou 2005)
Rating: 7.6
In his article “The Social Situation Facing Gays in Japan,” Sunagawa Hideki discusses how the young people of today seemingly have an easier time dealing with and accepting their sexuality than previous generations did. He goes on to explain that the Gay Boom, the proliferation of activist groups and human rights organizations as well as classroom education have influenced the public toward a more positive social outlook towards homosexuality in general. Hideki conversely discusses the flip side of the coin where oppression still exists, gay men are targets of youth gang violence, and young men face inner battles of self acceptance.
Isshin Inudou’s film La Maison de Himiko (2005) portrays varying representations of both old and young gay men and accepting and oppressive heterosexual members of society. Himiko, a former owner of a gay night club, retires and opens a retirement home for gay men. Perhaps with the exception of Yamazaki, the older men are very comfortable with their self identity and sexuality. We most obviously conclude this based on the costuming of the characters. The elderly gay men wear a colorful palette of bright robes, dresses, and other clothing to represent their self confidence. Ruby even adorns a pink wig. To contrast this, Saori, a heterosexual character wears mostly black, white, or earth tone colors throughout.
Yamazaki, however is an example of what Hideki was discussing. He has been embarrassed to wear a dress, even in front of his friends at the closed gay community they live in. Saori becomes the first person to see his bedroom which is lavishly decorated and contains several dresses he has designed. Yamazaki even comments that he will “wear a dress in his coffin which will be his first and last, so he won’t have to look in the mirror and regret how he looks.”
Saori goes through an interesting character arc in the film. Initially she is disgusted by the group of men at the retirement home, but eventually she warms up to them after getting to know each one as humanized individuals rather than part of a stigmatized group. She offers her nonexistent inheritance to help save La Maison de Himiko and be able to keep Ruby at the home after his stroke in one scene. In another scene when Yamazaki is being mocked by a former coworker after it is discovered Yamazaki is a “queen,” Saori yells at the man, demanding he apologize. Despite her friendships and understanding she still cannot fully accept their choices. In the end she accuses them of having selfish homo-egos for abandoning their families and causing suffering for their loved ones and never really allows
her father, Himiko to have any sort of redemption before his death.
Lastly the film represents a group of young juvenile delinquents who are constantly pestering the gay men and vandalizing the house. This subject is treated a little more lightly than it could be as Hideki mentions that a number of deaths occur from gang violence towards gays. In the film the young boys are comically chased off after being sprayed by a hose. Later Haruhiko repeatedly slaps one of the boys until they are scared away. This same boy later shows remorse for his actions and begins to work for Haruhiko.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Motel (Michael Kang, 2005)
The Motel (Michael Kang, 2005)
Rating: 7.0
"8 is great...you can die at 12 and live a full life...anything after that is just an insult."
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Go (Isao Yukisada, 2001)
Go (Isao Yukisada, 2001)
Rating: 8.5
Sugihara is a second generation North Korean living in Japan, otherwise referred to as a resident alien, or zainachi. His father encourages him to “see the world” and figure things out for himself. Sugihara takes his father up on this offer as he opts to transfer from North Korean School to a Japanese High School where he faces discrimination. In the opening scene of the film Sugihama is playing basketball with a group of peers who begin taunting him as he dribbles the ball. After a shot of Sugihama dribbling, it cuts to the group of Japanese kids each dribbling basketballs themselves while shouting “zainichi.” They begin throwing the balls at Sugihama in an almost surrealistic fashion resembling a stoning. Following this assault, Sugihama reacts with violent aggression by yelling and then drop kicking the other players. This scene establishes the protagonist’s struggle, other’s perception of him as “other,” and also his rebellious personality. Although Go explores the plight of the Korean resident Japanese, the film is not limited to national identity and inequality in Japan, but also implies a universal ideal of self identity, originality, and embrace of other cultures.
Sugihara’s father trades in his North Korean passport for a South Korean one in order to travel to Hawaii and later to Spain, attempting to teach his son that documentation and perceptions of others can’t establish your identity, rather it is individually established. Kato, a friend of Sugihara’s, becomes a somewhat subtle example when compared to others, of how the film promotes tolerance towards diversity. Kato’s sexuality is somewhat ambiguous. Aside from his demeanor, and costuming, there is a specific scene during Kato’s birthday party when he attempts to kiss Sugihara, but Sugihara blocks his own face to prevent it from happening with the pineapple he brings as a gift. The most interesting case in the film is Sugihara’s friend from North Korean school, Jong-Il. Although Jong-Il doesn’t deny his North Korean heritage, or become a “traitor to his race” as their teacher put it, he is perhaps the most uniquely open minded character in the film. Jong-Il supports Sugihara’s shift into Japanese culture and eventually his sister decides to attend. He is also interested in traditional comedy, Shakespeare, and other Western literature as he quotes Billy the Kid at one point and Malcolm X at another. ‘The Works of Shakespeare” book, Jong-Il gives to Sugihara, is one of the most significant symbols. The film actually begins with a quote from Romeo and Juliet, “"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell so sweet?” This quote is reiterated throughout and is a salient theme. After the death of Jong-Il, we see a shot of Sugihara looking down at the book. The following shot shows, the passage circled as tears fall onto the page. Sugihara and his love interest, Sakurai only differ in name, (hers being so obviously Japanese and his Korean) but they look phenotypically similar, share common interests, and genuinely like each other; their names are irrelevant In the final scene Sugihara declares that he is neither Korean nor Japanese, “I am Me,” he says.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (Guy Maddin, 2002)
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (Guy Maddin, 2002)
Rating: 8.0
Guy Maddin seamlessly blends Bram Stoker's Dracula narrative with ballet, the silent film style, as well as a more contemporary style of frantic fast paced editing and free flowing camera movements; an absurdly awesome film experience.
Hana yori mo naho (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2006)
Hana yori mo naho (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2006)
Rating: 7.4
Hirokazu Koreeda's film Hana (2006) is an atypical jidai-geki film. Most of the elements are in tact, such as archetypical characters, and familiar iconography. There is Soza, a samurai seeking revenge for the death of his father, the lovable town fool, Sadasa, the wiser elder, the subplot of Sobesan who is separated from his love, only to find out she has married the land lord, and the two lonely old folks who find comfort with each other and move in together. Despite these familiar stories and characters, Hana deconstructs "the way of the samurai." The main character, Soza, never avenges his fathers death by way of the sword, as his uncle informs him in one particular scene "revenge is not the only way to show devotion." Soza, is in fact rather inept to fight. Several scenes challenge the usefulness of the samurai during the times of peace they are living in and begs the question "Why do samurai exist?". Sobesan, a wreckless and amateur fighter, uses cheap tactics to defeat and embarrass Soza in front of many onlookers, in order to prove the uselessness of his fencing abilities in reality. Sadasa remarks soon after this scene that "the samurai revenge thing is out of style, besides with your skills, you're doomed." Another telling scene was when the samurai kids are bullying the peasant kids. They samurai children claim that they were born better than the others, while Yoshi replies by yelling, "Who says so? What's so great about being a samurai?"
Soza's weakness is a definite reveresal of expectations for spectator's used to watching classic samurai films. Everyday comedy of reality is used throughout the film such as the character's having difficulty closing the sliding doors. These sorts of trite situations are not typically explored in this genre especially. The genre itself is a means of creating nostaligia. Anyone who has seen some of Kurosawa's films can't help, but be reminded of Yojimbo, or Sanjuro because of the the comedy, the unkempt and abnormal nature of the hero played by Toshiro Mifune, and the samurai's use of wits to succeed. I also noticed Koreeda used frame wipe transitions in several instances, which Kurosawa commonly used in his films. Aside from the nostalgia of the cinema, this film creates a feel good familial bond towards the end, and perhaps can create a feeling of nostalgia reminding viewers of fond experiences.
It is not simply Soza's inabilities with a sword that prevent him from avenging his father's killer, as he has the opportunities to do so, but rather his struggle with the moral and ethic implications of it. We see several point of view shots of his "enemy" with his wife and child. These shots are meant to portray Soza's sympathy as well as inspire pathos for the audience. Soza has a conversation with his brother when he returns to his tribe. His brother informs him that "pity and and emotions have no place in a samurai's heart." In the end Soza decides human values are more important to him than the samurai code. Instead of killing a man he doesn't even know and passing on the hatred his father left him to his "enemy's" family he cleverly stages a revenge play in order to make it appear as though he avenged his father's death and collect his inheritance.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Fast Food Nation (Richard Linklater, 2006)
Fast Food Nation (Richard Linklater, 2006)
Rating: 6.4
Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but I found the rancher's bleak outlook of the growth machine taking over coupled with Bruce Willis' monologue summarized with "We all have to eat a little shit from time to time" more based in reality than Ethan Hawk's preachy "keep hope alive...unity will lead to a change for the better" speech. It's great to believe in something, but is America really that naive to the evils of capitalism and the less than satisfactory sanitary and working conditions in the food industry? The narrative itself was rather weak, which is somewhat excusable since it was fabricated and adapted based on the nonfiction book, but this brings into question why the film was even made. I respect the unconventional nonfiction into fiction adaptation attempt, but perhaps a documentary approach would have been the best option here. The inevitable killing floor scene and conclusion of the film were at least pretty good. The ironically disgusting thing is this film made me really hungry.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Tideland (Terry Gilliam, 2006)
Tideland (Terry Gilliam, 2006)
Rating:7.9
A unique and disturbing vision amazingly carried by the performance of an 12 year old girl.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
Rating: 10
The boxing scene has to be one of the greatest comedic sequences of all time. The score which was also composed by Chaplin is brilliant and the ambiguous ending for such a mainstream film of the era is amazing as well.
Zebraman (Takashi Miike, 2004)
Zebraman (Takashi Miike, 2004)
Rating: 7.3
Takashi Miike’s Zebraman (2004) is an interesting mixture of comedy and the superhero film. The main character Ichikawa is a school teacher who is disrespected by his students, faculty, and even his own family. His daughter intentionally disobeys his orders and says it’s his fault that his son Kazuki is bullied at school, while Ichikawa’s wife is unfaithful. Ichikawa takes solace in escaping in his fantasies when he makes a costume and dresses up as Zebraman, his favorite 60s television show hero. His dreams soon become real as he gains super powers and must combat aliens.
Instead of strictly mocking or parodying the superhero genre, Miike instead pokes fun here and there, but doesn’t rely entirely on the comic aspects to carry the film. Although there is some overt slapstick comedy, some of the comedy is a bit more subtle, such as The Ring parody on the superhero television show Ichikawa is watching early in the film or the absurdity of the Zebraman song lyrics “he makes black and white clear” or even his ridiculous special moves the “Screw Punch and Zebra Kick.”
So while the audience knows not to take this film too seriously, the narrative still depends on the drama of watching Ichikawa’s pathetic character achieve his dreams and save the world. Despite all of the campy elements and comical scenes, Zebraman plays out more like a lighthearted nostalgic homage to the genre than a satire. Like all classic Japanese superhero shows, Zebraman has a theme song, and special maneuvers he uses in combat as I mentioned before. During the final battle he must overcome his inability and doubts about being able to fly to fight a gigantic alien blob.
Ichikawa undergoes the inevitable Henchi transformation. During this scene, a light emits from the Z on the Zebraman costume and his cape begins to blow in the wind. Zebraman then spins in the air, and lowers his cape to reveal the costume change. The camera cuts to his feet and tilts up showing his once tattered homemade costume is now flashy and new. The music helps to punctuate the drama of the scene as rock music consisting of electric guitar and drums is cued up. After some dramatic words of encouragement and a miraculous demonstration from Asano the crippled boy who stands up, Zebraman finally flies and transforms once more. This time he transforms into an actual winged zebra and shoots a ‘Z’ into the alien, thus defeating him.
This films major intent is entertainment, but there are also some darker more serious issues addressed, which make it hard to write off as a simple comedy or superhero film. For example, we learn Asano’s father committed suicide which lead to his paralysis. The deterioration of Japanese society is also addressed in several scenes as well as Ichikawa’s daughters sexual deviancy, and his own desires of infidelity. The most overt and albeit cliché message that is really beaten over our heads, as it is reiterated by several different characters throughout, is to “believe in your dreams” and “do your best.”
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Yamato (Junya Sato, 2005)
Yamato (Junya Sato, 2005)
Rating: 6.4
In class we discussed the reemergence of hypermasculinization within Japanese contemporary films and especially within the war film genre. When watching Yamato I couldn’t help but think about symbols of hypermasculinization. For starters there are very few female characters in the film. Aside from Uchida’s daughter during the present time narrative, Taeko and the mothers of Kamio and Nishi are the only females I recall, and they are really just one dimensional characters who are dependent upon the money their sons send home. The Yamato itself is a giant phallic symbol containing 3,000 men and various other phallic symbols (canons, machine guns, bullets, shells, missiles, etc.). The soldiers are depicted as noble men who willingly sacrifice their lives for the greater good of their country. The filmmaker in fact beats us over the head with this theme. We see 15 year old boys joining the fight and even Taeko volunteering to work in an ammunition factory. In one scene a soldier who has been pardoned to return home turns down his opportunity, in another the group of soldiers pledge “we are fully prepared to give our lives.” One of my favorite moments depicting such dedication took place during the Battle of Leyte when the wounded soldiers were using their crutches to mimic firing guns at the enemy planes. Before the final battle at Okinawa, when the Japanese have basically conceded that the Yamato will be a a necessary sacrifice towards the war effort in order to prevent even more death, Mariwaki delivers a speech saying “defeat brings understanding, and is necessary to save Japan.” The emphasis on cooperation for the greater good is emphasized through shot compositions as well. A lot of shots include groups of soldiers rather than singled out individuals. For instance when the soldiers go on leave, the camera isn’t focused on Kamio or Nishi, but rather a long shot is employed showing a group of about ten men. We see this same technique throughout, including when the young men are huddled together in boats and getting their first glimpse of the massive ship and staring at it in awe.
Each of the major characters in the film sacrifice more than just their lives. Uchida sticks up for bullied cadets, and sneaks aboard the Yamato and continues to fight despite losing his eye. Kamio sacrifices his youth and leaves his family behind to join the war effort. He also takes the blame for a mistake another cadet made to prevent the entire group from being punished. To coincide with this noble ideology or war and sacrifice, the musical score is overtly romanticized and melodramatic as well. All of these techniques used to glorify the Japanese defeat helps to explain to the spectator as well as to the characters, Kamio and Uchida’s daughter the importance of the bonds these men formed, the noble group sacrifices they made together, and why the anniversary celebration of the sinking of the Yamato is so important.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935)
A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 1935)
Rating: 9.5
Otis B. Driftwood: It's all right, that's in every contract. That's what they call a sanity clause.
Fiorello: You can't fool me! There ain't no Sanity Claus!
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