Belle de Jour

1967 fantasy

Rating: 17/20

Plot: The sexually aloof wife of a doctor decides to take an afternoon job at a brothel.

"Semen retentum venenum est." If I had that line in my arsenal growing up, I might have gotten laid before my 25th birthday.

Tarantino probably likes this movie because it's got a ton of shots of Catherine Deneuve's feet. That's not exactly why I like it. I like it because of its mystery. This movie blends the line between reality and fantasy, between the humdrummery of everyday life and the free-floating exuberance of a life of dreams. Bunuel, unsurprisingly, uses this woman's story to dick around with his audience's minds, and he's one of the best ever at doing that. And he's probably the best candidate to take us on a little tour of the titular whore's dream/reality mash-up. Bunuel certainly creates an interesting rhythm with her journey, and rhythmic sound effects--bells, a few clocks, an ambulance, waves--seem to suggest something, but it's that kind of something that's just out of reach. You know, like in a dream. Catherine Deneuve's classic pretty face is perfect for the character, and I don't know if it's something she does or just her basic shapes and tones, but she's got just the right of naughtiness mixed in with this innocence. I also liked Pierre Clementi as bad-boy Marcel, a guy who either has a grill or forgot to take off his Jaws (James Bond villain--not the shark) Halloween costume. Jean Sorel makes a good schmuck, and shady friend Husson is played shadily enough by Michel Piccoli. And there are a few whores to add a little bit of color. This is a more adult Bunuel for better or worse, one who is not at his most audaciously playful, but its poetic eroticism makes it float. And who can pass up a glance through a peephole into Deneuve's subconscious?

Down by Law

1986 somnambulistic Three Stooges movie

Rating: 18/20

Plot: A former D.J., a pimp, and an Italian immigrant wind up in the same jail cell where they chant about ice cream and plan a break-out. Then, they break out.

These Jarmusch films sneak up on you. The genius of them, that is, tapping you on the shoulder and then doing a funny little shuffling dance step when you turn to look. Or sometimes just flashing you a goofy thumbs-up sign and giggling. The genius of Jarmusch is in how he uses the silent moments, spaces. The same part of me that likes the poetic and quietly slow perfection of a baseball game is the part of me that loves Down by Law and Stranger than Paradise. You get space to deal with your own thoughts, crawl in there with the characters, soak in the gray details. Jarmusch is also so good at taking advantage of his settings, here the dirty city and almost hauntingly empty streets (A quick thought: I was surprised to see so many names in the credits. As with his other movies, Jarmusch doesn't waste much time showing us superfluous characters. He's got to have some kind of record for lowest extras to movie ratio.), the architecture, a very limited and sparse jail cell, the bayou. There's just so much for me to love here that I wonder if Jarmusch made this movie just for me--an oily street littered with Tom's broken records and discarded things, the prostitute's giggle after the "bygones be bygones" line, the punky guy, that long pan over the prison bars over Lurie's "fake jazz," the mention of Beepy Rapozo and the imagining of all this insane shit, a brawl scene that makes think I could take Tom Waits in a fight if we came to blows, Waits in a hairnet (a dream come true), the appearance of Benigni and how he changes the film's tone and brings a little sizzle, Benigni's standing around and failed attempts to talk to Lurie and Waits (classic Jarmusch here), the line "Cigarettes don't help with hiccups, not in this country," the aforementioned nutty "I scream for ice cream" scene that makes me smile whenever I think about it just because there's not another director alive who would put that on the screen, Tom Waits' unnatural but engrossing performance that I can't take my eyes off (a scene where Jack tells him that he's going east and Tom gives a little twitch of his hand--it's a brilliant twitch!), "Jack! Jack! Do you have some fire?", the way Waits says "Bob," the amatory dance in the cafe, a sinking row boat, the final Bob Frostian shot that is almost overwhelmingly beautiful and sad. If you don't at least like this movie, I don't want anything to do with you.

Summer of Nicolas Cage Movie #16: Rumble Fish

1983 movie made by Nic's Uncle Francis

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Rusty James is the younger brother of legendary gang leader [The] Motorcycle Boy, a 20-something who is on sabbatical in California. Upon The Motorcycle Boy's return, Rusty James is trying his best to keep the gang and its various activities going. Meanwhile, he's balancing love and hedonism and knife fights with a rival gang. But time's are changing, his older brother just doesn't seem into it all anymore, and it might be time for Rusty James to grow up. Rusty James!

I wonder if the name "Rusty James" is said more in this than "Man" is said in The Big Lebowski. I'm surprised I liked this one as much as I did. It's got dimensions, one of those you can enjoy on a lot of different levels. There's style to spare--black 'n' white and smoke machines and greasy shadows in dank settings and time-lapsed cloud drift and fish color splashes and shots straight out of German Expressionism. It's enough style to take this out of realistic territory and place its goings-on firmly in this imaginary movie land. I suppose that could distract, but I dug it as a sort of experimental film for teeny-boppers. I really should have seen this movie in high school. The largely rhythmic soundtrack by Stewart Copeland (apparently, a policeman) perfectly compliments the experimental tone and this streetwise otherwordliness. I could play it for you, and you'd guess it was from an 80's movie, but it didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth like so many other soundtracks from that era. In fact, I think I'm going to illegally download it! I enjoyed the leads, Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke, the latter just exuding coolness, although I don't think I'd go as far as saying either of their performances was really good. I don't know; maybe I would. You've got a nice collective of performers playing the periphery characters as well. Dennis Hopper is really good in a small role as the boys' dad. Sofia Coppola is also in this briefly, making it a real family affair. Chris Penn, Laurence Fishburne (playing a character named Midget), our hero Nicolas Cage play Hollywood thugs. Even author S.E. Hinton's got a cameo as a whore. Of course, the real treat for me is seeing Tom Waits and Nicolas Cage on the screen at the same time. Waits plays, naturally, the owner of a pool hall, growling at the teens who don't use his furniture appropriately and getting a nifty monologue about time that sits near the heart of this movie. Speaking of time, there sure are a lot of clocks in this movie. I think there's a shot of a clock in every single scene which makes perfect sense (along with those clouds I mentioned before) since this has so much to do thematically with time and how it passes us by. Rumble Fish is a treat for the eyes and ears, and although Coppola takes a lot of chances with the way he shares the story, he doesn't sacrifice its heart or central message. Cool flick!

Note: I'm currently reading The Outsiders for teaching purposes. Tom Waits is also in Coppola's version of that Hinton book, but Nicolas Cage is not.

Correction: Stewart Copeland was a member of a band called The Police. He was not an actual policeman.

The Naked Kiss

1964 whore movie

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 15/20)

Plot: Bald Kelly doesn't want to be a prostitute anymore, so she beats up her pimp and flees to dinky Grantville to hopefully start a new life. After sleeping with a cop fifteen minutes after her arrival, she settles down and gets herself an honest job at a hospital where she plays pirate with little boys and girls and sings some creepy songs. She meets herself a rich guy named Grant and accepts his marriage proposal. But is Grant really all that he seems to be? And will Kelly's past come back to haunt her?

More unrealistic Simon Fuller pulp, but this one's not as campily dated or as unintentionally humorous as Shock Corridor. In retrospect, I was probably a little too hard on that movie, by the way. The story and where it takes its hookers, cops, and big spenders is a good one, but I wish it had more of an edge. Seems like for a mid-60's flick, it could have. It's like the aforementioned tale of crazy people, this is daring and cutting-edge for the squares, something that's well written but still very very written, a movie that takes chances thematically but not necessarily cinematically. 1964 is before my time, but I imagine some of the subject matter The Naked Kiss addresses would have been pretty provocative. But it's all presented safely, whitebreadedly. It certainly opens with a bang with a scene that was likely Britney Spears' inspiration to shave her head and attack a paparazzo's vehicle with an umbrella in one of my favorite Britney Spears moments ever. And there are some great scenes here and there including some nice moody lighting effects. My favorite scene: a weird musical number with Constance Towers and a bunch of handicapped children wearing pirate hats.

The Last Detail

1973 movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Two Navy lifers have to transport an inexperienced kid to a Marine prison because he tried to steal forty dollars. Along the way, they decide to treat him to one last good time for his eight year sentence begins.

Perhaps I'm a dope, but I was sold on the authenticity with this one. I imagined that this is exactly what life in the Navy was like in the 1970's. Jack Nicholson distracts me in nearly every movie he's in, but he, Otis Young, and Randy Quaid (speaking of dopes) delivered realistic portrayals of Navy men at similar but completely different points of life--being young and fearful of losing freedoms you always imagined you'd have and being older and feeling trapped by your decisions and dismayed at the ennui. The dialogue is crispy and sometimes lewdly funny, and the rapport between the three men develops perfectly as they travel together and trash hotel rooms, locate whores, drink, drink again, and enjoy the perfect fifty cent sandwich. If nothing else, this movie made me want to grow a mustache, wear one of those Navy hats around, smoke a big cigar, and say things like "Grab your cocks and drop your socks! We're going to party!" An entertaining and different sort of buddy road movie. Oh, and before I get angry comments from the Randy Quaid Appreciation Society, I'm not saying that he's a dumb guy or anything. His performance here as a mild dope (as opposed to the absurdly dopey or mentally challenged dopey characters he seems destined to play) is very good, and I found it very easy to identify with his character. So get off my back, Randy Quaid Appreciation Society. Get off my motherfucking back.

I Am Cuba

1964 Soviet/Cuban film

Rating: 18/20

Plot: Cuba, circa revolution. There are four stories here. The first shows Cuba's most destitute juxtaposed with the rich enjoying the festivities at an American night club and one bearded guy's night with a prostitute. The second deals with a sugar cane farmer who is about to lose his property. The third concerns the conflict between rebellious students and the authorities, and the final part is about a farmer being pressured to join rebel forces in the mountains.

Although there was very obviously an agenda here and although this could be used to teach about a variety of propaganda techniques, I really really enjoyed watching this beautiful film. It's a visual feast, and there were countless times when I thought, "Wait a second. Cameras just aren't supposed to do that." This 2 1/2 hour movie is just stuffed with the most elaborate and complex shots, long shots with hundreds of people, numerous props, and a variety of architectural or natural obstacles. One example is during a funeral scene. The camera follows a coffin ahead of a funeral procession through the streets. Then it stops and starts moving several stories upward along the side of a building. From there it moves vertically, across the street into another building where people are making cigars which, as I understand it, is all people in Cuba do. It then moves forward through the room until it reaches the window where it is supposed to stop. But it doesn't. It keeps going and going, hovering above the middle of the street for a while. It's ridiculously amazing, and there are lots of shots like this--cameras diving into water, meandering through swarms of folks at a night club, wandering slums dizzyingly with a character, swimming through the flames of a field, stumbling around a farm decimated by bombs. There's poetic realism to the proceedings, and one could almost mistake this for a documentary. It's such an intimate portrait of, well, at least what the filmmakers see as Cuba and its people. Absolutely amazing and highly recommended.

My Own Private Idaho

1991 gay movie

Rating: 12/20

Plot: In this unpopular sequel to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted decide to become male prostitutes in late 18th Century Philadelphia. Bill winds up with Yellow Fever and Ted can't stop laughing at him. "Look at your eyes, Bill! Look at 'em!" Eventually, Hitler comes along in his own time machine, and the boys, following the miraculous recover of Bill, have to stop him from using a nuclear weapon to blow up Roosevelt's ancestors and change the historical future. Oh, snap!

I can't be the only person who thinks this movie is uninspiring and flat, right? Bad acting and Shakespearean pomp suck the life out of this one, and I don't care for how this one meanders. Most, I'd assume, would find this whole ordeal pretentious, but I do like how a lot of it looks with Van Sant creating this dreamy aura while experimenting both sonically and visually. There's just too much distraction in this art schoolish affair that keeps the story from really having an emotional impact.

Shoot the Piano Player!

1960 French American gangster movie

Rating: 17/2o

Plot: Charlie's plays piano nightly in a jazz club before going home to sleep with his neighbor, a prostitute, and take care of his much younger brother. He's got a past, part of which includes playing concert piano and being in love, but in his present, he just wants to blend in, be shy, exist subtly. His older brother busts in one night looking for help as two guys he and the other older brother cheated out of money are after him. One of them wears a hat; the other wears a cap. Charlie and the waitress who loves him get involved in the mess.

Truffaut's follow-up to The 400 Blows is a neat blend of whimsy and drama. My favorite parts of this are the unnecessary parts, the bits that don't really seem to belong and may even distract from the main narrative but add a color or a texture that make this memorable. I know nothing about French actors, but I really like the guy who plays the title pianist. I also like the interior monologue that pops up every once in a while, mostly when he's with the waitress character. Great flick!

The Lodger

1944 thriller

Rating: 16/20

Plot: In this hilarious prequel to the television sitcom Three's Company, Jack Tripper is on the loose in London, spilling the blood of showgirls and whores and fooling Mr. Furley into thinking he's gay. It works because he's British and went to good schools and therefore fairly gayish. Scotland Yard gets involved after a scam involving Thighmaster knock-offs rips off some large-thighed and desperate women.

Shadows and fog, fog and shadows. Moments lag, but when this thing's good, it's really good. Very atmospheric right from the opening scene where the camera floats over a moody street littered with shadows of policemen and drunkards. I like how the camera moves in this one, and the acting (almost over the top) is good. There are some great scenes here--an awesome finale, a a killing, another killing. I've not seen the original version of this (silent Hitchcock). This has the style and feel of a silent film actually. The one main difference, I suppose, is that the characters talk a lot in this one.

The Spook Who Sat by the Door

1973 sociopolitical action flick

Rating: 12/20

Plot: Dan Freeman becomes the CIA's first black agent by mixing an Uncle Tom 'tude, his natural athletic ability, his intelligence, and more than a little hard work. Little do they-who-sort-of-wanted-integration know, Freeman was simply absorbing the training so that he could train young angry black men and put a little scare into whitey. Oh, snap! It's war!

Well, it's a conversation starter, I guess. Not a very slick production and far too much talking for an action movie, but it's still a fascinating thing to watch. There's such a hostility. I bet this was absolutely terrifying to white American upon its release. I liked the parallels between Freeman's training and his subsequent training of his own "agents," and I did think some of the action scenes were well filmed, especially given what must have been a B-movie budget. Editing was needed though as some of the scenes were superfluous and a lot of the character development completely pointless. If this movie had Dolemite in it, by the way, it would have been one of the best movies of the 70's!

McCabe and Mrs. Miller

1971 anti-western

Rating: 18/20

Plot: An ambitious businessman moves into a growing town in the American Northwest with the hopes of opening up his own brothel/gambling facility/eatery. A high-class and business-savvy prostitute comes along and makes him a proposition. Together, they open up and operate the finest house o' whores (The International House of Whores) them parts had ever seen. All's good until Wal-mart sends some of its thugs to buy out McCabe. After they make him a few offers that he can refuse, they move on to Plan B that involves sending a halfbreed in a goatskin coat, a giant, and a kid to kill him. Oh, snap!

Love this movie. The Cohen soundtrack (really, just three repeated songs), the poetic violence, the writing, the acting, the continually evolving set (the town was built as they filmed), the atmosphere. It's all great. There are only a few movies I can think of that have such a consistent tone--the colors, the impending sense of doom, a damp heaviness. I'm reminded of last year's There Will Be Blood actually, both with that consistent tone and the themes involving business, religion, and drinking milkshakes. Both Warren Beatty and Julie Christie were great, but I also love all the typical fringe characters who brought nuances and texture to the little brown town. As expected, Altman drops the American western on its head, and the result is something that left me speechless. Knowing Altman can do no wrong, I think I need to give second chances to Brewster McCloud and maybe Gosford Park.

The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe

1972 martial arts spaghetti western

Rating: 12/20

Plot: It's the 1880's, and Joe decides to immigrate from China to San Francisco to look for a fresh start in America. He encounters racism immediately, and the prejudice and hatred continue as he travels by stagecoach to Texas and looks for work as a cowboy on a ranch. He finally lands a job, but aiding in the transport of Mexican slaves isn't exactly up his alley. He decides to help the Mexicans instead, so the owner puts a price on Shanghai Joe's head. The promise of 5,000 dollars sends bounty hunters named Pedro the Cannibal, Tricky the Gambler, and Scalper Jack after our hero and his fighting fists.

It's a martial arts spaghetti western with Klaus Kinski playing a guy named Scalper Jack. I don't see how anything else needs to be said. Joe's high-flying antics and groan (it's a groan that rivals Bruce's bird tweets) are fun to watch, more fun perhaps in the western setting. There's some incredibly violent scenes (impaling, eyes torn out, scalps) and a nice mix of the Asian philosophy with the rugged ideals of the American West. Pretty cool characters, too! This movie has an abundance of funk! I highly recommend this to anybody who likes this kind of crap.

Believe it or not, this was a gift from one of my students.

Westworld

1973 science fiction western

Rating: 10/20

Plot: For the low cost of 1,000 bucks a day, vacationers can stay at an adult amusement park to get the ultimate experience in virtual reality. They have their choice between Westworld where they can play cowboys and Indians, Romanworld, and a medieval world. A homosexual couple, neither who are Burt Reynolds, decide to visit Westworld. They're having a great time shooting up robots, having sex with robots, and doing other things that cowboys do like robots until those robots start malfunctioning and killing everybody. Then they have to ask for their money back. Yee-haw!

I'm sure Yul Brynner went to his grave proud of his work in this one. Not only is he just phoning in his role from The Magnificent Seven (same costume, I believe!), but he dies like a pansy about thirty-seven times in this movie. This is incredibly dated and stupid on almost every level. Couldn't stand either of the main characters or their stupid hair/moustaches, and somebody should be embarrassed about the B-western action choreography. The main character runs like a girl! The man-on-android action was nothing but a tease. Twice I laughed loudly enough to wake Jennifer up. Westworld is a science fiction western made by people who know nothing about science or westerns. More plot holes here than a sponge's biopic! Yee-haw! Apparently, this is going to be remade. That has Academy Award written all over it!

Note: I would have given this a 14/20 if Yul Brynner would have jerked around on the floor after his deaths. I've always wanted to see Yul Brynner jerk around on the floor.

Here I am:

Unforgiven

1992 western

Rating: 17/20

Plot: Will Munny's killed a lot of folk--women, children, anything that walks or crawls--but hasn't shot at a man or drank alcohol for over ten years. Instead, he's tried his best to settle into farm life with a wife and two children. His wife dies and his struggles on the farm escalate at around the same time a young buck visits him with a proposition. The self-named Schofield Kid wants to partner up with Munny to hunt down a couple cowboys who cut up a prostitute. He initially declines but eventually, with old partner Ned, meets up with the kid to travel to Big Whisky. Little Bill, the sheriff in Big Whisky, isn't happy about the prostitutes' bounty and tries his best to rid his town of assassins.

Near-classic has great acting (Hackman being the most memorable although Richard Harris is also enjoyable), great characters, great dialogue, and great visuals. There isn't much wasted here. Well, I don't care for the prologue and epilogue bookends. Beautifully structured with cranky poetry, dusty existentialism, and bloody mysticism.

Summertime is here. Summer is the season of the western. Here I am watching the first of probably many:

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades

1972 third part of the baby cart series

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A more complex story here as Itto and child are still fending off attacks from the Yagyu clan while encountering a troubled prostitute, a troubled ronin, and a troubled man missing an arm. Itto is employed to take out a corrupt district deputy, and after defeating a sharpshooter, some ninjas, and a guy who boasted of his flying sword technique, he faces an entire army of archers, gunmen, and sword wielders with tricks both up his sleeve and in his baby cart. Absolute carnage.

Perhaps more emphasis on developing the character than on action although there is plenty of the latter and the highest body count of any film of the series so far. It's also the most Western (as in, spaghetti) so far, and one of my only gripe would be that Itto uses guns at one point. I'm not sure why that bothers me though. There's philosophical depth, humor, tension, slicing, and dicing, and it's pretty much all a guy can ask for on Samurai Friday.

As usual with Samurai Friday, no picture is available.

Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman

1971 Asian genre-blending action flick

Rating: 15/20

Plot: The one-armed swordsman, Wang Kong, is travelling in Japan to receive martial arts training with some monks. He meets a family of three and decides to travel with them. They come across what appears to be a funeral procession which the young boy disrupts. The mother and father are killed immediately, and Wang Kong slashes up some people and runs off with the child. Zatoichi stumbles along and agrees to travel with them despite their language barrier. Misunderstandings lead to distrust as the blind Zatoichi and the one-armed Chinese man have to fight off hordes of bounty hunters. Lots of people get sliced open.

A gigantic body count here. There's some wonderfully poetic blood splatterin' and some terrific fight sequences. Genres cross with the Zatoichi samurai stuff (humor, swordplay, Zen-like reflection and philosophy) clashing with the early kung-fu one-armed swordsman stuff (high flying, punch and kick choreography). I prefer the fight scenes with Zatoichi (the one-armed swordsman is a pre-kung-fu boom stuff that looks a little slow and unnatural), but the climactic fight scene between the title characters is good stuff. There's almost zero rapport between them since they don't speak the same language. In fact, you're required to read two sets of subtitles to explain puns as they try to communicate. I could watch this blind bastard cutting people up all day, so it's a good thing there are about 300 Zatoichi movies. They're a little formulaic, but I still haven't seen a bad one.

This is me watching, I believe, my eleventh Zatoichi movie:

Harry and Tonto

1974 dramatic comedy

Rating: 12/20

Plot: Harry is a retired public educator and widower living in New York City with his cat Tonto. After he's mugged for the fourth time in a year and his apartment building is torn down, he moves in with one of his sons. It doesn't work out well, so he travels across the country with his cat, stopping every once in a while to meet random people or engage in disturbing acts of bestiality with Tonto.

Chief Dan George is the best thing about any movie that he is in. Harry meets him in prison, and I laughed twice during their encounter. "What are you in for?" "Peeing." "Oh. I once was ticketed for shitting." And also when Chief Dan George's character exchanges a medicine man cure for bursitis for Harry's underpants.

This meandering episodic movie doesn't really deliver humorously, dramatically, or philosophically and seems very much a product of 1974. There's nothing wrong with it, and I like movies where people (even really old people) embark on pointless excursions, but this just sort of starts, bubbles a little bit, festers, grows mold, palpitates, and then ends. None of the characters he meets really seem interesting enough to pay attention to. The acting is ok in this, but it's interesting to me that Art Carney beat out Nicholson, Pacino, and Hoffman (Chinatown, Godfather II, and Lenny, the latter which I have not seen) for best actor. I wasn't thinking "best actor" while watching this. Admittedly, I might be biased. I don't like cats. If Harry had a pet monkey or traveled around the country with a midget, I think I would have liked it a lot better.

Here I am watching Harry and Tonto:

The Pornographers

1966 Japanese drama


Rating: 15/20


Plot: A maker of erotic films lives with a woman and her two children. He occasionally sleeps with the woman although she becomes increasingly paranoid when her late husband, reincarnated as a large fish she keeps in a tank beside her bed, gets antsy. The son's a jerk, and the fifteen-year-old daughter, who could somehow be the protagonist's daughter as well, is a whore with a drinking problem. Or a drinker with a whoring problem. Regardless, he develops sexual feelings for her. The mother gets sick, and then everybody in the world gets sick.


Interesting imagery--scenes shot through water and fish and odd-angled cinematography--keep this visually interesting even when the plot gets bloated and overly complex and really pretty dull. A large number of scenes are shot from the outside through cracks in the doors or windows. That got annoying after a while, but it does make the experience more voyeuristic and uncomfortable. Conversations between off-screen characters starting to watch a movie at the beginning (they ask, "What's that fish doing there?") and finishing at the end bookend the film. Like a perverse soap opera at times, this was filled with interesting moments but at times tried my patience. I wonder how shocking this would have been to Japanese audiences in '66 though? Good final scene.


In a former life, I was a pornographic fish:

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

1964 romantic musical

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 17/20)

Plot: A poor mechanic from Cherbourg, apparently a magical land where everybody sings every word they utter, is in love with a 17-year-old slut who works with her mother at a shop that sells umbrellas. It rains a lot, but the mother and daughter are still faced with financial problems. The mechanic, Guy, has problems of his own as he worries about his dying godmother and tries to get in Genevieve's pants. He succeeds but subsequently gets word that he has to go away with the army for two years. Genevieve, pregnant, catches the eye of a wealthy man with a moustache, and even though she's damaged goods, he also wants to get in her pants. Her mother encourages it. Time passes, and more umbrellas are purchased.

Not for every taste. Indeed, every line in the movie is sung. (Quick The People's Tongue reference: Music is by Michael Legrand who TPT sample on Sonny Bono's Favorites. The Tiny Tim song, I think.) Having to read everything that is sung almost becomes too much, and the story starts out so melodramatically dull. Turns out there's enough interesting edges to the plot, at least in an adult way. The best thing about the movie, however, is the vibrant colors and lovely shots. There are a lot of umbrellas, too. In fact, there are probably more umbrellas in this hour and a half film than there are f-words or variations of the f-word in The Big Lebowski. The worst thing about this movie is that it's an inspiration for Down with Love (8/20) and Across the Universe (9/20). Almost overly peachy and cheesy and ultra-lively (swooning camera and gaudy wallpapers and mad walk-on choreography), this one stays in the "good" range by remaining completely original and, I'll admit it, moving. Jen and I took turns singing the subtitles and the trivialities that make their way into the lyrics do seem funny at times, but there's at least one of those trivialities that really grabbed me.

Special note: After I finish writing and directing my sequel to The Diary of Anne Frank, I may tackle a sequel to this one in which Francois and Francois meet in college, fall in love, and birth mutants.

Jen and I are in love. Here we are watching one of her picks:

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

1972 Samurai movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A Shogunate executioner is framed and his wife is murdered by some people who apparently don't like him very much. He gives his infant son a choice between a ball and a sword (death and the chance to be with his mother or an opportunity to look cute and travel through hell with his father), and then sets out for a violent world to seek revenge. A self-proclaimed demon and assassin-for-hire, he runs into some people who want him to kill some other people for some reason, and he has sex with a prostitute. Lots of people die, and then Lone Wolf and Cub walk off toward the next movie in the series.

Flyin' limbs a-go-go! This had some of the best sword action I've ever seen in a samurai movie, quick action complete with spraying blood and falling heads. It's definitely the best sword action I've seen from a chubby man with a double chin. The others are no match for him as he's not involved in anything that resembles a closely contested battle. He's clever like Zatoichi, kills with absolutely no expression on his countenance, and is a sort-of anti-hero who is easy to root for though. Although this had its moments (a seen in a spa, breasts, some nature shots, some calm-before-the-deadly-storm pauses), this lacked the consistent visual poetry and the philosophical details of the top notch samurai stuff. The fight scenes, especially the climax complete with its surprises, make up for it, however.

Special note: This is the second movie in a row I have seen in which the protagonist kills people while holding a child. That's probably disturbing.

Put this on my Christmas list:

Here I am watching the first 'Lone Wolf and Cub' in the series and thinking that 5 of my 365 movies will probably be the rest of the series.