Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

Black KKKlansman.
True story directed by Spike Lee about a cop (John David Washington) and his partner (Adam Driver) who infiltrate the KKK. Driver is just sensational, although the film does get a bit heavy handed at times. Still an important, well done and entertaining film. Topher Grace is another standout as David Duke.

 

Nightfall. A solid late-period noir, this features Aldo Ray as a man on the run who links up with a lovely lady, Anne Bancroft. He’s running from two stupid, sadistic thugs who knocked over a bank and, in the wilderness, were rescued from a car crash by Ray and a friend. They shot the friend and ran off, but accidentally left the money with Ray, who lost it in the woods. There’s also an insurance investigator who is, of course, Ray’s best chance to get his unlikely story believed. Stirling Silliphant’s script is complex, but the story is good enough to hold up, and it’s backed up by very good performances by character actors and excellent direction from Jacques Tourneur. A very nice little noir.

 

Yojimbo
1961 110 mins b&w

This film was a revelation and instantly one of the most entertaining and memorable classic films I've seen in awhile.

The humor and comedy in this picture are a great and welcome surprise, displaying Kurosawa's diversity as a director when compared to his masterpiece Rashomon, for example.

And this story was easy to follow upon first viewing lol!

That, combined with the humor, the terrific cast highlighted by the brilliant Toshiro Mifune, and Kurosawa and his crew make this a film I hope to rewatch again and again and I'll probably recommend watching this one first or second for first time viewers to this master director's works.

I meself found Seven Samurai a tad difficult to watch at times for my first Kurosawa picture due to it's length and being unfamiliar with his style.
I'm looking forward to rewatching that one as well, as I did enjoy it quite a lot and it's been a few years since my first viewing. And Rashomon took me two viewings to start to really understand it more fully.

Kurosawa just keeps making masterpieces, that's all there is to it!

And a word on the Yojimbo score.
It's extremely fun and well cued; featuring excellent percussion parts, some cool melodies, including Sanjuro's great theme, and an awesome harpsichord part that often plays low parts and pentatonic melodies harmonized with power chord fifths that can sound like an early version of Smoke On the Water.

There's a lot more I can say about Yojimbo, a truly awesome movie, but I'm still learning about it and thinking about it.

9/10

Can't wait to watch the sequel!

 

I actually like it better than Mary Poppins. My favorite part is the battle scene between the suits of armor and the Nazis.

Now, I've seen it recently on both my DVD copy and Disney+. The DVD copy has the extended version (extended Portobello Road sequence, additional dialogue and additional songs by Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson, etc.). The Disney+ has the theatrical version.

As for the most recent movie I watched, The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+. Unpopular opinion: the best entry in the Sequel Trilogy and the 4th best Star Wars movie overall (behind TESB, Rogue One, ROTS).

 

The Dig

The Anglo-Saxon Remains of the Day.

 

Yes, it's very entertaining and accessible to new fans of old school classic Japanese cinema.

The shot you mentioned is memorable. And there are many.
Sanjuro destroying that one house after killing six men is memorable.
And then giving the money away and telling them to leave was very intense as they were bowing to him.
He calls them idiots and urges them to flee. It's a very poignant moment, highlighting the honor inherent in their culture. From both sides.

And the great long shot of Sanjuro returning to town after all that has transpired. So intense. Epic. Iconic.

I like the music, partially because it was a surprise to hear those Western influences in a Japanese picture from that era and in that setting, but it really worked for me. Quite a lot actually. That's a huge topic for me, music. The Japanese drumming and percussion performances in particular were incredibly done.

Oh a few tidbits I noticed.

Sanjuro cuts off a guy's arm after he is attacked; reminds of Kenobi in Mos Eisley from GL' s Star Wars.

The nice doggie carrying a human hand and forearm at the opening reminded me of vibes from Eraserhead and Blue Velvet by David Lynch.

The brutal beating and torture that Sanjuro endures has influenced many subsequent directors, too many to name here.

There's a lot to talk about with Yojimbo.

I've got a bunch of movies on my docket, but hopefully I can circle back to this film soon.

After I watch the sequel, of course.

 

Indeed. Kudos to GL for directly recontexualing that scene and imagery in the GFFA in such a memorable way.

That's a real shocker for most SW newbies watching SW for the first time; Kenobi wielding his lightsaber in such a fashion.

And I can only imagine how sensational that scene in Yojimbo was to audiences when Sanjuro cuts off the arm of his opponent so suddenly. And them hearing his death cries. And then Sanjuro's comment to the coffin maker about needing to make three.

That's not only memorable, but extremely badass and GL was obviously paying attention and remembered that for his first masterpiece.

 

groundhog day

 

That's a terrific SW top 4 list and respect for including a film from each trilogy.

My top 2 SW films are currently the same, Empire and RO.
TESB will never leave my #1 SW slot lol.

And RotS is up there although I give the edge to RotJ for top 3. RotS at 4.

And TROS is the best ST SW film by far. Endless fast paced fun attempting to resolve unresolved/ignored issues and largely succeeding.

Bottom line for me is, TROS is fun while also being thoughtful and poignant and making a sincere effort at attempting to resolve whatever offbeat, random story stuff preceded it.

Nice SW top 4 list, Viking.

 

what is TROS

 

more like TRASH

 

Those
Real
Old
Souls

or perhaps

Thankfully
Ratified
Octogenarian
Separatists

 

It's got a different feel to it. If the original is an action thriller with a very strong streak of black humour running through it, the sequel is more a comedy of manners with bursts of action. Or that's how I see them. Yojimbo is one of my favourite films, whilst Sanjuro isn't; but I've seen several people who think Sanjuro is the superior film. Considering they're both films about the same samurai they are quite different in feel.

 

I'll be the judge of that!

That sounds cool, honestly. A different feel. Tonally. I assume.
Looking forward to watching Sanjuro for the first time soon!

In the meantime, I watched a French film from the Criterion Collection.
It's always nice reading subtitles when you can still at least understand 25 percent of the language.

 

Irresistible 2020

John Stewart writes and directs. Political satire. it's alright , not particularly sharp tho or that funny.

 

Jessica Rothe was one of the major reasons I watched All My Life. I loved her in Happy Death Day and its sequel. I felt she gave a wonderful performance in All My Life. But yeah, the movie is a very predictable romantic weeper, so it was kind of rewatching a movie.

 

I re-watched Tenet. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around. I still don't think the inversion stuff hangs together, but whatever.

 

Second masterpiece. Some respect for American Graffiti, please.

Well I certainly hope so.

 

I saw this at the cinema, and right after I went into a showing of L.A.Confidential. Now that was a great day at the cinema.

 

That was my verdict too. All of Nolan's films merit a rewatch but usually the show of hand hides something substitutive. This one is just juggling to hide thin ideas. I still like the movie however.