About watchy99
66, United States
Joined On:October 01, 2008
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705 Ratings | 304 Reviews
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"GOJIRA," the original, uncut and unaltered version of the film released in the US as "Godzilla," is way, way better than the movie nearly all of us saw in the States. Gone is the moronic insertion, after the fact, of the Raymond Burr character, added to make the film palatable to US audiences. And restored are the clear references -- reflected in Godzilla's radioactive breath (it can vaporize people) and trail of fiery destruction -- to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan and the blitzkrieg of Allied firebombing that preceded them. The film is also a fascinating look at post-World War II Japan (it was made only eight years after the war). Sure, the special effects by today's standards are laughable (they never were state-of-the-art even in 1954), but that's part of the fun. This original is a can't-miss for any monster-movie fan or devotee of Godzilla. The DVD includes an interesting short on the making of the Godzilla suit (yup, the monster was a man in a rubber suit; the budget couldn't handle anything better), and a pretty useless commentary of the film that wastes its time documenting differences between the originating novel or the film's storyboards as opposed to what we see on screen, instead of putting "GOJIRA" into a political, social and film-history context.
"TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER" is one of the stranger movies you'll see, but it's quite accessible and enjoyable. It's a genuine Thai film, with a sentimental love story that could only have come out of the third world but elements of that story include a gang of Thai bandits dressed in Western gear last worn by Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, riding horses and shooting long rifles and six guns (when they're not using machine guns or shoulder-armed rocket launchers). There are even scenes shot against a painted backdrop of the wild West. The director is striving for something unreal, or at least surreal, and that includes the saturated colors of the film, period costumes, and imaginative sets. The score boasts old Thai love songs whose lyrics (translated for us) mirror the action on the screen. The actors are all very handsome and good in their roles, and much action enlivens what is really a tender love story. The DVD includes both Thai (with English subtitles) and English-dubbed versions, and the sound quality of both is excellent. There's also a subtitled half-hour Thai TV interview with the principals and stars that offers yet another window into the Thai soul, not to mention its film culture.
When "IN A LONEKY PLACE" was recently restored, re-issued on DVD and reviewed, I was surprised that I'd never seen this Bogart classic before. After watching it, I think I know why: it's mediocre. Bogey plays a screenwriter suspected of murder based on a history of manifold fistfights and violence. Gloria Grahame, looking her very best, plays a starlet who falls in love with Bogey (it takes about two minutes) and then just as quickly starts worrying that he might be capable of murder. While the acting and art direction are superior, the cast behaves more like stereotypes in a movie than people in real life. And the story, which plays out primarily on three claustrophobic sets -- an apartment, a police station and a club -- is kind of preposterous. We never find out why the scriptwriter is so full of rage or why the love of his life falls so quickly in and out of love with him. But if you enjoy Hollywood genre pictures and anything with Bogart, "IN A LONELY PLACE" is worth seeing. The DVD includes a short interesting piece on the restoration of the film, which was badly damaged, and a not-so-illuminating discussion by a present-day director that serves mainly to re-run through the prime scenes in the film. Despite the labeling, the sound is not Dolby Digital 5.1, but Pro Logic only.
"TROUBLE THE WATER" is an unusual documentary about Hurricane Katrina because it is both told and almost exclusively shot not by a professional, but by a victim. The film is based on the real-time footage and narrative of a Ninth Ward resident with a camcorder and an innate sense of storytelling. It chronicles the devastation of the storm and its aftermath on poor people victimized by racism, poverty, and the indifference of their elected officials. The first-person, you-are-there nature of the film makes it more like testament than documentary, and provides a wallop few after-the-fact treatments of the disaster can provide. It's a real window on the lives of Katrina's poor victims and on poverty in America. Don't miss it.
The line between documentaries and dramas is getting harder to draw all the time, and "THE CLASS" straddles that line. In my view, it incorporates the best of both genres. The film takes place in a high school in a tough, immigrant French neighborhood, and we basically get to spend a year with a particular class of 14- and 15-year-olds. Although scripted and directed, "THE CLASS" stars the actual kids in that class and the actual teacher upon whose book the film is based; the other teachers and staff are real, too. It's cinema verite at its best, and if you have the slightest interest in education or just in knowing about the tough problems all countries with immigrant populations do face, don't miss "THE CLASS." And even if your interest is just in drama, there's plenty of it on hand here, too. The DVD also features a good "making of" extra.
Because I liked "The 400 Blows" so much -- the first of Truffaut's series of Antoine Doinell films -- I wanted to see another. I chose "STOLEN KISSES," which I quite enjoyed but is not in the same league. There's much humor in the film as Doinell flits from job to job (especially his stint as a private eye), and the acting from all parties is excellent. The character remains something of a cypher to me, though not to himself. The ending of the film comes out of left field and was a disappointment. But I'm still game for more Doinell, and will try another film in the series. The Criterion DVD contains little about "STOLEN KISSES" proper and much about a cultural protest that Truffaut was waging at the time he directed the film; the protest and the film have little or nothing to do with one another.
The animation in this powerful film for adults is amazing. Forget Disney or the kind of animation that paints over photographs; the drawings here are wonderfully expressive and as emotional as any live-action film made from the same material. The story involves an artist who realizes he can't remember much about his participation in Israel's war against Lebanon some 10 or 15 years earlier. He goes on a quest to find what he can't, or won't, remember, and the film turns out to be a powerful statement on memory and an indictment of war, all wars. It is emotionally involving, as true to life as it gets, and totally satisfying. The DVD extras are good, and the sound quality (either the Hebrew or English tracks) is superb. Highly recommended.
I found "WERE THE WORLD MINE" tedious and unimaginative, with stereotypical characters and situations. The film centers on a gay teen and his mom, with twin plots that have little to do with one another. The teen is starring in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," but the whole family-friendly film seems like an amateurish high-school production. The DVD mercifully lacks any extras, has no subtitles, and is not in Dolby Digital.
"THE WAGES OF FEAR" brings together a group of down-and-out expatriates hanging around a sleepy Latin American town, hoping to make enough money to get home or maybe to just get drunk for the next few weeks. An American oil company gets in a bind when their gusher, 300 miles from the ex-pats, catches fire and requires an explosion to put it out; in short, what's needed are some fools crazy and desperate enough to drive a couple of trucks loaded with nitroglycerin through the jungle to the fire. The film becomes a character study of the men who agree to do it, and those characters are certainly put under a heck of a lot of tension to collect their reward. The film is long and has a somewhat unsatisfying ending, but it's not at all tedious. In many ways, the window it opens on the 1950s is like a fascinating look into a totally different era, one that seems a good century away. It's also extremely well acted. This DVD is the great Criterion edition, but note that it's Disc 1 and lacks any of the extras Criterion sets are known for (I guess the extras are on a Disc 2).
Much better than expected, "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" boasts a compelling story. It's main feat, however, is its originality -- the story's hero is born an old man who gets younger as he ages. It's doubtful that there'll be spate of movies like it! But this begs the question, or questions: (1) What does it get you to tell the story this way? And (2) did they really need three long hours to tell it?
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