Brigadoon, Rosemary’s Baby and Everything In Between
19 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: Billy Crystal, Bones, Brigadoon, Charlie Chaplin, Coen Brothers, Cyd Charisse, Death Proof, Fargo, Frances McDormand, Gene Kelly, Gene Wilder, Guillermo Del Toro, Jigsaw, John Cassavetes, Madeline Kahn, Marx Brothers, Meg Ryan, Mel Brooks, Mia Farrow, Modern Times, Night at the Opera, Pan's Labyrinth, Planet Terror, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Rosemary's Baby, Saw, Sergi López, When Harry Met Sally, William H. Macy, Young Frankenstein
Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse dancing in "Brigadoon."
First was Rosemary’s Baby, which I got to watch on a big theater screen on my Birthday. From what I’d heard about the film, I expected it to be incredibly frightening, but I was pleased to discover that wasn’t quite the case. The film is definitely terrifying, but it’s more of a psychological thriller than a gory horror film. Without giving away the ending, I found the final twist really repellent and horrifying, but also an extremely intriguing exploration of motherhood and the link between mother and child no matter the origins. Mia Farrow was wonderful as Rosemary, but I found John Cassavetes’ portrayal of Rosemary’s selfish and manipulative husband more memorable. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman, but imagining having an ass of a husband like that was a horrible thought. Cassavetes is so subtly despicable in the movie and I was shocked that a man who was such a capable director could also be such an engaging actor.
Next was the Marx Brothers’ Night at the Opera. I’d only ever seen Duck Soup prior to this film and while that film is supposed to be their greatest, I wasn’t a fan. I was pleasantly surprised by Opera, however. I thought the physical gags were reminiscent of the ludicrous frenzy that makes Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times so funny and the dialogue seemed really fresh and snappy. I have a few more Marx Brothers films to go and I actually can’t wait to see what else they have to offer.
Next was When Harry Met Sally. I know, I’m a loser for having taken this long to finally see it, but I’m glad I finally did. I’m especially pleased I got to watch it before the 100th episode of Bones aired since that episode was sort of a variation of the film. I think what’s so timeless about the it is the fact that the dialogue seems to stay fresh. The conversations Harry and Sally share seem to touch at the truth of contemporary male-female interactions and though they are a way to question that basic relationship, they still seem very realistic. Their conversations don’t seem orchestrated and much of that is likely due to Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal’s casual chemistry. It’s the kind of film I’ll watch over and over again and still find something new and intriguing about it each time.
Next came Saw. I’m kind of a wuss when it comes to watching horror films alone, but I actually found the film really fun. I wasn’t scared at all and while I expected a lot of gore considering many film critics see the film as the beginning of the “torture porn” sub-genre, but I was surprised how little there actually was. The means of torture the villain Jigsaw thought up for his victims was horrifying yes, but that horror sparked from the diabolical sadism of the concepts rather than what was actually shown. I guess that still doesn’t really separate it from its “torture porn” label, but I still think the film poses intriguing questions of morality and violence.
I then watched Fargo, which, to be honest, I think I was deadest on disliking from the beginning. For some reason Joel and Ethan Coen’s films have rarely sat well with me and though I do love a few of their films, O Brother, Where Art Thou? being the most important example, I can’t stand others. I didn’t hate Fargo, but I certainly wouldn’t care to watch it again. Frances McDormand and William H. Macy do some great acting in the film and the supporting cast is also very strong. However, I found the film’s narrative and mood to contain too much of what I dislike about the Coens’ films. I find their dry humor and enjoyment of shockingly brutal violence less amusing and more disturbing and the general dark foreboding that often envelops their films always leaves me more unnerved and confused than thoughtful.
My next film, Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein was also a disappointment. I typically like Brooks’s films (who doesn’t?), but for some reason I just found Gene Wilder to be less tolerable than usual. He was definitely funny, but he was also playing the same Mel Brooks character he always plays. More interesting for me was Madeline Kahn’s brief role as Dr. Frankenstein’s fiancé Elizabeth. I first enjoyed Kahn’s work as Mrs. White in Clue and it was a joy to see her in another absurdist role.
I had better luck with my next feature, Brigadoon, starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. If you’ve read my TV Recaps, you know how much I love the dancing pair and I absolutely loved their dance numbers. The plot was entirely ridiculous. Gene Kelly and Van Johnson play American tourists on vacation in Scotland when they discover a magical city called Brigadoon that only appears for one day once every 100 years. And if that weren’t ridiculous enough, Charisse speaks with an unconvincing Scottish brogue throughout. There are some wonderful songs and dances in the film so the silly concept isn’t really a problem. Kelly and Charisse share two wonderful dances in the film and I fully recommend giving it a viewing. The thing to remember is that MGM musicals aren’t supposed to be realistic, their supposed to utterly imaginative and diverting and Brigadoon absolutely fills those requirements.
I followed that with a double feature of Planet Terror and Death Proof, which originally appeared in theaters together as part of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse ode to cheap exploitation films. Rodriguez’s Terror, about a zombie infestation, was better than expected and I quite enjoyed the director’s devotion to recreating a low-budget gore and sex fest. His genius way of cutting short the sex scene by claiming a reel was missing in the footage was positively genius. Tarantino’s Proof was even better and while I should have more objections to the film’s clear misogyny and mistreatment of women, the nice character dressed in a skimpy cheerleader costume gets left behind and possibly raped while her friends are terrorized by a man who derives pleasure from killing women, I still found the film enjoyable. Sure Tarantino tries to create a women’s empowerment message by making his females sexually liberated and in charge, but at the heart of it, they are simply Tarantino’s same tough-talking male characters in prettier bodies. However, the genuine fun of the action was just too much to deny.
Finally came Pan’s Labyrinth, which was a complete surprise. Director Guillermo Del Toro intertwined a full and interesting fantasy world with a dark and dangerous real world in a way that made every element of the film fascinating. The special effects were stellar as expected, but I didn’t expect the human characters to be just as interesting. Spanish actor Sergi López, who’s had some great performances in French films, was perfectly sinister and frightening as a member of Spain’s fascist regime and his performance was a highlight in a film full of memorable elements.
Thanks for reading and I promise I’ll try to write these piece more regularly from now on.
Moonraker
16 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: James Bond, Lois Chiles, Roger Moore
I felt like a seeing a little spy intrigue this week, so I decided to watch the 1979 Bond film Moonraker. As I mentioned before, I read all of Ian Fleming’s original Bond novels a few years ago and Moonraker was by far my favorite. Released in 1955, the novel was the third in the series, sandwiched between Live and Let Die and Diamonds are Forever. At the time of its release, explorations into space were still a fairly far-off concept for most readers and Fleming’s original plot, which included rockets but not lasers if memory serves, had more to do with dangerous weaponry than secret plots to make a perfect race. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Moonraker is the fourth of seven Bond films to star Roger Moore as Agent 007. The films had nearly left the realm of believability when Moore stepped into the role, focusing more on gadgets and girls than Bond’s character. I’d always heard mixed reviews about the Moore films, so I could never bring myself to watch them. However, if I wanted to get through all my DVD’s, I’d have to start sometime. So I decided on Moonraker since that was the film about which I had always seen the most antagonism from fans of the novels. However, that antagonism doesn’t extend to fans of the films.
Though For Your Eyes Only was originally supposed to be the next film, given the success of Star Wars in 1977, producer Albert R. Broccoli decided making a film with a space theme would be more lucrative. Moonraker, with a budget of over $31 million, cost more than the six previous Bond films combined and the production shows it. The film shot in Los Angeles, Venice, Rio de Janeiro and Paris so the locations are truly spectacular. Even more surprising are the special effects, which garnered special effects supervisor Derek Meddings an Academy Awards Nomination. The extra money spent on the film certainly attracted audiences and the worldwide gross was in excess of $210 million. While the film’s visuals were praised upon its release, the plot was not so celebrated. Critics often found the plot both too derivative of previous Bond films and too ridiculous to take seriously.
Indeed, the plot is pretty far-fetched. Hugo Drax is a businessman somehow involved in aerospace who hatches a nefarious plot to poison the entire world through a toxin derived from a nearly extinct orchid. He plans to launch the toxin from his private space station while selecting a number of the best human specimens to repopulate Earth once the inferior elements of humanity are destroyed. Bond, with the aid of a sexy CIA agent named Holly Goodhead (no joke), has to stop him. The story is pure madness, but despite that, the film is actually incredibly enjoyable. Yes, the story is outlandish, but that’s exactly what makes it so fun to watch.
The action sequences in the film are absolutely spectacular and it’s easy to forget how silly the plot is. The pre-title sequence is an incredible skydiving fight showing Bond battling the villains as they plummet toward the ground. The scene is breathtaking considering it was actually filmed by skydivers during a series of 88 jumps. The sense of danger is palpable throughout the scene and the gorgeous images of the quickly rising ground combined with the tense fight are absolutely stunning. Just as stunning are the visual effects used to portray the space sequences. The images of launching rockets are surprisingly realistic and Drax’s space station doesn’t have the manufactured plastic model look that many cheaper films of the time period did.
For me, the problem wasn’t so much the story as some of the characters. Though Drax creates a pretty diabolical plan, Michael Lonsdale plays him as a rather boring and one-note villain who lacks the interest of a Goldfinger or a Dr. No. Just as disappointing is Lois Chiles as Dr. Holly Goodhead. The character is simply an earlier form of the Halle Berry character in Die Another Day (which I reviewed a few weeks ago). Chiles is beautiful to be sure, but she doesn’t give the character much allure and she seems rather bland as Bond girls go. Moore himself is perfectly adequate as Bond though he’s certainly no Connery, or even Craig for that matter. He plays up the character’s lecherous and charming side than his dangerous and lonely side. Despite these minor character flaws, the film is just too fun to dislike.
The DVD is equally impressive with some excellent special features including interviews with the stars and producers during the actual filming. There are some fascinating featurettes on the skydiving sequence and the special effects that really add to the delight of watching the film. As long as I allow myself to ignore how impossible the plot points are, Moonraker is an immensely entertaining film that has absolutely become one of my favorite Bond films. I think I might actually look forward to the next Moore film.
Film: 8
DVD: 9
Crime Story
06 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: Crime Story, Jackie Chan
The cover to my edition of the DVD
I was first introduced to Chan’s insanity/bravery via 1995’s Rumble in the Bronx. Though Chan reached star status in Hong Kong in the 80’s, he struggled to break into the American market. Rumble, which grossed a little over $32 million, was the film that allowed him to do that. When I watched it for the first time and heard he did his own stunts, I thought he was the baddest mofo on the face of the earth. One of the film’s most dangerous stunts occurs when Chan jumps onto a moving hovercraft. During his first attempt, shown in the pseudo-blooper reel during the film’s credits, Chan broke his ankle. Unsatisfied with the take, he did the stunt again with a fake shoe covering his cast. Now that’s dedication. However, Chan didn’t really become a household name until 1998 with the release of Rush Hour. Chan’s American films have been characterized by his physical comedy and though he usually plays the straight man to a roguish American counterpart, Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour franchise being the best example, the films typically lack much gravity.
Many of Chan’s popular Hong Kong films, on the other hand, lack the same degree of frivolity. Crime Story, made in 1993, is one of those darker films. Much of Chan’s career up to that point had been spent making action comedies, but after years of playing the Keaton type, Chan wanted to take on more serious acting roles. In the film, Chan plays Inspector Eddie Chan who becomes embroiled in a kidnapping plot, a story that was apparently based on true events. The film’s more serious tone is evident from the beginning when Eddie, while trying to stop the kidnapping attempt in a rather spectacular car chase, sees a fellow officer hit by a car. He wraps the officer’s head in his jacket and races him to the hospital where the horror of seeing his friends hurt leads him to nearly uncontrollable anger. The scenes are shockingly grave and Chan shows surprising ability for drama. His desperate and violent grief is very convincing and the scene is actually quite moving.
The film’s plot, which involves betrayal, suspicion and organized crime, is very compelling and offers a tense thriller. The film’s main problem is the stunts. There are gunfights and car chases galore throughout the film and while they are very exciting and well planned, there simply isn’t enough martial arts action. There are only three action sequences that are based mostly on martial arts and they are the best scenes in the film. Chan seems rather uncomfortable with a gun and his gunfights are never as interesting as the hand-to-hand combat. Moreover, the violence is far more graphic seemingly in an attempt to make the story more realistic. However, the violence is often so vivid that it nearly takes the entertainment out of the scenes. The whole film is very rich visually, but when that tendency extends to the violence, the film can feel too serious.
Unlike the Bruce Lee film I wrote about a few weeks ago, this film had subtitles and really the whole DVD is well done. There are even some interesting deleted scenes, a feature commentary with director Kirk Wong and a featurette on the script.
Film: 6
DVD: 7
Buster Keaton Shorts
31 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: Buster Keaton, Cops, My Wife's Relations, The General, The Goat, The Play House
In Spring 2008 I took Film History and, I must confess, it was not one of my favorite classes. The course was essentially a silent film class and though I have nothing against silent films, watching them for four hours can be a bit taxing. More than one student saw the screening section of class as naptime. Since I can’t sleep during movies, I watched every film and by far the least painful screening was comedy week. The best film that day was Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s 1918 film, The Cook featuring Buster Keaton as an assistant chef. Keaton’s physical comedy amazed me, especially when he jumps from a roller coaster on a pier and into the ocean. His stunts offer the same thrill and amusement as Jackie Chan’s except unlike Chan, Keaton never relies on facial expressions for a laugh. In fact, his face never changes. He bears everything with the same nonplussed expression, a habit which garnered him the nickname “Old Stone Face,” and his physical gags are often rendered funnier by his refusal to react.
I enjoyed Keaton’s performance so much I wrote my midterm on his films and once again purchased Three Ages, Our Hospitality and The General, often considered his best film, as “research.” During the peak of Keaton’s career in the 20’s, the average reel only held around 11 minutes-worth of film so films were considered “features” when they consisted of at least six reels. The abovementioned films are features and Kino International, the makers of my DVD’s and one of the larger manufacturers of silent film DVD’s, also includes a few of Keaton’s short films, or two-reelers, to sweeten the deal. I never had time to watch the two-reelers, thus for this entry I’ll review all of them.
In 1922’s Cops, Keaton infuriates every cop in the city when he accidentally interrupts a police parade. The film is essentially a giant chase and Keaton plays the typical trickster underdog character he portrays in a majority of his films. His characters are always slightly cleverer than their opponents and this superiority typically manifests itself in the characters’ physical prowess. Keaton is a master of stunts and he never hesitates to put himself in danger for a laugh. He is the king of slapstick and his stunts never fail to impress. By far the best stunt comes when Keaton uses a ladder as a seesaw on top of a fence. As Keaton waits in the middle, cops try to climb both ends of the ladder and the way he dodges them by swinging his body back and forth is both awe-inspiring and funny.
The next films is 1921’s The Play House and though it contains less stunts, it displays Keaton’s love of trick photography. In the film, he plays a stagehand/performer in a vaudeville show. Keaton, who began his career in a vaudeville act with his parents, basically commits a full show to film with him starring in every act. When the film begins, Keaton’s character imagines himself as not just the star, but every player. In a trick that even today seems hard to explain, he appears on the screen playing every instrument in an orchestra. The scene is rich with comedic moments since each Keaton incarnation fumbles with their instruments. However, there is also an unfortunate minstrel show section. Once again, Keaton plays every part, but unfortunately every character also wears blackface. It’s uncomfortable to say the least. The scene is a symptom of its times and mars an otherwise fun film.
Next is 1921’s The Goat in which Keaton plays the “scapegoat” for an escaped convict who tricks a police photographer into putting Keaton’s face on the “Wanted” posters (pictured above). The film is a great combination of stunts and trick photography. The most interesting moment comes when Keaton reverse the film’s direction to make it seem that a train stops right in front of the camera. However, like many Keaton films and many early silent comedies, the plot simply sets up the scenario for the stunts and doesn’t have much of a resolution. However, the film is so funny the story doesn’t really matter.
The final and worst film is 1922’s My Wife’s Relations. Keaton plays a man who accidentally marries a woman and then has to live with her and her physically abusive family. The family’s characterization is a surprisingly offensive portrayal of both immigrants and Catholics and while the stunts are interesting, they aren’t good enough to forgive the film’s shortcomings.
Unsurprisingly, the DVD’s lack any special features and the layout is especially infuriating because the menus for each film connect and are not easily navigated. For the most part, I enjoyed my second venture into Keaton-land. I think his features are his best work because they allow him to create an interesting story as well, but I can’t complain. I mean, the guy used a drum as a rowboat at one point, that’s pretty damn amusing.
By the way, in case anyone is interested in watching a Keaton film, IMDB offers a link that allows you to watch The General. I prefer Our Hospitality, but the film is still pretty great. Here’s a link to the video gallery.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000036/videogallery
Films: 6.5
DVD’s: 4
Summer Stock
24 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: "Get Happy", Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Summer Stock
In Fall 2008 I took what was probably my favorite film class at NYU, Classical Hollywood Cinema. There’s a reason the films of that time period, starting with the release of the first sound film The Jazz Singer in 1927 and ending roughly around 1960, are considered some of the best. They rarely fail to entertain and Technicolor makes everything lovelier. By far my favorite films from the period are the musicals. For the final paper of that course, I wrote solely about musicals and as “research” I watched 20 films. I was thrilled by the colorful spectacle and incredible dancing in films like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and An American in Paris, and ever since then, I’ve loved both MGM and Gene Kelly. I loved MGM for its opulent spectacles and catchy songs and I loved Kelly for his exciting dancing and handsome face.
I like Kelly best when he is paired with Cyd Charisse. They are both incredible dancers and she is one of his few partners who can match him in skill. Their extended dance sequence in Singin’ in the Rain offers some of the most beautiful images ever committed to film. That expressionist pas de deux where they dance around a fluttering curtain is simply magic. However, during my research for the above-mentioned paper, numerous critics mentioned Judy Garland as being a wonderful partner for Kelly. As I browsed the $5.99 DVD Funhouse the other day, unsuccessfully looking for a copy of Mildred Pierce, I stumbled upon the 1950 Kelly-Garland starring Summer Stock. So of course I had to purchase it.
In the film, Garland plays Jane Falbury, a talented young woman trying to save her family’s farm from financial ruin, but her plans change when her fame-seeking sister Abigail brings a troupe of actors to practice their upcoming Broadway show in the barn. Kelly plays Joe D. Ross. the show’s writer and director and Abigail’s lover. Jane is also in a relationship with her nebbish fiancé Orville, played perfectly by Eddie Bracken. Despite being otherwise engaged when they first meet, Jane and Joe eventually couple and in the process she will become the show’s star. However, like every MGM musical of the 1950’s, the story is irrelevant. Rather, it’s the numbers that matter and they are absolutely delightful.
Though I still think Charisse is Kelly’s best partner, Garland certainly holds her own and the pairing never feels mismatched. Both leads have an infectious exuberance that overwrites the film’s other faults. In one of the most famous dances of his career, Kelly does his “newspaper dance.” The dance is an excellent example of bricolage in which the dancer integrates props into the performance in an attempt to cultivate a sense of spontaneity. Kelly uses the newspaper as a device to not only create a shuffling sound that adds to the music’s rhythm, but also as an expression of his character’s natural talent and love of performance. Though the scene is obviously choreographed, Kelly’s playfulness lends the scene an impulsive quality.
In her own career-defining performance, Garland sings “Get Happy,” an ironic choice considering she barely completed the film due to her deep depression and drug abuse. Shortly before filming Stock, she was dropped from Annie Get Your Gun because of her constant lateness and mental instability. Garland attended rehab directly before filming and her slightly plumper figure speaks to the fact that she was on the mend. MGM dropped Garland shortly after Stock because of her unreliability and it was one of her last musicals before her barbiturate overdose in 1969 at the age of 47. However, none of that is evident in “Get Happy” and Garland projects a confidence reminiscent of her earlier films. Her costume is perfect with a tuxedo jacket that covers just enough to avoid scandal, black nylon stockings all topped off with a tilted fedora. Garland’s then-husband director Vincente Minnelli originally conceived the costume for an earlier film, but it was appropriated for Stock. Garland also appears thinner in the number because she took a break for a few months between principle filming and filming the scene due to exhaustion. It is certainly one of the best performances of Garland’s career and even if the rest of the film weren’t delightful, this number alone would make it worth watching.
Finally, the special features on the disc are excellent and include a fascinating documentary on the film’s making as well as an MGM cartoon that rips off Sylvester and Tweety and a short comedy mockumentary from back in the day. Combining the cartoon, the short and the film into a program recalls the movie theaters of old and offers a perfect viewing experience.
Film: 8
DVD: 8
Here’s Garland performing “Get Happy.” The number is the first part of the video though it does go on to show the film’s finale as well.
Pride and Prejudice
24 Jan 2010 1 Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: Colin Firth, Jane Austen, Jennifer Ehle, Pride and Prejudice
The cover of the box set.
I’ve seen the Knightley version countless times and the more familiar I became with that version, the more apprehensive I was to watch this one. Though the BBC version and Firth’s performance as Darcy are highly acclaimed, I feared my familiarity with the 2005 version would hinder my enjoyment. Indeed, as I moved through each hour, I constantly compared them. The Knightley version has a sort of breathless passion. The story is modified to focus on the emotions and make them stronger. There is a modern feel to the film that rejects some of the repression so present in Austen’s novel. The most remarkable moment in that film comes during the first proposal scene when, after Elizabeth declares she would never marry Darcy, their sexual tension nearly erupts and they briefly move in for a kiss before regaining their composure. Such a moment would be preposterous in the BBC version.
Likely because of its longer running time, the Firth version is a far more faithful and therefore sexually repressed adaptation. The film moves at the same pace as the novel, slowly meandering towards the final resolution. Where the Knightley version shows Elizabeth and Darcy’s love as an ever-present and electric passion, the Firth version shows the gradual development of a deep love. Both films are undeniably romantic, but they portray different conceptions of romance. Where the more recent version portrays the couple as being in denial of their attraction, the earlier version paints it as something that gradually develops as they become acquainted. The love that grows between the characters changes them for the better.
Unlike the equivalent moment in the later version, the conversation during which the couple finally admits their love is basically unchanged from the novel. They simply walk along the road divulging everything they feel for each other in a wonderful release of emotion. They acknowledge their prejudices explain how their feelings have changed. There is no physical contact, but their excitement and love are no less obvious. In fact, they may be even more keenly felt because it has taken so long to say the words.
As to the DVD extras, they are very disappointing which is hardly surprising considering the film was released in 1995 before DVD’s became so popular. The only extra is a 26-minute documentary on the film’s production that doesn’t offer nearly enough insight into the making. So viewers will have to rely on Firth and Ehle’s considerable chemistry to keep them interested. And that’s actually not a problem.
Film: 7.5
DVD: 3
Die Another Day
16 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: Die Another Day, Halle Berry, James Bond, Pierce Brosnan
As I mentioned in my last post on Fist of Fury, I have about 14 Bond films on the agenda. Except Quantum of Solace, which I almost refuse to buy, I own every film in the series. A few years ago, I read all 14 of Ian Fleming’s original novels on Agent 007. I went into the project expecting the books to be just as campy as the films, but Fleming’s novels, though often outlandish, never entirely leave the realm of believability. Bond is also a far more complex character in the books than the ass-kicking, lothario persona he has in most films. The books create empathy for the character rather than the strict admiration bred by the films.
I received the Bond films as a Christmas present in the fancy Collector’s Edition boxes. Knowing that people would only buy certain boxes if the boxes were chronological, the manufacturers combined universally panned film like On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with classic Connery vehicles like Thunderball. Since the boxes aren’t in chronological order, I don’t feel obliged to watch them in that order. Instead, I’ll pick and choose as I please. This week I chose to watch the only Pierce Brosnan as Bond film I’ve never seen, Die Another Day.
One of the original posters for the film.
In a feeble attempt to give the character a darker edge, Bond begins the film as a prisoner in a North Korean prison suffering torture for 14 months. After being released in a prisoner trade, he is suspected of betraying secrets and loses his Double-0 status. Basically forced to go rogue, Bond goes in search of the man he was traded for, Zao, or as I’ll be calling him, Diamond Face, to discover who betrayed him in North Korea. This first leads him to Cuba where he encounters Jinx, played by Halle Berry, whom he quickly beds. There he discovers not only that Jinx is also an agent, but that Diamond Face is working for a wealthy entrepreneur by the name of Gustav Graves, played by Toby Stephens. Following Graves eventually leads Bond to Iceland where he, big surprise, sees Jinx again and also flirts with fellow MI6 agent Miranda Frost, Rosamund Pike in her film début. From there he takes down Graves and gets the girl, blah, blah, blah. You can guess the rest.
Besides having a pretty insipid story, Die Another Day actually wasn’t as unbearable as I expected it to be. The action sequences really are quite impressive. The initial hovercraft chase in North Korea is very exciting and really very innovative. Director Lee Tamahori cuts the scene quite well and really has a gift for using the landscape as part of the scene. Tamahori shows a similar skill in using landscape in the spectacular car chase on ice later in the film. The sequence, mostly filmed on a frozen lake in Iceland, is very exciting. The drivers come dangerously close to hitting the large glaciers and the whole scene is remarkable. In fact, all of the action sequences in the film are very exciting and they nearly save it.
However, the story is so boring and unsurprising that the film ultimately fails. The plot’s twists and turns seem to exist not out of an attempt to make an interesting story, but because the previous 19 films have made them necessary. We know one of the women will betray Bond even before it happens because it has in half of the other films. We know Bond will bed both women no matter how much resistance they show because that’s what he does. We know Graves will turn out to have a history with Bond because it’s more shocking that way. The list goes on and on. However, none of what is supposed to be surprising actually is because it’s all been done before.
The film constantly refers to Bond’s past greatness, but never achieves that same level. In perhaps the most desperate attempt to link the film to the good ol’ days is Berry’s first appearance in a bikini with a knife tied to her side. The image is a clear reference to Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, the very first Bond girl. Berry and the rest of the cast do what they can with their underdeveloped characters, but none of them can save the dismal story. By the end of the film, it’s clear why it took four years to release another Bond film and why the character had to be completely rewritten.
Film: 5
DVD: 6
Fist of Fury
13 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Unseen DVD's Tags: Bruce Lee, Fist of Fury, Jackie Chan
Well, I’ve done a count and I have nearly 60 films to watch for this project. With so many things to choose from, including fourteen Bond films, I started with something I’ve been meaning to watch since I took a class on Hong Kong Cinema last semester. For those of you who’ve never seen an HK film, I suggest you go out immediately and watch one. They’re a bit hard to find on DVD, but they’re absolutely worth it. The most easily accessible are probably the ’80s Jackie Chan films like Rumble in the Bronx and any of the Police Story movies. However, there are also the films of Bruce Lee-though Enter the Dragon may not quite be considered one since it was co-produced by Warner Brothers. Of the films I’ve seen, The Way of the Dragon is by far the best and even features a cameo by Chuck Norris. Norris’s cameo is great because it not only destroys all the “Chuck Norris Jokes” about how he’s unbeatable, but he is so damn hairy it looks like he’s wearing a sweater. It’s hilarious.
Bruce Lee showing Jackie Chan who's boss.
After Lee’s death, in attempts to make money off his name for just a little longer, Golden Harvest, the production company who produced Lee’s films, often combined previously unused or recycled clips from his older films with lookalike actors with similar names. The most egregious example of this being Lee’s final film The Game of Death. Lee died after only filming the final climactic fight, which many critics think was his best, so the producers hired a lookalike and basically photoshopped the rest. Now considering this film was made in the late ’70s, I use photoshop as a euphemism for the way they literally pasted Lee’s face onto the film. It’s funny in a sort of horrifying way.
But I digress. Fury isn’t a bad film by any means. Lee expertly develops the theme of China’s struggle for power in the face of foreign influence, a motif throughout his films. The fights are incredible as always and Lee’s hard-hitting style is a wonder to behold. In one scene, he fights off at least 20 men by rolling around on the floor and hitting them in the ankles with nunchuks. Quentin Tarantino copies the moment almost exactly in Kill Bill Volume 1 when The Bride slices off men’s legs from the floor. The real problem I found was with the dubbing. I don’t understand the practice. It’s distracting and ruins the actors’ performances. I could have dealt with the dubbing if it weren’t for the egregious decision to also dub Lee’s signature battle cries. What’s the point? It’s just like putting Lee’s face on some other dude’s body. It’s fake and it’s sort of infuriatingly disrespectful. I absolutely encourage anybody who’s interested to search out the film. Just make sure there are subtitles.
Film: 7.5
DVD quality: 4
Two New Quests
11 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in The Year in Origami, Unseen DVD's
So now that the big bartending school piece is done and posted, you may be wondering what I’m going to do next. Or at least I hope someone cares that much. Anyway, in the next few days I’ll be starting two new quests. These aren’t as dense and hard-hitting as the last Quest I went on, but they are two quests nonetheless.
The first quest was sparked by a Christmas present from my Mom. I’ve always been a fan of origami so she bought me an origami-a-day calendar. Rather than post a picture each day, I’ll post one entry per week with all of that week’s projects. Now, I won’t be showing you every single thing they have me fold since sometimes it’s just a square folded in half. You’ll just get to see the finished product. Along the way, I’ll talk about the experience of folding them and maybe a little bit about the history of the art of Japanese paper-folding.
The second quest is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. In case you couldn’t tell by my other blog (tunareview.blogspot.com) or my contributions to Movie-Thoughts.com, I’m a bit of a movie buff. I typically see at least one movie per week and when I don’t, I’m usually out buying DVD’s. My habit only worsened when I encountered the $10 sale at Virgin Megastore. That place was dangerous for me and I thought I’d have to kick the habit when it closed down, but then I discovered the $5.99 DVD Warehouse on Broadway between 11th and 12th. That place is like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. With DVD’s so cheap, I stopped buying only films that I’d already seen and moved on to films I’d missed in the theaters. Sure renting those movies would probably be a cheaper and safer bet, but why risk having to pay more money to buy it later when I could just watch it and then decide if it was worth the money. I haven’t counted yet, but I’m going to guess that I haven’t seen at least a good third of the films in my collection. So I’m going to watch every movie in my collection and write a tiny review/history of why I bought the film. At the moment, I plan to do one per week, but depending on how many films I have to get through, I might do more.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the bartending saga and I’m looking forward to starting these new quests.
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