The MichaelVox Movie Review Weblog

GATE OF FLESH
1964

September 10, 2008
Netflix Criterion DVD
Japan
Japanese / English
90 Minutes — December 11, 1964
Drama
Seijun Suzuki [Shunpu Den]

Hard-to-categorize film that takes place in post-war Tokyo. A band of colorfully dressed hookers work a particular area of town, catering to American GIs and Japanese criminals. They have a simple code: no pimps and no sex without payment. Break this rule and the other women in the group will strip you, assault you, nearly torture you, cut off your hair, and dump you in view of the whole town. Woe to you who have sex for love. We follow one girl as she joins the gang and the profession. Everyone is trying to make ends meet after the war. Japan has an incredibly low sense of national pride–characters mention the surrender and failures of the army and emperor.

There isn’t much plot to speak of. Girls drink and steal and sell their wares. The film is dark and sultry–everyone is sweating all the time. It is also pretty sexy for an early 60s film. In addition, there are scenes to satisfy any number of fetishes, both Japanese and Universal. Girls are tied up and bound, whipped and caned, covered in milk. There are artsy sex scenes. And the “cleaning” of an entire cow with a knife while the girls look on intrigued. A black American priest is seduced and then kills himself. A gang leader has the obligatory scar down his cheek. There is a man who enters the women’s world (and warehouse) who ridicules the women while recuperating from his latest caper.

Not exactly recommendable, but not an ordeal either.

Criterion even seems to think that this is light, exploitation–there is no commentary on the disc.

7.3 IMDB

Gate of Flesh – Criterion Collection @ Amazon

GATE OF FLESH

1951

September 1, 2008
Netflix Criterion DVD
USA
English
111 Minutes — June 29, 1951
Drama / Film Noir
Billy Wilder [The Lost Weekend; Sunset Blvd.; Sabrina; The Seven Year Itch; The Spirit Of St. Louis; Some Like It Hot; The Apartment]
#580 They Shoot Pictures Don’t They Top 1000 Films Of All Time

“Solo Filmschool” movies are those on the big list of the 1000 best films of all time, which the crew over at TSPDT keeps track of and updates from time to time. The version of the list I used is from January 2010. My plan is to work my way down the list, watching all of them on DVD (if available), regardless of how slow-moving, or out of date they might appear at first. If a highly-regarded and serious film class is not available where you live, you could do a lot worse than using this list as a jumping off point.

In order to prolong the sensation and boost newspaper sales, a self-seeking journalist delays the rescue of a man trapped in a cave.

This was suggested by David Simon who was doing interview after interview about the final season of the Almighty WIRE. That show dealt with an eager Baltimore Sun reporter who began bending the truth a bit in order to be noticed by either the New York Times or the Pulitzer committee.

This film stars a young, handsome, and strong Kirk Douglas as an out-of-work reporter who lands in New Mexico after a series of firings from other papers. He is bitter about living in the middle of nowhere until he stumbles upon the story of a man trapped in a cave while collecting Indian artifacts. Sensing his big break, he enlists the help of the less-than-worrisome wife, the crooked County Sheriff, and the dense engineer. Told that the man could be rescued in 18 hours, Douglas gets all to agree to drill from a much higher place, thus taking about a week to free him. The man is rugged and tough, what could go wrong? The Sheriff helps Douglas keep the story exclusive and before you know it, the area surrounding the diner, hotel, and cave are overrun by onlookers, all paying an entry fee to wait out the rescue. Some say that the phrase “media circus” was invented after this film as a carnival complete with ferris wheel and other attractions pulls into the parking area near the mountain.

It is amazing how relevant this film still is. Douglas isn’t a bad guy–he just knows the value of a good story. The film has no heroes. No one on the right side. The man in the cave was collecting sacred artifacts. His wife sees her chance to get out of the tiny, dusty town and back to the big city where her personality would be more welcome. The Sheriff is crooked in both elections and in never paying a check. The engineer is spineless. Even the crowd itself is there for the festival atmosphere, the excitement, and the chance that either the man will be pulled out alive, or his body will be taken out if he dies. Either way, what a show!

The landscape is filmed spectacularly. There are sweeping vistas from the top of the mountain. A long pan shot reveals an endless line of cars heading towards the action. At one point a train stops just across the street and passengers hop off and literally run towards the cave opening.

Douglas is fantastic. We see him grovel for the job, accepting lower pay than he’s used to just for the work. Later we see his chest swell with pride as the onlookers (and a microphone-wielding TV announcer) applaud and cheer him as he heads back into the cave to speak with the frightened trapped man.

Very impressive.

“One of Billy Wilder’s masterworks, in which he was in a serious mood, exposing the sensationalism of the tabloid press. Wilder’s target was not merely the press, radio, and television, but also its readers, listeners, and viewers who enjoyed nothing so much as a dramatic disaster. Time has confirmed that it is an incisive, compelling melodrama.” — Halliwell’s Top 1000 #352

“Unrelentingly cynical (yet mostly believable) tale of how the reporter exploits the “human interest story” for his own benefit — and how the potential tragedy turns into a three-ring circus — has a peculiarly contemporary ring to it. Biting and extremely well acted.” — Leonard Maltin 2007 Movie Guide.

*** Halliwell’s
*** Maltin
7.2 Metacritic
8.3 IMDB

Ace in the Hole – Criterion Collection @ Amazon

ACE IN THE HOLE

TOKYO STORY
1953

August 15, 2008
Netflix Criterion DVD
Japan
Japanese
136 Minutes — March 13, 1972
Drama
Yasujiro Ozu
#10 They Shoot Pictures Don’t They Top 1000 Films Of All Time

“Solo Filmschool” movies are those on the big list of the 1000 best films of all time, which the crew over at TSPDT keeps track of and updates from time to time. The version of the list I used is from January 2010. My plan is to work my way down the list, watching all of them on DVD (if available), regardless of how slow-moving, or out of date they might appear at first. If a highly-regarded and serious film class is not available where you live, you could do a lot worse than using this list as a jumping off point.

An elderly couple, who travel to Tokyo to visit their married son and daughter, discover that their children have little time for them.

TOKYO STORY was the subject of Cinebanter #58 From The Queue section which is available here.

“Ozu made one of the greatest films of all time. It lacks sentimental triggers and contrived emotion; it looks away from moments a lesser movie would have exploited. It wants not to force our emotions but to share its understanding. It does this so well that I am near tears in the last thirty minutes. It ennobles the cinema. It says, yes, a movie can help us make small steps against our imperfections.” — Roger Ebert The Great Movies II

“In this understated, beautifully composed classic of domestic disillusionment, the editing is unobtrusive and the camera’s gaze is steady; it moves only three times during the film and is kept at a low angle, looking up at the characters. In his formal concentration on everyday family life, Ozu discovers universal truths about the human condition. Here, an elderly couple face the painful fact that they are a burden to their children and grandchildren. But the most devastating comment comes at the end of the film, from their daughter; ‘Isn’t life disappointing’ — Halliwell’s Top 1000

“Bleak, austere and moving family drama of life’s disappointments” — Halliwell’s Film DVD & Video Guide 2007

“Ozu’s vision, almost entirely un-inflected by tics and tropes of ‘style’ by this stage in his career, is emotionally overwhelming, and arguably profound for any engaged viewer; it is also formally unmatched in Western popular cinema” — Time Out Film Guide 2007

“Powerfully quiet story of old age, the disappointments parents experience with their children, and the fears the young have of time passing. A masterpiece.” — Leonard Maltin’s 2005 Movie Guide

The Best Film Of All Time — Halliwell’s
**** Halliwell’s
**** Ebert
**** Maltin

TOKYO STORY

2005

August 6, 2008
Netflix DVD
Canada / India
Hindi
117 Minutes – April 28, 2006
Drama / Romance
Deepa Mehta

In 1938 an 8-year-old girl is sent to live for the rest of her life in an ashram for widows when her elderly husband dies; there she witnesses the doomed love affair of a young widow who is forced into prostitution to earn money for the others.

Lisa Ray & John Abraham

ON: Foreign

*** Halliwell’s
7.7 Metacritic
7.7 IMDB

WATER

LAST TANGO IN PARIS
1972

August 4, 2008
Netflix DVD
Italy / France
French / English
129 Minutes — February 7, 1973
Drama / Romance
Bernardo Bertolucci [The Last Emperor; The Sheltering Sky; Little Buddha; Stealing Beauty; The Dreamers]
#222 They Shoot Pictures Don’t They Top 1000 Films Of All Time

Marlon Brando [A Streetcar Named Desire; The Wild One; On The Waterfront; Guys And Dolls; Mutiny On The Bounty; The Godfather; Superman; Apocalypse Now; A Dry White Season; The Freshman; Don Juan DeMarco]

A middle-aged man and a young French girl have a doomed love affair.

ON: Brando, Bertolucci

7.7 Metacritic
7.0 IMDB
*** Halliwell’s
**** Ebert
***^ Maltin

2008

August 2, 2008
DVD (Thank You, Paul)
UK / Belgium
English / German
107 Minutes — February 8, 2008
Comedy / Crime / Drama
Martin McDonagh

Shoot First. Sightsee Later.

6.7 Metacritic
8.1 IMDB

DRUNKEN MASTER
1978

July 25, 2008
Netflix DVD
Hong Kong
English-Dubbed
111 Minutes — October 5, 1978
Comedy / Action
Woo-ping Yuen [The Matrix; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The Matrix Reloaded; Kill Bill, Vol. I]

Jackie Chan [Enter The Dragon; The Cannonball Run; Cannonball Run II; Police Story; Police Story 2; Supercop; Rumble In The Bronx; Jackie Chan's First Strike; Rush Hour; Shanghai Noon]

7.6 IMDB

BITTER SWEET
2004

July 19, 2008
Netflix DVD
Japan / France
Japanese
64 Minutes — October 12, 2004
Drama
Mitsuru Meike

4.8 IMDB

2007

July 12, 2008
Netflix DVD
Romania
Romanian
113 Minutes — January 25, 2008
Drama
Cristian Mungiu

9.7 Metacritic
8.0 IMDB

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
2004

July 7, 2008
Netflix DVD
Argentina / USA / Cuba / Germany / Mexico / UK / Chile / Peru / France
Quechua / Spanish
126 Minutes
Adventure / Biography / Drama
Walter Salles [Central Station; Paris, Je T'aime]

Before He Changed The World, The World Changed Him

A womanizing biochemist and an earnest young medical student attempt to ride a battered old motorcycle around South America, stopping on the way to visit a leper hospital.

ON: Adapted Screenplay Jose Rivera

7.5 Metacritic
7.9 IMDB

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

1949

June 24, 2008
Netflix Criterion DVD
UK
English / German / Russian
104 Minutes
Film-Noir / Mystery / Thriller
Carol Reed [Oliver!]
#24 They Shoot Pictures Don’t They Top 1000 Films Of All Time

“Solo Filmschool” movies are those on the big list of the 1000 best films of all time, which the crew over at TSPDT keeps track of and updates from time to time. The version of the list I used is from January 2010. My plan is to work my way down the list, watching all of them on DVD (if available), regardless of how slow-moving, or out of date they might appear at first. If a highly-regarded and serious film class is not available where you live, you could do a lot worse than using this list as a jumping off point.

~~
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THE THIRD MAN is the subject of Cinebanter Podcast Number 54. After you’ve seen the movie, listen to the spoiler-filled review by Tassoula and I by clicking the play button right here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Show Description:
• 00:00 Intro
• 00:32 THE THIRD MAN Discussion
• Break
• 16:23 To Sum It Up
• Break
• 16:47 The Last Five®
• Break
• 25:36 Average Matt
• Break
• 32:10 Tassoula’s 5 Favorites from SIFF
• Break
• 49:29 Show Notes
• 51:56 Credits and Outtake

~~
~~

An American pulp fiction writer goes to Vienna to meet an old friend and finds that he has disappeared in sinister circumstances.

An unintelligent but tenacious writer of Westerns arrives in post-war Vienna to join his old friend Harry Lime, who seems to have met with an accident…or has he?

Oscar Winner: Cinematography Robert Krasker
Oscar Nominee: Director Carol Reed, Editor Oswald Hafenrichter

#18 All Time Halliwell’s
#49 All Time IMDB
**** Halliwell’s
**** Ebert
**** Maltin
8.5 IMDB

THE THIRD MAN

2007

June 17, 2008
Netflix DVD
USA
English / Arabic
85 Minutes
Documentary
Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg

A Witness To Evil. A Force For Peace. An Unbelievable True Story.

7.8 Metacritic
7.7 IMDB

2005

June 12, 2008
Netflix DVD
USA
English / Urdu
87 Minutes
Drama
Ramin Bahrani

7.1 Metacritic
6.9 IMDB

2005

June 7, 2008
April 6, 2005
DVD (Thank You, Lilly)
USA
English
147 Minutes
Action / Crime / Thriller
D: Frank Miller [300]
D: Robert Rodriguez [El Mariachi; Desperado; From Dusk Till Dawn; Grindhouse]

In corrupt Basin City, three men — an honest cop, a tough ex-convict and a man on the run — try to protect the women they love and suffer for it.

Sweet extras on the DVD. All greenscreen edition. Really a cool flick.

7.4 Metacritic
8.4 IMDB

SIN CITY

2004

June 1, 2008
Netflix DVD
USA
English
87 Minutes
Drama
Nicole Kassell

What’s The Worst Thing You Ever Did?

After spending 12 years in prison, a pedophile is paroled and attempts to cope with his own desires and the hostility he meets.

The Woodsman is the “From The Queue” part of Cinebanter podcast #53 which is here .

***^ Ebert
B- Gleiberman
7.2 Metacritic
7.4 IMDB

THE WOODSMAN

2001

July 26, 2002

DVD

France/USA

English/Spanish

Mulholland Drive–A Love Story In The City Of Dreams

Naomi Watts. Laura Harring. Directed by David Lynch.

This was one of my top five films of 2001 and upon second viewing, I still believe this. In fact, watching this on DVD was better than in the theater. Mostly because of the intricate sound design that Lynch came up with. It is much scarier watching this on your TV alone at home than it was in a theater full of people.

I loved that entire philosophies of this film sprung up on the internet when it first came out. What does the box mean? What is the timeline? I read every word and agreed with many of the theories. They still hold up after watching again. The sex scenes are still hot, the ending still creepy, and the performance of Watts looks even better. I’d like to know where in Australia Watts has been hiding because she was unbelievable.

As this is a Lynch film, there are red herrings galore. What was the meeting in the board room all about? What’s the deal with the cowboy? Why do we care about the director’s wife and Billy Ray Cyrus? But this all makes the film more fun.

* Best Actress of 2001 for Naomi Watts–Boston Film Critics Nomination; Chicago Film Critics Winner; Online Film Critics Society Winner

* Best Director of 2001 for David Lynch–Academy Award Nomination; Boston Film Critics Winner; Cannes Film Festival Winner; Chicago Film Critics Winner; Los Angeles Film Critics Winner; Online Film Critics Society Winner; Toronto Film Festival Winner

* Best Picture of 2001–Boston Film Critics Winner; Broadcast Critics Association Nomination; Chicago Film Critics Winner; Cesar Award Winner; New York Film Critics Winner; Online Film Critics Society Winner

* Best Cinematography of 2001 for Peter Deming–Chicago Film Critics Nomination; Independent Spirit Award Winner; Online Film Critics Society Nomination

* Best Screenplay of 2001 for David Lynch–Online Film Critics Society Nomination

7.3 Critical Consensus

2001

July 20, 2002

DVD

USA

English/Russian/Spanish

Denzel Washington. Ethan Hawke.

Training Day. Denzel deserved his Oscar win. I’m just as surprised as you are. I had heard that this was a routine police film about an out-of-control cop and a newby. Which it was. But somehow Denzel is such an acting stud that anything that comes out of his mouth has this sort of power that mere mortals can’t possibly match. Hawke is not my favorite guy, but he leaves behind ‘author-smart-guy Hawke’ to play a new guy, eager to make a good impression and provide for his family. The fact that he isn’t acted off the screen is a testament to his skill. Denzel is powerful as a guy in charge of a group of narco cops in L.A. He bends and breaks the rules with impunity. He stares at his young charge and seems to be making up dialogue on the spot. I believed that he was from the streets of L.A. He swaggered like the homies he was arresting. He went from being a serious role model cop, to funny jokester in a single breath.

The film crumbles under a single coincidence that couldn’t possibly happen, which is the only thing keeping this from being something special. We know how its going to end and it ends exactly that way.

Watch this for the performances. Not just of Denzel and Ethan, but of Macy Gray and Dr Dre and Snoop Dog. Great acting, not-so-great story.

Denzel Washington won the Best Actor of 2001 from the Academy Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and was nominated for a SAG Award.

Ethan Hawke was nominated for Best Supporting Actor of 2001 by the Academy Awards and SAG.

6.2 A Critical Consensus