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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 2, 2024 3:13:29 GMT -5
Since berkley brought up in the "New & Upcoming Movie" thread a few days ago, I thought I'd mention here that I just watched Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) last night... In fact, I'd realized when it was mentioned that it was one that I'd never watched all the way through - I caught part of it on TV once a long time ago. Anyway, I liked it well enough - like I said in that other thread, Jarmusch has never disappointed me, but I would consider this one of his 'secondary tier' films, i.e., I found it quite good but not excellent. It's interesting in that it seems like a straight up crime/thriller type movie, but in some ways I think it's a very subtle parody of mafia films. Also, the scenes between Ghost Dog (as played by Forest Whitaker) and his best friend Raymond (played by Isaach de Bankolé), an ice cream man who only speaks French and doesn't understand English (just as Ghost Dog doesn't understand French), are really funny.
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Post by DubipR on Aug 2, 2024 7:34:49 GMT -5
Since berkley brought up in the "New & Upcoming Movie" thread a few days ago, I thought I'd mention here that I just watched Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) last night... In fact, I'd realized when it was mentioned that it was one that I'd never watched all the way through - I caught part of it on TV once a long time ago. Anyway, I liked it well enough - like I said in that other thread, Jarmusch has never disappointed me, but I would consider this one of his 'secondary tier' films, i.e., I found it quite good but not excellent. It's interesting in that it seems like a straight up crime/thriller type movie, but in some ways I think it's a very subtle parody of mafia films. Also, the scenes between Ghost Dog (as played by Forest Whitaker) and his best friend Raymond (played by Isaach de Bankolé), an ice cream man who only speaks French and doesn't understand English (just as Ghost Dog doesn't understand French), are really funny. It's a pretty decent remake of Le Samourai. Great soundtrack by RZA but I still think its in the weaker camp of Jarmusch's filmography.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 2, 2024 20:11:31 GMT -5
I enjoy the film, though I think John Woo's The Killer is a better remake of Le Samourai.
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Post by berkley on Aug 3, 2024 0:38:03 GMT -5
I enjoy the film, though I think John Woo's The Killer is a better remake of Le Samourai. It's been so long since I've seen Ghost Dog, and even longer since The Killer, that I can't judge how similar they are to one another or to Le Samurai, which I just watched a month or two ago. My feeling right now is that they were more "inspired by" than direct remakes of the French film but I'll see what I think next time I watch them. Le Samurai itself made a deep impression this time around - in contrast to my first attempt, on an old-style tv back in the mid-90s - and I think it'll stick in my memory for a good while. I was extremely impressed by all three of the Alain Delon movies I saw back in June - actually, only two of them were really Delon vehicles, Le Samurai (1967) and Le Cercle Rouge (1970); in Red Sun he was just an important supporting player behind the main two leads, Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune. I skipped Plein Soleil, which I had seen before and remembered as "good, not great", but now I wish I had taken the trouble to try it again because after seeing the other three, plus La Piscine/The Swimming Pool last year, I've become much more of a serious fan. I think I had dismissed him, almost subconsciously, as a pretty boy previously - an actor who just got by on his looks - but Piscine really opened my eyes: he played a complex character in that one and did it really well. And now having seen these other three, that feeling has been reinforced. Cercle Rouge, BTW, is an interesting contrast to Samurai, because even though his character is still a loner, he ends up teaming up with another criminal on the run and it really ends up being a story about personal loyalty and honour on both sides of the law, though I this isn't necessarily obvious until near the very end. It also has a very cool heist scene. Delon himself is an interesting character, the more I read about him. The broad outlines of his early years reminds me of Steve McQueen, in a way: a genuine misfit who might well have ended up as a criminal if he hadn't fallen into acting. He had consistently gotten himself into trouble throughout his youth and in his army career and was seems to have been living on the edges of the Parisian underworld when someone in the theatre or film industry got him a part in something.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 3, 2024 1:02:22 GMT -5
I enjoy the film, though I think John Woo's The Killer is a better remake of Le Samourai. It's been so long since I've seen Ghost Dog, and even longer since The Killer, that I can't judge how similar they are to one another or to Le Samurai, which I just watched a month or two ago. My feeling right now is that they were more "inspired by" than direct remakes of the French film but I'll see what I think next time I watch them. Le Samurai itself made a deep impression this time around - in contrast to my first attempt, on an old-style tv back in the mid-90s - and I think it'll stick in my memory for a good while. I was extremely impressed by all three of the Alain Delon movies I saw back in June - actually, only two of them were really Delon vehicles, Le Samurai (1967) and Le Cercle Rouge (1970); in Red Sun he was just an important supporting player behind the main two leads, Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune. I skipped Plein Soleil, which I had seen before and remembered as "good, not great", but now I wish I had taken the trouble to try it again because after seeing the other three, plus La Piscine/The Swimming Pool last year, I've become much more of a serious fan. I think I had dismissed him, almost subconsciously, as a pretty boy previously - an actor who just got by on his looks - but Piscine really opened my eyes: he played a complex character in that one and did it really well. And now having seen these other three, that feeling has been reinforced. Cercle Rouge, BTW, is an interesting contrast to Samurai, because even though his character is still a loner, he ends up teaming up with another criminal on the run and it really ends up being a story about personal loyalty and honour on both sides of the law, though I this isn't necessarily obvious until near the very end. It also has a very cool heist scene. Delon himself is an interesting character, the more I read about him. The broad outlines of his early years reminds me of Steve McQueen, in a way: a genuine misfit who might well have ended up as a criminal if he hadn't fallen into acting. He had consistently gotten himself into trouble throughout his youth and in his army career and was seems to have been living on the edges of the Parisian underworld when someone in the theatre or film industry got him a part in something. I've seen Le Cercle Rouge, but not Red Sun or Plein Soleil. I've always liked Delon and he has a great turn, in Lost Command, as the "conscience" of Anthony Quinn, as well as his verbal sparring partner. The film is about a group of paratroops, first it Dien Bien Phu, who survive the battle and imprisonment after, before being repatriated and reassigned to a new regiment and duty in Algeria, where they hunt a band of rebels, led by a former comrade, played by George Seagal (who is from Algiers and father owned a bus company). It delves into the nastiness of the guerrilla war and the bombings in Algiers, though in a more Hollywood fashion than The Battle of Algiers. Delon is an idealist, who faces compromise of his principles, due to the pressure to put down the rebellion and terror campaign. Quinn, meanwhile, is of peasant stock and seeks promotion, but is bad at politics. It's Quinn's film, but Delon dominates his scenes, even with a powerhouse like Quinn (they feed off each other well). My favorite role, though, was his version of Zorro, which he did for his son, where it is clear that he is having a blast, as the hero, and playing the facade of the foppish Don Diego. Stanley Baker is the villain of the piece and they have a great duel, in the climax. It is set in a fiction Nueva Aragon, instead of California, with little indication of where it is, though probably somewhere in the Americas. I like Jean Pierre Melville's films and not too long ago downloaded a copy of Army of Shadows to watch, based on his own experiences with the Resistance. Love his heist film, Bob le flambeur
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Post by berkley on Aug 3, 2024 2:44:15 GMT -5
It's been so long since I've seen Ghost Dog, and even longer since The Killer, that I can't judge how similar they are to one another or to Le Samurai, which I just watched a month or two ago. My feeling right now is that they were more "inspired by" than direct remakes of the French film but I'll see what I think next time I watch them. Le Samurai itself made a deep impression this time around - in contrast to my first attempt, on an old-style tv back in the mid-90s - and I think it'll stick in my memory for a good while. I was extremely impressed by all three of the Alain Delon movies I saw back in June - actually, only two of them were really Delon vehicles, Le Samurai (1967) and Le Cercle Rouge (1970); in Red Sun he was just an important supporting player behind the main two leads, Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune. I skipped Plein Soleil, which I had seen before and remembered as "good, not great", but now I wish I had taken the trouble to try it again because after seeing the other three, plus La Piscine/The Swimming Pool last year, I've become much more of a serious fan. I think I had dismissed him, almost subconsciously, as a pretty boy previously - an actor who just got by on his looks - but Piscine really opened my eyes: he played a complex character in that one and did it really well. And now having seen these other three, that feeling has been reinforced. Cercle Rouge, BTW, is an interesting contrast to Samurai, because even though his character is still a loner, he ends up teaming up with another criminal on the run and it really ends up being a story about personal loyalty and honour on both sides of the law, though I this isn't necessarily obvious until near the very end. It also has a very cool heist scene. Delon himself is an interesting character, the more I read about him. The broad outlines of his early years reminds me of Steve McQueen, in a way: a genuine misfit who might well have ended up as a criminal if he hadn't fallen into acting. He had consistently gotten himself into trouble throughout his youth and in his army career and was seems to have been living on the edges of the Parisian underworld when someone in the theatre or film industry got him a part in something. I've seen Le Cercle Rouge, but not Red Sun or Plein Soleil. I've always liked Delon and he has a great turn, in Lost Command, as the "conscience" of Anthony Quinn, as well as his verbal sparring partner. The film is about a group of paratroops, first it Dien Bien Phu, who survive the battle and imprisonment after, before being repatriated and reassigned to a new regiment and duty in Algeria, where they hunt a band of rebels, led by a former comrade, played by George Seagal (who is from Algiers and father owned a bus company). It delves into the nastiness of the guerrilla war and the bombings in Algiers, though in a more Hollywood fashion than The Battle of Algiers. Delon is an idealist, who faces compromise of his principles, due to the pressure to put down the rebellion and terror campaign. Quinn, meanwhile, is of peasant stock and seeks promotion, but is bad at politics. It's Quinn's film, but Delon dominates his scenes, even with a powerhouse like Quinn (they feed off each other well). My favorite role, though, was his version of Zorro, which he did for his son, where it is clear that he is having a blast, as the hero, and playing the facade of the foppish Don Diego. Stanley Baker is the villain of the piece and they have a great duel, in the climax. It is set in a fiction Nueva Aragon, instead of California, with little indication of where it is, though probably somewhere in the Americas. I like Jean Pierre Melville's films and not too long ago downloaded a copy of Army of Shadows to watch, based on his own experiences with the Resistance. Love his heist film, Bob le flambeur
Yes, I watched Bob le Flambeur not too long ago at home and plan to keep going with Melville's films in order of release - unless something happens to play at one of the movie theatres around here, in which case of course I'll try to see it regardless of the order. I'll keep Army of Shadows in mind. I dont think I knew about Delon's Zorro or Lost Command either until hearing about them here so I'll watch out for those too..
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Post by berkley on Aug 3, 2024 21:18:00 GMT -5
I watched Serpent of the Nile (1953), directed by William Castle, starring Rhonda Fleming as Cleopatra and Raymond Burr as Marc Antony. Apparently a low-budget affair made very quickly on sets left over from a more prestigious production (Salomé, with Rita Hayworth) but I really enjoyed it. The interior sets look quite good - perhaps those were the ones they were able to use from Salomé. Some of the large-scale external shots do look a bit cheap and unconvincing but this in no way spoiled my enjoyment of the movie as a whole.
Burr is good as Marc Antony - actually I find he's good in pretty much everything I see him in. But it's Rhonda Fleming who's the real attraction in this one: I like her in general and think she was one of the most attractive stars or starlets of the era, but I would particularly recommend this movie to all comics fans because there are a few scenes here in which she looks exactly like a Wally Wood drawing brought to life. I wonder if he was a fan?
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 3, 2024 23:56:42 GMT -5
I watched Serpent of the Nile (1953), directed by William Castle, starring Rhonda Fleming as Cleopatra and Raymond Burr as Marc Antony. Apparently a low-budget affair made very quickly on sets left over from a more prestigious production (Salomé, with Rita Hayworth) but I really enjoyed it. The interior sets look quite good - perhaps those were the ones they were able to use from Salomé. Some of the large-scale external shots do look a bit cheap and unconvincing but this in no way spoiled my enjoyment of the movie as a whole. Burr is good as Marc Antony - actually I find he's good in pretty much everything I see him in. But it's Rhonda Fleming who's the real attraction in this one: I like her in general and think she was one of the most attractive stars or starlets of the era, but I would particularly recommend this movie to all comics fans because there are a few scenes here in which she looks exactly like a Wally Wood drawing brought to life. I wonder if he was a fan? Raymond Burr as Marc Antony? Why do I have this mental picture of an Egyptian set and Raymond Burr in an insert show, saying, "Yes, I see."?
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 4, 2024 9:39:29 GMT -5
Been re-watching an old favorite of mine "Legend Of The Eight Samurai/Satomi Hakken-den" (1983) I remember getting the English dubbed version in a two pack at Walgreens with Sonny Chiba's "The Street Fighter" (which is mainly what I bought it for due to how much I absolutely loved "Return Of The Street Fighter"), but I ended up liking Legend Of The Eight Samurai more. It revolves around the evil Tamazusa who's seeking the heads other clan leaders to appease her god, but they're missing Princess Satomi. After escaping from a samurai with dishonorable intentions named Shinbei, Satomi is recused by two men who claim to be the descendants of the Satomi clans retainers. They tell her the history of her clan and how Tamazusa met her demise before returning. They then show Satomi their crystals and tell her that in order to have a chance, they need find six more It's a charmingly simple movie that's made more enjoyable by the 80's rock soundtrack that gives it the flavor of an American "sword and sorcery" film from the same era. Unfortunately, the original English dub is kind of being lost to time, I'm just grateful that I still have my old DVD copy
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 4, 2024 17:38:33 GMT -5
My wife wanted to see a French film yesterday so we opted for 2006's The Innocents, available on Tubi.
It's a very simple story but also a moving one. Its slow pace gives it credibility, as does the outstanding work of several actors. It's a film about loss coming from an unexpected corner, and about how life is not always what we are certain that it is.
Spoiler space in case you want to see it.
French jewellery designer Dominique is in a successful partnership with his handsome and charismatic childhood friend Jean-Paul. Married twenty years and father of a teenage girl, Dominique seems to be a quiet, gentle and dependable guy. Then suddenly, his wife dies while crossing the street without looking. The tragedy naturally has a huge impact on him and on his daughter, who in her grief blames him for not having been more present for his family. In a series of flashbacks, we see Dominique's kind of clumsy courting of his wife, who we learned did not enjoy sexual relations... something Dominique never com0lained about, so in love was he.
A police lieutenant who had the hard task of telling Dominique about the accident worries about the man's health, and stays in touch with him. The driver, guilt-ridden, has suffered a nervous breakdown; he was not speeding, he was sober, and Dominique's wife's death does look like an unfortunate accident. The only thing is... what was she doing in the 16th arrondissement at 3 in the afternoon?
Dominique finds a witness of the accident, a hotel clerk who tried to help the victim as she lay on the ground. He had just helped a client to a taxi, and can vouch that there was nobody else on either sidewalk, except for another witness. This testimony leads Dominique to conclude that his wife, who seemingly suddenly appeared on the street before being hit, must have just come out of one of the nearby buildings. A quick inquiry to the neighbours tells him that his wife had had a secret love nest there for more than a decade, which she shared with Jean-Paul.
Jean-Paul does not deny the affair and explains that he was a selfish womanizer as a youth, and that it is only after Dominique's wife accepted the latter's proposal (to get some stability and to get back at her flighty lover) that Jean-Paul realized he truly loved her. To punish himself for his stupidity, he had married another woman... even if the two lovers maintained a serious affair. Not wanting to ruin kindly Dominique's life, his wife never told h8m the truth and never considered divorcing him.
Angry but self-possessed, Dominique states that Jean-Paul's obvious pain is all the revenge he needs. He doesn't even want to establish whether his daughter is really his; he loves her, and that is all that matters mow. He can then move on, still sad, but free of guilt and doubt.
The script is adapted from a novel by Georges Simenon, and the dialogue is bless fully free of clichés and one-liners; it is very French in its nature. The actors are very good, and the care taken to select a mother-daughter pair who look strikingly like each other was very welcome.
A surprisingly good film for a simple story, and one I will remember.
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Post by tartanphantom on Aug 4, 2024 20:51:12 GMT -5
My wife wanted to see a French film yesterday so we opted for 2006's The Innocents, available on Tubi. It's a very simple story but also a moving one. Its slow pace gives it credibility, as does the outstanding work of several actors. It's a film about loss coming from an unexpected corner, and about how life is not always what we are certain that it is. Spoiler space in case you want to see it. French jewellery designer Dominique is in a successful partnership with his handsome and charismatic childhood friend Jean-Paul. Married twenty years and father of a teenage girl, Dominique seems to be a quiet, gentle and dependable guy. Then suddenly, his wife dies while crossing the street without looking. The tragedy naturally has a huge impact on him and on his daughter, who in her grief blames him for not having been more present for his family. In a series of flashbacks, we see Dominique's kind of clumsy courting of his wife, who we learned did not enjoy sexual relations... something Dominique never com0lained about, so in love was he. A police lieutenant who had the hard task of telling Dominique about the accident worries about the man's health, and stays in touch with him. The driver, guilt-ridden, has suffered a nervous breakdown; he was not speeding, he was sober, and Dominique's wife's death does look like an unfortunate accident. The only thing is... what was she doing in the 16th arrondissement at 3 in the afternoon? Dominique finds a witness of the accident, a hotel clerk who tried to help the victim as she lay on the ground. He had just helped a client to a taxi, and can vouch that there was nobody else on either sidewalk, except for another witness. This testimony leads Dominique to conclude that his wife, who seemingly suddenly appeared on the street before being hit, must have just come out of one of the nearby buildings. A quick inquiry to the neighbours tells him that his wife had had a secret love nest there for more than a decade, which she shared with Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul does not deny the affair and explains that he was a selfish womanizer as a youth, and that it is only after Dominique's wife accepted the latter proposal (to get some stability and to get back at her flighty lover) that Jean-Paul realized he truly loved her. To punish himself for his stupidity, he had married another woman... even if the two lovers maintained a serious affair. Not wanting to ruin kindly Dominique's life, his wife never told h8m the truth and never considered divorcing him. Angry but self-possessed, Dominique states that Jean-Paul's obvious pain is all the revenge he needs. He doesn't even want to establish whether his daughter is really his; he loves her, and that is all that matters mow. He can then move on, still sad, but free of guilt and doubt. The script is adapted from a novel by Georges Simenon, and the dialogue is bless fully free of clichés and one-liners; it is very French in its nature. The actors are very good, and the care taken to select a mother-daughter pair who look strikingly like each other was very welcome. A surprisingly good film for a simple story, and one I will remember.
Thanks for the pre-emptory clarification on the plot and the source material. For a moment, I thought someone had done a re-make of the 1961 Deborah Kerr film of the same name, which itself was based on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw and is a personal favorite of mine. I couldn't imagine anyone re-making that classic and pulling it off well.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 4, 2024 21:10:56 GMT -5
Georges Simenon is also the author of the Maigret detective novels, for a bit of context. He published over 400 novels, 21 volumes of memoirs and numerous short stories and is one of the giants of modern French literature, though he was Belgian, actually.
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Post by berkley on Aug 5, 2024 0:08:43 GMT -5
Been re-watching an old favorite of mine "Legend Of The Eight Samurai/Satomi Hakken-den" (1983) I remember getting the English dubbed version in a two pack at Walgreens with Sonny Chiba's "The Street Fighter" (which is mainly what I bought it for due to how much I absolutely loved "Return Of The Street Fighter"), but I ended up liking Legend Of The Eight Samurai more. It revolves around the evil Tamazusa who's seeking the heads other clan leaders to appease her god, but they're missing Princess Satomi. After escaping from a samurai with dishonorable intentions named Shinbei, Satomi is recused by two men who claim to be the descendants of the Satomi clans retainers. They tell her the history of her clan and how Tamazusa met her demise before returning. They then show Satomi their crystals and tell her that in order to have a chance, they need find six more It's a charmingly simple movie that's made more enjoyable by the 80's rock soundtrack that gives it the flavor of an American "sword and sorcery" film from the same era. Unfortunately, the original English dub is kind of being lost to time, I'm just grateful that I still have my old DVD copy This is totally new to me so thanks for reviewing it. I like the sounds of it so I'll be having a look around for it, especially since I've been doing some other 80s viewing lately, which I should mention here some time as I've caught some good ones that I hadn't see before.
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Post by berkley on Aug 5, 2024 0:15:41 GMT -5
I'll be away for a couple weeks in the middle of August and unfortunately I'm going to miss some great movies - they're showing 4 Audrey Hepburns (Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Charade) and 4 Malcolm MacDowells (If ..., O Lucky Man, Caligula, and one other as yet un-named A Clockwork Orange, as one would expect) at the same place they played the Alain Delon and Sam Peckinpah films recently, among others. I'll be able to see one or two of each after I get back later in the month but will miss most of them.
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 5, 2024 8:31:56 GMT -5
This is totally new to me so thanks for reviewing it. I like the sounds of it so I'll be having a look around for it, especially since I've been doing some other 80s viewing lately, which I should mention here some time as I've caught some good ones that I hadn't see before. Oh, it made for some truly glorious viewing for 15/16 year old me back in the day (and started a love affair with bargin dvds that's continued into adulthood). The dubbing isn't bad, more like "serviceable". If you've seen the dubs for Chiba's Street Fighter series, it's on the same level
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