FadedBlue_net

Sorry, I haven’t written in… 6 months?!??

I’m starting to get some more free time, so I hope to write several reviews in the next couple months.  I actually haven’t been watching all that many movies and my bluray collection is way backed up.  Just starting to go through them any night that I don’t have plans already.

Two interesting vampire movies I watched recently: Thirst (Park Chan-wook / Korean) and Let the Right One In (Swedish).  Both are great!  But totally different styles.  I think I will compare these two in the next post, though I’ve already forgotten a lot about Thirst since it was in theaters several months ago.

Recent purchases include:
Gojira (US bluray)
28 Days Later (bluray)
Nikkatsu Noir – Eclipse DVD collection
Audition (US bluray)
Tokyo! (US bluray)
Tokyo Sonata (UK import bluray)
Kagemusha (Criterion bluray)
Ghost in the Shell 2nd Gig (Anime Legends DVD box)

Also, if anyone comments, please do so in a way that doesn’t look like spam… I think it’s 99.9% spam and so it’s hard to filter out.  I may change the settings so you can’t post links.

I’ve been pretty busy studying for exams, so sorry for the absence.  I will be watching a lot more DVDs and blurays in the next two months.  Border’s had a 50% off sale on their DVD’s so I picked up a lot!  Right now, I’ve been going through the Ghost in the Shell: SAC 1st season box.  I hope to finish my Ozu box set as early as today.

Here are a bunch of mini reviews of things I watched from the festival and since then:

All Around Us (Gururi no Koto) -4/5 (CIFF09)
Great, though quite slow.  A family-drama that leaves many messages about living life and the connections between loved ones, especially a spouse.  Some characters were a bit annoying, though it can’t be helped if art imitates reality.

Surveillance -3/5 (CIFF09)
Not horrible, but could have been much better, in my opinion.  Some twists in the plot, some of which are predictable.  But this is no action movie.  It’s almost all dialogue, and awkward dialogue at that, for the first three-quarters of the film.  Probably would have been better as a short.

Chaser (Chugyeoja) – 5/5 (CIFF09)
Excellent thriller.  Korean movies contain some of the best psycho-killer/ detective movies and this is one of them for sure.  Though not as epic as a Park Chan-wook film, it has great pacting, characters, tone, and is interesting to watch.  Some gory parts.  Worth tracking down.

Sparrow (Man Jeuk) – 2/5 (CIFF09)
Too slow, and too long.  The plot is not interesting enough to make a whole movie out of, though it did hold my attention.  What was there was executed well and had some nice imagery.

White on Rice – 4/5 (CIFF09)
Good feel-good comedy.  You kind of root for the main character, and definitely grow to like his quirks.  You can see a lot of miscommunications that a Japanese-American may come across, and this really hits home if you have some familiarity with a non-native English speaker.  Plot is a bit uninspired, but serviceable for fun.

Meatball Machine – 1/5
After seeing the excellent Machine Girl, and iffy Tokyo Gore Police… I knew that Meatball Machine could go either way.  And it was bad.  Bad in a bad way.  Even for a B-movie, there is nothing really interesting that goes on.  The characters are beyond boring… enough to make a user manual seem a worthwhile use of time.  Gross out moments are not realistic or that gross if you’ve seen either of the mentioned ultra-gore movies.  Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this movie to even gore fans.

Tale of Two Sisters (Korean) – My 2nd viewing – 4/5
Although it’s probably one of the best Korean horror films I’ve seen, the rewatch isn’t that great.  The characters are a little boring and the pacing slow, but the ending and mystery is pretty good.  Although it’s a must see for asian horror fans, you really probably only need to see it once.  Compare with Ju-On, which I can watch many times and still enjoy.

Hi all.

Once again, I will be attending the Cleveland International Film Festival.  This year I will be seeing 5 films over 3 days.

They are:
All Around Us (Gururi no Koto) – Japan
Surveillance – USA
Chaser (Chugyeoja) – Korea
Sparrow (Man Jeuk) – Hong Kong
White on Rice – USA

I will be twittering from Cleveland this weekend, but will probably not be able to see any replies until I return or get access to a computer.  You can expect reviews of the above movies when I’m back!

Title: Late Autumn
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Year: 1960
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Criterion Eclipse DVD

Remember the last time you just walked through the park without anything on your mind?  That’s about what I felt while watching Late Autumn.  There is a tenderness and light-heartedness to the plot and pacing.  Late Autumn doesn’t try to hit you with a huge build-up of anticipation and huge disappointment.  Following Equinox Flower’s ending of acceptance, Late Autumn continues Ozu’s tone of forgiveness in family conflicts.  This leads to a not-very-dramatic drama.  In fact, I enjoyed the comedy more than the actual drama of Late Autumn.

The characters are once again what makes this Ozu film so enjoyable.  Like Ozu’s other family dramas, Late Autumn has his usual cast of characters: middle-aged and youthful salarymen (and salarywomen), widowed wives, and the rest.  The salarymen are chummy and have their usual set of silly sayings, mocking their hostess at one point, and laughing at their own antics when their plots fail.  The men act like boys in many ways, and they especially remind me of the boys from I Was Born, But….

The main cause of their plot is Ayako, who refuses to marry until her widowed mother re-marries.  Not standing the thought of her lonely mother after marrying away, she continues to deny the thought of marriage even after finding her mate.  Ayako is a dynamic character.  She starts out very traditional and pleasing to all, but when she suspects her mother of hiding secrets of remarrying, she quickly becomes the spoiled brat that youth is portrayed as in Tokyo Twilight.  One can’t help but change your opinion of her as her emotions sway her to extremes.

Late Autumn combines several elements of Ozu’s other films together, and doesn’t try to really hit any emotion too hard.  One is free to enjoy the comedy, drama, or just simple daily-life of old Tokyo which Ozu does the best.  Because of this mish-mash of elements, I felt that the movie played quite smoothly from start to finish, and is an easy watch.  There are a few insights into life and deep thoughts, but nothing that will bog you down or really appreciate more than a subtle reference.  Until the last scene, there isn’t all that much reflection.  And it’s fine that way.

Rating: 4 /5

 In the interest of getting out my opinions on some great 2008 movies that are up for Oscars out before the actual awards are given, this post will be a small reflection on each of three movies: Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, and The Wrestler.  The reviewed format for each is film.

The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke is up for best actor in this very realistic story about the downfall and clinging-on of past fame of an old wrestler.  The movie itself is kind of a downer, though more reflective than sad.  Some parts are extremely graphic, which really help the story seem realistic.  If the camera work weren’t so good, I would think this was a documentary.  I suppose this is a testament to Rourke’s acting.  Though, I’m not sure if he deserves the praise because of acting as much as him fitting the role both on and off the camera.  I can’t say either way.  To me, this is a great accomplishment.  The movie is meaningful, but doesn’t go the extra mile to really move the audience, in my opinion.

Rating – 4 /5

————-

Frost/Nixon

Another contender for Best Actor, in addition to Best Picture.  Frost/Nixon is a very interesting based-on-real-life story about an interview between an Australian TV figure with the recently outed Nixon.  Especially great if you like a politically charged film.  I don’t mean this like a nation-wide politics, but on a personal level: similar to The War Room, which focused mostly on the internal politics of the campaign managers.  Nixon is played very well.  It’s a tough call of whether or not Rourke in The Wrestler is better than Nixon’s portrayal in Frost/Nixon.  The main character of Frost isn’t anything great… he is more of a silent protagonist if anything.  He doesn’t really show you his feelings as much as Nixon does.  And Nixon does get very emotional.  His confession confrontation in the last interview is amazing.

Rating – 4 /5

—————-

Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle delivers again.  Aside from Millions, he’s put out some of my favorite genre movies.  And now…. a Bollywood genre?   Slumdog is unlike any other movie this year.  Aside from it’s emotionally-charged “love destiny” story, it shows some of the beauty and dirt of India.  It opens up some cultural barriers between India and the West, as well as shows us how to make a feel-good ending.  You couldn’t root for the main character enough, and one can feel each tough decision that he makes throughout his tough life.  Monetarily, it is a “rags to riches” story, but emotionally, he has one dream.  It is epic and Slumdog is easily the best film up for nomination at the Oscars.

Rating – 5 /5

Title: The Machine Girl
Director: Noboru Iguchi
Year: 2008
Genre: Action
Format Reviewed: DVD

I don’t know how much you can really say about The Machine Girl to convince whether the movie is good or not.  It is a total exploitation movie.  Blood, guts, more guts, insane Japanese things, etc., etc.  There are many lists out there to tell you all the crazy stuff they threw into Machine Girl.  I think this is really the first exploitation movie outside of Grindhouse that I’ve seen where I knew going in that it was going to be bad.  And I mean bad in the good sense, like how sick is awesome.  The Machine Girl is hella sick.

First off, some of the actresses are apparently porn stars.  So if you want to watch for the looks, you’re set.  There is as much blood and guts as a Miike film, though much less realistic.  If you want an “asia extreme” flick, you’re set (just don’t expect anything near as powerful as say, Oldboy).  There are some very funny things that you can only do in a Japanese move, like have an arm tempura-fried.  So if you want some laughs and an inside joke, you’re set.  Lastly, if you like revenge and strong women characters… that’s the main plot element.  Check.  Everything is 120% superficial, on purpose.

So pretty much everything you could ask for in a moving picture, right?  Well.. if you’re into it.  I think for an “average” person, Machine Girl is going to be love it or hate it.  If you’re like me, and Yakuza, chainsaws, and skirts are your bag, then all you have to do is get past the “B-movie” aspect of Machine Girl.  Yes, the plot can be a little illogical at times, but honestly it’s not that bad, and nowhere near the level of stupidity in Hollywood horror movies.  The actions scenes are not too unrealistic, though it seems to be a bit under-budget for some special effects.

I wouldn’t say Machine Girl is better than the sum of its part, because I think that’s exactly what the movie is.  A bunched up package of awesome scenes meant for those who already like it.  If you are in that crowd, Machine Girl is a must-see.  There are a lot of things here that I’ve never seen before in a movie, including one of the grossest scenes ever (the mom getting stabbed).  Usually gross-out scenes stop at the first or second level.  This one goes one more (or 11 in Spinal Tap terms).

Note: The DVD extras are short, but fun to watch.

Rating – 4 /5

Title: Chungking Express
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Year: 1994
Genre: Romance
Format Reviewed: Bluray (Criterion release)

I suppose that when I decided that Wong Kar-Wai (WKW) was one of the best Chinese directors, it was a little naive since I’ve only seen 2046, and I’ve not seen a ton of Chinese movies released before the 90s.  But 2046 was deep enough and had such a good ending, that I saw something great in the director.  Chunking Express just confirms my view of WKW as not only a great director, but a great person.  Chunking Express is a very human story, though admittedly somewhat romanticized, and has all the subtlety and quirkiness of an asian romantic movie without forcing superficiality common to the genre.

The first part of the movie can be a kind of ‘anti-romance’.   There is an honest male protagonist trying to get over his ex, getting no luck or really any satisfaction.  Or is he?  His character is a bit delusional, but if we didn’t know about his past, one might have thought he is doing just fine.  At the end of his story, we have felt most of the emotions in a romantic movie, except the most important, and most superficial one: the ending.  Indeed, WKW gives us a story of what happens if it doesn’t go either way: no one dies, and no one finds their true love.  Although this is an interesting point, it isn’t exactly moving.  Though it does give a good feeling of emptiness left for the second half to fill.

The second part of Chungking Express is where the real meat is.  Faye Wong plays an amazing character (though I have to say I fall for girls with short hair easily!).  She plays the role of a girl who plays a very elaborate game of hard-to-get with a local police officer.  In reality, they both want to be together.  Or do they?  The officer is definitely interested, and probably the movie is over if Faye was up front with him.  But she resorts to almost everything besides direct confrontation.  It is sort of a romance where two people don’t even meet for the majority of the time.  Again WKW gives us the emotions of love without really showing it between the characters.

Chungking Express is the perfect romance for those who don’t actually want romance.  It sounds a bit strange, but actually it’s a very refreshing type of movie that really plays with the genre on a meta- level.  The film itself gives you a need for more, then delivers it with a much more satisfying ending.  The characters are relateable and likeable, Faye is easy to fall in love with, and the city in which they live is perfectly sized.  The action sequences were a bit jarring in the time effects, but this actually keeps the tone of the film from turning too dark or action-oriented.  In the end I was left wanting more (in a good way), and I can’t wait to see my next WKW film.

Bluray notes: the video and audio transfer are superb.  Film grain is left in many scenes, as well as noticeable green lines in the film in a couple shots.  Maybe this was in the original print?

Rating – 5 /5

Title: Equinox Flower
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Year: 1958
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Criterion Eclipse DVD

Equinox Flower doesn’t seem like an Ozu film in plot.  Although the first half of the film sets up the family drama like the two previously reviewed movies (Early Spring and Tokyo Twilight), the tone of Equinox Flower is a large shift from those.  Ozu is showing a similar world to the ones he’s shown before, but with different actions by the protagonists and a very different result.

The father figure is once again the most important character, but this one is more mean than many others by Ozu.  He is more strict and stubborn.  The mother is a very forgiving and diplomatic figure between him and the daughters.  But rather than the daughters making the wrong moves, the father is the one who causes most of the household trouble.

The big tone shift is near the end of the film, where the father gives in to those around him and accept the decisions of his daughter.  Rather than ending in a sad result and having to accept the tragedies of life, Equinox Flower does the opposite.  The unfortunate result, which you may expect from an Ozu film, never happens.  It ends with kind of a “everything will work out” ending.  That isn’t to say Ozu isn’t giving a message to his audience.  Equinox Flower gives its message by telling the viewer how their decisions could work out for the better, rather than how they could turn out for the worst.

Overall, it was a little strange for a drama to be dramatic without a major death or abandonment.  Almost a polar opposite of Tokyo Twilight in this point (though there are several references to the events of Tokyo Twilight in Equinox Flower).  But the “good result” is not always a very cheerful one.  There still seems to linger a kind of stubborn reluctance to appreciate the fortunate turn of events.  The father does not really gain any happiness in life.  He just doesn’t lose it.  Similarly, the film doesn’t move one in a way to act differently, but allows one to more passively see the other side of the balance.  Because of this, one’s appreciation of life are more a result of one’s inner feelings than the events themselves.

Rating: 5 /5

The “official” home reviewing platform of FadedBlue.net reviews has now been upgraded to lossless audio!  Basically got a new receiver.  Thus, bluray reviews will now be done with uncompressed DTS-HD/DD-TrueHD/PCM.  My full home theater now consists of the following:

Playstation 3 (for bluray and region 1/free DVDs) – HDMI
Platstation 2 (for region 3 or other DVDs) – Component/Optical
Yamaha RX-V663
Infinity Primus 6.1 – 1x center, 2×6.5″ fronts, 3×5.25″ surrounds, 12″ sub
Panasonic 42″ 720p plasma

If anyone is interested in my thoughts of the picture/audio quality of specific blurays, please feel free to ask.  Otherwise, I will just mention when it makes a noticeable difference.  I mention the format reviewed at the start of each write-up.  So far, I am impressed with the “high-fidelity” sound of the lossless audio formats.  But it may just be the increased loudness and me trying to justify the new purchase =)

I’ve also made a number of purchases & pre-orders on DVD and bluray, so you may expect most of the following reviews over the next couple months:
Slumdog Millionaire (film)
Equinox Flower (DVD)
Sukiyaki Western Django (bluray)
Chungking Express (bluray)
The Machine Girl (DVD)
Meatball Machine (DVD)
Tokyo Gore Police (DVD)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (bluray)
Death Trance (bluray)