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JapaneseDad
Reviews
Jûsan-nin no shikaku (2010)
Meh...
Very average, at best, period action flick that manages to hit all of the clichés in the genre without making any of them particularly interesting. The ending battle, featuring a 13-on-200 confrontation, borders on parody, with all of the requisite slow, meaningful deaths for the heroes and the absurd dispatch of scores of anonymous villains. At least Xena would crack a few jokes and wink at the camera while involved in this sort of silliness as opposed to the endless declarative shouting that compromises a majority of the dialogue delivery in this film.
More entertaining than the movie is the reading of the reviews on this site as the 'cinephiles' try to justify why this mediocre genre flick is an 'action masterpiece'. Not terrible, but you can find better in many of the Hollywood summer films.
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Good atmosphere ruined by preposterous plot.
This film reminded me of Mystic River: great location, good acting, utterly preposterous plot that relies on a crime committed against a child for fake emotional weight.
The twist in the story, that a gang of police officers would participate in a murder and kidnapping plot to 'rescue' a child from a broken home, has probably never happened in the history of modern North America. Given that, how can you buy it as the central device of the movie?
A really good movie wouldn't have to rely on cheap 'save-the-children' sentimentality to give the film moral weight, and its too bad when you realize that a great Dorchester location and a very compelling Casey Affleck are wasted when the absurdity of the story reveals itself about halfway though.
The Blues Brothers (1980)
"Use of Unnecessary Violence in Apprehending the Blues Brothers is Authorized.."
A truly great film, not in the sense of overwrought dramatics or grand themes, but in being a creative, unique and hilarious film. The great thing about this film is that when you've seen it once or twice, you can pop in and out of the movie if it's playing on t.v. and watch any individual scenes, which are very well self-contained.
The penultimate car chase scene is also one of the best ever, as the unflappable Blues Brothers destroy downtown Chicago while being chased by the police, the Army, firefighters, Illinois Nazis, a vengeful country band and Carrie Fisher.
9/10
Club Dread (2004)
What a Mess....
I think a few people have hit it on the head with this film. The Broken Lizards try to go for three different movies at once and they all end up cancelling each other out:
i) Goofball comedy ii) Slasher film iii) Clever slasher film parody
Not only does each theme work against the others but none of the three was well executed and the film becomes painful to watch at times. That being said, there's enough mild suspense and soft-core nudity to keep the average male viewer interested for the duration, so if it's on cable for free, you might as well watch it. Unless there's the Poker World Series on or something.
I'll single out Jay Chandrasekhar for special scorn here, the script is terrible, the directing was goofy and his acting was a nightmare. That has to be some kind of triple-play record. Hopefully they can find their Super Troopers form in their next film, I'm sure their careers won't last beyond another film like this.
Words of My Perfect Teacher (2003)
Maybe Worth a View
"Words of My Perfect Teacher" follows around three disciples of a Tibetan/Bhutanese Buddhist teacher as they deal with his abrasive spiritual teaching techniques.
The movie is really so ridiculous that it becomes entertaining. The three disciples (one of whom is the director) are slavish puppy-dogs to the teacher, following him around the world while hanging on his every word and emitting high-pitched fake laughter at his jokes. One disciple from Vancouver has to be one of the most annoying and obnoxious characters ever captured on screen. These people don't need spiritual enlightenment, they need therapy and some friends.
Technically, the movie is poorly done. The narrative thread follows the teacher, the director's spritual journey, the progress of the film as the teacher disappears for months and the other disciples at random intervals. Instead of insight into the people in the film, the film inserts scene after scene of the characters looking around in quick cuts while 'profound insight' music plays.
For all of this, the lives portrayed in the film are reasonably interesting, and the film is such a train wreck that it'll keep your interest for most of the time.
5/10
S.W.A.T. (2003)
Good action film..
This film is absolutely predictable and cliched. A politically correct cast forms a SWAT team and has to escort an international (French!) terrorist/criminal to a federal prison. Unfortunately, the bad guy has promised $100,000,000 to anyone who frees him. Violent hijinx ensue.
What makes this film enjoyable is the competency of the execution. Instead of trying to fool the audience with a million pointless and illogical twists and turns the film sets up the good and bad guys, clearly enunciates the meaning of each scene and spents its energy making sure the action scenes are as well done as possible.
The first action scene, in particular, is an excellent re-creation of the real-life North Hollyword bank robbery and is extremely well put together.
This film won't change your life, but it's amazing how rare an understable plot and no wire-based action is, and how enjoyable it can be.
8/10
Dream Tower (1994)
Different Slice of Canadiana...
If all you know of Canada are mountains and hockey, Dream Tower will show you a different side of the country. It is a brief (60 min.) history of Rochdale College, which was a highrise in downtown Toronto that was converted into an alternative college associated with the University of Toronto in the late 60's to early 70's. The story is a microcosm of the decade as idealism declines into decadence and lunacy resulting in the police hauling everyone out of the building and converting it to seniors' residences. Some fun archival footage of earnest Canadian hippies makes this an easy watch.
FIX: The Story of an Addicted City (2002)
Well done story about a city's drug culture.
Fix tells the story of the torturous progress of the campaign to set up a safe-injection site for hard drug users in Vancouver's bombed-out downtown east side. The film does a good job to concentrate on two strong narrative stories relating to the fight: Mayor (at the time) Phillip Owen's struggle to pass harm-reduction legislation through city council and social worker Ann Livingston's relentless advocacy for the city's drug users.
While many graphic scenes of heroin injection may not make Fix the best choice for the squeamish, Fix is a fast-moving and completely absorbing look at the political and personal dimensions of an out-of-control hard drug use culture in a North American city. Another appealing feature of this documentary is the fair hearing given to opponents of safe injection sites in the city, a route that many less-honest documentaries do not take.
If you catch the film during its cross-Canada tour you will get a chance to participate in an interesting open forum afterwards with people involved in the film.
Sunshine State (2002)
Solid Effort.
I generally agree with most of the comments previous. This is not Sayles' best film, and I wish they would have cut out the Masteritino character and a couple of others, but you will still find a lot of moments when you are completely immersed in the characters and their lives. A solid 7/10.
Starship Troopers (1997)
Great, but misunderstood, movie.
I have to agree with all the reviewers who pointed out all of the satirical elements in the movie. It's blindingly obvious (who really launched the asteroid, anyway?), and I'm surprised more people don't pick up on it. The genius of this film, just like Robocop, is that it combines its sharp satire with a really kick-ass action/war/sci-fi plot that has some excellent video-game style fight scenes. Maybe this is paradoxical or hypocritical, but it sure is entertaining.