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The Last Samurai (2003)
Could've been a masterpiece.
Edward Zwick's "The Last Samurai" (2003) aspires to revive the Japanese epics of the 1950s. It also follows already successful formulas - that of Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" (2000) and Kevin Costner's "Dances With Wolves" (1990) - but it doesn't live up to neither of the two.
What I specifically wanted to point out was the great potential this film had. Good storyline, interesting characters, and astonishing cinematography. But it eventually fell prey to commercialism, as well as rushed photography and post-production processes.
I'd like to begin with the well-done aspects of this film - the cinematography and the theme. The sets were simply sublime. They could've done so much more with them. The theme is that of old-values-versus-modern-attributes, perfectly suited for the period in which the film is set.
Now, the weaknesses of this film - that could've easily been avoided. First of all, they ruined the stunning cinematography with horrendous framing. I prefer to blame this on the limited time they granted the photography process rather than on the director's abilities. Another technical mistake they made was almost always playing the soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, Hans Zimmer did an incredible job crafting the wonderful piece of music for this picture, but it was heavily overused. It suited some of the scenes, but others would've been greater without the accompaniment of a soundtrack.
At 154 minutes of runtime, I didn't get to know the characters I was supposed to care for, therefore the final battle didn't feel as dramatic to me. There needed to be more time granted the characters, their backstories, and their motives.
And lastly, the casting choice of Timothy Spall didn't enhance him nor the film. Don't get me wrong, he's pretty good in his field of work - comedies, fantasy or overall strange films - but he doesn't benefit such a serious picture as this one.
In conclusion, this motion picture shows us what differentiates a masterpiece from just a good movie - it's the little mistakes the average audience person doesn't mind, or detect, for that matter. I believe this movie must be shown in film universities because there are mistakes that aspiring filmmakers can learn from.
My rating: 7.1/10
Toy Story 4 (2019)
To infinity, and beyond!
I decided to review the entire franchise, because why not.
Toy Story 4 (2019)
Probably the best Disney animated feature released in the past 4 years. Everything from the perfect animation, to the story and the characters is masterfully done and lives up to the original. It's great seeing a franchise evolve like this, actually improving several aspects, but keeping the "x factor" that made the original as special as it was. I particularly loved how this one managed to keep the warmth and nostalgia of the former ones. This is how you do a sequel. This is how you end a franchise (or not?).
Fantasia (1940)
A new form of entartainment
"Fantasia" (1940) is art in its absolute form - beautifully combining the visual (represented by masterfully done short clips, each of them deserving an entire film of his own) and the hearable (taken on another level by orchestral music, in an effort to present the classical music to a broader audience). Hitting the 2h mark, this lengthy animation feature represents the "Golden Age of Disney".
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Unbearable
If you feel the need of the same old story done better, just watch "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) even if its for the 1000th time.
Rob Zombie's take on the story is rather boring than terrifying, and lacks suspense and intelligent characters. The problem with this kind of horror today is that it shows too much and forgets about the number one rule of horror: let the audience's mind fill what's not shown on screen with their deepest fear.
The very few good things about this "movie" are the cool vibe at the beggining of it, and the TCM vibes present in the second half.
TCM worked so well because it was a first of its kind, and had a unique antagonist. After watching Rob Zombie's mess take a look back at TCM and spot the differences. Probably the most important of them all is that TCM, contrary to popular belief, doesn't really show that much gore on screen. You don't see the stuff you see in 1000 Corpses and yet TCM still manages to be scarier than Zombie's something that almost feels like a bad remake.
In conclusion, Rob Zombie created a lesser movie with a bigger budget. Tobe Hooper created a bigger movie with a lesser budget.
Vertigo (1958)
Beautifully Twisted
Two years before Hitchcock's legendary horror movie "Psycho" (1960) hit the theaters, our Alfred stunned audiences with another masterpiece. Perhaps not as dark, cruel and shoking as "Psycho" (1960) or "The Birds" (1963), "Vertigo" (1958) still manages to be called a timeless classic.
First of all, Scottie's condition allowed the use of an entirely new camera technique. "The Dolly Zoom" is one of cinematography's most impressive camera tricks. Years before Steven Spielberg used it in "Jaws" (1975), Irmin Roberts was the first cameraman to ever use this technique, in a Hitchcock film.
This movie tells the story of Scottie, a retired cop who's asked to investigate the case of his friend's wife, which seems to be possesed by the spirit of a dead young woman who committed suicide.
As the chilling story goes on, several moments of suspense accompanied by chilling musical scores are happening. If you're not a fan of it, you can still enjoy the superb settings throughout the movie, and as well the beautifuly filmed shots. These elements alone are a pure work of art in my opinion.
Because it's a 50's film, you will encounter extravagant dialogue between the characters, that still manages to look natural. It's not over the top forced as you may see in other films of the era.
Toward the end of the movie, I appreciated the interesting depiction of madness that Alfred creates throughout dreams and illusions that our leading man deals with.
The beautiful lighting used in the last half an hour of the movie is also outstanding enough to be mentioned.
And, without spoiling anything, I'd like to mention how from my perspective, the leading man portrayed throughout the movie as a tragic hero, becomes an antagonist.
Definetly an unpredictable and stylish classic you don't want to miss.
Suspiria (1977)
A Stylish Horror Masterpiece
After much thought given to it, I finally watched "Suspiria" (1977). To be honest, to the contemporary viewer, this movie may be also be considered a comedy, that is why I'm not going to (and neither should you) consider it by its "scary" sequences. More of a beautiful movie than a scary one, this 70's horror masterpiece blends both slasher and supernatural subgenres. Why you should turn off the lights and watch this movie BEFORE you watch the 2018 remake:
- it probably features the best lighting ever used in a horror movie (when I took notes watching the film, I wrote down hundreds of "the light is stunning" remarks)
- its musical score builds up suspense well, being both iconic and creepy
- the beautiful settings are outstanding all the time throught the film, blending very well with the lighting
- it features below average death scenes (but hey, it's the 70s)
- the blood used is way too bright to look realistic (Hammer-ish)
- from time to time it gets quite boring
Conclusion: without its (beautiful) unnatural lighting, its thrilling musical scores and its outstanding settings, "Suspiria" (1977) wouldn't have been half of the horror masterpiece it is.
Halloween (2018)
Happy birthday, Michael! 🔪
So, I just came home from the theater. Honestly, I don't regret a thing. "Halloween" (2018) is a pretty awesome remake. Looking at it as a simple horror movie, it's decent. But looking at it as a remake, since most of the remakes nowadays are extremely dissapointing, this is a well made remake.
The first half of it is below average, but don't judge the movie based on that.
The second half is really intense, and it keeps a lot from the original one, in terms of both scores and atmosphere.
I personally think that the key to enjoying this remake to the fullest is to see the original first. There are a lot of things you will notice and appreciate. Also, after watching this, my advice is to watch the original one, once again. Not because the remake is necesseraly bad, but sometimes it's better to go back in time a little and re-watch that good 70's stuff. Until then, stay thrilled 🔪