wbr204-2 Reviews

The Red Circle (1970)

Don't Sleep: Melville is the Man!

[18 February 2001]

Jean-Pierre Melville is one of the most slept on directors of all time. A little too old to ride the crest of the French New Wave, Melville was respected by Godard, Truffaut and the rest but never caught the attention of the international film community like those who followed him did. Melville's crime tales are directed perfectly straight forward without the hipness that permeated the French New Wave . His protagonist of choice Alain Delon had the ability to portray either cop or crook and the audience would always side with him. "The Red Circle," is one of Melville's best collaborations with Delon--not as good as "Le Samourai" (1967) but superior to "Un Flic" (1971). Nowadays cats tend to say "they don't make movies like that anymore" but "they" weren't making films like Melville during his time--over thirty years ago. Don't sleep on Melville, he's the real deal. To put it simply, Melville was and still is the man.

Dr. Akagi (1998)

one of the best films of the '90s

[17 February 2001]

Imamura Shohei has come in to his prime at a point when most directors of his age begin their downward spiral. Along with his completely different although equally impressive film, "Unagi (the eel)" (1997) Imamura has made two of the greatest films of the 1990s. This particular entry into the Imamura canon deals with a Kyushu doctor during WWII. Of course, the film goes way beyond just that; it's a film that cannot be summed up in words, it's the kind of movie that you sit back and enjoy and you come out of smiling, for you've been entertained in a way most films cannot. "Kanzo Sensei" affects like a truly satisfying book does, something most films cannot come close to copying. If you dig it, rent "the eel" and look out for his next work coming soon to a theatre far from you and me--Japan. Let's hope his next one is as good as his last two, and that it is released in theatrically in the US. Highly recommended.

Saint Jack (1979)

the Young Jackie Treehorn Story

[17 February 2001]

Check this one out. I hate Peter Bogdanovich films with a passion. His films generally bore me to death or annoy me to the point of immense anger. However, in the late 1970s he put out a splendid character study of an American Pimp in Singapore. It's a great movie, incredibly slow-paced, well-acted with great camera-work, great location filming, and a meaningless cameo by the director himself. Ben Gazzara makes this picture, without him as the title character, Jack Flowers, the film is nothing. Gazzara's performance rings true in the end and that is what makes or breaks this film. If you're at all familiar with the Coen Brothers' classic "the Big Lebowski" (1998), it's interesting to compare Jack Flowers the Pimp to Jackie Treehorn the Pornography-Tycoon; in both roles Gazzara gives his all except he's twenty years younger in "Saint Jack" and twenty years older in "the Big Lebowski"--but in both he will remain timeless in his coolness. George Lazenby, James Bond of the well-done but poorly acted "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), has a small cameo as a US senator with homosexual tendencies.

Red Beard (1965)

Akahige's One Bad Mutha...

[17 February 2001]

This one's a real winner. One of Kurosawa's heavier entries into his vast collection of works, "Redbeard" runs over three hours (or two VHS tapes). Mifune Toshiro portrays the title character an master surgeon who schools a stubborn young punk on how to be a physician yet remain sane. This quite possibly may be Mifune's greatest performance and the film definitely ranks up there with Kurosawa's best (there's too many to name). Plus you gotta' love seeing Mifune physically beatdown a bunch of pimps and lowlifes in a scene that says: don't mess with Akahige, he's a bad mutha.

Battle Royale (2000)

Royale with Cheese

[16 February 2001]

I saw this a month ago in Tokyo in a packed movie theatre. I wasn't sure what to expect considering Fukasaku Kinji's past films. It was nothing like "Jingi Naki Tatakai" or his Yakuzu flix from the seventies. This one is pure cheese; it's trying to say something but it never really comes out and says what, just like "Traffic." "Battle Royale" would have been much more successful (as another user also commented) as a comedy. There's definitely humor in the picture but if it had a better sense of humor, I would have come out of the theatre laughing with it not at it. Still worth watching to see attractive young people trying to kill each other with a variety of different weapons.

McVicar (1980)

Superbad (bad meaning good that is)

[16 February 2001]

This one ranks up there with "Get Carter" (1971) and "the Long Good Friday" (1980) as one of the greatest UK gangster flix of all time. Roger Daltry is excellent in the title role, kind of like an English Papillon, except he's not innocent! The soundtrack's average but it does contain one truly funky, synthesizer-heavy instrumental ("Escape (part one)") that helps the action flow along better. Plus Daltry wears quite possibly the coolest pair of on-screen Adidas since Bruce Lee's in "Game of Death" (1978) The only thing missing is Keith Moon as a maniac convict but you don't have to like the Who to dig this one. I mean as McVicar himself says, "Being a thief is a terrific life. But the trouble is they put you in jail for it." Nuff said.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)

One of the Better Anime Films

[15 January 2001]

I saw this at the New York Japan Society two and a half years ago. The director was there to take part in a symposium on Anime. For some odd reason this film has not received wide-release even in the major US cities (as far as I know anyway). Having just visited Japan, I found that it is only now being released on DVD but not on VHS; supposedly there are bootlegs videos of it going around New York but with the visuals this film offers to watch a crappy version of it would be a shame. Anyway, the film's a good one, one of the better anime films, up there with "Akira" and the works of Miyazaki; it's much better than the director's previous work "Ghost in the Shell." Similar to "Ghost in the Shell," the plot is confusing but not to the point of causing frustration and/or sleep. It sort of reminds me of the begining of "Akira": an underground movement vs. the government--minus all that sci-fi garbage. The animation's state of the art as you should expect. The animation featured in anime is usually top of the line but it's the stories that tend to disappoint. This film is the exception, its got the animation and the story something only a handful of anime films can claim. If you can find it watch it. Highly recommended.

High and Low (1963)

A GOOD PICTURE

[9/10 · 27 October 2000]

This is my favorite Kurosawa film. It's not as deep as some of his others, like Rashomon but that's not to it's a shallow picture. It's simply a marvelous crime drama--quite possibly the greatest kidnapping film ever. Rent it today, buy it tomorrow.