Movie Talk - What do you like?

[Adam Lawrence]

<<Sondenberg - Although scorned at on other threads here for his work on Full Frontal, he has released some very good and interesting movies. >>

This i dont understand...90 percent of the people i talked to disliked the movie......

i for one loved this movie...one of the best i movies ive seen this year...
i didnt take the low quality DV footage into consideration for criticsism.
it seemed like that was done intentionly.

[Joe Carney]

Soderberg was being villified by the nastier than thou part of the independent film community, even before the film was actually released.
At first I was skeptical about his motives, but after reading several articles and reivews by people who didn't have an axe to grind I changed my opinion.

I've read some excellent articles in Moviemaker, FilmMaker magazines about the process of making the film. It was pretty cool and very informative for those interested in learning how to deal with video to film issues. One very important one was how they handled the audio for conversion from PAL to NTSC.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but will when it comes out on DVD.

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by DocuWild : MM.. favourite movies/directors...
Akira Kurosawa - The master, what can i say. He almost (re)wrote the book on dramatic storytelling. Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. All schoolbook examples of how to tell a compelling and action packed story.
/Henrik -->>>

My favourite director of all time. Not only did he direct lavish samurai pictures such as the ones you mentioned but he also directed some of the best pictures set in the post-war Japanese period. IKURU is one of the finest movies ever made and really one of the most meaningful films to me. It's always a toss up to me which is the best picture, RASHOMON or IKURU.

STRAY DOG is the prototypical older cop - younger cop detective story. You can still see its immense influence in modern films such as SE7EN.

DRUNKEN ANGEL, Toshiro Mifiune's first film for Kurosawa, is one of the first where Kurosawa showed to the world the use of naturalistic acting styles in his cast but set in a (then) modern setting. It has one of the great end shots of any film.

HIGH AND LOW is another excellent crime film but with a powerful social dynamic (as does STRAY DOG) emphasizing the gap between the rich and the poor and how that creates the motivations for a kidnapping.

[Henrik Bengtsson]

For the record, Re: Sondenberg & Full Frontal, i did like that movie too :) I was just refering to the bashing he recieved in a few posts earlier, claiming it gave DV a bad rep.

And i love the notion that someone connected to the big money league in Sillywood still have the guts to experiment.

And Keith, thanx for giving me some more Kurosawa dvd's to hunt =)

/Henrik

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by jojolimited : >>
I've watched Ghost in the Shell at least 20 times. Princess Monoke at least 5 times. Have the Akira special version released last year.

I'm more into the way far out stuff. thinking about picking up the Pat Labor series after watching it on the Action Network. -->>>

Darkhorizons.net has this bit of news today:
Akira: Variety reports that Warner Bros. will produce a live-action English-language remake of the Japanese 1988 anime classic feature. Director Stephen Norrington ("Blade", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") will reteam with "League" screenwriter James Robinson to pen the script whilst Jon Peters will produce. This remake will follow the original story of a futuristic motorbike gang leader who must rescue his younger brother from his involvement in a secret government project. Thanks to 'FanHalen'.

[Alexander McLeod]

I just showed Kurosawa's "Ran" to my World Civ class. They were blown away by it. The class covers history to about 1700 and we discuss things like feudalism, war, gender relations, and loyalty, among other themes.

Few of my students had seen any Japanese films before and none had seen Kurosawa, although they were familiar with some of the western versions of his classic works. Just this one film awakened many of them to the possibilities outside of the dreck they normally pay for.

Sandy

[Derrick Begin]

I heard 'RAN' is fantastic... I'm going to get it this weekend...

TID-BIT: From what I remember, I think it is based on Shakespeare's 'King Lear'.

Cheers!

[Keith Loh]

If you are buying the DVD do not buy the Fox Loeber DVD that has been out for awhile and was recently reissued (spotted new copies on the shelves last month). I own it and it is not a good transfer. The problem is that it is not anamorphic and the transfer is quite grainy. It's suitable for a small screen and I never had trouble watching it on a normal sized TV or computer screen. However, when my roomie ponied up for a projector screen nearly half of our respective DVD collections were suddenly too awful to see when blown up on our wall. The Fox Loeber Ran included.

There is a new version out in limited edition on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000065BW7/ref=cm_custrec_gl_rec/103-0953112-1409420

However, it's too much and too much that I don't want. I just want a good transfer of the film onto DVD. This one is a hi-def transfer. Once they put it out as a single DVD it will be mine.

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by LHORIZON :
TID-BIT: From what I remember, I think it is based on Shakespeare's 'King Lear'.
Cheers! -->>>

The story structure is King Lear with the daughters instead turned into sons. However, there is also a healthy influence of Macbeth, particularly Lady Macbeth's character.

[Derrick Begin]

Thanks for the link...

Nice Collectors Edition... I'll probably rent it from a local place, rather than buy... Your right about the number of ducats they want for it.... Jeez... I could buy the rain cover that I want for my XL1S for that price...

Cheers!

[Keith Loh]

If you like RAN you will also want to see KAGEMUSHA: THE SHADOW WARRIOR.

Kagemusha is the story of a thief who is drafted to act in the place of a feudal lord, the famous Takeda Shingen, who has died at an inopportune time. Not only does the imposter have to keep up appearances while the Lord's inner circle decide how to deal with the succession, the actor also finds himself dealing with his own inner battle with the spirit of the dead lord he is only copying.

It's been a long time since I've seen it (a DVD is out in Asia) but I do remember it has massive battle scenes on scale larger than RAN.

[Paul Sedillo]

<<<-- Originally posted by Keith Loh : If you like RAN you will also want to see KAGEMUSHA: THE SHADOW WARRIOR.

Kagemusha is the story of a thief who is drafted to act in the place of a feudal lord, the famous Takeda Shingen, who has died at an inopportune time. Not only does the imposter have to keep up appearances while the Lord's inner circle decide how to deal with the succession, the actor also finds himself dealing with his own inner battle with the spirit of the dead lord he is only copying.

It's been a long time since I've seen it (a DVD is out in Asia) but I do remember it has massive battle scenes on scale larger than RAN. -->>>

Have you see Rashomon? I have not had a chance to catch it and have heard great things about it.

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by Paul Sedillo : <<<--
Have you see Rashomon? I have not had a chance to catch it and have heard great things about it. -->>>

Yes, I consider it one of the greatest films of all time and I own the glorious Criterion DVD. As I said previously in the thread it's a toss up which film I consider greater, IKURU or RASHOMON.

RASHOMON is set in medieval Japan but don't expect a film like RAN. RASHOMON is a psychological mystery about the nature of recollection and how a witness' psychology affects testimony. It begins when three travellers, a woodcutter, a priest and a cynical villager, take refuge from a rainstorm in the ruins of a temple. The temple is a symbol for the chaotic state of affairs of Japan in the story. The three begin griping about the lawless nature of the times and quickly fall into relating the recent story of the assault of a noblewoman and the death of her samurai husband, details of which come out in the trial of the suspect, a bandit (played by Toshiro Mifune).

The basic facts of the crime are known. The samurai and his wife were on a forest road when they were beset by the bandit. The bandit managed to subdue the samurai and then assaulted the wife (though how willingly she submitted is soon brought into doubt). Subsequently, the samurai is killed. But the details and motivations of those involved is not clear. The structure for the film is then set. In separate retellings, the bandit, the wife and even the spirit of the dead samurai's version of the crime are told in flashbacks. The same events are told but with sometimes a dramatically different spin on the events. How wildly divergent the stories are has become known in legal and film circles as the 'Rashomon' effect.

Of course, it's been proven in study after study now that eyewitness accounts of an event of even unrelated observers is unreliable by itself.

I'll leave it at that so that you can enjoy it.

[Paul Sedillo]

<<<-- Originally posted by Keith Loh : <<<-- Originally posted by Paul Sedillo : <<<--
Have you see Rashomon? I have not had a chance to catch it and have heard great things about it. -->>>

Of course, it's been proven in study after study now that eyewitness accounts of an event of even unrelated observers is unreliable by itself.

I'll leave it at that so that you can enjoy it. -->>>

OK - I have ordered the DVD...it will be here next week.

Thanks for posting a brief description about Rashomon.

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by DocuWild : For the record, Re:
And Keith, thanx for giving me some more Kurosawa dvd's to hunt =)

/Henrik -->>>

Of the ones I listed in North America you will only be able to find legal DVDs of IKURU and HIGH AND LOW (both Criterion).

I was able to find Chinatown ripoffs (Mei Ah distributors) of almost everything else. However, the quality of the image and the subtitling are awful. The character names, for example, have been changed to Chinese names.

The copy of STRAY DOG that I have has very funny subtitling. In one scene the detectives are investigating the character of a hotel employee and are questioning the manager. The manager says of the employee's work habits: "This employee is very erotic." To which one of the detectives replies: "Oh? Doesn't he come every day?"