0707 July 2007

If we can believe Jet Li, this is his last wushu movie. A worthy one to go out on -- it encapsulates everything true martial arts stand for. Li gets to do more than look mean in this one -- he's alternately arrogant, humble, strong and broken. Ronny Yu earns my respect yet again as director.

After I watched this the first time, it haunted me for days. What is the story about? Is the main character good or evil? I love that the viewer has to fill in the blanks, and the movie gets more thrilling the more I see it.

A strange movie. Because of the subject matter, I didn't know what to expect, but it was mesmerizing, almost hypnotic in the way it was told. Incidentally, this was the third movie I've seen in a week that features castration (after Holy Mountain and Hostel 2). Yeah... not something I'm proud of.

After watching Ninth Gate for the nth time, I wondered what else Emmanuelle Seigner had been in. It turned out to be Polanski's Frantic, which has been sitting next to my TV for months. Yes, I've seen it before, but it had been more than 10 years. Anyway, better than I remembered. I found Harrison Ford more sympathetic this time around, and the espionage plot made me think of Hitchcock. A swapped suitcase drags an ordinary man into a totally different lifestyle of drugs, lowlifes, crime, and spies. Moody and sexy.

Film critic Jack Garner recently used this film to make a point. He said film titles made up of numbers are not memorable. While I think fans of 8 1/2 would disagree, I was intrigued enough by his description of Turk 182 to pick up a copy. To my surprise, it was directed by Bob Clark.

Not a great movie, although you do root for the characters. The vandalism vigilante plot doesn't have many surprises, although it's amusing to watch through post-9/11 eyes. The inspiring stunts in the movie would enrage the public today -- just look at the uproar over the Aqua Teen Hunger Force in Boston. Kim Catrall was gorgeous, and it was interesting hearing Robert Urich and Tim Hutton do New York accents.

Why bother? Lucy Lawless. So bad it's good, with some lines you won't believe. When Lucy threatens to kill a chopper full of military, the general in charge calls her insane. To which Lucy replies, "I'm pregnant and I'm hormonal. You don't want to cross this mother!"

Better than I remembered. Seeing it on the big screen was great, given that the aspect ratio changes whenever characters experience the brain device. I'm sure the TV version I'd seen before was just your typical pan & scan.

A couple things struck me after seeing this again. (1) The future has a distinctly 1990s look. (2) Sharon Stone is REALLY good looking.

I can't say this is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, but I have nothing against it. Technically brilliant. I love the use of POV shots. Patricia Hitchcock is featured in probably the biggest role her father ever gave her.

Great direction by Jonathan Demme. Surprising cuts, subjective points of view, fun cameos by French singers. A very French film. Too bad there's hardly any fun in it, especially considering the witty banter of the Cary Grant / Audrey Hepburn version.

After watching Brainstorm, I felt inspired to watch this again. Strange Days could be a sequel -- practically the same technology in each. Lots to like here, but too long. After an hour and half, I'd pretty much solved the mystery, but there was still another hour left! The movie came out in 1995, but now the Rodney King symbolism just seems dated. Yes, cops beating up citizens is bad.

Sure, it's confusing, but I think I'd be able to figure it out if I took notes on who wants what and who double-crosses whom. These movies are all about character motivation, and the threads get most entwined in this chapter. The magic of the previous movies becomes less mysterious as Davy Jones and his locker come into direct sunlight. Still a visual thrill ride and ultimately satisfying. Favorite scene? The pirate council.

Informative, shocking, and depressing. There's no doubt that privatization unchecked is abusive to taxpayers and soldiers alike. I would have liked to hear interviews from the other side of the issues raised -- even 60 minutes does that.

I knew this movie would be empty (as all the critics have said) but I was still underwhelmed. Fun stuff while Shia Lebouf was learning about the robots & hiding them from his family, but I got bored once the military plot took over. Also hard to tell which robot is which during the climactic battle -- too many close-ups and shaky camera moves. Now maybe if it was shot more like a Godzilla movie it would have worked for me... Oh, and having the original voice of Optimus Prime was a huge help. When Prime speaks, you believe whatever he says.

This TV movie (?) was fun for two reasons: Pierce Brosnan's character and the self-referential tone. Brosnan plays a writer and college professor, expounding on the anatomy of a good murder story. He demands that his students create perfect murder scenarios, and then gets in trouble when the assignment backfires.

Took a while to get under my skin, but by the end I respected both the Lee Van Cleef character and the Mexican he was chasing, played by Tomas Millian. Sergio Sollima's direction isn't the most interesting visually, but he has some fun with the gunfights. The German duelist and his Fur Elise theme music were amusing.

Burt Reynolds is convincing as a deadly Indian with mysterious motivations. Sergio Corbucci's direction is more interesting than Sollima's, but not as iconic as Leone's. The plot is a standard revenge story with good production value. However, it didn't feel as personal as the other western I saw that night, The Big Gundown.

Corny, but fun. The plot depends on the Japanese government's inability to step in and stop the kidnapping of the Mothra twins. The satirical portrayal of America was surprising and hilarious. I didn't expect Mothra to attack "New Kirk City"!

A horror movie. Yes, there's humor, but the monsters are scary and their destruction believable. Godzilla has an "Evil Dead" look, and you shiver when he looks at you. Keeping the camera close to the ground helps sell the size and danger of giant monsters. My favorite G-flick.

Hundra has great locations and production value (leftovers from the previous year's Conan the Barbarian), plus a score by Ennio Morricone. The story, the acting, and (most unfortunately) the action are less than stellar. It's essentially a women's lib Barbarian epic. Hundra is a woman without a people -- her Amazonian tribe gets wiped out in a scene swiped from Conan -- so she goes on a quest to find a man. That's right, she'll repopulate her people one female baby at a time. Along the way, she learns that most men are pigs, but occasionally they can be sensitive and good-hearted... how sweet. After picking up make-up tips from a slave/priestess, she returns the favor by passing on some fight moves. Really, though, Hundra's fight scenes lack punch. There's no technique to the brawling, and this lack of precision ultimately hurts the film. The new Subversive Cinema DVD has a documentary, "Hunting Hundra," a commentary, a new comic book (!), and a bonus soundtrack disc. The operatic music is Morricone's repurposing of works by Verde, and it suits the swordplay genre perfectly.

Visually, a totally different experience than the TV show. The animation is more detailed, the camera moves around more, and there's more use of 3D. But is it funny? Heck yeah. The writers continue to poke fun at the medium and the audience. At first I was disappointed that there weren't more side character subplots, but focusing on the Simpsons themselves was probably the best way to go. The Simpsons themselves drive the story. It's not just dumb funny -- you believe in their emotions.