Saw a Takashi Miike picture called The Great Yokai War. "Yokai" is a Japanese term for monsters from folklore, as opposed to the more familiar kaiju. It's a kids' picture, about a young boy from Tokyo sent out to live in the countryside with his older sister and his intermittently senile grandfather. When a vengeful spirit appears, the boy gets caught up in a war between warring groups of yokai and must find his courage to become the "Kirin Rider", the hero who will set everything to rights. It's not a bad picture - nothing deep, but an amusing story. Some of the yokai are really trippy, Japanese folklore can get pretty "out there", apparently.
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The Baron > Jeff of Earth-JNovember 20, 2024 at 11:27pm
After that, I napped for a while.
The Baron > Jeff of Earth-JNovember 21, 2024 at 6:24am
More seriously, I liked it a lot. There was a lot in it that was reminiscent of the first two Showa Era Godzilla films, what with the heroic pilot, and the out-there method concocted of dealing with Big Goji. The human characters were interesting and engaging, too, which you don't always get in these pictures. And of course, the great Ifukube themes.
The Witness (2015):I have been using the actual story of Kitty Genovese in my presentations at urban folklore for some years now. I've done the research and, of course, read the excellent book by Kevin Cook, but I hadn't seen this documentary until now. One of Kitty's brothers-- the family rarely talked about the case-- goes on a journey to find out who his sister was. He begins with the standard "Bystander effect" version of the story, which he grew up believing, and gradually learns is wildly inaccurate. Along the way, we learn a lot more about his sister, who has become more a symbol than a human being. We see some of the final public interactions with her killer (he died a year after they made this doc, still in prison). We hear from some of the story's most-forgotten people. He interviews Sopia Fillat, the woman who went out to comfort Kitty while the emergency vehicles were en route, and we hear (but do not, by request, see) Kitty's then-partner, Mary Ann Zielonko (who died earlier this year). It's worth seeing. We also see the significant impact on the family of Kitty's death, and the impact, specifically, on this particular brother. He made life-changing decisions because of how he believed his sister had died.
The Tin Drum (1979): I finally saw the controversial (especially at the time) and disturbing film about the life in Germany during the rise and fall of the Nazis. Well-made, problematic, and it definitely communicates what it's like to be at ground level on the losing side of a world-changing war.
Bully, Coward, Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn (2019): A documentary. What it says on the box, but mostly “bully.” One of his most apt pupils returns to public office later this year.
The Maltese Falcon (1941): a rewatch, of course, but it has been some time. I think I'd like to finally see the 1931 pre-code adaptation.
The Maltese Falcon (1941): a rewatch, of course, but it has been some time. I think I'd like to finally see the 1931 pre-code adaptation.
I like both adaptations. I particularly like the ending of the 1931 version. In the Bogart version, it seems that he has fallen in love with the evil Brigid O'Shaughnessy. In the 1931 version, he is clearly mocking her. I've been enjoying several Ricardo Cortez movies. He was a Jewish actor they tried to market as another Latin lover.
JD DeLuzio > Richard WillisNovember 24, 2024 at 10:31am
I don't know that 1931 is only mocking her, at least in the epilogue.
It's not a bad adaptation, and they use much of the script in 1941. It's sexier, has far less queer subtext, and it reveals its era in so many ways. We're pre-Hayes Code, so they could get away with things that they could not in '41. It's early in the sound era, so exterior shooting is minimal. The film includes two passing Chinese-American characters, one of whom plays a significant role. This Sam speaks some version of Chinese fluently. 萨姆知道凶手的身份. 这一事实使他随后的行动变得混乱.
This version doesn't have an opening crawl that messes up history by confusing the Knights Hospitaller / Knights of the Hospital of St. John with the Knights Templar. We don't know of the existence of the falcon (except because of the title) until some ways into the movie.
The acting is generally fine, but the characters don't have that iconic presence of their '41 counterparts. That's a tough cast to top for a Noir. Sam Spade, in particular, is better-dressed but lacks the world-weariness and presence of Bogie's version. Even when Bogie's Spade is being kind of a dick (and not in the "private eye" sense), he was interesting. I found Cortez' Smilin' Sam to be just dickish, overconfident, and not that interesting.
The direction is better in '41, though I note some similarities in the shots and angles.
Watched Paranoiac (1963), the penultimate film in my 8-film Hammer collection. I wish I could get that hour and 45 minutes back. Hammer movies are pretty famous, so they must get better at some point. Do they get better at some point?
Replies
Finally saw Godzilla Minus One (2023).
And...?
After that, I napped for a while.
More seriously, I liked it a lot. There was a lot in it that was reminiscent of the first two Showa Era Godzilla films, what with the heroic pilot, and the out-there method concocted of dealing with Big Goji. The human characters were interesting and engaging, too, which you don't always get in these pictures. And of course, the great Ifukube themes.
This is excellent.
(And so was the film, on a fraction of the budget of the recent American Godzillas)
The Witness (2015):I have been using the actual story of Kitty Genovese in my presentations at urban folklore for some years now. I've done the research and, of course, read the excellent book by Kevin Cook, but I hadn't seen this documentary until now. One of Kitty's brothers-- the family rarely talked about the case-- goes on a journey to find out who his sister was. He begins with the standard "Bystander effect" version of the story, which he grew up believing, and gradually learns is wildly inaccurate. Along the way, we learn a lot more about his sister, who has become more a symbol than a human being. We see some of the final public interactions with her killer (he died a year after they made this doc, still in prison). We hear from some of the story's most-forgotten people. He interviews Sopia Fillat, the woman who went out to comfort Kitty while the emergency vehicles were en route, and we hear (but do not, by request, see) Kitty's then-partner, Mary Ann Zielonko (who died earlier this year). It's worth seeing. We also see the significant impact on the family of Kitty's death, and the impact, specifically, on this particular brother. He made life-changing decisions because of how he believed his sister had died.
The Tin Drum (1979): I finally saw the controversial (especially at the time) and disturbing film about the life in Germany during the rise and fall of the Nazis. Well-made, problematic, and it definitely communicates what it's like to be at ground level on the losing side of a world-changing war.
Bully, Coward, Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn (2019): A documentary. What it says on the box, but mostly “bully.” One of his most apt pupils returns to public office later this year.
The Maltese Falcon (1941): a rewatch, of course, but it has been some time. I think I'd like to finally see the 1931 pre-code adaptation.
JD DeLuzio said:
The Maltese Falcon (1941): a rewatch, of course, but it has been some time. I think I'd like to finally see the 1931 pre-code adaptation.
I like both adaptations. I particularly like the ending of the 1931 version. In the Bogart version, it seems that he has fallen in love with the evil Brigid O'Shaughnessy. In the 1931 version, he is clearly mocking her. I've been enjoying several Ricardo Cortez movies. He was a Jewish actor they tried to market as another Latin lover.
I don't know that 1931 is only mocking her, at least in the epilogue.
It's not a bad adaptation, and they use much of the script in 1941. It's sexier, has far less queer subtext, and it reveals its era in so many ways. We're pre-Hayes Code, so they could get away with things that they could not in '41. It's early in the sound era, so exterior shooting is minimal. The film includes two passing Chinese-American characters, one of whom plays a significant role. This Sam speaks some version of Chinese fluently. 萨姆知道凶手的身份. 这一事实使他随后的行动变得混乱.
This version doesn't have an opening crawl that messes up history by confusing the Knights Hospitaller / Knights of the Hospital of St. John with the Knights Templar. We don't know of the existence of the falcon (except because of the title) until some ways into the movie.
The acting is generally fine, but the characters don't have that iconic presence of their '41 counterparts. That's a tough cast to top for a Noir. Sam Spade, in particular, is better-dressed but lacks the world-weariness and presence of Bogie's version. Even when Bogie's Spade is being kind of a dick (and not in the "private eye" sense), he was interesting. I found Cortez' Smilin' Sam to be just dickish, overconfident, and not that interesting.
The direction is better in '41, though I note some similarities in the shots and angles.
I'm glad I saw it, but '41 is a superior film.
Watched Paranoiac (1963), the penultimate film in my 8-film Hammer collection. I wish I could get that hour and 45 minutes back. Hammer movies are pretty famous, so they must get better at some point. Do they get better at some point?
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