The Sword Of Doom

Damn.

I kept hearing this was the most violent of samurai films and uh, yeah they were not lying. Most bloody? No, but if you want hack and slash to the 100th power look no further. The odd thing about this movie aside from the ending itself is that our main character that we follow from the first to last shot is not a hero, or even an anti-hero, but a full on villain. Now on one hand I greatly appreciate this, film no matter where it originates from hardly ever has the balls to make a villain the main character. And not even a fall from grace, was once a hero but is now a villain, no no no you get a complete sociopathic blood thirsty samurai. Tatsuya Nakadai has well proven his place as one of the best japanese actors I've seen and if that wasn't a cemented fact before, this movie just further proved it. It's like Anton Chigurh but a ronin, like that level of scary crazy. And to be perfectly honest this film fully understands the term 'cinematic', the shots are spectacular in every sense, and know how to build tension when called for, it just looks un-f***ing-believable. So the stroy as I said follows this ronin character as he leaves bodies and vendettas in his wake, and one particular warrior seeks vengeance for his brother and undergoes training to defeat a seemingly impossibly strong foe. So basically it's every western movie ever but instead of the revenge seeking gunslinger, you follow the murderous bandit for the film's duration. That's brilliant. The action might just be the best I've seen, with long takes and tracking shots through waves of enemies that incorporates a bit more blood with the classic quick slash deaths. By the end there was not a doubt in my mind that this psychotic sword wielding bastard racked up more kills in one movie than Jason Voorhee's movies combined, and the movie actually ends in the middle a fight scene. Not a cliffhanger, not a conclusion, but while knee deep in death. The story behind that was this was supposed to be the beginning of a trilogy but the sequel never got off the ground and even the original story was so long that the author couldn't even finish it before he died, so it's inconclusive on all fronts but did it affect my overall enjoyment? No, not at all. It was a trip to see this horrible man just live it up in his twisted reality and to not really get a comeuppance. Again, very much like Anton in No Country For Old Men. I heard this was the most bloody samurai film ever made but after seeing this and the little fact that the next movie I'm reviewing is called Lady Snowblood, I'm gonna hold that reservation. Easily 4 stars across the board, 8.5/10, it's a 2 hour movie that does not stop and does not disappoint.

The Tale Of Zatoichi

Add this to the list of my favorites!

No doubt through history tales of a blind swordsman have been told in some form or another, but I think most would envision a samurai in such a role, and this film really brought it front and center. Believe it or not the first time I ever heard the name Zatoichi was on an episode of The Boondocks, great show go watch it, but I had no idea who it was and after doing some research the quite shocking revelation was he was the star of a 25 part movie saga. Yeah. 25 movies. Starting in 1962, and ending in 1973, with only one year where not a single film of this series came out. Marvel can suck it. Long...and hard. Talk about uncommon back in the day! And the story is also something unseen, with Zatoichi staying over in a small town controlled by two rival gangs which sounds like Yojimbo territory all over again but as the movie goes on it changes it up a lot. Zatoichi is hired by one gang and is poised to fight in their small war, and eventually he meets up with another samurai named Hirate who is hired by the rival gang but a strong friendship quickly grows between them. And this was the main element that grabbed my interest, because it's handled so friggin' well! You can tell they have immense respect for one another's skills, genuinely and greatly enjoy each other's company, and harbors precisely zero ill will toward the other. They fish, share a drink, converse, and you really grow to hate the idea of them facing off at the end. On top of that Hirate has tuberculosis and is already getting closer and closer to his deathbed, and the thought of him asking Zatoichi to essentially participate in his assisted suicide just makes it that much more depressing. I absolutely adored Shigeru Amachi as Hirate and Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi, they are amazing together and seperately. There's not as much swordplay as you would think but I honestly could not have cared less because the story is what had my attention, not that the choreography isn't some of the quickest and that the action points are boring, it's just not what I was sticking around for. The overall cinematography though is wonderful, with quite a good handful of instances where the action and cast are performing in the background and there's scenery and sets in the foreground. Which makes the composition of the shot look so damn nice, so I got nothing but praise for the production team. Really the only bad thing I could say about the movie at all is that a romance element is very quickly introduced and built up but hasn't really earned it. It is rushed, but maybe I'm just too biased towards the bromance. This is a major favorite of mine in this genre, and no doubt I'll find another big favorite before the week is out. So I give this movie a full 4 stars, 8.5/10! It's a classic for a reason and maybe one day we'll do the other 24 entries, if the gods are willing and kind. And tomorrow we have The Sword Of Doom so see you then.

Lone Wolf And Cub: Sword Of Vengeance

One of the most stylistic films I've seen from Japan.

Certainly not as visually exuberant as House, but Lone Wolf And Cub has it's own style which is set pretty much from the first shot. The story follows a samurai executioner who is framed for attempting to murder a high ranking official leading him to travel abroad with his young son seeking to clear his name and put his talents to use. Lesson of the day kiddos, if you're good at something never do it for free. I actually got so invested into this movie that when the movie ended I was taken off guard, it's not even 90 minutes and it went by in a flash. Needless to say I've seen this story element before. Hmmm, where have I seen a deadly and skilled warrior travel with a child, pram and all, in tow? Ah well, I'm sure I'll see it online somewhere. I got to say though, of all the movies I've seen from the land of the rising sun this is actually the most graphic. You see arterial spray like it's nobody's business, I've gotten so use to just black and white, quick slashes, nary a drop of blood that this shocked me a tiny bit. And it warrants that R rating with a bit of nudity, sexual and non-sexual so that was another first for me. Lord knows I wouldn't mind reviewing all 6 of these movies but we got a lot more to talk about for the week. The visuals and even the audio choices is what really stuck with me after the movie ended, there's handheld action scenes, quick cuts and zooms, beautiful wide shots, but then there's interesting audio choices where in certain action moments there is zero sound except for the slashing of the sword, and there's multiple instances where an element of water whether it be rain or a stream is muted. It kind of gives a silent film treatment from time to time, and it makes me incredibly curious to see if these elements are mainstays of the series or evolve to be even more engaging. It's a very interesting watch and no doubt people take away very different aspects when they first see it. Hell you could probably get a menagerie of different thoughts and reactions to the flashback scenes and the significance of where they are placed in the film. It's mighty good, and actually proves a point that even in niche genres like samurai cinema there's still avenues for each individual. You want epic storytelling and visuals, watch Ran. You want bloody action and a bit more hardcore edge to it, watch Lone Wolf And Cub. You want classic examples that influenced an entire genre, watch Yojimbo. It has something for everyone and believe me when I say, not every genre accomplishes that. It's a worthy corner of film to watch and enjoy. I give this movie 4 stars, a solid 8/10, and I'll be back tomorrow with a film that created one of the earliest examples of a large film franchise.

The Last Samurai

Alright America, you did good.

It was about high time after many reviews of films set in a very specific time in history to see if american filmmakers could succesfuly pay tribute to the elite class of warriors known the world over. And while it does take a grab bag of different historical elements, and not being a straight up historical recounting, the story it crafts is excellent. An american soldier is hired to train japanese soldiers in an attempt to quell a samurai rebellion, however after the first encounter he is taken by the samurai and spends months with them. He learns a bit of the language, their lifestyle, forms friendships, and eventually fights with them against the Imperial Army. It's a lot better than I'm making it out to be, this is not your cookie cutter Pocahontas/Dances With Wolves/Avatar horseshit, it has a lot more meat to it whether you're familiar with the time frame and culture or not. Surprisingly the film did much better in Japan than America, receiving a lot of praise and a very good box office intake while domestically it didn't even make it's budget back. It's a bit of a shame to see people in my own country still refuse to view films in different languages, it's not as bad as it was when this film released but it could always be better. And it is worth your time, it does go at a slow pace but never to the point of being boring or dragging at places, every scene has a reason to be, the shots are ridiculously gorgeous at times, the music is nice, the acting is the reason you stay invested even though the story is a strong one. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Tom Cruise's character, but to see a very broken down, emotionally damaged, full on PTSD afflicted army officer who finds a bit of solace in a small village while gaining appreciation for the warriors who live there and continually learns more about them is a good narrative. It helps center even the most uncultured of individuals to understand what they are seeing. Ken Watanabe is amazing as always, so good he got his first and only Academy Award nomination which I find to be just inexcusable by the way, his character is against the rapid modernization and dissolving of his creed yet he doesn't take an antagonistic edge. The movie is more about the clashing of ideologies than swords, during the latter half of the 1800s Japan was taking it's first steps into the modern world after about 200 years of self isolation, a country frozen in time and suffered countless civil wars. And the government essentially outlaws samurai, which was a very real thing that happened and affected a lot of people. So you can understand why he stands against the governement and more importantly the Emperor who he taught as a young boy, it's just a difference of opinions with no ill will towards the other. It's such a good dynamic because in war films, there is no good or evil but just a conflict that consumes all in it's wake whether you see the scars it leaves on others or not. Samurai have a code of ethics that is showcased in this movie, and the director obviously did his homework because the film implements so much of the time period and the culture in the movie, it really is very commendable. I was not disappointed with any facet of the finished product, and while there are inevitable discrepancies with history it never detracted from the overall experience. It really is a great film that has stuff to say and commits to it's vision from beginning to end. There's no tropes, there's no emotional manipulation, it just tells the story. That's an impressive feat for any film let alone a period piece. It really affirms why I appreciate and enjoy movies of that time period and culture, and I was flipping through other examples of samurai cinema outside of the Kurosawa library and there is so much more to enjoy so I'll pick a handful of other movies to discuss and share with next week from other classic names of the chanbara genre. I strongly recommend this movie even if it is a one time viewing, and I give it a full 4 stars, 8.5/10!

Django Unchained

Yeah boy.

Full disclosure, I've seen parts of this movie on television before, mostly towards the tail end of it so this has been my first full watch through, and I thought the last 25 minutes was wild! Boy howdy lemme tell you something now, this is a great movie! I've come to know what to expect from seeing several of Quentin Tarantino's films, and yet he does something similar but still unique to each of his films. The man was born to make grindhouse-esque movies, you can tell real quick from just the opening credits but then you get the absurd zooms that never failed to make me laugh because it's that over the top, and the ridiculous amounts of blood. I've seen gory films in my time, I've seen bloody shootouts in my day, but not quite like this. And the story hardly took any time before I was fully invested, it being centered around a slave named Django who is quickly teamed up with a Dr. Schultz and collects bounties with him before the true meat of the story comes about when Django sets out to save his wife from a plantation. It's a movie where they ain't afraid to use the ugliest word in the human language, it makes almost 3 hours go by like 90 minutes, and every racist person gets a bullet in them. I am on board with that last part. They don't pull any punches, they keep it real to the times, they tell it how it is and do something with it. I heard that Jamie Foxx wasn't the first initial choice for Django, but honest to God I can't imagine the movie without him. His prescence, his wit, his physicality, it's pretty damn perfect in my eyes. But you really can't talk about one main character without talking about the other, and Christoph Waltz is giving his best performance to my knowledge (still haven't seen Inglorious Basterds just yet), and what a powerful duo these two are on screen. It is a joy to see them converse, blast fools, and have a really good friendship dynamic. And the supporting cast is just as strong, with Kerry Washington who is just a lovely lady and I'd pump people full of lead too to make sure she's safe and well, Leo is f***ing out there as usual and always fun to watch, Sam Jackson made me feel bad making me laugh so much at such blatant racism I mean sweet Jesus when the man starts calling people motherfrakkers you got to laugh. I just, I ain't mad at Tarantino for even a second for the dialogue, it's how they talked back then, but damn I still felt bad. But in reality, if you feel bad about seeing people be talked to that way and treated that way then you're not the problem, you got the better sense to know it's wrong. Even he said he despised Leo's character because he was such a hateful sack of shit (my words not his), so I ain't gonna give the man good grief for that. There isn't much action beyond the climax, they treat the gunplay seriously and with restraint mostly, but every damn time someone gets shot it's like if they had a overfilled blood bag under their clothes, it's ridiculous how much blood goes gushing after a gunshot. I guess high blood pressure will do that. It's a pretty spectacular movie, I was having a party during it and got big reactions out of me, I loved the cast, I loved the story, I wouldn't honestly complain if we got a sequel, it's just a great time at the movies. 4 stars, 8/10! I'm gonna buy it, watch it time and time again, and never get tired of seeing asshats get dead, D-E-D, dead! We'll shift gears a bit tomorrow which will lead into next week's reviews, and I'll give you a dollar if you can guess what it is.

Public Enemies

Yeah I don't think there's such a thing as a bad Michael Mann film centered around bank robberies.

It's been a minute since I've seen this movie. I did see it in theaters when I was 14 and even owned it on video but it's been awhile since I sat down and watched it again. It's as good as I remember it, a very non-romanticized account of notorious bank robber John Dillinger being pursued by the still forming FBI and it's G-men. I can't remember exactly what drew me to see the movie back then, both me and my mom were big Johnny Depp fans and the advertising media looked pretty good, and I don't hear anybody talk about it nowadays. It's pretty good though, if you're familiar with Michael Mann's work then no doubt you'll want to see it, and it does have some fine star power. Basically if you loved Heat then you should check this movie out, it kind of has some similar concepts here and there and the action scenes are shot really well. I do have to give big credit to the production team, it really does look and feel like 1930s America with the fashion, cars, and events, it just looks absolutely great. There's a lot of handheld footage in this movie even outside of shootouts, but it's not at all shaky cam and the director obviously knew how to get his shots, so the gunplay is damn good. The movie also does a fine job of getting you to sympathize with the criminal, Johnny Depp really brings his charm and affability to the role and while he robs banks and does shoot down cops, you do want to see him reach his goal of retirement with his girlfriend. I bought the chemistry between Johnny and Marion Cotillard, and it services the story's enjoyment but it's nothing too grand to write home about. It is pretty interesting to also see her and Christian Bale in scenes together about 3 years before The Dark Knight Rises and he does great work, with the film splitting almost entirely in half between these two guy's performances. The soundtrack is mostly music of the era which is nice but the main theme for Dillinger is more recent, and while I will fully admit it's a great song and one I immediately got after seeing the film, if you really listen to the lyrics it don't got much to do with bank robbing. Though it's still a strong song with an unfortunate but all too real subject matter. All in all it was great seeing this movie again and to see it holds up quite well, it's by no means Mann's best work but it shouldn't be disregarded. There's plenty to like and actually would make a great introduction to his body of work, so I do recommend this movie. I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10, and no doubt we'll have a real banger tomorrow so I'll see you down the road.

Evolutionary Viewing Of The Internet Critic Part IV

I couldn't get a film to review this week so let's just have a chat. If you've read my other EVOTIC ramblings it mostly focuses on how I was introduced to the concept of writing and making videos on various bits of media, specifically film and video games easily my two biggest passions. But this is more or less going to be a microcosm of how well, my tastes and viewing of cinema changed over the course of the past 20 years or so. I just turned 25 a while back, and yet my love for movies has been there just about as long as Japan has been on my radar. I was a movie kid back in the day. You want to shut me up for a bit? Put on a movie. You want to hear me quote every line of dialogue in a movie because I was 5 years old and didn't have anything better to do with my time? Buckle up. Longer movies never were an issue for me, but to everyone else it was. So what if a movie is 3 hours? The majority of movies I watched when I was little little were like 2+ hours, so what's another 30 odd minutes. I was watching The Ten Commandments when I was like 5 or 6, and that movie is about 4 hours long. And I loved it! I was given freedom with the movies I could see, as long as it wasn't R rated, and I honest to God could not take the majority of my movies to bring to kindergarten because it needed to be PG or G, and it never dawned on me that I was watching more mature stuff because it was just entertainment. Granted there were instances where I couldn't handle small segments of a movie but I held my ground with a lot of stuff. Even though I was a scaredy cat until I was maybe 9 or 10, then I started watching the Universal Monster movies which was my introduction to horror, and gradually I upgraded to slasher movie in my early teen years, and now I'm kind of a sucker for the genre. I used to only have one criteria between a good movie and a bad movie: If it was boring, it was a bad movie. So even a movie as universally panned as Batman & Robin was cinema gold to my young eyes because that movie is anything but boring. Now....different story. I refuse to be called a cinema snob, I'm well versed in cinema, I know what I like, but I keep quite an open mind which is something I kept from my younger years. But bad movies are bad movies dear ones, and I can tell pretty quick if I'm in for a bad trip. Another thing that has obviously stuck around is my movie collection, even when I was young I had tons of movies to watch whenever I wanted whether they be mine or my grandparents, I had an entertainment system filled to the brim with movies of all kinds, a closet full of VHS tapes, and honestly not much has changed. True I still went out and played a lot as a kid but it's undeniable that certain movies got me fired up to go out and run rampant. Can you guess what movie made me swing around a red baseball bat as a sword? Speaking of which, I blame Star Wars for this but I have not changed my mind on the subject, I always wanted the villain to win. Whether it be The Empire, any pick of the litter in the Disney villain department, I always felt that heroes were nothing but boring goody two-shoes and were absolutely no fun. And I had this revelation at the age of 3 by the by, and yeah I still feel that way. Dress me in black, imbue me with the powers of eeeeevillll, I'm here for it. But obviously some things have changed during the course of my lifetime and it has affected the way I look at films, I follow a good cabal of internet critics, I don't take their word as gospel but I respect their views enough to listen, but I'm more of a cynical grumpy old man now so if a movie fails in my eyes it needs to be wiped off the face of the planet. Whereas if I was younger I wouldn't care too much and just not watch it again. I always wanted to do something in the movie business, whether act, or write, or scout locations, and while I've taken on the outsider looking in perspective it still has something to do with movies. Movies have made me appreciate culture, improved my vocabulary at a young age, absolutely arrested my imagination, and has taken up more time of my life than anything else. And I wouldn't have it any other way, good experiences and bad. It's awful nice to put your thoughts to writing, and no doubt many people have a lot of experiences and memories to share so I hope you tell them. It should be a fun experience to discuss things you love, and I'm happy you could join me on this odyssey through movies and television shows galore. So until next time, happy watching and I'll see you soon.